They seem forsaken - certainly by the government. They eke out an existence, with hardly one meal a day, consisting of rice and scraped coconut, if they are lucky. They are surrounded by those too impoverished to satisfy their own hunger. These are the Buddhist monks in Pottuvil, Akkaraipattu etc. under the jurisdiction of the government - which apparently refuses acknowledgement of its responsibility. The villages around are consigned to abject poverty, with perhaps only one drinking water well for the whole village, no proper roads, no schools, no medicine, no medical facilities at all, no transport - in fact, no amenities.
In these remote areas, it is mostly one monk to one temple and this monk, who often young, is genuine Buddha-Puthra stuff, otherwise he would have started running a long time ago, without looking back!
The lone monk in the Eravur temple was found dead under suspicious circumstances and the temple with its premises was taken over automatically by the non-Buddhists in the vicinity.
Who cared? True, Sri Lankans have long since stopped expecting anything good from the governments they foolishly keep electing, but how about the Mahanayakes, who have been appointed to foster the Buddha Sasana? Surely, it is their duty to find out the plight of their brethren in remote parts? If no funds are available elsewhere, is it too much to ask the Diyawadana Nilame and the Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters to raise funds through all possible means perhapys by cutting down on daily expenses on rituals etc. and donate money to ameliorate the pathetic condition of these monks?
Should not the President, Prime Minister, Buddha Sasana Minister and ministers on both sides stop concentrating their attention on areas closer to home and survey the outer regions of the island, where both monks and lay people are undergoing such hardship? Politicians are certainly under oath to protect the country and its inhabitants and their avowed task is to distribute equally whatever resources are available.
What else are governments for? As nothing ever seems to reach the outer fringes, when do they not begin some development projects from the outside in, targeting the destitute areas first?
Dare we ask our Bhddhists to rise up and take action to support these monks, heroically struggling to upkeep their derelict temples, in order to keep going the Sasana?
