From Wattegama where I stay It is a long way to Colombo.
On the 28 June, 2012, an important day for all patriots of Sri Lanka, I got up early in the morning and
left home at 3 am to take the bus to Kandy from where I was to take the Inter
City train in which I had reserved a
seat to Colombo
and back.
The bus was
delayed and I had to wait standing at the lonely bus stand looking scarey in
the dark chilly morning for 40 minutes
before the bus arrived already backed with
early morning travelers going about their routine affairs unaware what
was to take place in Colombo Supreme Court on this important day.
I had to
stand another one hour or so before I came to Kandy and walked up to the Railway
Station. The train to Colombo was scheduled for 6.10 am and that
was waiting for more than an hour before the counter was opened for the issue
of tickets. At last I sat down in a
rather comfortable seat in a refurbished old
colonial railway carriage. The train left the station at 6.10 am
whistling with determination to take its
passengers to Colombo Fort in time.
The train
was not chug chugging as usual. I felt
it jumping over the rails clanking its old iron plates connecting one carriage
to another making us jump on our seats.
The train was really in a hurry, I thought it was keen to take me to Colombo to see Sampathan
and his TNA cohorts sinking into another Nandikadal this time “shot” by a Sinhala patriot at the Colombo Supreme
Court.
I arrived
safe and sound to Colombo Fort
Station and from their to the Supreme
Court at Hultsdorf by a Three Wheeler, the driver of which had not heard about the
case against the TNA, but said who ever is doing it, it is a very good idea because the TNA has to be taught a
lesson.
I was
carrying my inseparable back pack and
requested entrance to the court house. “Which case ?” the stoutish police woman asked me barring the entrance to the Supreme
Court. I told her it is the case of Jayantha
Liyanage of Sinhala Jathika Uraumaya verses the Tamil National Alliance to be heard in room No.502. “You cannot take
your bag ; nor your telephone ”she said, “ leave it some where and come back.”
I asked the
security officer at the entrance and he said emphatically that in no way he or
any one in the court complex would accept to keep any thing. A smiling
young woman soldier on duty spoke to me
and asked me to keep it in a boutique outside the Court complex and ask
them to givde you a token to reclaim it. I thanked her profusely
and went to an Internet Café where they very willingly accepted to keep the bag
and gave me a token to reclaim the bag
and my telephone later.
Now free of
my bag, I approached the stoutish police woman at the entrance to the Supreme court and she allowed me to go
in. I met another man looking for
the room number 502. I joined him in the
search and the lift took us to the 5th floor and in the corridor near the room number 502 we
found a few more patriots like us waiting.
There were a few priests, a man from Germany and few others who had seen
Shenali Waduge’s invitation to attend court and had dutifully came to see what
was going on.
The “
Golden key” case was in progress and the
room was already full. The police
officer on duty asked us to wait in the
corridor. He said when the case in which
we are interested would start we will be allowed to enter according to the
number of seats vacated in the room 502.
I was with one
Wicky Wickramaratne of the Sinhalaya Surekima Sangamaya. He introduced me to Venerable Akmeemana Dayaratana thero the
President of the Sinhala Ravaya Jatika
Sangamaya. I was very happy to meet him
in person. He was the one who initiated
the moment against the Muslim Mosque built on the temple land in Dambulla.
I remember defending him in an article to Lanka Web. There were many who
commented finding fault with me for defending a “ a thug in yellow robes”, “
criminals in a sacred yellow robe”, but
the priest I met is far from being a “ thug or a criminal in yellow robes”
.
He is a
gentle priest with strong feelings against those who are organizing themselves
to weaken the Buddha Sasana. He says
that he is not against the Muslims , the Tamil or the Catholics, but what he is
against is deliberate falsehood and
manipulating facts to impose their religion to the detriment of Buddhism. He says that other religious leaders are
profiting from the tolerance and meek acceptance by the Buddhists of any of their false assertions to down grade
Buddhism . It is time he thinks that the
Buddhists have to be assertive to protect their religion and their county
sanctified by the visits of the compassionate Buddha..
He says
that a priest is like any other citizen. The difference is that he has donned a
yellow robe and follows the teachings of the Buddha . But he cannot be deprived of his right to be
a patriot and a defender of the Buddha Sasana, when the very existence of Sri
Lanka as a Unitary
State is being challenged
by a group of foolish men.
That right of
defense of the motherland cannot be left
only for the politicians or the lay people , a priest should also be ready to
lead the Buddhists where injustice against Buddhism and Buddhists is being perpetrated. The TNA MPs have taken the upper hand,
because the Sinhala people have not come forward in large numbers to condemn them and make manifestations
against their demands which are the same
as those made by the terrorists, to obtain which they had been waging a war of
terror for thirty years.
Another
priest who had come to be present at the case filed against the TNA was Venerable
Madille Pannaloka thero he is the Secretary of the Sinhala Ravaya Jatika
Sangamaya. He told me that the Buddhist
Priests are coming to the fore front as the Buddhists have become lethargic
leaving every thing in the hands of the politicians.
