Communal interaction vital for nation building - H. C. Judge, Jaffna

Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai is one of the oldest and prestigious Christian educational institutions in Sri Lanka. The prize giving of the college was held under the patronage of High Court Judge Jaffna R. T. Vignaraja, on July 2, 2009, presided over by the Principal Noel A. Vimalendran.

"Following are the excerpts of the prize day address delivered by Judge, Vignaraja, a distinguished old boy of Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai: "We must derive from the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, the courage to speak the truth, to be patient and to bear with one another. We are all men, women and children, born in this world to love one another. If we try, God will help to succeed. We shall grow in our greatness before these children here grow up. If we learn how to overcome prejudices in respect of communities. Sri Lanka will be great within the next few years and the world will respect us and follow us. If any man hates you, do not bother about it. Try to love him and that man will begin to love you. If other people tell lies, do not bother about them. Speak the truth and everything will go well.

"I emphasize that the schools must give the nation the leaders and administrators who are required in this complicated age fulfill the duties devolving on the State and to guide society in its cultural life. Folly must be replaced reason, passion must be put aside in favour of reflection, ideals must be installed where caprices govern, in fact principles must prevail not opportunism. All this cannot be accomplished for us through some mighty miracle. It is the function of schools to produce the young men and women who will be able to find joy and fulfilment of spirit by guiding the people up this glorious mountain path.

"Had our philosophy and our culture, which formed the great bulwark which protected Sri Lanka through past ages been intact, the mischief arising out of the inadequacy of our higher education might have been of relative unimportance. If our ancient culture had been kept alive in the hearts of men and it their deeper understanding, no deficiency in school or college education would have resulted in serious harm. Unfortunately, this ancient inheritance has become a rapidly diminishing asset. Otherwise we should not be witnessing the vast quantity of greed and selfishness that have made the aims of our nation so difficult of achievement.

"A comprehensive scheme for the creation of opportunities to study and understand various religions and philosophies, including that which goes by the name of classical humanism in the Western institutions would, taken together, furnish an atmosphere and incentive which would enable our boys and girls to seize the truth and so assimilate the culture and philosophy of our own land, without any exclusive of direct effort organised for that purpose. The indirect approach may achieve that which cannot be directly undertaken. All spiritual search is one and God blesses it whatever and by whomsoever it is done.

"May we remind ourselves of the words of the late Chief Justice M. C. Sansoni at the Law Day celebration at Independence Square in June 1965. "Let us see to it that ours is a disciplined society where every citizen makes it his duty to obey the law of the land. Then only can we enjoy freedom." He urged people to "aim higher and see whether - they must try to obey the unenforceable laws of religion and morality. For then only could they claim that they had reached the hall mark of a civilised society." Cicero had said over 2000 years ago, "We are slaves of the law because we wanted to be free" and only a few years ago an Indian Judge said: "The dance of liberty can only be performed on the platform of law and order." I have said all this believing it to be somewhat relevant to this occasion.

"The chief aim of my present exposition will be to bring the concert of 'Nation Building' into prominence. A fully participatory accountable democracy is integral to the flowering of nation building, for it is when all sections of people to perform a meaningful role in self-governance that their allegiance to the State is strengthened."The feeling that 'All Sri Lankans are one' or nation building proper, fails to take root because the explanation given to democracy by founding fathers of modern India, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru has not been understood in its fullest substantive sense. According to Mahatma, democracy was "the art and science of mobilizing the entire physical, economic and spiritual resources of all the various sections of the people in the service of the common good of all" (Thoughts of Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore by Brij Kishore Gayal, CBS Publishers and distributors, New Delhi).

"The hope of all fervent hearts in the country is that the nation building process would be perused within a spirit of collective attention of all Sri Lankans and various sectors of the society should now be directed towards the challenging task of nation building. The focus should now turn towards creating the right psychological platform among all communities if one is to achieve more meaningful and sustainable peace on this blessed land.

"In conclusion, I should like to congratulate Jaffna College on the excellent record it has maintained all these years under difficult condition. Your institution has undertaken ventures in education which most schools will hesitate to undertake."