19 March, 2024

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A Tolerant And Democratic State

By Kumar David

Prof. Kuma David

Everything depends on the people themselves. Tolerance and democracy of the State is predicated on tolerance between communities. A remark in the Colombo Telegraph comments section caught my eye “We need to modulate our nationalisms and tone down the rhetoric of identity politics”. True and that depends on the people. There’s a lot to say for the view: “It’s the leaders’ fault that things have gone awry”. It is common to eviscerate leaders, charging that they are the villains who mislead the people – even SWRD’s daughter calls her father’s Sinhala Only policy disastrous. Did not Trump incite White Supremacists, is not Modi much to blame for anti-Muslim pogroms in India? However this is only half the truth, in 1956 the Singhalese people had a choice between SWRD’s racist cry and a tolerant alternative offered by NM Perera; sixty million American’s, mostly rural, poorer or less educated whites and white workers enthusiastically voted for Trump despite his crudeness and ugly lies, and Hindutva is not Modi-made, it is mass populist communalism. The “People are good and decent but are misled by blackguard leaders” thesis is palpably incorrect, or to be a more exact it is one-sided.

A chap called Hegel talked about dialectics as the interaction of opposites and contradiction as the norm. This dynamic lies at the root of evolution/revolution. This is now taken for granted explicitly in science (evolution theory, quantum physics) since a century or more ago. Now it has crept in as a norm in the social sciences. To get back to my ‘good-people bad-leaders’, and its opposite ‘good-leaders bad-people’ (pardon the trivialisations) imagery, both are true; contradiction and interaction are real. The harsh language of CT commentators is one-sided: “The bloody leaders are to blame”. Many commentators gripe about 69 lakhs of fools who voted for Gota and or groan that the corrupt and power hungry Paksas have misled the masses. Or curse loathsome Tamils, or the diaspora, or kallathonis for giving succour to the LTTE and at the same time about the LTTE massacring more Tamils than Sinhalese. But go to India or the USA and the stories are parallel. Leaders are indeed responsible but they are in effective symbiosis with the dregs of the mases.

JR was without doubt the promoter-in-chief of the July 1983 race riots, his criminal lieutenants Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake. Lalith Athulathmudali provided side support while chorus boys Ranil Wickremesinghe and Ranasinghe Premedasa did nothing to help quench the flames. People choose their leaders, leaders misguide or guide the people and so the dialectic moves. It is Sri Lankan protocol after condemning Sinhala racists to balance it by punching Prabharan and the LTTE. Yes, yes, of course, but I am too old and bored to play this chorus. In either case do you think the masses were not equally responsible?

If things are all going wrong, then anyone who to do better has to break into this vicious circle. The good thing now is that there is so much anger and revulsion at the status quo that many are motivated. Trade unions, professional organisations and student societies have seen the urgency. Liberal democrats (Karu J’s discussion group, Mangala’s True Patriot Hub, the late Sobitha Thera’s society, to mention three as well as right-of-centre political formations (Sajith’s SJB), the TNA, and of course the left-cum-JVP organised in the NPP, are all active and agitated. This is excellent; more heartening of course is the movement on the streets.

In a recent column in CT Jehan Perera quotes from a Presidential Communique: “It is the policy of the Government to work with the United Nations and its agencies to ensure accountability and human resource development in order to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation . .  (and) provide solutions . . . to ensure justice and reconciliation by institutional reforms.”  JP then adds: “If the president is to address the problem he needs to broaden support at multiple levels – ruling party, civil society, ethnic minorities and the opposition. This will require patience, dialogue, self-sacrifice, a break from the past, and a statesmanlike course of action”. The previous paragraphs of this piece state the enormity of the task if it is to be undertaken comprehensively, that is build tolerance and trust between the country’s three communities. I don’t want to be negative all the time and say “Fat lot, Gota and his brigades are not cut out for that”. But as Jehan prays (I think he is a devout Christian) if at least they can implement institutional reforms it will be a useful first step.   

