Between the Lines
Concerned Indians in the Gulf
By Kuldip Nayar

Indian politics looks no different from the Gulf countries where days recently. The BJP-led coalition is gasping for breath. The other parties, which were once fiercely opposed to one another, are trying to act jointly to see if Congress, not too strong itself, can provide health to the nation. But the real midwife is AIADMK chief, Jayalalitha, who is unpredictably moody. And everyone is looking towards her, anticipating withdrawal of her support.

Will the BJP coalition last? This is the question which is posed as much here as back home. The Indian community here, one million strong, is largely from Kerala. Muslims are in a majority. They are the ones who keep India’s flag flying and remit to their homes some $50 million a year, roughly Rs. 22,000 crore. The amount can go up if there are proper schemes, more so proper persons, to persuade them to invest in India. If they are convinced, they alone can fill at least half of the gap that the US sanctions have created in the Indian economy. These people have felt unhappy about the BJP-led coalition and want to know if and when the government will fall.

They have a soft corner for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, whom they consider liberal. And they have applauded his assurance that a mandir at the disputed Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid will not be built if the Supreme Court’s verdict goes against Hindu claimants. In fact, the demolition of the Masjid has hurt the sensitivity of not only Muslims but most others, including Hindus, because the destruction of mosque is not what they associate with India.

The recent debate in parliament and the insistence by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on building Ram mandir at the site where the Babri Masjid stood once have "reopened the wounds," as most Indians living in the Gulf say. In fact, this is one issue which can stoke fires of differences and defiance in the region, including the Muslim-run states, if ever a government at Delhi becomes a party to the building of temple despite the court’s judgement going against such a proposal.

Babri Masjid
But it is not the BJP coalition or the Babri Masjid which engage all attention. In fact, with whichever topic you begin, it ends up in a discussion on nuclear tests in the subcontinent. Initial euphoria or criticism has lost its edge. There is a tinge of pride, a bit of chauvinism still lingering but all this is buried beneath a mountain of doubts, whether it was at all necessary to have conducted the tests. Most people would have preferred to leave at the earlier status when India had the bomb but had not invited the fury of the West after the tests.

One felt strongly that the BJP-led coalition has failed to explain to the Indian community about the whys and hows of the tests. But when the party has not worked towards creating consensus within India, it should not be expected to bother about non-resident Indians. This approach fits into the superiority complex from which the BJP suffers.

The Kerala Muslims are aggressively pro-India. I was told that their mood of elation got changed when Pakistan went nuclear. The holocaust in the subcontinent is seen more real than before. And this has scared all. For some reasons, there is fear of misadventure at the hands of some fanatics or fundamentalists.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a conglomerate of sheikh doms has been cautious in its comment. It has advised both India and Pakistan to be ‘careful’ after having displayed their nuclear capability. Noticeably, there is no word of condemnation or admonition, a chorus heard endlessly in the West. In fact, there is a perceptible sense of gratification, both in the UAE and Arab countries over the display by the Third World of its technological prowess.

Anti-US
Since people in these parts hate America, they are happy that Washington’s monopoly has been broken. At the back of their mind, of course, is Israel which, they believe, has a large number of bombs in the basement, with America’s blessing. The resentment against Tel Aviv is transferred to Washington. The applause for India and Pakistan is an applause for standing up to big powers.

None in the area says, nor confirms that the Pakistan bomb is the Muslim bomb. But there is no doubting about the confidence the countries in West Asia have gained after Islamabad’s nuclear tests. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the area has been fruitful. He has been able to get from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran a substantial aid in dollars and a large supply of oil on deferred payments.

Significantly, nuclear tests have had no adverse fallout on relations between Indians and the Pakistan living in the UAE or the areas around. They continue to have the same equation which they have had before the tests. Coming from the same subcontinent as they do, people are primarily interested in earning money, not in importing their age-old rivalry. They even work jointly.

Many outfits have both Indians and Pakistanis as partners. People from both countries working as employees is common. And it is no secret that the goods from India reach Pakistan through Dubai. The proximity in every field may well be the reason why the voice that the two countries should be friends is the loudest in the UAE.

Greenery
A word about the UAE. Its main towns, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, look like the European towns planted in the heart of the desert, with all modern facilities with running water, surplus electricity, unpolluted air and wide roads. (Thank god, they do not have road toll as every highway in Europe and America has). What impressed me the most was the amount of greenery that the area has. It must be costing millions but more and more areas are being retrieved from the desert. Between Dubai and Abu Dhabi some forests are coming up. Newer complexes are being built practically every month. And some of the multinational companies operating in India have positioned their headquarters either in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Not long ago, only wooden sailing dhows set out from the Creek in the area — going to the ports of India even at that time.

There is an array of departmental stores, which sell consumer goods duty free. Every Indian or Pakistani even going to the area for 24 hours, is seen there, with trollies piled up. Gold is particularly cheap and there is a separate street specialising in the business. Dubai is also called the ‘gold city’. Sharjah, which has hewn a most modern cricket stadium from the wilderness, attracts the world class cricketers to play in the Cricketers Benevolent Fund Series (CBFS) one-day internationals at least twice a year. This has, apart from other things, recognised the talent which would have gone into oblivion, unsung, unwept. Retired players from the subcontinent have been beneficiaries.

Of course, Win Chadda of Bofors kickback fame, is in Dubai. He is less of a landmark now than he was about a decade ago when he took shelter in the city from the Indian authorities. I tried to meet him through a friend. But the friend never came back to me. I believe this is the experience of every mediaman.

Ethnic conflict and insurgency in Sri Lanka
Second part of excerpts of 'Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security' by Rohan Gunaratna, which shreds fresh light on the LTTE domestic and international organisation. Stating that the LTTE rate of recruitment is higher than its fatalities, the author argues that the governmentcan win against the LTTE only by adopting unconventional military concepts and restructuring its current political posture towards the Tamils.

The books's foreword is by General Richard Clutterbuck, Britain's foremost authority on counter insurgency. The 428-page illustrated book is available in Colombo.

The first part was published on Wednesday.

