Let us rise together with resilience, courage and determination

IT is with a heavy heart that I pen this piece in the immediate aftermath of the worst natural disaster ever to strike Sri Lanka in a lifetime, leaving an entire nation in shock, grief and despair.

- By Sarath Dissanayake

In its power, Cyclone Ditwah has left behind a trail of destruction and scenes of utter devastation triggering a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable proportions. With flood water gradually subsiding and the rain tapering off, the situation unfolding is a grim reminder of the fragility of life and one that underscores the urgency of restoring life to normalcy.

With over 600 dead, 200 missing and several thousands displaced and losing livelihoods built over years, the victims’ recounts of ordeal are nothing but overwhelming and distressing. Alas, those who lived on mountain slopes and river banks bore the brunt of nature’s fury. The damage to infrastructure is mind-boggling. If stories doing the rounds are anything to go by, it may possibly take weeks, if not months, for the displaced to come to terms with the fateful tragedy and start a new lease of life. Cyclone Ditwah is arguably the most destructive natural onslaught on Sri Lanka in decades. At first, it dawned on me that our motherland was on the edge of an imminent catastrophe with its very existence seemingly at stake. Given the severity of the disaster and its aftermath, we couldn’t help but wonder as to what lies ahead for the victims having lost almost everything.

Blame game and partisan politics at play