05 May 2021
PADA
YATHRAI RETURNS
I thought of Dr Jayampathy
Wickramaratne’s
widely published article ‘The Right To Noisy Protest’. In his article Dr Wickramaratne quotes
as follows:
[‘Stifling the
peaceful expression of legitimate dissent today can only result, inexorably, in
the catastrophic explosion of violence some other day.’ Justice Mark
Fernando in Amaratunga vs Sirimal.]
My
mind however took me to the common person’s version published by Asian Mirror
on 01 August 2016 – under the heading ‘Pada Yatra Protesters
Hoot At SLFP Headquarters: MR Looks Other Way’:
[Joint Opposition's Pada Yatra protesters today hooted at
the Sri Lanka Freedom Party's Darley Road headquarters.
They dubbed the party headquarters as "Sirisena's Appa
kadey" and chanted slogans against the President as they approached the
party office.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a Patron of the SLFP,
led the march when they walked past the party headquarters.
Rajapaksa, however, did not make any effort to control the
situation although he holds a senior position in the party. However, the
protesters did not cause any damage to the building or the properties of the
party headquarters.
The majority of protesters who booed at the SLFP
headquarters were members of the party.]
Two months after this was born the Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP).
A few days after the above March
Cricketmachan.com reported as follows:
[SATIRE: MR ACCUSES THE AUSTRALIANS OF PLAGIARIZING HIS PADAYATRA
CONCEPT
A furious Mahinda
Rajapakse claimed today that the Australian batsmen had copied his concept
of Padayatra as the Australian batsmen decided to protest Sri Lanka
Cricket’s decision to file a complaint against their erstwhile bowling
consultant, Muttiah Muralitharan, for allegedly verbally abusing the Sri Lankan
team manager.
The Padayatra
commenced yesterday from the middle of the pitch of the Galle International
Cricket Stadium and ended in the visitor’s dressing room this morning. “The
Padayatra has been a success. Our team showed immense commitment to our
peaceful protest in support of the best spinner ever,” said an ebullient Darren
Lehman.
Such was the
corrosive impact of Sri Lanka Cricket’s rash decision to demean Murali on the
Australian players, that at once stage three batsmen marched one after the
other in quick succession from the pitch that they were almost walking in
lockstep as they approached the dressing room.]
Mahinda’s Pada Yatra? That was how
Hindu Kathirgamam is/was occupied by
Buddhists despite the constitutional requirement to be Buddhists foremost. I
learnt about the Pada Yatra heritage through Yoga Swami devotees. The call to serve
Tsunami victims came through my belief in Yoga Swami. Patrick Harrigan wrote as
follows in this regard, in 2005:
[You
will immediately notice the professional approach that Gaja and Julia have
brought to our work in Mankerny, which hitherto had consisted of my occasional
visits, including 18 annual pada yatra foot pilgrimages through Mankerny, whose
poverty never prevented the Mankerny folks from feeding the multitude of
pilgrims on their long trek to Kataragama. Gaja’s style also tells you
something about her motivation in wishing to serve the poorest devotees of the
inscrutable god of Kataragama, Lord Skanda-Murugan’]
As per my interpretation, the Pada Yatra
represents Divine brother – Muruga who renounced the autocratic pathway to
become democratic from zero base. This happened after his elder brother Ganesh
was awarded the prize mango for going around His parents – as if they were the
whole world.
If therefore a believing Lankan
protests against Chinese autocracy, Lord Muruga of Kathirgamam would manifest
Himself to make Sri Lanka global. The election results in Tamil Nadu where Mr
Stalin who said that India ought to vote against Sri Lankan government in the recent
UNHRC Resolution is a strong indicator of this.
The
following report by ‘The Morning’ confirms that the President is separated from
Tamils:
[War
Heroes Commemoration Flag pinned on President, marks start of War Heroes
Commemoration Month
Acting
Chairperson of the Ranaviru Seva Authority Sonia Kottegoda pinned the War
Heroes Flag on the President.
This
month serves to commemorate the brave war heroes who sacrificed their lives for
a free and independent country by putting an end to the terrorism that ravaged
the nation for more than three decades.
The
War Heroes Commemoration Month commences in the first week of May from the day
the National War Heroes Flag was pinned on the President.
Defence
Secretary (Retired) General Kamal Gunaratne was also present for the occasion.]
Whether
we like it or not – Muruga is an inalienable part of Sri Lanka and will manifest
Himself whenever there is a need for democratic leadership by a true believer
in Democracy. If Politicians seek to be autocratic – then they have to go to
Sella Kathirgamam dedicated to Lord Ganesh. The two should not be mixed
indiscriminately. In Sri Lanka, Buddhist politicians who went to Kathirgamam
were granted the boon of democracy. Hence when they went Tamils got the
opportunity to go global while Sinhalese are becoming more and more local in
their standards.
No comments:
Post a Comment