By Kasun Adikari -
Kasun Adikari
“We have still not got over the shock of the traumatic events of last
July. It was a tragedy that we failed to avert. It was a tragedy that
did the country no good. The duty, an inescapable duty, to the country
is to see that another disaster of that nature never overtakes our
people.” – S. D. Bandaranaike – reported in the Sunday Observer on 30th
October 1983
Introduction
“Adirajyavadi Balavegaya”, “Anthavadeen” are the two Sinhala terms often used by the Regime and its new wing Bala Sena
to face any challenges locally as
well as internationally. Perhaps
these two words are the weapons of the same to deviate people from the
truth and to remain in power for decades.
The local as well as international media is replete with accounts of
ethnic and religious tension in Sri Lanka. This is hardly the time for
unnecessary ethnic posturing when there are other urgent issues in the
country crying for our concern and attention. Hence, before organizing
public rallies with the intention of creating communal disharmony,
before attacking Muslim owned establishments, before pasting posters in
places of worship containing abusive words, before harassing Muslim
women wearing hijab,
before issuing death threats to victims asking them to withdraw legal
proceedings from courts of law, I urge this Bala Sena to study the rich
history of Sinhala Muslim relationship in addition to the basic
principles of Buddhism.
The Bond
The following words of Dr. Lorna Dewaraja,
a prominent authority on the history of Sri Lanka, best explains the
close bond of friendship and understanding between the Sinhalese and
Muslims;
“Historians have traditionally been attracted by wars and rebellions
whereas the peaceful co- existence of groups of people over long periods
tends to be overlooked… In the history of Sri Lanka few are aware of
the harmonious relationship which had developed between the Sinhalese
and the Muslims and that both have lived together peacefully for over a
thousand years. Perhaps because it was such a peaceful relationship, it
has passed unnoticed by the historian.”
The Muslims are peace-loving people. They have lived as a law-abiding
people, for centuries, with the Sinhalese. They have, not only, lived
among the Sinhalese, but also, with the Sinhalese. The Muslims have
never called for the division of Sri Lanka. On the contrary, they have
opposed division and stood by the Sinhalese. The close relationship has
yielded mutual benefits for both communities. This relationship is now
being put to the test.
History of Muslims of Sri Lanka*
“Sri Lanka, from its ethnic singularity in pre-Vijayan times, with
her autochthonous people, the Vaeddhas, became multi-ethnic with the
arrival of Sinhala Aryans and Tamil Dravidians from the North and South
of India respectively. With the revelation of Quran and the spread of
Islam, Sri Lanka could not remain uninfluenced and Arab settlements
which had already emerged around the Island with trade and goodwill.”
[‘History of Ceylon’ Sir Emerson Tennent, Lond. Longmans (1889)
“Long before the days of the Prophet, the Arabs had made settlements
along the trade routes between the Red Sea and China. In the 8th
century, they were sufficiently numerous in South China to sack Canton.
In the 9th century, there were small communities of Mohammadan merchants
in several ports on the route to China. Hence, Sri Lanka was not
unknown to the pre- Islamic Arabs prior to the 6th century A. D.” [‘A
History of South East Asia’ D G E Hall, Macmillan ed.3 (1970)]
It is a historically proven fact that the Arabs were here, well and
truly settled down, even long before the advent of Islam. This is
evidenced by the excavation of Arabic coins, ceramic storage jars known
as “Sassanian Islamic” in ancient cities like Anuradhpaura under the
UNESCO Cultural Triangle Project.
The first mention of Arabs in Ceylon appears to be in the Mahavansa
(Ancient Sri Lankan history) account of the reign of the King
Pandukabhaya, where it is stated that this king set apart land for the
Yonas (Muslims) at Anuradhapura. It is estimated that the Arabs had
settled in Sri Lanka and Sumatra by the 1st century A.D.**
Until the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505 the Muslims who were
mainly Arabs were in complete control of both the external and internal
trade of the country. Their influence in the economy of the country is
borne by the fact that a Sri Lankan trade delegation was sent by
Bhuveneka Bahu I (1273 – 1284 A.D.) to Egypt and it was led by Al-Haj
Abu Uduman.
It is interesting to note that the Arab traders never ventured into
war with the local rulers or colonization of the land like the
Portuguese, Dutch, and British did. They never had any desire of the
exploitation and commercialization of the local people and their land
and only concentrated on trading and business in an open, honest, just,
and fair manner. The Sinhalese Kings considered the Muslim settlements
favourably. The reason was that the Muslim traders were economically and
politically an asset to the Sri Lankan king.
