We will pursue our goals and ideals steadfastly

Note From Editor in Chief

[January 01, 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian]While we heartily wish our readers a New Year of blessings, this is an opportune moment for us to re-state our goals and ideals as the voice of the people of Sri Lanka be they Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Malay, Burgher or whoever to whom Sri Lanka is home. We will steadfastly remain their voices and the Sri Lanka Guardian will be their forum.

We have, to our great regret noted that some writers have attempted to use this forum to air their prejudices and bigoted and blinkered views on race, religion and other matters. Some even tried to drag in historical material to establish that one race has supremacy over the other and therefore more legitimate and that Sri Lanka is the land of the Sinhala people.

These writers not only took negative and indeed harmful views on the challenges we are facing in the country but also abused the privileges they were generously extended in this forum. They failed to appreciate our good gesture and also our avowed view that Sri Lanka is a nation of diverse communities which is a historical reality.
We published some of these features more to impress on the government that such highly opinionated, narrow-minded intolerance still survives in Sri Lanka to the detriment of the country and that it should make haste and bring about a solution to the ethnic problem.

But unfortunately, this has not happened and Sri Lanka is fast-spiraling into a racially chaotic situation and this has affected us on many fronts. We were also shocked beyond belief when Major-General Sarath Fonseka entrusted with the responsibility of liberating Wanni, a Tamil enclave, told a Canadian journalist that Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhalese and other communities live by the good grace of the Sinhala people. This was highly offensive and in our columns we have taken strong exceptions to this statement.

Just the way we reacted to the army chief, we will not tolerate anyone claiming that Sri Lanka only belongs to the Sinhalese. Should such a claim have credence, then virtually every community in the world will have to return home to Africa from which they moved away centuries ago.

Beginning today, Sri Lanka Guardian will publish political features that are positive in content seeking a just solution to the ethnic problem. We will certainly encourage writers to share the pros and cons of any controversy but will not tolerate features that will claim supremacy of one community over another and also contentions being made from dubious sources on racial and religious matters that are offensive.

We will take up social justice issues and will certainly fight corruption and other evils that plague our country to the bitter end. We will leave no stone unturned to expose organizations and individuals who hurt the country through devious means and more particularly whatever that harms the interests of the vulnerable, elderly, young people and children in general.

We strongly urge writers who have their own agendas to promote that are in conflict with the well being of Sri Lanka not to send in their features to us; we will certainly not publish them. As regards a solution for the ethnic crisis much has been said, various possible solutions have been aired, suggested or proposed and Sri Lanka Guardian too has expressed its views on numerous occasions.

It is now for the Government of Sri Lanka to reach an honourable and just solution which will enshrine the fact that Sri Lanka is the land of the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays, Burghers and others to whom this country is home and that no one race lives by the good grace of another.
The Editors and our writers extend to our readers their warm New Year wishes praying that honour and justice will return to our country soon. They are dedicated to this commitment. - Sri Lanka Guardian