Lanka, ideal for spiritual and nature-based tourism - Udaya Gammanpila

By P. Krishnaswamy

JHU stalwart, legal advisor to the party and Minister of Environment, Agriculture, Irrigation and Industries in the Western PC Udaya Gammanpila told the Sunday Observer that man's excessive greed and over-exploitation of natural resources had resulted in a major crisis. The world is interlocked in an interdependent economic environment and energy crisis.

Simplicity and brotherhood preached by Buddhism is the only way out for mankind from this crisis, he said. He also spoke on antidotes, in terms of Buddhist perspective, against anti-social activities among high circles and promotion of tourism based on cultural, historical, traditional, medicines and spirituality.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: Some of the activities aimed at promoting tourism, such as licensing casinos and massage parlours have contributed to the deterioration of moral, social and religious values. As a representative of the JHU which upholds these values what are your comments?

A: Some people believe that we have to sacrifice moral values to promote tourism. This is a myth. Tourism is a vast area. The countries which do not have much to offer to visitors focus on entertainment tourism.

They license casinos, massage parlours and brothels. But Sri Lanka is a country blessed with nature's gifts and rich cultural , historical and religious heritage.

The country can promote cultural tourism because we have cities such as Anuradhapura which have a unique historical, cultural and religious background. The creations of our forefathers architectural could be considered superior to the creations of the Egyptian civilisation. So we can promote cultural tourism.

Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful countries and we can promote ecotourism. Our scenic beauty and landscapes are unique. It has diverse climatic conditions.

Blue whales and elephants are found in one place i.e. Trincomalee. Sri Lanka is blessed with a huge variety of flora and fauna. It is an ideal location for tourists seeking meditation and spiritual guidance.

Sri Lanka's herbal medicinal system is exclusive to the country. Many people believe that it is a section of the Indian ayurvedic system. But that is not true. King Ravana was the founder of our medicinal system and it is exclusive to Sri Lanka. So we can promote health tourism. Sri Lanka has a lot to offer to the tourists. We do not have to sacrifice our values and living standards.

Q:One can observe that social and moral values are heading towards degradation in spite of Buddhism being the religion of the majority. What reasons would you attribute?

A: Recently Bikkhuni told me that she could not understand as to why crime rates and anti-social activities are on the rise in a country where Buddhism is practised as a religion by a majority of the people and Buddhist philosophy has been preached regularly for hundreds of years. Sri Lanka may be a country where the Buddha Dharma is preached and the people listen to it mostly. But we are not a country where Buddha Dharma is practised. That is our problem. We talk about Buddhism and about Buddha Dharma.

But only a very few practice it. Not only Buddhism but all religions are telling the people to be good. But in the commercialised world people are only worried about money. Parents want their children to be educated and not educated to become a good person. We are concentrating on money neglecting the spiritual aspect of life and, as a result, our lives are imbalanced. This is reflected in our day-to-day activities and attitudes. We are under pressure and restless all the time.

Q: Some VVIPs holding high positions in the society are believed to be associating with underworld groups and involved in anti-social activities. Ours is primarily a Buddhist country giving prominence to moral and religious values. In the perspective of Buddhist philosophy, how do you look at it?

A: I consider it a disgrace even to talk about it. But that is the situation in Sri Lanka and we have to discuss it. I do admit that politicians are involved in anti-social activities. There are two reasons. We have lost our moral values. In the good old days we respected people were disciplined and guided by moral values irrespective of whether they had wealth or not.

But today we respect only people who have money disregarding the means used to earn money. Even religious leaders give prominence to those who are rich. Politicians are part of the society and they reflect the society.

When moral values of a society has deteriorated the representative of that society invariably reflects it in his deeds. So I think first we have to restore our moral values. Secondly, the current proportional representation system must be changed.

The electorates are very large and without having lot of money and the support of thugs, the candidates cannot conduct an election campaign. Without money and thuggery you cannot survive in this system. I think doing away with the PR system is also necessary for restoring moral values in the society. It must be done immediately.

Q: India is our immediate neighbour. We are historically, culturally and religiously close to India. Do you think we are treading the right path as far as our neighbourly relations with India is concerned?

A: India has many neighbours but Sri Lanka has only one neighbour and that is India. Our relations with India is very crucial to us in every respect. Whether we like it or not India is just 32 km away from us across the Palk Strait and India is an emerging super power.

These are the realities in the world. These are things we cannot change. So we have to adjust ourselves. These are realities we have to keep in mind whenever and whatever we do.

But, on the other hand, for thousands of years we have been an independent nation despite the fact that India is our solitary neighbour. That is because we loved our freedom and we were ready to make any sacrifice to retain our freedom. We have been an independent nation for so long because we, as a nation, are fully committed to it.

Similarly as we are concerned about India,we anticipate India too to express similar sentiments. But, unfortunately, the Indian External Affairs Minister insists that Sri Lanka should devolve powers beyond the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

We know that the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord was signed 25 years ago and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was introduced. It was an accord forced on us.

