Comments on: Why I was disappointed by the Sri Lankan President’s speech heralding the end to war

By: Kum

Kum — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:05:03 +0000

In a way it is understandable why people want to celebrate. For decades the most “exiting” news people heard in south were numbers of people who got killed in a suicide bomb. Each time when you thought of going to Colombo, you had the fear whether you’d come back. And now when there is different news, the hope that this killing probably would end can certainly be an occasion to celebrate.
But the fact is that we are celebrating deaths of thousands of people at the same time, Greif’s, worries and fears of thousands of people living. And that they don’t live in a far away land we don’t know, but next door. It’s a natural response of a human being to feel what others feel. It doesn’t take anything to just imagine. What I’m surprised most is to see how blind and numb we are to this. And I wonder why. I wonder whether its fear, or whether this is how we always have been or is it this “mad” euphoria intoxicating everybody around.
It’s understandable the need to feel optimistic, at last to feel that we are going forward. And It’s great if it did. But when you just look back at the history, you can’t help seeing the same patterns repeating itself. When Srilanka received freedom from Britten, I imagine there must have been the same nationalistic euphoria. And we know where it ended up. The nature of intoxication is such, when you are under a state of intoxication you feel euphoric, you have distorted sensations and you cannot see things for they are. And it looks like even after 26 yrs with all the damage it’s done, we still don’t want to wake up.

By: niranjan

niranjan — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:03:39 +0000

Heshan I agree with your views on the English language. English is an absolute must. Trilingualism is important with a stress on good English. As it stands now Government schools as well as our universities do not teach good English to its students. The students cannot cope and therefore opt to study in Sinhala. Furthermore, even some of the private and international schools do not teach good English to its students. Finding good teachers is the biggest problem. SWRD started it but subsequently no politician bothered to correct the problem. Even today “sinhala only” is very much alive and kicking. But if there is a huge demand for English I am sure the Government will be compelled to take action. Unfortunately there is no big demand for it. At least I do not see it.

By: Heshan

Heshan — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:58:00 +0000

The ceasefire agreement was signed on 22nd February 2002. It was not abolished till 16th January 2008. Anymore moot points that you wish to discuss?

By: Heshan

Heshan — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:51:00 +0000

By that logic, you are implying that only Tamil doctors and engineers can help Sinhalese in the rural areas. As usual, an absurd line of reasoning. Having a bilingual education system is one thing; funding it is another. As of right now, everyone knows the vast difference in quality between government schools and private schools. The O/L results from Government schools have been dismal for several consecutive years. The failure rate is over 50% for maths, science, and english. Hiring extra teachers to teach another subject (language) would take even more money away from these financially neglected schools. There is no such thing as a “bilingual” curriculum; English will also have to be taught no matter what; therefore it will be a trilingual curriculum. This is very expensive.

Secondly, software is an important component of science education these days (at least in Western countries). Even In India, the Government has funded an initiative called NPTEL to allow all Indians to have free televised (and now Internet) access to basic engineering education. These lectures are all conducted in English. If one wants to use software to enhance science education, the language of choice is English. Since the English used in science is different from that used in everyday English, those who are not fluent in English will have a difficult time using the software.

There is a language barrier between those living in Colombo and the rural masses. However, this is due to the chauvinist mindset of such people as S.W.R.D Bandaranaike, who were more interested in Sinhala-Only language policies than improving the quality of education in rural areas. Such policies as standardization, which allowed rural students to enter the universities with poor exam results, also contributed to the perpetuation of such barriers. Unfortunately, people like “Pragmatist” want to ignore the mistakes of SWRD and his ilk. Such people want to make those mistakes all over again! And when the society goes to pieces, they will put the blame on the Tamils and the Westerners.

By: Jehan

Jehan — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:55:08 +0000

Ranil had a six-year ceasefire? Heshan, what ARE you on about? If you’d been around with your eyes open you’d have know that the ceasefire lasted in effect only from 2002 to 2004 under Ranil.

By: Pragmatist

Pragmatist — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:31:19 +0000

The reason Tamils need to learn Sinhala is because way back in 1970s, before you were born to your refugee parents in Canada, many Tamils worked in the public sector as doctors and engineers in rural areas where sinhala is the only spoken language. What good will their english do in such areas? I suppose you must want all rural farmers to be taught english so that they can speak to the Tamil doctors who do not wish to learn sinhala. Having a bilingual educational system is the BEST for a poor country like Sri Lanka, until such time if the people of the country wish to move over to English. “Only medium of instruction should be English”!! Do you know the caliber of English teachers available in Sri Lanka now? You are taking poppycock and not reality at all.
You, sir, are obviously a person who grew up in Colombo to a wealthy family with a silver spoon in your mouth (and escaped to Canada or USA thanks to the refugee visas) but seem to know very very little about rural Sri Lanka and the people of Sri Lanka. If your parents are scared to let you visit Sri Lanka at least read up about the country on the web. If you must boost your ego writing on behalf of a terrorist outfit , why not write supporting Al Queda in Afghanistan or any other country about which you must be equally ignorant.

