{"id":97225,"date":"2020-01-03T00:17:08","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T06:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97225"},"modified":"2020-01-02T17:06:18","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T00:06:18","slug":"ensuring-the-primordial-sinhala-buddhist-identity-in-national-identity-cards-and-passports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/03\/ensuring-the-primordial-sinhala-buddhist-identity-in-national-identity-cards-and-passports\/","title":{"rendered":"Ensuring the primordial Sinhala Buddhist Identity in National Identity Cards and Passports"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Senaka Weeraratna<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The \nprimordial national identities of the overwhelming \nmajority of people (75%) in Sri Lanka are Sinhala and Buddhism. These \ntwo \nhistorical identities are rooted in the \nnational identity of the people whose ancestors, being Sinhala Buddhists, built \nthe unique Buddhist civilization over a period in excess of 2000 years in the \ncountry that is now called Sri Lanka. It was called \u2018Sinhale\u2019 or \u2018Thun Sinhale\u2019 \nor \u2018Sinhaladweepa\u2019 in the \npre-colonial period i.e. before the Portuguese landed on the island in 1505. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1815, the so \ncalled Kandyan Convention was identified and named as the \u2018Ingrisy \u2013 Sinhale \nGivisuma\u2019 by the high contracting parties. In other words, it was a Treaty \nbetween the Kandyan Kingdom officially known as \u2018Sinhale\u2019 and the Imperial \nBritish Government then steadfastly engaged in conquering and seizing the \nentirety of the island. It is still a valid Treaty document and continues to be \na part of the Laws of Sri Lanka and a popular term of reference in public \ndiscussions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \nthe foolish and servile rush to embrace a so – called secularism at the behest \nof mostly western countries (that in effect practice pseudo \u2013 secularism) and \nforeign funded NGOs, let us not impulsively and unwisely dispense with our \nprimordial Sinhala Buddhist identity in order to project an artificial secular \nidentity (Sri Lankan) that has neither roots to the soil of the country nor been \nshaped either by history, common values, heritage or destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jathiya \nand <\/strong>Jathikathwaya<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We, the Sinhala \nBuddhists, have every right to maintain and be proud of our national Sinhala \nBuddhist identity (Jathiya) together with our nationality (Jathikathwaya) – \u2018Sri \nLankan\u2019.  The veneration and high regard for the Sinhala Buddhist identity does \nnot imply contempt for other races. They too have a right to exist and be part \nof the national fabric. However, since races constitute the core of nations as \nmanifested by nature, the very respect for nationhood demands due respect for \nthose who have built the nation for a period in excess of 2000 years and the \nunique Buddhist civilization of this country. Sinhala Buddhists tower over \neveryone else in this respect. This fact must not be ignored or overlooked. It \nmust be entrenched in the national consciousness, school curricula and public \ndiscourse. It must not be allowed to be challenged and must always remain non \u2013 \nnegotiable as an article of faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the descendants \nof those who had embraced the religions introduced to Sri Lanka by foreign \nintruders after 1505, mostly for selfish reasons and mercenary gain and in turn \nwere forced to give up their loyalty to \u2018 Rata, Jathiya and Agama\u2019, are unhappy \nwith the Sinhala Buddhist identity of the vast majority of the people, that is \ntheir problem. They have no right to insist on those have remained loyal to \ntheir ethnic and religious origins, to give up their primordial identities in \norder to secure a land free of conflict. This is a false argument. Conflict \narises when history is distorted and perverted to accommodate a false narrative \nthat satisfies the imperial agenda of foreign countries that continue to harbor \nneo \u2013 colonial designs over Sri Lanka.    History must not be allowed to be \ndistorted to remove the credit due to the founding fathers of this nation i.e. \nthe Sinhalese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Identity \nCards and Passports    <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One \nway of ensuring that the primordial national identity of the Sinhala Buddhist \npeople continue to prevail and not be obliterated to satisfy the demands of \nforeign funded NGOs and fellow travelers, is to provide space(s) in public \ndocuments e.g. applications that require to be submitted to obtain the National \nIdentity Card (NIC) and \/ or Passport, for declarations on the following \nbasis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National \n………….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationality \n……………<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion \n………………….