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  • 12
    23

    KD: the Covid-19 numbers game, Data Hoax and its latest avatar Delta,Lambda lockdowns and fear psychosis will ensue that there is NO Movement on the Streets! Dream on about people liberating themselves from corrupt Global Corporate military business industrial complex that and Local rulers that are using Covid-19 to destroy GLobal South economies and societies.
    Anti-colonial Nationalism and national liberation movements which was all about ‘self-determination ‘of colonized peoples, has been divided and destroyed by the weaponization of ethnic and religious differences to promote the neo-liberal global governance agenda.
    Today, we are in a realm of hyper-digitalization of Economy and Society to ensure surveillance, militarization and Hybrid War to enable Global Corporate Governance.
    The Jarapaksa Brothers and the other ethnic politicians who are constatnly visisted by US, EU, Indian Ambassadors and asked to tow the line are puppets of the Global Governance Agenda with a Covid-19 Mask – to Weaponize the Diaspora, and destroy the Founding principles of the United Nations and erode the “Self-Determination of colonized Peoples” and “national soverignty” .
    KD sorry to say you 80 years shows and your analysis needs to be more attuned to how the GLobal is local and the local global in this era of the Digitalization and surveillance of Economy and Society or risk irrelevent dead leftist analysis!

    • 6
      16

      Identity politics – race, ethnic, religious, gender, LGBTQ – are part of a long-standing US-EU agenda to Divide and Rule the Global South that has also backfired as BLM and anti-racism protests shows.
      In the 1940s nationalism was a positive word for liberation from the cruelty and exploitation of European empires and their American corporate friends.
      But this history of anti-colonial nationalism has been erased, buried and forgotten ironically by the left, now dead left, that only talks about ethnic nationalism now! We need to return to anti-colonial nationalism at this moment in world history.
      Covid-19 bio-war fare Fake Pandemic has enabled the US empire to print trillions of $$$ and asset strip around the world with the Covid-19 mask– to challenge China’s and the BRICS rise. The US economy is addicted to war and only produces weapons, including production of bio-terrorism viruses, Fall Amy Worms, and vaccines!
      Covid-19 is a Big Lie to spread fear psychosis to digitalize the surveil and RULE and CONTROL the world to suit the Empire under a global bio-security operation – part of the Orwellian Global Governance project of the crashing empire whose 800 military bases are being primed for war for cyberwar now.

      • 0
        1

        Not only we have given up on anti-colonial discourse,we are paying a blind eye to postcolonial and decolonial discourses. I am compiling an article on this and will share soon.

    • 24
      2

      An assistant to a librarian, an ex cop, a security guard cum 7/11 shelf-stacker and a petrol pumper ……. running a country in the 21st century!

      The results are plainly visible ……….. or are they?

      Dr M M Janapriya have all ye dreams come true?

      Is the price worth paying?

      • 3
        4

        Dear nimal,
        .
        Comments on this article by Dr Janapriya are far from over.
        .
        https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/a-letter-to-the-us-senate-a-common-reply-to-the-many-responses/
        .
        nimal fernnando, don’t you realise, (coward!) that you’ve been sitting on the fence there?
        .
        To cover that up, you’ve been talking about Durians, Champa’s Ribbons and Bows, Ramona’s knuckledusters and flick knives in her hair.
        .
        Janapriya’s amateurish blabbering has been brilliantly and more than adequately countered there by old codger.
        .
        I intend getting some sleep now (4.30 am) and then giving you some fact illustrating how disastrous this dishonest tampering with University Admissions has been. What I can contribute is awareness of the situation in the remote villagers.
        .
        That cannot be done by everyone; the person doing it must also have some awareness of what standards ought to prevail, and I think that I have that awareness.
        .
        Panini Edirisinhe of Bandarawela, Province of Uva (NIC 48 3111444V)

        • 3
          4

          Dear Sinhala_Man,
          That’s some interesting prodding!

          Will be looking out for your post on the situation in the remote villages as a result of tampering with university admissions.

        • 5
          4

          Sinhala_Man,

          You guys are worse than old ladies!

          Fight your own blooming fights.

          My purpose is to bring people together; not to inflame an already volatile situation …….. I have my ways ……. perhaps you have yours.

          I know when to pick a fight and when not to ……… and I fight my own battles ……… win or lose …………


          For the record I never spoke about Durian; someone else brought it up …… and I find Champa and Ramona more interesting than Dr Janapriya …….. leave Champa and Ramona to me ……. you can play with Dr Janapriya to your heart’s content. :))

          Is that a deal?

          • 5
            0

            nimal fernando

            “For the record I never spoke about Durian; someone else brought it up “

            I brought the Durian issue to spice up our intellectual intercourse.
            Do you think it was wrong?

            • 5
              0

              ” Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.” !!!

