I was shocked to see the article in The Sunday Leader of April 13 regarding the purchase of a new Benz car for Rs. 44 million for the Army Commander, at a time when a war is going on in our country.

You will be surprised to hear that recently casualties were transported to the Sri Jayewardenapura General Hospital all the way from Anuradhapura. They had major injuries. Some were after amputation of their limbs. One had both limbs cut off.

And how do you think they were transported?

They were transported on the floorboard of a CTB bus. This is criminal, and should not be the way these poor soldiers are treated when injured.

If they can spend such a massive amount on a car, why can’t they buy a few ambulances so that the casualties could be transported in an acceptable manner?

Sri Jayewardenapura General Hospital

Sinhalese have adopted the Tamil New Year

We Sinhalese Buddhists are heirs to a hydraulic civilisation. We were the custodians of Theravada Buddhism after it had receded in India and transmitted it to Myanmar and Thailand. The Buddhist scripture was first put down in writing in Sri Lanka. It is intriguing therefore that we now celebrate the Hindu Solar New Year as our new year. We have forgotten our own lunar calendar!

  April 13 does not mark the commencement of the Sinhala New Year. It is the Tamil-Hindu New Year. Our New Year falls on the new moon of the lunar month of Bak. This happened to be on April 6 this year. I refer to the traditional Sinhalese almanac, the Litha.

 The Theravada Buddhist calendar is a lunar one. Each month starts with the new moon, peaks at the full moon and then wanes until the next new moon, which marks the start of the succeeding month. The first month of the Buddhist lunar year is Bak. 

The first day of the lunar month of Bak fell this year on April 6. It fell last year on March 19 and will fall next year on March 27. The day shifts each year in keeping with the phase of the moon.  April 13 this year happens to be the 8th of Bak! It is clearly not the start of the Sinhalese lunar year!  

 The Hindu solar calendar by contrast follows the signs of the zodiac and commences when the sun enters the sign of Mesha or Aries on April 13 or 14 each year. This occasion is remarkable in that it falls more or less on the same day each year. It has no link whatsoever to the phases of the moon.

 It is ironic that the Sinhalese now observe the Hindu solar calendar where the first day of the first solar month — Chitterai —falls each year either on April 13 or 14. This is the Tamil New Year! The Tamil-Hindu calendar is a solar one.

The auspicious times, the punya kaala, the precise time that the new year dawns, the head anointing ritual with medicinal herbs, the first financial transaction or ganu-denu/kaivishesham etc. have more to do with Hindu tradition than Buddhism. Buddhism has no concept of auspicious times — all times in fact are auspicious when it comes to the dhamma.

 The Sinhalese are more enthused about the traditional Tamil New Year than even Vesak. I explain this with reference to South Indian influence during the Gampola dynasty, the Sitavaka interregnum and the Nayakkar interlude in the Kandyan kingdom.

The medieval Sinhalese historical chronicles, such as the Rajavaliya and the Nikaya Sangrahaya, record that the Kingdom of Jaffna in the late 1300s briefly stretched to Gampola just south of Kandy while its revenue officials collected taxes in Biyagama, just north of what is today Colombo.

The navy of the Jaffna kingdom attacked the port of Panadura, south of Colombo. It was the Malayali General and Leader, Veera Alakeshwara, who turned the tide in favour of the Sinhalese between 1396 and 1408 AD. This ensured that Gampola remained independent. His role in the Sinhalese court, however, led to considerable Dravidian influence on the Sinhalese cultural matrix.

 King Rajasingha of Sitawaka ruled from 1554 to 1593 AD. A Sinhalese, he resisted the Portuguese with remarkable vigour. He adopted Saivite Hinduism and sidelined the Buddhist clergy in an effort to stiffen the resistance against the Portuguese. He was the only Sinhalese king besides Parakramabahu to emphasise the importance of a navy. His remarkable rule led to a further South Indianisation of Sinhalese culture with Adam’s Peak and Kataragama taking on a Hindu hue.

 The Nayakkar interlude in the Kandyan  kingdom  commenced in 1739 AD and reinforced this trend. The Nayakkars were from Tanjore, South India. Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe, the foremost Tanjore Nayakkar who revived the Buddhist Sangha in Sri Lanka after the depredations of the Portuguese and Sitawaka Rajasinghe, ruled in Kandy from 1747 to 1782 AD. A Hindu, he rebuilt the Munneswaram Sivan Temple in Chilaw and constructed a Sivan temple in Thampalakamam, Trincomalee.

