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Murali's gems of wisdom

It is some politicians and not the people who are responsible for churning out the vicious evil which is communalism. This gem of an insight comes from Lanka's spin wizard and chief wicket taker in Test cricket - Muttiah Muralitheran.

His request to the people of this country is that they do not fall for the wiles of the communal - minded politician but remain united and forge ahead as one nation.

A peep into our socio-political history would reveal that this is indeed the case. Communalism did not enter our body politic until this dreaded germ was brought into being by some politicians who hoped to gain by pitting one community against the other.

Communal tensions and differences were totally absent in our body-politic until the advent of Western colonialism and the initial stirrings for self-governance began to manifest themselves among our peoples, roughly around a century ago.

The allocation of some seats in local legislatures on a communal basis in British times, for instance, went a long way towards infecting the local body politic with the communal virus.

Since then we have been watching this pernicious virus grow to daunting proportions, helped lavishly by some politicians who have been exploiting ethnic prejudices to ascend the pedestals of power.

The tragic trend reached its apogee in July 1983, when the then government openly and unabashedly sided with the forces of ethnic hatred to sow the seeds of division. So, the people would be wise to heed the plea of our star spinner, Murali, and be wary of the communal "spin" of some of our politicians.

The people should trust their better instincts and remain united, rather than fall for the rhetoric of ethnic hatred spouted by these purveyors of division.

We have it from Murali himself that millions of his fans from all walks of life and communities, lined the local highways to welcome him on returning home from his record-breaking feat in Zimbabwe. They rejoiced as one man and cared not in the least for communal differences.

Sri Lanka, in short, was one big, united team and it was firmly behind Murali. Indeed, as Murali asks: "Why can't we all live like that?"

This is the challenge Sri Lanka faces. We should all be aware of the fact that the forces of communalism are forever present and active. There are localities and neighbourhoods in Sri Lanka where all communities live in absolute peace and harmony. We are also heirs to multi-ethnic villages.

However, this peace is anathema to some. Let's unite in the name of humanity and defeat the forces of division. For, it is our natural state to live unitedly in peace.

Elephant survey

We see them in perheras and admire them for their grace. We see them engaged in hard labour and feel sorry for their plight. We see them frolicking in the rivers and sense their delight.

Elephants are very much a part of our national psyche. But they might not be around for long, for the numbers of these majestic beasts are dwindling at an alarming rate.

The so-called Human-Elephant conflict claims lives from both sides, but the casualties are higher among the pachyderms. We lose three elephants per week, in contrast to around five humans per year. Sri Lanka is estimated to have only around 3,000 elephants still remaining in the wild.

This being only an estimate, the authorities have rightly assessed the need to conduct an islandwide elephant survey from August to determine their exact population and to find a lasting solution to the human-elephant conflict.

The survey, which is being conducted after almost 11 years, also aims to find out their carrying capacity, the ratio of the young to the old, the sex ratio and elephant movements.

The survey will focus especially on Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Kurunegala districts as well as Mahaweli, Yala and Wilpattu regions where most wild elephants roam.

The swift development of human settlements has unsettled the elephant population, who have been pushed out of their habitats. They keep on encroaching villages and towns in search of food and marauding wild elephants have been known to kill humans.

The elephants fall victim to traps set by irate farmers and householders. Moreover, poachers kill elephants, especially the rare tuskers. Finding a lasting solution to the human-elephant conflict will be an uphill task, given the rapid development of rural areas.

In fact, this problem may be too big for our authorities to handle alone. It is vital to seek the cooperation of Asian countries which have had some success with mitigating this conflict. Their expertise may prove to be invaluable in addressing our own tussle between humans and elephants.

The suggestion made to seek the services of international elephant expert Richard Barnes is a step in the right direction. Our wildlife officials and elephant experts could work closely with him to gain further insights and experience.

There is a dire need for a national policy on the conservation of elephants, which will also take into account ways and means of minimising the human-elephant conflict. If we fail to act now, future generations will be left only with photographs of elephants to admire.

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