              :)))))))

          • 2
            3

            nimal,
            .
            It is I who find Champa and Ramona more interesting than Dr Janapriya, and I bet they would find me more interesting than you because I have better balls!
            .
            Bah! What you say is that you “know when to pick a fight and when not to” and complete the statement with an untruth. “win or lose”, says the coward safely ensconced in America. Unlike me, you will never get into a fight that you may lose! I may be a bit of a coward (I sure am afraid of our beastly ruling family) but I’m sure that by now both Champa & RTF know that my balls are in better condition than yours! That is despite my having tasted durians only once. The guy who loves durians is Kumar; I hope that he found himself some durians in Los Angeles yesterday and that it meant ecstasy for Rohini.
            .
            However, I have no time for you. I’m hurrying back to the bottom of that page, where I’m sure that my efforts to bring people together will prove more successful than yours.
            .
            https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/a-letter-to-the-us-senate-a-common-reply-to-the-many-responses/
            .
            You are a coward who hasn’t got the courage to denounce even a senile surgeon!

          • 2
            3

            nimal, I had placed yet another comment there, but now (after I had taken a great deal of trouble processing two more comments – intending to make it at least five more thoughtful comments, I find that comments on that unfortunate article are no longer possible.)
            .
            Let me, therefore, hope that the moderators won’t mind my placing the 198-words that had climbed into my mouse (meeya, in Sinhalese – btw, I had been admonished as a kid not to allow the cat to sleep in my bed because a part of my anatomy resembled a mouse). The moderators, in one sense, “own” this space on the web.
            .
            In another sense, the article has been written by Kumar, who is a pretty tolerant bloke, and is hopefully still enjoying the afterglow of post-durian activity.

            • 4
              0

              SM,

              Just read again all what you have written!

              I don’t want to be dragged into your bitter and twisted world. …… Please leave me out.

              I truly feel sorry for you, man!

              That’s all I have to say.

              Have a nice day. :))

          • 2
            1

            Anpu,
            .
            PART ONE

            .
            True that after my enthusiasm for Janapriya’s COVID articles, that letter of his addressed to the U.S. Senate came as a shock to me. However, if you have the time, please see how my responses to it grew in complexity.
            .
            https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/a-letter-to-the-us-senate-committee-re-the-resolution-on-recognizing-traditional-tamil-homeland-in-sri-lanka/
            .
            The very first comment there is by Sugandh (who always writes sensibly). The second is by me, but you will see that it is titled “Observation B”. Where is A? It has fallen much lower; some way below it, and I have explained the mistake that I made. So, fallible I am.
            .
            I think that the best comments on this article have come from old codger, and the most disappointing from nimal fernando; I have told nimal that here:
            .
            https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/a-tolerant-and-democratic-state/
            .
            Now, on a more even keel:

            .
            On Wednesday the 21st I fell off my chair when my mobile rang, and I saw the name of Guneris, a fellow whom I had taught for ten months in 1973 at Malitta M.V., a smallish school situated between Bandarawela and Ettampitiya. I had landed there after being kicked out of Kandegedera M.V. by the rascally Principal – but that’s another story.

          • 4
            1

            This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.

            For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2

        • 7
          0

          I have caught Janapriya red handed about his disinformation campaign. He would have never expected me to provide detail about 66 batch to counter his propaganda. He has not disclosed the names of his god fearing friends who gave him the statistics.

      • 3
        14

        nimal fernando,
        As if tie coat wearing Royal educated ‘Toiyas’ did a better job. ‘Yahapalana’ Government ran by the ‘Royal Gang’ was one of the worst Governments this country had.
        —-

        “An assistant to a librarian, an ex cop, a security guard cum 7/11 shelf-stacker and a petrol pumper ……. running a country in the 21st century!

        The results are plainly visible ……….. or are they?”

        • 6
          1

          EE,

          Thank you for your very valuable unbiased impartial opinion.

          • 4
            0

            Nimal,
            I believe Eagle wears a tie while working at TSP (Toronto Sewage Processing).
            So….

            • 4
              1

              Oc
              Guy once added to have studied at Pera? Who is this reptile? To my eyes some senior batchas treated inhumanly their juniors in ragging season. May be EE should be caught by the gangs incl tamil students then. Else I cant know as to why the bugger is this much hateful to entire tamil community. 🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕

            • 2
              0

              “TSP (Toronto Sewage Processing).”

              OC,

              Well what do you know!

              Don’t know about Toronto …… but one of my siblings helped our old servants’ kids and their families to get over to Edmonton. One of them found work exactly there ……. in the winter they have a group of council workers with a fancy title “Special works engineers” or such that are sent down to clean the frozen sewers and most of them are Lankans. Our guy now is a mid level council supervisor. There are some Lankan Civil Engineers working for the council and they help these workers to get permanent positions in the council.

              There is nothing wrong in any type of honest labour ……… the world will be a better place when pols and religious and rest of the freeloaders start doing a day’s worth of honest labour ……….

