{"id":90456,"date":"2019-06-16T15:45:02","date_gmt":"2019-06-16T22:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=90456"},"modified":"2019-06-16T15:45:02","modified_gmt":"2019-06-16T22:45:02","slug":"a-response-to-prof-ekanayake-another-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/06\/16\/a-response-to-prof-ekanayake-another-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"A RESPONSE TO PROF. EKANAYAKE: Another perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sugath Smarasinghe<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

I wish to respond as follows to Prof.\nA.N.I. Ekanayake to his letter to the Editor titled: What people say and what\nthey really mean\u201d that appeared in \u2018The Island\u2019 of May 24, 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. E appears to have approached his\nsubject from an existential perspective. I propose to address the issue he has\nraised, from a historical perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me first deal with the problem he had\nraised about the Sinhalese. Who are the Sinhalese?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My son recently took a DNA test, for the\nfun of it, to trace his genealogy, he mocked! It took his ancestry to North\nwestern India, to modern Afghanistan and finally to Europe. It incidentally\ncoincided with theory of, possible Indo-Aryan Migration from somewhere modern\nSouthern Germany through modern Iran (then Persia), modern Afghanistan and\nthrough Hindu Kush into Northern India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some historians surmise that some of these\nAryan tribes from North Western and N. Eastern India migrated in ancient times\nto different parts of this country. Hence I presume that such a tribe may have\nlanded in the Southern coast and moved inland. My known ancestry comes from a\nvillage named Karagoda viyangoda in Kimburupitiya electorate and another\nvillage called Nakulugamuwa in Beliattha electorate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears that those original Aryan\ntribes that migrated to this country mixed with the four tribes that lived\nhere, Yakshas- the irrigation experts, Nagas- the sea farers, Rakshas-the arts\nand craft people and Devas. These people together, over the years had developed\na unique civilization based on a unique hydro engineering system, agriculture,\nArt and architecture, a rich literature, health service, an education system\nand also an administration system together with international trade and foreign\nrelationships etc. These people also evolved into a new identity adopting the\nlion symbol which probably one of the tribes brought in. They also developed a\nlanguage to communicate called Sinhala, the lexicon of which is phonetic based\nthat is considered quite advanced even in modern times and a scientific grammar\nthat is easy to use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most older nations in the world are named\nby the language they use and their countries too are known by that name. Thus,\nthe land of people who speak French is called France. So with China, Japan,\nVietnam, Italy, Germany, Poland and England. Similarly in the ancient times land\nof the people whose language was Sinhala was known as Seehala Deepa, meaning,\nisland of the Sinhalese. This language also was referred to as Deepa Bhaasa in\nsome old texts, meaning the language of the island. The Madras University Dictionary\nrefers to this country as Eelaam, in Tamil is explained as Seehalaam. Thus,\nWesterners called it Z\/ceylan, Zeylao, Ceylon, Serendib etc. etc. It has been\nknown in the world from time immemorial, at least for 2600 years by these names\nuntil it became by some quirk of fate, Sri Lanka in 1972! Is there a language\ncalled Sri Lankan?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhalese also have a recorded history\ncovering the 2600 years of existence on this earth according to a chronicle\ncalled the Mahvansa, dated 5th<\/sup> century A.D. which is used in other\nBuddhist Countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia as authentic history. In\nlater times it helped to determine the times of Emperor Asoka Indian history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to this chronicle, the Sinhalese\nhave fought many wars to fight invaders, throughout their long history, to keep\npossession of their country which was finally ceded to the British Colonial\npower owing to an unresolvable internal political crisis in 1815. The Sinhalese\nperhaps are the people who held against the Western invaders the longest in\nthis region   Again it regained its sovereignty initially in\n1948 and finally in 1972. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last fight to keep possession of their\nland was fought for 30 years against a Terrorist group who tried to grab a\nportion of the country. After prolonged bitter fighting, they managed to\nvanquish the terrorists, to retain possession. They sacrificed many thousands\nof life and limb in this effort. The story of Hasalaka Gamini is just one\ninstance of their fighting spirit among many others in their long history.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering this glittering history, is it\nunfair if the present day Sinhala people legitimately claim that this country\nbelongs to them, however repugnant and unpalatable it may be to some?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. E mentions the \u2018Sinhala Only\u2019\nquestion ushered in 1956, by Prime Minister S.W.R. D. Bandaranayake. Mr.\nBandaranayake was asked by the people who voted for him to make Sinhala the\nlanguage of Administration of this country, which ceased to be so after 1815\nfor a period of 156 years during the British Colonial rule. Before that, this\ncountry was administered in the Sinhala language, the language of the\nSinhalese. Was it wrong for the Sinhala people to have demanded after\nIndependence, to resume their language of administration as done over 2400\nyears in this country? Isn\u2019t it a prescriptive right even according to the\npresent Roman-Dutch law?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the question of Sinhala Buddhists. The\nSinhalese became Buddhists 2300 years ago in the 3rd<\/sup> century B.C.\nSince then they acquired a sapling of the Bodhi tree under shade of which their\nteacher the Buddha attained Buddhahood. Many centuries later they had the\nprivilege of receiving the Tooth Relic of the Buddha which became the symbol of\nkingship that became synonymous with Royal Power to govern the Sinhala people.\nIn the last war with the Terrorists, they mounted attacks on both these\ninstitutions to destroy in vain, the ethos and the morale of the Sinhalese.\nEven today the political authorities pay their formal respects at the temple of\nthe Tooth and their Chief monks at Kandy the last Capital of the Sinhalese.