SECURING INDEPENDENCE

I had the privilege of living and experiencing the gaining of political independence by Sri
Lanka on 4th February 1948. There was no television at that time. From my home-town
Matale in central Sri Lanka, it was over radio that we followed the proceedings of the
formal Independence granting ceremony. Later on, it was in my Civics and History
lessons in school that I was able to better appreciate the significance of that day.

To be independent is not to be subjugated, not to be under control, not to be living in

fear, not to be harassed, plundered and exploited. Independence is a broad concept
and it has different aspects to it. Political independence is one of these aspects.
However, political independence becomes less forceful and less meaningful in the
absence of other important forms of independence. These include economic
independence, cultural independence, spiritual independence, freedom to lead a life
that is safe and secure, to pursue ones individual and community goals and aspirations
without jeopardizing the interests and welfare of others, to travel and live and own
property wherever one wishes to in the country, to be able to reach the top without
being undermined by self-serving interests of a few, to be led by and inspired by leaders
who are selfless in their service to the nation.

INDEPENDENCE EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST

Sri Lanka’s history provides ample evidence that this type of independence prevailed in
the country, to a very great extent, during the past. This was during the golden age of
Sri Lanka – the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa period from the 3rd century BCE until
about the 13th century CE - a long period that exceeds 1500 years. This was a time
when the country was truly independent. There was overall independence for the large
mass of people and cultural development was at its peak. The country was under our
own kings with our own culture and values.

Sri Lanka is one of those rare countries in the world with a well-recorded history that
exceeds 2500 years. Besides the ancient chronicles Mahawamsa, Chulavamsa, and
Deepawansa, there are a multitude of rock inscriptions and archeological and tangible
historical evidence substantiating what is contained in these ancient chronicles.
Records of foreign travelers and traders of this period bear testimony to the greatness
of the country’s civilization that was based on true freedom generated by Buddhism and
the peaceful way of life of its people based on Buddhist principles. Political
independence was stable and secure under the leadership of our own royalty, our own
kings and Queens and nobility. Buddhist monks of high repute were in the forefront as
advisers to our kings. Governance was based on Buddhist principles and was focused
on the welfare of the common man. The extensive irrigation systems that were
developed during this time are considered as engineering marvels today, and were built
to serve the needs of the ordinary people. They still perform that service.

Sri Lanka developed a productive agricultural economy and was an exporter of food
crops to other countries. Economic and social development went hand in hand with

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cultural advancement. The peaceful agricultural way of life provided sufficient leisure
time for people to pursue cultural and religious activities.

The enormous patronage provided by the royalty was the major driving force for cultural
pursuits at that time. A rich language of our own – Sinhala, and a mass of equally rich
literary works in the form of prose and verse developed within our island during this
period. Development of fine arts attained great heights. Indigenous architecture, rock
sculpture, wood sculpture, paintings on various surfaces and other forms of fine arts
attained great heights. Some of the greatest Buddhist stupas were built during this time.
Buddhism was the source of inspiration for this creativity and the products of this
creativity which are still evident in the country are marked by serenity, peace and
spirituality and are of extreme aesthetic appeal.

The greatness of the cultural development of this time is well evident in the remains of
ancient cities and historic places of the past. The UNESCO has designated five of these
historic sites as World Heritage Sites owing to the masterpieces of human creativity and
imagination evident in these places – Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Dambulla
and Mahanuwara (Kandy).

There were occasional interruptions to the independence enjoyed by the country during
the Anuradhapura-Polonnaruwa periods, owing to South Indian Dravidian invasions.
These were periods marked by violence, atrocities and plunder by these ruthless
invaders. There were occasions when our kings had to flee their royal capitals which
resulted in invaders plundering and destroying these historic. Buddhist temples and
places of learning were ransacked and destroyed. Monks suffered much harassment
and hardship. Literary works were set on fire and irrigation systems were damaged.
During the latter part of the 13th century, constant Dravidian South Indian invasions,
atrocities and terrorist activities led kings to abandon their historic capitals and drift with
their people to the southwest of the country for safety. Royal Capitals were changed
constantly during the 13th to 17th centuries and finally consolidated in Kande-Udarata
or the hill country with Mahanuwara (Kandy) as the royal capital. By the 18th century
cultural revival was made possible in the central highlands, by the patronage given by
kings with the advice and guidance of Buddhist monks, most prominently Venerable
Weliwita Saranankara Thera. It is noteworthy that South Indian Dravidian invasions and
atrocities were largely responsible for the loss of political stability in our nation, and the
independence and peaceful life enjoyed by our people in the past.

