Senaka Weeraratna

The true test of a Sri Lankan is neither the waving of a Sri Lankan National flag nor the singing of the National Anthem nor the composing of Music for the YouTube such as ‘We are Sri Lanka’, but it is much more than that.

It is the willingness to ensure that any manifestation of your religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching, should be carried out in peace and harmony with Buddhism, and such conduct should not cause hurt to the moral sensitivities of the Sinhala Buddhists, who constitute the overwhelming majority of people (70%) of Sri Lanka.

These two historical identities – Sinhala and Buddhism – are rooted in the national identity of the people whose ancestors, being Sinhala Buddhists, built an unique Buddhist civilization over a period in excess of 2000 years in the country that is now called Sri Lanka.

It is an extraordinary civilization that has always won the admiration of the world.

The proposition ‘when in Rome you must do as Rome does’ has a certain reasonableness attached to it. It is the adaptation to a foundational culture and acceptance of religious practices that are deeply embedded in a country that would make inter – racial and inter – religious peaceful co – existence possible, and not by trying to replace them at the behest of third parties, which would generate both conflict and violence as we have seen in the recent past.

Senaka Weeraratna

September 23, 2020