              • 2
                0

                Nimal,
                You figure Eagle has time to do honest work? Or TSP gives him free internet?

    • 17
      0

      PIctures worth thousand words.

      These THAKKADIYAS lead this nation. So no wonder that entire world brand us today as ” no different to that of Lebanon

      Not RW, CBK or other leaders, but these bitch sons, should be made accountable for all the mess created in this country. They will have to face the musik if not this leben in next for sure.

  • 22
    2

    Dictators rise in state because they are able to exploit the extent of dissent or channel nationalism within a state. Trump was a recent success. In SL, Bandaranaike, JRJ and Mahinda are exponents of it. They sought to outdo their opponents in Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism. Of course, the Sinhala people are to blame but the man who lit the flame was Bandaranaike. A leader who cared and did not seek power for himself, could have channeled the obvious need to uplift the Sinhala peasantry without setting it on a calamitous path. Leader like Modi and Trump seek power for themselves not for the good their people. There is a difference. Without a leader, the masses do not respond. Mahinda was a master in the manipulation of the Sinhala people. The other Rajapakses simply lack that ability. Neither is there another Sinhala leader of his calibre in waiting.

  • 27
    2

    What a luxurious life while 6.9 million morons are starving. All on the money of foreign exchange earned by nannies and estate workers. Also from loans obtained from India, B’Desh and Pakistan. Total betrayal.

  • 4
    12

    One state?

    If you want one state within the island get used to it. This is how things were, are and will be. Any attempt to change it leads to riots against them, war crimes against them and war victory against them by the triumphant government.

    Unwise to rely on the One State Solution for SL.

    • 4
      13

      Wise or unwise no one so far has presented a draft proposal for discussion of any alternative to One State Solution feasible without relocation of people.
      Tamil majority desire to live within Sinhala majority provonces is an unsurmountable obstacle in formulating a solution acceptable to the Sinhalese.
      TAMILS HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN A SEPARATE HOMELAND
      OR
      THE RIGHT TO LIVE ANYWHERE.
      (As always I beg of them to choose the latter option)

      Soma

      • 11
        2

        S
        Is there nothing in-between?
        Where do Hill Country Tamils go?
        What about Muslims?
        Are there no other identities with issues to address?
        *
        I was recently surprised to learn that Haitian Creole is a recognized language of Cuba.

        • 0
          6

          SJ
          In respect of a political solution Tamils are all Tamil speaking people scattered across the island irrespective of their religion or the date of arrival.
          .
          For legal and administrative purposes People can be differentiated/ identified only on the basis of language they claim to be most comfortable with.
          .
          Your political class never state unambiguously who the ‘Tamils’ are in respect a ‘political solution’ they aspire to. They use various permutations and combinations of ‘Tamils’, ‘Tamil People’ , ‘Tamil Nation’ , ‘Ealam Tamils’, ‘ Eazam Tamils’ etc. etc, several in the same breadth leaving us confused all the time, obviously with intent or probably they themselves unsure of.
          .
          While I am seeking a solution which can satisfy at least 90% of Tamils TNA is actually seeking a solution for Hindus/Christians in Jaffna, never willing to admit openly.

          Soma

          • 5
            2

            The national question is not a simple Sinhala-Tamil equation to solve.
            It is far more complex than what Tamil and Sinhala narrow nationalists perceive it to be.
            You miss important variables when proposing an oversimplified solution..

            • 0
              0

              SJ
              Could you kindly elaborate further on the ‘national question’ in your perspective?
              And TNA’s perspective.
              Obviously you can’t find a solution if you can’t define the problem.
              I admit that I have redu

              • 0
                0

                …reduced the complexity to an equation with two variables. The credit for the invention of the two variable equation must go to the drafters of Vadukkodai resolution.

                Soma

                • 2
                  0

                  soman

                  “The credit for the invention of the two variable equation must go to the drafters of Vadukkodai resolution.”

                  What is that you object to in the Vaddukkottai Resolution?
                  Like the Thesawalamai Law you haven’t got a clue about Vaddukkottai Resolution.

              • 4
                0

                soman

                “Could you kindly elaborate further on the ‘national question’ in your perspective?”

                SJ’s perspective.
                Those who do not possess, read, memorise, believe, practice, …. content of Mao’s red book which creates “the tremendous crisis of capitalism is bringing to the surface all the system’s old contradictions. Instability, polarisation and huge political shifts are on the order of the day. ” – https://www.socialist.net/

                I suppose I have explained you whatever that was?
                If you have no clue about National Question, why waste time, move away move on. What are you going to do if you have access to a good explanation.

