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| Sunday, 22 May 2005 |
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Features |  |
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Lead kindly light - one step not enough Light Refractions by Lucien Rajakarunanayake Addressing the media soon after signing of the MoU with the LTTE in February 2002, then Prime Minister quoted from the famous hymn by Cardinal Henry Newman.
Mr. Wickremesinghe said he was told the words by the Archbishop of Colombo at the time, was very much impressed by them, and would try to abide by their spirit in the conduct of the peace process. The lines he quoted were: "Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead thou me on; The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead thou me on. Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me." Just now it is becoming increasingly clear that one step is not enough for him. "Lead me with speed" would be a more suitable motto for him as he moves from the launch of his campaign, a cheap confetti covered imitation of the acceptance of the presidential candidacy in the United States. He is clearly taking more than one step at a time, and the search for peace seems but a distant dream just now. He has begun to assure the Buddhist voters of his dedication to Buddhism in governance with the launch of his latest book on the subject. In the view of some commentators he is eager to win back the large number of upper middle class UNP voters who deserted the party and voted for the JHU on April 2, 2004. If his pitch in the election of December 2001 was to a coalition of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, he is now making sure that he has greater appeal among the Sinhalese, and especially winning over the extremist Sinhalese mainly Buddhist but some Christians, too, who do not believe that Tamil victims of the tsunami on the Northern and Eastern coast need any special help by way of an understanding with the LTTE to achieve the purpose. It is this need to capture the bulk of the Sinhala Buddhist vote (the UNP has the fanciful belief that the bulk of Sinhala Christian votes are their pocket borough) that prompts Mr. Wickremesinghe to use various excuses to avoid even a discussion of the proposed Joint Mechanism with the President. What he wants is for the mechanism to be finalised and even signed, and then shown to him. It's just a repeat of what he did in signing the MoU with the LTTE. This is political hypocrisy that has no place in one impressed by the words of "Lead kindly light", and makes them his guiding light. One step at a time is far too slow a pace for him as the Day of Judgement, in his political life, approaches in December of 2006 or earlier. For a man with quite a long experience in the rough and tumble of politics he is showing himself to be a man in an unusual hurry to grab what to him is the Holy Grail of the Executive Presidency of Sri Lanka, with its enormous and frightening powers, complete and intact. However, little does Mr. Wickremesinghe realise that we are not just living in interesting times as the Chinese say, but in dangerous times too. The appeals to Sinhala Buddhist sentiment at its lowest is on the increase and the forces that are pleased by antagonism towards and isolation of the minority communities are well on the march. These are forces that Mr. Wickremesinghe will have to face in the future, and the kind of quick steps he is taking just now gives one the dangerous feeling that he may even seek to champion their cause, for personal benefit, creating a much larger danger than what we are facing now. How much those forces of darkness would accept the leadership of the UNP and Wickremesinghe is yet to be seen. The rise of Sinhala Buddhist extremism, is not taking place at a time when the Tamil extremists have made any retreat. They too remain as firm as they are, despite the politics of appeasement that Wickremesinghe and the UNF government followed when back in power for a fleeting two years. We are certainly moving in dangerous directions and one expects more statesmanship than just power grabbing politics from anyone who seeks to give new direction to the country. This is true of the UNP as well as the other contenders for power, who are also now making their initial moves to enter centre stage, with much more caution, rather that the speed of Ranil Wickremesinghe. It is to be hoped that such candidates too, do not fall bait to the attraction of chauvinism of the majority, but think in terms of a broader electorate that includes all other communities and religions too. The fiery outbursts of religious fervour are to be seen all over. The reaction of the Muslim world to the Newsweek story of the desecration of the Holy Koran at Guantanamo Bay by the US shows how fast such feelings can spread. The Newsweek's wimpish recanting of the story only shows the hand of the White House and the establishment it really serves. Over here, we now have the violence at Trincomalee, over the construction of a statue of the Buddha. Buddhism is not a philosophy that gives importance to the worship of statues. However, Buddhist inspired civilisations and cultures have produced Buddha statues of great religious and archaeological importance. It is in the nature of religion for adherents to have deeply ingrained feelings about statues and other images of their founders or saints. Mr. Wickremesinghe is now being asked which side of the statue crisis he is on. If there is any statesman left in him, he should have the courage to rise above sectarianism and speak for the common good. No doubt his new book must be having enough from Buddhism itself as to how one should react to such situations. But what I fear today is that of a return to the "Dharmishta Samajaya" of his late uncle JRJ, who stands high among those who manipulated Sinhala Buddhist feeling, leading us to the crisis we are now in. One did notice more than a hint of this with Ranil's spokesman, the verbose professor, suddenly realising the need for the village to be closer to the temple. These are the same people who wanted to do away with paddy cultivation in their recent short term in office. Can one trust such salesmen even for the purchase of a used car? |
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| Produced by Lake House |
It was most unusual and even a daring act for a Prime Minister of Sri
Lanka to quote a Christian (and Roman Catholic) clergyman and not the
Buddha, on such an important occasion. Many were struck by the manner in
which he recited the words. Some commentators even said he was the only
statesman able to quote such words from memory. 
