Letters to the Editor

• Give justice to all
• Good job Minister!
• Be careful when expressing opinions 
• Ode to Horton Plains
• The JVP miracle: a distant dream
• He liveth long who liveth well

Give justice to all

But this did not yield the desired results. Crime rose by leaps and bounds over the years. Now with the war, we have a number of deserters from the forces going on rampage in areas far away from the battle zones! Non-implementation of the death penalty was an ill-considered act. If it is argued that a man found guilty must not be hanged on humanitarian grounds, what of his poor victim? His kith and kin, perhaps a widowed wife and children suffer the loss. Could that be compensated by a jail sentence? A government elected to do justice by every person must take these factors into consideration.

Stanley Geevaratne
Dambulla

Good job Minister!

We have celebrated more than 50 years of independence but our cities are worse than ever. Some people even go to the extent of saying that if the country had been under the British for a greater period of time, things would have been better. 

The cities would have been more developed than under our own people in this respect. So far the only person who has won the hearts of the people from all quarters is the former Mayor of Colombo, Deshabandu Karu Jayasuriya who proved his worth by giving a clean, tidy city with disciplined streets.

Real estate is dear in major cities. But not for all. Some manage to acquire prime land with hardly any investment while law abiding citizens have to go through the rigmarole of licence, registrations, clearances, taxes or permits. 

Things work differently for others. Using a combination of bluff and bluster to ward off legal action and with scant regard for the laws of the land or their enforcers some dubious entrepreneurs thrive in the cities.

Pavement space in prime areas is the target of such attempts at land takeover. It seems that official machinery or politicians sometimes provide even letters or various documents entitling the person to encroach even the pavement space.

People say that before and after the last few elections well connected people have built structures, occupying roadside space and other lands. Some of them have even secured water, electricity and telephone connections through political influence.

Look at the sad situation of Pettah in front of the Fort Railway Station, which is the number one station of Sri Lanka, around the CTB and private bus terminals. 

Permanent structures have taken up the pavements blocking the pedestrians' right of way. Some of them even encroach on our ears and minds by using loud speakers without legal permits, causing another public nuisance.

Why should the municipalities or the government spend colossal sums of money to build and maintain the streets and pavements if they are not to be used by the public? Why waste public funds?

The Minister has said that the government intends to bring new legislation or give more teeth to the existing laws to tackle such encroachment in the future.

The Minister is also on record that he would not allow such unauthorised structures even in Matara, his hometown. People have seen through the electronic and print media that he has been true to his word in Matara. 

People now say that if the Minister could adopt such bold actions in Matara, he could apply the same method in Colombo and other main towns to clear the pavements, parks and other lands occupied by unauthorised structures.

Quintus Rodrigo 
Wattala

Be careful when expressing opinions 

In his letter the priest says; "People of our global society belong to various faiths, religions and philosophies. It is extremely narrow-minded to consider that everybody in the world should believe in or follow only one religion or faith."

The first paragraph of this particular letter gives the impression that there is some strong external influence behind this opinion.

Even the scholars who think and act with equanimity in the world have unanimously agreed that the enlightenment of Lord Buddha with the Four Noble Truths discovered by Him is the greatest among the teachings on this earth.

The teachings of Lord Buddha cannot be compared with any other religion. Moreover, Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophy.

I wonder whether the Ven. Thero is aware of the meaning of the Pali stanza, 

"Svakkhato bhagavata dhammo, sanditthiko, akaliko, ehipassiko, opanayiko, paccattam veditabbo vinnuhiti ...which means 

'Well-expounded is the Dhamma (doctrine) by the Lord; to be self-realized; with immediate fruit; inviting investigation; leading on to Nibbana; to be comprehended by the wise, each for himself.

"Ye ca dhamma atita ca - ye ca dhamma anagata

Paccuppanna ca ye dhamma - aham vandami sabbada"

The Dhamma of the ages past,

The Dhammas that are yet to come

The Dhammas of the present age,

Lowly, I each day, adore!

"Natthi me saranam annam - dhammo me saranam varam

Etena saccavajjena - hotu me jayamangalam"

No other Refuge do I seek

Dhamma is my matchless Refuge

By might of Truth in these my words

May joyous victory be mine!

"Uttamangena vande ham - dhamman catividham varam

Dhamme yo khalito doso - dhammo kahamatu tam mamam"

With my brow I humbly worship

The Dhamma threefold and supreme 

If Dhamma I have wronged in aught

May Dhamma's acquittance be mine!

"Dhammam jivita - pariyantam saranam gacchchami"

To life's end my refuge is the Dhamma.

In what religion do you find these values?

In what religion does the concept of three characteristics (Thilakshana) which is taught in Buddhism that all the beings in this world are subject to Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta (impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-substantiality) arise? 

When we fail to recognize these three characteristics of existence, we regard that which is impermanent as permanent, that which is unsatisfactory as pleasure, and that which is selfless as possessing an unchanging self.

