Monks To Hunt A Monk

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

In a bid to confront the elusive head of Jana Bala Sena, Vijitha
Thero, the group of monks and the associates of the rival Bodu
Bala Sena organization have treaded on dangerous grounds by
forcibly entering the premises of the inistry of !ommerce
and Industry"
The media pictures portray the body language of these monks as rough and tough #ith one of
them raising his hand arguing #ith a police officer" These officers look like meek lambs and
behave like kittens against the marauding monks #ho searched the ministry office to target
their adversary" $ate crashing a public institution at one%s #him and fancy is an utter contempt
of the la#, like the politicians, they are also immune from the la#"
The bone of contentions is the inister &ishad Bathiudeen taking measures to resettle some
families #ho #ere earlier forced out by the 'TT( from annar" The BBS argue the inister
has overstepped and encroached on the sanctuary of the )ilpattu *ational +ark" If this is the
truth, the inister himself has trespassed and made the poor families to face further trouble" To
solve similar issues created by the inister, authorities are there to institute action in a court of
la# as this is a humanitarian problem and should be vie#ed #ith patience and sympathetic
understanding" These people should be relocated else#here
But the BBS #ants its pound of flesh and avenge the JBS monk #ho is supposed to have
supported the inister%s action" This is the reason #hy they disrupted the press briefing held by
this monk at !olombo hotel" In the above instances and also in the past, the action of the BBS
has been of anger, arrogance vengeance,and they are not in tandem #ith Buddhism #hich they
claim to protect and promote since it is, as they vie#, facing a big threat no#"
eeting the al#atte aha *ayake Thero, the BBS charged that there are religious e-tremist
and fundamentalist groups #ho are all out to destroy Buddhism in the country" This belief is
only the figment of their imagination and it is very unfortunate they have allo#ed their
imagination to run riot" 'et%s hark back to the four and a half a century of colonial rule of our
country #here Buddhism has remained unscathed and shone like a star" If it has seen a recent
decline like some other religions, it is because the adherents have gone astray, and in changing
times, falling prey to materialism abandoning the path of spiritualism" It is obvious that
e-tremists or fundamentalist from a minority religion, if any, cannot have an overbearing
influence on Buddhism and #ield any clout to destroy it" It%s pure bunkum"
!onsider our crime and suicide rates" The daily papers bring the sordid ne#s of violence, rape
and murder of horrendous proportions" In recent times, these incidents have been on the rise"
)hat is the chief cause for these unfortunate happenings. These crimes happen because people
have abandoned the spiritual values of life" ost of the offenders come from the majority
community" The BBS has a role to play here/ instead of #asting their time on frivolous charges
against the so called religious e-tremists and fundamentalists" (ducate the ignorant and
uneducated the #orth of spiritual lives and values"
'eave this racial and religious issue, if any, to the relevant authorities" +lease do not foment
hatred and stoke the flames of communal discord and racial rancor" )e all have suffered
enough for the last 01 years" Is this not enough. 2ostering Buddhism cannot be achieved by
targeting other religions" It could only be achieved through the eradication of the causes of the
aforementioned crimes committed daily" The Bodu Bala Sena must cleanse the society of these
if it #ants to preserve Buddhism/ instead of going on a #ild goose chase and indulging in hate
speeches" 'et saner counsel prevails for the good of all concerned"
It is also relevant to state that #henever and #herever the BBS has fle-ed its muscles, the
police have vacillated in taking positive, punitive, action"
Their communal vendetta and vitriolic language is not conducive for peace and harmony" Their
communal campaign has forced the authorities to set up a special police unit in all police
stations to deal #ith all religious issues and tensions"
)hether it could be effectively tackled is uncertain, unless the government steps in to rein in
these e-tremist miscreants #ho pose as the self,appointed saviors of the major religion"
" 3zar 4a#ood
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Unruly Monks Go Berserk?
