KAMALIKA PIERIS
Ven. Ellawala Medhananda was very active politically. He took an active part in settling Sinhalese in Maduru Oya, in the 1980s, when Accelerated Mahaweli” started, Gamini Dissanayake; Minister for Mahaweli had asked Ven. Medhananda to do a study of the history of the Mahaweli region. While engaged in this, Medhananda had met Ven. Kithalagama Seelalankara of Dimbulagala.
Ven. Kithalagama had come to Toppigala area in 1960s. He
created the Dimbulagala vihara
and had started to settle Sinhalese in
the surrounding area when the Mahaweli scheme started. Mahaweli
scheme included the development of Maduru Oya basin in the
Batticaloa district.
Dimbulagala and Medhananda decided that the
best way to prevent LTTE coming into the
East was to settle Sinhalese in the Maduru Oya area. ‘We settled the excess population from
Hingurakgoda and Minneriya, numbering
40,000 in Toppigala, Kunchanamalai,
Nelugala, Atubandigala, Vesibandigala and Piyangala.
We informed President JR Jayewardene that we were going to settle
Sinhalese there. JR was against this, but we
continued with the project,
recalled Medhananda .
The settlers were assaulted and chased away, on JR’s orders,
by Paul Perera, said Medhananda . UNP
Minister Paul Perera was the invisible
leader of the Gampaha underworld, observed Dharman Wickremaratne. The houses of
the settlers were set on fire. The
settlers took refuge in Dimbulagala
pasala. They were later sent to Dollar and Kent farms where they were killed, said
Medhananda.
Sociologist Asoka Bandarage confirms this.
Ven. Kithalagama Seelalankara had led
the movement to settle some 40,000
landless Sinahla peasants in Maduru oya,
she observed. The proposed settlement of Sinhalese on Maduru oya right
bank came under opposition from Tamil separatists and international donors.
Under their growing pressure JR ordered the forcible removal of all settlers.
The settlements were dismantled and the Sinhalese displaced. Subsequently
Maduru oya and 20 other small projects were close down, concluded Bandarage..
In 2008, Medhananda went to courts to stop
Muslim encroachment on to Dighavapi lands. This
is case no SC FR 178/08. Ven.
Ellawala Medananda thero vs. District secretary, Ampara and others
Medhananda was joined by other petitioners for
this case. They included the Viharadhipathi
of the Deeghavapi Raja Maha Viharaya, the President of the Dighavapi Surakeemay
Sanvidanaya, the Deeghavapi Pratisanskarana Sabhawa and other bhikkhus who,
coming from different Buddhist organizations, represented the interests of
persons concerned in preserving the Deeghavapi Raja Maha Viharaya.
The petitioners informed court that 60
acres of land to the south of the Dighavapi Raja Maha Viharaya was given to 500
Muslim families without a good reason. Sinhalese who had requested land were
not given any. The settlement of such a large number of Muslims within close proximity to Dighavapi Raja Maha Vihara
would have an adverse effect on the temple.
The
Petitioners submitted that the Deeghavapi Raja Maha Viharaya is one of the 16
most venerated sites of Buddhists in this country. They provided historical
evidence to support their statement, including a Report of the Director General
of Archaeology.
According
to this report the name Deeghavapi has been used from the 2nd Century B. C. and
the Viharaya was constructed by King Saddhatissa in the lst century B. C.
Further, the Viharaya had been reconstructed by King Kirti Sri Rajasinha of the
Kandyan Kingdom in 1746.
In
the circumstances nothing further need to be stated as regards the sensitivity
which has been affected by the impugned action from the perspective of the
Buddhist, not only in that area but in the entire country, said Supreme Court.
Supreme Court agreed with the petitioners that fundamental rights have been
infringed and allowed the application. Medhananda had won the case
Ven.
Medhananda also spoke out about
unethical conversion of Buddhists to Christianity. He had encountered this on a
visit to Ampara district. In 1993, Ven. Kalutara Dhammananda of Buddhangala
monastery, Ampara had asked Medhananda to help 46 families living in Ratugala
village, situated near Wellassa, Galgamuwa. He had gone there with dry rations,
clothes, books soap, toothpaste, coconut, medicines in July 1993.
