A Reply to Tissa Devendra on Rebuilding Sri Lanka
[Editor's note: Devanesan Nesiah provides a rejoinder to Tissa Devendra's vehement response to his article 'Rebuilding Sri Lanka' that was published first on Groundviews and then later in the Island.]
The venomous response of Devendra in the Island of 16th March does not merit a reply but I need to set the record straight. As I said in my original entry, “The primary fault is with neither the visitors nor the locals” which is very different to what Devendra seeks to imply. He takes offence over my citing the critical observations of a very distinguished Sinhalese. Rebuilding Sri Lanka requires self-critical acknowledgement of the damage done to the Sri Lankan nation over the decades by the racist policies of Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim leaders and by insensitive conduct and practices. It also requires a willingness to engage in corrective action. The corrective action includes not only political reforms but also sensitizing the population and lowering the barriers to inter ethnic communication. The barriers erected by the LTTE to prevent other citizens from traveling to areas controlled by them have disappeared together with the LTTE; several of the barriers erected by the state remain, and new barriers have been erected. Citizens cannot now freely travel to certain areas. New High Security Zones have been created. Tens of thousands of citizens, mostly Tamils and Muslims, cannot even visit their own homes or their own lands in the old or new no go areas.
A week ago I had an opportunity to visit, along with some others, Jaffna and Chavakachcheri. We took the opportunity to call on Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian religious and community leaders, as well as the Government Agent. We found time to visit the markets in those two cities. This visit gave me an opportunity to make first hand observations.
As expected, I found that the reaction of the local population to the surge of Southern visitors was mixed. The scale of the flow of visitors to Jaffna was in excess of the local capacity to accommodate it. That capacity is gradually increasing through new construction work and through expansion of the markets and production. In the long run this development will bring socio-economic gains to Jaffna, but in the meantime there are ill effects such as those referred to by the person I cited. Moreover the prices of many essential items in the market have escalated. Accommodation is in short supply and often prohibitively expensive. These impact negatively on the local consumers, and on IDPs   visiting Jaffna to look at their property or returning to resettle. Some of the reactions are not very different to those of the locals in tourist locations elsewhere in response to any surge of tourists not sensitive to the local culture. They may feel marginalized by the tourists and priced out of the local markets. On the other hand those running guest houses and the traders are delighted. These reactions too are similar to those running guest houses and shops in centres of tourism.
Devendra’s reference to the local Tamil population as “subjects” is indicative of the problem, as also his cynical dismissal of earlier peace making efforts. We need to promote more in – tourism but in such a way that it promotes inter – ethnic harmony. If this is done in sensitive manner Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in the private sectors will extend their operations to every part of the Island, and every district in the island will become ethnically and culturally more plural. As Devendra should have learnt from the reaction of his Tamil and Muslim “subjects” in Trincomalee, state imposed colonization could be counter productive but if population movements occur without state imposition they would be welcome by the locals. In particular, those evicted earlier from a locality or who left on account of insecurity would be most warmly accepted back. The flow of Sinhalese visitors to Jaffna needs to be sustained but in such a manner that their interaction with the locals is harmonious. This was one of the messages underlined by all the religious and other civil society leaders we met in Jaffna a week ago.
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What this former Government Agent of Jaffna has written sounds most sensible. We Sinhalese must hold back a bit before we start “touring” Jaffna. Many Tamils lost almost everything they had. We must wait at least a year, giving time for the local people to resettle, before visiting the peninsula as either tourists or pilgrims (to Nagadipa).
Unfortunately for people who have racist views like Devanesan Nesiah (and fortunately for right thinking people), the Sinhalese and Muslims will continue to pour into the north and Jaffna, which belongs to them just as much as it belongs to Tamils. The Jaffna Tamils will have to LEARN to live and coexist with the Sinhalese, just as the Sinhalese have done so in the south when Tamils poured into cities there from the north and the east. The Sinhalese should not have to “dumb down” their Sinhalese-ness to please Tamils, just as the Tamils should not have to “dumb down” their Tamil-ness to please the Sinhalese. If the Tamils can carry out their processions in the streets of Colombo, built their kovils and tour around the south as they wish, so should the Sinhalese be allowed to do so in the north.The days of having Tamil-only areas are over. Tamils such as Devanesan Nesiah ought to come to grips with the diversity that is prevalent in other areas of Sri Lanka. Diversity should not be regarded as a threat.
