A clueless regime’s parade for glory with a bumpkin polity
Repost This ArticleWhile a victory parade with military highlights is on to commemorate the war victory, that provides occasion for this regime to revel on its own pride in defeating the LTTE, what is the most important need of the 19 million people, right now ? In a more direct way, does the Sri Lankan polity know what they most urgently need ? The whole pugnacious crisis in Sri Lanka lies in the answer to this simple question. The bumpkin Sri Lankan polity knows not, what they most urgently need. This was aptly demonstrated and proved in the two most historically important elections held in post war Sri Lanka.
The presidential elections in January 2010, announced in November 2009, just 06 months after the war was declared victorious with the defeat of the LTTE and thereafter the parliamentary elections held in April 2010, within 01 year of the conclusion of the war, discussed nothing of importance in terms of Sri Lanka’s future. They were mere parades of political jokers on platforms and in the media that left the Sri Lankan people entertained. Why not ? The people liked it that way too. The media too played on those cheap entertainment, canvassing for more of the same. No serious debates and discussions on policy and principles were ever encouraged. Just simple and plain “We air – You laugh” media, it was.
Sri Lanka on 19 May, leaves one whole empty year behind, since the war was concluded. One whole year, with absolutely no answers to it’s endemic problems since President Rajapaksa’s address to the nation on 19/5, declaring the LTTE as defeated and the war concluded. A question then arises, as to what these problems are, that has to be solved. The conflict that was militarily suppressed and is interpreted as “defeating Tamil separatist terrorists in war” provides the answer to that question, in an abstract manner.
In its historical context, it means a continuous, stubborn failure in establishing a modern, democratic nation State with plurality for over 60 years since independence. Failure in establishing a nation State that should necessarily accommodate all ethnic, linguistic and religious communities and groups as equals with equal opportunities, in forging a futuristic society that accepts life within a competitive global economy. Political neglect in establishing such a pluralistic nation State, fostered and nurtured Bandaranayakes, Rajaratnams, Cyril Mathews, Nalin de Silvas, Amarasekaras, Champika Ranawakas and then the JVP as Sinhala entities that politically force bred Chelvanayagams, Amithalingams and then Prabhakarans as their political counterparts, and in opposition.
Today, after the war and without Prabhakaran, we are left with the politics of all others before Prabhakaran, that finally led to Prabhakaran himself. That simply means, we are still left with our core issue unsolved. The issue of establishing a modern democratic nation State with plurality, in a country which now is far more divided ethnically, far more poor in human living and even less democratic after this war against “Tamil separatism”. A country that by now has the added problem of agitating the Muslim people in the East, as well.
All of it together left this country at the end of the war, not only with accusations on crimes against humanity and war crimes for international lobbying, but with a massive human tragedy heaped on vast scale destruction to infrastructure and property in war ravaged areas. That being no small issue in this post 19/5 period, what is crucially important is the complete militarisation of society and a seriously endangered democracy that also decides the quality of rehabilitation and resettlement of all war affected people. This in a failing economy that has little option but to sustain a family regime with no future plans for the country. Added is a miserable Opposition that is unable to understand what goes wrong with it, in living a viable Opposition.
Its this war, projected and promoted as the “one and only answer” to “Tamil separatism”, that helped this regime to establish itself with such arrogance and insipid power and left the Opposition bewildered. Its this war that established this regime outside the Constitution and independent of a parliamentary majority. Its strength during the pre 19/5 period was beyond laws and Acts passed in parliament and that of enforcing Emergency Regulations (ER).
That power, that arrogance to establish itself as a family “kleptocracy” came through a political ideology that thawed and garnished the Sinhala psyche into accepting this war with all its accompanying tragedy. That turned the Sinhala South to live with a malleable Sinhala psyche, justifying and enjoying all arbitrary arrests, all threats to life, all abductions and forced disappearances, all savage physical assaults, all extra judicial killings and also all extortions. This regime thus took hold of the State and political power, beyond law and above the constitution, with a warped Sinhala popularity.
