If you don’t mind my asking, what is your race?
At my local hospital (in the UK) this morning, a nurse asked: “If you don’t mind my asking, what is your race?” Not the sort of everyday question, so I was taken aback. “Different races have different risks, you see”, she quickly explained. “Oh, I am Sri Lankan”, I replied. But is that a race? Aren’t we Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim etc. for this race purpose?
From a DNA point of view, Sri Lankan is probably my race. A random subset of Sri Lankans will have the same statistical variation in their genomes, as a group of a particular ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Our genomes are quite a soup: Of indigenous islanders, invading thugs, fishermen in transit and travelling businessmen who retired to stay. My own ancestors were probably thugs, given I can neither catch fish nor do business. (The similarity in medical risk the nurse was concerned with probably has more to do with common lifestyles of immigrants than with genetics.)
Medicine aside, I wondered when I was first asked for my race / nationality and I replied: “Sri Lankan”. It is always a good exercise to flashback at your earliest memory of something. Sharpens your mind and delays the onset of Alzheimer’s.
“When did you first become aware of your penis?” a lecturer at Peradeniya once asked us, a group of undergraduates. University rules do not usually allow such a question. But the lecturer was a philosopher. Also, I had just cracked that silly joke about God being a civil engineer from the Public Works Department: Who else would run a toxic wastepipe right in the middle of a recreation area? “I always knew I had it – and functionally perfect too, thank you very much”, was my aggressive reply to the philosopher. We engaged in a lengthy debate about what he meant by “become aware”. In those lovely surroundings of Peradeniya, with its peaceful looking mountains, winding river and beautiful trees, my philosopher friends could stretch your mind as much as the complex calculus of electromagnetic wave propagation could — albeit in an entirely useless way.
Talking of Peradeniya, I once asked my late father what his flashback of university memories were. A rather crooked character who was my dad’s class mate, upon graduating with considerable struggle, had applied for an inspector position in the police. Bosses there requested the then Vice Chancellor at Peradeniya, Sir Ivor Jennings, for a reference on this chap. “It is my firm belief, considering the interests of society”, Sir Ivor is rumored to have written, “this gentleman is best kept inside the forces than let loose on the outside”. So it seems the foundations were laid long ago, by a celebrated educationist (and sudda – patriots, your chance), for the shameful drama our country enacted at the beaches of Bambalapitiya a few weeks back.
Getting back to my flashback, my first ever declaration of being Sri Lankan nearly landed me in trouble. I was 15 then, and had gone to the Post Office at Bandarawela to get an identity card to sit my GCSE O/L.
I need to clarify the context for you. In the early seventies, Sirimavo had won the elections, the first of the JVP uprisings had been brutally put down and we had declared ourselves a Republic. (Just a Republic then, the “Democratic Socialist” part was added when we decided to be neither – power ever more centralized; gulf between rich and poor ever wider.) No more citizens of Her Majesty, not even a ceremonial Governor, Supreme Court is our own and Supreme. That was all very exciting in my teen-age days.
In recognition of the Republic, I had declared myself a Sri Lankan Tamil, strictly in that order: Sri Lankan first, Tamil second.
After careful analysis, I had even developed my very own teen-ager model of the Banda-Chelva pact: Hire some thugs to beat up Tamils, Banda gets votes in the South, Chelva gets votes in the North. “What do these teen-agers know about real politics”, you reject. Or do you?
At the post office, I filled the form in. Where it asked for nationality, I wrote Sri Lankan. Correct answer, you will readily agree.
The Post Master, however, had a different take. “You should write Ceylon Tamil”, he suggested. He was a very nice man I recall, clean shaven, dressed in full white and spoke good English. A well trained civil servant.
“But I am Sri Lankan”, I protested.
“Ceylon Tamil, you write”, he said firmly.
There was a stand-off. I wasn’t prepared to give up my nationalism. He wasn’t going to deviate from his civil service training. The sleepy post office in that beautiful up-country town has never experienced such tension. But it lasted just for a few seconds though.
I quickly realized I wasn’t going to win this and backed down. Sitting my exam was more important than making a petty nationalistic stand, no?
So I filled the form all over again, this time writing “Ceylon Tamil” against nationality. But I made it a point to record my protest by signing it in Tamil script. It was my way of saying “I belong here”.
The habit that started then has stayed with me ever since. Thirty five years on, I still sign my name using Tamil script. Every time I sign, I remember the nice Postman Perera and his innocent attempt at disallowing me membership of my country.
The signature has distorted significantly over the years, and I have invented a kind of flowing-hand writing for Tamil, but still recognizable Tamil characters.
In the mid eighties, before the chip ‘n pin type credit cards were invented, we used cheques a lot. I would go into random petrol stations in London, and often find a South Asian looking young guy working there. Illegal, asylum-seeking Ceylon Tamil guy who ran away from Sri Lanka – fearful of the war or for economic betterment, who knows? The guy would look at my signature on the cheque, compare it to that on the back of the guarantee card and, recognizing the Tamil font, would greet me with a smile and seek to confirm our common race: “Siri Langaavaa?”
