Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has assured that the new Constitution will safeguard all religious leaders and will not leave room for anyone to criticize them even inside Parliament.
Wijeyadasa
Speaking at an event held in Kottawa yesaterday, Rajapakshe pointed out that there had been instances when religious leaders including Buddhist monks have been criticized within Parliament, however as an opportunity was not given to them to respond to such criticism, it created a very unfair situation.
He also extended his apologies to Ven. Bellanwila Wimalarathne, after a member of parliament recently criticized him in parliament.
“I apologise for that statement made against Ven. Wimalarathne by a certain parliamentarian, who used his parliamentary privileges to criticize the monk, and as the monk was not given an opportunity to respond to such criticism, it created a very unfair situation. But under the new constitution, no religious leader in our country will be allowed to be criticised,” Rajapakshe declared.
harry hatton / March 30, 2016
Is Sri Lanka becoming like a muslim country ? Like saudi arbia ? We should be able to criticize. These religious nonsense in a root cause of many problems.
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Sama / March 30, 2016
Even if Sujeeva Senasinghe is young politician, I prefer him to lead lanken ministry of justice than this man Wijedasa who has been unable to handle anything then and now in lanken politics. As some reports revealed prima facie evidence about his wealth, he only sought his pvt income rather than doing the due to the nation.
Tell me any of you, the man has qualities to do the job except standing on the fence between MR regime and MS, while all sane ones would see it, former bugger as a mad man passed anything and everything according to him, is now being put on the cabinet ministers. Cabinet ministers stayed so mum as if their both orifices got sealed off while letting all their totalitarian decisions to go only the approval of Rajapakshe siblings. The failure was huge and the donkey ministers to have stayed mum then and heard today from the very same head of state, that it was the failure of cabinet ministers to approve anything and everything if got approved by former regime. See, it is like killing someone by all means and hurt the dead bodies too, wihtout leaving any respect – pietyless Rajapakshe except Chamal Rajapakshe is a greater threat to lanken future … now the real face is being clear to the nation. What a head of state actually ?
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Candid / March 30, 2016
There is no way anyone can compare Saudi Arabia with Sri Lanka, when it comes to political freedom that we take for granted. The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of an absolute monarchy, where the King of Saudi Arabia is both head of state and the head of government, and decisions are made, to a large extent, on the basis of consultation among the senior princes of the royal family and the religious establishment.
The Qur’an is declared to be the constitution of the country, which is governed on the basis of interpretations of Islamic law (Shari’a). No political parties or national elections are permitted and according to The Economist’s 2010 Democracy Index, the Saudi government was the seventh most authoritarian regime from among the 167 countries rated. Government is dominated by the royal family.
Most Middle East Muslim countries are all the same. However there are many Muslim countries that practice democracy and have regular elections, like Iran, Palestine, Turkey, Pakistan, Tunisia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldive Islands, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kosovo, just to name a few.
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Amarasiri / March 30, 2016
Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe
Are the Religious leaders Gods? Were they Appointed by the Gods?
Please provide the Proof, Real Proof, Scientific Proof.
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Samuel Jayaweera / March 31, 2016
Yes this Pol Ba Moona seems to be only bana talking not doing the due.
I thought with his appointement we could see good things happending in this country.
I now understand the despair of people who thought the change could move a lot at once. Sure, Meeharaka led govt left so much in debries, but the performance being done by current regime is really like snail walk.. Better our youth should leave the country for better destinations.
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Mungo_Nanda / March 30, 2016
It looks like the new constitution may not be upto everyones expectations afterall, with such stupid clauses being introduced to safeguard the clergy from criticism. This only gives further strength to the existing lobby of monk hegemony, and does not help in improving the country’s democracy process. In that case, it would be better to legislate monks to stay out of Parliament and should not get involved in any politics. If monks are to be respected, then they too must learn to show respect towards others as well, and not be involved in confrontational politics. What comes to mind is the Mervyn Silva treatment,squeezing the monk’s jewels which ultimately made him to end up in hospital. Those monks became the laughing stock as they asked for it, by being greedy to benefit themselves through politics.
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Spark / March 30, 2016
It is heinous to believe that this kind of ignorant fellows are holding posts such as “minister of justice”, making such absolutely ill logical statements making a complete ass of the justice and equality system that any country wishes to protect and value.
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Plato. / March 30, 2016
On every occasion that this man Wijeyadasa Rajapakse had opened his mouth he had/has put his foot into it!
The first Amendment to the New Constitution,that will come in a jiffy,will remove the protection to the religious leaders!
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The Messenger / March 30, 2016
Dear Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe,
I am not good at English literary to write an article but let me say all what is being done against Buddhism by the Sri Lankan Buddhists or rather Sinhala-Buddhists as I have observed. I’ll appreciate if someone can take these points and write an article.
Are the Buddhist monks practicing Ahimsa (non-violence), Karuna (compassion), Metta (affection), and Maithriya (loving-kindness) towards fellow humans (irrespective of race/religion) or are they in the name of Buddhism promoting ethno-religious (Sinhala-Buddhist) chauvinism and hatred?
Most of the Sinhala Buddhist Monks do not even follow the 5 basic moral principles (Pancha sila) what Buddha has preached. These monks are a damn disgrace to Buddha and Buddhism?
The Sinhala-Buddhist Monks in Sri Lanka are the most corrupt, most racist, and the most dangerous. Buddhist monks are supposed to have given up all the worldly things (Materialism) but in Sri Lanka, it’s a different story. The Sinhala-Buddhist Monks are Corrupt to the Core.
These so called Sinhala-Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka do business, handle money, have Bank accounts and apply for Bank loans. It was found that a very large number of Sinhala-Buddhist monks had invested money in Sakvith Ranasighe’s illegal financial companies. They even sell the ata pirika (robes and other stuff) that the people donate them to earn money. Some of them are even employed. They engage in gambling, buy and sell shares, buy lottery tickets and so on. See the number of Pin-keta (tills) in the Buddhist temples. What they do with all the money they collect? Most of the culprits caught in printing fake currency notes were found to be Sinhala-Buddhists monks. They make money by selling the Car permits given to them. They print, record and sell books, magazines and Bana/pirith CDs, etc. and earn thousands of rupees in a short period.
Buddha Business has made the Sinhala Buddhist monks very rich. They own bungalows and real estates and have luxury cars and vans, employing drivers. Very soon they will also apply for driving license. They also have the latest most expensive mobile phones, lap tops, etc. They do not go from house to house with the begging bowl as instructed by the Buddha, instead the villages bring food to the temple and also the Sinhala Buddhist monks employ cooks in the temple. We have also seen Sinhala Buddhist monks selling posters, begging for money, going from door to door asking money. Buddhist-monk led politicians wheeling and dealing in imported Mercedes Benz and being caught with the pants down illegally selling tax-free motor vehicles.
They grow hair and make themselves attractive, adopt customs, habits and lifestyles like normal people, have secret love affairs, some of them live in boarding houses instead of temples, they listen to music and watch movies and have illegal sex with women or young boys. They keep mistresses in the temple (Buddhrakitha Thero and Ms. Vimala Wijewardene), and even take part in criminal/terrorist activities such as assassinating Prime minister (Somarama thero). Some of them drink alcohol, I have heard about monks who even keep Beer in their fridge. Some of them even form trade unions/associations; there was a time when the leader of the Nurses trade union in Sri Lanka was a Sinhala-Buddhist monk.
Some of them perform false miracles and pretend to heal sick people with pirith water. They tie pirith thread and bless people expecting the people to fall on their legs and worship them. Some of them preach their own Bana (sermon) instead of Buddha`s Bana.
