Lanka and Myanmar: Challenges ahead

The Sri Lanka visit (Nov. 12-15) of Myanmar’s Head of State Senior General Than Shwe came in the wake of allegations being made over the past six months against the Rajapaksa regime that it was moving away from the ‘democracies’ and getting closer to 'dictatorships.'

The accusers have been sections of the Opposition and the media and the usual ‘anti-war’ crusaders. Needless to say the democracies that these pontificating pundits mean are the former European colonialists and their allies who did their utmost to prevent a final military victory over the LTTE while loudly proclaiming their commitment to defeat terrorism worldwide.

If we assume that the West hoped to humble the government and 'strengthen' democracy in Sri Lanka by such double games it is no exaggeration to say that they probably have had the opposite effect. Having compelled to eat their own words after the crushing defeat of the Tigers these 'human rights' champions have now shifted their focus to Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes by her armed forces and to her ties with totalitarian regimes. The aim it appears is to declare Sri Lanka a pariah state.

Few days before General Than Shwe’s arrival an Opposition politician and a section of the press (quoting Western sources) severely criticised Myanmar’s military rule and blamed the Sri Lankan Government for inviting the General.

But have any of these critics pondered the real reasons leading to the erosion of Burmese democracy? It is no exaggeration that these factors have echoes in Sri Lanka too. Whether we like it or not Myanmar’s military Junta is the logical outcome of a series of events that began in the country’s immediate pre-independence years but rooted in her colonial past.

The “divide and rule” strategy of the British Raj entrenched ethnic nationalist sentiments, which became an impediment to creating a unified sense of nationhood in Myanmar following independence in 1948. Under British colonial rule the country’s diverse ethnic minority groups were administered as separate mini-states known as “Frontier Areas”.

The British rule established a complex system of differing treatment for various ethnic groups, the consequences of which continues to resonate to this day. The British were responsible for introducing narcotic drugs to the country for using them as a weapon to destroy the nation politically, economically and socially (as they did China’s case during the opium wars). They opened opium dens throughout the land and incited dissension in social and religious affairs by violating Myanmar’s Buddhist customs and traditions – the effects of which are still felt.

The colonialists held race-based elections and moved to establish separate ethnic states. When General Aung San, leader of Myanmar’s Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) demanded from the British full independence for Myanmar after World War II the colonial rulers proposed that "people from hill regions did not yet want to unite with Myanmar mainland", and called for the appointment of a fact-finding committee to study the wishes of people from hill regions. Aung San turned down the British proposal.

It is strongly suspected that the British had a hand in the General’s assassination in 1947 since he was the leader who could organize and unite the whole country if he became independent Burma’s first Head of State. The idea was unpalatable to the colonialists. Consequently the discord sown by the British largely contributed to gradual weakening of Myanmar’s civilian rule which - as the Burmese military saw it – would not have been able to prevent the country’s fragmentation. And it is obvious who would have gained by it. The rest is history.

The West is now admitting that imposing sanctions on Myanmar have not had the desired impact. U.S. President Barack Obama has said that his new policy of direct communication with Myanmar's ruling generals is based on the failure of Washington’s sanctions to change the Junta’s policies. It is a good eye-opener for everyone who wants the West to punish the Rajapaksa regime through sanctions.

Sri Lanka’s primary concern should to be to strengthen her age-old ties with Myanmar no matter who rules her - though we earnestly hope that one day she would return to civilian rule. Sri Lanka’s religious and cultural ties with that country go back to over 10 centuries. That is something that no Sri Lankan Government can ignore. The two nations enjoy a special relationship on several grounds. The foremost among them is the Theravada Buddhist connection. Both are heirs to a proud history and high achieving Buddhist civilization.