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Bloody brilliant!
Race is an old view coming from Darwinian Theories.
THe MOST applicable description is ETHNICITY.
Ethnic origin of some is a combination of ones WORLD VIEW and YOUR DNA.
NATURE + NUTURE=Ethnicity.
So your Ethnicity is Ceylon/Sri Lankan-Tamil whilst your NATIONALITY IS SRI LANKAN. THAT IS IF YOU HAVE NOT BECOME A CITIZEN OF ANOTHER COUNTRY.
IF YOU BECOME A CITIZEN OF ANOTHER COUNTRY THEN YOU CAN NOT SAY YOUR RACE IS SRI LANKAN. BECAUSE THERE IS NO ETHNIC GROUP CALLED SRI LANKAN OR CEYLONESE.
SRI LANKAN, CEYLONESE AND MIGHT I SAY INDIAN SIGNIFY A MEMBERSHIP OF A NATION-STATE. THAT IS ALL.
SO YOU SHOULD ACCURATELY SAY YOUR RACE OR ETHNIC GROUP IS = TAMIL.
OUR YOU COULD SAY I AM A TAMIL FROM SRI LANKA. AS OPPOSED TO SAY INDIA.
What a fine piece of writing.
On the subject of genetics there are certain diseases (multiple sclerosis for example) that affect only people of European stock, the disease having evolved, after the migration out of Africa.
See for example
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Different-Races-Are-Genetically-Prone-to-Different-Diseases-44056.shtml
http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20020507hgene0507p3.asp
Beautifully written, thank you for sharing this. Your story reminds me of a friend of mine who got married in Sri Lanka around two years ago. She filled in “sri lankan” instead of “sinhala” in the application form (where it asks for nationality) for a marriage license and was engaged in a stand-off similar to the one you had with postman perera all those years ago. So, i guess nothing has changed, even after 30+ years. In the end she gave in, as she wanted to get married anyway. Where do we start to change this?
It seems amazing that wherever we go outside of Sri Lanka there is one meaning for “race” and within Sri Lanka it has another meaning. In USA when there are government forms to be filled “race” is still asked for but Asians of all kinds are lumped together with Pacific Islanders in a race group called “Asian/Pacific Islander”. Of course, there is always a category for “Other”. For some time now I have been classifying myself in the “Other” category by spelling out Human Race or just denoting H.R. So far no one has questioned my self classification as belonging to the human race – perhaps it is an undebatable point! In nations like Sri Lanka the concept of separate races should be abolished in favor of one nationality/race for all – Sri Lankan. Perhaps that might make life difficult for the fanatics, nuts and politicians who play the race card all the time to their advantage. If it not race then it is religion – they always find something to manipulate the gullible public. I do not know of a single Sri Lankan national leader, since independence in 1948, who was able to look beyond race.
Dear Mahesan
It is a nice article exploring down the history. But you must write much much more about this interesting nurse in the hospital. I don’t see any need for that question unless you had a rare disease or Thalasseamia major. Again it should have been asked by the Doctor and by no body else .So this queston becomes very imporatant in the back drop of U.K. refusing Visas for S.L. people and their attempt to whiten the country by bringing rules, like job prioriry to Europian Union people. Don’t you think this amounts to Racial Discrimination, the country who claims Mother Of Democracy?
its a beautiful story,
I don’t see any hate in your story and that is really nice. I sincerely hope there will be a day that no one will ask that question anymore”what is your race…..
anywhere in the world,
Ethnicity would be Tamil/Sinhalese.
Race would be ….Aryan? Dravidian? for those who are technical. Else just Asian.
Far as I know, one needs to put these rubbish down on marriage license because of the different family & land laws that are applicable if one is Muslim or Jaffna Tamil, as per personal preference. Not sure of this, though.
But on a exam ID card? Now wonder we are revolving in the same spot while the world moves forward.
Thanks. I enjoyed reading this.
Excellent article…. I have few more stories too. UOC is no different to Peradeniaya though we don’t have ‘Hanthane’
Did people write Ceylon Sinhalese then or was that a given a Sinhalese would not be anything but Ceylonese?
What good it did to people like my late father who retired from his plum govt. post as inspector of schools (art) and sold his car because he did not want to display Sinhala Sri.
He should have listened to my uneducated mother and learnt Sinhala thus retaining his post and not listened to that old Tamil fox G.G.Ponnambalam.
The idiot in my father sold his car and bought a bicylce whereas G.G.Kept his fleet of Mercs.
If you’re not “connected” – if you don’t know the “right” people – then you have little chance in SL. My experience has been that this is true of many Asian cultures, in general. It transcends any socio-economic consideration.
