Losing Sri Lanka

by Tisaranee Gunasekara
A profound ignorance, boundless credulity, weak intellect, and warm imagination, are the
materials, of which are made bigots, zealots, fanatics, and saints.. The saints and the
populace are, in the hands of their directors, automatons, moved at pleasure.
aron !"holbach #Good $ense without God%
# &ay '(, )*'+, ,olombo, $ri -anka Guardian% The uddhist flag flying over the
.ndependence $/uare is symbolic of the anti0-ankan state the 1a2apaksas are constructing,
post0war.
3hen 45 6uman 1ights ,ommissioner 5avi 7illai /uestioned the wisdom of flying a
religious flag over a national monument, Gotabhaya 1a2apaksa had one of his signature fits. 6e
also claimed, mendaciously, that &s. 7illai had ob2ected to the !$ $enanayake statue8 9!uring
her conversation with the 7resident, she had referred to the statue of a tall well0built man and
asked who he was. The 7resident had said it was the statue of the first prime minister. &adam
7illai had said that it is not appropriate as it represents only the $inhala nation.
The 457, in a rare display of acumen, wrote to &s. 7illai, asking for clarification. The
4561, issued a statement emphasising that &s. 7illai made no reference whatsoever to &r.
$enanayake"s statue nor demanded the removal of the uddhist flag. $he had merely
9suggested it might be more inclusive to fly only the national flag, which is a symbol that
unites the nation, no matter who they are or what religion they adhere to.
$ensible words indeed: e;cept where nation is defined as a religious community.
The uddhist flag was created in '<<(. .t was an outcome of a political process which
advocated resisting ,olonial rule with religious #uddhist0$inhala% nationalism. The adherents
of this political pro2ect regarded all non0uddhists #including non0uddhist $inhalese% as anti0
patriotic aliens and a;iomatic agents of colonialism.
1eligious nationalism is the antithesis of the modern, inclusive and secular nationalism. .t
regards religion #rather than race=country of origin% as the determinant factor in deciding one"s
>true" nationality. .ts patria is the e;clusive preserve of the >one true faith", a consecrated land
where non0believers=heretics can e;ist only on sufferance. Anagarika !harmapala was the
foremost advocate of this pro2ect in colonial ,eylon. The ?64 and the $ belong in this
tradition.
This is the >nationalism" espoused by the 1a2apaksas. The uddhist flag in the .ndependence
$/uare symbolises the anti0secular religious >nation0building" the 1a2apaksas are implanting,
post0war.
@amilial 1ule is an aberration, a throwback to an anti0democratic and monarchical past. Given
the archaic nature of their agenda, it is logical for the 1a2apaksas to embrace an e/ually
retrogressive ideology which enthrones religion as the foundation of nation. 1eligious
nationalism has another critically important use0value for the 1a2apaksas. 3ith the end of the
war, the conditions which created and sustained the decades0long ethnic0over0determination of
-ankan politics began to erode. $ans that distortion, -ankan politics would have returned to its
normal grooves. @or their familial pro2ect to take root and flourish, the 1a2apaksas needed to
install another distorting prism capable of diverting the focus of the $inhala0$outh from
livelihood and living condition issues. Given -ankan demographics, religion was the obvious
choice. The deliberate attempts to ignite religious tensions are aimed at preventing the
normalisation of -ankan politics by replacing the >racial enemy" with an even more ubi/uitous
>religious enemy".
1ulers have always used religion as a tool of legitimacy. Aia 4l 6a/ imposed $haria -aw in
7akistan. The e/ually pro0American Anwar $adat enshrined .slam as the state religion and
$haria as the principal source of legislation in Bgyptian ,onstitution. Cladimir 7utin has
elevated 9the 1ussian Drthodo; ,hurch.as a /uasi0state religion supplying the government
with its moral force . 1eligion is also a weapon of choice of electoral politicians of diverse
faiths, from American 1epublicans to .ndia"s ?7, from Turkey"s Brdogan to 4ganda"s
&useveni.
The 1a2apaksas are using their own version of $inhala0uddhism to 2ustify and strengthen their
familial rule.
