Sinhale still under White rule. Now governed by Black whites !

Hoisting of Sinhale Flag and Commemoration of Variyapola Sri Sumangala Thero, 200^thyears Anniversary of Kandyan Kingdom surrender to British empire.

 The Police at the entrance acted very aggressively grabbing National flag from Monks and threw away and threatened the Monks a well as other lay participants who attended the same. Then when the Flag was raised the Police again intervened and created mayhem to which thousands of crowd and foreigners were eye witnessed the cruel behaviour of the Police.
Just before brutal assault on Buddhist monk.
The Police from lower to high ranks unaware of the history, culture, politics or ethics at all, created the ugly and provocative situation and immediately brought down the Flag upon hoisting while we were watching. However, upon conclusion of the event we were not allowed to return peacefully by Police again, who blocked our way and threatened every participant, abducting a monk for questioning by over 15 policemen, an threatening and forcing us to give statement.

02^nd March 2015, Magul Maduwa, Kandy Dalada MaaligawaSwarna Hansa Foundation and Sinhale Jaathika Peramuna
Hoisting of Sinhale Flag and Commemoration of Variyapola Sri Sumangala Thero, 200^th years Anniversary of Kandyan Kingdom surrender to British empire.
We refused any statement as we are not liable to answer the Police on Religious and Cultural matters which is none of their business. Then they assaulted monks and two monks are injured and now admitted to hospital under treatments. Police is totally responsible for the whole episode.

කොටියට ගිය රටේ බල්ලට ගිය සිංහල කොඩිය(විඩියෝව නරඹන්න)

Posted on 10:48 AM by Lankanewsweb Today with No comments

රට බෙදන්නට අර අදින රායප්පු ජෝශප්ලා ප්‍රමුඛ ‍බෙදුම්වාදීන් උතුරේ කොටි කොඩිය ඔසවත්දී බල නොපාන නීතිය සිංහල දේශයේ සැබෑ උරුමකරුවන් වූ සිංහලයන් සිංහල ධජය එසවීමේදී පමණක් අකුරටම ක්‍රියාත්මක වීම තරයේ හෙළා දකිමු. කලු සුද්දන් හැදූ වැඩූ නීතියත් සිතින් ගතින් පරගැතියන් වූ ජාතිකත්වය සිද ගත් නීතිය කරවන නිළධරයනුත් යටතේ සුපුරුදු පරිදි එදා මෙන්ම අදත්, හෙටත් ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ මේ රටේ සැබෑ උරුමකරුවන් වූ සිංහල බෞද්ධයා ඉලක්ක කරගෙන පමණය.(විඩියෝව පහතින් නරඹන්න)

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  සිංහලේ_කොඩිය_යළි_එසවෙයි (20)

  

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  සිංහලේ_කොඩිය_යළි_එසවෙයි (63)

  

