Sunday Times 2
The Maha Sangha bows down to no political authority
View(s):There was an article by Neville de Silva, a renowned journalist, published in the Sunday Times of August 26, 2018 under the heading “Philosophy of hate and violence” crticising a statement issued by the Venerable Iththapane Dhammalankara Thera on behalf of the Kotte Sangha Sabha. The impugned statement, in turn, had, among other matters, referred to the incarceration of the Venerable Galagagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera for contempt of the Homagama Magistrates’s Court. What follows is not intended to have any bearing on the decision, judgment or sentence by the Court of Appeal nor any reflection on the views held by the journalist as appearing in the article:
Quote- an excerpt from the article: “When and how Sri Lanka and its people gave Gnanasara Thera the right to represent them and do so in such a reprehensible manner, the Ven. Dhammalankara fails to state and for obvious reasons. They would never condone such abhorrence performed in their name bringing disgrace to the country and its people.”
There is a vast difference between representing a nation and its people and trying to help the soldiers who fought for this country. The present regime would do well to remember that had it not been for these people who fought and died there would have been no regime at all. It is for those soldiers that Venerable Gnanasara spoke.
Quote: “Elected governments tolerated his uncivilised and un-Buddhistic behaviour giving rise to the commonly-held perception that he was being encouraged by those in power and that subsequent leaders did not have the political will and the moral courage to act against Gnanasara Thera.”
The contents of the above quotation may be quite correct; but, if one were to look at the other side of the coin, is the present regime with a political will and moral courage, so to say, trying to shut his mouth, for some reason or the other?
That part of the article which states “…that subsequent leaders did not have the political will and the moral courage to act against Gnanasara Thera….” makes one wonder whether the exercise of political will and moral courage against Ven. Gnanasara, for breaking the law, on the one side, and exercise of that political will and moral courage against him in order to shut his venerable mouth amounted to one and the same thing? This comment refers to the constant badgering of Venerable Gnanasara by the law enforcement authorities and not to the case of contempt against him which was the result of judicial will, and is no reflection on the decision of the Court of Appeal, which, in its view, acted in accordance with the law. As a matter of comment, it must also be kept in mind that contempt of court and the speaker’s belief in the opinioned truth of what he said in court are two different matters altogether. Contempt may come by the manner in which the opinion is stated as well as in its content; but if the content is true, then the fact that he was charged and convicted for contempt does not diminish its truth, does it?
Quote: “He relied on the Sri Lankan tradition of deference to and the sanctity of the saffron robe to protect him while he virtually ‘laid waste’ to government institutions, challenged political figures, invaded press conferences disrupting proceedings and threatening persons of other religions and even participating Buddhist monks.”
“… the Sri Lankan tradition of deference to and the sanctity of the saffron robe…” as set out above is correct. The rest of it is not. These days, starting from the beggar in the streets right up to Parliament, all ‘lay waste’ to government institutions etc …. So, one certainly does not need the protection of a saffron robe. But, counterproductive to the content of the above extract, the saffron robe did not protect Ven. Gnanasara Thera when he said the same things that are screamed out by these other wasters in much more flowery language — so flowery that the television news broadcasts go “tweet” every time such a verbal flower blooms in Parliament or elsewhere — very soon the news will be limited to a long drawn out “tweeeeeeeeeeeeeet…..”.
Quote: “Ven. Dhammalankara Thera’s letter contains an implied criticism of the term of imprisonment handed down to Gnanasara Thera. The judiciary acted as it should. Everybody is equal before the law — or so we have been told — and the law must be respected. The decision to imprison him is now being contested in appeal.”
Leaving alone the part which speaks of ‘implied criticism’ it appears that in spite of the noble sentiments that the writer expressed with regard to the judiciary which he named as the last ‘bulwark’ in the protection of the democratic system, he himself seems to be at a quandary with regard to equality before the law in reality. I wonder why he stated that ‘Everybody is equal before the law — or so we have been told —…’ Is it that he himself entertains some doubt as to the integrity of the judiciary? (Italics are mine)
Quote: ”Dhammalankara Thera might be addressed as the “Most Venerable”. But the content of his letter is hardly the most honourable.”
The Maha Sangha bows down to no political authority, Executive or otherwise. It may well be that the clock has started ticking again in Sri Lanka. Abrasive ill-conceived and irresponsible allegations and innuendos against the Maha Sangha will only fan the flames of discontent that are smouldering within the nation into an inferno.
To dream the impossible dream, To right the unrightable wrong
To fight the unbeatable foe, To love pure and chaste from afar
To bear with unbearable sorrow, To try when your arms are too weary
To run where the brave dare not go, To reach the unreachable star
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star
“The Impossible Dream”
- from MAN OF LA MANCHA (1972)
I speak not on behalf of the Maha Sangha, nor on behalf of the people, nor have I been granted leave of representation. I only speak of what I see and what the future holds for us.
- Tirantha Walaliyadde, President’s Counsel