Of late, once again, from time to time, we hear the strident cries and loud drumbeats of the so-called nationalists who, in the name of a misguided patriotism, propagate the dangerous doctrine of differentiation between the majority and the “others”.
I use the words “so-called” very advisedly because, by definition, a true nationalist is one who believes in and propagates the concept of nation-hood, a concept that goes hand-in-glove with the allied concept of citizenship. A nation is built up of all its citizens, without the exclusion of any one group.
To breathe fire in terms of a narrow nationalism, claiming ownership of the land by a majority group while relegating “others” to an inferior status, is a blatant contradiction. These emotionally driven people who whip up sentiments of exclusive ownership of this our land by the majority community fail to realise the great disservice they do to that community. Unfortunately, this Nazi-like concept of exclusive ownership of the land by one group has been loudly proclaimed in very high and powerful places, without contradiction or clarification.
And this at a time when our President has repeatedly emphasised both here and at international forums, including that apex body, the United Nations, that his primary mission is to build a united, undivided Sri Lanka. To accomplish this mission he is waging a war against a ruthless terrorist group bent on dividing this land, while at the same time doing all in his power to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people.
There is no contradiction between these two aims provided, the terrorists are separated, in the collective consciousness and conscience of the Sinhala people, from the Tamil people. It is imperative that our President, if he is to convince the Tamil people of his genuineness, impregnates the hearts and minds of the Sinhala people with the true meaning of nationhood, nationalism and citizenship and the rights of all citizens, and with the unclouded idea that while a terrorist may be a Tamil, a Tamil is not necessarily a terrorist.
Just recently, the world’s (till now) only superpower, but still the most powerful nation, demonstrated unmistakably that the American people were sufficiently mature to understand the true meaning of the words “nation”, “nationalism” and “citizen”, when they elected to the highest office of the land a man who belonged to a group of citizens comprising not more than 12 percent of all US citizens.
If we are hoping to build a truly united Sri Lanka, and that is the sole hope for our future survival, there has to be a drastic change in the hearts and minds of the Sinhala majority, with an acceptance of the universally acknowledged concept that a land belongs to all its citizens, and that all citizens of a United Sri Lanka must and will enjoy equal rights and, in like manner, all citizens will share an equal obligation and responsibility to work towards achieving a truly United Sri Lanka.
Let me end this plea for a better future with the words of a peace song, once aired very frequently but sadly rarely heard these days, drowned as it is by the sounds of the trumpets, drums and guns of war.
“This land belongs to You,
This land belongs to Me,
This land belongs to All of Us
To live in Harmony.” |
E-mail