• සිංහලේ_කොඩිය_යළි_එසවෙයි (64)
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1. Mr. Bernard Wijeyasingha Says:
   March 4th, 2015 at 11:52 am
   I propose two methods. they can be done independently or simultaneously:
   If the Singhalese flag is prevented in that spot then raise it further out. Raise it in every spot that is allowed till the NO ONE can go anywhere without seeing the Singhalese Flag. SINGHALESE THEN PUT UP THE FLAG IN EVERY HOME, AND EVERY PLACE TILL IT THERE ARE SO MANY FOR THEM TO REMOVE. IN OTHER WORDS RAM THE FLAG INTO THEIR FACE.
   TAKE PHOTOS OF THE POLICE AND FIND OUT ABOUT THEIR FAMILIES. KEEP THOSE RECORDS. THEY ATTACK THE BUDDHIST SANGA THEN LET THEIR FAMILIES PAY FOR IT. IF WAR IS WHAT THEY WANT THEN THEIR FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND BUSINESS PEOPLE MIGHT AS WELL JOIN IN.
   THIS IS A WAR FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE SINGHALESE BUDDHIST PEOPLE IN SRI LANKA.
2. Susantha Wijesinghe Says:
   March 4th, 2015 at 3:26 pm
   LISTEN TO THE VIDEO PLEASE. This is said with a lot of emotion. Sinhalese Buddhist should NOT be slighted, by the Prime Minister of SRI LANKA. That is my point of view. Sri Lankan Buddhists should face reality. Please do not hurt the SANGHA.
   A BUDDHIST PRIEST SAY, ARA RANIL WICKREMASINGHE, PONNA AGAMATHIYA, Ooo THRASTHA VAADIYATA UDAUV KARANAWA etc.
   Ranil is going over-board with the Tamils. MR did it and in reciprocation, got a kick up his posterior.
   MR. BW, !!! This is a war for the survival of the Singhalese Buddhist People of Sri Lanka. ABSOLUTELY. ABSOLUTELY.
3. Mr. Bernard Wijeyasingha Says:
   March 5th, 2015 at 9:55 am
   Susantha:
   The Singhalese Nationalist movement is being chipped or hacked away. Ousting Rajapakse in one thing.
   but then to use the police who are by and large Singhalese Buddhists. whose relatives seek the blessing of the Sanga and where the Buddhist Sanga has played an integral role in Sri Lanka’s politics including her written history for 2500 years is to HIT THE VERY FOUNDATION OF THE SINGHALESE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT. you say “Please do not hurt the Sanga”
   I say. YOU DARE NOT HURT THE SANGA. YOU DARE NOT TAKE THE SANGA’S POWER DOWN OR YOU WILL FACE THE FULL WRATH. YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH THAT!!!.
4. Caesar Says:
   March 5th, 2015 at 8:58 pm
   Dear Patriotic friends,
   It was me Caesar who was behind initiating this whole episode joining Swarna Hansa Foudation and Sinhale Jaathika Peramuna together along with other National Organizations for the event and was an active participant.
   I am born and bread in Kandy, have blood duty towards national cause because I am a great grand child of late Devendra Moolachari and our blood relationship to King Wimaladharmasooriya clan.
   My maternal side who created Kandyan Crown and Jewelry while Faternal side who created Throne and Weapons for the Sinhala kingdoms. I have a blood duty to protect and regain the lost glory of my Motherland. I will spill blood for this cause!

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/03/04/sinhale-still-under-white-rule-now-governed-by-black-whites/

First Ceylon Independence ceremony – Colombo, 10 Feb 1948

4 February 2013 — Nalaka Gunawardene

Feature article published in Ceylon Today broadsheet newspaper on 3 February 2013

http://nalakagunawardene.com/2013/02/04/vishva-karma-of-ceylonfirst-independence-celebration/

First Ceylon Independence ceremony – Colombo, 10 Feb 1948, painted by H R Premaratne

Although Ceylon gained Independence on 4 February 1948, the formal ceremony took place on February 10 with the Duke of Gloucester representing King George VI of Britain. The impressive ceremony was held at a colourful Assembly Hall at Torrington Square in Colombo.

When it was confirmed that Ceylon was soon to be granted independence, the country’s rulers wanted to build a new meeting hall in Colombo for the occasion. But there was just no time.

Then somebody had a bright idea: convert an aircraft hanger – a relic of World War II — into a temporary but grand hall. The task required both engineering skills and familiarity with the country’s traditional arts.

This extraordinary responsibility was entrusted to a talented engineer in the government’s Public Works Department. His name was Hapugoda Rankothge (H R) Premaratne.

The department, better known as the PWD, was one of the largest and oldest government departments in Ceylon with its history going back to 1796. Before the proliferation of state bodies, it maintained public infrastructure, key government buildings and airports.

Even among the PWD’s experienced fixers, however, Premaratne was a rare breed – one who blended technical functionality with good design sense and fine aesthetics rooted in the country’s cultural heritage.

