JHU on Al Jazeera
August 30th, 2007
By Dushy Ranetunge in London
On Wednesday, Al Jazeera TV aired its second in a series of short documentaries about the Sri Lankan conflict. The focus was on the JHU.
Champika Ranawaka, the JHU member of Parliament and several Buddhist monks were interviewed. Although the program itself was balanced with JHU and anti-war monks and campaigners being interviewed, those representing the JHU and those sympathetic to their point of view did not do any favours for Sri Lanka.
Instead they came across championing a point of view articulated by the likes of the racist National Front (NF), the British National Party (BNP) or even the Protestant militant terrorists of Northern Ireland.
The National Front and the British National Party represents the face of British fascism, who offers nothing to the Jews, blacks and other minorities other than hostility and racism. In the United States one finds a similar movement known as the KKK, or the Klu Klux Klan, a white supremacist group. The Protestant militants and their sympathisers do the same in Northern Ireland and they are mobilised against the minority in Northern Ireland, the Catholics, who are considered by them as terrorists sympathetic to the IRA. Foremost among these Protestant firebrands is the Rev. Ian Paisley, now tamed by the British government into power sharing with his one time terrorist opponents the IRA.
What is common among all these groups and the JHU is that they are fringe political formations of majority communities feeding on majority insecurities and warped perceptions about minorities to secure political power.
Within the last 2 years, the British National Party made significant gains in local authority elections capitalising on the insecurities of English voters in certain deprived constituencies in the United Kingdom where some minority communities are concentrated.
In the British and American political landscape, these fascist fringe political formations are abhorred and marginalised by the major political parties as they bring back memories of Nazism and contributes to political destabilisation. In Britain the major political parties work together to undermine and squeeze out these fascist political groups from the political arena.
In October 1999, Joerg Haider’s Freedom Party’s rise to power as a partner in the Austrian government made headlines and raised alarm in the West, because of Haiders fascist links. This led to calls for the political isolation of Austria.
The interviews on Al Jazeera of Champika Ranawaka and pro-JHU Buddhist monks retraced the classic lines of this brand of fascism. It plays on the perceived great threat to the majority from the minority and then tries to justify oppression of minorities on the basis of this perceived great Satan.
Champika Ranawaka and the Buddhist monks all spoke of the great Satan, the LTTE, and a monk harped back even to the Chola invasions of the past, 70 million or was it 50 million Tamils in South India etc., but none of them had a kind word for the minorities of Sri Lanka.
The Tamils of Sri Lanka today cannot be held responsible for the atrocities of the Cholas. Listening to the Monk, it was like listening to the Serbian nationalists trying to justify their claim to Kosovo based on past history. There is a global pattern to this brand of fascism.
We were informed of a great conspiracy for Tamils to link up from the North with those in the East, with the Indian Tamils on the estates and then with the Tamils in Colombo and trap the Sinhalese on the island. Add to this the 50 or is it the 70 million Tamils of South India all waiting to swim over.
All these characters seem consumed by the great Satan, the LTTE, the main thrust of their argument.
But like the KKK, the National Front, the British National Party, the sympathisers of the Protestant paramilitaries, there was never a kind word for the weakest and the most vulnerable in society, the minorities. There was nothing in it for them. It was all about the majority and their perceived insecurities and rights. The fact that the JHU wore the uniform of Buddhist monks made no difference. The ideology was the same. On Al Jazeera, they were too busy pointing at great maps of Sri Lanka or was it “Hela” and to the great Satan, to realise that the Satan had consumed them and left them devoid of humanity towards fellow man.
Perhaps it is too much to expect the Nazis to spare a kind word for the Jews.
Like these other radical political formations around the world, the JHU has every right to express its views and participate in democratic politics. As long as it champions these political views, the JHU will remain a fringe group and runs the risk of political oblivion in future elections.
Meanwhile, Joerg Haider this week called for a ban on the construction of Mosques in Austria. “Muslims have of course the right to practise their religion, but I oppose erecting mosques and minarets as centres to advertise the power of Islam,” he said. We can be thankful that at least Joerg Haider is not wearing the uniform of a Buddhist monk.
