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| Sunday, 3 November 2002 |
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Sel Lipi : STREET BATTLES Swasthi Shree! Thus says his sacred Majesty, the gracious Great King, glorious Chakravarthi, King of the Kings of Maya, Pihiti and Ruhuna, Mahoora of the Vanniala-aeththo and ruler of all lands from Yapapatuna to Sampanthota: It has come to the notice of the Maha Vasala that the residents of Colomb-thota, the thriving entrepot of this Dhamma Dweepa, have been at each other's throats. The followers of the Buddha Dhamma have been doing battle with the believers of the god of the Yonakas, on the very streets of the metropolis. It is said that the root of the clashes was the building of one of the Yonaka devalayas in proximity to a Buddhist temple, in the aptly named Bodhiraja area. Followers of the Yonaka god had flung paashanas at a sacred Bo tree whilst followers of the Buddha Dhamma burnt the wheels of rathas outside the devalaya of the Yonaka god. Following these incidents, the followers of the two Bakthis had flung paashanas at each other and each other's property. The paashanas had been replaced by flaming torches and many a shop had sprung ablaze like the Asura Bathmasura. Thereafter, the murakara hewayas had made a decree of the law of darkness in daytime and had accosted the rioters. However, the incidents had spread to other areas in the meantime, and the law of darkness spread to those areas as well. Rathas proceeding towards the heart of Colomb-thota were turned away and the populace were left, generally milling around in confusion. The people of this Dharma Dweepa have been getting a rather unsavoury reputation as regards this kind of adhamitu behaviour. So how did these particular pereli events start? Why did they spread with such fury and violence? The people of the area where the first incident took place live amidst great squalor, in houses as small as 10 riyan long by 10 riyan wide. Each hundred houses of theirs has one public toilet and no private privies. With each major rain, their houses are inundated by flood water. In such conditions, their predeliction towards ahimsa is bound to be rather less than that of an arahat. Nothing concentrates the mind so much as having to wait while one's neighbour completes his ablutions, before one can evacuate one's bowels. Was there a hidden hand in this kerella? Even had there so been, it would merely have sown its seeds of hate on the very fertile soil of the veritable paddy field on which these citizens live. Over the years, manthri after manthri has promised them better living conditions, but there has been no right action to provide these. Instead, the minor solace has been granted of allowing the citizens to build as they please, denying the very edicts that govern the vaasthu of house-building. So the conditions have worsened, as will happen when the vaasthu are ignored. Verily can a chicken betake himself from one end of Colomb-thota to another, merely walking on the roofs of the houses, never needing to set foot on the ground! Is it, therefore, any surprise that the citizens should be constantly battling with their neighbours? While such thirisan conditions continue to exist, the people affected by them will have thirisan thoughts. The fact that some are followers of the god of the Yonakas, while some are not, is hardly of importance. It merely provides an excuse for guti-beta, which is picked on by interested parties, to further their own ends. Swasthi Shree! This rock edict is made on this day of Ravi of the month of Il of the Year of the Saka Era 1929. - Gotabhaya |
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