{"id":55894,"date":"2016-06-23T23:29:20","date_gmt":"2016-06-24T05:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=55894"},"modified":"2016-06-23T15:41:15","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T22:41:15","slug":"constitutional-reform-dismantling-the-last-few-buddhist-countries-the-national-flag-the-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/06\/23\/constitutional-reform-dismantling-the-last-few-buddhist-countries-the-national-flag-the-anthem\/","title":{"rendered":"Constitutional reform- Dismantling the last few Buddhist countries- the National Flag & the Anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ramanie de Zoysa<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Constitution of Sri Lanka is being changed to reflect the findings and recommendations of PRCCR committee that received public opinions from less than .017% of Sri Lanka\u2019s 21m population. Of this miniscule sample of 3655 submissions received, at least 70% were signed by Tamils and Muslims – among them well known foreign funded NGOs that worked tirelessly for regime change. The participation sample size is even smaller when you consider that quite a significant number of respondents did not seem to be bona fide<\/em> citizens of the country but global Tamil Eelamist organisations and global wahabi fronts, pushing agendas with self interests that are harmful to Sri Lanka and are internationally funded. Many among the fronts are not even citizens of Sri Lanka. These alien views have weighted the process unduly in favour of the dismantling of the Sinhala Buddhist identity of the country.<\/p>\n

What are missing are the views of the remaining 99.983% of the population which comprises of ordinary Sinhala masses and minority citizens who are not politically motivated.<\/p>\n

First items on the chopping block are the sacred trinity of the country; namely, the National flag, National Anthem and Citizenship.<\/p>\n

The National Flag<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the report, the committee has come up with three alternative recommendations on what the National Flag of Sri Lanka should look like:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the flag needs to stay clear of depicting any ethnic identity, (proposed by committee members Harini Amarasuriya, Navaratne Banda, Elankovan, Kusum Kumara, Vijesandiran and Selvakkumaran); or<\/li>\n
  2. must reflect ethnic unity (Thavarajah); or<\/li>\n
  3. keep the National flag in its current form (rest of the committee)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The majority of the committee members seem to have decided to go with the third option of keeping the flag in its current form, perhaps with the knowledge that such an action will eliminate a violent reaction from the non-participating 99.983% of the population- the real citizens. However, there is no guarantee that the majority view will prevail when PM Wickremasinghe pushes these reforms through the Parliament. Minority backed Yahapalanaya has proved beyond the slightest doubt that they have no respect for majority rule which is the core principle of democracy.<\/p>\n

    Let us ponder on this issue of the National flag. Why does Sri Lanka have a National flag? Why does every other country have a National flag? The answer must be that a country needs a flag as a visual representation of its origins, ethos and the culture that distinguishes it from other nations. \u00a0It instils pride in our hearts. Since time immemorial, flags were heralded by armies going to war with an enemy; not because the flags were helpful as weapons or because it could save your life from the enemy arrow (or the bullet). People carried the flag as a visible motivational tool that also proclaimed their strength of conviction. The flags allowed warriors to be conscious at all times what they were fighting for and what they may die for! The flag also showed the enemy who you were and sent the message that you were up to the task and prepared to die fighting for your flag- your identity and your country.<\/p>\n

    Sri Lanka\u2019s flag from the time of ancient Sinhala kings was the lion flag; that is a history that spans thousands of years.<\/p>\n

    \"SLFlagold\"<\/p>\n

    An incredible number of Sinhala people died defending the lion flag throughout that history. The flag is just a piece of cloth only for those who have never had to fight for it, never shed blood or tears for it and those who are genetically pre-disposed to treachery. To a true citizen of a country the National flag is as warm and as precious as the blood of the warriors that was shed in order to protect it. That is why countries around the world respect safeguard and uphold their flags; not tinker with it for frivolous reasons.\u00a0 Minorities may come and go \u2013 but you will not see any self-respecting country change their flag to wipe out the symbols that represent those who died fighting for it or add new symbols to depict every immigrant that enters the country. For instance, the UK and US flags do not include any symbols to represent the vast number of ethnically diverse immigrants on their flag. If such an \u2018equalisation\u2019 process was carried out on every country in the world today the National Flags of all countries will look exactly the because no country is mono ethnic 100%. Every country has a predominant or a founder race and religion, and minorities of all sorts. The United Nations will be flying 193 flags which look exactly like each other.<\/p>\n

