This is the most moderate and sensible article of all by Mr. Kusal Perera, I have come across.

A very good analysis, I should say.

Thanks!

What you say here:”Therefore, the Sinhalese from the southern kingdoms of Ceylon attached Tamil Eelam(TE) as a colony in 1972 and declared the Dominion of Ceylon as “Republic of Sri Lanka”, unilaterally and illegally, similar to the declaration of Southern Rhodfesia as a rebel republic by Ian Smith in 1965.”

Is classic!

So, the Tamil Eelam was there under the British before the Sinhalese annexed it? You should have told the British about it!

I was never around when Arya charkrawarthi was around. I assume that none of us were. But I know is that the last Sinhala King was in fact an Indian Tamil. My point being, We have to give this one to MR who said “all parts of the country belongs to all Sri Lankans. there are no regions belonging to a particular race”.

I don’t think arguing about who came first, who was where, when is helpful at all. It’s like arguing whether the chicken or the egg came first? it goes round and round in circles, there is never an end. No one will budge, give or compromise.

The question is how did the pre-colonial Tamil kingdom of Arya Chakravarti which didnt extend far beyond the Jaffna peninsula suddenly expand to include all the lands in the British defined Northern and Eastern provinces? The Eelamist seems to have decided to help himself to all the sparsely populated land in the country leaving the Sinhalese and Moslems with hardly anything. Now how did Tamils come to lay claim to a land with a continous archaelogical record that is Sinhala in heritage and not Tamil? Perhaps that can be called colonialism too.. or even land grabbing.

There were barely any Tamils in Ampara, Padaviya, Weli Oya and Kantale when the new wave of Sinhalese colonists arrived. Instead there was an older Sinhalese population – the Sinhala purana gam (remnant villages) that dotted these areas. The Tamils however felt these areas should belong exclusively to the Tamils as the British included these areas within their Northern and Eastern provinces. So the Eelamist has his own form of colonialism in mind for these areas. He wishes to colonise Sri Lanka in such a way that the Tamil stands to gain 4 times as much land per capit as what he are prepared to yield to the Sinhalese. He also wishes to usurp the birthright of the Sri Lankan Moslems. Classing them as Tamil Speaking and therefore inevitably part of Tamil Eelam (even though all the Moslems stand to benefit from is another expulsion with their possesions in a single shopping bag.)

Funny thing though, High Caste Northern Tamils Never minded being colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch or the British. I guess they felt inferior to the white man but since we they are superior to the Sinhalaya of the south, its degrading to be colonized by them…

Against Fraud:

My point is exactly, if the president is trying to drag it along, buy time, what other option does the TNA or anyone else for that matter have. The PSC at least gives an avenue.

If the TNA was genuine about their intentions, they will come out with their demands publicly, take it to the people of Sri Lanka and ask for their support. if they are genuine that is. they want to deal with just the govt. The govt doesn’t want to deal with them. So the circle goes on.

I give you that the president is not genuine about devolution. But You must admit that the TNA is not genuine about it either. They want a separate state, or a path to one. So don’t be half blinded. You can’t just blame MR, you have to blame both sides.

PS: Wouldn’t it be nice if you could debate my idea, critique it, attack it, without getting personal. for example calling me a Sinhala Chauvinist, racist does not make my idea any better or worse. It suggests that I may have a bias. but My ideas alone may still be valid.
You don’t even know who I am, for all you know I might be Muslim, and my mother tongue Tamil

Britain captured the island of Ceylon from different kings, separately in battles or as transfers, many years ago. But Britain did not show sufficient interest to de-colonise or liquidate the Dominion of Ceylon from 1948 to 1972, as stipulated in the UN resolution for decolonisation.

Therefore, the Sinhalese from the southern kingdoms of Ceylon attached Tamil Eelam(TE) as a colony in 1972 and declared the Dominion of Ceylon as “Republic of Sri Lanka”, unilaterally and illegally, similar to the declaration of Southern Rhodfesia as a rebel republic by Ian Smith in 1965.

There was neither de-colonisation or re-colonisation of TE. TE was forcibly grabbed by SL from Britain.

And now the position of SL-TE fits perfectly within the parameters of colonialism. a) SL made settlements and penal colnies of Sinhalese such as Ampara, Kantale, Padaviya and Weli Oya in TE, b) The colony of TE was forcibly made to use Sinhalese as the official language from English and statues of Buddha are planted in TE c) SL continues to exploit resources such as deep sea fish and exotic timber. It is now trying to exploit oil and gas deposits in Mannar basin of TE. and d) trade and manufacturing licences are not granted to the people of TE but given to the pawns of SL.

Repression war crimes and geenocide were done with colonial attitude.

TE should be immediately decolonised.

Joker:
You certainly live up to the pseudonym you’ve adopted, Joker! Why don’t you face the simple FACT that what the President is seeking is to drag his feet ad infinitum until the issue (and the Indian Government) goes away? In all fairness, this is a tactic that has worked very well upto now, particularly with the success that the Sri Lanka government has had with its frog-in-the-well supporters in this country, accusing anyone critical of his government of being “jealous of The Miracle of Asia and determined to destroy us.” The “success” will be the Rajapaksas’, the tragedy will be Sri Lanka’s, thanks to the blatant racism being practiced in this country in the name of “nationalism” and supported by such as you, Joker.

What is the 13th amendment really? It was an instrument conceived by the dominant hard power in the Indian ocean at the time (India), and forced on SL in order to exert it’s influence over the island by taking advantage of the post July 83 political turmoil.

We are now in 2012. Things have changed. The undisputed heavyweight champion of the Indian ocean is the United States. Since the end of the cold war they have invested billions of dollars in the British sovereign territory of Diego Garcia, turning it into one of their premier naval and logistics centers. They also have massive hard power bases in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Today, we are situated not only in the backyard of India, but also the United States. In fact, the distance from Colombo to Diego Garcia is shorter than the distance from Colombo to New Delhi.

What remains to unfold is the nature of the political instrument that the US will shove down SL’s throat during this decade. That’s what we should be speculating on. That would be a serious, contemporary discussion, not talking about the 13th amendment or Duran Duran.

So, the Dutugemunu of today wants to hide behind a PSC shield (composed of chauvinists, thugs and hooligans – judging by their behaviour in the parliament – with little compulsion to solve the national question) and let the TNA get rubbished, only to tell the world after a few years down the line “it is not I, but them” who won’t grant devolution. Masterplan!