A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, June 25, 2017
BBS-Yahapalana link proved
* Gnansara Thera breaks Hirunika’s record
* Yahapalana stalwart Ulapane Sumangala Thera roots for BBS
* The risk taken by the Asgiriya Mahanayake Thera
Gnanasara Thera near a courthouse
by C.A.Chandraprema-June 24, 2017, 12:00 pm
The
events that people saw unfolding last Wednesday proved beyond a shadow
of doubt what this writer said in the last two columns – that the latest
spate of anti-Muslim violence unleashed by the Bodu Bala Sena has been
orchestrated by elements within the yahapalana government that are
trying to win over a section of the Sinhala Buddhist vote which has been
gravitating heavily to the Joint Opposition. We pointed out that both
Champika Ranawaka and President Maithripala Sirisena had an interest in
using the Bodu Bala Sena to split the Sinhala Buddhist vote and that the
impunity enjoyed by the BBS in the past several weeks is due to
patronage at the highest levels of the government. Last Wednesday
Gnansara Thera created legal history by obtaining bail on three
occasions in the course of a single day. In one case he was formally
arrested and a statement was recorded from him and he was presented
before a Magistrate and released on bail all within minutes.
Thus Gnanasara Thera broke the record set earlier by Hirunika
Premachandra in the abduction case against her. Some people may be under
the impression that all that was because of the broadside fired by the
Ven. Mahanayake of the Asgiriya Chapter against the government last
Tuesday. Gnansara Thera came out of hiding the very next day. However
there was no causal link between the statement made by the Ven
Mahanayake Thera and Karaka Sanga Sabha of the Asgiriya Chapter and
Gnanasara Thera’s release. His surrender to courts had been under
discussion for days. This week’s Ravaya has in fact revealed that the
police had through a hurriedly filed motion, amended their B report so
that the offence for which he was to be arrested would be made bailable.
Earlier it had been the ICCPR Act that had been cited which makes the
incitement of ethnic or religious tensions a non-bailable offence. With
the amendment of the B-report a different law had been invoked and it
had been made possible to grant bail to Gnanasara Thera.
In fact the Bodu Bala Sena said at a press conference held on 16 June
that Gnanasara Thera may surrender to courts in due course. Then at the
press conference held by the BBS on 20 June, they stated more definitely
that he would be present in courts the next day. It would have been
inconceivable for the yahapalana government to put him behind bars. As
we said last week, Ganansara Thera did spend some time behind bars under
this government, but that was an unscheduled event which took place not
due to any action taken by this government but due to steps taken by
the Homagama Magistrate.
The reason why he has the same immunity under this government that he
enjoyed under the Rajapaksa government is because the same elements
under whose patronage he functioned under the previous government are
protecting him under the present government as well. The missing or
invisible link is the Jathika Hela Urumaya. Last Wednesday, a yahapalana
stalwart, Ven. Ulapane Sumangala was present at the Fort Magistrate’s
court when bail was granted to Gnanasara Thera. Some days earlier,
speaking as a member of the Anti-Corruption Front, he had criticized the
attempt that was being made at that time to arrest Gnanasara Thera
without arresting members of other communities who also had made
statements that were plainly inimical to harmony between the ethnic and
religious communities living in this country.
That was taken a step further when Sumangala Thera turned up at The
Fort Magistrate’s court when Gnanasara Thera surrendered. Ranjith
Keerthi Tennakoon has resigned from the Anti-Corruption Front in protest
at the stand taken by Sumangala Thera. All this while, the live wire
behind the Anti-Corruption Front was Tennakoon. We were not able to
contact Tennakoon for his comments. So we see that the exposure of the
yahapalana link to the BBS is causing angst in some quarters.
