{"id":90907,"date":"2019-06-30T16:06:46","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T23:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=90907"},"modified":"2019-06-30T16:06:46","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T23:06:46","slug":"of-barbarians-and-blockheads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/06\/30\/of-barbarians-and-blockheads\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Barbarians and Blockheads"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The true barbarian is he who thinks everything barbarous but his own tastes and prejudices.<\/em> -William Hazlitt <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday Island columnist\nSanjana Hattotuwa (\u2018What we are today\u2019\/June 23, 2019), as if stoned on the drug\nof racist hatred and prejudice against the majority Sinhalese Buddhists who\nconstitute 70% of the Sri Lankan population (Sinhalese account for at least 75%\nof the population in terms of racial composition, it could be 80% or more in\nreality), implicitly condemns all nationalist oppositional forces including the\nnon-political Maha Sangha as barbarians. This, of course, is \nself-inflicted racism, because, as the name suggests, the person is a\nSinhalese. (All ethnicities are represented among nationalists in varying\nproportions; nationalists are not exclusively Sinhalese or Sinhalese Buddhists;\nnot all Sinhalese are nationalists either.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What SH offers the Sunday\nIsland readers is a stinker of a scurrilous piece of writing soiled with a\nverbal diarrhoeal discharge absolutely devoid of meaning. Baseless implicit or\nexplicit charges of racial supremacism, religious exclusivism, and political\nmajoritarianism have been repeated ad nauseam against the majority community\nover the past decades. Today, for all their innocence of these evils, they have\nbecome hapless victims of other people\u2019s racism, religious intolerance, and\nminoritarian politics of genocidal proportions. While this is the ground truth\nabout the predicament of the majority Sinhalese at present, Hattotuwa\u2019s great\nworry seems to be over the distinct probability of the nationalist forces\nuniting to oust the failed foreign sponsored Yahapalanaya before long. All his\nallegations, particularly against the majority community and the Buddhist\nmonks, about visiting violence on innocent Muslims are baseless assertions,\nwhich seem to have  to do with some personal embitterment in life he has\nexperienced. He deserves to be treated with understanding and sympathy; but the\ntruth that he wants to hide, especially from the small but important English\nreading public, must be stated in the national interest. Hence this article is\nwritten as a reply to SH, although I feel he is not worthy of one. It is\nrespectfully offered to the intelligent and fair minded readers of the Sunday\nIsland and others interested, for their critical engagement and appraisal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Eminence the Cardinal\u2019s\nurgent appeal to the Catholics for calm, after the April 21 terrorist bombings,\ncompletely neutralized any possibility of retaliatory violence by them on\ninnocent Muslims who had nothing to do with those terror attacks. His personal\ncall was  much more effective than whatever the government did in that\nrespect on its own initiative. There was no reason to fear that the Buddhists\nwould perpetrate any violence on Muslims to avenge terrorist attacks on\nCatholic churches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those of us who are old enough\ncan remember at least three occasions (out of many) in the past that the\nSinhalese Buddhists remained calm under extreme provocation and avoided\ncommunal violence: On May 14, 1985, LTTE terrorists shot dead 146 innocent\nSinhalese Buddhist men, women and children arriving at Anuradhapura to take part\nin religious observances at the Sri Maha Bodhi there, some of them already\nengaged in those activities; on June 2, 1987, 33 Buddhist monks, most of them\nteenaged or younger novices, were hacked to death, at Aranthalawa by LTTE\nterrorists; on January 25, 1998, the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, the holiest\nBuddhist shrine in the country, was truck-bombed by an LTTE suicide cadre,\nkilling 17 early morning worshippers, and seriously injuring more than 25. When\nthese atrocities were committed,  innocent Tamils or their shops and\nhouses or their Kovils were not attacked by the Sinhalese, although that was\nwhat the terrorists expected to provoke them to do, in order to discredit the\nSinhalese majority in the eyes of the world. (It should be noted that in Kandy,\nbusinesses are overwhelmingly possessed and controlled by Tamil speakers\nincluding Muslims.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, is it likely that these\nSinhalese Buddhist \u2018barbarians\u2019 wanted to attack  Muslims, their\nbusinesses and houses in Minuwangoda and Kuliyapitiya one month after those\nIslamic terror attacks on Catholic churches elsewhere that they had nothing to\ndo with? Neutral media sources point out that the perpetrators of the violence\nin those places<\/p>\n\n\n\n