It #as ne#s that a group of onks, numbering around 61, had forcibly entered a hotel in
+olonnaru#a and threatened journalists #ho #ere attending a training course conducted by an
International non,g/overnmental organisation called 7Search for $round"% Thirty journalists,
male and female, #ere follo#ing the t#o day training programme"
The monks 7had insisted on the training programme being abandoned as it #as being financed
from funds generating in 3merica one of the countries that supported the resolution against Sri
'anka at the recently concluded 8* 9uman &ights !ouncil sessions held in $eneva"
The :monks, on the one hand, had trespassed into the premises #here the training programme,
#as being conducted, and on the other, disrupted the training programme proceedings, taking
the la# into their o#n hands" The training programme had been cancelled as a result,
That is just another instance monks have behaved as thugs using the respect of the people
to#ards the saffron robes, thereby disgracing the !heevarayas ;robes< they #ore, These monks
do not seem to understand the damage they do,to our country%s good image locally and
internationally as #ell as the harms they do to the good name of the aha Sangha by their
despicable actions" It is to the credit of the organisers and participants of the training
programme and the hotel staff #ho acted #ith restraint sho#ing great respect for the robes and
avoided a confrontation #hich other#ise #ould have resulted in an unsavoury situation"
I #onder #hether there is a secret organisation engaged in buying over Buddhist monks to
indulge in unruly behaviour so as to bring the aha Sangha to disrepute" Therefore, it is
imperative to nip in the bud the e-ploitation of Buddhist monks as cats pa#s"
8pali S" Jayasekera
ount 'avinia
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Monk Expounding Holy Quran
I sa# in the net recently, a monk strongly advising a gathering of Sinhala people not to eat or
drink from uslim hotels as they ;hotel #orkers< spit thrice on eatables and drinks and then
serve the Sinhalese" 2urther, he stresses that the 9oly =ur%an itself compels to do so"
9o# cruel it is to utter such #ords> I mean, of mentioning that it appears in the 9oly =ur%an"
*o man #ill spit on foods and give even to a cat or dog" This monk has not seen the Sinhala
and uslim neighbours eating together sitting around 7savans% ;? or @ people sitting around a
platter< #hether it is #eddings, almsgivings or a friendly gatherings"
9o#ever, Sinhala brothers are not so simpleton to absorb such cheap talks into their minds"
)hat I feel sad is #hy should religion be dragged to the contemporary subjects irrelevant to
religion"
These meaningless utterances by Buddhist monks create strong detest to#ards Islam" Ane%s
religion becomes sublime according to the #ay one respects the religion of another"
*obody should encourage creating hatred or enmity to one another in this small country #here
all #ish to live in harmony"
)e are not permanent here and therefore #hy develop resentment for a short peaceful living"
3ll are human beings and for them to live in harmony and unity, religious leaders centuries ago
have already preached enough"
*aszly !assiam
!olombo B0
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Bodu Bala Sena And Ministerial La !" #ungle
The recent visit of officials of Bodu Bala Sena to arichikaddi in annar 4istrict resulted in
highlighting the nation the utter violation and misuse of ministerial po#ers by !ommerce and
Industries inister &ishad Bathiudeen in the resettlement of uslims in arichikaddi"
'ike the Tamils in annar 4istrict, the uslims of arichikaddi, too #ere displaced in BDD1"
But unlike the Tamils, the uslims #ere settled in camps and sheds in +uttalam #ith the help
of the government" The minister, having forgotten the fact that he has been given the portfolio
to serve the citizens of Sri 'anka, is acting as a inister of uslims #ith the ulterior motive of
increasing his vote bank using foreign funds meant for the resettlement of all deserving
displaced people in the 4istrict"
3s the resettlement process is going on in the *orth and (ast #ith foreign aid and the blessings
of the government, the people of arichikaddi, too deserve to be resettled in their ancestral
village" 3ccordingly most people have been resettled in their original village of arichikaddi,
no#" But in the sake of resettling people of arichikaddi, inister has cleared a long stretch of
land in the thick jungle that belongs to the 2orest 4epartment, beyond arichikaddi, on either
sides of the arichikaddi C annar road and built houses, #here there had never been any
villages in the kno#n history"
These houses have been earmarked for uslims only, chosen by the inister%s 7assistants"
These uslims are not alone from arichikaddi but from other parts of usali 3$3 division"
9e has done this #ith foreign aid meant for displaced people in the region that includes
uslims and Tamils" But these houses have been named after some 3rab businessmen" any
#onder #hether the inister commits all these ugly practices #ith the kno#ledge of the
government or #hether he has been clever enough to keep the government officials in the dark
in this regard,"
)ho gave the inister authority to receive fund directly from a foreign agency and resettle his
chosen people as he #ishes on lands belonging to the state. Is he the inister of &esettlement.
