The violation of human rights as a result of murders including the killing of journalists and aid workers, abductions for ransom, displacements, loss of property and lives have been left out. It appears that even the UNP is unconcerned about the Tamil speaking people, treating them as belonging to a foreign and hostile country. Is it separatism by the majority?

Will the international community take note of the government’s intentions to hold elections in the east including local elections there in a hurry, despite the fact that the people of the east are displaced and are living in refugee camps far away from their places of original residence? The opposition UNP does not give any support to the government moves to hold these elections in a hurry.

All these go to prove the justification in the decision of the Tamils not to vote at the last presidential election. During the last general election it was the vote given to the UNP by the Tamils, especially those in the north and east, the Western Province, and the Upcountry that ensured a majority for the UNP.

Thanks for the statement in the editorial "It is unsafe to be a Tamil."

Long live you and your correspondents.

Gnanam
Colombo 5

Separation will not help Tamils

At the risk of being misunderstood it is necessary to respond to Prof. S. Ratnajeeven Hoole’s very courageous statement ‘separate state will lead Tamils to extinction.’

Prof. Hoole made this statement when delivering the Appapillai Amirthalingam 80th Birth Anniversary Memorial Lecture in London on August 26.

As a student of the history of our country, I must state that the cry for separation was the response by the Tamils in the north east of the land because of what they considered to be bad treatment meted out to them by the state with a majoritarian bias.

One does not have to state the result of this cry. For decades we have had a war in our country. This has resulted in two types of Tamils still in Sri Lanka — one, those who do not want to leave the country; and two, those who cannot leave.

On a visit to the agency that handles the issue of UK visas in March this year, it was very clear that a new class of Tamils were leaving the country — obviously because of the war.

Thus this cry for separation has not really helped the Tamils. It has led not only to the departure of Tamils but also to the increase in the diaspora and also has resulted in the deaths of many Tamils.

So there is a need for sanity to prevail, and as Prof. Hoole states, address the issue of human rights. Those still fighting for a separate state need to do this.

Of course it also means that the Sri Lankan state too should take human rights very seriously.

Since the war is between the state and the LTTE it is necessary that the state should make it possible for talks to begin between the warring groups as soon as possible.

Taking a leaf from other countries such as Northern Ireland and South Africa, ultimately it was talks that led to the final political settlement — not war.

Has Prof Hoole ‘spoken’ to both sides of the divide?

In the interest of all Sri Lankans can those involved in this war lay down arms and talk to each other? Is that possible in the present climate of war? However we need to as a nation, move towards talks.

Sydney Knight
Colombo 3

An eye opener to society

Your write up captioned "Conversions by another name" in your esteemed journal The Sunday Leader of July 29, on the data provided by your staff correspondent Nirmala Kannangara should be an eye-opener to all those, in whatever strata of society — professing the Buddha’s faith — that some evil forces are afoot imperceptibly, but surely aimed at causing chaos in the minds of innocent, unsuspecting folk for the profit and advantage of some unseen power behind the scenes. In that context your caption is quite apt.

It is certainly a joke of the first order that a ‘Japanese Lady’ still not identified supported by two females of whom one is reported to be an attorney-at-law, is the principal figure behind the scenes.

The so-called temple or ‘shrine’ located in the posh Liberty Plaza Complex and inaccessible to the public and parading some nonsense as ‘true’ Buddhism with power to call the law-enforcement authorities in case of attempts to visit the place by interested true devotees — who are persona non grata to them — is certainly highly suspicious.

This set-up could be even a facade for espionage, local or foreign. Or could it be some devise to bamboozle the innocent, unsuspecting public?

The sooner the real position is ascertained and suitable action taken, the wiser it will be.

R.L.N. de Zoysa
Colombo 10

A smile costs nothing, but means much

Amidst the ballooning gloom, and the deepening doom, we Sri Lankans can still smile. Having been taken for a big ride with extravagant promises we elect a ‘delightful’ set of legislators and a leader!

They unashamedly doubled their pay and allowances with one year’s arrears to boot, without reference to their ‘masters’ who put them into power!

The Guinness records kept tumbling. Firstly the cabinet permutations, the jumbo jaunts, and the extravagances. However let’s smile a while, amids the depressing scenario.

"It costs nothing, but creates much;

It enriches those who give it,

It happens in a flash,

And the memory sometimes lasts forever.

It cannot be bought,

Begged borrowed or stolen;

For it is sometimes, of no earthly use,

Until it is given away..., and if;

In the hurried rush of business,

You meet someone who is too weary to give you a smile,

Leave one of yours, for no one needs,

A smile as much as,

He who has none left to give." (Anon.)

Capt. A.G. Devendra
(RcyN. Retd.)

Noise pollution kills 

 During the past few weeks there have been many reports about a plan to ban the use of loudspeakers from 10 p.m to 6 a.m.

 In recent times, many religious institutions in this country use loudspeakers for their religious activities. Although loudspeakers were used for similar activities in the past they were not used in towns as done now, causing disturbance and discomfort to everyone in the area.

 In many towns in the country, loudspeakers have been fixed permanently atop religious places of worship and the noise generated by these loudspeakers is a disturbance to everyone, especially the sick and the elderly.

 The word ‘noise’ is derived from the Latin word ‘nausea,’ meaning seasickness. Noise is among the most pervasive pollutants today. Noise negatively affects human health and well-being. Problems related to noise include hearing loss, stress, high blood pressure, sleep loss, distraction and lost productivity, a general reduction in the quality of life and opportunities for tranquility.

