Make Inclusiveness And Reconciliation Our Themes For The National New Year
Yet
the due season never brings the rain
Even
the cactus-thorns sobbed on the plant
Your
work, and this state wakes my mother.
When
the lips of field bunds are parched with heat
Then
cometh the month where there is naught to eat
As
the grain matures rain winds brawl anew
O
God, of power, Aiyyanar, where are you?
-
Mahakavi (T Rudramoorthy) – translated by Mendis Rohanadheera
Shining
brightly ln the sky
Like
a plate of gold –
The
moon.
The
moon that I know so well,
The
moon that sparkles on the fields at home,
The
moon that sparkles on the temple sand.
Mahagama
Sekera – translated by Wimal Dissanayake
Last
week we referred to Izzeldin Abuelaish, the Palestinian physician from the Gaza
strip, who lost his wife from acute leukaemia despite the best possible
treatment she received in an Israeli Hospital. Barely three weeks later, a shell
fired indiscriminately by the Israeli defence forces killed three of his
daughters as they slept in their home in Gaza. Despite these tragedies,
Abuelaish never lost his vision of peace and justice for all people. He refused
to allow hatred or revenge to overtake his life and he dedicated himself to work
for reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. He wrote in his book ‘I
Shall Not Hate’, “I have hopes for the future. I believe that Einstein was right
when he said life was like riding a bicycle; to keep balanced, we must keep
moving. I will keep moving”. He has met moderate people as well as extremists
on both sides of the conflict. He has learnt many lessons in dealing with people
on either side of the divide and says he wishes to share the lessons thus learnt
from his experience in a spirit of mutual learning. These lessons are universal
for all people who are caught up in conflicts that lead to senseless violence.
If only the moderates could assert themselves, call the bluff of the extremists
and ensure inclusiveness in multi-cultural societies, the world would be spared
unnecessary tragedy and violence. The eighteen lessons that Abuelaish has listed
are:
1.
Peace is humanity; peace is respect; peace is open dialogue. Peace is not the
absence of anything because that just puts it in a negative light. Let’s be
positive about what peace is – rather than what it is not.
2.
The absence of war does not mean there is peace. Is a person who is ill at
peace? Is a person filled with confusion and doubt (and fear) at peace? Do all
countries that do not engage in outright war live in peace?
3.
Hate is blindness and leads to irrational thinking and behaviour. It is a
chronic, severe and destructive sickness.
4.
Hatred may be reversible if we allow it.
5.
Anger is not the same as hate.
6.
Anger can be productive. Feel the anger, acknowledge it, but let it be
accompanied by change. Let it propel you toward necessary action for the
betterment of yourself and others.
7.
We do not merely accept what is happening around us. We all have the potential
to be agents of change.
8.
I have every faith in women and their potential. Women, by their very nature,
bring people together. It is time for women to take the lead. We need to give
them every opportunity to be educated and have the chance to act on what they
know is best for all humanity.
9.
When your core values align with your heart, they become non-negotiable. If this
is your guide, you can make decisions with the utmost integrity.
10.
If you always base your judgements on truth, you will earn respect and
trust.
11.
To be seen by others as trustworthy, is one of the greatest gifts you can
receive’
12.
Judging people based on another’s assessment of them does not leave you open
enough to consider other possibilities.
13.
By exploiting other’s weakness, you are missing the opportunity to see the great
contributions they are capable of making.
14.
Our children’s dreams can continue to be manifested through the success of
others when we put the opportunities in place for them.
15.
Trust children’s opinions. They are the most likely to speak the truth and far
less likely to have a personal agenda.
16.
Good ideas become great ones when shared with others.
17.
It is not enough to sow the seeds of wisdom; we are called to action if we are
to reap a bountiful harvest.
18.
Whatever you do, if it is done with a sincere heart and for the betterment of
others, things are more likely to fall into place (and) happen as you envision
it.
Our
National New Year
The
vast majority of our people of all communities will celebrate New Year on
Sunday of this week. It is for this reason that Ferial
Ashraff, our genial High Commissioner in Singapore, wanted to call it
the National New Year. And the lessons that Abuelaish has listed have a special
meaning for us. We obtained independence from colonial rule sixty five years ago
but we have still not learnt to live together in peace as one people. There are
extremists amongst us who have kept our people apart by a lack of vision, by a
lack of belief in inclusiveness which alone can unite us and ensure peace,
justice and reconciliation. These extremists have kept us captive to their
obscurantist ideologies. If Sri Lanka is to emerge as a country that can hold
its head high among the nations of the world, the moderates amongst us have to
take up the challenge thrown by the extremists. The moderates in our religious
cultures and in civil society have to be courageous enough to withstand the
insults and abuse that are hurled at them by the extremists. They have to be
courageous enough to speak up for truth and justice, for the weak and the
marginalised in society and for democratic values that will promote peace and
reconciliation.
