Memories Of Ven Sobitha Thero
Dr. Nimalka Fernando
On Sunday I received a telephone call inquiring whether I have heard a bad news regarding Venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha. I immediately thought ‘Oh no. Not at this point of time’. I told my friend
‘We need him most now.’ Venerable Sobitha and I did not share the same political views for quite sometime. May be even in the present context we might have had strategic differences. We belong to different religions and social ethos and came to share the ‘yahapalanaya’ political dream only few years ago. But I have always feared and respected him as the only Buddhist charismatic leader in Sri Lanka since I met him three decades ago. I think it was in early 1983. A meeting had been convened by trade unions and religious leaders at the Kotte Nagaviharaya to support the strike launched by the of Nurses Union lead by Muruthetuwe Ananda Thero.
I was then the Secretary of the Development Commission of the National Christian Council. I had just passed out as an Attorney-at-Law. I was not inclined to continue as a practicing lawyer. Some leaders of the Student Chriatian Movement who had encouraged me to get a professional qualification quickly bundled me back into the safe heaven of a christian institution. I had dabbled in theology for a while at the Theological College of Lanka and they realised that my interest in liberation theology would serve the purpose of the NCC-DC which was pioneered by the late Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe and catholic priests like Fr Paul Casperz. They wanted an activist assistant. The NCC-DC was a path breaking experiment. We had Venerable Buddhiyagama Thero and the late Dr Rajasigham who was murdered inside the Welikade prison during the sinhala mob during the communal pogrom in July 1983 as members. It was truly an ecumencial initiative and was creating the much needed buddhist-christian dialogue. It is this urge to promote a closer alliance with what is happening in contemporary politics that lead me to attend this solidarity meeting held in the Kotte Naga Viharaya Temple. This is when I first saw, met and listened to Ven Sobitha and realised the strong leadership he provided in this struggle for rights. Read More 