Time to take stock

The Government celebrating the third anniversary of winning the war in grand style reminds the people of how far the country has come. Since 2009, economic growth has been spurred with much infrastructure development and policies to capture missed opportunities. In the midst of these strides, there are still issues that need to be addressed in the gradual march towards real peace.

For those who wish to remember the real cost of the war, the destination should be the War Memorial at Parliament Grounds, where the families of fallen soldiers will converge in remembrance of all the thousands of men and women who lost their lives in a bloody, and at times hopeless, conflict. They will come to remember, but they will come with heavy hearts. Thankfully, this loss of life has ended and that is certainly a reason to celebrate.

Aside from them, there will be disabled soldiers who will come bearing both physical and psychological scars. Their families will come to believe that it was done for a worthwhile cause. Official records state that there are over 10,000 differently-abled soldiers, many of whom still need assistance to put the past behind them and move forward. Long-term assistance for these vulnerable groups is still needed, but the Government has taken steps to establish welfare centres and there are many ways that the public can help out.

Civilians are also war-affected. Dozens of people who were caught in bomb blasts or injured together with their families will remember the end of the war with a sense of gratitude and relief.

Further from the main celebrations are thousands of war widows and their families. Would they bother to celebrate? What of the mothers whose children are still missing or the children who have lost their parents? How about those who do not know when they will feel freedom such as the 80 former LTTE cadres who have staged a protest asking that their cases be fast-tracked? Officials admit that some have been in jail for several years without trial, unable to go home. These issues need to be addressed with the same level of dedication that saw the Government rehabilitate over 10,000 former combatants, returning most of them to their former homes.

Hundreds of thousands of resettled people still struggling to make ends meet and rebuild their lives would feel the day pass by as any other. Greater investment motivated by the Government’s dedication to infrastructure will provide employment and better lives. Already apparel companies among others have moved to the north and east to begin the steps to reconciliation.

For the Government, the intent is to remind the people of a positive change that has taken place; no doubt the people are grateful, but they are also conscious of the challenges ahead.

On a larger scale, growing lawlessness, corruption and the lack of transparency and good governance have spread to every aspect of life. Corruption has become so commonplace that it hardly warrants a mention. Politicisation has snuck into every aspect of governance and driven out justice in the process. Law courts find that their job as been taken over by the people who mete out retribution however they see fit. Even the prehistoric artefacts sprinkled around the country are not safe from purveyors of greed. Even if these issues can be forgotten for the day, reality bites harder on the potential that the end of the war awoke in the country.

Dealing with the challenges and forging ahead to create sustainable development have become ever more serious as time pushes the war behind Sri Lanka.