RAJAPAKSA TELLS OXFORD UNION
THAT IF SRI LANKA FAILS AGAINST LTTE THE WORLD FAILS FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
By Walter Jayawardhana
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Calling it the plain truth President Mahinda Rajapaksa said if Sri
Lanka failed in her war against the LTTE the world will fail in its
fight against terrorism and democracy will be victim addressing the
Oxford University Student Union.
“The LTTE is the most brutal terror outfit the world has ever
seen and defeating them requires global support. What Sri Lanka is doing..is
fighting the terror outfit single handed to ensure that democracy and
respect for human life prevail in the world,” the President said
.
Calling the LTTE the main obstacle to development in Sri lanka the
President said, it is time the world raising its united voice express
its utter revulsion of the barbaric practice of suicide bombings and
that form of political expression , if it could be described as such
is utterly unacceptable in the civilized world.
Speaking to a packed house of Britishers and expatriate Sri Lankans
the President pointed out at the Oxonians like the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike
whose wife was the first woman Prime Minister of the world and the late
Laxman Kadirgamar who was brutally assassinated by the LTTE.
Sri Lankan Society President Dilan Fernando and his members were joined
by Pakistani, Palestine, Indian Socociety members in felicitating the
President. Thai Society also sent their delegation to the audience.
The following is the unedited full text of the President’s speech:
“It is with much pleasure that I address you in these hallowed
surroundings tonight. I must thank the Oxford Union and Mr Dilan Fernando
for this opportunity. Many renowned speakers have addressed you from
here before me. I do not seek to match them in their eloquence but I
do wish to speak to you on a subject of much interest to my country
at the present time.
“That is the empowerment of rural economy a central theme of mydevelopment
strategy for Sri Lanka. Our development strategy towards empowering
the rural economy of our country where majority of our people live has
now become relevant to the global economy itself in the context of emerging
world food crisis and environmental challenges to our own survival.
We have an additional burden. We are threatened by the challenge of
terrorism and the need to protect the rights of our fellow beings.
“Sri Lanka where I was born and bred is a country where our culture
is firmly rooted in rural tradition. The Sri Lankan culture has been
essentially conditioned by the great religion of Buddhism but later
influenced by Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. The concepts of loving
kindness, compassion and tolerance are at the heart of our psychological
make up. They nourish and sustain us through the uncertainties of life.
Our traditional greeting ‘Ayubowan’ means – May you live
long.
“It is not surprising then that in a world where rulers constructed
massive castles and grand palaces to demonstrate their power and wealth
our kings constructed huge reservoirs Tanks, as we call them to provide
water to sustain food production and ensure sustainable livelihood to
the people. The great legacy left behind by our ancient rulers and which
is in use even today scattered across three vast Provinces of my island
home is the massive irrigation network.
This unique hydraulic civilization which sustained an essentially prosperous
rural society was based on a philosophy which has much to offer the
modern world. Buddhism taught us that we have no absolute ownership
of the forests the rivers the oceans and the atmosphere that sustain
life; that every generation holds the environment in trust so that abuse
is prevented; and that our duty was to hand down the environment to
future generations without harm.
“Even today over 77 percent of our people still live in rural
areas because of a wide range of attractions in our rural home base.
I myself hail from the deep South from an agrarian village with a beautiful
natural environment. I am extremely proud of that fact. The attraction
in our villages is not only the economic resources and greenery but
also the traditional culture arts religion and bio-diversity which are
incentives to keep our people away from migrating into urban townships.
The horrors of poverty and suffering that have engulfed many booming
Asian cities have not affected Sri Lanka.
“Strengthened by the caring attitude inherited from our ancient
rulers . we were able to adapt to modern democracy with great ease.
It was in 1931 while still under the British that Sri Lanka was granted
universal franchise. You will recall that Britain achieved this status
only in 1926. Since then we have continued to develop and strengthen
democratic institutions in Sri Lanka. Political pluralism . has always
been fundamental to our democracy. We have parties of different political
views represented in our parliament. This diversity uniquely enriches
Sri Lanka's political canvass.
