Condemning a Venerable Buddhist Monk to rigorous Imprisonment points to a much needed reform in the Sri Lanka Legal System.

After Independence in 1948, it took 8 years  before SWRD Bandaranayike thought that there should be a meaningful change in independent Sri Lanka, consisting not only the rich and well placed,  but also the Monks, physicians, teachers, peasants and workers.

By then lot of damage had already been done to stop Sri Lanka making its mark as an independent Nation amoung the rest of the sovereign Nations of the world. The minorities had by then been given  equal status along with the majority Sinhala, with the Tamils already demanding fifty-fifty, which made it impossible for the majority  community to build Sri Lanka  as a single Nation  accommodating the minority Tamils and Muslims  as a part of the larger Sri Lankan Nation. It is that error which  made this beautiful country suffer disunity, with  the Tamils demanding separate status and an Eelam within the country, resulting at the end in thirty years of terrorism.

That was the beginning of Independence of Sri Lanka under a UNP leadership.  Successive UNP governments since independence has dragged Sri Lanka backward as its leaders were unable to take decisions independent of their colonial mentality craving  to make  Sri Lanka a capitalist economy. 

The people had put their trust on the political leadership they had put into power and was satisfied with their master servant relationship.  The left movement in Sri Lanka the LSSP and the Communist parties did an enormous lot of work to change the mentality of the people that had been blunted  under more than 500 years of colonialism.

But even today there are many who have either because they are unable to recover their sense of independence and self respect remain obedient to UNP and other  ambitious politicians,  satisfied with  crumbs falling from their tables.

The present Yahapalanaya Government talks of democracy, freedom of the press, the freedom for people to manifest, and freedom from a white van culture, abductions and deaths as a reward of their incompetence to give the people  meaningful  dividends from a progressive visionary government’s development projects.

The Yahapalanaya Government speaks a lot of an independent Judiciary of Sri Lanka, as if Sri Lanka’s legal system today is a world model. The reality is that  Sri Lanka’s legal system and democracy  as it exists today, is as old as it was in 1948. That being an aspect the change of political system in 1956 had failed to attend.

The Last  Constitution written by the British for Sri Lanka, though the British Colonial rule was to destroy all that was held in respect and honour by the natives , yet  made an effort to leave the distinctive characteristics of Sri Lanka from which the country was identified-  the Buddhist Religion and the culture and customs following from it.  But yet the descendents of that 1948 UNP  without wisdom or vison, have not gone far enough to preserve Buddhism   which nurtured the island and its people for 2600 years or more .

It is very honourable to keep the Judiciary independent of the Legislature and the executive following the doctrine of Montesquieu. But Sri Lanka should go further because its Constitution provides a special place to Buddhism with which the country and its people are  inseparably bound even if the late comers into the Island  through aggression –the Tamils, or  through business interest-the Muslims may not agree.

That is an aspect of the Constitution which has not been touched since independence and remains archaic, distanced from the people whose lives remain unalterably bound from birth to death  with the teachings of the Buddha. The Constitution states:

“9. The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e).”

The Buddhism here does not include only the teachings of the Buddhaand the ceremonials, but it also includes the Temples, the living quarters of the Monks, and the lands offered to the temples. There are Chief Priests and Priests versed in the Vinaya or the Disciplinary Conduct of the Buddhist Monks. It is they who should be consulted before a Buddhist Monk is accused for breach of the law by the police and other security authorities. 

Immunity of a Buddhist Monk in the face of the law of the country is like the immunity of a Diplomat in a foreign country.   Everything that affects a Buddhist Monk is protected by the Vinaya or Disciplinary rules and the law courts of the country could act only with the consent of the Chief Priests. The Buddha Sasana may perhaps be equated to  the Vatican.

If it is considered inappropriate to give special consideration to a Buddhist Monk,  as every one is equal before the law, there should be an exception to it in Sri Lanka, for a  Buddhist Monk as he represents one of the “three refuge of a Buddhist” protected by the Constitution.