SUBJUGATION DURING COLONIAL ERA

European colonial powers arrived in Sri Lanka during the 16th to 18th century period.
The Portuguese who arrived in 1505 occupied the coastal areas and soon became a
constant source of aggression, annoyance and terror to the large mass of people. They
had two major objectives – trade with maximum benefits to them, and to convert local
people to the Catholic religion using force and other unethical means. It is reported that
they came with a gun in one hand and the bible in the other. The destruction they
caused to Buddhist temples and places of learning and the killing of Buddhist monks
and people in the name of religion was unprecedented. Almost all Buddhist shrines in
the coastal areas that they occupied were destroyed, including the Kelani Raja Maha

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Viharaya. Among seats of learning destroyed were the famous Totagamuwe Vijayaba
Pirvena, Padmavathi Pirivena of Keragala and Sunethra Devi Pirivena of Pepiliyana.

The Dutch ousted the Portuguese in 1640 and occupied places under Portuguese
control. Continuing similar trade activities like the Portuguese, they started converting
people to Protestant Christianity. They too were instrumental in destroying Buddhist
temples, monasteries and the royal palace at Hanguranketa.

The Dutch were followed by the British who ousted the Dutch in 1796. Their well-
planned program of activities, for a continuous period of about 150 years, led to the
greatest of damage to the country’s overall independence, culture, social cohesion,
unity and dignity. In 1815 the British captured the Sri Lankan king and the entire country
came under their control. This ended Sri Lanka’s long history of royalty with some 295
kings. The British rule continued until 1948.

All colonial powers acted on pure and absolute “self interest”. British occupation of Sri
Lanka was one of sheer exploitation and devastation. Whatever benefits that were
derived by local inhabitants were merely incidental to their exploitation of the country’s
natural and human resources in order to reap enormous benefits for the British
government.

DIVIDE AND RULE POLICY OF BRITISH

The vast changes that they brought about in almost all areas of life in the country, led to
the disruption of the long held culture, values and way of life of local inhabitants,
particularly that of the main stream community. To serve their self interests they
practiced the “divide and rule” policy by setting one community against the other. It is a
well known fact that the British gave special privileges to the Tamil minority. They were
provided with better opportunities for education, employment and other government
services. They soon became a privileged community. Besides, all those who were
converted to Christianity and those who subscribed to British interests and their
administration, had preferential treatment in education and employment.

UNDERMINING TRADITIONAL CULTURE

Colombo City assumed prominence as the commercial centre and also the center of
learning and opportunities for better employment and better amenities for living.
This created an outer-oriented urban sub-culture with attitudes and behavior patterns
more akin to the British. People of this sub-culture looked down upon their roots or their
traditional Buddhist culture including the Sinhala language. The value system that this
sub-culture tried to emulate was that of the British. This again was an aspect of divide
and rule policy of the British. Sinhala cultural pursuits did not receive the necessary
patronage and appreciation. On the other hand those of the urban sub culture fondly
imitated and patronized often the superficial and unhealthy forms of western culture.
The use of alcohol, smoking, gambling and horse racing were considered as a mark of
urban sophistication.

These outer-oriented so called Sri Lankan leaders, who held to these half-baked foreign
values, superficialities and peculiar ways of living, were not in a position to provide
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leadership to the large mass of ordinary people of the country. They did not understand
the plight of and issues confronting the day to day life of ordinary people in the country.
The British left no room for the leadership to arise from the truly indigenous people.

OUTER-ORIENTED ECONOMY

The economic independence of the country was destroyed by the British by converting
the self sufficient sustainable economy to an outer oriented unstable commercial
economy dependent on fluctuating external world markets. Sri Lanka’s economy was
transformed to become a cheap source of agricultural raw materials for industries in
Britain. The economy became totally outer- oriented, so much so, a greater part of
essential food requirements of the mass of people had to be imported from other
countries. Forested mountain slopes were cleared in the most haphazard manner to be
converted to commercial crops for export. This had a drastic impact on the natural
resources base of the country leading to drastic changes in environmental processes
resulting in excessive soil erosion, landslides, increased flooding alternating with severe
drought conditions. These calamities mostly affected local inhabitants in rural areas.