Yet after all these years of passivity, the Sinhala society can not be expected to live with a hopelessly failing economy that cuts across the very Sinhala supremacy it approved. The dilemma nevertheless is that this Sinhala society has no organised social structures, strong and credible enough to win over and mobilise people. Accepting the Opposition as a naïve presence, the trade union leaderships are also in disarray. Most sectors don’t have organic leaderships. Most public and private sector places are least unionised. They are heavily divided as professions and trades and on political affiliations too, with loose alliances and fronts that add little meaning to the divisions. Since late 60′s these politically led trade union leaderships have tended to go with State power. Today they have opted to tail the regime with most leaderships provided with petty perks.
So are the issue based non governmental sector. They have been discredited and politically strangled as anti social and often unpatriotic. With no social base except elite recognition, some have opted to take up compromised positions for their own safety. So are professional, academic and artiste presence in society. They have where possible, compromised with the regime and its ideology of Sinhala supremacy, forfeiting their very independence in taking political positions.
The post 19/5 challenge therefore is to find answers to avoid heavy pounding of remaining or possible opposition, while Sri Lanka slips into a “Mugabian” economy with a “Than Shweik” rule. This comes with contradictions this Rajapaksa regime is forced to live with. All post elections decisions taken by the regime to throw up a new democratic façade, are weak compromises for its own survival. They clearly show the regime is under pressure to compromise at some point in its arbitrary rule, by international and regional power blocs. Those that have to play by public decency in the face of world opinion.
Therefore pressure on this regime comes from its own need to survive in a failing economy, over which the international community is placing conditions. What ever is said for public consumption, the apparel market in the EU draws the regime to compromise on human rights. The IMF has to be listened to, to restructure the economy to qualify for the next tranche of the loan. The world has to see the regime act democratically, to douse the fuming human rights lobby and also have Indian pressure satisfied. The very weight of these issues emerging after the war have pushed the regime to move with slow and cautious steps in compromising its existence.
The “Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission” comes just that way. It was approved in cabinet with a Rs.10 million budget, but in no way seems independent. Lacks capability in generating confidence among the affected Tamil people. The necessity to have such a Commission and the lack of any commitment in the regime, exposes the contradiction the regime lives with. Establishing the Commission on its own choice, while leaving the best option of making it inclusive and credible by having it discussed and approved in parliament, proves it beyond doubt.
With no apparent change in the regime’s behaviour in belittling its own Commission, nothing could be expected, except waste of time. This “Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission” becomes nonsensical with the declaration of a “Victory Day” on 18 May each year, to be celebrated with military might. It is by all means a “victory day” for the Sinhala psyche with a preceding “heroes week” that can only be a Sinhala event.
The Tamil people, who were victims of this war would have no reason to be part of it, even in their wildest dreams. Tamil parents in the war affected Vanni and North have even been denied the right to remember their own sons and daughters who died in this 30 year conflict. Their cemeteries have been ploughed and flattened to the ground, leaving the parents to sigh in mutilated post war agony.
That is how the Tamil people in this conflict are treated and how the war is interpreted by this regime. It therefore needs no Commission report on “lessons learnt and reconciliation”. This leaves Sri Lanka with its 60 year question, “how can Sri Lanka develop itself into a democratic State that lives with equality for all its people?”
There is seemingly only one answer, but not overnight. That lies in an effort to forge an alternate social democratic platform to bring all estranged communities and social forces to accept plurality in a democracy. One that would accept a regulated market economy, immediately disarm para military groups and demilitarise society, establish independent State structures for law and order and justice with a complete change in the electoral process to reduce representative numbers at the centre and strengthen local governance and provincial power in people’s representation. This within a new Constitution that provides power to larger provinces to look after their own socio economic development and administration.
That for sure needs immediate answers for present issues and it thus starts with lobbying for a more serious approach and intervention in reconciliation and reparation. Lobbying for change in the constitution of the proposed “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission” and its mandate, that should be discussed and approved in parliament. One that could win the confidence of all war affected people on both sides of the war barricades, in a wholly demilitarised environment.
A way out, at least to begin the long walk to sanity, in confirmed chaos for now.
“In its historical context, it means a continuous, stubborn failure in establishing a modern, democratic nation State with plurality for over 60 years since independence.”
This sentence sums it all up!
Thank you.
It looks like pro-terror mediamen are STILL WEEPING FOR [edited out] PRABHA’S DEMISE. Thats all what one can infer from this [edited out]…!
