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(Indian Government should revive Buddhism to give itself a new face as the emerging Leader of Asia.)

By Charles Perera

Ancient India had great respect to Sri Lanka. The King Asoka had the confidence that Sri Lanka would be the home of the teachings of the Buddha. H.G.Wells described king Asoka as the King that, "…….shines brightly like a bright star, even unto this day". This great king gave Sri Lanka the greatest Gift of Dhamma. He sent his own son and daughter as missionaries to propagate Buddhism in Sri Lanka , while he sent other missionaries to the rest of the world to South East Asia ,and to Greece and Egypt.. Though the fragrance of Buddhism does not pervade the land of its origin- the once great land of religious sanctity, Sri Lanka is to-day the treasure house of the original teachings of the Buddha, and the only link to India's glorious past.

The timeless teachings of the Buddha, declined gradually in India due to the influence of the Hindu Priests over weak Kings. But happily Buddhism was revived in India in the third Century by the Great King Asoka, a Hindu, who disillusioned by war repenting after wars of Kalinga, became converted to Buddhism. King Ashoka with the revival of Buddhism ushered in the golden age of the Indian history. India became prosperous, and thrived under his rule. There was a social and a cultural renaissance with opening of centres of education, hospitals and monasteries.

After the death of King Asoka, his descendants were unable to maintain the unity of the vast empire, and the long wars of succession brought weak kings into power who were depending on the Hindu priests and their religious customs and rituals, to perpetuate an eroding kingdom. India was soon submerged in priest craft and the people were again divided according to the vicious Hindu caste system, and petty wars made India weak and poor, becoming far different from what it was under King Asoka. It was this weakened India that was further divided and made poor by the foreign conquests and became a British colony.

It was Mahatma Gandhi, the great man of India's recent history, who broke the shackles of colonial domination, and brought Independence to his country. But his effort to unite India under one banner failed, as the British who wanted to make the independence of India a failure, lured in Jinnha, making him a pawn for the great betrayal. A united India would have been much more powerful and prosperous, but the British to avoid such an eventuality set in motion a power struggle between the political leaders, from the start of the struggle for Independence.

In this Independent India the out-casts were treated like animals. There humans right were denied to them. They were prohibited from learning, and those out casts who uttered a divine prayer in Sanskrit had their tongues cut. They could not walk on roads, as they would be punished if their shadows fell on a high caste Indian. They were of the lowest caste, therefore the Hindu Priests prohibited them from stepping in to the precincts of a Hindu temple. One questions whether India has risen above that shameful past , and are the Harijans as free as the high caste Hindus ?

The Hindu priests connived with power hungry elite to end the Buddhist influence in India, and later the conquering Muslim armies massacred lot of Buddhist Priests. The Islamic conquerors, who did not respect the cultural values of the people they conquered destroyed their temples, monasteries and all symbols of their culture.

It is said that the Hindus encouraged by their priests forced the Buddhist nuns to prostitution and made them outcasts. The Devadasis of the Dalit community are said to be the descendents of the outcast Buddhists Nuns. Later, Dr.Bhim Rao Ambedkar initiated a revival of Buddhism in India, by converting the Dalits to Buddhism, as Buddhism did not discriminate people according to their caste or social status..

The British conquest of India distanced it from its great past. India was divided and its past culture was desecrated by the new cultural and social values introduced by the British. Its great past, its philosophies, its sacred religious values have been swept away by the typhoon of the British invasion.

The British left a weakened India, where its leaders are imitating its colonial masters, still unable to shake off its Western influence left behind by the British. It is time for Indian leaders to wake up to reality, and start a cultural renaissance to bring back at least some of its past pride and glory. India was the country where the Buddhas were born, and Gandhi a man of peace, who was a new source of power that redeemed India from British colonialism.

India should not be cowardly, and hide in fear, it should prepare itself to take a leadership role in Asia. It should not remain a silent witness to what is taking place in its neighbourhood. It is the duty of India to intervene in the effort of the Government of Sri Lanka to eliminate terrorisms, for three reasons. Firstly, it's the India's role to help Sri Lanka as its closest neighbour, secondly because terrorism in Sri Lanka, could be India's own problem later on, and thirdly Sri Lanka is the only link to India's glorious past.

The International Community follows the same old colonial game on the checker board of politics, to break up countries and keep them dependent on them so that the ancient colonialism perpetuates in their new plan of globalisation. An article that recently appeared in the Island, though vehemently denied by the parties mentioned, speaks of how the donor countries who want to act in one voice for their disastrous manipulation of developing countries to keep them poor and dependant, plans to oust Japan which is non white and representative of the Asian countries, from the group of donor countries and include Canada and Australia in to their Donor Group..

Therefore, it is all the more necessary for India to give up its lethargic existence and take an active role in fighting terrorism in the neighbourhood, and begin a revival of Buddhism in the land of its birth, that will give India a new face as an emerging leader of Asia.

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