( who opposed the Impeachment)

BASL disturbed by unusual transfers of judicial officers

( who opposed the Impeachment)

Sunday, April 07, 2013

The Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has appointed a subcommittee to look into the recent transfers of several district court judges and magistrates who have not even completed their tenure of three years in their courts.�The transfers were made by the Judicial Services Commission chaired by Chief Justice 44 Mohan Pieris.

The BASL subcommittee includes its President Upul Jayasuriya, Vice President Prasanna Jayawardane, Srinath Perera and Sunil Cooray.�A BASL spokesperson said they regarded these transfers as a disturbing development as they were contrary to the usual practice of annual transfers which normally took place at the beginning of the year. “These transfers have been given four months into the year, unsettling the family lives of judges and magistrates,” he charged.

Officials of the Judicial Services Association (JSA), which comprises more than 240 district judges and magistrates, had been especially targeted and almost all of them transferred out of their stations. The JSA had strongly opposed the impeachment of CJ 43, Shirani Bandaranayake after the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal declared the move was illegal and unconstitutional.

JSA President and senior District Judge Adthiya K. Patabendige who was serving as the Additional District Judge of the Kurunegala had been transferred to Wariyapola, where there were less than ten lawyers practising, he added.

There are stations with more lawyers and litigants which are usually given to the senior judges, which have been overlooked in this instance, he pointed out. �Most of the JSA officials who have not completed their tenure of the usual three years have also been transferred.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Rashimi Singappuli has been transferred to Kaduwela. The BASL spokesperson pointed out that the usual practice was to promote the chief magistrate as district judge.�“This is clearly a demotion,” the spokesperson declared.
Of the seven magistrates of the Colombo Magistrate’s Courts, five have been transferred.

Notably among them was Additional Magistrate Sadun Vithana who was hearing the non-summary proceedings of the Bhratha Lakshman Premachandra murder case in which parliamentarian Duminda Silva is a suspect.�He was transferred to Panadura Magistrate’s Court as an additional magistrate where there is only one serving magistrate, the spokesperson said.

If the position of the Judicial Services Commission is that it is effecting the annual transfers four months later, going by its own argument, then these judicial official would have served even less a term. This which was not rational, the spokesperson said.
He noted that annual transfers did not mean that the judicial officers were annually transferred but they were transferred only after they completed their three-year term in a particular court.

He also pointed out Fort Magistrate Gihan Pilapitya who had served only a short period had been appointed as Colombo’s Chief Magistrate. �A relatively junior magistrate from Matara had been appointed as the Colombo Fort Magistrate where senior judges are posted as sensitive cases are taken up there, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, an Additional District Judge who was interdicted by the earlier JSC headed by the Chief justice 43, Shirani Bandaranayake, has been reinstated by the new JSC. He had been interdicted for financial misconducts.

The new JSC comprises Chief Justice 44, Mohan Pieris (chairman) and two other Supreme Court Judges and it is responsible for the administration of the judges including their transfers.

Legal profession jolted by shuffle in judiciarySunday, April 07, 2013

Disturbed BASL appoints committee to work out action plan

As many as thirty judges from the minor judiciary have been transferred overnight by the Judicial Services Commission headed by Chief Justice 44 Mohan Peiris, causing a major uproar in the legal profession.�The transfers would effectively mean that a total of 60 judges would be moved from their jurisdiction.

Officials of the Judicial Services Association (JSA), which comprises more than 240 district judges and magistrates, had been especially targeted and almost all of them transferred out of their stations. The JSA had strongly opposed the impeachment of CJ 43, Shirani Bandaranaike after the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal declared the move was illegal and unconstitutional.

JSA President and senior District Judge Adthiya K. Patabendige who was serving as the Additional District Judge of the Kurunegala had been transferred to Wariyapola, where there were fewer than ten lawyers practising, he added.�“There are stations with more lawyers and litigants which are usually given to the senior judges. These stations have been overlooked in this instance,” a spokesperson for the Bar Association of Sri Lanka said.

Most of the JSA officials who have not completed their tenure of the usual three years have also been transferred.�The Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has appointed a subcommittee to look into the recent transfers of several district court judges and magistrates who have not even completed their tenure of three years in their courts.The BASL subcommittee includes its President Upul Jayasuriya, Vice President Prasanna Jayawardane, Srinath Perera and Sunil Cooray.

The BASL spokesperson said they regarded these transfers as a disturbing development as they were contrary to the usual practice of annual transfers which normally took place at the beginning of the year. “These transfers have been given four months into the year, unsettling the family lives of judges and magistrates,” he charged.

