Sri Lanka is Our Lanka Too

By: Dr.Rajasingham Narendran

"There is a great conspiracy for Tamils from the North to link with Tamils in the East, with the Indian Tamils in the estates and with the Tamils in Colombo and trap the Sinhalese on the island. Add to this the 50 or is it 70 million Tamils of South India all waiting to swim over"- Champika Ranawake, Cabinet Minister and JHU Member of Parliament in the Al-Jazeera TV interview.

The recent Al-Jazeera television documentary 'Monks of war' provided a rare insight into Sinhala-Buddhist perspectives on the long running ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka . The objectivity and clarity in presenting the opposing viewpoints within this perspective was admirable. The Al-Jazeera TV network and the presenter Juliana Ruhfus deserve our gratitude for a job well done and for bringing issues long swept under the carpet into the open.

I had read somewhere, although unable to recall the source that," Mankind would have invented God, even if such an entity did not exist". Karl Marx on the other hand famously proclaimed, "Religion is the opium of the masses". I remembered these and their profoundness as I watched this documentary.

"He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me". Those who do not harbour such thoughts still their hatred".

"Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal".
-The Dammapada-

These words from the Dammapada came to life in this documentary when the Sinhala-Buddhist mother narrated the story of her son who had served in the Sri Lankan army. She was told that her son was 'Missing-in-Action' and subsequently made the gruesome discovery that the army had burnt the bodies of its dead soldiers. This abominable act has not been acknowledged yet. She yet does not know whether her son is alive or dead and is unable to reconcile to the reality of her son's possible death. She however was very vehement that more Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims should not die in this war and in simple terms explained the repercussions of the 'Tit for tat' revenge cycle. While she yet awaits the return of her 'Missing' son, she bears no animosity towards the Tamils. Her son was probably killed by the LTTE in the northern war front. She not only presented the compassionate face of Buddhism, but also epitomized Buddhism. This is the Buddhism that permeates the lives and deeds of an overwhelmingly large majority of the Sinhala-Buddhists in Sri Lanka.

This is the Buddhism that will ultimately rescue Sri Lanka from the madness that has overtaken her. This is the Buddhism that will restore sanity and logic to governance and socio-political life in Sri Lanka. This is the 'God' humankind needs to underline its humanity and aspire to sublime values.

"A fool who knows his foolishness is wise at least to that extent, but a fool who thinks himself wise is a fool indeed".

"One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness thereafter".

"Those who mistake the unessential to be essential and the essential to be unessential, dwelling in wrong thoughts, never arrive at the essential".

"Whoever, on account of perverted views, scorns the teaching of the perfected ones, the Noble and Righteous Ones- That fool, like the bamboo, produces fruits only for self destruction".

"There are many evil characters and uncontrolled men wearing the saffron robe. These wicked men will be born in states of woe because of their evil deeds".

-The Dammapada-

The graduate student monk, researching the role of war in Buddhism and Champika Ranawake, the minister quoted at the beginning of the article , who is obviously suffering from chronic 'Persecution Complex', represent the other 'Extreme, Militant and Cruel' form of political ideology pedaled as a resurgent Buddhism by a miniscule minority of the Sinhala-Buddhists. Champika Ranawake sounded like a clone of Osama Bin-laden, when he voiced his extreme (& mad) opinions and threatened the world that militant Buddhism was on the rise. This voice of militancy is being sounded from tiny Sri Lanka that many find difficult to identify in the world map! To me Champika Ranawake standing in front of a map of Sri Lanka and expounding his grand conspiracy theory sounded like a fool who thinks he is wise!

The Buddhist monk researching the role of Buddhism in war, might as well have researched (and a little more relevantly ) the influence of Buddhism on Hugh Hefner , as his 'Playboy' magazine is largely devoted to female nudity- physical nirvana! I wonder what the Dhamma-abiding Buddhists think of such men. Such men are a blemish on a great people and a great religion. It is unfortunate that this minority pedaling a pernicious ideology that portrays Sinhala-Buddhists as besieged people and re-paraphrases the famous lament attributed in the Mahawamsa to Prince Dutu Gemunu ( That he is trapped between the Tamils and the deep blue sea, when questioned about his curled up posture in bed by Queen Viharamahadevi-his mother), is the bane of Sri Lanka. Buddhism, Sinhalese, Tamils, Hinduism and the deep blue sea have survived the irrational fears of Dutu Gemunu, although he gained the crown from the old and just King, Ellalan (Elahara)! Mosquitoes and malaria did far greater damage to the great Sinhala civilizations based in Anuradhapura and Polonaruwa than the Tamils, Tamil, Hinduism or the Chola invasions ever could have done!

