The place for law in a country obsessed WITH peace and religion - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is a country which begins the day with Buddhist hymns being aired on all televisions early in the morning. When the newly elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe was targeted in parliament by People’s Liberation Front Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake the former advised the latter to read the Dhamma Padaya (A much read book on Buddhism). 

We hear of Buddhist monks once again being recognised and presented with awards.  Monks who have contributed to uplift Buddhism and also serve the society must be appreciated and honoured. All what we see on the surface is a rosy picture. But we also see and hear about shootings involving the underworld and the abduction of protesters (Aragalakaruwo) by the state. Is Sri Lanka a peaceful nation after all?

When the adults of this nation behave in a questionable manner there is a trickledown effect. Starting with politicians at least this much must be said. The culture of behaving in a brash manner has been taken a little beyond that to breaching laws passed in parliament to make a nation a civilized place. This shows that Sri Lanka is a dangerous place to live in at present. The other day we were talking about people starving to death in the near future because of the pathetic situation in the country forcing some among the less affluent to go without meals. But it seems staying away from getting caught in the crossfire that arises when two underworld gangs shoot each other is a bigger challenge 
right now. 

Going on to talk about this violent culture and its trickledown effect we did witness at a leading sports event in Kandy this year how the hill country school’s players attempted to manhandle the team from Colombo after the game. This sorry sight was witnessed in the school under 19 rugby encounter between Isipathana College and Vidyartha College which was played in Nittawela. Speculation is rife that as many as six players from the Kandy school would be slapped with match bans by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association if they are found guilty of misconduct. 

The government is slowly cracking down on protesters who they claim breached the laws of the country in some manner during the recent peoples’ struggle. What’s of concern is that there were some saffron robed monks among those who were arrested. When the individuals who have dedicated themselves to lead ‘the life of a monk’ get entangled in the ‘aragalaya’(struggle) we have to leave a large margin for those laymen who claim to be religious, but cannot control their emotions. 

When we see the youth who had a hand in the protests being arrested at a rate we are forced to think whether this is revenge by the state. The medal winning swimmer was brought in for questioning, but not the other sportsmen who featured prominently in the struggle at Galle Face. Critics have time and again stressed the fact that the law must be equal to all!

The UNP regime which took over administration during President Sirisena’s tenure saw Premier Wickremesinghe calling the shots. The country was too peaceful and lapses in defence saw bombs exploding inside many churches and hotels. The consequences were that the regime was toppled at the next elections. 
Now the very same leader is in the hot seat and taking a somewhat different approach to checking protests and uprisings. It seems that the island nation quickly needs the law to take its course when peace is threatened. We saw how things got out of control when the protesters took over state institutions and had the whip in 
their hands. 

A leader of a country can promote a religious way of life and suggest the books to be read by its citizens. But he needs to be hawk-eyed when he has to deal with a situation where the ‘bad’ threatens the existence of ‘good’. We still get to read on a daily basis the damage caused to businesses premises and homes by the protesters. The religious way of life must be promoted. But before that the law must be strongly practiced in a manner which it flashes in the mind; ahead of any religious teaching. We must fear the law before we fear anything else.