Dr. Seyed Alavi Sheriffdeen
The 3rd of August 1990. A day that shook the nation. A day in which survivors, families, friends, and many others across the country recall their losses and mourn over the heinous atrocities that were committed. A day that foreshadows great sorrow, as memories of the horrific scenes engulf the minds of loved ones and that of the Kattankudy community.
Fateful Friday
On this very day, 31 years ago, the LTTE opened fire at Muslim worshippers, cold blooded, and brutal, leaving many dead instantly, with very few survivors. Commenting on this incident, the Sunday Observer published the following:
Tiger terrorists cold-bloodedly butchered 147 Muslim devotees, praying in mosques in the pre-dominantly Muslim town of Kattankudy, Batticaloa in the East. The massacre at Kattankudy that shook the nation and drew worldwide condemnation was meticulously pre-planned and executed in secrecy by tiger terrorists who had disguised themselves as Muslim prayers and entered the Meera Jumma and Husseinia mosques when hundreds of devotees were attending Friday Isha prayers. Disguised terrorists armed with automatic weapons crossed the lagoon and entered Kattankudy city, about 224 km east of Colombo on that fateful night, with the intention of committing this horrendous genocide for ethnic-cleansing… As hundreds of Muslims knelt in prayer at that critical hour in both mosques, in close proximity to each other, those disguised terrorists suddenly went on spraying automatic fire and hurling hand grenades at the worshippers, creating panic and havoc among devotees…Most of the victims were shot in the back or side. About 100 worshippers died on the spot, but the final death toll rose to 147 as many more succumbed to injuries in hospitals, afterwards. (Sunday Observer, 3 Aug 2008)
Kattankudy Mosque killings
Who was responsible for this carnage?
This heinous crime, committed within the sacred walls of the two mosques devastated not only the immediate victims of the massacre, but also the country. It left a myriad of unanswered questions pertaining to human empathy, vile callousness and possible breach of security.
Sun’s editorial on 6th August 1990, commented on this “the dastardly, heinous act would have shaken the conscience of the most hardened of hearts of all, who were responsible? The terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who in the 14th month of negotiations with the government, masqueraded as the self appointed representatives of the Tamil speaking people, both the Tamils and the Muslims.” Further it described LTTE as “a bunch of bloodthirsty criminals who have no values but draw their power only from the barrel of automatic weapons”.
Amongst these worshippers who were mercilessly butchered at that night were, young children under the age of ten, who couldn’t escape the bullets that were fired mercilessly at the congregation. The elders in the mosque tried to protect the young ones by pleading to the LTTE to spare the children and target them instead. Yet, the cold-hearted LTTE preferred otherwise, and no mercy was shown. No lives were to be spared. “The faithful Musalman…knelt down in obeisance to Allah. Just the lights went off and bullets began to rain on them. ..a grenade ripped through the zinc sheeted roof scattering flesh, blood and bones all over”. (Sun, 6 August 1990)
There are several other accounts like these from the survivors of the mosque attacks. Many said that they pretended to play dead during the attack, hoping to eventually flee the scene. However, the Tigers considered this tactic in their planning. Some of them came back to the site of the carnage dressed as hospital personnel, calling out for people who required medical assistance. Some worshippers fell prey to this ploy and were subsequently killed by the terrorists.
Fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, relatives and community figures, all killed in the space of one single evening. Families of loved ones were grief-stricken, raw with emotion, but utterly helpless to come out and help, in fear that they too will also be targeted.
As the dust settled and after the perpetrators fled the scene, people crept out to see what events played out. Words cannot describe what people saw. Bodies were ripped apart by bullets. Glass and debris were strewn everywhere. Blood was splattered across the walls and floor of the mosque. The death toll was well above one hundred, with many seriously injured worshippers present amongst the corpses. All of these worshippers left their houses that night to offer their night prayers in congregation. No one expected this to happen.
Thirty-one years have passed since these massacres took place. Both mosques have been renovated, however the bullet marks and building damage are still present on their walls and pillars. A stark reminder for what happened on that day and the pain that Kattankudy and the broader nation went through.
These bullet marks are not preserved as a reminder for the purpose of seeking revenge for the younger and generations to come.
On the contrary, these bullet marks are kept to act as historical touchstones. So that those who sacrificed their precious lives in cold blood while they were in communion with the divine will be remembered. These bullet marks will be a permanent reminder for the present and future worshippers that any innocent life, regardless of race, creed or religion should not be lost for any reason.
The Spirit of Kattankudy
Kattankudy has suffered since 1984 due to numerous atrocities committed by Tamil militant groups. People were killed and millions worth of their properties destroyed, thousands lost their livelihood as they could not reach their traditional paddy fields. Banks, shops, cooperatives were forcefully looted at gun point by various Tamil militia and related groups. Many were killed and kidnapped from their homes in the presence of their children and families. Hundreds of people from Kattankudy on their way to home at Kurukkalmadam were stopped at gunpoint, forcefully taken to obscure locations and then mercilessly killed by the LTTE.The killers didn’t even bother to return the remains to their families. Until now their graves are not known to their families.
However Muslim cleric and leaders of Kattankudy while taking every measures with the support of government security forces to protect its civilians, continued to advise the community against reprisals against any innocent member of Tamil community. It must be noted that the muslim community at that time, despite being psychologically shattered and emotionally strained due to the trauma they endured at the hands of the Tamil rebel groups, practised benevolent restraint and were keen to lend their support to protect the lives and interests of the their fellow Sinhalese and Tamil brethren.
The people of Kattankudy understood the agenda of the Tamil Militant groups, and thus, this did not hinder the historically fortified cordial relationship of the Kattankudy community and other communities. As a result the Muslim community of Kattankudy have maintained excellent terms with the Sinhalese and Tamil communities, and acted as one, when the need arose, looking out for the lives and interest of the other, and reaching out when one is in distress. In the Eastern region, Kattankudy is also a land of opportunity to carpenters and construction workers who come seeking economic prospects. The town opens its doors and its heart, allowing communities to mingle, in order to survive. It is this generosity and benevolence, of this much battered city, that set the foundation for its people to heal together, albeit the deadly trauma they endured 31 years ago.
However the emergence of the Zahran’s cult group has tarnished the name of Kattankudy in the media as it “has produced the mastermind of the massacre” (as described by the Washington Post, 26 April 2019).
This cult does not in any manner or form reflect the spirit and essence of Kattankudy and its people. People of this town and the Sri Lankan Muslim community in general have rejected their ideologies and cruel massacres they have been involved with where hundreds of innocent Sri Lankans lost their precious lives at their respective places of worships and other locations. The Muslim community totally reject these cruel massacres as per the guidance of teachings of Islam. Prophet Muhammad said “There should be neither causing harm nor reciprocating harm. Whoever harms [others], Allah will harm him, and whoever causes hardship [to others], Allah will cause hardship to him.”
Lessons to be learnt
Precious lives lost during the war for reasons known or unknown should teach a great lesson that these cold-blooded, brutal, and meaningless killings had only short term goals, yet ultimately the whole community suffers the aftermath. There will be no winners, and if there were any solutions or gains, it was never long lasting, only superficial and temporary. This was well articulated by Reverend Miller SJ, (Former Rector of St, Michaels College, Batticaloa), “Our civil war has now been fought, and both sides, in fact, all sides have lost lives uncountable and decades of years. There have been no winners. All have been losers.”
Human life has always been precious and should remain precious. Sectarian politics and personal gain, creates a toxic game of chess, with a massive human loss. However, unstrategic, selfish choices made by political superiors for political mileage result in loss of lives, properties and positions. This is not a worthy message to be emulated for the future. It should be a country’s socio- political prerogative to impose preventative measures, creating a more humane atmosphere for people to learn from their past, and thrive.
As evidenced by history, In multicultural societies in south east Asia, such as Sri Lanka, ethnic clashes erupt because of conflicts between individuals from two different communities. If proper research is done on major ethnic riots taking place in Sri Lanka, it would reveal that a few individuals had orchestrated it with evil intentions for their personal gain, later disguised it as a clash between two communities that seemingly occurred organically, of course leaving the minority community as the victim, at the end.
Until these trends stop, and culprits brought to court for justice, and civil society and authorities stand firm for accountability and justice, unfortunately many more lives will be lost and the community will have to suffer for cowardice to survive.
May we never forget this event and other similar events that have stained Sri Lanka’s history, and may we take heed to the lessons that have come out of it. We hope and pray that such an atrocity especially at places of worship never happens again, anywhere on earth.
*Dr. Alavi Sheriffdeen lost his father and 10 year old brother at the aforementioned carnage. He strongly campaigned against revenge killings of Tamil community members in the name of mosque massacres-as it had been the practice at that time- after the loss of his own family members at the hands of the LTTE.
Eagle Eye / August 3, 2021
Tamil terrorists also helped Muslims in the East to grab land and business premises belonged to Sinhalayo by chasing them out. Before LTTE moved to East, Sinhalayo owned business premises in small towns. Eravur is a good example. Now almost all the business premises in Eravur are in the hands of Muslims. Muslims who are occupying land and business premises belonged to Sinhalayo do not want to return those land and business premises to rightful owners. The Governments that came to power after LTTE was defeated in 2009 have miserably failed to help Sinhalayo who lost their land and business premises to get them back.
