Sudath Gunasekara 24.6.2017
This country had been a Sinhala Buddhist country with a Sinhala Buddhist civilization from 543 BC and had been ruled continuously by 196 Sinhala Buddhist Kings until it was deceitfully conquered by the Colonial British in 1815. Bahujana hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya’ was the fundamental underpinning of its statecraft. It is said that we got political independence from British rule in 1948. Throughout the history of the Sinhale Kingdom, except in few rare occasions like a very short timeduring the Kotte period, the king has always had been a Sinhala Buddhist .and the King was expected to have the qualities of a Bodhisatva as described in Buddhist literature. Mahavamsa is very explicit on this when it noted in this country the King, People and the Religion have been always one” Buddhist Monks, ever since Arahat Mahinda established Buddhism on this Island in 307 BC were the guiding catalyst and also the guardian deities of the destiny of this Island nation. The ruler had always got advice from the monks and ruled the country accordingly and any who did not was removed by consensus reached after deliberations or public by revolt. As such the role of the Monk in Sinhala society has always remained supreme.
But unfortunately since the so-called fake independence we never had a true patriotic Sinhala Buddhist Head of State, though certain signs emerged during the times of SWRD (1956-59), Sirima Bandaranayaka (1960-77 with a brake (65-70) and Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005-Jan 2015). SWRD set the ball rolling. Sirima successfully engineered the takeoff. But always anti-Sinhala and anti-Buddhist reactionary forces, both within and outside the country again put it on reverse gears. A resurgence of 1956 nationalistic forces was seen in 2005 with Mahinda marginally winning the elections as the President. He, unlike all his immediate predecessors did a wonderful job from 2005 to 2009 culminating in the defeat of the LTTE terrorists on 9th May 2009 and unifying once again a country that was already divided for nearly 30 years and where actually we had two governments, one in the South and another, a Tamil terrorist regime in the North and the East. This was undoubtedly a historic victory in the annals of history of this nation that could be compared only with the historic achievements of unifications done by our patriotic Kings in the past.
But unfortunately MR could not consolidate the historic win after the war. I cannot say for certain as to why, whether it was due to wrong advice or lack of good counseling, his refusal to take such advice, over estimation of the victory, failure to assess the reality, underestimation of reactionary forces and conspiracies and ramifications of world politics or above all his failure to do the right thing at the right time. Once again reactionary forces won and as a result and he was ousted by the dormant reactionary anti-Sinhala and anti- Buddhist forces both at home and outside. The country at large is the looser. Was it the misfortune of the nation or of the ex-President or the failure on his part to do the correct thing at the correct time, only the future historians will be able to say?.
Whatever it may be, it is now known in all circles that on Jan 8th .2015, once again, we see the dawn of one of the darkest periods in the history of this illustrious nation. I see it like a political, social, economic and cultural Tsunami submerging this Island nation which was emerging from the dusts of a 30 year barbaric terrorist war. Today apart from a total collapse of the entire social system there is absolute anarchy all over. The whole nation is fast nose diving like a jet without a pilot.
Whoever comes to power next will need years if not decades to restore the damages and destructions this unpatriotic government has done during the past 2 years. .Recovering from this Augean mess will be even more difficult than defeating the LTTE.
Only the emergence of a strong and ultra-patriotic Sinhala Buddhist leader, blessed by the Mahasangha and all the patriotic Sinhala Buddhist people joining hands under one banner discarding stingy and dirty party politics who will behave and act like a real Sinhala Buddhist leader of the yore will be able to rescue this nation. He must be a person who strictly follow the principles and values laid down by Dharmasoka, Sirisangabo (who said Iman saraththan pisitan sareeran Dharemi lokassa hitatta meva (this body of mine composed of blood and flesh, I bear for the wellbeing of my subjects only), Dutugemunu (Mage me vyayamaya hudek rajasepa pinisa nove, Sambhuddha sasanyage chirasthithiya sandahamaya) and Prakramabahu the Great. Certainly it is not that easy to find a human being like that. But, I am more than convinced that if we all try hard with dedication, commitment, patriotism and love for the motherland, religion and our hollowed social values, there is absolutely nothing under the sun that we cannot achieve.
