Opinion
JULY 1983: TAMILS DO NOT BLAME SINHALESE PEOPLE
By Jayantha Somasundaram
(This articlecontinued from yesterday (25) is based on reporting by the international media on the events in Sri Lanka forty years ago.)
“For day after day Tamils were beaten, hacked or burned to death in the streets, on buses, on trains – sometimes in the sight of horrified foreign tourists. Their homes and shops were burned and looted. Yet the security forces seemed either unwilling or unable to stop it – indeed, in Jaffna and Trincomalee, some members of the armed forces themselves joined in the fray, claiming an admitted 51 lives. And not until the fifth day, did President Jayewardene finally appear on television. In that address he did not utter a single word of sympathy for the victims of the violence and destruction.” (Paul Sieghart Sri Lanka: A Mounting Tragedy of Errors International Commission of Jurists 3/1/84)
“Mr Athulathmudali, who was later to be appointed Minister of Security on the same television programme, nearly wept with ponderous histrionics over a sight he had never dreamed he would see – lines of Sinhalese people waiting to buy food as a result of the riots! He had not a word to say in sympathy for the frightened Tamils crowded in indescribable conditions in refugee camps. In the first days after the holocaust neither the President nor the Cabinet, nor even a single prominent Sinhalese politician visited them,” wrote Harvard Professor S. J. Thambiah, in Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy.
The British Guardian said that “The President has decided that his immediate task is to placate the majority Sinhalese mobs which are still rioting, burning, looting and murdering at the expense of the Tamil minority. He has· effectively outlawed the only serious Tamil party (TULF). Instead of throwing a protective Gandhian arm around the minority population, the President has thus at a stroke disfranchised the great mass of them and turned them into a race of untermenschen or institutionalised second class citizens. The danger is that the President’s decision may be seen both by the Sinhalese mobs and the Tamil masses as a virtual endorsement of the blood bath.”
“When presented with evidence that the Army or the Police have committed atrocities against defenceless Tamils, the Government has reacted with a shrug of the shoulders,” wrote Francis Wheen in the London Times (30.7.83). “Police misconduct has actually been rewarded. In two separate cases the Supreme Court found that police officers had acted illegally; in both cases the officers concerned were promoted.”
“On the first day of violence in Colombo,” wrote T.R. Lansner in the London Observer (14.8.83) “when thousands of Tamil businesses and residences were gutted, police had orders not to intervene, it is claimed. Certainly hundreds of armed Police deployed through the city could be seen standing idly by as mobs broke vehicles and looted homes and businesses. Even when Tamils were set upon and beaten and burned to death, police armed with automatic weapons did nothing.”
Conspiracy Theory
Having watched silently for almost a week as anti-Tamil violence engulfed Sri Lanka, Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi finally telephoned Jayewardene on 28 July and expressed concern about the situation in Sri Lanka and the fate of its Tamil population. She also informed him that she was sending her External Affairs Minister Narasimha Rao on the following day to Colombo. “The Indian Foreign Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, met with President J.R. Jayewardene today to discuss the situation.” (New York Times 30/7/83)
Given international media reporting and diplomatic concern, the Jayewardene-Premadasa Regime now found it necessary to change its position and distance themselves from the perpetrators of violence. Government spokesmen thereafter laid claim to an anti-Government plot, a Communist Conspiracy and foreign involvement, to explain the unchecked anti-Tamil violence of the previous week. To substantiate this they proscribed the Communist Party, the Nava Sama Samaja Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). “The Colombo Sun called for the closing of all Soviet bloc embassies, specifically those of the Soviet Union and East Germany.” (New York Times 2/8/83)
But in a letter to the President, TULF leader Amirthalingam said: The Tamil people do not believe that Left parties had any hand in the attack on them. They regard this as an attempt to win the sympathy and support of the Western powers. The attack on the Tamil people was executed by the same forces that attacked the strikers in July 1980, attacked Professor (Ediriweera) Sarachchandra and demonstrated outside the houses of Judges (in June).”