The Tamil politicians had consistently campaigned and won seats on the 'partition platform', and continued to convey to the Tamil youth that they would not give up their struggle for a separate state exclusively for the Tamils in the predominately Tamil northern and eastern provinces. This was not contradictory to the desire of the LTTE, which had vowed to create a 'Tamil Eelam'. But, when the TULF urged the Jayewardene administration to devolve political autonomy to the Tamils by way of District Councils, the government acceded in 1981 and the LTTE expressed displeasure. This move on the part of the government came too late, as many Tamils were now ready to settle for no less than full independence. The TULF realized that they were being steadily marginalized, as the Tamils who voted for them wanted them to deliver on their pledge of a separate state. The LTTE, which had no faith in constitutional politics, requested the people to boycott the May 1983 elections in which the TULF participated - less than 10% of the voters went to the polls. These elections marked the end of Tamil participation in the political process of the Sri Lankan state, and henceforth Tamil politicians would play little or no role in the unfolding of the crisis. This marginalization party resulted from the Tamil politicians' own propensity so play upon communal passions in order to garner votes. However, one could argue that they had little choice. Whipped up communal passions - to politicize and mobilize the Tamil public - as a method of remaining in power, had become the order of the day.

The LTTE gradually emerged as the most powerful force in Jaffna. Unlike the other groups, the LTTE cadres were highly motivated and dedicated. Prabhakaran insisted on keeping its numbers small, maintaining a high standard of training, enforcing discipline at all levels, sustaining a communications network, effective command and control, and commitment to the cause. For instance, it was mandatory that every LTTE cadre, male or female, wore a potassium cyanide capsule to be consumed when capture was imminent.

The Watershed
The ethnic riots of July 1983 formed a watershed in the history of Sri Lanka. The riots, a reaction by a section of the Sinhala community against the Tamil community in response to the land-mine blast and an ambush by the LTTE which killed 13 Sinhala soldiers in Jaffna, were the worst of the series of riots since independence. It left hundreds of Tamils dead, thousands injured and tens of thousands of homes and property destroyed.

The government unjustly blamed the JVP for the riots. The proscription of the JVP forced their leaders and cadres to return to underground activity, and the moderate TULF leadership left for Madras in India, thus creating a power vacuum in the Tamil political arena. With no representation in parliament, the Tamil people looked up to the radical militant groups, who were up to that time ideologically nurtured and politically inspired by their Tamil elders - the TULF. Gradually, the militants filled the power vacuum.

As a consequence of the riots, most of the Tamils living in the Sinhala areas permanently left for the northeast or abroad. Hitherto, over 40% of the Tamils had lived in Sinhala or Muslim majority areas, where they had felt secure. This migratory pattern added a geographical dimension to what had hitherto been political, economic, and ethnic divisions. With most Tamils now concentrated in the northeast, and the Sinhala population to the south, the identity of the Sri Lankan state was largely bifurcated. The Tamils had all the prerequisites in place for creating a state identity of their own. As the conflict deepened, the moderates were isolated. Thus, paved the way for the extremists on both sides to ascend to decision-making positions. With no hope of a negotiated settlement, the political climate was gradually becoming favourable for Tamil insurgency. Within three months of the riots, the insurgents had increased their cadre-strength by several fold and enjoyed wider public support. The militant approach made them the de facto leaders of the northeastern Tamil people.

Apart from the failure of the Sri Lankan politicians to construct an effective state identity, Sri Lanka's problems were compounded by a factor present in most such crises in the contemporary world system. In an age wheel national borders are porous, and information, arms, and money crosses boundaries at the hands of overt and covert transnactional networks, the presence of Tamils elsewhere in South Asia, and around the world, acts as a boost for the insurgency in Sri Lanka. Adding to this transnational dimension was the country's geopolitical situation in South Asia, a region which has often seen attempts by India, the dominant power to assert hegemonic influence over its smaller neighbours.

Tamil Nadu Factor
South Asian Tamils are a transnational community. The Sri Lankan Tamils are divided from their ethnic kin by a narrow 22 miles wide Palk Strait separating the northern province of Sri Lanka and the 60 million Tamils living in southern India. The Tamil Nadu state of India became the essential 'outside base' for the insurgency in Sri Lanka, logistically ideal for supplying the militant's arsenal, and providing sanctuary to the Sri Lankan Tamil insurgents.

The insurgents had always taken advantage of the goodwill of the people of Tamil Nadu to seek refuge whenever there was a thrust by the government forces in northern Sri Lanka. The riots fuelled the sentiments of the Indian Tamil people to such a stage that the state government of Tamils Nadu decided to extend humanitarian assistance to nearly 100,000 Sri Lankan refugees.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's administration, having poorly fared in the elections in the South and being dependent on the Tamil Nadu vote, turned a blind eye to the use of Indian territory by the Sri Lankan insurgents. When Sri Lanka's domestic conflict, with its transitional implications, reached crisis proportions with the July riots, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency, established contacts with the insurgent groups operating from bases in Tamil Nadu. RAW was aware that foreign militant groups, including the PLO in Lebanon since 1978 and the PFLP in Syria since 1983, had provided limited training to the Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS), the LTTE, and the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).

India, under Indira Gandhi, sent G. Parthasarathy, an experienced but hawkish emissary, to persuade President Jayewardene, to politically resolve the conflict. The inability of Colombo to evolve a viable solution continued to generate both moral and physical support towards the Sri Lankan Tamil militant and political leaders living in self imposed exile in Tamil Nadu. The plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils became a major political issue in the Tamil Nadu state and both Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran and his opponent M. Karunandihi espoused and aided the cause of the Sri Lankan insurgents. Madras continued to pressurize New Delhi to intervene in Sri Lanka on behalf of the Tamils.

