15 December, 2024

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A Politics Of Conscience

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

“Hey, c’mon, come out, wherever you are

We need to have this meeting, at this tree

Ain’t even been planted yet.” ~ June Jordan (Calling on all minorities)

On August 14th 2006, Sri Lankan air force bombed an orphanage in Vallipunam killing 61 schoolgirls. The Rajapaksa administration insisted that the location was a LTTE training camp and the victims were child soldiers. Independent reports, including by the UTHR-J, confirmed that the victims were students taking part in a non-military first aid programme organised by the LTTE.

Once the civilian nature of the victims became incontestable, Colombo could have acknowledged a mistake and apologised. Instead the regime doubled down on its child soldiers claim. The incident caused an uproar in India, but no ripples in the Sinhala South. For most Sinhalese, this killing of 61 schoolgirls didn’t matter because they were Tamil. It was possible to be anti-LTTE while condemning the crimes by the Lankan military; anti-separatism could have gone hand in hand with pity for all victims of the war. But that path of justice and compassion was one most Sinhalese – and Tamils – opted not to take.

Marione Ingram survived the Holocaust as a German Jewish child. When the US Congress censured Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for her opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza, Marione Ingram called Ms. Tlaib a hero. Ms. Tlaib’s opposition to the war in Gaza is not anti-semitic, Ms. Ingram pointed out. “It is pro-human being.”

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” So begins the UN’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, promulgated 75 years ago. The Declaration was inspired in part by the horrors of Holocaust. The basis of the Holocaust was the tribalist, anti-universalist belief that not all humans were equal and that some humans were less human than other humans, that they were sub-human (Untermenschen), more like animals. This belief of superior and inferior humans was a Nazi and a Fascist staple but not a Nazi or Fascist construct. For centuries, it had informed and shaped the imperialist project, from Europe to Japan. Just five years before the UN declaration, as the Bengali famine of 1943 was killing one to two million Indians, British officials in India pleaded with the Churchill administration to release food stocks. Winston Churchill’s only response was to send a telegram asking why Gandhi hasn’t died yet. Secretary of State for India, Leopold Amery called PM Churchill’s indifference to Indian deaths ‘a Hitler like attitude’.

Fascism didn’t die with Benito Mussolini or Nazism with Adolf Hitler. The foundational principles of their politics exist in other places and other movements including ones claiming to be anti-fascist/Nazi. In June 1948, a group of prominent Jewish Americans (including Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt) wrote a letter to the New York Times pointing out that Menachem Begin’s newly formed Freedom Party preaches an “admixture of ultranationalism, religious mysticism, and racial superiority” and is “closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy, and social appeal to Nazi and Fascist parties…” Sounding eerily prescient, the letter states, that from the Freedom Party’s past actions (especially the Deir Yassin massacre, in which civilian inhabitants of this Arab village were massacred by Zionist paramilitaries, including Begin’s Igrun group) “We can judge what it may be expected to do in the future”. Freedom Party was the forerunner of Likud, which is currently headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, the genocider-in-chief in the war on Gaza.

Most of the writers of this letter belonged to the Jewish left. For them principles of justice and equality mattered more than tribal loyalty. As philosopher Susan Neiman points out, “…the idea of universalism…once defined the left; international solidarity was its watchword… What united was not blood but conviction – first and foremost the conviction that behind all the differences of time and space that separate us, human beings are deeply connected in a wealth of ways” (Left in not Woke). Last month, members of Jewish Voices for Peace briefly occupied the Statue of Liberty under the banner, Never again, for anyone. That universalist worldview, which places front and central the irreducible humanity of all people, is the only solution that can save us from ourselves, be it within national boundaries or globally, from incessant wars to climate change-driven mass extinctions.

Can they suffer?

The 2023 movie The Zone of Interest provides an account of the normal and happy life of the family of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, a bucolic idyll lived just outside history’s most notorious death camp, in close proximity to gas chambers and crematoria. The victims next door didn’t matter, because they were not seen as human. Animalization of Jews by Nazis facilitated the holocaust, Jay Geller points out in Bestiarium Judaicum: Unnatural Histories of the Jews. Today, Israel is copying that Nazi playbook, dubbing all Gazans ‘human animals’ unworthy of protection, consideration, or pity.

One of the earliest evidence of this de-humanisation of the enemy could be found in the 5th Century CE Lankan chronicle Mahawamsa (The Great Chronicle). After defeating the army of Tamil king Elara, Sinhala king Dutugemunu is troubled by the enemy deaths he had caused. The monk-author of Mahawamsa has a group of monks assuring the king that his conscience need not be troubled: “From this deed arises no hindrance in thy way to heaven. Only one and a half human beings have been killed by thee…The one had come unto the (three) refuges and the other had taken on himself the five precepts. Unbelievers and men of evil life were the rest, not more to be esteemed than beasts…” A dynastic conflict is recast as a religious one, unbelievers are de-humanised, and their mass murder made religiously correct.

The Buddha taught otherwise, preaching against the taking of not just human life, but any life. As the Dhammapada points out, “All fear punishment; all fear death. Comparing oneself with others, one should neither kill nor cause to kill.” The dehumanising of non-Buddhists by Mahawamsa is the tribal counterpoint to the Buddha’s universalist teaching. Though Sinhala-Buddhist children memorise that Dhammapada stanza, it is the Mahawamsa attitude that guides their lives.

The resultant dichotomy was evocatively portrayed by Lankan Muslim poet and linguist Prof MA Nahuman, in response to the 1982 burning of the Jaffna Library by government sanctioned thugs. The poet dreams seeing the Buddha’s blood-drenched body on the steps of the Jaffna library. When agitated ministers ask the policemen why they shot and killed the Buddha, they reply, “Without killing him/It was impossible to harm a fly…”.

When Israeli defence minister (and the supposedly moderate) Yoav Gallant declared a total blockade of Gaza, claiming that the deprivation of food, water, and fuel was the way to fight ‘human animals’, Prof. Nahuman responded with another poem Oru Palestina Kural (A Palestinian Voice) telling the Israeli government, “People with a sense of justice world over are rising against you…”.

To feel a sense of justice, there must be a sense of solidarity, birthed by a sense of commonality. What could be the connecting thread? Soul? Reason? Consciousness? But all these are nebulous, debatable. Philosopher Jeremy Bentham offered a better yardstick in deciding moral acceptability of actions: the question, he wrote, was not whether the victims could reason or think, but Can they suffer? He was speaking of non-human animals but it would work fine with human animals as well, we, the descendants of apes.

Victims of the Hamas attack of October 7th suffered; victims of Israel’s Gaza onslaught suffer. The suffering of one group cannot be used to erase the suffering of the other group. Black July cannot be used to justify the subsequent Tiger atrocities any more than those atrocities can be used to justify attacks on civilian Tamils by Lankan forces. But it was precisely what happened, both sides using other’s crimes to justify, efface one’s own crimes. It made the war more brutal than it need have been, and claimed lives that could have been saved.

Similarly, not only is the Holocaust being used to justify Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza but also to silence and punish dissenters in Western societies. Nobel laureate and Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei is a prime example. The Lisson gallery in London has put on hold an exhibition of his work indefinitely for tweeting “The sense of guilt around the persecution of the Jewish people has been, at times, transferred to offset the Arab world.”

The biggest victims of this tribalism of suffering happen to be dissenting Jews, who are being demonised by Israel and its allies as self-haters, and even denied their Jewishness. The ceremony to award the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought to Masha Gessen has been suspended because the Jewish author compared Gaza to a Jewish Ghetto under Nazi rule. Post-October 7th Masha Gessen visits Berlin’s Jewish Museum, watches a video of Kibbutz Be’eri and thinks of “the thousands of residents of Gaza killed in retaliation of the lives of Jews killed by Hamas” (In the Shadow of the Holocaust – New Yorker – 9.12.2023). But Israel, the US, and Germany demand that one thinks only of the Jewish victims and not Palestinian victims.

