Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

When the Koha cries.....
As the sun rose in the sky on April 14 a burst of crackers heralded its arrival. It was the Sinhala-Hindu New Year of 2006.

But this year my heart was heavy. And the Koha seemed to be crying instead of calling. This small country is an island. Yet the saying 'No man is an island' is lost on us. We live separating ourselves into different identities of race, caste, class and religion.

The recent clash between young university students of the Colombo University called for police intervention, tear gas and a traffic block down the road. Students, having studied hard, who come to University with one goal, should they be divided into a United Students Front versus Common Students Front? Who divided them? Ambitious politicians?

They are but a small sample of Sri Lankans living in this island. We are a nation of different identities. Tamils speaking Tamil, Muslims speaking Tamil, Sinhalese speaking Sinhala, leaving smaller communities to speak just any how with English thrown in between. If you require clear proof of the language division just dial a wrong number on Sri Lanka Telecom and let the operator correct your mistake in three languages. Or dial an emergency number to a hospital and you get the same treatment which turns the emergency futile.

Apart from language we have racial barriers, religious barriers and of course barriers of caste and class which maybe slowly dying out. Or are they?
What amazes me are the Buddhist monks who have segregated themselves into the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters when the Buddha clearly said if veins of different races were cut, the blood that flowed would be the same in colour and texture. And the Christian religion too has separate identities though they worship both Mother and Son of the same family. Now even among hardcore terrorists we have separate identities –
The Karuna faction and the LTTE.

How can a nation survive if we retreat under the law of the jungle where animals segregate themselves for survival?
How can a New Year be celebrated when our young security men are being wiped out on a daily basis? How can we talk peace under the rule of the jungle?
I cry with the Koha for the time when we can bury our separate identities and proudly call ourselves 'Sri Lankans?'

Punyakante Wijenaike
Colombo 7

Late mail, no mail and the mess at Wattala Post Office
The mail distribution at Wattala Post Office is totally chaotic and as a result the general public in Wattala area undergo lots of difficulties. I have personally experienced how letters posted from Colombo, take about two weeks to reach the respective address within the area covered by the Wattala Post Office. Even if a letter is posted from Wattala Post Office to any address in Wattala, it takes a couple of weeks to reach the address.

I have personally called on the Wattala Post Master and was horrified to observe the backlog of letters within a small sorting area. The main reason is the inadequate staff for sorting of mail and also for distribution within the areas covered by the Wattala Post Office.

In this regard I have addressed a letter to the Post Master General on January 11, this year and following discussions with him, I have also had telephone discussions with the Western Province Deputy Post Master General.

Thereafter I have addressed letters to the Divisional Superintendent in Gampaha on January 16 and February 1, this year. During the telephone discussions with the Divisional Superintendent, I was informed that they have requested additional staff to the Wattala Post Office and are awaiting Ministerial approval.
I hope the Minister of Post & Telecommunications takes immediate action to avoid these undue delays.

J.V.R. Dias
Wattala

And the Buddha all in a row
As a protection, most drivers here sport a religious picture up front. Scrambling into a three-wheeler, the other day, which shot forward like a bullet, narrowly missing the traffic lights, we strained for a closer look at our driver - very young, thin, as befits an inhaler and very nervous - an obvious "Kudu" case.
Then we saw his picture, depicting the Buddha, flanked on either side by two gods each, shimmeringly bedecked with jewel-encrusted crowns. Outraged at the Buddha, the teacher of gods and men, brought down to this level, we asked "Are you Buddhist?" Panic-stricken, he asked, "Why?" obviously expecting a good dose of unethical conversion. We demanded how the Buddha, free from desire, hate and ignorance could be lumped together with those immersed in desire, hate and ignorance.

Immediately contrite and sobered to the point of actually slowing down, he murmured pleadingly, "It is not right, is it?" The upshot was his telephone number proffered as an incentive for future 3-wheel trips, laced with Dhamma talks.

When it is that easy to show the error of their ways to most errant Buddhists, even drug-addicts, why are Buddhists allowed to sink deeper into "miccha ditthi" (wrong views) which the Buddha arises to eradicate? Sariputta and Moggallana, the two glorious chief disciples of the Buddha, are now practically exiled from our temples, their void filled by objects of alien faiths. Will such sacrilege ever be permitted in other religions? Then why do our so-called "Buddhists" allow it in theirs?

Under the Portuguese, Dutch and British the situation was different with the foreign rulers openly hostile towards Buddhism and raring to finish it off, while the Buddhists, except for the traitors, remained linked in faith against the usurper.
Now that link is broken with certain sections grovelling before magicians/miracle-makers, others enslaved by the myths of other religions and the rest embracing the distorted version of the Buddha word expertly done by paid hirelings.
The Sinhala "Buddhists" should ask themselves and each other whether they are true followers of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Ariya Sangha. The pathetic, ravaged state of our motherland is proof to the contrary.

Prema Ranawaka-Das
Moratuwa

Grin and bear!
This is with reference to Noel Direckze's letter, ‘Nugegoda: nobody’s town’ that appeared in The Sunday Times of March 26. I have myself written several letters on the same subject. Very recently some residents and traders of Nugegoda had published an open letter to the Kotte Mayor, in another newspaper but no action has been taken.

I can understand the silence of the politicians because they wouldn't want to antagonise anyone, but the inaction of the police from the SSP down to the OIC Mirihana Police confuses me.

It is said that the Supreme Court has issued an order restraining the Mayor from leasing the pavements to hawkers but he has continued to do so with impunity as if the pavements are his property, showing utter disrespect for the rights of pedestrians. The present Minister of Urban Development hasn't shown any interest in keeping the town clean and orderly. In a country where people fight for the fundamental rights of even criminals, there is nobody to utter a word for the protection of pedestrians' rights.

So Mr. Direckze can rest assured, just as I have done, that nobody "capable of taking action" is likely to read his letter or mine, and no action will be taken even if one reads them accidentally Solution - GRIN AND BEAR.
S. Abeywickrama
Nugegoda

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