Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed authorities to inoculate children between age 15 to 19 with Pfizer vaccines, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said.
He said that the President has also instructed to vaccinate the children above 12 years with special needs with the Pfizer vaccines.
The Commander said around 50,000 children with special needs will be inoculated accordingly at their clinic.
General Silva said Sri Lanka will receive Pfizer vaccine in the coming weeks in addition to more Chinese Sinopharm vaccines.
During the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 meeting, it was decided to allow the Department of Motor Traffic, and the Land Registry to operate on a minor scale.
Around 50% of the country’s total population were fully vaccinated by yesterday, State Minister of Manufacturing, Supply and Regulations Channa Jayasumana said.
He said accordingly, a total number comprising of 10,968,195 people have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by yesterday.
The Minister said 8,973,670 people were given Sinopharm vaccine, 949,105 people were administered with AstraZeneca vaccine and 758,282 have received the Moderna vaccine.
He said the Pfizer vaccine was administered to some 243,685 people by yesterday while Sputnik V was received by 43,453 people.
The song ‘Manike Mage Hithe’ sung by Yohani de Silva has been viewed more than 110 million times on YouTube.
With the song becoming a sensational hit in India, the Indian NDTV channel held an interview with her today (18)
Yohani, in the interview with NDTV, said that Priyanka Chopra sharing her song was “crazy.” Yohani spoke to Arun Singh about making it big.
She also said that she wished to collaborate with Indian composers and singers.
Yohani Diloka De Silva’s soulful voice has not just wowed netizens but celebrities too haven’t been able to keep themselves from bopping to this number. Madhuri Dixit, Amitabh Bachchan, Tiger Shroff and several others have shared a video of themselves grooving to Manike Mage Hithe.
A video of an IndiGo air hostess dancing to the song on an empty flight had also gone viral.
Since its release in late May this year, the addictive tune has soared in popularity and has become one of the top songs on Spotify and Amazon Music charts in India. The YouTube video has amassed over 110 million views now.
Colombo, Sept 17 (DailyMirror) – People who haven’t received their vaccines as yet, are not only putting themselves in danger but the others as well.
The younger population aged from 20 to 29 years show great reluctance in receiving the COVID jab in the Colombo City, CMC Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Ruwan Wijemuni said.
He said that only 20% of the estimated youth population had so far received the vaccine.
There is a 97,000 youth population in the Colombo City limits eligible to be vaccinated. However, only 20% had got it so far,” the Medical Officer said.
The health authorities earlier said there was a notable hesitancy among the younger generation to get the vaccine in the country owing to myths such as Covid vaccines would cause infertility and sexual dysfunction.
Colombo, September 17 (newsin.asia): The World Bank announced on Thursday that it has paused” or temporarily discontinued, its Doing Business Report” (DBR), following publication of internal audits and reviews into the report that revealed serious ethical concerns of data manipulation, shattering trust in the rankings. The DBR had been paused” after data irregularities were found in the 2018 and 2020 reports.
The DBR was used to drive policy and regulatory changes favorable to businesses and corporations. Ranking countries on the ease of doing business,” orchestrated a race to the bottom pushing governments to dismantle labor rights, social and environmental safeguards to attract private investors, The US-based Oakland Institute said in a release.
The cancellation of the DBR marks a major victory for the 280-organization strong Our Land Our Business Campaign”, which has advocated since 2014, an end to the DBR because of its disastrous impact on countries in the Global South, including through the grabbing of land and natural resources it encouraged.
. An explosive report to the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, Investigation of Data Irregularities in Doing Business 2018 and Doing Business 2020, revealed how senior Bank officials applied pressure to manipulate data in order to improve rankings for select countries.
Notably, the independent report exposed how then-Bank CEO (and current IMF Managing Director) Kristalina Georgieva applied pressure” to make specific changes to China’s data points in an effort to increase its ranking for the 2018 DBR” at a time the country was expected to increase its financial contribution to the Bank’s capital.
The then World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim was also implicated in the effort to increase China’s ranking.
Additionally, Simeon Jankov, one of the founders of the DBR and a Senior Bank official was implicated in altering Saudi Arabia’s data to boost the country’s ranking, in an effort to reward the country for the important role it played in the Bank community.”
These revelations follow previous allegations of data manipulation in 2018, when the World Bank’s then-Chief Economist, Paul Romer exposed how the DBR scores for Chile were skewed and politically manipulated to disfavor a progressive government.
Since DBR’s launch in 2002, the World Bank has ranked countries on the ease of doing business,” i.e. on regulatory changes and reforms that make them more attractive to private investors. These reforms” have included lowering corporate taxes, slashing environmental safeguards, social and labor standards, cutting administrative procedures, and removing restrictions to trade and business.
The Oakland Institute has extensively documented the disastrous impact of these regulatory changes at the country level in dozens of countries.
Even before the extent of the data manipulation came to light and destroyed any credibility of the DBR, the rankings had been built on a flawed premise that rewards countries for reducing their labor standards, destroying the environment, and providing easy access for corporate pillaging and land grabs,” said Frédéric Mousseau, Policy Director of the Oakland Institute.
Today is a historic victory for the sustained campaign against the DBR and a step towards ending the race-to-the-bottom between countries vying for World Bank investment dollars,” Mousseau added.
Since 2014, the 280-organizations-strong Our Land Our Business campaign”, comprising NGOs, unions, farmers, and consumer groups from over 80 countries, has called for the end of the rankings. For over seven years, Our Land Our Business” has waged an unwavering advocacy campaign, including letters, petitions, and mass protests around the world.
Coordinating the campaign, the Oakland Institute has produced dozens of reports and advocacy materials providing in-depth analysis and monitoring of the impact of the DBR for people around the world.
The evidence of manipulation of the rankings is a slap in the face of the poorest countries forced to deregulate their economies to attract investors against fallacious promises of aid and development. After this victory, members of the campaign will remain vigilant as the World Bank continues to leverage its influence and pressure countries to prioritize reforms that benefit corporate interests over true development,” said Oakland Institute’s Executive Director Anuradha Mittal.
The world needs development policies that serve people and protect the planet, not policies that focus on economic growth of the corporations,” Mittal said.
Travel experts anticipate ‘large increase in bookings this weekend’ for foreign trips if changes take place
Government is expected to tear up testing rules for the fully vaccinated in time for the half-term holidays
Expedia says Mexico is most popular red list country when comparing this month with September 2020
Skyscanner says it has seen a 92% increase in last full week for return searches by travellers from Britain
Demand for travel to ‘red list’ countries such as the Maldives, Mexico and Sri Lanka is surging amid hopes they could be among the next destinations downgraded in the UK Government‘s next travel shake-up.
Travel experts anticipate a ‘large increase in bookings this weekend’ for foreign trips if the Government goes ahead with tearing up testing rules for the fully vaccinated in time for the half-term holidays.
Under a major raft of changes to be announced today, the double-jabbed will no longer have to take costly PCR tests when they return from abroad – and will instead only need a cheaper lateral flow test.Dailymail.co.uk: News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities from Daily MailPauseNext video0:21 / 2:21SettingsFull-screenRead More
The ‘pre-departure tests’ that travellers are forced to take before flying home are also likely to be scrapped amid a long-awaited review of the travel restrictions that will also see the controversial traffic light rules radically redrawn.
Expedia said today that Mexico is the most popular red list country when comparing this month with September 2020, with a rise in interest of 70 per cent, while the Maldives is up 30 per cent and Sri Lanka 20 per cent.
And Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told MailOnline this morning: ‘I think you’ll see a large increase in bookings this weekend, if the Prime Minister goes ahead with the measures.’
Skyscanner said it had seen a 92 per cent increase in the last full week for return searches by UK travellers with Dubai, ‘everywhere’, Alicante, Malaga and Dublin in the top spots, while interest in Turkey has also seen an uptick.
TravelSuperMarket added that average holiday prices to Spain for this month and next are 38 per cent down on the same period in 2019 given that it remains on the amber list, but green list Malta is up 29 per cent.
Expedia said today that Mexico is the most popular red list country when comparing this month with September 2020, with a rise in interest of 70 per cent. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is pictured above
Expedia also said it had seen an increase in interest of 30 per cent for the Maldives. The beach at Gili Lankanfushi is pictured
Demand for Sri Lanka is up 20 per cent this month compared to last year. The Nine Arch Bridge in Demodara is picturedInternational travel rules eased from October 4thLoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time1:22FullscreenNeed Text
Amid the changes, instead of the green, amber and red system that was introduced in May, there will be a simplified ‘go/no-go’ regime. All current amber list countries will effectively become green – or ‘go’ destinations.
And the number of red list, or ‘no-go’ countries, will be slashed in half. This means popular destinations such as Turkey are likely to open up to fully jabbed Britons next month, although Mr Charles said this ‘could go either way’.
At a glance: Seven new rules for UK travellers
Traffic light system radically redrawn into simple go/no-go system
Almost all existing amber list countries become ‘go’ destinations
Number of red, or no-go, destinations slashed in half
Double-jabbed travellers no longer need to take a PCR test after returning from ‘go’ or green country – only cheaper lateral flow
So-called pre-departure tests, taken 72 hours before someone flies home, likely to be scrapped
Tougher rules for unvaccinated – they have to isolate after returning from abroad and take two PCR tests on day two and day eight
Hotel quarantine remains for remaining red list countries, even for double-jabbed Britons
Speaking about the surge in demand, an Expedia spokesman told MailOnline today: ‘Overall, Mexico has proven the most popular destination with the greatest interest of approximately 70 per cent this month when compared to this time last year. We also saw an interest increase of 30 per cent for the Maldives and 20 per cent for Sri Lanka.
‘No doubt these surges are a result of the upcoming update that the need for expensive PCR tests for the double vaccinated will be scrapped – saving travellers money and putting their minds at ease when booking their next holiday.
‘This surge in interest also shows that the public is confident to travel abroad when these guidelines lift and eager to explore these once-in-a-lifetime destinations.’
Skyscanner said that in the last full week of September 6 to 13, it had seen a 92 per cent increase for all economy, return searches by UK traveller.
It added that in terms of upcoming October half term week, weekly booking volumes for trips in half term have increased by 22 per cent in the last week.