This demand would be familiar to Hannah Arendt who wrote that Zionist leaders ‘overlooked’ the native Palestinian population because Jews regarded Arabs as “backward people who did not matter.” A fierce critic of ‘tribal nationalism’, she considered the project of setting up a Jewish state in Palestine without Arab consent stupid; and warned that if the Zionists succeeded, “social experiments would be discarded as impractical luxuries; political thought would centre around military strategy; economic development would be determined exclusively by the needs of war.” She also criticised Jewish violence against native Arabs as “plain racist chauvinism” that would cause a new wave of “Jew-hatred” in a population that was never anti-Semitic in the European sense (Jew as Pariah: Jewish Identity and Politics in the Modern Age). Commenting on the Arendt Prize controversy, The Guardian quoted an unnamed academic saying, “Hannah Arendt wouldn’t get the Hannah Ardent award in German today.” Just as the Buddha wouldn’t recognise Sinhala-Buddhism and Nazis would feel a sense of familiarity if they heard of the experience of Mohammed Odeh, the 14-year-old Gaza boy arrested and tortured by the IDF; Israeli soldiers wrote numbers on the arms of the detainees and young Mohammed’s was 56. Unlike the Nazi tattoos they will erase, but the dehumanising, mechanising intent is the same.

The dehumanising of the enemy, and the atrocities committed within that context are often justified in the name of hard-headed realism. But in the end, such realism is self-defeating because it leads to repeated conflicts, militarised states, and populations starved of economic goods in the name of national defence. A poorer world in every sense of the word.

Resistance of Conscience

Last week, at a press conference of labour leaders in front of the White House, the United Auto workers (UAW) demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, pointing out that “From opposing fascism in WWII to mobilising against Apartheid South Africa and the CONTRA war, UAW has consistently stood for justice across the globe…” Indeed, when Walter Reuther was elected UAW president in 1946, he argued that the labour movement must think beyond their immediate gains and involve itself in larger causes, from environmentalism and civil rights to nuclear disarmament. When Martin Luther King and other civil rights activists were arrested in Birmingham in 1963, Reuther sent two union representatives with 160,000 dollars in cash to bail them out. This was Black civil rights was not a popular cause among whites, including the white working class. Ignoring the possibility of white backlash, Reuther became the only white speaker at the March on Washington.

Principles counted; conscience mattered. Politics of resistance must encompass both. Or else, Change could head in a worse direction rather than a better one.

From Ferguson to Palestine, occupation is a crime, a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Berlin proclaimed. Developing such a sense universality means being able to hold two seemingly contradictory thoughts together. It means condemning the Hamas attack on civilians and Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza; opposing Iran’s incarceration of Nobel laureate Nargis Mohammadi and Israel’s detention of author-activist Ahed Tamimi for forwarding ‘hate speech’ and 12-year-old Kareem Ghawanmeh for throwing a stone at the IDF. Criticising the tribalism of Jewish extremists (starting with PM Netanyahu and his allies) is not anti-Semitism; criticising Hamas’ misogyny is not Islamophobia (similarly one can condemn anti-Muslim racism in Sri Lanka, while also condemning the backwardness of Lankan Muslim leaders who cling to a MMDA which is far more retrogressive than personal laws in many Islamic majority nations; a minority cannot credibly claim equality only for its males.) As Amira Hass said on Democracy Now, it is possible “to be emotional and rational, to be appalled by what happened on October 7th but also to say that history didn’t begin on October 7th.” Freedom from the river to the sea must be freedom for all the residents of that geographic space, Palestinians and Israelis, Muslims, Jews, and Christians, men and women, minorities of every kind.

In Sri Lanka, racist and religious fears were and are used to hack away at broad democratic rights and freedoms. In the midst of the war on Gaza, Israel Supreme Court has banned anti-war demonstrations. Oppression is universal in its essence even when it seems tribal in appearance. Resistance cannot be less so. As the civil rights leader Bayard Rustin said “We will win the battle for rights for gays, or blacks, or Hispanics, or women within the context of whether we are fighting for all. You have to all combine and fight a head-on battle – in the name of justice and equality – and even that’s going to be difficult.” Identitarian politics can only weaken. The only obstacle standing between Israel and the obliteration of Gaza is not Hamas or the Islamic world; it is the world.

Latest comments

  • 16
    4

    “The only obstacle standing between Israel and the obliteration of Gaza is not Hamas or the Islamic world; it is the world.”
    .
    A good note to wrap up with.
    .
    But such generalisations don’t pin point the specific culprits. The ones who control the cogs of the international war machine.
    .
    The so called great powers who not only turn a blind eye to the destruction and suffering caused by wars, unless there is political or economic mileage to be benefitted from, but who actively wage war themselves for such gains.
    .
    Their assymetrical support of the parties engaged in combat with military and other aid; while vetoing any resolutions at the level of the UN or by blocking mediations made by any third parties to stop or cease hostilities.
    .
    Who is at fault are the custodians, guardians and the leaders of the current international order, who dictates right or wrong and decides who should live and who shouldn’t for reasons perhaps known only to them.
    .
    The arbitrary arbiters of the geopolitical order to whose shifting rules and priorities dictate how the others should behave and live.
    .
    It is important to note that they do not constitute the whole world.
    .
    They infact are a minority that is holding onto power unjustly by having designed a skewed system that benefits them by default.
    .

    • 9
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      “The only obstacle standing between Israel and the obliteration of Gaza is not Hamas or the Islamic world; it is the world.”
      Neat but lacks precision.
      It is the US. It stopped action on a resolution with veto.
      The US has armed and backed Israel in every possible way to pursue the war.
      Some find it hard to blame the real villain.

      • 12
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        You sold your lands and the hanging fruits to China, but still not sure if China will use the veto for you when the time comes. Showing the veto, China is keeping you as a hostage. Even if you have convinced Israel to send an atomic bomb to America, America will not let down Israel in front of Hamas, the unelected militant’s government, because the Israeli government is elected. That is what you call loyalty to policies. Not China milking the Sinhala Buddhists politicians, showing the war crime/genocide veto.
        If you are wearing some pants now, go ahead and write a line that China will use the veto in favor of Langkang. Ok, let see the other side of the coin, if you do have guts to write “No China will not use the veto in unjustified manner, if an Old Rowdy Royals’ war crime investigation come to UNSC; China will make sure voting for that to find out if there are any guilty ones.” I want to see how you are going to reply to that; if that is going to be anything different from “Really?”; “see doctor”; “take medicine”; “is it drug? ” Listen, if you write something different from your stacked, aged old replies, I pay you the money Old Rowdies pay for you. Go for it man! You are 100 times worse fraud than Ma O!

        • 2
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          To whom have you sold your pair of hanging fruits?

          • 10
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            Didn’t you take them to send your Deva brand medicine and cheated never sending them? Isn’t that why only you know that mines are sold, but without any witness?
            Just trying to justify anything, to keep your addicted life rolling? You are an absolute Moron man! You are already a moron, so don’t call me a moron applying your MC2 theory you created and floated, because that will square you to moron2 .

            • 1
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              Sorry
              No buyers yet?

      • 5
        8

        Didn’t want to state the obvious.

  • 25
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    I don’t know whether Sinhalese people understand even now that the racism and religious fundamentalism created by them or by their political and religious leadership is the fundamental cause of the deterioration of rule of law, justice, and extremism, terrorism and war for nearly all the period of after the so called independence. The creation of JVP extremism/terrorism in 1970 from the South (Sinhalese) and later the creation of Tamil youth extremism/terrorism from the North East, and 2019 Islamic Terrorism against Christians internally among the people of this island are closely associated with racism and religious fundamentalism by its political and religious leadership.
    If the people of this island did not understand this truth now, we all (Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslims) have to loose this independence of this island completely which is hanging on the last few tiny unstable strings.

    • 4
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      Ajith,
      .
      I do not think that only Sinhalese people are involved in this kind of megalomania. Look at Shaan, as a politician, how does he do more or less what he does with a few others? All efforts are being made to brand him as a Tiger, but it is said to be a “vote-gaining ploy”. All these tricks are in the blood of South Asians. South asian politics is mlechcha. That is not comparable with that of any other democracies. Southeast Asians are different.

        • 11
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          Dear LM: Thank you for the link.

          The complainants of this case made an “Unpardonable” mistake of confining the period of this “CRIME” from 2019 to 2022. Having said that, I do not exclude that period or the “Criminals” who have been found guilty.

          This “CRIME” has been committed by all who have been administering the country for decades. That is a FACT and TRUTH. In my opinion, that “Period” should have been from 2009 to 2022. There is enough evidence to prove that CRIME during that period.

