Senaka Weeraratna 

People of Sri Lanka have a fundamental duty to be pro – Sri Lanka rather than being pro this and pro that in relation to conflicts all over the world that have no relevance or gain to Sri Lanka.

If a member of parliament identifies himself as a voice of a particular community that has co -religionists fighting elsewhere in battle zones far removed from Sri Lanka then that MP must realise that he has no mandate from the other numerically larger communities of Sri Lanka to speak on their behalf.  His concern for the rights of his co religionists in other parts of the world is not shared by the rest of the people of Sri Lanka. He has no right to endanger the security or the lives of people of other religions living in Sri Lanka with his hate speech directed at one of the belligerents in a war taking place outside Sri Lanka.

We all know who blew themselves up in places of worship i.e., Churches, and 5 star hotels on Easter Sunday morning 2019 and what community and what religion they belonged to as their suicide blasts were all captured on the camera. Their moral authority to pontificate on religion related public issues evaporated with the sound of the blasts themselves. Instead of being sorry or saying sorry to the victims or the descendants of the victims they are again trying to ride the high horse of lecturing to people of other religions and communities.

Easter Sunday Bloodbath in 2019 was a watershed in the history of this country. It will take generations to heal the wounds that were created  in the relationships between various communities as the result of this huge crime against humanity committed by the suicide bombers of a fanatical religio – ethnic group.

‘ Red Herring’ type of excuses using the pretext of ‘Mahamolakaru’ will not deter the true investigator from finding out who did it and the deadly ideology that drives believers to slay disbelievers.

The moral courage of Ven. Kassapa Thera for exposing the dangerous game underlying the political appeasement of certain religious communities for no reason other than ‘ vote catching’, deserves a standing ovation.

Enough is enough of minority appeasement. Sri Lanka is a pre – dominant Buddhist country. If religion is the sole criterion that pushes people to support and show loyalties to their fellow people of the same religion engulfed in territorial disputes elsewhere then as Buddhists we must do likewise. Support threatened Buddhists in other parts of the world such as Myanmar, Bangladesh, South Korea, among others as a matter of religious loyalty and duty to our religion, Buddhism.

Senaka Weeraratna