                Run along, go see Karakka Council, Gevindu, Wimal, ….. Jayasummana, Asgiria, …….

              • 1
                3

                I cannot write an essay here.
                But mine is not the same as that of any Tamil narrow nationalist or Sinhala chauvinist.
                And CT is not the place to solve any problem.

                • 1
                  2

                  SJ
                  CT is the place where truth is processed.
                  CT is the place where all anti Sinhala Buddhist patients come for open defecation.

                  Soma

                  • 4
                    0

                    Don’t be selective.
                    Several others too defecate here.

                  • 1
                    0

                    soman

                    “CT is the place where all anti Sinhala Buddhist patients come for open defecation.”

                    You maybe right.
                    They need a place to defalcate, they need privacy,
                    Through out the island Sarath Weerasekera has organised branches of his version of Stasi ((Staatssicherheitsdienst) informers, the are peeping through holes in the fence.

                    Smart Shavendra’s airborne drones are following the people every nook and corner.

                    Gota’s private military intelligence is reporting to him on a 24/07/52 basis.

                    Namal baby’s members of Blue brigade is all over the place.

                    Where can the ordinary people sh*t peacefully?

                    If you are watching them intensively here in CT, make sure you keep your mouth tightly closed in case , ………………………

              • 1
                0

                soman

                Do you suffer from “Multiple Personality Disorder”?

                For, one minute you sound a hapless orphan the next you behave like an A***hole.

                How does your family react with regular changes in your mood?

                Do they know you have split personality?

              • 1
                0

                soman

                SJ types:
                “The national question is not a simple Sinhala-Tamil equation to solve.
                It is far more complex than what Tamil and Sinhala narrow nationalists perceive it to be.”

                Therefore he likes to bring in China not only to mediate but also to enforce solutions. This should remind us the Panchatantra story of
                “Two Cats And A Monkey and a loaf of bread.”
                In case you completely missed your education the story can be accessed from the link below:
                https://kidsstory.org/two-cats-and-a-monkey/

                MORAL OF THE STORY: WHEN WE FIGHT AMONGST OURSELVES, A THIRD PERSON GAINS.

      • 8
        0

        soman

        “TAMILS HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN A SEPARATE HOMELAND
        OR THE RIGHT TO LIVE ANYWHERE.”

        I have the right to repatriate all descendants of Kallathonies back to their original motherland or …………..

        The state is in a state of economic collapse due to absence of governance and empty treasury.

        Don’t you think this is the appropriate time to start a mother of all riots? That will help divert the attention of angry 6.9 million away from the inapt clan and cronies and towards the minorities while looting and robbing them will atleast give some respite to you lot.

        You should encourage the local Saffron brigade event organisers to arrange such large scale riots. Definitely you (and your fellow patriots) will profit from it. I am confident Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya and the Police will give you huge support.

        What do you think?

        Later you can claim some do gooder Sinhala/Buddhists and you saved millions of innocent Tamil Speaking people from themselves, or the world largest rescue operation the world has ever seen.

        The lazy Eagle Blind Eye is free at the moment (all the time). Take him with you.
        Appeal to the president who is ever willing to supply you with all kinds of armoury, battle tanks, armoured cars and personnel carriers, trucks, artillery, mortars, Combat Aircrafts, Helicopter gunships, drones, ……

        • 0
          4

          NV
          “TAMILS HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN A SEPARATE HOMELAND
          OR THE RIGHT TO LIVE ANYWHERE.”
          Obvious, isn’t it?
          .
          I am vilified on CT as a racist for trying to get Sinhalese agreed to what the Tamil political class is clamouring for.

          Soma

          • 3
            0

            soman

            “I am vilified on CT as a racist for trying to get Sinhalese agreed to what the Tamil political class is clamouring for.”

            Indeed you are.
            If you got b***s you would proudly claim to be one.
            Forget the Tamils or Muslims for minute, do you know what they want, have you ever seriously thought about what deemed to be their demands?

            What do you know about human dignity?
            What is progress?
            How did this island miss renaissance?
            How did your dumass leaders miss renaissance?
            Perhaps the public Racist Anagarika Homeless Dharmapala was sitting on their head.

  • 5
    3

    Funny you mention hegel and his dialectics as many of us so called ‘conspiracy theorists’
    accuse the masonic ruling classes of using the ‘problem-reaction-solution’ tactic to deceive and manipulate the masses.
    It is often referred to as the ‘hegelian dilectic’
    The media is an essential tool in this form of manipulation.