“Initially Mr. Jayewardene hinted publicly at an Indian-Soviet Conspiracy and rumours spread that he had asked Western powers for help,” wrote John Elliot in the Financial Times. “Then he said he had no ‘direct evidence’ of a foreign power’s involvement but he was sure that army officers loyal to the JVP planned civil disturbances. Recently in an interview in Colombo he told me that the trouble was caused by the JVP together with people in his own party who are violently anti-separatist.
“Cyril Matthew, a member of the rigidly Buddhist Jaggery caste and boss of the UNP’s trade union is widely suspected in Colombo of having a guiding influence over the riots.”
John Elliot continued: Many foreign and local observers regard the claims of Mr. Jayewardene and his fellow Ministers as an attempt to cover up the fact that a few leading members of his own Government may have played a role in the plot which was partly aimed at striking a death blow at Tamil activists and at removing Tamils from their positions.
Mrs B: Govt. looking for Scapegoats
In an interview with Asiaweek (12.8.83) former Prime Minister Mrs. Bandaranaike dismissed the ‘conspiracy theory’. “It is definitely racial,” she said. “Anyone who says the violence was anything else but racial is living in a fool’s paradise. This government since it came to power in 1977 has been trying to encourage lawlessness. The UNP (United National Party) and its members have been on the wrong side of the law all the time. Now they are telling lies – that this is a plot to overthrow the government. They are only interested in looking for scapegoats.”
“There is a wealth of theory and a remarkable shortage of fact,” comments the International Commission of Jurists, “(State Minister Ananda Tissa de Alwis saw in the master plan ‘the minds of certain foreign elements’. He had previously said much the same about the 1981 outbreak. In a press interview in December 1983, he identified those foreign elements as the KGB. In parallel press interviews his colleague Cyril Matthew saw ‘the dirty hand of India’. For simpler-minded Tamils the answer is only too obvious: the entire blame falls on the Government but interestingly and encouragingly they do not blame the Sinhalese people as such, nor have they attempted any reprisals against them. What I find most extraordinary is that to this day there has been no attempt to find out the truth through an official, public and impartial enquiry when the situation in the country cries out for nothing less.”
“Virtually every Tamil I met was of the opinion that the violence against them was organised by the Government,” reported Princeton University Professor Gananath Obeysekera in Political Violence and the Future of Democracy.
“Both the Tamils hurt by these events and even Sinhalese people, as well as the foreign press, openly stated that the government either condoned the attack or it was done by factions within the government. As a response the government came out with its own theory of an international and local Communist conspiracy,” continues Professor Obeysekera. “According to this anti- Government plot scenario the Muslims and Christians were to be massacred next. All three of the proscribed parties were sympathetic with Tamil language aspirations. Similarly it is difficult to believe that a government so promptly informed of (Vijaya Kumaranatunga’s) ’Naxalite’ plot by the CID a day after the presidential elections were ignorant of a more serious plot by Marxist groups to create race riots. In other words, the government was forewarned of a plot that did not occur but not warned of one that did! If the race riots were caused by Marxists why did the government imply that it was a popular uprising by the Sinhalese and why in heavens name did no one offer sympathy for the dispossessed?”
The Jayewardene Regime now carried the pogrom to its logical conclusion. First, they made it clear that the remaining Tamil population were hostage against any external intervention to protect them. J.R. Jayewardene told India Today “The worst that India can do is to invade us. If they invade us that is the end of the Tamils in this country.”
Fourteen Hours: Fourteen Minutes
In The Break-Up of Sri Lanka, A.J. Wilson Founding Professor of Political Science at the University of Ceylon quotes Minister Gamini Dissanayake as telling a meeting at (UNP HQ) Sri Kotha on 5th September: “They are bringing an army from India. It will take 14 hours to come from India. In 14 minutes, the blood of every Tamil in the country can be sacrificed to the soil by us.”
The Regime proceeded with the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution which removed the TULF from parliament. Tamil MPs supporting the UNP Regime took the required oath and retained their seats. But none of them: S. Thondaman, Bill Devanayagam and C. Rajadurai, were re-elected to Parliament at the next General Election. Thondaman did return to Parliament, but on the National list.
