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| Sunday, 27 April 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Remembrance Park Honouring those who paid the ultimate price for peace by ASIFF HUSSEIN "Soldiers never die" they say "They live on in our hearts forever". Remembering the dead, especially those who have died in war helps us to come to terms with the past and spurs us to reflect on the future - and a better tomorrow sans war. War is no doubt a terrible thing. More often than not it is the innocent who suffer, whether ordinary civilians getting on with their life or soldiers hailing from humble homes who struggle on to make a living, rather than those who call for war and thrive on it. A prominent American civil war general, William Tecumseh Sherman observed long ago. "It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks or groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell". It is however war that also makes us realise the futility of it. The desolation and deprivation that war brings is truly understood only by those who suffer or witness it.
At this moment in our history, when peace is being pursued with vigour, it is ignoble, to say the least, to forget those who have suffered so much to make us realise this fact. It is only proper therefore that we have a memorial dedicated to our soldiers, a true and fitting tribute to the thousands who have sacrificed their lives in the hope that posterity could live in peace. This long felt need has finally been fulfilled with the establishment recently of the National Remembrance Park in Mailapitiya, about 16 km from Kandy town.
This beautifully landscaped park is situated amidst lush surroundings overlooking the waters of the Victoria reservoir and surrounded by numerous hills, giving it that tranquillity so necessary for pondering over the fate of the dead and the need for peace. Truly national Unlike the War Memorial Tower we often come across in the Vihara Maha Devi Park which commemorates the soldiers slain during the colonial period, the National Remembrance Park is a truly national war memorial as it is dedicated to all those soldiers who have fallen in battle or are missing in action ever since the country gained independence from the British in 1948. Here one finds acres of sprawling greenery set with granite slabs inscribed in white with the names of the fallen heroes of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police. The slabs are placed at an angle as if in a book enabling the names to be read easily by visitors. Besides the names of the fallen, their number, rank, place of death and date of death are also given. The roll of honour includes 17,869 killed in action and 3398 missing in action from the 23 corps and regiments of the Army, the Navy, Air Force and the Police. Plans are also afoot to plant over 20,000 trees in remembrance of every soldier commemorated here in the surrounding hills.
Every good memorial however also has a monument to remember it by. Situated at the entrance to the Park, this monument is certainly more than what meets the eye. Comprising three steel pillars extending to the skies to join at the apex it symbolises a respectful gesture of salutation by the nation to all those who laid down their lives for the country, said Mano Ponniah, the architect who landscaped the Park and designed the monument. This piece of work won him the top award this year for Landscape Design by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. The monument stands above a triangular pond and is surrounded at the four corners by four altars, so to say, representing the four major religions of Sri Lanka. On each altar stands a symbol of the religion and a relevant quotation on the subject of death, from its scripture. On the summit of a hill nearby, the highest peak in the area could be seen the 'Eternal flame' which has however not become operational as yet due to the absence of electricity in the area. Power lines are being laid and it will hopefully not be long before the flame is lit. Once lit, it is expected to be visible for miles around. Victims of war To the left of the park by the roadside is an information centre run by service personnel which has yet to commence operations. A computer database providing the names, photographs and biographical details of the fallen such as the battle in which they lost their lives is planned to be set up here shortly. A website is also being developed for the Park. Details of the disabled will also be provided so that those interested in assisting or employing these victims of war could contact them with minimum effort. Adjoining the centre are shops run by physically handicapped servicemen or their families. While the navy and police shops are run by handicapped servicemen, the Air force shop is run by a widow of a fallen officer while the Army shop is yet to be opened. Articles produced by handicapped service personnel and the families of departed servicemen are expected to be sold here shortly. The caretaker of the Park, Nalin De Silva, a slightly handicapped soldier from Moneragala lives with his wife and child in a little house overlooking the park. A friendly man, he guides visitors around the park and provides them with the information they seek about it. The place has however yet to become a fully-fledged Remembrance Park. Electricity and water facilities are yet to be provided. Media publicity is also lacking and it is high time the general public were made aware of its existence. There are not many who even know of its existence. One could only appreciate the beauty of this place when one sets eyes on it.It is a truly charming place to remember all thosHonouring those who paid the ultimate price for peacee who have passed by. |
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