He then found
that Ratugala village was in the clutches of a Christian evangelistic church,
Kristiani subharanchi sabhava”. The headquarter of this evangelistic church
was in Makandura, Gonawela. A team of three persons had come to Ratugala and
set up a society called Jinaloka samaga subha sadaka sanvidanaya in 1990.
This team had
established contact with the leaders of the village, Kaira and Gombira. Gombira
said that his two children had converted and the missionaries had taken them
away. His granddaughter was staunchly Christian and refused to speak to
Medhananda.
The evangelists had got hold of Kaira’s land
and built a chapel on it. They baptized
23 children on Poson Poya day. Before
the baptism, the children had been made to smash and trample Buddha statues,
they were given dodol to eat and told that this was the Buddha’s flesh. The
evangelists were making use of the poverty of Ratugala and other such places,
said Medhananda . (Kahatapitiya p
357-358)
This
situation is also seen in Badulla, Moneragala, Ampara, Polonnaruwa and Hambantota, very strongly said Medhananda,
and at a lesser level elsewhere. He pointed
out that to protect and preserve Buddhism, it was necessary to preserve the
Buddhist population, not temples. What we need to look after it not the
temple, it is the Buddhist population. Temples came later. To look after
temples we need a Buddhist public”, he said.
Ven. Medhananda was responsible for the birth
of the Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya. Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya started under my
direction, said Ven. Medhananda. The first discussions were at Kuppiyawatte
Jayasekeraramaya. We met there to discuss how to combat the anti- national and
anti-Buddhist activities that were taking place in the island.
Jathika
Sangha Sammelanaya (JSS) was set up as a formal organization in 2002 in Colombo Ven. Medhananda was appointed President. We had all island meetings and talks,
recalled Medhananda. We set up districts units of the JSS.
Medhananda played a prominent role in all JSS
proceedings. He addressed the Sammelanaya at its inaugural meeting. He gave the
key note address when the Gampaha district branch was set up.
JSS was very active in 2002 and 2003. There
was a huge Sangha Samuluva at BMICH in September 2002. Medhananda presided. The
JSS decided to meet the President that night itself. They went straight from
the conference to meet President
Chandrika Kumaratunga and placed before her the recommendations of the
Conference. Ven. Medhananda led the
group.
JSS
held another well attended meeting at Dharmavijaya Foundation in 2002. A second Sangha samuluva was held in
2003 at BMICH. JSS also went to Kandy, in 2003 and there it set up Trinikaya
committee with Medhananda as President. At this meeting, JSS vowed to protect the
unitary state.
In 2003
JSS also went to Ministry of Buddha Sasana and complained. Buddhist ruins were being destroyed, Buddhist
lands were in danger, unethical conversion of Buddhists was going on at a rate.
What was the Ministry doing? The Minister should resign if he cannot take
action, said JSS . JLL asked for
military protection to go and look at
the Buddhist remains in North and east.
JSS was very clear as to what its
focus was. Its focus was ‘rata, jatiya
and agama.’ When rata agama, jatiya are in danger ,it is traditional for the Sangha
to intervene, said JSS. The Sangha have the right to comment on all
matters relating to this country. In a situation like today, it is the duty of the Sangha is
to alert the public as to what is happening,
there are international conspiracies hatched to
undermine the sovereignty and independence of Sri Lanka.
Medhananda went around the country making
speeches on the political situation . He addressed the meeting of Delgamu hela
bodu Sanvidana, held at Degamuwa
Sri Dalada raja maha vihara, Kuruwita .
He was firmly against the Tamil Separatist Movement. He criticized the
four conditions put forward by Tamil Separatist Movement at Thimpu. There is no
historical basis for a Tamil homeland in the north and east said Medhananda .