THANK YOU for this article!!! The first time I was asked what my race was, was at the ripe old age of 32, just a couple of weeks ago!!! I wouldn’t have known what my race was, though I knew there were broad divisions such as Caucasian, etc. which to me were ‘races’. Oh well, a kind old gentleman in Matara asked me what race I was, I said I was Indian (meaning none of the ‘races’ here in Sri Lanka). He went on to ask me what race I was in India and I was totally at a loss as to how to answer this! So in the end I told him my mixed-up Indian roots of the States my parents were from in India. I really don’t know what my race is and even what my ethnicity is… and I’ve lived life very happily (so far) without it! I sincerely hope for a time like that in Sri Lanka too, where what one’s ‘race; or ethnicity is doesn’t matter very much.
Re: the reference to Sir Ivor Jennings in the story, may I relate the story I heard about this incident.
It was not Sir Ivor but Prof. Marrs (from the University College as it was known then) who gave the reference(as mentioned in the story) to an undergrad on passing out to join as an A.S.P. in the Police force.
The person who got that reference,went on to become a most colourful character ending up as a D.I.G.. He was also a rugby player and later coach of his prestigious Colombo School. In the Police force his exploits are many,both good and bad.
Subra
Oh, by the way, in school I learnt that the people living in Sri Lanka are called Sinhalese. I noticed when Muttiah Muralitharan’s (Indian) wife first came to SL, she also said something about marrying a Sinhalese (meaning Sri Lankan). Hmpf!!!
“Of indigenous islanders, invading thugs, fishermen in transit and travelling businessmen who retired to stay. My own ancestors were probably thugs, given I can neither catch fish nor do business.”
though i can see that you are attempting to be somewhat amusing here, just to clarify, do you mean to suggest that “indigenous islanders” (presumably singhalese) are of a different origin to “invading thugs” (presumably Tamils)?
or do you mean to suggest that both singhalese and Tamils were “invading thugs” at the expense of the “indigenous islanders”, the Veddas? [it begs the question of course, how did those "indigenous islanders" get there in the first place?]
your thin layer of sarcasm at the vexed question of origins of the supposed disparate singhala and Tamil racial identities, will probably be completely missed by those who go on (still to this day) insisting that Tamils in sri lanka are the residues of invading chola ‘hordes’ or British colonial imported labour, and thus require expulsion from the singhala homeland.
i’m sure the irony hasn’t escaped you – that as you go on in western countries proclaiming your Sri Lankan identity, slowly but inexorably Tamil identity in sri lanka is being diminished. in 100 years time who knows whether that recent video on the Kaffirs may also be applicable to the Tamils – vide the East Coast…
“The inescapable reality is that the Tamils of the east are a people in decline. Literally so as their numbers continue to dwindle as the Sinhala and Muslim population of the east expands. Sinhala villages line the road from Polonnaruwa almost to Valaichchenai and Muslims dominate the coast from Kattankudi to Kalmunai and beyond.
…Peace and the end of separatism must be a relief for any and all those who are truly fond of this ancient island but that one of the east�s cultures appears to be disappearing gradually pushed by emigration, disenchantment and despair into insignificance can only be a source of sadness,
For now in the evenings the air in the centre of Batticaloa town is still perfumed. Thick with incense as burning camphor is offered to the gods � as it has been for over thousands of years. But how much longer these rituals will persist in the face of the inexorable demographic and economic changes now gripping the east is difficult to predict.”
[http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090927/onthespot-1.HTM]
it is surely much easier to simply emigrate, flee as a refugee, adopt a sinhala name and language (and the trappings of a buddhist lifestyle), marry into the singhalese community, assimilate and reject altogether ones’ Tamil identity (aside from a few pathetic token gestures at “thambi”/”akka” and the like) – all of which have been/are being practised by my (formerly) Tamil families in sri lanka.
the poor, dispossessed, powerless Tamil communities in sri lanka, like the Plantation Tamils, remain poor and will come to epitomise the ‘toilet cleaner’ ‘dalit’ Tamils of ‘Toilet Nadu”, that singhala racists so much love to name call and wish to be true.
it would seem that the singhala political project from the 1930/40s is indeed succeeding.
on an aside, i would ask the very many supposedly liberal, inclusive, moderate, progressive (etc etc) singhala contributors to this site to accept that for many of them, Tamils are welcome in sri lanka but only up until a certain extent. that the above mentioned singhala political project (cf what happened to the Jaffna library that still sears my soul – that alone was enough) must in their eyes be first fully entrenched in the demographic polity before ‘charitable’ ‘humanitarian’ aid concern can truly be extended to what is left of the Tamil people in that cursed island.
“Tamils are our brothers and sisters and there wouldn’t be a sri lanka without you” – this oft rendered tear-jerking extension of sibling fraternity by the singhalese now makes me sick. how i wish it were true and how i wish the singhalese masses, their political community and civil society truly behaved in real actions in such a manner. it has been 60 years of waiting.
it goes without saying that i think the jet set colombo 7 Tamils are mostly scum of the earth.
p.s – My experience of London from the eighties till the present, upon entering random petrol stations was always to be greeted by curious petrol shop attendants with, “Tamilar”? NOT “Siri Langavaa”.