A survey of more than 2,000 British adults, conducted last week by Skyscanner and OnePoll, found that 43 per cent would be more likely to book travel abroad if the current system was changed. It also found that 36 per cent still find the traffic light system confusing.
Meanwhile Emma Coulthurst from TravelSupermarket told MailOnline: ‘In the last few weeks, we have seen a rise in people searching and booking holidays for September and October.
‘We anticipate it is people who did not make plans this summer abroad but spent their holiday time in the UK due to the rule changes coming late.’ Thomas Cook chief exec wants to see pre-boarding tests ‘abolished’Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:27FullscreenNeed Text
All current ‘amber list’ countries will effectively become green – or ‘go’ destinations –while the number of ‘red list’, or ‘no-go’ countries, will be slashed in half. This means popular holiday destinations such as Turkey are likely to open up to fully jabbed Britons next monthEnvironment Secretary: We don’t want unneccesary testing in placeLoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:31FullscreenNeed Text
She said prices to Spain for this month and next are 38 per cent down compared to the same period in 2019 – adding that the country has really suffered from a lack of demand because of its position on the amber list.
What are the current travel traffic light rules?
Green list: Travellers must take a pre-departure Covid-19 test and book a day two follow up after arrival. There is no quarantine requirement unless the test is positive. The rules apply even to the fully-vaccinated.
Amber list: Travellers must take a pre-departure Covid-19 test and book and pay for post-arrival follow up tests. This applies to everyone, regardless of vaccination status. The fully vaccinated must take a day two test. People who are not fully-vaccinated must quarantine for 10 days at home and take tests on day two and day eight.
Red list: Travellers must take a pre-departure Covid-19 test and book an 11 day stay in a Government-backed quarantine hotel where they will be tested on day two and day eight. This applies to all travellers, even those who are fully-vaccinated. The quarantine hotel costs £2,285 which must be paid by the traveller.
Ms Coulthurst added: ‘We are expecting a surge in holiday interest on the back of the expected simplification of the travel rules.
‘Despite being on the red list, so far this month Turkey has still been the fourth most popular country to compare package holiday prices for via TravelSupermarket for a holiday from the UK in September and October – dropping from third place in 2019 at this time.
‘This just shows the pent-up demand to travel to this low cost, warm late summer destination and suggests that people had been hoping that it would turn amber in the last traffic light update.
‘People are still searching for holidays there in the hope of a traffic light change.’
And Ryan Pearson, regional manager at Booking.com, told MailOnline: ‘We welcome today’s announcement which should simplify international travel, whilst at the same time keeping people’s safety a priority. For the first time in a long time, there seems to be a real sense of optimism amongst us Brits on future travel.
‘In light of the vaccine rollout and with many of us eager to experience the world once again, it is no surprise that we have started to see an increase in international booking searches – even if these trips are being booked last minute as people wait to see if government guidance changes.
‘Our Q2 room nights (bookings) were up 59 per cent versus Q1 and we see this driven by domestic and international booking trends across Europe. It’s really encouraging to see travel reopening as people across the nation get ready to explore the world once more.’
Last night, sources said the changes to the Government’s travel rules will save a typical family ‘hundreds of pounds’. But as part of the package, those who are not vaccinated face even tougher restrictions.
They will have to quarantine on their return from all countries – even those on the ‘go’ list – and will still need to take PCR tests. Insiders hope the strategy will help to drive up vaccination rates.
Ministers will meet this morning to finalise the plans, with a formal announcement expected this afternoon.
The changes will be a boost for the beleaguered industry, although travel chiefs said last night they didn’t go far enough and called for all testing for the double-jabbed to be scrapped. It came as:
What are the best value beach destinations?
TravelSupermarket has crunched its holiday price comparison data to identify the 25 beach destinations which are offering the, on average, best value September and October package holidays from the UK.
The data is for any duration of holiday, and in brackets below is the average percentage price difference of the package holiday compared to if you had booked at the same time and gone in September or October 2019, and the relative cheapest price position in 2019:
Costa Dorada (3rd to 1st -27%)
Costa Brava (1st to 2nd, -11%)
Costa de Almeria (11thth to 3rd -38%)
Valencia, Costa del Azahar (2nd to 4th, +4%)
Majorca (9th to 5th, -15%)
Zante (5th to 6th, -8%)
Algarve (8tht to 7th-13%)
Costa del Sol (7th to 8th –13%)
Costa Blanca (4th to 9th, +2%)
Corfu (14th to 10th- -15%)
Istrian Riviera (21st to 11th -20%)
Crete (18th to 12th -14%)
Halkidiki (- -7%)
Kefalonia (15th to 14th -10%)
Menorca (12th to 15th -4%)
Fuerteventura (26th to 16th -20%)
Central Dalmatia (10th to 17th +7%)
Dubrovnik Riviera (20th to 18th -7%)
Rhodes (22nd to 19th +7%)
Gran Canaria (19th to 20th -2%)
Malta (6th to 21st +29%)
Kos (23rd to 22nd -6%)
Lanzarote (25th to 23rd -7%)
Tenerife (- -5%)
Ibiza (17th to 25th +5%)
The booster programme got under way yesterday, with a maternity support worker among the first to receive the jab;
It emerged that a care worker and her daughter died in the same hospital less than a fortnight apart after both refused to get vaccinated;
Industry leaders warned that care homes will be forced to shut, break the law or drop standards if ministers fail to push back the deadline for compulsory jabs;
Nicola Sturgeon has called in the British Army to deal with Scotland’s ambulance crisis after she was forced to apologise for life-threatening delays;
A survey found that a majority of people believe workers will never return to the office full-time after the pandemic;
The latest figures showed that Covid infections appear to be falling in all regions of England, even after children have returned to school.
The travel industry has been calling for testing requirements to be eased or scrapped for the fully vaccinated for weeks.
Many countries in Europe have seen their travel industries recover much quicker than the UK’s, having already dropped PCR testing rules for double-jabbed arrivals from low-risk countries.
There has also been huge controversy over the Government’s approved list of PCR testing providers, with a litany of complaints that the tests are too expensive, and a disincentive to foreign travel.
Although the travel ‘red list’ of countries deemed to pose a high risk from new Covid variants will remain in place, the number of countries will be reduced by more than half from the current 62, opening up the vast majority of destinations to those who are fully jabbed.
Those returning from red list countries will still have to undergo a hotel quarantine at a cost of £2,285.
However, the unvaccinated face an even tougher regime from today.
At present, unvaccinated travellers returning from green list countries such as Croatia, Denmark and Germany have to take a PCR test within two days of their arrival home.
Under the new system they will have to isolate at home for ten days and take PCR tests on both day two and day eight, as they currently do for amber list countries. The changes will be in place in time for the October half-term.
Last night, a government source said the shake-up reflected growing confidence in the effectiveness of the Covid vaccines, coupled with a desire to cut travellers’ costs.
The Office for National Statistics’ weekly surveillance report estimated there were 697,100 infections in England in the seven days to September 11, down 8 per cent on the previous week
The UK is currently recording 1,000 Covid hospitalisations per day, the bulk of which are occurring in England (shown). This is up from around 750 from ‘Freedom Day’ on July 19, when all legal curbs were lifted in England
Deaths have remained low despite high levels of transmission thanks to the rollout of the vaccines
There will be widespread relief at the scrapping of the traffic light system. Since its launch in May, travellers have been subjected to a series of confusing and last-minute announcements.
What school wave? Covid cases in England fall AGAIN as mass testing survey estimates rates dipped by 8% to below 700,000 in first week of children being back in classrooms
Covid cases fell again in England last week despite fears of a fresh wave of infections on the back of children returning to school, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics’ weekly surveillance report estimated there were 697,100 infections across the country in the seven days to September 11, down 8 per cent on the previous week.
Most schools in England went back from the summer break on Wednesday, September 1, meaning today’s data includes the first full week of the new school term.
There had been widespread concerns that England would see a meteoric rise in infections like Scotland did when classes north of the border resumed in mid-August.
Covid cases there trebled to record highs in the following fortnight which put pressure on health officials to finally approve vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds this week.
The latest estimates, based on random swabbing of 100,000 households in England, suggest one in 80 people were carrying the virus on any given day last week.
Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, said: ‘It does look like those strongly expressed views that we would see a surge in infections after schools went back has not turned out to be the case.’
Separate data from Public Health England found that more than nine in 10 of England’s local authorities saw their outbreaks shrink in the first week of schools returning.
At the peak of the second wave in early January, around one in 50 people in England were estimated to have coronavirus.
The percentage of people testing positive for Covid is estimated to have increased in north-west England and decreased in the West Midlands and the East of England, the ONS said. The trend for all other regions is uncertain, with the outbreaks believed to have flatlined in the most recent week.
North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest proportion of people of any region likely to test positive for coronavirus in the week to September 11 — around one in 60. Eastern England had the lowest estimate, around one in 120.
Today’s changes could also see the number of red-list countries slashed to fewer than 30. Cape Verde, Egypt, the Maldives and Turkey are among the holiday destinations currently on the red list.
Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade said: ‘Getting rid of PCR testing would be a real step forward but not if we still end up with two tests you have to pay for. We need to follow Europe’s example and remove these requirements if you’ve been vaccinated.’
Charlie Cornish, chief executive of the Manchester Airports Group, said: ‘People should be free to travel again to low-risk destinations without having to take any tests – whether that is PCR or lateral flow. The time for baby steps is over.’
George Eustice said that while no decisions have yet been taken on a potential shake-up of travel rules, the Covid Cabinet sub-committee is expected to meet today to look at the current restrictions.
The Environment Secretary told Sky News: ‘My understanding is that no decisions have actually been taken yet, although I understand there may be a meeting today to review this. We regularly review those travel restrictions.’
Mr Eustice said the travel industry’s concerns that current testing protocols are ‘unnecessary’ and ‘onerous’ have been heard.
‘The Government will be listening to that and the Covid sub-committee of Cabinet that decide these things will be considering that probably later today,’ he added.
Mr Eustice stressed, however, that there are issues in switching to using lateral flow tests instead.
The senior Conservative said the ‘difficulty’ with using the rapid-result tests, which are ‘cheaper and simpler to do’ than PCR tests, is that they are ‘not able to pick up’ coronavirus variants of concern that could potentially evade vaccines rolled out in the UK.
