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
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, June 1, 2019
Demonization And Criminalization Of Religions
Experiencing the bright and dark, both faces of life, are we filled with love, kindness, compassion, and non-judgment toward others and also ourselves.
'If a person foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the
protection of my boundless love. The more evil that comes from him the
more good will go from me. I will always give off only the fragrance of
goodness.' (Lord Buddha).
Like the air pervading the whole planet, nationalism is both omnipresent
and impalpable. It interpenetrates the psyche and the minds of every
individual. This behavior can be seen as both conservative and as a
revolutionary force, threating the status quo.
Over the past years, rising nationalism is seen everywhere and in
everything. From the time of election of Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa to the
establishment of Mr. Maithripala Sirisena as presidents of this country.
The end of nationalism has been predicted multiple times by historians
and scholars. However, neither is there an inevitable tide of
nationalism that is engulfing the world, nor is nationalism universally
in decline. Despite shared dynamics and integration, Sri Lanka remains
too diverse to be caught up in a single torrent of nationalism, because
of the tolerance of Buddhism and true Buddhists in this country.
Buddhism is humanistic, in that it rejoices in the possibility of a true
freedom as something inherent in human nature. For Buddhism, the
ultimate freedom is to achieve full release from the root causes of all
suffering: greed, hatred and delusion, which clearly are also the root
causes of all social evils.
It is the belief of great minds among the Buddhists is, that they
believe that world peace can only be achieved if we first establish
peace within our minds. Buddhists believe people can live in peace and
harmony only if, we as Buddhists abandon negative emotions such as anger
in our minds and cultivate positive emotions such as love and
compassion.
The Buddha does not link violence with mimeticism – hysterical neurosis -
He does warn against thinking of human relationships in terms of
rivalries to be won or injuries to be avenged, and he urges his
followers not to imitate the example of those who wrong them.
But what the President and his people, who seem to be proclaiming that
they are the defenders of Buddhism, seem to be doing everything to the
contrary; in that they are conspicuously, offensively and blatantly
involved in anything and everything that is evil and quite perverse and
quite adverse to Buddhist teachings – They are no better than those who
promulgate extremism and terrorism under the guise of the religion of
Islam.
It is no wonder we can see an unholy alliance between the two evils.
Both parties seem to be recklessly determined on demonization and
criminalization of both religions.
This attitude clearly shows a defiant disregard for danger or
consequences to the people of this country where their main aim is to
grab power by hook or by crook. Malicious behaviour without any attempt
at concealment by the leaders and their supporters - openly and
blatantly violating every law and every form of human decency
Let us take a look at the current scenario:
We have here two parties - The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP -
Pohottuwa) and The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) One is the evil party,
and the other is the stupid party, respectively. And the president
seems to be very proud to be a member of the stupid party. Frequently,
the two parties get together to do something that's both evil and
stupid. And that is called bipartisanship.
Political corruption is an essential characteristic of organized crime.
The two go hand in hand, organized crime tries to buy political
influence and to provide space for or eliminate blockages to their
illegal practices. This relates to bribery of police, judges,
politicians and whatnots and infiltration of these offices of government
by organized crime, commonly referred to as state capture.
State Capture is defined as the efforts of a small number of firms or
such groups as the military, ethnic groups and kleptocratic politicians,
to shape the rules of the game to their advantage through illicit,
non-transparent provision of private gains to public officials.
Attempts to remove and actually removing honest professionals to appoint
dishonourable and incompetent people at the highest echelons of our
political and justice systems have severely undermined the rule of law
in Sri Lanka.
The World Justice Project defines “rule of law” as ‘the process by which
the laws, in a democracy, are enacted, administered, and enforced is
accessible, fair, and efficient’. This means that the level of a
country’s democracy is determined by its adherence to the basic
principles in which all people – regardless of their economic, political
or ethnic status – are subject to equal legal rules.
This principle is critically important for the success of any country.
It provides a clear national system that is to be applied fairly to
every group and person. Without this, the system will increasingly lose
credibility and public trust.
Criminality and instability will increase, putting everyone at risk. Our
justice system is the cornerstone for ensuring the rule of law
functions in an effective and healthy way.
Over the past few years, the conduct of various top prominent officials
in our country, has severely and gravely undermined this constitutional
principle and the very foundation of our democracy. Following careful
consideration of the hard evidence placed before various courts, a
number of judges and luminaries in the judiciary have independently
questioned the integrity and conduct and behaviour of some of our most
senior so-called “responsible” officials.
Our people actually rely on the individuals who occupy these eminent and
distinguished positions, to exercise their considerable powers in
tackling organised crime and corruption. However, quite the contrary, it
has emerged through various court cases and legal processes they seemed
to use their powers to protect various individuals facing serious
criminal allegations.
Our investigation and analysis seem to point to a hidden network of
profoundly dishonest individuals within the government and the justice
system, who have either been appointed by top-level politicians, or are
acting with the primary purpose of protecting certain powerful people
from criminal sanction, rather than in the public interest.
Today we see and are experiencing corruption and organised crime, drugs,
fraud, money-laundering and racketeering, by all accounts, have
increased substantially since the incumbent president came to power.
A malfunctioning law enforcement provides a suitable breeding ground for
organized crime. Where criminals of brands and types are firmly rooted;
police and the justice system become weakened by bribery and
intimidation.
We should perceive the prevalence of organized crime and political
corruption as an important indicator of the presence or absence of the
rule - Where no rule of law exists, poverty eradication is purposeless,
superfluous and meaningless.
"Without a functioning justice system, both the government and civil
society are defenseless against rampant crime and corruption and
development is likely to stagnate - strengthening the rule of law,
however, makes no sense if political will is lacking.
Great spiritual leaders and philosophers have said that wisdom takes us
above the basic instincts. It doesn’t let us be reduced to mere puppets
in the hands powerful manipulators for our instant gratification. Wisdom
gives our mind the power to differentiate between justified and
unjustified and act accordingly.
Experiencing the bright and dark, both faces of life, are we filled with
love, kindness, compassion, and non-judgment toward others and also
ourselves.
Winding up with these words of wisdom from a person no less than Chief Seattle:
"You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the
ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your
children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your
children what we have taught our children -- that the earth is our
mother. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. If
men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know.
The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we
know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not
weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to
the web, he does to himself ..."
[Chief Seattle - c.1786 – June 7, 1866 was a Suquamish and Duwamish chief – Blake Island, Washington.]