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We, Sri lankans celebrated our 62nd independence day on 4th Feb 2010. We achieved independence and self rule from the British empire 62 years ago (in 1948). This is considered as a remarkable milestone of Sri Lankan history as the country (or a part of it) was always under some foreign custody since 1505 A.D.
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1505 – Portuguese come in
1660 – Dutch take over the control
1802 – British get the Dutch controlled areas
1815 – British take the control of whole island by defeating last kingdom (Kandy) of the country
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4th Feb 1948 is the day we got the full political freedom after about three and half centuries. So no doubt it is a glorious day we should celebrate. However this time independence day celebration was very much special. Actually it was a celebration of real independence after 30 years of war(people like me who were born in the era of war, had not ever witnessed a real independence). It was the first independence day celebration after defeating Tamil tiger terrorist group (LTTE) which is responsible for 30 year war in Sri Lanka. The day the LTTE leader “Velupille Prabhakaran” was killed (18th May 2009), should be the second independence day of Sri Lanka.
Deviating from the tradition, this independence day celebration was held in Kandy, being the last sovereign kingdom of the country, seems to be the most suitable place for the purpose.
Kalani Ruwanpathirana - blog 