The potential for Lanka to declare May as a month dedicated to peace

After 12 years of commemorating the war in two different ways in the north and south, we can look at least now to change this and have one ceremony for the nation accompanied by the common vow of all never to have a war again

Next month; the month of May commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha. The month of May is also the timeframe where Sri Lanka ended a horrific chapter of its recent history. 

Although for 12 years the ending of the war is commemorated as a victory, one knows that in war there is only death. Peace can be permanently established in a nation only through the conscious interlinked initiatives of all its citizens. This interlinked action could be diverse, whether in the form of a small endeavour of kindness or forgiveness and understanding carried out as an individual gesture of a person or as a formal one with large scale implication such as policy decision. 

Forbearance and the will to forgive does not come without striving and often requires herculean effort. Anyone treading the spiritual path of awareness knows how difficult this kind of effort is in the beginning of the striving, and it is indeed a pity in this modern world with its obsession for wars that spirituality and policy making do not go hand in hand. Spirituality is not about incantations and rituals. It is about pragmatic action within this lifetime to make a change for the better. 

This world has seen exceptional policymakers who functioned with this pragmatism; namely Nelson Mandela and Lee Kuan Yew are two leaders who never seemingly gave importance to religion in their life but who gave lasting lessons to their nation and the world in patience, wisdom, equality, empathy, pragmatism and rationality – all of which are qualities one associates with Buddhism. It is profound that Nelson Mandela’s autobiography does not include details of the torture and hardship he underwent when in prison although this information is present in his biography (written by others). This means that he did not wish for anyone reading his own account on his life to have the faintest of animosity or ill feeling. Only a truly enlightened human being would be able to transcend his mind to this level. However, every human being is capable of this mental level.

Meanwhile, it is said that the Singapore model of state making was crafted after looking at some of the policies in Sri Lanka in how it negatively impacted segments of its citizens. Singapore although formed at the height of communism prevented this ideology from seeping into the country but ensured there would not be any reason for any citizen to clamour for communism when they had everything guaranteed, from housing to jobs, created to certify the prosperity of a nation and dignity of all of its people, without exception. This country just over five decades earlier could be described as nothing more than a fishing village.

How Singapore and South Africa conquered its different adversities was by looking at the human dimension from both the practical and the heartfelt; they looked at the emotions of the people and how these could be safeguarded by both materialistic and ethical wellbeing. Lee Kuan Yew saw better than any other contemporary statesman of his time how the two blended. So we have the Singapore of today (which at one point in the 1960s wanted to be on par with Lanka) being one of the richest countries in the world where the only requirement of the people is to work hard and be disciplined; two factors sorely missing in this country. Sri Lanka torn by ethnic riots in the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s and youth insurgencies in the 1970s and 1980s and a three-decade-long war, has reached the sorry state we are in now but each new day brings potential for reversing the past to a new future.

After 12 years of commemorating the war in two different ways in the north and south, we can look at least now to change this and have one ceremony for the nation accompanied by the common vow of all never to have a war again. This kind of commemoration has to be supported by action that will ensure all Sri Lankans have no need to go lamenting to any other nation or nations about their grievances. Hence, it is hoped that this May, Sri Lanka will see the anniversary of ending the war, as an anniversary that will end the need for war.

Even without any policy action, this can be done by each Sri Lankan in diverse ways. We can take our children to the north and instead of war monuments we can show our children how we can avoid humans becoming war monuments in their youth – we can teach our children about respect and empathy and importance of human interaction and ensure they shed any kind of ghettoistic mentality which sows the seeds of radicalisation. The people of the north and east can celebrate humane interaction with their Sinhalese brethren in the south which was not allowed in the 30 terror struck years the nation went through. 

We can mould in our children Buddhistic compassion so that they become tomorrow’s peacebuilders; not because they are paid a salary by an INGO or NGO but because the original nature of a human being is to be just that; a human being and an instrument of peace. There are many other practical ways we can mainstream the concept of peace. We can convert our businesses to incorporate the concept of peace and unity between different communities and we can initiate entrepreneurship endeavours that will usher in national reconciliation. We can introduce new educational subjects encompassing disciplines such as comparative religions and usher in heritage as a route not to division but an integrated unity and appreciation of traditional knowledge, culture and intangible heritage of all communities of this countries. 

For the above to happen it is hoped that we develop a sincere wish to make youth and adults of this country not apathetic machines of survival and rote learning but those with vibrant minds who will actively use their intelligence towards taking diverse creative steps aimed at social healing and cohesion.