Letters to the Editor

First Independence celebration
On 4th February 1948
Ceylon gained 'Independence'
From British domination,
Thus beginning self-governance
With great expectations
Of a golden era!

It was a grand celebration
A colourful, rare occasion
Amidst waving and greeting
Of lion flags, school flags
And other flags;
The guests on the decorated podium

Added glamour to the occasion
Cheerful spectators filled every inch
Of the esplanade and ramparts,
On the scenic Galle esplanade
I marched in the school-parade
As a student of Seventh Grade
With the green flag ahead,
It's a great blessing

That some of us are living
To see the golden sun
On this 56th commemoration!
Let us go down memory lane
To see what changes have come upon
In the life of the common Sri Lankan!

An act of Constitutional impropriety?
The present incumbent in the highest office of the judicial hierarchy of this country has confirmed in public that he had secretly replicated or re-enacted the constitutionally sacred function and ceremonial duty bestowed on his onerous office, of swearing-in of the President-elect.

It needs to be emphasised that the CJ or for that matter any Supreme Court Judge’s function of swearing-in an Executive President-elect is a duty he unambiguously owes to the people of the country under the Constitution, and is definitely not a personal duty or obligation he owes to an Executive President-elect.

The act of being sworn-in upon his or her election or to an appointment to a given public office, for which swearing-in is mandatory in the executive, judiciary, legislature or any other office, constitutes a constitutional pre-requisite which should be performed ceremoniously and publicly with full exposure to the people and the mass media.

Public and ceremonial performance of this pre-requisite alone provides the legal effect of installing a person in such an elected or appointed office, and of ordaining such person with the plenary powers of exercising the authorities, duties and responsibilities constitutionally attached to such an office.

Had this constitutional pre-requisite been performed privately as admitted by the CJ, it constitutes constitutional impropriety devoid of any validity in law. Further, this act of a person taking an oath in office or of being sworn in for a given office is constitutionally and legally required to be performed only once, immediately prior to the person formally assuming the duties of such an office.

If an oath has been administered on a person for an office having a constitutionally mandated fixed tenure of time, such constitutionally mandated fixed period of incumbency in the office commences and begins immediately from the moment of the swearing- in.

There is absolutely no legal, conventional or constitutionally valid basis or precedent, which has the potential of lending any subsequent oath taken during the currency of the incumbency, the legal effect of renewing or post-dating the effective date of the commencement of the tenure of incumbency of an office, which has already been determined by virtue of the very first instance of having taken oath in such an office.

Should there be any legal validity in the subsequent oath claimed to have been taken during the currency of the incumbency of the Executive President, what is there to prevent an incumbent Executive President from prolonging and renewing his/her tenure of office from time to time through the mechanism of taking repetitive secret oaths without seeking election to the office.

Besides, the very instance of the CJ having admitted that a subsequent swearing-in was in fact administered in private has arguably lent credence to the argument that it was constitutional subterfuge with care taken to avoid triggering mass protest against this act incongruous with the spirit of the Constitution.

In view of the above, it is submitted that the instance of the swearing- in of the Executive President secretly for a second time constituted an act of collusion, and of vitiation of the sanctity of the Constitution, which is probably without any parallel in the annals of constitutional history of any country in the democratic world.

This is considered a case of the proverbial cat, having been let out of the bag, being watched for which way the cat would jump now.

Bhikku ordination based on caste goes against the teachings of the Buddha
In a discussion in the Daham Suwanda programme among Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero and two other Ven. monks over TNL on January 28, the learned Thero stated that he proposed to ordain 100 boys into the Bhikku Sasana at the Jayasiri Maha Bodhiya premises, Anuradhapura, on Independence Day to continue the valuable work done by the late Soma Hamuduruwo.

He also appealed to mothers and fathers to offer their sons for this purpose. Everybody knows he himself, and priests of the Atamasthana belong to the Siyam Nikaya, who ordain only boys of the Govigama caste. How could boys of the non-Govigama castes fit into this scheme? The practice of ordaining on the caste basis was one that the Venerable Soma Hamuduruwo criticized, belittled, condemned and rebuked, vehemently in his preaching.