Colourful transformation

Veteran journalist D B Dhanapala, in his book Among Those Present, recorded it thus: “H R Premaratne had converted an enormous, ugly aeroplane hanger left behind by the RAF at Torrington Square into a veritable Palace of Pageantry. Kandyan ‘Reli Paalams’ by the hundred, each the size of a bridge turned into a solid rainbow, spanned overhead turning the ceiling into the finest riot of colours this Island had ever seen on a single occasion. Sinhalese designs, writ large, blazoned from all the pillars, themselves richly decked…”

Dhanapala was full of praise for the man behind this transformation: “It seemed the palace was some kind of new Oriental Valhalla transported into Ceylon by a new electroplated Vishva Karma working with all his hands…”

The hanger was solidly built, but decorating this high-roofed structure was indeed a mammoth task. Some 20,000 yards of white cloth, and nearly 20,000 yards of colour paper were used for the ‘reli paalam’ alone. Another 9,000 yards of jute Hessian covered up the ceiling.

H R Premaratne

Adding to the décor were ancient Sinhalese (lion) banners, Nandi flags from Jaffna, as well as cultural motifs that represented the muslims. At that time, such an inclusive approach was a matter of routine.

Having pulled off this small miracle, Premaratne didn’t stop there. In those days before colour photography, he was determined to capture the moment for posterity. So he drew a full scale oil painting of the occasion.

Decades later, this historic painting was purchased by President J R Jayewardene who added it to the art collection at the President’s House in Colombo where it is still on display (main photo).

The stately assembly hall was the most talked about structure prepared under Premaratne’s overall supervision during those hectic months. He helped renovate several key buildings as well.

Chief among them was the Colonial Secretary’s residence ‘Temple Trees’, originally built in the early 19th century, which soon became the official residence of the first Prime Minister D S Senanayake.

Premaratne restored a condemned postal structure into the Senate Building, and renovated the inner chamber of the State Council building at Galle Face to accommodate a larger number of members elected to the 1947 Parliament.

“We added a floor, and altered seating arrangements in the chamber,” he reminisced in an interview with me in 1990.

Those key renovation and restoration projects had to be done on parallel tracks, while chasing seemingly impossible deadlines.

“We worked day and night. We had a very good chief architect, a Welshman named Wynn Jones. It was shortly after the War, so some construction materials were in short supply. But in the end, we completed everything in time and in quality,” he said.

Shaping New Nation

Premaratne was a member of the British qualified and nationally minded team of technocrats who took over Ceylon’s affairs when the British left. Along with the elected representatives, they shaped the young nation — yet remained, for the most part, in the background.

After graduating with a BSc in civil engineering from the University of Edinburgh in 1931, Premaratne joined the PWD in 1935 as a Junior Assistant Engineer. In all, he spent 30 years there, capping his career as its director from 1957 to 1965.

During that time, he rose to many and varied challenges, combining the roles of engineer, designer, administrator and trouble-shooter at large.

The massive Dry Zone floods of August 1957 took place within weeks of his becoming Director of Public Works. PWD was the first to go to Batticaloa, as soon as the flood waters allowed, and within hours made the main roads accessible again.

When ethnic riots erupted in May 1958, Governor General Sir Oliver Goonetilleke assumed direct control appointed Premaratne as Competent Authority in charge of all relief operations. Working with civilian and military personnel, Premaratne set up temporary shelters for the displaced, ensuring their safety and providing amenities.

If that was demanding, more was to follow. One day Premaratne received urgent summons from the Governor General. In the presence of the minister in charge Maithripala Senanayake, Sir Oliver revealed how the Nagadeepa temple (a key Buddhist shrine on a small island off the Jaffna peninsula) had been damaged during riots.

Premaratne was asked to urgently repair it – but in utmost secrecy. The astute Sir Oliver knew that this news, if it spread, could provoke a new southern backlash.

Operation Nagadeepa

“Sir Oliver arranged everything directly and discretely. Even my ministry’s secretary wasn’t told. Within hours, the Air Force flew me to Jaffna — I couldn’t tell even my wife where I was headed. Once there, the Navy escorted me. I met the Nagadeepa chief priest, and realised the damage was considerable,” Premaratne recalled.

