Sinhala Ultra nationalist elements are not in agreement with any of the elected Sinhala governments since 1956 on this Tamil issue...!!!

Let’s not forget the past

It is said that the Sinhalaya has a genius for forgetting the past. Now some of our Sinhala brothers and sisters, including those overseas, are repeatedly asking the question "was there any problem for Tamils in Sri Lanka?" These ultra nationalist elements are not in agreement with any of the elected governments since 1956 on this Tamil issue! As I pointed out earlier to Dr. Pethiyagoda in a letter to this newspaper, almost all governments have agreed that there is a Tamil problem and have suggested solutions. All such attempts were sabotaged by ultra nationalists and this paved the way for Tamil youth to justify their armed struggle before becoming the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit under the name of the LTTE.

Issues such as the language problem have already been addressed constitutionally, but has still not been fully implemented as most Sinhala officers do not know Tamil and correspondence is mainly in Sinhala. Repeated questioning of the existence or the uniqueness of the problems of the Tamil people will not only reflect the ignorance of some Sinhala people but also cause embarrassment to most Sri Lankans. The government has vowed to eliminate the root causes of Tamil grievances within a unitary state. Let’s support the government, in rebuilding solidarity between all ethnic groups. Let’s put our egos aside for a while (as Mohan Sekaram appealed to his community in his widely circulated letter) and offer the hand of reconciliation to our Tamil friends. Let’s prove our honesty to our international friends in addressing those root causes as we promised. Let’s not allow petty minded elements to distract Sri Lanka from its path to prosperity and repeat history.

C A Saliya
New Zealand

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