‘Baminithiya Saaya’ is the worst famine in the history of Sri Lanka. This famine occurred in B.C. in the first century. During this period of famine, five Brahmins known as Pulahatta, Bahiya, Panayamara, Piyamara, and Dathika ruled the country.
This rule is known as the Brahmin curse. History has mentioned that the cause of this Brahmin curse was the unrighteous actions of a king named Milidu, who lived in a city called Sagara in the central area of Dambadiva. It is said in history that this terrible famine came when King Milindu ignored the monks and surrounded himself with Brahmins to rule the state, and this famine spread from Dambadiva to Sri Lanka through Kerala.
‘Then the famine that is said to be coming to Sri Lanka is also a famine that is due to the unrighteousness of the government…?’
I don’t know what to say. But this famine comes at a time when the lights were cut off and put Mihintale in the dark, the place where the Buddhism was revealed to Sri Lanka. Not only Mihintala but also Dalada Maligawa was nearly getting darker.
‘What is the government’s madness in cutting the lights in the temples, which are symbols of Buddhist heritage…?’
Ranil has a history of clashing with temples whenever he comes to power. It is like a dark shadow following Ranil’s governments. Ranil’s government that came to power in 2001 had to deal with the death of Reverend Soma. It was at this time that Ellawala Medhananda Thero became popular as Puravidya Chakravarti, who raised a loud voice throughout the country, that the North-Eastern Buddhist heritage would be destroyed by the cease-fire agreement signed by Ranil with the LTTE even before the death of Reverend Soma.
They created a Buddhist wave across the country against Ranil’s government, saying that Eastern Buddhist heritage would be destroyed by the LTTE through the ceasefire agreement. ‘Hela Urumaya’ rose from that wave. After that, a large number of famous monks of Sri Lanka joined this wave. It was during this time that Soma Thera died in Russia. Soma Thera became famous for attacking Ashraf’s Muslim politics.
Ranil’s government is formed because Rauf Hakeem, who became the leader of Muslim Congress after Ashraf, broke away from Chandrika’s government and that government lost the majority Rauf Hakeem supported Ranil to form a government. Due to the cease-fire agreement signed by Ranil with Prabhakaran and the strong government formed with Hakeem, popular monks created an anti-government Sinhala Buddhist wave in the country, and with the death of Soma Thero, who fought with Muslim politics, that wave became a tsunami.
The then president Chandrika and her media operator Mangala and JVP propagated an opinion saying that Soma Thero did not die but was murdered, and Hela Urumaya capitalised on this. In the end, Hela Urumaya brought the popular monks of the Sinhala Buddhist wave into politics and splitted the U.N.P. Sinhala Buddhist votes. At the same time, they attacked Catholic churches and created public opinion against fundamentalist religions, and rumours were spread throughout the country that Ranil was not a Sinhala Buddhist and that he would destroy Buddhism and protect other religions.
Rumours that Ranil’s government was behind Soma Thero’s demise were also created and spread across the country. When Independent Square was requested to perform the last rights to Soma thero, Ranil initially refused to give it on principle. He said that the independent square will only be given to Mahanayake Theros last rights. But Ranil allowed it through the intervention of W.J.M Lokubandara. Attacking this policy of Ranil, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, JVP and Hela Urumaya danced by saying that Ranil is anti-Buddhist this was clear by refusing the independent square to Soma Thera. In the end, Ranil’s government lost.
After Ranil came to power in 2015, environmentalists started an operation to take over elephants in temples. Owners of illegal elephants were sued. Some owners were arrested. Besides, the government and the environmentalists planned to take over the elephant of Ranil’s temple, Gangarama. Faced with this elephant problem, the temples joined together. Sambodhi Vihara took the lead to it. Saying that the government is going to bring a new constitution, the leaders of Sambodhi Vihara also organized a meeting.
These monks also organized against the arrest of military leaders who led the war. Bodu Bala Sena Thero was also arrested. Organizations like Sinhala Ravaya sprang up like mushrooms. The same monks who came to the scene to overthrow Ranil’s government in 2004 also came to the scene through other organizations this time. The Easter bomb exploded while this Sinhala Buddhist wave was emerging. Ranil had a conflict with Kelani Temple, he was the president of the ‘dayaka saba’.
The leaders of the Kelani Temple removed Ranil from the dayaka saba. Just as the disc of the Buddhist wave created in 2001 was heated up by the death of Soma Thera, the disc of the Buddhist wave created in 2015 was heated by the Easter bombing. With the fasting of Athuraliye Thero, that wave became a tsunami.
Not only Chandrika, Mangala, JVP but also Mahinda played a big role behind the incitement of monks against Ranil’s government in 2001. In 2015, it was only Mahinda and Rajapaksas who incited the monks. Then they made Ranil, who was anti-Sinhala Buddhist and today that Anglican, is the president.
Now Ranil’s government has clashed with monks who protect Eastern Buddhist heritage. Now the lights are being cut in the temples, which were Buddhist shrines, because they have not paid the light bill.
‘Does that mean the same thing that happened in 2001, the same thing that happened in 2015, is going to happen in 2024…?’
I don’t know how to say. But the Rajapaksas, who formed the Buddhist wave against Ranil, and their followers, the Podujana Peramuna, are resisting Ranil . Ranil represented the U.N.P. The opposition leader Sajith Premadasa who leads the force today, by paying the electricity bill of Mihintale, resisting the cut-off of electricity to the ‘Dalada madura’ , and creating a opposition that is non-religious, does not inflame bigotry and insults other religions, and protects Buddhism.
In 1965, Dudley Senanayake and Mrs. Bandaranaike formed a Buddhist wave that secured non-religious Buddhism by gathering monks against the secularist pro-Chinese government. It was joined by the Tiruchelvam in the north. He also formed a monk front for the UNP. Ranil dissolved that monk’s front of U.N.P after becoming the leader, those monks disbanded the front. That’s where Ranil was always wrong. This time too, if Ranil wronged similarly, it will be wrong not only for Ranil but also for the Podujana Peramuna including Rajapaksa.