On January 1, 2004, The Sunday Leader newspaper carried an article ‘Ethics Vs Religion’ from which I have taken the following excerpt. "Buddhists should ask whether the institution of caste in the Sangha is ethical. Is it ethical that Gangodawila Soma Thero, because of his ‘low’ caste, could not aspire to be a member of the Siyam Nikaya, and was required to advertise his ‘low’ birth by covering both shoulders with his robe?" This para is actually a damning indictment on all true and genuine Buddhists whether clergy or laymen. It is high time the Venerable Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero and other learned monks in the Siyam Nikaya like Ven. Dr. Bellanwila Wimalaratana, Dr. Kollupitiya Mahinda and Venerable Maduluwave Sobhitha prevailed upon the Maha Nayaka prelates of the Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters to eradicate the caste system in the Siyam Nikaya.

The Buddha preached against caste in His teachings and did not have a bias against any caste, race or religion. The Venerable Gangodawila Soma Hamuduruwo fearlessly criticized this wrong practice. I remember someone questioning him on the caste problem at one of his Dhamma discussions, and he said people who disregard the Buddha's teachings will never achieve Nirvana.

This appeal is to the Venerable Uduwe Dhammaloka and other organisers of this project to seek an alternative venue and Nikaya that do not discriminate against the teachings of the Most Exalted One, the Supreme One, the Buddha.

Work together for a better tomorrow
Our forefathers fought for the independence of our motherland together and achieved it. Then started all our quarrelling and disputes over who should rule the country and how.

Today after 56 good old years of independence, we as a nation and a people are more divided than ever on the basis of ethnicity, party affiliations and now even religion .

It is true that in a democratic and literate society there will be different opinions and different thinking. But when the survival of the nation and the future of our children are in question, shouldn't we make an effort to have reconciliation at national level? Don't you think there should be a dialogue at the highest level on all these matters ?

Instead of blaming each other, the leaders of this nation with the blessings of all communities and religious leaders should join hands and gather under the Sri Lankan Flag to make a better tomorrow for our people.

Unfulfilled promises and the struggle of the pensioners
Minister of Public Administration Vajira Abeywardene announced through the media prior to the 2004 Budget that action was being taken on the recommendations of the Salaries Commission report to remove the pension anomaly of those pensioners who retired prior to 1985 and to pay the increased pension from the 2004 Budget.

Unfortunately to the dismay of the pensioners, this matter was not included in the 2004 Budget proposals. Pensioners cannot resort to any strike action other than pleading.

We earnestly appeal to the Prime Minister and the ministers concerned to direct the relevant authorities to take action to release the necessary funds and pay the increased pensions.

Governments may come and go but the blessings as well as the curses and wrath of the pensioners will remain.

Disciplinary action is needed to stop the rot
This is with reference to the news item published in The Sunday Times of February 1, relating to the Public Trustee. The stance taken by the minister concerned with regard to the allegations against the present incumbent of this prestigious post, which solely rests on public confidence, is indeed lamentable. The minister should consider the damage that would be caused to the Office of the Public Trustee by allowing a person to continue in it after action has been instituted in court against him by the Bribery Commission; and more- over based on findings by the Central Bank.

Minister Lokubandara's comments, as reported, would give a wrong signal with regard to the government's commitment to fight corruption. True, under Article 13 (5) of our Constitution everyone is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty. But it need not be held as a barrier by the minister to take disciplinary action against a public officer who is charged before a court for bribery. The minister should act in the interest of the public institution by considering the gravity of the offence in relation to the position the particular officer holds.

Eminent men of unquestionable integrity, like Sir Paul Peiris, Sir Arthur Wijewardane and Sir Arthur Ranasinghe adorned this esteemed post and contributed immensely to win public confidence and establish trust in the institution. That is why benefactors, like Sir Baron Jayatilleke, gave all their wealth to the Public Trustee on trust. The very building the Public Trustee’s Department is now housed in belongs to the Sir Baron Jayatilleke estate. These men must be now turning in their grave!

The public would not be so naive as to believe that the Bribery Commission would bring frivolous and vexatious charges against a high ranking officer such as the Public Trustee of Sri Lanka without cogent evidence, so that disciplinary action against him should be shelved until he is found guilty in the court case.

It is the responsibility of the authorities concerned to take every measure to prevent such important government departments from being tarnished and also to take deterrent action in the larger interest of purifying the much criticized public service. No, Sir, there is no point in giving public discourses aimed at cultivating moral values without being honest at heart!

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