Dutugamunu and Ellara a lesson for the present

Over the past few weeks the famed battle of the great king Dutugamunu and Ellara was re lived by many. The LTTE also used Elara (Ellalan in tamil) to identify their armed wing the “Ellalan Force”.

In my view the present day Sri Lankan (Tamil or Sinhala) has forgotten the greatness of both kings.
King Ellara was a fair and impartial king unlike his present misleadingly claimed counterpart Prabhakaran. It is said that Ellara had a bell hung up with a long rope at the head of his bed. If anyone desired a judgment they could ring it. It would have rung to his surprise when his son ran over a young calf with his chariot. The story says that the cow came and dragged at the bell in bitterness and the king gave the judgment to severe his sons head with same wheel. Will any leader do this now? From the size of the slain son of Prabhakaran and the money he had with him during his death it is clear that they all had better treatment than the hunger stricken people who crossed to the safe zones. The people he protected as his people.

After the great battle in which King Dutugemunu was the victor, cremated Ellara and where he had fallen constructed a monument. He also ordered all citizens of the country to walk in silence and respect when passing it. This is a good lesson for all of us.
Friends this is the country we belong to. Not a country which lit crackers at a death of a president or marginalised the underdog. These are not the lessons history thought us. We worship the west, the people who lived in caves the times our cultures flourished. Let’s bury the hatchet as the saying goes and together start a new beginning. The government has kept the promise of stopping the war which was the excuse to many.

Remember without people there can be no armies, without armies there can be no leaders. It is now up to all of us to take Sri Lanka to where we want it to be.