Srilankans can never become vegetarian
Posted on May 27th, 2013
Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai,
With the recent immolation of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the bhikku demanding cattle slaughter to be banned from Srilanka and advocacy for vegetarian food to be staple diet of Srilanka is gaining attention. We can safely predict this will never come to pass.
The first and foremost reason being that the politicians will never allow it to pass. If anyone thinks all the politicians who will give up the delicious gourmet food at the parliament for anyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ reason they have another thought coming. They will fight tooth and nail to stop it. But then the alternative to allow it only for the politicians of Srilanka ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is not beyond reality. After all wasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t there a move to give car permits the FAILEDƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ politicians in the PCƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s? ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Only our country can come out with such atrocious suggestions without blinking an eyelid.
The other reason beingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the plight of the fishermen. If everyone become vegetarians what would the fishermen do? How will they survive? How to find jobs for the thousands of them and what becomes to their families?
Some may wonder whether banning cattle slaughter will inconvenience ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Muslims. Not so. Eating beef is not a pre requisitive to the Muslims. They can be vegetarians if they want to. They can eat fish, eggs, mutton and camel meat if they want to. Of course the Muslim butchers will have to find alternative income measures, as much as the non ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Muslim ones have to.
Actually instead of demanding the government to ban the slaughter, the easiest way toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ minimize ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” or even abolish slaughter is to train the people to become vegetarians. Or else illicit slaughter and illegal import will becomeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ another ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ lucrative measure of income for the politicians and their goons. .
Let it start with the bhikkus who should set an ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ example for the people to follow and first to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ be followed by the politicians. While the slaughter of animals decrease people will have time to find and adjust to alternative means of income, like poultry and farming.
May 27th, 2013 at 1:52 pm
“LONDON (Reuters) – Around a thousand far-right protesters shouting “Muslim killers, off our streets” marched through central London on Monday against a backdrop of swelling anti-Muslim feeling following the killing of a British soldier last week.
Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old soldier, was hacked to death in broad daylight in a south London street by two men who said they killed him in the name of Islam. The attack has shocked Britain and stirred an anti-Muslim backlash, including attacks on mosques.
In a tense but largely peaceful demonstration, supporters of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) rallied in London outside Prime Minister David Cameron’s residence waving placards and shouting anti-Islamic obscenities.
“Islamic extremism is probably the number one threat to Britain,” said one protester, Ben Gates. Other demonstrators chanted “Muslim bombers off our streets”.”
It was NOT done by BBS!!
Can you see the COMMON DENOMINATOR in SL and London (not to mention USA, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Bali, etc. etc.)?
May 27th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
BAN cattle slaughter now!
If Muslims can be vegans as she says, there is NO problem then!!
“Eating beef is not a pre requisitive to the Muslims. They can be vegetarians if they want to. They can eat fish, eggs, mutton and camel meat if they want to.”
Two people from the RELIGION OF PEACE butchered a man in London with kitchen knives to eat him. But people intervened and stopped them.
Remember last week a Muslim rebel ate the heart of a Muslim soldier in Syria? The video is available in the internet. These are facts.
UNLESS meat eating stops, this barbarianism will continue.
May 27th, 2013 at 2:06 pm
BTW there is no country named Srilanka. It is Sri Lanka.
Sri means SACRED.
Only south Endians spell it like Srilanka.
Banning cattle slaughter will reduce the population growth rate of Arabs too which is very high. I know an Arab friend in Javatte who eats fried cow brain every day. He has 8 children. Last month he got a brain tumor. He is recovering now.
If camel meat enters the Colombo port, everyone knows who is going to eat them!! These carry the deadly worm that destroyed trees in Arabia. ALL camel meat must be fumigated. Options are endless to tame meat eaters.
May 27th, 2013 at 5:27 pm
Lorenzo, not only Syrians eating hearts, there were Libyans who added human body parts to fermenting liquor!
Its completely understandable when you follow a doctrine that blanks out all reason and natural compassion.
May 27th, 2013 at 5:38 pm
This is what the lady had to say a few years ago…..
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2010/12/10/ban-on-cattle-slaughter/
FYI: When Robert Knox was in Sri Lanka (unlike Jilani, this is a REAL ACCOUNT!) people of Sri Lanka were vegetarians. There are also plenty of Hindu and Jain vegetarians.
There are plenty of former non-vegetarian Sinhalese and the numbers are growing! Some give it up after seeing the brutal slaughter of an animal (Sinhalese-Buddhists are hard wired for compassion! – unless of course you try to mess with them like the LTTE), others do so due to various health reasons.
May noble vegetarianism grow and animals live in peace!
May 27th, 2013 at 6:39 pm
mjaya,
Absolutely.
