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BISHOP KENNETH FERNANDO SUPPORTS TAMIL RACISM AS IT SUPPORTS ANGLO-SAXON HEGEMONY IN THE WORLD SAYS PROF. NALIN DE SILVA
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles Sri Lanka’s retired Anglican Bishop Kenneth Fernando who got into serious political controversy after calling Velupillai Prabhakaran, one of the most ruthless terrorist leaders of the world a ‘gentleman’ in the past said though many verbally attacked him then the peace path he showed would be one day proved correct. Kenneth Fernando , who had met the terrorist leader before making the controversial statement many years ago said since God had created all people equal he did not discriminate against any caste or race and all were equal to him.. Speaking to the BBC’s Sinhala language program ,Sandeshaya Bishop Kenneth ,Fernando further said though people verbally attacked him for his peace path even during the time of Jesus Christ, Jesus himself had to face many troubles like that and overcame the obstacles. Responding to Bishop Kenneth Fernando’s statement that he and his Church was treating every one equal Professor Nalin de Silva, leader of the Jathika Chintana Parshadaya think tank said that Bishop Kenneth Fernando’s notion that the Anglican Church was treating everyone equal was absolutely incorrect. . Professor Nalin De Silva said Kenneth Fernando belongs to the Anglican Church and every race was not the same to this Christian group. “Could a Sri Lankan become the Archbishop of Cantebury, the head of the Anglican Church? Could a Black in England hold that post?” Nalin de Silva questioned Bishop Kenneth Fernando. He further said,” The Christ may have undergone difficulties against the Jewish leaders and the Pharisee priests. The Bishop is not experiencing any difficulties in Sri Lanka. He is well fed and as the retired head of the Sri Lankan Anglican Church he enjoys a good life. He is praised by the NGOs and the western press including the peripheral Sandeshaya and continues to be paid by the church. ”Kenneth Fernando said once that Prabhakaran, who killed Sangha in Arantalawa and thousands of people, was humane. Even today Prabhakaran is killing his enemies, now mainly the Tamils who oppose him. Very soon he will be killing again Sinhala Buddhists, including Sangha. The Bishop knows that Prabhakaran would not kill any Christian priests and he knows more than even the Catholic priests in Sri Lanka that Tamil racism serves the cause of Anglo Saxon Christian hegemony. Thus he supports Prabhakaran and the LTTE against the Sinhala Buddhists.” Professor Nalin de Silva said even Kenneth Fernando’s notion that every one was created equal by the God was not correct. He or She or whatever created only Adam and then Eve from Adam. The rest are supposed to be descendents of those two. In any event, he argued, that the God did not treat everybody equal. He said Abel and Cain, the two sons of Adam and Eve were not treated equal by the God. Challenging Kenneth Fernando Nalin de Silva said, even if one forgets the Bible stories the Christians had treated the others as pagans, heathens, and what not. Meanwhile the EPDP in a different situation attacked the South Indian counterpart of Kenneth Fernando for supporting Tamil terrorism In an item published in their website the Tamil political party said, “In an interview to Prof. S.Ratnajeevan Hoole, Rt. Rev. Dr. S. Jebanesan the Bishop of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India has stated, inter alia, “Personally as a Tamil, I feel that the LTTE is the only horse we have to back. Weakening the LTTE can be disastrous for us.” The interview was reported in the Daily News of 26.12.2002. By saying so, the Bishop has implied that the Tamils should not yearn for democracy, pluralism and human rights. Tamil intellectuals are shocked that a Bishop of the Church to which the great Tamil National Leader S.J.V. Chelvanayakam belonged should enter the political fray supporting a terrorist organisation which had murdered thousands of innocent citizens, most of them Tamils.” (EOM) (29/12/02 go2lanka.com) |