At present situation is different in Sri Lanka.
We all fill as “Srilankan” for Natioanality.
We can see in the image of PO ID card given above this problem was due to using wrong translation in English and Sinhala.
In English it was printed correctly as Nationality (Belongs to which Nation?) while in Sinhalese it was printed as ‘Jathiya’ which means Race. So the Post Master reading sinhala word, asked your race instead of Natioanality.
Now in Sri Lanka we use the sinhala word “Puravaesi Bava” for Nationality. (Citizenship) . No one use (or ask) Tamil, Yonaka or Sinhalese as Natioanality. If some one asked -officially- then it means his unawareness.
In marriages I think you have to fill 1. Nationality and also 2. Jathiya (race) and also 3. Religion. (There are different laws depending on your race/area/religion for marriages ) In addition many wanted to know your cast too – unofficial-.
—–
For ‘Indian in Lanka’ it may be to know your ethinic background because we have had very different practical experiences in dealing with Tamils to Malayalee to North Indians etc. from India especially in business activities. It is hard to believe that was the 1st time in your life someone interested about your race just becase I am with many Indians from all the states of Southern India in my work place.
“In nations like Sri Lanka the concept of separate races should be abolished in favor of one nationality/race for all” – Pragmatist, how right you are! Unfortunately for us it is those same politicians who play the race card who will have to pass this piece of legislation. And let’s not forget that it is a racial-minded electorate that puts these politicians into power.
I, for one, firmly believe that abolishing racial identity is the magic mantra that could save the future of Sri Lanka. But then again, legislation alone cannot do it. This change has to start at the grassroots.
funny, sharp and narrative, exellent writing
This is an excellent piece and outlines very well the dilemma facing people who just want to belong to the human race and to acknowledge that they were born in some place or other – which would determine their citizenship (and which can be changed if they move elsewhere).
Like pragmatist, I hope more of us would enter “human” where “race” (a totally outdated, meaningless construct) is demanded on a day to day basis, and struggle to enter “other” in the Sri Lankan census. I tried that for both “race” and “religion” in the last census, and saw the enumerator change “other” behind my back, since he was convinced that I had to be a specific “race” because of my name, although I kept telling him that I was “mixed”. He did keep the “other” for religion though, since that cannot be determined by name in SL, unless one is a Muslim. Or who knows? He might have changed that too, to fit his misconceptions.
This is how people end up with one or other ethnicity in Sri Lanka because for the census enumerators only the father’s ethnicity counts – no matter how mixed you might be, over and over, from generation to generation… descendants of hunters, farmers, fishers, craftspeople, toddy tappers, cinnamon peelers, invaders, robbers and simply adventurers who were bored of the place they were born in …and ah yes, politicians and thugs…
A brilliant article by a brilliant guy, mi friend and batch mate.
Why don’t we get together at “Starbucks (gopi gadei)” in Waterloo your way to Southampton for a good old chat about “Siri Langaawa” and Pera!!!……..
I had the same problem,but with religion with regard to filling in forms.I wrote
“Nil” opposite religion – as i had not decided what religion I should follow. I too had some problems with this.My father born 1902, became a tamil trained teacher with knowledge of english, as he had also passed the SSLC (Senior School Leving Certificate) and also qualifed as a ‘Pundit’ in tamil,looked around for a teaching post and only one was available in a Mission School.He went for the interview and was told he was academically fully suited for the post,but as he was not a christian, this precluded his being appointed. He had just got married,and to “keep the home fires burning” he decided to become a christian (methodist). He took catechism (his word) from a Rev. Winslow and was baptised as ‘James’, got the appointment. When I was born, I too was baptised as ‘samuel’.Two years later he resigned and joined a government school, and promptly reverted to hinduism – the religion of his ancesters. These were the old days of the British Raj when Ceylon was a Crown Colony.My sister and brother born later ‘escaped’ baptism! I attended salvation army sunday school and prayer sessions till his reversion.Then I too became a (nominal) hindu,and rarely went to any temple as my father & mother too did not. When I passed university entrance (HSC) I was interviewed by Ivor Jennings, Mylvaganam & Attygalle.
I got a place in the University Christian Hostel (Brody – Warden was Eliezer-youngest Professor ever – of mathematics) at bullers road, as my birth certificate said ‘christian’. I attended sunday church for some time. On Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s orders, the hostel was taken over by the army later in 1971( JVP insurrection) and all hostellers thrown out overnight.
Race & Religion should be omitted in all documents,as this is quite unnecessary and promotes’ division among citizens.
I’m in UK too in south west. majority white population. To my suprise when they come to know I’;m Sri Lankan many ask are you sinhala or tamil? Then I say ‘you poeple know a lot about Sri Lanka?’
Every other person I met had or some one related to them had visited our isalnd nation. They all know about the tsunami and the war and the bombs and the IDPs !! So we are in news!!
