Mangala faulted for genuinely persuasive diplomacy!

by Kalyananda Godage

Minister Mangala Samaraweera appears to have brought the house down by having had talks with the GTF.

The reaction appears to have been spontaneous. His critics appear to have interpreted the event in terms of the past, the war, the defeat of the LTTE and the reaction of the Diaspora and their anti-Sri Lanka campaigns.

Let us now try to see the situation in another light, as it ought to be seen - without bias.

The Minister appears to have used his discretion to reach out to those who have been hostile towards us since 1956. In that year, the Tamils were shut out of the national mainstream with the Sinhala Only Act. Then came the 1972 Constitution and the removal of the minorities protection provisions.

Next came the introduction of Standardization and, then, the attacks on Tamils in 1956, 1958 and the pogrom of 1983, and the exodus that followed. With that came the creation of the Tamil Diaspora (the Sri Lankan Diaspora today consists of Sinhalese, Tamils, Burghers and even some Muslims) whose political activities have been guided by their experiences.

Minister Mangala's initiative is a laudable one and it appears to have been a personal initiative to reach out to these native Sri Lankan Tamil people and motivate them to think of the long term.

After all, history shows us that nothing is inevitable. We must all work together to make a success of our cause to create a truly united Sri Lanka. Our nationalism must be such that we should be proud to call ourselves 'Sri Lankans'.