7/21/2019 Apith “Sinha Le”

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Apith “Sinha le”

Saturday, 9 January 2016

As a student of marketing, I hae !een pretty impressed at "ost#e$e"tie marketing solutions

a$orded !y so"ial media to !urgeoning entrepreneurs, so"ial reformers, politi"al opportunists

and those alike% &or good or for 'orse, online platforms hae had the a!ility to trigger

tremendous rea"h 'ithin short periods of time% So"ial media is dou!tless playing the role of a

"atalyst in reolutionising the information age% (o' "ould a theme as “esoteri"” as “Sinha le”

rea"h ast audien"es a"ross nations and "ontinents sans &a"e!ook, )'itter, and *ou)u!e+

hen you are settled in a distant land, it-s ery rare you get intimate, detailed updates of

happenings in Sri .anka% /n"le ohideen "ame on Skype out of the !lue% .ast I met the

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elderly gentleman, a "ouple of de"ades ago as a teenager, he 'as a "lose friend of the family%

It 'as a ery emotional reunion% e dis"ussed many things as you 'ould imagine% It in"luded

his granddaughter-s 'edding to the a!solute madness in Sri .anka-s a""ident#prone roads%

ithout prior 'arning, /n"le ohideen !rought my attention to a supposed nation'ide !lood

donation gathering momentum in Sri .anka%

 )he septuagenarian 'ent into minute detail% (e said the "ampaign 'as supported !y

etensie propaganda% /n"le ohideen, !y the 'ay, did not speak or read any Sinhala% (e

'as referring to the plethora of three 'heelers and other ehi"les "arrying the no' famous

“Sinha .e” sti"ker% (e told me een Simon Ayya, a three 'heel o'ner in the neigh!ourhood,

'hose seri"es the family sought daily to a""omplish routine errands and "hores, had a

sti"ker prominently displayed on his ehi"le% f late, the a$a!le Simon Ayya mu"h to /n"le

ohideen-s "hagrin had got a tri3e indi$erent%

The work of the ignorant

I had to "larify matters to /n"le ohideen% I told him it 'as not a !looddonation% “)hen 'hat+” he inter4e"ted% I told him it-s "ompli"ated and

"annot !e summed up in a "ouple of senten"es% In short, I told him,

those inoled did not kno' 'hat they 'ere doing% I said it 'as remote

"ontrol politi"king 5 the unorthodo kind had nothing 'hatsoeer to do

'ith any !lood or its donation% /n"le ohideen 'as understanda!ly

perpleed7 “hy 'ould you say that son+” he inter4e"ted for the se"ond

time%

I "lari8ed the matter further% I told him these 'ere ignorant and

desperate strategies of a defeated, dis"redited, depraed, depleted and

despondent group indefatiga!ly employed to gra! politi"al po'er

'heneer an opportunity a$ords% )hey for sure 'ill leae no stone

unturned to ensure rift, diision, "onfusion and pandemonium%

 )he !u$oonery of Sinha le "an only resonate 'ith ra"ists and those 'ith

similar predispositions% )hese are ta"ti"s of those 'ho hae lost eery

"on"eia!le moral modus to realign and reintegrate 'ith the people% ride in un4usti8ed and

a"uous e"eptionalism is do'nright ignoran"e% It only !rings out the 'rath in people a

"ourse of a"tion that-s assured of an epeditious politi"al de"line and o!liion% :o amount of

ins"ri!ed er!iage on their epitaphs 'ill !e a!le to o!literate the s"oundrels they a"tually

'ere%

 )rue nationalism is sin"erely addressing matters that a"tually matter to people issues that

are dire"tly "onne"ted to their 'ell!eing of people and sustaina!ility of their aspirations% )he

male lion is indeed a la;y "reature and it-s the lionesses that do eerything%

I "ould see from a antage point, thousands of miles a'ay, and hae a !etter grasp than

those liing "loser% )his mis"hieous "ampaign, though 'ell organised and funded, is led !y

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desperate people% ost prominently, the yeoman seri"es proided !y a young ,

strategi"ally donning the epedient national attire 5 a darling of the segment he represents

the guy-s 'ardro!e, stri"tly !inary, either !la"k or 'hite% <on-t ask me the appalling leels he

stoops to ehi!it egregious demagoguery%

If eer someone eer needed !lood it 'as these guys, their "ohorts and their etremist

sponsors% )hey surely hae more than one reason to 3ush toi"ity from their systems and

reload 'ith fresh ones% )he =Sinha le- "ampaign, initially laun"hed as a sti"ker "ampaign,

gathered momentum in so"ial media platforms and had !e"ome irtually u!i>uitous% Its "hief

ar"hite"ts, dou!tless trou!lemakers, supportie of etremists- elements like the ?odu ?ala

Sena and their 8nan"iers%

Giving the majority an opportunity

<uring the height of the rau"ous days of ??S militan"y, 'hen di$erent shades of orange

festooned "ity lands"apes and rendered untold hao", 'hen ahinda @a4apaksa 'as at the

helm ponti8"ating hintanaya 'ith aplom!, one issue that gra!!ed my attention and deeplyet"hed my psy"he 'as a !old proposal made !y the most respe"ted Bnanasara )hero% (is

proposal 'as for male Sinhala ?uddhists to hae at least 8e 'ies in the !a"kdrop of

per"eied disproportionate !reeding of minorities%

In all honesty, I "onsider this moe pragathasheeli or immensely progressie% I truly alue the

perspi"a"ity of the distinguished )hero% )his is a !rilliant idea at least the only sensi!le to

date from the )hero to e$e"t something su!stantiely meaningful% )his is de"isie thinking

and doing something truly !ene8"ial to the Sinhala ra"e% .et-s fa"e it, at the "ore of this ery

