The paucity of conscience and the lack of Wisdom – A reply

by Charles.S.Perera

(September 18, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Mr.A.J.N.Selvadurai begins his articel in the Sri Lanka Guardian of the 17,September,2008. by saying that, " A conscience is a moral sense of right and wrong. Even intelligent quadrupeds like apes, elephants, cats and dogs have it, but to a lesser degree. Throughout history mankind has acted against his conscience and built vast empires, as they find it difficult to overcome greed for wealth and power. This can lead to a lot of cruelty in the course of building empires and subjugating other people."

The conscience is only the knowing of a moral sense of right and wrong. The intelligent quadrupeds like apes, elephants, cats and dogs have a conscience, but not a moral sense of right and wrong. It is the men with a lopsided sense of right or wrong who have devastated human aspirations, as the terrorists continue to do to-day, in the name of a God, or to build a homeland for themselves, without the least concern for others.

Mr.Selvadurai is wrong in comparing the Sri Lanka military, with the JVP Marxist revolution of the '70s. The war is cruel, but it is a necessary evil when it is to thwart a group of armed terrorists who kidnap, torture, kill and maim the people to break away a part of the territory for a homeland, from the "motherland" that belongs to all of us. The Military is executing the governments right to defend its people and protects its territory. Therefore, the court ruling of the Nuremburg trials of the Nazis, you quote is out of place.

A conscientious objector is one who, on religious, moral or ethical grounds, refuses to participate as a combatant in war, or in some cases, to take any role that would support an armed force or rejection of conscription or military service. The government soldiers are fighting willingly to eliminate terrorism, that had settled in for three decades taking with it the lives of good number of Sinhala and Tamil youth, massacred innocent men women and children, and murdered a good number of our political leaders, intellectuals, and Officers of the security forces.

There is among the Sinhala people an anti-war lobby opposing the war against the terrorists. They are not seen kindly by the larger majority of the people who want an end to terrorism.

Mr.Selvadurai refuses to accept, or is completely "unaware" that the Government Security Forces of Sri Lanka are not, repeat not, fighting against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. The Government Forces are trying to stop continued murders, assassinations, and ruthless massacres of innocent people, by a group of a terrorists, who wants nothing else, but to set up a racist, and a fascist Eelam State.

Several attempts to make them see reason by bringing them to negotiate peace with the government failed, because they did not agree to any peace settlement, other than for the setting up of a separate Eelam State.

The Sinhala people have not forgotten the July, 83, but they do not want to live with the stigma of July, 83. They want to make amends, forget it, and live with affection and fraternity with the Tamil brothers and Sisters. The past is past, let it not repeat itself in any form in the future.

The terrorism that started after 1983 as you say, is regrettable let us end the hatred towards the Sinhala with that unfortunate three decade of suffering that terrorisms brought into our midst, and look forward to build a future of peace and amity with the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and all other communities who had been living together for generations.

There is no, one nation in the world who had no ethnic problems at one period of time or other, so why single out Sri Lanka as a unique case of ethnic disturbances.

I have not read the poll by the Joseph Rawntree Foundation I am an ordinary Sinhala man, who had lived with the Tamils and the Muslims, and I have nothing against them . On the other hand, some of my best friends, believe me, were Tamils and Muslims.

I would like to see the day when Tamils and Sinhala will live in complete peace and harmony with one another. I would go so far as to say, that our communities should mingle, even with mixed marriages, so that there would be no difference between the two communities. We may speak both languages, and pray for, and respect the same gods, and follow the Dhamma of the Buddha.

I beg to differ from the findings of the Rawntree Foundation polls. Neither faith nor religion is a social evil, it is the minds of men, that is evil. The religion could give meaning to life and being meaningful we could overcome social evils. Buddhism, Mr. Selvadurai, as a religion or as a philosophy is unique. The teachings of the Buddha make you understand life, and understand reason for evil, and suffering caused by being evil.

The war against terrorism has no root in the religions. It is the warped minds that through clinging attachment, hatred and aversion, with a deluded idea of a self, "I" , "Me" and "Our" complex that has caused all evil.

You separate other people from "my people", protect "my people" against other people, love "my people", to hate other people. Thus the vicious circle of hatred within a hateful mind continues. Therefore, Mr.Selvadurai, time has come, not to separate "my people" from other people, but find links that are common to both people, and unite one, with the other. So that we, the Tamil, Sinhala, Muslim, Malays and so on become a single Nation of peace loving people.

Mr.Selvadurai, you have got it all wrong. Leave alone the Sangha, the Politicians and all the rest of them. What matter are the people ," you and me", let us change OUR minds first, to get rid of the cancer of hatred within us, against the Sinhala, their religion, and their culture. Let us accept those people as they are with their weaknesses, and their shortcomings. Let us make the best use of what ever we have around us to change them, and make them better.

You say, or repeat what others like you say,that, "One of the biggest blunders of the Sinhala leadership is to have created a situation where the hitherto docile Tamils were forced to take up arms and demand a separate state as they found it impossible to carry on".

Sinhala leadership did not create the situation for a group of Tamil youths to take up arms, and become terrorists, it is the wrong view, the wrong understanding of those young men, that drove them to become terrorists. Let us not blame one, for the evil in the other.

The problem, with you Mr.Selvadurai as I see it, is that you are looking at the world through coloured glasses. As long as you look through those glasses, you will not see the reality. The reality is in seeing things as they are, in their correct perspective. Therefore, Mr. Selvadurai, take off your coloured glasses, you will see things and persons differently. You will see that Sinhala are after all not as bad as you have seen them through your glasses.

I have not even heard of Dr.Schumacher, let alone reading him. You, on the other hand, are a well read, intelligent man. Nevertheless, what Dr.Schumacher had said is not different from what I had said with my limited intelligence.

I had read, a long time ago, an Indian philosopher Juddu Krishnamurthi, some thing he had said remained in my mind. It was about each person being fractured, according to his religion, race, class and profession. Therefore, he looks at a given problem from each one of his fractions. He may look at the problem for instance, from his racial faction as a Tamil. And, try to understand it seeing it only from that fraction. But, if he were to get rid of these factions and look at a problem as a whole, he will see it in an entirely different way. Therefore, we should look at the problem of the Tamils, as a whole, not from the narrow racial factions.

Well Mr.Selvadurai, as you have said in conclusion of your article, "……Now that this imbalance has been rectified in the most disastrous manner, it is time to stop the war and start thinking of peace. "- Sri Lanka Guardian