Labour said it will support a change to the travel testing regime as long as it is ‘based on evidence’.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’s expected announcement, which could come today or possibly overnight, will only apply to England, but recently the devolved administrations have implemented rule changes for travel announced in Westminster.
It is anticipated that people arriving from red list countries will continue to be required to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel, at a cost of £2,285 for solo travellers.
There are currently 62 countries on that list but this is expected to be reduced.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘Our top priority is to protect public health – decisions on our traffic light system are kept under regular review and are informed by the latest risk assessment from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and wider public health factors.’
Labour’s shadow policing minister Sarah Jones said her party has been ‘calling for ages’ for ministers to scrap the amber travel list because it has ‘always added to confusion’.
‘People never quite understood what the system was,’ she told Sky News. ‘We’ve been calling for a proper process to work out an international vaccine passport so we can get people safely moving around.’
The travel sector has been desperate for the testing and quarantine rules for international travel to be relaxed.
Heathrow said this week it has gone from being Europe’s busiest airport in 2019 to number 10 on the list, behind rivals in cities such as Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt.
Speculation that travel restrictions might soon be overhauled sent shares in airlines soaring.
AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson said: ‘October half-term is the next big opportunity for the travel sector and any changes that can make travelling less unsettling and testing less expensive will yield dividends.’
In a car park in the Thai capital Bangkok, green shoots sprout from the roofs of colourful taxis.
Thailand’s tough Covid-19 restrictions have left the city’s hectic streets quiet, putting taxi drivers out of work.
As fares dried up, many drivers left the city for their home villages, leaving so-called taxi graveyards behind.
Now, one company has decided to use the roofs of the idle vehicles as small vegetable plots, which they hope can help to feed out-of-work drivers and other employees.
Workers at the Ratchaphruek Taxi Cooperative built the miniature gardens by stretching black bin liners across bamboo frames and covering them with soil.
They then planted a variety of crops, including chillies, cucumbers and courgettes.
It is hoped that after helping the drivers, any leftover food can be sold at local markets.
image captionThe sign on this car says: “Prime minister please help us”
The taxi trade in Bangkok normally relies heavily on tourism but tight restrictions on entering the country means it has almost come to a standstill.
“This is our last option,” Thapakorn Assawalertkun, one of the company owners, told AFP news agency, adding that many of the vehicles still had large loans outstanding on them.
“Growing vegetables on top of the roofs won’t damage the taxis since most of them have already been damaged beyond repair. The engines are broken, tyres are flat. There’s nothing that could be done,” he said.
In the modern history of Sri Lanka no
one stands taller than Anagarika Dharmapala. In a country that had witnessed
the overthrow of its last king in 1815, seen successive waves of Portuguese,
Dutch and British invasions sweeping away much of the traditional Buddhist
culture of the country, the unsolicited entry of missionaries of every
conceivable denomination from both Europe and USA descending on local children
like a cloud of locusts with unconcealed plans to wean them away from their
longstanding religious beliefs, and make them ashamed of everything that they
stood for and lived by i.e. their religion, their culture, their language,
their race, their food and their skin colour, it was a time that any ‘reasonable man’ using a well –
known British test introduced into court jargon in 1837 would have thought
Buddhism had no hope of survival in Sri Lanka.
The mid -19th century soon
after the crushing of the 1848 Matale revolt for independence led to the
consolidation of British colonial rule and putting into action a grandiose plan
to weaken the Buddhist foundations of Sri Lanka. Children born of Buddhist parents
were more or less forced to be registered in a church, resulting in biblical
names being bestowed on them, and most people were ashamed or afraid to declare
themselves Buddhists. It was the worst of times for the indigenous Sinhala
Buddhists. Nevertheless In the words of Bhikkhu Sangharakshita, a
biographer of Anagarika Dharmapala Low though the fortunes of the Dhamma had
sunk, the great beam of the national karma was beginning to right itself, and
gigantic forces were being set in motion which in the future would lift them to
a position even higher than their present one was low”
Panadura Vadaya
The birth of a boy on September 17,
1864 later named as David Hewavitarana was indeed fortuitous for the long
suffering indigenous people now beginning to dream of a Buddhist revival in a
land that has been long plagued by western colonialism and repression of Indian
civilizational religions. The boy David Hewavitarana was only 9 years old
when he witnessed what was to become known as the ‘ Panadura Vadaya’ in 1873.
It was an epochal event in the Buddhist Revival movement.
Ven. Megettuvatte Gunananda Thera,
the great orator and debater and star of the ‘Panadura Vadaya’ was the
incumbent of the Kotahena Temple and was already known to young David as he used
to pass the Kotahena Temple on his way to and from St. Thomas College, Mutual.
Ven. Gunananda Thera led the Buddhist
side in debates that took place between the Buddhists and the Christians in
Baddegama, Udanwita, Waragoda, Liyanagemulla, Gampola, and in the most famous
of the debates in Panadura. These debates led to a Buddhist revival in Sri
Lanka. It was after reading a pamphlet on the debates published in the United
States, that Henry Steel Olcott arrived in Sri Lanka in 1880.
Cruelty to animals
The young David attended several
schools including St. Thomas, St. Benedicts, Christian College, Kotte and
Colombo Academy (later known as Royal College). The religious atmosphere in
these schools was alien to him but nothing disturbed him more than to see the
boarding master of the school in Kotte taking delight in shooting the small
birds which alighted on the trees. These revolting practices were against the
Buddhist teachings of Metta and Karuna (loving – kindness and compassion) and
reverence for life of all sentient beings which he had learned in his own home
and young David, now beginning to think independently, could not stomach or
reconcile himself with such cruel and heartless behavior of his Christian
teachers.
It is reported that an incident which
occurred during this period must have made his sensitive mind more keenly aware
than ever of the gulf which lay between Christian missionary fanaticism of his
teachers on the one hand and Buddhist wisdom and tolerance that has been
inculcated in him from his childhood on the other, and undoubtedly added fresh
fuel to the already festering fires of revolt. It is said that one Sunday when
young David was quietly reading a pamphlet on the Four Noble Truths the same
master had come up to him and, true to missionary zeal, had demanded the
offending work from him and had it thrown out of the room.
Arrival of Henry Olcott
These incidents contributed heavily
in influencing young David to walk on a path that was different to that of his
peers and school mates. The arrival of Henry Steel Olcott in Colombo in 1880
had a pivotal impact on David’s life. He was one of those who attended Olcott’s
first public lecture aged 16. His grandfather became the first President of the
Buddhist Theosophical Society that Olcott founded and in 1884 at the age of 20
David himself became a member of the BTS.
It was
around this time that he believed, like the majority of Sinhala Buddhists, that
the interests of Buddhism and the interests of the Theosophical Society were
identical or convergent. He decided to devote all his time to the welfare
of the Sasana, He renounced the name ‘ David’ and adopted the ‘ Dharmapala’. He
accompanied Olcott and Madame Blavatsky on a trip to India where he saw the
plight of the Maha Bodhi Temple at Buddha Gaya. His subsequent trips to Japan
in the company of Olcott, the establishment of the Maha Bodhi Society in
Colombo in 1891 dedicated towards re-gaining control of the Maha Bodhi Temple,
attendance at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 constitute a
inspiring life story that has become an integral part of the national story of
Sri Lanka.
Buddhist
Nationalism
Dharmapala’s entry to public
life was via the call to serve the cause of Buddhism pure and simple, But then
he realized as wisdom and maturity dawned on him later in his life that
Buddhism cannot and will not survive in any form unless there is a protective
layer – Buddhist nationalism. In espousing the cause of freedom from
colonial yoke, and then calling on his people to awaken and lift themselves
from slumber and moribund state ( ‘Sinhalayan Nagitiyaw’ – speech given in
1926) he touched a chord lying deep in the collective sub – conscious of
the Sinhala Buddhists.
Anagarika Dharmapala unleashed forces
that to this day reverberate not only in his country of birth but offshore as
well. He was born to an incipient Buddhist Revival movement in the middle of
the 19th Century but then found himself championing it in the first
half of the 20th Century to the great delight of Buddhists everywhere.
The Buddhist Revival movements in India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand owe a
great deal to the pioneering efforts of Anagarika Dharmapala. The Buddhist
nationalist movements in Sri Lanka of Brahmachari Walisinghe Harischandra,
Sinhala Maha Sabha of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the Buddhist Revolution of 1956
and the Bauddha Jathika Balavegaya (BJB) of L.H. Mettananda have their genesis
in the foundation laid by Dharmapala.
World’s First Global Buddhist
Missionary
The appellation that Anagarika
Dharmapala was the world’s first global Buddhist Missionary is resoundingly
valid. He was the first Buddhist in the Modern era to propagate Buddhism on
three continents: Asia, Europe and North America. Between the years 1891 – 1933,
Anagarika spent most of his time overseas, zealously engaged in Buddhist
missionary work and only periodically returning to his motherland Sri
Lanka.
Anagarika was also involved in
another gigantic project internationally; to offer Buddhism as an alternate
civilizing force to counter the deceitful ‘ White Man’s burden ‘; the so called
civilizing mission that was used to legitimize and even defend blatant wrong
doing such as the genocides of native people on almost every continent,
plunder, theft, holocausts that ravaged the world ever since European
navigators like Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama ‘discovered’ new
lands, on the ground of ‘ Manifest Destiny’. Europe based religions
e.g. Christianity, were heavily compromised and their hands stained with blood
by their close associations of a collaborative nature with the Conquistadors.
Buddhism was not and Buddhist Civilizations had a relative intrinsic purity
that none of the Abrahamic religions and inherently violent Christian and
Islamic civilizations could match.
Anagarika Dharmapala’s pioneering
efforts to spread the Dhamma in both USA and UK have left magnificent edifices
such as the London Vihara and inspired a number of other energetic Buddhist
workers of succeeding generations such as Devapriya Valisinha, G.P.
Malalasekera (founder of the World Fellowship of Buddhists) and Asoka
Weeraratna (founder of the German Dharmaduta Society, Berlin Vihara (Das
Buddhistische Haus), Germany, Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya) to follow suit.