The Buddha compiled these tendencies in the Pali word avijja, ignorance. Being ignorant of our own true nature, and of the true nature of the things around us, we engage in actions based on these delusions and thereby we accumulate kamma which keeps us in bondage to the cycle of birth and death.

It is through understanding these characteristics that wisdom arises. 

Then only one can free oneself from the bonds of rebirth and attain Nibbana, the permanent end of suffering.

It is important that the Ven. Thero examines what principles he is following as a Buddhist priest rather than exploring other religions.

I am writing this letter with much pain and I have no malicious thoughts towards the priest.

I request the Ven. Thero to be careful when expressing opinions about religions. 

Manjari Peiris
Maharagama

Ode to Horton Plains

Remote and mist-veiled crown atop Lanka's fabled mountains.

Thy forests, dense with gnarled and moss-bearded trees,

Thy rolling downs carpeted with tussocks blowing in the breeze.

Bejewelled with golden gorse and scarlet rhododendron,

And various wild-blooms before each wet season,

Thou art rarely, also adorned with the quaint nilloo flower,

Which, but once in seven years, doth suffuse thy glades with colour.

In thy thickets, bear-monkeys roam, and leopards lurk,

And wild boar forage for tubers in the dirt.

On thy downs, sambhur graze,

Whilst in air-thermals high above, eagles soar in the morning haze.

Thy babbling brooks, trout-stocked and cold,

Entice angler and walker, both young and old.

Thy waters cascade at Baker's Falls,

In symphony with the wild-birds' calls.

At the edge of thy precincts, lies a precipitous drop;

Falling in total, 5000 feet, 'tis indeed a sobering stop!

Coined "World's End" for reasons sound,

Its vistas, just ex-monde, when not fog-bound!

Thy pristine beauty art non-pareil;

Even for Adam, post Eden, 'twas surely surreal!

With thy haunting solitude and bracing clime,

It exhorts the soul praise Him, the Divine!

Thy magic hath enraptured so many a mortal;

Just look at Grigg and Farr, for example,

Who requested their ashes be returned from the West,

And scattered o'er thy glades, to forever rest.

Like those before me, I too, have savoured thy charm,

Which art still as bewitching, in this modern millennium!

Though so far from my reach, out there at World's End,

O Horton Plains, I shalt return, and my wistful heart, mend!

Hans Swan,
Australia

The JVP miracle: a distant dream

We have been told that the JVP is renouncing radicalism in favour of democracy. It is welcome news for all those who value peace and harmony. However, a very strong argument has existed, for the past thirty odd years that the JVP had actually worked to make the ordinary man miserable rather than happy. 

Right through, the JVP claimed to have exclusive rights to the mortgage on the socialist progressive movement in Sri Lanka and was very rhetoric on that score. Any rational person can observe the history of the JVP with a great deal of disquiet for it had been instrumental in cultivating prejudice and fear, responsible for manslaughter, oppression and cruelty. Sri Lankans' reliance on the JVP affords them a very good opportunity to catch up with main stream politics. Its failure thus far to align with the internationally accepted democratic fraternity raises doubts about its sincerity. The JVP does not seem to have refashioned its acrimonious voice in condemning international democratic institutions. It is high time it declared its policies on the ethnic conflict, constitution, finance and fiscal matters, foreign and cultural affairs etc.

Is this to be taken for granted or is it not time to question their broad-based, credible and tenable policies and principles on very vital areas of government? If the vacuum is left empty or secretive, one cannot expect the Sri Lankans to swallow with blind faith what they now preach. In these circumstances, the miracle of the new century is going to be a distant dream or it may well be a far cry.

Udage Wicks
Australia

He liveth long who liveth well

Many people are "two-faced" like Janus. They look forward but the hope is somewhat jaded. Moping over the mistakes of the past, their prospects for the months ahead are dimmed and their enthusiasm lessened. But there is no use crying over spilt milk. History will surely repeat itself if you keep on brooding over failures of the old year and continue complaining about the injustices you may have suffered.

Nothing is gained by grieving over blunders made in the last twelve months. There are wonderful things ahead! Make right that which needs correction and then forgetting things which are behind, press onwards with confidence. January was named after a god with two faces. But don't you be "two-faced." 

It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and despair!

A year consists of so many weeks, so many days and so many hours. Yet a useful and happy life does not depend upon the number of years that are in it. The years may be few and yet a few years may make up a very useful life and a very blessed and beautiful life. 'He liveth long who liveth well.'

No man knows what the New Year will bring to each of us individually and to the world at large. Today the world is passing through many a crisis and there is distress upon the earth, more than at any time in the past. We tremble with fear and anxiety when we think of the terrible calamities that threaten us, and mankind as a whole.

The man who will not execute his resolutions when they are fresh can have no hope from them afterwards.

Never delay till tomorrow what reason or conscience says you ought to perform today. Tomorrow is not yours and though you should live to enjoy it, you must not overload it with a burden not its own.

Do not just spend time! Invest it!

Neville Perera
Dehiwela

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