{"id":185441,"date":"2017-12-13T00:19:09","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T18:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=185441"},"modified":"2017-12-17T18:12:27","modified_gmt":"2017-12-17T12:42:27","slug":"identity-politics-of-sri-lanka-a-perspective-from-the-buddhist-political-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/identity-politics-of-sri-lanka-a-perspective-from-the-buddhist-political-thought\/","title":{"rendered":"Identity Politics Of Sri Lanka: A Perspective From The Buddhist Political Thought"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jerome Cooray<\/a> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jerome Cooray<\/p><\/div>\n

Introduction: A Buddhist Political Thought<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Buddhism \u2013 both as a religion (faith) and philosophy \u2013 has existed in South Asia, South East Asia and Far East Asia for nearly two and half millennia. Same as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism, Buddhism too has played a role in the political realm (Klyadesh, 2010); and it continues to play a major political role in the modern Sri Lanka, especially in identity politics (Little, 1999). But the study of Buddhist philosophy as a political thought\/theory is relatively young work in progress and scholars have been extrapolating it from the existing canonical texts, mainly from the Tripitaka (Tipitaka\/Pali Canon) (Mancall, 2010: 140 \u2013 141).<\/span><\/p>\n

Mancall (2010: 142) lists down four main current schools of Buddhist political thought;<\/span><\/p>\n

(i) Sri Lankan and Burmese Nationalists Buddhism<\/span><\/p>\n

(ii) The Kyoto School of Thought in Japan<\/span><\/p>\n

(iii) The Thai School<\/span><\/p>\n

(iv) The Bhutanese School<\/span><\/p>\n

This short essay departs from the above classification and adopts its own classification as follows as it attempts to understand and analyze the identity politics of Sri Lanka. <\/span><\/p>\n

(I) The Canonical Buddhist Political Thought based on the Tripitaka (hereafter the Canonical School<\/i>). [Klaydesh (2010), Myint (2015), Moore (2015), Lam (2010), Palihawadana (2006)]<\/span><\/p>\n

(II) The Mahavamsic Sinhala Buddhist Political Tradition (hereafter Mahavamsic School)<\/i>, that is based on the Mahavamsa <\/i>(Great Chronicle \/ Tradition) and its sequel, Culavamsa <\/i>(Lesser Chronicle\/ Tradition) [ Obeyesekere (2006 and 2015), Roberts (2009), Gombrich (1971 and 1988), Tambiah (1976 and 1992)].<\/span><\/p>\n

Identities\/ Identity Politics: A Perspective from the Canonical School<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In addressing the question of identities through Canonical Buddhist political thought one has to keep in mind that \u2018ethnicity\u2019 has never been a Canonical Buddhist concept (Mancall, 2010 : 142) and according to the Tipitaka humankind is biologically indivisible (Palihawadana, 2006: 68). <\/span><\/p>\n

The Canonical School is based upon the doctrines of dependent origination (Mancall, 2010: 141), impermanence, and the theory of emptiness (Myint, 2015). The doctrine of dependent origination is relevant in addressing the questions of identity; according to this doctrine every individual is an intrinsically non \u2013 independent entity from nature; in other words, neither human being nor events posses an intrinsic reality or an independent existence; thus everything exists in relation to one another. Mancall sums up this as \u2018nothing exists in and of itself but only in relation to, and as a consequence of, everything else that exists\u2019 (Mancall, 2010:141).<\/span><\/p>\n

Vasetta Sutta of the Pali Canon dictates that false opinions\/ideologies (ditthi <\/i>in Pali) cause humans to differentiate each other by birth; \u2018a habitually held view becomes a latent tendency of the mind (ditth\u2019anusaya<\/i>) something invested with emotional content\u2019 (Palihawadana, 2006:68); these views remain a long term in the memory and becomes mental habit. It is out of that habit one defines and attaches him\/herself to notions such as my family, my clan, and my country in his\/her consciousness. Humans, out of the unawareness of the fact they hold a misconception, habitually develops greed\/possessive desires (kama <\/i>in Pali) towards family, tribe and land. This makes one to develop \u2018violent and excessive\u2019 attachments to notions such as \u2018my\/our homeland\u2019, \u2018my\/our people\u2019 by separating others which fails them to see the natural indivisibility of the humankind. Therefore the Canonical School argues that \u2018racial consciousness\u2019 is a misconception rooted in the mind and put into habitual practice (Palihawadana, 2006). <\/span><\/p>\n

Identity Politics in Mahavasmic School <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The Mahavamsic School contrasts itself from the Canonical School. The Mahavamsa and Culaavmsa together form the chief literary source of the Sinhala Buddhist history of Sri Lanka. Arguably the Mahavamsa is the \u2018charter\u2019 that governs the Sinhala \u2013 Buddhist identity\/nationalism\/politics (Gombrich, 1988:141, Obeyesekere, 2006: 153).<\/span><\/p>\n