Second, the pogrom was used to economically marginalise the Tamils. Ananda Tissa de Alwis explained that the ownership of Tamil businesses would be restructured to deny them a majority shareholding. And trade itself would be reorganised. “The Trade Minister has already reorganised rice wholesaling to break the Tamil grip. It is no longer in my interests to allow one community to dominate, insists Lalith Athulathmudali,” in the Irish Times (24.8.83). ‘The Tamils have dominated the commanding heights of everything good in Sri Lanka,’ explained Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel, “the only solution is to restore the rights of the Sinhala majority.’ “
“Today, after nearly a week of killing and burning Sri Lanka’s aura of stability and progress has evaporated. Hundreds of businesses and factories lie in ashes, and economic development, the Government says, has been set back three years, five years, even more. Tamils were dragged from their homes, set fire, stabbed, hacked with axes and run over. The true extent of the killings remains unknown, because many are still missing. Thousands of Tamils fled to refugee camps … Tamil homes were burned down, and Tamil-owned businesses in Colombo were gutted. Seventeen major factories wholly or partly owned by Tamils were turned into ash, including two that employed thousands of people each. Three plants that produced textiles for export were destroyed. Damage estimates are uncertain and incomplete, but the total economic loss has been placed at $300 million or more, and 150,000 people are said to have been rendered jobless. About 10,000 foreign tourists were here when the trouble started. All but about 1,500 have left. ‘If the Tigers take one more Sinhalese life in the north,” T. D. S. A. ‘Jungle’ Dissanayake, a Government official, said, ”I hate to think of the consequences.” (New York Times 4/8/83)
The final toll may never be known but during that week when homes, shops farms, cinemas, factories and vehicles belonging to Tamils were destroyed 140,000 of them fled to refugee camps. Government estimates were that 100 factories and 2,497 shops were destroyed and so large was the collection of burned out vehicles that they had to be carried out to sea for disposal.
Nazism
“Not only may foreign investors now be frightened away, but the island’s once-prosperous Tamils may no longer be counted as a mainstay of Sri Lanka’s economy…. An estimated 100,000 were left homeless. Government miscalculation and inaction have contributed to the violence,” explained The Christian Science Monitor. “So has a breakdown in discipline among the almost exclusively Sinhalese Army and police… Bewildering to even some of Mr. Jayewardene’s aides, is that the President has not made a conciliatory public statement to the Tamils; has offered no compensation; and done nothing to appease. Rightly or wrongly, this is being interpreted as a colossal show of weakness, indifference or isolation, by both Tamils and educated Sinhalese. Rather, he has permitted his Cabinet members to flail on the ”involvement of foreign powers,” a well-coordinated ”foreign plot.” When such statements were received with annoyance and some derision by Colombo’s elite, the President himself spoke only of a Sri Lankan ‘leftist plot.’”
“Half of the 4,100 Tamil shops in this once-gracious capital have been burnt to the ground. Seventeen major Tamil owned textile factories have been gutted in Colombo alone… The export-oriented tea industry in the lush hills has, according to the finance minister, nearly disappeared. For it was Sri Lanka’s Tamils who were the entrepreneurial class. In the greater Colombo area, though they represent only 9 percent of the population, one-third of the capital’s businesses and investments were in Tamil hands.” (Mary Anne Weaver The Christian Science Monitor Boston, Mass. 8 Aug 1983)
“In 2004, President Chandrika Kumaratunga gave a public apology to Tamils for Black July, likening it to Nazism. She appointed a commission, which concluded that nearly 1,000 people died and 700,000 were exiled. And she acknowledged there might be many more unreported incidents. … Despite Mrs Kumaratunga’s gestures, no one has been held accountable for the July killings.” (BBC 23 July 2013)
In the despicable absence of an urgent practical response on the part of the JVP-Anura Kumara Dissanayake-led NPP government to the devastating 28th March earthquake in Myanmar, ex-president Ranil Wickremesinghe has made a very timely and sensible proposal regarding how to assist our disaster stricken fellow humans in that country. ex-president Wickremesinghe! Thank you very much for saving, at least to some extent, Sri Lanka’s still unsullied reputation as a sovereign state populated by a most humane and hospitable people. You have again demonstrated your remarkable ability to emerge as an able state level troubleshooter at critical moments, this time though, just by being a mentor. It is a pity that you don’t think of adopting a more universally acceptable, less anglophile version of principled politics that will endear you to the general electorate and induce the true patriots of the country to elect you to the hot seat, where you will have the chance to show your true colours!