The entire focus of this ideology is to marginalize, brutalize, destroy, assimilate or drive off the non-Sinhala-Buddhists in the island. The Tamils are the immediate focus and the other minorities will follow-suit. Sri Lanka is for only Sinhala-Buddhists is the essence of this pernicious ideology. This is the Nazi-like ideology that has to be stripped of its façade of Buddhism, which provides it legitimacy in the eyes of the innocent. Buddhism is founded on logic, rationality and profound compassion. It has nothing to do with the irrationality and loony theories expounded by these extremists. Such men have seeded the Tamil militancy and help nurture it, while most Tamils have tolerated it for lack of alternatives. These extremists use religion as a slogan to cloud peoples thinking and arouse their animal passions. This phenomenon is what made Karl Marx call religion the opium of the masses. In Sri Lanka the reality of bad governance, failure of the rule of law, corruption and the exploitation of the people by its rulers, are blanketed out of the focus of the people by these elements pedaling their pernicious ideology. The ruling class in Sri Lanka needs such men and women for their survival. S.W.R.D. Banadaranaike had his Mapitigama Budharakita Thera, Wimala Wijeywardene, Prof. Jayasuriya and K.M.P. and Kusuma Rajaratne. J.R.Jayawardene had Cyril Mathew and his ilk. Chandrika Kumaratunge had her JVP ideologues. Mahinda Rajapakse has his JHU monks, the JVP ideologues and the likes of Champika Ranawaka. If such men and women were not readily available, they will be invented by the ruling political class! The decency of a great people and their essential goodness is being raped by these obnoxious elements for their personal gain. This is a truth the Sinhala-Buddhists have to yet discover.

Starting from Don Stephen Senanayake (son of Don Spater Senanayake), through Dudley Shelton Senanayake, Sir John Lionel Kotelawala, Neelaperumalge Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (previously Kalukapuge), Wijeyananda Dahanayake, Sirimavo Banadaranaike (of Mawalatenne Mohattala lineage), Thambi Mudiyansalage Junius Richard Jayawardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa (son of Richard Ranasinghe), Dingiri Banda Wijetunge, Chandrika Banadaranaike Kumaratunge and Mahendra Percival Rajapakse (Son of George Rajapakse), among our heads of government from Independence to date, I find only two men who can claim to have been untainted by the 'Adaptation to colonialism syndrome', in name, religion or way of life. They are W.Dahanayake and Dingiri Banda Wijetunge. Of the others, some are of mixed race- sometimes multiple, most have conveniently adopted western and Christian names, and or religion to suit the periods their families have lived through and most have changed their mode of dress and way of life very quickly to facilitate political survival. Most of these men changed from 'Brown sahibs' to 'Arya Sinhala, Buddhist patriots' almost overnight. However, all of them including W.Dahanayake and D.B.Wijetunge were standard-bearers for the Sinhala-Buddhist extremist ideology, in its many nuances to some degree or other. If not, they could not have attained power and held on to it. Mahinda ( Mahendra) Percy (Percival) Rajapakse, the current President, has become the current standard-bearer of this extreme Sinhala-Buddhist ideology. Pursuit of power, wealth and the right to exploit the common person and make a fool of him/her has been the only driving force behind these chameleon-like transformations.

