All gave some, some gave all
Some stood through for a nation so true
and some had to fall.
And if you ever think of me
Think of all your liberties and recall
SOME GAVE ALL -
Bill Ray Cyrus (Adapted)
On the 11th day of the eleventh month at 11a.m in 1918, the Armistice after World War 1was signed. Thus every year most Commonwealth countries observe Remembrance Sunday on the second Sunday in November at 11 a.m. to remember those who have sacrificed their lives and limbs in the patriotic defence of each nation, by observing two minutes silence to remember the war heroes and to aspire for a just peace.
In former times the traffic was brought to a standstill, and radios and TVs became silent – to remember.
There are many ways to permanently remember the war dead. There are the war cemeteries and graves to remember each of them; there are the war memorials with a cenotaph in which their names are engraved such as at Kotte on Parliament Road and at the Vihara Maha Devi park; and there are the remembrance theme parks such as the one at Mailapitiya, 16 km from Kandy on Raja Mawatha, on the theme ‘Peace and life has come from death and strife.’
The National Remembrance Park at Mailapitiya was opened on October 3, 2002 and constructed from public donations, contributions from the Corporate Sector, the Public Sector (mainly the President’s Fund) and the mercantile sector (led by the Ceylon Tobacco Company). It was a Rs. 30 million project on a concept paper by the Presidential Adviser Dr. Tara De Mel after consulting many service personnel, and executed by Gen. Denis Perera, the then Chairperson of the Ceylon Tobacco Company, the writer, the then Chairperson of the RVSA, the Sri Lanka Army (Sri Lanka Engineers Regiment), and the late Arch. Turner Wickremesinghe and Arch. Mano Ponniah. The last named received an award for this construction and landscaping at the annual Architects Convention.
Remembering all
The National Remembrance Park (NRP) is a 24-acre block of hills overlooking the backwaters of the Victoria Reservoir, a place of ecologically sound and serene beauty. At the entrance is a unique monument of 3 stainless steel bars ascending to the skies meeting at the apex. It depicts the traditional worshipping hands of a pleuralistic nation in gratitude and honour of the heroes lost in action in defending Sri Lanka since Independence in 1948.
At the four corners of the entrance landing are four altars for the major religions in Sri Lanka with statements from each of the Scriptures engraved in granite, to enable visitors who so wish to spend time in religious contemplation.
A brass lamp with a naked eternal flame symbolizes the light of patriotism that future generations can emulate. A fountain and pool of running water at the centre of the monument depicts the present peace and life that those whose death in strife made possible for future generations. The water pump was donated by Jinasena & Co.
The NRP consists of several landings, one for each Regiment in the Army and for the Air Force, Navy and Police. At each landing there are granite plaques in which the names of the killed and missing in action are inscribed and painted so that generations to come and the families of the lost may honour them.
These slabs are placed at an angle as in a book – the book of life, to differentiate it from the vertical tombstones in a cemetery. The NRP is a place of remembrance and peaceful contemplation in an environment of natural beauty – not a morbid war cemetery. There was a time when Army Regiments organized pilgrimage visits of the families of war heroes to the NRP.
Three differently able persons from the Armed Services are housed at the NRP for maintenance work. An Army Unit at Kandy continues the maintenance and security of this Park, as envisaged in a proposed Trust Deed which was signed in 2003 by the Heads of the Armed Forces, Police, the Rana Viru Seva Authority and the Ceylon Tobacco Company. Unfortunately this independent Trust of Rs. five million for maintenance and development was not registered due to bureaucratic interference.
Unfinished remembering
When the NRP was constructed there were several matters contemplated but that remain incomplete after the registration of the Trust was thwarted and I shall mention a few with the hope that the present administration will attend to these matters.
It was intended that names of all heroes with the date and the place of martyrdom or who went missing will be continuously and solemnly read through the amplifiers installed in different places of the park – like at the Yad Vashim holocaust museum in Israel, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The amplifiers were purchased and installed at great cost and the Communications Department of the Colombo University began recording the names. That is now a forgotten matter.
It was also intended to plant indigenous trees and plants in the name of each one killed and missing in action, and to have their names and the botanical names of the flora displayed. Several plants of each type of fruit plant or medicinal herb or Jak were to be planted together to bring an income too. This is particularly important for those missing in action because the families will then have a dedicated site to commemorate the memory of the deceased (thought missing). The assistance of the experts in the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens was to be sought.
This matter has not got off the ground, though an initial round of talks was held in 2003.
It would be appropriate now that the northern strife is over, for there to be a psychological closure to unresolved grief in memory of those missing in action. I would suggest an almsgiving (dhane) with religious ceremonies of all religions for those declared missing as an act of closure that would hopefully bring resolution to the grief, depression, denial and bargaining. This was achieved to a fair extent after the Vietnam War when Christian memorial services were held for those then declared missing.
A large artificial flame visible from a long distance even from Kandy, was situated on another hill at the NRP at the inauguration of the NRP. It needs to be lit only at night. This is no longer done, perhaps due to the cost of electricity. May I suggest that this be resumed using a cheaper source of energy – solar panels.
Remembering not enough
It was the soldiers, sailors, airpersons and police personnel who fought with loss of life and limb to end our 30-year-old strife and earlier the world wars. Let us remember them and do something for their families and the maimed and retired. We should care for those who dare.
Good housing and psychosocial programmes are done without political interference by the Seva Vanitha Units of each Armed Force and the Police. Contribute personally to these organizations and I would suggest that we restart the Jayaviru Lottery (originally suggested by a business person, Armyne Wirasinghe) for the welfare of combatants and their families. As Laurence Binyan wrote ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them’. We will remember them.
(The writer is a former Chairperson of the Rana Viru Seva Authority) |
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