This week the Daily News stated that Buddhism was rising in Europe. Joerg Haider may have something to say about that. One wonders if he will bring something similar to the 50 million or was it the 70 million Tamils from South India threat argument to convince the Europeans about Buddhism rising in Europe.
Related YouTube Video:
- People & Power – Monks of War – Part 1
- People & Power – Monks of War – Part 2
Entry Filed under: transCurrents NewsFeatures
15 Comments Add your own
1. Ranjit Emerson | August 31st, 2007 at 12:30 am
What JHU and their adherents aired is the sentiment of the Sinhala people at large. History of Sri Lanka reveals such sentiment has existed right throughout their history. This phobia will never cease but will gain its strength by political mode.
For this very reason, Sri Lanka needs a genuine third party negotiator. Unless the leaders of this world come to this realization, Sri Lanka or its people will not have or see peace in their life time.
We need journalists, who can enlighten the leaders of this world and voice the truth by their writings. We need strong journalists like D. B. S. Jeyaraj or Iqbal Athas who can call evil by its right name and stand firm for the truth though the heavens fall. Journalists must become the voice of the people. And we readers must encourage such journalists to stand firm for the truth.
It is my hope that one day Sri Lanka can see peace and the people can dwell in harmony.
2. Asitha Gamage | August 31st, 2007 at 1:50 am
Author Ranethunge must give some thought as to why there is so much antagonism by indigenous races to the rise of remnants of previously invasive races to any militaristic/terrorist activities. What is obvious in countries such as Sri Lanka [Heladiva] is the natural process of reclaiming the ancestral lands. The universally obvious landmarks of ancestral lands are the archeological remnants of the land. What is happening in Sri Lanka is a product of two natural phenomena: (1) as the population density increases in the wet zone, which has been the internally displaced refuge of the Northern and Eastern Sinhelas since the invasive pogrom of the South Indians since c.1200, there is a need for recolonisation of the vast deserted lands of the East and the North which have all the remnants and hallmarks of Sinhela acncestral lands and not any other race; therefore the Sinhelas consider it their fundamental human right to recolonise in times of need and peaceful existence; (2) Post-colonial Africa, Asia and many other lands are slowly but surely returning to their pre-colonial rights of land ownership and governance. This is not a phenomenon unique to humans. It is a natural phenomenon of ecology where any poulation of species that has been disturbed temporarily by invasive or antagonistic exploitative species will return to its previous equilibrium status through re-assertion of their independent habitat.
There is no point in talking of Jews and Nazis or innocent Sinhela Buddhists massacred by the millions by invading Dravidian hordes some 800 years ago. Words such as innocent minority races may evoke tears in certain circles waiting for the “International Human Rights gravy train” to serve them to their hearts content. They are just crocodile tears and of selfish value only
3. JS | August 31st, 2007 at 2:02 am
I’m sure the writer and this web sit owner supports LTTE terrorism activities in Sri Lanka. you guys twist the interview content according to your own benefits. it is pity that no body have taken the time and effort to arrest you guys for miss leading informations and supporting terrorism.
4. Chaminda Darshan ( London) | August 31st, 2007 at 2:29 am
Someone have to short this bloody JHU out, otherwise they will distroy the reputation of the country, they are not good enought to do politics. come on PRABA get rid of these monsters first and then start fight for your revoluation.
Otherwise they will get to burne in every coner of the villages and the towns same as 88/89.
5. Level headed lankan | August 31st, 2007 at 2:52 am
You are right on the money! I’ve seen this documentary and was not surprised to see the comments of the JHU constituents specially the one in robes. But what surprises me is that the government is backing them and the majority of the majority Sri Lankans is oblivious to their actions. May be they should take another look at history (won’t recommend Mahawamsa) and learn from the mistakes made by others who had similar views like Hitler, Stalin etc..