Let’s be clear about this – it’s the North that has been out of bounds for non-Tamils for decades, while the south was always open to the Tamils. It’s the Sinhalese who were prevented from going to parts of their own country for decades, while Tamils could live almost anywhere. Trying to impose or advocate imposing limits on where the Sinhalese can go (or how many can go somewhere at a given time) is just pure and simple racism – ethnic bigotry hidden under the charade of “sensitivity.”
Devanesan Nesiah has an unpardonable, overtly racist overview on Sinhala citizens of the state travelling to the north. He also violates Article 13 (i) of the Universal Declaration og Human Rights when he writes ” The flow of Sinhalese visitors to Jaffna needs to be sustained but in such a manner that their interaction with the locals is harmonious. This was one of the messages underlined by all the religious and other civil society leaders we met in Jaffna a week ago..”
Grow up Nesiah, Sinhalese are not “visitors” to Jaffna who should be monitored/sustained with a proviso of “harmonious interaction with locals”. Down South in Sri Lanka the “locals” (to borrow Nesiah’s words) have never had such a demand or even a suggestion of such racist “you visitor; me traditional homelander” attitude.
What will be the reaction of Nesiah when the non-Tamils decide to reside in the North and the East with all these heavenly improvements of infrastructure and developmental project facilitations are bearing fruit in the North and the East? Believe me Nesiah, it will happen not through state sponsorship but through pure and simple human preference to choose to live where better facilities and opportunities are there.
I am a Sinhalese and feels that this is not the time for the southeners to rush to north for sight seeing. I have been to Jaffna before the conflict and found it to be a beautiful city. But today, what is left is ruins of destruction. The sight of half destroyed houses where people used to live some time back will only deppress the mind of the people who see it. At the same time, those who had suffered and lost all their belongins will not cherish the the visit of tourists gaping at their loss without any feeling and contributing to high prices of all basic things. Government should step in and restrict the tourists until such time people are allowed to settle down with some decent living condition.
India is not a country – its a continent by itself – with the largest number of diversity of any single country. Historically this nation used to be several states with separate governance – which included the present day Pakistan and Bangla Desh. Being the second largest population in the world. these so called federal states are hugely populated as well – one could say, over populated! Their diversity includes not just different ethnic groups and culture, but different languages unique to each state. Even their ways practicing their faiths are different from one state to another. Therefore, this “nation” called India had to have this unique system of federalism because of the diverse culture, ethnicity and language. This system suites India – nut certainly not a small nation like Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka, historically used to be one united nation. It was only after several invasions and incursions by South Indian armies into Sri Lanka that there was some kind of different ethnic influence in this country. Several times in history certain parts of the country was also ruled by these South Indian invaders. However, each time the Sri Lankan rulers at t hat time were successful in chasing away these invaders from the country – although there were several remnants of these people that stayed back. Several years later, we experienced the invaders from Europe – Portugese, Dutch and British – who made a mess of Sri Lanka just like they did every country in the world they colonized. They “imported” slaves from South India and settled them in all parts of the country – including the North and the central area – to enslave them in various activities to suit these colonialists interests. The worst thing they could do was when they eventually granted the so-called independence to Sri Lanka was to divide and rule the country whereby they granted these minority population of South Indians more privileges than to the majority Sinhalese people who are indigenous to Sri Lanka. This was the main cause of the current so-called “ethnic” problem Sri Lanka is facing – which eventually snow-balled into a terrorist conflict with the certain groups of tamils engaging in barbaric activities such as ethnic cleansing of the areas where they were a majority by killing and slaughtering the Sinhalese people who were living with them and chasing them away form these areas of the North and East. To make a long story short, the successive government of Sri Lanka were unable to find a proper solution to this problem because the Tamil terrorists were making demands for a separate state in a merged Nothern and Eastern provinces which would have given them a control of two-thirds of the coastline of the country. Unfortunately, the former colonialists and their friends of the West were supporting these terrorist elements because as long as there was conflict in the third world countries the western nations always profited – over the blood that flowed from the people of these former colonies. Fortunately, Sri Lankan people elected a President in 2004 who came into power with the promise to wipe out this terrorism that plaqued the country for 27 years, once and for all. And wipe out he did which ended the murderous trail of the Tamil terrorists from the face of the world for good. Any infringement from India will be disastrous for Sri Lanka because it was India who armed and trained these barbaric Tamil terrorists in the first place. So, Sri Lanka should ask these countries like India to stay out of its internal matters and let this Island nation solve its problems its own way. Sri Lanka has its own political solutions to its problems and will ensure they are implemented in order to provide peace and prosperity to all its peopl irrespective of their ethnicity!