Returning to Colombo after two days of assessment, Premaratne moved swiftly. He assembled a team comprising a contractor, building overseer and some trusted workmen and embarked on a fast-tracked restoration.

While they carried out that task in record six weeks, Sir Oliver used the media to repeatedly pooh-pooh ‘rumours’ ofNagadeepa being damaged. (D B Dhanapala’s biographer Gunadasa Liyanage believes that Sir Oliver actually took key newspaper editors into confidence. Either way, it never leaked.)

Mission accomplished, Sir Oliver organised a special pooja and invited devotees to ‘go see the intact Nagadeepa temple’. Everyone involved in the operation remained silent – not under any oath of secrecy, but because they realised the implications of loose talk…

The real story of Nagadeepa restoration didn’t come out until many years later. Such a covert operation is inconceivable today with modern communications technologies!

After retiring from the public service in 1965, Premaratne devoted all his time to artistic pursuits. He copied key temple paintings and Sigiriya frescoes. He also developed a method of making authentic fibreglass replicas of moonstones, Buddha statues and other historical artefacts.

Using this method, he made over 20 replicas of prominent statues of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa for an exhibition on ‘Ceylon Through the Ages’ the National Geographic Society organised in Washington DC in 1969-70.

Recommended by his friend Arthur C Clarke, he spent a few months at MGM studios in Borehamwood, London, during 1966-67 where Clarke and Stanley Kubrick were filming their movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

“Prema’s expertise in art and engineering was very valuable in the production of the movie’s special effects, and he assisted in building the spectacular space station,” Clarke said. (See: The artist who built a space station for 2001)

Premaratne was an erudite, soft-spoken man who remained creative into his 80s. I am privileged to have known him in his last few years. Some of his paintings are on permanent display at the National Art Gallery in Colombo and at the British Museum in London.

H R Premaratne tribute in Ceylon Today, 3 Feb 2013

H R Premaratne tribute in Ceylon Today, 3 Feb 2013 continued

Independence Day, February 4, 1948

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth presides over the ceremonial opening of the third session of the Parliament in April 1954

British defeats in Europe and Asia during the 1940-1942 period of the Second World War-epitomised by the humiliating fall of Singapore-turned out to be the final blow to the country's already floundering Empire. Military and economic power, on which the imperial system depended, had been severely eroded. And on a political level, from the end of the First World War unrest and agitation for independence had begun to manifest in many parts of the Empire, exemplified in the then Crown Colony of Ceylon by the Trotskyist-inspired Lanka Sama Samaja Party.

Consequently, in the immediate post-war years independence was granted to many countries within the British Empire. In South Asia, India gained independence on August 15, 1947. Burma followed on January 4, 1948, and exactly one month later, on February 4, Ceylon became a Dominion, which in reality meant that the country had not completely divested itself of its colonial past.

Independence Day, February 4, 1948
Declaration of Independence was an occasion in which a member of the British monarchy, not necessarily of the higher echelons, was always present. "Slightly less prestigious representatives of the Queen than Prince Philip and Princess Margaret, but perfectly respectable ones, were the stalwarts of independence ceremonies," comments Philip Murphy in Monarchy and the End of Empire (2013). "The Duke of Gloucester [Prince Henry], the younger brother of King George VI, presided over the independence day of Ceylon."

The choice of the Duke of Gloucester was an appropriate one as he had made two prior visits to the Island. The first was in 1929 when he landed on his way to Japan. The second in 1934 concerned cultural heritage: the return of the golden throne of the Kandyan Kingdom (previously housed at Windsor Castle), now displayed at the National Museum, Colombo, together with the crown and regalia.

