There has been an outburst against the Cardinal. There have been many. The latest one was from Dayasri Jayasekara of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) who purportedly was defending the leader of the party, former President Maithripala Sirisena.
Jayasekara accused Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith – the local head of the Catholic Church – of being politically motivated. No doubt, the verbal assault by the Cardinal on former President Sirisena days before had been scathing. Cardinal Ranjith had asked whether Sirisena was wearing clothes when he said he wanted to come before the people once more, seeking their vote.
The inference was clear. In the light of the PCoI (Presidential Commission of Inquiry) report squarely blaming the former President for his role in neglecting to heed intelligence about the Easter Sunday attacks, the former President was brazen and guileless to come forward seeking the people’s vote.
The Cardinal, too, is entitled to free speech. He is also entitled to speak his mind on behalf of his flock. But is it fair to tar him with the same brush that politicians are tarred on a regular basis?
To accuse the Cardinal of being politically motivated is wrong on many levels, and to let the statement stand without anyone calling for an apology by Jayasekara is a sign of our times. What has our political culture come to? Will Jayasekara accuse the Pope of having politics on his mind if there is a statement by Pope Francis condemning those who allowed the Easter Sunday attacks to happen?
Jayasekara has to hang his head in shame for pointing an accusing finger at the Cardinal, saying that the latter had waded into the cesspool of petty politics. But worse, our politics and the level to which the national political discourse had sunk was laid bare in the fact that nobody from either side of the political aisle called for Jayasekara to apologise. Jayasekara’s unguarded frontal assault on a religious figure making an observation primarily on behalf of his flock was deemed par for the course by the political players of our time, sending the unmistakable signal that the political culture of this country is badly dysfunctional.
This is not the first time various politicians or their henchmen have tried to paint the Cardinal as a “political animal”. That card has been played before. It’s true that His Eminence Cardinal Ranjith is very outspoken. He has clear views on the events of the day. On more than one occasion, the Cardinal has called this a Buddhist country and uttered words to the effect that Buddhism has to be given the foremost place in this nation’s scheme of things.
For these words too, His Eminence has been made the target of thinly veiled attacks of a political nature. Sometimes, the verbal assaults on the Cardinal have been frontal. A writer styling himself as “Don Manu” accused Cardinal Ranjith of playing politics. Don Manu, referring to the Cardinal, wrote to a national weekly, stating: “Whilst that may well be the common ad lib three-wheel drivers frequently use to keep amused and entertained passengers on their metred rides, the question must be raised whether it should have been the subject matter for a cardinal at so sacrosanct an event? Whether they were the appropriate words quoted chapter and verse from the book of his political psalms to soothe and balm the sorrow of his grieving flock?”
All the Cardinal had said to deserve this diatribe was that the then Government should go home, giving way to more able people to govern. For that, he was compared to a three-wheel driver trying to keep his passengers entertained!
The Cardinal’s attack on the then Government was not unprovoked. It happened after it became abundantly clear that the previous Government had neglected national security and undermined the military intelligence network, leading the way to an attack on churches and five-star hotels that shocked the world.
If the head of the local Catholic Church cannot call for the resignation of the government for being unable to protect his flock of ordinary men, women, and children without being accused of playing politics, there must be something seriously amiss in our political culture.
The Cardinal is unique in that he has made it his personal mission to ensure that all elements connected to the heinous Easter Sunday attacks are brought to justice. He is super-dedicated to this mission on behalf of his flock. Is it wrong to be dedicated to the cause of protecting one’s faithful?
Or is the Cardinal expected to follow the path of most contemporary politicians and take a light-hearted view of the Easter Sunday attacks? Remember the set of Cabinet Ministers from the former Government that had a belly laugh at a press conference soon after the Easter bombings, saying what has happened has happened?
That’s our politics. Nobody in high office in this country resigns for any calamity or any major misstep that happened on their watch.
In Japan, ministers have been known to resign when they are 20 minutes late for a public function. Accountability to the public of that sort is unheard of here; they don’t even resign when they have been obviously negligent and remiss. Leave alone resigning, they are so smug as to have a good belly laugh about it all before the television cameras. The Cardinal wants to put a stop to this brazen political culture of impunity by the political leadership. For this, he has to be applauded, and not thrown under the bus and called names to the effect that he has become a partisan political animal.
But this has essentially become our politics. Black is white, and white is black. Everybody including those who want to be responsible for their flock, or by those to whom they answer to, are measured by the same yardstick of political taint that politicians use on each other.
