By KASSAPA

Is Sri Lanka on the brink of a religious war? Or is it on the cusp of another national election? These are the questions that come to mind, observing the detention of comedian Natasha Edirisooriya on charges framed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) last week.

At a comedy show held on April 1, Edirisooriya performed a skit in which she made comparisons between Prince Siddhartha and modern-day children. In doing so, she referred to Prince Siddhartha as ‘Suddhodana ge podi eka’ or ‘Suddhodana’s little one’. Late last month, a video clip of this skit was published on the YouTube channel SLVLog. That was when all hell broke loose.

Several complaints were made against the skit, spearheaded by a Buddhist monk, Balangoda Kassapa. The Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs is also said to have lodged a complaint. Soon after the complaints were lodged, Edirisooriya apologized publicly and withdrew the clip of her skit from the YouTube channel.

Nevertheless, police acted on these complaints and Edirisooriya was nabbed at the Colombo airport, as she was about to board a flight to Singapore. Later she was charged under provisions of the ICCPR. Bruno Diwakara, the publisher of the SLVLog channel was also subsequently detained under the same provisions. This meant that there was no provision for bail for both of them.

Edirisooriya’s detention comes hot on the heels of the drama about self-proclaimed pastor Jerome Fernando, also accused of hurting religious sensibilities. However, there are significant differences. In his sermon, Fernando did have an element of instigating religious discord, trying to impress upon his audience that his faith was superior to Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism. Also, perhaps more tellingly, Fernando emplaned to Singapore unscathed although there was a travel ban supposedly enforced against him.

Fernando has since lodged a Fundamental Rights application seeking an order preventing his arrest. He is unlikely to return to the country until this application is heard in the Supreme Court in late July.

Edirisooriya’s offence was distinctly different. Her ‘offensive’ remarks were a few sentences, said in jest. They were not insulting to Prince Siddhartha and did not invite any kind of religious comparison or hatred towards other faiths. They only poked fun at modern-day children. However, a brigade of protectors of Buddhism, led by an assorted array of saffron robed individuals of Balangoda Kassapa’s calibre have now taken to the media to make abusive and derogatory comments about Edirisooriya, and calling for the harshest punishment to be meted out to her.

This is despite the fact that Edirisooriya and her publisher Diwakara are both in custody now and the courts are due to decide on the matter. Therefore, is there more to this than meets the eye?

There is indeed a sense of déjà vu about this. The last occasion this kind of religious hatred was planted in the minds of people was in 2019, just after the Easter attacks. The Muslim community was vilified no end with claims that there was conspiracy to sterilize Sinhalese women. Dr Shafi Shihabdeen, the doctor who was falsely accused – despite medical evidence that this was not logistically possible – was reinstated with back wages only weeks ago. Unfortunately, those who vilified him, the likes of Wimal Weerawansa, Channa Jayasumana, Athureliye Rathana and Udaya Gammanpila, are still in Parliament and face no consequences for their actions.

All this was in the lead up to the presidential elections in 2019 which Gotabaya Rajapaksa won and declared, ever so proudly in his inaugural speech that he proved he can win a presidential election “with Sinhala Buddhist votes”.

Is what’s happening now a replay of this scenario? Is someone trying to play the saviour of the Sinhalese Buddhists in anticipation of the next presidential elections? Given the exaggerated response to two sentences uttered by Natasha Edirisooriya at a comedy, that is quite possible, especially when one examines other recent events.

Firstly, the campaign against Edirisooriya has been complemented by a parallel campaign that extols Sinhala Buddhist supremacy. For instance, Balangoda Kassapa, the latest monk to play the role of saviour of Buddhists says on social media that ‘Silvas, Pereras and Fernando’ form an atheist clique. He also says that ‘others should be scared because this is a Sinhala Buddhist country’. By what stretch of imagination are these comments not designed to incite religious hatred but a reference to ‘Suddhodana’s little one’ is? Indeed, it is the constant reference to Edirisooriya and the punishments that are being advocated for her that incite religious violence, rather than the comments made by her.

Secondly, Derana owner Dilith Jayaweera, a few years ago, referred to Prince Siddhartha, asking, what kind of ‘porak’ he is and whether he is a ‘loser, an achiever or a person who couldn’t live with his wife’. How is it that Edirisooriya’s references to Prince Siddhartha is found to be more insulting than Jayaweera’s?

Even if one assumes that the authorities are hell bent on waging war on critics in the name of Buddhism, why do the likes of Jayaweera go scot-free while the likes of Edirisooriya face the full brunt of the ICCPR? This differential treatment certainly supports the theory that what is being played out before us is a very carefully orchestrated political drama – with the hero who saves Sinhala Buddhists yet to make an entrance.

In the past, it has been the Rajapaksa camp which has been playing the saviour of Sinhalese Buddhists. Has Wickremesinghe taken over or is it the Rajapaksa’s doing their dress rehearsals?

These laws are being applied by the police under instruction from the Attorney General’s Department. It would be foolish to assume that they act independently and not under the direction of the highest levels of government. This raises the obvious question: is this the wish of none other than President Ranil Wickremesinghe?

To be fair, in the past at least, Wickremesinghe has never played the ethnic or religious card to win elections. He may have even lost elections because he didn’t. However, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is a very different political animal to the liberal leader that he was, as Leader of the Opposition and Prime Minister. If all this is not his doing, why is he allowing this persecution to continue?

Thankfully, the public are now alive to the political dramas that are staged for their benefit and may not readily fall for this ruse. Still, Mr President, your silence on this issue is deafening- is it because that orders have come from you?

-counterpoint.lk