Am I missing something here or what? How does this governance structure change anything other than further consolidating the power of the President? Whether the President rules the provinces directly or through his/her proxy doesn’t really make a difference does it?

We have now a historic opportunity to finally address what we haven’t been able to since the end of colonialism – that is to fundamentally change the relationship between the state and its people. Instead we come up with an amendment that consolidates the powers of the Viceroy under the title of a President.

Ethnicity is actually irrelevant in this discussion as the proposed 13 amendment is a plain and simple lousy piece of legislature. It is equally bad for all ethnicities. I am amazed that this was actually put on the table as a proposal for addressing the grievances of the Tamil community and now I understand why many Tamil people reject this.

I am really not sure why Mr. Dayan Jayatilaka champions the 13th amendment given its blatant inability to provide any sort of real power sharing between centre and periphery (no matter what ethnicity you belong to). The argument that it is already part of the constitution and therefore should be implemented is merely compounding one error after another. At this point, in my humble opinion, we should be having a profound discussion on the entire Constitution itself, pushing for what Mr. Jayatilaka talks about himself – that no section of society should have “special privileges” built into the constitution.

The position that it is not the right time to contest the Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinist elements for changing the Constitution is weak kneed and laying the foundation for the next quarter century of civil strife in our country.

> “do you dare to similarly question Anglo Saxon hegemony in Britain, or white supremacy in the United States, or Viking hegemony in your beloved Scandinavian countries?”

What hegemony? In Britain the Prime Minister is not Anglo Saxon – he’s from Scotland. They also have MPs and ministers of Asian extraction – and a black Archbishop. In the US, those white supremacists just elected a black President. And it’s been a long time since horned-helmetted marauders sailed out from Scandinavia to terrorise the neighbouring peoples. They are more likely to be involved in peacamaking – though it doesn’t seem to get them a lot of thanks!

In all of those countries there is a commitment to pluralism and equal rights. There is legislation to guarantee a free press – which works. There is a government which is not run by one or two families. And when they complain about white vans they are only talking about inconsiderate drivers.

Where does Susan Goon think they should improve, to be more like her ideal?

If there is a just government in Sri Lanka that treats all its inhabitants in a just manner with good governance as its aim, then Sri Lanka will become a “Paradise’

If there is a truly DEMOCRATIC government that represents the Sri Lankans and NOT the “Sri Lankan Sinhalese”, then there will not be any “detainees” in any “camps” in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Dayan is well aware of the “freedoms” the “Sri Lankans” have in Sri Lanka

“Aren’t they as deserving of massive demonstrations in the streets of Western cities”. The moment such demonstrations starts in any of the Western countries, Mr.Dayan might be requested by his “masters” to label these demonstrations as organised by the LTTE to regroup itself and it will not be a surprise if Mr.Dayan obliges without bashing an eyelid in the name of duty.

“In sum, the young Bandaranaike pointed out the dysfunctional asymmetry between the “base” or “substructure”, the underlying social formation of the island with its poly-ethnic mosaic, and a centralized political “superstructure”.”

You have forgotten something- young Bandaranaike in the 1920s was not seeking a “political solution” for the Tamils but for the Kandyan nationalists who were screaming that they were separate from the rest of the island. The Tamils at that stage were not demanding devolution of power but rather privileged representation in the legislature.

The real “political solution” is not devolution, 13th Amendment (plus or minus) etc. but rather closing the chapter of 1956 by implementing the language policy and making Tamil equal to Sinhala in actuality. The pre-war grievance that Tamils dominated university admissions and govt employment is no longer valid today and the SL Tamils are now a relatively underprivileged people. Efforts should be made to increase their proportion in the civil service.

If Tamil and Sinhala languages are equal then there will be no need for devolution/division of the state and the resultant drop in governance.

King Duttagamini’s malarkey is symptomatic of those who have nothing to say, yet insist of vomiting drivel anyway.

Dayan’s sustained and long-standing engagement with the readership of Groundviews is detailed here.

That his video was watched over 87,000 times is a fact and perhaps an indication of Dayan’s influence, even if you only read, watch or hear him to vehemently disagree.