Among those judges who have not completed three years in their respective stations and transferred are: Additional District Judge Chandima Dela – from Kegalle to Matara;�Additional Magistrate Prasanna Alwis – Colombo to Gampola; Additional Magistrate Tikiri Jayatikaka – Colombo to Gampaha; Additional Magistrate Sandun Vitana – Colombo to Panadura; Additional District Judge Amali Ranaweera – Colombo to Panadura; Additional District Judge R.S.S. Sapuwida – Colombo to Galle; Magistrate Udesh Ranatunga – Matara to Walasmulla; Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne – Kaduwela to Wattala; Magistrate Ranga Dissanayaka – Panadura to Puttalam; Additional District Judge Irshad Deen – Colombo to Attanagalla; Chief Magistrate Rashmi Singappuli – Colombo to Kaduwela as Additional District Judge; Magistrate Chanima Wijebandara – Ratnapura to Matugama.

Former Judicial Service Commission Secretary Manjula Tilakaratne has been transferred as Magistrate Naula (Dambulla) while Geethani Wijesinghe, former Secretary to the ousted Chief Justice, has been appointed as Mahiyangana Magistrate. Former Supreme Court Registrar Duminda Mudunkotuwa has been moved to Ampara as Magistrate.

Of the seven magistrates of the Colombo Magistrate’s Courts, five have been transferred.�Notably among them was Additional Magistrate Sadun Vithana who was hearing the non-summary proceedings of the Bhratha Lakshman Premachandra murder case in which parliamentarian Duminda Silva is a suspect.

He was transferred to Panadura Magistrate’s Court as an additional magistrate where there is only one serving magistrate, the spokesperson said.If the position of the Judicial Services Commission is that it is effecting the annual transfers four months later, going by its own argument, then these judicial official would have served even less a term. This which was not rational, the BASL spokesperson said.

He noted that annual transfers did not mean that the judicial officers were annually transferred but they were transferred only after they completed their three-year term in a particular court.�He also pointed out Fort Magistrate Gihan Pilapitya who had served only a short period had been appointed as Colombo’s Chief Magistrate.

A relatively junior magistrate from Matara had been appointed as the Colombo Fort Magistrate where senior judges are posted as sensitive cases are taken up there, he pointed out.�Meanwhile, an Additional District Judge who was interdicted by the earlier JSC headed by the Chief justice 43, Shirani Bandaranayake, has been reinstated by the new JSC. He had been interdicted for financial misconducts.

The new JSC comprises Chief Justice 44, Mohan Pieris (chairman) and two other Supreme Court Judges and it is responsible for the administration of the judges including their transfers.

What Is Sri Lanka?

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -April 7, 2013

“The history or the future of Sri Lanka does not belong to any group”. Ranasinghe Premadasa (Speech on 12.11.1990)

Character can be fate, for both individuals and collectives. The answer to where Sri Lanka is headed depends, at least in part, on what Sri Lanka is.

In 1956, the dominant Sinhala opinion deemed that Sri Lanka was a Sinhala country; after two decades of resistance, the dominant Tamil opinion abandoned the struggle for equality, accepted that Sri Lanka was a Sinhala country and demanded a separate Tamil state on that basis.

None clung to the myth of Sri Lanka not being a country for Tamils with greater assiduity than Vellupillai Pirapaharan. In 1956, SWRD Bandaranaike used the Tamil-bogey to come to power. Today the Rajapaksas are using the Muslim-bogey to perpetuate their power. Just as their politico-ideological forefathers told the Tamils to get back to Tamilnadu/India, the Sinhala-Buddhist supremacists of today are acting as if every Lankan Muslim is a dual citizen of Saudi Arabia, by birth.

Nothing reveals the reach of this toxic nonsense than a memory shared by Jezima Ismail: “Some years ago at a lecture session at the BMICH a professor waxed eloquent on the feelings he had for Sri Lanka and that this was the only place for him. In the course of this talk he turned round to me and said that if anything untoward happened I could of course seek refuge in Saudi or the Middle East”i.

Buddhist Monk Galabodaaththe Gnanasara - BBS

Ms. Ismail is as Sri Lankan as can be, a pedagogue who has served her country and her community for, decades. It was to a woman of such calibre and achievement this remark was made, not to some Saudo-phile extremist wallowing in Wahabism or Salafism. And the person who made this remark was not a raving BBS monk or a common or garden mobster, but a professor, if not a man of learning at least one of education.