 We experience noise in a number of ways. On some occasions, we can be both the cause and the victim of noise — such as when we are operating noisy appliances or equipment. There are also instances when we experience noise generated by others just as people experience second-hand smoke.

While in both instances, noise is equally damaging — second-hand noise is more troubling because it has a negative impact as it is caused by others without our consent.  People, businesses, temples and other religious institutions do not have unlimited rights to broadcast noise as if the effects of that noise were limited only to their premises. On the contrary, they have an obligation to respect the comfort and privacy of others.

 But in our country, sadly, the majority of the people do not really understand this. They break all rules and laws in order to satisfy themselves rather than have consideration for the well being of others.

 Noise pollution is one of the most serious crimes in this country although it has gone unnoticed over the years. It is sad that people do not understand the seriousness of the situation. Loudspeakers will neither save this country from its misery nor will they promote amity between the different religious groups.

It is only by divine intervention that all humans can be saved and not by loudspeakers or the noise which is generated through these loudspeakers.

 Regardless of religion, the usage of loudspeakers is a curse — it is like a cancer which keeps growing everyday. It is high time that the authorities did something about this matter.

Fr. Phillip Motha’s impassioned plea to the Almighty was for him to enter eternal life peacefully in his sleep without being a burden to anyone. God faithfully answered His servant’s prayer during the early hours of August, 6.

Unlike to special people like Fr. Phillip, the era of the industrial revolution, which commenced in 1707, ended in 1989 unknown to most of us. The world is now only a mere 18 years into what is termed the enlightened age of the knowledge worker.

The year 1989 is marked by many milestones including our own insurrection, the Tiananmen Square student protests and, above all, the fantastic transformation of the internet’s glut of data and overload of information, into the worldwide web . This transformation and its hidden blessing are described as ‘ICT’s inherent ability to unleash vital human knowledge from the bonds of repression.’

Fr. Phillip Motha (Uncle Phillip to me) realised the emergence of the era of information, knowledge and wisdom as naturally as a duck takes to water. By his life, Fr. Phillip was witness to the fact that the world was becoming, slowly but steadily, an unselfish and conscience-driven, global community despite frantic manipulation by a desperate leadership still stranded in bygone eras of human development over millennia of years.

To the writer and many others who had the good fortune to be spiritually or otherwise directed and guided by this man of God, Fr. Phillip is the epitome of the rapidly expanding groups of Spirit filled believers who are fully aware that ‘this strenuous search for wisdom is a search for God, Himself.’

Fr. Phillip enjoyed the rare privilege of receiving all seven sacraments of Christianity. His wife pre-deceased him in 1997. During her terminal illness he personally nursed and cared for Aunty Lily in keeping with the vows of holy matrimony. For nearly 10 years, he even carried her in his arms to the car to take her for Sunday mass. He celebrated Holy Orders at the ripe old age of 78 years.

Professor Phillip Motha, the layman, was a leading practitioner and consultant in the discipline of valuation. He immigrated to Singapore and engaged himself in many activities including lecturing in Singapore universities. Singapore and many institutions and individuals in other countries around the world benefited immensely by the generous sharing of his expertise in professional valuation.

He reached the pinnacle of his profession as the chief valuer of Sri Lanka. Later, in his academic career too, he rose to the top most notch as the Vice-Dean, Faculty of Architecture in the National University of Singapore — a rare feat indeed, for a naturalised Singaporean.

Back in Sri Lanka, he spent the final and most fruitful four years of his life as a labourer in the vineyard of the Lord. At the time of his death he was Spiritual Director, National Peace Movement; President, Society for Justice and Peace and Chaplain, Xavarians.

On August 11, Fr. Phillip was to receive a top award for having reached the zenith of his chosen profession, namely, valuation, at a grand event organised by the Old Boys’ Association of his alma mater, St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa. However, five days before the occasion, Fr. Phillip was summoned to accept his ultimate reward, leaving his elder brother Uncle Britto, to receive the award on his behalf.

Dear Fr. Phillip, you knew that I am not prone to shedding tears however sad or emotional the occasion is. I know that you smiled broadly when I could not keep back my tears that just flowed at our final earthly farewell.

Thank you for being a father to me and my wife, Ramani. Thank you on behalf of the many other families you adopted as your children. When five of my children were stricken with dengue at the same time and I was at Nawaloka after undergoing prostate surgery, your powerful prayers and personal presence took us smoothly through our difficulties.

Thank you for the privilege of sharing meals with you in our home — a home you blessed at every stage of construction, from foundation stone to house-warming Holy Mass. We will always remember how you enjoyed that tablespoon of cognac you sipped to aid your troubling digestion. I was humbled by your refusal to stock even a tiny bottle of the stuff in your room because you lived such a principle-centred life.

My children will always remember the times you spent with them singing your favourite songs accompanied by my two sons on guitar and Ramani on piano.

"There were times we shared intimately the Grace and power of Jesus. We were disillusioned about the present ethnic crisis. But I know that Fr.Motha was hopeful because his self-surrender to the living Jesus was still rife," were the awesome words from the funeral oration by Rev. Fr. Noel Dias.

I know that the meaningful Kingdom Project entrusted to you as a knowledge worker and which you carried out with dedication and much love here on earth, will bloom and accelerate because of the vantage position you are in now.

Your life made a difference in the lives around you. Others saw Jesus in what you said and did. Rest in the peace of the Lord, dear Fr. Phillip, till we meet again.