The poor are getting poorer, the cost of living is soaring, no salary hikes were given as promised, no money they say but these tamashas will go on not only in Colombo, in eight other towns as well/
The intentions of the Rajapakse clan is to rule the nation with the concept of fear at the paramount, they will diddle and fiddle the Sinhala people till the cows come home.
The master craftsman called the elections at the right time, before the masses could even digest the after effects of the war,, the foolish voters saw the modern day Dutugemunu and without thinking twice blinded by the victory over the much feared Tamils have handed an eternal gift to the modern day imitation Dutugemunu.
Now, he desires to rule for ever and ever, then his brother may have a sniff, the way things are going with the infighting the mantle will go to the oldest son and the baton will be passed from pillar to post.
All these will be achieved using the fear psychosis :, kottiya is still coming, kotti still around will get the Pakse’s what they desire on a platter.
There’s lots of truth in the saying Sinhalayo, modayo kawun kanda yothayo, even the kawuns will become a luxury. A j.
When all political means tried by the Tamils failed, LTTE was born as a result of Sinhala Chauvinism in Sri Lanka.
Now there’s no LTTE, and the government has no need to come up with any solutions to the Tamils. The Tamils in Colombo have accepted second class status, and does any Sinhalese in the south care what happens in the North and East?
Government has given their hit men all the support to kidnap, arrest, torture and murder any Tamil.
The sorry state will continue under this government and politicians will have all the support from the Southern Sinhala chauvinists.
Dear Kusal,
Right on the Money! Except perhaps one phrase – “leaves one whole empty year behind”. No, the year was one of the most effective and successful “kingdom-building” year, even as the Subjects paraded in a drunken stupor. I guess enlightment awaits as sure as the inevitable hang-over
Thanks Sarath F,
What I meant as “empty year” was in relation to any positive effort or achievement. May be I should have used a more explanatory phrase, instead.
Thanks again.
Kusal
I dont know how to describe this country. So confused so disoriented so misguided and so foolish. I have never seen such educated men behaving in this manner. This country has simply lost it values. It looks like there is no hope for this country Looks like everything is working according to Prabaharans master plan. I am sure he should be laughing when the Sinhalease are executing his plan t destroy Sri Lanka
Celebrating victory has political connotations and whether Kusal likes it or not the President being a politician will organize and enjoy it and wish that the people too would follow him. If Prabhakaran won the war he would have done it like the heros’ day celebrations. President Rajapakasa would have deplored it! This is politics.
Since it is a political event one should not be annoyed about it. There are more important things for anyone not only to be annoyed but even to curse politicians!
If one listens to State media e.g. Rupavahini (15-5-10) the intention seems to be to get five million Lion Flags waved by engaging children (reference Hon JRP Suriyapperuma on RV- 15-5-10)! Forgetting population statistics and percentages, if 100,000 children from the north and east voluntarily wave flags in jubilation, the government has achieved its mission.
If Kusal is right this reasonable percentage from north and east will not be achieved to commemorate the war victory. From what he has written it appears not even five thousand flags will be waved voluntarily! Wait till the main function when the President addresses the Nation.
Dear LankaLiar
Are you lamenting thinking of people like Kusal Perera or those in the government who fit in to your criterion?
Appuchamy
Let’s wait and see…shall we? Toss a coin, it could fall on Zimbabwe or on Myanmar, which side will it fall on? I am calling, Zimbabwe…the parallels are too close for comfort. But, we can only wait and see… there is nothing else we can do. It’s too late now for Sri Lanka.
The responsibility for the current state of affairs in Sri Lanka solely and squarely sit in the shoulders of Sinhala masses. They are responsible for 60 years of hatred against Tamils and all it brought, the riots, the Tamil militancy, the war and now converting the republic into monarchy. Unless Sinhala masses realise the need to be friends with their neighbour Tamils and not turn violent on political outcomes, there is no salvation to the impoverished masses.
“In its historical context, it means a continuous, stubborn failure in establishing a modern, democratic nation State with plurality for over 60 years since independence.”
I don’t think the majority of people of SL are even ready to ponder over the mere idea of a State with plurality. For it to become axiomatic … is out of the question.
Truth and reconciliation. Sounds much better than conflict resolution and after the loss of so many thousands of lives we urgently need to know the truth before w re-concile ourselves and examine where we went wrong.
