19 March, 2024

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13 A, The Indian Model & The Problem Of Interpellation

By Izeth Hussain

Izeth Hussain

Many Sinhalese, possibly even a majority, seem favorable to the idea of solving the Tamil ethnic problem through devolution on the basis of 13th Amendment, though in a truncated form without land and police powers. Many Tamils, possibly even a majority, could be favorable to 13 A with some modifications of land and police powers. So a Sinhalese- Tamil consensus on a modified form of 13 A seems feasible. The consensus among the experts seems to be that appropriate Constitutional modifications to 13 A can be made with a two-thirds Parliamentary majority without recourse to a referendum. So there does seem to be a prospect of our reaching a definitive solution to the ethnic problem at long last.

There are several factors that can favor a national consensus on a modified form of 13 A as the solution. There is a widespread notion – not only in Sri Lanka – that devolution could be the best specific for ethnic problems that are peculiarly recalcitrant to solution. The idea of federalism as a solution has been with us over a long period, even from pre-Independence times: the advocacy of Leonard Woolf and S.W.R.D Bandaranaike and the demand for it by the Kandyans. Federalism became the main demand of the Tamils since the late ‘forties. 13 A, modeled on Indian devolution, has been entrenched in our Constitution for well over a quarter century, and the Indian model is now seen officially in India as amounting to “cooperative federalism”. It is arguable that 13 A was imposed on us by Indian diktat and that there never has been anything like a national consensus behind it. It remains however that 13 A has been put into practice in a truncated form without much public demur for over a quarter century, which might be taken as amounting, in practical terms, to a national consensus on a truncated 13 A.

The preceding paragraph does not include the most powerful argument – ostensibly the most powerful argument – in favor of 13 A. It is that 13 A is modeled on the Indian practice of devolution that has proved to be a resounding success since 1947 in holding together multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic India, making “unity in diversity” far more than a rhetorical slogan. What is the Indian practice of devolution? It is devolution on the basis of language, and 13 A amounts to the same thing because the predominantly Tamil-speaking people in the North and East will have their own Provincial Councils. Why should not the Indian success story be replicated in Sri Lanka as well?

We must bear in mind that the late Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew, who had far and away the most astute political intelligence of his time and who furthermore had a rather special interest in Sri Lanka, instantly and outspokenly welcomed the 1987 Peace Accords. But the LTTE chose to fight a war rather than negotiate a political solution. There was possibly another factor also that stood in the way of a political solution. The writer distinctly remembers reading in the Hindu a report that Rajiv Gandhi had declared at an election rally on Marina Beach in Chennai that he could not make headway towards a political solution because President JR kept on relentlessly reneging on his commitments. Anyway the LTTE and President JR are no more, and both the Sinhalese and the Tamil sides now have moderate and pragmatic leaders who are in earnest about reaching a political solution.

At the people’s level, both the Sinhalese and the Tamils are well aware that a hundred thousand died in the war, and the Sinhalese in particular should be made aware that according to what appear to be Indian assessments the deaths of LTTE cadres were only slightly more than among our troops. Would the Sinhalese people go along with the Sinhalese racist hardliners and oppose any and every proposed political solution, risking yet another bout of war? It is furthermore arguable that 13 A has never been tried out properly for various reasons. For the reasons given above, the conditions now seem propitious to attempt a definitive solution through a modified 13 A.

The argument developed in the preceding paragraphs seems quite plausible but in fact it is deeply flawed by a fallacy in its premise itself. The fallacy is that all ethnic groups are essentially the same, relations between them are essentially the same, and therefore a solution to ethnic problems that succeeds in India should succeed in Sri Lanka as well. It follows – according to that argument – that devolution on a linguistic basis that has succeeded in India should also succeed in Sri Lanka. However, that argument ignores the fact that inter-ethnic relations can vary greatly from country to country: they can be equable and cooperative or they can be agonistic and antagonistic. By “agonistic” is meant competitiveness that is not essentially of a hostile order, a notion that is derived from the ancient Greek notion of sport.

In India where states have been set up on a linguistic basis, inter-ethnic relations – that is, relations between language groups – have for the most part been equable and cooperative. There have never been really serious problems between the states. There have been problems between the states and the center over the use of Hindi as the official language, particularly between Tamil Nadu and Delhi, but they have been sorted out through an admirable pragmatic accommodativeness. There has been nothing like a quarter century civil war with a hundred thousand dead. So, on the whole, inter-ethnic relations in India, in so far as the determinant of ethnicity has been language, have been equable and cooperative, not antagonistic to any serious extent. Consequently, it is not surprising that devolution on a linguistic basis has worked smoothly in India.

Can we really expect that success story to be replicated in Sri Lanka? Here the relations between the two major language groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamils, so far from being equable and cooperative have been agonistic – with constant rivalry for scarce resources – and antagonistic to a horrifying extent, resulting in a quarter century civil war which left a hundred thousand dead. There are also other factors which would make a devolved Tamil unit here very different from the typical states of the Indian union. Unlike them our Tamils insist on a supposed right of self-determination, which means that however much devolution they are allowed, they can find that inadequate and still claim the right to strike out for a separate state. The present writer has debunked that supposed right, provoking not reasoned refutation but abuse. The problem posed by the claim to self-determination has to be contextualized to be properly understood, taking account of the Tamil Nadu factor, the power of Delhi, and the ability of the Tamil diaspora to stir up anti-Sinhalese sentiment in powerful Western and other countries. In addition, there is a new geopolitical configuration with the increasing presence of China in Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries, which could make India want to get a grip on Sri Lanka more than ever before. These factors are being merely mentioned here because they have already been covered in detail in articles by the present writer.

