A 2500 year-old culture that was!
‘Sinha Le’ organisation members
Sharmini Serasinghe-FEB 15 2016
The current wave of Sinhala-Buddhist supremacism / extremism / racism, and attempts to establish a 'Sinhala-Buddhist Raj' in Sri Lanka, if left unchecked will eventually lead to fragmentation of Sri Lanka into separate states, of the minorities. It may not happen in the immediate future, but it's a reality staring us in the face.
With the military defeat of the LTTE in 2009 Lankans, as a people, were hardly afforded the chance to breathe a sigh of relief, before the Sinhala-Buddhist extremists, in the form of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Sinhala Ravaya (SR) and Ravana Balaya (RB) emerged, waving the flag of Sinhala-Buddhist supremacism / extremism / racism, in the faces of the others.
Instead of nipping this sociological scourge in the bud, the then political administration gave succor to it. The endgame was to be to juxtapose the majority Buddhists and the minority communities of this land, and classify the latter as inferior. This caused and continues to cause, irreparable damage to the process of peace and reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka.
The well-orchestrated Aluthgama riots by these extremists against Muslims in June 2014 bore all the hallmarks of the dark days of the July 1983 riots targeting Tamils, but on a smaller scale. In both instances, the law enforcement authorities looked on while the carnage took places under their very noses. Why?
Archeological ruins and edifices
With the change of political regimes in January 2015, many of us heaved a sigh of relief for different reasons. The minorities I'm sure did so hoping for a final peace, under a more inclusive administration.
For a while, the saffron robed brigades like the BBS, it seemed, had been reined in and silenced. But then, along came a new saffron robed player into the game, a clone of Ven Gnanasara Thera and his BBS, Ven Yakkalamulle Pawara Thera and his Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa, claiming to 'safeguard the identity of the Sinhala people, and to regenerate the supremacy and pride of the Sinhala people'.
The lower-middle class Sinhala-Buddhist is a vulnerable customer, in the marketplace of such supremacist politics today. This underprivileged class of people who are alas in the majority, while struggling to make ends meet, amidst the spiraling cost of living, become easily convincible victims, of the saffron robed, fanning patriotic and supremacist fantasies, in their faces.