One lady whose father had been a novel officer in ceylon during the world war2 said that her father used to say Cylonese were mild and warm and friendly poeple (would’ve been ).
So lets talk positively and focus on our future and learn from the bitter past, not to repeat the mistakes our forefathers did. We all have to make an effort to cultivate human values and ethics among all citizens of Sri Lanka especially the politicians.
Nice piece. Though i think your nurse probably meant race in a broader context like south asian, caucasian, mongolese etc etc. Im sure we wouldn’t have a prob categorizing ourselves in spaces like that. The subsequent gist of your article is concerned with ethnicity and not race precisely. And it brings in various aspects of internal ‘race’ based separtism when your overriding message makes it pretty clear that we’re all probably too mixed to be anything but racially homogenous. Good piece i say!
Sure, being asked for your race stinks. But did they also ask for colour of complexion? That’s really weird.
Analytical: simply hammering the point where it hurts, multi layered description. Social surgery without the sociological high-hand.
But I dont think there is a ”race” called Sri Lankan. In theory there is nationalisty ( which has been denied to the Thamils) called Sri Lankan, but that SL-ness is constitued by the ethnies of Sinhala, Thamil, Muslim and so on.
So the PM was right in one way. it is the state that failed to you.
Dear Disgusted,
“Sure, being asked for your race stinks. But did they also ask for colour of complexion? That’s really weird.”
It depends on what the form is. If it’s an ID card form, is it unusual? For example, take a look at this FBI wanted list.
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/vc/murders/cross_nm.htm
They include all details, including eye colour, hair colour, complexion, race and nationality, which are obviously gathered at some point and I would assume when issuing ID cards. I think they gather similar info for the driver’s license too. Presumably, so they can track you down after a hit and run?
Of course, it would depend on what kind of form it is, but in this case, it’s an ID card form. So the only thing I find unacceptable here is being asked to write down your ethnicity in the nationality field and this is an issue on which awareness-raising is necessary. I always write “Sri Lankan” myself.
I also have a question. I remember, from an earlier discussion, that when I argued for a Sri Lankan identity, you advocated highlighting racial divisions, in order to prevent minority identities being subsumed by a unified “Sri Lankan” identity. Yet, now you feel that it stinks that someone asks what your race is in place of nationality. I’d be delighted to know whether you’ve changed your original stance?
Interesting piece! Can be classified as irony and funny depending upon how you look at it! I am an Indian living in US (a Tamilian or Tamil basically). Whenever I interact with people in the US, especially the curious ones, they ask my country first and then my state or language. My Indian nationality doesn’t surprise them. But, the moment I mention Tamil as my language, they wonder if there Tamils in India. For them, Tamil has almost everything to do in the Srilankan context, not at all with India.
And then there are some folks in US who try to correct me, “Hey, you aren’t an Indian man. You’re Asian”. Ofcourse, there are these highly intelligent, informed and witty ones, who would immediately ask you, “Indian? Which one? The one with a dot (on the forehead) or the feather (meaning Native American).
I tend to think that the nurse had some valid reasons to ask what she asked. For some strange genetic reasons, folks from South Asia have genes that create more diabetes in their bodies than their counterparts in Europe, Africa and USA. In a similar way, folks from different regions of the world could have problems.
In the author’s case, South Asian would simply answer her question. That would put folks in SL, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives approximately in one category. Ofcourse, you can always start arguing if that S. Asian guy is more Dravidian or Aryan? Such arguments never end.
Do people still believe in the Aryan/Dravidian racial divide bullshit?
Here is some education for those who do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO8-JCK45tc
Dear Niranjan,
Brilliantly written, Congratulations.
All of our ancestors who have encroached on others’ are literally Thugs.
In the SL context it could be Ravana’s encroachment of India or Rama’s encroachment of SL as per the Ramayana and Mahabaratha, followed by Vijeya and his band in the 6 th century BC encroaching on the SL indigenes or the Dravidian’s in the 10 th century AD or the Portuguese in the 16 century AD or the Dutch in the 17 century AD or the British in the 18 century AD, all of our ancestors who encroached on the Indigenous population are Thugs as you put it.
In addition to many aspects of culture and religion, the Sinhalese and SL Tamils share a common gene pool of 55%. Genetically the SL Tamils are closer to the Sinhalese than to their Indian counterparts.
What makes it difficult to share SL equitably?
As for the Genomes this is what Wiki has to say
According to genetic evidence, the Sinhalese have their origins in South India and North-East India, particularly Tamil Nadu and West Bengal . Due to relatively easy access from South India and Tamil workers being brought from South India under British rule, mixing of the Tamil and Sinhalese groups has been occurring for many generations. The Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils have been in close proximity to each other historically, linguistically, and culturally for over 2000 years. This explains why they share a common gene pool of 55%.