          Anyway, at least this is better than nothing.

          • 9
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            Douglas,
            “This “CRIME” has been committed by all who have been administering the country for decades.”
            Who repeatedly voted these people into power? Do you not suspect that it will happen again next year?

            • 6
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              Douglas behaves as if he is blind and deaf. I really dont know why????
              AKD will score a few more seats.
              But he will not overtake. Pigs might fly if the stupid majority would change without a real revolution. My last wish was COVID. Unfortunately that did nt work either.
              .
              Besides, December 15th made it clear to everyone but obviously not to D et al.
              😉😉😉😉

            • 7
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              OC,
              Their houses and property were burnt.parents’ monuments were demolished. They were taken to a naval vessel for escape. All these were not fictious. Their provocations destroyed the entire country.
              Gota was nowhere to be found. Neigbouring countries were not ready to give him refuge. However, stupid people have forgotten that at once. SINHALA PSYCHE ….. is highly questionable…. In a country full of illiterate people, will they ever be ready to allow a new force? NPP and any other good coalition will do good for the nation, for a fresh start, but the people must be ready. That’s miles away from this stupid domineering nation. Those who went to the Colombo dances to attend the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna conference revealed that they still love middle-class criminals. They continue to worship them even though they are being raped and killed. Especially women who are indoctrinated with falsehood and untruth.

              • 5
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                It should be MEDAMULANA criminals.

              • 0
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      • 15
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        leelagemalli,
        I am not saying that only Sinhalese people are involved in this kind of megalomania but they are the ones who are electing their political leadership and following the Buddhist religious leadership who governed this island for the past 75 years (throughout independence) and they are the people take responsibility for the racism and fundamentalism.

  • 12
    2

    What Fu…king Budisum and the Fake so called Budist in Srilanaka.During Poya Days They do not Break Eggs but they Break the Heads of others and go Illegal Bars and Kasipu Dents to Consume Arrack.Budisim in srilanak is a commercial and political Business in order to collect votes.Half the young Budist in Budist Temples are used by Senior Leaders in temples for Homosexual activities.some so called Famous Budist Leaders have Illegal Connections and have Children.more than 60%-to70% Guys are Fake Budist.

    • 6
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      Dear paragon,
      .
      What you say
      is all too true. Much easier, I’m sure than working through and meditating upon the Buddha Dharma (the original of which is in Pali).
      .
      My own background is Protestant Christianity, and at the age of 75 I’m not going to start learning about Buddhism in depth. A worthwhile exercise for younger people, I’m sure.
      .
      But do we all need to get so serious about religion? Our outmoded Education Curriculum certainly needs revising.
      .
      Panini Edirisinhe

    • 4
      3

      In other words, Srilanka is almost a Tahiti state as of now. .
      .
      Indifference and lethargy of the people caused them to fall that deeper. Criminal politicians are the mirror image of the society basta. .
      .

  • 5
    14

    I am yet to find a Tamil nationalist who can respond to the gravity of the crisis.
    It is always a pathetic “What about us?”

    • 11
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      So what is this illuminating us? “There is abundant material out in the space from you illuminating the gravity of the crisis?” You even have to shortcut to avoid mentioning what crisis you are talking about. After all, out of the 75 years of the country’s history, 50 years SLFP had ruled.
      Who is a pathetic rally? What I observe is you are trying to win the race with another shortcut.
      If you don’t like to believe me, ask CT to give the names of the guys who are giving green thumbs and who are giving those abundance red thumbs, too. But I would Guess you would not have the guts to see WordPress details until you get another Munthani covering for that,isn’t it?

      • 1
        7

        ” After all, out of the 75 years of the country’s history, 50 years SLFP had ruled.”
        Shom aritmatic!

  • 5
    19

    “For most Sinhalese, this killing of 61 schoolgirls didn’t matter because they were Tamil.”

    Most Sinhalese never heard about this bombing, so how can they have an opinion? It is equivalent to asking the person on the street, “what is your opinion of quantum chromodynamics?”

    “One of the earliest evidence of this de-humanisation of the enemy could be found in the 5th Century CE Lankan chronicle Mahawamsa”

    There is no dehumanization in Mahavasma. In fact, Dutugemunu built a tomb for Elara. These days, terror leaders do not get a good burial. Osama was thrown into the sea, Velu into Nanthikadal Lagoon. I suspect Israel will do something similar with Sinwar when he is captured.

    During a war, people should not expect to have certain freedoms. During the American Civil War, “By General Orders No. 141, September 25, 1862, Lincoln subjected protestors to martial law and the suspension of habeas corpus.” That means anyone could be arrested and held indefinitely without charge. 220. 117 years later, Sri Lanka came out with a Prevention of Terrorism Act that had the same clause of “habeus corpus.” What about the bombings of Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki? Hopefully the author’s knowledge extends beyond 61 schoolgirls.

    • 17
      0

      Lester,
      “There is no dehumanization in Mahavasma. “
      🤣🤣🤣
      Why don’t you read it before you pontificate?

      • 19
        0

        Lester,
        “Hopefully the author’s knowledge extends beyond 61 schoolgirls.”
        Would you say the same if one of them was your daughter?

        • 7
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          OC, see how our SB Lanka Minister is humanizing women, ” when selecting air hostesses for bankrupt SriLankan Airlines, candidates SHOULD have clear facial skin and unblemished midriff, especially when wearing a saree , additionally proficiency in English is essential comprehending the needs of passengers, said Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. Nearly 6000 applied and only 196 qualified clearing his expectations. Many were turned away because of single acne, visible marks on the midriff and other minor bodily imperfections. Minister further offered guidance to aspiring candidates to take measures in preventing acne and marks on their face and midriff, ( no more cesarean or cosmetic procedure??) emphasizing the need to maintain aesthetic appeal.

          • 6
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            I wonder what will be the requirement for men for similar position / steward ??? is SB good enough or lookalike , the minister ????

      • 4
        16

        OC,

        Of course I have read Mahavamsa. Dehumanizing would be something like varna system of Vedas or the status of Jews in Quran.

        “Would you say the same if one of them was your daughter?”

        The entire war was 26 years. You are desperate to focus on a single data point.

        • 11
          1

          Lester,
          “Dehumanizing would be something like varna system of Vedas or the status of Jews in Quran.”
          Don’t lie, you have NOT read the Mahavamsa. It states explicitly that the lives of an army of “heathen” Damilas is worth less than half of a “Buddhist” life.
          “You are desperate to focus on a single data point.”
          The point is that you shouldn’t justify doing to others what you wouldn’t justify doing to your own. Twenty six years or a hundred is not relevant.

          • 3
            15

            At the time “Mahavamsa” was written, Cholas were hell bent on conquering the island. “Damila” is a reference to these people. Cholas caused much destruction to the ancient civilization, especially the irrigation systems. Anyway, there is no racism, as Sinhalese at that time had strong alliances with Pandyans, including marriage. Later on, people like Dharmapala started using terms like “Aryan” and “Dravidian” to distinguish between Sinhalese & Tamils. Dharmapala was educated in Christian schools, where Max Mueller’s AIT was taught. “Arya” means “noble” in Sanskrit, nothing to do with race. This misuse of language was magically attributed to Mahavamsa (written in Pali) and “Sinhala-Buddhism”, even though Buddhism originated in India.

            • 11
              1

              Lester,
              Don’t prevaricate.
              Can you deny that the Mahavamsa describes Tamil lives as less valuable than Sinhalese lives? Do you want chapter and verse?

              • 0
                0

                OC – “Do you want chapter and verse?” – Go ahead. I don’t see why you need his permission.

              • 1
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                OC,
                .
                He intentionally dodges the very question…that is his usual practice.
                .
                I couldn’t believe my eyes the female suppoters of LESSTER the manner they enjoyed in buses [like wild boars transporting trucks] by which they were transported like animals on that day to SLPP convention..
                .
                Lester s thinking 🤔 is fully controlled by sinhala buddhism which is a lifestyle form for racists to live up their hidden propensities..
                .
                May Mulleryawa focus more on the kind of mental beasts.!!!
                .

            • 7
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              Mahavamsa was written (translated to Sinhalese) 700 + years ago!!!??? Cholas were long before that – 300 years before that 1065 CE!!!???

