We weird Sinhala Buddhists, and the woebegone citizenry

by Namini Wijedasa

(November 16, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Two Fridays ago, Muslims in Colombo tumbled onto the streets, brandishing placards and shouting slogans. There was violence in some places, when tempers ran suitably high. But it was a peaceful demonstration for the most part.

One of the grievances of these protesters was that the JHU’s Patali Champika Ranawaka-in an interview three weeks ago-had called the Muslims ungrateful visitors to Sri Lanka. Another issue, however, was that Muslim schoolgirls at the Sir Baron Jayatilaka Vidyalaya in Panchikawatte were not being permitted to wear trousers under their school dresses.

Morality

This trouser business only cropped up about a month ago, when somebody in the Muslim community dug up a 1980s circular which said Muslim students may wear the traditional Punjabi suit to school. The action of unearthing this circular, whoever may have dunnit, is open to question. Why now? Why Panchikawatte? Why... at all? That is an issue worthy of debate by some of Sri Lanka’s foremost conspiracy theorists.

But when girls at Sir Baron Jayatilaka started turning up with trousers under their dresses-in honour of a dusty but still valid circular-everything turned a little sour at the school. According to students, their vice principal, some teachers of Buddhism and a section of Sinhala Buddhist students and past pupils started victimising them...calling them names, casting unpleasant remarks and insisting that they don’t wear the trousers to school.

I’m Sinhala Buddhist but, fortunately, not of the humourless kind. I still have a streak of absurdity running through my staunchly Sinhala Buddhist veins that occasionally allows me to laugh at myself.

Therefore, I’m going to let myself think-all in good fun-that we Sinhala Buddhists are a weird bunch of people. We have spent the most part of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rein trying to stamp out drugs and alcohol; to promote local culture; to bring back morality; to eradicate pornography; to send barely clothed cheerleaders bolting back to Russia; and to get billboard models to keep their clothes on. And rightly (if not self-righteously) so.

And the rest of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rein? Oh, we will spend that trying to get modestly attired Muslim girls to take their trousers off and show their legs in school.

Pay hike

But, moving on to more mundane matters... the president, premier, speaker and MPs are set to receive a handsome salary hike from January 2009. And why not, we ask? A man’s got to live.
These increases in pay and allowances are becoming an annual event. Soon, they’ll slot it into the annual calendar as they did the national budget. Unlike the national budget, though, no government will ever lose a vote on it. They are a cemented bunch, our MPs, when it comes to their own pockets. It is an odd kind of unity that manifests itself every time something needs to be approved of the MPs, by the MPs, for the MPs.

Anyhow, the persevering, industrious, truthful, honest, tireless, diligent MPs of our nation will be all the better off from January 2009. The citizenry, however, is looking slightly woebegone. But never mind that.

The citizenry must understand that times are hard. The military is fighting a bitter battle in the north-a battle that requires lots of money. The citizenry must also understand that the government needs money to do lots of other things and, so, taxes must go up. Things must become more expensive and life must become harder. It must become more difficult to get kids into school, to pay for their education and to buy clothes for them, or books, or milk powder, or bread, or chocolate.

It must become tougher to buy a car or fill a fuel tank. It must even become more difficult to afford bus fare... provided there are buses. It must become impossible for middle class families to buy land or build houses. Schooling must become more expensive and simple entertainment must become more costly. It must become hard to find a well paid job. It must become hard to live.

It is a natural process that the citizenry must accept. Heck, how else would we even know that Sri Lanka is still Sri Lanka? - Sri Lanka Guardian