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Raja / August 4, 2021
Please stop your racist venoms. You have to come out of your racist glasses.
Author is not justifying or supports racial attacks on any communities including Tamil or Sinhalese. He is highlighting only the mosque massacre here. There were many injustices committed against many innocents in Sri Lanka. That includes Anuradhapura massacres, Arantalawa, Kokkadicholai and many more. Most of them buried under the carpet. All those atrocities must be brought to the court for those culprits to be punished. They could be anyone including Muslim home guards and those clerics harbouring terrorists inside their places of worship.
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Raja / August 4, 2021
Eagle Eye
Please stop your racist venoms. You have to come out of your racist glasses.
Author is not justifying or supports racial attacks on any communities including Tamil or Sinhalese. He is highlighting only the mosque massacre here. There were many injustices committed against many innocents in Sri Lanka. That includes Anuradhapura massacres, Arantalawa, Kokkadicholai and many more. Most of them buried under the carpet. All those atrocities must be brought to the court for those culprits to be punished. They could be anyone including Muslim home guards and those clerics harbouring terrorists inside their places of worship.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / August 5, 2021
First instance where Muslim worshipers were gunned down when praying occurred in 1976 when police fired inside Puttalam mosque killing nine Muslims. First act of murder inside a place of worship occurred in 1958, when Hindu priest was burnt alive in Panadura temple. Worst act of terrorism involving place of worship took place in Easter Sunday of 2019 when 300 Christians (200 Sinhalese and 100 Tamils) were killed by Muslim bombers. Christians showed restraint hoping that the culprits will be brought to justice and as their patience ran out they have invoked divine retribution on Muslim perpetrators.
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GATAM / August 4, 2021
Tamils thought they could repeat Black August 1977 in the north against Sinhalese and Black August 1990 in the north against Muslims again. No chance in the East.
These attacked stopped with them thanks to the government giving AK-47s to Muslims. It worked. No more attacks.
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Pandi Kutti / August 4, 2021
Pathima Jadam, so you admit to the fact that the Sri Lankan state heavily armed the Muslims in the east to kill, rape, ethnically cleanse and destroy Tamil Hindu villages and Hindu temples? What worked? The Thamizh retaliation attack on the temple of doom in Satan Kudi, that was coordinating all this anti Thamizh violence in the 80s and 90s and then the anti Christian violence in 2019. After the LTTE attacked the temple of doom in Satan Kudi, strangely all these anti Tamizh anti Hindu violence and destruction of Thamizh villages and Hindu temples stopped, irrespective of all the AK-47 that was provided to the Thullukans by then Sri Lankan JR government to destroy the Thamizh and Hinduism in the east, We all know that Thamizh Nadu Origin Thullukan minister, MH Mohammed sending thousands of Muslim thugs and criminal elements to Kalmunai in the east, at JR Jajawardene’s request to start the troubles. All Chingkalla led governments including the one led by Sillysena, encouraged Arabization and Islamic extremism in the east, as a deliberate tool, to wean the eastern Muslim Thamizh from their Thamizh Islamic roots and culture and to use them as tool to create problems to the indigenous Eezham Thamizh in the east, also to deny justice to them and marginalize.
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Pandi Kutti / August 4, 2021
This is why anti Thamizh anti Hindu Thulluka politicians, like the house of horror and destroyer of wild life sanctuaries the Mannar Saitan and Hichchu Balla from Satan Kudi, were given prominence and given powerful positions in the North and the east, as a tool to discriminate and marginalize the native Thamizh population. They never realized that this tool created to destroy and marginalize the Thamizhj in the north and east, will one day come to bite the Chingkalla south.
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Raja / August 6, 2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attacks_attributed_to_the_LTTE
read this
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Raja / August 6, 2021
Eagle Eye
This is factually incorrect. All Sinhalese shop owners left east due to targeted killings of Sinhalese by LTTE late eighties. The government should protect all citizens not only Sinhalayo, when will will you become non racist ?
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Humble / August 3, 2021
Sherifdeen
Kattankudy was a sad day indeed.
But to give context you should have explained how muslim homeguards during the 1980s were wearing army uniforms and attacking tamil villages. The LTTE finally got tired of this and retaliated against muslims.
You should also talk about muslims who were joining sinhalese mobs and helping them during many anti-tamil riots from the 1950s all the way to 1983.
Lessons need to be learned as you say. But they cannot be learned properly if your community keeps trying to coverup its involvement in the islands violent history.
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SJ / August 3, 2021
H
Were not Muslims provoked in any way for some to join the home-guards?
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / August 5, 2021
Please give the facts correctly. Tamil youths started agitating in 1972 in the aftermath of racial discrimination in education and promulgation of new constitution. Some of them took to weapons and caused problems to the government. At no stage they attacked Muslims. But it was not the case for Muslims who were acting as informants. There was a labourer in Genenral hospital Colombo named Sheriff, who was my patient who lived in Rajagiriya, told me that he used to travel to Mutur, stay with a Muslim family there, collect information and pass it to the army, but stopped doing so when he became ill. There would have been several Muslims in north and east who had done so. So it is the Muslims who are guilty of causing rift between them and Tamils, which culminated in Katankudy massacre and expulsion from north. Sadly in conflicts between them and either Sinhalese or Tamils, Muslims feign innocence putting the blame on others for the problem, when in fact they were the ones who caused it.
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SJ / August 6, 2021
This does not answer the question.
“Were not Muslims provoked in any way for some to join the home-guards?”
There were more Tamil informants than Muslims.The Muslims were not part of the inner circle of militants, and would have pretty little to divulge.
Your weekend detective is not likely to be privy to much useful information.
Your fabrications are less harmful in the field of ancient history.
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Raja / August 4, 2021
Yes, those thugs must be brought to justice. There were many from Muslim community talked about it including Dr Sheriffdeen,
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 3, 2021
Typical opportunistic turncoat trying to portray the Muslims as innocent but they were the ones who traitorously connived with the Sinhalese special task forces and armed forces to kill , ethnically cleanse thousands of Tamil Hindus who are the real indigenous population of the east and started all this problem. In the Sinhalese south Muslim mobs and politicians connived with the Sinhalese mobs, armed forces and ruling Sinhalese politicians in the JR government , to kill, rape innocent Tamil civilians and loot/burn Tamil homes and businesses and benefited the most from the ethnic strife. These pretend Arab , converted South Indian origin Tamil Muslim, only arrived in the Tamil East as refugees, fleeing Portuguese killing and persecution along the north west coast and then Sinhalese persecution in the central highlands. When they fled Portuguese killings and persecution along the then Tamil North West that was part of the Jaffna kingdom, they first fled to the Kandyan Central areas. However, when more and more of these Muslims were arriving the Sinhalese got alarmed and did not want any more of them, as they did not want them to overrun their lands and takeover. They started to kill and attack them. In desperation King Senarath asked the eastern Tamil Vannimai chiefs, to settle, them in the eastern Tamil lands, as these Muslims were ethnically Tamil.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 3, 2021
They obliged and settled them in specific areas in the Tamil East, away from the native Hindu Tamil villages and even gave them Mukkuva Tamil Hindu women to marry and start a family, as most of these Muslim refugees , who survived the Portuguese persecution were young men. This is how these people arrived in the Tamil east a few centuries ago, begging for their life and a place to live , as no one wanted them and were taken pity by eastern Eelam Tamils as fellow Tamils and given land and women to start a living and a family. However, within a few generations, once established, started to backstab the Tamils in the name of Islam and a pretend Arab origin.
They obliged and settled them in specific areas in the Tamil East, away from the native Hindu Tamil villages and even gave them Mukkuva Tamil Hindu women to marry and start a family, as most of these Muslim refugees , who survived the Portuguese persecution were young men. This is how these people arrived in the Tamil east a few centuries ago, begging for their life and a place to live , as no one wanted them and were taken pity by eastern Eelam Tamils as fellow Tamils and given land and women to start a living and a family.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 3, 2021
However, within a few generations, once established, started to backstab the Tamils in the name of Islam and a pretend Arab origin.
The Kattankudi Massacre was the result of atrocities committed by the Muslim home guards, who trained and armed by the Sri Lankan Special Task force . They killed , raped , ethnically cleansed thousands of Hindu Tamils and even destroyed many Hindu temples. Even now these displaced eastern Tamils are not allowed to return to these once 100% Tamil Hindu villages, that have now become 100% Muslim villages and a no go zone for the Tamils, who once lived there, Remember Tamils and the Tamilised Veddah are the true owners of the east and not these pretend Arab, South Indian origin converts, who arrived in the east a few centuries ago as refugees. Contrary to what is stated the Kattankudi area is and was a hot bed of Islamic extremism then as now and was never was some area where communal harmony took place. All local Tamil Hindus were ethnically cleansed in the late 1980s from the area and the Sinhalese police also took part in this. The local Hindu temple was then destroyed and converted to a beef stall, as a deliberate insult.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 3, 2021
The Kattankudi area and the most was heavily involved in the Easter 2019 bombing and then like now it was a hot bed of Islamic extremism and these Muslim home guards used it as a place to store their weapons and collect and pray before they start attacking the neighbouring Tamil Hindu villages. This is why the LTTE attacked the mosque. A fact conveniently omitted. Even in the north when Muslims were evicted for their treachery the LTTE never destroyed or attacked any Mosque or Islamic place of worship. What happened in Easter 2019 proves, what the Tamils were always stating about Kattankudi and its mosque. A hot bed of Wahhabi/Salafist Islamic extremis, that was often visited by rabid Islamic extremist preachers from South and Western Asia.
