VULGAR PATRIOTISM

The recently concluded Colombo Night Car races no doubt provided enough thrills and fun to the miniscule section of the “nouveau riche” population who have little else to do. At the same time, the post event show provided enough titillation to the senses of the fun seekers by way of a vulgar skin show by some East European dancers.


What is really surprising is that so far no voice has been raised by any of those super-patriots who scream day in and night out about “international conspiracies” and erosion of cultural values due to foreign influence. Neither have the religious organizations such as Bodu Bala Sena who make a hue and cry of “conversions” from one religion to another uttered a word against this latest attempt to “convert” a nation with a 2500-years proud culture to the vulgar, semi-naked culture of the Europeans – never mind, western or eastern.

And then we have the MP monks of the “Hela Karumaya” who protested vigorously against some foreign artistes and their shows on account of their personal behaviour and alien culture thus putting a stop to such shows and even organizing violent acts against some entertainers; now observing deadly silence against this X-rated vulgar exhibitionism by some cheap dancers in the presence of families with children.

It is a real shame that those who claim exclusive patent rights to patriotism and those who have pledged to usher in a “Dharma Raajya” are hiding their heads in the sand and behavimg like the monkeys who see no evil, lest they offend the sensibilities of the King and the Clown Princes for whose benefit these vulgar shows are staged.

With the soon to be opened Casino Zone and with it the inevitable invasion of more East Europeans for many other forms of vulgar activities, one wonders if this is the Miracle of Asia that has been promised to us.

It is not for nothing that Samuel Johnson once said “Patriotism is the last resort of the scoundrel”