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Opinion, The Island, 13 September 2000
What is Sihala Urumaya?
As a supporter of the Sihala Urumaya (SU)
I have got involved in many a discussion at various gatherings about the SU.
Although most of these discussions have been stimulating I have also encountered
some cynical comments which I hope to meet in this letter.
What is this Urumaya?
It is the right of the people of this country to be able to live in an undivided
Sri Lanka. That is our heritage an undivided peaceful Sri Lanka. They should be
able to live and work in any part of the country without fear. This right is
already denied to the majority Sinhalese. They cannot live, work or study in the
North and East of the country and they live in mortal fear in areas such as
Welioya. If the devolution proposals come into being these rights will be
totally eroded. The devolution package proposes to unite the two areas
where the minority Tamils are in preponderance and divide the Sinhalese
dominated areas into nine. The SU will oppose this totally.
The SU is extremist and racist
Extremism and racism means favouring of one race and oppressing another. As was
said earlier the SU stands to protect the right of every citizen of this country
to live and work in any area of the country, to practice religion of his choice
and to conduct business in Sinhalese, Tamil or English the languages used
by the people of this country. The SU will never oppress any race or favour any
race.
However there is a terrorist problem in the north and east of the country and
this needs a military solution, the objective being the total annihilation of
the terrorists. There were two JVP led insurrections in this country which were
militarily suppressed by the then governments much to the cheers of the people.
Why is it that when the SU talks about a military suppression of the Tamil
terrorists they are labelled as racists. The SU will give the political
directive to the military to eliminate terrorism from this land of ours to
safeguard the rights of every citizen of this country to live in peace. That is
not racism.
Why is the name "Sihala"?
Sihala stems from an ancient name for Sri Lanka, Sihala Dveepa...SU stands to
protect the heritage of all those in Sihala Dveepa.
Members of the SU should wear the
national dress and talk in Sinhala.
It is the heritage of those living in this country to be able to acquire and
garner knowledge, present themselves at international forums, be part of the
globalisation process, conduct trade with other nations with the aim of
achieving development both nationally and individually. The first step in this
direction is a knowledge of English. The SU while teaching and propagating both
Sinhalese and Tamil will ensure that every citizen of this country has access to
English as well. The dress of a person is a person' s wish. There are enough and
more occasions where people have donned the national dress for personal gain and
then
betrayed the people and the country. It is not the dress but the deeds which
determine patriotism.
The SU as has been emphasised repeatedly stand to protect the rights and the
heritage of all the people of this country. In a multi ethnic society such as in
Sri Lanka why should the members of the SU wear the dress of one race only and
talk the language of one race only? This is totally against the policy of the SU
to treat every citizen of this country equally without favour.
Will the members of the SU fight against the terrorists?
To fight the terrorists, a clear political directive and a military objective
should be there. For the last twenty years there has been no such direction.
While the army has been asked to fight, the terrorists have been invited to
talks, they have been given district councils, provincial councils and now
regions are being offered. Prabhakaran is being offered a chief ministership.
How can the army fight in this situation? The war cannot be won by enrolling
into government ranks the person who raised the flag of Eelam over Jaffna, the
war cannot be won by interfering into appointments and promotions in the
military hierarchy as happened in the very recent past, the war cannot be won by
purchasing cheap equipment through shady and corrupt deals. If these matters are
attended to, the war can be won and not only members of the SU, the whole
country will join the war effort. The SU stands to give the political directive
to militarily defeat the terrorists and eliminate all such matters mentioned
above.
Can they govern?
The hierarchy of the SU consists of former chief justices, former supreme court
judges, former governers of the Central Bank, internationally renowned academics
and university professors, leading lawyers and professionals, highly respected
military officers and leading entrepreneurs. It is best not to elaborate on
the qualifications of some of the members of the UNP and SLFP who have governed
us for the last 50 years. The results of those 50 years of misrule by the UNP
and the SLFP/PA do not need elaboration. Leaving aside the academic and
professional qualifications, 50 years of misrule has left us a legacy of
corruption, murders, a gun culture, anarchy, hooliganism bribery and a society
where athletes in
training are sexually abused and sex orgies take place in Ministry offices.
Can the SU govern? Anybody can do better!
The people of this country wish to live in an undivided country, without
terrorism, without fear, with the freedom to practice the religion of their
choice, the freedom to use the language of their choice and in a country devoid
of corruption with a strong economy. That is the heritage of our people and the
Sihala Urumaya promises to restore it.
Padmin
Colombo 5
Sri Lanka