“The government although elected by a Sinhala Buddhist majority
represents a coalition of Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim communities and
all the religious groups in the country. You will be hard pressed to
find a similarly representative government in any of the other democracies
of the world. I am proud of our vibrant parliamentary system the strong
judicial establishment and the independent press. “Not a day passes
without an attack on me, I must say totally without foundation from
some parts of the media. We have not hesitated to adopt global standards
collaborate with international organisations such as the UN, ILO, and
the Commonwealth and participate in efforts to consolidate institutions
designed to protect the rights of our fellow humans.
“Sri Lanka has contributed with vigour and creativity to the
development of the principals incorporated in international conventions
through their work in international organizations and through the international
Court of Justice. We have always played our part in global efforts to
establish higher standards and to make our earth a better place for
all because we fundamentally feel that this is the correct thing to
do. This is a reflection of our cultural traditions. Sri Lanka’s
conformity to global environmental standards has been commended time
and time again.
“Women in Sri Lanka enjoy equal opportunities with men. Over 60
percent of our medical practitioners are women. Over 80 percent of our
teachers are women. The nursing profession is dominated by women. The
legal profession too is increasingly dominated by women! Women have
also entered sections of the work force previously monopolised by men
such as, academia, engineering, computing, quantity surveying and architecture.
I recall with great delight that Sri Lanka produced world’s first
elected woman Prime Minister in 1960. Her husband, Mr SWRD Bandaranaike’s
photograph hangs over there.
Ladies and gentlemen, for decades we have invested in education and
health. My country enjoys one of the highest literacy standards in the
world while still being categorized as a middle income developing country.
97 percent of our children are enrolled at school. Our infant mortality
rate and maternal mortality rate at child birth is on par with that
of many developed countries. The country provides free healthcare to
all. Education is free and universal from childhood to university. During
the primary and secondary school life of every child the government
provides free text books and uniforms. One of my long-lasting joys is
the sight of thousands of children in crispy white uniforms heading
for school each morning. This is probably a sight that one can not witness
in many other places of the world.
“Children are precious to us. I believe they are our future. We
have ensured a massive investment in our children. My government firmly
believes that no child must be deprived of his or her childhood. We
have created a separate ministry to look after the welfare of our children.
We do not employ any children in our labour force and no one below the
age of eighteen is recruited to our armed forces . unlike the LTTE which
engages thousands in its baby brigades. These children are robbed of
their childhood and brutality is ingrained into their character making
them life long misfits for society.
“Sri Lanka has achieved a very high standard in the United Nations
Human Development Index and we have already to a large extent achieved
the Millennium Development Goals. It was only last month that a UN Report
commended Sri Lanka for being well on its way to eliminating malaria.
We have a very low rate of HIV AIDS infection. I point these things
out to you only because of the intense campaign that is being conducted
internationally to describe my country as one that does not care about
our fellow human beings and human needs. Facts demonstrate that this
is far from the truth.
“There are no signs of obvious starvation in any part of the country.
In fact for over 25 years since the beginning of the LTTE’s violent
challenge to our very existence to our sovereignty the government has
been sending food, medicine and educational material to the two districts
dominated by the LTTE. Every single teacher, nurse, doctor, hospital
and government official in the so called LTTE controlled areas is appointed
and paid by the government in Colombo. Very few countries grappling
with terrorism have been so accommodating. This itself illustrates the
caring nature of our society
“These noteworthy achievements have been possible because of a
holistic view of human development to which we have always been firmly
committed. We believe that development becomes meaningful to the vast
mass of the people only when its fruits are capable of being enjoyed
by all segments of the people. That is why we have constantly tried
not only to achieve growth and expansion of our national wealth but
to ensure that the resources generated by our efforts are distributed
among the people especially, in the rural hinterland on an equitable
basis.