  • 3
    2

    KUMAR DAVID -You wants and advise RAJAPAKSAS at least to try INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS to please tamils.YOU ARE 100% CORRECT SINCE THEY HAVE STARTED TO DO WHAT YOU SAID BY APPOINTING SAMAN BANDULASENA AS CHIEF SECRETARY OF NORTHERN PROVINCE TO PLEASE TAMILS AND AS FIRST STEP TO START RECONCILIATION.

  • 1
    7

    Prof K.D, Are you not sick of the same themes like “hegelian dialectic” and “masonic manipulation”. How about dividing the country in proportion to the ethnic groups, pushing the mixed marriages into the lagoons. Why this division, when unity will fulfil many issues, and freedom to choose language of education will advance global perspective, while the clergy should have opportunity of training in global english. If communism rules the world, then Russia and China alone could have. If other secret societies or banking money can rule the world, the existing depopulation and mind altering drugs would have won the day, but they never will, however stubborn their expectations. The remnant which understands everlasting life are full of truth, justice, righteousness, equality, responsibility and accountability, showing compassion, love, mercy and forgiveness to other humans. Rest are barking up wrong non satisfying money trees.

  • 15
    2

    Mr. KD at last we agree that the voting public who elect such crooked leaders are equally (if not more) responsible in creating “kleptonation”. My reason for calling 6.9 millions as retards is because this is not just a one time anomaly but a pattern since independence. Racists like SWRD and JR too were elected by those same retards. Hence I believe in Lanka “there is no light because the tunnel never ends.

  • 10
    0

    Prof Kumar David

    in 1956 the Sinhalese people had a choice between SWRD’s racist cry and a tolerant alternative offered by NM Perera.? Did they?

    In fact, the racist and tolerant leaders were in the same camp!

    The tolerant Dr N.M.Perera did not offer an alternative to SWRD’S racist policy.

    On the contrary LSSP of Dr N.M.Perera had a no contest pact with MEP of SWRD.

    The south sent 14 LSSPers to Parliament whereas the Northern and Eastern Provinces did not sent a single LSSPer to Parliament in 1956.

  • 5
    16

    “..even SWRD’s daughter calls her father’s Sinhala Only policy disastrous.“
    —-
    I am not surprised a daughter of a Dravida origin guy who pretended to be a Sinhala Buddhist for political survival making such a statement.
    Sinhala only policy became a disaster for a minority of English educated Sinhala ‘Kalu Suddas’, Vellala Tamils and Burghers who could not speak Sinhala properly. For Native Sinhalayo who were the majority in this country making their language as the official language after about 450 years of colonial rule was not a disaster.

    • 6
      1

      Eagle Blind Eye

      I think you are suffocating yourself by keeping your head right under HLD M’s bum. You need to fresh air to breath therefore you need to pull your head out of HLD M’s …….

      Whats the matter with you Dumbo.
      You have a choice you can live a healthy life …..

  • 9
    0

    This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.

    For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2

  • 11
    4

    A more listless and insipid article one cannot write.
    .
    I wish to touch just on, ‘Singhalese people had a choice between SWRD’s racist cry and a tolerant alternative offered by NM Perera’.
    The alternative NM chose was to team up with Srima, the wife of SWRD!
    .
    Anyone remembers the 1972 Constitution. The less said the better.

  • 8
    0

    “…in 1956 the Singhalese people had a choice between SWRD’s racist cry and a tolerant alternative offered by NM Perera;”
    Where was the choice offered?
    *
    The contest was between the MEP (SLFP-led alliance with Trotskyist VLSSP among others) and the UNP.
    Both teams pledged Sinhala Only.
    There was a no-contest deal in most seats between LSSP-CP and the MEP.
    One can check it out by examining the results electorate by electorate. In around ten constituencies there was three-way contest between the MEP, UNP and LSSP/CP, on occasion to the benefit of the UNP.
    Even where there was contest in several electorates like Colombo North & Colombo South, the SLFP candidates effectively withdrew in favour of the LSSP.
    *
    The LSSP like the CP stood for parity for the two languages, but it was not an election issue.
    The SLFP scored by talking about issues that bothered the Sinhala electorate, matters where the common man felt left out.
    The Left had no significant voter base outside the Western, Southern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces and pockets of support in the Uva and coastal NW Province.
    *
    1947 and 1952 were the most gainful elections for both LSSP & CP.
    All else was at the mercy of the SLFP.