    This is never going to happen- no self-respecting country will change their flag to appease minorities.<\/p>\n

    Different countries have different evolution patterns and histories. Some countries have a very long history of standing up to invasions and surviving more or less intact; like Russia, Japan and China- and of course our little Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

    India (or what is left of it) is a country that did not survive the constant invasions. It first lost out to the moghuls. Beginning in the 12th century, several\u00a0Islamic<\/a>\u00a0states were established in the\u00a0Indian subcontinent<\/a>. This process culminated in the\u00a0Mughal Empire<\/a>, which ruled most of India during the mid-16th to mid-19th centuries.\u00a0The British conquest of India ended up in the division of the country into three: creating two new countries, East & West Pakistan. The remaining lands were pieced together to form a federal India.<\/p>\n

    India is living proof that carving out land to form new countries to appease aggressive minorities does not solve \u2018problems\u2019- in fact it is just the chopping off of your head to cure a headache. Having lost land to create two separate countries for the pre-independence Muslim minority, India today is still left with a burgeoning Muslim minority because not all the \u2018unhappy\u2019 Muslims left their stake in India and go populate the new country that they clamoured for.\u00a0 When you allow what India allowed to happen what you end up with is a huge melting pot of racists and religious bigots all congregated in the newly created neighbouring country carved out of your land, while you are left with a whining minority (who did not leave when the new country was partitioned off but remained within country no 1) that supports the racists and religious bigots next-door while living within the country and constantly claiming discrimination.<\/p>\n

    Then again, to the south, India has the other minority problem; over 70 million strong Tamil Nadu factor waiting for opportunities to carve out another piece of the subcontinental geography for the Tamils. This is where India looks to Sri Lanka for redemption. If they can carve out Sri Lanka for the creation of an Eelam, India can gradually purge the Tamil sovereignty aspirations southwards to Sri Lanka via a quickly built sethu samudram bridge. What is noteworthy is that even after the decimation of the subcontinent, India did not change her flag that features the Ashok chakra- or her National Anthem sung in Bengali.<\/p>\n

    In countries such as the US, Australia and New Zealand the arrival of people mainly from Britain saw the creation of new countries totally different in demographic content. In the US and in Australia a near total annihilation of the natives resulted while the natives of New Zealand fared a lot better. Out of these three countries only New Zealand has an Anthem which consists of verse each \u00a0sung in English and Maori, primarily because there were enough Maori left after the arrival of white men to sing a National Anthem; this was not the case in the other two countries. The history and the background of these countries are such that their countries are \u2018new\u2019 and the rulers are the newly arrived immigrants- not the original inhabitants. New Zealand\u2019s Anthem in two languages attempts to assuage the fears of native Maori that they have not been completely outwitted from the \u2018ownership\u2019 of the country. There is absolutely no commonality in the New Zealand situation with that of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

    Out of all the countries, it has always been Sri Lanka that has tinkered with the flag. In 1972 the Sirimao Banadaranaike government carried out the spineless act of inserting two stripes to the Sri Lankan flag \u2013 to represent the minority Tamils and Muslims.<\/p>\n

