Averting Another Disaster: Burmese Style Buddhist Militancy In Sri Lanka?
It
is extremely frightening to see the post war landscape unfurling in Sri Lanka,
amidst a gamut of unresolved issues stemming from the conflict between the
Sinhalese and Tamils which boiled over for 30 years.
Into
this cauldron has entered another dimension. The issues that a minority (yet!)
of hard-line Buddhists seem to have with Muslims – their religious and social
practices.
The
current skirmish that is building up seems similar to that which occured before
the carnage that has resulted in Burma between the predominantly Buddhist
Rakhines and the Muslim Rohingyas and Kamans. In fact the Burmese situation as
of last October is similar to the way the Tamils were attacked during the Black
July of ’83.
Of
course no comparison exists between the socio economic status of the Muslims in
Sri Lanka and the Rohingya of Myanmar. The Rohingya, of Bangladshi origins,
though having lived in Myanmar for many years are not officially recognized as
citizens of Myanmar, are extremely poor and disempowered. This is a stark
contrast to the Muslims of Sri Lanka, who have lived in the country for the last
1000 years or more, bear a biological connection to the Sinhalese as the traders
from the middle East never came with women to Sri Lanka, and were said to have
been given in marriage to local women.The Muslims are also well entrenched in
Sri Lankan Society, have contributed to the common culture of the land and are
known to be relatively wealthy in comparison to the other
communities.
So
what are the current similarities to the Myanmar situation in this triangle of
disharmony between the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims?
1.
The Rakhines being natives of Myanmar and larger in number are the “superior
race”. Same as the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka.
2.
Rakhines are predominantly Buddhist and so are the Sinhalese.
3.
The Burmese Military junta who do not love anybody but themselves, yet support
the Buddhist Rakhines and turn a blind eye to abuses by the Rakhines against the
Rohingyas. In Sri Lanka with a build up similar to a military state the Police
and Forces very often turn a blind eye when offences are committed by the Sinhala
Buddhists. A good example was the recent attack on a statue that was
erected newly in Avissawella. The day following the dedication of the statue, it
was smashed to bits. The Police stood by. There are many such deeds committed by
the majority. Of course the smaller groups are not angels and quite a few
incidents are triggered by the Tamils and Muslims.
4.
The Burmese Monks have been the warriors in various fights the country has had
over the years.They have assumed this leadership owing to the piety of the
masses. The Bodu Bala Sena are also trying to assume the role of the great
Buddhist warriors in Sri Lanka and are succeeding to a great extent among the
gullible and uninformed Buddhists, who see little beyond the world they inhabit,
surrounded by day to day Buddhist symbolism such as giving alms, going to
Temple, bathing the Bo tree etc.
It
was really disturbing to hear the tone of a meeting organized by Bodu Bala Sena
(Buddhist Strong Force) last Sunday in Maharagama, a suburb off Colombo and the
seat of Soma Thero, who in his lifetime advocated for fundamentalist
Buddhism and was a charismatic figure, with a hysterical following
before his early demise.
The
language used to influence gullible Buddhists who came from all over Sri Lanka
were “This is your Motherland, this is your frontier of war. It also said those
who cannot stand up for wrongs committed and who take the peaceful way are but
spineless.
It
is shocking that this most peaceful philosophy, which has as its core, the
following of the middle path, is now being used as a tool of extremism. Of
course religion was mixed up with generous doses of protecting the Sinhala
race.
Literature
distributed had the Goals and structure of Bodu
Bala Sena from Centre down to the community.There was a lot of
resentment coming through about the activities of fundamentalist Christian and
Muslim groups. Some of they maybe warranted.
Time
and time again this hate speech was interspersed with ” we do not have anything
against the traditional Muslims or Christians”. But there was an immediate
contradiction as all religions other than Buddhism were lumped together and
castigated.Though another frequent mention was about cleaning up the Buddhist
community and bringing back Buddhist values, more was mentioned about other
religions and their so called offences. There is a also a lack of clarity on
terms such as Halal, Haram and Makrul.
The
Way Forward in order not to see another July ’83:
1.
If the government is indeed as committed as they say to peaceful existence and
equity to all, IMMEDIATELY launch a Zero tolerance on Racism, discrimination and
Hate Speech.
2.
Police also require intensive training on communication and empowerment.
3.
Form a council of religions to listen to grievances committed. This committee
should comprise of all ethnicities from a variety of walks for life.
4.
Redrawing the constitution , with explicit wording on the various ethnic
groups.
5.
The hotline granted to the Police in this regard to be answered at all times
and meaningful steps taken.
6.
if the government is providing any resources to Bodu Bala Sena, that should stop
immediately.
7.
Establish inter community dialogues all over Sri Lanka.