The ordinary people of Myanmar (formerly called Burma) are remarkably humble, polite and kind-hearted just like our fellow ordinary Sri Lankans. There’s a natural cultural affinity between us two peoples because we have been sharing the same Theravada Buddhist religious culture for many centuries, especially from the 4th century CE, when Buddhism started making gradual inroads into the Irrawaddy Valley through trade with India. Whereas Buddhism almost completely disappeared from India, it flourished in Sri Lanka and Burma. Nearly 88% of the 55 million present Myanmar population profess Buddhism, which compares to 72% of the 22 million population in Sri Lanka. Wickremesinghe has been mindful enough to take a glance at the historicity of close Myanmar-Sri Lanka relations. And he didn’t mince his words while giving some details.
At the beginning of his statement in this connection (which I listened to in a video today, April 1, 2025), Ranil Wickremesinghe said that our government has expressed its sorrow (but little else, as could be understood in the context). Countries near and far from Myanmar including even partly affected Thailand, and India, China, and distant Australia have already provided emergency assistance. Referring to the special connection we have with Myanmar as a fellow Theravada Buddhist country, he said that both the Amarapura and Ramanna nikayas brought the vital higher ordination ritual from there. We must help Myanmar especially because of this historic relationship.
When an earthquake struck Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha, in 2015, we sent an army team to assist. On that occasion, Sri Lanka was the second country to provide relief, India being the first, with China becoming the third country to come to Nepal’s help. Today, India, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Australia have dispatched aid by now. Last year Sri Lanka gave 1 million US Dollars for Gazan refugees. We need to take a (meaningful) step now.
Wickremesinghe proposed that the army medical corps be sent to Myanmar immediately to set up a temporary hospital there. The necessary drugs and other materials may be collected from Buddhist and non-Buddhist donors in Colombo and other areas.
Emphasising the ancient friendly relationship between Sri Lanka and Myanmar, Wickremesinghe mentioned that King Alaung Sithu I (of the Pagan Dynasty, 1090-1167 CE) sent help to (Prince Keerthi who later became) King Vijayabahu the Great (1055-1110 CE) to defeat and drive away from the island the occupying Cholas after a 17 year long military campaign. The grateful Lankan monarch Vijayabahu, during his reign, offered the Thihoshin Pagoda (name meaning ‘Lord of Lanka’ pagoda, according to Wikipedia) and a golden Buddha image to the Myanmar king. (This pagoda is situated in Pakokku in the Magway region, which is one of the six regions affected by the recent earthquake. I am unable to say whether it remains undamaged. Though the monument was initiated during Vijayabahu’s lifetime, the construction was completed during the reign of King Alaung Sithu I {Wikipedia}).
Wickremesinghe, in his statement, added that it was after this that a strong connection between Sri Lanka and Myanmar started. In some Buddhist temples in Myanmar there are paintings by ancient Lankan painters, illustrating Jataka stories (Stories relating to different births of Buddha). Among these, Wickremesinghe mentioned, there is a painting depicting the duel between (the occupying Chola king of Anuradhapura) Elara and (his young native challenger from Ruhuna prince) Dutugemunu. (Although Wickremesinghe did not talk about it, a fact well known is that there is a copy of our Mahavamsa in Myanmar. In reporting the ex-president’s speech, I have added my own information and information from other sources. I have put this within parentheses)
Let’s hope President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is wise enough to derive some benefit from his predecessor’s mentoring in the name of our beloved Motherland.
