Sunday Observer Editorial

Ven. Maaduluvavé Sobhitha and the Nation 

Sunday 15th November 2015

 

The tinge of saffron is not very different from that of gold. But one symbolizes other-worldliness and, the other, the ultimate in worldliness. 

In a nation proud of a long civilisational heritage steeped in a strong element of asceticism that marks both the Theravada Buddhist and Shaiva Hindu traditions, the social fabric is, today, being torn asunder by the compulsions of poorly managed capitalism that has engendered a dominance of the 'robber barons' and concomitant culture of cronyism and nepotism. The simple beauty of the lines and colours of Theravada religious edifices is, today, juxtaposed with the gilt-edged Baroque facades of casino clubs and shopping malls of 'beautified' Colombo. 

There is no doubt that it is capitalism that has brought the world so speedily to the high-tech 'smart' post-modernity that it is today. And where this post-modernity originated is where advanced capitalism is best managed - indeed, most managed and regulated. Those local entrepreneurs who crave for the so-called 'free economy' of capitalism are shocked at the degree of complex regulation of business and the economy in the advanced capitalist world, whether it is the US, the EU or Japan or elsewhere in the 'first world'. 

Hence, the new economic philosophy inherent in the policy pronouncements by economic thinkers in the government such as Harsha de Silva and Eran Wickremaratne and, most recently, as so authoritatively expounded in the Prime Minister's statement on economic policy. 'Socialism' as originally advocated may have lost its shine with age, but the 'social' has entered the lexicon of capitalism thanks to the earlier success of socialism and social-democracy. Hence, the 'social market' now embraced by the new regime as the way forward. 

These pronouncements are critical in that they show the new direction, at last, of a recovering Sri Lankan civilization. The country is moving forward on the stable tracks that well articulated and institutionally embedded policy implies. It has, thankfully, replaced the trackless arbitrary government - and corollary plunder and blunder - that the previous nine years of un-intelligent governance engendered. 

Modern civilization is one of large scale and, hence, complex, societies. Globalisation, by its very scale, is most complex and most difficult to organise and manage. Continuity, nay, stability, of policy and strategy are critical for overall social management. Despite all its 'patriotism' and militant heroism, the previous regime fell on its plunder and blunders. 

Autocracy and arbitrary rule cannot sustain capitalist economic progress. Sustained strategy and policy does so. The fact that the country is back on this path is the first sign of hope for the future. The pioneering, nevertheless, simplistic, 'laissez fare' liberalism of the J.R. Jayewardene years has now matured into a far more socially sensitive and exploratory 'social market' approach by the new regime. Clearly, the UNP is the lead economic thinker in the new coalition government, while the necessary political and ideological balance is wielded by the coalition partners in the SLFP, the JHU and others. 

In this 'social' emphasis, too, must be seen the tempering power of our traditions; of the critical intelligence, the buddhi, that discerns sharply the real fault lines that lie between the saffron and the gold - the spirit of moral suasion versus the temptations of lucre.

Despite all the efforts by the previous regime to hide the twin disasters of ethnic supremacism and public robbery behind saffron robes, almost paradoxically, the genuinely redeeming power of the true spirit of Buddhism has been proven ultimately by the endeavours and inspiring leadership of a single Thera. 

The dominant, largely Buddhist, ethnic community was encouraged by the then government to narcissistically bask in the pseudo glory of a war victory ignoring the internal haemorrhage the nation suffered in this ethnic conflict within the nation. Even as ideologues and cultural propagandists dished out the pep pills of ultra-nationalism, a lone but senior voice from the Sangha began to be heard - in the cause of governance and probity, for civilized reconciliation and political conciliation over crude triumphalism. 

This lone voice, being that of a highly respected Sangha leader, very soon became the core of a movement - the National Movement for Social Justice. The Venerable Maaduluvavé Sobhitha, Nayaka Thera of the Naga Vihara of Kotté, was already well known as a profound and demogogic preacher, a pioneer in radio 'evangelism' of the Buddhist Sri Lankan variety and, also, as a social reform activist, who, in the early years of the 'open economy', stridently spoke for the down-trodden industrial working class and the forgotten peasantry. His moral conscience prompted him to criticise, in later years, efforts to impose a political solution for the ethnic conflict without adequate social consensus. 

The Ven. Sobhitha's National Movement for Social Justice and its clarion call for good governance combined with inter-ethnic justice can be seen as the historic catalyst that led to the change of tracks for the nation. His tireless activism against the twin mights of autocracy and ultra-nationalism is what sustained that visionary leadership that swayed a nation's conscience. It was his vision, more than that of anyone else, that revived the social and moral dimensions in national politics. His tireless campaigning was also his ultimate sacrifice. 

Where the nation is today is, therefore, much due to the late Nayaka Thera. Where we go tomorrow depends on how much we effectively balance our commitment to social responsibility and moral probity with the dynamism and temptations of capitalism.