People’s Victory
by Samangie WETTIMUNY
Rarely
do we rejoice over one common reason. When one is happy, the other has
his own reasons to be unhappy. Though you are on the brink of tears,
your neighbour or relative may have enough reasons to be pleased about.
But how wonderful it is to find out what we share is more significant
than what we do not. It was such an occasion that we witnessed in the
wee hours of last Wednesday morning.
The enthusiastic, standing ovation of the people still echoes in my
ears. The sight would have definitely driven your minds back to May 18,
2009 when we all witnessed the death of world’s most ruthless terrorist
and the end of the LTTE terrorism which devastated the country during
the past thirty years. Those sad, miserable years are etched in all Sri
Lankan minds and they never want terrorism to raise its ugly head again.
That is obviously why they wanted to re-elect their life saviour,
Mahinda Rajapaksa as the sixth Executive President of Sri Lanka at the
Presidential Election 2010.
It is not only the people who voted for him that won, but also
everyone. As President Rajapaksa rightly said shortly after being
declared the winner, that he is the President of everyone in the country
irrespective of whether one voted for him or not!
Always hailed as a leader whose life has been shaped by his family
upbringing, education, and strong Buddhist cultural background, he is
popularly known as the voice of the common man. It is mainly the rural
folk who contributed largely to his landmark victory.
“It is President Mahinda Rajapaksa who ushered in the ‘Change’ we all
needed by completely eradicating terrorism.
Can we ever forget the days when we all lived in utter fear with
endless explosions, untimely deaths, on top of all that a bifurcated
land?” a retired principal who is jubilant over President’s victory
shared his ideas with me. “We have already achieved the Change we all
desired, a unified country.
Now it is time to develop Sri Lanka.” He went on adding that he was
anyway certain that people would not get carried away by the ‘silly’
slogans such as “Wishwasaneeya Wenasak!”.
“He
was down-to-earth, well cultured, and humane. He has almost all the
qualities of a far-sighted politician,” tells another man enjoying
himself a piece of kiribath. “He is the most remarkable personality of
our times. He became the President of Sri Lanka at a time when the
country badly needed a brave, strong and upright leadership.” He went on
while inviting me to share a piece of Kiribath.
“It was indeed pleasant to see a gathering of Veteran Bhikkhus
chanting Jaya Pirith to invoke blessings on the President before the
elections day.
He is loved by all religious denominations.”
As observed by many, the President’s election victory was a
reflection of people’s gratitude.
Those in border villages have not forgotten the dark days when they
had to spend sleepless nights in the jungle overwhelmed with fear; they
have also not forgotten the innumerable LTTE atrocities which claimed
the lives of thousands of innocent civilians of Sri Lanka.
They very well know how difficult it was to lead a life trapped
between a horrible past and uncertain future. “In that context can any
patriot turn a blind eye to their life saviour?”, a young mother
inquired.
“I am a Buddhist. The Buddha has always emphasized the value of
paying gratitude to those who had helped us.
So I was the first to go to the polling station to cast my vote”, she
went on until her baby who was asleep on her shoulder needed her
attention!
“Our
vote too is for Mahinda ‘sir’ ”, an upcountry Muslim teacher told me a
few days before the elections. “I was really moved by one of his recent
speeches where he specifically said that there are no minorities in Sri
Lanka hereafter. There will be only two groups - those who love their
motherland and those who do not and those two groups will form the
majority and the minority respectively!”
She had even put her thoughts into a poem and wished to see the
President one day to express her heartfelt gratitude to him!
“People who have experienced the horrors of war would only know how
bitter and cruel their experience was We had to face that bitter truth
every day, every hour, every minute and every second...” a Tamil estate
manager who had lived through the war in Jaffna came out with his
genuine ideas.
“I know even ‘Colombo folks’ had to live in fear due to constant bomb
explosions in public places. But to those who lived in the North and the
East it was a day-to-day experience.”
As he further noted he had no words to express his gratitude to the
President for what he did to alleviate the sufferings of the people. “It
is a pity that some have forgotten it within just six months!”.
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