e Shall Rebuild’ is the theme of an excellent communications platform developed by a group of young people at a commercial media house. Added to it was an energetic rendering of a patriotic song, sung by a group of young songsters, deeply moved by the events of 26 December 2004.
Then, there were others. The images of survivors, village leaders, members of the clergy, the armed forces, officials, workers, housewives, children, men and women on the street, and tourists – all lending a hand to clear the debris, bury the dead, giving whatever they could, the sahana yathras (support caravans)…
These pointed to the fact that we, at that time, were indeed working as a nation. There was no discrimination anywhere – only difficulties in reaching out to many who needed help desperately. The spirit and the will to do whatever we could was visible everywhere.
Most gave without seeking anything in return, while some others sought to brand their efforts. Nevertheless, they were all real and met the needs of the hour.
The tsunami, with all its destructive force emptied on us, had brought us all together; given all of us the realisation of the truism that, ‘united we stand, divided we fall’ – a realisation and a reality that the pre-tsunami world of the Sri Lankan polity had refused to accept. Common sense, after all, is not an attractive proposition to many.
We must now rebuild and raise our heads from the ashes of this destruction. We have an enormous inflow of goodwill and support from the international community to do precisely that. But before we rush in to meet pledges for rebuilding houses, schools, livelihoods and lives, we should also have a clear vision as to what we are rebuilding.
Are we to rebuild to return to the same divided world we lived in, with the same mistakes and same follies? Indeed, the hungry need food, the sick attention, the homeless homes, the destitute hope and children care. And these are priorities that must be given immediate attention. But equally important will be a deep realisation by our leadership that this is the time to build a new future for Sri Lanka – not merely rebuild its tattered past.
At meetings, you hear of offers of building schools and houses, and financial contributions to such funds by the business sector. While these are all needed, perhaps what we need even more is a long-term commitment to holistically rebuild the lives of people – building villages, for example, to be better than what they were. Here we do not need to look far beyond to seek models. Long-standing community organisations which already had a holistic approach to building people’s lives with a solid philosophy may offer us a model. While they render silent assistance away from the attention of the media, we can perhaps focus on them for substance and meaning in building a new future.
Sadly, in this story of the grit and determination of our people in the aftermath of the tsunami, what we do not see are images of our leaders working together, burying their past differences and seeking new vistas. It is true that there was a single event – an adhishtana puja where, for a few moments, most stood on a single stage and made moving speeches. But we do not see those ideals practised on the ground, in the form of united action. An all-party leaders’ committee has been formed to monitor assistance, but what we need goes beyond the formation of committees. We also see a media community still divided, focussing on personalities and negatives, rather than on issues of building a nation with a positive resolve.
Is not what we need genuine commitment to work together at this time of our nation’s need? All of us need to see the images of most of our key leaders, after a good look in the mirror, coming out with genuine concern and determination to build a new future written all over their faces, holding each other’s hand, conveying a strong message to the people that we have hope for building a new future for all.
The people, with their own response to the tsunami destruction, have proven that they have what it takes to make it happen. Now it is over to our political and civic leadership to follow suit, for the people are keen to have their leaders follow their examples.