Sri Lanka Ministry of External Affairs EXCLUDES Buddhist Organizations from meeting Thai PM?
Posted on May 30th, 2013
Shenali D Waduge
The Prime Minister of Thailand arrives in Sri Lanka onƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ May 31, 2013ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to mark the anniversary of a highly significant Buddhist event. Her arrival is to promote Buddhism and commemorate the Buddhist links between the two nations. Given the nature of her visit it is questionable why the Minister and Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs have excluded ALL the renowned Buddhist Organizations most of whom have direct links with Thailand and who are patronized by the Thai King himself.
While including as invites all and sundry the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry has left out sending invites to the Regional Centers of the World Fellowship of Buddhists led by the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress, World Fellowship of Buddhists-SL Branch, German Dharmadutta Society, SUCCESS Sri Lanka (Jayagrahanaya), and other leading Buddhist organizations like Dharmavijaya Foundation and YMBA.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) is given patronage by the Government of Thailand and its main office is currently situated in Bangkok and has special patronage of H.E. the King of Thailand and the patron of the WFB is a relative of the King of Thailand. Even the Thai Prime Minister and the local Thai Embassy officials will also wonder why key lay Buddhist Organizations are not part of the invitees and may read their absence differently ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” so is there a hidden agenda?
These Sri Lankan Buddhist Organizations have every right to have an audience with the Thai Prime Minister to discuss matters concerning the challenges to Buddhism both locally and internationally, but the question is why have these local heads being deliberately left out.
This isƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ notƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ how the External Affairs Ministry, its Minister and its Secretary should follow protocol. Should we be surprised that when proper protocols are not followed and the voice of the Buddhists is disregarded that the country had to witness a self-immolation of a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka whose appeals were ignored and led him to sacrifice his life for a noble cause while his other brother joined a long list of soldiers (Ranaviru) who defended and died and thereby sacrificed his life on behalf of the Sri Lankan nation. The country is morally indebted to this patriotic family.
The External Affairs Ministry need to correct this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-mistakeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ forthwith and extend invitations to the heads of these Buddhist organizations as guests alongside the preferred list that has been already been prepared and sent.
The Buddhist public asks for no less.
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May 30th, 2013 at 6:08 pm
the ponnaya at external affairs is recognized by the other ponnayas in the the administration as he holds a doctorate. its funny in sri lanka how the title dr. gets much recognition. I personally know some wouldn’t even use their title. we experienced the mediocre phd we faced at uni. who taught us(majority) and also the mediocre mates who hold phds. one wonders how they get these phd!. I know one idiot at uni who was a worker in the science faculty who went to England and got a phd and held a responsible position in a marine institution in sl and now a diplomat.
an unwise president is the root cause of all ills in sl. its time to replace him.
May 30th, 2013 at 11:01 pm
It is high time that G.L. Peiris was removed from the post of External Affairs Minister for the good of the country and Buddhists in particular. This so-called Sinhala Buddhist did enough damage in his attempts to undermine Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity as Cabinet Minister under three Governments with his infamous ‘package’ in 2000 and negotiations with the Norwegians and the LTTE (so-called ceasefire period from 2002 to 2005). Now he is trying hard to marginalize Buddhist organizations. Can anyone imagine the Cabinet Minister of a predominantly Buddhist country excluding Buddhist organizations from the list of invitees to meet the Prime Minister of another Buddhist nation during an official visit. And Sri Lanka is supposed to be the custodian of Theravada Buddhism!!!
Has any Thai Minister ever behaved in this manner towards that country’s Buddhist organizations? GLP is a man who cannot care less about the feelings of Buddhists. I wonder whether the JHU, (which is a constituent party of the government), the Maha Sangha and any of the leading Buddhist organizations will have the courage to take up this issue with President Rajapaksa.