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \nSinhala Buddhist would submit as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National:   \nSinhala<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationality:  \nSri Lankan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion:   \nBuddhism<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nation \nbuilding is important not only to Sri Lanka but to all countries that are facing \ntension and ethnic conflict due to the entry of waves of immigrants and forced \ndisplacement of indigenous people e.g. Kandyan Sinhala peasantry, engineered by \nthe colonial powers to achieve economic goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claims \nof the autochthonous people that built this unique Buddhist civilization in an \nisland territory that was called \u2018 Sinhale\u2019 for over two thousand years until \nthat name was bastardized or corrupted ( to be known as \u2018Ceylon\u2019 ) with the \nentry of the Portuguese in 1505, cannot be placed on the same or equal footing \nas that of latter day arrivals in terms of allocation of credit for contribution \nto the making of a nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That \nwould be tantamount to a great injustice. Through deliberate misrepresentation \nand distortion of history to solve a so – called ethnic problem, Sinhala \nBuddhists are now being called to make sacrifices to accommodate the unfair \nclaims of latter day arrivals for equal communal status and recognition, that no \nother country in the world so far has done or would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism \ndenied Official Recognition<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look \nat the examples of Australia, USA, Canada, New Zealand \u2013 what have they done to \naccommodate minorities? For example, all these countries including almost all \nIslamic countries, deny recognition to Buddhism as an Official Religion. Only \ntwo European countries have so far given official recognition to Buddhism, \nnamely Russia and Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do \nany of these countries have national anthems sung in two languages?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald \nTrump in his inaugural address placed an emphasis on Patriotism. He called for a \nNational Day of Patriotism. To remember those who had fought to keep the country \nintact and protect national values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \nSri Lanka, we have not only failed to remember our freedom fighters since 1505, \nbut are now in the process of erasing these names from school text books in a \nsurreptitious manner to create a void in their minds for manipulation by NGO \nfunded educators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No \ncountry allows children in their formative years in primary and secondary \nschools to be taught all religions. This would only confuse young children. \nWhere there is a need for certainty of one religion confusion would start with \nmuddled idea of all four religions. It would result in conflict in homes with \nsmall children arguing over the pros and cons of religions. Yet, local newspaper \neditorials keep on harping on this theme despite its potential damage to \nchildren in their formative years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missionary \neducation was never secular. It was a curse. It was a tool of colonialism to \nbarter education for religion conversion and strengthen hegemonic colonial rule. \n    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \nforging of a modern day national identity i.e. Sri Lankan, should not be at the \nexpense of discarding altogether the primordial national identity i.e. Sinhala \nBuddhist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \nvenerated Sinhala Buddhist identity of more than 15 million people of Sri Lanka \nshould not be allowed to be thrown overboard to resolve a problem created mainly \nby European colonial rulers using Divide and Rule policies in their colonies. \nWhat is happening today in Myanmar, a legacy of British colonial rule, is a \nforetaste of what may happen in regional countries including Sri Lanka, another \nvictim of nearly 500 year colonialism, in the future?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patriotism \nand Nationalism are themes that must be given high priority by the new \nGovernment under President Gotabhaya Rajapakse, in the wake of a huge collapse \nof confidence in Reconciliation and Multi-culturalism, after the Easter Sunday \nTerrorist attack last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

by Senaka Weeraratna The primordial national identities of the overwhelming majority of people (75%) in Sri Lanka are Sinhala and Buddhism. These two historical identities are rooted in the national identity of the people whose ancestors, being Sinhala Buddhists, built the unique Buddhist civilization over a period in excess of 2000 years in the country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97225","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=97225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}