Rome show :

In keeping with our thinking

A Sinhala folk dance

Gini Sisila(Cool fire) performance

Sri Lanka Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya addresses the audience

A child participant pays obeisance to the Ambassador

Ambassador with a cross section of the distinguished gathering

"Today is a historic day for all Sri Lankans living in Italy. It is the happiest day of my new career as Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Italy, as on this day, I have been able to forge unity between the two major Sri Lankan communities living in Italy, the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Both communities have suffered because of terrorism, and have polarised themselves into various cities, as they thought there would be a safe haven for them.

But, it was my prayer that we must not only fight terrorism and put an end to the evils of terrorism but also remove its root causes as well. To achieve this, we must spread the great teachings of our religion: compassion, love, brotherhood and equity.

"I have opened the doors of my Embassy and embraced the Tamil community of Reggio Emilia and Palermo with open arms, providing them with a mobile consular service, which proved to be beneficial to them. In my endeavour, I contacted Ms. Shana Jesuthasan, a member of the U.N.G.A. and a leading figure among the Tamil community in Reggio Emilia. "I told her that for the first time in the history of this Embassy, we have set apart a day to pay tribute to the Sri Lankan diaspora, who have been supportive of the Embassy in all of its endeavours. To achieve that, my ambition was to ensure the Tamil community too participated in the cultural evening organised by me.

"Today, I am indeed proud: I have with me Shana Jesuthasan from Reggio Emillia and Max Francis from Palermo, and six members of their community, who had decided, despite the threats from LTTE supporters, despite warnings of a demonstration outside the hall and but to brave these threats, and be here before you all, and I assure you, Shana Jesuthasan, that you are children of our Mother Lanka. We have no differences. We have lived in harmony for the last 2,500 years. This is the first step to achieve the goals of our President to have a unified Sri Lanka without any hatred towards each other. Terrorism is dead and buried - it is not something acceptable to the civilised world.

"I extend my warmest welcome to you as the children of Mother Lanka, and I thank and salute you for having decided to perform under the Lion flag", Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Rome and High Commissioner for Cyprus Hemantha Warnakulasuriya told participants at the Cultural event sponsored by and held at the Embassy in Rome for Sri Lankans to celebrate their motherland's 61st Independence Day.

Then, two Tamil children went down on their knees to pay obeisance to the Ambassador, and the entire crowd at the Institute of Sant'Anna Hall in Viale Marconi 700, Rome, gave a standing ovation.

Ms. Shana Jesuthasan addressed the crowd in Italian and said "our children have also died during this war. We do not want to blame anyone, as we are the second generation of Tamils. We only want to extend our friendship to everyone, and live together in peace". The whole crowd gave her also a standing ovations. Pranama 2009 was the brainchild of Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya whose intention was to have a cultural evening with all the ethnic groups participating. It was sponsored by the Sri Lankan Embassy to commemorate Sri Lanka's 61st Independence Day. An unprecedented crowd, never ever seen at a Sri Lankan cultural show, thronged the hall, and the Embassy provided dinner to every single member who participated. Over 120 participants performed, including the classical Bharatha Natyam, the Kathakali dance, a mixture of upcountry, low-country, Sabaragamuwa dances and the Kandyan dance, where children from the age of four also performed. It was particularly a pleasing experience to the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. Ranee Jayamaha, and the Deputy General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon, Mrs. W.A.D. Nalani, who were also present at the function.