It is hardly necessary to labor the point that the replication of the Indian linguistic model of devolution in Sri Lanka will very probably aggravate the ethnic problem instead of solving it, and could eventually bring disaster for Sri Lanka. We must certainly recognize that the preservation of Indian unity in so much diversity is an admirable achievement. Western and other ill-wishers of India were hoping until the ‘seventies for the implosion of India into several particles, and the Indians themselves were fearful of that prospect to the extent of regarding federalism as an f word. Today Prime Minister Modi feels confident enough about Indian unity to extol the virtues of cooperative federalism. It is an admirable achievement, but it is a serious mistake to imagine that it can be replicated successfully in Sri Lanka. Indeed, there is a strong case for arguing – as the writer will do in the next and concluding part of this article – that India’s unity owes far more to a fully functioning democracy than to devolution. That is the model that should guide us. (To be concluded)

 

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Latest comments

  • 4
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    So you too want dive into the very bottom of the racial cesspit and racially Sri Lankans as Sinhalese, Tamils, Burgers, Moslems etc. ? Come on dude, we Sri Lankans won’t fall for these racial, ethnic traps again… The change will have to come from you… not from Sri Lankans.

    We will ensure that these attempts to divide us will fail… and will fail miserably.

    • 0
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      “Come on dude, we Sri Lankans won’t fall for these racial, ethnic traps again”.

      Ha.. Ha… Ha…You wish!

  • 6
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    The very worst written on the subject of resolving the Tamil question. If the 13th was all that wonderful, why did Tamils reject it for 30 years unreservedly?

    Why did the Sinhalese polity say for 30 years that it will have no truck with it?

    Was it blood lust that led the national polity to drench the land in blood for that long?

    Is there such poverty of intellect in the country as to make IZ’s golden thesis seem some intellectual treasure?

    • 0
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      How can we Sri Lankans provide an answer, when there is no question?

      • 1
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        P U K K A

        “How can we Sri Lankans provide an answer, when there is no question?”

        Here is the question, can you provide an answer with proof:

        1)Can a Diophantine equation x^n+y^n=z^n have no integer solutions for n>2 and x,y,z!=0?

        Thank you.

        2) Traveling at 100 miles/hour, how long would it take to get to the nearest galaxy?

        Thank you again

  • 0
    11

    A brilliant policy perspective by a sophisticated diplomat and intellectual. Bravo! .I look forward to the next part eagerly.

    • 6
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      So that lumpen Putinists like you can use wordplay and sleight of hand to call the monstrous tyranny of the Rajapaksa variety a “fully functioning democracy.” An intellectual gigolo eagerly awaits his next client..

    • 1
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      Izeth Hussain types:

      “We must certainly recognize that the preservation of Indian unity in so much diversity is an admirable achievement.”

      It is because the father of Indian constitution and the people who framed it and continue to defend/amend it were/are wise unlike the short- termists who continue to destroy this nation with their stupidity driven by racism and paranoia, both central to the politicians survival and financial success.

      Izeth Hussain continues to type:

      “In India where states have been set up on a linguistic basis, inter-ethnic relations – that is, relations between language groups – have for the most part been equable and cooperative. There have never been really serious problems between the states.”

      “Can we really expect that success story to be replicated in Sri Lanka? Here the relations between the two major language groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamils, so far from being equable and cooperative have been agonistic – with constant rivalry for scarce resources – and antagonistic to a horrifying extent, resulting in a quarter century civil war which left a hundred thousand dead.”

      Izeth Hussain, please make up your mind given the history of conflict such as Civil War in Kashmir, anti immigrant violence in East, Water war in the South among different linguistic states, stupid attempted imposition of Hindian linguistic policies up until late 1960s, despite active presence of Hindian Jihadists in the north, ….. despite Pakistan’s desire to destroy its relatively stable, wealthy, progressive, developed neighbour, …. the country has survived as a collection of linguistic states.

      Why don’t you apply the same policies with an element of sincerity and honesty in your “brilliant policy perspective”

    • 0
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      “A brilliant policy perspective ” ?? Has Dayan J gone off the rails. Izeth has been singing the same song for decades. He keeps repeating them to fill the weekly pages of The Island, as someone said. It is unfortunate the well read Dayan has lost his credentials entirely going behind many political parties – EPRLF, the UNP and the several shades of the SLFP. Where is the consistency and principles expected of an academic. It is such a shame to lose such talent and learning for a pot of political porridge. In the nature of our bizarre politics, the Rajapakses may trick themselves back to power riding on Majoritarianism but Dayan’s once impeccable credentials and reputation as an up and coming political scientist shatter as things of the past. Pity.

      R. Varathan

      • 1
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        R. Varathan

        “Has Dayan J gone off the rails.”

        Yes long time ago – we can safely confirm.

        Please listen to this for confirmation:

        Dayan vs Sumanthiran at “The Constitution, Reconciliation and You” organized by Sri Lanka Inc”

        https://www.youtube.com/
        watch?v=O4z5xEaj8s4&feature=youtu.be

        Listen to Dayan, what a waste of education.

  • 0
    6

    Good points.

    • 1
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      when i American experiential results on Sri Lanka is going to be published on International journal of Ramonoa’s of Stupidity

    • 1
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      “Good Points”

      Grandma are watching cricket on the TV or reading Izeth’s article in CT? Utter something you self? I cannot see you!

