We need to change the direction of the present crisis to our benefit.
by Justice C.V.Wigneswaran
Two days ago a woman aged about 30 years was seen fallen on the road close to my residence here in Nallur. An elderly lady saw this and immediately brought it to the notice of my Police Security. Initially those around her including this elderly lady gave water & something to eat to revive her. They brought her to my residence. On inquiring we were told she was married, her husband was blind in one eye and he was unemployed. They had a one and a half year old child. She had set out to find employment that day. She had not eaten anything that morning. She had fainted. We helped her with adequate provisions and sent her home.
The elderly lady had spent all the money in her purse amounting to Rs.300/= on this woman. The fact that people around an affected fallen person came forward to jointly help her, speaks well of our people.
But this type of unfortunate incidents could happen more and more in the future. Thefts and robberies may increase. Especialy cycle thefts would take place in a big way.
Therefore there is an urgency on our part to plan for the future. Who is responsible for the present crisis, how they should be punished, how we could ease our long term financial impasse are questions to be relegated to the backseat and how we should solve the difficulties our people face today should be the question that should come over to the forefront.
We need to change the direction of the present crisis to our benefit. Already in 2018 our party had identified self rule, self reliance and self sufficiency as our goals. In politics we were to agitate for self rule, socially and individually we advised people to act from the standpoint of self reliance and economically we were to work towards self sufficiency. While working towards self rule politically, we decided to induce our people to stand on their own feet and work with self confidence and self reliance. We are requesting our people to reach self sufficiency economically in the North and East working with self confidence. What we said then is what all Parties are now repeating.
We Tamils have a heritage, a culture and history of our own. Poetess Auwaiyar said “Not to step into the garden of those who do not respect us, is worth a crore”. Thus it is a sheer waste of time to respect the Sinhala Governments who do not respect us and expect them to help us. We need to learn to protect us and nourish us ourselves. We should be ashamed to hold begging bowls before others. We should learn to respect our own selves and act with self reliance.
To be self reliant is to have faith in our selves and make or obtain all what we need ourselves. During the time of the Tigers we were self reliant. After the war we have got used to holding the begging bowl before others. The culture of today is to expect everything from others. What will the government give us, what will the NGOs give us, what will the Donors give us, what will the Diaspora provide us are our expectations. It is sad that generally we do not think how we should improve our lot ourselves.
If you ask me how I am viewing our present predicament I would say we all stand perplexed and immobile today. But we must come out of this stupor to engage ourselves in self reliant activities. We must allow the adverse circumstances that have engulfed us to make us think and act with self confidence towards success. We need to learn to act unitedly. For example four neighbours could fill their vehicles with fuel individually but each could take turns to give the other three lift in their vehicle thus saving fuel and building up camaraderie among neighbours.
Our youth of today, males and females, must learn not to waste their precious times but think of ways and means to discover or invent new gadgets and things. We must try to improve our organic fertilizers to get a yield of our crops comparable to those yielded by inorganic fertilizers. We could research into alternative and cheaper modes of travel and transport.
Necessity is the mother of invention. We have many a need today. How to fulfill our several needs using newer and modern means should be our concern. We must stop blaming the government and others for our adverse circumstances and start thinking as to how we should meet the challenges that have beset us.
I would therefore say I view our present situation as a God given opportunity to improve ourselves. As far as we are concerned we have built home gardens, we have planted on the excess land surrounding our office area and we have taken land on lease to cultivate many crops. Several months would elapse before our conditions improve. Therefore we must act now with determination to avert hunger, famine and diseases in the near future.
Do not allow your lands to remain fallow. Plant on them! Borrow from Banks even to convert your bare lands into fertile lands that provide succour to us.
Let me pray that the present impasse do help us to engage ourselves to work for self rule, self reliance and self sufficiency.
Justice C.V.Wigneswaran is Member of Parliament representing the Jaffna District
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