Responsible and enlightened representatives of the government, the rebels, Tamil diaspora, Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka and Muslims, Malays and Burghers although the last three communities have not provided ammo for the protracted war need to sit down and draw up the suggestions which Kusal Perera has succinctly put and in a manner understandable to one and all.
It would be very easy to scoff at him and say he is one of those peaceniks. But in all sincerity he has hit the nail on the head. We have had too many advisors to politicians and international thinktanks debating in various parts of the world on how they could curtail civilian casulaties adn gross human rights violations in the bygone bloody war.
While at certain stages these brainstorming sessions did bring attention of the war to the international stage thus awkening foreign governments to the plight of Sri Lanka, they have not had that much effect with the government.
It carried on stubbornly refusing to listen to reason and consideration for human rights.
Truth and reconciliation could be a way out for mending fences but I draw a line at commission, which history has taught us is only pulling the wool over one’s eyes.
Not a single commission including the Human Rights Commission has been able to change the way the governments behave.
We know all this ….
I think it is more important to ask yourself where you stand within this mess and what you think your role is –
this is the only course of action I can recommend without any hesitation
Those who are sheding crocodile tears on tamils who are affected by the war.has missed a golden opportunity usher peace and harmony between tamils and sinhalese soon after the war.but it is already passed almost one year government was more busy and worried about elections than catering the needs of people in north . In fact if the government wanted to solve the issues of tamils in north snd east they have still time to go ahead .but how can one expect such athing since the government is so far not been able brong permanent solutions to problems in south.
“…pugnacious crisis..”
Hmm…:)
Ask yourself what you must do
the solution
is personal
come to the realization
that no theory is going to save us
funny thing is people who go to town in commemorating [edited out] like lasantha wickramatunga is preaching against saluting the sons who laid their lives for the country!
Ah Dayan,
Your English has always been far superior.
Still no job?
A civilised society or nation, through its judicial system, makes a criminal to understand that his criminal acts are wrong, unacceptable and punishable by mankind. Then, the people also get a clear message that criminality will always go with accountability for the crime in a court of law.
Sinhalese soldiers committed war crimes by killing about 40,000 Tamil civilaians and displacing about 300,000 persons from their homes, during the third week of May last year.
The soldiers who committed those war crimes should have been by now arrested, handcuffed, locked up behind bars as dangerous criminals and brought to justice.
Instead, this week of atrocious and barbaric Tamil genocidal acts of 2009 is being celeberated as “war heroes week”; confirming that the governement in colombo is a colonial master, militarily occupying Tamil Eelam(TE).
Obviously, the principle that is being applied is “a colonial master can kill his colonial subjects and need not be brought to justice”.
Therefore, responsibility for Tamil lives in TE is non existent and accountability by the Sri Lankan state is absent.
IF Adolf Hitler would have won the war with the Allied Forces in 1940′s, the war criminals who committed the genocide of Jews would have been called “war heroes” to this day, and the world would have consequently turned out to be a massive genocidal theatre.
Although, one year has passed since the genocidal massacre, the UN and the International Community, though obliged, have not taken any concrete action to punish the war criminals in SL.
Such an attitude will definitely send a wrong signal to rogue regimes to commit similar crimes against humanity.
celebrating just on the galle face is not enough the tourism ministry must give grants to all clubs and event promoters to celebrate this victory over Tamil terrorism/Invasion
what the person writing this article does not understand is it is a human right of the Sinhalese people to claim Sri Lanka as the only Sinhalese Buddhist country in the world we will expand our military and protect this ideal at any cost even if it is our lives.
And amid Kusal, and the pro-LTTE’s wailing, things are actually NOT THAT BAD. Of course, to realize that, one would have to get away from the armchair and keyboard.
It is interesting to note Susantha’s statement “what the person writing this article does not understand is it is a human right of the Sinhalese people to claim Sri Lanka as the only Sinhalese Buddhist country in the world we will expand our military and protect this ideal at any cost even if it is our lives.”. This statement goes against every tenant of Buddhist teaching. I am not sure if Gautama Buddha had the military in mind when it comes to protecting the ideals of Buddhist.
1. Kusal, thanks for this piece.
2. ”Victory” is creating a monster(1948-2008) and slaying it in 2009.