  • 2
    1

    Mr.Izzadeen,
    The Indian model of devolution, as you say, is very good and has proven successful in India. However, though the 13th Amendment was intended to give the Tamils some autonomy, JR turned it into a joke by setting up Provincial Councils in Sinhala areas, introducing a huge white elephant into the political system.
    We ought to implement 13 A in its original spirit (only 2 or 3 PC’s).Police and land powers should be granted, because otherwise devolution would be meaningless.
    If the Tamils still want to break away, let them do it, I say. It is better than keeping them by force. Those Tamils that want to stay in the South can do so, like Indian Muslims. It is up to the Buddhist clergy to prevent harm to them (which they are congenitally incapable of, I think). After all, like India vis-a-vis Pakistan, it is Sri Lanka which claims to be multi-ethnic unlike Pakistan and Tamil Eelam.

    • 0
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      The wise and well read senior who writes as Old Codger comes out with more sense than analysts and the more serious commentators in these columns. The PC’s should have been only in the Tamil majority areas. No Sinhala politicians ever asked for this. JR did that because he was afraid the politicised Buddhist clergy, the JVP and the radical SLFPers at that time will set the country ablaze. They eventually did. A section of the Tamil youth chose war. Nearly 50,000 Sinhala soldiers laid down their lives – a fact that is hidden from their families. We are now carrying the baby of the political folly. The Tamils are angrier than ever.

      Izeth Hussain intentionally ignores the fact the TNA, authorised by the Tamil Nation to speak for them, has moved away in recent years from the Separate State option. This has been done at the instance of India and the international community to strength the hands of the Sinhala political leadership to move towards reconciliation. The way for the Sinhala South to respond to keep the country undivided is to
      give the Tamils internal self-rule soon, including Land and Police Powers. What is Provincial rule without the vital Police and Land powers? The Sinhala psyche has been poisoned against both like the earlier 4+ decades Citizenship and Language parity issue. Sinhala extreme had to yield on both in 1987. The country was not put to the torch by Sinhala extremism. Both issues are hardly mentioned now and they are not in the socio-political lexicon anymore – like the Sri number plate issue of the late 1950s.

      Backlash

  • 0
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    The perceived success of a political solution implemented in a particular setting and defined by it’s social, economic and cultural dimensions is not a guarantee that the same solution would be equally successful in a different setting experiencing similar issues and problems. The range, dimension and depth of variables that jointly or severally are the root cause of the problem may be significantly different in the two settings. The success of the Indian model of devolution cannot therefore used as a justification to implement the same model in Sri Lanka.

    The much-hackneyed phrase ‘Unity in Diversity’ is in fact just a rhetorical slogan, which has a nice ring to it in it’s spoken and written forms. It is and it always will remain a distant dream, conjuring images of an achievable future utopian society
    .
    Unity in Diversity will never be a reality in Sri Lanka unless it is built on a platform of Empathy, Compassion and Understanding. Unfortunately, the polarization of the major ethnic groups has reached such acute levels that most inter-communal discourses have been hijacked by extremists who are extremely loud and unyielding in their demands and are devoid of any empathy and compassion for their own countrymen.

    To quote Vishwamithra1984, “The greatest sin of man is abstinence from empathy. No man, ruler or leader can claim greatness if he shows no empathy towards his fellow beings. We, as a civilized society, are committing that sin not only as a collective body; we are continuing to commit it individually.” [ https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/our-collective-conscience-is-lost-peoples-lives-are-pawns-on-a-political-chessboard/ ]

    • 0
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      ekel broom

      The greatest sin of man is abstinence from empathy. No man, ruler or leader can claim greatness if he shows no empathy towards his fellow beings. We, as a civilized society, are committing that sin not only as a collective body; we are continuing to commit it individually.

      visvamithra is wrong.

      Here we are talking about politics and not about spiritual development. Empathy is to feel spiritual in politics is wrong. You need to be greedy and selfish as the opposition is.

      Izeth is whining about building the Saudi arabia in Sinhale. that is why he talks about 13th amendment. He wants 13th amendment to be implemented in Kathankudy when or if the 13th amendment modifications or the new constituion comes. He is just another greedy landlord muslim just his prophet was. they all want to be rich with the help of the religion.

      Otherwise, why Islamic financial laws are not applied to petroleum prices.

      • 0
        0

        iT DOESN’T MATER HOW LOUD YOU SCREAM, THE CONSTITUTION IS GOING TO BE AMENDED TO FULFILL GRIEVANCE OF ALL THE COMMUNITY. YOU CAN SHOUT AS LOUD AS YOU CAN. NOBODY IS GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU. HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL?

  • 5
    1

    Nr. Izeth Hussain , unlike the Sri Lankan Muslims who are a religious (not an ethnic/racial community ) from South India , that only migrated to the island around a few centuries ago.. The Eelam Tamils of the island are an ancient nation that had lived in their own lands in the north east and along the north west coast from and ruled themselves until European colonisation.
    Even many of the so called Sinhalese monarchs and aristocracy have a Tamil origin. There is no history of Muslims homelands or ruling themselves anywhere in the island. In fact they were not allowed to won land until the late 19Th century, as they were considered foreigners
    Muslims only came to the east a few centuries ago as refugees and asylum seekers, fleeing Portuguese and then Sinhalese persecution. Now they want to clam the east as theirs and steal it from the very same Tamils who gave them asylum in their own lands. This is the reason many in the west are vary of Muslim refugees., as once they are established they want to take over from the original population .
    Do not try to compare the indigenous Eelam Tamil nation with the immigrant South Indian Dravidian origin Sri Lankan Muslims. This like comparing apples with oranges. The Tamils like the Scottish have the right to self determination. No one can take it away from them. They had far more historic right to form a nation than Pakistan Bangladesh Kosovo ETRC that had never existed. Sec 13A was only for the Tamil north and east but racist JR deliberately watered it down by creating provincial councils in Sinhalese areas

    • 2
      1

      the very same Tamils who gave them asylum in their own lands.

