JAYALATH, JEYARAJ, JOSEPH AND JESUS
Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane, Mr. Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and Bishop Rayappu Joseph may not be the holy trinity, but they claim to be Catholics and followers of Jesus. Dr. Jayawardane has gone to Madhu on several occasions and it is said that during some of his visits he had met the LTTE leaders in Vanni. Some of my friends living in Australia claim that they have listened to an interview given by Dr. Jayawardane to an Australian radio, where he had said that he met LTTE leaders in Vanni. Even if he had met these so called leaders I knew that he would not be punished for it, irrespective of whether it is a crime or not, for two reasons. Firstly, the hierarchy of the Catholic church is involved in this business of dealing with the LTTE leaders and supporting the terrorists not only in Sri Lanka but also in other countries. For example at a meeting held at the Kandasamy Temple Hall, Toronto in Canada, on 11 th August in connection with the release of a collection of poems and short stories by Kasi Anandan, Bishop E. J. Emmanuel had greeted the organisers wishing success. The fact that Kasi Anandan is not just another poet for the Tamil racists and terrorists could be seen from the following excerpts from a news item that appeared in the eelamnation website. Incidentally the chief guests at the "function" had been Dr. Elagupillai, well known even then for his work not quite academic, to those who were in the faculty of science in Colombo in the sixties and Mrs. Elagupillai.
"The proceedings commenced with the hoisting of the Thamil Eelam National flag and singing of the National anthem followed with the Canadian National flag and National anthem. "Amaithi Vanakkam (Silent Homage) was observed in memory of Thamil Eelam martyrs and members of public who fell victim to Indian and Sri Lankan state terrorism."
"In his presidential address Thiru Thangavelu explained the purpose of the function. He said, " the WTCWA is holding this function to honor Poet Laureate Kasi Anandan. He is like Bharathi during India's independent struggle who through his songs fanned the flames of India's freedom struggle. It is futile and meaningless to shed tears, sing praises and pay eulogies after a great poet has passed away. Kavignar Kasi Anandan's liberation songs have inspired millions of Thamils around the world, especially the youths who joined the ranks of the LTTE forsaking families, studies, jobs and above all their future dreams. His songs have proved lethal weapon of war in the liberation struggle. His nationalist songs continue to be the best recruiter of fighters for the cause of Thamil Eelam.
The armed struggle has now dragged on for more than 18 years and the Thamil people have made supreme sacrifices and paid a heavy price. More than 17, 000 LTTE fighters have attained martyrdom.........Therefore, the Thamil Diaspora owes a duty to help end the bloody war, throw the Sinhala Army out and secure Thamil people's freedom and dignity. He appealed to the audience to contribute liberally so that a respectable five-digit figure could be raised. Contributions should not be construed as assistance to Kasi Anandan, but strictly as a statement of our appreciation and show of love for a great liberation poet.
Pirapaharan is a godsend gift to the Thamil people and another Pirapaharan will not emerge for another thousand years! Hence we have to win our freedom and liberty during the lifetime of our leader Pirapaharan, whom Kavignar Arivumathi has compared to Lord Murugan in one of his songs."
"Bishop E. J. Emanuel also greeted the organisers wishing success. He described Kavignar Kasi Arasan as a poet who injected self-respect in Thamil people's veins."
It is clear that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is blessing the organisers of functions where Tamil terrorism is encouraged. They together with the Tamil terrorists would like to win the so-called struggle during the life time of Prabhakaran. Whether Prabhakaran is compared to Murugan or not as long as he delivers the goods the Catholic Church is happy.
The Catholic Church knows how to get things done and they would have made sure that nothing would have happened to Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane, as a result of visiting Madhu and meeting the LTTE cadres. Secondly Dr. Jayalath would not have been punished as Mr. Vijaya Kumaratunga who himself was a Catholic had met the LTTE leaders when he was alive with or without permission from the then government.
Now Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane is very much safe as the minister responsible for Christian affairs himself claims that he met LTTE leaders when he visited Madhu recently. Though the LTTE "theoretician" Anton Balasingham claims that the minister had met only the "security guards" the minister insists that he met some leaders. It is not necessary for Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane to get letters from the Mahanayake Theros requesting the government to frame charges against him if he had done anything wrong. Mr. Jeyaraj Fernandopulle has been sent to Madhu as if by an act of God, and who would frame charges against the peace loving minister for Christian affairs?