3.Susantha
If it’s true Buddhism that the Buddhists wish to pursue, they wouldn’t be building Buddha statues under every Bo tree(it’s happening now in Northeast where the people are worse off than other living forms), but would be loving their neighbour as themselves.
It’s here that the environmentalists have to take over from politicians: sand-mining in riverbeds and seashores are ruining our environment.
An appeal to Sri Lankan Buddhists:
Build Buddha statues in your hearts = Truth and Reconciliation
Build Buddha statues under Bo trees surrounded by scorched people =
Annihilation of social justice
Kannan,I am referring to not Buddhist ideals but to Sinhalese Buddhist culture.Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese Buddhist country and we plan to keep it that way
Punitham The North and east are traditional Sinhala homelands and we can do anything we want there and the buddhist archeological sites have to be renovated in order to diminish the claims of an illegal tamil homeland
Dear Susantha
You said: “Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese Buddhist country and we plan to keep it that way”
Says who? Are you planning to use your position of being part of a majority to bully people into believing that? Sri Lanka belongs to whoever lives in it. There’s no such thing as a “Sinhala-Buddhist” country. Countries don’t come labeled with human conceit.
People like you need to join the rest of humanity in the 21st century. Otherwise, you will have no argument to give when another Hitler decides that the world was meant to be an Aryan paradise, and everyone else, including the Sinhala Buddhists, ought to be serfs.
Get this into your head – this country is every part mine, the Tamils, and everyone else who’s a citizen in it or live in it. How dare you claim ownership. Who in heck wrote this island in your name?
Seriously, we really need to find out how many people who think like this Susantha character inhabit our country! We need numbers. I sure as hell don’t want to be alarmed by what IMO, is a minority of ignorant, vocal, tribal buffoons. Sinhala-Buddhist country indeed!
I remain,
SomewhatDisgusted.
Somewhat disgusted
can you giver me any evidence of where Tamils have any historical document to claim they have a history as a civilization in Sri Lanka?
I have enough evidence from third parties who are not sinhala or tamil like dutch national archives, British archives,archives in the university of Lisbon,archives from Burma and china to prove that Tamils, Chinese or Brazilians do not have any historical right to Sri Lanka.
Why don’t you take a look at the world without asking me to who told you that countries don’t come with a label of culture in it Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhalese in the same way France belongs to the French and the way Thailand belongs to the thai people and the way Japan belongs to the Japanese Sri Lanka is not an artificially created country like India or the US for every group living in it to claim historical right to it.
Dear Susantha,
You said: “Why don’t you take a look at the world without asking me to who told you that countries don’t come with a label of culture in it Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhalese in the same way France belongs to the French and the way Thailand belongs to the thai people…”
No country in the modern world claims that France belongs to some particular race. In case you didn’t know, a french person is any citizen of that country. “French” does not mean a “race”. England does not belong to some white English cockney boys. A country belongs to its *citizens*. It is racist to think otherwise, and racism as a concept is not recognized in any of the countries you mentioned or for that matter, in the universal declaration of human rights.
This is why your request for history doesn’t matter a damn. Any citizen in Sri Lanka has equal rights to this country. How can you claim it is the exclusive domain of the Sinhala-Buddhist race? Anyone with half a brain and a modern education would realize that it is a racist thing to say. Sri Lanka belongs to Sri Lankans – and a Sri Lankan is whoever the heck lives in Sri Lanka, doesn’t matter whether it’s a Sinhalese or a Tamil or a Martian who came over yesterday.
As for evidence of Tamil civilizations. Yes. Yes. I’ve heard all about this “evidence” that not a single Tamil existed in Sri Lanka type of nonsense. Don’t be daft. Even our last king was a Tamil. They’ve lived in this country for thousands of years, that is historically indisputable and they have every right to this country. Whether or not the Tamils had an exclusive kingdom in the north is irrelevant with regard to anything but an Eelam and that is not the matter under discussion here. We are talking about Tamils having lived here and therefore having a right to this island – which they damn well do.
As for Eelams, no, I don’t think Tamils should be given an Eelam, provided we give them equal rights. And I *do* think they must be given equal rights as equal human beings. I do think their language should be recognized – they have lived and spoken that language in this country for many hundreds of years and they have every right to continue speaking it and not be forced to speak Sinhalese, in recognition of their rights as human beings. The period or length of stay in this country is *utterly irrelevant*.
