By R.M.B Senanayake –
R.M.B Senanayake
I read the speculations of Dr Dayan Jayatilleka about the purported concealed agenda of the TNA to first dismantle the Sri Lankan State by converting it from an Executive Presidency to a Westminster type Prime Ministerial system. DJ speculates that after that is done the TNA would revive the demand for a separate State.
Strangely DJ has failed to speculate on what would happen if the United Nations Human Rights Council holds an inquiry and reaches the conclusion that there were in fact genocide, war crimes and violations of the Humanitarian Law by the Sinhalese Armed Forces and the Government. If President MR and his family members were still in charge, the TNA and the Tamil Diaspora would have a perfect case for a separate State and the UN as well as the Western Powers if not India too, would feel fully justified in accepting the Tamil demand for a separate State. I don’t know if MR and Gotabaya and the Army Command were ignorant of the Geneva Conventions and the International Law relating to war. Or were they vicious human beings who were barbaric.
Perhaps those Peace activists who said that the LTTE could not be defeated thought in terms of a civilized war being fought at least by the Sri Lankan Government. They perhaps did not bargain for a ‘no holds barred ‘war being fought by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces to defeat LTTE even at the expense of the civilian population, assuming there was such a war. It is this presumption that must be countered for the Government claims to have carried out a humanitarian operation. It must therefore refute such allegations.
Be that as it may, the time has come to reflect on the possible outcome of a UN Inquiry into the last stages of the war or (as now expanded by the TNA the entire Sinhala-Tamil violence since 1956). Ranil and those who understand the laws of war and of civilized conduct thereof, must be mindful of the situation that could arise in the future if the UNHCR inquiry goes against the Sinhalese Government and the Armed Forces. It is perhaps this understanding that would have led Ranil and Mangala Samaraweera to seek a postponement of the UN Resolution and Report. There certainly seems to be a prima facie case for investigation going by the evidence put out by interested parties. But if the findings are against the then Sri Lankan Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Armed Forces then the TNA and the Diaspora would have a perfect case for a separate State.
The World has come to accept that discrimination against a minority- religion or ethnic based or otherwise, have a right to self determination. The Scotland referendum seemed to be based on the acceptance of this right. The Catalans in Spain are making a similar demand. The EU accepted the case for intervention in Kosovo where the Serbs were discriminating against the Muslim Albanians. If MR is in power there would certainly be a strong case for the UN accepting the case for secession if the UN findings are against the then government and the armed forces. India was partitioned in 1947 and the world knows the enormous suffering that the people- both Hindus and Muslims had to endure.
Even if things were not going to be so bad, yet there would be much suffering for once the UN accepts the case for secession they could very well have to send troops to prevent such a disaster.
But there is hope for reconciliation between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. According to the Mahawamsa, Viyaya and his men brought women from South India as their wives. So there is some blood relationship as well. They also share the Hindu-Buddhist civilization and culture with many Hindu Gods and Goddesses being worshipped by the Sinhala Buddhists. Since 1956 there is no doubt that the Tamil people have suffered enormously at the hands of the Sinhalese Governments. Death and destruction has been widespread. Then the LTTE emerged and they resorted to the same type of death and destruction against the Sinhalese. So perhaps both sides have had enough of such mindless violence.
For the first time since 1956 there is today a government committed to reconcile and build a united country where everybody can co-exist as equals irrespective of ethnicity and religion. The problem was less one between the mass of the people- between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. It was more a conflict between the Sinhala dominated state and the Tamil people. The last regime was accused of harassing the Tamil people in the North and acting as an army of occupation.
The International Community refers to the need for “Transitional Justice’. They say It is a matter of coming to terms with the past when serious humanitarian violations were committed by those sides. The Western view is that it is necessary to find the truth before seeking reconciliation. Our Eastern view is that it is best to let by- gones be bygones and bury the past.
Western Lawyers and statesmen believe that international law is central because it imposes an obligation on states to punish individuals guilty of the most serious violations of international law. As such, they say, trials must be among the mechanisms chosen. We as a member of the UN are bound to uphold the UN Declarations that we have signed up to. Even in our own ancient traditions wars were not treated as permitting any barbaric act. I understand that in the War of Rama and Ravana, Lakshmanan prohibited the use of poisoned arrows. King Dutugemunu respected the enemy Elara and after his defeat and death ordered silence by the public when passing his grave side. So there is no excuse for MR or his brother or the troops to behave as barbarians if they really did. A compromise is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa which apparently the Sri Lankan Government also hopes to set up.
The Tamil people could hardly be expected to believe that future governments would respect their rights considering the fact that a majority of the Sinhala people voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa. So some hold the view that trials are the most effective insurance against future repression, bring consolation to victims, and serve as an education for the people, in the rule of law. It will help the ordinary Sinhalese people who voted for Mahinda to know the truth and reach their own conclusions regarding Mahinda. This may be necessary to win the trust and confidence of the Tamil people.
In the event of the UN Inquiry finding the then Government and the Armed Forces guilty of war crimes and humanitarian violations, the Sinhalese will have to realize that they must then backwards to please the Tamil people if they are to win them over to remain as part of the same State, Men like DJ are doing great harm to this process of reconciliation and indirectly hardening the attitudes of the Tamil people.
BBS Rep / February 25, 2015
Well said RMB. Good analysis.
DJ for some unknown reason finds it fitting that he should rub shoulders with thieves, robber barons, psuedo socialists, fraudsters and outright fascists. Delivering a valedectory to MARA with arms raised in the platform at Nugegoda was a disgraceful sight. DJ is different to most of the charlatens packing the stage that day in that he is educated and capable of rational thinking (we imagine).