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      SJ,
      What I learnt was different. Colvin told ‘one language two countries; two languages one country’ to please the Tamil members in trade unions but later he changed his mind and supported Sinhala Only. Correct me if I got it wrong.
      —-
      “The LSSP like the CP stood for parity for the two languages…”

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        EE
        The LSSP did not meed to please the Tamils at the time,as its electorate was predominantly in the South. There was a modest base in the Jaffna Peninsula. The CP had the sole Tamil MP from the Left.
        The switch in LSSP policy in 1964 was not Colvin’s idea.

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      The North had a left tradition with origins in partly in the Jaffna Youth League, partly in the rationalist movement of Tamilnadu (then the state of Madras) and later the Left of Tamilnadu.
      Unlike in the South, the CP had a clear lead over the LSSP, despite remarkable leaders like Tharmakulasingam (who in the Point Pedro electorate in 1947 polled around 6100 votes against 10400 for the winner backed by the then dominant Tamil Congress).
      *
      Winning elections was a ball game that was tough for the Left in a caste-ridden conservative society where the depressed communities had yet to asset itself fully. The CP was the only left party to have an MP ever in the North, just once in 1956.
      But the Left still had a strong support base among the workers and the politically awakening depressed communities.
      Sinhala Only had severely weakened the Left, even as it stood for parity for Tamil.
      The FP was bitterly hostile to the left except in 1953, persuaded by C Vanniyasingam MP, it supported the Hartal because the CP had helped the FP against attacks by the ACTC.
      *
      The left lost out following the surge of Tamil nationalism in the 1970s and the presence of the LSSP & CP in the UF government in 1970-75 helped to discredit the Left as a whole.

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    “The good thing now is that there is so much anger and revulsion at the status quo that many are motivated.” Motivated to do what? Criticise,criticise and criticise? We all know criticism.It is in our gene. But the key Q is how do we overcome the many dependencies that have been created internally? Education and higher education today is not liberatory. They create a dependent student. Dependent on imported knowledge. Political leaders who criticise the existing crop only aspire to get in and maintain the same old system that control people rather than govern by using modern concepts of citizenship rights, customer service etc. Has any of our academics critically looked at the systm of governance including public administration at the local and national level to find out if they serve the interests of people or function to maintain the status quo? i.e. allowing middle class, university educated professionals to enjoy the fruits of privilege. The oppositional political groups have to imagine a different future,different structure to govern the country in the interests of people rather than a few. Why not we enter into a dialogue about this alternative future and its corner stones? No point in wasting time criticising Paksas and those who are around them. Spend energies on creating an alternative governance system and a future suitable for the 21st century-leaving behind the remnants of colonial structures.

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    Lord Buddha promoted tolerance, but in the dictionary of Sri Lanka this cannot be seen. The best instance was when the world renowned Hindu teacher Swami Vivekananda visited Anuradhapura to deliver a speech, the Buddhist monks at Anuradhapura threw stones and Swami Vivekananda was compelled to leave for India. Buddhist monks chant ‘Buddham Saranam Kachchami……” but they never practice it. Eventually this attitude was seen with the politicians as well.

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      AYATHURAY RAJASINGAM

      “The best instance was when the world renowned Hindu teacher Swami Vivekananda visited Anuradhapura to deliver a speech, the Buddhist monks at Anuradhapura threw stones and Swami Vivekananda was compelled to leave for India. “

      Could you cite references.

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    The choice of parties and candidates often presented to the voters is invariably problematic, particularly in SriLanka.

    We need to be cognizant that often certain segments of the voters exercise their voting rights to choose the better of the two or three or whatever number of evils contesting in the election.

    Though Sajith Premadsa and the SJP did not win the 2019 presidential and the 2020 parliamentary elections, respectively, those were the better of the evils for a substantial % of the population. Yes, had they managed to win and form the government, our democracy would not have been in peril. But in many key aspects, the country would have remained stagnant and dragged its feet on key issues such as the devolution of power and constitutional reforms.

    What is most astounding is that the cognisant voters don’t mobilise themselves to foster the kind of candidates that they want to see in government. We complain ad nauseam. But the vast of us don’t do anything beyond that.

    On that note, huge respect to Prof. KD and others like him for their lifelong service to the citizenry well beyond their professions.

