The National People’s Power (NPP) Government’s handling of the controversy over the Buddha statue in Trincomalee recently and the reaction of Opposition political parties to it have clearly shown that the polity in southern Sri Lanka has not learnt any lesson from the tragedies suffered by the country and its people as a result of communal politics so far.
The Trincomalee incident also demonstrated the challenges that lie ahead for the NPP Government. Its stated position that it will never allow communalism and religious extremism to re-emerge in Sri Lanka has been damaged. And the Opposition parties have shown that they will not miss any opportunity to resort to majoritarian mobilisation in their bid to come back to power.
Despite the fact that the Buddha statue placed within the premises of the Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi Bodhiraja Vihara located on the Trincomalee coast was removed by the Police overnight on 16 November, amid fiery protest from Buddhist monks, the statue was placed in the same spot with Police protection the next day at noon.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala had announced in Parliament earlier that day that the Buddha statue had been removed for safety reasons and would be re-erected in the same place.
Opposition parties wasted no time exploiting the chaos at the temple compound during the removal of the statue, making inflammatory noises inside and outside Parliament as if Buddhism was facing a great danger in Sri Lanka.
Speaking about the Trincomalee incidents in Parliament on 18 November, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) said that although the dispute appeared to be about the establishment of a religious place of worship, there was another story within it.
Stating that he had sought a report from the Secretary of Defence on the incidents, the President said that Opposition parties were bent on using the Buddha statue controversy to stoke communalism as there was no other tangible issue available for them to justify protest against the Government.
AKD assured that his Government would never allow communalism and religious extremism to reappear. According to him, the dispute had ended when the court had issued an order.
Opposition antics
It is well known that Buddhist monks bring Buddha statues overnight and then gradually build viharas with the help of the State machinery, especially the armed forces, not only in places they consider to be of archaeological importance in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, but also in places where Buddhists do not live.
When there are protests from the people of the areas concerned, it is customary for the State machinery to support the monks.
Opposition politicians, including Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa, were seen pointing out the primacy or foremost place given to Buddhism in Sri Lanka’s Constitution frequently when commenting on the Buddha statue controversy.
But how can that primacy be allowed to be misused as a shield by a section of Buddhist monks or by elements trying to create enmity between communities on religious grounds to justify their illegal or un-Buddhist activities?
It seems that a considerable section of the Maha Sangha believes that the Government cannot interfere or take action in whatever it does.
Premadasa says that no one has the right to interfere in the freedom of Buddhist monks to carry out any activity related to Buddhism. However, one cannot help but ask how many incidents he had so far condemned in which a section of the Buddhist clergy had acted in a manner that challenged the rule of law or incited enmity between ethnic and religious communities.
Buddhist clergy’s negative influence
Meanwhile a controversial monk, who is known to have led violence against the Muslim community in the recent past and was convicted by court of blasphemy against Islam, visited Trincomalee immediately after the Buddha statue controversy and made fiery speeches inciting communal conflict.
The monk is hell-bent on getting personally involved in the Trincomalee controversy and trying to show that he is striving to save Buddhism.
It is said that the majority of Sinhalese Buddhists do not support the immoral activities of such monks or racist forces. But unfortunately, they do not come out openly against it. As Albert Einstein said: “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who do nothing to stop it.”
Hate politics against minority communities is not something new to the country. It is an obnoxious trend that has grown in parallel with the evolution of ethnic majoritarian politics of modern Sri Lanka.
However, what is of special concern is the southern polity’s failure to recognise the genuine grievances, rights, and legitimate political aspirations of the minority communities, even after three decades of political and military conflict that caused havoc to all communities.
One of the main reasons for the inability to find solutions to many of Sri Lanka’s problems is the propensity of the Buddhist clergy to exert great influence in politics. Some monks are directly involved in politics and are contesting elections. Even if their actions contradict the basic teachings of the Buddha, even the Mahanayakas are unable to prevent them from engaging in direct politics.
The influence of the Buddhist clergy has had negative effects on the political history of southern Sri Lanka. Even a popular Prime Minister was assassinated by a Buddhist monk in the middle of the last century.
Crucial lessons
Today, it seems that an unprecedented trend of religious fanaticism is creeping into the politics of Tamils too. This is due to the influence of Hindutva politics in India. There is no future for Sri Lanka if Sri Lankan society, whether it is the Sinhalese or the Tamils, does not separate religion from politics.
It is not enough for President AKD and the NPP Government to simply claim that their policy is to treat all citizens equally.
A sense of egalitarian citizenship can be gradually instilled among the people of minority communities only if the Government shows genuine interest in taking steps to alleviate the unique problems faced by them as a result of discriminatory policies and repression practised by governments in the past.
The Trincomalee Buddha statue controversy has exposed the tendency of Opposition parties to use communalism and religious sentiments in their campaigns against the Government. The people of the country should not forget that the previous regimes, which vigorously pursued majoritarian communal mobilisation to hide their misrule, corruption, and abuses of power, had led the country into economic bankruptcy.
One of the crucial lessons learnt from the past is that ethnic majoritarian mobilisation should not be allowed to cover up misrule and corruption. If such mobilisation is allowed again, Sri Lankans will forever continue to grapple with the same problems that caused havoc in the past.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication)