Today we find ourselves at a crucial stage in the history of our country. At the end of three decades of our darkest hours as a nation, we are finally seeing a glimpse of light to what could be the dawn of the finest hour of our country. The choice is ours, we can choose to break away from the sinking sand of division, hatred and destruction and make our way towards a solid foundation of reconciliation, hope and prosperity as a country. Foundations that we never inherited but must fervently strive to attain for the next generation of Sri Lankans.
The end of the civil war marks the beginning of an era where we, as Sri Lankans, have one more shot at rebuilding our nation and to ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. The responsibility of achieving this does not remain merely in the hands of our elected officials but lies on the shoulder of every Sri Lankan, both young and old. This is our time to contribute to help build Sri Lanka. The time for complaining, accusing and abdicating ones’ responsibility to this country needs to come to an end.
We choose to act; we long to be part of the solution. This is the pulse of Sri Lanka Unites. We are a group of young professionals and university students from around Sri Lanka who believe that change is possible and it must begin with us. We will not let the hatred of the past control the present, and destroy our future. This is our future, this is our country. The best, we believe, is yet to come. We have a dream - that Sri Lanka will come to be associated with Reconciliation, Hope and Prosperity. This is a dream that seeks to drastically move away from the popular perception of Sri Lanka in the local and international community.
Freedom has truly made itself known! For the first time in our lifetime we can truly be proactive and part of the solution. At the recently concluded Future Leaders Conference for Hope and Reconciliation, over three hundred Students Leaders and Prefects from 7 provinces attended this inaugural event. We witnessed Prefects and Students from Jaffna and Mannar meet for the first time and build friendships with their counterparts in Matara, Kalutara and Anuradhapura; Students from Colombo and Gampaha meeting Students from Batticaloa and Ampara. Student leaders from the four corners of our country could meet for the first time in their life, eat together, share a room, play sports, sharpen their leadership skills and kindle a friendship and move towards reconciliation and a conception of hope. These students were able to experience something that we, the “war generation”, could not even dream of.
Participants of the Future Leaders Conference were pleasantly surprised to find that a kindred spirit can exist beyond the lines of ethnicity, first language, economic status, province or district. The last day of the Conference, as students from each ethnic group asked forgiveness from each other for the wrong doing of a previous generation, to us marked the beginning of something far greater than this country has yet seen. This was the rising up of a new generation that was profoundly more mature than millions in their parents’ generation, and which had the potential to be leaders of a reconciled Sri Lanka.
A Student from Kandy wrote to us following the conference:
“I did not think I could stand to be at a conference with Tamils from the North. Thank you for giving me an experience that not only destroyed my inherited prejudices and racism, but gave me lifelong Tamil friends, brothers and sisters from the North and East. I shall forever be grateful”.
A Student from Jaffna made the following statement:
“We were able to make several friends among the Sinhala, Muslim and Burgher students. I can say it is indeed a great chance for students from Jaffna to attend such a lovely conference after the continuous civil war for 30 years. We were overwhelmed by everything you rendered to us, from your love to your care. As you said at the end of our conference, it may be the end of our conference but it is the beginning of a new era in Sri Lanka. “WE WILL GIVE OUR HANDS TO BRING BACK HOPE AND RECONCILIATION.”
We, as the organizers, were blown away to see how naturally these students knew what was needed in order to pursue reconciliation. We watched as they fervently overcame the communication barriers and attempted to learn each other’s language, and worked together as if they had mastered a chemistry of doing so. They sang and danced together to songs in both languages and cultures. On the last day, we saw students from the south help carry the bags to the Jaffna bus and say their final goodbye for the fifth time.
These were student leaders of a generation that were truly made of something special - they possessed an inbuilt capacity to celebrate diversity, love, reconcile and overcome the challenges resulting from years of division. They were able to call the bluff on prejudices that were fed to them by the previous generation; inherited prejudices of a lifetime were fading in the light of five days of interactions with their counterparts. They have the capacity to do what their parents and grandparents could not imagine, thus they possessed the potential to lead us to an era of Hope and Reconciliation.
Freedom has also made itself known, as reflected by the fact that we are now working to be part of the solution to help and be involved in the relief and resettlement efforts. Innocent civilians from both ethnicities have been greatly inconvenienced and suffered in the midst of the civil war. However, we watched helplessly as the war situation made it impossible for us to respond. Today we have the freedom to get involved and that is what we are doing. Members of SLU have already been to the IDP camps multiple times with supplies ranging from wheelchairs, slippers, clothes and toys. We are now also working with resettlement camps on psychological counseling for kids and providing opportunities for professionals to work with us. Our Asst. Vice President, Christy left a promising academic career to pursue a law degree to work fulltime at the IDP camps through Sarvodaya. He has been in Manik farm and other IDP camps from the very inception of these camps and been there every single day. We work with him and assist his work, guided by his insight and experience.
As a result of the conference, we have over 300 Students Leaders from around the country working with us collecting relief items, willing to work in IDP camps and help rebuild in any way possible. The conference brought the need of our brothers and sisters in the North to the attention of students around the country, to the point where it was more than a point of discussion, political bantering or a web article but an opportunity to actually respond. These students have already begun efforts to collect items for our hygiene packs and other instructed items. These are students from Kalutara, Anuradhapura, Kandy, Kegalle and Batticaloa, showing that they too care and want to be involved.
It must be understood that freedom, in its early form, may not be at a perfect grandiose stage, but nevertheless, it is here. We, as a country, have a long way to go before we can claim to be a nation that epitomizes the concept of freedom and equality. The opportunity to take initial strides of a great journey, is NOW! We were waiting for years for a glimpse of freedom to act and now, finally, it’s here. The Future Leaders Conference gave us that opportunity to make known to young leaders from across the country that Freedom has truly made itself known and we need to build on it for the benefit of all people in this our precious land. Never has any country been given freedom on a platter in pristine condition. When the opportunity to grasp freedom, or a glimpse of freedom dawned, they rose and made it their own. The secret, we believe, is to act - not to make excuses and complain till you get what you want.
This is our opportunity, and we will make it count.
Prashan De Visser
President
Sri Lanka Unites.