The rural Sinhala people were not prepared to loose their dignity in spite of the
difficulties they faced under the British. They considered it below their dignity to work as
virtual slaves for the British in their newly opened coffee and tea plantations. This led
the British to import Tamil laborers from South India who later became a new element in
the demographic composition of the country.

The excessively poor living conditions of the large mass of rural folk led to migration,
especially of youth to Colombo and other big towns. Most were subjected to the
influence of the extremes forms of undesirable urban culture that was gaining ground in
urban areas. The use of alcohol was a common element of urban culture.

DECLINE OF TRADITIONAL FARMING

Traditional agriculture declined rapidly with vast areas of former productive paddy land
either being abandoned owing to neglected irrigation facilities or because part of the
agricultural land were bought over or taken over by the British for development of
coffee, tea and rubber for export. Traditional agriculture was a way of life for the people.
It had the influence bringing about togetherness among people. They worked jointly
helping in each other in their farm activities. It provided them with sufficient leisure time
to be engaged in other productive and creative pursuits including cultural and religious
activities.

Royal patronage was the strongest form of motivation and support and Buddhism was
the supreme source of inspiration for those involved in creative cultural pursuits in
ancient times. These supports were no longer available to the people. Besides, most
rural people were frustrated owing to great difficulties faced by them in meeting even
their essential needs. Loss of freedom and privileges that they enjoyed under their kings
and their traditional leadership had a strong psychological impact on people making
them overly passive, subservient and backward.

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Traditional places of learning were the Buddhist temples where Buddhist monks were
teachers of both religious and secular subjects. These centers and Buddhist monks
were not accorded the same privileges and support accorded to Christian missionary
schools and teachers in urban areas. The monks who were in the forefront with the
royalty in affairs of governance, were now kept deliberately in the background with no
special privileges. This situation did not permit the emergence of leaders from rural
areas where the large mass of the dominant community lived.

SECURING BRITISH COLONIAL INTERESTS

When the British left Sri Lanka in 1948, they made sure that power remained in the
hands of the English educated and English speaking few, who were toeing their line.
The British also left a highly outer oriented and dependent economy at the mercy of the
British and world market. The political party system that was introduced to the country
helped to further divide and disintegrate the people, because the principles of party
system was not fully understood by the people.

To make matters worse, power – political, administrative, and economic was inherited
by those belonging to the Colombo sub-culture. Most of the qualified professionals also
belonged to or subscribed to this sub-culture. During the colonial period, the British
made sure that Tamils and Christians were placed in positions of authority and influence
in the administration of the country and in major professions. Tamil leaders in various
spheres including politics and Christianity were sponsored by these colonialists and
some became agents of these foreign exploiters of the country, helping to undermine
the interests of the dominant community of the country.

This trend gained strength after the country attained independence owing to the
enormous foreign funding that supported minority interests of Christians and Tamils.
Among them were Tamil politicians leading racist political parties and later the racist’s
terrorist LTTE organization whose leadership is Christian. These Tamils and Christians
have been engaged in propaganda against the rights of the Hela Buddhist culture all
along.

ANAGARIKA DHARMAPALA (1864-1933)

During the mid 19th and early 20th century when the elite of the Colombo sub-culture
was running the show in the political arena, forsaking the interests of the common man,
there was one fearless individual who started a movement to revive the Sinhala culture,
language and Buddhism. That was Great Patriot Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933).
He was a genuine national leader of the country at this time. He was the first cultural
revivalist. He went from village to village campaigning for the revival of Buddhism, the
traditional values, temperance and the Sinhala language. He spoke of the superficiality
of the lives of those of the Colombo sub culture, who have joined up with the colonialists
to run the country. Anagarika Dharmapala had a lasting impact on people’s thinking and
inspired many to work on indigenous cultural pursuits. The Colombo powers were
instrumental in curtailing his efforts. There were also a few fearless Buddhist monks
who openly spoke out against British rule at this time and conducted public debates in
defense of Buddhism and against the threat posed by the imposition of Christianity
among our people.
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SACRIFICES MADE BY THE SINHALA PEOPLE

Often we have heard people saying that Sri Lanka did not shed blood for freedom unlike
India. This is plain nonsense. Those who are conversant with Sri Lanka’s colonial
history know that much blood was shed for freedom. Prior to the Kandyan Convention of
1815, thousands upon thousands of Sinhala people sacrificed their lives to free the
country from colonial repression. More were killed during the rebellion of 1818 and
1848. During the Kandyan rebellion of 1818, every man over 14 years was ordered by
the British to be killed and some sixty thousand Sinhala people were massacred. Large
numbers of local leaders were annihilated by the British - - Veera Keppetipola, Veera
Puran Appu and Veera Gongalegoda Banda are the better known.