Eelam War II set in motion a calculated series of aggressive attacks by the Shri Lankan Security Forces against the Tamils of the Eastern province. The process of genocide of the Tamils’ or the ‘De-reliction of the Tamils’ by the Security forces received the active support from both the Muslim militancy as well as the Muslim politicians. In particular, Amparai District which had a permanent and long-standing Tamil population of thousands of families, were subjected to all forms of violence by both the Muslim hooligans and Muslim Home Guards.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 3, 2021
By this process, they ensured the compulsory displacement of the Tamils from their traditional habitat and to strengthen their own positions with ulterior
motives. The fact that the security forces went on the rampage in Tamil regions in the Amparai District paved the way for the Muslim forces to plan and carry out calculated activities to achieve their objectives.
In the process of destruction directed against the Tamils, the community lost a number of the educated Tamil intelligentsia. Several Hindu Temples were set on fire and destroyed. The Tamils lost all their belongings including houses, agricultural lands, movable and immovable properties. They were compelled to vacate their traditional villages and move out to safer areas.The sole objective was to drive out theTamils from their villages. For that purpose, it was calculated to erase out theirheritage which came under the umbrella of ‘HinduWorship’. Destructive activities were directed against the Hindu Temples in all the villages. Here are a fewexamples:
Sammanthurai – Kali Amman Temple destroyed by the Muslism in 1990 Karaitivu – Kannaki Amman Temple damaged by the Muslism who accompanied the forces. Addaipallam – Meenachchi Amman Temple damaged by the Muslims during the same period Karavalu – A village in close proximity to Kalmunai – An ancient Kali Kovil completely destroyed by Muslims. At present, a Mosque stands at that – place.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 3, 2021
Meen Odai Kaddu – Pillaiyar Temple completely destroyed by Muslims. Muslim community settled at that site. During the same period,
Meen Odai Kaddu – Pillaiyar Temple completely destroyed
by Muslims. Muslim community settled at that site.
Oddamavadi – Batticaloa District – Pillaiyar Temple taken
over forcibly by Muslim. A Beef Stall stands there now,
Here is an unforgettableincident: In 1990, Nintavur village was rounded up by the Security forces and Muslim Home Guards; 64 youths males and females were taken to the Nintavur Murugan Temple. They were slain and shot. Those killed and the groaning locked and t were set on fire along with the temple. The strange thing is that there is no trace of the existence of a temple at that site which was once a recognized place of worship. This area, is now one where no Tamils can go into it and it is now a Muslim region.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 3, 2021
Tiraikerui – An incident of aggression by Muslim hooligans in 1990. Muslim Hooligans armed with swords and knives entered the village and terrified the villagers. They sought refuge in their village Pillaiyar Temple. The ooligans after damaging the temple entrance door,attacked the helpless victims using their destructive weapons and after they were killed set the temple on fire.
Veeramunai – During the same time, refugees who were accommodated in the Pillaiyar Temple; they were rounded upby the Security forces and the Muslim Home Guards. They selected the educated and the well-built youths
numbering 85, took them inside the temple premises; they were slain and Shot by the Muslim Home Guards.
This particular incident took place in the presence of the relatives of those killed – When the security forces were simply watching While the Muslim Home Guards performed these horrible murders. Amparai Tamils often
tell such similar stories through their experiences.
What does this author to this article who say to all these atrocities? Typical completed ignore them. It is only after all these atrocities that the LTTE was forced to take action as Kattankudi and its mosque was the center of these Islamic extremist activities.
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Muhandiram / August 5, 2021
SSS
As usual, you are coming out with your Fairy Tales. Let me deal with the so-called “unforgettableincident.” in Nintavur.
1. There was NO NEED to do any round up in Nintavur as it was and still is, a Muslim
village with a small Tamil population. Rounding up Nintavur, seems to be one of
your usual OUTRAGEOUS claims
2. There were, and still are, 2 temples in Nintavur, one in the Main Road and the other
a little interior.
3. There was an incident in 1990, where the Forces moved into the Temple in the
Main Road on a search and found some Tamils hiding inside. They dealt with
those hiding there first and the Temple got damaged in the process.
4. Tamils who were living in the neighbourhood of the Temple moved out, but came
back a few years later to repair and renovate the Temple. After the
Renovation , the Tamils, though living outside Nintavur, gather there during their
Festival times regularly to offer Poojas without any problem. This is happening
even now.
5. The other Temple located interior, is functioning normally, and the Tamils who
lived nearby, continue to live there without any problem.
There was NO Question of Muslims attacking any Hindu Temple in Nintavur.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / August 5, 2021
Muhandiram do not try to cover up, it is not about any temple in Nintavur, but ones at Sammanthirai where a mosque has been built over the demolished Hindu temple and at Ottumavadi where Shopping complex was built at the site of the demolished temple and given to Muslims by Hisbullah. In the settlement in Bosnia, all lands appropriated by Serbs were handed over to Muslims and this model can be followed in eastern province where Tamils are complaining. What is preventing Muslims and Tamils to appoint a panel to inquire into this and settle it amicably. Worst racism in Sri Lanka is Muslim claim to eastern province over others, when history clearly state that Muslims went there as refugees 400 years ago.
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Pandi Kutti / August 6, 2021
They think Thamizh are now an easy target, without any support, locally or internationally, so can steal their lands very easily. They are also encouraged to do this by the Chingkallams and many Islamic states who fund them as they want another fake Arab Wahhabi/Salafist basket case state to be established in a strategic area in the Indian ocean, to give the entire region a head ache. The Chingkallams are only encouraging them to claim the east as their, to deliberately muddy the waters, deny any justice and to use these traitorous backstabbing Thullukans to steal as much as Thamizhj land as possible for the Chingkallams. Chingkallams have no intention of giving any land in the east or anywhere else to the Thullkans. Funny 72% of these Thullkans live in the Chingkalla south and there are many Thulluka majority towns, villages and areas in the Chingkalla south but there is no clamour for a fake Arab Islamic homeland in the Chingkalla south, despite the Thullkans facing a lot of violence from the Chingkallms. Only in the Thamizh areas , where they share a common language, ethnicity and heritage with the indigenous Thamizh. Strange. They are fully aware of the repurcussionsif
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Pandi Kutti / August 6, 2021
repercussions if they claim anything from the Chingkallams, so stay mum. Everyone knows that this Muhandiram fellow leaps to defense of Islamic extremists and the atrocities that they committed on others, especially the Thamizh and tries lie/twist the truth and cover it up.
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Humble / August 7, 2021
Absolutely!
Sinhalese and muslims are both trying to use each other to wipe out tamils.
Sinhalese think once tamils are gone, they can then wipe out the muslims afterwards.
Muslims feel once tamils are gone, they can get rid off the sinhalese.
Both are playing with fire and are going to burn each other in the process.
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Muhandiram / August 6, 2021
Truth-Matters
You have blamed the author for not writing the article “in a well-balanced way.” Let me show you how “well-balanced” your comment is.
Weeramunai attack was preceded by an attack by Terrorists on Muslim farmers working in paddy fields in neighbouring Sammanturai area Here is a brief report that appeared in the Ceylon Daily News.
Quote
“In the Samanthurai Police area, terrorists attacked Muslim farmers working in a paddy field on Sunday, killing four and injuring ten. Soon thereafter at Weeramunai in the same area, some Muslims attacked the Hindu Kovil housing Tamil refugees, killing 21 and injuring 30.”
Unquote
http://archives.dailynews.lk/2009/07/24/fea10.asp
The attack on Karapola and Muthukal was preceded by the LTTE attack On Muslims in nearby Alinchipothana which claimed the lives of 62 including 25 women and 21 children under 10 years.
Again, ask yourself whether the attack on Tamils would have taken place if not for the preceding attack on Muslims in Alinchipothana.
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Muhandiram / August 6, 2021
Dr. Gnana
“Muhandiram do not try to cover up, it is not about any temple in Nintavur,……….”
What is there for me to cover up, when I was merely responding to a Distorted and Misleading statement made by a guy who ALWAYS targets Muslims with Blatant Lies and Slander?
He DID refer to a Temple in Nintavur and I am surprised at your claim that “it is not about any temple in Nintavur”.
As for the temple in Sammanthurai, I am trying to verify the facts. and if I can do so in time, I will respond.
I have already responded to the Ottamawadi temple matter. To repeat, it seems, it was a response to the demolition of a mosque in Union Colony in nearby Vaalaichenai area by Tamils earlier.
When and where did Muslims make a claim to the Eastern Province?