By: Heshan

Heshan — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:52:43 +0000

NGO’s and INGO’s do not do much work in the South, to the best of my knowledge. Therefore, they have little reason to complain about suicide bombings. As for the NGO’s and INGO’s in the North and East, these people report what they see. If they are in the No-Fire Zone and there is heavy shelling by the Army, they will report it. Similiarly, if the LTTE shoots at people who try to leave, they will report it. I do not see the “bias” that NGO’s and INGO’s have. All I can say is that many Sinhala Buddhist extremists still have a colonial hangover and assume that any Westerner who sets foot on the island is interested in its exploitation.

There is no point in Tamils learning Sinhala. Sinhala has no value as a language of commerce or science. It is a gigantic waste of resources to have a bilingual curriculum, at least for a poor country like Sri Lanka. The Europeans can manage it as their social services system is extremely good, due to very high taxes. Most Europeans speak 3 or 4 languages. The Singapore Model is the best model for Sri Lanka… the only medium of instruction in the schools should be English. Also, Sri Lanka needs to privatize the universities and make it accessible to more students. India and China are producing millions of technical professionals a year; there is no point in having a few elite schools for 1% of the populace, while letting the rest (the ones who cannot afford overseas education) slave away doing office jobs.

Furthermore, after 60 years of discrimination, and 30 years of civil war, Tamils should not have to learn to live with the majority by imitating them. On the contrary, the majority community needs to give maximum devolution to the minorities. Federalism is the best solution. The only obstacle to federalism is the chauvinist mentality of the South.

By: Pragmatist

Pragmatist — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:13:52 +0000

The proof of NGOs and INGOs innocence will be soon proven when evidence is unearthed from previously occupied areas. I am not saying that NGOs and INGOs
should be spies but I have not seen them say a word when hundreds of civilians are killed by Tiger attacks in the south, far away from the battle. It becomes pretty obvious to anyone but fools what game they are playing. I am willing to bet that Heshan is either working for an NGO/INGO or is a highly paid local peon for them.
Look Mr Heshan, I am an engineering graduate from Sri Lanka with several post graduate degrees. Don’t try to write rubbish in response to my post. You have not answered how Tamil refugees in Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, UK, USA etc learn those native languages with no complaint but make such a big deal about learnin basic Sinhala required for government civil service. What is so horrible about learning the language of the majority of the country. I did not say that Tamils should study at the university in sinhala — that is your poor comprehension of English. University education for science, engineering and medicine should continue in English with some accommodation of sinhala and tamil medium students during the transition period for new student — this is the current practice in SL. You are obviously hurting because your INGO employers will be soon out of a job in Sri Lanka. Go do something more useful for humanity like farming or fishing.

By: Heshan

Heshan — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:22:36 +0000

Sri Lanka had many chances to kick these “pro-Tiger” NGO’s and INGO’s, as you say, out of the country for good. So why did it not avail itself of the opportunity? The chauvinist mindset is that because these NGO’s and INGO’s formed good relations with the Tigers, they must somehow be “sympathetic” to the latter. What about the reverse logic? If these NGO’s and INGO’s, were “against” the Tigers, would they be somehow considered patriotic? Perhaps individuals like “Pragmatist” feel the NGO’s and INGO’s with access to LTTE controlled areas would serve a better purpose, were they also to serve as spies for the Sri Lanka Army?

Of course, this is sheer nonsense. The NGO’s and INGO’s are there for humanitarian reasons. They have no hidden agenda. If they form good relations with the Tigers, that is purely on a professional level… I have yet to hear of any NGO’s and INGO’s marrying LTTE members in large numbers. Neither have I seen the bodies of NGO’s and INGO’s lying next to LTTE cadres on the battlefield.

Here we go with the Sinhala language nonsense. Does Pragmatist want to explain the value of teaching Sinhala to future scientists, engineers, and IT professionals? If Pragmatist honestly feels that Sri Lankan children educated in Sinhala can tackle the complexities of high technology and commerce, I dare say, he lacks any education beyond secondary school; else, he would easily see the absurdity of his viewpoint.