Geopolitics
Sri Lanka's political and security positions were perceived as inimical to Indian security after 1977. Sri Lanka, under J. R. Jayewardene, had embarked on a U.S. and Western-assisted program of economic development. When confronted with terrorism the government turned to the very same powers for military assistance. This was misinterpreted by the strategic hard-liners in New Delhi as a drift on Sri Lanka's part away from the non-aligned orbit. India, which at that time enjoyed a military relationship with the Soviet Union, was concerned over the presence of Western intelligence and security personnel in Sri Lanka. India also expressed concern over the negotiations to lease the oil tank farm complex and the access of foreign navel vessels to the deep water port of Trincomalee. The proposed expansion of the Voice of America (VOA) station by the US was also a major irritant in the Indo-Lanka relations. The purchase of European and Chinese military hardware and the presence of ex-SAS elite troops, Israeli security and intelligence personnel, South African mercenaries and Pakistani commandos to combat Tamil militancy were perceived as a heavy anti-Indian build up at her vulnerable southern flank.

The Indian decision to intervene in the Tamil crisis was prompted not only by geopolitical considerations but also by personality reasons. As family friends and women leaders, Indian Gandhi and Ms. Bandaranaike were close to each other - Moraji Desai, who defeated Ms. Gandhi in 1977, and Jayewardene, who had no affection for Ms. Gandhi or Ms. Bandaranaike, were their political opponents. In the eyes of the India bureaucracy, the Cold War, which was still quite cold, justified the top secret order of Indira Gandhi and later Rajiv Gandhi that RAW provide covert assistance to Sri Lankan Tamil insurgents.

From late 1983 to mid 1987, the leading Tamil militant groups, with headquarters in Tamil Nadu, were trained, armed, financed and directed by RAW, TELO, PLOTE, LTTE, EPRLF, EROS, TELA and later ENDLF cadres trained both in Tamil Nadu, and within covert military establishments in Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and this training helped them to effectively checkmate the Sri Lankan security forces.

Implications of Externalization
The binding factor of ethnicity was exploited by the insurgents and by the transnational Tamil network to the maximum, whereby the actions of the security forces were interpreted as a genocide of the Tamil people. Steadily, the insurgents established international contacts with foreign extremist groups and political parties, who morally and materially supported their struggle. While the Tamil militants raided security establishments, massacred innocent civilians and exploded bombs in Sri Lanka, internationally they fought a propaganda war accusing the government of discrimination and genocide, and campaigned against tourist arrivals and foreign aid to Sri Lanka.

With no public support, the writ of the government in the northeastern region of Sri Lanka collapsed, with no capacity to withstand and survive the prolonged assault. Ultimately, the security forces, dependent on supplies from the air and the sea, abandoned large areas hitherto dominated by them and retreated to camps; their movements were restricted and later curtailed with the insurgents seeding land and anti-personnel mines around these camps. Steadily the flow of arms, ammunition and explosives from India increased and the insurgents, who hitherto fought unconventionally, also began to operate semi-conventionally, and in time exerted their dominance over the Tamil areas. Despite Indira Gandhi being a victim of Sikh terrorism in October 1984, the price of power and political expediency led her son and successor Rajiv Gandhi to also sanction RAW's covert intervention in Sri Lanka.

Systematically, claiming that they were the sole representatives of the Tamil people, the LTTE began to eliminate the rival Tamil insurgent groups and brought the administrative structure of the Jaffna peninsula under its dominance. All efforts towards a negotiated settlement by the government in Colombo with Indian mediation were used by the insurgents to strengthen their arsenal, regroup and reorganize. Negotiations in New Delhi, Thimpu and Bangalore from late 1983 to 1986 gave the insurgents legitimacy, and the ability to project themselves as liberation fighters and not as criminal elements.

Turning Point
In 1986, Indian security experts assessed that the reality of Tamil Eelam, a separate country for the Tamil populace, was becoming a high possibility in Sri Lanka, and warned that the future Tamil Eelam may be used as a launching pad to 'liberate' Tamil Nadu from India. In fact, the sixteenth amendment to the Indian constitution introduced by Premier Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963 mandating an oath to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India was a direct response to a vociferous campaign in the politically volatile Tamil Nadu demanding a separate Tamil state.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India, burdened with fighting terrorism in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Assam, realized the implications of India continuing to subvert Sri Lanka. India's state structure was also under threat from externally assisted terrorism. The presence of gun-toting Sri Lanka militants operating out of Tamil Nadu was causing a serious law and order problem. To prevent the complication on India's own political and security fabric, which was showing signs of great strain, Gandhi forced both the Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil political and militant groups to resolve the ethnic conflict by dialogue. After signing an Accord with Jayewardene on July 29, 1987, primarily to preserve Indian security and regional interests, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was inducted to northeastern Sri Lanka to maintain law and order.

After three months of uneasy peace, the LTTE, the most formidable of the Tamil groups, declared war against the IPKF and the Government of Sri Lanka. The LTTE, which was also at war against TELO, PLOTE, EPRLF, ENDLF and EROS, spared only the pro-LTTE Balakumar faction of EROS. The LTTE embarked on a campaign to annihilate these rival groups, many for which were being propped up by India in order to undercut the LTTE.

The LTTE resented direct intervention by India, particularly the presence of Indian troops on Tamil soil. The LTTE also detested Indo-Sri Lankan military co-operation, and the breaking point was the mass suicide of a group of LTTE cadres, including two district commanders, in captivity of the Sri Lankan military. In a campaign reminiscent of the U.S. debacle in Vietnam, the LTTE then waged a two-year protracted war against nearly 100,000 Indian troops with no victor emerging; until Premier R. Premadasa succeeded Jayewardene as President. While the other Tamil insurgent groups opted for democratic politics and joined the mainstream, the LTTE continued to battle the world's fourth largest army.

Southern Subversion
The Indian intervention also had another unanticipated consequence, thus displaying the foolhardiness of meddling in a situation with chaotic and rapidly fluctuating parameters. With the Indian troops occupying the northeast section of the island, the Sri Lankan troops moved to the south of the island. The average Sri Lankan was suspicious of Indian designs. This burden of history stems from Sri Lanka's 2,500-year history, which records that the island was invaded 17 times from the subcontinent. To many, it was a manifestation of history reasserting itself.