The
people of our country would have been heartened by some religious leaders who
have in recent weeks spoken up for peace and reconciliation and against the
hatred that some other religious leaders seem to whipping up against sections of
our people. In particular, we need to mention the sane voices of leaders like
Professor Bellanwila Wimalaratne, Ven Maduluwawe Sobitha, Archbishop Malcolm
Ranjith, Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Ven Baddegama Samitha and the Ven Dambara
Amila. There have also been groups such as Sri Lanka Unites who have done some
splendid work in promoting peace and reconciliation among young people
throughout the country. These are the voices of reason and sanity that do not
condone extremism, violence and terror as ways of expressing opinions in a
democratic society. But these leaders need to be supported by strong public
opinion. The independence and impartiality of some of the institutions that
should be enforcing the law or dispensing justice unfortunately appear to have
been compromised in recent times. We need to raise our voices to ensure that
these institutions return to uphold the values of the rule if law. All classes
or groups of our citizens should have the confidence that they will receive
justice without any political or sectarian interference.
It
is equally important that all citizens of the country, irrespective of their
religious or ethnic or political beliefs or economic status, will be recognized
as having the right to live with dignity. There should be institutionalised
mechanisms, including a free and independent media, in place to hear and to
inquire impartially into their grievances, real or imagined. Our leaders must
set an example must set the example by providing the necessary space for the
marginalised groups to be heard with dignity. Strong action should be taken
against those groups that seek to arouse hatred and dishonour of the
‘other’.
Our
Duties and Obligations
Recently,
Bishop Duleep de Chickera wrote what he called a reflection on the current
situation in our country. He pointed out that in the prevailing climate, the
moderates among our citizenry, as opposed to the extremists, had several
obligations to fulfil in a multi-religious country like ours if, as we all hope,
peace and reconciliation are to be established and Sri Lankans are to become an
integrated community. Bishop de Chickera was writing in the context of the
current religious tensions targeting the Muslim community. But his valuable
insights are equally valid in respect of all politically, economically and
socially marginalised communities. He listed the duties and obligations of
moderates amongst us as follows:
1.
Moderates of all religions should sustain mutual relationships of friendship and
trust in times of tension as well as in harmony.
2.
Moderates should together discern how best the adherents of any one religion are
to be free to live by their core teachings and practices, integrate with other
religions whose freedom to live by their own teachings and practices is to be
recognised and upheld and find a dignified way forward when these interests run
into conflict.
3.
Moderates should welcome the distinct presence of the other, gather the
liberating resources that their respective religions offer and strive together
to eliminate humankinds’ common life threatening enemies such as poverty, greed,
violence, abuse, discrimination and so on. (We have done this with ease in the
areas of food, dress and music. But it has to spread to include moral values and
spiritual insights that impact on the socio-political quality of life as
well).
4.
Moderates should sustain a restraining dialogue with those within their own
camps whose categorical views and behaviour are likely to hurt the religious
sensitivities of others.
5.
Moderates should engage in self-scrutiny; keep an ear to the ground and an ever
vigilant eye on any provocative or offensive message that the practice and
behaviour of their respective communities may convey to others, no matter how
sincere the intention may be.
Bishop
de Chickera rightly went on to add that it was ‘precisely a disinterest and
bankruptcy in the potential of these obligations that had polarised, paralysed
and prevented the religions from anticipating the emergence of the current
anti-Muslim campaign and arresting its escalation…….
The
point is clear. None remains neutral when sectarian violence becomes a trend.
All inevitably get sucked in as victims or violators whether active or passive.
So all, including those who think they are neutral are to repent. They are to
stop, take note of happenings, look within, examine their inner motives in
relation to the highest values of their religion or ideology and re-emerge with
a reconciliatory stance…..
At
a recent inter-religious conversation, a participant turned to the others and
invited a critique of his own religious community in order that it may engage in
self-correction. This type of question usually says more than is asked and has a
lesson for all. Each is privileged to learn from the other about one’s own
religious behaviour. But this can only happen when sufficient goodwill and trust
has been built and the religious ‘other’ is invited with respect from the
periphery into the middle of the discourse. in a multi-religious country like
ours…..
Living
with integrity with other religions is never a betrayal of one’s own; rather it
exposes the superfluous and sometimes harmful beliefs and practices that have
accumulated within our respective religions over the years. From here the
courage to discard these excesses ironically draws us back to the core of our
own legitimate beliefs and practices and motivates us to welcome, live with and
work with the ‘other’.
This
week, we have quoted extensively from Izzeldin Abuelaish and from Bishop de
Chickera’s reflections. It is unfortunate that the latter has not received the
media publicity it deserved. But together, Izzeldin Abuelaish’s and Bishop de
Chickera’s reflections point to the theme that all of us, irrespective of our
individual identities, should adopt for the National New Year. On this national
day, let us be clear that the country cannot move forward unless we acknowledge
the right of all to live in dignity and integrity.