By: Pragmatist

Pragmatist — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:18:10 +0000

Heshan seems to pontificate from his cozy abode in Canada or USA not realizing that the rules of the humanitarian game are very different for small nations as opposed to those that seem to make the rules — like the US, UK etc. He goes on to say that the MR did not admit the civilian suffering caused by the war implying army had a role to play on that too. We all know one such utterance by MR will get splashed all over the web and all the proTiger INGOs will use that as the fodder to create more problems for Sri Lanka — probes, investigations, sanctions etc etc. We do not need all that hypocrisy when the country is trying to start a fresh. People like Heshan probably profit from a sustained conflict in SL like the disaster industry made up of proTiger NGOs and INGOs. I am a Tamil-Sinhala person and see many idiots like Heshan writing nonsense all over the web.
This entire conflict was a very costly mistake by Tamil leadership in Jaffna, egged on by their Tamil Nadu supporters. I would like to ask just one question from Heshan OR any other diapora Tiger sympathiser who may or may not have lived in Sri Lanka (most I think have not) any significant length of time.
WHEN TAMIL REFUGEES EMIGRATE TO ITALY, FRANCE, UK, USA, CANADA ETC. THEY ALL LEARN TO SPEAK THE LOCAL LANGUAGE AND ADAPT. HOW COME THEY FIND LEARNING TO SPEAK IN SINHALA A DISCRIMINATION IN THE COUNTRY OF THEIR BIRTH, PARTICULARLY AS MANY OF THEM WISH TO ALSO LIVE AND WORK IN SINHALA AREAS? This question does not apply to those diapora born outside of SL as many of them are just brainwashed by their proTiger parents.

By: Nigel Jay

Nigel Jay — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:28:40 +0000

I am a sinhalese but reluctant to be caught up with euphoria created by the speech made by the President .There is no doubt that Prabakarm was an evil man but only a few will admit that he was also an evil genius .Directly and indirectly(mostly from the jungles in the North ) he not only controlled the lives of over three million people ,but also made a huge and a frightening impact on local and international politics.It is imperative that we as a nation eradicate forever the causes that produced “an evil genius ” rather than basking in the glory of eradicting one “evil genius”

By: Ardbneham

Ardbneham — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:30:16 +0000

Await the next Presedential Election – allthe thuggery know on earth will be
used, as the Tamil votes will go to the UNP in avengening the past – its a
certainity. The last Parliamentary speech of MR is an indication to give the Tamils all their needs – except Political, in return for a Vote.
Douglas-Karuna-Pilliyan team will not serve him in full – their presence
alone is enough to drive the Vote to UNP?

By: Heshan

Heshan — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:11:19 +0000

However much you folks try to demonize the LTTE, the fact of the matter is they enjoyed a working relationship with the Tamils. That is why, in my opinion, the question of how best to deal with the LTTE would have best been left to the Tamils themselves. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe understood this point quite clearly, and engaged in a six-year ceasefire, during which time the country experienced unprecedented economic growth. Perhaps his approach lacked the intensity, not to mention, brutality, of his successor; nevertheless, one can surmise that had this ceasefire continued, the LTTE would have faded into oblivion or else become integrated into the mainstream via a federal solution.

On the other hand, Ranil’s successor has constructed a police state of sorts, particularly one with lucrative business and political interests for his family and friends. Instead of integrating anti-government extremist elements into the mainstream, he would rather crush them using every resource at his disposal. Unfortunately, dissenters of even a moderate temperament share a similar fate.

Here I would I to like to ask a meaningful question: can a society progress, that does not tolerate dissent? If the sole issue were national security, then the answer, with minor exceptions, is actually yes. One can bombard the citizenry with a media blitz of the us-or-them philosophy, stirring up a high intensity wave of nationalist euphoria, whose final output is a colossal military expenditure. I said minor exceptions because it will not work in the North. Its value in some diaspora circles is also questionable. In any case, outside of national security concerns, the answer is a resounding no. There is no status quo that is so perfect that reform of some kind or another is unnecessary. Therein lies the danger which underlies the Rajapakse approach: new ideas do not come along to replace old ones; the same thuggish approach of brutality, denial and cover-up is utilized to handle the latest issue at hand. Today it may have been the LTTE, tomorrow, however, it will easily be education policy. Certainly the IDP’s are feeling the heat. The Supreme Court has been rendered meaningless after its failure to enforce the oil prices. Simply put, can the institutions of this nation hope to evolve in such a climate? Many such institutions are already in dire straits; mired in corruption, they have adopted a similar approach of BDC. The very fate of the economy hinges on securing the IMF loan; but this is only so due to poor economic planning, which to a great extent commenced at the behest of the higher echelons of the Governments.