The JVP responsible for an abortive insurrection in 1971, had forecasted Indian expansionism in its indoctrination lectures. The JVP now whipped up the wounded patriotism, and awakened the nationalistic sentiment of the Sinhala youth. They denounced the IPKF as an army of occupation, and accused the government of compromising the sovereignty of the nation. Their subsequent insurrection, entailing widespread terror tactics painstakingly orchestrated fear psychosis operation brought the country to near anarchy. While the JVP fought the state politically and militarily within and outside the laws of the land, the security forces were constrained from operating outside the political framework, and as anticipated, this proved only partially effective. After a two-year period which saw democracy in state of suspension, the situation was brought under control, but at great human and material cost.

Of the JVP's 13-member politburo, only Somawansa Amarasinghe survived - he escaped to Paris from where he is reorganizing the movement today.

Indian Troops it Sri Lanka
 From a strategic and military viewpoint, the confrontation between the Indian troops and the LTTE provides some object lessons in methods that might be employed elsewhere by ethnically-inspired insurgent movements, of which there are many in the world today. With the exception of the Viet Cong stalemating the United States in Vietnam and the Islamic Mujahideen, the Soviets in Afghanistan, no other insurgent group has so successfully challenged a major military machine. Thus, the LTTE demonstrated quite clearly that a military force alone is not enough to curb nationalist aspirations which might have acquired an urgency of its own.

To begin with, RAW assessments of the LTTE capability, both as an urban and a rural guerrilla force, were seriously incorrect,some would assert as a consequence of the previous affinity between the two organizations. As a result, the Indian army were not prepared for the task at hand. But, within the first six months, the Indian troops isolated the LTTE, confining a bulk of its cadres to the northern and eastern jungles, and thereafter Indian special forces conducted raids deep into LTTE territory. Operating out of their jungle bases, LTTE's fighting machine - using deceptive strategies and unanticipated terror methods - inflicted nearly 5,000 casualties on the Indian army. Despite a joint naval blockade, aerial surveillance and coastal observation posts, the LTTE traffic between south India and northern Sri Lanka continued. LTTE boats transported injured cadres to Tamil Nadu for treatment and returned with military supplies. Improvised explosive devices from innovative-anti-personnel mines to closely guard Black Tiger suicide land and sea operations dented the morale of a proud army.

Continued tomorrow

Tissa, the friend of gods
By Deshapriya Dissanayake

King Devanampiyatissa who was the second son of King Mutasiva that died in B.C.307 after a reign of 60 years at a stretch was known as Tissa — ‘The friend of Gods’.

King Mutasiva had 10 sons and two daughters and they were named respectively as Abhaya, (the eldest of all), Devanampiyatissa, Mahanaga, Uttiya, Mattabhaya, Mitta, Mahasiva, Sura Tissa, Asela, and Kira. The two daughters were Anula and Sivali.

According to the royal traditions the eldest of the sons of the royal father will be inherited the throne after his father’s abdication. But the history of Sri Lanka gives no information whatever about the eldest son ‘Abhaya’. If he was not dead at the time, may have been blind, disabled or else idiot or some deficiency of any kind.

Devanampiyatissa the foremost among all his brothers in virtue and intelligence, within a few weeks of his assumption of the reign of the Lankan kingdom normally consecrated as the king of Lanka.

It is said that, this king and the emperor Asoka of India were unseen friends. They became friends of sending messages and various gifts to each other.

Soon after the accession in the first year of his reign, king Devanampiyatissa decided to send an embassy to his unseen friend — the emperor Asoka of Magadha in India.

Duly the embassy reached India, with rich and rare presents some of which are said to be priceless. The leadership of the royal embassy that set sailed to India was held by the King’s nephew Maharitta — the prime minister of Lanka. The three other envoys that accompanied by the prime minister were ‘Thalipabbata’ — the king’s chaplain or the ‘Purohitha’; ‘Thela’ — a minister of the king and ‘Tissa’ — the royal treasurer.

It was a seven day’s voyage from ‘Jambukola’ — which is known in Dambakola at present — a landing place in the north of the island.

They landed at ‘Tamalitti’ (now Tamluk) and thence they travelled to ‘Pataliputtha’ (Patna at present) the then capital of the kingdom Magadha and it took another seven days for the journey.

When the precious rewards were handed to the emperor Asoka he was greatly delighted. And as a token of his appreciation the emperor Asoka honoured all four envoys by offering them high ranks of his army.

Then he summoned his ministers and conferred with them as to what should be sent as his return — gifts, and it is said that the following were decided.

‘The five insigma of Royality — (a fan _ diadam or the crown) — a sword, a parasol — and a pair of sandles.

And.... ‘sweet scented mats, a turban, ear-ornaments, chains, a pitcher, yellow sandlewood, a set of garments, (that had no need of cleaning), costly napkins, red-coloured earth, water from the lake Anotatta, water from the ganges, a spiral shell or conch with whorls to the right which is called ‘the Valampuri’, a Kshatriya maiden in the flower of her virginity, utensils as golden platters, precious ambrosila healing herbs, and sixty times — hundred waggon loads of mountain-rice brought by parrots.

According to the Indian royal traditions all these gifts items were included for a consecration of a great king.

And it revealed one of empire Asoka’s objectives in getting together those particular presents were to enable, Devanampiyatissa to be consecrated for the second time also.

Five months after the arrival of royal visitors from Lanka, King Asoka bade his envoys go to Lanka, and consecrate his friend once again as the king.

And through the emissaries of India king Asoka had handed a letter to the Sinhalese ruler stating that he himself has become a lay-disciple of the Buddha and in return that he hoped that his friend Devanampiyatissa himself would soon become a convert to Buddhism.

In 306 B.C., exactly five months after the first consecration of Devanampiyatissa, his second coronation took place in association with the royal envoys of the emperor Asoka of India.

And, after the royal visitors left for India, King Asoka pondering over, an even more reliable and precious gift to be sent back to Lanka to enable his friend Devanampiyatissa to become a convert Buddhist he had decided on the Buddha Dhamma a teaching of the Buddha as the noble present. And he also decided to send his own son Arhat Mahinda for the purpose.

On a Poson full moon day, Arhat Mahinda with a following of four monks, named Ittiya, Uttiya, Sambala, Baddhasala, and the Samanera or the novice called Sumana (son of Arhat Mahinda’s sister Sangamitta) and another lay — upasake called Bhanduka came to Lanka by air, at Missaka mountain.