It is immoral and racist not to enable them to do so. Their laguage must be protected, just as we protect ours. It’s when people like you suggest that this country belongs to the Sinhala-Buddhist race that they feel they must have a country for their own race. Treat them like human beings whose culture and rights are valued as much as we value ours, they will neither cause any trouble nor have any right to ask for an Eelam. If you are not willing to do that and they must live in subjugation to the Sinhalese, then in all fairness, they have every right to an Eelam where they can live free of discrimination. What is the difficulty in understanding this?
So the question is very simple: Are you willing to cherish, uphold and protect their culture as equal human beings? Or do you only want to elevate yours to a position of superiority?
cheers,
/SD
Hello’ Susantha!
Well done! Excellent articulation! Keep-up your good thoughful work and exemplar flag bearing patriotism – a typical of its kind of Sinhalese fanatic patriotism vomiting venom on public forums and shamelessly suck it back on a later date. We salute to you Susantha. We, the Tamils, are running short of people and longing and searching for more people like you to justify and support our course and thus relieving us from big burden to a greater extent. Shortsighted uncivilized useless people like Mr. Kusal Perera, Dr. DJ, Dr. Thiranagama and Dr. Vickramabhaku Karunaratnae are ridiculing discrediting, tarnishing and damaging our efforts. Please get back to your ‘Madarasa of Buddhism’ and get yourself enrolled for post-graduate studies. You too can be a Doctorate in … and have Dr. in front or back of your name which will enable you to outsmart others and rise up. Your jingoism while accomplishing targeted purpose, like laser guided missiles, also will contribute and serve our goals as well. God bless you, Susantha! I am sorry for my language if it disappoints or hurts anyone. Nithy!
Dear Somewhat Disgusted,
I was going to reply to Susantha’s irrelevant, defensive claims, but you took the words right out of my mouth—thanks! For Susantha, please read K. Indrapala’s ” Evolution of an Ethnic Identity” and K.M. De Silva’s ” History of Sri Lanka” to read about Tamil’s long presence in the island. They are not saying Tamils have a ” homeland” in Sri Lanka–they are saying they have been an integral part of Sri Lanka for centuries and will continue to be.
Huh
you are only referring to books but i am referring directly to archives this blog does not allow the use of links so i cant give u a direct link but just try to find the VOC(dutch empire) archives official website on Google and see details on Ceylon it clearly says that area till elephant pass was clearly property of the Sinhalese kingdom and the dutch colony was limited to Jaffna peninsula in the north in the 1600s it clearly tells that the entire eastern province was part of the kingdom of Kandy.Majority of Tamils in SL are a result of illegal colonization supported by Dutch and British in order to get cheap labour for their tobacco plantations and railway construction programs
somewhat disgusted
last king of Ceylon was a telengu and not a Tamil.I wonder with what base you say the question here is not about having a separate Tamil unit in Sri lanka .the issue here is not about equal rights for all citizens its that the Tamil terrorists or illegal immigrants what to claim self determination in the country that is historically belonging to Sinhalese.I can agree that Tamils have the same right to Sri Lanka as burghers Malays and Muslims nothing more
Susantha
“can you giver me any evidence of where Tamils have any historical document to claim they have a history as a civilization in Sri Lanka?”
I can give you two:
Yalpanavaipavamalai
Mattakkalappu Manmiyam
Happy reading!
Susantha,
You say that the east was part of the kandyan kingdom– I believe that to be true. However, that does not mean the Eastern province was not filled with Tamils. What proof do you have that the east and north were not filled with tamils in the past centuries? Yes, they may have been under the dominion of the Kandyan rulers, but that does not necessarily mean they were Sinhalese. If you don’t think Tamils in the north have been their for centuries,how is it that the dialect of Tamil spoken there is even more archaic than the dialect spoken in Tamil Nadu? Many scholars believe this is because the higher castes who reside in the north are primarily immigrants of the Chola invasions, and this would mean they speak the dialect of Tamil they do because they are descended from people who spoke a form of Tamil that was not yet different from Malayalam.
