From rural Sri Lanka, solidarity for Gaza and American students protesting for Palestine 

Posted on May 21, 2024 by beenasarwar

‘A country may believe it wins something by killing people but can anything be as valuable as human life?’

Reverberations of America’s campus protests are felt in a remote rural area in the middle of a jungle in the heart of an island nation at the cusp of Southasia and the Indian Ocean

Venerable Kokawewa Sumedha: “Nahi Verena Verani” (Hatred cannot end hatred). Photo: Ben Samarasinghe

POSTCARD FROM DUTUWEWA

By Beena Sarwar and Uditha Devapriya

Ripples of the student protests in America calling for divestment from Israel and an end to the violence on Palestine are being felt in a remote village in the heart of rural Sri Lanka.

“What gives America the right to lecture us on human rights when their police are beating up brown students protesting for innocent Palestinians?” asks Kokawewa Sumedha, known respectfully as the Thera (Buddhist monk), in a historic village called Dutuwewa, in the Anuradhapura District in Sri Lanka’s North-Central Province. 

The village is named after Sri Lanka’s hero King Dutugemunu who ruled from 161 to 137 BC. He is said to have founded the place while traveling, after his tethered horse broke loose and was found grazing here.

We’re sitting on a stone bench lining the verandah of the Thera’s residential dwelling at the premises of the Sri Purvaramaya Viharaya, Gataleva, the Buddhist temple that the Thera has served for 25 years. The oppressive heat and din of the crickets from the surrounding jungle, known for its wild elephants, are a world away from the centres of power.

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