History says that it was a day of festivity at that time too.

It was at the time when Arhat Mahinda and his followers had arrived here King Devanampiyatissa had gone out to Mihintale forest for a deer-hunt — his favourite sport.

While the king was chasing a deer the Ven. addressed him saying ‘Tissa — Tissa’. The King was astonished and so petrified, as there was no one who could address him by calling his name. When the king was looking in astonishment the ven. said:

‘O! King we are recluses of the Buddha, we came here from Jambudeepa through sympathy towards you’

At once the last message of emperor Asoka struck in his mind. He laid his bow and arrow aside and exchanged warm greetings each other. He worshipped them and welcomed them.

King Devanampiyatissa was much puzzled with the yellow robes of the disciples of the Buddha and in return he inquired whether there were other ascetics in Jambudeepa like those he then saw before him.

‘Jambudeepa is gleaning with yellow robes’ replied Arhat Mahinda. The King was much delighted.

Before preached the Dhamma, in examining the king’s intelligence the Ven. asked him a few questions.

Pointing a tree closeby, the Ven. asked:

O! King what tree is this?
It’s a mango tree O! My lord; the king replied.
Are there yet another mango tree other than this mango tree?
Yes, my lord, there are many more mango trees.
And, are there non-mango trees?
Yes, my lord, most are non-mango trees.
Are there any other than those mango trees and non-mango trees?
Yes, my lord, that is this mango tree, the king replied.
Have you got kinsfolk, O! King?
Yes, my lord, I’ve got many kinsfolks.
Are there any, who are not kinsfolks to you?
Yes, my lord, most are not the kinsfolks of mine, but they are the brethren of this country.
Are there any, other than those your kinsfolks and non-kinsfolks?
Yes, my lord that is I myself, the king replied.

Having realized the king’s intelligence. Arhat Mahinda preached him the sermon known as ‘Chulla-Hatthi-Padopama Suthraya’. The king embraced Buddhism.

And it was after that the Poson day is a great significance to Sri Lankan Buddhists.

The Dhamma has been established in the country since 306 B.C., But it doesn’t emanate its light in the course of time, because the people are still in the darkness, called the delusion — the wrong path of the livelihood.

Let us determine to follow Dhamma — the correct way of living on this Poson full moon day so that the world may become a place for living in peace and harmony.

The New Mass: for better participation or confusion?
by Bro. Titus Withanage

The devil has always attacked the Church because she is the means by which souls attain internal happiness in heaven. "The devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" (I pet. 5,8). As a ruhless master tactician, it matters little to him how he achieves his objective, so long as he does so. The Church, in her long history, has seen all kinds of persecution, from the actual lions of the Roman days to the attack on dogma in our own time by these so called theologians, cannonists and experts. But in every attack, in every heresy, no matter what other truths he might attack, there has always been one constant: the devil hates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

The Modernist Heresy
Over the centuries we could see that these attacks have become more violent, and that these heresies have indeed taken a great toll. Now, the devil has produced what he might call his masterpiece, which the great Pope Pius XII described in one word: Modernism. He wrote; "In theology some want to reduce to a minimum the meaning of dogmas; and to free dogma itself from terminology long established by the Church and from the philosophical concepts held by the Catholic teachers... Moreover, they assert that when Catholic doctrine has been reduced to this condition, a way will be found to satisfy modern needs that will permit dogma being expressed also by the concepts of modern philosophy, whether of immanentism or idealism or existentialism or any other system." ('Humani Generis' - On Evolution and other modern errors)

Pope St. Pius X defined Modernism as "the synthesis of all heresies." Modernism, is all heresies rolled into one, a concerted attack on everything the Catholic church has ever taught, an attack on every truth, every dogma, and of course on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The attack on the Mass goes way back beyond the Second Vatican Council. The tactic used by Martin Luther was to translate the Mass into the vernacular. After that, the rest was easy. So it was with the new Mass of 1969. The Pope promulgated the new Mass, the Bishops, the heretical theologians and the cannonists did the rest, and the Mass of all Times disappeared as rapidly as the altars were scrapped, and replaced by tables.

Nothing has caused more anguish in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council than the changes in the rite and language of Mass. Not only have the changes given rise to perplexity and alarm on doctrinal grounds, but many Catholics have been puzzled by the legal status of the traditional and new rites of Mass.

The rite of Mass promulgated by Pope Saint Pius V in 1570 was then not a new order of Mass (Novus Ordo Missae) but simply the codification of the existing and immemorial Roman Mass, which was extended throughout the entire Roman Rite, with certain exceptions specified in the Bull 'Quo Primum': "... to apply moreover even if the said churches have been in any way exempted, whether by indult of the Apostolic See, by custom, by privilege, or even by oath or Apostolic confirmation, or have their rights and faculties guaranteed to them in any other way whatsoever, saying only those in which the practice of saying Mass differently was granted over two hundred years ago simultaneously with the Apostolic See's institution and confirmation of the Church, and those in which there has prevailed a similar custom followed continuously for a period of not less than two hundred years: in which cases We in no wise rescind their prerogatives or customs aforesaid". (Bull 'Quo Primum Tempore', 14 July 1570)

As the rite of the Mass, codified by Pope St. Pius V, was, what is known in Canon Law as an 'immemorial custom', it was already protected or 'regulated by customary law' before the promulgation of 'Quo Primum'. Respect for long-standing customs and traditions has always been a primary characteristic of Catholicism, so much so that such customs frequently achieve the status of a law. The true Catholic attitude is expressed perfectly in a dictum cited by St. Thomas Aquinas: "It is absurd and detestable shame, that we should suffer those traditions to be changed which we have received from the Fathers of old". (Summa Theologica, II,I,Q. 97 art.2)

Why a New Mass?
Why then did the top hieracrchy of the Church want to promulgate and foster a new Mass? The intention is still blurred. But for Rev. Fr. Alfred Lobo it is "to bring about Unity, truth and dignity to the celebration. The first to prevent abuses and to curb dangers of a doctrinal nature and the second to bring to the fore the pastoral aspect of the celebration and thus to ensure a better participation of the faithful."

