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ICCPR: The good, bad and downright ugly
View(s):The hushed awe with which solemn reverence was paid to this UN-made law as it was placed on the statutory tabernacle of faith and worshipped thereafter as the iconic Act that would ensure religious and racial harmony not only in Lanka but all over the world has now been met with a cacophonous protest that it revolts freedom of expression.
The good side of the Act is that it firmly puts the brakes on the spread of religious bigotry and minimises the hatred and communal disharmony that might otherwise exist if not for the Act.
The bad side of the coin is that it actively discourages genuine public discussions of the pros and cons of each religion. The place of faith, blind faith, that every religion demands as a prerequisite except Buddhism, which denies its need. The existence of an immortal soul, which every religion believes exists, is held in Buddhism not as a soul that is immortal but a soul that is in a constant state of flux. The existence of a Saviour is held by every religion, while Buddhism denies a saviour exists.
These public discussions, which, though begun amicably enough, may soon provoke heated debate as some participants and viewers may find, depending on the degree to which they hold their beliefs, their religious sensitivities trampled upon too roughly for the comfort of their souls. Deeply offended by what they may consider a personal attack on their sacred beliefs, they may complain to court under the Act.
A hundred years ago, had this Act existed in Lanka’s statute books, the Pancha Maha Vadaya—a steamy, no-holds-barred religious debate in five sessions—could have never occurred.
Perhaps that’s why they say, ‘Do not take religion into the sitting room and make a pig’s breakfast of the evening’s dinner.’
Buddhism knows no blasphemy. On the contrary, the Buddha gave all a licence to question his own teachings. In the Kalaama Sutra he issues almost a command to question all aspects of his philosophy until they are completely exhausted of doubts, and only then to follow his teachings.
The Buddha says, in his discourse, ‘Do not accept anything on mere hearsay. Do not accept anything by mere tradition. Do not accept anything on account of rumours (i.e., by believing what others say without any investigation). Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures. Do not accept anything by mere supposition.
Do not accept anything by mere inference. Do not accept anything by merely considering appearances. Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your preconceived notions. Do not accept anything merely because a wise sage says it, but consider for yourself the truth and wisdom of what he says. Do not accept anything that the ascetic says, thinking he is respected by all, and therefore it is right to accept his word.
‘But when you know for yourselves—these things are immoral, these things are blameworthy, these things are censured by the wise, these things, when performed and undertaken, conduce to ruin and sorrow—then indeed do you reject them. When you know for yourselves these things are moral, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the wise, and these things, when performed and undertaken, conduce to well-being and happiness – then do you live and act accordingly.’
In the present world where deceit is rife and lies beget lies, the words of the Buddha, uttered two thousand five hundred years back, become even more relevant today.
The ICCPR Act exists today since some harbour hate in their hearts and anchor religious prejudices to their evil mindsets. It gives them a perverse delight if they can, in the name of some ill-conceived patriotism, rouse communal disharmony and set the country aflame.
The third-dimensional side of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act is downright ugly, to say the least.
Like fire can be useful to have a well-cooked meal, fire can also be useful to burn the house down. Likewise, if the Act is properly used to achieve the social purpose for which it was enacted, then we can rest assured that the aims of the Act are being well served.
But if it falls into the wrong hands and is wrongly used to advance a government’s ulterior political motives, then, God forbid, it can become a lethal legal and political weapon to silence its critics by arresting them on some flimsy charge of violating the ICCPR Act and, since it’s a non-bailable offence, keep them, with their voices entombed, in some remand crypt for months.
Civil activists hold that the ICCPT Act, which bans advocacy of hate that incites communal violence or hostility, has the potential to be arbitrarily implemented. With some of its provands, including arrest and detention, it poses a grave threat to freedom of expression.