End
see also
Sri Lanka’s admirable Buddhist missionary
achievements in the West: Anagarika & Asoka offer role models to emulate
Several parties expressed their views today (17) regarding the revelation of Ven. Gnanasara Thera and the response of the Archbishop of Colombo.
The National Organizer of the ‘Sinhale’ National Organization Pradeep Sanjeewa presented to the media an audio recording of a conversation that took place between former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka and Rev. Father Cyril Gamini
One-time Prisons Minister Dew Gunasekera yesterday (16) called for an immediate police investigation into SLPP lawmaker Lohan Ratwatte’s recent wild behaviour inside the Anuradhapura prison, where he issued death threats to two LTTEers incarcerated there.
Gunasekera pointed out that the minister had forcibly entered the Anuradhapura prison on 12 Sept. around 5.30 pm in the wake of the government turning a blind eye to his earlier drunken raid on Welikada prison on 06 Sept. Gunasekera served as the Prisons Minister after the end of the war in May 2009. The former minister stressed that on both occasions the State Minister in a state of inebriation had been armed with a pistol and was accompanied by several others. Law enforcement authorities couldn’t afford not to investigate the incident, the ex-minister said, referring to the presence of a woman among the crowd that entered Welikada and they went onto visit the gallows.
Prison sources said that Ratwatte had arrived at the Anuradhapura prison after being to week-long Sathi Pirith chanting ceremony at Anuradhapura sacred Mirisawetiya compound in order to invoke spiritual blessings for eradication of COVID-19 epidemic from Sri Lanka and the world. The pirith chanting culminated on the following day evening after conducting a special Buddha Pooja.
Conduct a proper investigation or face the consequences,” the former General Secretary of the Communist Party told The Island, pointing out the responsibility on the part of the ruling SLPP to conduct its own inquiry.
SLPP General Secretary attorney-at-law Sagara Kariyawasam said that the matter could be taken up with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the Chairman of the party on his return from an overseas visit. Lawmaker Kariyawasam said so when The Island asked him whether the party would initiate disciplinary action against Ratwatte.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, also a member of the SLPP, should brief the Parliament how he intended to address this issue, Gunasekera said. The outspoken political veteran said that the Police Headquarters should make a public statement on those incidents.
Gunasekera emphasiSed that the Anuradhapura incident could have been averted if the government took tangible measures in the wake of Ratwatte’s raid on Welikada prison several days before.
Alleging that the Prisons Department suppressed both Welikada and Anuradhapura incidents, Gunasekera questioned the rationale in Ratwatte being allowed to avoid a proper investigation by giving up Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation portfolio and also queried how Ratwatte could be allowed to continue as the State Minister of Gem and Jewellery related Industries as if nothing had happened.
I’m really disappointed and disgusted with the way the government handled Anuradhapura and Welikada affairs,” Gunasekera said.
Responding to queries, Gunasekera pointed out that the incidents placed Sri Lanka at an extremely embarrassing position at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) ongoing 48th sessions.
Pointing out that UN Resident Representative in Colombo Hanaa Singer as well as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) and the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) roundly condemned Ratwatte’s actions; Gunasekera said the government would have to face grave consequences unless a proper investigation was conducted. The government should inquire into those incidents taking into consideration the ongoing Geneva confab and the forthcoming UNGA.
The former minister pointed out that the Prisons Media Spokesman and Commissioner Chandana Ekanayaka denied any knowledge of the incident.
Gunasekera welcomed the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) launching an investigation into the incidents. Nihal Chandrasiri, HRCSL’s Acting Director – Research & Monitoring told The Island that the outfit initiated an inquiry on its own into the incidents that had taken place in Prisons. Three Regional Coordinating Officers of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka visited Anuradhapura Prison on 15th September 2021 to investigate the incidents that took place on 12th September 2021. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka will summon all the responsible parties connected to these incidents as early as possible.”
The CP heavyweight recalled how thousands of LTTE cadres and suspects brought under the military and the Prisons system at the conclusion of the war in May 2009 were protected. Those who had been campaigning against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC and the UN would exploit Ratwatte’s actions, the former lawmaker said, adding that the ruling party seemed bent on causing its own destruction.
Gunasekera said that recently Defence Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne and IGP C.D. Wickremaratne explained measures taken by the government to eradicate the underworld especially those directing the narcotics trade from within prisons. They assured the public of safety and security. However, Ratwatte’s raids on Welikada and Anuradhapura prisons underscored the reality, Gunasekera said and called on the Prisons Chief to explain his failure to address the Welikada incident.
Police headquarters hasn’t so far issued an official statement on incidents at Welikada and Anuradhapura.
Ratwatte was sworn in as the Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Minister in the wake of the Mahara Prison riot in late Nov 2020. Ratwatte succeeded Dr. Sudarshini Fernandoplle.
Sri Lanka’s central bank chief says that the government does not want to keep the import restrictions which are currently in place for too long and that he would like to see them being eased out after a certain period as the restrictions do have an impact on investor confidence.
During a live interview with “Bloomberg Markets: Asia,” the newly re-appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal was asked about the capital controls, import restrictions and much longer he believes they need to be in place.
He stated that they want to give a clear guideline on that when the central bank formulates its economic stability roadmap, which is being prepared, as the import restrictions do have some impact as far as the overall confidence levels on investors are concerned.
We don’t want to keep that going for too long. But at the same time, we also want to make sure our rupee stays stable and any additional imports could damage that.”
That’s a very careful balance that we need to strike over here,” Mr. Cabraal said.
The governor admitted that they are aware that imports need to be eased once again and hinted that the timeline for this would likely be revealed in the coming days through the roadmap which will be unveiled by the central bank.
We have mainly curtailed the imports of vehicles, but at the same time the other import restrictions have come in the form of a 100% margin that we have imposed in certain non-essential goods, which we had some time ago as well.”
But I would like to see that being eased out at a certain period. And that period I would probably be looking to announce with the rest of the Central Bank team in the next few days,” he said.
Speaking further on the roadmap which is to be unveiled in the next few days”, he said it will take into consideration the different stakeholders and their expectations so that the central bank can give them a clear guidance as to how they should move in these turbulent times.
I’m confident that this could be done and we are looking forward to the challenge as well in a way.”
Sri Lanka has been removed from the United Kingdom’s Red List” – which requires hotel quarantine for all arrivals – effective from next Wednesday, according to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London.
Sri Lanka has been removed from the UK’s Red List which will take effect from 4.00 a.m. of 22 September 2021, the High Commission said in a tweet.
This has also been confirmed in the UK government’s website for foreign travel advice, which says: Sri Lanka is on the red list for entering England. From 4am on Wednesday 22 September Sri Lanka will move to the amber list for entering England. ”
Sri Lanka is among eight countries including Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Oman, Kenya, Egypt and the Maldives that will be removed from the list from next Wednesday.
Travellers returning from these countries will not have to quarantine on their return as they are removed from the so-called red list for travel, UK transport minister Grant Shapps said today.
Shapps also said under the new proposals destinations will simply be ranked low or high risk instead of red, amber and green.
From October 4, there will be a single red list of countries from where travellers to England must stay in a government-supervised hotel.
The red list, which features 62 countries at present, will be scrapped to open up travel to destinations previously deemed out of bounds to British citizens.
Pre-departure tests will be scrapped for vaccinated passengers entering England as part of a significant relaxation of coronavirus travel restrictions.
Shapps confirmed that double-jabbed travellers would no longer need a negative test result to board English-bound flights, ferries and trains from October 4.
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 121 coronavirus related deaths for September 16, increasing the country’s death toll due to the virus to 11,938.
According to the figures released by the Govt. Information Department, the victims reported today includes 62 males and 59 females.
One of the deceased is below the age of 30 while twenty-eight are aged between 30-59 years. Ninety-two victims are aged 60 years and above.
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has received a complaint against State Minister Lohan Ratwatte in connection with the incidents at the Welikada and Anuradhapura prisons.
Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara has instructed IGP Chandana Wickramaratne immediately launch an investigation into that complaint.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) yesterday said that such acts should be investigated fully and impartially and if proved be visited with penal consequences.
It is imperative that independent and impartial investigations into these alleged criminal acts are conducted expeditiously,” the BASL said in a statement.
The quarantine curfew currently in effect across the island has been extended until 4.00 a.m. on October 01 (Friday), the President’s Spokesman said.
In a twitter message, he said that the decision was taken during the meeting of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this morning (17).
This was also confirmed by Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, who tweeted that ‘conditional lockdown’ will continue until October 01.
However, government essential services impacting the economy will be allowed to function, the minister said, adding that conditions are to be notified soon.
The Health Minister also said that as per President Rajapaksa, he will be consulting with Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to decide which government institutions will be kept open as essential services that contribute to the economy.
He urged the public to adhere to the health regulations and to use this time to get vaccinated.
A ten-day island-wide quarantine curfew was initially imposed on August 20, however the restrictions were further extended on several occasions in a bid to mitigate the spread of the virus and to ramp up the vaccination process.
Sri Lanka’s Secretary of Defence says there is NO need for the public to panic over the ‘fake email’ received by country’s airport authorities regarding a security threat.
Defence Secretary Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne Referring to the standard security measures adopted at the Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport, affirmed that there is no requirement for general public to panic due to the information disseminating over a fake email of hostile nature received by the airport authorities.”
Country’s defence and law enforcing agencies are continuing their duties in the same vein without letting anyone to disrupt the lasting peace,” the Ministry of Defence said.
Two suspects involved in placing a hand grenade in a private hospital in Colombo for an individual benefit was also taken into the custody and further investigations are carried out by the Police, the statement added.
Certain media reports yesterday claimed that security has been tightened at the BIA following a suspicious email warning of an impending attack.
Incidentally, our memory flows exactly Seventy [70]
years back to the ‘ San Francisco
Peace Treaty Conference ‘ in September 1951.
D.S. Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of Ceylon (as Sri
Lanka was then known) selected his young and able Finance Minister J. R. Jayewardene to lead the
delegation from Ceylon to the conference. The latter made his historical speech
on 6th September 1951, 11 days before his 45th birthday (he was born on 17th
September 1906 and his 115th birth anniversary falls this month).
This great visionary defended the sovereign rights of Japan quoting
the words of Lord Buddha ‘Hatred ceases
not by Hatred but by Love’ (නහි වේරේන වේරානි)
which allowed Japan to return to the international society after the World War
II.