But, these are the words of His holiness Pope John Paul II on February 6, 1981: (quote) "Christians today, in large part, feel lost, perplexed, confused, and even deceived. We see spread abroad ideas contrary to the truth which God has revealed and which the Church has always taught. Real heresies have appeared in dogma and moral theology, stirring doubt, confusion, rebellion. Even the liturgy has been harmed, Christians have been plunged into an intellectual and moral illuminism, a sociological Christianity, without clear dogma or objective morality."

For us, poor sinners, we have nothing to say, because His Holiness himself has confessed the tragic and pathetic condition of the Church. The post conciliar reforms which were based on 'the pastoral aspect' and 'the better participation of the faithful' paved the way for all these heretical and modernist ideas to creep in and to demolish the True Catholic Faith! Since The holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest and the greatest act of the Catholic faith, the devil puts all its efforts to destroy the main element of the Holy Mass, namely, the element of the sacrificial act, the true, real and substantial Eucharistic presence of Our Lord Jesus-Christ, the supreme Priesthood of Christ and of His ministers who received power from Christ Himself to offer sacramentally the Holy Sacrifice of the Cross on behalf of us sinners.

The true Catholic Mass which once united the entire Catholic world with all due reverence and dignity, and without any barriers of race, caste, colour, culture, or language, has now been replaced by a 'memorial meal Therefore, there is nothing in the New Mass to speak about 'unity, truth and dinity of the celebration'. All those aspects are there in 'the Mass of all time' but not any more in the Novous Ordo Missae, (New Order of Mass); of course some people prefer to call this "the new Order Mess"!!

The New Mass and its fruits
Then they also say that the purpose of the Mass of Pope Paul VI is that "of the pastoral aspect of the celebration and thus to ensure a better participation of the faithful." Since the Latin Tridentine mass was said to be an obstacle to understanding and participation. Then the first and the most obvious fruit of the reformation should have been a dramatic increase in Mass attendance. In no country has any evidence been produced of such an increase. On the contrary, in most of the Western countries three has been a decline, which can be described justly as catastrophic: Declines of over 60% in France and Holland, 50 per cent in Italy, 30 per cent in the United States, 30 per cent in Great Britain. According to the 'experts' who laboured and did a great contribution for the birth of this 'deformed baby' namely the New Mass, it has been a great pastoral success because millions of people who went to Mass in the bad old days when the liturgy was supposed to have alienated them from the church, have ceased to attend now. What a marvellous success have you achieved?

The true Catholic Mass which existed in the entire Catholic world until the post-concilliar reformation was the culmination of a gradual and natural development under the influence of the holy ghost which lasted for fifteen hundred and seventy years. By the year of Our Lord 1570, it had reached as near perfection as anything upon this earth can ever be. That was why Fr. Faber described it simply as "the most beautiful thing this side of heaven".

Without considering or ignoring the facts for what reason the Holy mass is offered, why did Christ institute special ministers who only can offer the mass on behalf of the other faithful? What is the Faith expressed in the Mass? Transubstantiation, the true and real Eucharistic presence, etc... Rome introduced a new missal as "a text of ample pastoral matter". Without destroying the true nature of the Mass there were many other areas where the pastoral needs could be promoted and developed. Neverthless these revelationist and modernist theologians wanted not to develop but demolish. The new missal was introduced in Rome as "a text of ample pastoral matter" .In October 1967, the Episcopal Synod assembled in Rome, was requested to pass judgement on the 'experimental' celebration of a so-called 'normative-Mass'. We do experiments to test something whether it is true or false; but in the mass, what do we test? True Catholic Faith? Dogmatic teaching of the Church? The Faith of our fore-fathers? The Redemptive act of Our Lord or the Divinity of Our Lord? Whatever may be the hypothesis for your test, be careful: you test your Redeemer and the God of heaven and earth.

An apology
To conclude, I would like to quote from the letter 'Dominicae Coenae' dated February 24, 1980. In this letter adressed to the Bishops of the world, Pope John Paul II offered an apology in his own name and to the faithful. Such an apology to the faithful by the Supreme Pontiff must be unprecedented in the entire history of the Church. It says: "I Would like to ask forgiveness in my own name and in the name of all of you, venerable and dear brothers in the episcopate for everything which, for whatever reason, through whatever human weakness, impatience or negligence, and also through the at times partial, one-sided and erroneous applications of the directives of the Second Vatican Council, may have caused scandal and disturbance concerning the interpretation of the doctrine and the veneration due to this great sacrament. And I pray the Lord Jesus that in the future we may avoid in our manner of dealing with this Sacred Mystery anything which could weaken or disorient in any way the sense of reverence and love that exists in our faithful people."

Thus, it is evident that, even though these blind, deaf and dumb 'expert theologians', and agents of the devil, do not accept it, the Second Vatican Council has caused catastrophe and confusion in the Catholic Church and especially in the Liturgy and in the Holy Sacrifice of the mass.

Health

Cures from herbs
by AryadasaRatnasinghe

The use of plants as herbal medicine is as old as civilization because, while delivering the goods, it has stood the test of time for more than 3000 years. The ancient man, by trial and error, sans any research study or technical skill, knew which plants were effective as medicine and which were not, depending on their natural potential in curing the sick. This ancient system of Indian medicine, known as 'Ayurveda' (the science of longevity), is ascribed to the great legendary sage, the Maha Rishi Danwantari, similar to Hippocrates hailed as the father of western medicine.

This system of Hindu medicine has been derived from the Vedas (the sacred books of the Hindus). The art or science of prevention and cure of diseases, during the Vedic period (c.1500 - 500 BC), was woven into the fabric of religion and magic. It is best explained in the Sanskrit works of the Rg Veda and the Atharva Veda. The elements of rational medicine are said to be found in the two treatises. The Rg Veda presents to us a medical practice in which the priest cum physician, using religious ritual, invoked appropriate healing deities in order to effect cures of maladies caused naturally, and he was noted for his use of herbs as medicaments. The Atharva Veda, a book of charms and spells, gives a slightly different picture. It was the magician cum physician who cured the sick with magical charms and formulae. Diseases were also thought to be caused by demons responsible for causing fever. These two texts have lived side by side, giving a first glimpse of the medical practices that were in vogue in India at the time.