A Sinhala Buddhist leader is a Statesman who rules the country according to the rules of Statecraft as laid down in Buddhist scriptures, namely the Dasarajadhamma (The Tenfold Kingly Principles of Statecraft) and Satara Sangraha Vastu (The Four Virtues of a King; Dana (Alms giving), Priya Vachana (Civility), Arthacharya (beneficence) and Samanathmata (s mere subjects or objects. .
This new leader of cause has to start anew from scratch under completely a new political culture with a new approach and a new policy He has to design the new governance in the light of the following background.
The British ruled the Island under Royal Proclamations from 21st Nov 1818 until Independence was granted in 1948 under a Dominion system during which time they did everything to maximize their exploitation and destroy the physical, political, administrative, legal, economic .social and cultural fabric of the country beyond redemption.. The political system including the universal franchise (1931) and the party system (1948) and the administrative and legal systems that were introduced to this country by the colonial British completely replaced the native system of Statecraft with an alien colonial system.
The vote and the party system divided the nation in to rival camps. The most disastrous outcome was the division of the nation on ethnic grounds by the colonial powers as Sinhala and Tamil in to rival ethnic communities in different parts in the Island on provincial basis. Emergence and proliferation of parties after 1948 in order to make the political system introduced by them completely destabilizes and destroyed the native political, administrative, legal and social fabric of the country beyond redemption. Although Tamils started their political groups and communal agitations in early 20th century Muslims formed their communal parties only after 1948. Even though earlier they joined the major national parties they also formed separate communal parties later following the foo steps of the Tamils in order to increase their bargaining powers. Still later minority political parties became mere tools of ethnic and religious agitations sans any economic or any other broader national policies. Meanwhile the Sinhala electorate polarized around the UNP and SLFP till about early 1970s until the JVP emerged as a radical and militant group. This made things even worse by splitting the Sinhala vote further thereby reducing the strength of the Sinhala vote. Today these parties have come to stay not only as their political parties but also their religion and the nation as well. Nevertheless Tamils and Muslims stay united solidly as separate ethnic and religious groups and Muslims vote only for a Muslim while the Tamils maintain the same solidarity when it comes to elections. Sinhala people on the other hand are divided like cobras and mongoose (nai and mugati) on party basis cutting each other’s throat. This disunity among the Sinhala electorate has made it impossible to form a government without the support of the Tamils and the Muslims. This situation has made the minorities the king makers. As a result their bargaining powers have risen to the heavens. With this situation the net value of the 75% Sinhala vote has become almost zero. This is the tragedy of the Sinhala nation as well as the Sinhala politician
Today as a result the Sinhala political parties have become virtual victims of ethnic minorities pushing them to go after the Tamil and Muslim votes,” like the proverbial fox that followed a goat greedily hoping its dangling testicles will fall and perished. All our politicians had been doing this mistake throughout and betrayed the Sinhala Buddhist majority for political gain for the past 70 years. The fact that Sinhalese are divided on this cancerous party lines, like UNP, SLFP and now JVP has made the Sinhala people weaker than the minorities even though they comprise 75 % of the total. The root cause of this disaster lies in the fact these idiots do not know their own history, religion, the country and traditions, and that even today we have 75% Sinhalese and 70% Buddhists in this country. As a result the country is being virtually ruled by the dictates of the minorities. This situation has persisted from the day we got Independence.
The main reason for the downfall of the Sinhala nation is this political division among Parties. That is why all governments are being dictated by the minorities. If someone can win at least 60 % of the Sinhala votes, Tamils and Muslims will have to fly a kite. and they want behave like today. They will never ask for parity, or self-determination and claim separate Kingdoms within this country thereafter. Instead they will learn to live amicably with the Sinhalese.
The golden gateway to this Kingdom lies nowhere else but in the unity of the Sinhala nation sans party politics.