I am all for solving problems in peaceful manner through dialogue. But when there are people like SSS making Baseless Allegations against Muslims and educated people like you Blindly lend support to such Allegations, how feasible is it to work out peaceful solutions through discussion?
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 6, 2021
The facts given are correct and we all know and we know that Islamic extremists and hardliners, constantly come here and abuse and try to cover up what they did. You are one of them
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Muhandiram / August 6, 2021
SSS
Yesterday, I exposed your LIE about the Temple in Nintavur. Now, I will deal with the Temple in Ottamawadi.
Before the Temple in Ottomawadi was attacked, the Tamils attacked a larger Mosque in nearby Union Colony, in Vaalaichenai. The attack on the Ottomawadi Temple was, obviously, a Retaliation for the preceding attack on the Mosque in Vaalaichenai. The Muslims who were living close to the Mosque were also forced to leave and the entire area has been taken over by the Tamils.
The place where the Temple stood has NOT been converted to a Beef stall, but it is now a Market place.
Ask yourself whether the Temple would have been attacked if the Mosque was NOT attacked before that.
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Pandi Kutti / August 6, 2021
So you admit to Thullukans attacking Hindu temples and converting them to mosques , market places and beef stalls? This means Siva in not lying but you. You constantly come here and defend and justify Islamic extremism, especially if the victims are Thamizh. There is no record of any Mosque other than the temple of doom as Satan Kudi being attacked. Now like a typical backstabbing Thullakan creating Arabian Nights Fairy Tales to justify Islamic extremism against Hindu Thamizh. Just like many Thuillkans and their MPS were creating stories about Ishalini to justify about what happened at the House of horror for poor estate Thamizh housemaids, that was run by the Saitan of Mannar’s wife. Soon you will also say Thamizh Christians in Batticaloa attacked some mosque and this is why Islamic extremists attacked the church in Batticaloa in April 2019.
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Rohan25 / August 7, 2021
Correct. They erase all traces of the centuries old original Tamil Hindu villages and Hindu temples that had been destroyed. Build over it a new Wahabi/Salafist Muslim settlement, a beef stall Mosque or what ever that takes their fancy, as they are well funded locally and internationally and when some dares to reveal what happed to these ancient Tamil Hindu villages now converted to new Islamic settlements, with the connivance of the Sri Lankan state and the atrocities that were committed there, become very aggressive and deny what happened and state no such villages or Hindu temples were destroyed as there in no trace of them. Just like what the Turks did to ancient centuries old ancient Armenian Christian villagers. Obliterated then, chased the entire population out, settled Muslim Turks and now deny, stating what Armenians? What genocide. show us where it happened? Very soon this will happen in the north and other parts of the east with ancient Hindu temples being forcibly converted to Buddhist places of worship using fake concocted history and the might of the Sri Lankan state and armed forces and the original Tamil population dispersed and outside Sinhalese settled. It only takes a generation of two to change this demography, Look at Palestine and other places where it had happened, Then the Sri Lanka government will state What Tamils? What Hindu temples?
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Rohan25 / August 7, 2021
Look everything is ancient Sinhalese Buddhist. Just like this Muhandiram is aggressively denying and attacking the person who had brought this to light. He always does this comes here and constantly tries to justify and cover up all the Muslim treachery and terrorism and attack anyone who questions this. Look at his posts aggressively attacking everyone who has commented negatively on the authors whitewashing one sided article.
Look at Palestine and other places where it had happened, Then the Sri Lanka government will state What Tamils? What Hindu temples? Look everything is ancient Sinhalese Buddhist. Just like this Muhandiram is aggressively denying and attacking the person who had brought this to light. He always does this comes here and constantly tries to justify and cover up all the Muslim treachery and terrorism and attack anyone who questions this. Look at his posts aggressively attacking everyone who has commented negatively on the authors whitewashing one sided article.
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Eagle Eye / August 4, 2021
Siva Sankaran Sharma,
“Tamil Hindus who are the real indigenous population of the east…”
—–
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary the meaning of ‘Indigenous’ is “used to refer to, or relating to, the people who originally lived in a place, rather than people who moved there from somewhere else.”
(Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/indigenous”
—
So, those who came as invaders, colonizers or laborers to work for colonial rulers do not qualify to be considered as ‘Indigenous’ people in Sinhale.
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Raja / August 4, 2021
People like you are feeding racists to survive. Come out of this to serve the humanity.
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Raja / August 4, 2021
Siva
You prove your evil racism through your copy paste from racist writings. You don’t deserve a response.
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Raja / August 4, 2021
Siva , You prove your evil racism through your copy paste from racist writings. You don’t deserve a response.
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Pandi Kutti / August 4, 2021
You are no Raja or a Kooja but some Thullukan named Mohammed or Mustapha, commenting under a pseudo Thamizh Hindu name. Your fuming at the truth Siva has revealed. Strange you accuse Siva of racism, when he is stating facts and the atrocities that happened to the Thamizh at the hands of Muslims Home Guards and the Sri Lankan STF but not the one sided extremely biased article of this Muslim author, who by the way looks very Dravidian and Thamizh, that he really is. Proves who you really are. Posting as Rajah, does not fool us. Does not matter if this is copy and paste or paste and copy . We all copy and paste or get our facts from somewhere, I do and openly admit to this, Copy and Paste a lot from Siva wrote and pilfer what he has previously written and I am sure many others do too. These are facts that happened and everyone knows about what these fake Arab Muslim Home Guards, who were heavily armed by the Sri Lankan state did to the Thamizh population in the east. Kattankudi and its main mosques was the center of all these anti Thamizh anti Hindu and Christian operations then as now in April 2019 and still is.
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Pandi Kutti / August 4, 2021
This is the reason Karuna, now the darling of the Chingkallams and Thullkans not Prapakaran and eastern LTTE attacked the headquarters of this Anti Thamizh Anti Hindu operations of the Muslim Home Guards, Then they were planning , attacking and destroying Thamizh Hindu villages and temples, tat was aided and abetted by the Sri Lankan state. In 2019 they planned and attacked mostly Thamizh Christians and their churches in Batticaloa, Colombo and some Chingkalla Christians in Negombo . All from Kattankudi. Strange after the LTTE attacked the Kattankudi Mosque and destroyed this evil headquarters of Islamic Wahhabi extremism, the attack on Thamizh Hindu villages in the east ceased. Don’t you ask why.? The answer is obvious. The Kattankudi area and its grand mosque were the operational headquarters of this anti Thamizh/Hindu terrorism of these Muslim Home Guards. This why when the IPKF arrived in the east, the Muslim Home Guards brought all their weapons out from this mosque and surrendered
Then they were planning , attacking and destroying Thamizh Hindu villages and temples, that was aided and abetted by the Sri Lankan state. In 2019 they planned and attacked mostly Thamizh Christians and their churches in Batticaloa, Colombo and some Chingkalla Christians in Negombo . All from Kattankudi.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 4, 2021
I am stating the truth and facts of what really happened and this is not racism or evil. Does not matter how I obtained them but these are facts as to what really happened and no amount of whitewashing or hurling abuse at me under a pretend Tamil Hindu name is going to change this. Even the so called Anti Tamil Lieutanant Shamal Perera now living in Canada and who served in the east, during the war had commented here many times about the cruelty of these Muslims Home Guards who were armed by the Sri Lankan state, towards the Tamils, that even shocked the Sinhalese officers, who told them to temper this down. You are Muslim. Posting under the name Rajah does not fool us. You find the truth and facts that I posted , evil and racist but the white washed article of the author, trying to portray the Muslims as victims , when in fact they were the opportunistic aggressors against whom the LTTE retaliated , to safeguard the largely Hindu Tamils , very soothing. Your one sided ranting against me proves who you really are and your actual bias.
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Eagle Eye / August 4, 2021
Siva Sankaran Sharma
“…and then Sinhalese persecution in the central highlands.“
—-
BS!
There was no persecution of Muslims by Sinhalayo in the central highlands.
When Muslims faced persecution by Portuguese, they requested King Senerath of Kandy to protect them. King Senerath allowed them to settle down in interior parts of the country and some of them were settled in the Eastern part of the country. There were no ‘Tamils’ in Sinhale at that time and there was no need for King Senerath to request anybody to accept Muslims because the land all the way up to Yapanaya was part of Kingdom of Kandy.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 4, 2021
Senile Blind Eagle, constantly repeating the same lie like a broken record. King Senarath of Kandy only had a very loose control of the eastern part of the country of the eastern Tamil Vannimai chiefdoms. He was not their direct ruler and these areas were never part of Kandyan kingdom proper. There were other Tamil areas in that are now part of the north west province that were part of the Kandyan kingdom proper and never any part of what is now called the northern and eastern provinces. These are were purely occupied and ruled by the island’s indigenous Tamils and the Sinhalese had not even the remotest claim to these ancient core Tamil lands. When the British created these two Tamil provinces, they took of any land from these areas, where the Sinhalese even had the remotest claim and settled them in favour of the Sinhalese.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 4, 2021
Sorry but never any part of the northern and eastern provinces and not and
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 4, 2021
Prior to the arrival of the Portuguese, the eastern Vannimai Tamil chiefs were paying tribute to king of Jaffna to protect them and they came under control of the Jaffna kingdom. These are the eastern lands south of Trincomalee , as 90% of Trincomallee district was part of Jaffna kingdom proper. It was after the fall of the Tamil Jaffna kingdom the eastern Vannimai chiefs requested the loose protection of the Tamil/Sinhalese kings of Kandy, as this was the only kingdom that was still independent. Kotte surrendered to the Portuguese without a fight and the Jaffna kingdom fought against Portuguese domination and lost. The Tamils living in these eastern Vannimai Chiefdoms had no issue with the King of Kandy being their new protector, as these kings were only nominally Sinhalese but in reality ethnically Tamil. Both of king Senarath’s sons had married Tamil princesses from Jaffna. To them the king of Kandy was a Tamil Hindu as he dealt with them in Tamil and patronized the Hindu religion in their areas. However even this loose protection did not last, as the Portuguese captured all the coastal areas of the east and it came under their control and they merged these areas with the Tamil north and ruled it as a separate colony .