            • 6
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              Lester,
              “Sinhalese AT THAT TIME HAD STRONG ALLIANCES WITH PANDYA’S, including marriage!!!???”
              Sinhalese People, originated with Vijaya and his 700 miscreants being married “purportedly to 701 Pandyan Princesses” AND PROPOGATING THEIR clan!!!
              They must have realised in their wisdom, the Folly of debating, let alone trying to prove that there is no Sinhalese with South Indian Blood!!!??? Unless one wants to Pandyan Princess are on North Indian ‘ARIYAN’!!!??? FUTILE ARGUEMENTS TO ACHIEVE, ZILCH!?

      • 0
        3

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    • 10
      0

      “Most Sinhalese never heard about this bombing”
      But they heard about 13 soldiers getting killed.
      Does this not tell us something about the way media operate?

      • 7
        1

        SJ
        Another explanation is that L is not a Sinhalese…..

        • 2
          10

          A bodhisattva existing in superposition. Have you figured out why Thalaivar did not take his cyanide at the critical moment?

        • 2
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          oc
          Thanks. It is a possibility worth considering.

      • 4
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        L
        Have not all religions dehumanized women as a gender?
        A religion can only rise to a limited level over that of the society in which it is born. Anything beyond it will destroy the religion with its founders.

      • 4
        17

        From a legal point of view, the motive must take precedence. Who gave the order to bomb the orphanage? What was the intelligence behind it? There is no military value in attacking schoolgirls with fighter jets. The most likely scenario is some missile fired by the LTTE from a nearby location.

        1983 is a good example. I have never seen anyone celebrate 1983 (though all remember it). There are parallels with 1983 and Oct 7th in Israel. Not only Hamas entered the settlements to attack the Jewish settlers. Thousands of Palestinian civilians joined in. After the hostages were taken to Gaza, they were paraded through the streets. Clearly the people of Gaza supported this operation. That is why you see indifference among Israelis when Gaza is bombed. Similarly, killing the 13 unarmed soldiers was a major insult to the collective psyche. The difference being that Sri Lanka at that time did not have the military capability to aerially attack Jaffna. So some politicians fomented the rage into a race riot.

        • 16
          1

          However, most Sinhala, including you, Anagarika Dharmapala and the rest of the rightwing anti Tamil racists, are descended from prehistoric/ancient to recently migrated Tamil immigrants from South India. This is a historical fact proven by genetic studies. Angarika Dharmapala talks about Aryan Sinhalese what a joke, other than the huge amount of Pali/Prakrit/Sanskrit vocabulary that came into Sinhalese thanks to Buddhism, everything about the modern-day Sinhalese reeks of Dravidian South India, especially its two southern states Kerala (which was Tamil a few centuries ago) and Modern-day Tamil Nadu. There is nothing north/central/western or eastern Indian about the Sinhalese. As for Anagarika Dharmapala he is belongs to one of these Sinhalese castes, that is purely descended from post 15th century low caste South Indian Tamil immigrants who were imported into the island by the Portuguese and Dutch colonials to do menial service tasks and to work as slave indentured labour in the huge Southern spice estates. Now their Sinhalised Buddhist and Catholic descendants are the biggest anti Tamils.

          • 16
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            This is not only confined to these service caste Sinhalese communities but also to many Sinhalese upper castes who are also more or less purely descended from South Indian Tamil immigrants who came here to rule. As for Sinhalese not being aware of what happened in Sencholai, whom are you trying to fool., Funny to see many nasty Sinhalese racists hypocritically crying about the plight of the Palestinian Arabs but rejoice and aid and abet the same thing happening the island’s Tamils. I know someone has already provided these two links but in case you and many other Sinhalese racists have missed I am giving it to you again. In case you missed it watch it. So full of hatred and racism.
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMbhLoJWXs0

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydOTzdSa4j8&t=19s

            • 4
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              Rohan Anna one of my first cousins in India married a Garhwali girl from Uttaranchal North India and they speak Garhwali and Hindi and if you look at her and her close relatives and family, despite wearing the saree and being Hindu, they look like typical Tibetans or mountain Nepali. What you state is correct. Even his children look like East Asians.

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            Hello Rohan25
            From your comment “This is a historical fact proven by genetic studies.” No it isn’t – my wife is up-country Sinhalese and, as I have pointed out before, the closest DNA match is the Tharu tribe in Utter Pradesh North India. I have no doubt that there has been much mixing of peoples over the millennia, however I can provide a link to the DNA research on the South Asian people that shows the evidence for North India ancestry. Mitochondrial DNA history of Sri Lankan ethnic people – Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/jhg2013112
            So can you please supply a link or reference for your evidence?
            Best regards

            • 12
              1

              Tharu people of UP and Nepal are a Tibeto Mongolian people and not Indo Aryan, despite claiming to be, google and check, never seen Kandyan Sinhalese looking like Tibeto Mongols, they may be from North India, but they are definitely not Indo Aryan as you are implying or think. However Sinhalese DNA does show some East Asian DNA, Which Tamils hardly show. My DNA will show that I have Anglo Celtic/Germanic DNA as my paternal great grandmother was English does this mean the average Tamil is also showing traces of Germanic/Teutonic DNA. Individual family DNA can differ due to intermixing. Most Kandyan aristocrats and upper castes are descended from South Indian aristocrats and upper castes, largely Tamil and others from Telugu origin Tamil Naicker. Telugus and Tamils are very closely related basically the same people. The Telugu Velama and the Tamil Vellalar are the same people, similarly now you get Telugu, Kannada and Tamil Naickers but the origin of these three groups, is from the Vijayanagar empire. Many South Indian aristocratic castes have some North Indian origin and ancestry but definitely not Tibeto Mongol heritage. It will be Indo Aryan. This means the Eastern European/Central Asian steppe genes with the Indus valley Dravidian population. Most North Indians have lots of Dravidian, in their genetic makeup, this is the reason most South Asians despite skin colour look very similar to each other.

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                The Sinhalese are largely of Tamil Dravidian descent, and this is a historic fact and now proven by modern DNA studies. This is the reason the Sinhalese, the Sri Lankan Tamils and Muslims are all genetically the same and they are even very closely related to the Indian origin estate Tamils who only migrated to the island 200 years ago from South India, difference is very negligible around 3 in a thousand DNA components. Proving we are all descended from South Indian Dravidians/Tamil who migrated to the island from prehistoric to recent times. The Muslims are slightly closer the Sinhalese as the island’s Muslims migrated from then Tamil South India (Kerala and Tamil Nadu) recently and so are many Sinhalese castes, especially the low country Sinhalese from the littorals. Whereas the native Sri Lankan Tamil population from the north and east, the ordinary Kandyan Sinhalese not their upper castes and aristocrats are largely descended from the much ancient South Indian migration, this is the reason the Kandyan Sinhalese are genetically closer to the native Sri Lankan Tamils than the low country Sinhalese. However as stated earlies these differences are very negligible and all four major communities on the island basically the same people, despite your wife’s family showing traces of the Tibeto/Mongol Tharu people from UP/Nepal or my showing Western European DNA due to my English great grandmother, we are the exceptions not the norm.

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                  Here is the history of the Tharu. Please google and research before posting your pro Sinhalese propaganda so called Lana Scott
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQiqQIMgbPY

                  • 15
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                    A Sinhalese lady explaining the latest genetic studies proving we are all the same and have the same origins and this also includes the recently migrated South Indian origin estate Tamils. Meaning our origins are not from North India or Arabia but largely from Dravidian Tamil South India, this is why we are all even genetically the same as the Indian origin estate Tamils and hardly show any difference. Yes, there was Aryan or Indo-European migration to Northwest India, and this is found in various degrees in the Indian subcontinent, especially in Northwest India/Pakistan and far less in the eastern and southern India and in Sri Lanka. All Sri Lankans are basically like the South Indians of largely Dravidian origin, with traces of other people or origins in a minority. Certain individuals and families may show some variations, due to intermarriages and mixing but they are the exception not the norm.
                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5LgTKKiGLw

                  • 4
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                    Hello Rohan25,
                    I worked in Qatar with a group from Tamil Nadu. I have the greatest respect for them. They were hard working, honest and dependable. They could climb an 80m Radar tower faster than I could and despite the British reputation for tolerating the heat (Mad dogs and Englishmen….) they were much better than me or my Filipino colleagues . My friend Ramesh (Warehouse Manager) was from a village close to the Kerala border. Despite living close to Kerala his traditions and outlook were very different from my Keralan friends. In fact they were much closer to those of our neighbours in our Central Province village. I am not a Sinhalese propagandist and I am impervious to ad hominem slurs.
                    Best Regards

                    • 2
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                      “…ad hominem slurs.” – seems to be the norm here. Wonder if its cultural?