While one cannot complain against adopting a new name, a new religion or a new way of life among people for whatever reason, what is abhorrent is the ease with which such transformations have taken place in most of these families, defying conscience and logic. Men and women who occupied the front pews during Sunday services in churches became regular visitors to Buddhist temples and patrons of Buddhism overnight. Men and women who had western Christian names, eliminated them from their families very quickly and started using names linked to Buddhism and Sinhala history. How much of this change was out of genuine conviction and how much of it is the continuance of a charade and political expediency? The lap dogs of the colonial rulers of the past, had however very quickly became the keepers of a pernicious Sinhala-Buddhist ideology. Whether these men and women are selected, groomed, brought to power and kept in power, by the purveyors of this pernicious Sinhala-Buddhist ideology or whether these men and women in pursuit of power and wealth use these purveyors of hatred, is difficult to answer. It is however a marriage of convenience that has benefited both. It has given those ruling, the space to abuse power and given those collaborating with them in the name of Sinhala-Buddhism to exercise a hold on power disproportionate to their strength. Both have successively taken the people for a ride for almost sixty years and destroyed Sri Lanka as a nation.

I would like to proclaim to these elements that the decency of the majority of people in Sri Lanka-Sinhalese, Tamils , and Muslims, would ultimately prevail and overcome their present travails. The Tamils will overcome the militancy that has become a cancer and establish their right to live as equal citizens in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is our (Tamil's) land too and will continue to be so. The north and east will continue to be the land reflecting the culture of the Tamil-speaking people. We Tamils will be always ready to share the north and east with our Muslim and Sinhala brethren who consider these lands theirs as well. They will exercise their rights to their language, religion, culture and way of life untrammeled in any way. We Tamils will exercise our right to live any where in Sri Lanka, if that is our wish and will demand our right to live as a free and secure people wherever we choose to live. We Tamils will also not deny the right of our Sinhala and Muslim brethren from the south to live in the north and east if it is their personal wish. However, we Tamils will resist all efforts to reduce us to second-class status, deprive us of our rights, drive us out of our land and colonize our lands under state sponsorship..

Tamils will not accept government sponsored changes in demographics- linguistically or based on religion anywhere in Sri Lanka, including the north and east. The Sinhalese, the Buddhists, the Muslims, the Christians and others are our fellow citizens and we Tamils accept their right to prosper in Sri Lanka. Tamils expect the same in return. It is for the likes of Champika Ranawake to accept this reality and in true Buddhist spirit learn to live and let live. Buddhists have their Naga Vihara in Nainativu in the north, where they are free to worship and we Hindus have our Kathirkamam in the South, where we want to worship without hindrance. Buddhist monks who were opposed to caste-based ordination of monks were banished to the north and the Tamils accepted them and treated them with respect. Tamil-Hindus accept Lord Buddha as a saint who tried to reform their religion. Hindus find echoes of their religious philosophy in Buddhism. Buddhism is not alien to Tamil-Hindus because they do not profess to be Buddhists. Buddhism is part of the Tamil-Hindu ethos. We speak different languages. However, they share common grammar and a large number of words. Both are 'Ela' languages- Sihala and Demala. Bharathiyar, the great Tamil poet of the last century, was ready to build a bridge to the Sinhala island and refill Sethu Samuthiram to build a highway.

" Sinhala Theevinukku Oorr Paalam Aamaipoem,
Sethuvai Meduruthi Veethi Samaipoem"- Tamil.

Bharathy could have called the island Eelam, the name by which it was known during the Sangam period- long before the Sinhala language and Buddhism became pre-dominant, or Lanka as referred to in the Ramayana. However, he in recognition of the predominance of the Sinhala people, was prepared to call it Sinhala Theevu (island) and was extending a hand of friendship. The Tamils are a people who consider 'Truth' a pre-eminent virtue and will never seek to deny what is obvious. The Tamils do not deny that the Sinhalese are the majority people on the island and have no designs to change this fact. However, the Tamils will not accept the Sinhala right to rule and dictate to them. We Tamils want a voice in our governance and the governance of our island. The Tamils are also the children of 'Mother Lanka' and demand their share of her milk. Please do not try to deny us Tamils our birthrights, because of your irrational and unfounded fears and complexes. The Sinhala people should not be taken in by efforts to make the Tamils scapegoats for the failures of their leaders. The success of the Tamils will not contribute to the failure of the Sinhalese and the failure of the Tamils will not lead to the success of the Sinhalese. The past sixty years of our history will testify to this. United we will stand, divided we will fall. This is a lesson we have to quickly learn.