    \"SLFlagNew\"<\/p>\n

    If the changing of a flag to appease minorities ensures that the minorities feel \u2018represented\u2019 and start respecting the country\u2019s flag and working for the betterment of the country, our minorities would be the happiest in the world! But, what happened? With half of the new flag now \u2018depicting\u2019 their identities, Sri Lanka\u2019s minorities got even more unhappy since the 1972 changes to the flag<\/u><\/strong>. So unhappy since this show of \u2018inclusiveness\u2019 by Mrs Bandaranaike, that one of the minorities organised a meeting in Thimpu and signed the now infamous Vadukkodai Resolution during the same year, vowing to militarise themselves and wage war on the country! Now, Sri Lanka\u2019s minorities want the lion and the four Bo leaves to be wiped out of the flag or as an alternative to include competing ethnic minority symbols in the flag. Appeasement only makes people more unhappy- not less. Once you start appeasing it is a case of wanting more, and more, and more; where does greed end? How long is a piece of thread?<\/p>\n

    It is a well-known, well accepted rule in life that one needs to earn one\u2019s stripes; this applies to the minorities equally. Minorities should literally be given stripes (in the flag) only when minorities show allegiance and love for the country and its culture, protect it and defend it. Minorities that arm themselves to attack the country\u2019s public installations, innocent civilians and the armed forces are not being good citizens- they should not be given stripes. Minorities that demand their own laws such as Thesavalamai and Sharia for their own ethnic\/ religious groups and refuse to abide by the law that prevails in the country are not good citizens. Minorities that disrespect the National Flag, the National Anthem and refuse to learn the language of the country are not good citizens. Minorities that import alien cults from the places like the middle-east and destroy the existing culture of the country to install primitive, alien, desert lifestyles are not good citizens. Those who destroy national rain forests to create alien colonies stealthily settling illegal aliens to create hostile colonies are not good citizens. These minorities do not become good citizens because we bend over backwards to accommodate them.<\/p>\n

    When other countries hand out citizenship to aliens they take an oath- of allegiance to the National Flag, the National Anthem and the country. When will this ever happen in Sri Lanka? In Sri Lanka we have never enforced discipline and patriotism on the immigrants.<\/p>\n

    The National Anthem<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Here is something else you never hear from anywhere in the world. The PRCCR report makes its recommendations regarding the National anthem from the position that the Sri Lankan State has already declared that the national anthem should be sung in both languages.<\/u><\/strong> Here is a \u2018government\u2019 that breaches its own country\u2019s constitution. No government in any other country will get away with this type of treachery because the people will never allow it. But, in Sri Lanka the majority Sinhala have this unfortunate genetic disposition that we will put up with any disrespect anyone shows on the belief that by doing more and good to those who do bad things to us will ultimately lead to them realising the error of their ways and it will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship from then onwards! This is the cursed disposition that earns the Sinhala the description \u2018idiots\u2018 (modayas).<\/p>\n

    The options discussed by PRCCR were whether the anthem should be sung in both Sinhala and Tamil and in what manner. Should there be two versions, one verse in Sinhala and one in Tamil, In Tamil areas the Tamil verse is sung first and in Sinhala areas the Sinhala verse should be sung first.<\/p>\n

    PRCCR made the following recommendations:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Consider the clause on the National Anthem formulated in the Constitution Bill of 2000.<\/li>\n
    2. Consider the clause on the National Anthem formulated in the Constitution Bill of 2000 while recognising the right to sing it in Sinhala and\/ or Tamil.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      What is the Constitution Bill of 2000 that the PRCCR report is referring to? It was a bill contemplated by Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2000 who attempted to bring this change at that time. Remember this was the time great defeats suffered by our armed forces through the mismanagement of the war by Kumaratunga and the morale of the people and the forces were rock bottom. The Tigers were winning.\u00a0 The Bill says:<\/p>\n

      <\/em><\/strong>(1) The National Anthem of the Republic shall be “Sri Lanka Matha”, the words and music of which are set out in Part I of the Fourth Schedule.<\/em><\/p>\n

      (2) The Tamil language translation of the National Anthem shall be as set out in Part II of the Fourth Schedule\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