Last year I was travelling Afghanistan with some South Koreans. A pretty 9 year old Afghan Muslim girl by the name Ayisha approached me. She said her father was killed by “the drone” and mother was killed by the “god’s army” (Taliban). She was living with her uncle who is poor. I was PETRIFIED when she begged me to marry her! I told her I’m married on one woman. She said it is OK and I could marry up to 4 women. I told the child to go to school and study as hard as she could. She said the “god’s army” (Taliban) will kill any girl studying.
I told her it is better to die doing the BAD THING by the green book than live in the Afghan hell hole. She said then she will go to hell after death. I said it is better to go to hell than going to heaven because IF she went to heaven, along with 6 other virgins she will have to sleep with a suicide bomber (martyr) who has come to heaven after killing 100 infidels in Israel!!!!!
She said it is so disgusting and promised to do the bad thing by the green book – GO TO SCHOOL, study, do sport, play in drama and fight for women’s rights. Inshallah she will succeed!
May 27th, 2013 at 8:19 pm
Believe it or not, India is world’s largest beef exporter in 2012 (over 2 million MT) and the trend is set to continue. For 4 years since 2008, beef production in India grew by a staggering 44%. India has surpassed Brazil, USA and Australia, all known as prime beef exporting countries.
India is also the single largest milk producer in the world.
Milk production and beef production are inter-related for economic reasons.
Cattle slaughter must not be banned in Sri Lanka. Even India is moving forward where cattle are worshipped. Sri Lankan culture never revered cattle. Unlike in the Hindu culture, in Sri Lankan native culture, cattle are not considered special or a species to protect. Words used for cattle (“haraka”, “gona”, “dena”) are derogatory, not respectful. Wimal Weerawansa’s Thai Pongal example does not relate to Sri Lanka as that South Indian festival has a very short history in the island.
I invite people to set aside their religious beliefs and biases for an objective assessment of cattle slaughter. Surely the Indians have done it and they are now gaining the benefits. It is better to emphasise Buddhist teachings than the customs and beliefs surrounding it. Buddhist teachings do not require states to ban cattle slaughter. Buddhist teachings follow voluntary personal decisions, not commandments or compulsions as in established religions.
May 28th, 2013 at 2:18 am
Marina, I agree with you, as long as there are people who like to kill animals cruelty in the name of religion and also people who take alcohol and needs meat to go with it. Sri Lanka is a multi religious country and we respect each others wishes to a certain point unlike many Muslims countries where they have no respect for others or religions. We Sinhalese have always for many many thousands of years respected and welcomed everyone to our country and allowed to practice their faiths. So I agree with you Marina. I hope you can send this message to Saudi Arabia to respect other human beings as people based on their humanity not on religion. Good luck Marina.
May 28th, 2013 at 2:47 am
Christie Says:
May 28th, 2013 at 2:34 am
Christie Says:
May 27th, 2013 at 7:31 am
May the Venerable Monk attain Nibbana.
According to ist percept taking life is not a good act, be it your own or others.
According to Buddhism I learnt when i was young sucide is not an approved act like in Hindinism. In Hindunism a widow has to commit suicide by jumpimg in to the funeral pire of the husband.
Buddhism does not approve suicide for any reason and I am sure Buddha has said that monks should not commit suicide as they are to carry on with the teachings.
India is the worlds leading exporter of beef today.
Buddhism does not prohibit eating of meat let alone beef. The milk most of us drink comes from overseas mainly from New Zealand not from the cows here.
Stray cattle is a problem in Sri Lanka. I cannot grow any manioc because of stray cattle that roam around the village.
I read a lot of comments in the WWW and local news papers and I feel sory for myself and others. We are being lead by the Indian hedgemonism and brainwashing.
Please be realistic and think of our heritage. We are meat eaters for forty thousand years.
The above is my previous comment.
1956 was the begining of the end of the Sinhala Buddhists brought about by the Indian colonial parasites, India and the Indian intelligence service the Third Eye.
During the 1956 election leading monks went around telling lies. One of the lies was that Sir John Kotalawala roasted a new born calf after feeding it milk from the mother cow. This was a blatant lie as it is not possible to roast an animal with liquid in its stomach. Unfortunately most of the Sinhalese beleived it. Sir John Kotalawal is one of the greatest sinhala sons of mother Sinhale. The Kotalawal Defence Academy is on his gardens donated by him to the nation.
We have so many problems without worrying what we eat or do not eat. First there is not enough food to go around with meat or without meat.
Sinhalese generally did not kill female animals to eat. Most of the Indian meat exports are old cows after milking them for life and buffolo meat. Killed in appaling conditions compared to Dematagoda abbotoirs.