He heavily
criticized the Ceasefire Agreement.. The
LTTE has got strengthened as never before due to the Ceasefire agreement. What is happening now beats everything that Dutugemunu,
Valagamba, Dhatusena had to face,
he said. But there is no one speak up on the matter. LTTE was
now getting ready to get itself
recognized internationally
using a foreign country.
Medhananda was well informed on the Eelam issue. Tamil nationalism was created by the British,
he said. He commented on Pongu Tamil movement and noted that the LTTE had created a half
hour time difference for the ‘state of Eelam’. LTTE went for peace talks
whenever it got weakened, he said. He also
pointed out that LTTE were destroying
Buddhist monuments in north and east .
Shivajilingam had said that there were now two
countries in Sri Lanka . Medhananda pointed out that if so, Shivajilingam could not have arrived in Colombo as he had
done. Shivajilingam was able to do so, because Sri Lanka was one country. There
is only one government and just one breakaway province, declared Medhananda .
JSS found it
was not getting anywhere despite its efforts. It was suggested that JSS should enter
Parliament. A new political party, Jatika Hela Urumaya, was launched for the
purpose. Ven. Ellawala Medhananda together with Kolonnawe Sumangala and Omalpe Sobhitha were
founding members.
The Jathika Hela Urumaya contested its first
parliamentary election on 2 April 2004. All of its candidates were Buddhist
monks, led by Ven. Medhananda. The other
monks entered Parliament through elections. Medhananda went to Parliament on
the National List. He stated later that
he was sent to Parliament, ‘giya nova yavuna’.
Medhananda said that he was firmly opposed to
the idea of a bhikkhu contesting the
post of President of Sri Lanka . Medhananda
explained his view of Bhikkhus in politics in an interview with CA
Chandraprema.
We first became politically active through
the Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya,” he said. At a certain point, we came to the
decision that in order to win the war against terrorism and to put an end to
unethical conversions, bhikkhus should be represented in Parliament. I agreed to the decision to contest
elections only after discussing it six times, rejecting the idea and finally
agreeing to it in the seventh round of discussions.
I stated very clearly that a bhikkhu whether
in Parliament or in the temple had to remain a bhikkhu. We held large meetings
and protest campaigns but in all such instances I ensured that the bhikkhus
maintained the decorum expected of them by the laity. For example we held a
protest in front of the British High Commission which was attended by a large
number of bhikkhus all of whom behaved in a manner befitting a monk.”
Medhananda replied an MP who had been
very critical regarding the arrival of bhikkhus into Parliament. Medhananda said,
our Parliament has been
modeled on the British Parliament, but this is not England. This is a
Sinhala Bauddha rata and JHU came into
Parliament on the Sinhala- Buddhist
wave. JHU has been the first to
challenge the English model in
Parliament. Certainly, we do not
stand when the Speaker comes in, but that does not mean that we do
not recognize him, Medhananda
said.
Ven. Medhananda made use of his period as an
Member of Parliament, to make lengthy
speeches and place certain facts on record.
He spoke forcefully. At one point
he was asked by the Speaker whether he was taking the full 15 minutes allocated
to the JHU. Yes, said Medhananda firmly, there is no other speaker, only me.
Medhananda drew attention to the privatizing
of national assets. He referred to
stoning of judges houses and
garlanding a person declared guilty in
J.R Jayewardene’s time. But his main subject was the ethnic issue, in its
various manifestations.
He relentlessly attacked the Tamil Separatist
Movement, the Eelam war and Eelam itself. The government must as soon as
possible defeat the LTTE, he said. He
pointed out that the basic services in the LTTE controlled areas was provided
by the government using government funds. He criticized the merger of North and
east. He condemned the Millenium City
raid.
Medhananda spoke out against a Tamil homeland. Sampur is
a historical Tamil village, said Sampanthan. I will show you how Tamil
it is, replied Medhananda, with gusto,
and gave the documented history of
Sampur, citing Sinhala king after Sinhala king. Medhananda
also said that by putting ai” before
a word, such as Wellawattai,” does not
make it Tamil.
