New dawn for East

According to an inside page news item in our edition yesterday quoting Vocational Training Minister Dayasritha Thissera more than 60 per cent of youth recruited for vocational training this year are from the newly liberated Eastern Province.

Speaking at an event in Paris organised by the SLFP Paris Branch the Minister noted that Tamil youth in the East were keen to get the maximum advantage of the training schemes of his Ministry.

This certainly is an encouraging trend that would enable us to harness the talents and skills of this segment of our countrymen who remained only on the fringes of national consciousness all these years. Of course the raging conflict prevented any noteworthy attempt to draw in these youth into the mainstream of events. They thus languished with their talents untapped and potential unrealised. Today the situation has changed offering a place in the sun to these hapless youth giving them a chance to pick up the pieces of their lives.

The East today is undergoing transformation at a frenetic pace and as another Minister remarked is the envy of the rest of the country. All credit is due to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by making this possible by liberating the Easterners from the grip of terrorism. Now that the sounds of guns have fallen silent they could divert the attention to productive pursuits and improving their lot with the opportunities provided.

Their talents which were lying dormant during the long years of conflict would now be brought to the fore and put into use in the massive infrastructure development projects earmarked for the East, transforming their lives from being mere spectators of the passing scenario into active participants in the country's development programmes.

It is no exaggeration that these youth had been long neglected over the years. No Government was able to implement any permanent scheme for their benefit that would have realised their true potential under the conditions that prevailed.

There is no knowing how much the country may have lost in terms of skills and expertise as a result. We say this because it is commonly accepted that youth from the North-East are an industrious lot, their perseverance and drive almost legendary. In the past some of the best known intellectuals and professionals who hailed from the North and East made a great contribution to the country's advancement. The recent emergence of a winner of a scholarship exam from among inmates of a refugee camp, hailing from the East is testimony to this unique spirit. Now that the guns have fallen silent creating a conducive climate for academic activities there is no knowing how many such genuineness would emerge from the region.

The country could only be richer by their contributions. The shocking revelation in today's edition of how one of four female Tigers captured by the Security Forces turned out to be a Government English teacher shows how much of this talent is wasted and diverted towards evil. It is known that all fighters in the LTTE are brainwashed. There is no knowing how much brilliant minds have been perverted and distorted in this fashion. How many talented and skilled youth have gone astray. The eagerness of the Eastern Youth to join in the Vocational training programmes is certainly an encouraging sign which ought to be seized upon by the authorities for the country's benefit.

Hopefully the war would be brought to an end soon so that the Eastern scenario could be replicated in the North where no doubt there would be immense talent lurking to be tapped.

Not stopping at this the Government should supplement these skills development programmes by increasing more and more people to people contact with our brethren in the East. The recent arrival to Colombo of a cricket team from the East is an ideal start. More such programmes should be organised to improve fraternity and brotherhood with our brethren in the North-East.

The idea mooted for an International Cricket stadium by world cup winning Captain Arjuna Ranatunga too should be pursued with vigour. It is by such projects that this segment of our population who were once living in isolation could be integrated into the national polity. Our artistes too could undertake visits to the East.

Now that the region is returning to normal it could be an ideal site for film location with its beautiful beaches and a host of other attractions. Steps should also be undertaken to rebuild all abandoned and destroyed cinema halls so that Easterners could indulge in their favourite pastime. The bottom line is to bring normality to the region on par with the rest of the country. If this is done there would be no more accusations of discrimination that gave rise to the present divisions. This and steps to mend fences on all other fronts would bring about the national unity that we all yearn for.