Who Is A Patriot?

"With the change of name to Sri Lanka, we became Sri Lankans. In this 21st century, nations like the British or the Australians find that the composition of their population has undergone so much change with regard to race and religion that they acknowledge, even if they don’t like it, that they have become multi-racial and multi-religious. We have to accept the reality of the present situation, however unpalatable some people appear to find it."

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by Anne Abayasekara

(May 13, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The thought was kindled in my mind when I read, some time ago, an early pronouncement made by the Patriotic National Movement to the effect that Sri Lanka is not a multi-religious, multi-cultural nation, but a Sinhala Buddhist nation. This seemed to be endorsed in an anonymous letter I received more recently, telling me that "You Christians have destroyed this country." I have since received two more letters, anonymous of course, in the same vein and in the same handwriting and I have consigned them to the WPB, but the mindset that regards all minorities as aliens and by definition unpatriotic and undesirable, seems to me both disturbing and dangerous.

Also some time ago, there came on my e-mail, a letter from an organization which called itself "The Patriotic Sinhala Association of New Zealand". Many others here and abroad also received this communication which defamed a doctor heading an organization which works with sexually abused children, for having said, in a radio interview, that incest was quite common in our country – something we all know is perfectly true and is constantly supported by the news items we read in our national newspapers. The "Sinhala Patriots" in NZ, further stated that "such things don’t happen in our country."

That, to my mind, gave a clue to how so-called `patriots’ think. To acknowledge anything undesirable or reprehensible that happens in this land, is equivalent to being a traitor. Patriots would never admit to such things publicly, but would "uphold the good name of our country" by pretending loudly that Sri Lanka is indeed an island paradise that is completely devoid of the human weaknesses and vices to which people in other lands – particularly in the West – are prone. So, some of us don’t or won’t recognize that what gave us a bad name internationally in July 1983 - even more than the madness of the rampaging mobs – was the failure of our leaders, both political and religious, to come out openly and say unequivocally that something terrible had happened that was deeply regretted and that the Government would try to make amends as far as possible for what the Tamil community had suffered.

The silence of the ordinary, decent citizens of the country, too, was "deafening", as was remarked on by, I think, Justice Weeramantry at the time, even though many such citizens had unhesitatingly given help and shelter to besieged Tamils. And yet, there are patriotic Sinhalese who still write Letters to the Editor asking "What have the Tamils got to complain of?"

There was a newspaper headline to the effect that Sri Lanka topped the world in bribery and corruption. To my mind, the real patriots would be those who take such assessments seriously and will DO something to rally public opinion in such a way as to begin an earnest campaign to shame the Government and the public sector into eradicating the bribery and corruption to which too many of us give tacit assent.

The true patriots are those who, while they commend the good things in our society, will also recognize the bad and become actively involved in doing something to remove the huge blots that darken our horizon. Let’s give our full support to those who are actively doing something about matters like extra-judicial killings, child abuse, violence against women, alcoholism and drug addiction, about garbage and polythene bags strewing the streets, about our deplorable road manners, and any other shaming practices there are.

A newspaper headline that caught my eye quoted our Prime Minister as saying: I AM

COMPELLED TO OPEN POLICE STATIONS AND COURTS and the paragraph below it read thus: "Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said that although he dislikes opening police stations and courts of law, he is compelled to do so as they are essential for the safety of the people in an unruly society." We know how easy it seems to ignore laws in this country and how unsafe people feel today even within the four walls of their own homes.

Let’s join hands with any group we know that genuinely works for inter-communal and inter-religious harmony and national reconciliation and integration. I have a piece of paper on which I have copied out what a citizen of another country has written:

"Politicians talk about `loving the country’ all the time. But to me, to love one’s country is a way of life. The realization of that love is to save on energy, cut down on the garbage one produces and avoid polluting the environment."

The way to be zealous in guarding our country’s good name doesn’t lie in pretending that everything here is wonderful, but to see that we don’t act in ways that bring dishonour or disgrace to it, or that destroys unity and goodwill between the diverse elements that make up our nation.

Tragically, there are divisive elements always trying to create further divisions and sub divisions in our already fragmented society. Nalin de Silva, writing in the Island (of 29/11) on "Olcott Buddhists" separates them from "Sinhala Buddhists who follow King Gemunu and who have been taught by him that war is not forbidden in Sinhala Buddhism, know that Sinhala Buddhism and the sasana would be protected only by them." A quote from an editorial in the Jakarta Post is very appropriate in this context: "People seem to have excessive energy for finding differences, for dividing and weakening themselves, eroding social trust until it almost disappears. We seem to lack the urge to seek a common ground where synergy can take place."

In The Island of 22/11/06 the Midweek Review carried an article by Susantha Goonatilake that has this sentence: "Incidentally, before the 20th century there were no Sri Lankans, they were called Sinhalese." What does that imply? Time brings changes. In the 20th century we called ourselves Ceylonese – some of us did, anway.

With the change of name to Sri Lanka, we became Sri Lankans. In this 21st century, nations like the British or the Australians find that the composition of their population has undergone so much change with regard to race and religion that they acknowledge, even if they don’t like it, that they have become multi-racial and multi-religious. We have to accept the reality of the present situation, however unpalatable some people appear to find it.

The October 2006 issue of the Reader’s Digest (Asian Edition), has a delightful article entitled "My Family & Other Globalizers" by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar, a South Indian Brahmin from a village named Kargudi in Tamil Nadu. He writes humorously of the way his family has branched out through marriage into far-flung communities and countries, with several members embracing different religions as well and that from Kargudi it looks more like Aiyarization than globalization in the accepted sense.

He declares that the process of "the Aiyaryization of the world does not mean Aiyar domination. Nor does it mean the Aiyar submergence in a global sea. It means acquiring multiple identities, and moving closer to the ideal of a brotherhood of all humanity."

Sadly, narrow patriotism in the sense in which the word is bandied about here,discriminating against those who are "different" in any way from the superior, genuine article, will never propel us in the direction of an united Sri Lankan nation, let alone a global family of human beings. It’s a struggle for most of us to think of, or see ourselves as primarily belonging to the HUMAN race, all of us a part of the larger human family. My eyes lit up at the sight of a large advertisement that appeared in the Daily News of 29/11/06, with the prominently displayed wording, ‘ESSENCE OF HUMANITY’. The smaller print beneath it read: "Together we can work towards protecting and nurturing the multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-religious diversity which forms the fabric of our society. Respecting and celebrating the diversity amongst us is the best way through which we can achieve a truly united Sri Lankan identity."

It ended with the rather strange line, "Towards a safer Sri Lanka`85." which was explained when I saw that the advt. had been inserted by the Ministry of Disaster Management & Human Rights.

Such a call to unity will make some people froth at the mouth, but unless we can do that, we may well destroy ourselves in refusing to accept as our fellow Sri Lankans and comrades, those we consider to be "foreign" elements who have crept into this Dhammadeepa against our will.
- Sri Lanka Guardian