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 4, 2021
So did the Dutch who came after them. King Senarath could not have settle Muslims in the eastern Tamil chiefdoms without their permission, as they were not his subjects but he was only their protector and had very loose control of these Tamil chiefdoms. Of courese they would have agreed 1) As they needed his protection 2) These Muslims were ethnically Tamil and they would have wanted to help them. These feelings however were not reciprocated by these Tamil Muslims within a few generations.
However even this loose protection did not last, as the Portuguese captured all the coastal areas of the east and it came under their control and they merged these areas with the Tamil north and ruled it as a separate colony . So did the Dutch who came after them. King Senarath could not have settle Muslims in the eastern Tamil chiefdoms without their permission, as they were not his subjects but he was only their protector and had very loose control of these Tamil chiefdoms. Of courese they would have agreed 1) As they needed his protection 2) These Muslims were ethnically Tamil and they would have wanted to help them. These feelings however were not reciprocated by these Tamil Muslims within a few generations.
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Raja / August 6, 2021
https://www.hrw.org/reports//pdfs/s/srilanka/srilanka913.pdf
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 3, 2021
Meen Odai Kaddu – Pillaiyar Temple completely destroyed
by Muslims. Muslim community settled at that site.
Oddamavadi – Batticaloa District – Pillaiyar Temple taken
over forcibly by Muslim. A Beef Stall stands there now,
Here is an unforgettableincident: In 1990, Nintavur village was rounded up by the Security forces and Muslim Home Guards; 64 youths males and females were taken to the Nintavur Murugan Temple. They were slain and shot. Those killed and the groaning locked and t were set on fire along with the temple. The strange thing is that there is no trace of the existence of a temple at that site which was once a recognized place of worship. This area, is now one where no Tamils can go into it and it is now a Muslim region.
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Raja / August 4, 2021
File a case at the court and bring those culprits to justice. There are thousands of cases from all communities. Stop supporting only Tamils or your community , that’s why these racist continue to harm the humanity.
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Mallaiyuran / August 3, 2021
The revenge nature of Rishard politics indicates that after the death of Hishalini, there a writing appeared on the wall fame the murder on somebody else. Now police must produce the hand writing proof and the pen used in the art work and how did that non-educated educated person resolved to wring in English, not in Tamil or Sinhala.
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Truth_matters / August 3, 2021
What perpetuated against the Muslims by the Tamil militants was despicable and must be condemned. I am sorry for the author’s loss. However, this article was not written in a well-balanced way as heinous crimes committed by the Muslim home guards against innocent Tamil civilians in 1980s and 1990s have been completely whitewashed by the author. Muslim home guards were mainly responsible for Veeramunai massacre (232 Tamils killed), Karapola massacre (38 Tamils killed), Muthukal massacre (51 Tamils killed) and several others.
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SJ / August 3, 2021
When will Tamil nationalists learn to simply say sorry without adding caveats?
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SJ / August 3, 2021
Correction:
One Tamil leader did and got pummeled by the Tamil media and political rivals.
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SJ / August 4, 2021
When will they ever learn?
Will they ever learn?
Looks like many will never learn
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Mallaiyuran / August 4, 2021
Like Rishard suffering to avenge Tamils blaming that LTTE put his family out, Savams are suffering come from his jealousy that Britain put him out, but other diasporas gained citizenship. His racism against Tamil Diaspora is many times deeper than the Sinhala Buddhism against Tamils. Is he the one preaching about Tamils living with Sinhala Buddhist? His hate feeling about every Tamil political party every, every Tamil educational organization and every average Tamil in the north East is in unfathomable deep. Is he one the one preaching about living together with Sinhala Buddhist? His hate of the world comes from the nasty feeling that he missed living outside but fellow Tamils managed to do that. Is that the man trying to fix the nationalism of other Tamils? Is there a group of people on the earth he is willing to live with, happily? Then who are they? Once he preached about Russian communist party, but within the last few years gave up on it & preaches about Chinese communist party. The move was only to produce hate around him, so he can appear like an enlightened preacher. What a stupid thinking. A man who cannot write his own name, laughs at others’ spelling mistakes. When is this man going to correct himself or will he ever? The one resisted bending at 5, can he bend at 50. I doubt it!
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Pandi Kutti / August 5, 2021
Everyone knows that he is a nasty spiteful piece of work. A self hating Thamizh, who hates every other Thamizh other than himself and will side, support and defend all the most obnoxious Chingkalla racists and Thulluka backstabbers.
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Pandi Kutti / August 6, 2021
When will you ever learn?
Will you ever learn?
Looks like you will never learn
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SJ / August 6, 2021
Learn what?
To think and speak like a bigot?
One should never.
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Pandi Kutti / August 7, 2021
I know, should never be a self hating Thamizh bigot
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Raja / August 4, 2021
Why don’t you write those rather than finding the fault with the author who has narrated an important event in the history for others to take lessons from.
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Pandi Kutti / August 4, 2021
Good he an also narrate to about what happened to the Thamizh in the east at the hands of the Islamic home guards, who had their headquarters in Satan Kudi . Another important event in history of others to take lesson from. Instead of giving a one sided white washed story, trying to depict the Thullkans as the victims , at the receiving end of LTTE/Thamizh violence , when in reality it was the Thullkans who started all this violence with the intention of chasing all the Thamizh from the Amparai and parts of Batticaloa districts that they could, with the help of the Sri Lankan state and when the LTTE retaliated and destroyed the Islamic Home Guard headquarters at Satan Kudi, that was coordinating the attack and destruction of Thamizh villages and Hindu temples in the east. Started crying foul Boo Hoo. Strange after the attack on the temple of doom in Satan Kudi, miraculously all the attacks and destruction on Thamizh villages and Hindu temples stopped. A good tactic and lesson learned.
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Truth_matters / August 4, 2021
Critiquing is essential to assess the quality of the article. Author has provided a detailed picture of that tragic event. However he took the freedom to freely extrapolate the aftermath at his will by twisting the historical facts. In the attempt to show his community as a peace loving one, he intentionally/un-intentionally left out the heinous crimes committed by the Muslim home guards on innocent Tamil civilians. He also downplays the Easter terror attacks as the actions of a few which is not true. For example, “The NTJ was founded by Moulvi Zahran Hashim in the exclusively Muslim town of Kattankudy, which has been called a “fertile ground for extremism” and has seen Arabisation and the spread of Wahhabism since the 1980s with funding from gulf nations” (BBC/NYT). “In Kattankudy, Zahran’s sermons outside the mosques attracted 2,000–3,000 people” (Dailymirror). However, the author portrays this city as a peace loving one to suit his agenda. This has to be pointed out.
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Rohan25 / August 4, 2021
Correct. It all started with these Muslim home guards who were heavily armed by the Sri Lankan state, attacking and killing Tamils and destroying many Hindu villages and temples and converting them to Islamic areas, where no Tamil is still not allowed to return. These ancient Tamil Hindu settlements were thousands of years old and were deliberately destroyed by these Muslims, who ironically arrived in the east as refugees only a few centuries ago and were given refuge and asylum by the ancestors of these very same Tamil Hindu villagers, who took pity on them as fellow Tamils, despite being Muslim. They as usual have repaid the Tamils with treachery and violence. Kattankudi and its grand Mosque was the headquarter of all these operations and everyone knew this. This is why the LTTE attacked the headquarters of the Islamic home guards and anti Tamil Hindu operations. This article is trying to white wash this all what happened and only portray the Muslims as the victims, when in reality they were the perpetrators of the most heinous crimes that were committed on the Tamils in the 1980s and 1990s an later in Easter 2019. All planned and executed from Kattankudi.
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KA / August 4, 2021
How can there be balance even if those complete destruction of Tamils villages and people are stated, when it was at atrocity scale against Muslims and other was at genocide scale against Tamils.
As such the atrocity scale incidents can be recounted, which the Muslim victims are directly publishing it, like the author is doing here.
Where as in the genocide scale against Tamils, whole section of people, their residences, villages, religious places had vanished. Now, no one would say so and so Tamil villages or Saiva Temples ever existed once upon a time because there are no trace of them.
