The old year is passing and the new is yet to be - EDITORIAL

28 December 2022 12:03 am - 10 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A A A

As we approach the end of 2022, it is good to look back, not only at 2022 but to go further back in our history, and learn from mistakes of the past to ensure non-repetition in 2023. Ours is a country where if one were to press a stick into the soil, it would take root and bloom into something beautiful and/or useful.
But here we are, at the end of 2022 with 30% of our children facing malnutrition. Our health system -if we are to believe such organisations as the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA)- is on the brink of collapse.

Basic drugs needed for heart patients are said to be in short supply and drugs for the treatment of cancer have run out. Worse, we have defaulted payment on our foreign debt and are considered a credit risk internationally.
So how did we get here? A country once described as a land flowing with milk and honey? Are we capable of getting out of the dreadful mess we have boxed ourselves into?
For thirty long years, we waged a war on a section of our countrymen/women. Hundreds of thousands of our citizens died at the hands of their fellow citizens in the name of language, race and religion.

This did not happen after Independence. As far back as 1915, we had blood-letting between members of the Muslim community and members of the Buddhist faith. Over a hundred died in the clashes, businesses were damaged and even political leaders were imprisoned by our colonial ruler-the British.
Shortly after independence, we disenfranchised a section of our population -the estate workers. In the fifties, race riots broke out between the Sinhala and Tamil communities. Since 1983 thousands of Sinhalese, Muslims, Tamils and other races died -a fallout of a nearly three-decade-long ethnic war, whipped up by opportunistic political leaders.

When the war drums were silenced and a semblance of peace returned to the land with the crushing of the LTTE insurgency in May of 2009, one and all believed the country was on the path to economic and political stability. But that hope was short-lived. Particular politicians used members of the clergy to inflame religious ill feelings. Soon mobs, including and at times led by members of the clergy attacked members of other faiths dividing our people once again and leaving economic chaos in its wake. More recently we -all Lanka- were shocked and shamed when a religious leader, perhaps unintentionally referred to a particular section of the Sri Lankan community in derogatory terms.

With our country’s economy in tatters, with political leaders forced to roam the world -begging bowl in hand- it is time ‘we the people’, shed our trappings of race, religion and ethnicity first and put the needs of our people and country first. Lanka -the land we love and cherish- is what we all have in common, irrespective of race, language and ethnicity. Our population of 22 million. often speaks with pride of civilisation thousands of years old.

Yet, the sad fact of the matter is, we have not been able to shed our shallow prejudices of race, religion and ethnicity over the love of country.
Our neighbour India has a population of over 1,393,000,000. It has 22 separate official languages, it is home to a total of 121 languages and 270 mother tongues. It is also home to one of the world’s oldest languages, Sanskrit.

According to the 2011 census, 79.8% of the population of India practices Hinduism, 14.2% adheres to Islam, 2.3% adheres to Christianity, 1.7% adheres to Sikhism, 0.7% adheres to Buddhism and 0.4% adheres to Jainism.
Yet they refer to themselves as Indians with pride. Not Hindu, Tamil or Punjabi. As the year 2022 draws to an end, it is time for us to shed old prejudices even as we await the dawn of the New year. It is time to realise we have failed to light the path of peace between peoples, but have unfortunately paved the way for suspicion and distrust. Fear does not brighten the prospect of peace and without peace, there can be no prosperity.

According to data released by the Department of Immigration around 200,000 Lankans left the country this year alone. The state of our economy offers nothing to young people as hunger, fear and suspicion stalk the land. It is time we demand religious and political leaders stress our commonalities rather than rouse ethnic and religious differences for personal gratification. If they do not, let us cast them out at the time of husting or via peer pressure.
May 2023 help us turn the tide against fear and prejudice, unite us as Lankans and bring peace to our people.

Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka

Comments - 10

India is a disunited country Wednesday, 28 December 2022 11:32 AM

When Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat thousands of Muslims were killed while the police conveniently looked the other side. The CIA concluded that Modi was personally involved in the massacres and he was banned from visiting America.

Economist banker Wednesday, 28 December 2022 01:23 PM

It is more than obvious we need two separate states in one Sri Lanka to call ourselves Sri Lankans. India has 29 separate states and call themselves INDIANS. The majority are spineless in spite of knowing two states is the answer.

Premadasa , Kandy Wednesday, 28 December 2022 02:19 PM

The up country Indian Tamils removed back to India via the treaty signed decades ago are living in Tamil Nadu ,even today , as the lowest of the low, even the Tamils of Tamil Nadu don’t accept them as full humans. Lot of these Estate Indian Tamils are serving long term prison sentences for robbery and violent crimes in Tamil Nadu .At least in Sri Lanka we are treating the Estate Tamils as fellow humans and they are getting three meals a day. So, what the heck you talk about unity in India.

