The Independence Day Celebration in the Central Province was held under the patronage of Hon. K.D. Lalkantha, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation in line with the 78th Independence Day
In line with the 78th National Independence Day Celebration, which falls today, the Independence Day celebration in the Central Province was held under the patronage of Hon. K.D. Lalkantha, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation.
The Minister, attending the event expressed his views as follows.
“Today is an important day. In 1948, we did not free ourselves from imperialism. Power was transferred from British rulers to our rulers. Even today, we are not free from imperialism. Even today we remain victims of imperialism. Freedom from imperialism is a great task and a tiring job. We still have to fight and struggle to free ourselves from imperialism. What we are celebrating today is the transfer of power to the hands of our country’s rulers.
The kingdom of Kandy was important at that time as well. It is the same today. In 1815, we officially came under British rule. Many citizens of our country did not accept this subjugation. There were plenty of people who were determined to fight and struggle against it.
Imperialism emerged in the latter half of the eighteen hundreds. It still exists. What happened in 1948 was that the indigenous rulers of our country received power from the British rulers.
The word freedom is great. It is immense. Even today, we have a struggle to win freedom. We have a battle for freedom from imperialism. We still have freedom to gain. Even at this moment, there are struggles for freedom. There are trade union struggles. There are battles. Freedom is a broad word. We have a continuous struggle to win it. May today be a day of strong determination for the present generation to carry forward that struggle.”
