Comments on: Dungeons are also peaceful: Enduring uncertainties in post-war Lanka

By: sinhala_voice

sinhala_voice — Mon, 31 May 2010 06:20:29 +0000

The Tamils are a ethnic group without a country to rule.

The easiest target is Sri Lanka. Then from there it is a matter of time that Tamil Nadu break away from the Indian Union.

Why because if the Tamils get an independent state with more powers than than Tamil Nadu politicans then this is create popular support to unite with Eelam not with the Indian union.

This is the ONLY concern of the Indian republic.

By: anand

anand — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:00:27 +0000

Kumar Anna,

You forgot one more VERY important fifth contradicting opinion which is as follows:

5. India does not and will not allow diaspora to recommed eelam for the cooked up fear that TamilNadu will separate.

My comment for the above is, why the hell then Indira Gandhi gave birth to LTTE. Assuming diaspora wil take oath to not include TN state in the eelam equation, will India get equal rights for Tamils in lanka. If so what the heck happened to north-east merger, provincial council, war crime investigation including the Nambiar(s), Menon, Alok Prasad, Narayanan who were involved in the last stages of war….

By: Asela

Asela — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:00:29 +0000

Brilliant Piece. Coffee Movement? That was funny! All parties to this conflict are guilty of many things including abject ignorance. The Victors will not give anything now they have won. They losers are quiet for the moment until they too rise again. And the people will continue with their own interests being the center stage. Sometimes I wonder why the Sri Lankan people are unable to solve their problems. Achieve higher standards of behavior, morality, government, and achievement. Not that many countries can do that, the USA included. So could Singapore be a role model for Sri Lanka and it’s leaders in particular? Despite being a quasi dictatorship under Lew Kuan Yew and often heavy handed policies, this small country seems to have evolved into a friendly, kind, hardworking country of people who seems to coexist with many different cultures with virtually no corruption. Or can somebody else name a better country to emulate?

By: Vishnu Gupta

Vishnu Gupta — Tue, 25 May 2010 02:27:38 +0000

Democracy is nothing but a tyranny of the majority, so whoever controls the majority aka Sinhala-Buddhist (since the term was coined by Anagarika Dharamapala) rules Sri Lanka and does not have to consider the so-called minorities.

Good analysis Kumar, and may I add that we are indeed heading in the direction of Zimbabwe, where the war against the whites under Ian Smith and Mugabe’s role in it are still used to win votes. The fact that the economy has crashed and is only surviving on expatriates who send money to their families, Chinese aid in exchange for thousands of acres of arable land and god-knows-what.

So, it’s back to the feudal fiefdoms or caiques as you call them or maybe more appropriately regional warlords. DD in the North, KA in the East and the rest under the military armed with emergency powers.

By: Vaikunth

Vaikunth — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:32:56 +0000

“The government’s persistent assault on democracy is breeding the next generation of Prabaharans and Wijeweeras.”

Were Prabaharan and Wijeweera the products of an assault on democracy to begin with? I would have thought Wijeweera was the outcome of a class struggle and Prabaharan was that of a failed unitary political model in the post-colonial era. Today those who call out for democracy are the backers of Fonseka, the same man who said minorities can’t demand undue things. In other words, the same lot gives no hoot about the Tamil political question.

Why blame the Rajapakses? After all, the people voted him in. This is indicative of a problem in the people’s psyche – one that is deeply rooted in the sri lankan history. Sri Lanka can at most masquerade as a pluralist society but can never expect it to be one; it lacks the pressure to go toward a just political solution as no mandate for it was given by the people. Had the Brits not unified the country and not have played the divide and rule game, much of the issues today won’t exist.