Say ‘No’ To Extremist BBS Majoritarian Virus

By Lukman Harees -April 6, 2013

Lukman Harees

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again..

Wow! How effectively this nursery rhyme sums up the disaster awaiting this Paradise Isle in the not too distant future. We are living at the most challenging time in recent history, where the forces of extremism such asBBS and Sinhala Ravaya , have unfortunately got the upper hand over the voices of moderation and reason. It is a matter of regret that the Police have virtually delegated or abdicated their law enforcement powers to these vicious elements , extremist forces – BBS, and Sihala Ravaya, supported by theJHU , to do whatever they wish. The idle promises given by the government not to allow any elements to create communal disharmony have become ‘much ado about nothing’. Of course, Sri Lanka hasn’t still become another Myanmar ,but there are clear signs that an irreparable damage has been inflicted on the hopes of millions of Sri Lankans that, after the end of War in 2009, they can live happily thereafter.

What type of Sri Lanka is being shaped by these events in the recent past ,and what type of image of Sri Lanka is being carving out in the international arena? If the messages on posters and social networking sites as well as ‘small talk’ at the grass root levels, are anything to go by, we have allowed racial prejudices and communal divisions to gain a foothold in the psyche of our younger ones, instigated two communities which lived side by side for generations in trust and friendship to start harbouring mutual suspicions and fears while pushing Sri Lanka to be hounded internationally as a country fast transforming itself into a ‘Sinhala Buddhist’ majoritarian state with decreasing space for the ‘other’. Following the strategy of Goebbels, the Hitler’s propaganda Minister, BBS particularly has already carved an almost an irreversible negative image about the Sri Lankan Muslims in the minds of Sinhala Buddhist people –‘aliens subtly increasing their flock and working against their interests, although history of Muslims in this country amply bears witness to their loyalty.

Hitler had an all-powerful ally without whom he could have never succeeded. His ally was the world that chose to remain silent as Germany kept testing the limits of the universal tolerance for its evil actions. Similarly, in Rwanda too, the genocide took place amidst the silence of the international community. Ultimately, when the world took note and decided to act, it was too little and too late, after millions of Jews and others whom Hitler despised died , and after over 800,000 people for no fault of theirs perished in Rwanda . That, man does not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach. It is therefore imperative that we, the society at large learn from the bitter lessons history imparts to us and not allow our country to fall apart like Humpty Dumpty. Let’s give ear to the golden words of Martin Luther King Jr. : ‘we will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people’.                           Read More

Ehei Hamduruwaney: A New Religio-Political Order For Sri Lanka

By Emil van der Poorten -April 6, 2013

Emil van der Poorten

As no contributor to any of the English-language media has taken this particular bull by the horns, let me try to formulate a plan that not only recognizes the current “Sri Lankan Reality” but which might lend itself to enhancing the reputation of the Debacle of Asia (DoA) or the land where democracy is DoA (Dead on Arrival).

We have recently seen the emergence of the Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS),Sinhala Ravaya etc. as clear examples of government policy implementation, notwithstanding the unconvincing denials of those of the “dead left” within the government.

I believe that, rather than decry what organizations such as the BBS are seeking to establish in Sri Lanka, we should join them and help them establish the instruments of Sinhala Buddhist Civilization without further ado. That is particularly essential given the current definition of “patriotism” which is the cry of “Ehei Hamduruwaney” whenever Our Beloved Leader makes a pronouncement of any description. A side benefit of such behavior could be defined as immunity from being transported against one’s will in vans of a particularly pale hue.

In addition, taking advantage of a recent government pronouncement that control will be affected over ALL religions to ensure that the four primary faiths – Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam – are not further corrupted through the efforts of those whose conduct does not meet with the approval of the government, we should strain every sinew to help in that enterprise. After all, we are NOT a multicultural nation but one in which, by Presidential Exhortation at least, we have erased all those elements of ethnic difference, to meld into one Sri Lankan nation whose characteristics will continue to be defined by Our Beloved Leader.

I would, in fact, take this Presidential Exhortation a step farther: I would bring together a group of theologians – to be chosen by him – who are capable of developing a primer which will encompass all the fundamentals of each religion in such a manner that they can be codified into a New Book (NB) that contains all those elements of each of the mainline faiths that our ruling family finds acceptable. In fact we already have at least one Anglican Bishop and a Roman Catholic Cleric who was considered a dark horse in the “papal stakes” who have demonstrated their eternal fealty to our Royal Family who can set the standards in such a formation. Once they and their colleagues are appointed, no deviation from the rules they set will be permitted. In the event of any contraventions of those rules, appropriate punishments will be carried out in a form clearly defined in Appendix I to the New Book.

It should be clearly understood from the very outset that these rules and regulations will apply to all those already adhering to any of the mainline faiths. As for those terming themselves as Free Thinkers, Agnostics, Atheists etc., a humane system of removing them from Sri Lanka will be defined in Appendix II to the NB.

Since the Mahavamsa is being updated currently, it is essential that the establishment of the new nation in all its glory be entered, in detail, in that great journal. This task will be entrusted to a person nominated by the Bodhu Bala Sena, the logical body for such a purpose.

As a means of ensuring the success of this venture, the continuing purity of what is set in place and the future of the New Nation, all symbols of existing religions will be removed from their current locations, the architecture of such places of worship modified so that there is no indication of what they were previously, ensuring absolute uniformity and conformity as defined by the Chief Executive of Sri Lanka.

Any future construction of places of worship will be at the absolute discretion of the President of Sri Lanka or his appointee(s).

The original document defining the new faith will be housed in the new Mahinda Rajapaksa National Museum and Archive to be built in the Hambantota area, as part of the complex comprising the cricket stadium, international airport, and port with an electrified fence to keep out marauding elephants, both of the political and wild kind.

In a display of solidarity with regimes of similar democratic disposition, we will make Kim Jong Un, the President of North Korea, Honorary Advisor in Chief in all matters religious and spiritual.