{"id":120030,"date":"2021-11-05T16:14:45","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T23:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120030"},"modified":"2021-11-05T16:14:45","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T23:14:45","slug":"end-monkey-business-now-and-get-serious-for-once","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/11\/05\/end-monkey-business-now-and-get-serious-for-once\/","title":{"rendered":"End monkey business now and get serious for once!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

(Continuation\nof \u2018Don\u2019t forget people who elected you, Mr President!\u2019\/November 2, 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My gut feeling is that the Presidential Task Force, if it is what\nI think it is, i.e., a brilliantly thought out ploy with an ulterior motive, is\nmeant to abort the new constitution making project. It was probably designed to\ndivide Sinhala Buddhists and Hindu Tamils, also create suspicion between the\nformer and Christians, while pacifying radicalized Muslims. This will help <\/em>\u2026\u2026\u2026…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPTF has been established, according to the gazette notification, Focusing on\nthe fact that administration of justice, its implementation and protection\nunder the law should be fair by all as set out in the Constitution of the\nDemocratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Whereas, it is indicated under\nfundamental rights therein that no citizen should be discriminated against in\nthe eye of law on meted out special treatment on ground of nationality,\nreligion, caste or any other grounds; And whereas, the implementation of the\nconcept; one country, one law within Sri Lanka is reflected as a methodology of\nensuring nationally and internationally recognized humanitarian values, And\nwhereas, the fact that all citizens are treated alike in the eye of the law\nshould be further ensure, \u2026.\u201d. This provides an idea of the brief that the PTF\nreceived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nimplicit response to the mostly negative reception of the news of its\nestablishment among the people, Ven. Gnanasara has repeatedly tried to\nrationalize the One Country One Law concept; but that is unnecessary for there\nis no quarrel about the cogent reasons that led to the call for the One Country\nOne Law idea; the need for a single legal system has been correctly identified\nby the majority of the general public, with the negligible exception of a few\nreligious extremists whose established religious traditions come into conflict\nwith the country\u2019s secular laws. The question is about the rationale of the\nestablishment of the PTF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through\nthe extraordinary gazette notification the president authorizes the task\nforce  to make such inquiries and issue such instructions as are required\nfor the purpose of executing the tasks so entrusted\u201d.  The President\nappoints, as secretary to the PTF, his Senior Assistant Secretary Ms Jeevanthie\nSenanayake.  He further requires and directs all public officers and\nother persons to whom the said Task Force may issue instructions or from whom\nassistance for provision of services may be requested, to comply with all such\ninstructions, render all such assistance and furnish all such information as\nmay be properly complied with, rendered and furnished on that behalf\u201d. \nThe President demands that the PTF report to him all instances where any\nGovernment employee or an officer in any ministry, government department, state\ncorporation or any such institution who delay the performance of duties and\nfulfillment of responsibilities or fail to perform such duties and\nresponsibilities to be entrusted by the said Task Force\u201d. Surely, the President\ndid not draft this legal document. President Gotabaya has been known for his\nspartan discipline and blemishless moral character as a person, and his strict\ndisciplinarianism as a civil administrator. The last instruction to the PTF (to\nreport to him instances, if any, of insubordination or non-cooperation) smacks\nof coercion and authoritarianism, for which no need should arise in this\ncontext. Why did the drafter include that sort of phraseology? It does not\nreflect favourably on the President. Food for thought. He directs the\nmembers  to submit reports to me at least once a month and submit the\nfinal report on or before 28th February, 2022\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting\na Buddhist monk involved in governance matters (in the form of virtual\nnationalistic legal framing) is the last thing I would have expected from a\npresident who the people hoped would bring about a systemic change in the mode\nof government. In Sri Lanka\u2019s long history, the kings maintained a close\nrelationship with the monks, only as religious advisers, not as partners in\nmaking laws or ruling. As a whistleblower, Ven. Gnanasara Thera exposed the\nexistence of burgeoning religious extremism years ago, but his exposures did\nnot get enough recognition by the authorities for some reason. Instead, he was\nunfairly condemned as an irresponsible rabble-rouser