A Nation’s Response: A President Betraying the Spirit of Sri Lanka’s Ranawiru Victory Day
A day of honor was turned into a day of betrayal. Victory Day in Sri Lanka is not just a date on a calendar — it is a solemn tribute to the tens of thousands of brave Ranaviruwo who laid down their lives to defend the nation from one of the most brutal terrorist organizations in the world: the LTTE. It is a day meant to remember sacrifice, celebrate unity, and reaffirm our commitment to a sovereign, unitary & undivided Sri Lanka. Yet this year, the President’s Victory Day address did not honor the fallen — it diminished their sacrifice. By deliberately avoiding the term “Ranaviruwo,” failing to name the LTTE as terrorists, and drawing false moral parallels between those who defended the nation and those who tried to destroy it, the President not only rewrote the past — he betrayed the very spirit of the day. This response is not about politics. It is about truth, duty, and respect. It is a call to remember who our true heroes are, and to ensure their legacy is never blurred, distorted, or forgotten in the future — especially not by those who swore to protect it.
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1. Sacred Day Undermined by Political Calculations
Victory Day is not just another commemoration. It is a solemn tribute to over 28,000 war heroes who laid down their lives & an equal number who are injured for life, to protect Sri Lanka’s sovereignty from LTTE terrorism. In his speech, the President failed to even call them “Ranaviruwo”—a symbolic yet crucial term. His refusal to identify the LTTE as terrorists, while omitting to mention President Mahinda Rajapakse without whose orders as Commander in Chief to militarily defeat LTTE & rescue Tamil civilians held hostage by LTTE as well as name key military leaders who led the war to victory, is viewed not as omission but calculated erasure.
2. Revising History: A Dangerous Narrative
The President’s ambiguous moral equivalence—suggesting “no one takes up arms without reason”—distorts the root cause of the conflict. Tamil separatism, not economic grievance, led to war. The Vaddukoddai Resolution (1976) openly called for armed youth rebellion. Prior to that the ITAK was formed seeking a separate Tamil Nation in 1949. The LTTE only hijacked the quest of Tamil politicians after being secretly trained by India alongside other Tamil militants & initiated the war, not the State. Our forces defended civilians and national unity—not against “fighters,” but against internationally designated terrorists who were even getting help & material assistance from external forces.
3. Distortion of Sacrifice
Every life lost in defense of the country holds meaning. The sacrifice of:
- Total 28,589 war heroes paid the supreme sacrifice in defense of the nation
- Armed Forces – 23,962 (6261 died between 2006-May 2009 last phase)
- Airforce – 443
- Navy – 1160
- Civil Defense Force – 456
- Police – 2568 (includes the 600 policemen killed brutally by LTTE in the East)
- 29,551 Armed Forces personnel remain wounded.
cannot be equated with those who died attacking the country (LTTE & Other militants)
To compare the grief of a mother of a soldier with that of an LTTE terrorist’s family may be politically convenient—but morally and nationally dangerous. Soldiers defend a nation. Terrorists seek to attack & destroy it.
4. A Gravest Insult: False Moral Equivalence
Sympathizing with LTTE families without any mention of their atrocities—child soldiers, suicide bombers, ethnic cleansing—offends not only war heroes but the very truth of our national struggle.
The LTTE themselves kept families of other militants below their own elite circle. Now, the State, in the name of reconciliation, allows glorification of LTTE dead while marginalizing the real protectors of peace. This is an insult. The terrorists must be laughing at us.
5. The Fallacy of “War for Peace”
Our military didn’t wage war to seek abstract peace. They fought to end terrorism, restore rule of law, and free civilians held hostage by the LTTE—nearly 300,000 in 2009 alone. Peace was a result, not the mission. The mission was national survival.
However, the wrong message conveyed by the President has been carried forward by his ministers as seen by their statements in Parliament
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6. Ongoing threats ignored
The ideological battle continues:
- Pro-LTTE groupsabroad remain active continuing to seek separatism.
- University radicalizationin Jaffna grows.
- Demands for separate statehoodpersist
- Reduction in troop presenceas well as reduction of the entire armed forces, undermines stability & ushers vulnerability of the State.
Yet the President ignored all of these. That is not leadership—it is negligence.
7. Politicization of a Sacred Day
- Instead of unity, the President used Victory Day to:
- Criticize political opponents, float unfair theories
- Give veiled warnings to the military.
- Push vague, sanitized narratives on war and peace.
- Leadership requires moral clarity—not confusing sermons.
8. Reconciliation ≠ Whitewashing Terrorism
Reconciliation cannot come by erasing the difference between defenders and aggressors. It must be rooted in:
- Truth
- Justice
- Historical accuracy
The rumored promise to build a memorial for Prabhakaran (as per Shamindra Ferdinando) is a betrayal of national memory, not an act of peacebuilding.
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9. What Did They Sacrifice their Life?
- They died for:
- Aunitary Sri Lanka
- Aterror-free homeland
Protection of all citizens regardless of ethnicity
What they did not die for:
- Political expediency
- Rewriting of history
- “Reconciliation” that rewards separatism
Not Everyone Can Become a Soldier
Not everyone can become a soldier — because not everyone has the strength to look death in the face and still choose to stand their ground. A soldier is more than a uniform; he is discipline in action, courage under fire, and sacrifice without applause. He is the shield between chaos and the people he has sworn to protect.
Behind every brave soldier is a mother who taught him compassion and resilience, a father who instilled honor and duty, and a family that nurtured the values that made him choose service over safety. These are not ordinary families — they are the unseen pillars of the nation’s strength.
Becoming a soldier is not a profession — it is a calling, one that only a few are willing and able to answer. It demands heart, willpower, and the ultimate readiness to pay the highest price. That is why Victory Day must remain sacred — to honor the extraordinary few who gave their all, so the rest of us could live in freedom. Their legacy is not to be distorted, compared, or diluted — because not all can be soldiers, and not all sacrifices are the same.
10. Final Verdict: A Dangerous Betrayal
- This is notreconciliation. It is revisionism. It weakens the nation and emboldens those who still seek to divide it.
- The real half-victory is not due to moral failure by the Armed Forces—but due to:
- Political failures to tackleongoing separatism
- Foreign-funded historical distortion
The President speaks of spread of racism? Who are the guilty? The Vaddamana Viharaya in the North was destroyed by Tamil racists, this is the situation outside Tissa Viaharaya in the North https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14GJVY8trkH/ all of the remaining Buddhist sacred sites are under risk by Tamil racists. Have a single Buddhist stopped Tamil praying in Hindu kovils across the South or anywhere else? The President must identify the real racists.
The State’s silence on continued desecration of Buddhist sites and illegal land grabs in the North & East. No Govt can speak for only minorities completely ignoring the rights, grievances & the wrongs being done to the majority.
A President is duty-bound to protect sovereignty, honor the military, and uphold truth—not to equate grief, promote dangerous moral ambiguities, or forfeit national memory for political gain.
Let this serve as a warning: a nation that forgets its heroes will one day struggle to find new ones. The people will remember what was not said, and they will not forget who chose silence over truth.
Shenali D Waduge