But these are apolitical figures and the Cardinal, even when he is outspoken, is an apolitical figure. Has he ever been known to benefit materially or otherwise from any government in power? Has he ever been heard to say on any political platform that the voters should cast their ballots for such and such a candidate?
The answer is an emphatic no. He has, on the contrary, in good conscience, spoken his mind on the issues of the day, particularly when it comes to matters that concern the church and the followers of the Catholic faith. When he says that this is a Buddhist country, he has not cast himself as a partisan political player. He has never said “this is a Buddhist country, therefore you must vote for so-and-so”.
But various critics of the Cardinal have had the audacity to read a political message into perfectly legitimate opinions of the local leader of the Catholic faith. They may not agree with him, but if they respect non-partisan and democratic discourse in a country, they must defend to the death the right of the Cardinal to offer his opinions, instead of trying to pigeonhole him into one political camp or another.
Dayasri Jayasekara or anyone else is free to disagree with the Cardinal on any of the latter’s observations. When Cardinal Ranjith has subject the leader of the SLFP to a scathing attack, of course they are entitled to say that he is wrong, or misinformed. Nobody is asking that the Cardinal be permitted to go entirely unchallenged on his statements.
But to accuse him of being politically motivated, however forceful his statements may have been, is obnoxious and lacks a basic understanding of what’s expected in a self-respecting political culture that has proper boundaries in policing the national discourse, so that it is kept respectable and within the spirit of healthy give and take.
Dayasri Jayasekara is a former Sports Minister. Would he have advocated that the national cricket team starts assaulting the umpire when an umpiring decision goes against one of our national players? Probably not. But with his attacks on the Cardinal for political bias, nobody knows where this man will stop next. If he is made Sports Minister once more, god forbid, he may one day advocate for the manhandling of the match referee. It’s the ultimate folly, but then the Cardinal will know how far we have fallen as a nation in keeping our political culture within the respectable bounds of polite discourse.
(The writer is a former Editor-in-Chief of three national English language publications and a practising Attorney-at-Law. He is an Editors’ Guild award-winning columnist, and contributing writer and columnist for Nikkei Asian Review and South China Morning Post, while his editorials have been published in The Australian)Dayasiri out of line trying to out-outburst the Cardinal
13 Apr 2021
Dayasiri out of line trying to out-outburst the Cardinal
13 Apr 2021
There has been an outburst against the Cardinal. There have been many. The latest one was from Dayasri Jayasekara of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) who purportedly was defending the leader of the party, former President Maithripala Sirisena.
Jayasekara accused Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith – the local head of the Catholic Church – of being politically motivated. No doubt, the verbal assault by the Cardinal on former President Sirisena days before had been scathing. Cardinal Ranjith had asked whether Sirisena was wearing clothes when he said he wanted to come before the people once more, seeking their vote.
The inference was clear. In the light of the PCoI (Presidential Commission of Inquiry) report squarely blaming the former President for his role in neglecting to heed intelligence about the Easter Sunday attacks, the former President was brazen and guileless to come forward seeking the people’s vote.
The Cardinal, too, is entitled to free speech. He is also entitled to speak his mind on behalf of his flock. But is it fair to tar him with the same brush that politicians are tarred on a regular basis?
To accuse the Cardinal of being politically motivated is wrong on many levels, and to let the statement stand without anyone calling for an apology by Jayasekara is a sign of our times. What has our political culture come to? Will Jayasekara accuse the Pope of having politics on his mind if there is a statement by Pope Francis condemning those who allowed the Easter Sunday attacks to happen?
Jayasekara has to hang his head in shame for pointing an accusing finger at the Cardinal, saying that the latter had waded into the cesspool of petty politics. But worse, our politics and the level to which the national political discourse had sunk was laid bare in the fact that nobody from either side of the political aisle called for Jayasekara to apologise. Jayasekara’s unguarded frontal assault on a religious figure making an observation primarily on behalf of his flock was deemed par for the course by the political players of our time, sending the unmistakable signal that the political culture of this country is badly dysfunctional.
This is not the first time various politicians or their henchmen have tried to paint the Cardinal as a “political animal”. That card has been played before. It’s true that His Eminence Cardinal Ranjith is very outspoken. He has clear views on the events of the day. On more than one occasion, the Cardinal has called this a Buddhist country and uttered words to the effect that Buddhism has to be given the foremost place in this nation’s scheme of things.
