Photo courtesy of Anoma Wijewardene
The people will not be robbed of their fundamental right
to choose their leaders, and to discard them when they fail
to lead,when they steal, when they ruin their charge. Extra-
ordinary times require extraordinary actions. These priests
and teachers, chemists and tuk tuk drivers, these nurses
and doctors, clerks and poets, these garment workers
and lawyers, these people of the people’s movement built
their village, with first aid tents and libraries and kitchens
on the nation’s maidan, Galle Face Green. They are facing
the buildings of the state and reminding all of us that no individual
or family owns those buildings, that they are the property
of the people, and the vast majority of the people
are united in saying no. No to corruption. No to family
rule, to old think and elite control. We need a way out
of the labyrinth. Our future begins in that village:
local, participatory, grass roots. Let us listen
to conversations there, embrace the opportunities
they provide to move out of the morass,
to rebuild the country on the legitimate
foundation, the only one worth the protest–
the will of the people, all of the people.