              • 3
                6

                Hello Rohan25
                You didn’t answer my question asking for evidence. And by the way the Tharu have two distinct ancestries North Indian and East Asian. Try reading the paper that I provided a link to. Please also provide the evidence for the Indus Valley peoples being Dravidian. Also remember that DNA does not show what language that person spoke.
                Most of what you say in the reply seems reasonable, however I don’t see the logic of “Most North Indians have lots of Dravidian, in their genetic makeup, this is the reason most South Asians despite skin colour look very similar to each other.”
                Best regards

                • 2
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                  LankaScot,
                  .
                  In your comment above you say: “Most of what you say in the reply seems reasonable,…”
                  .
                  How so?
                  .
                  When the study you have previously mentioned state: “No definite association of the Sinhalese with any specific ethnic or linguistic groups of India was, however, detected in this study; thus, their exact immediate origin on the mainland remains yet to be confirmed.”
                  .
                  The main argument of Rohan25 is that Sinhalese (at least the low country ones) originated from Southern Indian Tamils of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, mostly.
                  .
                  I have seen at least one study (by one Kamani Tennakoon, if I am not mistaken) that has come to very different conclusions than what both of you are saying.
                  .
                  Will see if I can trace it.

                  • 8
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                    Ruchira,
                    Please read History – Karawe of Sri Lanka!!
                    Illuminating!!!

                    • 0
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                      Mahila – Thanks for the suggestion. I was interested in DNA studies, that provide information you can not obtain from reading written history alone.

                  • 2
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                    R
                    Some caste groups have fairly recent Indian, mostly South Indian, origin.
                    I think that Michael Roberts wrote a book on one caste group.
                    Many craftsmen have alien origin.
                    The whole country is a mixed lot.
                    Besides sailors have come and gone for centuries and we had four plus centuries of foreign presence.
                    Look at the range of complexion within any given caste group, including the ‘Aryan’ Brahmins. Does it not say anything?
                    *
                    Each of us has assumed an identity which may be imagined.
                    Let us learn to live with it and with those of others in peace.

                    • 1
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                      SJ – Yes I think we could agree that its a mixed lot. And I am sure the immigrants are mostly from Southern parts of India. The DNA evidence would shed additional light as to other genetic relationships that may exist that may add more nuance to the pcture, that is not revealed by written narratives.

                  • 5
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                    Ruchira,
                    As I understand it, there is no such thing as a pure Sinhalese or Tamil. Let’s not talk about “Muslims”.
                    Even the names of Achchige Patali Champika Ranawaka and
                    Thakurartha Devadithya Guardiyawasam Lindamulage Nalin Kumara de Silva, two very vociferous Sinhala nationalists, are dead giveaways. One doesn’t need DNA studies. Here is a good book to read:
                    https://defonseka.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Karava-of-Ceylon3704.pdf

                    • 3
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                      Ruchira,
                      If you look up the telephone directories in Kerala and TN,
                      You will find plenty of names like Jayakody, Jayawardena, Kulatunga, Nanayakkara, Wickremasinghe, etc, albeit spelt differently.
                      https://in.linkedin.com/in/sangeetha-jayakody-b892ba111

                    • 0
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                      OC – you wrote: “there is no such thing as a pure Sinhalese or Tamil.”
                      .
                      I agree. It’s obvious.
                      .
                      Hence the need for DNA studies, that provide better insights.
                      .
                      Nevertheless thanks for the links.

                    • 4
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                      OC
                      :
                      Sri Lankans in general do not care about anything that affects the people EQUALLY: tHEY ARE SELFISH by their genetics.. Most people (over 70%) who lick the Bo-Tree for their selfish gains and have strings tied on their wrists are real fools.
                      Knowing the level of stupidity, Mahendra Rajapaksa (He is not MAHINDA but Mahendra) or similar is targeting the next poll. Without a real social revolution, nothing much will change in the conditioned Sinhalese mentality.
                      Today everyone blames the other. They do not respect the segments that consider things logically. Surface values are placed on top. People have become real beasts.
                      They are easily misled by the easiest tricks. They don’t care if their lives are safe. This egocentric attitude has cut their throats and put them in the deep end.

                    • 1
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                      OC
                      The Sinhalese spell each of these names differently in English.
                      The Malayali spelling is more consistent. Perhaps they carry the caste name as part of the name and thus the Vasagama is pretty short.

                  • 1
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                    LankaScot,
                    .
                    Below is the study I refered to above. Unfortunately I don’t have access to the full paper. But the concluding statements at the end of the abstract available is what I wanted to highlight.
                    .
                    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2015.05.007
                    .
                    Note the conclusion: “The Vedda population clustered separately from other groups and Sri Lankan Tamils showed a closer genetic affiliation to Sinhalese than to Indian Tamils.”

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                      Ruchira,
                      “The Vedda population clustered separately from other groups and Sri Lankan Tamils showed a closer genetic affiliation to Sinhalese than to Indian Tamils.”
                      That depends very much on how one defines “Sinhalese “, doesn’t it? Many of those who research DNA seem to have no idea of the regional differences irrespective of language.

                  • 2
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                    Wikipedia is not reliable source but.
                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Sinhalese

                  • 2
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                    Hello Ruchira,
                    Like you I have seen many contradictory studies/papers that give different interpretation to the Data. I always try to bear in mind that Human Genetics is a fairly new branch of science and much of what is discovered will take time to be properly understood. Mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA) is only inherited down the maternal line, likewise Y Chromosome DNA(Y-DNA) is only inherited down the male line. If you take your parents as 1st Generation, when you get to the 10th Generation you have (1024+512+256+128+64+32+16+8+4+2) ancestors. However mtDNA and Y-DNA will only give you the DNA of 2 ancestors out of those 1024, so unless you do a DNA analysis of the whole genome the results will be highly skewed. In a recent (2023) paper the Sinhalese were grouped together as one population (to give Rohan25 his due – as he mentions Sinhalese are a mix of many different peoples). Having said that the paper mentions that “Furthermore, the traces of common roots of Sinhala with Maratha can also be seen in fine grained genetic analysis.” I think they are referring to Maharashtra State. They also found “Higher West Eurasian genetic component in Sri Laṅka than South India”.

                    Best Regards

                    • 4
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                      Hello All,
                      What I most object to is the use of Genetic information for political ends. The Human Race is a mix of many different peoples and we need to stop the racists from trying to divide us.
                      Best Regards

                    • 2
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                      Thanks LankaScot.
                      .
                      Yes I do agree on both comments you have made.
                      .
                      Genetic studies if at all only reveals how diverse bunch of people we are and also despite the diversity the fact that we also share common ancestral roots.
                      .
                      I also couldn’t help noticing the racial undertone. Didn’t want to point out because it will only lead to further confrontations.
                      Thanks for your input.
                      .
                      Pity that most conversations eventually ends up with some racial insinuations.

                • 5
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                  The Tharu claim an Indo-Aryan Rajasthani Rajput ancestry but there is nothing in them to indicate this, they look very east Asian and are classified as Tibeto Mongols. If there is any Indo Aryan or Dravidian in them is very negligible. Please don’t make me laugh with your pro Sinhalese assertions, and desperation to link the Sinhalese with North Indians and jumped on the fact that, your Kandyan Sinhalese wife’s family DNA showed traces of Tharu from UP not realizing who they actually are. Oh, by the way it was only trace but what was the main genetic makeup? Very quiet about this. The Indus valley civilization is definitely Dravidian and most renown historian agreeing on this. Trying to dispute this fact itself proves your anti Tamil/Dravidian bias.
                  https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/indus-valley-people-spoke-ancient-dravidian-language-claims-new-research-1842718-2021-08-19
                  Even now in Tamil we say Yannai or Annai Pilirum (the sound that elephant makes) and Pal for tooth. Old Tamil is the closest language to Proto Dravidian and retained most of its characters and vocabulary.

