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The reprehensible actions of the Bodu Bala in "luthgama last Sunday night once more brought %anka closer to the perilous precipice to shiver precariously on its brink! %ets cut the euphemisms and do away with the niceties adopted to spare the shame! these were not men in robes as renegade monks are sometimes referred to and their actions dismissed summarily as having little or no conse
The reprehensible actions of the Bodu Bala in "luthgama last Sunday night once more brought %anka closer to the perilous precipice to shiver precariously on its brink! %ets cut the euphemisms and do away with the niceties adopted to spare the shame! these were not men in robes as renegade monks are sometimes referred to and their actions dismissed summarily as having little or no conse
The reprehensible actions of the Bodu Bala in "luthgama last Sunday night once more brought %anka closer to the perilous precipice to shiver precariously on its brink! %ets cut the euphemisms and do away with the niceties adopted to spare the shame! these were not men in robes as renegade monks are sometimes referred to and their actions dismissed summarily as having little or no conse
Today the Bodu Bala Sena stands in the dock indicted with the heinous charge of attempting to return this nation to the blood-soaked barbaric age of violence from which it had risen so recently. It stands accused of repeated anti-Muslim attacks that have now resulted in inevitable bloodshed and death; and it stands condemned for outraging the religious sensitivities of the Buddhists by presenting to the worlds reproach and contempt! its distorted! savage and warped version as the sworn practical translation of the Buddhas noble doctrine of "himsa. #ith the anguish and pain of the harrowing thirty-year-old racial war which wracked the nation apart and left thousands of her citi$ens dead! still bleeding fresh in the nation traumatised memory! the reprehensible actions of the Bodu Bala in "luthgama last Sunday night once more brought %anka closer to the perilous precipice to shiver precariously on its brink! facing the abysmal vista of another possible conflagration to engulf the nation in religious flames. &ardly three days after thousands of %ankan Buddhists had commemorated the arrival of Buddhism to %anka '(() years ago and spent the day in the practice of Buddhist ethics! meditating upon the sublime states of loving kindness to all and tolerance toward all faiths and creeds! a small group of rebel monks launched another serial attack on Muslims and showed the world the other side of *osons midnight moon. %ets cut the euphemisms and do away with the niceties adopted to spare the shame. A soldier patrolling the streets of Aluthgama after it came under mob violence. Pic by ndi!a "andu#ela %ets brave the truth and face reality. %ets accept the fact that these were not men in robes! as renegade monks are sometimes referred to and their actions dismissed summarily as having little or no conse+uences. These were ordained monks of the '(,, year old Buddha Sasana! card carrying members of the established nikayas! registered with the -overnment as Buddhist monks. .raped in the sacred saffron robe of the Buddha they were the official members of the /oble 0rder of Buddhist monks. "s the formal authorised representatives of the Buddha Sasana! their speech and conduct reflect upon Buddhisms value. -enerally! when monks step out of line with the 1inaya 2ode they face disciplinary action by the appropriate 2ouncil of the Sasana but in this case no such action has even been mooted by any Temple 3lder. These lapses have no doubt contributed in no small a measure to the rise of these perverse bands of rebel monks! the foremost of which is the Bodu Bala Sena! for which body this was merely one more incident in its long litany of religious attacks against the Muslims. &aving savoured success without restraint at every turn! it was only to be e4pected that they would sooner or later go over the top. "nd indeed they did. 5or the first time in the nations two thousand five hundred year old history! a group of Buddhist monks actively played a participatory role in a racial attack on a minority group which resulted in the murder of three Muslims and grievous bodily harm to nearly eighty others. "ccording to the *olice! out of the suspects arrested over the incident! two were monks who were armed and drunk. &ate speech 5louting every rule in the Buddhist canon! casting this cardinal! unpardonable insult to the religion they profess to follow! violating the hallowed tenets of the Buddha! in whose sacrosanct name they commit every ghoulish villainy! the Bodu Bala Sena has sprouted from unknown origins to spread the wild seeds of religious disharmony unchecked. They have openly preached and blatantly practised violence as a means of achieving their mysterious ends. But! as last Sundays attacks in "luthgama and Beruwela vividly demonstrated! this time they had gone over the edge! and placed themselves beyond the pale of redemption. But are they worried6 /o. "s the Bodu Bala chief -alagoda-atte -nanasara proudly declared at the "luthgama meeting as if it was the best epithet he could receive! 