      Above like Sinhala – buddhists and ot Tamils.

      Once Sinhala buddhists were massacered by portugeuse Tamils took over those lands.

      • 3
        0

        Sinhala Buddhist land! Listen dimwit Tamils and the Tamil language have a far older history in South Asia including the island, long before Buddhism or a people who call themselves Sinhalese originated around the 8TH/9TH century AD.

        Even the king who converted to Buddhism had a Tamil name and his father was called King Mutta Sivan which is a pure Tamil name meaning great Siva. Even your so called Sinhalese hero Dutgumenu who existed long before a language or people called Sinhalese started to exist( Strange ) had a Tamil father whose name was Kakkai Vanna Thessan meaning the king or great man the colour of the crow. Basically Black King or Kavan Theesan another pure Tamil name meaning the great man or king who is the protector of guard.

        Everything about the Sinhalese reeks of the ancient Tamils and Tamilakkam( Kerala Tamil Nadu and Eelam). Not Bengal , Orrisa or any part of North India. The language with a 40% Tamil vocabulary the grammar alphabet and syntax and lexicon 100% Tamil. Take Tamil and Tamil derived words from modern Sinhalese and there will be no Sinhalese. Only Pali or Sanskrit left.

        Half the present day Sinhalese are purely descended from low caste Tamil immigrants, who were imported to the island from South India, during the Portuguese and Dutch era. The rest a mixture of indigenous semi Tamil speaking Yakka and Naga mixed with immigrants from India from ancient to medieval times. Again largely from the then Tamil country ( Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and a few from Bengal/Orissa and DNA also proves this.. Throughout all this the north and east of the island had always retained its ancient Tamil identity and never converted to the Sinhalese identity, Like the ancient Celts in Scotland and Wales.

        • 0
          3

          As usual the tamil minority in Sri Lanka sleep in their class room during history lessons or their teachers must be doing linga pooja at that time. Hence the Sri Lankan tamils have NO knowledge on Sri Lankan history.

          1. Mahavamsa in 5-6 AD calls the people in Sri Lanka as Sihala and talk about Sinhala language. Buddhagosa who came to SL from Andra states in his Wisuddimagga, that Sinhala is a beautiful langauge. By 5-6 AD, the idea of Sinhala has already been developed.

          2. Development of Sinhala script is found all over the island from 3 BC. In Sri Lanka more than 3000 sinhala inscriptions have been found, while the tamil ones are an extreme minority.

          3. Devanampiyatissa’s father is not Mutaseeva. Do you know who Mutaseeva’s father is? He is king GOTABHAYA? :) See it is the same people. These tamils have NO history in this country hence what they do is pronounce ancient names in Sri Lanka by adding an ‘n’ because these idiots suffer from inferiority complex.

          4. The source for kings names in Sri Lanka is primarily Mahavamsa and it has not mentioned any Kavantheesans or Kaka vannas.

          5. Thissa is a unique Sinhala name. There is no such name in Tamils. If you have any question about it inquire from the original tamil homeland, Tamil Nadu ( not fake eelam) , there are no Thissas among Tamils. The J.S Thissanayagam who were jailed is actually a Tamilised Sinhalese and there are a substantial number of Tamilised Sinhalese, may be you too…fake tamil.

          6. Sinhala is not a tribal langauge like Tamil which rejected everything foreign. Sinhala people are very liberal minded people who freely borrowed from other langauges. Hence you will find many tamil, sanskrit, english, portugese dutch, arabic,malay origin words in Sinhala langauge. As you seem to be uneducated about the history of Sri Lanka and Sinhala langauge get a book and learn about it. I know fake tamils who has nothing for their own but only cheap copy cats from TN cannot bear this but learn it cos it will be useful in future.

          And idiot whether it is low caste or high caste is immaterial to us. It is your religious mumbo jumbo. For us your caste affiliations have the same value like that African ritual where naked women dance for the king.

          Got it? :)

          • 3
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            sach

            ” Mahavamsa in 5-6 AD calls the people in Sri Lanka as Sihala and talk about Sinhala language. Buddhagosa who came to SL from Andra states in his Wisuddimagga, that Sinhala is a beautiful langauge. By 5-6 AD, the idea of Sinhala has already been developed. “

            OK, will you please explain in another section of Mahavamsa how a lion and a human can mate to produce hybrid that Vijaya descended from? 700 accomplices came with Vijaya, OK, homosexuals, how was it that those men produced the entire race?

            It’s common sense that people who lived only 18 miles away in India who were sea farers as English themselves borrowed the Tamil word ‘catamaran’ set foot in Sri Lanka as they do even today and settled here before Vijaya and his friends who came from some 2,500 miles away came to the shore.

            Instead of arguing about who came first why not concentrate on how best we all can develop this beautiful country rather than borrowing more and more and sending house maids to Arab countries to earn foreign currency and get ill treated by the inhuman employees.

