Why declaring a “Sri Lankan Day” now Is wrong — A Nation cannot celebrate while Its people are grieving

 

Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads. At a time when hundreds of our own people have died, thousands are displaced, and entire villages lie in ruins from catastrophic floods and landslides, the Government’s decision to declare a “Sri Lankan Day” is not only insensitive — it is profoundly dangerous for the cultural and historical integrity of this nation.

 

A National Identity cannot be manufactured overnight

For over 2,500 years, this island’s civilizational foundation was built by the Sinhala Buddhist heritage — a heritage that shaped the language, the law, the temple, the tank, and the village.

This is not a “political claim.”

It is recorded in the Mahavamsa, Deepavamsa, Pujavaliya, Attanagaluvamsa, and dozens of inscriptions and it has been openly acknowledged by colonial rulers for centuries.

 

To erase this historical truth under the guise of creating a new “uniform identity” is an attempt to uproot the very pillars that hold this country together. The aim is to sever people from their roots, indoctrinating their minds with a new ideology packaged as “modern and progressive.” This is precisely what the new global education curriculum seeks to do — using funding and conditional aid to pressure national governments into adopting content that reshapes cultural thinking from childhood upward.

 

Working hand-in-hand with this agenda are powerful media-driven campaigns that promote the idea that history has no value, heritage is irrelevant, rituals are pointless, and customs are outdated. These narratives extend to dismissing respect for elders and undermining the role of religion in society. The end result is a culture that over-glorifies individualism — not to empower people, but to isolate them, weakening community bonds and making individuals easier targets for exploitation and influence.

 

Attacks on cultural, historical and religious Identity are not new

History has repeatedly shown attempts to suppress or diminish Buddhist heritage:

 

• Ancient temples destroyed or converted during South Indian invasions and colonial rule
• Buddhist land and monuments seized under colonial Portuguese, Dutch, British administrations
• Post-independence neglect of archaeological sites
• Attempts to discourage Buddhist rituals in national ceremonies
• Recurrent obstruction of archaeological preservation in the North and East
• Organized campaigns to rewrite history and present the island as “plural from inception,” ignoring Sri Lanka’s documented civilizational origin
• Varied attempts to re-write the Constitution primarily to remove Article 9 and provisions that tie the Sinhala Buddhist heritage to the present.

 

Even today, there are coordinated efforts to sideline Buddhist cultural symbols — such as omitting the Jaya Mangala Gatha from parliamentary openings or discouraging traditional blessings in state events. These actions are symbolic but extremely telling: remove the rituals, remove the identity.

 

The danger of replacing history with a pseudo identity

Every ethnicity and religion on this island must be respected.

But respect does not mean replacing one’s heritage with an artificial, politically engineered “new identity.”

 

Sri Lankans do not need an “official celebration” to be united.

Unity comes from justice, fairness, and respect for each group’s traditions—not from forced rebranding.

 

Settler communities and the attempt to redraw the country

The colonial rulers in particular the British brought several groups as plantation labour and service communities, with intention of permanently altering Sri Lanka’s demography and political boundaries.

Today, some actors use colonial settlement patterns as justification to carve out new ethnic regions or claim ancient Buddhist sites as “shared land” without historical basis.

This is fragmentation under the guise of political correctness.

 

Even the world is rejecting the multiculturalism model

Political correctness and forced multiculturalism have destroyed nations” —

 

1. Leaders who publicly declared multiculturalism a failure

 

Germany — Angela Merkel (former Chancellor of Germany)

“This multicultural approach has failed, utterly failed.”

(Speech in Potsdam, 2010)

Merkel acknowledged that Germany’s attempt to build a society with separate cultural enclaves living side by side “did not work.”

 

UK — David Cameron (former Prime Minister)

“State multiculturalism has failed.”

(Munich Security Conference, 2011)

Cameron warned that forced multiculturalism created segregated communities and encouraged extremism by eroding national cohesion.

 

France — Nicolas Sarkozy (former President)

“Multiculturalism is a failure. We have been too concerned with the identity of the person coming and not enough with the identity of the country receiving them.”
(Television interview, 2011)

Sarkozy noted that immigrant groups in France were living in parallel societies detached from French values.

 

2. European Union Leaders

EU Commissioner Viviane Reding

“We have been naive. Europe has clearly underestimated the challenge of migration.”
(2015)

She acknowledged that political correctness prevented honest discussions about integration problems.

 

3. Examples where forced multiculturalism backfired

 

United Kingdom

• Creation of parallel communitieswith minimal integration.
• 2011 and 2020 street riots partly linked to cultural segregation.
• “Grooming gang” scandals where political correctness prevented authorities from acting for years.

 

France

• Major suburban ghettos (banlieues) where French law is secondary to local community rules.
• Riots in 2005, 2017, and 2023 connected to failed integration models.
• Regular complaints by French mayors that “the Republic no longer exists in certain areas.”

