By Ameer Ali –

Dr. Ameer Ali

“When religion and politics ride in the same cart whirlwind follows” ~ Frank Herbert

The most memorable and the most valuable gift ever to arrive in Sri Lanka from ancient India was Buddhism. While Buddhism declined in the land of its birth it grew and prospered in Sri Lanka and spread to Southeast and East Asia paving what Wiliam Dalrymple calls “The Golden Road”. It was under the cooling shade of Buddhism that the ethos of Sri Lanka’s multiculturalism evolved and remains to this day as one of the distinguishing identities of this blessed island. To illustrate this point it is worth repeating once more that Islam and its followers for example would not have had such a peaceful existence and grew to become an integral part of Sri Lankan polity had it not been for the magnanimity, hospitality and respect Buddhist monarchs, Buddhist monks and their followers extended to that community’s early settlers. Even before the advent of Islam and Muslims and during the time of Emperor Justinian in the 6^th century, Christian communities according to a Nestorian Christian voyager from Egypt had gained a foothold in the island which was then known as Diaskourides as mentioned in The Christian Topography of Cosmas Indiscopleustes (William Dalrymple, The Golden Road, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025, p. 71).  No force on earth can ever remove the primacy of Buddhism from this country.

But political Buddhism is the antithesis of Buddhism and a biproduct of the cultural awakening movement started in late 19th century. Political Buddhism was promoted in the 1950s by Buddhist nationalists like the scholar monk Dr. Walpola Rahula who urged the Sangha not to remain isolated inside the temples but to get out and play a positive role in the struggle for national development. It was a legitimate and noble call at that time when bitter memories of colonialism remained afresh in that scholar’s mind. But contrary to Rahula’s expectation political Buddhism was turned into a handy weapon by politicians in their battle for victory in parliamentary elections. In the 1956 General Elections for example, it was the unpaid saffron army of around 5,000 bhikkhus that led SWRD’s Sinhala Only campaign and made him the Prime Minister. It was from that campaign even the American CIA had learnt the power of political Buddhism and employed Buddhism as a weapon win the US war against Communism in Southeast Asia (Eugene Ford, Cold War Monks, Yale University Press, 2017).

Over the last seven decades it was not Buddhism but political Buddhism that sat on the throne of Sri Lanka’s distorted democracy and determined the substance of public policy, direction of economic development, pattern of cultural growth and even the mode of justice. The result was communal disharmony and cycles of violence leading to a bloody war, rampant financial corruption, inefficient public management, economic dereliction and loss of intellectual and social wealth.  Political Buddhism like its counterparts, political Hinduism in India and political Judaism in Israel has become an instrument to oppress the minorities with popular support. The situation in this country became so intolerable for a new generation of Sri Lankans who decided to challenge its dominance and the Aragalaya of 2022 marked a turning point in the political history of post-independence Sri Lanka. Behind aragalaya’s immediate demand for regime change there was its burning desire for a more radical and fundamental transformation in the ruling political culture and governance structured on political Buddhism that had become the bane of Sri Lanka. That message soon spread like tsunami and eventually resulted in the overthrow of RW and the LPP government that he protected. The victory of Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) at the Presidential Election followed by the landslide sweep of National Peoples Power (NPP) coalition at the General Election heralded a new era in the island’s politics.    

If there was any noteworthy achievement of the new team during its first year in office, it was its pragmatic approach towards rebuilding the shattered economy. For instance, the new leadership’s radical views against IMF and its economic agenda were shelved and a working relationship was quickly developed with that institution. While the former President Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW) simply invited the IMF, handed over the economy to its care and devoted his energy entirely to prepare for the forthcoming presidential battle, AKD on the ither hand quickly initiated his Clean Sri Lanka campaign which essentially meant getting rid of the built-in inefficiency and mismanagement in public governance. AKD’s primary focus in eradicating corruption made sure greater benefits to be achieved from the IMF program. The speedy transition of the economy from a state of instability and virtual bankruptcy to one with greater stability and promise for faster growth won the praise from both IMF as well as World Bank. To eradicate corruption the new government ensured judiciary’s independence and supremacy of rule of law which were made subservient to the whims and fancies of a despotic executive during the previous era. As a result, courts were kept busy hearing cases of financial misappropriation and administrative mismanagement, and police were kept busy capturing the culprits and producing them before the judges to face the law. That job is still not completed. Yet, the progress made so far had won kudos from the public but to the dismay of a frustrated opposition.

It is with this background one should view the recent fiasco over a Buddha statue in Trincomalee. Erecting statues of the Buddha in every part of the country including areas populated with non-Buddhists is not to spread the message of Buddha but part of an exercise to demonstrate the arrogance and power of ethnoreligious nationalism, which is the essence of political Buddhism. During the Rajapaksa era and particularly when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was President, Buddha statues were stealthily cropping up even in front of mosques as happened in Nelundeniya in Kegalle District.  Similarly, a century old mosque in the Mahara prison compound was converted overnight into a police recreation centre with Buddha statues inside to add a religious veneer to this entertainment venue. Muslims were threatened with violence if they made too much noise about these incidents. A few days ago, in Wellawaya political bhikkhus were boisterously demanding a piece of land belonging to a school for them to build a vihara. In the name of protecting the Sasana political Buddhism had a free reign since 1950s but was rejected at the 2024 elections and now showing its ugly head to disrupt thew good works done by the new government. True, the constitution accords “foremost place” to Buddhism, but that does not mean free license for anyone to erect Buddha statues and viharas anywhere one likes.

The removal by police of the Buddha statue from a makeshift shrine in Dutch Bay, Trincomalee on 16 November 2025 apparently on security grounds, and its reinstallation under special police protection within twelve hours because of agitation from a group of politically motivated bhikkhus backed by members of the opposition appear to be a strategy designed to provoke communal unrest in that area. Fortunately, the plot fizzled out because of timely action by the police. But, had the violence eventuated as planned it would have been manna from heaven to RW and Rajapaksas who are planning already for 1000 anti-government rallies to discredit AKD and disrupt NPP’s record of achievements. Sadly, the NPP minister overseeing the Trincomalee drama appears to have acted in a hurry before allowing the legal process to take care of the issue. Was this minister pandering to the wishes of political Buddhism?

Compromising with political Buddhism will certainly damage the trust minorities have on AKD and NPP. The cherished goals of ethnic reconciliation, production economy and inclusive development would be thrown into jeopardy if one or two ministers start compromising with demands from racist monks. Political Buddhism is the fortress of the opposition parties, and it is from within that fortress they are planning inaugurate their anti NPP agitation. The Trincomalee incident is a precursor to what is in store. Let the government be warned of sinister motives of a section of the sangha and their political patrons. If Buddhism is a blessing to this country political Buddhism has become a curse.