In order to reach this goal first we have to find a new Strong Sinhala Buddhist leader who will boldly and openly make the clarion call that this is the land of the Sinhala Buddhist nation as it had been for the past 2600 years and it will remain so for millennia to come and
There after
1 Ban all ethnic political parties
2 Ban communal segregation
3 declare this Country once again a Sinhala Buddhist Kingdom called Sinhale as it had been called for millennia up to 1815 (we can continue to use the term Sri Lanka for International purposes)
4 Make Sinhala the official Language
5 Ban Thesawalamei and Muslim law and have one law for the whole country for all communities as it is done in all other countries
6 Scrap the 1987 Rajiv/JR Accord
7 Scrap the 13th Amendment and the Provincial Councils and have one unitary Government for the whole country administered under 25 Districts by professional Public Servants
8 Have a Rajya Sabha of less that 150 MPP and a Uttara Mantri Mandalaya of eminent patriotic statesmen unlike the present day illiterate, rogue unpatriotic and treacherous politicians and limit the Cabinet to 15 including the Prime Minister
9 Make Buddhism the State Religion as it had been from the day it was introduced to this country in the 4th Century BC while guaranteeing the right profess other religions with restrictions to manifest, propagate and teach as stipulated in 14 (e) in the Constitution
10 Make a new Constitution based on history, culture, traditions of the country etc
11 Banish all those who do not accept these conditions to hells from where they have come whether they are Tamils, Muslims, Sinhalese. or any other
12 Ask all those Tamils and Muslims not to try to identify as separate nations in this country. Those who want to do so must go back to either India or Arabia
13 Retain the Executive Presidential System as it had been our tradition from the beginning of history fro 2600 years, Change the electoral system, and see whether we can have a system of Gov without Political parties. Create a new Political culture. One National Anthem, Abolish Provinces. Govern the country according to Buddhist tenets say 10 raja Dharma, Pansil and satara sangra vastu etc Take a national senses to asses true citizens and deport all illicit immigrants, Ban Muslims marrying Sinhala women and introduce strict legislation to protect our land and resources
All so-called minorities, Tamil. Muslim or any other including Indian estate Tamil labourers must integrate with the Sinhala nation as it had been done from the inception of history in by all immigrants to this country.
14 Grant citizenship only on the basis stipulated in the Nehru/Kotalawala Pact of 1954 as they have done in earlier and medieval times. Those who are not prepared to do so must leave to their countries of origin. This rule is being enforced even in Australia. Russia and North America. The Portuguese, Dutch and British introduced separate laws to Tamils and Muslims to divide the nation that was governed by one law up to that time. British introduced Roman and Dutch law to Sinhalese only and destroyed their customary laws.
15 Make the Judiciary and the Public Service fully independent from politics and make meritocracy the only guide line of selection, appointment, promotion and placement
16 Scrap the present scheme of duty free vehicles to everybody, all extravagant benefits and perks and privileges to politicians
17Make it compulsory that all foreign aid comes to the country only through the Treasury and spent though the State machinery No direct assistance to any region, community or institution as it is presently done particularly by India to Tamils and by Arab countries to Muslims
18 Scrap the Ministry of Upcountry Tamil Village and infra structure Development and instead restore the Ministry of Kandyan Peasantry development
19 Do away with the International school system and integrate them to the national education system making them compulsory to follow the policies of the national education ssytem
Thereafter he should begin a complete national renaissance programme like changing the vestiges of colonial place names, institutions, and even names of men and women. Restore the Temple based Social structure and education etc to make freedom and national identity complete.
Political field
Ban all political parties formed under ethnic or religious names
Remove all perks like duty free vehicles excessive salaries and allowances unnecessary privileges and pensions for politicians etc
Stipulate minimum Wealth, education, integrity and character requirements for politicians
Make residence within the electorate compulsory and make permanent residence of at least 5 years to qualify for nomination. Remove the adage Hon to all politicians. Only a Sinhala Buddhist should be the President Similarly only Sinhala Buddhists a should be appointed as Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Speaker, Ministers of Justice and Agriculture and the Chief Justice
I am quoting here a statement made by Ananda from USA some time back
If MR/UPFA seeks to be RE-ELECTED to Power on a platform of REPEALING the 13A, DISSOLVING the Provincial Council System, and introducing a New Constitution that ELIMINATES all possibility of DISINTEGRATION of the country into ethno-religious Bantustans, it will SUCCEED beyond its WILDEST DREAMS as the ALIENATED Sinhala Buddhists flock to their banner without exception!