Twenty six years after the speech J.R. Jayewardene was the
elected leader of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan economy was stagnating for quite some time
when United National Party (UNP) under
the leadership of J. R. Jayewardene, was elected in July 1977 with a massive
5/6th majority to the National State Assembly (with the introduction of a
republican constitution in May 1972 name of the Parliament was changed). The
development activities of the country was at a low ebb. The unemployment rate
had risen to above 15%. Import controls
and licencing was the order of the day.
The multipurpose Mahawelli diversification programme considered as the
keystone of the government’s economic development program planned in 1961
for 30 years was progressing at a snail’s pace.
The New Prime Minister and his government changed the
constitution and introduced a system under which the President remained head of
state but was given new executive powers as the head of government.
J. R. Jayewardene took oaths on 4th of February
1978 as the first Executive President of Sri Lanka.
In fact J.R. Jayewardene, first suggested a strong executive
chosen by the people at a meeting of the ‘Ceylon Association for the
Advancement of Science’ in 1966. This idea was again suggested by him when Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike and
her United Front Government were drafting the ‘1972 Republican Constitution.’ It had been ignored on both occasions.
In 1977, as the elected Prime Minister, J. R. Jayewardene
said his first, second, and third priorities were to create employment
opportunities for the people in general and youth in particular.
The new government wasted no time and embarked on a massive
development programme to modernise the country. The accelerated Mahawelli
diversification programme was initiated with a massive financial and technical
support from Europe and Japan. Katunayake Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and Free
Trade Zone (FTZ) were established to bring in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
and to attract export oriented industries.
The other objective of FTZ was to obtain modern industrial and technical
know-how. The Greater Colombo Economic
Commission (GCEC) was established to administer the FTZ.
Major liberalisation reforms were initiated that lead to far
reaching changes in the structure and performance of the manufacturing sector
in the economy. The manufacturing sector has become increasingly
export-oriented, and it is no longer reliant on the fortunes of the traditional
primary export industries to obtain required imported inputs.
J. R. Jayewardene (JRJ), the first Executive President of
Sri Lanka was invited by the Japanese government for a state visit in 1979.
This was a unique visit by a Sri Lankan head of state to Japan. He was well
received with a 21 gun salute by the Japanese armed forces, the custom that
they generally reserve for the Emperor.
Thus, grateful people of Japan displayed their gratitude to the person
who defended their country at the San Francisco Peace Treaty Conference in
September 1951.
It was said that many Asian countries had attended the
Conference with huge lists of demands for reparations from Japan. Japan was
still struggling to achieve economic stability immediately after the Second
World War and such payments, if made, would have affected her economy
adversely.
Quoting Lord Buddha’s teaching ‘Hatred ceases not by hatred but by love’, Jayewardene urged other
nations to forgo their demands for compensation and reparations and embrace
Japan as a member of the international community.
When the participants heard J.R. Jayewardene calling for
compassion and not compensation they withdrew their lists seeking compensation
from Japan and thereby saving Japan from an economic disaster.
At the end of the tour President
Jayewardene and Japanese Prime Minister Ōhira Masayoshi engaged in bilateral discussions along with their
respective officials. Prime Minister referred to the great speech the President
made at the San Francisco conference which cemented a strong friendship between
Japan and Sri Lanka. Masayoshi then indicated that his government intended to give
a special gift to remember and recollect the visit of Jayewardene and as a mark
of respect for the great speech he had made at the conference, in 1951.
The conversation that
took place between President Jayewardene and Japanese Prime Minister Ōhira
Masayoshi about the gift was narrated by the president of Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) Mr. Takao Kawakami who visited the Hospital on
an inspection tour in 2002. He happened to be the Secretary to the Japanese
Prime Minister during President’s visit in 1979. JICA president was felicitated
by the members of the hospital management committee. The writer was the Chief
Accountant of the Hospital at that time and had the opportunity of listening to
his narration.
‘What type of a gift
are you thinking of?’ asked the President J.R. Jayewardene.
‘Something useful to
help your modernisation programme, by way of a project grant, perhaps’ answered
the Prime Minister.
President’s next quarry was ‘How large is the grant?’
‘It is immaterial’ said the Prime Minister.
President Jayewardene explained that his government had
planned to establish an administrative capital in the ancient city of Sri
Jayewardenepura, Kotte. Therefore, a modern hospital was useful for the new
city.
Prime Minister Masayoshi inquired from the officials whether
Japan had gifted a hospital to any other country. They confirmed that there was
a modern hospital gifted to Thailand.
‘How big is that hospital? ‘asked the President and an
official informed that it was a 1000 bedded hospital.
‘Make it 1001 bedded hospital’ quipped the President
Jayewardene.
Amused Prime Minister Masayoshi asked ‘For whom is that
extra bed?’
‘For me’ said the President.
Japanese government constructed a beautiful, salubrious
modern hospital in a 24 acre plot of land called ‘Kumbi Kelle’ in Talapathpitiya,
Nugegoda within three years. This state of the art 1001 bedded modern hospital
was ceremonially opened by Ishimaysu Kitaagawa, the representative of Japan and
the President Jayewardene on 17th September 1984. The day was President’s 78th
Birthday.
President Jayewardene also ensured that the hospital was
managed as a semi-governmental organisation under the Ministry of Teaching
Hospitals. A board of management was established by a special act of
parliament. His intention would have been to free the management of new
hospital from the clutches of government bureaucracy. In spite of many requests
made by prominent personalities of the era to name the hospital after the then
President, he ensured that the hospital was named ‘’Sri Jayewardenepura General
Hospital (SJGH).’’
The best tribute to SJGH was paid by present Army Commander General Shavendra Silva when he visited
SJGH after the war in 2009. He was seriously wounded and unconscious taking
part in the ‘Operation Liberation’ in Vadamarachchi in 1987 and
airlifted to SJGH. When he regained consciousness he thought that
he was in a ‘Five Star Hotel.’ Such
was the tranquil surrounding of this Hospital. General also thanked the SJGH
staff for saving his life with excellent medical care provided not only to him
but also to many others who injured during the 30 year war. SJGH treated over
4000 war casualties from the defence forces and the police.
In 1999 when Health Ministry vote being discussed in the
parliament, a prominent member of the opposition (now a minister) criticising
the shortcomings of government hospitals said ‘These members do not realise the
poor state of government hospitals because they only go to Sri Jayewardenepura
General Hospital for treatment when they are sick.’ Feather on the cap of SJGH
management!
Several foreigners whom I met during my tenure of office,
told me that SJGH was one of the most beautiful modern hospitals in South Asia.
The Extra Bed was
inside the spacious Presidential suite built at the entrance to the
administrative block.
President Jayawardena never used the extra bed. But that bed
was occupied by two prominent personalities, Minister of National Security
Lalith Athulathmudali when he was injured in a grenade attack inside
the Parliamentary Complex in 1987 and the first woman Prime Minster of the
world Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike in late nineties.
At the opening ceremony President J.R. Jayawardena appealed
to the staff to look after the hospital in the same way they look after their
own homes.
The employees followed his advice and considered SJGH as
their second home.
President J.R. Jayawardena, retired from politics in late
eighties accepted the invitation of Dr. J.B. Peiris, the Chairman appointed by
Peoples ‘Alliance government of Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga, and attended the 10th
Anniversary celebrations of the hospital held on 19th March 1995, as
‘Guest of Honour.’ The chief guest was the then Prime Minister Mrs. Sirimavo
Bandaranaike.
President J.R. Jayawardena in his speech reiterated his appeal
to the staff at the inauguration ceremony in 1984 to look after their
institution well.
Then Minister of Health A. H. M. Fowzie appealed to the
staff and management to keep politics out of hospital administration.
The quality health-care and the pleasing environment at this
historical institution should be maintained and continued for the benefit of
future generations. This task is now vested with the present and future
management and staff.
OPEN LETTER to M.A. Sumanthiran MP Parliament of Sri Lanka (Sumanthiran_m@Parliament .lk)
Dear Mr. Sumanthiran:
This is my third OPEN letter to you. I wanted to know more about you other than just a Tamil MP who has adopted a surrogate Mother in Madam Michelle Bachelet , the UN Human Rights Commissioner, to whom he goes running saying..”.Mommy..Mommy… Sri Lanka is not being
nice to me..She is discriminating and persecuting me and my Tamil people, especially in the North and East of Sri
Lanka.”
And what I gathered was that your surrogate Mommy is a contracted employee at the UNHRC, which America’s Nikki Haley called it a“cesspool of political bias.”
So I read about you. You are a Royalist, and I am a Nalandian. You are trained as a Lawyer, and I am trained as a Geologist (can identify a hard rock), a Paleontologist (can identify a pea-brained Dinosaur); and a Museologist (interpreting Human and Natural sciences to the public through exhibits). That you are a clever debater in Parliament, and I am not. And I still had difficulty figuring out whether you are an Honest politician or someone who pulls wool over a constituent’s eyes and the Sri Lanka Watcher’s like the liar Amirthalingam.
And that both of us passionately love our Motherland – Sri
Lanka….or was it India for you?
“Sri Lanka This is my country the land of ancient people who happen to be my ancestors. And of elephants and court jesters, lotuses, moonstones, hills and waterfalls. This is a magical country and nice often called “The Island of Paradise’ but grown on red kabook earth and lately nourished with blood by people who were at war. This is where village mothers I saw in thatched roofed adobe huts poor and in patchwork rags did not seek permission to weep when their soldier sons who had gone to war with a will to save their country from dissection by marauding separatist Tamil Tigers returned home dead in plywood boxes and sometimes in a puzzle of a head, limbs bones, and bloodied raw flesh.”
(from The Land of Serendipity)
So I read your interview – Truth with
Chamuditha, and I was bothered.
“Is this guy another lying Amirthalingam?” I
asked under my breath.
1. You were asked – Do you like to see
the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim people living together?”
Your response was:.”THAT IS MY FERVENT
HOPE.”