Bowatte thero comes from Kahawatte where the mjority population are Hindus in the estates around.
We can see where things are coming from.
I feel sorry for the monk who killed himself.
We are back to the 1948-1955 in Sri Lanka with massive developments, foreign investments and India is out to get us with what it did with SWRD and Socialists.
India put in MR thinking that he will be like SWRD but it did not happen that way. Indian intelligencia made an error of judgement by supporting MR, they decided Ranil will be hard to negotiate wit
The simple thing is India is doing what ever it can do to destroy the Sinhale.
The simple thing is India is doing what ever it can do to destroy the Sinhale.
May 28th, 2013 at 2:56 am
I do not eat meat nor do I approve killing cows in particular for meat. Not because we Buddhists worship cows but we adore it. I have few cows at my estate. I love to stroke their head whenever I go pass them. So, it’s an emotional issue to me than a religious one. At the same time, I must say that I do not approve of this monk’s action of taking his own life to register a protest or opposition to slaughter of cows because however noble his aim is, it is not prudent and therefore it cannot be fulfilled. The whole excise is in vain and is useless.
Next to Jetawanarama, where Buddha was living most of his life, there lived a man whose trade was to kill pigs for meat. But Buddha had not even once preached the butcher against his trade for he knew it is futile because he wouldn’t be able to stop it. It is clear from Tipitake that Buddha had not strived to teach everyone the intuitive knowledge he gained, ‘the four noble truths’ and ‘the eight fold path to nivana.’ Buddha strive to teach his Dhamma only to those who are intelligent enough to understand it. ‘Come, investigate Dhamma’ has been his message. There was no force to accept his Dhamma through inducement of fear like in theistic religions.
Monk Bohowatte Indararatna should have known that 10% of the population (Muslims) in Sri Lanka love to kill and eat cows. Slaughter of animals is a routine and a widespread practice among many Moslem families during Eid al-Adha. So much so, their children hold the animal to be killed for parents to slit its neck. They long to eat that animal’s meat. What is important to understand here is that Muslim children get immunized against the sight of slaughter. They never moved by the blood dripping from the animal’s neck and are not frightened by its snorts and struggles which anathema for Buddhists. This kind of emotional immunity to the act of slaughter allows a Moslem to utilize it whenever he feels he must employ radical methods to rid himself of someone.
In the West, many of those who witnessed animal slaughter become vegetarians. I too stopped eating beef a long time ago when I was a student in the UK after watching a documentary in the BBC on the pathetic manner veal was being produced. But I do not know of any country that banned animal slaughter for food. Ven Indararatna should have known that it will be impossible to impose a complete ban on cow slaughter in our society.
Leela
May 28th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Leela,
“What is important to understand here is that Muslim children get immunized against the sight of slaughter.”
A Golden statement. Not only Muslim but also Christian children should be educated that all animals are living beings like humans and God did not make them for human conception and all animals have emotions, feel pain and suffer same as humans.
May 28th, 2013 at 5:41 pm
Whether to be a vegetarian or not, or to eat beef or not, ought to be a matter for individual choice, and should not be a matter for public policy. Sri Lanka is not the only Buddhist country. There are other theravada Buddhist countries such as Thailand and Laos where one does not find this kind of madness that crops up in Sri Lanka from time to time. In those two countries, killing animals (including cattle) for food are widely practiced commercial activities entirely devoid of religious concerns.
What is needed though in Sri Lanka to be pursued through public policy is to introduce abattoirs to ensure humane and hygienic slaughter of livestock and thus provide for more hygienic commercial supply of meat products as in most other countries. There was such a proposal to the Ministry of Trade when the late Mr Lalith Athulathmudali was its Minster. However, it was not pursued.
May 28th, 2013 at 5:51 pm
sorry . correction.1 “consumption” not conception
May 29th, 2013 at 9:58 am
Respected People,
You have all expressed your perceptions. These are coloured by your emotional commitment to our respective “Totems”
Beliefs, identities. What is the source of the cattle sent for slaughter? The villagers, cattle thieves and cattle sellers are all Good, Devout sinhala buddhists. But they don’t really think beyond the immediate financial gain. Who transports this cattle, who breaks their legs and pavks the m like gunny bags in lorries, whoo takes bribes and permit this criminal activity to proceed? Our devout officials on the ground! Go to any meat market in town are the majority of customers muslims? Do A count.
who created the Taliban to fight the Russians? How many men women and children were killed in Iraq,Libya,Pakestine etc etc. In the words of Madeline Albright they were ” Collateral damage” who has profited from Iraqi oil, libyan oil, Africa’s resources, Africa’s slaves. In SL and Burma does Panati pata only apply to Bulls? What about people are they less than Bulls and Cows”. When the British left SL we led in all the Indices. Successive Governments have all been Sinhala NOT Hamba or Damila. Where have they taken us ? MR is our only hope now. He will lead us to the light!
