By  R.M.Navaratne (Chairman – Dhamsara Foundation, Kandy)

“In the lesson on the National Flag, in the picture there were two strips for minority communities. Since the Tamil community is now 4.9% [See World Facts Book] and the Muslims 8%, to include such tiny minorities in the national flag is meaningless and undesirable and no other country in the world has done so. In the UK , for example, the Indian community is in excess of 7%, but the government has not included the Indians’ flag, or any strip or other symbol, to recognize the community in the Union flag.”

We, Sinhala Buddhist Citizens and Expatriates, wish to bring to your kind notice a conspiratorial movement that is in progress, which is geared to confuse the minds of the children of Sri Lanka by attempts to debase their views of the country by including spurious ideas of a ‘multi-religious, multi-cultural’ society in the text books of the schools. 

The term ‘multi-religious and multi-cultural’, as used in all countries including the UK, simply means that there are different numbers of people of every religion and culture in the country – which is, in fact, the normal case in every country in the world today. The term does not imply any population numbers, nor does it imply a parity of status between the communities: indeed, such a parity of status is impossible and does not exist in any country. But, in the school textbooks in Sri Lanka , the term has been misused to wrongly suggest that such a parity of status is, somehow, applicable to Sri Lanka . This conspiracy, running through nearly three decades to undermine, debase, destabilize and destroy the national heritage, is now being surreptitiously activated progressively in the education structure of Sri Lanka to condition the younger generations to accept it. 

This new concept, namely “a multi-religious and multi-cultural society”, was introduced to the Island in 1977 and was included in the educational re-structuring of 1994. Since it has been seen in all school textbooks in English, the Social Studies Department had been apparently directed to undermine and destroy the Sinhala cultural heritage. 

In the lesson on the National Flag, in the picture there were two strips for minority communities. Since the Tamil community is now 4.9% [See World Facts Book] and the Muslims 8%, to include such tiny minorities in the national flag is meaningless and undesirable and no other country in the world has done so. In the UK , for example, the Indian community is in excess of 7%, but the government has not included the Indians’ flag, or any strip or other symbol, to recognize the community in the Union flag. This is because such symbols are included only if other countries are included as, for example, in a union, but not communities. 

Moreover, the figure of a sword-bearing lion on a red background indicated bravery. But, in the book we learnt that the sword-bearing lion symbolized the bravery and militancy of the Sinhala race. The un-historical suggestion of a militancy, and the reference to the Sinhala ‘race’ was, evidently, made in order to conceal and undermine the national unity. 

Later in the book, the major cultural festival of the Sinhala Buddhists has been re-named the “Sinhala Hindu New Year” – despite the fact that the Hindus’ New Year is, actually, on a different date.  

The Sri-Pada place of worship, which was exclusively of the Sinhala Buddhists, has been misrepresented as a monument or place of worship graced by all the religious Teachers though, apart from the Buddha, none of the others ever visited the Island .  

Despite the Sinhalas being the majority population, the schools’ texts at present also teach the children that the Sinhalas are not a race of Sri Lanka but are only a certain segment of the ethnic groups of Tamils, Muslims and Burghers (people of Dutch or Portuguese descent)!

To sign the abovementioned  online petition, kindly log on to: http://www.gopetition.com/online/21485.html

To read the relevant article which was published on “Sinhale Hot News” on 20th August 2008, Kindly log on to:  http://sinhale.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/the-schools%e2%80%99-curriculum-destroys-the-sinhala-heritage/