“Whow…Whow..Suman, just a minute.! You must be out of your bloody mind. That is flippant and down right dishonest. You had that choice for hundreds of years, but since 1971, you kicked out 27,000 Sinhalese people by 1981; You stoned and chased 400 Sinhalese undergraduates and lecturers from the Jaffna University campus in August 1977; and you terrorized, chased and kicked out 90,000 Muslims in October 1990., giving them 24 hours to get out.
And that is 117,400 Sinhalese and Muslims and you
want me to believe you.?
Ha! Na!! Not me, Suman. Let’s cut out that
–boru..boru – crap of yours;
2. Suman, you were asked “What was the
actual need to establish the Tamil National Alliance?”
Your response was :”THERE IS
A PERCEPTION THAT TAMILS HAVE BEEN UNJUSTLY TREATED
IN THIS COUNTRY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. IT WAS TO RIGHT
(the injustices) THAT THE FEDERAL PARTY WAS FORMED IN 1949. IT HAS BEEN CALLED
DIFFERENT NAMES OVER THE YEARS BUT NOW WE KNOW AS THE TAMIL NATIONAL ALLIANCE.”
Let us get this right Suman. If I was marking
that answer paper, M.A. Sumanthiran would have failed for
being dishonest and I would have given you a 0 out of
a 100 percent. Here’s why Suman.. I told you once
before not to challenge the intelligence of
the Sinhalese. My advice to you is that if you cannot be truthful
and honest, then SHUT UP,, as you get caught in the
nasty web of deceit. And your credibility as an
“honest” Tamil politiciankeeps dropping like a hot potato that keeps
skipping towards the gutter.
History tells us that in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) at the time of
Independence on 4 February 1948, the Tamils enjoyed the luxury of being the “privileged
minority” – 10% of the population, for 131 years of British
colonial rule. That is not a Fairy Tale, as it is true and
the Sinhalese were the “wronged majority” of
75% of the total population of Ceylon.
And that is a historical Fact, Suman.
Suman, what baffles me is to accept as Fact
that the breakaway three musketeers (Chelva, Wanasing and
Naga) formed the Federal Party as their crystal balls read
that between February 1948 and December 1949, they were given
the perception that Tamils have been unjustly treated in this
country. So they formed the Federal Party to cushion and guard “privileged
minority” status that the Tamils enjoyed for 131
years. That’s a piffle…that’s a load of bollocks…that a
crock full of codswallop.
Suman, give this Sinhalese a break and many others. And don’t you ever…ever. challenge the intelligence of us Sinhalese I hope you got that bit clear in your mind.
Suman, I hope you are keeping your surrogate Mother,
UNHRC’s Michelle Bachelet apprised of these FACTs or else she will
keep inviting the UN’s Sri Lanka bashers. to play
“Ring-a-ring-o-roses/ A pocket full of posies/ a-tishoo!/ A-tishoo/ and we fall down,”
and hopefully not injure their buttocks and legs.
3. Suman,
speaking of your surrogate Mother,UN Human
Rights Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, she announced on the 13th of
September, that her Office was going ahead with a fresh investigation of
Sri Lanka’s accountability of...intimidation .…...and
excessive use of force on Tamils in Sri Lanka during the Eelam War.
Ibelieve both these items are asinine
and hilarious, as Tamils are the maestros of both these complaints.
INTIMIDATION:
Intimidation Story 1: Suman: I have been on
this Eelam file since August 4, 1983. I and Asoka Yapa were the
first Sinhalese who went on 6 o’clock evening TV News in Ottawa,
Canada, to tell our side of the story. For 10 days your Tamils used
every print and audio visual-media outlet to be nasty to Sri Lanka,
dropped our Mother Lanka on the ground, kicked her and
spat at her. I was the 8th Sinhalese who was approached by the TV
reporters to find out whether I would speak together with a moderate Sinhalese
on camera. The choice was easy. Asoka Yapa, another Federal
Government employee, young and bright as a button, an honest
patriot with a healthy mind was the second Sinhalese who was
interviewed. Bring in the cameras I said, and with Asoka Yapa, we told
our side of the story. The two sleeping lions were woken up and
since then we have gone toe-to-toe with your Tamil separatists. And
we were intimidated with a barrage of nasty telephone calls by Tamils.
after the TV appearance. And we have been awake ever since and
ready to pounce at the Tamil Tigers with our Lankan-lion claws. We
had enough of the
Canadian Snow-Tiger’s crap.
Intimidation Story 2: On Monday 9th June 1987, at 8:30 in
the morning I was called to the office of my Director General of
Communications, Dixi Lambert, of the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans. I went.
“Asoka, will you please attend a meeting in Room (?) on the 11th floor at 9.” She did not tellme what the meeting was all about. I went, and was surprised to see an Ottawa Police constablein uniform, an officer from Intelligence, Chief of Security of the Department, Chief of Security ofCampeau, the owners of the 15 story building at 200 Kent Street, and another colleague from theDepartment of Fisheries and Oceans.
It was a meeting on my personal Security, the 15 Storey building and my colleagues at DFO. The previous Friday’a Tamil had called the DG, to say that they were going to blow up the 15 storey building since I was employedin the Minister’s Communications Section. It was a serious High Security Meeting and I was walked throughthe procedures and drills to handle the threat.
If Your Tamils thought that Asoka WEERA-SINHA was going to shake like an autumn leaf in the windunder his pants and Shut Up they got it wrong Suman. If your Tamils thought that I would run down Kent Street in search of a manhole to hide, or hide under my office table, what they found out was that this WEERA-SINHA was not going to take any of this “shit” from your Tamils, and was ready to pounce at their jugular with my Sinha-lion claws.
Intimidation Story 3: It was 1992, I was working for the Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa.. Two Tamils hadmade an appointment to see me. They came. They were escorted to my office on the second floor at 26 Range Range in Ottawa.
The two guys may have been in their early 20s. Maybe around 24. I met them at the door. shook handsas any diplomat would do, Invited them in and showed them to the couch to sit down. In front ofthe couch was a coffee table, and my chair was facing them and the coffee table. No sooner they sat, both raised their feet and placed them on
the coffee table.
“Oops!… I suppose you are not used to sitting on a couch, and the coffee table is not a footstool. In case you are used to sitting on the floor on a mat, I am sorry I can’t offer you one because I don’t have one. Will youkindly take your feet off the coffee table.” They didn’t.
“Let me give you one more chance for you to
display your guest-etiquette. Please take your feet off
the table,”I said.
By that time I had taken off my diplomatic cap and
changed gears to deal with these two Tamil punks.
“Perhaps you are used to sitting on your parents’ gold thread woven luxury mat produced by the Uduvil PundayMat Weavers, I am sorry, I don’t have one.”
I called the Security guard on the
phone. He was a burley, pleasant Ethiopian in a Security Khaki
Uniform.
“Will you please remove these two visitors
by their ears from my office, and when at the front door, kick their
behinds and throw them out,” I requested.
I told the two Tamil intimidating punks when they were on
their way out, that... “this High Commission Office is a
mini-satellite Office of the Sovereign Sri Lankan Government.
And I demand of you to respect this Office. Nothing
more…nothing less.”
“When you come next time, I will be dealing with you and not another diplomat. I will offer you the same couch to sit down on and there will be a coffee table in front of you. Please drill your selves how to sit on a couch and place thefeet on the floor. Anything else, I won’t tolerate. And by the way, my name is Asoka WEERA-SINHA.”
Suman, I don’t take this ‘shit’ from your young
Tamil punks. I resent such intimidation.
What is your surrogate Mother worried about
the intimidation of the Tamils by the Sri Lanka Government.
Doesn’t she know that Tamils are maestros of
intimidation. Brief her, Suman. Ha! what UNHRC rubbish…brief
her,
so that she doesn’t get on her high-horse and
embarrass herself by wiggling a finger and Tut-tutting
at the Sri Lankan Government, It is not kosher nor is it cricket.
Suman: UN goes ahead with fresh probe seeking funding for project said your surrogate Mother UNHRC Michelle Bachelet on 13 September, 2021.. One thing she was probing was THE EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE bythe Sri Lankan Armed Forces. Here is my experience and my story:
Excessive Use of Force Story 5:
Suman, let me take you back to 1992 when I was working for the Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa andmy High Commissioner was HC Walter Rupesinghe, not a career diplomat, appointed by President Premadasafrom the private sector. And he was excellent…excellent…excellent. And he was my first Sri Lankan Boss. I had not worked in Sri Lanka before.
He had invited the Director of Amnesty International for lunch one day and invited me to join themat the High Commissioner’s Residence on Range Road.
After that sumptuous lunch , the
conversation was about AI’s serious concerns about the alleged
Human Rights violations by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces on the
warring Tamil Tiger terrorists.
Good, I thought, let’s hear your concerns, I thought
under my breath.
“High Commissioner, we at
Amnesty International are very concerned with the excessive
force that your Armed Forces are using on the Tamil
Tigers!”
Before Walter could respond, I picked on it and said
…”Come on MrX, you must be joking. Do you honestly
know what this war is all about? This is not a game of
tiddlywinks between the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the Tamil Tiger
armed terrorists. These Tamils were given military training by
Indira Gandhi’ s India in 32 army camps in South India and at the foothills
of the Himalayas. Did you honestly think that our Armed Forces are
using guns and bullets on the Tamil Tigers in a school back
yard who were fighting with bamboo sticks and catapults and
stones.
For Pete’s sake Mr.X , be real. Did you
not know that this is a conventional war, there is nothing called
“excessive force”. in such a war.
When your Tamil Tiger points the barrel of
his Kalashnikov at my soldier’s heart, I don’t expect my man to be
foolish and point the barrel of his gun at the Tamil Tiger’s
kneecap. I want my soldier to point the barrel of his gun at
your Tamil Tiger’s heart and shoot the bastard dead before the Tamil
Tiger gets him.
That is how a conventional war is fought.
Stop being so Goddamn naive….don’t be so stupid Mr.
X!”
By then High Commissioner Rupesinghe was kicking me under the table to shut me up. And I had to take mygloves off before I could have landed a knockout punch on this foolish Director of Amnesty International.
Suman, so what the heck is your surrogate Mother Michelle Bachelet, upto, on her high-horse wiggling herfinger at Sri Lanka and bullying our puny island. Shish… Suman, I don’t get it, nor will she get a Christmas cardthis December from me. I refuse to spend $10 for such foolishness.
