Say 'Heritage City'
At a recent meeting of Kandy Municipality
Heritage City Advisory Committee, it was decided to launch a special campaign
to bring home to the people of Kandy (and of Sri Lanka) the image of Kandy
as a world heritage city. A suggestion made was that the boards at the
entry points to Kandy proclaim this fact and that all large establishments,
departments, hotels, schools, banks, corporations, etc., carry the legend
"World Heritage City" on their name boards and signs.
It was also suggested that a special Heritage City logo be designed
and stickers be made available for sale to the public and tourists. Such
stickers could be used on the envelopes of all public and private mail
out of Kandy. As Mrs. S. Ranarajah, a former Mayor and a very active member
of the Committee said, this will bring home to the people of Kandy a certain
awareness of Kandy's cultural importance and infuse a special pride in
their city. It would be a subtle "public education" tool to make
people pay greater care to the city, its environs and its amenities.
God enforced?
Kandy's Catholic and Christian community
has expressed shock and horror at the upsurge of violence against Christians
in India. At meetings of several Catholic and Christian Associations in
the Central Province, it has even been said that today the followers of
Christ in India are the Church's modern day martyrs.
It is a fact that India's Christian missionaries are under threat and
Church leaders have even petitioned the President of India to "assure
security for priests and nuns working for the poor."
What we have also seen is the rise of what is termed "liberation
theology" which holds that the Church's role is not just to save souls
but to also fight injustice and oppression. It is this "liberation
theology" that led to the recent Catholic demonstrations over school
admissions and the more recent action over the provincial councils polls
date.
While Christianity counts 23 million in India - the third largest religious
group - the Hindu militants charge that missionaries are converting the
poor en masse, a charge the Christians vehemently deny.
The "Asia Week" of January 15 this year had a two page spread
titled "Season of Hate", pointing to the return of the old scourge
of communal violence. An extremist organization allied to the ruling Vajpayee
coalition, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad says, that the outbreak of violence
is a reaction to the Christians' forcible conversion of Hindus.
Whatever the charges and denials, I have before me a letter from a girl
of Kandy who is now studying in a Christian College in Tamil Nadu. The
girl is the daughter of the former head of the Plant Genetic Resources
Department of the Department of Agriculture, Peradeniya. When the father
was offered a high posting in the Middle East, he placed his daughter in
this Christian College. She is a Hindu and , since she has been for many
years a pupil of mine, still writes to me.
Her last letter was a revelation of sorts. To spare her and her parents,
I am not giving names but I think there is much to be said about this excerpt.
"My school is a Christian school, and 99.5% of the students are
Christians. There is only one teacher (who does not teach me) who goes
on preaching to me - telling me how Hindus like me have no hope of getting
to heaven, that we will perish, etc. Sometimes I get really angry and argue
with him, even though there are other Christians around listening to us.
There are a lot of things which he said that make a lot of sense, such
as Jesus died for us, for all our sins; which one of my Hindu Gods did
that? He's been giving me a lot of books and articles to read - about people
converting themselves or about the miracles Jesus performed in their lives.
I've told him that I'm not interested anymore and so now he's stopped
preaching to me, but what he said still rings in my mind. What if I do
perish? What if the things in the Bible, in "Revelations" happen
to me and my family? What if Jesus is the one and only true God - and our
Gods are just myths? Uncle Carl, I'm so lost and confused. But I'm not
letting these thoughts pressurize me. Other Christian girls are praying
for my conversion - so they told me".
One Tamil girl from Kandy, lost and confused. Alone too; her parents
far away. Ideal malleable clay, isn't she? If this is what really goes
on, one can understand why the Hindus are so riled up!
P.S. I replied her, told her to put all these Gods in to the nearest
trash and get on with her life, be her own God. I think my letter was opened
by the school and never reached her. I received no reply!
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