By Tharumalee Silva
The arrest of award-winning novelist Shakthika Sathkumara is yet to be resolved despite the considerable amount of attention given both locally as well as internationally.
Sathkumara was arrested on 1 April after he published Ardha, a fictional short story that deals with the subject of homosexuality among the Buddhist clergy, on his Facebook page.
Sri Lanka School of Journalism Director Shan Wijetunga stated that, according to his sources, President Maithripala Sirisena is presently reviewing Sathkumara’s penalty and working towards releasing Sathkumara.
The writer was arrested under the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 2007 and has been presented before the Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court a total of six times thus far. The next court date for Sathkumara has been set for Tuesday, 25 June.
However, the ICCPR Act does not permit individuals charged under it to be granted bail at a magistrate’s court, unless the individual be granted bail before a high court.
An appearance before the Kurunegala High Court has been scheduled for Wednesday, 26 June in this regard. Furthermore, a fundamental rights (FR) petition has been filed before the Supreme Court for 23 September.
Trouble at home
Sathkumara’s wife Yanusha, who is also a writer, told The Sunday Morning that life has been tainted with negativity after her husband’s arrest. “He has been in rigorous imprisonment for 80 days now and we are only allowed to visit for 10 minutes each day,” she said.
She stated that the situation especially took a hit on Sathkumara’s four-year-old son, the elder of their two children.
“He used to walk around the town with my oldest son – Shakthika was very close to him. And now, our son has really started acting out because he misses his father,” she said.
She stated that she had told her son her father has gone to Colombo and then abroad to work on one of his books.
Further, Yanusha said that she has been facing great trouble at work as people perceived her to be the wife of a criminal. According to her, this was because he was arrested under the ICCPR Act.
Nevertheless, amidst the hardships, Yanusha also mentioned that she remains hopeful that her husband will be granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Following Sathkumara’s arrest, a woman named Fathima Nushra Zarook was also arrested under the ICCPR Act for wearing a kaftan with a ship’s wheel, which was mistaken by the authorities for the Dharmachakraya – a symbol that depicts the teachings of Lord Buddha’s and the universal order.
The series of unfortunate incidents that transpired have been a testament to the level of negligence and irresponsibility of the authorities in addition to being unaware of the ICCPR Act itself prior to enforcing it.
Civil activist and Purawesi Balaya Co-convener Gamini Viyangoda stated that he hoped the issue of Sathkumara will be resolved in a matter of days.
“We believe so because of the increasing number of uninformed, irresponsible arrests made by law enforcement authorities,” he said.
“The ICCPR Act is being abused at an alarming rate by law enforcement authorities; this is becoming evident every day, so we are hopeful that Sathkumara will be released,” he said.
Further, Viyangoda stated that Sathkumara’s civic rights had been stripped after the arrest. “The ICCPR exists to protect civil and political rights for people, and this very arrest of Sathkumara’s violates the ICCPR Act in its entirety,” he explained.
The ICCPR Act criminalises advocacy of “national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, the hostility of violence”.
“Clearly, this was only a fictional short story. However, there has been no discrimination, hostility, or any threat of violence from Sathkumara – this raises questions against the grounds on which he was arrested,” Viyangoda said.
Taking the example of Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera’s fast demanding former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen’s resignation, Viyangoda pointed out an underlying threat the country may be facing with certain bhikkus taking advantage of the Government for personal gains.
“It has become a trend among the high-profile Buddhist clergy to assume that whatever they demand should be complied with,” he stated.
Sathkumara’s arrest was pledged by a group of monks named the “Regional Sasana Defence Board” in Polgahawela which filed a testimonial against Sathkumara following the publication of Ardha, stating that the story incited religious discrimination and hatred.
Looking back at similar works by writers in the past, the novel Bawa Tharanaya by renowned novelist Martin Wickramasinghe also deals with similar controversial topics with relation to Buddhism. Even though the novel was subjected to many critical reviews due to Wickramasinghe’s portrayal of Lord Buddha, he was never subjected to legal implications. Even at the very height of living in a traditional conservative society, a writer’s freedom of expression was understood.
Freedom of expression
Undoubtedly, freedom of expression contributes to and has a great impact on creating timeless pieces of art. However, at times, this liberty can be misunderstood and misused by artists in creating harmful content. Even though democracy has prevailed, provocative and controversial art has put the right to freedom of expression under the microscope.
Speaking on the matter, Writers’ Organisation of Sri Lanka Secretary Kamal Perera stated that Sathkumara’s short story, Ardha, cannot even be considered a successful short story.
“Even though we cannot declare Ardha a successful short story, Sathkumara’s arrest threatens writers and artists’ right to freedom of expression. Furthermore, if he was in the wrong, he should’ve been tried under the penal code rather than under the ICCPR act,” he said.
However, recalling the famous words by Justice John Marshal Harlan, the fourth Chief Justice of the US, he said “one man’s vulgarity is another man’s lyric” in relation to obscenity in artistic works, adding that when writing, there is a notion called an “artist’s obligation”.
This moral obligation is one that makes a writer responsible for creating work that arouses negative feelings in the reader.
“In this instance, Sathkumara’s story can trigger negative feelings among the Buddhist community,” he explained. “Regardless, we as the Writers’ Organisation of Sri Lanka condemn the actions of the enforcement authorities; we portray Sathkumara’s arrest as a threat to the artists’ congregation of Sri Lanka.”
