{"id":55431,"date":"2016-06-10T21:55:50","date_gmt":"2016-06-11T03:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=55431"},"modified":"2016-06-10T02:49:12","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T09:49:12","slug":"the-enemy-is-at-our-door-an-appeal-to-world-buddhists-to-save-buddhist-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/06\/10\/the-enemy-is-at-our-door-an-appeal-to-world-buddhists-to-save-buddhist-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"The enemy is at our door: An Appeal to World Buddhists to save Buddhist Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

The destruction of the Salawa ammunition factory is in reality a blessing in disguise. The fire struck the heart of our armed forces destroying items meant to protect the nation and its people. The armed forces are one of the key protectors of our country since ancient times. They have shed blood to defend the nation and protect Buddhism. The armed forces have now been weakened. Sri Lanka\u2019s Buddhist heritage has also become vulnerable to and target of both institutionalized Christianity and Islam as can be seen by the incursions both groups are adopting to subtly attempt to dislodge and replace the historical place due to Sinhala Buddhists with theirs creating a new history altogether. Therefore, sites like Dalada Maligawa, Sri Maha Bodhiya (both places attacked by LTTE terrorists previously) can be subject to future attacks & annihilation. Protecting the remaining temples, Buddhist literature, artefacts etc is the national duty of all and it is timely that we collectively or individually devise ways and strategies to meet the challenges attempting to erase our past.<\/strong> Today it is Sri Lanka, tomorrow it could be a fellow Buddhist nation. The Buddhist world has crumbled with only a handful of Theravada Buddhist nations grappling to hold their heritage space while bizarre theories are emerging to deny this right. The nations that were once Buddhist have removed all or are removing every bit of evidence that denote their true identity.<\/p>\n

With the exception of Buddhism all other religions have been destructive.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The quest is simple enough to understand. The objective is to wipe out a nation\u2019s history, heritage, culture and values that have lasted over 2600 years and replace with imposed values, cultures of immigrants. The plot is to intrinsically remove the association the Sinhala Buddhists have to defend the nation unleashing the satanic forces to realize their historical objectives. Those proposing changes ignore that Buddhism is not even accepted as a religion in the West and thus have no rights.<\/p>\n

We are being cornered from every angle \u2013 politically, via commerce and trade, all modes of communication, diplomatic channels, international agencies, relief\/aid organizations, charities all with religious innuendos \u2018Christian relief agencies\u2019 \u2018Christian aid\u2019, \u2018Christian values\u2019 and the promotion of a one world religion, one world education is a subtle means to removing the hold and identity that the Dharmic faiths have and once that is done those in the mantle controlling all spheres of influence in the world will find it easier to spread their faith. The multicultural-multifaith exercise is simply a stop-gap until the Dharmic faiths have been removed legally, from history, from school texts and from the minds of those who follow the faith. Thus, these new proposals are with the long term intent to dislodge the history & heritage we are grappling to protect while weakening those trying to protect them. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Armed Forces are targeted for \u2018reformation\u2019 the Sinhala Buddhist majority are hit by taxes burdening them economically leaving them defenseless. The Buddhist monks are being gagged or their weaknesses have been tapped. The media and the legal fraternity apart from a noteworthy handful who came to defend the nation, function as the sepoys and lascoreens that worked with the enemy.<\/p>\n

The incursions on Buddhist space are never highlighted, media hardly gives print space to the view of the majority 75% and if it does it will either give preference to the Sinhala Christian\/Catholic view or voice views of name-sake Buddhists, electronic media doesn\u2019t find sensationalism in taking up the Buddhist cause, the international agencies will reluctantly release a statement when damage is done. When the damage is done, it doesn\u2019t really matter who did it even if investigated, the objective has been achieved. The damage to historical Dambulla caves is one such example and the manner all Buddhist items in Maldives museum have been dashed to the ground and destroyed is another. The easy excuse is to brush the crime on treasure hunters. Not a single editorial was seen championing the vendetta against Buddhism (local and foreign news) though they were quick to create headlines \u2018Terrorists in Robes\u2019 whenever Buddhists reacted \u2013 the actions that cause the reactions were swept under the carpet and a media blanket entailed the other version kept out of mainstream news. The customary messages of sympathy for the Buddhist loss will come pouring in most of them with hidden glee as the objective was won!<\/p>\n