Movements of population. Wednesday, 28 December 2022 06:31 PM

@ Premadasa, Kandy- the treaty signed between the two countries was illegal beyond belief. The ancestors of the estate workers came to work here more than 150 years ago. If one enter UK, after 5 years if conditions are satisfied gets full UK CITIZENSHIP. The racist Sinhala majority forced India to accept the great great great grandchildren born to the Indians brought in by the British to open up the estates. Should all the Sinhalas and Tamils be sent back to India where their ancestors came from?

Kandy Wednesday, 28 December 2022 09:00 PM

@@///// Movements of population, these Up country Estate Indian Tamils were brought as labourers by the British from India to specifically work in order for Britain to benefit economically. But the Sinhalese and Tamils moved to Sri Lanka when Sri Lanka was not an established country hundreds of years ago and proudly created their own country.If you want to blame , then blame the British for using the non white people as machine tools to enhance the British wealth, significant part of the current Britain’s wealth was built on the pain and sufferings of the Indian indentured labourers. It is Britain who deliberately made the poor Indians into believing that they are “biologically inferior humans”, so that they will never revolt against the White British tea plantation owners in Sri Lanka.

L E Wednesday, 28 December 2022 09:21 PM

@ movements of population : The Sinhalese and the Tamils were not brought as “ low caste labourers” by any third party . But the Up country Tamils were brought by the third party ( Britain ) into another country(Sri lanka) as “ low caste labourers “ to work and die for the British Empire. So there is NO COMPARISON between the Sri Lankans and the Up Country Indian Tamils. Unfortunately the Up country Indian Tamils sent back to India are treated very bad by the Indians themselves, this is a FACT you can’t deny. This is the truth about the “ United “ India of “happy” 29 separate states.

Sanskrit is considered a dead language Thursday, 29 December 2022 01:00 AM

Tamil is the oldest attested Non-Sanskrit language with the earliest known records of the language dating back to around 5000 years. Its the height of inborn inferiority complex by these pitiful Tamils to woo and appease the Hindutuva. - "It is also home to one of the world’s oldest languages, Sanskrit"?. Sanskritization refers to a change in the hierarchical caste system when certain castes that are ranked low in the caste hierarchy are able to elevate and enhance their position by adopting and emulating the socio-cultural beliefs, values, habits, customs and rituals of castes that are ranked higher than them.

Dilkie Thursday, 29 December 2022 07:03 AM

The Indian Tamil plantation worker does a skilled job. Treated with disrespect. Mostly women who have to climb slippery slopes at break of dawn. Men assign and control. Refused ant salary increments. Live in poor conditions. This the 21st Century.

J H Thursday, 29 December 2022 10:33 AM

@Sanskrit is considered a dead language , What your comment has to do with discussions about the Up Country Indian Tamil labourers . Are you mental ?

Roisin Thursday, 29 December 2022 02:43 PM

Reading above comments Sri Lanka has still a loooooooong way to go.

Add comment
Comments will be edited (grammar, spelling and slang) and authorized at the discretion of Daily Mirror online. The website also has the right not to publish selected comments.

The old year is passing and the new is yet to be - EDITORIAL

Comments - 10

Add comment

RECOMMENDED

‘Spike in blast fishing’ poses renewed threats to Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystems

UDA owned land in Thalawathugoda; UDA Minister Prasanna Ranatunga under the spotlight for forceful occupation of reserved land

Loss-making SMIB faces political pressure in recovering loans

Baltimore Bridge Collapse: MV Dali, SL authorities anchored in mystery?

Has Sri Lanka become a potential hub for the illegal wildlife trade?

Spotlight on Moragahakanda Development Project Moragolla villagers lose livelihoods and down to one meal a day

Ambitious Sri Lankan jobseekers ‘trafficked into Ukraine war zones’

Most Viewed in News

VFS Global is here to stay for at least 12 years, says Tiran

Diana under immigration radar for overstaying visa since 2014

Tharshan Selvarajah makes history as first Sri Lankan to carry Olympic torch

A leading hotel in Derby, UK sold to Sri Lankan company

Racism, body-shaming fly high with Air Belgium crew against SriLankan staff

Foreigner injured after falling from Lotus tower

MIRROR CRICKET

Shakib and Hasaranga share top spot in T20 all-rounder rankings

Nisala steers Sri Lanka ‘A’ to easy win

Athapaththu climbs T20I rankings after stellar performance

Shanto to lead Bangladesh’s squad for T20 World Cup

TODAY'S HEADLINES

Environmental Leaders of Tomorrow

IGP Tennakoon elected as National President of International Police Association Sri Lanka

Arrested with deer horns and guns

Air Force Commander engages in strategic talks at Air and Space Power Conference 2024 in Australia

Shakib and Hasaranga share top spot in T20 all-rounder rankings

Nisala steers Sri Lanka ‘A’ to easy win

Athapaththu climbs T20I rankings after stellar performance

Shanto to lead Bangladesh’s squad for T20 World Cup