| by Helasingha Bandara
( March 20, 2013, Washington DC, Sri Lanka Guardian) Tamil Nadu had been the hotbed of Anti Singhalese activities throughout history and no doubt it will continue to be so in the future. As long as the Tamils of the world believe that they do not have a country of their own, Sri Lanka will be chosen as the most vulnerable target to have a foothold to create a wider Elam and consequently the Singhalese will have no respite. One day or another or in one generation or another , the native Sri Lanka Tamils will be influenced by one person or another to take up arms once again unless the rulers of Sri Lanka would be able to inculcate in the minds of the native Tamils of Sri Lanka that they belong to Sri Lanka not to India. This does not happen with mere lip-service but with the genuine provision of equal opportunities for development and dignified living to all Sri Lankans irrespective of race, ethnicity, faith or other protected characteristics. Rubbing on the human dignity in the wrong way is the cause for suspicion, disharmony and division
Why should the Sinhala Buddhists go to India?
India is not a Buddhist country. The predominant religions of India are Hinduism and Islam. Although the Buddha was born in India, Buddhism is hardly practiced in India. It is the good work of Sri Lankan Buddhists that revived Buddhism in India and brought the places of Buddhist significance into the notice of the Buddhist world. Buddhists believe that certain places such as Buddha Gaya, Jethawana, Isipathana etc. are to have had the blessings of the touch of the Buddha’s feet. With such respect for the Buddha and the desire to feel being able to stand on the places where the Buddha roamed, people visit India not knowing that those sacred places are being desecrated by the Hindus daily spitting and urinating in and around them without care or respect.
Sri Lanka offers more sacred and magnificent Buddhist shrines and monuments for the Singhalese to see and worship if they wish. Although India claims that the Buddha was her son, no magical Buddhist monuments found in India compared with the magnificence and the scale of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and other similar Buddhist monuments found in the Buddhist countries in the Far East. The Chinese have built the tallest Buddha statue, 420 Feet tall, since the Bamiyan Statues of Afghanistan were destroyed by the Taliban .The Buddhist of Sri Lanka should avoid unfriendly Hindu India and visit the friendly Buddhist countries such as , Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia or even China and Japan.
Indian places of Buddhist significance were revived and are managed by Sri Lanka Buddhists. The irony is that the gate-keepers to those places are Indian Hindus and they charge the poor Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrim 200 Indian Rupees entrance fee in some cases while charging the Hindu Indian only 5 Rupees. Are we Sri Lankan Buddhists not fools to chase after a myth rather than practicing what the Buddha preached the way he wished?
Sri Lanka government should at least issue a travel warning to those who wish to travel to India. It is unwise to ban Indians, even the Tamils of Tamil Nadu visiting our country. It is the greatest opportunity for the Sri Lankans to show how civilized human beings should behave by receiving them well.
The lessons
For the unruly behavior of some South Indian Tamils in the two most recent incidents of assault on Buddhist monks, none of our fellow Tamil Citizens is responsible. Therefore it is of paramount importance that the Buddhist Sinhalese refrain from engaging in anti Tamil propaganda or spreading anti Tamils sentiments.
The video clips showed that some people came to the rescue of the monks at the very risk of themselves getting harmed. They themselves are Tamils. The Valour of those individuals must be highlighted and appreciated .This shows that even in Tamil Nadu not everyone condones crime and evil. For the actions of a few an entire nation of Tamils should not be condemned.
When the assaults were shown on the clips that the monks were repeatedly slapped by the unashamed strong young idiots, it aroused anger in all of us. But then this incident should be an eye opener for our Buddhist monks that when they raid houses of people and attack women for having religious differences, the fair-minded onlookers develop the same sentiments. Buddhist monks lose respect and expose themselves to violence even within Sri Lanka.
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