National unity: The missing links View(s):It was refreshing to hear President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Independence Day address to the nation acknowledge the freedom fighters who braved 450 years of colonial rule to usher in freedom in 1948. Equally, no one would fault the President for focusing on other key priorities in making Independence more meaningful, such as the economy, advanced human capital, economic progress, the rule of law, ecologically sustainable development and national unity. This was followed by a call for ‘national unity’, a theme his government is actively pursuing. They need to check who is fanning these communal embers, as a result of which ‘national unity’ can fly out through the window. The rhetoric of national unity also wears thin when there is a growing perception that the Government’s drive against corruption is merely masked as fulfilling an ‘election pledge’.

Source: Sunday Times February 07, 2026 20:10 UTC