They should remove the racist “Thesawalami Law” which prohibits any other ethnic group other than Tamils to purchase or own land in Jaffna. This would be a good start for reconciliation in Sri Lanka.
I agree with Southerner- what’s the hurry to flood Jaffna and gawp at everything? If people want to see Jaffna, they should pressure Mahinda to spend more on reconstruction instead of election cut-outs.
Jaffna or Colombo or Matara are all part of a single country. So why have any concerns if the citizens of a country travel to any part of it? The likes of Devanesan Nalliah have no business to make any restrictions about visiting Jaffna just because he was born there. No one born in any other part of the country puts restrictions on our brothers from Jaffna visiting any part of the country. Look at Wellawatte!
Grow up Mr Nesiah and be part of the new world. Or just go and mope in a corner.
Its now getting close to a year since the war ended. No one should question anyone in the country where each ‘visitor’ ‘northerner’ ‘southerner’ can go to. The armed forces have cleared the A9 and are continuing the clear the areas in the north so that people can move about freely. So as Nesiah and Southener and Wijayapala have said, (the southerners as visitors should think before they visit) is a ridiculous idea. Who are we to stop people from traveling where ever they want to?
If you want to restrict the “Southerners” from visiting then tell that to the “Foreigners” to stop visiting as well Nesiah. Because according to your ridiculous piece on “Rebuilding Sri Lanka” they should also be halted from visiting the north.
It is as if all you critics don’t want the north to be rebuilt so that you keep writing your racially biased views of Sri Lankans (mainly the sinhalese).
PATRIOT …yes I also hope that the Thasawalami Law gets repealed so that any person irrespective of their ethnicity can buy land and do business or even live in Jaffna.
Maybe the “Northerners” like Nesiah should visit the South to see how the “Southerners” accommodate the influx of tourists and visitors without waiting for the help of the government.
The Government should remove all high security zones, checkpoints, and army camps from the North and East. These serve no purpose since the LTTE is gone. It should then come up with a political model based on federalism that empowers the people in the North and East to take charge of their own affairs. As for an influx of visitors to the North, yes it should be restricted. If the Southern people want, they can always go to the East, as was the case during the CFA. There is nothing to see in the North but destruction.
Dear 2nd Southerner,
“If you want to restrict the “Southerners” from visiting then tell that to the “Foreigners” to stop visiting as well Nesiah.”
Mahinda is already telling the “Foreigners” to stop visiting and NGOs are being denied visas.
“yes I also hope that the Thasawalami Law gets repealed so that any person irrespective of their ethnicity can buy land and do business or even live in Jaffna.”
Can you provide one example of anyone being prevented from buying land in Jaffna due to Thesavalamai?
“Maybe the “Northerners” like Nesiah should visit the South to see how the “Southerners” accommodate the influx of tourists and visitors without waiting for the help of the government.”
The key difference is that foreign tourists bring a lot of $$ while the impoverished Sinhala visitors do not. If the foreigners didn’t bring $$ then there would be a lot more hostility towards them from the Sinhalese who would rightly see them as a burden.