Rohana R. Wasala
Authors: Directors of Solar Village SDG CIC
www.solarvilllagesdg.org
I.M. Dharmadasa (Emeritus Professor), Nilmini Roelens (Solicitor) and Saroj Pathirana (Journalist)
The purpose of this article is to inform the Cabinet discussion on Solar Power proposed by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB)
Net metering and the Prosumer
The CEB has put forward a motion to the Sri Lankan Cabinet which proposes to reduce the unit price payable under the various net metering schemes to the “prosumer” (the owner of a solar panel system).
A prosumer is a blend of producer and consumer, referring to individuals who both create and consume. This is based on the notion that most producers of electricity through self-owned solar panels generate more than double their own needs as consumers. It thus enables the prosumer to connect to the national grid and receive money on a pay back scheme from the CEB for the excess electricity they produce.
What is this debate about?
Currently there are four schemes.
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka explains the various schemes involving roof -top solar solutions thus under a heading published in October 2023 – Rooftop Solar PV Connection Schemes. The two most noteworthy schemes are the Net plus and the Net plus plus schemes.
https://www.pucsl.gov.lk/rooftop-solar-pv-connection-schemes/
Through the NET Plus Plus Scheme CEB regards the prosumer as a mini power plant holder which maximises roof top generation well beyond the prosumer’s own needs making maximum use of extra roof space. This would work well for schools and companies with large buildings. CEB used to pay Rs. 37 per unit to the prosumer for up to 500kW. This unit price was available between 26 October 2022 to 1 July 2024. However, as of 1 July 2024 the unit price was reduced to Rs. 27.
We understand the new CEB proposal to the cabinet is to scrap this scheme altogether.
In relation to the Net Plus scheme which is the more accessible and popular scheme for ordinary householders the current CEB proposal is to reduce the unit price even further to Rs. 19 for solar power systems generating less than 20 kW, whilst for those generating between 20 – 100 kW the unit pay back will be Rs.17 and those generating between 100 – 500 kW will receive Rs.15 per unit.
The installation costs of a 5-kW solar panel is now around Rs 1.0 million. The cost of solar panels has in fact come down over the years and the units are recyclable. The lifespan of a solar unit is expected to be in the region of 22 to 25 years. There are now over 300 active solar companies in Sri Lanka. This is a rapidly growing sector with the prospect of generating employment for tens of thousands of young Sri Lankans for many years to come as technicians, administrators and entrepreneurs. The potential advantages for the economy are extensive Sri Lanka’s growth of the renewable energy sector using freely available sunshine available virtually all year-round given the geographical proximity to the equator
It is not just about reducing the electricity bills of the prosumer. This green energy solution would also mean we avoid the heavy annual cost of the import of fossil fuels into Sri Lanka which very seriously affects its balance of payments each year. The unwarranted need for environmentally damaging energy sources like coal, diesel and nuclear (with its inherent dangers and enormous costs), etc., will lead to a meaningless downward spiral of more debt, enhanced climate risk and pollution.
The intermittency argument
The argument of intermittency of renewables is a misguided premise. Some may argue that seasonal variations of renewables such as solar or hydro power may make them unreliable. This can very easily be remedied by investment in a smart grid. This can be done by upgrading the existing transformers and grid lines. A policy decision would be required at cabinet level to advise the CEB to reinvest any profits for this purpose.
Green Hydrogen is the future
Solar generated power can be harnessed to invest in Green Hydrogen solutions which could mean that rather being an importer of fossil fuels, that the rest of the world is turning away from, Sri Lanka becomes an exporter of green hydrogen to countries in the northern hemisphere where sunshine is scarcer.
Picture what it could do to the Sri Lankan economy if, rather than being dependent on imports of polluting and expensive fuel which can exacerbate the climate crisis, we transform our island into an eco-tourist paradise and become an exporter of clean green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen is created by splitting water molecules into its components of Hydrogen and Oxygen. The hydrogen gas can be compressed and stored for export. The minimum voltage required for splitting the water molecule is about 1.50 Volts DC and scaling up and commercialisation is happening throughout the world currently.