Medhananda submitted a long memorandum , with
supporting documents, to Parliament, to be
recorded in Hansard. It showed
the Sinhala Buddhist history of north and east. It contained detailed
information on the Buddhist ruins and other archaeological remains, such
as tanks, irrigation channels, still
visible there.
Medhananda also drew attention of
Parliament to a statement forwarded
to the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva
by K Sachchitanandan which argued that
the north and east belonged to the Tamils.
He has distorted our history, said Medhananda . I have
provided a 12 page reply to be included in Hansard. The Speaker agreed to
include the statement in the Hansard.
In his reply
Medhananda had taken each statement made by Sachchitanandan, and
demolished them one by one. Medhananda
said that there was no Sivam Senior and Sivan
Junior ruling in Jaffna. There
was only one Siva in history and that was Devanampiyatissa’s father. Many of
the Tamil names were actually
distortions of the original
Sinhala name, e.g. Mannakamam was Medagama.
Medhananda was regularly interrupted by Tamil
MPs, especially when he spoke out against
a Tamil homeland. Medhananda,
continued undisturbed. Shout as much as
you wish ,said Medhananda. MP Sri Kantha said ‘if you will allow me I will educate
you.’ Medhananda replied ”Sit down, It is I who is speaking. You can speak
after me, if you wish. MP Shivajilingam
was reprimanded by the Speaker, for threatening Medhananda.
Medhananda spoke strongly against the LTTE .he
started by listing the villages LTTE had attacked. The LTTE had hit the
following villages and towns, Bakkiella ,Bakmitiyawa, Damminna Gonagala,
Keenwatte, Kent farm, Kiri ibban wewa, Kombanachchi, Lankapatuna,
Mangala oya, Mutur, Namalgama, Omanna, Pottuvil, Sampath town ,Sastravela,
Seruwila, Thamalthala, Tirumangala,
Trikonamadu and Villumale . LTTE
also attacked Hulannuge School, and
chased away Sinhalese from Akkaraipattu
Medhananda referred to a training given by LTTE to young
persons, this was supposed to be health training.
Did they need guns for such a training asked Medhananda . He observed that a LTTE group who had gone to Norway to
study federalism had actually been given training by Norway’s Special
Forces. He spoke against the NGOs in
the north. ZOR was one of the NGOs that is
helping LTTE, he said.
He spoke favorably of standardization.
Medhananda gave statistics of education, for all 28 districts (year was probably 2005). He showed that
Jaffna with 492,000 population had 33 schools ,Colombo with
17,00,000 pop had 32. Jaffna with
2434 (sic) pupils had 32 schools,
Colombo with 7454 (sic) had 40. Similarly, Colombo had 9301 doing science , Jaffna had 2486, Kandy 1124, Galle 1208.
He took a strong Sinhala Buddhist line. He said the government did not give any land
to the Sangha for providing houses for
tsunami affected person, but they gave 207 acres to World Vision, a Christian NGO. He drew attention to unethical conversion of
Buddhist to Christianity. He spoke of the plight of viharas. Of the 10,200 vihara about 3000 are
in difficulties.
He spoke of Muslim assertiveness. He said that
it was not necessary to obtain permission from Muslims, to erect a Buddha
statue at Pottuvil. He spoke of a
[Muslim] bank where they give easy loans
to Sinhala businessmen. Then when they fail to pay back they seize their
property.
He spoke of colonization schemes. Gal oya settlements were to going into the
hand of non-Sinhalese, he said. In 1974 7597
acres were allotted to settlements 1,2,3,4,7,8. Of these 3,4, and 7 are now held by non
Sinhalese.
At Dighavapi
585 acres were set aside for Sinhalese. Of these settlements several are
now occupied by non-Sinhalese. The land was taken forcibly and
houses built. In 1996, against Sinhala Buddhist opposition, 250 acres at
Dighavapi were bulldozed and non-Sinhalese
were given houses with 2 ½ acres each.