intent on troublemaking\nfor some political advantage. Ven. Gnanasara is trying to provide the\ninitiative that only politicians and the Mahanayakes could and should provide\nin resolving the single issue that has caused him to deviate from his religious\nvows and engage in the rough and tumble of mundane agitational activism . But\nhe is not equipped to play that role in any way. His berserk behaviour finally\nlanded him in jail for contempt of court. Had he been more disciplined in his\nprotests, he wouldn\u2019t have been thus treated, in spite of his intentions having\nbeen genuinely benign as well as patriotic. His personality defect has damaged\nnot only his personal reputation and his cause, and his credibility as a\ndefender of the Buddha Sasanaya, the people and the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nThera  has been led astray by the cynical opportunism of politicians who\nexploit the sensitive perennial issue of the threat posed to the country\u2019s\nage-old Buddha Sasanaya\/the Buddhist religious-cultural establishment and to\nits historic archaeological heritage in the form of ruins scattered,\nparticularly, in the north and east. The threat comes from the local\nrepresentatives of forms of the religious fundamentalism that is sweeping\nacross the whole world, especially by different sects of potentially violent\nIslamic\/\u00cdslamist extremists, sponsored by moneyed foreign agents. Treasure\nhunters cause probably more damage to this heritage. Behind the religious\nextremists seems to stand the Western imperialist juggernaut that uses\nreligious fundamentalism and other forms of extremism to destabilise nation\nstates that it wants to control to achieve varied geopolitical ends at the\nlatter\u2019s expense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nthe monks are demanding is protection for the Buddhist establishment from this\nthreat. Theirs is not a political struggle; they are not fighting for political\nends. What they say is: Stop unfair proselytisation of poverty stricken\nBuddhists and Hindus who are equally subject to subversion by numerous foreign\nfunded, politicized fundamentalist Christian and Islamic sects. The problem can\nbe easily sorted out if the politicians have the political will to do so, and\nif the politicians in power at any time get the government servants working in\nthe vulnerable areas to implement the available archaeological\nconservation  and protection laws without abandoning their responsibilities\nfor illicit monetary gains. The indifference and inaction of the traditional\nMahanayakes (their culpable innocence and ignorance are inexcusable) form the\nother strong factor that betrays Buddhist interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\ncriticism of the establishment of a Presidential Task Force for the\nimplementation of the One Country One Law headed by a Buddhist monk does not\nmean a rejection of that important objective. It must be achieved during the\npresidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. For that, a proper strategy must be adopted.\nHowever, as the Bar Council of Sri Lanka, has pointed out, the PTF has no role\nto play in implementing the stated concept, because the functions assigned to\nit are already being performed by the available constitutionally established\ninstitutions including the Parliament and the Ministry of Justice (The\nIsland\/November 3); so, it is a redundant body. The only \u2018benefit’ that has\naccrued from the controversial move is that it has given the opportunistic\nminority politicians who hide behind extremists, without supporting them\nopenly, extra ammunition for their blasts of criticism against the nationalist\ngovernment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally,\nthe Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), created by Basil Rajapaksa and led by\nMahinda Rajapaksa (the current Finance Minister, and Prime Minister,\nrespectively) held its 5th National Convention at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre,\nColombo on November 2, 2021. Minister Basil Rajapaksa emphasized the importance\nof MR\u2019s leadership. President Gotabaya congratulated the party, in a message,\non its great success within a short time of its inauguration, reflected in its\nwinning of a near two thirds of parliamentary seats (in August 2020). PM\nMahinda Rajapaksa said, among other things, that the teacher strike and the\nfarmer agitations would not have dragged on so long if they had maintained more\npolitical engagement with them (Did he mean showering cajolery on them?). He\nalso made special mention of the young people who voluntarily beautified towns\nand cities across the country with beautiful wall paintings (when the new\ngovernment came into being in 2019 with the election of the current president,\nwhose advent generated in them the new spirit of hope that inspired them to\nengage in that voluntary exercise without any expectation of a reward); those\nyouths, the PM remembered, by doing that, indicated their wish that politicians\nshould not spoil the street walls with their ugly political posters. Where are\nthose young people now? He asked, and provided his own answer: If they have\njoined the queue of passport applicants (who want to acquire a passport with\nthe intention of leaving the country looking for greener pastures abroad), we\nshould engage in the kind of politics that will encourage them to return\u201d. If\nthe PM is genuine about what he is saying here, we may expect him to stop\nmonkeying around with monks and to change his attitude towards patriotic young\npoliticians of all parties and communities vis a vis his own son. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPM must have meant what he said. If he really does, he will not relapse into the\nthe 73 year long monkey business of taking the monks for rides or flights. It\nis disgraceful how political monks are conducting themselves at this critical\ntime, especially that sneaky Ratana Thera, who stole the national list MP post\nfrom Gnanasara Thera, who actually earned it for their party, is causing\nembarrassment to Gotabaya and the government through his hasty implementation\n(for expected personal political reputation) of the organic fertilizer\ninitiative. Ven. Gnanasara said, to his credit, talking about the PTF, that in\nthe future the youth of the country must come forward to save the nation. The\ncountry is not short of of young men and women who are capable of providing a\nsound modern leadership to the country if only their way is not obstructed by\nambitious oldies whose \u2018Vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself, And falls on\nth\u2019other… \u2018 (i.e., excess of ambition lands them somewhere else than where\nthey want to reach, lands them in trouble, as happened to Macbeth in the\nShakespeare play).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nshould be hoped that this occasion (the 5th anniversary of the SLPP) be\nutilised as an opportune moment to reflect on past errors, and resolve not to\nrepeat them, and introduce a course correction, starting with rethinking a new\napproach to the implementation of the One Country One Law idea, that ensures\nthe participation of all Sri Lankans, especially the young from all the\ncommunities, something that can be done through the existing agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\ngut feeling is that the Presidential Task Force, if it is what I think it is,\ni.e., a brilliantly thought out ploy with an ulterior motive, is meant to abort\nthe new constitution making project. (I have no idea of whose brainchild this\ncould be.) It was probably designed to divide Sinhala Buddhists and Hindu\nTamils, also create suspicion between the former and Christians, while\npacifying radicalized Muslims for some unspecified reason. This might help\nrevive the defeated separatist project, and breathe new life into secretly\ngrowing Islamism, and together help foreign designs on Sri Lanka, provoked\npurely by big power geopolitics due to its strategically important location in\nthe Indo-Pacific region. Pitting guilless Islamist critic Gnanasara Thera against\nan Ulama Council maulavi by putting them in the same panel of advisors is like\nputting a dove and a cat in the same cage; for when it comes to religion, a\nbelieving Muslim will not compromise their religious principles to accommodate\nhuman reason. The government\u2019s failure to achieve its key objective of\nintroducing a new constitution  will delight the still operative forces\nwhich were behind the 2015 regime change (they may even have acquired new\nallies by now). It is good to remember that Mahinda Rajapaksa was betrayed by\nhis lieutenant three times in a row between 2015 and 2019, which does not\nreflect well on his sense of judgement; it could be a different traitor this\ntime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President\nGotabaya Rajapaksa is probably the most ethically and morally honest person\never to hold that post. The frustrated regime changers are now propagating the\nfaint fictitious notion that he benefited from the April 2019 Easter Sunday\nIslamist bombings and that the intelligence services that had reached the\nhighest professional efficiency levels under him as Defence Secretary during\nMR\u2019s time had some connection with them. The charge that the government is\ndeliberately slow in meting out justice to those responsible for the Easter\nbombings is, I think, 100% false. All peace- and justice-loving Sri Lankans\nincluding me want to see the Easter attacks perpetrators receive condign\npunishment at the earliest possible; the highest involved (be it president\nMaithripala Sirisena, prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, during whose watch the\nsuicide bomb attacks happened or any other individuals accountable) shouldn\u2019t\nbe spared. I, for one, believe that President Gotabaya, PM Mahinda, and others\nin the government will be satisfied with no less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\neven the Cardinal seems to have accepted that false allegation, in spite of\nrepeated assurances given him by the President to the contrary. Two reasons for\nthe Cardinal\u2019s misgivings that occur to me are: potentially guilty former\npresident Sirisena seems to be looking for refuge under his erstwhile boss that\nhe betrayed three times, now PM; the other reason could be Gnanasara Thera\u2019s\narrogant, totally frivolous and uncalled for remarks about the Cardinal\u2019s\nactivism regarding the Muturajawela environmental issue. Gnanasara Thera was\nreported as having said about the Cardinal in this connection: I warn the\nCardinal that he should not overstep his boundaries!