A genetic admixture study found the Sinhalese had the greatest contribution from South Indian Tamils (69.86% +/- 0.61), followed by Bengalis from the northeast India (25.41% +/- 0.51). Similarly, Sri Lankan Tamils have a greater contribution from the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka (55.20% +/- 9.47) than Indian Tamils (16.63% +/- 8.73).Thus, the evidence suggests that the legend of the Sinhalese being the descendents of Prince Vijaya and his companions may not be true, or that the genetic contribution by Prince Vijaya and his companions has been erased by the contributions of other population groups, such as the Tamils and Bengalis, over 2000 years.
This is also supported by a genetic distance study, which showed low differences in genetic distance between the Sinhalese and the Tamil, Keralite and Bengali volunteers. D1S80 allele frequency (A popular allele for genetic fingerprinting) is also similar between the Sinhalese and Bengalis, suggesting the two groups are closely related. The Sinhalese have similar frequencies of the allele MTHFR 677T (13%) to West Bengalis (17%). In addition, the Sinhalese and South Indian Tamils have similar cultures in terms of kinship classification, cousin marriage, dress and housing.
The Sinhalese are likely to have received little or no genetic flow from neighboring East or Southeast Asian populations. A study looking at genetic variation of the FUT2 gene in the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil population, found similar genetic backgrounds for both ethnic groups. With little genetic flow from other neighbouring Asian population groups. A study looking at protein and blood group loci suggest that Sinhalese are closer to Iranians and Afghans than to Mongoloids. Root and canal morphology of Sri Lankan mandibular molars, also suggest the Sinhalese have closer affinities with Europeans (Western Eurasia), than people of East Asian origin.
Studies have also found no significant difference with regards to blood group, blood genetic markers and single-nucleotide polymorphism between the Sinhalese and other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. Another study has also found “no significant genetic variation among the major ethnic groups in Sri Lanka”. This is further supported by a study which found very similar frequencies of alleles MTHFR 677T, F2 20210A & F5 1691A in South Indian tamil, Sinhalese, Sri Lankan tamil and Moor populations.
A study in 2007 found similar frequencies of the allele HLA-A*02 in sinhalese (7.4%) and North Indian subjects (6.7%).HLA-A*02 is a rare allele which has a relatively high frequency in North Indian populations and is considered to be a novel allele among the North Indian population. This suggests possible North Indian origin of the Sinhalese.
End Extract
Race is really the projection of social and hierarchical meaning onto perceived morphological and hereditary differences. To that extent, since race is very much a social construction projected onto objective differences, it has some meaning to speak of a Dravidian race – which includes Tamils and Sinhalese, and a white race, black race etc etc. It is meaningless to speak of a Sri Lankan race because no one has ever tried to construct such a race. There are no differences in morphological features between Indian Dravidians and Sri Lankan Dravidians to which it is possible to attach social meaning. A national identity has been attempted, but has failed. Simply put, if you want to feel kinship with all the other inhabitants of the island, try constructing an inclusive identity – but don’t call it race and don’t call it ethnicity. It only plays into the hands of racist proponents of the Sinhala/Sri Lankan exceptionalism bunkum i.e- Dayan J et al.
Off the Cuff, the proud Sinhala pseudo patriot has suddenly discovered the value of science. He was singing quite a different tune before:
“As I have pointed out in my earlier posts the Sinhala Kingdom encompassed the ENTIRE VANNI region. The region that is falsely claimed as the “Traditional Tamil Homeland””
http://www.groundviews.org/2009/11/05/deepavali-dilemma-reflections-from-the-diaspora/#comment-11061
So does Off the Cuff now want us to believe his Mahavamsa version of history matches some genetic theory stipulating that Sinhalese are from South India?
Somewhat Disgusted,
The ID card did not ask for details of hair and eye colour, or other physical details—only complexion details. You can’t hunt down a criminal with only complexion details, can you? Or are criminals detected in Sri Lanka according to their race and skin colour? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the latter, given that racial hierarchies are totally accepted in Sri Lanka, for eg, that Tamils don’t deserve equal rights or even human rights.
And, no, I never stood for racial polarisation. That is your own malicious misinterpretation of my position–and I am sure this won’t be the last time you do it either, despite my repeated, clear explanations in the past of my position on various threads with you. Perhaps you need to deliberately misconstrue my argument as race and racism oriented so as to cover up the holes your own position.
Standing up for ethnic rights, for equal rights and protection of minority cultures, is not the same as standing up for racial polarities. As I have noted before, Sinhalese/Tamil is not even about race but ethnicities–the two groups don’t have significant genetic and physiological differences to be classified as racially different. I have said unambiguously that I do not even believe in race as a scientific concept, but view it as a social construct—a social construct that is given a very high value in SL.