According to this school, identities are primordial, given, and inherited naturally. The Sihaladipa\/Lanka <\/i>has been chosen and sanctified by the Buddha himself by visiting the island three times and expelled the barbaric Yakka <\/i>people to make way for\u00a0 <\/span>\u2018Vijaya and his clan\u2019 who would begin the Sihala\/Sinhala <\/i>race ( Vaiamon : 2012). Sinhalese are a chosen people, their destiny is tied to the island and they have received a mandate from the Buddha, to be the custodians of the True Dharma <\/i>and the guardians of the Sasana <\/i>(Gombrich, 1988:139). The Mahavamsa <\/i>creates a myth of origin to justify the sanctity of the Sinhalese, to prove that they are a new\/ separate race. This myth includes incest, bestiality and patricide, which go against the very foundation and precepts of the Buddhism (Perinbanayagam, 2016). <\/span><\/p>\n

The major point that Mahavasmic School deviates from Canonical Buddhism is when it advocates to take \u2018exceptional measures\u2019 to defend the Sasana <\/i>; in other words it authorizes to wage war. Dutta-Gamini-Abhaya (Dutugemunu) is Mahavamsa tradition\u2019s hero, the ideal Buddhist warrior, who waged war against Elara \u2013 in the very words of Mahavamsa, Elara was a righteous Dravidian king, but a non \u2013 Buddhist ; hence Durugemunu\u2019s war was to re-conquer the island for the Sasana<\/i> (Obeyesekere, 2015). Neither Canonical Buddhism nor the Canonical Buddhist political tradition justifies the war or the use of military force (Paliahawada, 2006: 72 -3). Thus Dharma-Asoka of the Canonical Tradition renounces war in his remorse and embraces Buddhism; but in the Mahavamsic Tradition, Dutugamunu embraces war to defend Buddhism (Obeyesekere, 2015).<\/span><\/p>\n

Critics of Mahavamsic Tradition are divided on the question that in Sinhala \u2013 Buddhist identity, which element might have taken the precedence (Sinhala or Buddhist?); Gombrich (1988:138)\u2019s view is that both elements have been equal constituents of the identity; but Obeyesekere (2006:160) argues that it was the Buddhist element that took precedence till the end of 19<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> Century, when the Sinhala element took precedence : Roberts (2009) argue that the Sinhala element took precedence at least since the end of the 13<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> Century. This dissertation finds Obeyesekere\u2019s argument more plausible due to two reasons. First reason is that, historically speaking, non Sinhala, but Buddhist kings have reigned in Sri Lanka, for example King Nissanka Malla of Polonnaruwa, was a Kalinga but a Buddhist, and it was he who declared that only a Buddhist should be the ruler of Sri Lanka (Strathern, 2007); this was also the case during the 18<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century Kingdom of Kandy when four South Indian (Tamil or Telegu) Nayak kings reigned (Dewaraja, 1988). Second reason is related to author\u2019s personal experience of witnessing the increased Sinhalization (Jayawardene, 2000) of author\u2019s extended family members, who are non Buddhists, but some are strong Sinhala nationalists. <\/span><\/p>\n

The activism of Anagarika Dharmpala and the academic and literature works of Walpola Rahula, Piyadasa Sirisena and W.A. De Silva formed and strengthened a strong Sinhala \u2013 Buddhist national identity [ Tamibah (1992: 6-8, 16), Gombrich (1988: 196), Robert (2009), Obeyesekere (2015)]. In speaking of O\u2019Neil\u2019s terminology on nation \u2013 building, it was a combination of two strategies, nostalgic and utopian (O\u2019Neil, 2000:176). The proponents of the Mahavamsic School, spoke, wrote and preached nostalgically of a time when a pure Sinhala \u2013 Buddhist nation\/kingdom existed in Sri Lanka; and of a utopia that those who wish to become residents of the island of Lanka should adhere and give prominence to a Sinhala-Buddhist identity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In summary, the Mahavamsic School at present advocates, that the Sri Lankan identity is equal and based on the Sinhala Buddhist identity; and the boundaries of the Sasana is coterminous with the boundaries of the island both land and maritime, marked by sixteen Buddhist shrines (Gombrich, 1988:16) in the north, south, west, east and the centre of the island; therefore Sinhala \u2013 Buddhists are the owners of the island while others are tenants (Waduge, 2014) and the Sangha\/Bikkhu <\/i>(monks) have an inherited right to take part in active politics and precedence above lay politicians (Rahula, 1946).<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrasts, the Canonical School advocates, that the Sasana is a universal body and cannot be confined to one race or land (Obeyesekere, 2006:143 and 148), equality of human beings and rejects racial divisions; promotes non \u2013 militaristic approaches to conflict resolution (Palihawadana, 2006); and advocates secular \u2013 republics, in which powers are devolved and the monks are refrained from taking part in the politics of the temporal realm (Lam:2010, Klyadesh:2010, Myint:2015, Moore: 2015).<\/span><\/p>\n

*This is an extract from author\u2019s dissertation for an MSc read at Royal Holloway, University of London titled \u2018Maritime Security and the Securitization of a Post Civil War Sri Lankan Identity : Sinhala Buddhist Identity, Tamil Space and Historic Waters\u2019.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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