The Message of Moderation

There is some food for thought in the proposition that Sri Lanka must adopt the policy of moderation in the conduct of its affairs. We live in a culture that is quite familiar with this concept on account of the deeply- ingrained nature of the Buddhistic Middle Path, which is a way of life among many in this country. But this principle needs to be unambiguously acclaimed as a policy principle in the conduct of matters relating to our polity.

As our front page news story from Malaysia reveals, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Malaysia Nanda Godage is making a strong case for the adoption of the policy of moderation in the conduct of Sri Lankan affairs and we believe this is a timely input from him which must be strongly considered by our policy and decision-makers. As the High Commissioner discloses, multiethnic Malaysia has already gone some distance in the acceptance and adoption of moderation under the guidance of Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is an ardent advocate of the concept and it seems to be proving an effective first principle in state policy.

The majority of the people of this country could be considered as moderates in a political sense and would not need to be persuaded too much to advocate and adopt this all-important principle which makes for peace and social stability. As alluded to earlier, moderation is central to the value structure of the majority of our citizenry and it is all too evident that this ideal derives from the hallowed Middle Path of Buddhism which exhorts the practitioner of the religion to avoid all extremes but traverse a middle course in the conduct of one's affairs, whether personal or public.

Accordingly, the moderates among us would avoid being seen as Right-inclined or Left-inclined in political ideology but would opt for political centrism which translates into a fine combination of doctrinal elements from both the political Right as well as the political Left. In fact, Non-alignment is based on this concept of the Middle Path in politics and this feature accounts for the enduring appeal of Non-alignment as an ideology. Needless to say, this ideology remains valid to date and is the ideal doctrinal foundation for the conduct of international relations. Sri Lanka, of course, has always been inclined to base its foreign policy practice on this timeless principle.

Moderation in the conduct of a polity's internal affairs is as vital as the principle's applicability in the wider world of international relations. At this level too, Sri Lanka's record could not be considered as flawed because political centricism is at the heart of the SLFP's ideological orientation. The fact that SLFP-led coalitions have been in power since 1994, testifies to the hold the Middle Path or political moderation is having on the average voter.

But political moderation has some deeper layers of meaning which need to be explored too because they touch very intimately on the meaning of moderation as outlined by our High Commissioner in Malaysia. What is also meant by moderation in this context is the avoidance of violent extremisms of any kind. For instance, the ideology of ethnic hatred which is propagated in some quarters in our country is the very anti-thesis of political moderation. Religious intolerance too is a form of extremism which flies in the face of moderation, which is the preferred ideology of the majority of our citizens.

We could be stating the obvious by upholding the view that it is the Middle Path or political moderation that should be the cornerstone of our convictions in this context. We have seen how violent political extremisms have all but destroyed this country. The LTTE ideology of race hate was instrumental in bringing this about but corresponding hate ideologies sprouted in other parts of the country too.

All such extremist ideologies must be shown door. Currently there is a need to eschew and denounce religious extremism too. Therefore, the ideology of moderation which is close to our hearts and minds must be enthusiastically inculcated and practised, for this is the pathway to enduring peace.