25th Anniversary Celebrations of the SLUNA in Toronto on 30th August 2008 

Given below is the speech delivered by Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the 25^th Anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka United National Association in Toronto on 30^th August 2008.  

The above excerpt of an interview with the Japanese National Television (NHK), in September 2004 by the late Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar, perhaps best encapsulates that great man’s visionary idealism and his aspiration for a Sri Lanka, devoid of conflict and at peace with itself. A Sri Lanka where children grow up to be adults and die of natural causes; where every mother does not have to worry whether her child will return home from school; where every spouse does not live in suspense until the breadwinner comes home in the evening; where every journey carries with it the risk of being shredded to pieces by a suicide bomber; where the country and our people prosper in the natural course of events. Kadirgamar aspired to such a future and we must all make this our goal. 

At the very outset, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations and sincere best wishes to the President, Executive Committee members, and indeed, to all members and well wishers of the Sri Lanka United National Association (SLUNA) on the 25th anniversary of its foundation. I am grateful for your invitation. The silver jubilee of any organization is a cause for justified celebration; SLUNA has more than one reason for jubilation. It was formed at a time when Sri Lanka was reviled internationally and our country’s fair name had been besmirched by the virulent hate campaign unleashed by its detractors in the aftermath of July 1983, the biggest blot on Sri Lanka’s recent history. Many of these erstwhile critics had earlier benefited extensively from the country’s free education system, its free health services and even held very senior positions in government. It is to the eternal credit of the few dedicated men and women, motivated solely by patriotic zeal and undying love for the land of their birth that they braved heavy odds to band themselves into the SLUNA, to redeem the good name of their motherland. I salute the founders of SLUNA for their timely initiative, their courage and their selfless commitment to take on the daunting challenge posed by the well–oiled, slick anti-Sri Lanka propaganda machine. There are other similar organizations elsewhere which perform a yeoman service. But we are particularly conscious of the service rendered by SLUNA in Canada, given the large Sri Lankan community in this country.  

Dr. Nallai Nallainayagam, a former Sri Lankan civil servant, now resident in Canada wrote to a Sri Lankan newspaper last month, on his personal experience of the riots. I was deeply touched by his complete absence of rancour and his sense of equanimity in sharing his thoughts. I believe, that it is fitting that I quote from his article.  Dr. Nallainayagam, narrating his experience had this to say: “The riots brought out the worst and the best of human traits. Some neighbours who have lived in harmony and peace for a long time turned informants, guiding the mobs towards Tamil homes. At the same time, many Sinhalese and Muslims, both neighbours and strangers, risked their lives to protect the lives of Tamils by hiding them in their homes and feeding them till they could be taken to safety. My family sought refuge in the house of a very close Sinhalese friend and was well looked after for more than two weeks due to the kindness and the generosity of this family and friends in the Muslim community. We have no words to thank them for their bravery and kind heartedness “. This was not an isolated or unusual story. It was repeated over and over again across the island. But what we are always reminded of is the worst excesses that occurred and not of the numerous heart-warming stories such as these. Since then, despite the many provocations by the LTTE, the Sinhalese and Muslims have not responded with violence. Since 1983, terrorist violence unleashed by the LTTE has claimed the lives of thousands of our people belonging to all communities, be they civilians or soldiers. The cream of our political leadership and intelligentsia have fallen victim to the ruthless killing spree of the Tigers-- President Ranasinghe Premadasa, Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayake and Ranjan Wijeratne come to one’s mind. Tamil politicians and intellectuals who were perceived to show the slightest dissent were not spared either; starting with the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, in 1975, to A. Amirthalingam and V. Yogeswaran in the early 1990s, and more recently T. Maheswaran. The LTTE has systematically and mercilessly eliminated virtually any form of alternative political voice of the Tamil community. The sole exception perhaps is Minister Douglas Devananda, truly a living miracle, having survived numerous attempts on his life, for daring to challenge the hegemony that the LTTE seeks to impose on the Tamil people. Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, Dr. Rajini Thiranagama, Ms. Maheshwari Velayutham, Kethesh Loganathan and a number of human rights activists, who spoke out against the brutalities committed by the LTTE, were not so lucky. I wonder whether there is any other country in the world where atrocities such as those perpetrated by the LTTE at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy or at the Sacred Bo Tree in Anuradhapura or at the mosque at Kaththankudy would not have given rise to uncontrollable passions. We need not search far to see how lesser infractions have given rise to raging fires of communal violence. I believe that the vast majority of our people are decent human beings and it is to their eternal credit that they have resisted these provocations. 

Dr. Nallainayagam went on to describe with a degree of wistfulness, the pain of leaving his motherland. In his words, he says: “It was, therefore, a painful decision for my wife and me as we were leaving two good jobs, the country that we loved very much and many close friends who had enriched our lives over the years.” 

Dr. Lakshman Abeyagunawardene, a medical doctor wrote about his personal experience of those dark days, to another Sri Lankan newspaper last month, which I feel, I ought to share with you. He wrote: “The Black July of 1983 was a time when most Sinhala people too went through untold misery, distress and mental agony. The homes of many Tamil friends were going up in flames. In the days that followed the racial riots, innocent Tamils, irrespective of their social standing, were all incarcerated in refugee camps. Every morning, for almost a month, I went out visiting refugee camps with a stock of drugs and other medical needs. In a hangar at the Ratmalana airport, I met a refugee doctor with whom I had enjoyed a drink at his plush home just a week before the riots broke out.  

The speed with which the balance of racial harmony was ruptured surprised many. But one needs to remember the constant prodding, the repeated provocations and the unnecessarily threatening attitudes, including the senseless murder of Jaffna Mayor, Duraiappa, and the blatant killing of 13 soldiers, all of which contributed to what happened in July. We must learn our lesson. We must understand the background to avoid a situation of this nature again. We must remember to heed the danger signs and be sensitive to what is not acceptable in the future.  

It is never likely that the majority of Sri Lankans will agree to a partition of their land. This would apply equally to the Muslims who are scattered throughout the country, the Tamils, 54% of whom have chosen to live in the South, mostly in Colombo and the Sinhalese, who used to constitute over 2% of the population of Jaffna, sadly they are no longer there. The Muslims who used to inhabit Jaffna are still in refugee camps. Once we acknowledge the basic sentiment that the country is not going to be divided, then we need to address the issue of living in it together as equals – with equal rights, equal privileges and equal dignity. As Lakshman Kadirgamar so eloquently stated, we have lived together for centuries. We must be able to do so now. 

Nation building is no easy task. It is too important and onerous to be left solely in the hands of the Government. It cannot be willed by the Government for it to materialize, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of the hat. It requires the participation of all stakeholders of the nation, above all else, the commitment of all sections of the people. It requires tons of patience, painstaking and persistent efforts to overcome the innumerable obstacles strewn along the path, a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, the ability to co-exist peacefully with people who belong to a different community professing a different religion or speaking a different tongue or hailing from a different social class. This would mean that we should rise above all these artificial barriers that have hitherto divided us, and embrace the spirit of our nation and celebrate the diversity of the various cultures and religions that have so enriched our island home.