Clearly the ‘hosts and guests’ concept of Sri Lanka is not the sole property of the lunatic fringe.
From the rejection of the pluralist nature of Sri Lanka flows the refusal to accept that minorities are co-owners of the country. This cements the belief that minorities do not consider Sri Lanka as their motherland and that they are creatures of divided loyalties, not to be trusted.

This mindset can be explained using Aristotelian syllogism:
1) Only Sinhala-Buddhists can love Sri Lanka.
Tamils/Muslims/Christians are not Sinhala-Buddhists.
Therefore Tamils/Muslims/Christians do not love Sri Lanka.
2) Aliens want to destroy Sri Lanka.
Tamils/Muslims/Christians are aliens.
Therefore Muslims/Tamils/Christians want to destroy Sri Lanka

From the belief that minorities are untrustworthy aliens, forever conspiring to take ‘our’ country away from ‘us’, stems the concept of a beleaguered Sri Lanka, in constant danger of being conquered by external enemies or subverted by internal foes. From that phobia to the hallucination that Sinhala Buddhists are the most endangered species on earth and that great religious and temporal powers are consumed with a desire to undermine us is but a short step.

That is where the global conspiracy theory comes in. Depending of the politico-ideological views of the believer this can either be an imperialist conspiracy or a Christian one, an Indian/Tamil conspiracy or a Muslim one. The villain of the piece may change from time to time, but the plot never does. Someone is always conspiring to deprive the Sinhalese-Buddhists of their one and only country. The ‘reason’ for this varies, again according to the belief system of the believer – it can be Trincomalee, our strategic location, the need to destabilise India or the desire to destroy Buddhism. And those who hold these views regard them as self-evident and axiomatic truths, immune to facts, beyond dispute or debate.
There is an omnipotent postscript to this narrative of ‘ever generous’ Sinhala Buddhists welcoming alien races/religions to their motherland and giving them space to live and opportunities to thrive. When the Sinhalese feel ‘betrayed’ by the ‘minority guests’, when Sinhala ‘patience’ runs out due to ‘minority encroachments’, the Sinhalese go berserk. And Black Julys happen. The inevitable flipside of ‘we are generous and trusting’ is ‘we have been betrayed’.

Much of the bad which happened to this country, post-Independence, are sourced in these myths, hallucinations and phobias and the maniacal manner in which a segment of Sinhala society act under their collective noxious influence.
The professor who told Ms. Ismail that she has a home in Saudi Arabia/Middle East would never publicly use same raw language as the BBS/JHU. His type would never say ‘hambaya’ in public. They will not scream threats. They will repeat the same errant and dangerous nonsense as the BBS/JHU in polite language and well-modulated voices. Their contribution to the coming conflagration will be far more potent because many a Sinhalese alienated by the BBS’ ravings will succumb to the ‘opinions’ of these pseudo-moderates. And when the ‘outraged’ majority attacks the minority, the Professor and others of his ilk would not join the mob. They would shake their heads sorrowfully and say that the rage – and its lamentable manifestation – had just causes.

When the resulting conflagration turns the country into a living hell, they will migrate to some Western haven; from that safety and comfort they will inundate the internet with their patriotic twaddle.

It is in the enabling environment created by respectable middle classers like the Professor that the Tigers and the Talebans, the Shiva Senas and the Bodu Bala Senas of this world thrive.

Encouraging Madmen

The Rajapaksas may or may not believe in the racist ravings of the BBS; but they are certainly determined to use the resultant hysteria for their benefit, to strengthen their Sinhala base, to justify the unjustifiable (from defence costs and waste to high prices) and to worm their way into American/Western good books. As the Sunday Times confirms, the recent initiatives by Ambassador Jaliya Wickremasuriya indicate a possible new direction for the Lankan foreign policy. Public Relation firms are reportedly being used to present a friendly image of Rajapaksa Sri Lanka to American policy makers/public.

The Rajapaksas would think that being seen as a target of Islamic terrorism will help them to save the Hambantota Commonwealth, win over the West and rule forever.

The possibility that Sri Lanka may end up being the Asian Serbia would not occur to the limited imaginations of the Ruling Siblings.

Already the Muslims live in fear, not knowing when and how the next attack will come. The inability of democratic Muslim leaders to construct a moderate, non-racist response to this challenge will create a deadly vacuum. If sane Sinhala/Buddhists fail to rally round Lankan Muslims, if they allow the BBS to determine the agenda and wreak havoc in their name, a Muslim counter-extremism, deadlier than the Tiger, may emerge.