            • 1
              1

              Saro,
              “It’s common sense that people who lived only 18 miles away in India who were sea farers as English themselves borrowed the Tamil word ‘catamaran’ set foot in Sri Lanka as they do even today and settled here before Vijaya”

              There is evidence that until about the 14th century, the land bridge was viable, so there was no need for seafarers.

            • 1
              0

              ja ja ja Saro ja ja ja ja You don’t know Tamil!

              It is not Tissa; it is Theesan. Further that is not a name. It needs a prefix to become a name. Now, my name cannot stand alone as Uran. Urr normally meant to be village and Theesam meant to be country. The village name must be prefixed to the name make sense. In fact the prefix is the dominant part there. Like that, Theesan cannot stand alone. His/her country has to proceed to that. “Paratissa” means a Sinhala or Tamil man who does not belong to Ceylon or India. Because the prefix only telling the guy’s country is spread all over the world- that means practically nowhere!

              Don’t confuse between Theesam and Thisai. Thisanayakam means king for all directions. There is no Theesam to prefix. He too has no locality and practically a Paratissa, but at Kshatriya (Royal) caste level. There is a difference between Nayakka and Nayaka. Nayakka is from Nayakkar; like in PanadaraNayakka. He is Tamil Pandaaram. Nayaka is from Nayakan. Nayakkar is clan or caste. Nayakan is Husband, Leader, King, and Chancellor………

          • 0
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            [Edited out] Comments should not exceed 300 words.Please read our Comments Policy for further details.

            • 1
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              Sach,

              1.What Nonsense! Please read the Mahavamsa before commenting nonsense…
              Are you purposely misinterpreting the history or uttering blatant lies?

              Mahavamsa in 5-6 AD DOES NOT call the people in Sri Lanka as Sihala and NEITHER DOES IT talk about any Sinhala language.
              Mahavamsa says, Vijaya abandoned Kuveni and his two children to marry a Princess (daughter of the Mada king) from a Royal family of Mada (Mada-Sanskrit Madura was the capital city of the Pandyans). He made her his new Queen of the Island. His followers married women from the land of this Queen and from this union sprang the Sihala race.
              Mahavamsa only talks about Dipa Basa and nothing about Sinhala Basa…

              2. The present day Sinhala script was developed from the South Indian Grantha script. Those ancient Prakrit inscriptions were written in the Brhami script. It has nothing to do with Sinhala. Sinhala appeared only after 8th century AD.

              3. When you are an illiterate you should not make yourself a laughing stock in a public forum. Go and check the Mahavamsa. DEVANAMPIYA TISSA (307-267 BC) is the second Son of King Mutasiva. MUTASIVA (367-307 BC) is the Son of King PandukkaAbhaya (aka Abaya Pandyan).

              Pandukka Abhaya gives his son a Tamil Saiva name Mutasiva (elder Siva). We are not told whom he married, but his second son Tissa succeeds him. His real Saiva name is not known. (Devanampiya is a title given to him by Emperor Asoka for accepting Buddhism, it is not a name).

            • 1
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              4. Duttu Gemunu’s father is not a light skinned ‘Aryan’ but a dark skinned Dravidian. His father King Kavantissa who ruled the Kingdom of Ruhuna in the southern part of Sri Lanka was well known as Kaaka Vanna Tissa which means he got a skin as black as a crow. Kaaka = Crow, Vanna= Color.

              5. What a load of bull crap. There are enough of Sinhala Tissa and Tamil Tissa. Not only Thissanayagam but Tissaweerasingham and many others. The old name Tissa is neither Sinhala nor Tamil. Today the Sinhalese and Tamils have adopted them.

              6. It seems the Sinhalese are very good at either importing or borrowing everything from others and made a few modifications and called them as their own. A serious lack of originality in the so called Sinhala culture.

              • 1
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                Kumar

                “Duttu Gemunu’s father is not a light skinned ‘Aryan’ but a dark skinned Dravidian. His father King Kavantissa who ruled the Kingdom of Ruhuna in the southern part of Sri Lanka was well known as Kaaka Vanna Tissa which means he got a skin as black as a crow. Kaaka = Crow, Vanna= Color.”

                Please tell me who said Aryans were/are light skinned? There is amble scholarly discussion about Aryan/Dravidian divide, it solely based on language, not based on race or colour of the skin.

                For example Brahui speaking people in the central Balochistan region of Pakistan and Afghanistan are known to have light skin. Brahui is classified as part of Dravidian linguistic family.

                Though the ancient Sinhala/Buddhists were well known for their knowledge in GENETIC engineering, they lacked knowledge in manipulating pigment melanin.

                I wonder why Mahawansa is silent on this area of science.

          • 1
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            My dear Sach,
            “These tamils have NO history in this country hence what they do is pronounce ancient names in Sri Lanka by adding an ‘n’ because these idiots suffer from inferiority complex. “
            Well I don’t know much about inferiority complexes, but there are towns named Vickramasinghapuram and Kulasekherapuram in Tamilnadu. Also names like Gunavardhan , Kulatunkal and Silavati / Padmavati are found in Kerala . I await your erudite explanation for this strange phenomenon. Perhaps these are Tamilised Sinhala names, due to Kerala being under Sinhala kings long ago?

          • 0
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            Dear Sach,
            This is available on forebears.io about the name “Theesan”

            Theesan Surname Distribution
            Country Incidence Frequency Rank in Nation
            India 38 1: 32,842,632 289,354
            England 16 1: 3,375,000 155,219
            Canada 5 1: 7,085,505 280,667
            Malaysia 3 1: 10,077,667 19,452
            Sri Lanka 3 1: 6,759,199 8,296
            France 2 1: 32,979,500 219,873
            United States 1 1: 320,270,175 2,041,007

            The reason why Theesan is not common now is probably for the same reason that Sinhalese don’t name their children Girigoris, Kalu Bandiya, Heen Menike, etc nowadays.