which equally affected\nSinhalese families, businesses and houses were strangers to the area, and that\nthey were probably agents provocateurs. Opposition observers claim government\ninvolvement. Persons arrested by the police, the same sources allege, were\npeople who were sight-seeing or were there to try and stop the violence and\nhelp out those already subjected to it, without discrimination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In SH\u2019s opinion, such\nallegations as those about serving food adulterated with unknown drugs to\nSinhalese customers who go to Muslim eateries, and about forced sterilization\nof unsuspecting Sinhalese mothers by restricting  the fallopian tubes by a\nMuslim doctor, are attributable not to the \u2018domain of fringe lunacy\u2019 but to\nsomething worse that is signalled by the statements of the (Most Venerable)\nAsgiriya Mahanayake Thera, presumably because the Thera has implied that these\ncharges against suspected Islamic extremist sympathisers are credible (Here my\ninterpretation could be wrong, but this is what I can make out of SH\u2019s\nconvoluted prose). SH chooses not to recognize or indulge the religious\nsensitivities of the Buddhist readers of his piece by avoiding respectful\nhonorifics before the names of Buddhist monks. He grants the Most Venerable\nWarakagoda Gnanaratana, the Mahanayake Thera of Asgiriya Chapter, no more\nsignificance than that due to his seniority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Asgiriya prelate\u2019s\nattitude is an implicit indictment of the government\u2019s failure to duly\ninvestigate the specific charges and take tangible action if they are found to\nbe true or to reassure the vast majority of the multiethnic multi-religious\npopulation threatened by a small group of extremist Islamists. If the high\nmonk\u2019s stand is something worse than fringe lunacy as SH warns, what does he\nsay about His Eminence the Cardinal who, in no uncertain terms, accuses the\ngovernment of direct responsibility for the Easter Sunday attacks? His Eminence\nrepeated this charge even in Rome a week or so ago. The Most Venerable\nMahanayake Thera of the Malwatte Chapter, a diehard supporter of the UNP,\nrecently chided a senior-most cabinet minister, who is a potential presidential\nnomination aspirant from that party, for offering surveillance  cameras\nfor his monastery instead of doing more to ensure the security of the people.\nThe Asgiriya High Monk\u2019s recent candid criticism of the UNP as the party that\ncaused the greatest harm to the country and the nation in recent times (which\nseems to have got SH\u2019s goat) was evidence based, and went down well with the\nmasses impatiently waiting for a change of government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As opposed to unfounded\nallegations hurled at the nationalist oppositional forces, there are reasonable\ngrounds for one to assume that the serious charges that are raised against\ncertain extremist elements in a particular community by the \u2018barbarians\u2019 are\nbased on verifiable factual observations, although the government prefers to be\nin denial. That is, according to free online news media sources. SH dismisses\nthese reported facts contemptuously without bothering to study them as part of\nhis work in investigative journalism that he apparently wants to take credit\nfor. Only perfect blockheads will accept his opinion regarding the matter,\nwhile rejecting the scientific fact based explanation of the allegation against\nthe doctor in question (who has acted as a house officer in a Kurunegala\nhospital) by an internationally recognized young university medical professor\nof Sinhalese ethnicity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whose views should we attach\ncredence to? SH\u2019s or the two religious personages\u2019 and the medical\nprofessor\u2019s? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SH has also made references to\nVen. Ratana and Ven. Gnanasara Theras (who are monk activists of two different\nmodels).  He accuses Ven Gnanasara of using \u2018virulent words\u2019 and doing\n\u2018violent actions\u2019. The truth is that though sometimes he used harsh language he\ndidn\u2019t mean any harm to anybody.  He only wanted people to listen to the\nlegitimate complaints he had against the unacceptable activities of\nfundamentalist sects targeting peaceful Buddhists, Christians, Catholics,\nHindus, and traditional Muslims. In spite of sometimes assuming threatening\npostures, he never indulged in physical violence on persons or property. The\nIslamic violence that he started warning against in 2013 materialized  on\nApril 21 this year. That day he was still in prison. He said he cried looking\nat the pictures of the bodies of small children killed in the church blasts.