This traditional system of Indian medicine is practised in Sri Lanka too by the 'vedaralas' (native physicians), some of whom are well known for their expertise in the art of curing the sick, mostly using herbal medicine, which system they have brought down the generations as a family tradition. As an incentive to promote research work in ayurvedic medicine, the Bandaranaike Memorial Ayurvedic Research Institute was established at Nawinna, as the chosen approach to save mankind from the horrors of disease and decay. Ayurvedic hospitals were also opened in Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Beliatta, Moratuwa, Diyatalawa, Pallekele, Neboda and in other rural areas, to cater to the needy.

'Ayurveda' owes its theoretical and therapeutic foundations to the two valuable medical treatises, namely, the Caraka Samhita (1st century AD) and the Susrutha Samhitha (4th century AD), which form the basis of the classical system of ayurvedic medicine. The domain of 'ayurveda' is eightfold, viz: 'salya' (surgery), 'salakya' (inoculation) 'kay-chikitsa' (physiology), 'kaumara-bhrutya' (paediatrics), 'bhuta-vidya' (demonology), 'agada-tantra' (toxicology), 'rasayana-tantra' (chemotherapeutics), and 'vajikarana-tantra' (sexual rejuvenesce).

'Bhagna-chikitsa' (orthopaedia), mostly dealing with fractures and dislocations, generally caused by accidents, still holds good with the native physician, who is supposed to possess special knowledge and skill in treating patients preferring such treatment with confidence. It is also the science of correcting deformities, nerve grafting, reconstruction of joints etc. forming part and parcel of medicine and surgery.

Next comes the 'sarpa-vederala' (snake-bite physician), in whom most people still have much confidence. Some deal with prognostications by studying the messenger who comes to summon the physician, his behaviour and costume indicating the species of snake that had bitten the victim, and whether he will recover. Sometimes the physician ascertains whether the case is fatal or curable from the appearance of the messenger who comes to tell the tale. Medicine, charms and prescriptions for neutralizing the effects of venom or bite are within the scope of the native physician.

The five kinds of venomous snakes found in Sri Lanka are: the mapila (cat-snake), the karavala (krait), the naya (cobra), the kunakatuwa (humped viper) and tit-polonga (Russel's viper). These reptilia are highly venomous except the kunakatuwa, the bite of which is rarely fatal. Poultices, fomentations, medicaments, errhines etc., conform to the prescriptions of the physician.

Theoretically, human sicknesses and health are determined by the improper balance of the three bodily humours, namely, 'vata' (wind), 'pitta' (bile which is the thick bitter fluid secreted by the liver) and 'slesma' (phlegm which is the slimy fluid secreted by the mucous membrane). The ayurvedic physicians elaborate systems, causes, therapy and the outlook for each of the humours, according to their diagnosis of each sickness and how it could be cured.

According to Dr. Lorna Cartwright 'pharmacology of herbs has developed, as the scientific study of plants used in medicine, throughout the world. It was the central core of pharmacy in the 19th century, and interest on the subject moved from the botanical aspects to the chemistry of the plants. As a development of this interest in chemical constituents, the 20th century saw the manufacture of an increasing number of synthetic chemicals for therapeutic use.'

There are very effective domestic preparations, known to most of our housewives, to cure common ailments, such as influenza, feverishness, colic, indigestion, constipation, aches and pains, bowel disorders, rheumatism etc. The common herbs used are: 'inguru' (Zingiber officinale), 'kottamalli' (Corriandrum sativum), 'polpala' (Aeruva lanata), 'asamodagam' (Pimpinella heyneana), 'ranawara' (Cassia auriculata), 'venivelgeta' (Coscinumfenestratus), 'welpenela' (Cardiospermum helicarabrum), 'iramusu' (Hemidesmus indicus), 'katuwelbatu' (Solanum jaquini), and there are many others used as home remedies.

Dr. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, writing on 'Herbal Medicine for Human Health' (published by the World Health Organisation), says 'Millions of people in the third world will always use herbal medicine because they believe in them. They also regard them as their system of medicine in which they have faith. They also deal with practitioners whom they have always known and with whom they are comfortably confident.

'One must also keep in mind that many people in Europe, the UK and the US are turning to alternative medicine, to some extent, because of the side-effects induced by powerful, synthetic and allopathic drugs. Herbal medicine is one of the alternatives people are turning to, not just because they are cheap but effective. It will be with us for a long time as it delivers the goods. Among the medicines obtained from herbs are ephidrine, morphine, quinine, emetine, reserpine, digitalis, ergot and vincristine'.

Sir Mark Oliphant, the Australian physicist, Director of the Research School of Physical Sciences in Canberra, and later the President of the Australian Academy of Science, expressing his learned opinion on the effectiveness of herbal medicine, says 'It seems probably that before the advent of western medicine, the role of the physician was virtually the same all over the world. The healing art was twofold, often used together, as medicine and surgery. Extracts of leaves, barks, roots, flowers and stems of local vegetation, mostly growing wild, are used, taking into consideration of their healing properties.'

Traditional medicine defers from folk medicine conforming to the knowledge of treating the sick through experience. Our native nosology embraces 98 diseases, and 99 ailments, of varying potency, the method of treatment being more practical than empirical, because it is directed to obviate the causes than to palliate the symptoms. The first medical treatise, written with a rationalistic attitude towards native medicine, is the 'Sararthasangrahaya' authored by king Buddhadasa (338-367), who actively engaged himself in treating the sick, including animals.

The other books that have proved invaluable in the study and practice of native medicine are: Yogaratnakara, Bhesajjamanjusa, Aristamalawa, Balagrahasantiya, Bhaisajjadarpanaya, Varayogasangrahaya, Nadikramaya, Vatitaprakaranaya, Gajayogasatakaya etc. which deal with the art of curing the sick. Generally, the native physicians treat their patients with experience, which knowledge they had gathered from their parents or relatives by doing under-studies as pupils.