“Our development model as presented in my election manifesto Mahinda
Chintana signifies the empowerment of the rural economy. The centre
piece of this new strategy will be the development of modern infrastructure
throughout the country to provide a basis for development of agriculture
Industry Construction Tourism SMEs and transport services that will
bring about new opportunities to our people in the rural economy. Our
strategy has enhanced the public investments over 6 percent of GDP to
support ‘Randora’ – meaning golden Gate – our infrastructure
development initiative to develop new ports power generation and distribution
network irrigation and water supply schemes expressway and road network
and integrated townships to link rural economy to the global economy
and create new space for growth. We have integrated strategies to promote
insurance shipping aviation trade logistic industries and petroleum
explorations and above all skills and knowledge to position Sri Lanka
as an emerging economic hub in south Asia.
“Empowering people at grassroots level is equally important in
this whole development process. ‘Gama Naguma’ meaning revival
of the village is an initiative to empower communities adopting bottom
up programmes originating from people reflecting their needs. A series
of rural development initiatives have been implemented permitting the
community to prioritize their needs and objectives. These initiatives
are monitored by community leaders to ensure that a larger volume of
resources are productively used for the betterment of the rural community.
“The main thrust of this programme is to retain people in rural
environments rather than encouraging them to move into urban areas which
has been the pattern in many developing economies. Why should people
move into urban areas and live in slums or sub standard housing when
they can live in very healthy environments in villages . and enjoy clean
air water and pure and good food. It is my belief that rural people
are much healthier than those who live in urban cities.
“Our approach to development takes into consideration the dangers
of destroying the green environment. Every project that is implemented
under Gama Naguma recognizes the value of green belts and the preservation
of the forest cover. The environmental protection programmes that are
implemented throughout the island make a serious attempt to ensure that
rivers are kept clean water ways are not dirtied and trees are not destroyed.
The bed rock of our development is maintaining and preserving the environment.
"Consolidating our achievements in human resource development we
are now working towards a knowledge economy based on productivity, skills,
knowledge and technology. Therefore . education and health is being
undertaken at grassroots level through multi-faceted government programmes.
In particular I am very keen to ensure that our children are able to
become global citizens through the use of information technology . in
a very novel programme called 'Nenasala' a network of 500 rural tele-centers
that have already been established. I have set a target to increase
this up to 1,000 by next year. Three years ago Sri Lanka's IT literacy
. stood at a little over 5 percent. Today I feel accomplished that we
have been able to enhance this to percent which means that more and
more people will be able to enter the lucrative IT job market. All this
is being done to enhance the employability of rural youth.
"The essence of our rural empowerment programme is to ensure .
that rural infrastructure development takes place at a rapid rate. So
far neglected rural roads are being paved today with concrete to make
them last monsoon rains that are common in our part of the world. Rural
electricity programmes community water supply schemes minor irrigation
projects housing and market facilities are included in our rural infrastructure
development drive. In essence . our strategy is to level the playing
field between the 'urban, organized minority' and the 'rural, unorganized
majority' in the national development process. I am encouraged that
our development strategy - Mahinda Chinthana - Vision towards a New
Sri Lanka . sustained a near 7 percent economic growth during the last
three years and reached US dollars 1,600 per capita income in 2007.
Except in one district people below the poverty line have declined drastically
in 2007.
" Unfortunately we are being challenged by "the most brutal
terrorist group in the world" as the LTTE has been described by
the FBI. Suicide killings using even women and children have become
their hallmark. It is this terror group that invented the deadly suicide
vest for the suicide killer. Having pioneered the suicide vest they
have freely given this technology to other terror groups in the world.
This has now become a global menace.
"There have been hundreds of innocents civilians returning home
after work children going to school and young mothers going to their
weekly clinics being maimed or killed by indiscriminately exploded bombs
in crowded centres or being targeted by brain washed suicide bombers.