Similarly not a single editorial raised objection to the proposal to remove Buddhism\u2019s foremost place from the present constitution. Not a single article was allowed to go to print on the subject. Instead the news gave enough\u00a0space for arguments that promoted doing away with Buddhism. Over 70% of the Sinhala Buddhist voice has been purposely drowned. This show clearly that the media is in the hands of and in control of Christian-owned parties peddling the Christianization of Asia project. The Press Commission Report of 1964 gives ample evidence to showcase this.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2012\/04\/24\/re-visiting-the-press-commission-report-1964\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.sriexpress.com\/articles\/item\/615-decolonizing-sri-lanka%E2%EF%BF%BD%EF%BF%BDs-sepoy-press.html<\/a><\/p>\n

We have forgotten that the Kandyan Convention of 1815 would not have been signed if the British had not agreed to Clause 5 giving Buddhism its due place. That the British did not mean to uphold its promise and the manner in which the British inspite of all their righteous talks went about subjugating Buddhism can be seen by the manner Buddhism has become diluted,<\/p>\n

We all know what happened to the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sotbpvQevD8<\/a><\/p>\n

What happened to Nalanda can happen to Sri Lanka. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The greatest Crime islam committed in its whole history was the destruction of Nalanda, the world’s first University the seat of learning and wisdom, the birthplace of Wisdom and Philosophy the womb of Buddhism the fruit of culture and progressive thought and the pride of mankind east or west. http:\/\/hlaoo1980.blogspot.com\/2013\/07\/nalanda-muslim-demolished-buddhist.html<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TwmJQBQP4lA<\/a><\/p>\n

What happened to the Buddhist artefacts in Maldives\u2019 museum can happen in Sri Lanka.<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/observer.com\/2012\/02\/mob-destroys-buddhist-relics-at-maldives-national-museum\/<\/a><\/p>\n

What happened to the Buddhist temples in Bangladesh can happen in Sri Lanka<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2012 Muslims in Bangladesh attacked Buddhists \u2013 23 Buddhist temples were burnt and destroyed, over 50 Buddha Statues were destroyed, 25 Buddhist monks were beaten, over 150 Buddhist homes were burnt to the ground.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Z3PMbQ1mNzE<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Dr9YfC-DHbA<\/a><\/p>\n

Martin Niemoller\u2019s poem came to mind and with apologies it has been reformatted to suit present conditions. We find only a handful of people standing up against the wrongs taking place \u2013 the country must always come first, the subversion of our sovereignty, the humiliations to our armed forces and the Buddhist monks that have been a pivotal part of our history, laws and constitutions are being changed with the calculated intent to fulfil agendas of foreign powers and just as a handful of sepoys and lascoreens sided with the enemy we see the repetition taking place. Even Buddhism has been infiltrated with non-Buddhist ideologies creeping in and being promoted as Buddhism. These incursions must all be recorded and denounced publicly.<\/p>\n

To borrow a phrase from Attorney Senaka Weeraratna used for Sinhala Buddhists who do not wish to take a stand let them realize that functioning as \u2018ostrich Buddhists\u2019 we are only helping fulfil the historical objective taking shape since 1505 and even earlier by the Dravidian invaders.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are we to watch Sri Lanka turn into a South Korea, Maldives or Philippines? <\/strong><\/p>\n

It is time the Buddhist associations\/organizations here and abroad unite and see how best to face these challenges, bring out these challenges to the open, involve fellow Buddhist nations who will also face the same incursions with time. Unless all Buddhists join to protect Buddhism we are unlikely to even have a place in any museum!<\/strong> Iconoclasm cannot wipe out ancient marvels that today’s engineers cannot even dream of constructing. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3BOmeJyrBR8&spfreload=10<\/a><\/p>\n

Fellow Buddhist nations and Buddhists must come to help us. Similarly, we must also help highlight the plight of fellow Buddhists and Buddhism in other parts of the world too. The envoys of Buddhist nations must take special diplomatic interest.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>First they came for Our Soldiers, and I did not speak out<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Because I was not a Soldier<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Then they came for the Buddhist priests, and I did not speak out <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Because I was not a Buddhist priest<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Then they came for the Buddhists, and I did not speak out<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Because I was not a Buddhist<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Then they came for me\u2026.and there was no one left to speak for me. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shenali D Waduge The destruction of the Salawa ammunition factory is in reality a blessing in disguise. The fire struck the heart of our armed forces destroying items meant to protect the nation and its people. The armed forces are one of the key protectors of our country since ancient times. They have shed blood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55431","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=55431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}