{"id":200331,"date":"2019-04-03T19:04:47","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T13:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=200331"},"modified":"2019-04-08T16:16:15","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T10:46:15","slug":"whole-truth-of-a-half-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Whole Truth Of A Half Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sarath de Alwis<\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sarath De Alwis<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cArdha\u201d\u00a0<\/em>is a Sanskrit word which means “half.”\u00a0Post-modernist Sinhala writer and poet Shkathika Sathkumara wrote a short story captioned \u201cArdha\u201d and posted it on his Facebook page. Now he is in remand custody charged for an offense under the ICCPR act.<\/p>\n

A creative artist relies on his mind to see, hear feel and smell. That is how writers, artists, composers create the beauties and the ugliness of the world.<\/p>\n

In medieval times creators of beauty, truth and human squalor were persecuted. In the new age of fake righteousness attempted by statute and proclamations we seem to be returning to our tribal roots.<\/p>\n

Our free press – print and electronic did not report the incident. The incident has gone viral in the internet. The international news agency AFP has reported the Orwellian ordeal of Shakthika Sathkumara to the world. The story datelined Colombo 1st<\/sup> April is succinct.<\/p>\n

A Sri Lankan novelist has been arrested for writing about homosexuality in the Buddhist clergy and charged with violating international human rights law, officials said on Tuesday, outraging free speech advocates. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shakthika Sathkumara, 33, was arrested in the north-central town of Polgahawela on Monday and remanded in custody for nine days after monks complained about his writing. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“A group of monks complained that the reference to homosexual activities among the clergy insulted Buddhism,” a police spokesman said. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The police spokesman said the monks who complained refused to settle the matter out of court and insisted on Sathkumara being prosecuted. He was taken before a local magistrate who charged him with inciting “religious hatred” under the United Nation’s international human rights treaty, to which Sri Lanka is a signatory. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Polgahawela police have charged him for an offense under the ICCPR act which is non bailable. On the face of it, the action of the Police officer is an absolute travesty of the universal covenant on political and civil rights.<\/p>\n

The accused has written a short story. Some Buddhist monks have found the story line to be offensive. They have every right to express their opposition. But here is the rub. They have insisted the man be locked up. Now they have been appeased.<\/p>\n

The right to freedom of expression and access to such information falls squarely and precisely within the category of civil and political rights. It is the most fundamental \u2018empowering right\u2019, that facilitates the implementation of all other human rights such as the right to participation in political and public life. The ability to exercise this right of free expression of a writer or a poet is a key precondition for human progress.<\/p>\n

What is the grave offense committed by Shakthika Sathkumara in writing his short story \u2018Ardha\u201d?<\/p>\n

To begin with I don\u2019t find it to be of great literary merit. On a scale of one to ten I would give it a grudging four points. That said, it is indeed a commendable attempt at experimental postmodernist creative writing.<\/p>\n

Postmodernist writing is not banned in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has however, declared the \u2018Theravada Tripitaka\u2019 as a national heritage. We are now appealing to make it a heritage of the planet and mankind.<\/p>\n

Now, that is a moot point that should be taken note of, by the Defense Secretary who for long years was our national Olympian. One of the three pitaka is the Vinaya pitaka that deals with the sexuality of human beings in general and the ordained \u2018Sramana\u2019 or monks specifically.<\/p>\n

What is postmodernist creative writing? It relies on parody, black humour, and is usually defiant of traditional literary conventions. In short, its existence is the quest for the permanent paradox.<\/p>\n

Postmodern stories are often intertextual. It moves on the relationship between several texts.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ardha\u2019 is the story of a young university enrolled monk who after disrobing finds temporary shelter in the \u2018Boadima\u2019 of a friend.\u00a0 The opening lines are bitingly abrupt.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalwelle Kassapa himi became Kasan Palihawadana not because he was enamored with the lay life. He was not particularly fond of the monastic order either. \u201c<\/p>\n

Kasan Palihawadna is greeted by another robed university mate. \u201cLiberated liberated Kassa is finally liberated .\u00a0 I suppose you will not want to remain in the same hostel. Just as well. Now you don\u2019t have to wait till dusk to fetch groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kasan moves in to the hostel of lay friend Lloyd Aiya. Lloyd describes the sketch of a short story he intends to write. It is a rebellious twist to Siddhartha\u2019s renunciation of worldly pleasures and sorrows.<\/p>\n

Kasan advises Lloyd that ours is an orthodox Theravada Buddhist society where such narratives would be frowned on.<\/p>\n

Apart from these two subtexts the main protagonist Kasan is much troubled man. He has a fearsome disquieting dream. Waking up from the Freudian dream he refreshes himself in the bathroom and creeps back under the mosquito net. Lloyd aiya quietly slips in to the room and his quiet murmurs reach Kasan\u2019s half wake ears. Pungent whiff of Lloyd Aiya reminds Kasan of his \u201cLoku Hamuduruwo\u2019s body smell.<\/p>\n

How does the Vinaya pitaka deal with homosexuality or hetero sexuality?<\/p>\n

The \u2018Vinaya Pitaka refers to several instances of homosexual, heterosexual and transsexual behavior. The most pivotal instance is where it highlights the episode of the monk Wakkali who became a monk purely because he was physically attracted to how handsome Lord Buddha was. There is also an instance of a novice monk masturbating an older monk. The Buddha referred even to intercourse with animals because of a monk indulging in sex with a female monkey.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Vinaya\u2019 rules on sexual behavior of monks makes no reference to any specific sexual act. It forbids monks to insert their sex organs in to any bodily orifices- which common sense would include the vaginal, anal and oral stimuli!<\/p>\n

In ancient India homosexuals were simply identified as the third nature \u2018trithya prakthi \u2018. Whether it is a deviant practice or not is not the issue in Shakthika\u2019s story. It is the realism embedded in the yarn that has upset the holy hornet\u2019s nest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":185123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nWhole Truth Of A Half Truth - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whole Truth Of A Half Truth - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-03T13:34:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-08T10:46:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"248\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarath de Alwis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarath de Alwis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/\",\"name\":\"Whole Truth Of A Half Truth - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-03T13:34:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-08T10:46:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":248,\"caption\":\"Sarath De Alwis\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Whole Truth Of A Half Truth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784\",\"name\":\"Sarath de Alwis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sarath de Alwis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/saratha\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Whole Truth Of A Half Truth - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Whole Truth Of A Half Truth - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2019-04-03T13:34:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-08T10:46:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":248,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sarath de Alwis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarath de Alwis","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/","name":"Whole Truth Of A Half Truth - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-03T13:34:47+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-08T10:46:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","width":200,"height":248,"caption":"Sarath De Alwis"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/whole-truth-of-a-half-truth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Whole Truth Of A Half Truth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784","name":"Sarath de Alwis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Sarath de Alwis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/saratha\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sarath-De-Alwis-1-e1512361246986.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200333,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200331\/revisions\/200333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}