In Protest of “Swarna Rathriyak Dazzling Night” in Los Angeles

By Daya Henderson writes from Fullerton, California

(May 30, Fullerton, California , Sri Lanka Guardian) Vesak, the day marking the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of the Buddha, is on the full moon day in the month of May. Obviously, it comes but once a year. This year it is celebrated on May 29th and 30th, the closest weekend to the actual full moon on the 28th.

Several years ago the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, the Hon. Lakshman Kadiragaman, a Hindu, spearheaded a movement in the United Nations to have Vesak declared an official international holiday. A UN resolution was passed accordingly. It is a nationally-observed holiday in Sri Lanka, as well as in several other predominantly-Buddhist countries of Asia. Over the years, however, popularity of this holiday has grown far beyond the traditional Buddhist countries, and is now observed by Buddhists everywhere. Thousands of devotees in many Western nations, including the United States, now celebrate Vesak in the thousand or more Buddhist temples that have become an essential part of the Western cultural landscape.

There are dozens of Buddhist temples in the Southern California region, many of them home to venerable monks from Sri Lanka, and are places of worship for Sri Lankan immigrant families. Vesak will be celebrated in most of these temples during the weekend of May 29th and 30th. The viharas advised the Sri Lankan expat community of the 2010 dates many months ago, and asked everyone to “save the date” for the observance of Vesak religious rites and community celebrations. There is, in fact, a verbal understanding between the temples and the various Sri Lankan associations that no events would be planned during the months of May (Vesak) and October (Kathina).

Lo and behold! Several weeks ago a group known as The Sri Lanka-America Association of Southern California announced that it was holding a special event for the Sri Lankan expatriate community, which it named “Swarna Rathriyak Dazzling Night.” When this Association was founded over thirty-five years ago, one of its principles was to maintain excellent and harmonious relations with the Buddhist temples in the region.

The headliner star of the “Dazzling Night” evening will be Malini Fonseka, a newly appointed Member of Parliament, thanks to the graciousness of His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa. She flew all the way from Sri Lanka to perform in this event, and her air ticket and expenses, presumably, as well has her performance fee, are being paid for by the Sri Lanka-America Association of Southern California.

Here’s my question: How can Ms. Malini Fonseka accept a prestigious national appointment from the President on one hand, while performing in an event in Los Angeles that is sponsored and organized by people like Mangala Jayakody, K.D. Somasiri, Suraj Fernando, and Udeni Liyange? Each of these individuals is a strong UNP member, Sarath Fonseka supporter, and sworn enemy of the Rajapaksa family. Anyone who’s interested can go to the internet and find YouTube videos of these people, and others who are involved with “Dazzling Night,” protesting against the Government (and supporting Fonseka’s prison release) in front of the Sri Lankan Consulate in Los Angeles! If you want more information, you can contact former LA Consul General Ananda Wickramasinghe. He had his staff photograph the protesters; in fact, he could probably have looked down on them from his office window.

Perhaps Malini Fonseka and Gen. Fonseka are related. Who knows?

It appears to me very strange that the many Americans who struggled through the beliefs of their upbringing in order to find Buddhism, seem to be more dedicated to their adopted religion than those who were born into it in their native Sri Lanka. We’ve all heard the term “Label Buddhists,” but it never seemed to fit as well as it does in this particular situation. Why have the Buddhists from Sri Lanka come to America in order to renounce their faith by foregoing Vesak – and give preference to attending something called “Dazzling Night?”

Dazzling, indeed!