Right through from the Anuradhapura period to Kandyan times there was
a Muslim lobby operating in the Sri Lankan court. It advised the king
on overseas trade policy. They also kept the king informed of
developments abroad. The Muslim trader with his navigational skills and
overseas contacts became the secret channel of communication between the
court and the outside world.3 Muslims had already established their
credibility as highly disciplined and honest tradesmen. Some of them
were skilled Unani medical men. These Unani physicians were given a warm
welcome in the Kandyan court and several of them established medical
practice in places like Kandy, Mawanella, Matale, Akurana and
Kurunegala.
Contribution to the Motherland
The Muslims introduced to the island and practiced various skills
specially those which were lacking in the country. It follows that the
Muslims played a significant role in the foreign relations of Sri Lanka.
High ranking Muslims were selected for important foreign assignments
because they had sea-faring habits, international links, linguistic
ability and they were well equipped with “smooth talk”, all of which
were valuable attributes and made them particularly adept at diplomacy.
It was seen that such ambassadorial duties had been traditionally
assigned to Muslims by the Sinhala kings as far back as 1283.
The Muslims also proved to be useful and efficient warriors who
fought on the side of the Sinhala kings. From the very beginning Muslims
served in the armies of Sinhala kings and rose to very high military
position. They fought for the Sitavaka, Kotte and Kandyan kings. They
formed a sizeable component of the Kandyan king’s standing army
throughout the existence of the kingdom. Dewaraja says that when the
Portuguese first appeared off the shores of Sri Lanka, the Muslims
warned the king, sangha, nobles and the people of the potential threat
to the country’s sovereignty. When the Portuguese tried to gain a
foothold in Colombo, the Muslims provided firearms, fought side by side
with the Sinhalese and even used their influence with South Indian
powers to get military assistance to Sinhalese rulers. Through the
intervention of the Muslims, the Zamorin of Calicut sent three
distinguished Moors of Cochin with forces to help Mayadunne.
The Muslims of the Kandyan kingdom served the king in several ways
and many of these services were of a confidential and honourable nature.
History reveals that in 1762, when John Pybus, the Englishman travelled
for 13 days from Trincomalee to Ganoruwa, the authorised representative
of the king who attended on Pybus was a Muslim. The king was so pleased
with his performance and was showered with gifts of gold.
A copper plate land grant dated 1765 found at the British Museum
reveals the fact that Kirti Sri Rajasinha had sent his favourite Muslim
physician, Gopala Mudaliyar to Pondicherry soliciting French assistance
against the Dutch when the armies of the latter had occupied Kandy. The
same document refers to an earlier mission when the same envoy was went
to the Netherlands, showing the trust and confidence which the Kandyan
kings placed on their Muslim subjects.
A much more responsible task within the palace in which Muslims were
employed was the multange or royal kitchen. Employment in the royal
kitchen was restricted to extremely trustworthy and reliable servants,
since the king’s life depended on them. Quite apart from the fact that
the Kandyan kings would have relished Muslim dishes, it is seen that the
Muslims were considered very loyal supporters of the crown.
Although it is generally believed that the Muslims are versed only in
the arts of trade and commerce it is apparent that there were other
areas in which they excelled, one of which was medicine. Certain Sri
Lankan Muslim families had distinguished physicians among their members,
who rose to pre-eminence in the profession. The popularity of the Unani
system is proved by the fact that Sinhala kings welcomed the Muslims
and endowed them with grants of land.
From the foregoing analysis it is clear that the Muslims were a
versatile group of people, who had mastered a variety of skills and
served the country in many different ways.
Artificial Patriotism
The Indian media had recently disclosed an existing nexus between
Israel Mossad and Hindu extremist factions in India, with the latter
receiving funds for their operations. Hence, it’s not hard to believe
that the Bala Sena and other Sinhala fundamentalist parties have
Israel’s support in what they are doing right now to gain political
legitimacy the same way the Bhatratiya Janata Party (BJP) introduced
itself to the Indian constituency with the destruction of the Barbri
Masjid to its ‘credit’.
It is important to note that, during J.R. Jayewardene’s period Israel provided weapons to Sri Lanka to fight against the LTTE.
However, according to information contained in a book titled By Way of
Deception by former Mossad Agent Victor Ostrovsky, Israel, while
provided weapons to Sri Lanka to fight the LTTE, also provided both
weapons and training to the LTTE to fight the government forces and
during that time newspapers carried stories such as ‘Australian police
confirm Israel supplied arms to the LTTE and reported it was Mossad that
influenced the LTTE to attack Muslims in the East.
