The Island Editorial

Vesak sans carnival atmosphere

Vesak has dawned while the world is under a pall of uncertainty, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The prevailing national health emergency, and the attendant restrictions on mass gatherings, in this country, will make the Vesak festival somewhat less colourful, but, on the positive side, these preventive measures will allow Buddhists to embrace spirituality in a more profound manner. The rising incidence of Covid-19, and the resultant staggering death toll, remind us of the fragility of life, which the Buddha likened to a dewdrop on the tip of a blade of grass.

Sri Lankans, who usually throng the streets during Vesak, especially after nightfall, have been confined to their homes for weeks, and the main attractions of the festival, such as thorana, or pandals, are conspicuous by their absence. People may not consider Vesak complete without thorana. But, not many of those who flock near these beautifully lit structures, in their thousands, are interested in Jathaka stories and moral lessons. Instead, they watch myriads of lights; they miss the message for the lights.

Street decorations are sparse due to lockdowns and curfew. However, people won’t miss much, other than some entertainment, if it is the true meaning of Vesak that they actually seek. They may not be able to attend religious functions, at temples, but they can observe sil at home and there will be many live telecasts of Dhamma programmes, today.

This year’s Vesak is devoid of cultural and commercial accretions and, most of all, the usual carnival atmosphere, as there are no puppet shows and other such forms of entertainment. In some parts of the country, musical events are also usually held during Vesak. The most popular among these Vesak shows, as it were, is apaya, or hell, where scenes of torment are enacted inside dark tents, purportedly to instil fear into sinners, but what really happens, in most cases, is that the ‘tormentors of hell’ suffer heavy blows at the hands of some drunken youth.

Dansel, where food and beverages are given away, have been banned on account of the highly contagious virus, lurking in every nook and cranny. They would have facilitated the spread of the virus. Anyway, there wouldn’t have been many dansel around even if no ban had been imposed thereon, for most people are struggling to keep the wolf from the door.

Meanwhile, Vesak has come at a time when complaints abound that lockdowns have led to mental health issues, such as depression among stir-crazy people cooped up indoors. The frustration of some of them has found expression in domestic violence and other such aggressive behaviour, we are told. Some men try to drown their lockdown blues in alcoholic brews, and they make a beeline to liquor outlets, the moment curfew is relaxed, in a bid to keep their spirits up.

The best way to remain calm and happy, in depressing situations, is to engage in religious activities. After all, the religiosity of Sri Lankans knows no bounds. Their vehicles are veritable mobile shrines. Buddhists, troubled by lockdown blues, can always find solace in the Buddha’s teachings, and others in the tenets of their religions. Mindfulness mediation is known to have a calming effect on racing thoughts and agitated minds. It helps get rid of the gnawing sense negativity, which results in depression. Let the Buddhists, troubled by mental problems in these depressing times, be urged to practise meditation.

We wish our readers a happy and peaceful Vesak!

Daily Mirror Editorial

Are we indulging in glorified advertising?

As the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic continues with the number of patients reaching a horrifying 3,660,000 while the death toll was more than 252,500 by 3 pm yesterday, the United Nations (UN) on May 3 marked ‘World Press Freedom Day’ on the theme ‘Journalism without fear or favour’. National and local celebrations took place all over the world, mostly in the form of online debates and workshops because processions and rallies were not possible in view of lockdowns or curfews in most countries.

In a statement, the world body said the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was launching a global campaign on media and social media channels, with a focus on ‘Journalism without fear or favour’ in an increasingly complex media landscape. Also, from May 4 to 6, there would be several events, including a high-level dialogue on Press Freedom and tackling disinformation in the COVID-19 context, webinars, and online discussions via Facebook Live, YouTube, and Microsoft Teams, among other digital platforms 

The sub-themes for this year are the safety of women and male journalists and media workers, independent and professional journalism free from political and commercial influence and gender equality in all aspects of the media.The Press Freedom Day Conference has been held annually since 1993. The global meeting provides an opportunity for journalists, civil society representatives, national authorities, academics and the public to discuss emerging challenges to press freedom and journalists’ safety and to work together on identifying solutions. This year the Netherlands was to be the host. UNESCO and the Netherlands had planned to hold the conference from April 22 to 24 at the World Forum in The Hague. It is now scheduled for October 18 to 20 at the same venue. It will be a joint celebration of World Press Freedom Day and the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.