In the Akkaraipattu water scheme in 1994, three projects were for Sinhala settlements
but the was reduced to one. Eventually
it is Akkaraipattu which will be the main town of the district not Ampara, said
Medhananda .
Medhananda stated firmly that he did not make
use of any of the perks available to
MPs. He did not go on foreign jaunts, or obtain land in Colombo to build a house. His car permit he gave the JHU, and continued to use his own old car. He did
not even use his position to improve Napawala temples. The
decentralized budget he received was
used to improve roads, electricity supply, drains etc.
The money he received as a Member of
Parliament was used
to help others. He was particularly keen on opening bank deposits of Rs 1000 for poor students
in schools and daham pasal. The first beneficiaries were 70 pupils in Gomadiyagala village, Kurunegala
district. This was followed by schools in Dambahara gammanaya in
Madahapola, and Kukulega in
Kahatagasdigiliya.
He also provided every child who left for
school from Napawala preschool, with a bank deposit. . 120 clever children from
Siripura, Padaviya and Weli oya were given
assistance including clothes..Medhananda had also provided books to school
children, who were poor. He has also donated books to school libraries and Pirivena libraries.
He had also
helped the poverty stricken people in the north and east. At Padavi Siripura he came across an old woman who had had an operation on her neck and was
asked to attend a monthly clinic at Anuradhapura, but she was unable to do so as she did not
have the money to travel there. Medhananda made arrangements to provide her
with the money.
Medhananda
helped badly off temples in north and east as well as other far flung
places with monthly deposits paid into their
bank accounts. In 2004 he started a scheme at Siripura
Pirivena to provide dane, pirikara and
money to these monks.
Ven. Medhananda was openly critical of Prime
Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. He was heavily critical of the Ceasefire agreement which he attributed
directly to Ranil Wickremesinghe
Medhananda also noted that Ranil Wickremesinghe had got ready to
celebrate the 500th anniversary o f the arrival of the Portuguese in Sri Lanka .
Ranil Wickremesinghe returned the
compliment. He used the car permit given
to Medhananda as MP to discredit him. Medhananda explained to his biographer that
he had collected his car permit and put in a drawer and forgot about it, The
JHU bhikkhus has decided that they would not obtain cars nor would they
sell the permits. Since the JHU kept asking for the permit, he had, after three months, taken it to a JHU central committee meeting
and placed it on the table, saying ‘here is the permit, do what you want with
it.’ He said that was the last he saw
of the permit.
Ranil Wickremesinghe however, thought differently. He charged that
Medhananda had bought himself a silver, E-class Mercedes Benz car with the
permit. Ranil Wickremesinghe personally travelled in it to a media conference held at Vidyodaya.
Medhananda flatly denied purchasing the
car and said that he had never seen it before. He knew nothing about it.
The foreign
press, including New York Times, pounced on this issue. The tale of the
Buddhist monk and his shiny, new Mercedes-Benz has sparked a national drama
that has enthralled Sri Lanka and left many questioning the political and
religious ethics of the cleric’s hawkish political party, said Indian Express.
Medhananda did not last long in Parliament. In
2010, at the party’s seventh national
convention JHU ousted Ven. Medhananda from the post of party leader and elected Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha. JHU
said Ven. Medhananda had resigned from the post as he needed to devote time to his archaeological research. He did not
have the time to engage in full time politics.
Medhananda denied
this. He had not told
the party that he wished to be relieved of leadership. At no time had he cited
time constraints and said his
archaeological work was an obstacles to
his work in the party. He was unaware of what happened during the Jathika Hela
Urumaya national convention. He was in Mullaitivu on an archaeological study at
the time.
In 2014, Medhananda stated that he was not in agreement with the
JHU.The Jathika Hela Urumaya and Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya are now working
against their [original] policies, he said. If the common candidate Maitripala
Sirisena wins the Presidential election, [the country will get divided.] The
bhikkhus of the Jathika Hela Urumaya and National Bhikkhu Council who see this looming danger will rally round
President Rajapaksa[ at the next election]. ( to be continued)