7Spineless ministers and others say we are racists! they say we are religious bigots. 8es! we are racists. 8es! we are religious bigots.9 Inciting the crowds with vicious language and rhetoric of Sinhala supremacy in %anka and declaring the undisputable right of the ma:ority race to inflict violence on any minority grouping who dared to out step the allowed bounds of their limited tolerance! the head of this rabid renegade brigand of fanatical monks! the saffron robed -alagoda -nanasara arrogantly proclaimed in his inflammatory speech to a crowd clapping his every word; 7If we do not unite and determine today to do our duty! our still unborn generations will! at a future date! curse us to be struck down by lightning. #ithout being sub:ect to that curse! look at our ancestors! our forefathers and what they did. They sacrificed their blood! tears! sweat and their lives! donated their eyes! their flesh! their blood to safeguard this age old heritage on behalf of us. Today! evil sinful forces have emerged from all four directions to plunder this heritage.9 #e tell everyone!9 -nanasara warned! raising his hand defiantly! 7This country still has a Sinhala police. Still has a Sinhala army. "fter today! if one Sinhalese is even touched! let alone a robe! if one Sinhalese is even touched by any Muslim or anyone else that will be the end of them all.9 The mob violence began soon after. But Sundays violent clima4 was only to be e4pected. #hen the seeds of hate have been allowed to be sown to the winds of pseudo patriotism! what surprise is there when the whirlwind boomerangs to be reaped6 5ounded only two years ago in <uly ',='! the Bodu Bala Senas rise to notoriety has been mysteriously meteoric. .uring this brief period they have emerged as the sacred bulls of %anka! allowed to wander and preach their gospel of hate and violence wherever they wished! untethered and given free rein of the rope to head butt and kick their way into any organisation they chose! granted immunity to attack and set fire to any Muslim business premises they focused their sights on; and regurgitate their unfettered violent e4ploits ad nauseam to further flaunt their untouchable status! and present themselves as the e4alted saviours of Buddhism in %anka. They have arrogated to themselves the right to do as they wish to appoint themselves as the nations moral police! to anoint themselves as Buddhisms guardians and even to damn themselves as the devils angels to wage holy war with the Muslims of %anka. 3ven the name of this rabid organisation Bodu Bala Sena which means Buddhas *ower 5orce is a perverse misnomer and a grievous insult but no power has seen the need to deplore this profanity committed on the hallowed name of -autama the Buddha! The law enforcing authorities who deemed it fit to remand and deport a British nurse! a practising Buddhist! for innocently having an image of the Buddha tattooed on her right arm in an act of pious devotion! on the grounds of sacrilege! have had no +ualms about remaining inert when they witness blood spilt on the roads of the land and fear inflicted in the hearts of society by a group of monks e4ploiting the reverence accorded to the robe and waving Buddhism as their flag of immunity. If that is not sacrilegious! then what is6 "s you read these words now! spare a thought on the grief and heartbreak the wives and small children of the three Muslim men killed near a mos+ue in "luthgama must be suffering today. #as there any cause worthy enough to have killed them6 #hat advance has been made by their deaths6 #hat reason has :ustified their wanton deaths or what purpose has been served e4cept to sate the macabre blood lust of a few megalomaniacs6 &as Buddhism become a stronger religion and more protected because of it6 "sk yourself; is this the Buddhism the Buddha preached6 .oes the real threat to Buddhism come from without or from within6 The Bodu Bala Senas sudden rise to the summit of immunity has indeed been phenomenal. &ardly known outside their own temples! -nanasara and his renegade clan have become more bloated with arrogance with every boastful assault on the nations social and religious fabric. Meeting no opposition to thwart its ascent but a police guard to smooth its path! the litany of its villainy progressed to clima4 on Sunday night on the streets of .harga Town in "luthgama. .uring these last two years! emboldened by not meeting any challenge to their attacks! they began to believe in their own professed infallibility and that .ivine *rovidence blessed their mission and provided their talisman of protection to wage the holy war with impunity and dared the authorities to stop them if they could. In the face of this direct challenge to law and order and to the visible threat to peace and communal harmony the -overnment! the *olice! the Mahanayakes! the due process and the laws of the land fell ominously silent. But! for this apathy displayed towards repeated Bodu Bala attacks on the Muslim populace! there will be a price to pay. If the Bodu Bala and similar radical groupings