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Muhandiram / August 6, 2021
Truth-Matters
You have blamed the author for not writing the article “in a well-balanced way.” Let me show you how “well-balanced” your comment is.
Weeramunai attack was preceded by an attack by Terrorists on Muslim farmers working in paddy fields in neighbouring Sammanturai area Here is a brief report that appeared in the Ceylon Daily News.
Quote
“In the Samanthurai Police area, terrorists attacked Muslim farmers working in a paddy field on Sunday, killing four and injuring ten. Soon thereafter at Weeramunai in the same area, some Muslims attacked the Hindu Kovil housing Tamil refugees, killing 21 and injuring 30.”
Unquote
http://archives.dailynews.lk/2009/07/24/fea10.asp
The attack on Karapola and Muthukal was preceded by the LTTE attack On Muslims in nearby Alinchipothana which claimed the lives of 62 including 25 women and 21 children under 10 years.
Again, ask yourself whether the attack on Tamils would have taken place if not for the preceding attack on Muslims in Alinchipothana.
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Kanapathy Varunan / August 3, 2021
Muslims were never true to themselves, or to the Tamils or to the Sinhalese. Muslims were always interested in personal glory.. They joined the Sinhala army and Massa card the Tamils and took shelter behind the Sinhalese after the deed is done. When the Tamils retaliated at the opportune time, the Muslims Cry Foul and pretend to be innocent look round for sympathy. Eve in April 21st attack More Tamil Catholics were killed to lessen the impact on the Sinhalese.
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SJ / August 3, 2021
KV
Are the Sinhalese or the Tamils any better?
Parochial thinking denies one the ability to tell between good and bad and between truth and falsehood.
We selectively read newspapers and listen to broadcasts that tell us the kind of lies we like to hear.
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Eagle Eye / August 4, 2021
SJ,
“Are the Sinhalese or the Tamils any better?
—-
Certainly Sinhalayo who accommodated ‘Paradeshi’ people in their country are better than those who stabbed in the back of Sinhalayo after settling down in the land of Sinhalayo.
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Eagle Eye / August 4, 2021
Kanapathy Varunan
“When the Tamils retaliated at the opportune time, the Muslims Cry Foul and pretend to be innocent look round for sympathy.”
—-
Same goes for Tamils. After Sinhalayo gained Independence, it was Tamils who started attacking Native Sinhalayo using various pretexts. When Sinhalayo retaliated, Tamils ran all around the world screaming ‘Sinhala Buddhist majority is carrying out genocide of minority Tamils’ to get the sympathy of the International Community.
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Kanapathy Varunan / August 4, 2021
It is not only the Sinhalayo who gained Independence. All Srilankans were entitled for their independence. but soon after the so called independence DS commenced the communal ball rolling by disenfranchising the upcountry Tamils followed by colonization of the eastern province with Sinhalayos. DS initially covered his dirty deeds by his large Mustache. But with the fall from the horse every thing was brought to light.
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Ajith / August 4, 2021
It is true that the attack on Kattankudi mosque and the removal of Muslims from the North in 1990 are terrorism. Many People in this island still believe that Kattankudi is the breeding ground of Islamic Fundamentalism and Terrorism. Even though Rajapaksas used Islam Fundamentalists against Tamils they believed that Kattankudi is the breeding ground after 2009 and Saharan who butchered 300 Christians in 2019.
It is true Tamil and Sinhala communities have to learn the lessons from the past but Muslim community also should learn the lessons from the past and also have a responsibility to be honest to the country.
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Raja / August 4, 2021
Ajith,
Kattankudy is not different than Kiribatgoda for Sinhalese or Kilinochi for Tamils. It is heavily Muslim populated town. There is no religious fundamentalism at all, you can visit the town and meet its people by yourself.
Saharen and his cult were rejected by the people of this beautiful town and Muslims in general. So he left Kattankudy many years ahead of the April attacks he was part of.
Muslims of Kattankudy never supported killings of other communities or attacks on churches. But it is true that there were thugs from Muslim community too did nasty things like other communities. For that you cannot blame Muslims or Kattankudy.
JVP killed many innocents, Ganasera Thero lead many violent attacks on Muslims with the support of Rajapakse and Ranil’s governments were just watching, this wouldn’t mean all Sinhalese and Buddhist monks are fundamentalists. The same rule applies to Tamils and Muslims too. Because LTTE were Tamils and Home guards were Muslims and Sinhalese, These whole communities cannot carry of few lunatic individuals.
Being honest and loyal to the country is not an obligation only on Muslims, but on others too.
But kill the racist minds before thinking of positively contributing to the country.
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Ajith / August 5, 2021
Raja,
My comment is towards the author who just talk about LTTE terrorism only but fail to mention about Buddhist or Muslim Terrorism. You can have only one definition for terrorism.
I have not visited Kattankudi but I have visited many other Muslim villages and I am sure you may have not visited Kilinochchi. I don’t know that you may be right or wrong but you cannot stop others having the same opinion about Kattankudi.
You may say Saharan was rejected by Muslims community but I am sure he had an extremist ideology for a long period of time and he had an organised group which allegedly believed in the pay list of Rajapaksa government.
It is very simple to say to others kill you racist mind but where to start and when to start and who will start first? This country became independence from British rule in 1947? How many riots, How many massacres, How many armed wars had this country during the past 70+ years? Where is the problem?
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Raja / August 6, 2021
Ajith
Sri Lanka is sinking because of racist glasses worn by many. Look at crimes away from race or religion. Whoever does crime or wrongdoing must be punished either that was Bandaranayake, Ponnambalam or Ashraff. And the authorities should do their job fairly without sidelining to their race or religion. If this happen Sri Lanka will be the paradise tomorrow from the hell state of today.
LTTE and all Tamil groups did nothing other than destructions for all communities as well as Muslim home-guards. Both came to protect their communities, because most of them were uneducated thugs, they knew nothing other than destruction and crimes which they committed.
Author talks about what has happened to his village, so there is no need to talk about what others did. Of course SL Army or other criminals from all communities repeated what LTTE and other Tamil terrorists did. At the end all are the same bunch of crooks.
Zahran was rejected by the Muslim community totally contrary to Prabakaran who was supported by majority of Tamils, unfortunately he was a blood thirsty criminal. That’s why Karma worked on him as his head was smashing for what he has caused to humanity. His entire family was murdered. That wasn’t enough for what he has done against other human beings.
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Ajith / August 6, 2021
Raja,
Read my last paragraph. It is very simple to say that if they did this Sri Lanka would be paradise or whatever it is. The fact is that that has not happened for past seven decades and there is no signs to bring unity or peace or justice to all. You didn’t talk anything about why LTTE took arms or what happened in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1977 before the birth of LTTE and Muslim home guards? Why? Do you thing those who burnt Jaffna library are uneducated thugs? Do you thing it is uneducated thugs who marched from Colombo to Kandy are uneducated thugs?
You are wrong that majority of Tamils supported Pirabaharan because he was a blood thirsty criminal. Tamils were oppressed and brutally murdered in thousands even before Pirabaharan was born. Innocent Tamils were dragged from their home and burnt pouring petrol in 1958 in Colombo streets? If Pirabaharn is blood thirsty, what about these criminals?
Where is the Karma work for these blood thirsty criminals?
First of all if you think honestly about prosperity of country, unity of this country the rulers must clean themselves.
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Singar A. Velan / August 4, 2021
Ajith:
Your claim “Tamil and Sinhala communities have to learn the lessons from the past but Muslim community also should learn the lessons” is incorrect on two levels. First, there is very little evidence that T and S have learnt lessons. Tamil political narrative is very much in the 70’s and offers no new idea based on learning lessons. The performance of Vigneswaran’s local government and the fights over who polled more preferential votes in the 2019 elections show Tamils have not learnt much. And add to that the resurgence of all bad social value systems. Sinhalese have not learnt much. Nandasena election victory, the family controlling the whole economy and the failure of the Yahapalanaya government all point to this. Second, in the case of Muslims in Kattankudi, you need to look a little deeper. There is sustained injection of cash to radicalize some of them. When that happens, some in a poor community are susceptible. The community has objected to this. They have reported militant activity to police. [In this, they have fared far better than Tamils in the North who welcomed Indian encouragement of militancy among their youth].
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Ajith / August 5, 2021
Singer A. Velan,
You say Tamils have not learnt Lessons anD Sinhalese have not learnt lessons.
Can you please explain me What lessons should be learnt by Tamils and What lessons should be learnt by Sinhalese to bring a better country? Can you also tell: where to start and when to start and who will start first? This country became independence from British rule in 1947? How many riots, How many massacres, How many armed wars had this country during the past 70+ years? Where is the problem?
On your second point, You say there was sustained injection of cash to radicalize susceptible muslims and some objected it. Is that cash injection went to Saharan or some one else? Did they object the Eastern Private Sharia University? Are you saying that it is Sri Lanka government knowingly allowed Saharan to attack Christian churches?
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SJ / August 7, 2021
A
The most important lesson for all nationalities to learn is that they have to coexist with others.
That implies that one has to take a many sided view of problems. It is easy to blame the other. One should appreciate the others viewpoint even when one disagrees.