In a way Myanmar is more fortunate than Sri Lanka in the sense the former suffered only about 100 years of Western colonialism. Consequently, the vast majority of Burmese were never uprooted from their Buddhist heritage, customs and traditions. Since independence both civil and military governments of Myanmar have supported Theravada Buddhism. They were neither Pol Potist nor Din Diem-type rulers who were hell-bent on destroying the country’s ancestral religion and culture.

Sri Lanka's contribution towards the consolidation of the Myanmar’s ancient Bagan Empire in terms of religion, culture and civilization is attested to in that country’s historical chronicles, inscriptions, art and architecture, as well as in Sinhala records, according to Sri Lankan Buddhist Scholar Dr. Hema Goonatilake. She says that what Sri Lanka later gained from Myanmar is equally significant. Myanmar's religious gifts to Sri Lanka - the Amarapura and the Ramanna sects contributed a great deal to the Buddhist, cultural and educational renaissance in the 18th and 19th Centuries, the influence of which continues to this day.

Dr. Goonatilake notes: “Although not mentioned in Sri Lankan records, there is evidence from Myanmar inscriptions that confirms the strong Sinhalese connection with the Myanmar royalty during that time. The premier historian of Myanmar, Gordon Luce and local historians have given evidence to show that there was a strong Sinhalese influence in the Bagan Royal Court during the reigns of Alaungsithu and Narapatisithu. Wife of King Narapatisithu, Queen Uchokpan was a Sinhalese princess.”

Both Sri Lanka and Myanmar regained independence from British rule in the same year -1948. The following year (June 7, 1949) they established diplomatic ties. Sri Lanka figured prominently when the agreement on disbanding the Burmese Patriotic Forces and reorganizing them as a standing Myanmar Army was signed on September 4, 1945. (The Patriotic Forces had fought the British and subsequently the Japanese in World War II). Allied Supreme Commander SEAC, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten’s South-Asia Command (SEAC) Headquarters in Kandy was the venue of the event. A principal signatory to the agreement was Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San.

The first Burmese Head of State to visit Sri Lanka was Prime Minister U Nu in 1950. On this visit U Nu met Asoka Weeraratna, the Sri Lankan who was later instrumental in the spread of Buddhism in Germany through organizing Buddhist missions comprising monks from Sri Lanka and in establishing the Berlin Vihara (Das Buddhistische Haus founded by Dr. Paul Dahlke) with resident monks drawn primarily from Theravada Buddhist countries on a permanent footing.

Venerable Sayadaw U. Silananda - an icon in Myanmar for his invaluable contributions to Buddhism - was one of the Burmese monks who arrived in Sri Lanka in the early 1950s. He was closely associated with the work of the Sri Lanka based German Dharmaduta Society in the initial period for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Germany and other western countries. He was based in Sri Lanka from 1954 - 1956.
The famous Buddhist monk Venerable Mah?si Say?daw (1904-1982) was a questioner and final editor at the Sixth Buddhist Council held in Rangoon in1954 and helped to establish Vipassana meditation centers in Sri Lanka among other countries. Several Sri Lankan meditation Centres have adopted the techniques taught by Mahasi Sayadaw in the teaching and practice of Vipassana Meditation.
Today there is increased understanding between Sri Lanka and Myanmar in resolving issues through a common approach. Recently the Government of Myanmar donated US $ 50,000 for the welfare of the IDPs in the north. It also presented a tusker to Sri Lanka for Buddhist ceremonies, as a gesture of friendship. There is a visible number of Buddhist monks from Myanmar engaged in post-graduate studies on Pali and Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
The invaluable close links between the two nations must continue into the future and lay the foundation for an international summit conference of predominantly Buddhist countries. It is an event long overdue. Sri Lanka and Myanmar may well consider jointly sponsoring such an international conference.

Concludes Dr. Goonatilake:

”With the rise of Asia as the centre of economic, political and cultural focus in the world, we can together make Buddhism again the unifying force in Asia as well as across the new globalised world at a time when Buddhism is being widely spread in the Western world.”

- Asian Tribune -