” … Attaana”m ce tathaa kayiraa
Yatha~n~nam anusaasati,
Sudanto vata dammetha,
Attaa hi kira duddamo …” (Dhp. 159)
Buddha told his followers “You should do to yourself, what you have instructed others to do. Well-tamed yourself, you should tame others truly difficult indeed, is self-tamed.”
Buddha, who control himself was always well self-tamed and restrained to become a worthy and reliable refuge, very difficult to obtain in life, was a trustworthy teacher because being well tamed himself, and instructed others accordingly. Buddha advises the well tamed people to control themselves; for only the well tamed people, the heedful people, know the way to stop contentions, quarrels and disputes and how to live in harmony, in friendliness and in peace. Lord Buddha knew very well the mind and the heart of human beings; that the foolish people indulge in thoughtlessness, while the wise people protect it as precious treasure. Lord Buddha advised the wise people with right effort, heedfulness and discipline to build up an island which no flood can overflow. Buddha Dhamma states, he who is heedless before but afterwards heedless no more, will outshine this world, like a moon free from clouds; a person who has conquered thousand people in the battlefield cannot be compared with a person who is victorious over himself, because he is truly a supreme winner. Sri Lankan rulers who gave prominence to Buddhism, could earn the respect of the people including those following other faiths by demonstrating that they are following the teachings of Lord Buddha; a point stressed many a time by President to his people on the need to resolve issues through the Buddha Dhamma.
In 2015, people elected a government to put the country in order and expected the New government to do just that; but in reality though the leadership kept working towards that goal; on the ground everything started turning sour and the first was the Bond Issuance and the corruption allegations against some of the key figures in the cabinet, who are legislators from United National Party (UNP), a main partner in the coalition government. It was the biggest drawback the government faced and finally it was the President who appointed a commission and the investigations are progressing well; that resulted in one of the key minister being called in for questioning to assist with the proceedings.
The recent media reports of the proceedings of the Commission indicates there has been serious financial misconduct and conflicts of interest are sufficient, irrespective of the findings of the commission the minister should resign. Because the minister by making very irresponsible statements to the commission has damaged the credibility of the government that was elected for good governance. On principle for this behaviour alone the minister could be told to resign from his ministerial position by his leaders and free the minister to cooperate with the on-going investigations. The government having given hopes to the people in 2015, to restore good governance should now ensure the resignation of the minister in the interest of future governments and not follow the path followed its predecessors. The common question asked is why this minister should be picked out when so many others in the same cabinet were implicated or even worse many key members from the past regime were involved in such activities; the simple answer is two wrongs does not make one right and what is more important is this minister is a key player and as the President himself have said it would create a serious issue to the government; only confirming what was earlier reported earlier in Northern Breeze for Yahapalanaya to stay, the Minister must go!
The President is known to stress on the people for the need to resolve issues through the Buddha Dhamma, has told the minister, who has no moral or ethical right to continue in position to resign. The minister appearing before the commission of inquiry, lost all his credibility, when he gave irresponsible replies to clear corruption charges against him on activities related to the Treasury Bond Issuance. Not surprisingly, the legislators have submitted a no-confidence motion and is due to be taken up for debate soon in parliament; it is to be seen if they would still, as in the past be foolish enough to continue indulging in thoughtless activities in their talk shop; or will the wise legislators dominate the proceedings to lead the rest, based on President’s advice and protect as precious treasure the law making institution of the country. To this end, all legislators irrespective of their political memberships, should serve the country by converting the head of state’s right thought into right action. All Buddhist legislators, who are in majority in parliament with other legislators with a teeny-weeny respect for Buddha Dhamma, should come together without undue delays debate and bring to a successful conclusion the “No Faith Motion” against the Minister.
Northern Breeze 