6. ZG | August 31st, 2007 at 4:36 am
This is nothing new about the JHU-what else are they capable of other than clinging on to hisotry. This shows their political bankruptcy and immaturity and thier inability to accept the minority communites who also have equal rights in the country. Some of the members of the minority community in many instances have performed their duties to the country more ardently than the JHU who has only dragged the country in to more crisis. I think the people must teach these fools a lesson as early as possible otherwise they will ruine the country
7. PRIANTA | August 31st, 2007 at 6:30 am
Dushy Ranetunge appears to be a non – Buddhist Sri Lankan who is hell bent on marginalising the Sinhala Buddhists. One becomes a Buddhist by choice, so if he fosters the argument that Buddhists should be suppressed in Europe, it will be European Buddhits who will be marginalised not Sinhalese Buddhists.
Perhaps if he read a little on LTTE propaganda and their claim for Traditional land he will realise that what the monks said was true ie. “Tamils to link up from the North with those in the East, with the Indian Tamils on the estates and then with the Tamils in Colombo and trap the Sinhalese on the island.”
He should get off his arm chair in London and get over to SL to get a first hand picture of the situation rather than repeating the garbage fed to him by the large no. of NGOs which are hell bent on spreading disinformation on behalf of the LTTE.
It is interesting to note that not once has he mentioned the LTTE or their attrocities towards the Tamils, for whom his heart seems to bleed.
8. nathan | August 31st, 2007 at 8:36 am
How the great Satan came into being, is never mentioned by most pundits.
The present day ‘Joerg Haiders’ now wear saffron robes in sri lanka.
They approve the desecration/destruction of hindu temples in the northeast, planting buddha statues in those places , lead mobs assaulting pastors & congregations of, and demolition of, ‘fundamentalist’ churches, and occasionally, atrocities on non-buddhists.
If buddhism is rising in europe, it is well and good – by that I mean the buddhism which was preached by the Goutama Buddha.
One should observe the buddhism and buddhist monks in Burma and Thailand – this is what the Buddha preached.
9. Anonymous | August 31st, 2007 at 6:29 pm
the man who wrote this article does not know anything about buddhism. He is another nazy They want to dominate the world . The Buddhist all over the world not fighting type and the Europeans in the past have msacared Buddhist. mulims burnt the oldest University Thakshila in India and killed 5000 BHuddhist monks. BUDDHISTS IN sRILANKA fear it can happen again in their country
10. Ranjit Emerson | September 1st, 2007 at 1:05 am
With intense thoughts and mind I read the opinions of the readers over this article. What caught my attention was Asitha Gamage’s opinion. The doctrine what Asitha propagates is dangerous and destructive. If all races, from all parts of the world begin to reclaim lands and annihilate other races under the concept of “natural process of reclaiming the ancestral lands”; this world will be in perfect devastation and chaos. What timeline should we follow to apply this theory—BC 2000 or BC 2500 or BC 3000, or in AD etc.? Should the Dravidian claim their land from the time of Indus civilization? To embrace Asitha’s perception is an attitude falls far below modern civilization and devalue of human compassion. Asitha’s expression is indubitably seen in the present political realm of Sri Lanka. Until such attitude is diminished, peace will not prevail in the soil of Sri Lanka, and that is regrettable.
11. ilaya seran senguttuven | September 2nd, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Having listened to the “philosophers” of the JHU Champika Ranawake and Udaya Gammanpilla in more than one public discussion here – where they were considered more as providing some laughing material than hard political knowledge – watching the AlJazeera programme did not surprise me – as it did others.
A comparison to the carefully considered views of former JVPer Jayadeva Uyangoda, no less patriotic than the JHU bunch,
and Visaka Dharmadasa of the Mothers Front in the same interview I am relieved the Sinhala people, of whom I am very dearly fond of and in which community I have hundreds of wonderful friends, who must have impressed overseas viewers of this programme as decent, intelligent and peaceful people in an environment of religious and racial hatred practised by the JHU monks and the abovenamed. It is for no reason AlJazeera called the programme “The Monks of War of Sri Lanka” which itself brought shame to Sri Lankan Buddhism.