Rebranding Sri Lanka as a renewable energy island
To limit imports of fossil fuels for automobiles, a policy decision at governmental level could provide concessions for electric cars for solar roof owners and encourage the use of solar powered charging stations. The annual cost of imports of petrol and diesel would reduce overtime as Sri Lanka encourages clean and green electric cars.
Whilst the rest of the world is turning to renewable energy with alacrity, Sri Lanka ought not turn to fossil fuel imports in breach of its commitments to the international community.
In 2015 Sri Lanka signed up to the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Ahead of the Paris Summit Sri Lanka set out its climate action plan which the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) stated “Countries have agreed that there will be no back-tracking in these national climate plans, meaning that the level of ambition to reduce emissions will increase over time.”
(https://unfccc.int/news/sri-lanka-submits-its-climate-action-plan-ahead-of-2015-paris-agreement)
Sri Lanka has a real opportunity to rebrand itself as a renewable energy island. This means moving towards the commitments made at UNFCC – COP25, Sri Lanka Country Statement in Madrid in December 2019:
“Sri Lanka recognises the importance of the role of COP and highlights the need to take effective and definitive steps for finalising the follow up actions of the Paris Agreement.
The rise of the global mean temperature and the resulting changes have created adverse impacts on key sectors of Sri Lanka, such as agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, marine and fisheries, tourism and energy (hydro power) sectors, leading to disastrous effects on its people, ecosystems and economy. According to official statistics from 2008 to 2018, droughts, floods and landslides have affected over 15 million people, and losses and damages resulting from these calamities have been borne by Sri Lanka’s national budget… Sri Lanka is committed to inclusive and participatory climate actions to ensure that affirmative actions are taken to address the vulnerabilities of climate change.“https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/SRILANKA_cop25cmp15cma2_HLS_EN.pdf
Why is reduction of the unit price a very regressive, harmful measure?
The reduction will discourage the use of clean renewable energy in favour of higher imports and a move towards dangerous and expensive sources of energy.
The consequences of a reduction of unit price will thus be far reaching beyond the loss to the prosumer.
Lithium battery storage options mean that even when the sun stops shining at night or in the wet season the solar panel produced energy can continue to be used. It is very likely that current solar companies will need to diversify to survive and move towards lithium battery storage solutions and inverters so that year long, 24-hour access to energy is available without recourse to the national grid for their customers. As individuals and institutions go off grid CEB’s income will dwindle in the long run as the private sector takes over.
Recommendations to the cabinet
We make the following recommendations to the Government of Sri Lanka:
(i) At present we have a fragile grid, and the CEB should strenuously endeavour to minimise energy leakages and improve the grid by replacing weak transformers and grid lines. Such continuous improvements will enable us to move towards a “Smart Grid” enabling absorption of large amounts of intermittent renewable energies like wind and solar.
(ii) At present we have ~1500 MW of renewables installed, comparable to hydroelectricity. When solar power is plentiful during the daytime, hydro power can be reduced simply by controlling the water flow without any technical difficulties. This is one way of assuring energy storage while balancing the grid energy.
(iii) Another solution for this is pumped-water storage plants. It is important to follow through with such measures which have now been under discussion for some time.
(iv) The future energy carrier is green hydrogen (GH) produced by electrolysing water using both wind and solar. A global Green Hydrogen revolution is taking place, and GH can be used to run vehicles using fuel cell technology. Trains and buses are being run with GH technology in Europe. GH can also be converted into ammonia and methanol to produce fertilizer and be applied for other industrial uses. Sri Lanka must not be left behind.
(v) GH can be stored and burned whenever energy is needed, especially during nighttime. Only water vapour is produced during the burning of hydrogen without any air pollution. Sri Lanka already has the Sobhadanavi LNG plant which is almost ready to use. Since we must import LNG to run this power plant, we should be able to reduce the LNG import bill by half by mixing the natural gas (methane) with the locally produced GH. See here:
(vi) Local solar energy companies should install high quality solar energy systems and provide “after sale services” in accordance with their guarantees.
