Dear Comrade Aravinda,
Sometimes – thankfully not all the time – your team simply asks for negativity instead of enjoying the democratic luxury of a significant vote base. This majority came your way principally since the people of Sri Lanka had grown rather weary of the triumphalism espoused by the Rajapaksa clan and their cohorts. The people were quite weary for another reason: corruption was the new endemic, and the people feel abused by their elected representatives. It had become beyond a joke.
Take for example the Yahapalanistas. Faizer Mustapha was the Minister in charge – he proposed the Provincial Council changes and by the time it was time to vote on that in parliament, the same man voted against what he was responsible for! Truly, Comrade it was beyond a joke. Somehow the people don’t like it when that happens.
Comrade Aravinda: your Minister in Charge of Cultural and Religious Affairs is on the face of it trying to hitch a free ride on the ‘equality’ bandwagon. The negativity though is to you and your party.
His comparison of the newly elected Mayor of New York with the appointment of the Nilame role in Kandy is totally out of context. Your Minister suggests that it should be possible for a non-Buddhist to be the holder of that position.
Come on Comrade! What kind of absolute non-starter positions is that? Are we to have a Hindu woman to be the head of the Mosques in Sri Lanka? Or a Muslim – maybe Azaath Salley or Rauf Hakim or MSM Thowfeek or Rishad – to take over the role of Archbishop of Colombo?
Espousing the cause of equality and togetherness and even communal harmony is truly marvellous – especially as we all know that communal harmony has been fractured for a while thanks to a bunch of terrorists who found it convenient to latch on to the aspirations of the Northern people who ever only wanted equality of opportunity.
To make absurd statements – whilst holding high office – suggests that the Minister knows zero about the subject or in the full knowledge of the system, chose to be mischievous like that other Doctor now newly in parliament. (This fellow is either letting off steam or asleep in the chamber)
Comrade Aravinda – the Mahanayakes must have been delighted on the appointment of the Maligawa Chief – the Diyawadana Nilame, Pradeep Nilanga Dela. The reason or one such reason would be the unhappiness shown by the Senior clergy in terms of the effort by Tourism assets, to highlight the LGBT community.
Many without really understanding the system, feel that it would be a breakdown of the cultural values in Sri Lanka. Nothing of course can be further from that but one must consider that for traditional believers in the entire concept of Buddhism any such move to apparently promote LGBT travellers is nothing new, but it is a new scheme to raise awareness of the tolerance levels for LGBT travellers in Sri Lanka.
In that context the fears and concerns of all the religions in Sri Lanka will be assuaged by the election of Nilanga Dela. It is best Comrade Aravinda if you told your Ministers to be a bit more thoughtful before opening their traps.
At the end of the day the perception is this, “A Secular State: A core principle in many leftist ideologies is that the government should not use religion as a constitutive device for holding society together and should avoid enforcing purely religious norms (such as specific dietary laws). For a majority Buddhist nation the palpable fear is that even though Buddhism is give its rightful place in the Constitution, there is a fear that such values may well be eroded.
My warmest wishes to you,
Faraz Shauketaly
Team NewsLine
