Lalin Fernando’s diatribe in ‘The Island’ of April 23 is the sort of thing that should be dismissed, not discussed. Unfortunately, I cannot ignore it for two reasons. Did I not, he asks, suggest some time ago that the Sinhala lion be removed from the national flag? Nothing could be further from my mind. I have long held that our flag is the most gorgeously lovely flag in the world, a masterpiece with discordant colours somehow harmonizing. That lion is obviously not a beast of prey, but a splendid creature buoyant with the joy of life, and according to one of my friends, that sword is not an instrument of slaughter threatening the minorities but a phallic symbol inviting them to the dance. I am not sure that I agree. But I would certainly agree that our buoyantly joyful flag fittingly symbolizes the Sri Lanka that used to be, before the racists wrecked it. We must persist with it as it spells hope for the future. (Incidentally, there is a wonderful tribute to our flag in one of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels).

Is LF one of the racists who have been wrecking our country? His epigraph from Shakespeare includes the line, "Whilst bloody treason flourished over us." Obviously that is meant to apply to me among others. Can he produce any evidence to show treason on my part? He cannot. He seems to be reacting in terms of the familiar racist stereotype, according to which our only true nationalists are the true-blue Sinhalese.