      So, this is the fruitioning of old frustrated Perumal agendas of cessation that are seeing the light of the day thanks to yahapalanaya, after all! Both Wickremesinghe and Kumaratunga are re-living the past and achieving what they failed to achieve in the past because the enraged people\u00a0 kicked them out.\u00a0 It is indeed time for the people to re-enact the past and put both these two traitors out of action for good!<\/p>\n

      What is the rationale here? The national anthem is not a song; it is a solemn acceptance of the sovereignty and authority of a country and a declaration of unfettered love and affection for that country. It is created by a suitably skilled artist of high standing and is sanctioned and protected by the constitution. It is not a baila or a sing-a-long to be translated into many languages or to have one or two verses sung in another language; it cannot have a kundumani, or a \u2018muraga vadivela\u2019<\/em> verse or two for heightened fun. You stand up to sing the National Anthem as it is prescribed in the constitution and\/ or salute or have your hand on your heart while singing it! Racist Tamils in general have always refused to sing the National Anthem, disrespected the Sinhala language and poured scorn on our Flag! \u00a0They have in fact been disrespecting this country and all what it held sacred for a long time. Apart from a totally unusual character like Mr Kadiragamar, the general Tamil public have rarely shown allegiance to the country. \u00a0If any fool thinks that further appeasement of this uncivilised, ungrateful sons of Tamil Nadu are going to change their stripes just because we give away all we have got one by one, that fool deserves to sleep with Velu in Nanthikadal!<\/p>\n

      What the Tamils always have shown and what the Muslims are now beginning to show (since their population is reaching 10%) by rejecting the National Anthem, the National Flag and the Sinhala language is nothing more than civil disobedience. It is not a question of whether they don\u2019t feel included in the flag because all their \u2018symbols \u2018 are not on the flag or whether they can\u2019t understand the meaning of the National Anthem. There is nothing very difficult about learning the language of the majority. When our Tamils and Muslims \u00a0live in Canada they learn French, when they live in Germany they learn German, when they live in Norway or Denmark they learn Nordic languages or Danish and those in the UK, learn English. Sinhala is the only language these people have trouble learning despite living, owning, earning in Sri Lanka for several generations! Whose fault is this? It is the fault of the Sinhala and their apathy that allows people into the country without an oath of allegiance and not having laws that discipline the citizenry regarding discharging their responsibilities and showing respect to the country.<\/p>\n

      Take a very simple example. Both the Tamil and Muslim minorities are predominantly traders and business people. They sell to the majority Sinhala. How many shops in this majority Sinhala country do you see with signage displayed only in Tamil and English? This is not, and never has been a coincidence; it is by design. These businessmen are making a public statement. We hate your language; we spit on you! Take an example \u2013 Ranjanas, a shop selling sarees and other paraphernalia in the Fort for the last 60-70 years or more- the shop has always been carrying its signage in Tamil and English only- the newly opened several story shop in Bambalapitya is the same. However, these shops are teeming with Sinhala customers who understand neither Tamil nor English- spending their hard earned money, fattening up these very businesses that spit on them. Why? Because the Sinhalas do not respect themselves. We are prepared to wipe off the spit from our faces and crawl sheepishly in to a shop that disrespects us in order to buy a \u2018nice<\/em>\u2019 saree or some trinket. Then again, we do not want to buy the same thing from the Sinhala trader because \u2018he is so arrogant\u2019; in other words we don\u2019t want to see him getting richer than us in our own neighbourhood\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

      Continued\u2026.<\/p>\n

      Ramanie de Zoysa<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Ramanie de Zoysa The Constitution of Sri Lanka is being changed to reflect the findings and recommendations of PRCCR committee that received public opinions from less than .017% of Sri Lanka\u2019s 21m population. Of this miniscule sample of 3655 submissions received, at least 70% were signed by Tamils and Muslims – among them well known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ramanie-de-zoysa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55894","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=55894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}