We have oppressed nationalities who have to resolve their differences amicably. But the people are readily persuaded by vested interests to keep the conflict alive.
*
It is always the childish argument: “What about them?”
There is no soul searching.
Bigotry is hard to cure.
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Humble / August 7, 2021
Singar A. Velan
Actually he is right to a large extent.
I have seen many tamils speak out against the LTTE and expose dirty laundry of tamils. DBS jeyaraj is a fine example of that.
I have seen some sinhalese speak out against the nazis in their community.
With muslims its pretty much zilch! All i see from their authors is coverup tactics and lies.
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SJ / August 7, 2021
SAV
Thanks for that most sensible comment.
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SJ / August 4, 2021
There will always be a caveat.
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GATAM / August 4, 2021
Karma worked 19 years later.
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Ajith / August 6, 2021
Karma did not work jet? It continues.
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Black Lankan / August 4, 2021
Any life is precious, no doubt.But for the author only Muslim life that matters. Why LTTE attacked Muslims, be it in the north or East. It is all because of the double game they played and tried to play out both Tamils and Sinhalese. Even today these Muslims play the same card for their personal greed. Tamil militancy was justifiable and was the last resort for them. But the cunning, selfish muslims used this opportunity to please the Sinhalese and became spies thinking once Tamils are finished then they will become the blue eyed boys of the Sinhalese. This is where these guys went totally wrong. I personally know during 83 the moda sinhala thugs mostly destroyed tamil properties while Muslims were looting all their belongings. And shortly after going around buying tamils properties for a pittance. In the east muslims played hell, MHM Mohamad was one such fellow who took Muslim thugs from Colombo to attack Tamils. Then their homeguards who went around attacking and killing tamils. They took over tamils lands by force or forced them to sell. In fact eastern tamils looked at Muslims as the worst enemy than the Sinhalese. Muslims had an agenda on their own, even planting date plant to mimic arab world.
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SJ / August 6, 2021
BL
When one points to the LTTE attacking Muslims, wherever be it, there is a whole horde of crypto racists to emerge from the woods to defend the crimes.
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fatimah / August 4, 2021
The world will never ever be free of extremists whether they be Hindu, Tamil, Buddhist, Muslim or any other religious background.
Any attack on religious places of worship on innocent worshippers cannot ever be justified! Holding such racist ideologies isn’t going to resolve any existing grudges or tensions between groups.
We need to stand together in peace and not tolerate any acts of violence like these towards any community. We need to move forward and let go of what happened in the past and ensure it never happens again in the future.
In that way, Sri Lanka will become a better place for the youth and elders for the coming generations.
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Black Lankan / August 4, 2021
Ho.. As usual this Blind Eagle moron uttering his bull shit. He has only one answer to any issues. For him the imaginary sinhalayo occupied the entire world. Yet he could not find a sinhala woman to marry. Now his sinhalayos are fast sinking into a sink hole.
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RBH59 / August 4, 2021
The removal still carries bitter recalls amongst Sri Lanka’s Muslims. was an act of ethnic emptying of Muslims and only place island still believe that Kattankudi is the only place available for breathing LTTE forcibly expelled It is good that god gave free oxygen or else they would have blocked it. it’s the same moments that take your breath was taken away from Jaffna that breathe breath of love back.
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Muhandiram / August 7, 2021
A sizable part of the comments here are Baseless and Venomous comments against the Muslims by a few Tamils who Always Target the Muslims. I have disputed some of these Disgusting Lies. I propose to set out below some little known FACTS.
In the 3 Districts in the Eastern Province, the Tamils have Forcibly taken over lands belonging to Muslims in almost 15000 instances totalling to almost 63,000 Acres.
The LTTE Leadership was aware of the severe Harassment the Muslims in the East were subjected to and during Talks with between the SLMC leader, Rauf Hakeem and the LTTE leadership in April 2002, decisions were taken to help the Muslims to recultivate their lands and to appoint District representatives to discuss problems faced by the Muslims with Senior LTTE Commanders and to strengthen Tamil-Muslim relationship. Of course, very little was done in achieving the objectives for reasons not known.
Here is hoping that those who insist on pillorying the Muslims in these pages will take a break, think hard and desist from their ill-advised actions.
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Pandi Kutti / August 7, 2021
Muhanthiram Aiyo ” Alathey Naana Althey”
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SJ / August 7, 2021
M
I am aware that the LTTR harassed Muslim land owners the way they bullied Tamils. That was a source of resentment.
I am also inclined to think that numbers are pulled out of a hat by some here to put the Muslims in the dock. They have a mischievous agenda.
But your response too sounds a little over the top.
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Why don’t you write an article detailing who stole whose land and when rather than throw numbers back?
Tamil-Muslim land disputes were virtually unknown in Trincomalee perhaps because of the geography of the villages.
Land disputes were known in parts of Batticaloa and Ampara. But people got along until the early 1980s.
None who is making claims seems to have first hand information.
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There seems little will to leave the disputes behind and move forward.
Anyone making a positive move is readily branded a traitor in a variety of words.
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Muhandiram / August 8, 2021
SJ
“But your response too sounds a little over the top.”
I have no idea as to why you say this. If you are referring to the numbers I have given, They are NOT my figures. I got the figures from a Research done by a person from the East who has done some Research on the Badly Needed subject regarding problems faced by the Muslims in the East not only at the hands of the Tamils but also from the Sinhalese.
“Tamil-Muslim land disputes were virtually unknown in Trincomalee perhaps because of the geography of the villages.”
Well, included in the information I have given I have given about Muslim owned Lands Forcibly taken over by the Tamils in the East is the following figure for the Trincomalee District.
There were over 5,000 instances involving about 17,000 Acres in Kinniya, Mutur, Thoppur, Pulmoddai and Moraweva.
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Muhandiram / August 8, 2021
SJ
“There seems little will to leave the disputes behind and move forward.”
On the contrary, the Severe Suffering and Sacrifices of the Muslims of the East during the War are Totally forgotten. In fact, the Muslims were NOT a Factor at all as far as the past Peace Talks are concerned. But they are being Roasted in CT pages by some Separatist elements ONLY because they know that Ealam was theirs for the taking if NOT for the Muslims. Of the East. Yes, the Muslims Spoilt their Party.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 8, 2021
Yes the same cock and bull stories were told and rumours were deliberately spread by the Sinhalese extremists/racists and politicians in 1958, 1977, and 1983 to justify and start the attack on innocent Tamil civilians by Sinhalese and Muslim mobs to destroy their lives and properties. You have diabolically taken a page out this. This lies was even stated by the Nazis and other armies to start the world war two. They attacked us. Just go to the eastern province and see the people who have lost the most and the most marginalized there are the indigenous Eelam Tamil majority, who are the real owners of the east. What ever happens in the rest of the country, the Sinhalese who only arrived in the east, in the last 70 years ( the vast majority in the last 40 years) and the Muslims who arrived here as refugees a few centuries ago gang up to marginalize the Tamils in the east, with the intention of making them third rates in their own land and stealing their land. Therefore set about destroying as much as possible any traces of their ancient history, Eg Hindu temples.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 8, 2021
Tamils have no hatred for the island’s Muslims as they are part of the greater Tamil nation, however we distrust you, as in the name of Islam and an imagined Arab or other western Asian origin, that only a few of you, partially have, have disowned your own Tamil language, culture and heritage and your rich 1000 year old Tamil Sufi Isamic tradition, that you brought from your original Indian homeland and have joined with every evil and racist anti Tamil force in the island and overseas, to destroy the island’s Tamils for petty benefits. When Independence came it was for everyone, not just for the Sinhalese and all fought for it, to be precise Indians fought for it and we just got it, as they were being given independence. The island is not a Sinhalese Buddhist country, as it is now being falesely portrayed. It never was. Large parts of it was Tamil and Hindu from ancient prehistoric times , ruled by Tamil Hindus, until European colonization. Even 90% of the so called Sinhalese kings and rulers were Tamils. All the last three kingdoms two Sinhalese and one Tamil, were all ruled by kings of Tamil origin. The last kings of the kingdom of Kandy were all Tamil speaking Naickers from Madurai.
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Nagaiah Jaffna / August 8, 2021
Hey Siva Sharma
Muslims has never been part of Tamils in the history. Nor they harmed Tamils anyway. They live harmoniously among Tamils and Sinhalese. There were no need to sideline to anyone to live in Sri Lanka Lanka. But Muslims were targeted by Tamil racists for a long time, now they are targeted by Sinhala racists. However there are majority silent people from Sinhala and tamil community who are in very good terms with fellow Muslim citizens.
Don’t you know the history. What Ramanathan did to Muslims 114 years ago. Read the response of the Muslim community http://www.srilankamuslims.org/criticism-ramanathan-ethnology-moors-ceylon/.
Again LTTE wanted to do the same what Ramanathan attempted to do. They wanted to represent Muslims and claimed they were Islamic Tamils. But Muslims totally rejected it. They didn’t want to be under racist Tamil militant thugs or racist Tamil politicians. So they have to face its consequences, Then LTTE’s guns pointed at Muslims too including at their worshipping places.
Dr Sheriffdeen has beautifully written this in his article. You need to read it many times through non racist glasses.