It is a well-known fact that Israel Mossad was instrumental in
spawning LTTE’s hate towards Muslims, during that time. It may not be
known for certain whether Mossad is at its old game of setting the LTTE
against Muslims, this time, using the government in that role to act
against the Muslims.
As Mossad did in the past, when it fed the LTTE with the canard that
the Eastern Province Muslims were the only stumbling block and the LTTE
had to get rid of before attaining its goal of Tamil Eelam,
there is all possibility it may now be feeding the government a similar
tale, on the premises the Muslims are a setback to a united Sri Lankan.
Israel is probably spreading this canard to arouse the government’s ire
against Muslims, presumably working through Israel Mossad agents
embedded in government and security establishments.
From the above, it is evident that there is a clear cut case for
concern about Israel Mossad with this Bala Sena. Besides, in an
anti-Muslim tirade against Sri Lankan Muslims on the halaal
issue on one of the private TV channels, a Bala Sena member unwittingly
blurted out that Israel Mossad moles have sponsored there trips to
Norway, another Mossad agent.
Thus, it appears that, Israel Mossad moles in the government and the
security establishment are playing key role in whipping up anti-Muslim
protests here.
Sila, Samadhi and Panna
The three basic principles of the Buddha’s teachings are: sila,
samadhi, panna. Sila is the development of morality. Samadhi is
concentration or introspection of the mind in order to understand the
nature of the mind and how to control it and how to develop it and how
to make use of it. Panna is wisdom or enlightenment: the realization of
the real nature of the life and the universe. The whole teaching of the
Buddha is based on these three pillars. In fact, the mission and
objectives of this Bala Sena is fundamentally contrary to the
aforementioned pillars of Buddhism.
One would ask that what the moral right this Bala Sena has in calling
for a virtual uprising against our fellow citizens, the Muslims, with
we have been living for more than thousand years in peace and harmony.
Why all these unfortunate occurrences are taking place? We can only
conjecture the reasons. One reason is probably the lack of understanding
of the other man’s religion; another reason is that Bala Sena has
misused religion for gaining more power into their hands and the other
reason is the jealous and selfish attitude of the same towards other
religious beliefs and cultural activities.
Buddhist morality, explained by the Buddha is not changeable for the
advantage of men’s selfish desire. A person who strictly interprets
authentic Buddhist texts, such as the Tripitaka, will not find any
excuses to resort to violence. The Buddha preached compassion and wisdom
and every sutra, when interpreted strictly, should lead one to follow
the non-violent noble eightfold path. Since a lay disciple also follows
the five precepts, such a person refrains from activities that cause
harm to others.
There is no reason for religionists to hate one another and to
harbour jealousy. Other religionists are also working for peace and are
guiding the public to be better citizens. The educated and understanding
fellow religionists will always respect the other man’s religious
beliefs and practices and introduce the moderate way of life amongst
their followers and advise them not to go to extremes.
They also condemned brutality and devastation committed by people of
the same religion. The understanding people can see that those foolish
people have barbaric acts due to their selfishness; the foolish ones
have not learned either to value or to appreciate the other man’s
culture and religion.
They also have disgraced the human civilization and have abused their
own religions. Why this Bala Sena is treating other religious groups as
rivals? Why are they hostile to others? They must understand that they
are also working for human welfare. Accordingly, Religious intolerance
must be avoided, otherwise the future generation will curse those who
have destroyed such invaluable human treasure.
Conclusion
From the above analysis it is evident that Sri Lanka has had a long
history of religious and cultural co-existence and Muslims have always
been loyal to the country. That is a great quality in the people who
profess Islam. They have always shown loyalty and patriotism to the
country. Should we allow this Bala Sena to destroy this? Therefore,
unnecessary hostility and the vicious attacks by the Bala Sena on the
Muslim community need to be checked before it grows into a surge. Bala
Sena is politically and morally responsible for eroding national harmony
and the same should publicly apologize to all Buddhists for tarnishing
image of Buddhism locally as well as internationally. They should
disclose the details of the contract that they have entered into with
Israel Mossad moles.
*The writer is thankful to Dr. C. R. De Silva and Dr. Lorna Dewaraja for their scholarly research contributions on the subject.
** ‘History of Ceylon- The Portuguese and Dutch Periods’ (1505-1796), Fr. S.G. Perera, Colombo (1955), Vol. 1. p 16
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