The Sinhala Buddhist monks were war mongers, they supported and encouraged war. They take part in racist politics criticizing and condemning all other religions and races and creating communal hatred among Sinhala Buddhists and others. They take part in protest rallies, burning flags and effigies and also engage in fast unto death and even self-immolation. Some Buddhist monks shredded their robes to take AK-47s and earn more respect. We saw how monks were involved in brawl in the parliament with blood soaked faces. The Sinhala Buddhist monks lobbed a grenade at the Shah Rukh Khan show in Colombo. At present the Sinhala Buddhist monks are engaged in violence against the Muslims and Christians. They stormed the Fashion Bug, verbally abused the Muslims (hambaya, goni billa), and threw rotten eggs at shoppers, attacked and destroyed several Mosques and Churches and at Aluthgama, they attacked burnt many Muslim shops, houses and people.
Another new trend is the love for eating non-veg food (Meat and fish) among Sinhala-Buddhists monks. A new school seems to see nothing wrong in Buddhists eating animal flesh (including fish). An article by Ven. Dr. Vilegoda Ariyadeva thero, a former University of Ruhuna academic is a giant step toward guilt-free `Buddhism-friendly` meat eating. Dr. Ariyadeva thero claims meat eating is customary in Theravada Buddhist societies. Now a days when the Sinhala-Buddhists monks visit houses for Arms-giving (Daane) they expect expensive sea food and sometimes meat too. There are also Sinhala-Buddhists monks in Sri Lanka consuming food/drink in the afternoons/night even though they are not supposed to do so.
Even though Buddhism does not have any caste system, caste is used among Sinhala Buddhist monks more than lay people. Different nikayas are formed according to the caste. For example, the Siam Nikaya (Malwathu and Asgiri) will not ordained as a monk anyone from a lower caste.
The Sinhala Buddhists are more interested in worshipping the Buddha statue, Bo-tree, and Buddha’s Dathu (relics/body parts) and feeding Dana (alms/free food) to the Sangha (Buddhist monks) rather than following the Dhamma what the Buddha preached.
The Buddhism preached by the Sinhala Buddhist monks is no longer able to provide any vision or guidance or constructive power but are only occupied in maintaining their own petty positions in an already atrophied hierarchy resting on a utterly disillusioned and rapidly crumbling society from which the spirit has long since departed. They have subordinated the interests of the society to national goals and the narrow ambitions of nationalist and racist leaders.
Today, Sri Lanka has become a strong hold of Buddhist aggression and terror and such acts are spurred by hardline Sinhala Buddhist monks. The terror attacks against the minorities were motivated by Buddhist monks (the prominent among whom is Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara) with the creation of the BBS (Bodu Bala Sena/Buddhist task force).
It is said that not only India but even the Sri Lankan Tamils were once Buddhists. However, both Indians and the Sri Lankan Tamils gave up Buddhism and accepted Hinduism. Even if someone advice them to return to Buddhism, for the Tamils to go back to Buddhism, has 2500 years of Buddhism in Sri Lanka (the so called Dhammadveepa) influenced any major changes in the Sinhala society (the so called guardians of Buddhism chosen by none other than the Buddha) in terms of attitude, character, behavior, morality and so on or has it failed very miserably?
Instead of practising what Buddha preached (Ahimsa/non-violence, Karuna/compassion, Metta/affection, and Maithriya/loving-kindness towards fellow humans), the Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka not only engages in un-Buddhist practices such as in racist politics and also promote Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism and hatred towards minorities and also influence the gullible Sinhala-Buddhists to follow all the Anti-Buddhist acts that they preach and practice.
During the 1950s, we have seen Buddhist terrorists among the Buddhist clergy such as Buddhrakitha Thero and Somarama thero assassinating Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranayake. Today we have the extreme version of them in the Buddhist clergy known as Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and Sinhala Ravaya. President Maithree and Prime Minister Ranil should take extra care and precaution against these Buddhist Terrorists who will not hesitate even for a moment when it comes to assassinating our leaders.
Ministry of Buddhasasana should make sure to maintain the Buddhist Vinaya (disciplinary code) among the Buddhist clergy. Those Buddhist monks who engage in anti-Buddhist activities and disrupt the peace in the country should be subjected to disciplinary action and should be disrobed. Buddhist disciplinary laws should be enacted specially for the Buddhist clergy who violate the Buddhist values and principles. This has become an urgent need in Sri Lanka if Yahapalanaya is to succeed.
