The small Sri Lankan community in Thailand gathered at the official residence of Prof. J. B. Disanayaka, ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the country’s independence.
Given the importance of this year’s Independence Day, some Sri Lankan professionals took time off from official work to be part of the celebration which began in the morning with the hoisting of the national flag by Ambassador Disanayaka.
The flag hoisting was followed by the playing of the National Anthem with the Sri Lankan community joining in.
The lighting of the traditional oil lamp by the ambassador, persons of Sri Lankan origin and the longest-serving Thai employee at the Sri Lanka Embassy followed. Two minutes silence was then observed for those who sacrificed their lives to defend the sovereignty, independence and integrity of Sri Lanka.
Professor Disanayaka then addressed the gathering on the significance of the anniversary this year. He urged Sri Lankans to contribute to the new awakening of their motherland.
As an academic Prof Disanayaka was keenly interested in the attempts to revive the internationally- known the Jaffna Library that was burnt down by arsonists in the early 1980s. He said that the Jaffna Library was in need of books to re-establish itself and urged Sri Lankans to contribute to this end.
Prof Disanayaka also mentioned that the former rail link between Colombo and Jaffna that had fallen into disuse in the north is being restored and urged Sri Lankans to contribute to the reconstruction of the line called Uthuru Mithuru by buying railway tickets which were on sale.
Religious observances in all four major religions of Sri Lanka- Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity- were held. Thereafter the Independence Day Messages of His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa (in Sinhala), Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka (in Tamil) and Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama (in English) were read out. The Guest-of-Honour at this year’s celebration Prof N.L.A Karunaratne, Vice-Chancellor of the Sri Jayawardhanapura University addressed the Sri Lankans and asked them help restore the country to the pristine position it held at independence as perhaps the richest country in Asia.
Then Ambassador Disanayaka and the staff of the Embassy entertained the guests to lunch. Later that evening Ambassador Disanayaka and Mrs Disanayaka hosted a reception for Thai dignitaries and the diplomatic corps at the Hotel Grand Hyatt Erawan. The reception was made possible by the generous contribution of the Sri Lanka-Thai Chamber of Commerce.
Addressing the guests Ambassador Disanayaka underlined the special significance of independence day this year. “This is the first Independence Day we observe after having militarily defeated one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world, the LTTE.”
“Eight months ago, in the middle of May last year, our security forces finally vanquished the LTTE that had not only held its own Tamil people hostage but had caused the death of many thousands of innocent civilians in our country.” Why Sri Lanka was able to end one of the longest terrorist wars in Asia is because at this moment in our history we were fortunate to have a political leadership which resolutely pursued a policy of eliminating terrorism from our shores so that Sri Lankans of all ethnic groups could live without fear and as a free people.
“The other important event that we celebrate today is the electoral victory of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The leadership provided by President Rajapaksa to eliminate the LTTE which wanted to divide our small island nation on ethnic lines allowed Sri Lanka to hold a free election throughout the length and breadth of the country.” Last month’s election was won by incumbent President Rajapaksa by a resounding majority over his nearest rival, the ambassador said.
Even while fighting the war, the president had taken several tangible steps to launch impressive infrastructure programmes throughout the country that will soon be to bear fruit, he added. Thai Radio broadcast a statement by Ambassador Disanayaka while an English language and a Thai language paper carried special supplements on Sri Lanka. The English language “The Nation” published an article on Sri Lanka specially written for it in its editorial page.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Thailand
08-02-2010
