United we flourish; divided we perish
View(s):Though Sri Lanka has an open road for peace, reconciliation and economic growth and the potential to grow into a developed nation like Singapore, radical elements in the country’s citizens are making sure this doesn’t happen – wittingly or unwittingly.
For most Sri Lankans, whether Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Christians or Burghers … the Sinhala Buddhist and Tamil Hindu New Year is a celebration for all.
But this time the celebrations are marred by attacks on Muslim businesses and a few Christian churches by extremist groups, prompting two Buddhist monks to join a chorus of voices seeking sanity and wisdom during this celebration.
In the good old days every religious event was celebrated by all. Muslims go to Sinhalese, Tamil or Catholic homes for Avurudu, Deepavali or Christmas tucking into the traditional festival fare, and vice versa. Or Sinhalese friends would visit the homes of Muslims for Ramazan and enjoy food and a range of delicacies like Wattalappan.
All that has virtually disappeared in the past 30 years or more with mistrust and suspicion being the order of the day. Sections of the communities accuse each other and the sad fact is that the minorities, leave alone the militant groups, are living in awe of the majority community, sections of it rather expecting a flashpoint somewhere.
The days of statesmanship are gone with Sri Lanka yearning for a leadership that would serve all communities equally with Maithri, compassion and understanding. In this context, a recent anti-hate speech made by Ven. Baddegama Samitha deserves some merit and could be considered as one of the most sane, reasonable and understanding comments by an erudite Buddhist monk.The monk, a former parliamentarian who himself courted controversy after being the first member of the Buddhist clergy to enter the legislature, had two simple messages: “Live and let live” and “united we flourish; divided we perish”.
He said the country belongs to all communities, a similar strain in a peace-time song ‘this land belongs to you… this land belongs to me… this land belongs to everyone to live in harmony.”
He warned against extremist groups creating another bloodbath, listing out “suspicion among ourselves” being the biggest obstacle in a peaceful transition after the war. He said all human beings have a right to life citing the example of how discrimination and race-free US voted Husain Barrack Obama as the first black President.
“No person in the country should live in fear. The rule of law should take precedence over anything else. Everyone is equal before the law,” he said.
Another Buddhist monk also spoke out against the hatred being allegedly spread in the name of the Buddha, as some Sinhalese moderates call it. Ven. Dhammananda from the University of Kelaniya spoke on Sri Lanka’s war and the way the Buddhists handle conflict resolution.
“We have to leave this world as a peaceful one for the next generations. After conflicts start, the destruction goes on and cannot be stopped. We have to stop conflicts before it starts. Let’s start by being compassionate among ourselves first,” was his message during this season of peace, love and goodwill.
In a separate story in this section, economists are quoted as saying that the recent hate attacks are not good for the economy and more worrying than recent export earnings which has seen a continuous drop from last year.
Economists say if the police continue to look on in silence while ‘watching’ a business establishment under attack (as it so happened recently and no action was taken against such officers), this could send negative signals to leaders in Muslim-dominated Middle East. Sri Lanka is dependent on that region for a million jobs and 100 per cent of the oil supply. The recent halal certification issue has also put a dampener on travellers from the Middle East which is a small but growing source for high spending tourists.
In a modern era where economies are connected to global trade and investment decisions are made after examining a whole gamut of issues (not necessarily the state of the economy and its fundamentals), Sri Lanka cannot live like a frog in a well. Thus as Sri Lankans celebrate the New Year, it is essential to reflect on the words of Ven. Samitha and Ven. Dhammananda that “No person in the country should live in fear” and “Let’s start by being compassionate among ourselves first.”
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