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    Sri Lanka has been a tolerant and democratic country. Some guys who do not like Rajapakshes are trying to create a ‘Billa’ by keep on repeating Rajapakses do not tolerate minorities and the country is moving towards dictatorship.
    Sri Lanka saved and accommodated Muslim traders and refugees when they faced persecution by Portuguese. Sri Lanka accommodated Tamils brought to this country by colonial rulers after they were abandoned by their Masters.
    Democracy in Sri Lanka went through ups and downs. Threat to democracy came mainly during UNP regimes and from Prabhakaran.
    During the period Tamil terrorists controlled NE of the country, Tamils were denied democracy. It was ‘Ranaviruwo’ of Sri Lanka Armed Forces that liberated Tamils from the clutches of Tamil terrorists after making enormous sacrifices and gave them democracy. It was Rajapakshe regime that took measures to hold elections for PCs in NE knowing very well that they are going to lose. Ranil’s Government kept on postponing PC elections indefinitely because they knew for sure, they are going to lose. It was during ‘Yahapalana’ Government this country had a mockery opposition in the Parliament that kept on supporting the Government all the time.

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    [I am not surprised a daughter of a Dravida origin guy who pretended to be a Sinhala Buddhist for political survival making such a statement.]
    For a change our moda blind Eagle talking some truth. Yes, all these nayakas including Mahanayakas are descendents of tamil speaking hindu Telungus from Tamil nadu. Initially they were hindu tamil speaking and later in kandy became tamil speaking buddhists and then sinhala speaking buddhists, and with the arrival of british became sinhala speaking christians and when the british left became sinhala speaking RACIST buddhists once again. Bloody opportunists. The low country fellows are from Kerala, Tamil nadu, etc., most of them are from the lower castes such as fishermen, tree climbers, toddy tappers, carpenters etc. Vaduwa, a famous sinhala name derived from Vaduwa a telungu tribe who were roughians from Andra hilly region and they were in the army of the invading TN telungus who were well known for ruthlessness, violence and crimes. In jaffna still they refer to as vaduva rascal to bad, nasty, violent guys. They are also part of the Sinhala vadu bass the carpenters. Shenali Wadugay, a ruthless and pathological racist, who contributes to racist outburts with HLD is from the vaduwa tribe. So there is nothing called sinhale, or the original race entirely evolved in Illankai.

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      You are correct. However, until the British captured the Kandyan kingdom, all these so called Kandyan aristocrats and upper castes, of South Indian Pandian Tamil, and later Tamil speaking Telugu origin Naicker from Tamil Nadu, were still speaking Tamil and were practicing Hinduism or Saivaism at home but patronized Buddhism in pubic. This is why half of them, signed the Kandyan convention in Tamil, which was their mother tongue. This includes the great, great grandfather of the rabidly anti Tamil prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranayke nee Ratwatte. After the fall of the Kandyan kingdom these people realized their tie to their closed relatives in their ancestral homeland in Tamil Nadu has been cut off and they can no more rely on their support, even get Tamil brides and grooms for their offspring from the home country. Very similar to what happened to the Normans or Norman French invaders in Britain. Therefore they opportunistically decided to shed their Tamil Hindu identity and convert to a Sinhalese Buddhist identity. This was also done to safeguard their immense wealth and land, that they had acquired in their new homeland.

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        These homeland ties to the mother country were gradually being cut off and strangulated from the Portuguese/Dutch period but still continued, however got severed after the British captured the Kandyan kingdom. Now these once Tamil Hindus are the biggest anti Tamils. This was the same with these largely South Indian Tamil origin low country Sinhalese aristocrats and upper castes.
        This was confirmed to me by one of my friends belonging to a Kandyan Radala family, with a name that means in English Thorny Tree. This person once stated to me, are you aware that I am actually more Tamil in heritage than you are.

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      Black Lankan

      “Yes, all these nayakas including Mahanayakas are descendents of tamil speaking hindu Telungus from Tamil nadu.”

      Remember,
      all those descendants of Kallathonies from Tamil Nadu now identify themselves as being Aryan fair skinned Sinhala/Buddhists.

      HLD is still sitting on Eagle Blind Eye’s head.

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    I think these discussions are narrowly focused? We need to contextualise such discussions in the historical and geopolitical context relevant to postcolonial and decolonisation conditions plus discourses. decolonisation is required in many sectors and spaces including the political. following website contains important resources for an understanding of the conditions in former colonies from a postcolonial and decolonial perspectie: https://www.facebook.com/groups/634295333788710/?multi_permalinks=897592397459001&notif_id=1627601412167976&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif

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    Talking about a tolerant and democrazy state. Today Colombo Appeals court confirmed the verdict given by Trinco high court Judge, who sentenced (death) two Army soldiers accused of murdering an individual in Jaffna on September 10, 1998. Apparently it took almost more than 20 years (a life sentence) for victims to get justice in Lanka. Now the question is how soon will Sircular pardon them ????

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