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Friday, May 23, 2008 - 11.02 GMT |
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Defeating terrorism means defeating
communalism – President |
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Language, nation and culture do not develop
when you evict thousands of people belonging
to another race from your region. You cannot
develop or nurture language or a nation with
communalism. Hence defeating terrorism in a
country means defeating communalism, said
President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
President made these comments at the
inauguration ceremony of the construction of
the National Performing Arts Theatre in
Colombo funded by the Chinese government
this morning.
"Today we are swimming upstream against
communalism for which our country and
society are ready. It is not enough to
defeat terrorism, we should also defeat
communalism".
There are no racial or caste differences in
appreciating art. Most of our Buddhist songs
were recited by Master Mohideen Baig, a
Muslim. Many people of other nations are
used to appreciating artistic works produced
in our language. Our society has been quite
tolerant about thought and traditions of
other ethnic communities. Chinese nationals
have been engaged in business for hundreds
of years without any problem. They would
tell whether there is communalism in our
country or not, President added.
Following is the
full text of the speech
At this moment when we are about to
inaugurate the construction of this theatre
with Chinese government assistance my
thoughts are with the Chinese government and
the Chinese people who have suffered
immensely due to the earthquake in Shichuan
province. I express my deepest sympathies of
the people and the government of Sri Lanka
as well as my own sympathies to the people
and the government of People's Republic of
China.
May the people of China have the strength to
overcome this tragedy just as we overcame
the tragedy of the Tsunami! I know very well
that China could do so as it has a
population that is used to hardship with
fortitude and China is progressing rapidly
today challenging the developed world.
Friends, you know China and Sri Lanka are
long standing friends. China never deserted
us in times of distress. Now there are
plenty of Chinese goods in Sri Lanka.
Perhaps if you look at the sky from the
Bandaranaike Conference Hall you may see a
balloon made in China floating in the sky.
When our people want to how the closeness of
our friendship they say there are more
Chinese eateries in Sri Lanka than in China.
We are close not only physically but also
spiritually. Hence this theatre would be
close to the hearts of our people.
Friends, we have to build a society which
can enjoy our artistic and cultural
heritage. Our rapid development activities
as well as the war on terrorism has the
objective of equipping our country with
these facilities. All freedoms of the people
were curtailed at the time when the
terrorist was strong enough to decide who
should govern the country. Not only
political and religious heritage but also
the cultural heritage was constrained by
terrorism.
Language, nation and culture do not develop
when you evict thousands of people belonging
to another race from your region. You cannot
develop or nurture language or a nation with
communalism. Hence defeating terrorism in a
country means defeating communalism. We have
recently taken many very successful steps
towards this end. Today we are swimming
upstream against communalism for which our
country and society are ready. Friends, it
is not enough to defeat terrorism, we should
also defeat communalism. There are no racial
or caste differences in appreciating art.
Most of our Buddhist songs were recited by
Master Mohideen Baig, a Muslim. Many people
of other nations are used to appreciating
artistic works produced in our language. Art
has no racial or caste distinctions. Our
society has been quite tolerant about
thought and traditions of other ethnic
communities. Chinese nationals have been
engaged in business for hundreds of years
without any problem. They would tell whether
there is communalism in our country or not.
I earlier said that our development would
create the necessary environment for the
development of art and culture. We should
very quickly create facilities for
appreciation of art in our country. When we
want to have a big art festival or a concert
we still go to the Bandaranaike Convention
Hall. But its a convention hall and not one
designed for artistic performances.
We do not have a performing arts theatre
because as a nation we have not thought
about arts sufficiently. However, we have a
rich artistic tradition. We are quit rich in
the performing arts. The Dalada pageant is a
treasure of performing arts. It is one of
the most valued pageants in the world. Our
society is rich in a variety of dance forms,
belonging to the up-country, low-country,
Sabaragamuwa traditions as well as various
Tamil traditions. Yet we don’t have an
appropriate theatre to exhibit these dances.
We must enrich these dance forms and also
build a society that would appreciate them.
Our development system will generate a
tolerant society. Art is not harmonious with
a competitive society based only on
commercial objectives.
We do not push our people to race after a
trade economy. We do not train our children
to live by selling our treasures. Our aim is
to develop on the basis of an indigenous
economy as in China. Such a society will not
run behind commercial objectives. This will
be a great service to art.
You know our rural roads are been developed
rapidly. Villages are receiving electricity
quickly. There is also a rapid development
in rural transport and communication
facilities. All these are prerequisites for
a fine appreciation of art. Both the
thinking and the material existence that
encompass our development are beneficial to
art. Therefore, the country that is being
built today will be one that could make
maximum use of this great theatre that will
be constructed here .
May the theatre provide facilities to
artists belonging to all nations so that
they could speak in the language of their
hearts! I wish you a happy future!
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