My quarrel with you was about national identity. You assumed that it was possible to transcend ethnic identity to promote a national identity. I pointed out that ethnic content is always part and parcel of national identity–though, to serve their own power interests, majority communities like to pretend national identity is culturally neutral, to hide the fact that national culture is usually made up entirely of their ethnic culture. In SL, of course, that kind of chauvinism is not even hidden—it is loudly proclaimed that Sri Lankan national identity is about Sinhalese and Buddhist culture. Even in Groundviews, I scarcely see recognition in posts that Tamil intellectual and cultural (and other minority) contributions are also a part of Sri Lankan legacy.
My contention is that minority communities must be given equal rights, especially equal cultural rights and rights of political representation. That is the move that SL must make to signal its acceptance of minority ethnic cultures as part of national culture, and hence national identity. Your talk of a national identity that transcends ethnicity would merely abort any process to recognise ethnic minority cultures as part of Sri Lankan national identity through a simple, blatantly false rhetoric that ‘we are all Sri Lankans’. That’s why in one breath, Rajapaksa declares that there are no ethnic minorities in Sri Lanka, and in the next breath, talks about needing to incorporate Buddhist principles into governance.
The way to recognise ethnic minorities is not by insisting that they are racially different and putting that on their ID card. In particular, to term it “nationality” is very revealing—that suggests a thinking that equates racial identity with national identity. They should rather have separate spaces for nationality (as in citizenship), and for ethnicity (not race).
So, no, there is no change in my thinking. And my position does not promote racial divisions, but is about unifying the various groups by protecting the rights of minorities. There can be no unity without recognition of other people’s rights.
What you promote is difference-blind liberalism. That’s what’s happening in France right now, and the project is quite clearly about pushing Muslim culture out of French national culture, so that being Muslim is seen only as private cultural practice, with no rights in the public arena. Banning the hijab is a move to make Muslim culture and identity literally invisible, and it involves taking away Muslim rights. Why should Muslims be forced to dress like the French? Does that sound like equal rights to you? There has been a lot of scholarship about the racism inherent in difference-blind liberalism like yours.
Dear Heshan,
I stand for Unity as I have many Tamil, Muslim and Eurasian friends in addition to Sinhalese friends. What do you stand for?
I am not afraid to face the Truth but you seem to be?
I am not inflexible in my position but your incessant attempts at clouding the truth shows that you are both afraid of the TRUTH and is INFLEXIBLE.
You always try to twist the facts to suit your position. I would like to see you doing that this time.
Now let’s examine your taunt
Extract from your post above
“Off the Cuff, the proud Sinhala pseudo patriot has suddenly discovered the value of science. He was singing quite a different tune before:
“As I have pointed out in my earlier posts the Sinhala Kingdom encompassed the ENTIRE VANNI region. The region that is falsely claimed as the “Traditional Tamil Homeland”
End Extract
You are a very DISHONEST person as you have omitted from your extract the Factual and Historical evidence I stated in that post.
Evidence -: The Netherlands National Archive ( see URL http://www.nationaalarchief.nl/AMH/detail.aspx?page=dpost&lang=en&id=682#tab2 )
The following statement appears in the above Archive
Extract
During the 17th century the Company was engaged in a war of attrition with the king of Kandy, who had close ties with Ceylon’s Buddhist population. There was a narrow tongue of land at Elephant Pass a fort was built to guard the border with the king’s territory. Elephants captured on Ceylon were herded past here to Jaffna to be sold in India, hence the name Elephant Pass.
End Extract
Note the words …. 17th century ……. King of Kandy …… Elephant Pass a fort was built to guard the border with the king’s territory.
So Heshan what does that mean? Please use your English skill to give an interpretation that disproves what I stated.
You cannot accuse me of introducing that statement into the National Archives of the Netherlands (the Dutch) without running the risk of confirming your demented mental state can you?
Your omission of the above when you posted your extract has PROVED THAT YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY DISHONEST
Now go ahead and prove that you belong in a Mental Institution as well
Before asking questions you need to understand what is written.
Remember the Sinhala proverb “Gale Reepu Balla Wage” meaning “Like a dog who defecated on a stone” The dog could not cover what it left on the stone as there was no sand on the stone. You have got yourself into the same predicament as the dog, like you did the last time.
Some people never learn.
Off the Cuff:
There is no context needed for the following statement:
“As I have pointed out in my earlier posts the Sinhala Kingdom encompassed the ENTIRE VANNI region. The region that is falsely claimed as the “Traditional Tamil Homeland”
It is quite clear what you meant. Readers can easily verify that these are your own words as I have given the link. So there is no need for you to spin the words.
Now the only remaining question is, what is the evidence that the so-called “Sinhala-Kingdom” encompassed the ENTIRE VANNI region? The only evidence is the Mahavamsa!
LOL
Cheers.
Dear Heshan,
You have a very poor comprehension of English
What does these first few words that you reproduced mean?
“As I have pointed out in my earlier posts …….”
It means that there is a previous post which you should have had the decency to quote not the partial reference
You cannot feign ignorance as you engaged me in a very lengthy discourse on this very same issue by commenting on my original post to Niranjan on that thread.