Archaeological evidence has confirmed that trepanation was practised in ancient India. Until recently, early evidence of this surgical technique, which involves the boring or cutting into the skull by means of a sharp instrument, had been confined to the neolithic cultures of Europe. Thus the evidence of trepanation is quite significant. We learn that a physician performed a trepanation upon a merchant from Rajagaha (modern Rajgir in Bihar), to save the patient from a mental disorder.

The story of the physician Jivaka, found in the 8th chapter of the Mahavagga, gives us a glimpse as to how the medical science developed in ancient India. Jivaka received his medical training at Taxila, under the direction of the physician Atreya, who is known in Indian medical lore as Agnivesa, the primary author of the Caraka Samhita. The medical evidence found in Buddhist texts reveals the development of 'ayurveda' and the final crystallisation of the systems involving medicine and surgery by the 4th century AD.

One of the most striking and importnat characteristics of medicine in Sri Lanka, today, is the simple effort to integrate native medicine with allopathic medicine. We observe that certain native physicians use the stethoscope (an instrument for ausculation) to discover the condition of the lungs and heart by hearing, whereas in the old days they ascertained the condition of the patient by checking the 'nadi' or the pulse rate. Some even go to the extent of prescribing western drugs though they are not professionally qualified. The intake of two tablets of paracetamol with boiled coriander water is a common practice to alleviate flu.

Most people prefer western medicine because its administration is easy though costly. There are syrups for children with a palatable taste. But, in the case of decoctions, they are very often bitter. The process of preparation is to boil down eight cups of water to one cup, with the ingredients, under slow fire, and to be consumed in the morning and in the evening. But, the decoctions have their usefulness because they do not have side-effects unlike western drugs, which may, sometimes, become allergic.

Dr. Janice Reid, a medical anthropologist at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Sydney, says 'Western medicine is experiencing a crisis of confidence and of image. Within its own ranks some practitioners are voicing serious doubts about allopathic medicines ability to provide the answers to man's physical and mental suffering mostly due to side-effects caused by various drugs in certain persons'.

Religion

Is Zen different to Buddhism?
by Kingsley Heendeniya

This article is based on the essay 'Zen & The Taming of the Bull' by the late Ven. Dr. Walpola Rahula from his book by that name published 20 years ago. He had asked me to read it but I could not get a copy of it from the British Council library because of its great demand from readers I found it just before I left on my favourite holiday to Hambantota. I am condensing and adapting his scholastic writing for the benefit of persons who may not have the opportunity to borrow the book or buy it.

Zen came to Japan from China from a form of meditation known as Cha'an, introduced to China in the 6th century BC by Bodhidharma. The latter word is derived from the Sanskrit Dhyana and Pali Jhana meaning meditation. It is no surprise to find basic similarity in doctrine and aim in the teaching and practice of Zen and the Buddhist teaching of Satipatthana-sutta or the Way of Mindfulness which the late Nyanaponika Maha Thera has called the 'heart of Buddhist meditation'. Several important axioms in Zen accord with the original Theravada Buddhism.

A fundamental teaching of Theravada is that Nirvana cannot be attained by the study of the teaching without practising it. The Dhammapada says that a person who knows a great deal of the dhamma but does not use that knowledge to practice is like a person who counts the cows of another person. It is further said in the dhamma that it would be better if he slept rather than waste time studying! Zen is practice. The koans are teasing. The aim is to attain sartori (enlightenment or awakening) which is outside the teaching.

Sartori is intensely and necessarily personal and can come upon the person, after hard training, discipline and striving, in this life or past, suddenly, as arahatship. The Buddha compared his teaching to a raft for crossing to the other side after which it must be abandoned. Non-attachment to everything is the constant aim of Zen. There are several records of persons attaining Sartori as when the person saw a peach flower in bloom; heard the sound of a stone hitting a bamboo tree; heard the beating of the drum calling meal-time. In the Pali commentaries too, there are stories of disciples attaining stages of transcendence including arahatship.

An acrobat while standing and balancing on top of a pole suddenly heard the voice of the Buddha calling 'Let go in front; let go behind; let go in the middle, gone beyond existence, with a mind freed everywhere, thou comest not again to birth and decay'. One beautiful morning, a bikkhu living in the forest saw the glory of its silent majesty and he attained the state of arahatship. Another who could not get rid of lust was about to commit suicide when he attained the same state just before he thought of jumping from the top of the mountain where he lived. A younger brother of King Asoka experienced this flash of insight while he was in the barber's chair and saw his own face in the mirror. Bikkhunis too have had this sudden insight and attained the goal of final release from sansara or cycle of birth and death.

A principle both in Zen and Satipatthana is to live in the present moment and not think about the past and future. A Zen master has said that he eats when he is hungry and sleeps when tired, meaning that he eats his food and goes to bed without ruminating. That is living intensely and exclusively in the present. Why are your disciples so radiant, the Buddha was asked.He said they live in the present without brooding over what may happen in the future or repenting the past. Fools who repent or brood are like green reeds dried in the sun, withered and forlorn. Zen philosophy is the same.

Drawings of ox-herding or taming unruly bulls are found in Zen scriptures dating from the 12th century. The bull is the mind and herdsman taming the it is yogi in the act of meditation. The bull is initially black and becomes gradually white during training and it is finally pure white, depicting the mind completely cleaned and empty.

The simile of the bull occurs in the commentary of the Satipatthana-sutta; the bikkhu who desires to tame the villainous mind (bull) grown up from drinking sense pleasures such as visible forms, should be removed from its sense objects as visible forms, go into a forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty house and tie it to the post of the object of the presence of mindfulness by the rope of mindfulness. An ancient saying dating back to the 3rd century BC quoted by Buddhagosha in the Visuddimagga (Path of Purification) reads as follows: Just as a man would tie to a post a calf that should be tamed, even so here should one tie one's own mind tight to the object of mindfulness. It is clear that Zen masters have developed this simile to fit the Japanese culture of caligraphy. The research work done by Walpola Rahula has established the fundamental origin and intimacy of Zen from Buddhism.
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