            • 0
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              old codger

              As per the pre-historic and early historic inscriptions in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, the old Tamil names did not end with a ‘n’ or a ‘m’ or an ‘i’, but were very similar to those Prakrit/Pali (presently Sinhala) names ending with ‘a’. That is why we have Elara and not Elaran, we have Sena & Guttika and not Senan & Guttikan.

              It was only in the last few centuries that the Tamil language adopted the ‘pulli (dot) system’ and due to this dot system the words/names ending with ‘a’ started ending with ‘n’ and ‘m’.

              If we look at the Brahmi stone inscriptions for the names of the early Tamil Kings (in Sri Lanka & Tamil Nadu), today nobody will identify them as Tamils. If we had seen the names Sena, Guttika, Elara, Pulahatha, Bahiya, Panayamara, Parinda, Dathiya and so on in stone inscriptions, nobody would have identified them as names of Tamil Kings of Anuradhapura. If the Mahavamsa did not mention about them as Tamil Kings of Anuradhapura, we would have never known.

              Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, the names of the old kings were referred to as Kulothunga Chola, Vikrma Chola, Aditya Chola, Rajendra Deva Pandya, Kula Sekara Pandya, Chandra Sekara Pandya, Vira Wickrama Pandya, Parakrama Pandya, Sundara Pandya, and so on. (None of them ends with an ‘n’ or ‘m’).

              • 0
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                Kumar,
                Yes, we must remember that languages change over time.

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                Kumar

                “As per the pre-historic and early historic inscriptions in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, the old Tamil names did not end with a ‘n’ or a ‘m’ or an ‘i’, but were very similar to those Prakrit/Pali (presently Sinhala) names ending with ‘a’. That is why we have Elara and not Elaran, we have Sena & Guttika and not Senan & Guttikan.”

                I beg to differ.

                Please refer to K Rajan

                Damili Graffiti and Cave Records The Brahmi Scripts in Tamil Nadu

                Prof K Rajan among other mentions the following names ending with “n”:

                Utipan, Utiran, … coins found in Kandaodai and Anuradhapura (2nd Century BC)

                Other names ending with suffix “n”:

                Atiyaman, Atan, Antavan, Avvan, Patavan, Santatan, Kuviran, Kon, ….

                Korpuman a Tamil Brahmi inscription found on an Amphora potsherd (Berenike Red-Sea port).

                Campan, Catan, Kannan, Mulan, ….. Visakan, Korran, Tican, Tiyan, Punakan, Antiyan, ………….

                Hundred of names have been found to end with the suffix “n”.

                Please refer to

                Early Historic Tamil Nadu c300 BCE – 300 CE – Edited by Indrapala.

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          Real Siva Sankaran Sarma

          So called Tamil is another dialect of South Indian Languages. So deso the Tamil names.

          Else where some one proved that Tamils were Sea farers and they were mostly fishermen moving from place to place. Tamils had brought large boats even to north america.

          Long long ago, there should be have been some South Indian Migrents in Northen sinhale. but, there was no Tamil homeland which began once, Dutch established the Thesavalamei.

          Anyway, Sinhala people have a unique culture. and civilization. Human civilization began near water or rivers. Sinhala people created it by building reservoirs, paddy fields near it, the temple and the village adjacent to it.

          Tamils are building Sri lankan Tamil culture and language only now. they started it after 2009.

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            Jim,

            “Anyway, Sinhala people have a unique culture and civilization.”

            You boast about a written Sinhala history that was neither written in Sinhala nor says anything about Sinhala. You boast about an ancient Sinhala history and civilization which is not mentioned anywhere in the ancient artifacts or publications or inscriptions as Sinhala, they boast about Sinhala Kingdoms which nobody, even Ven. Mahanama the author of Mahavamsa has never mentioned.

            The Sinhala culture and civilization is 100% BORROWED!

            The Sinhalese are experts in importing or borrowing everything from others and then calling them their own.

            ‘Buddhism’ that the Sinhalese follow came from North India. Sinhala language is nothing but Sanskrit, Pali and Tamil (from North & South India). The Sinhala script was borrowed from the Indian Grantha script. The name of the country ‘Lanka’ was borrowed from the Indian epic Ramayana. The name of their race ‘Sinhala’ was borrowed from the Indian epic Mahabaratha.

            The Sinhalese men and women were topless until the arrival of Portuguese. The Sinhalese women were only wearing the reddha, the hatte was introduced by the Portuguese to cover their tops. The Sari was borrowed from India, and the style of wearing sari by the early Kerala women was exactly what the Sinhalese women wear now. The Osari/Osariya (sari that the Sinhalese women wear) came from Kerela.
            Even the so called Kandiyan traditional dress is not exactly the traditional cultural dress of Sinhalese but a borrowed, altered version of medieval Portuguese dress. Most part of the Kandiyan Costume has the Portuguese influence.

            Most of the food the Sinhalese cook/eat including the sweet meats such as the Kavum is Kerala’s cultural cuisines. The traditional food in Kerela is exactly similar to the Sinhalese food, pol sambol, aapa, idiappa, pittu, pol rotti and so on.

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            Continued…

            Jim,

            “Anyway, Sinhala people have a unique culture and civilization.”

