The following observations may be of interest to some who doubt how informed Dr Dayan Jayatilleka’s arguments are:

Induction is not scientific method – if something does not work after a few attempts a scientist does not make the general conclusion that it could never work.

A scientific hypothesis should not be muddled with an idea such as federalism (which is not at all a scientific hypothesis).

As Robert the Bruce might have said, try try and try again until at last you succeed

“Provincial devolution”? How fair that is would of course depend on the details of the devolution: mere words on paper or substantial enough.

Perhaps the doubters might also be relieved.

If Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka’s ideas on identity are and have been totally congruent with those of Judge Weeramantry, Kumar Sangakkara, and the author of the essay currently under discussion, he is then also claiming that there is no distinction between any of these peoples ideas.

Can that really be?

Looks like Dr. DJ is somewhat logically challenged!

Game Kolla,

Ever thought of going into writing yourself?
You appear to be very talented indeed at being creative with the truth!

You write entertainingly – good.

Some factual comments that you may find useful someday:

Colombo Chetties are only of merchant level (Vaishya), therefore they cannot possibly be higher than Tamils who are descended from Kshatriya and Brahmin levels (as are many Jaffna Tamils).

“The LTTE – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam – waged a war against Sri Lanka; their objective was to gain a separate state meant for the Tamils.”
Not entirely so! Their main objective was to separate away from the Sinhala Buddhist extremists.

“Certainly not I, when I remember clearly that any dark skinned person was immediately identified as a Tamil who then immediately became a Tiger terrorist. I was made to think this way.”

Lots of Sinhalese do think that way.
Some years ago, at another prestigous university in England, there was a most amusing incident where a quite dark skinned Sinhalese ranted on and on about how bad the invading dark Tamils were.
The others present first thought that he was being admirably self critical! When questioned the Sinhalese man became very very confused. Besides, quite coincidentally, every Tamil at that university was much fairer than every Sinhalese there at the time!

The world certainly does note differences between Sinhalese and Tamils at a political and moral level when they refer to Sri Lankans these days. In Canada Tamils are associated with terrorism but are also seen as the victims, while in most other countries it is the Sinhalese and the GOSl who are the real baddies!

Dutch Burghers see themsleves as better and much less mixed with the local Sinhalese than the Portuguese Burghers.
Those of British descent never refer to themselves as Burghers and see themselves as superior and quite apart.
The matter of English fluency is of no consequence at all.

Do you only want to ward off criticism against the government?
Do you speak so much of political philosophy and not prod the President to help the war-battered people to practise the democracy of voting?
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56609
In Sri Lanka Democracy Rides on Wheels, 25 July 2011:
”An offer from CaFFE to bear the costs of providing free transport in the former conflict zone, popularly known as the Vanni, and elsewhere was shot down by election officials.”

Dayan

Please help the President. Please get the country out of crisis – the President needs good advisors and friends.

My ideas on identity are and have been totally congruent with those (in their uncensored form) of Judge Weeramantry, Kumar Sangakkara, and the author of the essay currently under discussion.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2285774.ece
”Asked about the absence of an enduring political solution 26 months after the war with the LTTE ended, the Sri Lankan President told me over a breakfast meeting at Temple Trees in Colombo: “I have asked my party and others to propose a Parliamentary Select Committee to look into a political solution, any amendments to the Constitution. Whatever the Parliamentary Committee recommends to me, I will accept – and ultimately it has to go to Parliament.”

One of those Sinhalese goons is President Jayawardene who let the cat out of the bag when he told Ian Ward, a reporter from The Telegraph(UK)two weeks previously(11 July 1983): ”I don’t worry about the Tamils. Sinhalese will be happy if I starve the Tamils”.

Please don’t go too far and spoil the story.

“While it is good to rectify distortions. You should also rectify the distortion that the LTTE is only Terrorist and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is NOT. GoSL is also a terrorist outfit, whether it forms the government of a country or not. The LTTE and GoSL are two sides of the same coin.”

That is how some people want to paint the picture.

Thanks!