The uddhist Eing
A Theravada uddhist -anka was &ahawamsa"s first premise, its starting point. And to gain
legitimacy for this e;tremely anti0uddhist notion, &ahawamsa created its own uddha0figure.
The uddha we meet in the first pages of &ahawamsa is not $iddhartha Gautama, the
,ompassionate Dne, the teacher who e;horted his followers to use their own feelings as
e;amples and never to inflict pain and suffering on another. The uddha of &ahawamsa is a
martial figure who uses terror and trickery to >drive forth" the yakkas and >win -anka for the
faith" . The monks of the ?64=$ variety are disciples of this uddha, created by the monk
&ahanama, for the purposes of another dynastic pro2ect.
The ideal ruler, according to &ahawamsa, is not $inhala but uddhist. 6e must do whatever it
takes, including the killing of millions, to propagate and protect the >true faith". !utugemunu of
&ahawamsa epitomises this ideal of religious warrior0king: he 9had a relic put into his spear
and waged war to 9bring glory to the doctrine . The !utugemunu0Blara conflict #as depicted in
the &ahawamsa% was a religious war to save -anka from unbelievers.
The )**+ contestation between &ahinda 1a2apaksa and -akshman Eadiragarmar for
premiership was also a contestation between archaic >religious nationalism" and modern
>secular nationalism". &r. Eadiragarmar was backed by the secular nationalist ?C7 while &r.
1a2apaksa was backed by the religious nationalist ?64. &r. 1a2apaksa"s victory was a turning
point, in religious nationalism"s march from irrelevance to power.
The 1a2apaksas need &ahawamsa0uddhism to legitimise and 2ustify their dynastic pro2ect.
Their post0war nation0building pro2ect is not 2ust a $inhala0supremacist one: it is also an anti0
secular, uddhist0supremacist one. $tate0driven promotion of uddhism forms the key a;is of
the pro2ect of $inhalaisation implemented by the 1a2apaksas in the 5orth=parts of the Bast.
4sing the military to build temples and uddha statues and to hold massive 3esak
celebrations, in areas sans civilian uddhists, is symbolic and symbiotic of this anti0secular
approach to peace and nation building.
.n a recent interview, the head0honcho of the $, Galagoda0Atte Gnanasara Thero admitted
that the $ has applied to be registered as a limited liability company. 6is future plans
include creating a uddhist .nternational . Dbviously the new >.nternational" will seek to unite
3irathu0type fanatics under one organisational0umbrella. .t might even become a key
component of 1a2apaksa foreign policy.
@anatics of all faiths agree that life and society should be reordered in accordance with religion,
the only difference being whose religion. They oppose the secular0humanist values of the
Bnlightenment, pluralist0democracy and cultural0diversity. Their ma2oritarianism is primarily a
religious one.
The manifestation of one type of religious fundamentalism encourages and fosters fanatics of
every other religion, creating a vicious cycle which will lead to not 2ust wars between religions
but also wars within religions. This threatens the stability and the viability of pluralist societies.
@or instance, the 4$=4E invasion of .ra/ gave rise not to an inclusive .ra/i nationalism but to
murderously competing $unni and $hia nationalisms. .ra/ became a sectarian killing field
because it succumbed to religious nationalism.
@or the 1a2apaksas, religious nationalism is an indispensable cloak and a valuable dagger.
!epicting &ahinda 1a2apaksa as the uddhist warrior0king would be useful in keeping
economically0suffering $inhala masses loyal to @amilial 1ule.
$31! andaranaike, with his $inhala0supremacism, be/ueathed a racial war to posterity. A
multi0frontal religious conflict may be the most lasting of the 1a2apaksa legacies.
1eferences:
'. .rida -ankadeepa F <.G.)*'H
). http8==colombogazette.com=)*'H=*G=)*=pillay0denies0gotas0claims=
H. !avid 1emnick F 5ew Iorker F '.H.)*'+
+. &ahawamsa ppH,+
(. .bid p'J*
K. .rida -ankadeepa F ''.(.)*'+