And the Rajapaksas will have the war of their dreams. That such a conflict will condemn most Lankans to an unprecedented and unending nightmare would not matter to the Siblings. All the Rajapaksas care about is Familial Rule and Dynastic Succession. They will not hesitate to sacrifice anyone and anything to buy themselves a few more years of unbridled power.

1. A Tribute To The Cordial Relations Between Muslims And Sinhalese In The Past

Underneath an Arabian Bo Tree

Underneath an Arabian Bo Tree

7 Apr, 2013

Groundviews

It was late evening in the Persian Gulf and there was a cool summer breeze wafting through the wide wooden door as the two ladies approached it. One of them carried my favoured Sri-Lankan sweetmeat “Lavariya”, which she presented to me with a kiss on both cheeks. I returned the favour by handing a parcel of homemade dhodhol specially brought from Sri-Lanka.

We were in Bahrain, a tiny oil rich island off the coast of Qatar with a Causeway to Saudi-Arabia. It is known for its pearls and petroleum and like many countries in the Middle East has a strong Sri-Lankan population (an estimated 14,000), that ranges from housemaids to Senior Managers.

The women were here to take me to see something very unusual in these parts; a Buddhist temple. Yet what was special about it was that there was a statue of Lord Buddha that was found in a temple called Barbar in Bahrain, which was 1500 years old. It was definitely something to see especially amidst news of rising tensions in Sri-Lanka, that had resulted in targeting harassment towards Muslims.

We headed off to the temple that was a 5-minute drive away and respectfully entered it after removing our shoes. It was a spacious property with ample room for meditation and was equipped with a large kitchen. It felt so surreal to be in a temple in the Middle East. Feelings of both elation and surprise kicked in as we turned a corner at the back and saw a magnificent “Bo tree” with its heart shaped leaves humbly swaying in the crisp air.

The two women explained that the statues inside were brought to these premises from Barbar and that the owner was Arab. Previous occupants planted the Bo tree and it was pure coincidence that this property then was converted to a temple.

The two women then expressed their concerns. They were not housemaids, they were hard-working Skilled Sri-Lankans who had come to the Middle East in search of a better life and it is repatriated funds from people like them that brings in approximately Rs. 382,801 million accounting for 47.03% of gross foreign exchange earnings for the Government of Sri-Lanka every year. Worker’s remittances in 2009 alone were in the range of $3.4 billion according to Reuters.

With the situation in Sri-Lanka worsening they drew my attention to the small Sri-Lankan community in Bahrain. United and respectful; Muslims, Sinhalese, Christians and Tamils celebrate, socialise and support one another. Their children play together and their wives gossip together. All is as it should be.

With the increased harsh treatment of Muslims by the radical nationalist Bodu Bala Sena organization in Sri Lanka these women were worried that their peace and harmony in the Middle East would be affected. If Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi-Arabia or the Lebanon asked all Sri-Lankans to leave what would they return to Sri-Lanka and do? What hope did one have if one was not rich, connected or educated?

The irony of the situation puzzled me. The BBS were subsequently putting this serene Buddhist Temple at risk with their extremist agenda. The Ladies made two very valid points. The BBS claims that the Muslims are diluting the population by having more children and that “Sinhalese” people are reducing. However by increasing racism and fuelling hatred the last time around we ended up in a war that lasted 3 decades and took countless lives thus contributing to reduced populations. Another racist campaign would also be costly in terms of lives and will not help in fostering the future of people of Sinhalese descent. A further point that they made was that we were all Sinhalese. Although I may have a Muslim surname we were racially the same as Muslim traders married Sinhalese women and we descend from that genealogy, which is apparent in my grandfathers surname of “Varakamuragedera”. Therefore the racist rhetoric is invalid.

Underneath the serene Bo tree we agreed that the fault lay on both sides. Many Muslim families in Sri-Lanka today have excluded themselves from engaging with other ethnic groups and have become very introvert and therefore contributed to increased animosity. Similarly nationalist’s especially in rural areas have used Buddhism as a platform for their own perverted agenda’s similar to the way that Al Qaeda uses Islam to justify its aims and recruit people to its calling.

But what about the domestic workers that came to the Middle East? I woke up one morning to find Devi Akka sweeping the floor in my father’s kitchen. She had just returned from Sri-Lanka after the 3-month almsgiving of her husband who committed suicide after falling out with his sister. I asked why she returned. She replied, “I am happy here.”

Every year roughly 120,000 Sri-Lanka’s go to the Middle-East mostly to work as unskilled domestic aides. From this number we hear many stories of women especially in Saudi-Arabia who suffer untold hardships; the case of Rizana Nafeek is a fresh wound that displays one case of extreme injustice.