Dear Wijayapala Mahaththaya,
“Mahinda is already telling the “Foreigners” to stop visiting and NGOs are being denied visas.”
WOW…if Mahinda’s telling the’Foreigners’ to stop visiting then why are the foreign offices of western countries have given a green light to visit Jaffna and the east? …As for foreigners posing as tourists who come to work for NGO/INGOs who think they are above the law should be denied visas.
“Can you provide one example of anyone being prevented from buying land in Jaffna due to Thesavalamai?”
I do not know of anyone being prevented from buying land …but such laws should be repealed as its soul purpose is to divide us all.
“The key difference is that foreign tourists bring a lot of $$ while the impoverished Sinhala visitors do not. If the foreigners didn’t bring $$ then there would be a lot more hostility towards them from the Sinhalese who would rightly see them as a burden.”
The sinhalese might not bring in the $$ but certainly they bring in the Rs which they all badly need.
All in all…the hosts of the North should welcome the Southerners or Foreigners or whoever with good heart and the guests will show the same respect. Treat them well irrespective where the person comes from to visit them and their land.
Complaining about each and every tid bit is not going to help. What will help though is doing something about. Maybe you and Mr. Nesiah can go back and contribute to the greater good.
Dear 2nd Southerner Mahattaya
“I do not know of anyone being prevented from buying land …but such laws should be repealed as its soul purpose is to divide us all.”
Do you also believe that Chapter 2 of the Sri Lankan Constitution, where Buddhism is given the foremost place, should also be repealed since it also divides us all?
“As for foreigners posing as tourists who come to work for NGO/INGOs who think they are above the law should be denied visas.”
Why would NGOs have to pose as tourists, unless NGOs are not allowed in Sri Lanka?
Another article:
Sinhalese influx into Tamil heartland of Jaffna
“The government has to control the influx so that people who come need not put up with poor facilities,” said Jaffna Chamber of Commerce president R Janakumar.
Dear Devanesan Nesiah,
“I have not been to the North post war, but vividly remember my post cease fire (2002) visits to Jaffna, Batticaloa, and Trincomalee where I encountered scenes and reactions very different to those described above. Those scenes were of the joyful mingling on equal terms of thousands of visitors and locals.”
If you hadn’t included the above phrase in your original complaint, you wouldn’t have gotten such a negative response from Sinhala people. It is one thing to complain about a Sinhala influx (should steps be taken to control the Tamil influx into Colombo?), but the credibility of that complaint goes down the toilet when compared with the “LTTE-dominated” (as Mr. Devendra correctly highlighted) CFA years.
I was in Jaffna when SSP Charles Wijewardene was murdered by LTTE-backed thugs. When I went through LTTE territory to reach Jaffna, the Tigers told me that I was entering the Tamil homeland and that I had “better behave properly” and “don’t stay too long.”
Is this the “joyful mingling” you were referring to? Or the “peace making efforts” which don’t deserve Devendra’s cynicism?
Wijeyapala,
The CFA put the LTTE and the SL Gov on equal terms. That was the agreement.
After some time the LTTE went against the spirit of the CFA for reasons best known to them even though Balasingham agreed to explore a federal model at the 3 round of peace talks.
The CFA was meant to resolve the ethnic problem without resorting to war. unfortunatley the LTTE went against the spirit of the agreement even though Ranil W was sincere. Chandrika’s dissolution of parliament did not help and the UNF which had a majority in Parliament was thrown out. Perhaps it was the first time that a Government which had a majority in parliament was thrown out in this country or anywhere else in the world. That was the begining of the end for the CFA.
There were 3 parties which contributed to the downfall of the CFA- the LTTE, Chandrika and the JVP +JHU combine.
“Those scenes were of the joyful mingling on equal terms of thousands of visitors and locals.” – I agree. I visited Trinco in January 2002 soon after the CFA and there was certainly expectation of peace and hope for a better future among the people on both sides. However, that expectation gradually disappeared due to the insincerity of the LTTE and politics in the South after the UNF Government lost the 2004 election by 180,000 votes.