Also, you claim that the majority of Tamils in the north are descended from the activities of the Dutch. Even if this is true(and I’m not sure if it is), the same thing goes for the low-country Sinhalese people as well. The south of Sri Lanka was settled with slaves from the Kerala/Tamil Nadu area as well, and those slaves were permanently settled in Sri Lanka once the Dutch left. also, in my reading, I have seen it suggested that the slaves settled in the north–most likely, similar to the ones in the south, were up till recently, kept as low caste people. Also, you need to read Robert Knox’s ” An historical Relation of Ceylon”. He clearly says that the north of Sri Lanka, to the north of Anuradhapurra, is inhabited by Malabars, i.e. Tamils(According to Sinhalese-American anthropoligst Obeysekere from Princeton, Tamils were mistakenly clumped together with Malayalam people as ” Malabars”):
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14346/14346-h/14346-h.htm#d0e17212
It is, in my opinion, pretty ridiculous to debate whether Tamils were here or not for centuries. The relative consensus among actual legitimate Sri Lankan historians, like K. Indrapala and K.M. De Silva(widely considered Sri Lanka’s most esteemed historian) is that Tamils have been in Sri Lanka for centuries(it is also interesting to note that they both deny that Tamils do not have a homeland in SL). Why Sri Lanka’s most esteemed historian say that Tamils have been in Sri Lanka for centuries, even though they haven’t been?
It is in my opinion that the country of Sri Lanka would have been much better off if the British payed attention to the Kandyans. Don’t forget it was Kandyan’s, who, on TWO DIFFERENT OCCASIONS, suggested that Sri Lanka should have a federal structure divided into three areas: the north/east, south/west, and the center(Kandyan territory). That country would have(According to my reading) had a p.c. GDP of about $20,000 if it weren’t for this stupid war. I think we need to just accept the fact that Tamils in Sri Lanka, so long as they are legal citizens, are just as Sri Lankan as the Sinhalese, regardless of how long they have been in the country.
The curse of this island nation is that when enlightened individuals like Kusal try to reason the extremist Tamil elements descend on him like vultures.
There are peace-loving people of Sinhala origin who want this fractured isle re-united.
Please let us give peace a chance. Then we would not have India, China, Pakistan and our colonial invaders storming on our doorsteps to further their advances.
Dear Susantha,
Can I have a copy of the deed to this Sinhala-Buddhist land that you talk of ? Is it registered with the Land Registry ? If it is in your name, can I lease out a few perches ? Relay in need of some pure Sinhala-Buddhist land.
Thanks
Amarnath
Expression of pain and uneasiness of mind by some commentators is understood with regret. It’s neither deliberate nor intentional by this critic to mislead or descend upon or to degrade or ridicule the stature and dignity of those gentlemen named in the comment. Rather reducing instantaneous recognition and comprehension, they have been admired, exalted and honored by comparison with targeted individual – who’s a good readily available example to typify the inherent nature of psyche – jingoistic vulgarity against the Tamil minority – in the name of unrestrained extreme, yet duplicitous, nationalism that again takes refuge in patriotism. What an unease! Nithy!
Huh
check with the census department of Sri Lanka distinguishing between the upcountry Tamils and sri lankan Tamils was done in 1912.
eastern province tamils came there even after the Muslims.Tamil terrorists like chelvnaigam even didn’t claim the eastern province.There are reports by British civil servants that they settled Tamils in the large numbers in the east any way the east will become a Sinhalese majority area very soon I have personally bought land in the eastern province.
http://www.nationaalarchief.nl/AMH/detail.aspx?page=dpost&lang=en&id=682#tab2
elephant pass was populated with Buddhists in the 1600s according to dutch archives and not any book(fairytale) written by some Tamil pseudo historian terrorist
And the book written by the great brilliant Portuguese historian Fr Queroz clearly define about this tamil kingdom myth which is illustrated here
http://www.jaffnahistory.com/
Nithyananthan
you can justify your claims anywhere but who cares there are 80 million janitors in the world shouting for eelam who cares? we are in a position of power world super powers are with us and we dont fear any stateless janitors if they try to be funny they will get a better treat than they got last year.
The truth is the tamil self determination movement has been crushed we see how afraid they are to talk about self determination in Sri Lanka (Sinhala country)
Somewhat disgusted,
You will be amazed at how many people in this country think like Susantha. Education has done very little or nothing at all to change such attitudes.
