Category: Articles

Productive day in Parliament, with the first reading of two amendments to the Constitution that I had proposed, seconded by Upeksha Swarnamali. The 24th, which is the more important I think, is about making Secretaries to Ministries Permanent, and restoring their appointment to the Public Service Commission. I hope that all those who are keen on independent commissions will accept that these will have no teeth if the most important appointments in the Public Service are left in the hands of the Executive.

The other amendment, the 23rd, is to fulfil the pledge in the Presidential manifesto to introduce an electoral system that ensures individual representation for constituencies but makes the whole of Parliament proportionate to the will of the people. I cannot understand why we are making such a meal of this particular reform, since the text as gazetted indicates how simple it is to ensure this. The only question is the number of constituencies, and since the election Commissioner said that 125 would be hard to define, I have suggested that the first election under this system could be for 150 constituencies. He said that reducing the current number to this would not take him more than three months. 

In the light of the proposed changes to the Constitution of Sri Lanka now under consideration and growing accusations of contrived attempts via the proposed new Article 33 to neutralize the applicability of Article 9 in the Constitution that imposes a mandatory duty on the State to give to Buddhism the foremost place and protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e), an important question has arisen “ What is the relationship between the State and Buddhism that should  exist in the present day? ”

It is an incontrovertible fact that Buddhism, more than other ideology or religion, has played a singular role in creating an unique civilization and shaping the destinies of this country. Sri Lanka is the oldest Buddhist nation in the world. If not for the continuance of the Dhamma, through the study and practice of it in this country, it is unlikely that there would even be a semblance of pure Sasana in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, or Cambodia. It is in Sri Lanka that the Wheel of the Buddha’s law was truly set in motion with the arrival of Arahant Mahinda with the blessings of that great universal monarch, Emperor Asoka. If this event did not take place in Sri Lanka, the Pali Canon may not have got recorded and the noble doctrine of the Buddha, recited and accepted by the Arahats, at Rajagaha, Vesali and Pataliputta, i.e. three Great Councils of the Arya Sangha, would have vanished into thin air long ago.   

The Island editor’s response in setting the record straight regarding the Indian High Commission’s stubborn rejection that India armed the LTTE, should be applauded. The Indian political hierarchy was indeed involved heavily in arming the Sri Lankan separatist Tamils. RAW ‘s role in acting as ‘the managers’ of the armed terrorists of Sri Lanka is very well established in many a report written on the subject. According to records available India’s interests in the separatist movement commenced in 1970 when the Indian IB agents were replaced by the RAW operatives. After a preliminary survey and obtaining the Indian Government green light the training and arming of separatist terrorists were found to be one of the main activities of the RAW in Sri Lanka around 1983. The advanced training for the selected cadres were given at Chakrata, North of Dehera Dun, India’s top defence academy and in the Ramakrishna Puram in Delhi.