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Pandi Kutti / August 9, 2021
Strange a Thullukan with a Hindu Thamizh name Nagaiah and not Mustapha, Abdulla or Mohammed. You think we are idiots, just look at your anti Thamizh rant, fake Arab Thamizh Dravidian South Indian convert.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 9, 2021
Rubbish. You are no Nagaiah from Jaffna but some Mohammed from Colombo, Kattankudi or some other place. The Sri Lankan Muslims or Moors are ethnic Tamils from other religions who converted to Islam, wit a bit of Arab in a few hundred families. The Sri Lankan Moor is a superficial identity, superimposed by the Portuguese. It is an epithet bestowed by the Portuguese , not with love, but to denigrate a community which they hated. The Portuguese were zealots. They were against Islam. With the fall of Spain, they looked down upon Muslims, for the sake of convenience they called any Muslim they met in the Indian subcontinent as Moors. This matter of the ethnic marker was not taken up seriously until the 1880s when legislative councilor Ponnambalam Ramanathan wrote an article about the Sri Lankan Moors that claimed that they were of Tamil origin. After the 1970s, with the employment opportunities in the Middle East and the rise of the Petrodollar Arab countries, the Wahabi interpretation of Islam came to the fore. Sri Lankan Muslims were once an integrated Indian Muslims. Now this integration is being questioned. Looking at their dress and the way they behave now , they are being questioned as to whether they are Muslims of Sri Lanka or, simply, residing in Sri Lanka
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / August 9, 2021
This change can be seen in the attire of the Muslims. The burqa and the niqab covering all but the eyes were not existent in the 1970s. At the time, Muslim women wore saris and covered their heads. “In what sense are they any less Muslim than those who are covering their whole bodies today? Muslim of today is obsessed with the outward form of Islam. “Islam never instructs its followers to separate themselves from their neighbours. It says to be respectful of others, as only God is judge. Become too insular a community and are dissociating ourselves by planting date palms in Katankudy and writing name boards in alien Arabic, instead of the native Tamil. Discarding their 1000 year old Tamil Muslim Sufi Islamic culture, that is native to the island and becoming desert Arab Wahabi/Salafist. This not only reinforces this idea that Muslims are non-native to Sri Lanka. They have now alienating themselves not only from their fellow non Muslim Tamils but now even from the Sinhalese.
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Rohan25 / August 10, 2021
Another Muslim story teller, giving a link to a Sri Lankan Muslim blog, that is desperate to prove, that the so called Sri Lankan Moors or Muslims are not Tamil but of Arab descent . Pathetic. Please answer the following. 1) How come 95% of you look like Tamils that you really are and not like Arabs. All DNA analysis of the Sri Lankan Muslims reveal that they are no different to the island’s Sinhalese or Tamils in their genetic make up and like them, their core DNA is South Indian and are closely related to them and the Southern Indians and South Indian Muslims from Tamil Nadu. The so called Arab in them is far below average . Basically meaning they are ethnic Tamil converts to Islam, with a little bit of Arab is a few families. Any idiot can create fake family trees and origin, When challenged to produce an Arab origin for the Sri Lankan Muslims, all that the Sri Lankan Moors association could produce was a distant Arab male ancestor for a few hundred families, proving neither these families or the rest of the Sri Lanakan Muslims were of Arabic or Moorish or of any other descent. They are Tamils with a dash of Arab amongst a few. 2) Sri Lankan Muslims are descended from the Tamil Muslims of Tamil Nadu. It is a proven fact.
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Rohan25 / August 10, 2021
Whatever little Arab mixing happened in their original homeland in then Tamil South India( Kerala and Tamil Nadu) and hardly anything here . Arabs traders never came in their thousands to the shores of South India but only a few hundred, over a span of a few centuries and the original ancient Arab traders were not even Muslims but Christians. This is why you get the Syrian Christian community in Kerala. A mixture of local ancient Tamil St. Thomas Christians, Syrian Christian Arab traders who fled the onslaught of Islam, Jewish converts to Christianity( The Kannaniya sect of the Syrian Christians are descended from ancient Jewish settlers to Kerala who converted to Christianity and many of their rituals reflect this) and some Portuguese ancestry too. Out this few hundred only a few would have taken local Tamil women as their consorts. Their actual wives, usually their first cousin and their legitimate Arab children would have been left at home. The vast majority of the Muslims in India are low caste Hindu converts to Islam and only a very small minority are descended from Arabs, Persians, Turks , Mughals or other central Asians. This is the same with the Tamil Muslims of India and the so called Sri Lankan Moors. Largely and overwhelmingly descended from low caste Hindu Tamils who converted to Islam.
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Rohan25 / August 10, 2021
Not an insult but a fact. Strange how come your ancestral population in Tamil Nadu, from whom all Sri Lankan Moors are descended, proudly call themselves Tamils and Tamil Muslims and have done a lot of service to Tamil. Like the former Indian Prime Minister and father of Indian nuclear science Dr. Abdul Kalam or the Oscar winning music composer AR Rahman, who is a very proud Tamil( AR Rahman was born a Hindu) . Strange once they cross the sea they strangely change from proud Tamils to Tamil hating Arabs and Moors. Must be some sort of miracle or something in the sea. Lastly Tamils have never harmed the Muslims but it is the Muslims in the name of Islam and their fake Arab origin have harmed and still harming the Tamils. From the time of independence joined with every racist Sinhalese government to commit crimes, ethnic cleansing and marginalization of the island’s Tamils, with the intention of stealing their lands for themselves. You are a good example of this treacherous, traitorous backstabbing Sri Lankan Muslim.
Strange once they cross the sea they strangely change from proud Tamils to Tamil hating Arabs and Moors. Must be some sort of miracle or something in the sea.
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Ajith / August 8, 2021
Siva Sankaran Sharma,
You are right Tamils have no hatred for the island’s Muslims as they are part of the greater Tamil Nation within a united Sri Lanka. Similarly Muslims say that they are no hatred against Tamils and Sinhalese also say they are not hatred against Tamils or Muslims. If they this is the true reflection of the majority of all these three communities then forget about past and I don’t think there is no problem in resolving these issues in a negotiating Table.
First and foremost negotiating teams should accept that none of the communities are superior to other or inferior to other in terms of governance.
Secondly, the negotiating Teams should accept that each community wants to respect their identity and secure their security.
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Pandi Kutti / August 9, 2021
Good sentiments from you but will never happed, as Chingkallams want to destroy the island’s Thamizh in the name of their Mahavamsa myth and constantly elect Chingkalla racists and war criminals, who promise to do so and now they have included the Thullukans in this list too, despite being their former bedfellows and partners in the Eezham Thamizh genocide. Thullukans also want to destroy their fellow non Muslim Hindu and Christian Thamizh , all in the name of Islam and their fake Arab , Arabian night fairy tale origin, as they now feel, they are easy targets with no internal or international support. Hindia and the west helped the Chingkallams to commit war crimes and defeat the Thamizh, for their own selfish benefits and now despite shedding crocodile tears about the plight of the Thamizh in the island, and passing toothless resolutions against the Chingkalla state, still overtly and covertly help the Chingkalla state to marginalize the Thamizh and commit structural genocide. Modi and Hindia badly need the mythical stone on which Sita sat, as the corner stone for the temple to be built in honour of mythical Rama, at the Hindian heartland Ayodhaya. otherwise Hindia will not prosper. In the mean time the Chingkllams have taken Hindia and the West for a ride and China has benefitted and is at Hindia’s doorstep.
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Black Lankan / August 9, 2021
Who is this Nagaiya from Jaffna. He is coming with a new history like Mahavamsa. Majority of Muslims or Sonakar are Tamil hindu converts and many from south india. There is a small number of Arab origin. You can easily make out the two. I agree that they live all over so they cant take sides. But why they are in a mess, all because they are cunning, opportunists and try to play out both sides. I say Nagaiay alias whoever, then why were they spying on tamils, why were they in the deep penetrating force, why were they instigating anti tamil riots, why were they looting Tamils properties. They wait for every riot to buy the properties from tamils for a song. They wanted to finish off Tamils and thus supported sinhalese. They really thoght that Sinhalese will love them for their cunning stand. But once LTTE gone, Nagiah and co are at the receiving end and their calculation gone fully wrong. Double game dis not go well for Nagaiah or Whatever.
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Punchi Point / August 10, 2021
Tamils in this island are a recent diaspora of Tamilnadu. I really do not know why they deny this fact. They speak the same language, follow the same religious practices, have the same social organisation of caste which the subsections of their high caste (Vellalas) are even named according to where in Tamilnadu they came from, have the same history as Tamilnadu, in addition to all these facts, until the late 19th century/early 20th century they never claimed to be indigenous to anywhere except Tamilnadu and maintained that they had come here from Tamilnadu and settled here in recent times. Now these immigrant Tamils are challenging the Sinhalese and preventing the Sinhalese from even entering the north and east of the island. Its so unfair. As far as east coast is concerned it was part of Ancient Ruhuna kingdom – its documented in Tamil history itself that Magha who invaded this island in 1215 AD took land from Sinhalese and gifted the land to his Tamil and Keralite soldiers.
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