You need to see the havoc caused by shattered limbs and burning human
flesh to understand the sheer brutality that motivates this group of
terrorists. They killed Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India
and Ranasinghe Premadasa, the former President of Sri Lanka. Most recently
a senior Minister of my government a Tamil speaking Catholic was brutally
murdered by a suicide killer along with a former Olympic athlete among
many others participating in a sporting event.
"They also killed our former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar
. a scholar of distinction a legal luminary who once occupied this seat
as the President of the Oxford Union with distinction.
"Ladies and gentlemen it has become incumbent upon us to confront
this group to the extent of our ability deploying all the resources
of the State to protect the people of Sri Lanka and their democratic
way of life. I must add that what I am doing is in no way different
to what other democracies have done before and continue to do in the
face of terrorism. However I must state that the LTTE is the most brutal
terror outfit the world has ever seen and defeating them requires global
support.
What Sri Lanka is doing in my opinion is fighting this terror outfit
single handed to ensure that democracy and respect for human life prevail
in the world. If we fail in our war against the LTTE the world will
fail in its fight against terrorism and democracy will be the victim.
This is the plain truth.
Our development thrust unfortunately has had its own obstacles the main
being the brutal terrorist threat that makes us a developing country
to take a heavy toll. It is time that the world raising its united voice
expressed its utter revulsion of the barbaric practice of suicide bombings.
It must be made absolutely clear that this form of political expression
if it could be described as such is utterly unacceptable in the civilized
world.
There is a considerable challenge to the security forces of my country
whose goal is simply to protect the innocents and their simple way of
life. We need to understand that our security forces do not go out of
their way to harass innocents or to discriminate against a minority.
They take great personal risks constantly. The fear psychosis created
by the LTTE terror may cause some lapses in judgement but by and large
independent observers have always commended the efficiency politeness
and courtesy of the men in uniform.
We must remember that there are no methods or solutions which are universally
applicable to situations of this nature. It is the principal duty of
a government to assure the public of security of life and limb. It is
the terrorist group that decides when to strike: They decide the time
the place and the opportunity. They are in no way constrained by the
values and procedures which rightly control the responses of democratic
governments. These realities must be taken into account as the basis
of a fair and objective assessment of Sri Lanka's situation.
Although many have said that the LTTE is invincible we have freed our
Eastern Province of their terror. Within one year we have restored democracy
there after nearly two decades. Only last week we conducted free and
fair elections to the first ever Eastern Provincial Council contested
by several political parties.
As our forces seek to defeat and disarm the LTTE we are firm in our
resolve to have a negotiated solution to the crisis in Sri Lanka. I
do not believe in a military solution. We have attempted talks with
the LTTE on several occasions - thrice since my election as the President
- but they have not reciprocated. They have always left the talks with
lame excuses. We are still ready to talk once we are certain of their
genuine intent for a political solution and their readiness to give
up arms.
As young leaders you will take on increasing responsibilities in later
life. Destiny will place you in circumstances where you will be called
upon to lead and defend your countries. As someone who has been nurtured
and strengthened by an ethical and caring culture I want to leave with
you with some thoughts.
You and I are privileged to be what we are today but, there are millions
of our fellow beings who are not that fortunate and who need our guidance
leadership and caring. Leadership to these masses of people will have
to be given by you. Your leadership must be one that reflects your cultural
and religious values a sense of integrity dedication to the cause of
eliminating human suffering and a sense of generosity.
In conclusion, let me say that our chosen path to development of my
country especially the rural areas continues to be a challenge for all
of us particularly with threats that are both internal and external.
Ladies and gentlemen, the protection and advancement of human rights
continues to be a challenge for all of us not only in Sri Lanka but
globally. I only seek to encourage you to think of Sri Lanka as a country
that has achieved considerable success in caring for its people in the
face of a most brutal challenge thrown at us by terrorists. We will
continue to comply with the highest standards in keeping with values
and traditions we hold to be sacrosanct.
May the Noble Triple Gem Bless you all
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