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| Sunday, 18 July 2004 |
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Don't hurt the feelings of other religious faiths Lucien Rajakarunanayake's letter in the Sunday Observer of July 11th under the caption "Highway Code of the Dharma Rajaya" need to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. It had been written with vengeance, hatred and animosity at heart. He has not only lambasted JHU Parliamentarian, Ven. Athureliye Rathana Thera for using a vehicle with a wrong number plate, but also goes on to hammer left, right and centre the entire Maha Sangha in general and ridiculing Buddhism. Yes, whether a parliamentarian or not, whether an educated person or not, making a mistake is all, but human. Rajakarunanayake should have first realized and understood the human part of it before he ventured to write something full of despicable hints that obviously hurt the feelings of the Buddhists - though Rajakarunanayake is not a Buddhist. Is this the love, sympathy, tolerance and respect to others that Christianity has supposed to have taught? It was a case of a simple mistake of one number - 8 for 9. Anybody, whether wearing a saffron coloured robe or not, or wearing full European suit or just a sarong and a vest can make such a mistake. Need not make such a 'ha-ho' about this issue. Hopefully and surely Ven. Rathana Thera is not going to cover up the issue behind parliamentary privileges as echoed by the writer. What should be understood is that the JHU took up to politics in a hurry, and had to organize everything in period as short as 45 days to fight a country's general election. Nobody else would have dared to even dream of such a hurried preparation. In the midst, Ven. Athureliye Rathana Thera would have made a mistake of not checking the papers of the vehicle he purchased for the campaign and probably relied on the seller's words. Rajakarunanayake pays such disrespect and concern for other faiths that he did not have the courtesy to address the Jathika Hela Urumaya yellow-robed Member of Parliament as either Reverend or Venerable and not ended the name with 'Thera', but just as MP. Of course, to his credit, he had saluted the monk as Hon. because that requires the basic courtesy to address a parliamentarian. He even goes on to most sarcastically attack the JHU, thus "it seems obvious that the future Dharma Rajya will not have regulations regarding the registration or insurance of vehicles that ply on the road. This is all nonsense introduced by colonial rulers who wanted to collect revenue for their sustenance and profit, and also encouraged by missionaries, always willing to ask their followers to observe such rules as part of unethical compliance with the laws of colonial rulers." The mentality of the writer is studded with such bitter vengeance and anger, that he even goes on to attack the Police and the IGP for inaction, probably not knowing that action is being taken and the matter is being inquired into. He then maliciously attack 'Asapuwa' without mentioning the name, but calling it "The Athureliye School of Thought on the Sulaiman Terrace goal of Dharma Rajya." What an absolute hypocrite? I earnestly call upon not only Rajakarunanayake who is a devout Christian, but also others to refrain from casting such dubious and frivol remarks and hints at other faiths. Why harp so much on one isolated case when thousands of cases, of much serious nature are happening in the RMV inclusive of false registrations? Ranjit C. Dissanayake, Deputy President, Eksath Sinhala Maha Sabhawa. Right of reply... Lucien Rajakarunanayake states: The fanatical zeal of Mr. Ranjit C. Dissanayake has overcome whatever his capabilities for comprehension. His baseless allegations against me are hardly in keeping with Buddhism. In the "Highway Code to the Dharma Rajya" I made no reference to Buddhism or the Maha Sangha in any way, as such could not have brought either to ridicule. In fact I am totally flabbergasted at his knee-jerk observations. My piece was regarding the behaviour of a member of parliament, who happened to be a Buddhist monk and the leader of the JHU's parliamentary group as well. It is not my fault that the JHU had to pick their candidates in a hurry, and by implication could not find the proper persons. The issue is not just about a "simple mistake of one number 8 for 9" as he states. It is about using a vehicle with a false registration number, and also with no insurance in the name of the owner and no official registration of the vehicle. This is expected of any citizen who puts a vehicle on the road. Much more attention to such requirements is expected of a member of parliament, whether in robes or not, who has entered parliament claiming to raise the moral standards of our society. As for my comment about "The Athureliye School of Thought on the Sulaiman Terrace goal of a Dharma Rajya" the writer should be aware of the large number of Buddhists who are frankly sceptical of the undefined bliss of the promised utopia of a Dharma Rajya, which is the declared goal of the JHU. It's best for those who show the way to a Dharma Rajya to keep to the Righteous Path. |
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