The cow is a symbol of reverence among Hindus in India.  For the one ‘holy cow’ revered, idolized and remain hallowed within India, Sri Lankans have over the years gathered several ‘Holy Cows’. Unlike in the Indian concept the ones in Sri Lanka are morally unsustainable but nevertheless each considered more ‘sacred’ than the other, each proved to be a road block to progress and peace. They have, however, become invincible mounts of ‘sanctity’.  The Sri Lankan culture has   been plagiarized by these ‘holy cows’ and it is therefore necessary to take cognizance of them.  Education should be used as a tool to focus on these icons with which to explain the why and the wherefore of their intrusion into the general dialogue and equip the people with information regarding their unethical ‘presence’ and the consequences.

This will help to inject a dose of morality in people’s overview of men and matters. Day to day activity need to be handled with moderation, restraint, and tolerance together with a thirst for accountability from self and others.  This will contribute to the sustenance and continuance of the democratic spirit and help politicians and citizens to deal with the ‘Holy Cows’ scenario. A few of the irritants from among the lead icons in the Sri Lankan ‘Holy Cow’ trail are listed below:

  1. The Politician

The reference here is to the politician with or without ideology or principles to back him up. He holds the lead position in governance and in society and is visualized as being at the apex of the ‘Holy Cow’ league. He is no longer one among many but the lead player among other minions, to be conferred with at all times. The eye of the politician is on power for himself/herself rather than service to others. Even in a Government bound by the Constitution, political parties and accommodating majorities in parliament make it possible to bypass constitutional provisions and conventions and make laws, install systems and organizations that become malleable features backed by rationale suitable to each contravention.  The people remain apathetic either out of fear to oppose powerful personalities or are uninformed and therefore remain ‘mute’. Too often ‘democratic’ adaptability morph into democratic complacency which permits politics to be manipulated to work the administration.  The system under these conditions sags so much that it was possible for a former president to comment unashamedly that the only thing he could not do was to change a man into a woman or vice versa. The reference here points to the high point of arrogance of power.

  1. The Sangha

The S.W.R. D Bandaranaike’s ideology comprised of the five institutions of the Sangha, Veda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru. These five icons formed the pillars of the guiding philosophy in societal relationships. Over time it is only the Sangha that has gained pre-eminence and longevity. The others gain a degree of importance in garnering votes during elections and tend to recede in significance, post elections. A majority of political aspirants uphold the approach of the Sangha in matters of governance as the fast track to success. Even if the Sangha were to become controversial in some of their utterances or conduct the supplicants will uphold and advocate their line of thinking. The Sinhala Buddhist society is mired in following religion as practiced within the country – without spiritualism or the deep understanding of the great philosophy. This lends itself to following the practices within the corrupted Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka without the doctrinaire philosophy.No man or woman is born yet who is willing to go against traditional but ‘corrupted’ practices of Buddhism within the country and uphold the pristine philosophy as taught by the Buddha. Having lost its authentic religious base the Sangha has become regretfully a ‘political phenomenon.’ An invasive feature the Sangha has acquired is to influence in matters related to state policy.  These tendencies have  increased the Sangha’s clout among the people and not vice versa much to the concern of the purists among the Buddhists. It must also be highlighted that  instead of exploiting the benign quality of Buddhism, the Sangha is exploited by many among the ambitious for personal advancement. There are but a few who would dare to question the adverse tilt in the religion as practiced by the Sangha and the followers within the country.

  1. Buddhism , the Foremost Religion in the Country

The foremost position of Buddhism was enshrined in the constitution of 1972 and ‘accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana’. The constitution gives assurance to all other religions their right to practice their religion freely. Buddhism is a most acceptable philosophy, as the Master who propounded it. Compassion and tolerance are its two main features. It would therefore seem irreconcilable in a multicultural society to give priority to any one religion. In fact it would be considered poor judgment to place Buddhism in a situation of perceived superiority to other religions in the country. However, this has indeed happened and some among the followers have become less tolerant and compassionate towards other religions. Coupled with the Sinhala majority, many of whom are Buddhists, this line of thinking has given numerical strength for those advocating pre-eminent position for Buddhism. Consequently, equity status among the citizens is not a reality in practice and this has led to disunity and violence demanding change in the status quo of the present situation.  The worst abuse is the active exploitation of the use of Buddhism by individuals to get ahead using it as the passport to electrifying rise in their chosen aspiration.