However, Mahinda R invited the LTTE for peace talks when he took office in November 2005. That was creditable as the move was criticised by nationalist parties. However, it was the LTTE which turned down that offer.
Bogus Name/Southerner/Wijayatileke/Heshan:
It appears that the views of the very distinguished Sinhalese whose observations I cited have not only been misunderstood but also attributed to me. His intention was surely not to stop the visits from the South but to remedy shortcomings in the facilities for visitors to the North and also to enhance sensitivity on both sides so as to eliminate friction.
That visits from the South are taking place on a large scale is a welcome development that needs to be facilitated. No part of any democracy belongs to any ethnic group. Citizenship is undivided. Any citizen has a right not only to visit but also to do business in and to settle down in any part of the country. This is how Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others had established their presence in virtually every town in our island. Unfortunately some of this diversity has been erased in recent years. It is important to facilitate redevelopment of diversity in every part of our land.
Narin:
Barriers to the no-go areas created by the LTTE have disappeared but large areas of the North and East have been demarcated as High Security Zones and are out of bounds to the population of that area. This is unacceptable.
The Jaffna in which I grew up in the 40′s was tolerant and diverse. There were many Sinhalese, mostly migrants from the deep South, and Muslims and Burghers, mostly of Jaffna origin, who were well integrated to the local Tamil population. I believe Jaffna has never experienced ethnic riots. We need to ensure that the spirit of tolerance that has been a durable feature of Jaffna is sustained. We also need to recreate the conditions under which Jaffna became ethnically diverse.
I went to Jaffna a fortnight ago and I found that everyone I met favored a reversal of the ethnic cleansing that had become prevalent in Jaffna and in many other parts of the country in the last few decades. Those Muslims and Sinhalese who have been evicted or who had left the North for reasons of security are welcome to return. In turn the local Tamil population who have been evicted from their homes should also be allowed to return. It is the duty of the state to facilitate this.
Patriot:
Federal/Quasi-federal India is very large, and federal Switzerland is very small. The case for devolution is not based on size.
That Thesavalamai law prohibits or discourages non-Tamils from purchasing land in Jaffna is a racist canard. That law has no such provision. On the other hand Jaffna needs entrepreneurs, irrespective of whether they are Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher or other, who will purchase property in Jaffna and begin productive enterprises that will help to revive the once thriving economy.
It is astounding to read that Devendra referred to people in Jaffna as “subjects”, perhaps a reflex response to what the internal ethnic turmoil has been all about since Sept.1956 with Sinhala Only policy andsubsequent unilateral constitutions of 1972 and later versions which redressed the language deficit but only on paper only in respect of the Tamil language. It yet remains to be implemented vis-a-vis the Tamil speaking people of the north and east as the language of administration and communication by government, at whatever level. This is truly incredible and reflects not only bad faith but also bad governance for decades by the state.
Tourism adds to value locally but whther it can be maintained unsustainably remains a question?
Is Thesawalamai law not about family inheritance, perhaps outmoded at the present day? In any case, there are far more serious and debilitating factors affecting the welfre of the people of the north than to worry about such trivia perhaps in an attempt to obfuscate far bigger issues.
Devanesan Nesiah:
“That visits from the South are taking place on a large scale is a welcome development that needs to be facilitated.”
Yes, but who benefits from this “development”? Only the lodge owners, restaurant owners, food vendors, etc. I question the long-term value of tourism. Tourism by itself will not lead to community growth and development. The lodge owners, restaurant owners, and food vendors are not going to build new schools and hospitals.
In short, there has to be a more sustainable alternative to promoting community growth.
Tamil racism cannot and will not stand in the way of the Sinhalese visiting Jaffna. Tamil racism as expounded by Devanesan Nesiah is as ugly, insidious and hateful as Sinhalese racism. We cannot let such ugliness triumph.
Also read Izeth and Devanesan opening batting for Terrorism’s second innings? by Malinda Seneviratne, http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/04/01/fea02.asp
My take on Devanesan and Izeth (published in the Daily News of April 1, 2010):
http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/04/01/fea02.asp