However amidst the downside there are very successful cases of maids who have worked and earned their share and come home to provide a better life for their families. Often Sri-Lankan men in that socio-economic bracket are worth less than their wives. If these men could find proper employment within the country then perhaps their wives may not need to go and seek employment in such tricky conditions; yet that debate is another story.

Overall it is a lucrative source of income for Sri Lankans and also one that is vital and necessary for the economic well-being of the country, especially for rural populations from which the large majority of housemaids come. Therefore again the BBS rhetoric of “Muslims should leave Sri-Lanka” contradicts itself. For better or worse Sri-Lanka needs the support of Muslims countries. As displayed in the recent UN vote, Saudi, Kuwait, Jordan, and Qatar were amongst the few that supported Sri-Lanka with regards to the accusation of War crimes. Kuwait is a large donor of funds to Sri-Lanka for development projects and Pakistan often supports Sri-Lanka with weapons.

Our Government has already angered the West and renders no support from it. Is it not prudent and diplomatic to be a country that people do not see as a failed aggressive state?

Maybe if our Government was not so corrupt our monks would not be attacked in India.

Maybe if our Government was not so corrupt it would not back racist groups that deter emphasis and focus away from true problems in Sri-Lanka.

Maybe if our Government was not so corrupt and attempted to increase the well being of its people then we would not need to put our people in jeopardy by sending them to work as housemaids.

However overall, my trip to the Pansala taught me one thing. Stereotypes can change. A pious Arab can lend his land to a temple and a saffron clad monk can hurl stones.

In the end, it is a choice made by people.

Inter Communal Tensions A Setback For National Reconciliation

By Javid Yusuf -April 7, 2013

Javid Yusuf

Sri Lanka’s attempts at National Reconciliation have received a major setback with the latest inter-communal tensions in several parts of the country. Picking up the pieces after a protracted and debilitating civil war that drained national resources for over three decades would be a daunting task for any country. If it is a country which is on the bottom half of the economic ladder the task of rebuilding becomes that much more difficult. Moreover, creating new problems for ourselves would mean facilitating a situation which impedes any process of reconciliation. A repetition of the tragic events of the past is a luxury that Sri Lanka and its people can ill afford.

When every effort should be made to identify the mistakes of the past and correct them, we are allowing irresponsible small groups to do just the opposite and adding to our list of problems. With the process of reconciliation between the Tamil community and the State as well as between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities still finding its feet, making the Muslims insecure renders the Nation building project an even more formidable task.

The current anti-Muslim campaign has come as a rude shock and a bolt from the blue to a community which had been peacefully going about its day to day lives without treading on anyone’s toes. The virulent nature of the discourse and the manner in which it has been carried out clearly reflects a desire to target the Muslims rather than a genuine attempt to address Sinhalese or Buddhist concerns. Any concerns of a community can and should be discussed and addressed through dialogue and discussion in a sensitive manner without recourse to public platforms and street demonstrations that inflame passions and spread insecurity among people.

During the civil war while sharing the difficulties and common problems faced by the civilian population of all communities, the Muslims underwent considerable difficulties themselves during the LTTE-State conflict when they were specifically targeted as in the case of the forcible eviction of Muslims from the North, the massacres at the Kattankudy and Eravur mosques, dispossession of Muslims from their lands etc despite not being direct parties to the armed conflict.
Notwithstanding all this Muslims have been proud to call Sri Lanka their home. In interactions with the outside world Muslims have with pride pointed out that they enjoyed freedom to practice their religion and culture with active support from the State. The positive picture painted by Muslims about Sri Lanka abroad has greatly contributed to Sri Lanka enjoying considerable clout in the international community and being viewed as a model of tolerance to be emulated by other countries in the world. A large part of the credit for such an image undoubtedly belongs to the Sinhalese and Buddhist people and their religious leaders who so no bogeys among the minorities thus ensuring that Sri Lanka was a haven of multi religious and multi ethnic harmony in respect of which all Sri Lankans could justifiably be proud.

Yet today the model of co-existence that Sri Lanka has been proud to hold out to the world is being threatened and is adding to the growing list of challenges we face many of which are of our own seeking. Those driving the process of damaging inter religious harmony seem to be doing so with reckless disregard for the National Interest and the good name of the country. Unless this trend is arrested quickly irreparable harm and damage will be caused to Sri Lanka’s hitherto proud image of co-existence and harmony.