            The Elephant and other procession in Dalada Perahera is an exact copy of Pooram Festival of Kerala. Sinhala Religious practices such as the Pattini deity worship (as well as the worship of Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama, Saman and Vibhishana) were also introduced to Sri Lanka from Kerala. Sinhala classical poems such as the ‘Perakumba Sinha’ and ‘Kokila Sandesaya’ also bear the Kerala stamp.

            What the Sinhalese call Sinhala medicine is actually Ayurveda medicine brought to Sri Lanka from Kerela. Even today the Ayurvedic doctors (Wickramarachi, etc) in Sri Lanka used to go to Kerela for further higher studies.

            The hunchbacked, top-heavy women of Sigiriya, about which so many misplaced raves have been written, but copies unworthy of the prototypes of the cave paintings of Ajanta, Elora, Pappadakkal, and Sittannavasal in Tamil Nadu, South India and from which they were drawn.

            All the ancient structures (including the advanced irrigation technology) is from South India (Tamil). The terms used in irrigation, together with their definitions, from the ‘Ancient Irrigation Works’, by R.L.Brohier reveals an important fact, they are Tamil derivatives and none of them are Indo-Aryan Prakrit or Sinhala.

            All the well-known Sri Lankan musicians/singers (including Amaradeva) went to India to learn music. The so called Sinhala Baila music is borrowed from the Portuguese music and African Kaffiringa.

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            Jim,

            “Anyway, Sinhala people have a unique culture and civilization.”

            The Sinhala New Year that the Sinhalese celebrate is borrowed from the Tamil Hindus. The Theravada Buddhist calendar is a lunar one. Each month starts with the new moon, peaks at the full moon and then wanes until the next new moon which signifies the start of the succeeding month. The first month of the Buddhist lunar year is `Bak`. The first day of the lunar month of Bak never falls on the 14th of April.
            On the other hand, the Tamil Hindu solar calendar by contrast follows the signs of the traditional zodiac and commences when the sun enters the sign of Mesha or Aries on the 14th of April each year. It is ironic that the Sinhalese now observe the Tamil Hindu solar calendar where the first day of the first solar month i.e. `Chitterai` falls each year on 14 April. This is the Hindu New Year. 14 April is also observed as the traditional New Year in Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Kerala, Nepal and Punjab. This is in keeping with their Solar Hindu traditions.

            If not for the British who built the highways, railways, schools, universities, hospitals and so on, the great Sinhala-Buddhist nation will be wearing amude, chewing bulath (betal) and travelling in Gon Karatte (Bullock Carts), gobbling Veda-Mahathaya’s guli, studying at the Pirivena (temple schools), and holding a Pandama.(Koppara Lamp) in the night.

            I can keep on listing, the Sinhalese have nothing what so ever to call their own (original).

            It seems the Sinhalese are very good at either importing or borrowing everything from others and made a few modifications and called them as their own. A serious lack of originality in the so called Sinhala culture.

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        Ha, ha, ha good imagination Jim but very unfortunately no evidence what so ever to prove, LOL!

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          Motta Jim

          “Ha, ha, ha good imagination Jim but very unfortunately no evidence what so ever to prove, LOL!”

          jim softy the dimwit does not need evidence. He is licensed to lie, copy and paste – plagiarise, ….. because he too speaks for the Sinhala/Buddhist noisy minority, a privilege they took it for granted.

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      What is the history of the tamil nation? what are the evidences? what are the civilisation products of the so called tamil nation

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      Long before Muslims came as traders to India and Sri Lanka the people here did not know anything about real trading. It was only exchange of goods. In Sri Lanka most of this type of trade was monopolized by Kerala people. They bartered good from interior (mostly agricultural good) to goods they have (brought from India). They did not know system of bazaar with shops to sell and buy goods. After Muslim traders arrival they learned trading by interacting with them. Now look at our shops where they sell goods. It is an open system, that is shop front is fully opened and the goods are displayed for sale. This system is practiced to this day from middle-est to Asia. Europe do not practice this. They have closed shop, that is goods are kept inside and front is fully closed with only a door. In India and Sri Lanka it was open space where producers and buyers meet to barter their good. Do you know ‘Pola’? This was the origin from open space trading. You can see such trading in interior of Tamil Nadu etc. This alone prove the arrival of Muslim traders to India and Sri Lanka. There may be settlers, converts, inter-married, that is a different area to explore. As you say Sri Lankan Muslims are not exclusively South Indian Tamil origin and this was proved by research. I see in a comment below that Sinhalese etc are from people in S. India ruled by ‘Kakkai Vanna Thessan’, that is the King and people are black as crow. So how come the fairer Muslim, Sinhalese and Tamils are not black. This show even the Tamil and Sinhalese are descended from mixed races. So you donkey stop twisting history, otherwise you will end up in crows island.

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    This is the CT commentators proof of the Tamil prove verb “Adiimael addi addiththaal Ammiyum Nakarum”.

    The extreme anti-Tamil sycophants of two have been seen to bend their back here. Both have, as their first step, accepts that Tamils to have a share in rule may ease the problem. These coolies’ dictation cannot be cared by TNA, which came through the path of FP, the world’s model party for secular democracy. TNA has to work on line of the election manifesto it released.