Suman, did you hear that echo.. ? which said UNHRC
is a “cesspool of political bias.” That’s
the voice of US’s Nikki Haley.
Sumanthiran. in North Sri Lanka…“separatists came looking for her brother. Since he was away, his 24 year old sister was dragged out of the house, tied to a coconut tree and shot through the ear.”
SINHA
If I have taken a passion of a lion into my heart by pithy anger, it is because your grenade clutching fingers are entangled in my beard hurting me with the poison darts of half -truths and lies published in foreign newspapers. And when the ketchup blood gushes out from the thumb-print on her forehead, severing a life for exposing the debt of joy being a tenth generation native. This is when the angry lion roars a jungle war cry propping a lifeless torso strung onto a Jaffna lamp post. -from Tears For My Roots.
The question at stake is – “Asoka,do
you trust MP Sumanthiran?”
“To be honest, I really don’t think I do ….No I
don’t.”
If Japan did not enter the second world war in 1941 the
whole of Asia would have have come under Western colonial domination. There was
not an iota of thought in any western country in 1939 to give freedom to people
in European colonies. The possibility of what happened to the native Americans,
Australian Aboriginies, people of Hawaii, Maoris of New Zealand, Kandyan
Sinhalese peasantry of Sri Lanka whose lands were grabbed under enclosure
policies and converted into coffee and tea plantations by British settlers
killing over 10, 000 wild elephants in the process to clear the hill
country for tea plantations is a poignant story.
Except for Japan in Asia, no other country outside Europe
had the vision and resolve to stop the idea of ‘ Manifest Destiny’ from
becoming a reality. What happened to native American Indians and Canadian
native Indians has been explained away on the basis of ‘ Manifest Destiny’.
Japan and people of Asia who supported Japan to liberate Asia did not subscribe
to ‘ Manifest Destiny’.
When
I pen these words, average Sri Lankans are still sleeping. I am ahead of them
and awake. That is because of the time zone difference between where I live and
Sri Lanka, my country of birth. As usual, as the first thing I do in the
morning, particularly these days, I glanced at the headlines in The Island
epaper, and was depressed to read the banner headline Ratwatte remains a state
minister despite resignation over running amok in prisons”, with the
following underneath it:
State
Minister of Prison Reform and Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte yesterday told The
Island that he had informed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that he would step
down immediately from his post as the State Minister of Prisons. However, he
will continue to be the State Minister of Gem and Jewellery Industries”.
Having
earlier read and heard over the media about Lohan Ratwatte’s alleged escapades
in prisons on Sunday (12) night, I have been eagerly waiting to read a
newspaper headline like Deputy minister remanded; a good start to meeting
challenge to rule of law”, for I expect nothing less from President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa. As a disciplined and determined executive with a military
background, he, I assume, tries to handle the toughest cases with the strictest
adherence to the law. He appears to rely on the ministers and the government
servants serving under him to follow his perfectly lawful commands in a
spirit of military discipline, mutatis mutandis, in the context of civil
government. Whatever the likely or actual response to the extremely
embarrassing deputy-ministerial episode (not the first involving LR), it should
be of a kind that contributes to a restoration of the fast eroding public
faith in the hoped-for Gotabaya rule. The Island editorial today (16) under the
arresting heading Arrest them” offers sound advice. I drew some solace from
that. For I realised that there is at least another person of a like mind.
I
was even more shocked and disappointed by Commissioner of Prisons Thushara
Upuldeniya’s attempted absolution of the deputy minister. According to the
online Lanka C News (September 16), the Commissioner has said that the minister
visited the prison to discuss about pardoning some prisoners and that the
minister has the right to visit the prison to discuss with the inmates at any
time of the day. The Commissioner might be technically right, but I am doubtful
about the lawfulness of what the minister has done, especially in his alleged
inebriated state. Upuldeniya was handpicked by the President for the extremely
demanding job. His coming to the defence of LR was a bolt from the blue to the
innocent peace loving law abiding citizens of the country who have been for
decades persecuted by the persistent menace posed by the unholy alliance
between criminals and some jailors and a handful of politicos providing
together an impregnable bulwark for the first.
However,
since the case hasn’t yet been verified or investigated, we don’t know for sure
whether the deputy minister is guilty of going berserk under the influence of
liquor as alleged. As a person embroiled in politics, he could be a victim of
some calumnious effort of his detractors, and we must be cautious in passing
judgement on him. But again, as he, who has a previous thuggish reputation, has
virtually accepted guilt in this case by tendering his resignation, citizens
are justified if they expect, as I do, a tougher reaction from the President.
At
this moment we should anticipate a presidential response different from the
mild rebuke Anthimai!” (equivalent of a sarcastic Great!”) that the then
president Mahinda Rajapaksa greeted the hospitalized labour minister Mervin
Silva with, on December 27, 2007. (I eagerly hope that President’s deterrent
reaction would be known before this reaches The Island readers.) The latter was
admitted to hospital after being given a taste of his own medicine
following a rowdy interference he committed with the work of a news editor by
the name of T.M.G. Chandrasekera at the state-owned Rupavahini TV station over
not giving enough coverage as he alleged to a public event that he had
organized in Matara the day before. Though very close to MR, he was not an
elected MP; he was only a national list MP from the SLFP that MR led. In any
case, it was inexcusable that he conducted himself the way he did, for what he
did was bound to reflect badly on the president himself. The other employees of
the TV station, angered by the uncouth highhanded behaviour of Mervin Silva,
forced him and his notorious sidekick, suspected drug trafficker Kudu Nuwan or
Lal or someone (I am not too sure about these trivial details now) to a room
and held them there, handling them roughly. Mervin Silva was heard pleading :
I will tender an apology if you say I have done wrong”. He had. The workers
were providing manual proof as best they could.
Mervin
Silva was beaten up right royally, and bundled into his prestigious ministerial
Pajero and was briskly driven away to hospital safety. The state Rupavahini
telecast the proceedings live for the whole world to see in repeated ‘news
flashes’ most of the day that day, as my older readers might clearly remember.
It was a sort of news carnival for the wrathful Rupavahini broadcasters and for
the scandalized viewers. While watching the scenario live, I convinced myself
that president Mahinda Rajapaksa would kick his you-know-what-I-mean within the
hour, or at least after his discharge from hospital. To my great disgust and
disappointment, nothing like that happened. The fellow flourished for another
eight years under MR’s wing until he betrayed him utterly in 2015. Lately, he
seemed to try to cozy up to the boss he so treacherously let down; but MR’s
brothers have saved him from his erstwhile unequal friend Mervin.
I
personally believe that we are not going to be so wretched under President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa during the remainder of his term.
It may look
unfashionable or even indecent to write about Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933)
in these days of ‘reconciliation’ politics. But that is due to the deliberate
distortion of facts by vested interests. So I beg my readers’ indulgence. The Anagarika
has been consistently misrepresented by antinationalists as a Sinhala
supremacist, a Buddhist fanatic, and a propagator of violent nationalism. But
the truth was otherwise; he was none of these. As anthropologist Gananath
Obesekera, professor emeritus, Princeton University, mentions in his ‘The
Doomed King’ (2017), Dharmapala was the most passionate defender of Sri
Vikrama in colonial times…”; Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe had been demonised by the
British in the interest of their imperial scheme to annex the Kandyan kingdom.
To the Anagarika, the last king of Lanka was a noble ruler and human being who
was betrayed by traitorous chiefs like Ahelepola disava (as he conceived of
them). He defended Sri Vikrama and implored Sinhala people to model themselves
on his life and history….” (ibid.) Gananath says Dharmapala was indulging in
‘hyper-glorification’ of the last king. Perhaps, he was; but that doesn’t
invalidate the latter’s assessment of the king, whose non-Sinhala ethnicity did
not trouble him. At the same time, I don’t share Gananath’s criticism of
Dharmapala’s alleged anti-Christian attitudes.
Dharmapala was,
first and foremost, an international Buddhist missionary, and only secondarily,
a Sinhala Buddhist national revivalist and social reformer. Sri Lankans (native
Ceylonese) were in urgent need of the brave leadership and guidance of such a heroic
figure at that time. He excelled in both roles. Anagarika Dharmapala assumed
robes as a Buddhist samanera at an advanced age in July 1931, after a very
industrious and productive life; he received the upasampada or higher
ordination (state of being a fully fledged Bhikkhu or Buddhist monk) under the
name of Ven. Siri Devamitta Dhammapala, hardly four months before his death on
April 29, 1933.
As was the
standard practice among the well-to-do families in those colonial days, he
received a good school education in the English medium. During all of his
active life, he mostly used English for communication. More than 75% of his
writings were in that language; he spoke English even more frequently in the
course of his lifelong missionary work. No religious leader of the time,
whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist, devoted so much attention as he did to the
need for a good modern education for the young that included mastery of
languages and science and technology (practical skills).
Anagarika
Dharmapala said that he got an insight into Buddhism after reading Sir Edwin
Arnold’s poem about the Buddha Light of Asia” (1879). He treated the latter as
his teacher. Arnold received the Anagarika when he visited London. Dharmapala
was not an enemy of English or the English people; he was well disposed towards
both. But he was a vehement critic and opponent of British imperialism, which
though he didn’t challenge politically, as he thought that it was not yet the
time for it; he wanted to have favourable relations with the existing imperial
government in order that he could get on with his global missionary work
without any obstruction. His national endeavour was to lead his people towards
freedom from foreign rule through peaceful means, which motivated his work for
stimulating social reform and bringing about the moral edification of the
masses.
This year marks
the 157th birth anniversary of the revered Anagarika Dharmapala, who made an
immense contribution towards the restoration of the national dignity and the
religious and cultural regeneration of the oppressed Sinhala Buddhists in the
heyday of British imperialism in our country. He was born to a wealthy business
family in Colombo exactly 157 years ago, that is, on 17th September 1864. The young
Don David Hewavitharne, as he was named at birth, despite his strong dislike of
British colonialist rule, had a passionate love of English poetry. He
particularly liked the poems of John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, both
assigned by literary critics and historians to the Romantic tradition of
English poetry. Ever since he discovered the latter’s ‘Queen Mab’ in a book in
his uncle’s library as a schoolboy, it had remained his favourite English poem.