are not checked and dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land! %anka will face an almost insurmountable crisis and no amount of parliamentary resolutions passed will suffice to turn the tide of international opinion already fast moving against the nation. The Bodu Bala claim that they are fighting Muslim e4tremists but that cannot :ustify their actions! for if there are indeed Muslim e4tremists operating in %anka! as there well maybe! then it is a matter for the -overnment to tackle! not for a bunch of vigilantes in robes to take the law unto their own hands and wreak havoc on the land. Soon the >nited /ations war crime probe will begin its in+uiry. Though /avi *illay will be retiring this month much to %ankas relief! it cannot bring great comfort to know that the new person to occupy the post of the &uman ?ights 2ommissioner will be a Muslim from <ordan. 2an %anka e4pect greater understanding from him when Muslims are sub:ected to religious attacks in %anka and nothing is being done to prevent it6 #ith the -overnment standing firm on its decision not to cooperate with the >/ war crimes probe! its present plan of action to thwart this violation of national sovereignty has been! in the main! to convince individual governments it is still friendly with that such a radical step by the >/ is not called for since the government is taking meaningful steps to further e4pedite the process of reconciliation with the Tamil minority and address their grievances. 2an the -overnment keep a straight face and try to persuade foreign governments to believe in their sincerity! when groups of fanatical Sinhalese are allowed carte blanche to launch attacks against another minority! this time the Muslims! and create new grievances! without any action being taken against the perpetrators6 0n Monday in Bolivia after he was awarded the medal of honour for peace and democracy! the highest honour presented by the *lurinational State of Bolivia! by the Bolivian -overnment! *resident Mahinda ?a:apaksa told Bolivian *resident 3vo Morales that establishing relationships with new nations is a part of the -overnments policy. The 5oreign 0ffice should ensure that it is also part of -overnment policy to retain the friendly relationship it has already established! especially those strong ties long forged with the "rab and Muslim nations! not forgetting Muslim *akistan! which championed %ankas brief robustly at the -eneva &uman ?ights 2ouncil in March this year. It will not contribute to the continuance of such friendly relationships with those Muslim states if the Muslims of %anka are seen to have been reduced to the status of sitting ducks for any passing diehard Sinhala racist to take pot shots at without fearing any reprisals. It should not be forgotten that these are the nations that supply %anka the oil it needs for its very e4istence and that they are also the main employers of %ankas Middle 3astern labour force which contribute @ billion dollars to %ankas coffers every year. #ithout the oil and without the money this country would be brought to a halt. 5or all the repulsive! arrogant and boastful bragging by the Bodu Bala chief -nanasara that this country has still a Sinhala police and Sinhala army and that if one Sinhalese is even touched by a Muslim then that will be the end of all Muslims! the reality is that if the Sinhalese touch even one Muslim in the future and the Muslim nations place an embargo on oil to %anka and slap a ban on employing housemaids from %anka! then it will be the end of the Sinhalese. %anka has enough and more problems than it can chew. If it does not act now and take the necessary measures to prevent a repeat of Black Sunday! then it would appear that this nation has lost its marbles and is in search of new troubles and new enemies. The perpetrators should be dealt with under the normal criminal laws of the land and all citi$ens of %anka must be assured that the first duty of any government which is to maintain law and order is being effectively discharged. Today the Bodu Bala has blood on its robes and evil sin on its conscience. Missing still are the manacles on its hands. THE OFFENCE OF UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY The definition of unlawful assembly is stated in Section 138 in the Penal Code as an assembly of five or more persons if the common object of the persons comprising that assembly is, amongst other objects, to commit mischief or criminal mischief or other offence Section 1!3 states that wherever force or violence is used by an unlawful assembly every member of such assembly is guilty of the offence of rioting "t is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the others should have committed any physical act apart from joining or remaining in the unlawful assembly Section 1#$ states that %whoever maliciously or wantonly by doing anything which is illegal, gives provocation to any persons intending or &nowing it to be li&ely that such provocation will cause the offence of rioting to be committed, shall, if the offence of rioting be committed in conse'uences of such provocation, be punished with imprisonment