Last week’s incidents at the convocation of the University of Colombo, where some graduands refused to receive their degree from the university’s recently appointed Vice-Chancellor, Buddhist monk and trade union leader Muruththetuwe Ananda thero, should be considered a landmark.
Many graduands approached the monk, ignored his offer of the degree and opted instead to pose alongside briefly with the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Chandrika Wijeratne.
This was because the appointment of Ananda thero was considered purely political. Even prior to the convocation, the university’s Faculty of Management and Finance decided to boycott the convocation. This was to express displeasure at the appointment, teachers of the faculty said in a statement.
To put these events in context, the background to Muruththetuwe Ananda thero’s appointment needs to be considered. The outspoken, assertive monk has been the head of the Public Services United Nurses Union (PSUNU), the dominant nurses’ trade union in the country for several decades.
Although some have questioned why a Buddhist monk heads a union comprising mostly of female nurses, there have been no questions raised about his conduct. To give credit where it is due, Ananda thero has been instrumental in winning many demands for nurses and is held in high esteem by the profession.
Ananda thero’s role in politics in nothing new. He has always been an activist monk, at the forefront of challenging authority even during the days when J. R. Jayewardene was President. In 1987, he was among the organisers of a May Day rally which was to begin from the Abhayaramaya, Narahenpita, the temple in which Ananda thero is the chief incumbent. The government of the day had banned the rally and led to Police shooting participants as they left, leaving two persons dead. The incident came to symbolise the authoritarian style of government of President Jayewardene.
It was after former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election defeat in January 2015 that his role in local politics came to the fore once again. The Abhayaramaya temple became a focal point for the then fledgling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and was a virtually its unofficial party headquarters. Many a meeting of opposition stalwarts was held there and Rajapaksa regularly attended the temple with the blessings of the monk who came to be closely identified with the former President.
However, that relationship appeared to have turned sour in recent months with Ananda thero publicly questioning the wisdom of several government policies and the conduct of some politicians, especially in the wake of the government’s handling of the Corona virus pandemic, heeding to advice given by the Government Medical Officers’ Association, a trade union, while ignoring the warnings of more professional medical bodies.
It also appeared that Ananda thero’s criticisms were directed more at President Gotabaya Rajapaksa rather than Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. In one interview on social media, the monk even queries whether the Premier is disinterested in governance now. Vocal as always, the monk was quite blunt in his criticisms and was providing ample material to the opposition to attack the government with.
As recently as in late October, Ananda thero called upon President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to cede his position to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. “We had huge expectations that the country would be uplifted under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Vistas of Prosperity policy. We hoped the country would move forward but today the country is facing a massive crisis We predict this marks the end of the Rajapaksa rule. Mahinda Rajapaksa should take over the country before the elections if the ‘Rajapaksa rule’ is to continue,” he told a media briefing.
It is against such a backdrop that the appointment of Muruththetuwe Ananda thero as the Chancellor of the Colombo University was announced in mid-November. It had all the hallmarks of appeasing a vociferous critic because, while Ananda thero was well recognised as a charismatic trade unionist, he clearly lacked the academic credentials to be appointed a university Chancellor.
In making the appointment, President Rajapaksa didn’t mince his words either. “I gave the Chancellor position of the University of Colombo to Muruththetuwe Ananda thero. Ananda thero helped this government to come into power. The thero made contributions from the time of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. That’s true.” The President said publicly, indicating that the monk was being rewarded for his political affiliations.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is not the first President to appoint a loyalist as the Chancellor of a university. However, when his predecessors have done so, it has been with a degree of decorum and dignity, appointing a person with some academic credentials so that the respect for the office is maintained.
It is this blatant violation of the traditional norm that has angered academics and graduands like. Add the fact that Ananda thero’s recent public announcements against the President seem to be muted now, after he has been rewarded with the office of Chancellor and there is justifiable reason for the protest.
Ananda thero’s appointment came around the same time as two other Buddhist monks being offered key appointments: Galagoda-Aththe Gnanasara thero being appointed head of the ‘One Country, One Law’ Presidential Task Force and Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha thero, chief incumbent of the Kelaniya temple as Chancellor of the Kelaniya University.
Gnanasara thero’s appointment came in for widespread ridicule as his record on issues related to communal matters is too well known. It was the chief priest of Kelaniya temple who, despite being a scholar monk, presided over the ‘sacred relics from the Kelani river’ drama prior to the presidential election. Though his eligibility to be Chancellor was never in question because of his history in academia, his appointment too appeared to be a reward for past favours.
The protests at Colombo University’s convocation are significant therefore for one very good reason: the days when citizens kept their thoughts to themselves and held their tongues out of a sense of respect for the saffron robe- or fear of offending their religion- seem to be finally over. They have now come to terms with reality: religious leaders, particularly Buddhist monks are but a tool for politicians to gain their ends and they can be enticed as other laymen can be. Therefore, such religious leaders neither command nor gain respect, just because they don a religious garb.
That was the deafening message from the convocation of the Colombo University last week. If that thought endures among our citizens, this regime will have a tough time securing re-election.