    Izeth is person repeatedly falsified actual nature India’s semi-Federal constitution. There are glimpse of democracy, – or in another word, better sense of democracy exist than Lankawe, which historically democratically elected dictators to ensure its racist policies, – Izeth attempted to portray India as model of Democratic world. After Shastri, Vajpayee was only democratic PM of India. Not as much as Old King, but Modi is accused of war crime. America refused Visa. Sonia-Karunanidhi duo’s corruption record matches Old Royals. India couldn’t support UNHRC resolutions of Lankawe by America as it has its war crimes in Kashmir. India’s international records on every democratic norms san Media-men murders’ is well below Lankawe’s. Though by myopia, until 2016 (until seeing real the color of Yahapalanaya), world has been historically treating Ceylon as model of South Asia. Even after all these, still world believes the election process in Lankawe reflects the people better than India’s. The Unitary India was split along the religious border. This guy, only to save Muslims interest in Muslim-Sinhala government, attempted to falsify violently arguing “India like democracy only can save Lankawe; not the India’s Federal structure”. Same way he falsified Swiss unity while it’s within the boards of world’s powerful Nation like Germany, France & Italy, but Tamil Nadu and North-East are not sharing boards.

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    Great to see all Sri Lankan leaders have been rejecting to recognize Sri Lankans and the provinces on ethnic lines… They must be laughing at these vain attempts by some so called “intellectuals” to plant the ethnic divisions in the minds of Sri Lankans.

    These parasites, some on their death beds, thrive on highlighting and creating divisions. Never say a good thing about Sri Lankans or the country.

    Let’s jealously stick to our cardinal principle “Strength in Unity” and starve the parasites to death.

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      P. U. K

      “Great to see all Sri Lankan leaders have been rejecting to recognize Sri Lankans and the provinces on ethnic lines…”

      Sri Lankan leaders, where are they? Show us one.

      You have mistaken racists, crooks, rapists, war criminals, drug smugglers, thugs, child molesters, Tax Dodgers, murderers, mass murderers, robbers, looters, ………. smart asses, ….. for leaders.

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    Because of too many politicians, because of Tamils only and Muslims only political parties, Sri lankan politics is a wound and only the politicians can suck the blood and pus from it.

    Abolish the 13th amendment and cut down the corruption, wastage of resources, make the system efficient with a system that has less politicians.

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      make the system efficient with a system that has less politicians.

      You mean leave it only to Old Royals? Even you don’t want any share? Probably catching, bones may be more fun than eating the flesh?

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    13 A is a joke. Give tamils a Federal solution. It works elsewhere in the devoloped wold. The world politics and people have moved to a different level, although politicians in sri lanka and third world countries are in stone age. i am sick and tired of hearing BS from people like Mr Hussain.

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      [Give tamils a Federal solution.]

      Why?

      Why only for them?

      What about chinkalam, who wants the whole thing to continue as one piece? What about muzzies, who want the East for their traditional homeland ? What about the Kandyans who wants their own kimbam in the central province? What if we don’t give federal solution?

      Or is it only ‘Tamils” we should appease?

      Difficult questions?

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    Dear Izeth Hussain and all Participants,
    The issue of reconciliation and justice for victims is now the utmost important matter for Sri Lanka to recover from loss of integrity it has suffered from its bad decisions made by successive Governments for the last 70 years. It is now on the brink of getting back the lost integrity and trying hard to pull back from the bottom of the precipice in which it got rolled down. Sri Lanka is now evolving for the last two years or so after committing its responsibility to the International community as well as to its supporters. It has now agreed with all parties concerned including the Tamil party and other major Sinhalese leaders to work towards reconciliation and progress of the Country. Why is that you always show impatience with any stage in this evolution. What did you see either in the past or in the function of similar situations in other Countries fail. Are you so sure that “There are also other factors which would make a devolved Tamil unit here very different from the typical states of the Indian union. Unlike them our Tamils insist on a supposed right of self-determination, which means that however much devolution they are allowed, they can find that inadequate and still claim the right to strike out for a separate state. The present writer has debunked that supposed right, provoking not reasoned refutation but abuse. The problem posed by the claim to self-determination has to be contextualized to be properly understood, taking account of the Tamil Nadu factor, the power of Delhi, and the ability of the Tamil diaspora to stir up anti-Sinhalese sentiment in powerful Western and other countries. In addition, there is a new geopolitical configuration with the increasing presence of China in Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries, which could make India want to get a grip on Sri Lanka more than ever before. These factors are being merely mentioned here because they have already been covered in detail in articles by the present writer”. Do you see Sri Lanka prosper more than India and other similar Countries or do you see the reconciliation by the Sri Lanka Government will not be so permanent like the Indian model? Don’t you learn from the world order justice, peace, prosperity and human rights need properly enforced for all citizens join hands and develop. Eventually once peace is established and the Country takes off to a good start, communalism, racism, black sheep journalists needs to be taken to task without hindering free speech.

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    “In India where states have been set up on a linguistic basis, inter-ethnic relations – that is, relations between language groups – have for the most part been equable and cooperative. There have never been really serious problems between the states.”

    “Can we really expect that success story to be replicated in Sri Lanka?”

    NO.

    1. In India minority leaders have been elected and appointed to the top jobs.

    In Sri Lanka it is polarised to the extent that ONLY Sinhala Buddhists can be elected or appointed as PM or president.
    (Soloman WRD had to convert himself to Buddhism to be elected as PM)

    2. In Sri Lanka it’s majority against minority and in India there are many languages and regions. In UK even counties (provinces) have separate police force whereas in Sri Lanka the governments and leaders do not want to implement the law.

    3. The Sinhalese elitists have no other issue to win elections other than arousing communalism among their voters.

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