Today, the Fourth of February 2023 marks 75 years of Sri Lanka’s independence from Britain. Unfortunately, it’s so tragic that Sri Lanka is in one of its darkest periods right now, going through a severe economic crisis. I wish Sri Lanka was in a much better place without all the current and long-term problems that predated the crisis. I decided to give a short reflection on this anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence. My view is that the corrupt politicians may be able to steal Sri Lanka’s money & resources and use its people, but they cannot take away the meaning and importance of the country, including Sri Lanka’s Independence Day. We Sri Lankans must not let them do that.
Sri Lanka’s Independence Day represents breaking free from colonialism which the country had suffered greatly from. Though the British became the first colonial power to colonise the whole island in 1815, Sri Lanka had been colonised by the Dutch & Portuguese prior to the British having experienced a total of almost 400 years of colonialism. This day is also a day to enjoy and celebrate Sri Lanka. 75 years of independence is a landmark anniversary for Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans of all generations can look back to positive memories and experiences of theirs in Sri Lanka covering 1948 to the present day. This can include beautiful Sri Lankan scenery you’ve seen, trips taken with family and/or friends, great Sri Lankan days of yours and much more.
A positive aspect of Sri Lanka’s independence movement is that it was achieved peacefully. That gives us hope of what we can achieve with sensible movements for change in Sri Lanka. May we gain wisdom to take Sri Lanka forward. We must learn from our wrongdoings, failures and mistakes. Let’s make the next 75 years much better than the previous 75 years. We need to do this for our future generations. We can make Sri Lanka clean, transform our bad politics into something good, remove discrimination, have a unified Sri Lankan identity, diversify our exports, attract needed foreign direct investments (FDI), build a stable economy and more. Happy Sri Lankan Independence Day!