There are
things that the politicians are unable to do in the present context of
excessive interference by the International Community into the internal affairs
of Sri Lanka. The Government acts diplomatically without
harming international relations. But in the long run that diplomatic approach
may go against the very existence of Sri Lanka as a unitary state, and affect
negatively the 2600 years old Buddhism –which is the foremost religion of the
world today.
He said as
an example that the Government has done a remarkable work in the resettlement
of the displaced Tamil civilian population after the elimination of terrorism,
but the government has failed to resettle the Sinhala people who had been
living in Jaffna
prior to terrorism, who were forcibly ousted by the terrorists. India
has undertaken to construct houses for the displaced Tamil people, but no body
has come forward to help the displaced Sinhala people to settle them in their
former homes in Jaffna.
Repeated
requests for their resettlement have been ignored, therefore the Sinhala Ravaya
Jatika Sangamaya of which he is the Secretary has acquired
land in Jaffna
and commenced constructing houses for the nearly 24000 displaced Sinhala
people. These people cannot reclaim their own properties as all their documents
of ownership were burnt when the terrorists set fire to their homes, bakeries
and shops. Sinhala Ravaya Jatika Sangamaya has already built Ten houses for
them and much more remain to be done.
These are Buddhist priests who are doing a service
without waiting for governments or people to come forward to help. They are no
“thugs” wearing the sacred yellow robe. They are Buddhist Monks and patriots ,
helping the Buddhist people but they are not against the Tamils or the
Muslims.
They come
forward to denounce when some wrong is being done no matter whether it is against the Muslims, Catholics, Hindus
or Buddhists. They need our support
because what they are doing is remarkable, we should not come to hasty
conclusions because we do not personally agree or disagree with some of their
actions. Two other priest whom I met at the Supreme court on that famous day
the 28the June, 2012 and worth mentioning are Venerable Mahameethava
Pannaratana thero and Venerable Yakkalamulle Pavara thero.
It was an occasion
to meet people who care about what is going on in our country and ready to
defend it in any way they can. We went
on discussing until the police officer on duty asked the priests, if they want
to they could take the three vacant seats in room No.502 where Jayantha Liyanage was to present his case
against the TNA.
After the
case Jayantha Liyanage came out of the room number 502 with a lawyer. He said that the case was presented and he
had asked permission to make certain amendments to the application. Therefore the court postponed the case for
the 14 September,2012. One of the TNA defendant
was represented by an Attorney. Jayantha said that he had a sound case
against the TNA and the copy of the Constitution of the ITAK clearly states
as its objective, the creation of a
Tamil Eelam and a separate Muslim
State. He mentioned that he is being helped by Anoma
Silva, Kithsiri Athulathmudali and Shenali Waduge.
Jayantha
Liyanage an Engineer by profession who hails from Kurunegala, is a soft spoken
man in his fifties, and appears capable of continuing the task he has undertaken to the finish. The Buddhist Priests asked why no publicity
had been given and why not make a
statement to the press. He said that he is from Kurunegala and therefore he was
unable to contact the media people in Colombo, that was the
reason why wide publicity had not been given to the case. He was however
prepared to make a statement to the press if it is possible. The Buddhist Priests present got busy and
arranged a press conference at the
Buddhist Cultural Centre at the Bouddhaloka Mawata for 3 o’clock that
afternoon.
I had
reserved a seat in the 3, 35pm Inter City Train for my return journey and could
not participate in the press conference. But no news paper carried Liyanage’s
statement to the press. But I heard
later that he had stated that he does
not want to give the case a religious colouring , making it a purely a
layman’s case against the TNA separatists.
In my
thinking it is difficult to separate Sinhala Buddhists be they laymen or
Buddhist monks from any activity taken against the separatist Tamils of the TNA or the
Expatriate pro terrorist Tamils in foreign countries. We must
all unite against the TNA. It is
only then the fight against TNA will be meaningful and end their belligerence
and separatist activities like that of
Prabhakaran that ended in Nadikadal. Our
fight is to keep our country as a united whole
and make it the motherland of every one without allowing any part of it to be controlled by one
Community.
Shenali
Waduge says, “ what’s
now needed is for several more FRs to be filed against the TNA on the same line
as how Jayantha has done it..if there are 10 or such cases filed then it
becomes a powerful case... now Mr. Stanley Perera can do the same ...and all this
will then be taken together in September which CJ on the bench..
…….....now
that TNA is on the back foot it is time to attack...on all fronts.. just how
the war theatre occurred.”
I came back
in the Inter City Train which clanked its steel plates and hurried dangerously
on the rails making us jump on our seats, while
making children happy and gleeful.
That was the end of the ordeal that I went through that day. I was tired
but the hope that we may soon be able to make Sampanthan and his cohorts shut up for good made me feel happy.
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