30 September 2021
Indigenous v Modern
The New York Times also carries a report about the
Indigenous Medical doctor who died of Covid. As per this report:
[“There is no credible evidence to show if
there was a positive result from his work,” said Dr. Samantha Ananda, a
spokeswoman for the Government Medical Officers’ Association, a major trade
union for doctors in Sri Lanka. “We do not recommend anything that is not
proven in a scientific method.”]
The parallel of this ‘indigenous
cure’ was practised by the Rajapaksa leadership in relation to the war. The
practise began with SWRD Bandaranaike’s ‘Sinhala Only’ law. On 15 September, Neelaakandar
Kandasamy – my relative through Sri Lanka Reconciliation Forum, Sydney wrote
‘SWRD is the
brainchild of Federal ideas: he was the pioneer of the federal movement in
Ceylon.’
Today I read the article ‘SWRD’s flirtation with federalism’
by DBS Jeyaraj.’ DBS states about SWRD:
[The political evolution and transformation of S.W.R.D.
Bandaranaike is by itself a fascinating study. Despite the changes in his
political outlook, an underlying thread remaining constant in Bandaranaike
political thinking was that some form of decentralised power sharing was
imperative for the essential well-being of this resplendent island and her
people]
To my mind, SWRD is the parallel of immediate past Sri
Lankan Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi who
according to Wikipedia ‘entered Sri Lanka Law College in 1985 and took oaths as an attorney of law
of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka five years later.’ That lady publicly
expressed support for indigenous pathway and was infected by the virus. The
problem for those using both indigenous and modern pathways is not knowing why
they got infected. One is current and relative and the other is past and is
exponential. One who uses single pathway would find it easier to identify with
the cause. A good example is former Minister Mangala Samaraweera who died despite
getting both doses of Pfizer vaccine. His death was attributed to strong pre-existing
ailments – the acceleration of which was stronger power than the vaccine.
Likewise, in the case of the Indigenous doctor Mr Eliyantha Lindsay
White, who did not take the vaccine we know that his method did not work
because he diluted his medical power by
promoting it through the current official pathway. The engines were different.
In politics, SWRD was
educated in Oxford which was then modern. Hence it was understandable that he
would ‘think’ federal like British-Ceylon in which all indigenous laws were
also given recognition for indigenous groups. As per Wikipedia:
[In order to
promote Sinhalese culture and community interests,
Bandaranaike founded the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1936. He introduced the Free
Lanka Bill in the State Council in 1945 In
1947, when Leader of the House, D. S. Senanayake presented the Soulbury Constitution to the State Council, Bandaranaike seconded
the motion stating that he does so as the Sinhala Maha Sabha was the largest
party in the State Council.]
The Ideology of the Sinhala Maha Sabha was stated to be ‘Sinhalese Nationalism’.
The Opposition policy was presented
by All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC):
[The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament (50% for the Sinhalese, 50% for all other ethnic groups). This was
immediately rejected by the British Governor General Lord Soulbury as a "mockery of democracy"] Wikipedia
The Ideology of the ACTC was stated to be ‘Tamil
Nationalism’. The headquarters were in the Common Capital of Colombo. In
contrast Illankai Tamil
Arasu Kachchi (ITAK)which currently dominates Tamil
Politics established its headquarters in Jaffna. The then ACTC was multicultural
while ITAK developed to be the Direct Opposition of Sinhala county – paving the
way for separate Tamil Eelam.
The ethnic war happened due to separatism professed by both
sides. Now our experiences are measured through different measures. The written
law may ‘look’ the same. But the way it is interpreted would differ as per our
cultural beliefs. On that basis the experience of one culture cannot be reliably
measured by the law developed by another culture.
The measures used by those driven by the physical would need
more physical evidence of what exactly happened than measured used by divine / philosophy driven. The good Sri
Lankan example is Lord Muruga at Kathirgamam. When it comes to war - many Sinhala
Buddhists demonstrate belief in Lord Muruga at Kathirgamam. Not so much in Ganesh
at the shrine next to the main one. King Dutugemunu
won the war against Tamil emperor but failed to complete the Buddhist monument
of Peace at Ruwanwelisaya where the current President took oaths. Like King Dutugemunu,
this president also won the war but is getting further and further away from
Peace.
Buddha’s
relics are preserved within Ruwanwelisaya. But is Buddha’s soul the nuclear
force there? Likewise, at Kathirgamam is the philosophy of minority rule as
demonstrated by Muruga being upheld?
Any
grand idea of Federalism by SWRD lacked the power to sustain itself. Sinhala
country and Tamil country was never a reality in Sri Lanka. Whether it be Sinhalese
or Tamils – when they come into common areas – their structures needed to be expanded
to facilitate systems that are different also. Those who are strongly attached
to their birth families should go into self-governance mode though that
structure. If they get married and fail to restructure new cultures – they would
tend to disturb the peace in the new group. Likewise those who profess Sinhala
only or Tamil only or Buddhism foremost would tend to go backwards and breakup
the whole into small pieces. The people would shrink their minds and develop the
urge to die early – as demonstrated by JVP and LTTE.