Gotler Or Hitler, Two Sides Of The Same Coin
“Democracy; the fools have a right to vote. Dictatorship; the fools have a right to rule” ~Bertrand Russell
Gotler – Facebook meme
The whole of Sri Lankan society, at least the rumor-prone Colombo pukka sahibs, went berserk when they heard a ‘sermon’ of some sort from a so-called highly-placed Buddhist Monk of the Asgiriya Chapter asking a notorious sibling of Mahinda Rajapaksa to take control of the country and rule like Hitler, who is really the personification of ‘man’s inhumanity to man’.
A widely read online news site reported thus: ‘Venerable Vendaruwe Upali Thero, the Anunayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter delivering an anusasana (sermon) on the occasion of an almsgiving marking the 69th birthday of Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that he should opt for military rule if this is what is necessary to build the country. Venerable Upali, noting that Gotabhaya is referred to as a Hitler, suggested that if that is the case he should be one and build the nation. ‘What we need is a leadership that has the blessings of Mahinda Rajapaksa and is linked with Buddhism, the Buddhist Order and the Sinhalese. We can see that the law has completely broken down. We need a leader who shows fidelity to the doctrine (dahami naayakayek),’ Venerable Upali also said.’
This Buddhist Monk has swept the very basic principle of the four sublime states of Karuna, Metta, Mudita and Upekkha taught by Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, off the floor. In terms of the interpretation contained in the book published in 1994 by Buddhist Publication Society authored by Nyanaponika Thera, ‘these four attitudes are said to be excellent or sublime because they are the right or ideal way of conduct towards living beings (sattesu samma patipatti). They provide, in fact, the answer to all situations arising from social contact. They are the great removers of tension, the great peace-makers in social conflict, and the great healers of wounds suffered in the struggle of existence. They level social barriers, build harmonious communities, awaken slumbering magnanimity long forgotten, revive joy and hope long abandoned, and promote human brotherhood against the forces of egotism’. This is an absolute denunciation of the sermon preached by the Asgiriya Chapter Anunayaka. Something is grievously wrong. And it is both in the content of the call for military rule as well as the process involved in making such a grotesque call a reality.
If any reasonable man or woman thought that the cultural decline in our society is limited to the lay society, then think again. A high ranking Monk in the Buddhist order, while being enrobed in the usual saffron robe, has decided to wrap himself in the more expansive Nazi flag. Maybe the Swastika, the Nazi emblem, which in fact is a motif associated with ancient Asian religious thought, has taken hold of the personality of this ill-informed Monk.
But in a more realistic context of modern Sri Lankan politics, this degradation of religious thought signals a more sinister-looking recess of wise and intelligent discourse amongst the general public in Sri Lanka. On the one hand are the likes of Gnanasara, now an ‘ex-Buddhist Monk’, whose religious standing is increasingly looking to be a matter of the past and on the other are these Buddhist Monks such as Vendaruwe Upali Thero, posing as representatives of a more traditional and orthodox teachings of Buddhism preaching a military rule in a country whose people’s commitment to democracy, freewill and the fundamental human rights has time after time been proven beyond a shadow of suspicion and ambiguity.
In modern day politics such a statement cascading from the lips of any person is purported to be a result of an orchestrated piece of aggressive kind of public relations. But what is even more dangerous is if the prelate’s words were a true enunciation of authentic beliefs held by him. Nothing is more dangerous and outrageously harmful than a believer who thinks that he is always right in his decisions and also morally righteous. This self-righteousness-belief renders him to be an island unto himself, making him ridiculously susceptible to a self-destroying bubble and that bubble is a creation of his own loyal cohorts and himself.
‘Gotler’ belongs in that self-defeating bubble. He dwells more in his own comforts zones making sure that wherever he goes is surrounded by his henchmen who benefitted immensely during his brother’s regime. After being alleged of most heinous crimes, trying to preach justice and fair-play is like Sri Lankans were born only after the demise of the Rajapaksa rule. Playing the victim is always the sign of a weak person. The best example is the current US President Donald Trump. After inflicting most unspeakable insults on his opponents, when he is being treated the same way, the bully reacts as if he has been victimized by his antagonists. But the tragedy is, that card carries, especially before a gullible audience, albeit in the short run, a lot of positive marks for the man or woman who plays it. ‘Gotler’ may have chosen to play that card and it is the responsibility of those who will pass judgment on his whims and fancies, come election day.