If one were to  shake ones head  in denial , to say that it is impossible  as the law stands today, it means  that  certain aspect of the Constitution has been left un attended. There is therefore a lapse in the law which should be rectified appropriately.  

When a Buddhist monk visits the home of a lay person, the venerable Monk is offered a seat appropriately covered with  a white cloth. That is the respect that should given to a Buddhist monk when he is amoung the lay followers. But the law of the land does not recognise that place of the Buddhist Monk amoung the people,  therefore one of the Judges went so far as to order that a Buddhist monk in a court house should stand up when the Judge enters the court.

If not it is a contempt of the court as, much as it is to shout at some one within the court house !!! What delicate attention to assure the independence of the Judiciary ?  But where then is the rightful place the Constitution demands for Buddhism.

This is where the Judiciary should be reformed in keeping with the Constitution. This we cannot expect from a UNP Government which is what we have under the name Yahapalanaya. There should be a “ another “Bandaranayake” to change what had not been changed when the UNP of 1948 took over the administration of  the Independent Sri Lanka from the British.

Many voices have been heard from different quarters  and NGO Agents including those in Robes, condemning the Venerable Gnanasara Thero.

That is not unusual as any Sinhala Buddhist who stands up to criticise the Yahapalanaya Government’s “one sided” reconciliation moves to please the Tamils is immediately labelled a  racist and a Sinhala Chauvinist.  What Venerable Gnanasara Thero did was to defend his Community the Community of Sinhala Buddhists.

But a Judge,  who cannot see right and wrong beyond the “letter of the law” sentenced a Venerable Buddhist Monk to rigorous imprisonment, not considering  the consequences of his act.

Quo Vadis Sirisena –Ranil ?

Maha Sangha in Protest against incarceration ov Venerable Gnanasara Thero

We have had a heroic political leader with a equally heroic Armed Forces to save the country from destruction and its people from the threat of death hanging over their heads . But unfortunate planetary changes had brought to power two destructive elements to lead a wrongly labelled Yahapalanaya Government to take our country and its people to destruction and ensuing suffering.

With the elimination of terrorism it was reported  that  the army Commander who for what ever “unknown” reason  negotiated to  buy arms at the end of terrorism and recalled ex Army offices and housed them in two big hotels in Colombo…,  the Commander of the Army was thereafter arrested, court marshalled and herded into the Prison. This incident was  later used as a means to  insult and scandalise the President of Sri Lanka who saved the country  from terrorism, and brought peace and freedom to his people.  

The Army Commander was maid a Field Marshal by the Yahaplanaya Government and later appointed as a Minister with the special duty of  making speeches in the Parliament  insulting, scandalising, reviling and abusing the former President Mahinda Rajapakse

The present Yahapalanaya politicians try to escape blame for their political misdeeds by putting responsibility for what ever death, kidnapping, murder that had taken place during the previous government directly to the Rajapakse family.

If one were to follow the same  pattern of throwing responsibility to President Rajapakse for all ills reported to have been committed at the time, we can do the same today to accuse without hesitation the President Maithripala Sirisena  responsible for the Bond scam as he authorised the appointment of a non Sri Lankan as the Governor of the Central Bank, for not refusing to  allow the Prime Minister to take the administration of the  Central Bank from the Ministry of Finance, and include it under his Ministry.  Maithripala Sirisena after the Central Bank theft was committed and the Criminals were identified did not ask his Prime Minister not to re-employ Arjun Mahendran as an advisor to the Prime Minister.

President  Sirisena further waited a long time after the Bond scam to appoint a Commission  of inquiry, and after receiving the report of the Commission, the President only presented a part of the report having removed hundreds of pages from it.

Under these circumstances should not the President Maithripala Sirisena be accused for the negligence of  his duty as the executive President for having knowingly or unknowingly allowed the theft of the Central Bank by the Minister in-charge of the Central Bank, the Governor of the Central Bank and others ?  The President Maithripala Srisena has seemingly played a part in the Central Bank  Bond Scam .