This appears to be the trend in many of the leading Buddhist countries.  In Thailand, the head of the National Buddhism office called for plans to clean up scandal hit monasteries. He wanted to investigate the financial status of 40,000 temples by opening up their financial activity to the public. The donations received it is claimed amount to billions of dollars every year. The Chief Monk pressured by the religious groups called for the government to sack the head of the National Buddhism Office.  His offence was the request to cleanse the religious organizations of malpractices. The position of the Sangha is invincible and has become one of the ‘Holy Cows’ not to be tampered with.

  1. Power Politics

The “Holy Cow‘ of power politics encroaches on all aspects of societal functions and for all practical purposes has come to stay as accepted strategy for the conduct of governance. The constitution which should be sacrosanct is often diluted in practice, and power politics is held up as another‘Holy Cow’ to politicians wielding political, financial and economic power. Persons wielding power are willing to distort and tamper with any aspect of governance to suit their ambition. Forces of law and order are tampered with denying equal justice to all, an integral feature of democracy; the bureaucracy has become a collective of flexible persons possible to be bent and shaped as and how the lead personalities in the political system wants. The system is riddled with the arrogant mismanagement with regard to appointments, promotions, post-retirement positions (depending on the malleability of the person when in judicial high office). To immunize the system from biased interventions, the 19th Amendment has reintroduced to the constitution the Public Service Commission and the Judicial Service Commission. Whether it will help to prevent biased action is to be seen. What has to be prevented is to curb the opportunities for powerful personalities to draw strength by aligning with religious figures, politicians and, the armed forces. The distortions are often effected through bribes with money, loans, and higher office, and other favors.

  1. Financial Power

People of influence have their assets multiplied many times over.More often than not no questions are asked as to the source of their wealth. A 10% commission on all investments and other financial activity has for a long time been an accepted formula for commissions; another polite term for corruption. It is feared that this percentage for commissions has skyrocketed in recent times so much so that it has become a deterrent for investments to come into the country.

The rich can get away with anything as long as they are seen to be opulently wealthy. Corruption is the holy cow which also ties up with financial power, economic power and political influence. In whatever combination they are worked, the consequences affect the poor adversely. When ill-gotten wealth is splashed around as the recognizable hall mark of affluence, society condones. People bow and scrape to the wealthy. Shame, as a concept in ethical accounting, has all but receded to the background. Everyone is ready to party with the greedy, the wily collector of ill-gotten ‘gold’. From religious luminaries to the law makers to Citizen Perera all are ready to bow and bend before these ‘holy cows’.  In fact, in K.K.S Perera’s article (Daily Mirror, 30th August 2017) he quotes a BBC interview with our respected Foreign Minister, the late Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar. When the then  Minister was asked about suspected misappropriation of Tsunami relief funds he acknowledged that there were allegations which had to be investigated but admitted that “wherever there were money and humans, there was corruption.” This approach is ineffective to restrain corruption. What needs to be point out is that it is morally wrong to abuse financial trust and that errant persons must be brought to book. No doubt many have raised their voices against such complacency.  There can be no doubt that corruption must be reigned in because public resources must be utilized for the public good. Otherwise it would lead to inequity in society leading to divisions and conflict.

  1. The Defence Forces and the Security Phobia

The Defence Forces and the security phobia have also become ‘Holy Cows’. Having rid the country of a violent terrorist movement and successfully restored the security of the nation the Forces has been elevated to a pre-eminent position as well as to be inured with impunity. Even to raise questions of inquiry into alleged atrocities by some members of the military – not the entire force mind you – is still considered irreverent to the forces who had given the country security and peace.  No one wants to understand that when anyone from the forces is accused it applies only to the few and not to the entirety of the forces. The public has been made to think of the forces as being above the law and the very act of vanquishing the terrorists has given them immunity from the normal laws of the country.

It is important that at least some of the individuals outside this network of ‘Holy Cows’ and their hunger for power express  their thinking  to make a difference between right and wrong.   Right choices made by the people and the politicians form the essence of democracy, of leadership. This is what will make democracy safe and functioning for the country.

The ‘Holy Cows’ must be shown up as unholy and detrimental to the people’s welfare. They must be shorn of their present sanctity and shown up when their acts are seen as unethical. There is a sense of natural justice in our people and we must encourage the free play of this instinct.