The JHU bandwagon now has another “wise” man Naren Gunatilake, Secretary/Int’l Affairs – who was featured in the programme and who out with the mouthful “Sri Lanka is entirely the property of Sinhala Buddhists and we (JHU) decide what is good for the country” Now, forget the Tamils who are after all your “enemies” whom you are trying to destroy in various ways for 30 years now – but, pals, how about Sinhala Catholics, Christians, Muslims and others. Are they out of your map? Ranawake only fooled himself when he showed the Rufus girl conducting the interview a map of Sri Lanka and claimed the Sinhalese are” trapped” from the North East by the LTTE, from the Hill country by the Indians (that’s Thondaman,
whom Ranawake once said is more in night clubs than elsewhere) and beyond by 70 million blood-thirsty Tamils in Tamilnadu. This wise political analyst then claimed all these forces are conspiring to “finish” the Buddhists of Sri Lanka.
One big favour President Mahinda Rajapakse can do is to restrain this Minister of his and his half-wit “wisemen” and monks from further polluting the land with their lethal poison.
If this spreads to the armed forces there can be a wholesale massacre of Tamils eclipsing July 1983 – on baseless fears.
Reading 9 commentators here one notices the malady is spreading pretty fast – Asitha (2) and Prianta (7)
12. rohan | September 3rd, 2007 at 12:11 am
Sri Lanka The Failed State
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/29/asia/lee-excerpts.php
“To begin with we don’t have the ingredients of a nation, the elementary factors, a homogenous population, common language, common culture and common destiny.
We are migrants from southern China, southern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, before it was divided, Ceylon and the archipelago. So, the problem was, can we keep these peoples together?
The basis of a nation just was not there. But the advantage we had was that we became independent late. In 1965, we had 20 years of examples of failed states. So, we knew what to avoid – racial conflict, linguistic strife, religious conflict. We saw Ceylon.
Thereafter, we knew that if we embarked on any of these romantic ideas, to revive a mythical past of greatness and culture, we’d be damned. So, there’s no return to nativism. We have left our moorings. We’re all stranded here to make a better or worse living than in our own original countries.”
“We had Chinese, Malay, Indian schools – separate language medium schools. The British ran a small English school sector to produce clerks, storekeepers, teachers for the British. Had we chosen Chinese, which was our majority language, we would have perished, economically and politically.
Riots – we’ve seen Sri Lanka, when they switched from English to Sinhalese and disenfranchised the Tamils and so strife ever after.
We chose – we didn’t say it was our national language – we said it was our working language, that everybody learns English whatever language medium school you go to. Which means nobody needs interpretation to read English.”
13. Ivar | September 3rd, 2007 at 7:49 am
I refer to the writer Asitha Gamage comments.
As everyone agrees that the Sinhala race traces it’s roots to `the arrival of Price Vijaya to the island’ …to follow your rational…what time frame to we start for this `reclaiming of ancestral lands..because if it is preVijaya era – then you have to surrender the land to the Vedas……
This is a very ilogical and unrealistic view. I am not even mentioning that the Tamils have been in the island…for how long…because that will be another debate.
Let us be realistic. This writer of this article on the JHU inter-view was being balanced and realistic.
There is nothing wrong with the teachings of the Great Buddha…but there is comthing seriously flawed in the Monks (culture) of SriLanka.
14. truth | September 3rd, 2007 at 3:15 pm
The news about JHU is nothing new. Their Nazi ideology is well known. Their existence is due only to the failed political leadership of SL. Take their views and replace the words sinhala and budist with tamil and hindu and you get the ideology of the LTTE-national leader.
Would it not be baby work for LTTE to eliminate these criminals? LTTE-national leader benefits from the existence of Nazis groups like JHU as does the JHU from it. In LTTE thinking, it is proof that all people in the so called south of the island are Nazis hell bent and killing all tamils. This is also what LTTE sells the west.
So if you are a LTTE supporter rejoice, you need JHU!
15. RajasH | September 5th, 2007 at 8:45 am
These JHU guys are good ambasadors for the racist Sri Lanka. They talk absolute rubbish. One of the JHU guys said that Buddhist extremism is like Islamist extremism and is hoing to rise and rise hence the west is west is worried and supporting the Tamils.
Worldwide Buddhist extremism similar to the Islamist extremism!!!!!!!!!
JHU linking upn with AL-Queda?
Leave a Comment
Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed