A letter to Ranil from a Sinhalese Christian Priest in the Church of England
Dear Sirs,
Ranil Wickremasinghe
I am a Christian Priest in the Church of England. I am also a Sinhala per son and, although I now reside in the UK, I remain very, very proud to be a son of Sri Lanka. For these reasons, I am greatly disturbed to read suggestions in the Sri Lankan press and media that Chri stians almost invariably support the Ranil Wickremasinghe brand of UNP'ism. Even if it were true that some of us may have done so once upon a time, let me assure you that we most certainly do not do so any more, and there is a very good reason for this. Although we are Christians, Sinhala blood still runs in our veins and, when the good of our country is at stake, we Sinhala Chri stians stand shoulder to shoulder with our Sinhala Buddhist brothers and sisters in facing up to that threat. Up until now, we had thought that that threat came only from the LTTE. Now we realise that it also comes from another equally dangerous source – led by Wickremasinghe. Instead of living up to his name which mean s 'victorious lion', he seems to be behaving like a venomous snake in our midst. I read and see in the British press and television how actively he is engaged in subverting our national intere sts on the international stage. As if that weren't bad enough, we now hear that he has taken to abusing the Maha Sangha and our troops at home. Your readers need to know that Sinhala Christians are as disgusted as Sinhala Buddhists are by the savagery of his attack upon the Maha Sangha. We Christian clergy readily acknowledge that it i s not we but the Maha Sangha who, throughout our long and noble history, have been at the forefront of resisting threats to our national integrity. They are doing so once again in the face of the LTTE threat. By de scribing them as 'dussila', Wickremasinghe has forfeit any respect to which he may have once been entitled as a national leader. Let me tell Wickremasinghe that we, for our part, infinitely prefer to take our lead from the Sangha in thi s struggle than we would ever wish to from him.
We are equally appalled by his denigration of the achievements of our brave and courageous armed forces who are daily sacrificing life and limb to defend our nation.
Wickremasinghe must surely be conscious of the effect his words and actions would have on their confidence and morale, yet he per sists in seeking to undermine both. One can only surmise that, for some demented reason, he thereby intends to prop up the LTTE who, at long la st, are now on the run, thanks to the efforts of these heroic men and women. For this and much else, Wickremasinghe takes his place among those contemptible traitors who sold our country to it s enemies in the past as a means of securing the power they craved. It is therefore now the sacred duty of us all who wish our country well to ensure that he is once and for all thrown into the du stbin of history.
Yours truly,
Tony de Alwis (Revd.) , Nottingham UK
Dear Sirs,
Ranil Wickremasinghe
I am a Christian Priest in the Church of England. I am also a Sinhala per son and, although I now reside in the UK, I remain very, very proud to be a son of Sri Lanka. For these reasons, I am greatly disturbed to read suggestions in the Sri Lankan press and media that Chri stians almost invariably support the Ranil Wickremasinghe brand of UNP'ism. Even if it were true that some of us may have done so once upon a time, let me assure you that we most certainly do not do so any more, and there is a very good reason for this. Although we are Christians, Sinhala blood still runs in our veins and, when the good of our country is at stake, we Sinhala Chri stians stand shoulder to shoulder with our Sinhala Buddhist brothers and sisters in facing up to that threat. Up until now, we had thought that that threat came only from the LTTE. Now we realise that it also comes from another equally dangerous source – led by Wickremasinghe. Instead of living up to his name which mean s 'victorious lion', he seems to be behaving like a venomous snake in our midst. I read and see in the British press and television how actively he is engaged in subverting our national intere sts on the international stage. As if that weren't bad enough, we now hear that he has taken to abusing the Maha Sangha and our troops at home. Your readers need to know that Sinhala Christians are as disgusted as Sinhala Buddhists are by the savagery of his attack upon the Maha Sangha. We Christian clergy readily acknowledge that it i s not we but the Maha Sangha who, throughout our long and noble history, have been at the forefront of resisting threats to our national integrity. They are doing so once again in the face of the LTTE threat. By de scribing them as 'dussila', Wickremasinghe has forfeit any respect to which he may have once been entitled as a national leader. Let me tell Wickremasinghe that we, for our part, infinitely prefer to take our lead from the Sangha in thi s struggle than we would ever wish to from him.
We are equally appalled by his denigration of the achievements of our brave and courageous armed forces who are daily sacrificing life and limb to defend our nation.
Wickremasinghe must surely be conscious of the effect his words and actions would have on their confidence and morale, yet he per sists in seeking to undermine both. One can only surmise that, for some demented reason, he thereby intends to prop up the LTTE who, at long la st, are now on the run, thanks to the efforts of these heroic men and women. For this and much else, Wickremasinghe takes his place among those contemptible traitors who sold our country to it s enemies in the past as a means of securing the power they craved. It is therefore now the sacred duty of us all who wish our country well to ensure that he is once and for all thrown into the du stbin of history.
Yours truly,
Tony de Alwis (Revd.) , Nottingham UK