POST ‘INDEPENDENCE’ DEVELOPMENTS

On February 4th, 1948, the country was accorded Dominion Status with the Queen of
England as the Head of State and with the British maintaining military bases in
Katunayake and Trincomalee. The country did not have true political independence.
In 1957 with the initiative of Prime Minister Mr. SWRD Bandaranaika, that these bases
were taken over by the government. In 1968 on Mrs. Sirimawo Bandaranaike’s initiative
that our country became a Republic without any links with the British crown and in
every sense acquired political independence.

It was during the short period of Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, starting in 1956,
that Sinhala culture and the common man received greater attention. This trend
continued during Mrs. Sirimawo Bandaranaike’s regime in late 1950s and 1960s.
Buddhist education received impetus and Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara Buddhist
Pirivenas were elevated to university status. Buddhist leadership, including leading
Buddhist monks were in the forefront in the initiative of taking-over of schools and
making higher education accessible to all irrespective of religious affiliation. This
enabled rural youth to come to the limelight. Many were able to secure university
education.

The late fifties and sixties was a period which saw the emergence of some outstanding
cultural pursuits and personalities which led to a cultural revival in the country. There
were some prominent Buddhist bhikkhus at this time whose services to Buddhism and
the nation were outstanding. The colonial attitudes and mentality of the ordinary people
were diminishing somewhat during the late 1950’s, 1960’s and early 1970’s.

TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES IN THE 1970s

During the last few decades, it was the Sinhala Buddhist community who underwent
traumatic experiences and all fatalities, owing to the efforts of the local Marxists to
counterbalance the imbalance created by the outer-oriented Colombo clan.

During this period, the situation in the country was worsened by youth uprising in the
south, and north and the widespread violence and bloodshed. Leadership at all levels –
political, professional and secular – deteriorated. This was a time which saw extreme
divisiveness, animosity and criminal activity among people supporting opposing political
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parties. This was a time when bribery and corruption were institutionalized. Crime and
corruption became rampant. In the meantime, a group of Sri Lankan Tamils who were
living overseas, on a planned basis, began a campaign to disrepute and undermine the
country by widespread false global propaganda causing much damage to the image of
the country.

MULTIPLE DISASTERS AFTER LATE 1970S

In late 1970’s with globalization and open economy, and attendant increased western
influence led to a drastic degeneration of local culture and values. The study of history
was dropped from school curriculum thereby preventing children from being exposed to
their history and cultural heritage. The influence and authority of the village temple was
reduced to a level of parasite owing to the willful neglect and undermining of these
traditional institutions by the rulers.

Under the so called "open economy" the new governments of late seventies permitted
foreign NGOs to enter this country in the guise of helping Sri Lanka in socio-economic
development work. These NGOs were Christian backed organizations with hidden
agendas. This menace continues even today. It is they who began a systematic
onslaught to create religious and racial disharmony.

The mass media of Sri Lanka, especially the English media at this time was under
strong influence and control of the English- educated Colombo sub-culture dominated
by Catholics, and not by people representing the main-stream of the country. Most of
what was promoted by the mass media was contrary to the values upheld by the culture
of the indigenous people.

IMPACT ON YOUTH

The youth of the period - 1980’s and 1990’s grew up at a time when there were extreme
forms of political unrest and violence in the country. There was polarization of ethnic
communities. The economic and social trends and developments at this time such as
globalization, introduction of television, expansion of tourism industry and increase in
overseas employment encouraged outer oriented attitudes and lifestyles in youth. Most
youth of this period were not conversant with the history of their country and unaware of
the richness of the culture they inherit. Being unaware of the richness of their cultural
heritage, most youth appear to have become unconcerned about or not happy or proud
about being Sinhala Buddhists. Youth did not have proper role models to follow and
genuine leaders to guide them. It is the greatest tragedy that befell Sri Lanka, because
youth are our greatest resource and they determine the future of the country.

