Bakeer Markar appeals to President to protect SL diversity

• Lists multiple challenges facing economy, healthcare and social sectors
• Urges President to take courageous decisions and follow path chosen by leaders such as D.S. Senanayake and others that will lead Sri Lanka to a prosperous country that has unity in diversity

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Imthiaz Bakeer Markar

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar has written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of independence as someone who has more than five decades of experience in politics, about the present and the future of country. Interestingly, Markar says he was writing not just as a politician or a civil society activist, but as a fellow Anandian and a father who wishes a better future for Sri Lanka’s children.

Following are excerpts of the Imthiaz Bakeer Markar letter copies of which had been sent to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as well as Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.

Today we face multiple challenges in the economy, healthcare and social sectors. As a nation we have faced many such challenges in the past and overcome them.

But more than any other challenge the struggle for independence was the most complex and decisive issue.

There have been many discussions at various times about the direction our country is headed, and what sort of a Sri Lanka we will hand over to the future generations.

Sadly, the dreams and aspirations we have had for our country have been subsumed by narrow political agendas at various times in our history.

From my student days, I have been committed towards creating a country which will accept all communities in the same light, mostly because I was schooled in Roman Catholic, Muslim and Buddhist institutions.

For more than 20 years, since the death of my father, we have sought to build a just society through the Bakeer Markar Centre, which promotes “understanding diversity, respecting diversity, and making diversity not a hindrance but a strength” sans party politics. 

It is my firm belief that we can build a proud and prosperous nation only if we can have a just society that creates unity in diversity.

It is sad to note that today, rather than treading the correct path to overcome our challenges we have chosen to subsume that, by following a narrow political agenda.

We have failed to accept international norms to settle the current debate over whether we should bury or cremate our dead, and instead dug our heels in narrow political agendas, further exacerbating the divisions in our society.

We live in a world where there is greater emphasis for the protection of human rights. We should build a democratic society that is an example to the world rather than being held accountable for violations of democratic principles by international opinion. It is my firm belief that it is our collective responsibility to ensure an open discussion within ourselves to create a consensus to protect democracy and citizen’s rights rather than force our people to ask the world for help or take other extreme measures.

Before independence our colonial masters followed the policy of divide and rule so that we will not unite to liberate ourselves. It is a tragedy therefore, that the policies followed to divide us at that time are being used today, 73 years after we got our freedom.

We must defeat these trends which are pushing us towards further division and conflict. We must prevent the world from isolating us as a society that does not protect democracy and human rights. It is our duty to build an exemplary society that inculcates the values given to us by the world’s great religions for the current generation and the generations to come.

Today Sri Lankans regard D.S. Senanayake not just as the founder of the United National Party, but as the father of the nation. That is because he was able to bring together a diverse coalition that encompassed the various communities, ethnic groups and other forces to confront the colonial agenda and won the support of Sir D.B. Jayatilaka, Ponnambalam Ramanathan, E.W. Perera, Dr. T.B. Jayah, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, S. Nadesan and others.

I would like to remind you that your father who represented the historic Giruwa Pattu region was also a member of that coalition.

I am addressing you today not just as a politician or a civil society activist, but as a fellow Anandian and a father who wishes a better future for our children. On the day we commemorate our freedom, I appeal to you to take courageous decisions so that you can follow the path chosen by our leaders D.S. Senanayake and others that will lead us to a prosperous country that has unity in diversity that we can leave to our children and quench the fires that burn in our hearts.