The increased Tamil influence on the court led to the Sinhalese people adopting South Indian customs and traditions wholesale. The Tamil New Year was one such cultural appropriation.

 It is time to acknowledge the Tamil-Hindu roots of the current Sinhalese festivities, be it the traditional New Year on April 13 or the Kandy Esala Perahera which coincides with the Nallur Temple Festival in Jaffna and the Aluth Sahal Mangalya when the first rice harvested is cooked in milk and offered to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy in a remarkable parallel with the Tamil harvest festival of Thai Pongal or Makara Sankranti dedicated to Surya or the Sun.

I was shocked to read in The Sunday Leader of April 13, that the Sri Lanka Army had purchased a luxury Mercedes Benz costing a staggering Rs. 44 million and was dumbfounded to learn that an extra Rs. 3 million had been paid for 15 centimetres of extra leg room for the occupants of the back seat.

Since it is reported that this vehicle is not bulletproof, the question arises why such a vehicle was bought for the use of ‘senior army staff.’  Adding insult to injury, the Major who had signed the purchase order, when questioned about it, allegedly, had the audacity to ask ‘What is your problem with the price of the vehicle?’

It is a pity that this official has not realised that this colossal sum has been paid neither from the Army Commander’s pocket nor the President’s pocket but from the pockets of the starving masses.

Let the opposition in the House which is the nation’s watchdog raise these questions in parliament so that the people will know the truth.

It has become the practice of late to lie, deviate from the truth and mislead the general public on an unprecedented scale. All those who do this must be thinking that all Sri Lankans are idiots and gullible enough to accept their versions.

We are led to believe that inflation in Sri Lanka is just 9%. Even if this is the dictate of the supreme authority in Sri Lanka, the person/s who are responsible for such pronouncements should be treated as traitors and punished accordingly. This is notwithstanding that statistics could be manipulated and interpreted in so many ways, but always done to mislead the public.

They should be treated as outcasts by the public instead of bowing to their unworthy souls since their intention is to mislead the public to protect their positions and enjoy the fruits of our hard labour without any conscience.

Similarly, during an interview with the outgoing Secretary General of Parliament it was revealed that ‘members of parliament cross over with scant regard for the existing anti defection law that forms a part of the constitution and conveniently blame the constitution for every ill that prevails.’

I recall that a few years back during J.R.’s presidency, the Supreme Court decided, for whatever reason, that when a member crossed over he was entitled to retain his seat.

Since it has now become a precedent, only the Supreme Court could change this, if there is an anomaly. Probably the present Chief Justice may look into this, since he has been instrumental in changing a few anomalies lately for the benefit of the people.

Finally the biggest con artist in the history of Sri Lankan politics has been exposed and expelled or in Wimal’s own language, unplugged!

Gullible Sri Lankan people are paying dearly for the untruths that this joker uttered during the 2004 and 2005 elections. Hope at least now they will use their head more than the rear when casting their precious vote.

Buddhism preaches that a person will reap what he sows. Accordingly, the people are reaping what they sowed during the last elections. Hence, the people whether they voted for this government or not suffer in silence stomaching all the burdens placed on them by the government.

Would anyone have ever dreamed that the price of rice would rise over Rs.100? Would they have ever dreamed that the price of bread would go up to Rs.40? There have been price increases in the past but bread and rice prices have never gone up so sharply as it has happened today.

The poor enjoy a cup of tea while the rich enjoy a drink of faluda. But that too has now become unaffordable to the poor because of the steep increase in prices of everything including tea leaves, sugar and milk powder.

Almost every day ministers appear on TV and preach to the masses that even in India rice prices have gone up. But the masses are not fools to believe them.

The unbearable increase in the price of kerosene could only be termed as a crime committed against the poor of this country. Recently in Tamil Nadu the people organised a massive protest against the increase in the price of gas and kerosene and urged the government to bear the increase and give these items at prevailing prices.

Every time the SLFP set up a government either alone or in coalition with other parties there always have been massive price increases and shortages causing suffering to the masses.

But the UNP regimes never burdened the masses with such price increases, as they knew the suffering of the common man. Strangely the UNP dissidents who are supporting the government for personal gain and perks are silent about these issues

Prof. Ravindra Fernando