This is the original http://www.groundviews.org/2009/11/05/deepavali-dilemma-reflections-from-the-diaspora/comment-page-4/#comment-10802
What proves your DISHONESTY beyond any reasonable doubt is the FACT that you suppressed the FULL statement of which you had FULL Knowledge.
Now you ask me what evidence I have.
You are more MYOPIC and DISHONEST in every sense than I thought
That is a question only an imbecile would ask when the URL of the Netherlands National Archive is given next to the word “Evidence” in the Post that you just replied to
You are worse than that proverbial dog who could not cover its indiscretion.
You are wallowing in it
Disgusted,
“The ID card did not ask for details of hair and eye colour, or other physical details—only complexion details.”
How did you come to this conclusion? Based on what, apart from prejudice? The author of the article has not specified whether it has been asked for or not. Further, if you zoom in on the provided image, the field above complexion says “black”. I’m assuming that’s hair colour. So why do you make these bold, unverified assertions other than due to agenda driven analysis?
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the latter, given that racial hierarchies are totally accepted in Sri Lanka, for eg, that Tamils don’t deserve equal rights or even human rights.
Based on your initial erroneous postulate, you then go onto gleefully grind your usual axe. All you do is make a display of your own blind racial prejudice (I would have said “as usual”, but that would be pretty redundant by now)
“And, no, I never stood for racial polarisation. That is your own malicious misinterpretation of my position–and I am sure this won’t be the last time you do it either, despite my repeated, clear explanations in the past of my position on various threads with you”
Thankfully, you cannot magically erase what you’ve written and trying to depict my interpretation as malicious will not do you any good. Here is the source where you explained your position (http://www.groundviews.org/2009/09/17/delusions-of-power-devolution-searching-post%E2%80%93prapa-possibilities/) and a few quotes from it.
You said: “Sinhalese are not only a dominant community in SL, they are an overwhelming majority. So to allow them to settle everywhere without placing any ethnic limits would mean that they will in actuality be forming Sinhalese ghettos all over the country, and getting all the benefits of that (support from the community, the ability to dominate and dictate district needs) while the minorities will get no chance to do so.”
You said: “I, personally, don’t agree with secession, but I don’t think it is racist to demand a separate nation for your own community, especially so as to avoid or shake off racial/ethnic domination by another group”
This is not supporting ethnic polarization in order to preserve minority identities? So my interpretation is incorrect? Since you said “I have been a minority wherever I went. I survived, yes, and relatively well, but only by abandoning my own culture and assimilating.” it appears that lacking an identity of your own, and not having the strength of character to maintain your culture while integrating with others, you must force the hapless Tamils in Sri Lanka to vicariously provide that identity for you. Wracked by fears of identity loss, they must, on your behalf, polarize themselves ethnically from the rest of the country and live in exclusive Tamil ghettos. This, you wish to portray as championing equal rights, when it’s just petty racialism in a suitably impressive disguise.
“My quarrel with you was about national identity. You assumed that it was possible to transcend ethnic identity to promote a national identity. I pointed out that ethnic content is always part and parcel of national identity”
It appears that you’re the one misrepresenting my position. I very clearly said that: “This does *not* mean losing one’s ethnic identity in the process, merely transferring allegiance from ethnic identities to a wider national identity.”. But I see where the misunderstanding stems from. You’re hung up on the term “ethnicity-independent Sri Lankan identity” I used. In this, I admit to having been open to misinterpretation, although I had clarified that I did not mean losing one’s ethnic identity (you seem eager to misinterpret what I said so that your own prejudices can be preserved intact). I’m in fact, in agreement with you that “ethnic content is always part and parcel of national identity”. But I do believe that being loyal to individual ethnic identities without being loyal to a unifying national identity simply cannot be made to work, for obvious reasons. We must identify ourselves by national identity, although that national identity itself consists of multiple ethnicities. Perhaps your prejudice stems from the fact that you have little or no idea of the identity building programs in Sri Lanka over the years (including govt. sponsored), in which people of clearly different ethnicities identify themselves as being Sri Lankans.
“There has been a lot of scholarship about the racism inherent in difference-blind liberalism like yours.”
Thank you and I am grateful that you bestow such an impressive sounding label on me. The only hitch is, it’s false. Sri Lankan identity building programmes so far have never been about bulldozing other identities out of the way, which is why I’ve always supported them. It’s only ignorance, prejudice and your own fears of identity loss that colour your interpretations of the situation, not fact or experience gained by actually living in Sri Lanka. This is why it’s always easier to find common ground with a fair-minded Sri Lankan Tamil, than it is to find any with radicalized members of the Tamil diaspora rabble-rousing from afar based on hearsay, the Tiger propaganda machine, prejudice and/or agenda-driven analysis. You’re always eager to attribute malice to others to justify your own desire for a racial ghetto. The only silver-lining I see in the clouds is that more and more moderate voices from the diaspora seem to be speaking up thanks to the timely demise of the LTTE.
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