Let Lanka be a global beacon of light

This is a response to Lynn Ockersz’ ‘”Pakistan strikes enlightened note on interfaith harmony – The Island, World Scan feature on 23 December 2021.

It is noteworthy that Pakistani Ministers Qadri and Mazari have called for inter-religious harmony and tolerance, in the face of the barbaric act of the lynching of our brother, Priyantha Kumara. Even Prime Minister Imran Khan’s immediate reaction was that of condemnation, calling it a ‘national disgrace’ and assuring the world that the culprits will be rounded up and severely dealt with, according to the law of the land. At the same time, one should not ignore the discordant view of the Minister of Defence, whose utterances had somewhat of a flavour of approval, saying it’s not unusual for youngsters to get emotional with religion, and go berserk.

Be that as it may, the writer makes an appeal to Pakistan, to take a lead role in the South Asian region, in bringing into being ways of uniting the peoples of the region, on the basis of shared values. Why cannot we start that from home and show the region and the wide world, how inter-religious harmony and tolerance can and should be achieved?

Sri Lanka is a multinational, multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural country. At grass root level, most often there is demonstrable harmony. At state level this is ensured, at least on paper, by the fact that the most sacred days of all communities and religions are duly honoured and declared as public holidays. Perhaps we are the only country in the world, with such dispensation. But most unfortunately, this is not being used in the best possible way, to foster amity.

In our Calendar, there are 25 Public Holidays, apart from all Saturdays and Sundays. Of the 25, 23 are connected with a particular religious or racial event, the exceptions being Independence Day and May Day. It must be remembered that these 25 days are ‘commemorative’ days and not ‘holidays’, unlike Saturdays and Sundays. The vast majority of us tend to treat these days too as ‘holidays’ and do nothing connected with the event being commemorated, thereby negating its very intention.

My simple suggestion is to utilise this existing template meaningfully, to actively promote and ensure lasting harmony, tolerance and integration.

In this regard, our National holidays could be re-framed. The Independence Day and May Day, along with another eight days, which are considered to be of the highest importance to the respective ethnic or religious group; namely Thai Pongal, Sinhala and Tamil New Year (two days), Vesak (two days), Poson, Ramazan and Christmas – making up a group of 10 days that need to be considered separately. During these 10 days, there are large scale religious observances, social events and/or family reunions. This group of 10 could constitute our ‘National Holidays’.

The remaining 15 commemorative events consisting of 10 Poya days, Hadji, Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, Maha Sivarathri, Deepavali and Good Friday could be declared working days, with the exception that the first two hours, i.e. 8 to 10 be spent in some activity devoted to the significance of that particular day’s event.

Accordingly, on a Poya Day there could be a bana/meditation/dhamma discussion; on Deepavali and Maha Sivarathri Day, a Hindu religious/cultural programme; on Hadji and Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, a programme on some aspect of Islam and the life of the Holy Prophet, and on Good Friday, a Prayer Service, talk and discussion on the life of Jesus Christ. This will ensure that everyone will at least spend some time meaningfully, in observance of the particular event being commemorated. It will also promote understanding of the different religions and cultures, and integration and harmony amongst the different religious and ethnic groups, as they would be involved together in making arrangements and participating in each other’s function, and thereafter getting back to work (or class-room), after partaking in fellowship.

One should not forget that a number of Buddhists observe ‘ata-sil’ on most Poya days. As ‘ata-sil’ observance need not necessarily be on the Poya day, arrangements could be made to hold such observances on the Sunday following or preceding the Poya. In fact, many schools arrange their ‘ata-sil’ observances on the school day preceding the Poya.

Since we have been used to enjoying ‘long week-ends’, consideration could be given to declaring a Monday and/or Friday in each quarter of the year simply as an additional holiday, to encourage people to take longer breaks and engage in an activity of their choice, which is a healthy concept. This would make a total of 14/18 ‘National Holidays’.

Thus it will be seen that this proposed scheme, will curtail the number of holidays and increase the number of working days/hours, thereby helping the country’s smooth administration and economy; with a little ‘give and take’ it is likely to promote better understanding and appreciation of each other’s cultures, build bridges, facilitate cross faith interactions, and regain inter-community trust, which is essential for ensuring harmony and oneness – particularly important in the coming days of a rejuvenated effort to achieve harmony and nation re-building.

Perusal of our recent history reveals times we have gone into a slumber – have done ‘too little, too late’ with disastrous consequences. The end of the armed insurrection in 2009 was a missed opportunity – failed to adequately address the root cause of communal strife. The clock keeps ticking; swift action is needed. Let this not be yet another lost opportunity. Sri Lanka could well be the beacon of light to the entire South Asia region, as well as a global example of a harmoniously integrated society, progressing by leaps and bounds. Then we could very well say that our brother Pradeep Kumara, did not die in vain!

Dr. L.A.W. SIRISENA