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Nurturing peaceful Lankans

Children, who are the building blocks of a culture and country, need quality nurturing and care if the cause of domestic and world peace is to be served effectively. This is a truth which societies could ignore only at their peril.

President Kumaratunga is one political leader who has grasped the full import of this important premise on which the edifice of peace ought to be built.

The principal role played by the President in the establishment of the National Child Protection Authority, was early proof that the President has grasped the causal link between peace and children nourished on love and concern.

President Kumaratunga, then, could be considered as having been on familiar and joyful terrain when she recently launched the Government's Four Year Action Plan for Children - formulated with UNICEF assistance - which was conceived with the participation of local children and which would be also implemented with their involvement.

Some of the areas pertaining to children which would be covered by the Plan are: education, health, nutrition, child labour and juvenile justice. The plan is in keeping with the commitments made by world leaders at the 2002 UN - sponsored world leaders' summit on children.

Considering the bearing that childhood traumas could have on war and destruction, caring for our young could be one of the most effective approaches to fostering domestic and global peace. A brutalized mind is violence-prone. This truth applies with equal validity to both young and old.

We in Sri Lanka need to be particularly cognisant of these principles because an entire generation of Lankans has grown up amid war and bloodshed. That is, roughly from around the late Seventies to the present, when the ethnic conflict degenerated into war and barbarism and a second youth uprising in Southern Sri Lanka resulted in monstrous violence.

Accordingly, if crime and lawlessness is an everyday reality today, it shouldn't come as a surprise because a considerable number of local minds are violence - prone and distraught.

However, these negative tendencies should be reversed by timely action and the President is leading from the front in this respect. In her latest pronouncement on this subject, she says that the Lankan State is committed to creating the conditions which would bring into being "good and successful citizens."

There is no better way to lay the basis for good citizens than by meeting the basic needs of our children. Besides their most immediate material needs, children need to be nourished with love and caring if they are to be emotionally-stable and fully integrated. If conflict and turbulence is all they see, they couldn't be expected to be of a peaceful disposition.

This is why a close relationship exists between a conflict-free Sri Lanka and emotionally stable Lankans. In view of its gravity we wish the Four Year Plan all the success.

A timely move

The soon-to-be-released movie "Hollywood Buddha" has stirred controversy around the world, mainly because of an offending poster which shows its director Philippe Caland seated on a Buddha statue. Buddhists all over the world have been enraged by the blasphemous image and protests have been organised in many Buddhist countries including Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Caland has apologised to Buddhists for the poster and pledged to withdraw it immediately, saying it was created by a third party by combining two photographs and that the content of the film in no way belittles Buddhism. Though his words are reassuring, the damage has already been done and Buddhists will feel resentful that such an image was publicised in the first place.

There have been several instances of the misuse of Buddha images in recent months. Blouses and bikinis with Buddha images flooded the market a few months ago and the manufacturer withdrew the stocks and related advertisements after Buddhists expressed their displeasure.

Now, in the wake of increasing complaints on the misuse of the Buddha's image for commercial purposes, the Government has taken the initiative at UNESCO to obtain support from other Buddhist countries to prevent such practices internationally. This is a commendable move by Sri Lanka as a leading Buddhist country.

The Buddha Sasana and the Foreign Affairs Ministry plan to initiate a Resolution in UNESCO calling upon all Governments and commercial organisations to take action against such persons.

It is also heartening to note action is also being contemplated to prevent the misuse of Buddha's image and Buddhist symbols at national level. This is especially apparent during the Vesak period, when greeting cards with inappropriate pictures appear in stalls islandwide. They flood the market every year despite repeated crackdowns by the authorities.

The inappropriate or blasphemous use of symbols from any religion cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Such actions could not only hurt the feelings of the followers of the concerned religion but also lead to religious strife. The same applies to references to religion in films, teledramas, radio plays and even in the print media.

On a global level, international cooperation is vital to stop such practices. UNICEF and UNESCO could be instrumental in imparting knowledge on religions among children and adults worldwide, so that all communities and religious groups would learn to respect others' religious beliefs.

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