May is the “War Hero Commemoration Monthâ€ÂÂÂ
Posted on May 1st, 2012
Asada M Erpini
It has been announced that the one-month period from 30 April to 30 May has been declared as the Ranaviru Month. This announcement is a statement that should be applauded by all Sri Lankans. Anyone who disagrees with this commemorative action does not have the right to be called a Sri Lankan.
The spontaneous celebrations of the people that Sri Lanka witnessed immediately after the defeat of the terrorist LTTE was branded by many as triumphalism. The groups, many of whom were based in Colombo, who thrived on the suffering, destruction and mayhem that the country suffered over a period of thirty years, but were the very justification for their existence and the professed charity work, will, of course, denigrate the decision as triumphalism. Furthermore, none of the Western countries offered wholehearted congratulations to Sri Lanka on achieving a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-mission impossibleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, probably because their own causes have floundered in the desert sands in Middle East and there were hidden reasons for their reluctance to give credit to puny Sri Lanka for vanquishing the LTTE ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-invincibleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ armed group headed by the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”super grade military strategist of Pirabhaharan – through military means.
Sri Lanka is entitled to celebrate the success achieved in May 2009 by the men and women in uniform in spite of the barricades that had been thrown in by Hillary Clinton, Bernard Kouchner and others of their ilk at the time. In fact, this is an event that should be celebrated every year with all the pomp and glory that Sri Lanka can muster. After all, the UK holds the Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph annually to commemorate its war dead ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” many in World War II that was concluded in 1945, more than half a century ago.
Sri Lanka should continue with its War Hero Commemoration Month as long as the country exists: if not for the sacrifices of the members of the armed forces, for which the entire nation is in debt, there may not be a Sri Lanka today ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” just a Tamil Eelam that is a section of Dravida Nadu and an insignificant land mass waiting to be gobbled up by the South Indian invaders.
May 1st, 2012 at 5:21 pm
I agree with most of what Asada said about the great struggle by the armed forces against all the odds and foreign intervention. However, I think it is time Sri Lanka celebrated this event in a smaller scale, on the 19th of May and not for a whole month as suggested. Sri Lanka has a lot to do on its plate, and time is of essence.
In order to consolidate this success by the armed forces and to ensure that the loss of life, limb and blood of the young soldiers does not go to waste, in my humble opinion, the government should have taken action on a few very important areas immediately after getting rid of the terrorist leader and his gang. Following are some of the essential things GOSL must act on very quickly to prevent another separatist move arising in SL with the support of enemies and traitors of SL, foreign warmongers and local and foreign LTTE supporters.
SL is the democratic country of the Sri Lankans and they should be free to live anywhere in SL. As such, there should be no special “home lands” for anyone. Whole of SL should be one and only “homeland” of Sri Lankans. Any impediments to this should be got rid of with immediate effect, and no exclusive ethnic enclaves should be permitted to be developed for one community. Living together and facing the problems and happiness of achievement together as one community make it easier to understand one another better integrate and feel like one family.
No Sri Lankan should be allowed to bring disrepute to SL by conniving with a foreign country. Anyone externalising the problems within the country should be declared a traitor and if proven, should be put behind bars.
No Sri Lankan politician should be allowed to speak for a single ethnic community and the names of political parties bearing such “separatist” names, either based on an ethnic or religious identy, should be made illegal through legislation.
All religious leaders must be kept far removed from politics and prevented from interfering with good governance.
The separatist 13A should be taken away from the constitution either through an amendment or through an island-wide referendum. The over-politicization of the small island should be reversed with a single strong and responsible government.
The police force should be cleaned up of corruption and political interference with penalties and loss of the job.
Politicians who impart undue political interference, thuggary or take bribes should be sacked with immediate effect and put behind bars.
No one should be above the law, irrespective of their political or religious status. All should bet treated in a just and equitable manner.
May 1st, 2012 at 5:42 pm
“Sri Lanka is entitled to celebrate the success achieved in May 2009.”
Absolutely.
But we need victories EVERY YEAR not just in 2009.
If we SCRAP the 13 amendment this year, that will be this year’s celebration.
People have short term memories. So they need REGULAR VICTORIES.
SCRAP 13 amendment and celebrate.
May 1st, 2012 at 5:45 pm
2009 – greatst victory ever
2010 – nothing
2011 – nothing
2012 – SCRAP 13
2013 – BAN TNA
2014 – deport ALL illegal immigrants OUT!
2015 – turn north into a multi ethnic area
If we do this celebrations will not cease.
May 1st, 2012 at 6:14 pm
In order to consolidate this success by the armed forces and to ensure that the loss of life, limb and blood of the young soldiers does not go to waste, in my humble opinion, the government should have taken action on a few very important areas immediately after getting rid of the terrorist leader and his gang. Following are some of the essential things GOSL must act on very quickly to prevent another separatist move arising in SL with the support of enemies and traitors of SL, foreign warmongers and local and foreign LTTE supporters.
This is the paragraph that Sinhalese should be reading in every day life. Sinhalese I mean real Sinhalese but not “acting or fake Sinhalese who are in websites”
May 2nd, 2012 at 4:06 am
Vijendra! You have a great vision and what you say is correct.
May 2nd, 2012 at 5:39 am
Our heartfelt gratitude to the Armed Forces of Lanka for liberating the country from terrorism. There should be, among other services, ongoing programs from GoSL, public & private institutions to take care, educate and find jobs for war wounded & their families.
As Lanka is a multi-ethnic/cultural/religious country, we may anticipate problems from time to time. To stop such problems getting out of hand, we agree with Vijendra’s suggestions. Please do add to that list an Oath of Allegiance to Lanka.
Let us not forget how the so called ‘Tamil Problem’ started in the first place, that it was Tamil caste issues compounded by lack of sufficient jobs and room for ‘upward mobility’, though the latter problem was an island wide phenomenon. The ltte was initially formed to fight Tamil caste wars of the North. That Tamil Nadu is close may encourage Tamils of Lanka to link up with TN and attempts will be made to separate/absorb Lanka, from time to time. Sri Lanka is multi-cultural, multi-religious country, and various groups tend to bring their private sectional fights into Lanka. When the GoSL goes into settle these fights via the armed forces, there is a hue and cry about ‘human rights’ and compensation demanded in the form of special areas designated only for that warring group. Sri Lankans ought to be very aware of these ploys by minority ethnic and religious groups. We ought to have permanent garrisons along the coast to prevent illegal migrants, as was done in the ancient times. We ought to also have permanent army stations inland too for many years into the future.
All this has to be done as preventive measures for future possibility of wars, thus saving the lives of our armed services personnel. Besides all that, our armed services are needed badly as a ‘mercy army’ in times of natural disasters such as tsunamis or earthquakes, floods, etc.
These are some of the best ways to honor those who have died to save this Nation in the past. May should be a month of Remembrance and Gratitude.
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:33 am
To me MR seems like doing what Stalin did after WWII in Russia – replacing all the capable people – military and civilian, with incapable yes men and women
May 2nd, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Vijendra – good vision. Few of those have already been actioned. For example when you say “No Sri Lankan should be allowed to bring disrepute to SL by conniving with a foreign country. Anyone externalising the problems within the country should be declared a traitor and if proven, should be put behind bars.” Sarath Fonseka has been dealt with nicely and patriotic Srilankans should be happy about that.
There should be no place for corruption is SriLanka and GOSL must clean up the country from top to bottom.