It is very much clear that there are terrorists around the Madhu church and those who go there either as pilgrims or so-called peace agents have to get "permission" from the LTTE and that they are checked by the LTTE cadres. In other words it is the LTTE that controls the area surrounding the church. However, what is now forgotten by all the politicians, the Catholic Church, the NGO's financed by the western Christian countries, the peace movement mainly led by the Christians and the ex, neo and retired Marxists and the Palli Nikaya whose Mahanayake is a Mahamoghapadya, is that in the early part of 1999 the Madhu church and the premises came under the control of the army. The LTTE terrorists in the area were defeated and chased away. In the jargon of the armed forces Madhu church and the premises became a cleared area.
What happened after that was very interesting. This was the time the Catholic Church was agitating against the government decision to hold elections close to a good Friday, remember not on the good Friday, and Bishop Rayappu Joseph was busy with complaining to the government that the soldiers who were protecting the church area were carrying arms. He wanted the army to be withdrawn from the premises.The Catholic church itself campaigned to get the army withdrawn from the area. The stand taken by the church, as stated in a statement issued by Bishop Malcolm Ranjith was that since Madhu is a Holy place the army should be unarmed. The impression given was that the LTTE was unarmed when they were present in the area, and the army should do the same. It is childish to assume that the LTTE was unarmed and was waiting for the army to come and chase them away. It is only a question of not knowing where the terrorists kept their arms while they were moving around the church. Perhaps only God knew where the terrorists kept their arms.
Though the Madhu area was "cleared" in 1999 later it appeared that the LTTE had moved in again. The million dollar (as the NGOs are used to dollars) question is who answered the prayers of the church to unarm the army. Unarming the army means withdrawing the army and the question is who gave orders for the army to withdraw from the area. None of the so-called self appointed guardians of the Sinhala heritage have raised this question to date though I have made it a point to draw the attention of the readers to these "miracles", in these columns.
Now the LTTE terrorists are back in the Madhu church and the premises and are allowed to carry out their propaganda with the blessings of the Catholic church. There are some Sinhala Catholics who are worried that unlike Jesus, the Church believes that the kingdom of Jesus belonged to this world. However, they are not permitted to raise their voices while the Tamil priests boast that they are Tamils first and Christians later. However, it is not difficult to understand the role played by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and the other Christian Churches. ( I must admit that after Rev. Chikera became the Bishop of Colombo in the Church of Ceylon I have not come across any statements by him, on the Tamil racist problem. However, the National Council of Churches continue to play their peace games with the Sinhalas, especially the Sinhala Buddhists.)
The Bishops and others who continued to dominate in the spheres of culture and politics during the colonial period do not want to give up the privileges they have enjoyed for several centuries. It is not different from the Vellala syndrome. The Vellalas who had suppressed the other Tamils since the Dutch period and who continued to enjoy privileges under the British wanted the same status in Colombo as well. The British knew the mentality of the Vellalas and used them against the Sinhalas in the Legislative Assembly and later in the state council. Simultaneously the British tried to cultivate the Sinhala Christians against Sinhala Buddhists and the casts Durawa, Salagama and especially the Karawa against the Goigama. The Sinhala Christians and these casts were given privileges and the British wanted to set them against the majority Sinhala Buddhists.It is a known fact, for example, that the Karawas were over represented not only among the rich, but in the professions as well. However it is to the credit of the Sinhala Christians in general and the casts mentioned above that they did realise the strategy of the British and learned to live with the other Sinhalas, without asking for the privileges that they had enjoyed under the British. They did not ask for 50-50 or even 30-70 representations in the legislature and in the other sectors.
The two sections who could not accommodate themselves to the changing conditions were the Tamil Vellalas and the hierarchy of the Church. They took up an anti Sinhala (Buddhist) attitude and instead of fighting the British they fought against the Sinhala Buddhists. Up to 1962, the hierarchy of the church resisted directly all attempts by the Sinhala Buddhists to win back the rights that they had lost during the colonial period. After that they have adopted other tactics like working with the Buddhists and undermining them in the process, supporting Tamil racism to weaken Sinhalathva and planting key people in the SLFP, the party of the Sinhalthva. The so called civil societies, human rights groups, peace movements have been sponsored by western countries and one finds an over representation of Christians in these organisations. I know for certain that even the national movement (Jathika Vyaparaya) is being manipulated by some anti national Christians. The Palli Nikaya with its Mahamoghapadya Mahanayake is not the only Sinhala Buddhist movement manipulated by some so-called leading Christians. They are seen even in societies founded by Anagarika Dharmapala. It is a pity that the Sinhala Buddhists have failed to understand these cross currents in politics and work out a suitable strategy to defeat the anti national forces operating in the country.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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