                  • 5
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                    https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/rakhigarhi-excavation-indus-valley-civilisation-aryan-dravidian-1328881-2018-08-31.
                    The mix of ancient ancestral South Indians ( the original out of Africa people who migrated to Indian 65000) and the Iranian agricultural people from the Zagreb Mountain region of Western Iran created the Dravidian people. It is this DNA that is found in the skeleton of the Indus Valley person.
                    https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/rakhigarhi-excavation-indus-valley-civilisation-aryan-dravidian-1328881-2018-08-31

                    • 5
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                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l41QZoqm_jE
                      Most Indians are mixed, and the ANI is a mixture of the Steppe Eastern Europe/Central European population that got mixed up the Indus valley Dravidians (Zagreb Iranian farmers and the ancient ancestral South India, the original out of Africa population), the south Indian Dravidian population is the Indus valley Dravidian population that got mixed further with AASI. However, they were all still getting mixed up until 1900 years ago, when the Vedic Hindu caste system became entrenched. Artifacts found in the recent Keeladhi excavations, shows lots of writing and scripts similar to the Indus Valley civilization and has proven that Tamil Brahmi is older than Brahmi and most probably is the mother of Brahmi and not the other way around.
                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSiFYomXCnM&t=156s

                    • 0
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                      Hello Rohan25,
                      This is from the actual Rakhigarhi Report –
                      “We report an ancient genome from the Indus Valley
                      Civilization (IVC). The individual we sequenced fits as
                      a mixture of people related to ancient Iranians (the
                      largest component) and Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers,
                      a unique profile that matches ancient DNA from
                      11 genetic outliers from sites in Iran and Turkmenistan
                      in cultural communication with the IVC. These individuals
                      had little if any Steppe pastoralist-derived
                      ancestry, showing that it was not ubiquitous in northwest
                      South Asia during the IVC as it is today.”
                      No mention of Dravidian ancestry there? I never expected Steppe ancestry as they didn’t arrive until well after the IVC decline.
                      Best regards

                  • 1
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                    Hello Rohan25,
                    I wrote on the 19th regarding my wife’s DNA “the closest DNA match is the Tharu tribe in Utter Pradesh North India” but now you claim “Oh, by the way it was only trace but what was the main genetic makeup?”
                    Mitochondrial DNA cannot give you a complete genetic makeup, it is only inherited down the female line. Please read the comments from Ruchira, SJ, Lester and others – their understanding of genetics seems to be pretty comprehensive.
                    There are many good articles on human genetics (even Wikipedia) that can be accessed, but remember it is very easy to take an isolated piece of data and assume that it gives the whole picture.
                    Best regards

            • 4
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              LS
              Warning: Do not make embarrassing requests.

              • 15
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                Yes, we all are fully aware that you are an embarrassment to us, a self-hating Tamil with a private agenda constantly supporting and fawning to Sinhalese racists and Islamic hardliners. Think you are something great with your two or three letter sarcastic comments reserved largely for all the Tamil bloggers here. If you are such an intelligent all-knowing person and so great, why don’t you explain yourself. Instead of spitting out venom and sarcastic digs.

                • 1
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                  ” two or three letter sarcastic comments”
                  Like
                  mmm!
                  oh?
                  I use them very rarely.
                  *
                  What I say seems quite clear to any reasonably intelligent person.
                  Whatever your problem is I have no cure, I submit.
                  *
                  Venom is the specialty of racists here.

                • 2
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                  “you are an embarrassment to us”
                  Thank you.
                  I am pleased to know that I do hit sectarian bigots where it hurts.

              • 2
                12

                SJ – I thought that was quite a legitimate one for a request. Burden of providing the source I thought rests with the claimant.

                • 2
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                  R
                  Bigots know no legitimacy.

                  • 1
                    9

                    SJ
                    .
                    :)

          • 2
            15

            “This is a historical fact proven by genetic studies.”

            There is no such genetic study. Only your misinterpretation. For example, humans and apes share 98.9% of the same DNA. Does it mean humans are apes? Classic fallacy: correlation implies causation.

            • 2
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              Lester,
              .
              I think relative associations between different groups could still be ascertained using genetic studies, though what you say is true overall. See the study mentioned in one of the L/Scots comments for an example.

              • 1
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                Ruchira,

                The evolution of the Sinhala language from Prakrit to modern Sinhala suggests more of a distance than an association between Sinhalese & Tamils. Also, there were people living on the island well before Sinhalese or Tamils arrived, how do you account for their genetic contribution? Cultural affinity is more easily understood. Although one has to wonder, sambol is popular in UK these days, does that mean Brits are descended from Indians?

                • 0
                  10

                  Lester I agree. Hence the importance of any light DNA studies could shed on the matter.
                  .
                  I think you misunderstood my mention of the word association there.
                  .
                  What I meant is association between biologies between groups of people as revealed by genetic studies could provide information on their historical origins and social associations like interbreeding, that may go beyond what is possible to know from written historical accounts that may lack both breadth and depth, also in terms of how far in to history that they could inform us.

                  • 0
                    11

                    Ruchira,

                    OTC says Mahavamsa is racist. Pandi Kutti says Sinhalese don’t exist, e.g. don’t have a unique identity. Let us call this the “Wanni contradiction.”

                    ~q —> q. This is logically impossible.

                    In any case, the point I was making earlier. Besides the fact that Sinhalese kings intermarried with Pandyan royalty, the concept of “race” (if it existed at the time) was very different 2K years ago. It’s more likely that people placed more emphasis on tribal loyalty. Use of the word “damila” (demala) to refer to Chola invaders is not racist as that is exactly what the Chola were: invaders. If you burn a city to the ground, you are an invader. Had they succeeded with their plans, “Sri Lanka” in the current form would not exist.

                • 5
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                  Chingkalla language is a mixture of Thamizh, Pali/Prakrit and later Sanskrit. It has a very solid Dravidian/Thamizh foundation and on which an Indo-Aryan superstructure has been built. Even now with all the recent trend to extensively borrow vocabulary from Sanskrit and even Hindi, to prove Chingkallam is Indo Aryan ( Not only Chingkallam but even other Dravidian languages like Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam deliberately do this to prove that they did not originate from old or middle Thamizh, some form of complex) around 35% of modern Chingkalla vocabulary is purely derived from Thamizh or it local native dialect Elu. The Chingkalla syntax, grammar, lexicon and even alphabet are all purely derived from Thamizh and not from Pali/Prakrit or Sanskrit. Just look at how a sentence is formed in Chingkallam or for that matter in Hindi, Bengali or Punjabi, it formed the same way and follows the same sequence like Thamizh/Dravidian. Very different to English, German or even Farsi. Proving that all these so-called Indo-Aryan speakers were once largely Dravidian speakers who replaced their Dravidian speech with the Indo-Aryan speech of their ruler. This is called language replacement.

                  • 5
                    1

                    You can see these modern times with blacks and native Americal Indians now using English, French, Spanish or Portuguese or even us using English here. Even now you can see in India every year a tribal/Munda language in north/central India, is dying out being replaced by Hindi. Other than the first strata of Prakrit speaking immigrants from somewhere in North, West or Eastern India, all other migration to the island from prehistoric, ancient until recent times has been from ancient semi/proto/proper or low Thamizh speaking Dravidian South India and 90% of this from then Thamizh country called Thamilakam modern day Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Southern Andhra and Karnataka. These Prakrit Speaking immigrants never created the Chingkallams or the Chingkalla language, they came and got assimilated and intermarried into the local Thamizh or semi/proto Thamizh speaking Dravidian Thamizh tribes, like the Naga and Yakka who were already there or were taking Thamizh women from South Indian Pandian country.

                    • 5
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                      It is the arrival of Buddhism 2300 years ago that triggered the formation and evolution of the Chingkalla language and identity from the largely local Dravidian Thamizh or semi Thamizh(Elu) speaking Yakka and some Naga who were living in the southern, western and central parts of the island, as they converted to Buddhism on a large scale and started to mix their Thamizh or local Thamizh dialect with the Pali/Prakrit and later Sanskrit that came with Buddhism and this gradually by 7AD evolved in to new language and identity called Sinhala, a Prakritised version of one of the Thamizh word for the island. Chingkallam meaing the red or copper coloured land. Chem/Cheppu+ Alam(land)= Chingkallam, just like Puttalam, Cheralam/Keralam. Nothing to do with lions or North Indian immigrants, a story or myth later created to explain the word Sinhala. Elu(Thamizh) + Prakrit(Pali)= Hela or old Chingkallam, which like Elu was structurally and in many other ways very close to its proper Thamizh mother, that modern Chingkallam.