What are people who lack institutions? They are essentially refugees. The IDP’s fall into this category. The irony is that the majority community is hardly in a better position. Many of its institutions have become fragmented. Most of them function at sub-optimum levels of performance. Unfortunately, the Rajapakse’s lack enough innovation to improve upon them. Thus the price of the “war on terrorism” will likely be this lacksidasical, half-hearted approach to all matters of civil society. The results, of course, will be sub-optimal. Maybe the UNP will come back, but that is also quite unlikely, given the monopoly of the rural South on the institution of government.

By: Jehan

Jehan — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:04:07 +0000

Forget it guys. Heshan’s view will mean that he will relegate himself to a passenger seat in this process of change. Instead of participating and shaping the direction of our malleable future, his negative view of the future will mean that he just sits there and complains that it’s going somehwere he doesn’t want to be. If you can’t be positive and hopeful at a time like this, then when can you? Faith is an essential component for positive change, and people that do not have it, cannot really make much difference for good. So, leave him to his misery.

By: Nicolai

Nicolai — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:28:11 +0000

Heshan. You have missed the boat.

This argument is a zero sum game I know, so there is no point. Shanali has tried and done a good job. I will also make my useless case just for the heck of it.

I think you should try to tell your story to Lakshman Kadirgamar’s family. Here is a man who studied law at the University of Ceylon and got his LLB. He was admitted to the Ceylon Bar and later, to Balliol College University of Oxford. Pretty good accomplishment for a Tamil man wouldn’t you say? He was considered probably the one of the most capable lawyers of his time in Ceylon along with Elian Kannangara and a few others, many who were Tamils. My father was one of them. Where are they now? Why? But then again people like you wouldn’t even consider us Tamils.

We have lost so many good ones because they did not agree with the cause, so they were had to be executed. You are either with us or against us you say?

10,000 citizens perished? (you must be one of the army guys doing the head counts, given there is no official record) and many more army personnel perished because of your support of a monster who could not have functioned without your (assumption, or you are just a Sinhala-no budhist politico with your own agenda) support. Tell your story to all the family members of the army who died to rid us of this cancer. Spare me with the reality show ok.

Sorry Groundviews. This response is not in the spirit of your terms, but I could not help it as I typed.

By: Shanali

Shanali — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:03:24 +0000

I agree with Sachintha…nothing can ever satisfy people like you. Tell us, what have YOU done to end the suffering of the people? Have you sacrificed your blood to save a thousand more, like the tens of thousands of young men in our land? These people sacrificed their lives to save YOU , to save US. And yes, the leaders of our nation are definitely not perfect, including Rajapakse, but THEY are the ones who ended the war, and prevented the suffering of thousands more in the months and years to come. Trust that they make the best decisions for the betterment of our country.

By: Heshan

Heshan — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:42:18 +0000

And yet, neither of you can point to any flaw in my logic. Instead you choose to wallow in your new-found sense of nationalist “pride.” Poor Sri Lanka, having failed to accomplish anything of significance in 60 years, other than one strangling the demands of its minorities, suddenly emerged the “victor” of its own civil war, having let more than 10,000 of its own minority citizens perish within just 3 months! That is the bottom line… and no matter who may try to deny it, it is the reality.

By: Nicolai

Nicolai — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:30:07 +0000

Sachintha >>

Agreed. I think it is one of those personality things. Many are born with it and they can’t help it. These are type ‘D’ personalities (I made that up). They are like cats. They are always on the wrong side of the door.

By: Sachintha

Sachintha — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:48:47 +0000

There is no point in arguing with people like you who always see the glass half empty.

By: Heshan

Heshan — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:25:10 +0000

“Let’s just hope that the speech is not the Government’s vision of the post-war Sri Lanka.”

Actually the speech is a perfect reflection of its broader “vision”: one centered around an anti-Western neo-chavunist “Sinhala-Buddhist” ideology. The continued detainment of exclusively Tamil IDP’s (they will be held for at least three years, not months, as the author claims) implies us an “us or them” mentality (note Rajapakse’s phrase: “patriots or not patriots.” This black and white dichotomy should not be confused with any notion of “unity.” “Unity”, in the modern sense of the word, encompasses diversity, and by extension, dissent. Rajapakse’s speech made clear that dissent will not be tolerated, on any scale, which is probably why he did not give any cogent description of the human rights issues currently plaguing the nation. He did not speak of greater tolerance for journalists or dismantling of checkpoints and high security zones… also, he did not mention constitutional reform on any significant scale, other than a half-hearted reference to a “political solution.” What about elimination of the Executive Presidency? If done, it would constrain the current dictatorial powers he now enjoys, thereby undermining the very foundations of the police state he is a Master of. Rajapakse’s speech was all and well predictable, as the author correctly pointed out. It was aimed more or less at the already complacent, albeit euphoric masses, high on their doses of flag-waving hysteria, while simultaneously holding out some kind of foreign branch for badly needed international investment.

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