"a"ophonous "ampaign is an ill#founded fear that Sri .anka 'ould "ease to !e a ma4ority

?uddhist "ountry in the future 5 a per"eied demographi" threat that has to !e addressedsooner rather than later%

As a matter of fa"t, een our ne' and energeti" minister in "harge of egapolis 'as on"e a

mo!ile and 'ell#tuned statisti"ian trotting the glo!e and openly lamenting to the Sri .ankan

<iaspora in elo>uent Sinhala the supposed pitia!le predi"ament% Some een speak of the

 Jihadi terrorist threat i%e% "ourageous duellers galloping on !la"k stallions, !randishing

dia!oli"al 'eapons and "hanting “Allahu Ak!ar” de"apitating and proselytising as they mar"h

through%

@egardless of the merit of these a!surd "laims, it-s my "ontention 'e must support 'hateerproposal the ma4ority ra"e "onsiders useful to s'ell their num!ers% It-s my "ontention the

proposal for polygyny !e "onsidered faoura!ly% I don-t see any reason 'hy anyone 'ould

hae to raise any o!4e"tions%

.et-s gie our ma4ority !rethren an opportunity% If the arliament "an initiate a de!ate and get

this rati8ed, the Sinhala ?uddhist, at least those "lamouring, "ould immediately em!ra"e

plurality and immediately get on 'ith the a"t to s'ell num!ers% Su"h a strategy 'ould no

dou!t proe immensely tangi!le oer "osmeti" and a"uous mo!ile displays of meaningless

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slogans gathering dust on pollution#ridden roofs of three 'heelers imported from India%

Banning all that is debilitating

hist getting on the !and'agon of pro"reation, those lion !lood folks should also not lose

sight of the already high rate of mortality arising from smoking and drinking in Sri .anka% It

pays to remain "onsistent in eerything one does% )hey must 'ork for a total !an on anything

that-s proen to !e de!ilitating in terms of in4ury% Almost si million people die from to!a""o

use and 2%C million from harmful use of al"ohol ea"h year 'orld'ide% )he rate in Sri .anka is

parti"ularly high% As someone said, Sri .anka is no longer the granary of the east !ut a

!re'ery for the 'orld% A""ording to the orld (ealth rganisation D(E to!a""o is epe"ted

to kill F%C million people 'orld'ide !y 2020% Al"ohol#related deaths a""ount for G%H of all

deaths 'orld'ide%

Additionally, those 'ith supposed lion !lood must also urge the Boernment to "onsider

imposing a total !an on allo'ing Sri .ankan females to 'ork as domesti" helpers in the iddle

ast% en don-t get pregnant% )he lion !lood folk 'ill "ertainly hae to presere and prote"ttheir 'omen to a""omplish the task and in the healthiest manner possi!le% )he so"ial impa"t

of 'omen leaing the family is indeed huge% Its true remittan"es from Sri .ankan epatriates

'orking oerseas forms a ma4or part of the "ountry-s e"onomy and no' rea"hing around K 10

!illion !ut "hoi"es 'ill hae to !e made regardless of the "onse>uen"es%

Blo!ally, there is this alarming politi"al shift to the right% Sri .anka has many a "apa!le

politi"ian 'ith distin"t >uali8"ations to !e "ontri!uting agents to this perni"ious shift% <onald

 )rump in the /nited States and arine .e en in &ran"e are t'o notorious protagonists 'ho

are 'orking hard to spread the tenta"les of fear and hate for paro"hial politi"al eploits%

Stephan (arper of anada and ahinda @a4apaksa of Sri .anka had their fair share,notforgetting auline (anson and John (o'ard of Australia the infamous Beert ilders of the

:etherlands another shining heartthro! 'ith etreme potential%

Bermany-s former &oreign inister and Li"e han"ellor Jos"hka &is"her said in one of his

re"ent "ontri!utions7 “.ike any etreme nationalism, the "urrent one relies heaily on identity

politi"s, the realm of fundamentalism, not reasoned de!ate% As a result, its dis"ourse takes an

o!sessie turn M usually sooner rather than later M in the dire"tion of ethno#nationalism,

ra"ism and religious 'ar% )he rise of etreme nationalism and fas"ism in the 19G0s is usually

eplained in terms of the out"ome of I, 'hi"h killed millions of people and 8lled the heads

of millions more 'ith militaristi" notions% )he 'ar also ruined urope-s e"onomy, leading to aglo!al e"onomi" "risis and mass unemployment% <estitution, poerty, and misery primed

pu!li"s for toi" politi"s%”

resent day Spain 'as under the Islami" /mayyad aliphate from F11 until 1N92% )he

rusaders 4oined the holy 'ar to destroy uslims and Islam% )heir "hief o!4e"tie 'as to kill

uslims 'hom ope /r!an II des"ri!ed as “an a""ursed ra"e”% hen the "arnage 'as oer,

there 'asn-t een a single person to make the “Adan” 5 the uslim "all for prayer% )his 'asn-t

the "ase 'hen uslims of utmost honesty and integrity "ame to this resplendent island of Sri

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.anka for trade and married our Sinhala mothers% @emem!er “AI)( SI:(A .”

 )he 'riter is a anadian "iti;en of Sri .ankan des"ent% (e is a freelan"e 4ournalist 'ith a keen

interest in @I 5 oliti"s, @eligion, Islam, arketing and "onomi"s% (e is a graduate of the

hartered Institute of arketing /O and holds an ?A from Linayaka issions &oundation

/niersity, India% (e is a "ommitted lifelong learner%

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