From Buddhism to Secularism through the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam
(December 15, Colombo, Si Lanka Guardian) Chapter 3 of the Sri Lankan Constitution states “In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable.”
Chapter 9 states “The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e).”
Chapter 18 states
(1) The Official Language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.
(2)Tamil shall also be an official language.
(3) English shall be the link language.
(4) Parliament shall by law provide for the implementation of the provisions of this Chapter.
Tamils are protesting against alleged proposals by the Government to ban the singing of National Anthem in Tamil. If the Government does implement the ban – to my mind, it would not only be acting in breach of Chapter 18 (2) of the Constitution, but also automatically confirm that it is driving towards assimilation to make Sri Lanka a Sinhala State, as General Fonseka declared when he was part of the Government.
That would automatically confirm the suppression of Tamil States. Tamil States are the political Districts where majority voters are Tamils. By virtue of Chapter 3 of the Constitution, Sovereignty is in the People. Hence where there are no laws established through Due Processes, natural actions of the People (majority persons) of that political area are expressions of that Sovereignty. Any action to interfere with that Sovereignty is in breach of the Constitution of Sri Lanka – beyond which no government has official powers.
We often tend to act through bilateral agreements. Wikileaks was an issue because of this habit which promotes selfishness and blocks our paths to becoming wholesome. On Sundays, at our Carlingford Sai Center we say Unity of Faith Prayers. The Buddhist Prayer says:
I take refuge in Buddha; I take refuge in Dharma; I take refuge in Sangha
In my mind, I translate this as
I surrender to the Truth in me; I surrender to Righteousness; I become Society
In secular language to me this translates as:
Self Administration; User Facility; Ownership
When we administer ourselves as per the rules of our group, we become facilitators. When we lose consciousness of facilitating particular individuals but various parts of the group/institution/nation/common work, we are owners of the whole.
Democracy, through the exercise of individual votes has facilitated belief based decisions. To my mind there is no requirement to seek the approval of any Administrative authority to act through belief within one’s constituency, so long as such action is not in breach of the laws of the country. I did this by assembling in a Public area of the University of New South Wales to wait to see the Vice Chancellor. I did so at the risk of being arrested even though there are no laws that render this authority to the New South Wales Police. But by going through the process which was an expression of my Truth that I belonged through my genuine work, I discovered the true limits of the University as well as the Government systems. It’s the Truth within that gives us the Power of Sovereignty which includes benefit of Courage towards Freedom.
Given that the Constitution which is Common to all, states specifically, that Tamil is also official language, Tamils States would be well within their rights to sing the National Anthem in Tamil. Anyone interfering with that inalienable right is acting in breach of the Constitution itself.
It is time we abandoned bilateral agreements and checked back to Base – with the Constitution for intellectuals and Truth within for believers. Commonness when brought to the physical level naturally divides Equally. Let’s promote Commonness and sacrifice bilateralism now that majority have become conscious of multiculturalism.
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