CAN CHALLENGING STATUS QUO BE A CRIMINAL OFFENCE?
Shakthika opens up on being a victim of censorship
‘Niwahal Sithuvili Sithana Sithath Udarai’ reads the first stanza of Pandit W. D. Amaradeva’s popular track written by Dolton Alwis. It translates to “great is the mind of an independent thinker”. But for centuries, free-thinkers and those with creative ideas and rich imaginations were viewed as a threat to conventional society. Recently, post-modernist writer and poet Shakthika Sathkumara was arrested for expressing his creativity in black and white. His short story ‘Ardha’ or ‘half’, was attacked by factions of the Buddhist clergy who claimed it insulted Buddhism. Sathkumara was charged and remanded on non-bailable grounds under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act. Ending his 130 days behind bars, Sathkumara is determined to fight for his rights and the freedom of expression.
Religion never decided on the evolution of mankind or society. It is a barrier to a free-thinker. It leaves less space for innovation.
Sathkumara was charged and remanded on non-bailable grounds under the (ICCPR) Act
LITERATURE, RELIGION AND CENSORSHIP
At the recent A&K Lit Fest, Sathkumara opined that censoring literature and science came from religious institutions. “Certain ideas that benefited mankind were censored, be it literature or science. Creativity is imaginary, and it sets a precedent. People must have the right to imagine, and the right to express themselves,” he said.
He added that all religions sustained themselves through institutionalization. “Gautama Buddha criticised 62 religions in India. But he wasn’t taken to courts. It’s important to distinguish between criticism and defamation,” he noted. Sathkumara stressed that religion dragged people down and scared them to limit their imagination. “Religion never decided on the evolution of mankind or society. It is a barrier to a free-thinker. It leaves less space for innovation. Development happens because people think. People have been killed for criticizing the status quo. That’s what happened to Socrates, Copernicus and Galileo Galilei,” he said.
He contended that religious institutions tried to intimidate writers by taking them to courts. “We must battle our way through and win. Otherwise we will need approval from these institutions to write what we want,” he said. “There should be an attempt to establish freedom of expression through the law. In that case even Martin Wickremesinghe’s ‘Bawatharanaya’ has to be challenged and censored. Censoring happens when a society feels that some concept needs to be rejected. But this doesn’t apply to one’s thinking and writing. An idea could be criticised, but not by putting the writer behind bars,” he said.
He further said that people shouldn’t take writings based on fantasy personally.“if they take it personally, then I don’t think they are matured in their thinking. A work of literature can never declare war. But in history, religion and scientific beliefs have started wars. There’s a disparity among nationalities, ethnicities and castes as well. In Sri Lanka we think that Sinhalese form the majority and the others are minorities. But there can’t be a majority and a minority in a country. In 2009 when everybody was celebrating the war victory I wrote my first book of poetry titled ‘Wedi Wadunu Panhinda’ where I asked readers whether there was a winner in a war,” he said.
He opined that the Government did not take necessary action probably because religion was superior to the law. Although ‘Dathi Roden Upan Budun’ by Tennyson Perera was investigated by the CID and Manjula Wediwardena’s ‘Mary Nam Wu Mariya’ was censored, Sathkumara was the first to be imprisoned for his writing, making his impending case and judgment a historical one.
He contended that religious institutions tried to intimidate writers by taking them to courts