The arrest of award-winning novelist Shakthika Sathkumara is yet to be resolved despite the considerable amount of attention given both locally as well as internationally.
Sathkumara was arrested on 1 April after he published Ardha, a fictional short story that deals with the subject of homosexuality among the Buddhist clergy, on his Facebook page.
Sri Lanka School of Journalism Director Shan Wijetunga stated that, according to his sources, President Maithripala Sirisena is presently reviewing Sathkumara’s penalty and working towards releasing Sathkumara.
The writer was arrested under the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 2007 and has been presented before the Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court a total of six times thus far. The next court date for Sathkumara has been set for Tuesday, 25 June.
However, the ICCPR Act does not permit individuals charged under it to be granted bail at a magistrate’s court, unless the individual be granted bail before a high court.
An appearance before the Kurunegala High Court has been scheduled for Wednesday, 26 June in this regard. Furthermore, a fundamental rights (FR) petition has been filed before the Supreme Court for 23 September.
Trouble at home
Sathkumara’s wife Yanusha, who is also a writer, told The Sunday Morning that life has been tainted with negativity after her husband’s arrest. “He has been in rigorous imprisonment for 80 days now and we are only allowed to visit for 10 minutes each day,” she said.
She stated that the situation especially took a hit on Sathkumara’s four-year-old son, the elder of their two children.
“He used to walk around the town with my oldest son – Shakthika was very close to him. And now, our son has really started acting out because he misses his father,” she said.
She stated that she had told her son her father has gone to Colombo and then abroad to work on one of his books.
Further, Yanusha said that she has been facing great trouble at work as people perceived her to be the wife of a criminal. According to her, this was because he was arrested under the ICCPR Act.
Nevertheless, amidst the hardships, Yanusha also mentioned that she remains hopeful that her husband will be granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Following Sathkumara’s arrest, a woman named Fathima Nushra Zarook was also arrested under the ICCPR Act for wearing a kaftan with a ship’s wheel, which was mistaken by the authorities for the Dharmachakraya – a symbol that depicts the teachings of Lord Buddha’s and the universal order.
The series of unfortunate incidents that transpired have been a testament to the level of negligence and irresponsibility of the authorities in addition to being unaware of the ICCPR Act itself prior to enforcing it.
Civil activist and Purawesi Balaya Co-convener Gamini Viyangoda stated that he hoped the issue of Sathkumara will be resolved in a matter of days.
“We believe so because of the increasing number of uninformed, irresponsible arrests made by law enforcement authorities,” he said.
“The ICCPR Act is being abused at an alarming rate by law enforcement authorities; this is becoming evident every day, so we are hopeful that Sathkumara will be released,” he said.
Further, Viyangoda stated that Sathkumara’s civic rights had been stripped after the arrest. “The ICCPR exists to protect civil and political rights for people, and this very arrest of Sathkumara’s violates the ICCPR Act in its entirety,” he explained.
The ICCPR Act criminalises advocacy of “national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, the hostility of violence”.
“Clearly, this was only a fictional short story. However, there has been no discrimination, hostility, or any threat of violence from Sathkumara – this raises questions against the grounds on which he was arrested,” Viyangoda said.
Taking the example of Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera’s fast demanding former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen’s resignation, Viyangoda pointed out an underlying threat the country may be facing with certain bhikkus taking advantage of the Government for personal gains.
“It has become a trend among the high-profile Buddhist clergy to assume that whatever they demand should be complied with,” he stated.
Sathkumara’s arrest was pledged by a group of monks named the “Regional Sasana Defence Board” in Polgahawela which filed a testimonial against Sathkumara following the publication of Ardha, stating that the story incited religious discrimination and hatred.
Looking back at similar works by writers in the past, the novel Bawa Tharanaya by renowned novelist Martin Wickramasinghe also deals with similar controversial topics with relation to Buddhism. Even though the novel was subjected to many critical reviews due to Wickramasinghe’s portrayal of Lord Buddha, he was never subjected to legal implications. Even at the very height of living in a traditional conservative society, a writer’s freedom of expression was understood.
Freedom of expression
Undoubtedly, freedom of expression contributes to and has a great impact on creating timeless pieces of art. However, at times, this liberty can be misunderstood and misused by artists in creating harmful content. Even though democracy has prevailed, provocative and controversial art has put the right to freedom of expression under the microscope.
Speaking on the matter, Writers’ Organisation of Sri Lanka Secretary Kamal Perera stated that Sathkumara’s short story, Ardha, cannot even be considered a successful short story.
“Even though we cannot declare Ardha a successful short story, Sathkumara’s arrest threatens writers and artists’ right to freedom of expression. Furthermore, if he was in the wrong, he should’ve been tried under the penal code rather than under the ICCPR act,” he said.
However, recalling the famous words by Justice John Marshal Harlan, the fourth Chief Justice of the US, he said “one man’s vulgarity is another man’s lyric” in relation to obscenity in artistic works, adding that when writing, there is a notion called an “artist’s obligation”.
This moral obligation is one that makes a writer responsible for creating work that arouses negative feelings in the reader.
“In this instance, Sathkumara’s story can trigger negative feelings among the Buddhist community,” he explained. “Regardless, we as the Writers’ Organisation of Sri Lanka condemn the actions of the enforcement authorities; we portray Sathkumara’s arrest as a threat to the artists’ congregation of Sri Lanka.”