by Ranil Mendis
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
The Bible-Romans chapter 12 verse 2

A few weeks ago (16th June) this newspaper published a transcript of a radio interview I had given on Mahatma Gandhi. In the following week, a letter to the editor by Mr. Stanley Jayaweera of Avadhi Lanka was published. This letter added greatly to what I had said and encouraged me to pick up the thread. This article is heavily based upon the aforementioned documents and some of my earlier writings. Relevant excerpts are quoted. However, anyone who wishes to study this in greater detail can visit the website HYPERLINK "http://www.ozlanka.com" www.ozlanka.com which carries all my earlier articles.

The interview on radio began with the inspired words of Dayananda de Silva, "In a world seething in violence, is God dead? Is non-violence, high ideals and great virtues irrelevant in today’s mercenary world?" These are immensely challenging questions. In the course of the interview, basically, I have given a positive reply. No! God is not dead. He is very much alive. Ideals, morals and virtues do matter. It is due to the lack of it that we suffer and swim in degeneracy.

Mr. Stanley Jayaweera is the leader of Avadhi Lanka. I have heard him in TV talk shows, and agree wholeheartedly with his assertion that this country needs a moral regeneration. In his letter he says, "public affairs have hit rock bottom and spiritually the land is a virtual cesspit, there are, at least a few individuals who see a way out — namely the Gandhian way." What is the Gandhian way?

In this article, and in the ones that follow in the coming weeks we will try to find the way. We will flash a light in the blinding darkness. We will search for the truth and let us have the courage to face the truth. We should be fearless. We will take a look at the world and then focus on the problems of Sri Lanka. I do not know of a magic formula. If people like Mr. Jayaweera write to the editor and contribute their ideas, it would be of great assistance. We will try and find the way.

Before we do so, let us (try to) define the Mahatma’s beliefs and principles. I can only repeat; the core of Gandhi is an absolute and unshakeable belief in God and Goodness. The God he believed in is the God of the Jews, Christians and Muslims who call God Allah. The Hindus have thousands of Gods. Gandhi who was a Hindu thought they were different representations of one God. The same God of all other religions. The Buddha, the greatest and most compassionate man that ever lived, never really spoke of a God. The Lord Buddha, was seen by Gandhi, to be the first and greatest reformer of Hinduism. Mahatma Gandhi was the second.

So there need not be any religious controversy in these articles. We are all children of God. I being a Christian have used Christian quotations in this article. I have no problem being a Buddhist, Hindu or Islamic. I have equal respect for all religions like the Mahatma. The importance is not the particular faith that one adheres to. It is that you practice and live by the essence of your own religion. I will use quotations from other religions in future articles. They move me just the same.

Secondly, a formidable array of the greatest men that ever lived is for non-violence and against war. In order of appearance they include, The Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Tolstoy, Einstein, Bertrand Russell etc, etc. So, any Gandhian solution in common with any Buddhist, Christian or rationalist solution necessarily rules out war.

Once this nation firmly adopts a policy of non-violence, it may seem strange and ludicrous, but it would inexorably render the bullets, bombs and suicide bombers of the LTTE ineffective. In any event, in the forthcoming articles the writer would not under any circumstances advocate war.

War, after all, whether it is fought by the Government of Sri Lanka or by the LTTE is an excrescence of civilisation. It is an enterprise where young men and women in the flower of their youth die for the sins of the elder generation. It is one where the poor die to make the rich richer. It can never ever be condoned. It must be totally rejected.

Gandhi asserted that God is Truth, and Truth is God. This is a profound statement. What it means is that one should not be bound by religious prejudices or rituals that have outlived its usefulness. In all cases, look at the facts and the underlying logic. Reject those practices that are harmful. The Hindu caste system is one example of an evil practice that has been sanctified by a false notion of religiosity.

At this point I would like the reader to stare hard at the quotation at the head of this article. Pause and ponder. There are certain things terribly wrong in the world of today that is accepted without much comment. Among these are an economic system that makes the rich richer everywhere and is utterly cruel to the poorer third world countries. The west gets richer on the misery of the poor in third world countries. It is a system that is no different to the imperial economy.

In another aspect, everyone should regret and sympathise with America for the loss she suffered on September 11. But what is America doing in return? The most advanced and admirable nation in the world is taking revenge by slaughtering innocent people by the thousands in Afghanistan. This is an exercise that will prove to be counterproductive. It will breed terrorists by the thousands.

And what is the so called free media doing. I mean BBC, CNN, and Sky etc. Do they speak the truth? No! They act as cheer leaders.

There is nothing that we can do to correct the west. But there are some things we can do to correct worse things in our own country, which Mr. Jayaweera calls quite rightly a cesspit. The question is how do we do it? One political party is worse than the other. We cannot rely on the police. The judicial system is suspect. Let us then get some inspiration from the Mahatma.

In my earlier article I described what happened to Gandhi on the train at Maritzburg and called it the "defining moment of his life." He was kicked out of a first class compartment because he was black. Who was Gandhi then? Although very successful as a lawyer later on, he was then a briefless lawyer; young and immature. But what did he do? While bigger, richer and more powerful men helplessly condoned these insults, he stood up and fought. He fought relentlessly until the British Empire crumbled. He did not fight with bullets and bombs. He fought with words. He used the press and the courts.

This highlights a vital issue in this country. A free press is the last bastion of freedom in this country. No one should be allowed to suppress the freedom of speech and publication. In fact, in the great struggle of the Indian independence movement there was a tacit agreement between the British and Mahatma Gandhi that the freedom to write and publish was the "irreducible minimum."

As I see it, we cannot rely on political parties, mass organisations, big business etc for our salvation. The improvement will come when the little guy, like Gandhi, begins to stand up and fight non-violently.

Non-violence does not mean surrender to evil. Whether that evil is oppression of a government or the fascism of the LTTE. Non-violence does not mean we will allow this country to be divided. No! "Divide me but do not divide India," said Gandhi. Unfortunately, India was divided. See what has happened fifty years later.

So while we embark upon a voyage of discovery and reflect upon the miserable state of this country, I shall close by quoting a Christian hymn. It contains some of the most beautiful phrases ever expressed in the English language.

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; lord, with me abide!

When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see;

O thou who changest not, abide with me.

(The same writer wrote "Essential virtues" published by the Sunday Island on June 16, 2001)