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India being the big brother to little sister Sri Lanka has long historical relationships which had benefited Sri Lanka most. Nobody would disagree if I take the noblest example of arrival of Buddhism to Sri Lanka from India.
In a customary South Asian family, big brother has to look after the little sister and that is what we normally anticipate from a big brother in order to protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity. However, when the little sister is young, too much looking after is hated due to various facts. For millennia we have been enjoying this love-hate relationship and it is mainly because we share more similarities than differences.
When it comes to CEPA, the bitter truth is that most of us have a pre-judgment that the different professionals will be flooded the Sri Lankan soil with Indian experts. This has been discussed for years and several associations have got together to tackle the issue and to convince the government that Sri Lanka would be better without CEPA.
Engineers are not an exception, if a good or bad happens; it happens to all of us and engineers should discuss this matter openly and extensively. I have been complaining that our engineers are silent as the grave on many subjects those have direct threats or warnings to our profession.
I urge the engineering community to wake up from your slumber. Share your views and let’s make a bigger forum to convert CEPA for our benefits. Don’t forget that this time we have number of engineers serving as secretaries in several ministries and it must be our power to influence the decision makers.
Udeni P. Nawagamuwa
nawagamuwa@gmail.com
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