The basis of his admiration of ‘Queen Mab’ is not difficult to find. He said about
the poem: I never ceased …. .to love its lyric indignation against the
tyrannies and injustices that man heaps on himself and its passion for
individual freedom” (as quoted in ‘Flame in Darkness – the Life and Sayings of
Anagarika Dharmapala’ by the English monk Maha Sthavira Sangharakshita, 1980).
There is no doubt that this specimen of Shelly’s juvenilia (i.e. works done in
his youth) was nevertheless an important source of inspiration for the
Anagarika in his life’s work.
What must have
appealed to Don David Hewavitharne in ‘Queen Mab’ was obviously more than just
the polemical attack it mounts on the tyrannies and injustices” that humans
inflict on fellow humans. The poem embodies many of the radical ideas that
Shelley articulated in his works, and some of these such as his atheism, his
criticism of meat eating as a cause of vice, and the implicit advocacy of
vegetarianism, his idea of death as something not to be feared, his
condemnation of political and religious tyranny, his socialist politics, his
scientific attitude to human experience and the external world, his
belief in the moral perfectibility of humanity, his nonviolence and antipathy
towards war, and his vision of social and political change through intellectual
transformation are sure to have struck a chord in the great patriot and
Buddhist revivalist that the young David later became.
‘Queen Mab’, a
book-length poem in nine parts, was written and privately distributed by Percy
Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) in 1813. It was the poet’s first work of genuine
literary merit. His decision to make it available to a select circle suggests
the type of audience he wanted to address: the target readers were of the same
patrician (aristocratic) background as himself who had the time and the means
to get an education, and the leisure to read and enjoy poetry; the mostly
illiterate downtrodden masses whose welfare he actually had in mind and who
stood to gain most from the revolutionary changes he envisioned were for the
most part outside of this circle; the Anagarika belonged to the same higher
social class in this country as Shelley did in England.
Structurally,
‘Queen Mab’ is a fairy tale composed in nine cantos (main divisions). A fairy
named Queen Mab comes down in her ethereal car to the sleeping Ianthe, a
beautiful young maiden. Leaving the girl in her deep slumber the fairy awakens
her Soul or Spirit and invites it onboard and transports it to her celestial
abode at the uttermost edge of the universe. From that vantage point the
Spirit (Ianthe’s Soul) is given a view of the universe stretching below. The
fairy promises the Spirit to reveal the state presumably, of humanity’s past
and present and the ‘secrets of the future’:
……..Spirit,
come!
This is thine
high reward: -the past shall rise;
Thou shalt
behold the present; I will teach
The secrets of
the future.’
Ianthe’s Spirit
is afforded a vision of the amazing immensity, wonder and harmony of the
universe:
Above, below,
around,
The circling
systems formed
A wilderness
of harmony;
Each with
undeviating aim,
In eloquent
silence, through the depths of space
Pursued its
wondrous way.
Humanity’s past
and present are both shown to be oppressive, unjust, and miserable; they are so
not due to man’s inherited evil nature (as the priests tell them), but to the
fact that
Kings, priests
and statesmen blast the human flower
Even in its
tender bud; their influence darts
Like subtle
poison through the bloodless veins
Of desolate
society.
In the evil
society that characterizes the past and the present, innocent children are
trained to idolize soldiers and link manliness or machismo with violence in
their very infancy:
……….The child,
Ere he can
lisp his mother’s sacred name,
Swells with
the unnatural pride of crime, and lifts
His baby-sword
even in a hero’s mood.
So Shelley puts
these words in Queen Mab’s mouth that ridicule what people are taught by the
priests:
Let
priest-led slaves cease to proclaim that man
Inherits vice
and misery, when force
And falsehood
hang even o’er the cradled babe,
Stifling with
rudest grasp all natural good.
‘The secrets of
the future’ boil down to the utopian vision of a viciously hierarchical society
being transformed into one where egalitarianism, justice, and love reign
supreme, bringing peace and happiness to all.
At the end of the
vision, Ianthe opens her eyes to look at her lover Henry gazing on her waking,
with ‘speechless love’: (The word ‘casement’ in the last line means ‘window’)
The Body and
the Soul united then.
A gentle start
convulsed Ianthe’s frame;
Her veiny
eyelids quietly unclosed;
Moveless
awhile the dark blue orbs remained.
She looked
around in wonder, and beheld
Henry, who
kneeled in silence by her couch,
Watching her
sleep with looks of speechless love,
And the bright
beaming stars
That through
the casement shone.
Critics have
called this poem a dream vision allegory, a fairy tale, a utopian daydream, a
protest- poem etc. The young David Hewavitharne might have identified ‘Queen
Mab’ as a protest-poem. In terms of its substance we may call it a
philosophical poem as well. In fact, the 1813 title of the poem was ‘Queen Mab:
A Philosophical Poem with Notes’. Shelley was a ‘philosopher’ among the
Romantics in the sense that while treating the usual ‘Romantic’ themes of
beauty, passion, power of the imagination, the natural goodness of humanity,
political freedom etc which formed their characteristic subject matter, he
discovered and articulated causal connections in them with rare precision and
clarity. He was unique in this respect among his contemporaries, with the possible
exception of William Wordsworth (1770-1850) as critics have pointed out.
Reading ‘Queen Mab’ we feel that it qualifies for all the above labels. Though
it is unselfconsciously melodramatic, coldly polemical, and crudely emotive in
much of its versification and though he himself seemed years later to have had
second thoughts about its estimation as a poem worthy of publishing for public
consumption when he came to know that a pirated edition of the poem had
appeared in 1821 (which was just a year before his accidental death by
drowning), the ‘philosophy’ that he versifies in it is found to be as mature as
it ever got in his case (considering the fact that he died at the young age of
30). The poem has even been described as ‘monumental’ by more sympathetic, and
in my opinion more rational-minded and more discerning, readers. Obviously,
Anagarika Dharmapala was among this group of readers.
Both
Shelley and Dharmapala were revolutionaries, though of different moulds. They
agitated for liberty and morality in the political and socio-cultural spheres.
They had similar views about how to foster social and political reform (though
the political aspect was more subdued in the case of Dharmapala than in the
case of Shelley, a difference between the two that points to the Anagarika’s
realistic, pragmatic approach as opposed to the dream-visionary impracticality
of Shelley’s): Shelley believed in the possibility of perfecting humanity by
moral means, which forms the nuclear theme of ‘Queen Mab’; the revolution he
envisaged appears to be something to be achieved in this way, but not through
armed struggle (despite his probable allusion to the French Revolution in his
sonnet ‘England in 1819’ suggested below, which probably was introduced merely
for rhetorical effect); the central theme of Canto IV of ‘Queen Mab’ is war:
‘War is
the statesman’s game, the priest’s delight,
The lawyer’s
jest, the hired assassin’s trade,
And to those
royal murderers whose mean thrones
Are bought by
crimes of treachery and gore,
The bread they
eat, the staff on which they lean.
Here the hired
assassin’s trade” is soldiering; the army is meant. (The phrase is an
illustration of the terseness of Shelley’s poetic expression for which he is
well known. The interested readers may unravel its implications by themselves.)
As socially
conscious young men in their different places and times Shelley and Dharmapala
had much in common. They shared the same reformist ambitions. Both, born into
wealth and privilege, showed an unusual concern for the welfare of the poor and
were totally committed to the social uplift and moral refinement of the society
including particularly the traditionally oppressed. Shelley’s relentless
criticism of authoritarian institutions in his country is explicitly articulated
in his sonnet ‘England in 1819’: The state of Shelley’s England is such that
the king is old, mad, blind, despised, and dying”; the princes are the
dregs of their dull race”; the rulers who are unable to see, feel or know,
cling like leeches to their country until they drop, blind in blood, without a
blow”; the ordinary English people are starved and stabbed in the untilled
fields”; the army is corrupt and inept; the laws tempt and slay”; religion is
Christless – Godless – a book sealed”. (Won’t this sound familiar to readers
in many countries of the world even today?) All these (agents of tyrannous
evil) Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may – Burst to illumine our
tempestuous day” (This could be interpreted as an allusion to the French Revolution,
in which a crucial event was the storming of the ancient fortress of the
Bastille and the releasing of the wretched prisoners there in 1789,
just three years before his birth). Shelley’s diatribes like these preceded, by
about three quarters of a century, the Anagarika’s vehement denunciation of the
demoralizing British imperialism in our country. Just as Shelley rebelled
(ideologically) against what he condemned as the tyranny of the king, priests
and statesmen (‘statesmen’ not in its current dignified sense, but in the
sense of mere ‘politicians’), Dharmapala adopted a defiant stance towards the
occupying foreigners, errant Buddhist monks, and the Westernized local elite
that so slavishly pandered to the interests of the colonial rulers.
But he was not an
irrational hater of everything Western. He admired the positive aspects of
European culture. He possessed a very good knowledge of the English language,
which he used to write and edit many English publications in the pursuance of
his Buddhist revivalist propaganda. His love of English poetry was consistent
with the cosmopolitan Buddhist attitude towards what is admirable in other
cultures. He criticized the tyranny and injustice of European colonialism, but
he obviously had a high regard for the Western nations’ scientific and
inventive genius. In return, he acted in compassion towards them according to
his own religious convictions. He wrote in his My Life Story” already referred
to:
It is time
that Buddhists of Asia should give the Dhamma to the people of Europe
and America. Buddhism is for the scientifically cultured. The discoveries of
modern sciences are a help to understand the sublime Dhamma. The
mediaeval theology of ecclesiastical tussle may have satisfied the
half-civilized consciousness of pre-scientific Europe and the paganized tribes
of Europe of a barbarous age. Today the cultured races of Europe require a
scientific psychology showing the greatness of human consciousness. The sublime
doctrine of the Lord Buddha is a perfect science based on transcendental
wisdom. This Dhamma should be freely given to the European races.
The
unacceptable reality of our current domestic and international predicament is
exactly what the farsighted Anagarika acted to forestall, against many odds,
which limited his success. Paradoxically and quite unfairly, leaders like him
are held responsible for our present ethnic problems by some individuals. My
opinion is that had Anagarika Dharmapala and other patriots that he inspired
not been there in that era and after, our plight today would have been worse.