 

Germany

• Rising ethnic-based enclaves where German language and norms are not followed.
• Migrant-related tensions after the 2015 refugee wave.
• Police unions warning that political correctness stopped early intervention.

 

4. Scholars & Thinkers Warning About Political Correctness

 

Samuel Huntington (Harvard University)

Author of The Clash of Civilizations:

“Without core values, a society disintegrates.”

He warned that weakening national identity leads to internal fragmentation.

 

Douglas Murray

Author of The Strange Death of Europe:

“Europe committed suicide by rejecting its own culture and pretending all cultures are equal.”

 

Across Europe, its own leaders admit that political correctness and forced multiculturalism have not created unity — they have created division, cultural ghettos, social conflict, and a loss of national identity.

 

These are not emotional statements — they are official acknowledgements.

 

Why is Sri Lanka rushing to adopt a failed foreign ideology precisely when those who invented it are abandoning it?

 

True Racism must be called out

 

Racism is not acknowledging heritage or demanding its preservation or flagging dangers to the nation’s history, heritage & sacred/archaeological sites.

 

Racism is when:

• A group claims another ethnicity “cannot enter” a certain area
• Signboards are placed only in one languageto claim territorial ownership
• Constitutional language rights are ignored
• A community demands exclusive administrative control over historical multi-religious regions

 

These actions fracture unity — not historical truth.

In such an environment what good is spending Rs.300m on a “Sri Lankan Day”.

Who are we fooling?

 

• Pakistan after the 2010 floods which displaced millions cancelled Pakistan Independence Day.
• India following the 2018 floods in Kerala, cancelled its Onam festival and funds were redirected towards relief, rescue & rehabilitation.
• Qatar cancelled its national day following the 2016 humanitarian crisis.
• Entire world cancelled New Year festivities after the 2004 Tsunami.

 

These examples highlight the manner nations choose mourning, relief & recovery not celebration when disasters strike. It’s a moral judgement and decision. It signals solidarity with victims & prioritization for relief over celebrations. No one can trivialize the suffering with going ahead with a celebration that is not even an annual event.

 

Sri Lanka’s disaster warrants a similar response. The Rs.300million allocated for the “Sri Lanka Day” must be redirected for relief. It is the moral responsibility of a government that honors victims not throw parades.

 

A Country in mourning cannot celebrate

Right now, Sri Lanka is not in a state to celebrate anything.

• Hundreds have died.
• Families have lost parents, children, homes, memories, livestock, documents, livelihoods.
• Entire communities are sleeping in camps with only the clothes on their backs.
• Kids have lost schoolbooks, uniforms, and the safety of a home.
• Elderly people have no medicine.
• Women have lost jewellery and savings kept for decades.
• Farmers have lost harvests.
• Daily-wage workers have lost their ability to work.
• What families held dear was swept away or collapsed before their very eyes.

 

How can a nation declare a “Day of Celebration” when its own people are trying to survive?

 

Funds must go to Rebuilding — not Ceremonies

All state funds allocated for this new “Sri Lankan Day” must be reallocated directly to:

• Rebuilding damaged homes
• Providing emergency cash grants
• Restoring livelihoods
• Replacing lost school materials
• Providing safe sanitation and medical support
• Supporting the elderly, disabled, widows, and orphaned children

 

Every family must receive an amount proportional to their documented loss.

This is not charity — it is the duty of the State.

 

A Final Reflection

 

A nation is not built by celebrations.

A nation is built by truth, compassion, and heritage.

 

Sri Lanka must stand on its real history — not on artificially created slogans.
Sri Lanka must protect its real people — not host celebrations while survivors mourn.
Sri Lanka must honour its civilizational roots — not erase them for political experiments.

 

Unity is not created by forgetting history. Unity is created by respecting it.

This is the message the country must hear now — loudly, clearly, and without fear.

 

If a government insists on celebrating while its people are grieving, the public can only conclude that the government has divorced itself from the people.  

 

When a government pushes forward with an unwanted new event in the midst of tragedy, people will inevitably see it as a leadership more concerned with image than with citizens’ suffering. This will seal proof that the celebration is only to raise the image of the government with no concern for the citizens.

No new “national event” should be forced on a grieving nation – its only an attempt to distract, rebrand & rewrite history at the worst possible moment.

 

If the government cannot pause to respect national tragedy, people will question whether such a government still shares the same heartbeat as the nation.

 

Forcing a celebration that has no cultural relevance, no historical roots, and no public demand tells the country that unity is being staged—not built.

 

If leaders refuse to realign with the nation’s sorrow, people will conclude that the government’s priorities lie elsewhere—far from the ground reality.

 

 

 

Shenali D Waduge