\nThey also make it a point to pay homage at the Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura,\ntheir original political and religious capital. Most Sinhala Buddhist too do\nthis visit time to time, to re-charge their ethos, morale and religious fervor.\nThey are really stirred into great emotional pride when they hear the song\nDanno Budunge\u201d that speaks of the glory of Anurdhapura.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really there were no Sinhala Buddhists in\nthis country for over 1500 years until the western colonial powers landed here.\nFor, all people here were Buddhists then other than perhaps the veddhas. The\nterm came into usage only because a section of the Sinhalese converted to Christianity.\nThus, there came into existence Sinhala Christians. The national leaders then\naddressed the Buddhists with that name to wake them up from a deep slumber\nafter being reduced to politically powerlessness by the colonial administration\nand Christian Missionaries empowered by the colonials. Anagarika Dharmapala\npublished a newspaper called \u2018Sinhala Bauddhayaa\u2019 and Piydasa Sirisena set up\nanother called \u2018Sinhala Jathiya\u2019 in an effort to evoke the ethos of a down\ntrodden community who was then rendered powerless after their rebellions of\n1817\/18 and 1848 which were ruthlessly crushed by the British Colonials. It was\nonly in 1956, nearly 150 years afterwards that the Sinhala Buddhists again\nasserted their lost status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the Colonial and Christian\nMissionary influence the Sinhala Buddhists had become a degenerate nation, weak\nBuddhists with lukewarm national pride. They had been enticed into consumption\nof liquor and beef which was looked down upon in earlier times.  The Eurocentric orientation given to the\nmiddle class under Missionary education resulted in creating an inferiority\ncomplex in themselves where they were trained to look down upon their own\nculture and values and their own political thinking. Situation has become so\nbad now that there are  ques to pick up\ntheir liquor quota on the day before Wesak and other Poya days! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore the nationalist movement in\nearly 20th<\/sup> century had to begin primarily as a temperance movement\nand debates with Christian Missionaries. They had to design a Buddhist flag and\ncreate English schools for Buddhists in an attempt to re-orient the degenerated\nBuddhists to retrieve their lost national and religious fervor. It has been\nquite a gigantic task because lot of damage had been done to the national\npsyche where a class of new intellectuals among the Sinhalese who are unable to\nsee beyond new Eurocentric ideologies like Human Rights, equality, secular\nstate, neo-liberal thinking etc. which have been designed by the West to ensure\ncontinuation of their intellectual domination over their former colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Ekanayake has highlighted the\n\u2018problem\u2019 of article 9 of the Constitution giving the place of prominence to\nBuddhism. This is nothing but an extension of the condition imposed by the\nBuddhist leaders in the Kandyan Convention agreed to by the British Colonials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite apart from that, how has the other\nreligions in this country been disadvantaged owing to this \u2018obnoxious\u2019\nprovision or, have Buddhists gained any unfair advantage over the other\nreligionists? No such claims had been made to the Supreme Courts that they have\nbeen disadvantaged owing to this provision. Despite this provision, the Sinhala\nBuddhists have suffered many disadvantages like the ancient Kuragala Buddhist\nmonastery taken over by other religionists, land grab at Deeghavapi which had\nto be retrieved only after a court order, difficulties encountered by Buddhists\nat places like Mihindu Maha Viharaya and Nayaru in the Eastern province,\ndamages caused to Buddha images at Mavanella recently etc. etc. where no\nprosecution by state have been instituted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinhala Buddhists have also experienced\nright to worship, live and do business in the Northern Province and denied\naccess to Muslim enclaves in different parts of the country whereas none of the\nother religionists have suffered any obstacles to settle down, do business, run\nreligious and educational institutions in any part of the country. Thus, it\nwould appear that article 9 in the Constitution has in effect given no\nadvantage to the Buddhists, rather they have been subjected to bullying by\nother religionists and communities. Hence we need an interpretation of the real\nmeaning of Buddhism being declared here as premus interpares\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True, as pointed out by Prof. Ekanayake\nthat Buddhists today are degenerate, corrupt, indisciplined, dishonest etc.\netc. This is the effect of over 500 years of foreign domination and degradation\nthey had suffered as a result as explained above. In addition to that, they\nhave contend with social and new problems created  by the notion of Open Economy, competition, consumerism,\ninformation technology and other modern changes that have further confounded\ntheir attempt to recover their lost ethos. For instance, the notion of\nsallahuka wutthi\u201d \u2013simple livelihood mentioned in the Karaneeya Mettha Suttha,\nis almost impossible except in abject poverty forced by capitalist society. It\nis indeed a mind boggling challenge, to overcome overnight. It takes time. It\nis only 71 years since we formally retrieved some form of independence. It\nmight take a long time for us to recover. However, for nation that is 2600 old\n500 years is a short time. Given the time and intellectual independence the\nSinhala Buddhists may recover their greatness. They need to be helped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally some poitican as mentioned by prof. E, is reported to have touched a raw nerve of the Sinhalese saying that this country does not belong to the Sinhalese. It is worthwhile thinking what motivated this man to say that over and over, just at this juncture. What is the outcome he wants? And why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sugath Smarasinghe \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sugath Smarasinghe I wish to respond as follows to Prof. A.N.I. Ekanayake to his letter to the Editor titled: What people say and what they really mean\u201d that appeared in \u2018The Island\u2019 of May 24, 2019. Prof. E appears to have approached his subject from an existential perspective. I propose to address the issue he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90456","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=90456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}