REVIVALIST MOVEMENT

In this light of what was happening in Sri Lanka at this time one wondered whether the
ordinary people of the country was in actual fact enjoying independence or freedom.
Some of the elite evidently were, but as far as the common man was concerned,
poverty and unemployment were rampant, life was a struggle for survival, let alone
enjoyment of freedom. Insecurity brought about by Tamil terrorism was a serious
problem.
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Venerable Gangodawila Soma Thera who came to the limelight in the 1990’s, stands
out as someone unique. One of his outstanding missions was to mould the younger
generation to live according to the Dhamma. He spearheaded the cause of reviving
Buddhism and Sinhala culture, and restoring a sense of nationalism and pride among
the Buddhists-Buddhists. He fought for the survival of Buddhists culture, which was
being threatened by Westernization and a striking lack of nationalism. Ven. Soma Thera
ventured every corner of the country in his movement of national awakening and
cultural revival.

The mysterious death of Venerable Soma in 2003, made the mass of Sinhala Buddhists
to re-evaluate and re-think of their collective stand on national and religious issues of
their motherland. They began to see the need to revive cultural nationalism. Many
outstanding Buddhist monks and lay professionals came to the forefront of this revivalist
movement.

Sri Lanka began to witness the beginnings of a revivalist movement in the mid 2000. It
is described as Jathika Chintanaya or National Consciousness based on the island’s
2500 year old Sinhala Buddhist heritage. It is a movement to revive cultural nationalism
to save the country from disintegration, to halt the rapid erosion of social values, and to
direct society towards cultural rejuvenation based on traditional values and to rebuild a
desirable political culture that accommodates all peoples in our country.

This to a large extent is responsible for the emergence of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the
leader of the country. Most Sinhala people were hopeful that the revivalist movement
carried out under his leadership will acquire greater strength and influence, and will
usher in a political culture that reflects the indigenous culture and values and thereby
help to rid the country of the crude and corrupt political culture that the people have
been subject to for many years in the recent past. Most people were hopeful that with
such a revival, the welfare of the ordinary citizens, particularly the marginalized people
will receive priority attention. They were hopeful that sound steps will be taken for the
protection of our Buddhist culture and value system which are characterized by non-
violence, tolerance and the accommodation and cohabitation with all other communities,
reminiscent of the regimes of the Sinhala Buddhist royalty of the past. They were
hopeful, more than anything else, that the most serious of all national problems, the
Tamil terrorist menace will be eliminated, the sovereignty of the country be secured and
security and peace in the country will be restored.

SERIOUS NATIONAL PROBLEM

In the past several decades the most serious national problem affecting all aspects of
life of our country was caused by the racist, separatist and extremist attitudes and
actions of a powerful and privileged segment of the non-indigenous minority Tamil
community. Social harmony and economic well-being of our nation was destabilized and
threatened to an extreme extent by ideologies based on ethnocentric exclusivity
propagated by this segment of the non-indigenous minority Tamil community. The
terror, horror and violence that was brought about by LTTE savages went against all
norms and ethics of the civilized world. Extremist Tamil groups living within and outside
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Sri Lanka were resorting to tribalistic rhetoric ostensibly to achieve their communal
aspirations and engage in violence and terror.

History is replete with evidence of selfish South Indian Tamils who lived in Heladiva and
were notorious for their lack of loyalty to their host country. When the state was powerful
they would seek to serve in the government. When South Indian Tamil invaders landed
they would join the invaders. When the invaders ruled Heladiva, they would collaborate
to impress the invader and to gain titles, positions and other benefits. When Hela
patriots expel invaders and liberate the country, these treacherous Tamils would show
dubious loyalty to Heladiva again to serve their selfish ends. Among such devious
people were some Sinhala Catholics and Christians during the European colonial era.

Political independence becomes meaningless in the absence of other important forms

of independence such as the freedom to lead a life that is safe and secure, to pursue
one’s individual and community goals and aspirations without jeopardizing the interests
and welfare of others, to live and own property wherever one wishes to in the country,
economic independence, cultural independence and spiritual independence. All these
forms of "independence" were affected negatively for several decades in our country,
owing to problems caused by these misguided racist Tamil terrorists.

The nation is indebted to its President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Secretary of
Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to have provided the long-awaited leadership to
eliminate the Tamil terrorist menace from our country and for restoring security and
territorial integrity of our country, so that people across our island could live in peace
and harmony. They have brought true freedom for us, true independence for our
motherland …..

… Oba apa aaloke, apage anupraney ……..

…. prema wadaa sema bhedha duralada …

Namo Namo Maatha……..

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane

Vancouver Canada
February 04, 2011

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