It is well known that despite the ethnic flavor of the civil war, there was and is tremendous goodwill among the people of all communities at the grassroots level which has proved to be a source of hope for nation building and reconciliation. Even today when there are reports of misguided individuals attacking Muslims who wear the Abaya and Nikab, it is the ordinary Sinhalese and Buddhists who have spontaneously rushed to the rescue of the victims and chased off the attackers reflecting the humanity that has long been a hallmark of the Sri Lankan culture.

Contrast the picture with other arenas of conflict in other parts of the world. In Northern Ireland the Protestants and Catholics have lived physically apart and it is only after the Good Friday Agreement inspired peace process that these two communities are trying to interact and have more inter communal engagement. In Sri Lanka we have had centuries of peaceful co-existence and should be careful not to allow a change in the healthy relationships enjoyed between the communities

When Sri Lanka is facing challenges internationally (some of which like the current anti Muslim campaign are of our own making ) we need to harness all our energies to rebuild internally as well as improve our image externally and once again take our place as a respected member of the International community.

The civil war has had many negative fall outs. One of the most unfortunate results of the end of the armed phase of the conflict is the sense of insecurity felt among the Tamil community. As a result of wrong strategies and brutal use of violence, the LTTE did a great disservice to the Tamils who today feel wounded and insecure. Whatever mistakes the LTTE made and whatever wrongs the Sri Lankan State may have committed in dealing with the LTTE and the grievances of the Tamil people, it is incumbent upon the Sri Lankan State to actively reach out to the Tamil people and heal their wounds and make them feel secure and confident.

In such a context when we are grappling with post war issues, it makes no sense to create a situation where another minority (the Muslims) are being made to feel insecure. It is axiomatic that matters of religion are emotive and have to be handled sensitively. The conduct of the Bodhu Bala Sena and other organisations with regular Press Conferences, Street demonstrations and Mass meetings as well as the tone and content of the speeches at such meetings have had exactly the opposite effect and have been laced with untruths, half truths and misperceptions which has contributed to planting the seeds of hate among ordinary people who may not have the ability to sift fact from fiction.

One of the allegations expressed is that the Muslim population is growing at such a rate that it will soon make the Muslims the majority community in Sri Lanka. Fortunately the Department of Census and Statistics has rebutted the allegation with facts and figures that prove there is no truth in the story. Another concern expressed was the story that a particular Textile Stores was distributing sweets to customers which when consumed would adversely affect Sinhala and Buddhists womens’ fertility. This too was disproved when it was discovered that the sweets referred to were manufactured by a well known Company owned by Sinhala Buddhists.

The most recent statement made is that food prepared by Muslims is spat on three times before consumption. Clearly such a story is not even worth dignifying with a response except to show the ridiculous lengths to which they would go to, to discourage Sinhalese and Buddhists from patronizing Muslim owned restaurants and eating houses.

Two issues of National concern which are troubling concerned citizens have emerged as a result of recent events.
There are many law and order issues that are being ignored by the law enforcement agencies. Many web sites which are spewing hate speech against Muslims have been operating without any action against them. There are groups which have openly declared themselves as unofficial police forces and conducting raids including against Christian institutions. Public meetings and public demonstrations that spread hatred against communities are allowed without any legal action when laws are transgressed.

How has the Bodhu Bala Sena which was founded only in the middle of last year been able to reach various parts of the country and make such an impact within such a short time? Even the two main political parties the SLFP and the UNP will not have such success in such a short time for their political camapaigns despite their wide network and existence for so many years.

The situation is fast careering out of control and can prove detrimental to the National Interest unless decisive action is taken to bring it under control. A country of contented people whether they be Buddhists, Hindus, Christians or Muslims is a sine qua non for Nation building. It would be attractive to say that the National Interest must take precedence over the interests of the Buddhists, Hindus, Christians or the Muslims. What is even more closer to the truth is the realisation that the National Interest is in fact the collective interest of the people whether they be Buddhists, Hindus, Christians or Muslims.

Sri Lanka in Amnesty's Get on the Bus protest in New York

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 April 2013, 03:32 GMT]
More than 250 students from Massachusetts and other states including several Tamil youths Friday participated in Amnesty's "Get on the Bus for Human Rights" [GOTB] day of action focused on human rights in Uganda, China/Tibet, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Burma. First rally in the afternoon targetted Sri Lanka, calling on the Sri Lankan government to end arbitrary detentions, torture, and enforced disappearances. The rally was held at the Permanent Mission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, on the 3rd Avenue. 

