Newfound Patriotism - තමාට පෙර රට !

When we moved to our newly built house a few years back, we got a plaque with the සීවලී මහා රහතුන්ගේ picture as one of the housewarming gifts from someone.

So we decided to hang it on the outside Wall and not inside.

Seeing it there, a few neighbors and some of our friends were surprised.

We were new to the area so the neighbors were somewhat reluctant to come directly and express their opinion on this සීවලී මහා රහතුන්ගේ plague being hung outside the house than inside.

The friends were more vociferous than them.

“ Hey, it should be hung inside the house and not outside “.

The belief was that it will bring blessing and prosperity to the dwelling.

The neighbours have thought that we were අන්‍ය ආගම්කාරයෝ and unknowingly have hung it on the outside wall.

Our rationale was that we already have enough for us to sustain decently and we want that Blessing and Prosperity for everyone alike to get as well.

I thought of writing this only after seeing that there is something brewing in some corner of the Social Media that every household should display a plaque or sticker " තමාට පෙර රට ".

I can understand like ours, their intention is very honorable too.

At the same time I could not help thinking, soon our house too would also look බස් එකක් වගේ.

Imagine with a සීවලී මහා රහතුන්ගේ picture plus so many proclamations to show off our newfound patriotism adorning our house’s front wall.

Should I change our house number too to route 138 to give the real feeling?

Terrorism and Rule of Engagement

Ever since man decided that the only way to achieve a solution to a dispute between two of them is to take up arms, the rules of engagement have changed.

They have evolved in a much slower pace that one would be able to keep abreast with it and be prepared for any eventuality.

However, the 9/11 incident has changed the whole scenario.

What are going on around in many parts of the world today are sufficient ample examples of the changes that have taken place in the rules of engagement.

The conventional wisdom and the old school rules of engagement become lead weights, especially when a country where democracy prevails tries to fight off a terrorist outfit, threatening the stability of the country as well as in the region.

The terrorists have only one objective and that is to terrorize and they would go to any extent to achieve their objective.

Unless the democratically elected governments change their tactics and approach to the issue of how to deal with the terrorists, the hope of having a Win is a total impossibility.

The best and the most recent example is the Sri Lankan Armed forces victory over the one time most dreaded and feared terrorist group.

Had they been listening to the hypocrites’ and old school pundits, as they have done for more than two decade, the terrorist menace would have gone for many more decades.

They were ready to change their rules of engagement and the success came within a few years.

The conventional wisdom and old school rules of engagement have to be abandoned, if to achieve success in a war especially between a democratically elected government and a foreign funded terrorist outfit.

The staunch old school guards and especially the hypocrites’ will try to place one obstacle after another to stop you from changing your stance but the sure recipe for success is to abandon the conventional wisdom and old rules of engagement.

(This was posted a long time ago in my old blog and reposting here after recent incidents in the West -  Old Blog Link )