                    • 5
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                      The predominantly Dravidian Naga populated areas of the island, the north, east and northwest coastal areas on the island, who around 300BC had largely adopted proper Thamizh as their mother tongue, did not convert, on a large scale to Buddhism like in the south, central or in the western parts of the island, where the Yakka predominated. Many did convert to Buddhism but even these ancient Thamizh Buddhist Nagas living in the north and east retained their ancient Thamizh identity. Wherever the Naga predominated the ancient Thamizh identity and language prevailed, even amongst the Buddhist Naga in these areas, however, in the Yakka predominating areas furth to the south, central and western parts of the island., it was a different story, unlike the largely elite Naga who were trading with the world, most of them did not speak proper Thamizh, but were speaking a semi or proto Thamizh dialect called Elu, and this could not withstand the influence or Pali/Prakrit, that came with Buddhism and soon a new language and identity evolved in these areas, just like the way in Kerala, or Cheralam modern Malayalam evolved from Chera Thamizh a few centuries ago.

                    • 0
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                      Hello Pandi Kutti,

                      Can you please point us all to the evidence for what you claim in your 4 posts. I mean real evidence – not hearsay or peoples opinions. Ideally evidence should come from reputable archaeologists or professional linguists. So that rules out both the Archaeological Survey of India and the Sri Lankan Department of Archaeology, neither of which can be said to be objective.
                      Best Regards

                  • 0
                    5

                    How can Sinhala have a “very solid Dravidian/Thamizh foundation” if it is classified as an Indo-Aryan language? That doesn’t make any sense. What makes more sense is that speakers of Sinhala and Tamils cannot understand each other, not even 1%, implying these languages belong to entirely different groups. Speakers of Spanish, French, and Italian can understand each other (with some effort) due to the root language being Latin.

                    • 3
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                      Lester,
                      There are enough meta analyses to prove that the Tamils and Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka came from the same origin or close to it. From their behavior too, I know that they are very much tied to their culture, religious and food patterns.

                      Both races live to eat carbohydrate-rich food excessively, though diabetes kills them and their young. It is almost unbearable for people like Lester who knows all this to hang on to racial statements and question the differences. Our Sinhalese are quite primitive in nature, as evolution seems to have blocked their way.

                      If you look today, how some progressive forces under the command of incumebent president are making every effort to surround the drug dealers in the Colombo city limits, there are a lot of criminals and their organizations are making every effort to prevent that attack on the criminals.
                      The kind of offensive were not in place during Gotabaaya adminstration, nor in Mahendra Rajapkshe becuase their hands are tied with the penises of the drug traffickers for their own politicial fund raises.

                    • 2
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                      Lester, both the island’s Tamils and Sinhalese, not the ones from the western or southern littorals, like the Salagrama, Karawa, Durawa, but from the interior and Kandyan areas, are from the same ancestral mix. Largely a mixture of the original proto or semi-Tamil speaking Dravidian people/tribes who came here during ancient times, the Prakrit speaking North Indian immigrants who arrived here around 300BCE and later South Indian Tamil immigrants, mainly Pandian and Chola who either came here as immigrants or invaders and settled down. From ancient to medieval times. Despite having some north Indian immigrant blood both amongst the Sinhalese and Tamils, we are largely a people of Dravidian South Indian origin, who migrated to the island largely from the then Tamil country from prehistoric to recent times and this also includes the island’s Muslims.

                    • 2
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                      From the 11th century onwards immigration from South India to the Tamil parts of the island, became a trickle but continued unabated to the Sinhalese south, and became a huge sea, during the Portuguese and Dutch times, when they imported, thousands of largely Tamil low castes from South India and settled them along the western and southern littorals to do menial service work or to work as slave labour in the southern spice estates, creating three new major Sinhalese castes , the Karawa, Salagama, Durawa and other minor castes. Now their Sinhalised descendants, belonging to these castes, make up 30-50% of the present-day Sinhalese. By these actions more and more South Indian Tamil Dravidian blood has been infused into the island’s Sinhalese than to the island’s Tamils. Most of the island’s Sinhalese political leaders, prime minister’s/presidents and aristocracy, many responsible for all this hatred against the island’s Tamils and still beating the anti-Tamil drum, are all descended largely from this post 15Th century Tamil immigrants from South India. If the Sinhalese are fairer than the island’s Tamil on an average at has nothing to do with North Indian origin but has more to do with them copulating more with their European colonial masters than the island’s Tamils and if you go south, you find many Sinhalese with very dark Australoid features, curly hair and thick lips. You hardly find these features amongst the islands’ Tamils.

                    • 2
                      0

                      If the Sinhalese are fairer than the island’s Tamil on an average at has nothing to do with North Indian origin but has more to do with them copulating more with their European colonial masters than the island’s Tamils and if you go south, you find many Sinhalese with very dark Australoid features, curly hair and thick lips. You hardly find these features amongst the islands’ Tamils. Sinhalese may be classified as Indo Aryan and founded by Prakrit that came either with these ancient North Indian immigrants, I personally doubt this as if it was, then why don’t the people of the north and east who also have the same amount of this North Indian immigrant ancestry still speak Tamil? or due to the arrival of Buddhism 2300 years ago, it has been heavily influenced from the word go with the native Tamil or semi-Tamil dialect that was spoken on the island before.

                    • 2
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                      Like PK states even now 35% of modern Sinhalese vocabulary is purely derived from Tamil and its grammar, syntax, lexicon and alphabet are all derived from Tamil and not any other language. There are more than 4000 Tamil derived words in Sinhalese and take the Tamil out of Sinhalese and there will be no Sinhalese left, just Pali/Prakrit or Sanskrit, and it is the same with Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam.

              • 7
                0

                Ruchira,
                Very Good Point Indeed!! That was a CLASSIC, BECAUSE OF HIS Grand Fathers English LEANEAGE!!! There must be scores of such cases – Exceptions w/o doubt!!!
                Generally, I find, that Sri Lankans have tendency, find it hard accept facts, which are against their line of thinking!!!???

                • 0
                  6

                  Hmmm… true. But to whom are you referring to? Lester?

            • 2
              11

              L – Also not sure if the below applies to this case: “Classic fallacy: correlation implies causation”

            • 12
              1

              Stop posting rubbish or bullshit when you get caught out. Yes we all know that humans share 98.9% of DNA with the ape and around 90% DNA with cats, 84% with dogs, 98% with pigs this is why pig organs commonly are used for transplants, 70% with slugs, 50% with trees and 44% with honey bees and 60% with Bananas, most probably you are one, however humans DNA is still different from ape DNA, pig DNA or a Banana or slug( most probably you may not be from your comments). Humans or not apes, neither are the pigs, cats’ dogs or bananas or trees despite sharing very high amount of DNA. And what are you implying despicable Sinhalese racist that Tamils are apes and you Sinhalese are humans by this comparison? Please do and visit a psychiatrist. You have got some mental problems and so do the people who support you here like the fake Scott and the self-hating Tamil.

              • 1
                9

                Since you are an expert on genetics explain to us, what is the difference between two humans sharing 98.5% of the same DNA and a human/chimpanzee sharing 98.5% of the same DNA? I claim no expertise in the field. TIA.

                • 5
                  0

                  Lester,
                  I will be kind to you this time, since you say you don’t know:
                  “Between any two humans, the amount of genetic variation—biochemical individuality—is about . 1 percent. This means that about one base pair out of every 1,000 will be different between any two individuals.”
                  It is the 0.1 % that makes even you human.

                  • 1
                    4

                    OC,

                    The AI gave the answer I wanted. Even if two groups share 60% of the same DNA, it doesn’t mean they evolved from a common ancestor.

                    Is it possible for two different ethnic groups to share 60% of the same DNA, but evolve from different ancestors?

                    AI:

                    Yes, that’s correct. The percentage of shared DNA between two ethnic groups doesn’t necessarily imply recent common ancestry. It’s possible for two different ethnic groups to share 60% of the same DNA due to a variety of factors, including historical migrations, interactions, and exchanges of genetic material over time.