The "End Arbitrary Detention" flier distributed and carried during the rally on Sri Lanka, included the following:

Mano, a 29-year-old Tamil man, was arrested in March 2007 in Sri Lanka “on suspicion” of being a member of the opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Mano remains in prison to this day, even though the LTTE was defeated by the Sri Lankan government in May 2009. He has never been charged with any crime. While in custody, he has been tortured and his right index finger broken.

Hundreds of people in Sri Lanka are languishing in prison, like Mano, without charge or trial under the country’s repressive anti-terrorism laws, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Many of the detainees have been tortured, some have been killed in custody. Their arbitrary detention violates international human rights law. Their torture violates both Sri Lankan and international law. Yet no one has been held accountable.

We are calling on the Sri Lankan government to: (1) repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act, (2) promptly release the detainees unless they are charged with recognizable crimes and given fair trials, and (3) provide care and compensation to torture victims and hold their torturers accountable.

GOTB is an annual day of human rights education and activism organized by Amnesty International USA Group 133 of Somerville, MA and a dedicated team of volunteer community organizers.

Buddhist Taliban, Four Kinds Of Monks And Voice Of Sanity

By Shyamon Jayasinghe -April 6, 2013

Shyamon Jayasinghe

“All threats to his own authority he resists with absolute ferocity”- Machiavelli

When we observe Buddhist monks full of rage and lust for the exercise of physical power going about the country with a creed of hate and a call toarms against Muslims and other ‘non-believers,’ the sight of a sagely monk calmly, serenely, peacefully and intelligently campaigning for a change in the constitution that will benefit all and restore peace, it is much more than a breath of fresh air. It is the very embodiment of hope for a nation in an era of hopelessness; a beacon of value in times that are being stripped of values; a solid and noble sentry that’s watching, concerned over a nation that is tearing itself away and drawing toward a perilous end.

While men and women in prominent positions-in the academia, in the Public Service, in business,in media and in the NGO system have opted out of fear or possible gain to remain bystanders and while a good many of the Sinhala Diaspora are parroting the rhetoric of the Buddhist Taliban here is a benign soul who has thrown in his lot with the future of our island and the long-term welfare of its people. Revd Maduluwave Sobitha would unmistakably stand to gain in all material trappings like luxury cars, trips overseas and some financial deals to boot had he chosen to ignore his conscience and gone with the official line as some of his corrupted colleagues have done. Yet, he has put the nation and the people above himself. There is no agitation in him; no impatience with those who have chosen to prostitute the Dhamma. Yet, he keeps pressing softly and gently exuding a measure of the radiance of the Great Master. He knows he has found the solution.

In the Cunda Sutta the Buddha told Cunda, the smith:

“there are four kinds of monks, not a fifth. One kind has won the path; one expounds the path; one lives the path and one defiles the path.”

It is a matter of serious concern for true Buddhists that there are such large numbers of defilers wearing the robes of the well-conducted monks. By their incendiary rhetoric the latter variety of monks are able to gather mobs around them that become destructive. One of the monks belonging to these raucous, Buddhist Taliban called upon every monk in every temple to act as a cop “on behalf of the Buddhists.” Muslim traders are being intimidated; mosques and churches attacked. One media image of a raging monk was particularly disgusting.

Revd Maduluvawe Sobitha’s mission is of a totally different kind. He was quick to diagnose that Sri Lanka’s disease is a fault in the system or a systemic flaw. The root is the document that bares out the rules of the business of running the country or the social contract between people and their rulers. From this systemic blemish all current evils flow. If this script is not discarded all political actors now and in the future, whatever the color, will dance the devil.

Revd Sobitha rallied around him some eminent persons not tied to any political party, formed the National Movement for Social Justice and has now drafted proposals to amend the constitution of Sri Lanka. The drafting committee was headed by constitutional lawyer, Jayampathy Wickremaratne.

Revd Maduluwave Sobitha would unmistakably stand to gain in all material trappings like luxury cars, trips overseas and some financial deals to boot had he chosen to ignore his conscience and gone with the official line as some of his corrupted colleagues have done. Yet, he has put the nation and the people above himself.

In 1978 JR Jayawardenaintroduced the constitution that prevails to this day in a self-hallucinatory moment when he thought he could be kept in power by a document until he dies. The pre-1978 Westminster-type constitution gave our island peace and genuine development without epithets like ‘Gam Udawa,’ ‘Divineguma,’ ‘Deyata Kirula,’ ‘Mathata Thitha,’and so on. It was under the Pre-1978 constitution that huge Sri Lankan infrastructure like the numerous irrigation networks had been built; that massive colonization schemes had been set up; that Madya Maha Vidyalayas and Maha Vidyalas had been erected; that universities and Technical Colleges had been founded; that a vibrant healthcare system had been instituted and so on and so on. Sri Lanka had no pretending patriots those days; no claims of ‘aascharyas’. DS Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, Sirimawo Bandaranaika and JR himself for the first part of his rule, dealt with positive construction and positive development. Also, the great revolution of the liberalized economy, the Free Trade Zones, and the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Scheme etc-were all done or planned before the bahubootha vyawasthawa. Structural changes had been introduced and indeed the country was looking forward.