For these words too, His Eminence has been made the target of thinly veiled attacks of a political nature. Sometimes, the verbal assaults on the Cardinal have been frontal. A writer styling himself as “Don Manu” accused Cardinal Ranjith of playing politics. Don Manu, referring to the Cardinal, wrote to a national weekly, stating: “Whilst that may well be the common ad lib three-wheel drivers frequently use to keep amused and entertained passengers on their metred rides, the question must be raised whether it should have been the subject matter for a cardinal at so sacrosanct an event? Whether they were the appropriate words quoted chapter and verse from the book of his political psalms to soothe and balm the sorrow of his grieving flock?”
All the Cardinal had said to deserve this diatribe was that the then Government should go home, giving way to more able people to govern. For that, he was compared to a three-wheel driver trying to keep his passengers entertained!
The Cardinal’s attack on the then Government was not unprovoked. It happened after it became abundantly clear that the previous Government had neglected national security and undermined the military intelligence network, leading the way to an attack on churches and five-star hotels that shocked the world.
If the head of the local Catholic Church cannot call for the resignation of the government for being unable to protect his flock of ordinary men, women, and children without being accused of playing politics, there must be something seriously amiss in our political culture.
The Cardinal is unique in that he has made it his personal mission to ensure that all elements connected to the heinous Easter Sunday attacks are brought to justice. He is super-dedicated to this mission on behalf of his flock. Is it wrong to be dedicated to the cause of protecting one’s faithful?
Or is the Cardinal expected to follow the path of most contemporary politicians and take a light-hearted view of the Easter Sunday attacks? Remember the set of Cabinet Ministers from the former Government that had a belly laugh at a press conference soon after the Easter bombings, saying what has happened has happened?
That’s our politics. Nobody in high office in this country resigns for any calamity or any major misstep that happened on their watch.
In Japan, ministers have been known to resign when they are 20 minutes late for a public function. Accountability to the public of that sort is unheard of here; they don’t even resign when they have been obviously negligent and remiss. Leave alone resigning, they are so smug as to have a good belly laugh about it all before the television cameras. The Cardinal wants to put a stop to this brazen political culture of impunity by the political leadership. For this, he has to be applauded, and not thrown under the bus and called names to the effect that he has become a partisan political animal.
But this has essentially become our politics. Black is white, and white is black. Everybody including those who want to be responsible for their flock, or by those to whom they answer to, are measured by the same yardstick of political taint that politicians use on each other.
But these are apolitical figures and the Cardinal, even when he is outspoken, is an apolitical figure. Has he ever been known to benefit materially or otherwise from any government in power? Has he ever been heard to say on any political platform that the voters should cast their ballots for such and such a candidate?
The answer is an emphatic no. He has, on the contrary, in good conscience, spoken his mind on the issues of the day, particularly when it comes to matters that concern the church and the followers of the Catholic faith. When he says that this is a Buddhist country, he has not cast himself as a partisan political player. He has never said “this is a Buddhist country, therefore you must vote for so-and-so”.
But various critics of the Cardinal have had the audacity to read a political message into perfectly legitimate opinions of the local leader of the Catholic faith. They may not agree with him, but if they respect non-partisan and democratic discourse in a country, they must defend to the death the right of the Cardinal to offer his opinions, instead of trying to pigeonhole him into one political camp or another.
Dayasri Jayasekara or anyone else is free to disagree with the Cardinal on any of the latter’s observations. When Cardinal Ranjith has subject the leader of the SLFP to a scathing attack, of course they are entitled to say that he is wrong, or misinformed. Nobody is asking that the Cardinal be permitted to go entirely unchallenged on his statements.
But to accuse him of being politically motivated, however forceful his statements may have been, is obnoxious and lacks a basic understanding of what’s expected in a self-respecting political culture that has proper boundaries in policing the national discourse, so that it is kept respectable and within the spirit of healthy give and take.
Dayasri Jayasekara is a former Sports Minister. Would he have advocated that the national cricket team starts assaulting the umpire when an umpiring decision goes against one of our national players? Probably not. But with his attacks on the Cardinal for political bias, nobody knows where this man will stop next. If he is made Sports Minister once more, god forbid, he may one day advocate for the manhandling of the match referee. It’s the ultimate folly, but then the Cardinal will know how far we have fallen as a nation in keeping our political culture within the respectable bounds of polite discourse.
(The writer is a former Editor-in-Chief of three national English language publications and a practising Attorney-at-Law. He is an Editors’ Guild award-winning columnist, and contributing writer and columnist for Nikkei Asian Review and South China Morning Post, while his editorials have been published in The Australian)Kapruka
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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!