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Funlover / March 30, 2016
The Messenger, your English is far superior to the English in these columns emanating from the ballas and bakamunas . So relax. You write sense and you have guts. Keep writing.
I enjoyed reading your comments. It would have been fun too but for the nausea generated when reading about the monstrous activities of Sinhala Buddhist monks. This is also an excellent Article for ‘cut & paste’. Amarasiri the c&p artist please note.
I will certainly remember you the next time I see a pompous Mahana Yaka travelling in a Mercedes Benz!
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JJ / March 30, 2016
Superb analysis, Messenger, and there is nothing wrong with your command of the English language.
And you don’t need anyone else to write the article using your points, you should do it yourself.
Buddhism, as practiced by a majority of so-called monks in Sri Lanka is a travesty of what the Buddha taught. And the so-called ‘pious’ Buddhists in the country are responsible for this state of affairs by pandering to these frauds and encouraging their nonsense.
And chief among these hypocrites are our ignorant politicians.
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Sinhala_Man / March 30, 2016
Dear “The Messenger”,
I’ve been teaching English all my life. You’ve certainly got your message across!
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Mudiyanse / March 30, 2016
Wow, what an indictment on those so called ‘holy men’ who bring nothing but shame, dishonor and disgrace to Buddhism. It may also be true that only a small percentage of them abuse their privileged status, whilst a majority are law abiding citizens. It is an extremely difficult task to avoid the cravings of this materialistic world, abstain from the carnal desires encoded in our genes which are for purposes of procreation, and the lure of ‘big’ money which could change honesty and sincerity in an instant.
If these monks are allowed to openly marry, have a family and do business or earn decent wages then 95 percent of the problems mentioned will simply fade away. But the big question remains, will they ever allow this to happen? NO. They will prefer continue to live leading their sham lives of hypocrisy, always talking shop saying one thing doing just the opposite, and no wonder they make no headway for new followers to come into the fold. These monks are to be blamed for the failure of Buddhism to take root in most parts of the world. They just don’t have the desire to swell their ranks but simply hate others for their phenomenal growth.
We can see what other religions have achieved in much shorter time, and the projection into the future looks promising from all counts. The same cannot be said of Buddhism. At the present going rate and with such poor accomplishments to show, wonder what will happen to Buddhism in Sri Lanka within next 100 years. Will it go the way of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Maldive Islands? Anyone’s guess as good as mine.
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Hussain Fahmy / March 30, 2016
The constitution should protect hate speech, insults and accusations without clear evidence in the public media / arena. Criticism falls under the category of freedom of speech. However, very time a hate speech is permitted it costs someone part of their self respect or part of their sanity. It rips people apart and destroys societies. Disagreement is one of the beauties of free speech. However, conscience is the moral compass to guide the living.
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Plato. / March 30, 2016
Messenger.
Fine.You have covered,more or less,the antics of the Srilankan Buddhist monks.
After the defeat of the UNP Govt:of Sir John in 1956,SWRD the new Premier walked towards Sir John to shake hands.Sir John had told SWRD; Banda I kept these Dogs tied[Referring to the Buddhist monks];You have unleashed them and you will then learn your lesson.Two or Three years later Somarama Thero pulled the Trigger!
They have now grown too big! In fact they are the King-Makers since 1956!
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saj Perera / March 31, 2016
I was under the impression that Sri Lanka was a secular state with freedom of speech.
Why should religious leaders have immunity from criticism, which means they would have an advantage over school teachers over what a citizen of the country can learn. Science and rational thought will have to be subterranean activity much like many middle eastern countries still teaching medieval morality in their education systems.
We will end up being the next Afghanistan, albeit a Buddhist one if the minister has his way.
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Sinhala_Man / September 24, 2016
Wijedasa Rajapakshe has by now obviously been persuaded to stop talking this particular nonsense. How foolish his words sound, even he must by now have realised.
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