It will be like leaving a razor in a monkey’s hands.
| Putin and Xi Jinping plan eternal power Russia’s Putin, twenty-five years in power, and China’s Xi Jinping, with thirteen years at the pinnacle of the Forbidden City, may have discovered the secret weapon to end US and Trump’s economic and military dominance not for just a few years but for all time. To outlast US President Trump and his successors by having imbibed from the fount of elixir, the waters of eternal youth. Hot mics picked up the secret from the personal chatter the two leaders had whilst freely walking in the open air to their seats to watch China show off its massive military might in the biggest parade of men and machines it has ever held to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II.  PUTIN AND XI JINPING: Superpower dreams As international news agencies revealed, microphones that were live partially picked up the leaders’ conversation. The world hears Xi saying in his native language, “Now people in their 70s are still a child.” A Russian interpreter, appearing to be translating for Putin’s benefit, quotes Xi Jinping. But Putin has, it seems, greater ambitious plans afoot. His plan is not to live up to one hundred and fifty years but to live forever, which neither the Buddha nor Jesus Christ aspired to – to live eternally on earth. The Russian leader is heard saying, “In a few years, with the development of biotechnology, human organs can be constantly transplanted so that the people can live younger and younger, and even become immortal.” That is exactly the artistic vision Oscar Wilde had when he wrote ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’, where the portrait grows old while the artist grows young. Now who said life does not imitate art? Putin has shown that not only does life copy art but that it also fuels the wishful dreams of ageing Russian and Chinese leaders for immortality on hearing the inevitable trod of death, marching toward their doors. A change of heart, a change of stance NPP Secretary Nihal Abeysinghe made an extraordinary confession in Parliament last month, revealing the chameleon nature of JVP’s avowed policies that depended on which side of the fence they happened to be at the time of expression.  NPP SECRETARY: Senior JVP MP Nihal Abeysinghe He told the House that while they had vehemently opposed casinos whilst in opposition ranks, they were now in favour of gambling, including casinos, since, as a responsible government, they could not shut the door to foreign investment and to the expected dollars it would bring to Lanka. Top marks for flinging to the winds the destructive policies they had held in the wilderness years, which had shunted the country’s economic growth for years. But it hardly speaks of their genuine want to see the country prosper, whoever’s in power, does it? Their sole selfish aim, it seems, had been to see the country destabilised. Their Marxist beat, their slogan-shouting protest marches on the streets, it seems, have been to scare away foreign investors from the country’s shores. Their hope had been, it seems, to step from the economic rubble of a bankrupt country to the realms of power. No matter if the country was in flames. All that mattered to them was to emerge from its ashes to the dizzy heights of power. But today they plod the straight and narrow with a change of heart and a change of stance, embracing the same responsible policies the opposition followed whether in government or not. Thank God for that.
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| Elephants go wild with gay abandonIt was bound to happen sooner or later to elephants in the wild. In the wake of woke that had swept the world with dramatic effect, to step out from their jungle closets and admit, to what Oscar Wilde called the incriminating dock of shame, they bore ‘the love that dare not speak its name’ to their fellow elephant beings. Times certainly have changed, and what could not be dragged out by a hundred elephants from hidden jungle groves now freely romps the forest opens with gay abandon.  ELEPHANT LOVE OF QUEENS OF THE JUNGLE: Gay side of life led by jumbos And even, perhaps, the domesticated ones. They have freed their chains, unbuckled their howdahs, and, unafraid of the mahout’s spear, trumpeted in defiance of age-old customs that kept them kraaled, coming out from their stockades after their unorthodox frustrations in captivity for so long. Now Sri Lankan wildlife officials have observed an increased tendency among male elephants to frequently engage in foreplay and mount elephants of the same sexual gender, perhaps ignoring advances made by the opposite sex. According to experts, such sexual interactions are a normal part of an elephant’s social behaviour, commonly seen in areas where herds gather during the dry season at Minneriya Tank to feed on the grasses that the receding waters leave behind. It is said that such homosexual urges climax in these times of plenty. What a pity that Trump stopped USAID, which generously provided enough funds to promote what was the ruling political ideology of the previous administration, with special focus on recognising and naturalising LGBTQ—the acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, or questioning—activities even in primary classes in schools, from carrying out its deviant operations around the world. But had USAID continued without abate, ‘lives of gay elephants’ would have been a fitting project, just down its street, to open their coffers and pour hundreds of millions of dollars into probing the secret sex life of the gay Lankan elephant, while not spending a dime to stop the dwindling elephant population in Sri Lanka. Alas, now we would never know whether having homosexual sex on its perverted mind during luscious times of plenty have kept them from breeding. No wonder the number of elephants has dwindled and they face extinction in Sri Lanka.
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