Letters to the Editor

Don’t kill the Green
It was disheartening to read that Galle Face Green has been privatised. Some years back it was green and we loved to go there not only to fly kites but also for the fresh air.

Now you get the stench of rotten food and inhale toxic fumes. People are also seated everywhere and there is no room to walk. We should keep Galle Face as it was in the good old days, where there were just a few vendors like the kadalay karayas and kite sellers, with one or two magic shows on Sundays.

We need a place where we can relax for a couple of hours, enjoy the sunset with the green under our feet and the sea waves lapping the shore. Then the younger generation will learn to appreciate the simple things in life.

It was their way of showing respect
Describing himself as a "Sinhala Buddhist", Ajith Fernando has written to all English newspapers (including The Sunday Times of January 4) regarding the funeral of Ven. Soma Thero. He veers away from the subject under discussion when he makes reference to Buddhist priests engaged in various activities that go against the preachings of the Buddha.

This is not a phenomenon peculiar to Buddhism, since there are members of the clergy belonging to other religions as well acting against the preachings of their respective religions. There are black sheep in every flock.

Be that as it may, he "wonders whether they (those who paid their last respects to Ven. Soma Thero) knew the deceased monk personally or whether they will cry in this fashion for their family members". Yes, all those millions who paid their last respects knew the monk. Mr. Fernando, who describes himself as a Buddhist appears to be ignorant of what the Buddha taught. Buddha said, "Yo Dhamman Passathi; so mun passathi" (He who sees the Dhamma sees Me). Those who saw and heard the Dhamma preached by Rev. Soma Thero, saw him and knew him personally.

If Mr. Fernando's argument is taken to its logical conclusion, no person belonging to any religion can respect their respective religious leaders, since none of them know their religious leaders personally. The millions who flocked to pay their last respects to Ven. Soma Thero did so at considerable inconvenience to themselves, with no financial or material benefits whatsoever, but spending their own money for transport and various other incidental expenses. In addition, the millions in this country who appreciated what the monk did and yet could not come down to Colombo, displayed their grief by hoisting saffron flags and banners in their houses and establishments, voluntarily.

He also speaks of the inconvenience caused to the general public. It was the millions who paid their last respects who inconvenienced themselves voluntarily. Moreover, the roadblocks over which Mr. Fernando cries foul are not something new to the public. Our people respect the dead and bear with patience any inconvenience caused as a result of funeral arrangements, irrespective of the caste, creed, race or religion of the dead person.

He also grumbles about Independence Square being used as a crematorium. Independence Square is not the private property of anybody, it belongs to the people. They should have the right to use it as and when they deem fit. In any event, where else could those millions of mourners have been accommodated, if not at Independence Square?

Lastly, he grumbles about a state funeral being accorded to the monk. Here, one can only sympathise with the ignorance of Mr. Fernando. There was no state funeral; there was no state participation. The day was not declared a day of mourning. In fact, Independence Square was released by the state after much persuasion.

Good men and politicians: Never the twain shall meet
"Do I cry or do I laugh?" was the question I asked myself when I read reports of President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s speech at the recent induction ceremony of the 19th President of the Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

She had said that the country lacked good politicians because they had failed to realize the desires and aspirations of the people who vote them into power. Therefore, the country needs professionals to play a bigger role in taking the country forward. On an earlier occasion, recently, Mrs. Kumaratunga had called upon "educated" and "decent" people to take to politics. The President must have been joking, I thought. Or else, if she was serious, I told myself, "God, if there be one, please forbid that such a fate should befall educated and decent men and professionals".

For, even though no less a person than Mahatma Gandhi has said that "politics encircle us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out no matter how much one tries" (Young India: May 8, 1920), no decent or educated man will get involved in politics in this country today because for them politics cannot be isolated from the deepest concerns of life and for that very reason political life cannot be divorced from private life.

Today, in our land, good men and successful politicians are mutually exclusive types. Each successful politician has a Gonawala Sunil, Beddegana Sanjeewa, Malu Nihal, Sotthi Upali or some such underworld character on whose support he depends. "Educated" and "decent" men would not touch them. So they give politics the slip.

The easiest and best way to ensuring that "educated"and "decent" men take to politics is for persons like the President, Prime Minister Ranil Wicremesinghe and the entire crowd of politicians who have made this country a cess-pit and hell hole to step aside and permit god-fearing men, both professionals and non-professionals to fill the vacuum.

We are behind you
This is to congratulate Muralitharan on a wonderful performance as the greatest all- time bowler in cricket. There is a Sinhalese saying that 'Stones will be thrown only at the tree that has a large show of fruit'.

So, Murali do not worry about the 'barbs' that are being hurled at you by jealous past cricketers and equally jealous journalists. They are of course few and far between. But remember that the 'Caravan should keep moving'.

A majority of the world's cricket loving public is with you, especially all of us in Sri Lanka. We wish you all the very best and have no doubts that you will break the record for the most number of wickets now held by Courtney Walsh of the West Indies.

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