N.A. de S. Amaratunga

Venerable Vendaruwe Upali Thera the Anunayaka of the Asgiriya Maha Viharaya had  at Gotabaya Rajapakse’s birthday ceremony commented that if some of Gota’s detractors call him a Hitler, so be it as the country needs a strong leader if it is to come out of the rut it has been dragged into and at the same time be a dhami nayakayek” – a righteous leader. Obviously the Venerable Monk was not asking Gota to kill millions if necessary to develop this country. Also the Anunayaka’s comment is not a sign of a deeper plot to intricate Gota in a dark matrix” of Sinhala Buddhist extremism aimed at creating a fascist dictatorship. Dr.Dayan Jayathilake is surely seeing theliye kimbullu” – crocodiles in the pan – as the pithy Sinhala saying goes, for he says the Monk’s comments are the most dangerous he had heard or seen in his lifetime pertaining to the politics in Sri Lanka and that it portends a developing trend which could engulf Gota and create a fascist dictatorship in Sri Lanka (The Island, 22.06.2018). The Monk and several leading members of the Sangha have subsequently placed the comments in the correct context and perspective and denied that he had meant that the country should have a dictator as bad as Hitler.  Mahinda Rajapakse also has come out in protest against this attempt to blow out of proportion the Monk’s well intended advise.

Dayan has taken the comments so seriously that he even goes onto show that Hitler did not develop Germany but the country declined during his dictatorship. Further Dayan draws a parallel between the support that Hitler received from the industrialists, Krupps and Thyssens, when he was planning to establish the Aryan super race in Germany and the congregation of businessmen at Hotel Shangrila at the anniversary celebrations of Viyathmaga” in support of Gota’s project. We remember how Dayan spoke in praise of what happened at Shangrila, he said it was Gota’s election manifesto if ever there was one. On numerous occasions he wrote to say Gota was the best option Sri Lanka has as the next president who could salvage this country.  What has happened since then to make him  change his opinion ?  We don’t see any changes in Gota, what he stands for or his support base.

He says the Buddhist clergy advocates a dictatorship under their guidance as the best arrangement to govern this country. On the contrary none of the leading Buddhist monks who support Mahinda and also Gota have said in public anything to that effect. Buddhist monks who support the UNP have not seen a dictator in the making in the phenomenon that is Gota. Dayan says retired military officers have suggested that Sri Lanka must have a leader like Netanyahu in Israel. However none of the leading retired military officers have made such comments, certainly Major Sarath Weerasekera who is the closest retired army officer to Gota has not even hinted about the desirability of a dictatorship in the style of Hitler or a ruthless leader like Netanyahu.  Dayan’s theory is baseless.

If Dayan has referred to the Monk’s comments en passe while on the subject of Gota  one would not mind it but he has attempted to amplify the significance of it beyond imagination and make a huge issue of it. He says that the Monk’s comments and the growing trend of Buddhist extremism is not an insignificant side show but main stream politics. This is a figment of imagination and is totally baseless.  Given the fact that Dayan Jayathilake was an ardent supporter of Gotabaya Rajapakse one is at a loss to think of the reason what has made Dayan metamorphose in this manner for we do not see the phenomenon that he apparently perceives.

His remedy for the imagined dark matrix”, the Buddhist extremist threat, is not to nominate Gota for the presidential election but for Mahinda to contest after changing the constitution or nominate Chamal. Dayan must know that changing the constitution to enable MR to contest again is not easy and also that Chamal has less chances of winning than Gota.  If he is genuine in his support for the Rajapaksas, who he must see as the saviours of the country at this juncture, though they are not perfect, he must not attempt to rock the boat at this crucial moment.

N.A. de S. Amaratunga