When we look back now, we can observe that it has not been possible to implement the 13th Amendment. It has not been possible to implement it despite the fact that over 1,118 Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives and several thousands of them sacrificed their limbs.

So it is apparent that nothing can be forced upon Sri Lankans. Sri Lankans would rather sacrifice their lives than accepting anything forced upon them. So India should respect Sri Lanka's mindset of independence. India should encourage Sri Lanka to have a dialogue through the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that has been appointed to evolve an home-grown solution with a Sri Lankan identity.

So long as we mutually respect each other's right to take independent decisions, the bond of affection and friendship between the two countries cannot be disturbed by any other foreign power.

Q: In your view, how should our foreign policy with the Buddhist countries in the region be shaped ?

A: I think President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been very explicit when he announced that 'India is our relation and all other countries are our friends.' That is why I said that our relations with India is unique. It is a cultural, historical and affectionate bond. But other countries are different.

Since Sri Lanka is the Buddhist centre in the world, we should pay special attention towards building and maintaining cordial relations with other Buddhist countries in the region. We should have cultural and religious interactions with them. Unfortunately we have so far failed to establish diplomatic relationship with Cambodia and Laos which are two Theravada Buddhist countries out of a total five in the world. We should improve our relationship with other Buddhist countries such as Vietnam, Japan, China and even Bhutan.

The entire world is in a crisis at present. In 2008 it was a financial crisis. In 2009 it was an economic downturn crisis. Now it has transformed as an interdependent, interrelated and interwoven economic, environmental and energy crisis. The Western world is struggling to find a solution to this challenge. Unfortunately neither of the Western philosophies - Marxism, capitalism, liberalism, post-modernism nor neo liberalism has been able to offer a solution.

As far as I can see a solution is within Buddhism Hundred years ago, a Hindu Tamil scholar Dr.Ananda Coomaraswamy writing a letter to the then British Governor in Sri Lanka said: " You may rob the treasures of this country as much as you want and we are not concerned about it. You may exploit our people as much as you want.

We are not worried about it. But don't do one thing. Please do not destroy the Sinhala Buddhist culture in the rural Sri Lanka" .

And he explained why. "In 100 years this world will be engulfed in an unforeseen challenge. The solution to that challenge is hidden in the Sinhala Buddhist rural culture. We must protect it for future generation."

He was not a Buddhist. He was a Tamil Hindu scholar. He had understood the Buddhist philosophy in depth and he was able to assess its values for the future. So the point of time predicted by Dr.Ananda Coomaraswamy has now come. It is the responsibility of Sri Lankans, irrespective of their ethnicity and religion, to introduce the Buddhist way of life to the entire world, as a solution to the present economic, environment and energy crisis.

Q: As you know, Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu spiritual leader respected all over the world. His statue was attacked and damaged by some miscreants recently near Batticaloa. Your comments?

A: We should denounce such cowardly acts without any reservations. The Government should take stern action against the culprits irrespective of whatever position they may hold in the society.

It is a disgrace to the entire nation. Swami Vivekananda was a holy figure venerated all over the world by people belonging to all religions and communities. A damage done to the statue should be considered as a damage to the image of mankind. Therefore, the whole nation should denounce such acts.

Q: UPFA parliamentarian Ms Nirupama Rajapaksa and her husband Thirukumaran Nadesan were harassed by some people of Tamil Nadu during their recent pilgrimage to a temple there. Your comments on it?

A: In fact I contacted Thiru after the incident. He told me that Tamil Nadu people are fond of Sri Lankans and he had observed a growing bond and friendship since recently between Sri Lankans and people of Tamil Nadu. After the incident, fishermen and people of the vicinity had come to meet them to express their deep concern over what had happened. He also told me that a few pro-LTTE extremist elements who were unable to put up with such bond growing between the two sides had instigated some thugs to do it. It was not intended at hurting Thiru but getting propaganda mileage, he told me. They want to instill hatred in the minds of the Tamil Nadu people against Sri Lankans. Thiru told me that he will very soon arrange another pilgrimage to the temple.

Q: In the perspective of Buddhist philosophy and teachings, how do you explain the current crisis due to global warming and also the dengue epidemic in the country?

A: Albert Einstein said in this third theorem that 'every action has an equivalent opposite reaction'. We have been damaging the environment to a very grave extent for over 200 years and the environment is now punishing us. We are now having extreme weather conditions, both rain and sun. We are encountering tsunamis, earth quakes, storms and unpredictable weather conditions. As our ancestors did we should regard mother earth as God. All religions say that this world was created for the benefit of man. But man has very carelessly exploited the earth's resources. Buddhism says that you are only one element of this world and the world belongs to everyone. Buddhism teaches a very simple way of life. It preaches control over our desire and greed which would invariably mean less damage to the environment.

The phenomenon of global warming has caused rise in the temperature which in turn is conducive to vector-born diseases as well as insects, including mosquitoes, that spread the diseases. People are blaming the Health Ministry and the Government for this but instead they should blame themselves.

Excessive emission of carbon into the environment has caused it. We cannot reverse it but we can adopt a simple way of life without causing damage to the environment. Buddhism has preached a simple way of life.