BBS and Burma – Given Parallels, Any Links? A BBC Account

Jonathan Head, BBC, 4 April 2013 : “What is behind Burma’s wave of religious violence?”

 ”After Muslim neighbourhoods were levelled, only scavengers could be seen at the site of the destruction”

Last month more than 40 people died in violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the central Burmese town of Meiktila. The BBC’s South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head looks at the causes of the violence. At first sight it appears that Meiktila has been hit by a natural disaster. Entire neighbourhoods have been levelled, homes of brick and cement smashed to rubble. Then you notice holes pounded into the walls that are still standing, clearly made by human hands. It was anger, not nature, that wreaked this destruction. The families and shop-owners that occupied these buildings have disappeared. The only people are the scavengers, salvaging anything of value left in the ruins. A Muslim community that dates back many generations has been wiped out.

Virulent Shameless People! Cry OUR Beloved Country!

David Blacker … courtesy of http://blacklightarrow.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/our-moment-of-destiny/ where the title is “Our Moment of Destiny”

 Gnanasara Thera of BBS in full flow

I think every generation faces its own particular challenges; but the greatest and most defining ones are those of morality and courage. That moment, if missed, condemns that generation — and often many that follow — to a world far more unpleasant and evil than we would wish it to be. For many in the free world of the late 1930s, that moment came with the invasion of Poland and the bombing of Pearl Harbour. It was a moment when my grandfather’s generation had to decide if they would simply stand on the sidelines or go out and fight someone else’s cause. Fortunately for them, the choice was easy; their respective governments took the right fork, and millions of young men — my grandfather included — went out into the deserts, the jungles, and across the seas to ensure that tyranny and racism would not shape our world. For 1960s America, the moment of destiny was in fact a place — Vietnam — and a moral choice. America made its decision, albeit a little late for millions of Vietnamese.

Poles Apart! Yet so Alike!

  Pongu Thamil oath of loyalty to Thamililam [EELAM] at Trincomalee in ceasefire period circa 2006    Budu Bala Sena c0mmitment of faith today

Are these people peas of the same pod yet at opposite poles and part of the processes that have been thus tearing Sri Lanka apart by aiding in the reproduction of each other!

Anticipated but avoidable extremisms, machinations, failures

Kalana Senaratne in The Island, 27 March 2013 where the title is “Geneva and Bodu Bala Sena: Two Dimensions of a Crisis“

There are tensions and schisms erupting, there is a crisis in the making. One dimension of this crisis is the unfolding diplomatic debacle: the Geneva-crisis. The group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) represents, and gives expression to, another dimension. The emergence of both was to be expected; both, however, were avoidable.

Geneva-crisis: After Sri Lanka’s sui generis performance in 2009, the Geneva-story has been a depressing one to a lot of people. Sri Lanka’s support-base has dwindled drastically. India which, in 2009, opposed a Western-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka stood up to remind the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillai, where to get off. Today, India is endorsing Western or US-sponsored resolutions, and acknowledging in the process reports produced by Ms. Pillai. The contrast couldn’t have been more damaging than this.

Free Speech meets Hate-Speech in Australia

Editorial in THE AUSTRALIAN, entitled ‘Peace’ talkfest needs scrutiny

OUR free, democratic society thrives on robust political debate, which is why speakers at this weekend’s Australian Islamic Peace Conference in Melbourne are entitled to their say in the public square.  Organisers of the so-called peace conference displayed a bizarre sense of irony, however, in promoting the event as “the LARGEST, the BIGGEST and the BEST EVER Islamic Event in the History of Australia” with an advertised speakers’ list headed by the Imam of Mecca, Abdul Rahman al-Sudais. A bigoted proponent of jihad, the imam has called for the annihilation of Jews as “infidels, falsifiers of words, calf worshippers, prophet murderers, deniers of prophecies … the scum of the human race, accursed by Allah, who turned them into apes and pigs”.

Halal logo withdrawn! Hurrah! Hurrah! Harihara!

Rasika Somarathna, in the Daily News, 12 March 2013

The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) which has been issuing the Halal certification to businesses, said yesterday it decided to withdraw the Halal logo from all local products. However, companies may continue to obtain the Halal certification for their products on a voluntary basis to facilitate exports etc, and such certifiction will be issued free of charge by the ACJU, according to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).