Fortunately the ritual and celebration of Ceylon's Independence Day was captured on film by the leading newsreel company, British Pathé. Ceylon Independence (1948)-alas without narration online-begins with the touch down at the Royal Airport Katunayake (now the Bandaranaike International Airport) of a silver-liveried RAF Avro York carrying the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. One York was used by Winston Churchill as his "flying conference room" during the war. And this aircraft was no stranger to Ceylon; another served as the "flying office" of Lord Mountbatten, head of South-East Asia Command in Kandy, and a squadron was based at RAF Ratmalana.

The film shows the Gloucersters being greeted by the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore, who at Independence became Governor-General, which illustrates how the country's freedom was not yet absolute. Ceylon remained a dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations from 1948 to 1972, when the country's formal name was changed to the Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. In 1978 it was modified to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

On the morning of February 4 the Duke was driven, with a vanguard of mounted soldiers, from Queen's House to the specially prepared, fabric-roofed Assembly Hall to deliver the Declaration of Independence from a dais overlooked by two sets of elephant tusks. It was hot inside: the select audience busily fanned themselves with programmes, while a vast sea of ordinary Ceylonese surrounding the hall stoically endured the tropical sun to witness this historical occasion.

“Independence Day Celebrations In Ceylon Resembled An Imperial Fête With A Few Of The Artifices Of The Nation State – National Anthem And Flag”
Today, within an area called Independence Square, renowned for its atmosphere and jogging tracks, stands the Independence Memorial Hall, a monument to the Assembly Hall built on the original podium. Adjacent is the awesome newcomer to Colombo's shopping complexes, the Arcade Independence Square, which, ironically, is a restored British colonial building.

Nora Wickramasinghe, in Sri Lanka and the Modern Age, feels that "Independence Day celebrations in Ceylon resembled an imperial fête with a few of the artifices of the nation state - national anthem and flag." The confirmation of these two artifices came next. Just before noon the Union Jack was lowered. As a recording of London's Big Ben chimed noon-courtesy of Radio Ceylon-the nation's new yet traditional flag, the lion rampant, was hoisted by Prime Minister D S Senanayake. During the flag-hoisting, the selected National Anthem, Sri Lanka Matha, was played by the radio station.

At that moment a nation with a glorious history and depth of culture, suppressed for five centuries by three consecutive colonial powers, was able to begin an awakening, to rediscover its past, re-establish an identity, emerge from the imperial shadows, and take its place in the modern world.

Celebrations later that day centred on an impressive water pageant in Colombo's harbour, which included a choir on a floating platform. "The boom of guns, the crash of fire-crackers, the peal of bells, and the whine of ships' sirens proclaimed the birth of the new dominion of Ceylon," declared the Associated Press.

Independence: The Awakening of a Nation
On February 4, 2015, Sri Lanka celebrates 67 years of Independence. There have been many achievements during that time in the economy, civil administration, social services and development in general. Other accomplishments, mostly in the arts and sport, are due to the post-independence exposure of the Island's people to the world, resulting in a new confidence on the international stage.

For instance, the new nation's ability to compete with the world's best was witnessed at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, just a few months after independence, when Duncan White won the silver medal in the men's 400-metre hurdles. Silver was also won by Susanthika Jayasinghe in the women's 200 metres at Sydney in 2000.

But where sport is concerned, it is cricket, a colonial irony, which has brought Sri Lanka immense recognition since international status was gained in 1981. The team quickly shifted from being underdogs to world-beaters, winning the Cricket World Cup in 1996 and the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. Sri Lanka has produced some iconic cricketers: Muttiah Muralitharan was voted the greatest bowler ever in 2002, and Kumar Sangakkara is one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Many other players have made an impact on the game internationally: Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Mahela Jayawardene come to mind.

The blossoming of modernist post-independence art in Ceylon resulted in the formation of the '43 Group by Lionel Wendt, the Island's first and foremost photographer of international repute. This Group consisted of an extraordinary array of creative painters such as Harry Pieris, Geoffrey Beling, George Claessen, Aubrey Collette, Richard Gabriel, George Keyt, L T P Manjusri, and Ivan Peries. Their work is acknowledged internationally, their paintings highly valued.

Sri Lankan cinema properly began in 1956 with the film Rekawa, directed by Lester James Peries. From then until 2006, Peries directed 28 films, many shown at premier film festivals, many receiving awards. Nidhanaya (1972), Peries' best film, won a Silver Lion at the 1972 Venice International Film Festival, was selected as an outstanding film of the year at the London Film Festival, and chosen as the best film of the first 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema. Peries, best appreciated by French cineastes, was awarded in 1997 the Légion d'Honneur, France's highest order. He remains the doyen of Sri Lankan cinema, but in recent decades further talented directors-Prasanna Vithanage, Asoka Handagama, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake-have begun to receive international recognition.

These are just a few of the Sri Lankans who have honoured the country with their international achievement since, and largely because of, Independence.

http://www.serendib.btoptions.lk/article.php?id=1612&issue=62#image-4

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The day that changed the destiny of a nation-February 4, 1948 :

By Dhaneshi YATAWARA

The ceremonial opening of Sri Lanka's first Parliament at Independence Square on February 10, 1948

The first Independence Day

With renewed hope, Sri Lanka would be celebrating its glorious 63rd Independence Day in another five days. It is the second Independence Day in a terrorism-free country. The event marks not only the defeat of the nearly 133 years of British rule, but also the remarkable sense of living in a truly peaceful country. There is a new awakening and stirring among Sri Lankans; the pride of silencing one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world while some powerful nations with all resources at their command are still grappling with terrorism.

Commenting on the independence we gained in 1948, certain scholars have written that freedom was achieved without shedding a drop of blood.

When taking the freedom struggle into consideration, this however, is doubtful. It seems to be a little far from the truth. If not for the independence we gained in 1948, we would never have developed to the level that we are today.

Just two years after the last Sinhala Kingdom came to an end, people of the Kandyan region started rebelling against the British rulers. Several other regions such as Dumbara, Matale, Hewaheta and Sabaragamuwa joined in the uprising which reached a peak in Uva-Wellassa. Since 1818, the freedom-loving sons of Sri Lanka, both clergy and laity, had been spearheading the freedom struggle at great risk to their lives.

Moneravila Keppetipola Dissawa, who served the British as one of the high local officials, also joined the rebellion. The then Governor Sir Robert Brownrigg called in reinforcements as the rebellion became more intense. The British, to control the uprising, destroyed hundreds of acres of paddy cultivation, burned villages and killed many Sinhalese, especially in Uva-Wellassa. Keppetipola Dissawa was caught and beheaded.

According to the Crown Lands Ordinance and Waste Lands Ordinance, Sri Lankans lost their inherited land. According to records, nearly 1.3 million acres of land were confiscated by the British. Such lands gained forcibly were sold to British planters to start coffee cultivation. When coffee was destroyed by the blight, the British started growing tea and by the mid-19th century, Ceylon Tea had become popular in the British market, bringing great wealth to a small class of white tea planters. The British realised that the highlands of Sri Lanka were suited for coffee, tea and rubber cultivations and got the farmer community out of them, also bringing a death trap to Sri Lanka's valuable fauna and flora.

Rebel leaders

Led by Kadahapola Unnanse, a Bhikkhu, the second rebellion started in the Matale region and was joined by two young men, namely Francis Fernando from Moratuwa and Don David from Peliyagoda. They became famous as Weera Puran Appu and Gongalegoda Banda. Facing British reinforcements and firepower, their struggle with guerilla tactics failed and eventually the leaders were executed. They are still living heroes for patriotic Sri Lankans.

D.S. Senanayake at the planting of a mango sapling to mark the historic occasion

Though the Portuguese first invaded our country, followed by the Dutch, it was the British who heavily changed Sri Lanka's economic, legal, political and social background. Two segments could be seen in the latter part of Sri Lankan's freedom struggle - the Constitutionalists and the rebellious groups.