The decision to postpone the conference has been taken to minimize costs and risks for all involved, in the wake of the World Health Organisation declaring COVID-19 as a global pandemic. 

In a message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says media workers were crucial to helping us make informed decisions. As the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic, those decisions can make the difference between life and death. Mr Guterres has called on governments—and others—to guarantee that journalists could do their jobs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. As the pandemic spreads, it has also given rise to a second pandemic of misinformation, from harmful health advice to wild conspiracy theories. The press provides the antidote: verified, scientific, fact-based news and analysis. But since the pandemic began, many journalists are being subjected to increased restrictions and punishments, simply for doing their jobs. Temporary constraints on the freedom of movement are essential to beat COVID-19. But they must not be abused as an excuse to crack down on journalists’ ability to do their work, he says.

One of this year’s subthemes is ‘Independent and Professional Journalism free from Political and Commercial Influence’. To what extent do we see this in Sri Lanka? Turning the searchlight inward we need to admit the sharp decline in independent and professional journalism.

Journalism is more than a profession. It is a vocation like the priesthood or medical care. But today we see young people coming into journalism with little or no training. Those who wish to be doctors go through five years of intensive training in medical college, as do engineers, accountants and other professionals. When journalists’ movements applied for membership in the Organisations of Professional Associations (OPA) our application was rejected on the basis that most journalists were not properly trained, and therefore not professionals.

Journalists here need to be trained for years on how to engage in free, fair, balanced and accurate reporting. They need to be trained to check and double-check, or even treble check, reports before they are published. They also need to be trained to go into deeper levels of investigative and pro-active reporting and feature writing where they go in search of news. Journalists must remember they are the voice of the voiceless, and their main role is to highlight the woes and the grievances of the poverty- stricken, oppressed and voiceless people so that the authorities would be compelled to provide solutions. Most of all, journalists need to remember a famous publishers’ definition of news. The American publisher William Randolph Hurst said, “News is something that someone wants suppressed. The rest is advertising.” How much are we indulging in glorified advertising through media conferences, media statements and other publicity stunts of political parties, individuals or groups with vested interests? 

The Island Editorial

Virus, saliva and dirty balls

Covid-19 has turned the world upside down. It has not spared sports either. The next Olympic Games have apparently gone the same way as Sri Lankan elections. Many international sports events have been postponed, indefinitely. Cricket fans are a disappointed lot. They wouldn’t have minded lockdowns if there had been live telecasts of cricket matches. But the good news is that the runaway virus is likely to put an end to an obnoxious practice among cricketers.

Time was when it was popularly thought that aristocrats couldn’t be wrong, and whatever they did was worthy of emulation though some thinkers such as Pareto despised aristocracy; he went so far as to declare, ‘History is the graveyard of aristocracies.’ But what is associated with aristocracy generally gains social acceptance. The origins of cricket are lost in the mists of time, but the general consensus is that it gained popularity when it became the game of the British aristocrats. Not all sports indulged in by aristocrats could be considered gentlemanly by any stretch of the imagination; hunting is a case in point. Strangely, they took a liking to a non-violent game like cricket.

The sobriquet cricket has earned as a gentleman’s game has remained undisputed for obvious reasons, but some despicable practices such as sledging, spot-fixing, bodyline bowling and excessive appealing have marred the game’s reputation to a considerable extent.

What cricketers do to the ball also makes one wonder if cricket has ceased to be played in a gentlemanly manner. It makes one’s gorge rise. It is not ball tampering that is on one’s mind; instead, it is that players use so much of saliva and sweat to shine the ball. Coronavirus has jolted the ball manufacturers into finding ways and means of helping shine the cowhide without saliva and sweat to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Kookaburra, the famous Australian cricket ball producer, is developing a wax applicator that will help shine the ball without using saliva and sweat, according to a report we publish today. It has done so in keeping with the guidelines issued by the Australian Institute of Sport, which has banned the practice of applying saliva and sweat on cricket balls. Kookaburra has said its new product is at a very early stage of development. A substitute for saliva and sweat should have been produced a long time ago!