                    The concept of genetic similarity doesn’t always align with a simple family tree structure. Populations can mix and exchange genetic material through various mechanisms, leading to shared genetic components even if they evolved from different ancestral populations. This is especially true when considering the complex history of human migrations, interbreeding, and cultural exchanges.

                  • 4
                    0

                    Lester,
                    Do you even know that this 0.1%of DNA amounts to SIX MILLION base pairs per cell.
                    “the differences that we notice are caused by a very tiny fraction of our DNA. Given six billion base pairs per cell, a tiny fraction – 1/1000 of six billion base-pairs – is still six million different base pairs per cell. So there is plenty of room for genetic differences among us. “
                    Please stop arguing about things you barely understand.

                    • 0
                      1

                      Old Codger,

                      You lost the argument about Mahavamsa. Now you’re failing to comprehend something else. The point I made is very simple. Two different ethnicities can share 60% or more of the same DNA without having a common ancestor. This contradicts Pandi Kutti’s arguments. Pandi Kutti assumes that Sinhalese are in fact Tamils, with Dravidian origins, based on selective genetic studies.

                  • 3
                    0

                    OC,
                    .
                    I miss Nathan, what happened to him ? He was a good commenter.

                    I hope he is doing well.

                    Greetings to you OC… happy holidays.

                    LM

              • 2
                9

                One can do with some self-hating if that helps one to be self critical and, more importantly, be free of sectarian venom towards the ‘other’.
                *
                BTW, when did you last see your shrink?
                Looks like the next visit is long overdue.

        • 12
          0

          Lester,
          “That is why you see indifference among Israelis when Gaza is bombed.”
          Why oh why do you insist on putting your foot in your mouth? If one of the “data points” in your convoluted arguments is false, your whole argument collapses.
          https://youtu.be/oQsqv7In-V8?si=6F-JeuRLMcr5DXPH

          • 9
            0

            OC,
            .
            Lester Rajapakse is back from backclicker hibernation. These people are trying to bully the stupid people of our country. However, his sun god Gota Lanka is out of public appearence.

            Now shameless lester compares the 1.5% human genome and argues that some of our humans are not apes. Looking at the Rajapaksas and their supporters, I am forced to think that the Sinhalese idiots led by the Rajapaksas are the real idiots on this earth.

        • 9
          0

          Lester,
          “Similarly, KILLING the 13 ‘UNARMED SOLDIERS’ was a MAJOR INSULT to the COLLECTIVE PSYCHE.”
          ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!??? These 13 were “UNARMED” and they were on a Journey of ‘MOON-LIGHING’, in Streets – ‘MAJOR THOROUGHFARE’ – Palaly Road in the middle of the Night – GUARDIANS’ OF THE PEACE, without their ‘BASIC TOOLS OF TRADE’, in UNIFORM, but only with PROTECTION OF A “SOLE HARMONICA”!!!???
          NOW, only the real pictures of those days’ events are evolving!!!??? What a SAD state of Affairs!
          Episcopal Reality of a dastardly event!!!??? Probably, they were on a journey to ENTERTAIN SOME FRIENDS WHOM THEY WERE TO RENDEZVOUS, IN JAFFNA TOWN – at the end of their journey!!!??? What honourable men and “Gallantry Displayed”!!!???
          Did the team, RESPONDING TO THEIR DISTRESS CALL, find any Guitars, Saxophone or related Musical Instruments!!!???
          That makes it significantly and poignantly, Miserable and Treacherous EVENT and therefore downright CONDEMNED too, BY RIGHT THINKING PEOPLE!!!???
          Could very well understand the Psychic attitude of Post 1983 Holocaust very well, by the Majority!!!???
          Makes Sense NOW!!! INDEED, AND without ‘IOTA of DOUBT’!!!??? Even a child attending LKG classes, would understand this resulted in, “Kiri bath devouring” and ‘Sing Songs’ or ‘HOSANNAS’ on 19th May 2009!!!???
          Congrats!!!???

    • 4
      19

      I just gave Lester’s comment a “Green thumbs Up” because it is a good comment. In spite of that the comment has got more “Dislikes” than “Likes”. Can’t readers at desist from going at the thumbs if their judgement is so bad?
      .
      Panini Edirisinhe

      • 2
        12

        Panini,
        .
        People don’t seem to stick to the merits and demirits of a specific comment when they up or down vote a comment here.
        .
        What did you make of Lester’s disagreement with what Mahawamsa is supposed to be claiming?

        • 1
          9

          Ruchira,
          .
          I wrote something and lost it! Let me come back to this tomorrow. So much seems to be happening!
          .
          At this moment, half past two in the morning, I’m frankly confused.
          .
          Panini Edirisinhe

          • 0
            8

            No worries Panini, take ypur time. It’s nothing too important.

          • 0
            0

            Insomnia is not incurable.
            However psychological mishaps are beyond healing.
            Meta ANALYSES based on population research reveals this lately.

        • 4
          0

          Ruchira,
          The problem is not with what MV claims, but implicit acceptance of its 1400 year old hang-ups in the present day. For example, human sacrifice was acceptable in the past even here, but very few (I think) approve it now. So, why consider Tamils as invaders in this 21st century?

          • 0
            8

            OC – I do agree. But my question to Panini was because he had mention that he gave a thumbs up to Lester’s comment. So wanted to know what Panini thought of the point highlighted about MV. I guess this is nothing unique MV. Most cultures have had histories that are questionable from today’s values. You don’t have to go that far into history. Germany is a perfect example within the last century.

            • 1
              10

              R
              You have a lot to learn.
              There are too many bigots who are a total waste to discuss anything seriously.

          • 1
            8

            OC,
            .
            You have commented above saying: “That depends very much on how one defines “Sinhalese “, doesn’t it? Many of those who research DNA seem to have no idea of the regional differences irrespective of language.”
            .
            I am commenting here because I don’t seem to be able to directly reply to your post above for some reason
            .
            Are you referring to the up country low country difference?
            .
            Anyway quoted statement is taken from the abstract. Hence we don’t know what finer details are given in the main body of the paper.
            .
            But please feel free to enlighten me.

            • 3
              0

              Ruchira,
              “Are you referring to the up country low country difference?”
              It is more complicated than that. There are Warnakulasuriyas around Negombo who speak Tamil at home. There are Kandyans with a heavy dose of Nayakkar ancestry (there used to be a Malabar Street in Kandy) .There are Ratwattes with European ancestors. Throw in the Salagamas who didn’t class themselves as Sinhala until they became Buddhists. There have been many waves of migration, and many were not considered proper Sinhalese until relatìvely recently. Even the upcountry Tamils are taking up Sinhala names nowadays.
              The Dutch land records (Tombos) are very interesting:
              https://www.archives.gov.lk/web/index.php?koralname=Negombo&keyword=&task=search&option=com_thombu&Itemid=194

      • 9
        0

        Panini,
        Are you serious, can’t even see 1 Green Thumb!!! What happened to it, if in fact you did afford him that privilege!!!??? Or was it mistakenly given a RED thumb by you too!!!!???

      • 9
        0

        There is no GREEN thumb to be seen in Lester’s comment, whatsoever!? How sure are you that inadvertently, you had also given a RED instead of GREEN Thumb!!!???

        • 0
          9

          Lester’s comment at the beginning of this thread, made on the 18th has 5 green and 13 red thumbs. I think that’s what is being referred to, and not any subsequent comments made, under the original one.

          • 0
            9

            Do you take the thumb count seriously?
            Do not lose sleep over it.
            There is a thriving rent-a-thumb business here.

            • 0
              6

              See, they are very loyal.

            • 6
              0

              Illuminating again?

              Have you heard about something as computers in modern world.

              I wrote on you illumination game that you ask CT to release your Thumbup Thumbdown names so you will know who are your friends and who are villains. Then you will know how many times Sonali has been putting you Thumb down because of your illumination! You are an absolute nincompoop man.

              • 6
                0

                There is a thriving rent-a-thumb business here.
                In other words, you seem to be saddened that there is no Munthanai to hide from Thumb down. Then thinking of all the Thumb Down makers as freshmen in UOJ and turning the table on Ruchira.
                Could you swear on CT that at least one comment a day you will write in CT without the illumination gimmicks?

                • 0
                  3

                  A slight overdose I suppose.

        • 0
          0

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