Asgiriya initiative to save Maha Sangha
The statement made by the Ven Mahanayake of the Asgiriya Chapter is one
of the most important political interventions made by the Bhikku
community in recent times. This lead was soon followed by the Ramanna
Nikaya also making a statement on similar terms. While the Asgiriya
Chapter statement dealt with many matters of national importance, the
riskiest part of that statement was the part that pertained to Gnansara
Thera. Basically, what the Asgiriya Chapter statement said about
Gnansara Thera is that they do not approve or condone his behaviour but
that they will not dismiss the issues that he has been raising and that
the government should find out whether there is any truth in what that
monk has been saying. The statement also took exception to Gnanasara
Thera being singled out while inflammatory statements had been made by
members of other communities who had got off Scot free. The statement
also took exception to people referring to Ganansara Thera only by name.
Out of respect to the Ven Mahanayake and Karaka Sangha Sabha of the
Asgiriya Chapter I too will refer to him not simply as ‘Gnanasara’ but
as Gnanasara Thera or Ven. Gnanasara not because I have suddenly evinced
any respect for this monk but because of the importance of what the
Asgiriya Chapter has tried to do. Admittedly, the Asgiriya Chapter has
taken the initiative to handle a difficult situation and we all need to
cooperate. The respect of the Buddhist dispensation is at stake. Some
may say that the action that the Buddhist establishment should have
taken would be to remove Ganansara Thera from the monkhood instead of
asking the world to show respect to a monk who behaves like a hooligan.
Expelling a monk from the Sangha is next to impossible under the present
laws and internal rules of the various Nikayas. So the Asgiriya Chapter
has started at the other end. Usually, no one is ordained as a monk
without a reading of his horoscope to see whether it would be possible
for the person concerned to fulfill the vows of a monk. The system has
worked fairly well except in the case of rare instances like that of
Gnansara Thera when the reading of the horoscope has gone horribly
wrong.
The Asgiriya Chapter has also in a statement that represents not just
the Mahanayke Thera but the entire Nikaya said that they do not approve
of the way Ganansara Thera behaves. The point that this writer too has
always made about Gnanasara Thera is not any issues that he may raise
but his behaviour which is that of a thug, not a monk. Even the most
boorish and uncivilized politician would baulk at behaving the way
Gnanasara Thera does in public. He uses the saffron robe to get away
with any outrage he may commit and he claims to be doing it on behalf of
the Sinhalese. By calling upon the public not to refer to Gnanasara
thera in disrespectful terms, the Asgiriya Chapter has gone out on a
limb in an attempt to safeguard the respect of the Maha Sangha. If
Gnanasara Thera engages in violence and the uttering of obscenities in
public again, that would be a direct affront and a case of treating the
entire Asgiriya Chapter with contempt.
If Gnanasara Thera gets up to his usual antics again, the Asgiriya
Chapter will have no option but to issue a ‘sanghaagnawa’ against him.
After obtaining bail, Gnanasara Thera went to see the Asgiriya Mahanayke
Thera and later said that he will henceforth do as instructed by the
Ven Asgiriya Mahanayake Thera. We sincerely hope that he will stick to
his word without bringing any further disrepute upon the Maha Sangha.
Gnanasara Thera became known to the world only because of his uncouth
manner of speech and thuggish behaviour. He has nothing else to
distinguish him other than his notoriety as a thug-monk. If he stops
behaving in that manner he will not get the media attention that he
usually gains. So we have to wait and see whether he is willing to
become a nonentity again in order to uphold the respect and authority of
the Asgiriya Chapter.
Other than Gnanasara Thera’s matter, the Asgiriya Chapter statement
dealt with several other matters, such as the inflammatory statements
made by certain minority community politicians with complete impunity,
the various new laws that the government has been introducing that seem
to be targeting the Sinhala Buddhist community, the systematic
encroachment on state land and forest reserves by certain minority
communities, the government’s attempt to assume control over certain key
Buddhist sites to promote tourism, and even reported attempts on the
part of certain elements to eliminate the Sinhala race. The statement
also contained an unequivocal warning to followers of other religions
that the Buddhist way of life should not be disrespected. It is rarely
indeed that one sees such a broadside against a government by such an
important section of the Buddhist establishment. It’s not just Gnanasara
Thera who has been put on notice but the government that is using him
as well.