(vii) PV companies should also be encouraged to collaborate with local electronics departments to manufacture accessories like inverters and other components needed for these systems, creating new jobs, and reducing the total cost of the systems.
(viii) In addition to grid tied solar roofs, the PV companies should also market hot water systems and water pumping systems. As a country reliant mainly on agriculture, solar water pumping and drip irrigation systems, especially in the dry zone, provide a huge potential for increasing food production.
(ix) Battery capacities are improving, and costs are coming down. This can be encouraged pending replacing grid infrastructure.
(x) It is important to increase public awareness through government funded campaigns. The public should recognise the dangers of using imported and expensive fossil fuel and the importance of using renewables.
(xi) The public should also recognise the advantages of having a clean environment, health benefits and enhanced living conditions.
(xii) A community development project called “Solar Village” to empower needy communities, accelerate their sustainable development, reduce poverty and take climate action has been developed over the past two decades. Seven solar villages have been established and funding for three more solar villages have been obtained.
Solar Village SDG, a UK based community interest company has been established to encourage the use of renewables and to pilot programmes which will support sustainable development goals. This includes providing access to a quality education for all via smart rooms which will be set up alongside solar villages in rural schools. Such initiatives could be encouraged and supported.
Time was when we had to observe the five precepts chanting in front of the omnipresent Buddha statue in every Buddhist household, and pay homage to parents straight afterwards. Attend mandatory Sunday schools, trek about 6 miles (return) to Moratu Vidyalaya’s main hall together as a family on Fridays to listen to a sermon by erudite visiting monks from the Vajiraramaya and elsewhere.
Having been settled in the UK for half a century, I can only go by what I read and hear from Sri Lankan friends and families. All those practices seem to have changed for the worse, sadly! Living in luxury, temples are run on business models nowadays! Monks ask what they wish to eat at alms-givings, including pork, etc., tell how much it costs the laypeople to invite them, etc! Unbelievable to say the least! I dare say it seems to start from the top of the hierarchy – the Kandy Temples, where the prelates live and are patronised by all politicians from Presidents, Prime Ministers and others! Some monks engaging in politics is not uncommon! For example, a recent statement made by Ven. Dodampahala Rahula Thera during a religious ceremony held to bless former President Ranil Wickremesinghe on his birthday has sparked widespread discussion on social media.
Speaking at the event, Ven. Rahula Thera had claimed that he had advised then-President Wickremesinghe not to import fuel ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election. However, the Thera has since clarified that the remark was made in error due to the pressure of the moment. Pertinent question is why did he choose such intervention?
All these are in such sharp contrast to Buddhist monks in the Western world and South East Asia where they shun luxury to lead a truly monastic lifestyle in order to practise what they preach.
Respected and loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, Ajahn Cha was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West. Beginning in 1979 with the founding of Cittaviveka commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) in the United Kingdom, the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has spread throughout Europe, the United States and the British Commonwealth. The dhamma talks of Ajahn Chah have been recorded, transcribed and translated into several languages.
More than one million people, including the Thai Royal Family attended Ajahn Chah’s funeral in January 1993 held a year after his death due to the “hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend”. He left behind a legacy of dhamma talks, students, and monasteries. The little I know of Buddhism teaches me to practice His Noble Teachings. It follows therefore the importance of listening to practising Buddhist monks who actually command respect, not by their titles! They don’t mean anything to me. Not familiar with various Nikayas, I think Buddhist monks should have both their shoulders properly covered in the interests of propriety! Though not a vegetarian, I believe in Ahimsa as even little spiders feel pain. Though my wife is scared of them, I tell her they are scared of her, more to the point! So, I catch the innocent crawly creatures by hand to throw them out of harm’s way! We have stopped the practice of throwing inevitable food waste into Council provided bins, instead collect them on a regular basis to feed wildlife we have in abundance around rural Wales we live in. They are all gone the following day including old marrow bones after our two little dogs finish with them! It gives us great pleasure! In the end, it all boils down to respecting Mother Nature! It’s Mother’s Day today to remember Mother Nature and how proud I am of my surname!
Sunil Dharmabandhu
Wales, UK
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