The crying need for Buddhism to be given foremost place... in practice

This month marks the 34th anniversary of the murder and looting targeting Tamils carried out in the infamous ‘Black July’ of 1983 and there are no missives from the Maha Sanga on the scar on Buddhism that that event signified. 

The Mahanayakas are possibly in the meditative state of contemplating on the four sublime concepts of Metta (unselfish love), Muditha (sympathetic joy), Karuna (compassion) and Upekka (equanimity), having earlier in the month decreed against the constitutional reforms currently being undertaken by Sri Lanka and expressing fears that the ‘foremost place’ given to Buddhism in the constitution will be affected.

Since Buddhism (as preached by the Gautama Buddha) is a philosophy that should be active in practice there is indeed the need for it to be given foremost place in the country in how it is inculcated through deed and action, thereby making Sri Lanka a truly Buddhist nation and not one that basks in hypocrisy. 

This country desperately needs weekly, nay daily, statements to be made to that effect, calling for Buddhism to be given the foremost place in the country i.e. to be visible as a living characteristic and reflected in how all living beings that inhabit this nation are treated (i.e.) with unselfish love, sympathetic joy, compassion and equanimity. 

.If Buddhism was indeed given the foremost place in the minds of 75% of the Lankans who profess to follow the teachings of non-violence then there would not have been a single incident of burning humans alive, of plundering and torture in post independent Sri Lanka that have made a mockery of this so-called independence of 1948

If the wisdom of this ideology had been part of the thinking and action of its citizenry and its politicians, the series of riots that have fissured this nation from 1951 to 1983 and the subsequent war that followed, would have been prevented. 

If Buddhism was indeed given the foremost place in the minds of 75% of the Lankans who profess to follow the teachings of non-violence then there would not have been a single incident of burning humans alive, of plundering and torture in post independent Sri Lanka that have made a mockery of this so-called independence of 1948. 

Chance for rectification

Now after a 30-year nightmare of a war that economically bulldozed the country to the helm of pauperisation, there is once again the chance for rectifying our actions by giving foremost place to the practice of Buddhism and in uniting the country by giving respect to all ethnicities and in taking the grievances voiced by them with genuine and compassionate concern. It is this that would make us truly independent and certainly it is this that would prevent Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan Muslims and other religious minorities from seeking the redress they should get from their motherland, from western and other nations. 

Thus, indeed we need to give foremost place to the practice of Buddhism so we would not have politicians attempting to hang onto power by using the cheap trick of mixing the pristine Buddhist philosophy with the murky darkness of communalism to fill the poverty of their governance. Indeed we have to give the foremost place to the practice of Buddhism and therefore prevent those elected by the people to govern this country on their behalf, making it threadbare by extravagance and corruption. 

Indeed we have to give foremost place to the practice of Buddhism and thereby prevent the fostering of economic jealousy and attacks on another community as occurred in the past months targeting the business establishments of the Muslims of Sri Lanka. Indeed we have to give the foremost place in this country to Buddhism and liberate it from the chains of a misguided nationalism that is being passed on as the blood-stained heirloom of this country from generation to generation. 

If one thinks that this everyday ‘Buddhism’ being imbibed as a nation is not possible and borders on utopia, then the examples of Bhutan (where its monarch foisted democracy upon that nation) and Japan (where it is a normal practice by its people to begin renunciation of worldly goods by mid age) will be interesting to dwell on. Also to be taken into account will be the extremely low occurrence of violent crime in these two countries. 

Path to wisdom 

Buddhism, a philosophy that is undoubtedly the richest among philosophies and a science into the vast realms of the human mind, shows us the path to wisdom through recognising the futility of delusions, the futility of attachment and the futility of revenge and hopefully the new constitution that is being considered for better inclusion of all communities of Sri Lanka would be a reflection of Buddhism being indeed given the foremost place…in practice. 

Meanwhile despite the spectre of separatism and the Western conspiracy bogie being regularly brought out for airing by diverse interested parties, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Co-existence, Dialogue and Official Languages, and leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), Mano Ganeshan, has faith in the hearts and minds of the Sinhala Buddhist majority. 

Declaring that the Sinhalese are not cruel by nature, Ganeshan is betting on extremism by all ethnic groups being defeated at a time when the constitution is presented for a public referendum. Pointing out that under the expected draft constitution, the central government will be vested with the power to dissolve a provincial council if it becomes a threat to the unity of the country, he is confident that the majority Sinhalese community will see that neither the sovereignty of the country nor the place given to Buddhism is threatened.

According to Ganeshan there is consensus on Buddhism retaining its place in the new constitution as the “foremost religion” of Sri Lanka but with freedom granted to the practice of other religions such as Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. He points out that overall there is no opposition to this by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Sri Lanka’s largest collection of Tamil parties represented in parliament. Importantly he emphasises that with regard to the Nature of the State, there is consensus on it retaining its “unitary” status but where the provinces will be given more powers than they enjoy under the partially implemented 13th Amendment of the existing constitution. 

Meanwhile it is to the credit of the Government and the Constituent Assembly, that the various constitutional sub-committees had held very extensive public consultations in all parts of the island over a wide range of issues and their reports intensively debated in the Steering Committee which comprises all parties in parliament and which is headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

Empowering all

It is now up to the Government as well as non-governmental entities to use the public sphere to bring about education on the new constitution and its need, to counter the opposite that is done by those who oppose it with a closed mind. Ultimately it is the sanction of the people that should reign but this sanction should be based on correct understanding and not illusory phantoms. Most importantly any thought of devolution of power need to focus on empowering all provinces of Sri Lanka and not just the north and east. 

For those who have a deathly phobia of all things federal or (remotely like it), it would do well to study countries such as Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom where although governed by broad laws that are applicable to the whole country and maintaining a common national identity, are strengthened in that identity by the freedom it gives to the provinces pertaining to matters of administration. In Canada, the province of Quebec is French in every way but it is still very much part of Canada. The US has not broken up because it is federal. The UK is united despite Scotland having its own parliament. 

Federalism or the devolution of power gives provinces the right to set their own priorities and take their own decisions on projects which means that the administrators of these provinces do not have to come to the capital of the country to seek approval from the central government for decisions pertaining to the province. They can get it done in their provinces themselves and thereby foster need based, decentralised development of a united country.

Decentralisation of development will lead to the setting up of local need based goals and local involvement in execution of projects where provinces cooperate with each other as well as the Centre to develop and as a result strengthen national solidarity and not separatism. What should be emphasised is that separatism comes about when a section of people feel neglected. They will not feel neglected if they are given autonomy to develop themselves.

A current case in point is the reaction by the north to the shooting at Jaffna High Court Judge M. Illancheliyan which cost the life of one of his police bodyguards. The north is blaming the Central Government for the occurring of such incidents claiming that the law and order breakdown in Jaffna is because there is scant regard for it by the Police and the military, along with accusations that they are in cahoots with criminals. 

These allegations take place because the Police and security forces are completely under the Centre and also because they belong to the majority ethnic group which is perceived as not caring what happens to the minority ethnic groups. When there is adequate devolution of power such accusations will not be made because each province takes control of the law and order and the police will be largely from that locality.

If Sri Lanka is to collectively move forward in an integrated manner it will have to discard a petty and fearsome mindset arising from centralisation and learn to work towards a participatory form of governance based on a genuine political and national will.