{"id":117114,"date":"2021-08-14T23:16:41","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T05:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117114"},"modified":"2021-08-14T16:15:20","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T23:15:20","slug":"why-aspirations-of-ethnic-minorities-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/14\/why-aspirations-of-ethnic-minorities-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Why aspirations of ethnic minorities matter."},"content":{"rendered":"

By Raj Gonsalkorale<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Keep your thoughts positive because your\nthoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become\nyour behaviour. Keep your behaviour positive because your behaviour\nbecomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your\nvalues. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny<\/em>.\u201d Mahatma Gandhi<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Felice Leonardo Buscagliaalso known as “Dr.\nLove”, was an American author, motivational speaker<\/a>, and a professor in the\nDepartment of Special Education at the University of Southern California<\/a>.\nOne of his quotations resonates with the general approach of most human beings\nto worldly problems. Don’t spend your precious\ntime asking “Why isn’t the world a better place?” It will only be\ntime wasted. The question to ask is “How can I make it better?” To\nthat there is an answer\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is probably where the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi come\nin and perhaps is the best\nanswer that Buscaglia alluded to in the approach described by Mahatma Gandhi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a\nperfect world, and in Sri Lanka, one could have learnt lessons from history. Considering\nthat a solution to the Tamil ethnic issue is still being sought and still is in\nthe national as well as in international arena, it does not appear that lessons\nhave been learnt. Very likely, the problem has not been understood in order to\nlink it to history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfundamental teachings of all major religious leaders, the Buddha, Prophet\nMohamed and Jesus Christ could have guided us to love, respect and help each\nother as equals and without discrimination. Instead, in the imperfect world,\nexternal ritualistic practices and edifices dot the landscape while internal\nspiritualistic mindfulness consistent with the original teachings have been\nsubsumed by the external manifestations of what is the opposite of such\nteachings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion\nperhaps plays the most significant influencing factor in the nurture and\nnature\u201d pathway to development of one\u2019s individual values, and collectively to\nsocial values. In this context, a question can be asked legitimately whether\nreligion and contemporary religious leaders have contributed towards\ndevelopment of values; whether they have been positive or negative, and whether\nthey have been consistent or inconsistent with the teachings of the founders of\nthe religions. There is also a question mark whether nature and nurture\nupbringing reflects what the founders of these religions taught or whether they\nare what is dictated to by subsequently established religions institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nnoteworthy that institutionalisation of religions happened long after the\ndeparture of the founders, and that in their time, there were no institutions.\nBuddha preached to people by travelling from village to village all over what\nis known as India today. He slept in caves, under trees, ate what was offered\nto him by people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact,\nhe breathed his last under a tree. He counselled his Monks not to travel in the\nevenings seeking food, for their safety and security. Thus began the practice\nof not taking any food after a mid-day meal for practical reasons, and not, for\nany religious reason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\ntoday\u2019s imperfect world, the Buddhist institutional heads do not travel\nanywhere on foot. Probably it is not practical to do that, but the evolution\nfrom walking to travelling in super luxury vehicles is perhaps incongruent with\nthe life style they are supposed to lead as per the code of conduct for them\ncontained in the Vinaya Pitakaya. In this same imperfect world, the Buddhist\ninstitution harbours a caste divide within its Nikaya system, both totally\nagainst the core human principles enunciated by Buddha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s\nreligious institutional heads and members of these institutions, by and large,\nhave not been able to look at some practices by giving logical thought and\nreasoning to why such practices were relevant at the time of the founders of\nthe religions and perhaps not so today. It can be argued that some such\npractices that evolved over time and have been interpreted by many down the\ntrack as what the founders preached, without any logic being applied to such\ninterpretations. Non adherence to some of these interpreted practices have been\nat the root of radicalisation within some religions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nit is a generalised comment, in contemporary Sri Lanka, a solution to the\nethnic issue relating to Tamils has been interpreted as arising purely on\naccount of debateable historical reasons by the broader Sinhala Buddhist\ncommunity. Towards this end, either to debunk and disprove such\ninterpretations, or to prove and establish facts\u201d, historically and\narcheologically, leaders of both communities have engaged virtually in a game\nof chess, without engaging in a discussion on how aspirations of both communities\ncould be understood better.