What is happening to Buddhism under  disastrous Yahapalanaya ?

The Sinhala and Buddhism have become victims of the Yahapalanaya Government which is giving priority to a reconciliation with the Tamil Community. It is their effort to keep their Western benefactors happy and receive the applause of the Tamil Diaspora and Western Human Right activists and the local NGO agents that they got even the Venerable Galabodaatte Gnanasara thero arrested.

The Tamil politicians including Wigneswaran who is doing all he can to become a part of the Tamil Community of the North as he had separated himself from the Tamils since his birth, studying in the South and becoming a Judge and got his sons marry women from Sinhala families. After his retirement and invited by the TNA to become the Chief Minister he had a guilty feeling for not being a real Tamil. Therefore now he is doing his utmost to become one by accusing the Sinhala indiscriminately for genocide of   Tamils, and demanding  to make a Tamil only Province and remove the Military camps from the North. 

Wigneswarana, Sampanthan and other Tamil politicians keep on telling lies to discredit Sinhala and Buddhism demanding Constitutional changes to make Sri Lanka a secular country without giving special protection to Buddhism.

But if the Sinhala Politicians and Buddhist Priests speak out the truth they are arrested prosecuted and put in Prison. Venerable Galabodaatte  Gnanasara thero never said a lie. He would threaten but he would not physically harm any one. Therefore there is no reason that a  Sinhala Buddhist Judge should have found him guilty for  threatening a woman in court, and sentence him to a prison term as an ordinary man.

No one has the right to disrobe a monk for whatever reason, and it was wrong if the Judge passing judgement did not instruct the Prison authorities to treat the Venerable G.Gnanasara thero with  the respect due to him as a Buddhist  Monk. Law is one thing,  but this is a Buddhist Country and the Judges should know how they use the law intelligently.

There is either something wrong with the legal system or the Government or the lack of developed  thinking of the Judges who make judgements. In English law there is a law of equity which is the fairness in the interpretation of law which goes beyond the common law. 

These laws  have trained the British  judges to be fair in making judgments without remaining strictly within the law. Some judgements of English Judges like Lord Denning are classic interpretation of law.  Do our Sri Lanka judges have that capacity to go beyond the law without breaking the laws but yet be fair in the judgements ?

No ! our Judges are not so delicate and philosophic. The recent judgement  made against Venerable Gnanasara Thero a Buddhist Monk in a Buddhist country is a shame  which makes one ashamed of Sri Lanka judiciary.  It should have been the duty of the judge to give the prison authorities instruction to treat the venerable monk differently from other prisoners. To force a Buddhist Priest to get into a prisoners pant is in it self a criminal offence in the face of the Buddhists who venerates  him , whatever the offence he had committed.

It had been said that there were occasions the Buddhist monks were reprimanded for not getting up from their seats when the Judge enters into the Court.  There were monks remanded for having kept an elephant in the Temple. It is true that every one no matter what his standing in society, is equal before the law, but surely there should be an exception in the case of a Venerable Monk as Sri Lanka is no more a British Colony but a sovereign State with a 2600 year old Buddhist Culture.

Of course the court verdict has been hailed by the anti Buddhist foreign elements such as the Omar Waraich of the Amnesty International.

Venerable Gnanasara thero’s incarceration is part of Sirisena Ranil Yahapalanaya Government’s reconciliation efforts to please the Tamil politicians and the West.

In the mean time Buddhist monks are being shot in their temples. The dead Bodies of Buddhist monks are being refused to be cremated in the North by the Tamil Provincial Councilors. What has  President Sirisena got to say ? Has Yahapalanaya forgotten that Sri Laka is a Sinhala Buddhist country ?

Sirisena Ranil duo should get the Venerable Gnanasaro thero released from the prison and apologise to the Maha Sangha and the Sinhala Buddhists for the Judgement given by a Sinhala Judge against  Venerable Maha Thero Galabodaattte Gnanasara.