Wisdom all important to get over the tensions at Dambulla
Posted on May 2nd, 2012
by Arjuna Hulugalle- Courtesy The Island
May 1, 2012, 7:32 pm
Man, living in community will invariably have social and political problems. This applies to a tribal society, a nomadic society, a settled rural society or a highly structured civilization, whether Greek, Roman, European or Asian. Minimizing problems and tensions depends on leadership and how well the leaders are able to keep the population on the path of reason. Wisdom is therefore all important in leadership
In any society there will be those who create trouble because of a personality defect. They are others who are insecure and revel in seeing their compatriots quarrel. Their role is to stir the two antagonistic parties and watch the unfolding events. There are still others who want their bƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚ªte noirs falling into deep trouble; the more harm done to them the better. This is called in German Schaden Freude. That is joy in the woes of others.
Then some consider “bad news” as “good news” because it makes good copy for the newspapers. When 20 million Sri Lankans are leading a productive and decent life and one maniac behaves badly, that is what some of the international media waits for.
Some groups in Sri Lanka have a strange satisfaction to wait for opportunities to circulate appeals stating that there is religious intolerance in Sri Lanka and send these appeals worldwide. That is sometimes a part of singing for their supper because there is a lot of money as a reward for such actions.
How much damage all this has on the reputation of the country one cannot estimate. Many who know Sri Lanka ignore this malicious representation. However, those who are prejudiced want to keep Sri Lanka in the news as a failed state.
The truth is that if one goes to Christian Churches on Sunday, they are packed with hundreds of worshipers. Hindus celebrate their festivals with leaders and the common citizenry from all the communities and religions paying respect, homage and obeisance while they witness and partake in the ceremonies. Muslims go peacefully to Friday prayers and at Ramazan break fast in the company of friends from other religions. Naturally, tens of thousands of Buddhists worship at Temples on Poya Days. I cannot think of any country in the world where there is so much interaction between the religions and their celebrations as in Sri Lanka. Every major religion is respected by the government and enjoys public holidays to celebrate them.
Let us invite those who are so critical of us to visit the island and see for themselves. We have had flak from some Indian leaders about the incident in Dambulla. Probably this is more to do with their local politics than with Sri Lanka per se. India itself has seen Muslims denigrated for decades. They can hardly give us advice on religious intolerance. Muslim countries themselves have strict rules on religious practices in their own lands. We understand their sensitivities and respect them and we have the best relations with them.
In the West, Islam phobia is rampant. Considering their own record in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Libya need we take the West seriously in respect of their sanctimonious strictures relating to human rights issues on Sri Lanka. At best let us be indulgent with a benign and amused demeanor and keep our thoughts to ourselves but at the same time focus on correcting our own shortcomings.
Sri Lankan religious leaders have to ceaselessly strive towards understanding and practising the essence of their religions. Tolerance and wisdom certainly apply to all the great religions that are practiced in Sri Lanka. We are fortunate that this country is blessed with a President who is a Buddhist who is married to a Catholic. He has always been a friend of the Muslims from the time he took to politics so much so that a street is named after him in Palestine. He also worships at Hindu shrines and is able to converse with the religious dignitaries in Tamil. IsnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t that something we have to be proud of as Sri Lankans? The President represents the vast majority of the people who aspire to live in harmony with all the religions and communities. If united they can through dialogue and patience come to a satisfactory common understanding. The alternative will play into the hands of those who mainly because of ignorance and misinformation have turned against this country. They may not be many but they can be as disturbing as a screech in an otherwise efficient motor car.
How the mischievous will love to see religious harmony disrupted in this country. We have to be mindful and not fall into a trap and at the same time acquire the equanimity to distance ourselves from those who want to harm us. We have all to focus on what is important namely to improve the lot of the entire population, especially the poor and strive for Social Justice. Let us not be distracted from this path.
May 2nd, 2012 at 8:39 pm
If he is “worshipping” Hindu shrines it is either pretending or he is not a Buddhist. There is nothing to be proud of that.
Rather than worshiping Hindu srines he should understand proper Buddhism and stop dirnking alchohol and stop lying.
If his wife allows he can also restrain from killing animals , insects etc. In other words he must try to keep 5 precepts.
Then only he can be called a Buddhist and we can be proud of him.
