The Minority vote
Residents along Sarana Road were strangely agitated on Friday, the 26th of March. The aura of depression had to be experienced to be believed. Sarana Road lies in Clombo 7., heart of the residential area. Few cautious inquiries brought to light residents closest to the Indonesian Embassy move away for several days around this time. Further investigations revealed three cows on Embassy grounds. Except a guard no one else was in sight. The guard was not forthcoming with any information.
Eid Al Fitur, Ramazan or the Muslim New Year was the cause. Cows are normally slaughtered in the Embassy grounds. The first ordeal the neighbours face is the screaming of the cows when being slaughtered which is generally accompanied by laughter of children and much clapping of hands. The build up to this starts a couple of days prior to the actual event when the animals are seen driven along the road to their final destination. After the gruesome deed their ordeal is not yet over. Within three days starts the fetid odour of entrails and other discarded parts of carcass. Incidentally, last year the neighbourhood of the Malaysian Embassy went through a similar experience.
Who or what is responsible for this gross negligence of sanity and sanitation?
Calls to the Minister of Cultural Affairs and Buddha Sasana Mr. Lakshman Jayakody and the Mayor of Colombo, Mr. Karu Jayasuriya proved futile, both lost in meaningless jargon of Diplomatic immunity. This is understandable in view of the imminent Provincial Council Elections falling due on the 6th of April.
The majority sinhala community find their leaders in the two main Political Parties canvassing the minority vote with incomparable assiduity.
It was S. W. R. D. Bandaranayaka in 1956, first canvassed the minority vote. He paved the way for successive Governments to consolidate their position by using this vote. Thondaman, in control of the block vote of the Estate Tamils, used this bargaining power to strengthen his position by demanding for and receiving citizenship, for more and more Indian Tamils. Swinging with each election from the arms of one political party in to the arms of the other, each party in turn giving something more than the other did, until finally Chandrika Bandaranayaka kumaranatunge’s Peoples Alliance has agreed to grant citizenship to all remaining Indian Tamils. Having expended the Indian Tamils and having stabilised Thondaman’s ability to make any Government dance to his tune, our political leaders are now canvassing the Muslim vote with equal assiduity.
While acknowledging the right of a man to be a citizen one cannot condone a politician using ignorant labour to strengthen his hold over a government when he does so by causing dissent between ethnic groups.
The UNP had passed legislation that by special licence one animal only can be slaughtered in ones own premises for religious purposes.
In this instance the law of the land was about to be broken with three animals being slaughtered. Diplomatic immunity does not cover breaching of the law. Let us assume that the Hon. Minister and the Mayor of Colombo were not aware of this.
The Young Men’s Muslim Association was contacted and a spokesman stated that the Muslims have a right to follow their religious rites. Undoubtedly this is a basic right of any community but, is it right to do so with no regard for religious susceptibilities of the larger numbers of Buddhists and Hindus living amongst them? Discrimination there certainly is - the moot point being who is discriminating against whom?
Finally Mrs. Sagarika Karunanyaka of ‘Sathwa Mithra’ was contacted and she took the initiative of contacting the Indonesian Ambassador.
The Ambassador stands a rare figure amongst those in authority in Sri Lanka today. Newly arrived, he was not yet aware how offensive this slaughter would be to both Buddhists and Hindus. Mrs. Karunanayaka found the gentleman very receptive to the religious susceptibilities of others. He had the animals removed to the Muslim mosque in Fort, where the slaughter was comparatively acceptable. His consideration to those not of his own views and beliefs diplomatic immunity not withstanding, is a lesson to all. In this multi-ethnic, multi- religious land of ours it would behove all leaders to emulate this gentleman, who was able to follow his rites and beliefs without giving offence to any.
A vote of thanks is also necessary to that ad hoc group of citizens who took it upon themselves to right a wrong. These civic minded citizens when confronted with something wrong, took time off from their busy schedules, to talk to people, to contact those in authority, to make posters, to band together in a protest march when their leaders proved ineffective.