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather,\ndiscussions and debates have been about which community lived where, for how\nlong, how many currently lives and where, who came to the island first, which\nlanguage is older and richer, and similar debates which have underpinned the\ndiscussions pertaining to a solution. Arguments, disagreements, and eventually\nterrorism and war, have been about territory, geography, numeracy, superiority\nand not enough about aspirations, what they are, why they are important, and\nhow they could be realised amicably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An aspiration is mentioned as a strong hope,\ndream, or goal<\/em><\/strong>. The idea of aspiration has a positive, upward\nconnotation. We aspire to be or to become something that we perceive is better\nthan what or where we currently are. There are many different types of\naspirations, such as career, social, political, and personal<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhala community, especially the Sinhala Buddhist\ncommunity, considering their numerical majority status and portrayal of the\ncountry as a Sinhala Buddhist country, has not fully understood the aspirations\nof the Tamil community who have been an integral part of the country for\nhundreds of years. This has led to an ipso facto classification of communities\nas superior and inferior. This is partly as discussions have not been about aspirations\nof different communities but other extraneous topics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is more than likely that the strong hope, dream or\ngoal<\/em><\/strong> of the Tamil community for self-determination had arisen primarily\nbecause they were classed as second class citizens and not treated as equals to\nthe Sinhala Buddhist community in independent Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lest it be not known, or forgotten, or conveniently ignored, the\nTamil community, irrespective of whether they are ancient or recent arrivals in\nthe island, are all from one of the oldest civilisations of the world, and\nwhile their genetic structures may have more similarities than dissimilarities\nwith the Sinhala and Sinhala Buddhist community, their cultural, linguistic and\nsocial characteristics do have differences. It is these external manifestations\nof nature and nurture\u201d that creates many of these differences, and it is these\nthat enriches, and also unfortunately diminishes who human beings are as social\ncreatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Hawking reportedly had said\nOne of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection\nsimply doesn’t exist. Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist\u201d. So,\naccording to Hawking, human beings exist and evolve on account of differences,\nand not because of similarities. No doubt Hawking referred to the external\nmanifestations and not fundamental characteristics like love, respect,\ncompassion, consideration, accommodation etc., which are internal and common to\nall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawking\u2019s message has a lot of value and relevance to the ethnic\nissue in Sri Lanka. It can be argued that it is rich culturally, linguistically\nand in the expression of social values because of the differences between\ncommunities. But, inequality and inequity diminishes this richness. The country\ncould have been richer from a materialistic point of view, but poorer\nculturally and socially, if there were no differences. A purely materialistic\nsociety without the richness of culture would have been a sad place to live in.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge for the Sinhala and Sinhala Buddhist community,\nthe Tamil community, the Muslim community and other communities is not to take\naway what enriches them, but to respect and love each other and their\ndifferences and harness the individual energies of each community to create a\ncollective energy that powers what one might call a Sri Lankan identity.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, all communities within themselves will have to\nquestion whether their individual beliefs, rules, laws, cultural and religious\nhabits are fair, equal to all within their communities and whether they are\nbased on interpretations of religious history, rather than the logic behind the\nteachings of their religious leaders. In recent times, sections of the Muslim\ncommunity chose to embrace an Islamic ideology from Saudi Arabia which was at\nodds with the Islam hitherto practiced in Sri Lanka for hundreds of years, and\nwhich had not disturbed the societal and social equilibrium in the country.\nIslam extremism within the country led to the Easter Sunday bomb attack on\nChristian churches, disturbing that equilibrium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka history, especially the post-independence history\nhas shown that communities, especially the Tamil community, suffered tremendous\nhardship on account of their ethnicity. Sinhala people in the North, and in\nmany other parts of the country also suffered in the hands of the LTTE. The\nMuslim community also suffered both in the hands of the LTTE and the Sinhalese.\nInability for communities to consider everyone as equals, respect each other,\nlove each other as human beings, and distorting the meaning of differences,\nprobably led to aspirations being linked to geographic territory and that being\nnecessary in order to achieve aspirations through a process of self-determination\nwithin such a territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a difficult if not an impossible task to wind back\nhistory as history was created in the minds of people, by people, at different\ntimes, and it has permeated from generation to generation. In this context, one\nmay have to recognise the contemporary dynamics rather than the historical\ndynamics and explore how geography may be used in a practical, constructive way\nand not in a destructive way, to progress and enhance communal harmony and\namity within the collective that is called Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suggestion that the concept of a Union of Regions,\noriginally proposed by late Dr Neelan Tiruchelvam, and appropriately tailored\nto meet the basic aspirations of all communities, be used as a basis for addressing\nthe question of self-determination for Tamils, was made by the writer in the\ncontext and spirit of addressing the hardships faced by the Tamil community in\nSri Lanka since independence (please see https:\/\/island.lk\/framework-for-a-new-sri-lanka-a-union-of-regions\/).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the country\u2019s constitution in place now bars any\ndiscrimination and treats everyone as equals, it has to be noted that what is\nin the mind of a person cannot be legislated, and equality has to be willingly\nand consensually practised as a matter of course. The environment where this\ncan happen matters a lot. The notion of self-determination has to be considered\nfrom this perspective and Tamils given the right to engage in such a determination\nfor their security, safety, and opportunity, within a united Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Raj Gonsalkorale Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviour. Keep your behaviour positive because your behaviour becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.\u201d Mahatma Gandhi Felice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-raj-gonsalkorale"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}