\u201d That alone should have\ndisqualified the monk for the post that he has been appointed. I personally\nbelieve that the President, as a practising Buddhist, can receive much more\nconstructive advice from the Cardinal than from Gnanasara Thera. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nparagraph quoted below is about one of the academics that I find mentioned as a\npanel member of the PTF. It happens to be the concluding paragraph of an\narticle of mine that was carried in the Lankaweb online journal on May 1, 2020\n(Interested readers may look it up there: https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/05\/01\/academic-adolescents-against-the-nationalist-cause\/<\/a>): <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis strange that this academic was not informed enough about the existing local\nrealities (not exclusively those uncovered with evidence by the BBS – Bodu Bala\nSena) relating to the problem of the menace posed to Sri Lankans of all races\nand religions and worldviews, especially to Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus\nwho together form over 80% of the population,  from Abrahamic religious\nfundamentalists (not from the mainstream adherents of those religions), when he\nwrote to that international journal. These monks do \u2018deliberate on their views\nand stances before involving the public\u2026\u2019; there is nothing wrong with their\nactions, but whatever can they do if they are misreported to the world by\nindifferent media, and immature ill-informed academics? (A personal opinion)\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally,\nwhen the disciplined voters of the country (unfortunately, they don\u2019t have\nenough disciplined politicians to serve them) voted for a new president and a\nnew parliament about two years ago, they never expected a yahapalanaya type of\ngovernment to come to power again, whatever happens later. Apparently, the\ncountry hasn\u2019t  still emerged from its evil legacy. Gotabaya Rajapaksa\nstarted off with the purest intentions. Buddhists believe in the truth of the\nsaying: dhammo have rakkhati dhammacari\u201d the dhamma protects the faithful\nfollower of the dhamma\u201d. He need not fear. But whatever he is intent on doing,\nhe should first win the agreement and support of the common people before\ntrying it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone\nwith an average familiarity with the recent political history of the world know\nthat patriotic leaders of independent countries who don\u2019t serve the interests\nof more powerful nations at the expense of the welfare and wellbeing of their\nown people are not safe. Their safety depends on the people\u2019s goodwill,\nprovided democracy is allowed to rule. But as we know today, countries find\nthemselves ruled from outside. That is an unpleasant reality, we can hardly overcome.\nIn Sri Lanka, the two traditional parties or alliances have two different\nattitudes to this predicament. One favours it, the other opposes it. These are\nrespectively the UNP\/SJB and the SLFP\/SLPP. The second, the nationalistic\nparty\/alliance, has a problem managing foreign interference, with which the\nUNP\/SJB seem comfortable with. Nationalists support forces that protect the\ncountry\u2019s democracy, independence, and sovereignty. Gotabaya is a nationalist\nleader. Nationalists need not be demoralised when they are falsely attacked as\nethno-nationalist extremists by NGO mercenaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nGotabaya Rajapaksa is able to bring in a new constitution as a non-party\nproduct that is fashioned according to the common consensus of all\nparliamentarians (including essentially all young ones, that is, those under\n40, for example) who do not have to vote for it under duress, let that be the\ngreatest achievement he will be remembered for. Such a constitution should be\none that does not divide the nation on language, religion, or race bases. It\nwill eliminate the influence of extremists, and definitely incorporate the One\nCountry One Law principle. Giving anything a special place or special\nprotection, as experience shows, invariably turns out to be counter-productive.\nSo, this has to be avoided. This is a controversial suggestion, but it will be\nachievable, if the gerontocrats make way for the brilliant youth of the country\nto take centre stage in the political arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala\u00a0 (Continuation of \u2018Don\u2019t forget people who elected you, Mr President!\u2019\/November 2, 2021) My gut feeling is that the Presidential Task Force, if it is what I think it is, i.e., a brilliantly thought out ploy with an ulterior motive, is meant to abort the new constitution making project. It was probably […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120030","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=120030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}