Religious Sensitivity in Lanka: No Buddha Tattoes please

Item in Island, 14 February 2013, with title “Tourist fined for having Buddha statue on her body”

Acting on a tip off, the Kandy police have arrested a foreigner who had a tattoo of the Buddha on her back. Kandy police said that Patrina Irene Bronco (26) had been with a male companion at a leading restaurant in the town, when a squad from traffic police took her into custody. The police alleged that she was dressed in such a way that her tattoo was visible. Having seen the tattoo some local youth, who had been also in the restaurant exchanged words with the couple before alerting the Kandy police.

While her statement was being recorded by the police, Bronco, said she had got the tattoo done in the Netherlands, and she was not aware that it was an offence. She also said that, if having a tattoo of the Buddha on her body is considered sacrilegious in Sri Lanka, she would tender an apology. The Tourism Unit of the Kandy Police had produced the tourist before the Kandy Magistrate, who had warned her and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000. She was released thereafter.

ITEM II: from Sunday Times, 15 March 2013 — “British tourist with Buddha tattoos refused entry into the country”

Sri Lankan immigration authorities have deported a British national who arrived on holiday to the island, PTI reported. The Briton, who arrived yesterday, was quizzed by the authorities at Bandaranaike International Airport about the images of the Buddha tattooed all over his body. The Briton explained that it was his personal choice.The act was deemed offensive and airport officials in consultation with their seniors decided not to allow him entry.

Item III: see http://uk.news.yahoo.com/sri-lanka-bars-briton-buddha-tattoo-115443773.html#9XgxOTs for another report entitled “Sri Lanka bars Briton with Buddha tattoo“

However, while this item of news is significant in revealing the force of Buddhist fundamentalism and raising contentious issues relating to the forms of rspect expected in places of worship,** UK NEWs ventured into unethical territory by presenting it beside an AFP file photograph of a “Sri Lankan soldier [keeping]watch at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo on February 12, 2008“  In 2008 !!! Eelam War IV was in full swing then and the prospect of LTTE attacks quite high. This sort of pictorial twist littered the story of Western media reportage throughout the war and was especially marked in the coverage of IDP detention camp.

** It is standard practice in churches for people to remove their hats and one cannot enter the Catholic Basilicas’ I believe, in skimpy shorts. Likewise one does not enter some Buddhist places of worship in shorts or with shoes/slippers on one’s feet. Hre, however we are speaking of public space writ large. BUT, note that one cannot enter some  Muslim countries  wearing a cross around one’s neck or with bible in hand. Note, too, that I can think of some pious buddhist friends whoa re by no means extemist or Fundamentalist who would see a Buddha tattoe on person as an offensive act [albeit unknowingly imprinted thus].

Radhika and Nihal launch CPA’s THE REPUBLIC AT 40

The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice

SEE http://www.cpalanka.org/the-sri-lankan-republic-at-40-reflections-on-constitutional-history-theory-and-practice/

The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice, a collection of scholarly essays edited by Asanga Welikala, Senior Researcher, Legal & Constitution Unit was launched at the 80 Club, 25, Independence Avenue, Colombo 07, on 21st December 2012.

CPA’s latest publication, in association with the F riedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF), marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Sri Lankan Republic.

Speaking at the launch were its Editor as well as Dr. Nihal Jayawickrama and Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy.

India hangs Ajmal Kasab, the one surviving gunman of 2008 Mumbai attacks

Mohamed Ajmal Kasab

NBC News staff and wire reports

India hanged Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the only militant to have survived the 2008 attacks on the financial capital Mumbai, officials said Wednesday.In August, India’s Supreme Court upheld Kasab’s death sentence over the attack on a string of targets in Mumbai that killed 166 people. Kasab, 25, was a Pakistani national. He was executed at 7:30 a.m. local time.

The execution at Yerawada Prison in Pune, near Mumbai, came just hours after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected a mercy plea by Kasab, who had said he belonged to the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The Beheading Fanatic and his Mum

 Pic by John Tozer

SEE http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/behead-mother-hands-herself-in-after-sydney-muslim-protest-violence/story-e6frea6u-1226476236307

ALSO SEE  Ernest Corea in http://www.eurasiareview.com/17092012-middle-east-violence-no-excuse-for-vile-provocation-analysis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eurasiareview%2FVsnE+%28Eurasia+Review%29

AND NOTE THIS RESPONSE FROM A FORMER WALLABY TURNED NEWS-COLUMNIST: