What do we hear any time now, from every corner of the world? It is not the songs of birds, but the reports of the guns.

Insted of gentle smiles, we see everywhere the tears of want. Nor can we create the derams of reality but we do inherit hopelessness. Where has gone the beautiful world the children longed to see? As they pass their child hood, they go through a world full of unrest and disorder.

Dear writers of many countries, most of you will agree with what I am saying.

As the writers for children can we portray illusory happening, since they do not experience loveliness in real life. Do we have a right to write fancy tales when they die of hunger and sickness.

If we are accountable to the young readers, we cannot deceive them by creating heavens on earth.

Let us not characterise the children who run away from the real life and wage war aginst the made-up robbers, villains and devils. Should we not put an end to writing about the spellbinder's magic-box?

I think that the requirement on the time is to help our chidren to understand the real happenings far and wide.

I do emphasise this fact, through my own experience in the early life.

As a son of a poor farmer, I did not have a charming childhood, that is always praised and pictured by most of the writers. Side by side with my father, I, too, had to take pains to survive.

Years later I bacame a government teacher. In the schools most of the pupils I met were very poor. Either I taught them or they taught me. How their parents were earning a living was not so different from that of my father. I got an inspiration from this experience to write about the common man's life. This was what those who were in power did not like to happen. As a result, I had been transfering from place to place. I served for 23 years in 23 schools. Therefore it had been an eventful period for me, because I could teach to, as well as learn from, many children of farmers and fishermen. They came to school when there were no work in grain fields. They also worked as their parents did. My heart was filled with tears and smiles of those children. And they are there in every story I wrote.

Today, I have come here for one of the stories so have I written. In my homeland, Sri Lanka, two main ethnic groups have been fighting for eleven years. So far, each group has won only thousands of dead bodies, misery among those who lost their dear ones, and wastelands where they lived - the children of both groups were to suffer most. Of them I wrote this story. I understand similar works are written in many countries. I made an attempt to impart feeling on ethnic harmony, to the young readers.

At this very moment, I cannot forget the farmers and fishermen of several villages I knew. They offered me the fare to travel to this country. They further said: "Be present at the occasion and after coming back , write another story ". At first I was reluctant to come here at the expense of poor folk. But they earnestly requested me to accept the offer, that in honor by it self.

Most of our children do not nowadays enjoy seeing flowers, butterflies , rainbows and dew drops . They are really experiencing the pains of malnutrition or illiteracy.

The Sri Lanka Branch of IBBY takes a great effort to literate them, and supply them with good reading material. I can memorize how the president of the branch Mrs. Sybil Wettasingha together with her daughter Kusala Wettasingha had made arrangements to distribute books among the children in remote villages. I assume that the IBBY organization renders a similar service in many countries world over.

Comrade writers: as writers, our commitment would be to encourage younger generation to face fearlessly to the problems of the society.

I thank the organizers for putting forward the children's books, a place of freedom as the theme o the congress. It manifests, I think, the demand of the time.

The writer of children's books is like a psychotherapist. He relieves the young mind from the social ailments.

Only the children can create a better world. Let us help them to do it by providing them with a well-becoming literature.

My sincere thanks are due to the organizers for that I have been honored by offering this valuable opportunity to address you on behalf of all the other writers.

Children's books, a Place of freedom.

Let us write more for freedom.

Thank you all.

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