FRONT PAGE
 NEWS .
 CLASSIFIED .
 DHAMMAWEB .
 SANDUN UYANA .
 ANTENNA .
 EVENTS DIARY .
 LONDON DIARY .
 FEATURES .
 LETTERS .

Sri Pannananda Dharmayatanaya
Station Road
Kelaniya

Tel. 910146
March 31, 2002
The Editor
Daily News
Lake House
D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha
Colombo 10

The article entitled ' The Saviour of Christianity '
January 21, 2002

My attention has been drawn to the above - mentioned article which was published in the middle page of the Daily News on January 21, 2002.

The article is about the life of an obscure Christian Missionary padre called Joseph Vaz - who had sought and obtained the protection of King Vimala Dharmasurya the Second. Fr. Joseph Vaz had been granted many privileges by the magnanimous King, but the writer of this article Mr F.N.C.Miranda has chosen to insult the religion i.e Buddhism and the Buddhist Culture that nurtured this ruler.

Mr.Miranda (the author of this panegyric to Vaz) writes as follows: 'Paganism fails to understand disinterested charity; but yet it admires it. This was the cause of the respect paid by King Vimala Dharmasuriya to Fr.Vaz. To that pagan Prince, the Catholic priest was an Enigma which he approached only with supernatural awe.'

Let us look at this remarkable statement. The King was a Buddhist - a religion in which not only 'disinterested charity' but every conceivable aspect of the ethical and moral endeavour of man was developed to a pitch that the likes of Joseph Vaz and his co-religionists could not even dream of. Yet this writer speaks of 'Pagans' and 'Paganism'. Is he a Sri Lankan? Has he not heard of Buddhism? If it is shameful ignorance, the writer needs sympathy and education.

There is, however, a deeper plot that falls in line with the Anti-Buddhist campaign of some mainstream newspapers in the country. Isnt this terminology being used as a covert way of denigrating Buddhism. In extolling Joseph Vaz's 'disinterested charity' and contrasting it with the low moral standards of paganism, the writer in effect is saying, that Catholicism had set a moral standard heretofore lacking in Buddhism.

How long must we, as Buddhists, tolerate such calculated insults to Buddhism masterminded by a Press that is supposed to be in the Public Domain? Do representations made by the Buddhist clergy and organisations mean nothing to the anti-Buddhist elements that appear to have wrested control of the editorial direction of Lake House?

I call upon the Lake House Management to ensure that this letter is given the same prominence as the article by Mr. Miranda, and that the ' Daily News ' publish an apology over the offense caused to the Buddhists of this country by that article.

Thank you.

…………………………………………
Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Nayake Thero

Copyright © 1997-2001www.lankaweb.Com Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reproduction In Whole Or In Part Without Express Permission is Prohibited.