Letters to the Editor

• Nation of cowards gets what it deserves
• Dancing to the tune of the Church
• History crumbles in Galle
• Wellawatte:Living in floody hell

Nation of cowards gets what it deserves

The answers to these questions can be found in the teachings, exemplified in his life, of India's liberator, Mahatma Gandhi. 

These questions have been answered for us, years ago, by Gandhi, who, in the manner in which he lived and the campaigns he organised, demonstrated how a committed patriot could and should respond to the situations envisaged by Mr. Seneviratne. 

In "Young India" of September 13, 1919, Gandhi wrote, "It is our first duty to render voluntary obedience to law but whilst doing that duty, I have also seen that when law fosters untruth, it becomes a duty to disobey it." How can this be done? The Mahatma answered the question in the same article "By never swerving from truth and suffering the consequences of our disobedience. That is by Civil Disobedience," he wrote. 

In "Young India" of October 21, 1921, Gandhi wrote, "It is rarely that the occasion of civil resistance arises in a well-ordered state. But when it does, it becomes a duty that cannot be shirked by one who counts his honour i.e. his conscience above everything." 

There lies the rub so far as we are concerned. In our society as it is at present constituted, the problem is to find, among the English-educated elite, who unfortunately still call the tune in the country, men of honour and conscience. For as Gandhi wrote in "Young India" of May 31, 1928, "Imprisonments, forfeitures, deportation, death, must all be taken in the ordinary course by those who count honour above everything else." 

"No cost is too heavy for the persecution of one's honour" (Young India), was the quintessence of Gandhi's philosophy of life. He was least bothered about death as will be seen from what he wrote in "Young India" of December 15, 1921 - "One who knows how to die need never fear any harm to her or his honour." Any day it is better to stand erect with a broken and bandaged head, Gandhi once declared, than to crawl on one's belly, in order to be able to save one's head. 

In a country, which prides itself on being Buddhist, even those who claim to 'know' Buddhism, perhaps more than the Enlightened One Himself did, live and carry on as if everything is permanent and everlasting. The basic law of impermanence which is the bedrock on which the entire philosophy of the Buddha is founded, is completely ignored. 

The fact of the matter is that we are essentially, a people without depth - ambitious, seeking power and personal glory, comfort and easy living all the time. We are not content with little. 

In such circumstances, it is foolhardy to talk of patriotism. Because patriotism implies, basically, a capacity to rise above self and establish identification with an entity much larger than our petty egos - in this case, one's country and all her people. In a word, patriotism connotes self-transcendence of a very high degree. 

Let us be frank. This is beyond us both as a people and as individuals. 

The entire value system in the country militates against the emergence of men of honour and self-respect like Mahatma Gandhi. What we are receiving at the hands of "an illegitimate government" as Mr. Seneviratne calls it, is our own seeking. I venture to think we are a doomed people and we are getting what we deserve. 

Stanley Jayaweera
Avadhi Lanka Activist
Nawala

Dancing to the tune of the Church

He says, "The Catholics of the country do not have a political party nor are Catholic politicians assertive of Catholic interest." It is true that the Catholics do not have a political party, but they have the power to make governments dance according to their tunes.

Readers will recall the demonstration organised by the Church to protest against the date on which the Provincial Council elections were to be held during Easter. Notwithstanding the assurance given by President Kumaratunga, that she will move courts to alter the date, as she had no power, and subsequently change of date to suit the Church, it went ahead with the demonstration within the Church premises. 

Then came the Madhu incident, when the Church insisted that the army should not carry arms in the Madhu area, which were allowed during the time the terrorists had control over the area. The government acceded to this request and the result was that four unarmed soldiers were shot dead.

Then came the most heartless objection by the Church on the setting up of the coal plant at Norachcholai for the simple reason that it would be a threat to the St. Ann's shrine at Talawila which is 11 km away. This not only hinders economic progress but also curbs employment opportunities.

In this context it would be noteworthy to recall the announcement made by Pope John Paul at a mass ushering in the new millennium that, 'Reason and Faith' should go together, if not both would fail. It would appear that the praiseworthy words of Pope John Paul have not reached the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka or are not being heeded.

If writer Shanaka Jayasekera thinks that the Church has no bargaining power as the Muslim community does, he has not followed events. If the country is to be carved into districts to serve ethnic and religious groups, the unitary state which all political parties and governments talk about will merely be empty words. This is a sad state of affairs , where rulers are weak and are only concerned with clinging to power at whatever cost, even to the extent of sacrificing the nation. 

H. Siri Soma
Wattala

History crumbles in Galle

The first President of the library was Dr. P.D. Anthonisz, in whose memory the Galle clock tower was built. Those of the calibre of F.J. de Vos, Rev. M.J. Burrows, Francis Soertsz, Paul E. Pieris, H.de S. Kularatna, Major Adihetty, C.W.W. Kannangara, C.A.W. Abeywardena, Panditha Gunawardena and Douglas Wijeratna have been past presidents of this library. They managed the affairs of the library with efficiency. Regular meetings were held and newspapers, periodicals and good English books were freely available. 

Today, the picture is different. No annual general meeting has been held for the past three years. No new books or periodicals have been purchased . Even the Sunday papers are not available. 

The decline began when the authorities moved to repossess the building housing the library, when it was found that the lease had lapsed and had not been renewed for several years. Litigation followed and no decision has been reached yet. 

A member 
Galle 

Wellawatte:Living in floody hell

Storm water flows from Galle Road along Fredrica Road, Sriya Road, Kokila Road, 2nd Chapel Lane and 1st Chapel Lane and collects at the lower end of Fredrica Road. It enters the covered concrete drain which runs across Fredrica Road and Cooray playground and empties into the Wellawatte canal. 

Over the years, filling up of land and construction of buildings in and around this area have led to an increase in the volume of water flowing down.The covered concrete drain does not have sufficient openings to take in this large volume. 

Several complaints made to the CMC have fallen on deaf ears. The Residents' Association has also complained but nothing has happened.

The residents request that more openings be put in the covered concrete drain and the drain deepened and broadened. 

As this drain has been constructed along a reservation, there is no necessity to acquire any land or demolish any building. 

Urgent action is required to ensure that the ratepayers are provided the basic right of a flood-free home. 

An affected resident
Colombo 6

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