Tolstoy’s Hadji Murad : Sri Lankan Parallels?

By Charles Ponnuthurai Sarvan -October 31, 2013 

Prof. Charles Sarvan

The mind often functioning associatively, this work by Tolstoy (set in Chechnya; one of the last stories he ever wrote) reminded me of Sri Lanka and of a certain Tamil militant now turned government supporter. Subservient and still useful to the government, he is permitted to have an armed gang; as a reward, he is above the helpless and hapless Tamil population.

Russia attempted to absorb Chechnya into its empire but met with fierce resistance: the leitmotif of the novella is the thistle which defends itself using its thorns with ferocious determination. The mountains and thick forests they knew so well were an advantage. Their resistance made the Russians fear and hate the Chechens, and they resorted to all means to vanquish the guerrillas, including attacks on civilians (children and women not exempt) and the deliberate destruction of their livelihood. Many were killed, and many more fled the region. In 1847, the Chechen population was about 1. 5 million; in 1861 it was 140, 000 and in 1867 it was down to 116,000. (Tamil dispersal and dwindling are on-going.)

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The World Today: China, India And The United States As Seen From Sri Lanka

By Rajiva Wijesinha -October 31, 2013

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha MP

Let me begin with one of the formative myths of the Sri Lankan state. It deals with the introduction of Buddhism to the country, in the 2^nd century BC. The king at the time, Devanampiyatissa, was out hunting when he came across a strange man in the forests of Mihintale. This was Mahinda, the son, or some say the brother, of the Mauryan Emperor Asoka, who had converted to Buddhism after a terrible war in which, to complete his conquest of India, he had slaughtered thousands.

When the monk saw Tissa, he asked him whether he saw the mango tree before them. Tissa said yes, and then the monk asked whether there were other mango trees. Tissa said yes, and then the monk asked if there were trees other than mango trees. Tissa said yes again, whereupon the monk asked whether, apart from all the other mango trees, and all the other trees that were not mango trees in the world, there were any other trees.

Tissa thought hard, and then replied that there was indeed the original mango tree the monk had pointed out. This was when Mahinda decided that Tissa was a fit person to understand the doctrines of Buddhism, so he preached to him and converted him and through him his people. Buddhism has since been the dominant religion in Sri Lanka, though, I think uniquely, we also have substantial proportions of our population belonging to the other principal faiths of the world, Hinduism and Islam and Christianity.

When I was young I used to think the story a silly one, but I have since understood its implications for the way we should look at the world. It seems to me now the epitome of what I would describe as the Eastern vision of the individual, society and the world, as opposed to the dichotomies the West believes in, and therefore often creates. In what I would posit as an ideal concept of our relations with the world, we should see ourselves as existing at the centre of several concentric circles, to all of which we belong. While we share aspects of identity with others belonging to those circles, ultimately we need also to be aware of the unique nature of our own individuality.

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