However, he need not be a Buddhist to be a good president. We should not care very much about his race, religion ect but we are worried the way he is running the country now.
May 3rd, 2012 at 5:05 am
Some strange things are happening in Sri Lanka. A few incidents have happened lately that are odd.
* One was at Dambulla prior to the Mosque incident. It was that the Dambulla farmers (some ?) had to throw away their vegetable crop due to lack of transport to get them to sales areas. Who controls the transport of vegetables in the Dambulla area ? It is very easy to frustrate and anger farmers by not distributing the vegetables at the right time. The farmers are angry. They will feel angry with whom ? GoSL ?
The next thing we get to know is that the Dambulla Mosque becomes a prominent place. Earlier this building was just a meeting place for Muslim people and suddenly it has become a Mosque able to accommodate a fair number of people. Was a Permit obtained to make the building a Mosque ? Probably not. The Mosque is attacked by a crowd led by the Buddhist priests of Dambulla. Such incidents are unheard of in Sri Lanka. Why now ? What is the reason for this sudden attack ?
* In the Upcountry, some dairy farmers are angry that they were unable to get a good price for the cow milk they produce. Milk was thrown out by gallons by angry farmers. Obviously, the milk too was not distributed in such a way that fair prices were gained by farmers. Who is in charge of milk distribution ?
Why this sudden spate of angry farmers ? Is this organised waste ?
When the C.W.E. was in charge of DISTRIBUTION of farmer and other produce in Lanka, we did not have angry farmers demanding fair prices. Produce was distributed and farmers got a fair price. Ranil Wickremasinghe, when he was P.M. did away with the C.W.E. to allow private enterprise to take over distribution of produce. Who filled the void left by the C.W.E. removal ? Therein lies the answer to the puzzle of angry farmers.
May be it is time to reinstate the C.W.E. If GoSL does so, it is for the good of the country. Sri Lanka should not be held hostage to the vagaries of the private sector re essential services, in this case FOOD.
What we like to know is, which community has the edge on transportation of farmer produce ? Anyway, it is time to reinstate the C.W.E. as an essential service to the country.
Please be aware, that there are many who attempt to DESTABILISE Lanka in diverse ways.
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Dear Dham,
The President is a Statesman and a Politician, not a member of the Buddhist clergy.
Practical Buddhism a must for Buddhist Sri Lankans. A simple matter of getting rid of insects,
Almost all Buddhists also visit Hindu shrines too. They also celebrate X’mas and join in, when invited, in Muslim festivals.
May 3rd, 2012 at 5:16 am
contd. : A simple matter of getting rid of insects, should not even be questioned. A simple matter of eating fish or meat, or fishing and farming in animal husbandry should not be questioned either. If people do not want to take the ‘panathipatha ….’ vow in order to survive and grow food, they ought not to do so, for practical reasons. They can leave that part out and take the other vows for lay folk. Also, if vows cannot be kept, they ought not to be taken on a daily basis. People ought to take the vows they can keep. That to me is practical Buddhism. If Buddhists do not become practical and grow with the times, they will be left behind or taken over.
At least, this is my own point of view. I would welcome readers’ views on this matter.
May 3rd, 2012 at 6:27 am
Fran,
You did not understand the core value of my comment !
You are taking on the cover page use to attract the reader !
The core is
“However, he need not be a Buddhist to be a good president. We should not care very much about his race, religion ect but we are worried the way he is running the country now.”
This man should wake up and do some serious work such as declaring 13+ null and void to start with.
May 3rd, 2012 at 6:44 am
Dham,
ok. Got your message.
Wait and see re 13-A. Almost all of the vote bank for the GoSL are against the 13-A. All politicians have to win the voters. The President has to please his vote bank. So wait and see. Be patient.
As you know, the 13-A was imposed under Duress (plenty of proof of that), and is legally null & void.
Let’s concentrate on keeping the country STABLE. There’s plenty of folk DE-STABILISING the country in various ways, ‘badata gahanawa’ by throwing away good food (vegetables & milk), illegal mosque building, are the latest methods.
May 4th, 2012 at 4:07 am
An article by Janka Perera gives an updated analysis of the Dambulla situation. This is the best factually accurate analysis I have read so far.
http://sinhale.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/dambulla-crisis-who-are-the-culprits/#more-42716