| by V.N.Giritharan
( October 1, 2013, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian)
This is my humble request
to the bellicose rulers
of the world.
Do you know Ashoka?
Ashoka the great,
a great Indian emperor
who ruled the country
two thousand years ago.
He, a warmonger
became a great
peacemonger.
He , a warrior
became a great
pacifist.
He fought a bloody
war in Kalinga.
A war of destruction.
A war of
great human tragedy.
Ashoka the great,
a great Indian emperor
witnessed the human
tragedy which he himself
caused.
Witnessing the
war and its effects,
affected him
profoundly;
changed him
forever.
Ashoka , a man of war
became a man of
love ; a man of
peace.
Two thosand years ago
a war changed him
into a peace loving
man, a Buddhist.
You Demagogues,
You Hypocrites,
You warmongers,
how many wars
Have you, rulers
of the modern world,
waged
in the name of
peace;
in the name of
language;
in the name of
religion;
in the name of
nationalism.
My humble request
to you, bellicose rulers
of the world, is
this:
When are you
going to learn
a lesson
from the past;
from the story
of Ashoka,
a great Indian emperor,
who ruled the country
two thousand years ago?
 This is my humble request to the bellicose rulers o...){kind=link}