MR et al are probably the light at the end of the tunnel. I am confident that he will lead us to the light! Give him time there is No one else to match him!
May 29th, 2013 at 4:03 pm
The people calling for a ban on cattle slaughter are claiming to do this for Buddhism. You don’t have to be an expert in Buddhism to know that Buddhism calls for not killing ANY sentient being, cattle being just one of them. Only Hindus call for a special reverence for cattle. Hindus can worship cattle while at the same time slaughtering dozens of goats. Because of our history, Sinhala Buddhist society is recognized throughout the Theravada and throughout the western world as a HINDUISED-Buddhist society. Lets not fool ourselves. Throughout Southeast Asia, Sinhalese are referred to as “Indians” including in the Theravada Buddhist countries. Apart from their monks, the ordinary Southeast Asian Buddhist displays less solidarity with Sri Lankan Buddhists. They feel culturally closer to Muslims in Indonesia and Christians in the Philippines. This is not because they dislike us. Its because they are not on the same wavelength as us. We have a colonial cultural legacy that they do not. They can eat meat, without it being associated with European colonialism. They can condemn meat eating for purely religious motives, without it being associated with denouncing other religions or colonialism. We resonate more with the Indians and Pakistanis in this regard. Read also Robert Knox’s account of a (largely Buddhist) Kandyan kingdom led by Hindu Malabar overlords where punishment for disrespecting a cow was death introduced by our Indian kings to Lanka. They are the ones who introduced the custom of sacred cows to Lanka. Look to the source of the custom. Later, the British observed this social division and in typical British fashion, used it to their own advantage.
Lets do more work. Lets call for a ban on slaughter of all sentient animals including goat, lamb, pork, chicken etc. Will we draw the line with seafood, which I believe was traditionally consumed along the coastline even before the Europeans arrived?
May 29th, 2013 at 4:05 pm
“In his 1899 book, The River War, Churchill described what he witnessed in countries where Islam ruled: “Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.””
Golden words more than a century ago. How true!
May 29th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
timbuckedtwo,
IF MOST beef buyers, transporters, etc. are NOT muslims, that makes MORE SENSE to BAN IT.
Don’t blame others for the crimes of the RELIGION OF PEACE. It is same in EVERY COUNTRY. Humanity’s common enemy.
SL was ruled by Sinhala leaders but they ALL danced to the tune of south Endians and Arabs.
Look at MR govt. Thonda, Douglas, Hack-him have more than 15 seats and hold the balance of power to get 2/3!!
That is why SL has become like this.
When Sinhalese (more than 90% in composition) do something, it becomes highly successful.
e.g. The war victory in 2009 which is the BEST in the world (more than 95% of forces are Sinhalese).
e.g. The 1996 world cup victory. (90% of players Sinhalese)
If MINORITY participation in anything is more than 10%, it FAILS.
I’m sure more than 20% of beef consumers are from the Arabic minority which means it is another FAILED thing.
May 29th, 2013 at 7:30 pm
@lorenzo, A damned good idea. Ban the slaughter of all animals, including human men women and children. Ban the sale and consumption of Dada muss. By the way, i understand that the Yala Wildlife park has become a source of rare delicacies for the chinese workers in Hambantota! Who supplies Pangolins and venison and tortoises to the chinese restauranteur? Not the Mahavamsa buddhists of the area? What a travesty of the beautiful wise philosophy preached by the Blessed Noble one? Rejected in favour of the compilation of lies by Mahanama and the Vitriol of Anagarika! I am a vegetarian, my wife is a gourmet cook. What would I miss? also appreciate the gesture of gentlemen like Mr.Ismail for setting up a Muslim Dansala serving Vegetable Biryani, the tables were full. Your Bigotry has poisoned your heart and made your eyes wapara! Please relax and spend some time in Bhavana!
May 29th, 2013 at 10:10 pm
خنزير timbuckedtwo
I have fished out a JIHADIST by the name timbuckedtwo.
SATANIC VERSES have twisted your dumb brain. (Fatwa for telling the truth?)
Please visit “the religion of peace” website to know the TRUTH.
There is only one Ismail. Millions of Osamas!! Isn’t it? Who are your trying to fool خنزير?
Let me again share with you the GOLDEN WORDS of Winston Churchill 100 years BEFORE Osama.
““In his 1899 book, The River War, Churchill described what he witnessed in countries where Islam ruled: “Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.””
Do I need to say more? The WHOLE WORLD comes to know you خنزير.