The Constitutionalists group comprised stalwarts of Sri Lanka's political history such as D.S. Senanayake, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, N.M. Perera, Philip Gunawardena, Robert Gunawardena, Dr. S.A. Wickramasinghe, Ponnambalam brothers and T.B. Jayah along with other less radical members such as Natesa Iyer and D.A. Rajapaksa.

Patriotic citizens from all ethnicities joined hands to regain Sri Lanka's lost independence. Educationists, politicians and citizens of different ethnic groups were heavily involved in the freedom struggle. Hundreds of Ceylonese were arrested by the British colonial government during the riots of 1915.

Those who faced imprisonment without charges included prominent figures of the independence movement such as F.R. Senanayake, D.S. Senanayake, Anagarika Dharmapala, Dr. C.A. Hewavitarne, Captain Henry Pedris, D.C. Senanayake, Baron Jayatilaka, Edwin Wijeyeratne, W.A. de Silva, Arthur V. Dias, John Silva, Piyadasa Sirisena and A.E. Goonesinghe.

Political independence

Sri Lankans' struggle to gain political independence from the British paved the way for the Donoughmore Commission reforms to take place in 1931 followed by the Soulbury Commission recommendations. The Soulbury Commission was the most important result of the agitation for constitutional reforms in the 1930s.

British rule in Sri Lanka started under King George III (1815-1820) and continued under eight monarchs. Sri Lanka was ruled by George IV (1820-1830), William IV (1830-1837), Queen Victoria (1837-1901), Edward VII (1901-1910), George V (1910-1936), Edward VIII in 1936 and George VI from 1936.

Edward VIII abdicated the British Throne in favour of his love for Mrs. Wallis Simpson. On February 4, 1948 Sri Lanka regained political freedom from British Imperialism when King George VI sent his brother, the Duke of Gloucester as his representative to transfer power to locals.

In 1952, Queen Elizabeth II ascended the British Throne.

Sri Lanka was not the only Asian country that regained freedom from the British during the period 1947 and 1948. India and Myanmar (then Burma) started progressing rapidly following their newly won freedom. Myanmar, in particular, had sent out all non-nationals living there as illegal immigrants.

A few remains of the colonial era still linger around us. We still retain many beneficial characteristics of that era. For instance, English has been retained as a medium of instruction in schools as it was in the immediate post-independent era. Cricket has been the most popular sport of the country irrespective of ethnicity or religion. As Brigham Young once said, true independence and freedom can only exist in doing what's right.

Republic status

Sri Lanka shed its Dominion coat in 1972 and became a Republic. The Senate was abolished and Sinhala was established as the official language with Tamil as a second language. Appeals to the British Privy Council were abolished. Colonial plantations were nationalised.

Pioneers of Sri Lanka's freedom movement

Gloomy days followed under the JVP insurrection in 1971 and later with the emergence of LTTE terrorism in the North. A new constitution was introduced in 1978 which drastically altered the nature of governance in Sri Lanka. It replaced the previous Westminster style parliamentary government with a new presidential system modelled after that of France, with a powerful chief executive.

The President was to be elected by direct suffrage for a six-year term and was empowered to appoint, with Parliamentary approval, the Prime Minister and to preside over Cabinet meetings. J.R. Jayewardene became the first Executive President under the new Constitution.

It would be worth recalling that at the time of Independence in 1948, we were economically well ahead in the Asian region which prompted even a prime minister in the region to recommend that his country follow our model. The present Government, committed as it is to development, has taken vast strides in this regard.

Spiritual advancement must go hand in hand with such material development to create a virtue-loving society. The Government has spearheaded a campaign to materialise this objective, converting them to a civilised society. The President's Mathata Thitha concept is one such step.

Today, this new-found unity, a result of eradicating terrorism from our motherland, has opened the doors to the true potential of the country. Every Sri Lankan must do his/her part to lift the country out of its gloomy past. It is hoped that the fresh beginning would galvanise each citizen to do more during this second and most decisive phase of our Independence.

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/01/30/imp01.asp