The days in which religious beliefs were forced on the people with the power of weapons, are no more. Letter to the President by TULF Leader

2010-04-04

His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa
President of Sri Lanka
Temple Trees
Colombo - 03

Your Excellency,

There are a lot of matters I wish to bring to your notice. I am so sorry to say that Mahinda cinthanaya had been polluted with the cinthanaya of many others to the extent of mahinda cinthanaya losing its originality, with the end of the war, people expected many changes to take place. But unfortunately for them, nothing happened to their expectation. Their way of life has not changed. They did not see the promised land of hope. But contrary to this they faced only disappointment.

They claim that you promised to get them all what they lost. But they hardly got anything. They lost all their possessions and many of their dear ones. But so far the Government did not bother to take an inventory of all what they possessed and lost. The Government has not yet prepared a list of persons killed during the war the cause of death and what they had left behind.Announcements were made at the I.D.P centers asking everyone who had undergone training even for a day to surrender with a promise that they all will be released, after inquiry. All of them are detained for a long periods.

The parents who were promised immediate release of their children are thoroughly disappointed that the Government had failed to keep its promise. Some of those detained as L.T.T.E cadre are the sole bread winner of the family. Some had followed various courses in the university and some other Educational Institutions. Some of them are only one child to the parents. They are compelled to live in pigeon hole type to tents for months. Some for more than a year. Many live like nomads and baggers but they are shocked to see some persons in authority inviting heads of
many voluntary organizations and trustees of temples and giving away large some of money. Under what budgetary provision is done is what the people want to know. Can this happen under your Government?.

What is the Development going on in the North although ministers and officials come and go frequently?. I hardly see anything worthy of boasting. More than one hundred and fifty thousand houses are destroyed in vanni of which how many had been renovated? long ago I requested the Government to pay a pittance to enable the I.D.P.s to make small purchases like salt onions ets. Since no such allowance was paid, they had to sell some of the dry provisions and as a result forego many meals. It is unfortunate that this was not brought to your notice although some officials and volunteers had been making a lot of money in various ways.

There is one more serious and very sensitive issue which I am sure you are not aware of. The days in which religious beliefs were forced on the people with the power of weapons, are no more. Let such things not be repeated after a lapse of 200 years, in this country. permit me to bring to your notice the adverse comments I hear from various people at various places and at various levels. The whole country is aware how devoted I am to Buddhism. You are not unaware of this fact. I have lost count of the number of visits; I paid Mahiangana, Nagadeepa and kelaniya.

Although I am Hindu I had paid homage of Lord Buddha’s sacred Tooth Relics several times. I got the blessings of the Mahanayakes off and on. Therefore I have a moral duty to point out to you what the people here think and talk about. They are not anti Buddhist. They take pride in saying that Sangamitte Thera landed with the sacred Bo-sapling in K.K.S in Jaffna. What they are now talking about is the manner in which Buddhism is forced them in an area under military control, where people will not dare to talk. I had said more than once that on the humanitarian side, their contribution is wonderful. I have seen it myself during my rounds in Jaffna. People are very appreciate of the conduct of the army but seen to be objecting seriously, the manner which Buddhism is propagated in the North. Let the Government leave it to the clergy to propagate Buddhism and not to the forces.

The way it’s done will boomerang on government and will certainly not have the desired effect. On the contrary if the Government had decided to propagate Buddhism compulsorily, I do not think that such step advisable. Placing Lord Buddha’s statues at places where hardly one Buddhist lives one will consider it as an insult to Lord Buddha and his preaching’s furthermore this will give opportunities for chauvinist elements to create unnecessary problems. The people are not in a mood now to say for or against it openly, But the General feeling is that the hard won freedom will soon end up in another form of dictatorship. This may be the work of some innocent persons or person without any malicious intentions. if your Excellency do not step in at this stage and advise the concerned parties to stop forthwith any action taken to disgrace Lord Buddha at a time there is no peace in this part if the country, and that anything unusual should wait till normalcy is restored I the country, the country’s further will be bleak.

Thanking You

Yours Sincerely
V.Andasangaree
President
Tamil United Liberation Front.