Susantha,
You evaded the simple and direct question I asked:
Are you willing to treat Tamil’s as equal human beings? Or do you wish to claim a position of supremacy for the Sinhalese?
somewhat disgusted
of course tamils and all others are equal human beings and have equal human rights but they are not entitled to any sort of self determination in Sri Lanka
Susantha:
Although the following is biased, I believe this post is a great rebuttal to what you claim about the Tamil people and their history in SL. It is from sangam.org from an article that is a rebuttal to the crap spewed by vermon like Nalin De Silva:
” Here is evidence to DISPROVE the claim made by some Sinhala chauvinists that the Jaffna Tamils were brought by the Dutch for Tobacco plantation.
According to the article \”The World\’s Oldest Trade: Dutch Slavery and Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean in the Seventeenth Century\” written by the Dutch historian Markus Vink, the Slave trade was flourishing during the period 1658 -1689. Thousands of slaves from the South Indian (Malabar/Coromandel) Coast were settled in Ceylon and many other countries around the world.
During this same period, in 1672 Dutch Predikant PHILIPPUS BALDEAES was living in Jaffna and was preaching Christianity to the people of Jaffna (in Tamil language). This Dutch officer first landed in the Malabar Coast, stayed there for a very short time moving along the Malabar Coast to Coramandel Coast up to Nagapatnam before coming to Jaffna. He knew the entire South Indian (Malabar/Coromandel) coast very well.
In his famous 1682 historical account, Dutch Predikant Philippus Baldaeus says,
“I have heard it often asserted by the inhabitants of Jaffna Patnam that, that part of the country was TIMES PAST peopled from the Coromandal coast and hence the dialect of their fatherland.”
Why did this Dutch officer has to overhear some peasants of Jaffna talking about TIMES PAST when the Dutch were already settling those South Indian slaves from the Malabar/Coromandal coast in Ceylon during the same period.
If the Dutch had settled those people in Jaffna, this officer would have said with full authority,
“I have seen (not overhear people) the inhabitants of Jaffna Patnam being peopled (not times past) from the Malabar/Coromandal coast by the Dutch and hence they speak the dialect of their fatherland.”
This clearly proves that, as per the article, the Dutch settled tens of thousands of slaves from Malabar/Coromandal coast in the Southern parts of Sri Lanka (for cinnamon plantation because cinnamon was their main export and not tobacco). Today they have all become Sinhala Buddhists/Catholics who are claiming to be the sole owners of Sri Lanka and the champions of the Sinhala-Buddhist Nationalism.
It is absolutely hilarious to see the very people in the South who descend from those settled by the Dutch while hiding their identity behind Portuguese names keep harping falsely that it is the people in Jaffna who were brought by Dutch. “
Huh
you make 1001 claims for the tamil terrorists invaders to make claim to our Sinhala country.Can I ask you one Question?Is Nalin De Silva the admin of the VOC archive site?also I like you to give me an authoritative link which justifies any claim of the tamil terrorists?
Susantha,
You are ridiculous. I don’t believe in Eelam. Believing that all the ethnicities in Sri Lanka are entitled to a federal structure(if they want it), is not agreeing with the Tamil terrorists. Btw, that way of thinking is pretty anemic, and is the same kind of thinking that
George Bush used in his ” your either with us or against us” mentality. You can access Robert Knox’s book ” A Historical Relation….” online, and I believe there is at least one whole chapter devoted to the fact that there are Tamils in the area in Anuradhapurra and north of that area and Sinhalese people are not to be seen. There are also many articles online by scholars that I’m sure you can access that discuss the antiquity of the Jaffna dialect and how old it is and why it is has not undergone changes that the Tamil Nadu dialects have. Also, the book ” Crucible of Conflict” discusses many of the old customs of the Eastern tamils and how they are different from Tamil Naud tamils as well. Although I am a Sinhalese, and I know fully well that there were Tamil politicans making eelam demands long before 1983, I also know that the Jaffna Tamil people did not start demanding Eelam until every measure their politicians took to negotiate with the Sinhalese politicians was squandered. Also, please explain how suddenly ALL tamils who live in sri lanka are invaders?
Also, if you want an even better explanation as to how long Tamils have lived in Sri Lanka, please read ” the Evolution of an Ethnic Identity” by Indrapala. He pretty much disclaims his thesis from the 1960′s and admits that it is out of date.