Stomach-turning as the use of saliva and sweat to shine the cricket ball may be, it is the least of our worries where public health is concerned. Our problem is that Sri Lankans can’t keep saliva where it should be and have the bad habit of ejecting it in public places haphazardly. Betel chewers are the worst. It is said that Lee Kuan Yew used to take pride in the fact that he had stopped people from spitting on roads, in Singapore. Making Asians from doing so is no achievement. In this country, one has to avoid others’ spittle when one walks on roads.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, when he was the Defence Secretary, made Sri Lankans wear seatbelts and stop littering. It looks as though he now, as the President, had to stop them from spitting on roads to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

It has been reported that a private bus driver who spat through a window of his vehicle, at a bus station, in Kalutara, a few weeks ago, had to clean the place at the behest of the traffic police. Such stern action is called for to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which has already crippled the country. Spitting in public places must be stopped forthwith. If new laws are needed, let them be made.

Daily News Editorial

Vesak: a celebration of Karuna

Tomorrow, Vesak Poya Day, will be the climax of the annual celebration of the Birth, Enlightenment and Passing Away of the Buddha, the spiritual founder of the faith of the majority of Sri Lankans. We mark Vesak in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenge of which President Gotabaya Rajapaksa shared with his fellow heads of state when he addressed the special Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit on Monday.

Vesak, now one of the United Nations’ official religious festivals, is commemorated by Buddhists globally, with the bulk of festivities in the many Asian nations whose civilisations have been enriched by the Dhamma.

In this country, the visible highlights of this festival are the giant, electrically lit, pandals, equally lavish clusters of vividly decorated lanterns and, the thousands of traditional little oil lamps aflame in temples and homes across the island. This emphasis on light is the people’s joyous affirmation of the inspiration to humanity from the philosophical-spiritual enlightenment attained by Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, approximately 2,600 years ago.

Also notable features of the festival are the street-side staged dramas and shows recounting inspirational moments in the Buddha’s life and, the Dan Sal that dot the roads and junctions and wherever people will gather to view the festivities.

Sadly, none of this will feature in Vesak this year because of the viral pandemic that has the whole world in its deadly grip. The death toll from the pandemic reached nine yesterday evening and, the total number of infected persons reached 762.

Given the vicissitudes of this country’s long history, this certainly cannot be the first time that traditional religious festivities have been foregone by people on this island. It is in the nature of things that people forego large scale and lavish social activity in the face of tribulation, whether it is disease, socio-political disruption and war, or natural disasters.

Such tribulation, however, does not entirely stem the spiritual pulse of the faithful and the holy day is commemorated on a small scale, often within homes and local neighbourhoods. Thus, is the spark of the Enlightenment kept alive across the millennia.

This year, too, will be such a special moment in which millions of Buddhist Sri Lankans as well as Buddhists throughout the world, celebrate Vesak in ways suitable for our life in a pandemic. In these times of severe testing of the community, by disease and, its social and economic hardships, we will expect the faithful to demonstrate their faith commitment by acts of charity to their fellow citizens and to social institutions active in meeting the challenges of the pandemic. This has been our tradition and our tradition will surely shine forth.

The equanimity and discipline with Sri Lankans celebrate the Vesak festival must be one that bears testimony to the authenticity of our spirituality. It must be done in a manner that demonstrates our social responsibility. This time cannot be a moment of laxity and indiscipline – in violations of the anti-pandemic strictures that will only worsen the contagion rather than counter it.

After these many weeks of counter-pandemic restrictions, health guidelines and curfews, we must surely be attuned to the need of the hour; to the imperatives to firmly shun self-indulgences and selfish behaviour and focus on stern social hygiene discipline. This time of commemorating a philosophy that has self-discipline and social responsibility – Vinaya - at its core, must then be a time of strict observance of such discipline.

No one can afford to be lax in their observation of the rules of pandemic avoidance, namely the constantly reiterated basic rules of social hygiene. The Founder of Buddhism would be the first to remind us of our social obligations and our commitment to Karuna.

What will the world think if the followers of the Vinaya failed to demonstrate their compliance when it is most needed? If festivity overtook religiosity and, indiscipline resulted in a sequential worsening of the contagion?

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday showcased Sri Lanka’s successes in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic when he addressed the special online Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) hosted by Azerbaijan, the Movement’s current chair.

The President praised the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in giving leadership to the global response to this unprecedentedly fast spreading pandemic. He also acknowledged the importance of global co-operation in fighting the disease and its social and economic impact. He listed out the successful measures taken by Sri Lanka in managing the disease here.

The Non-Aligned initiative comes at a time when the world community is distracted from its goal of international collaboration by inter-state rivalry and brash public posturing in pursuit of national politics. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa joined other global voices in urging a greater focus on the priorities of dealing with COVID-19 at this time.