The bombing of the Dalada Maligawa deserves our fullest condemnation as a senseless act. The LTTE cannot expect the world to believe that it was not the perpetrator of this crime just because it has not claimed responsibility. The Maligawa is sacred to the Buddhists and a serene symbol of pride to all peoples of Lanka. The targeting of such a monument which is the country's cultural heritage shows the extreme insensitivity of the attackers and their lack of cultural values. This particular attack has hurt the Buddhists most deeply and aggravated the communal tensions in a city in which Tamils, Muslims and other minority communities have been peacefully coexisting with the majority Sinhalese community.
The Maligawa and its environs are part of the most pleasant memories of my life as a student at Peradeniya in the 1960s and I have been returning to this bewitching site as often as I could. I last visited it in the middle of December 1997 and stayed overnight in a charming little hotel overlooking the Lake, the Maligawa and the whole hill capital. A memorable experience of this stay was the gentle manners and hospitality of the Sinhala and Tamil staff of the hotel. Barely seven hours before I checked in, I was in the war-torn, brutalised and depressing East with its bunkers and numerous security checkpoints and now I was in Kandy in the company of Sinhalese and Tamils under one roof feeling completely at ease and sipping a dram of Old Arrack while ordering Pittu with pol sambol and kiri hodi for dinner. I had experienced two different realities of my country on the same day!
The news of the bombing came as a rude shock and angered me . In the past fifteen years, the war has caused destruction of cultural treasures and symbols in the North-East and deeply hurt the feelings of the Tamil speaking people. I would not expect any self-respecting Tamil to feel happy about the attack on the Maligawa. An eye for an eye makes us all blind. As a people who have experienced the grief of seeing their most treasured library burnt to ashes and their places of worship damaged. Tamils should be able to empathise with the people who have been hurt by the dastardly attack on the Dalada Maligawa.
All of us Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and other Lankans are fast losing the few remaining threads that unite us in our diversity which has been systematically turned into mutual distrust and hostility by the forces of ethno-nationalism in the past five decades. Let us hope the forces of peace and humanity will gather the strength to prevail over the forces of war and inhumanity and help us find a lasting solution to the national crisis and regain the unity we enjoyed in our diversity.
Dear Politicians!
It's time you gave up
Party rivalries
In the wake of the bomb blast
In the sacred precinct
Of Sri Dalada Maligawa.
Forget power, prestige
And personal glory.
Eschew party politics,
Sink petty differences.
Do not beat the communal drums
Think of the Nation first
Spread the concept of
One country; One people;
Forge unity among every community
The country needs
Peace, unity and stability.
Resolve to usher in
A golden era of progress and prosperity
For dear Politicians!
United we stand; Divided we fall.
The Sri Dalada Maligawa is the sanctum sanctorum, treasured and venerated symbol of historical significance to Buddhists. The motive of the bomb attack on Sunday 24.1.98 on this sacred institution is abundantly clear; to create a backlash of an unprecedented magnitude aimed at completely eliminating the minority Tamils.
The immediate victims would have been the Tamils in and around Kandy, whose permanent homes are where they live as they have no place in the North or East. Mayhem and anarchy would have thereafter spread into the estates bordering Kandy causing untold havoc and brutal killings; thereafter it would have gained momentum and the whole of Sri Lanka would have been on fire. Providentially, the people of Kandy are fully conscious and aware of the untold misery pepetrated on the minority Tamils in the communal holocaust of August 1977, in which the central province was a focal point. Although 20 years have passed, yet the residents are full of regret and keep reminding themselves of this unwarranted upheaval. They are also conscious of the events of 1983 and other similar incidents, and the folly of turning their anger on helpless Tamils.
The terrorist attack failed in their motive. But their supporters, the hooligans succeeded to some extent. They desecrated the oldest and much venerated Hindu temple, the Katukelle Sri Selva Vinayagar Kovil, which is right opposite the Police Station Kandy.
They also disrupted and robbed at the wedding held in the Hindu Cultural Hall on Peradeniya Road, indulged in setting fire to vehicles, pulling down name boards and damaging houses of Tamil residents
The Hindus in and around Kandy pay homage at the Dalada Maligawa. Large numbers of Buddhists worship at the Pillayar Kovil. In the historic annual pageant of Kandy, the Esala Perahera, there is the pride of place for the Hindus who participate in the procession with their traditional Nagasuram music and mela thalam. In Nattarampotha close to the Tennekumbura bridge there is the Kalapura, centre of crafts and handicrafts, close by there is Galmaduwa and Sirimalwatte.
There is a close affinity between the Hindus and Buddhists and the common factor is God Ganesar, the Ganadeviyo. In fact the people of Kandy heave a sigh of relief. Those who sincerely believe that, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of", say that God Pillayar has taken the fatal blow on himself and saved the Tamils from massacre and prevented the destruction of the Hill capital of Sri Lanka.
The Hindus should join hands with the Buddhists to restore the Sri Dalada Maligawa to its pristine glory. At the same time they should initiate action to restore the damage to the Pillayar Kovil.
The aftermath of the bomb blast in the precincts of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth - the Dalada Maligawa must awaken us from our slumber.
Nero was fiddling while Rome was burning. This is equally true applied to Sri Lanka in today's context.
Our politicians are engaged in a game of tug-of-war while the country is being shattered into bits by bomb blasts.
Even now will it open the eyes of our politicians to realize the gravity of the situation? Are they so blind as not to see, and so insensitive as not to feel the pulse of the nation?
We have had enough of this party struggle for power. They are drunk with power, and it has gone to their heads. Neither is this the time for theatrical performances and burning of effigies.
What we - the country, needs today is for all parties to rally round together to save Mother Lanka. They must put the nation before their parties, give up this Westminster type of party tug-of-war and unite to form a National Government.
The Executive Committee system is the most appropriate form of governance for the country today.
I would like to bring to the notice of the concerned authorities about the shoddy road repairs done for the past few years or so along the Mattegoda - Kottawa road. This appalling state has been highlighted many times via the media, However no stern action regarding this matter has yet been taken.
For a period of about two and a half to three months the Mattegoda-Kottawa road, a stretch of approximately 3km and various by-roads were uneven and full of pot holes. Then about a month back the road was supposedly repaired and tarred, and brought back to normal.
Today, in the very places in which repairs were carried out, small pot holes are beginning to emerge. So what does this show us? It obviously proves that the work carried out a mere month back was not of a satisfactory level, and that it will eventually turn out to be in that appalling situation, it was 3-4 months back.
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