*o #onder that the government came under criticism in $eneva for human rights violations"
3rbitrary acts,of this kind of rogue ministers mar the good image of government in the
international arena" 3nd the government%s silence and blind eye on this, #ould connect the
government party to the nasty act of inister &ishad #ho had also threatened a judge in
annar last year" Instead of sacking him from his ministerial post for inciting a mob attack on
the court comple- in annar, the government saved him using all its po#ers, for #hich the
government earned the #rath of all the decent citizens of the country from the *orth to South"
So it is high time that the government to take stern action against the minister%s violations
misusing his po#ers in all his involvements" To that end, the government should immediately
take over all the ne#ly built houses in the said region and hand them over to the deserving
people through the *ational 9ousing 3uthority or any relevant state institutions"
3lternatively, as a good#ill gesture, the government could hand over the houses to the
*orthern +rovincial !ouncil and direct it to distribute the houses for the deserving people
displaced from the area" That includes a cluster of three uslim villages and one Tamil village,
namely arichikaddi, +alaikuli, Earadikuli and ullikulam"
Ar else, the ne#ly built houses could be distributed among the government servants from this
cluster of villages" 3lso it is high time that right thinking Tamils to support Bodu Bala Sena in
all its good causes #ithout any un#anted prejudice against it, as BBS approaches in to this type
of issues #ith national interest in mind no# and in the future" It does not oppose the
resettlement of people in their original, ancestral villages" )e should not forget the fact that the
Bodu Bala Sena has highlighted the public an issue that,the so called Tamil political saviors
have failed to do C a controversial issue #hich badly affects the Tamils in the area in particular,
the reconciliation of Tamils and uslims and the national interest in general"
!oncerned citizen
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Appre$iation
4r" +andu 'iyanage
A Great Hu%anitarian And &edi$ated All'(ounder
4r +anduka 4eepala +itigala 'iyanage ;+andu< passed a#ay on January" 6Ftb, 61BF, after
suffering from a prolonged illness" 3t that time he #as GF years old" +andu #as a person of
distinction #ho hailed from a reputed family" late Samuel +itigala 'iyanage from $alle #as his
father, and his mother #as 'ilian )ithanachchi" There are seven members of his family" 9e had
t#o elder sisters and four brothers" 9e #as the eldest among the boys"
3ll his brothers achieved very #ell in their respective fields" Jayasiri ;Jay< is in the 8S3"
Eithsiri ;Eit<, retired &esident &epresentative from Sehering 3$, $ermany" Sumathie
;Sumith<, retired 4eputy Inspector $eneral of +olice and also he #as a *ational 9eavy )eight
Bo-er, #ho represented Sri 'anka ;then !eylon< at the Alympic in Sydney 3ustralia in BD@1"
Houngest brother 'ashman is in the 8E #orking as an accountant" 3s he #as the eldest boy in
the family he #as #ell a#are of his responsibility" 9e #as a bright and promising student"
9aving had his primary education at usaeus !ollege, #here his mother #as in the tutorial
staff, later he #ent to 3manda !ollege in BD0F as $rade B student, and there he studied till
BDFG" 9e #as a member of JuniorISenior !adet +latoon, and very good arksman too" 9e
represented !ollege in !ricket, 3thletics and Bo-ing" 3fter he left the school, he joined Is
'e#is Bro#n and" !ompany as a medical representative and #orked dedicatedly receiving
regular promotions up to managerial level" 2rom the +harmaceutical e-perience he gained from
'e#is Bro#n, he started his o#n company J*eo +harmaK in !olombo"
Being a member of the 3nanda !ollege Ald Boys 3ssociation, he hold many senior positions
including its presidency in BDD6" 4uring the period bet#een BDLG and BDGF the #riter #as an
e-ecutive committee member of the AB and +andu #as the vice president" )hen he #as the
!hairman of the !ollege 4evelopment +roject Sub !ommittee, this #riter #as also a s member
of the same committee"
+andu #as one of the devoted hard #orking persons #ho set up the Senior Ald 3nandians
family of the oldest living 3nandians in BDDB along #ith the late &anapala Bodhinagoda and
the late $3+" 4hanatunga" )hen he #as the +resident of this association, he published a
journal once in every si- month to carry the activities of the Ald 3nandians group and the latest
ne#s, and he generously contributed all the e-penses to published the journal for many years"
An B1th of July, BDGD, his contribution to the health and public sectors #as recognized by the
8niversity for !omplementary edicine #hen it #as conferred upon him the honorary
4octorate C a great achievement in his life" 4r" +andu #as a *ational +resident of Jaycees and
later he became its Senator" 3lso he #as the +resident of the 'ions 01@ and later became its
4istrict $overnor" 9e #as one of the vice president at Sinhalese Sports !lub and later he
received honorary life membership for his honesty, dedication and truthfulness" ost of the
3nandian cricketers including )orld !up #inning !aptain 3rjuna &anatunga joined SS3 and
played cricket for it because of 4r" +andu"
9e #as happily married to a very kind and compassionate lady, erly, #ho e-hibits good sense
of humour at every time" 4uring his lifetime, she stood by him in all his undertakings to serve
the people and friends" 9is t#o daughters &uklanthi, 8dayanthi and son aithri and all his
family members encouraged and assisted him in his every humanitarian activity"2are#ell dear
friend, ay you 3ttain Supreme Bliss of *ibbana>
eghavarna Eumarasinghe