\nAfter his release from prison, not long after, he didn\u2019t exult claiming that he\nwas vindicated about the passionate warnings that he had been sounding for so\nlong. He said that he only deeply regretted that all his efforts to get the\nauthorities to investigate the evidence he was giving them and to get them to\nact in order to prevent such mayhem and destruction fell through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On being freed from prison, he\ndeclared his intention to get back to his usual spiritual pursuits as a\nBuddhist monk, away from mundane affairs. He said, I have done my duty by the\ncountry. I am now tired\u201d. But then, the young Buddhist activists who had been\nfollowing him urged him to resume the work he was doing for safeguarding the\ncountry\u2019s age-old Buddhist cultural legacy without which the Sri Lankan state\ncannot survive whole. It is the dominant Sinhalese Buddhist culture that\nensures the peaceful coexistence and flourishing of all communities. So he\nrelented. After all, Buddha advised his disciples to ideologically defeat all\nsuperstitions and awaken people to see things as they really are, Ven.\nGnanasara says. That\u2019s what Ven. Gnanasara will be doing in the future. He\nwants the Maha Sangha to remain above politicians and get them to rule\nrighteously so that the country, the people and the Buddha Sasanaya will be\nsaved for the good of all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maha Sangha are the\nspiritual leaders of the majority of the population. Yet they have been unable\nto provide them with the inspiring and protective moral  leadership that\nit is their historical duty to provide to the nation. The Cardinal provided\nthat leadership to the Catholics, and he was immediately recognized as a\nnational hero, most of all by the Buddhists, for playing that role with such\ndedication and compassion. His Eminence\u2019s bold criticism of the suspected\ngovernment\u2019s dereliction of duty concerning national security  is just and\nit will go a long way towards correcting the situation soon. His praiseworthy\nconduct has put our leading monks to shame. It is heartening to see that they\nare now awakening to the reality. Ven. Gnanasara\u2019s contribution in this\nconnection should be recognized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, three glaring defects\nof Ven. Gnanasara\u2019s personality that have greatly damaged his reputation and\nhave substantially harmed the national cause that he is championing are the\nimpetuous nature of his temperament, his naivety and his unguarded tongue. Had\nhe been a politician he would have controlled all these better. Not being a\npolitico is not enough for a monk. It\u2019s no harm having the positive qualities that\nsuccessful politicians possess such as coolness, cleverness, and controlled\nspeech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Ratana, the scheming\npolitician monk, put a hex on the Maha Sangha awakening that Ven. Gnanasara\nfacilitated through his non-political activism, which, unfortunately, even led\nhim to jail, mainly due to the aforementioned personality defects. Though Ven.\nGnanasara disapproved of the other\u2019s \u2018farcical fast\u2019 (as SH rightly describes\nit), he had no choice but to temporarily associate with Ven. Ratana\u2019s demand\nthat the three Muslim politicians he charged were connected with Islamic\nterrorism resign from their posts, though this was not the correct thing to be\nurged at that stage. Ven. Ratana\u2019s objective was, apparently, to steal a march\non the non-political monks who were just beginning to move in the correct\ndirection. Ven. Gnanasara, after that episode including his own questionable\nbut excusable part in it, criticised the Ven. Ratana\u2019s realpolitik. Ven.\nRatana\u2019s gatecrashing will be an obstruction to finding a permanent solution to\nthe crucial problem of Islamic fundamentalist threat to our country. Ven.\nRatana cannot provide the political leadership that the country needs, nor can\nhe provide any spiritual leadership either, because of the duality of his role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If SH has any genuine concern\nabout Sri Lanka, he must try to correctly identify the real barbarians and\nblockheads who are responsible for  the deplorable state of the country\ntoday. He must explain why the foreign advocated policies of the government are\ngood for our people, if he thinks so, while demonstrating that he has a correct\nidea of the existential threats that they being confronted with. Please address\nyourself to them, not to the foreign powers who are in our region to promote\nwhat they can do there in the interest of the well-being and security of their\nown respective peoples back home.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala The true barbarian is he who thinks everything barbarous but his own tastes and prejudices. -William Hazlitt Sunday Island columnist Sanjana Hattotuwa (\u2018What we are today\u2019\/June 23, 2019), as if stoned on the drug of racist hatred and prejudice against the majority Sinhalese Buddhists who constitute 70% of the Sri Lankan […]<\/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-90907","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\/90907","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=90907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}