Alas! JR’s madness came down on the nation and the country began a slide to authoritarian rule where one man knows the truth and where one man takes the decisions for the people. Decision-making is at the center. The trend that JR’s constitution led to has reached logical culmination in nationally catastrophic proportions under the current regime. The new scenario is that the man in the center will decide that there must be a harbor in Hambantota, and an airport in Mattala disregarding the need for proper prior study. Hey presto these projects see the light of day with willing Chinese loans. In the same vein the center decides to nail and jailSarath Fonseka, once described “the greatest army commander in the world,” and Fonseka converted overnight from national hero to a jail- bird. Also, the center decides that the Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayake must go home and it is done. No questions. MPs put your hands up! Hang due process and send the rule of law and natural justice on a holiday! Nobody checks the center and nobody dares check.
To quote an apt example from outside Lanka we have a dictator in North Korea who has decided that he must go to war with South Korea and shoot down America, too. Even in the face of a crumbling domestic economy Kim Jong-un decides that the priority is war. He is rallying round patriotism for this cause. The media is being shaped to persuade the populace that the “Dear Leader,” has found an incarnation in Kim Jong-un.

Under this absolutist constitution all power is concentrated at the center. All government agencies are subsumed under the center and there is little space for institutional independence that alone can bring truly creative and productive decisions for the people. Furthermore, the seductive power of a powerful center will complement the constitutional proclivity for authoritarian rule. Centralized decision making is inherently flawed because by eliminating or discouraging inputs from independent external contributors the nation is put into a very vulnerable situation. The path is laid for a corrupt tyranny acting at its will and pleasure and consulting with only a favorite circle before making decisions that affect the welfare of people.

The central plank in Revd Sobitha’s proposals is the abolition of this absolutist constitution and its replacement by the Westminster model of more collective decision-making. The Prime Minister in Britain is said to be primus inter pares or ‘first among equals’. This has, however, not meant a weakening of the center in countries like Britain and Australia that follow the Westminster model. In effect, British Prime Ministers and Australian Prime Ministers have been virtual presidents and their election campaigns are done in presidential style. When Kevin Rudd led the Labor campaign in 2007 the slogan was “Kevin 07.” How did that differ from Obama’s campaign? On the other hand, the office of the president of Sri Lanka is something overpowering and capable of invading the whole government apparatus once parliamentary control is obtained. This appalling invasion is what discerning Lankans see taking place today. Parliament, judiciary, elections, Attorney General, Auditor General, police and all institutions that are expected to keep an independent presence to check an executive that can go wrong are under the president’s heel.

This is why Revd Sobitha’s proposals are also aimed at returning the independence of the judiciary, elections, Public Service etc so that the rule of law is restored.

Revd Sobitha, next, invokes the return to the First- Past- the Post- system of elections that Lanka had enjoyed pre-1978. Under the prevailing proportional representation (PR) system all that a candidate for parliamentary elections need do is to have his/her name put in the party list. He need not have an electoral base and he can be any bandit or drug dealer. The party bureaucracy (in effect, again the president) decides. Under the old system a potential candidate is tied to a particular electorate and he must always be accountable to that electorate. The accountability is lost under PR. MPs can behave any way they desire and even disregard the people that elected him as all they got to do is to please the party and the president.

The campaign of Revd Maduluwawe Sobitha and his National Movement for Social Justice has got to reach widespread popular appeal before it can succeed. The political ruling class-both those in office and those praying to get into office- have far too much to benefit by the current system and will not yield unless forced. The damage of absolutist rule has more to complete its course before people can awaken.

*Shyamon Jayasinghe, a Peradeniya University graduate in Philosophy, worked as a public servant in Sri Lanka specializing in Management. He subsequently worked in Australia where he is now domiciled. A frequent commentator on social and political issues in Sri Lanka, he is renowned for his astonishing role as the Narrator (POTE GURA) of the original production, in 1956,  of Ediriweera Sarchchandra’s theatre classic Maname. His interpretation of this role has become the model that  all performers of the role in subsequent plays of this genre have emulated.