Suggestions to start a TRC is ad hoc and muted so far. The festering issue of reconciliation needs to be tackled with urgency. Someone must take charge and revive LRRC giving full independance to such a entity. It can be done and must be done or DJ and his ilk will lead the country to another conflagration and it does not need too much imagination that this time round it will be worse.
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Thiru / February 25, 2015
R.M.B Senanayake,
You hit the nail on the frozen head of Dayan, the rabid racist.
If there are some Sinhalese that Tamils consider impartial, you are one of them, and I can count them with my fingers without using my toes.
Sinhala Buddhist mind-sets think that majority is right, and thus might is right: They did the same barbarism to the Sinhala youth who wanted social justice from the uncaring state, not once but twice over.
You have expressed your doubts thus:
“I don’t know if MR and Gotabaya and the Army Command were ignorant of the Geneva Conventions and the International Law relating to war. Or were they vicious human beings who were barbaric.”
Yes, they are vicious human beings who were barbaric: Yes they are, if and when the UNHCR reveals the truth through of investigations.
In the meantime, the majoritarian barbarian, pretending to be a wizard of political science, goes on spelling out his Mahavamsa-derived gospel to all and sundry.
In the valley of the blind Sinhala Buddhist supremacists, the racist-eyed Dayan of the treasure island thinks he is the king!
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Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Dear Thiru,
I disagree with RMB’s analysis as I find it without substance. He is looking at the problem piecemeal. My disagreement is based on RMB’s use of Rhetoric instead of facts. Your agreement may be due to other reasons.
I also note that swipe you made about the Sinhalese in general. Some are afflicted with looking at the mote in others eyes though they cant see the beam in their own. I have effectively answered what you said when I responded to RMB. Hope you can refute it factually.
I have detailed why I find RMB’s analysis a poor one in the three comments I have addressed to him. The links are given below. RMB has still not responded and I am awaiting his response since he may have logical reasons to write what he wrote. Hope you can give some input by criticising mine and supporting RMB’s.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779015
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779174
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779748
Kind Regards,
OTC
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Off the Cuff / February 25, 2015
.
Dear Mr R.M.B. Senanayake,
As a former Government Agent (GA) you have served in Tamil areas of Lanka. On 07/15/2009 you wrote the following,
“It is neither practical nor economic to implement the Tamil language throughout the country. But if the administration in the North and East are carried out in Tamil and the police stations there are manned by Tamil people then the Tamil language can be implemented in those areas without inconveniencing or imposing economic burdens on the rest of the country. It is not economic to make Tamil the language of administration in addition to Sinhala through out the country. Nor is it necessary. But it is necessary to do so in areas where the majority is Tamil speaking and obviously this can be done if the devolution of power is extensive enough to accommodate the day to day contact of the people with the state organization”
The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act No. 28 of 1958 was implemented in the NORTH by Mr Nevile Jayaweera, GA Jaffna, EVEN BEFORE it was Gazetted and became Law. The Official Language Act never saw the light of day in the North. I am surprised at your ignorance even after more than 50 years have passed.
Thus I wonder whether you are given to rhetoric based on hearsay and ignorance, instead of an impartial, unbiased, unemotional analysis of fact.
Lanka has an overwhelming majority of Sinhalese, nudging 75% at this moment of time. Thus under a democracy the elected govt can have 75% of it’s members elected amongst the Sinhalese. That does not make it a Sinhala Govt. Please analyse the govts that we had. Did we not have Tamils, Muslims, Burghers etc within those govts? Did we not have Tamils and Muslims ELECTED from SINHALA MAJORITY electorates?
How many Speakers of Parliament were non Sinhala?
How many GA’s were Non Sinhala?
How many Permanent Secretaries were No Sinhala?
How many Heads of govt depts were non Sinhala?
How many Chief Justices were Non Sinhala?
How many Inspector Generals of Police were non Sinhala?
How many Attorney Generals were non Sinhala?
How many Solicitor Generals were non Sinhala?
Thus your use of the phrase “Sinhalese Government” is ill advised and will inflame Ethnic discontent. It is certainly not a phrase that a responsible former High Govt Official should use lightly.
It is well known that the LTTE issued death threats on any Tamil who served the SL Armed Forces.
However we had Tamil officers commanding the so called “Sinhala Army”. When Sarath Fonseka was the Security Forces Commander of Jaffna, the Deputy Security Forces commander was late Major General D. Ratnasabapthy a Tamil. He was actively targeted by the LTTE but they were not successful in assassinating him.
The much feared Deep Penetration Unit of the Army was headed by a Moslem and it was responsible for high profile assassinations deep inside LTTE held territory.
Thus your use of the phrase “Sinhalese Armed Forces” is also ill advised and is certainly not a phrase that a responsible former High Govt Official should use lightly because that will certainly instigate racial hatred.
I will respond to the rest of your article in a subsequent post.
Kind Regards,
OTC
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Burning Issue / February 25, 2015
OTC,
It is generally accepted that Duttagammunu had Tamil generals within his ranks; this did not stop you and your ilk to claim the Sinhala victory over the Tamils! Why should it be any different now?It is absolutely correct for RMBS to call a spade a spade. Sri Lanka is an embodiment of Sinhala Buddhist hegemony; hence, it correct to term as Sinhala Government and Sinhala army. Since 1948, the Sinhala Buddhists collectively through manipulating and subverting democratic principles have built a Sinhala Buddhist hegemonic state. If anyone were to challenge this, they are classed as traitors and racists. This is the reality! You can write volumes but they will not mitigate your misdeeds! You can say it was the Tamils such as GGP who started the communal feelings, but it will not wash. You the Sinhala Buddhists have been in power since 1948, and you have messed up big time; the best thing you can do is to admit that you got it wrong.
The Tamil language acceptance is only on paper; there has been no political will to implement the Tamil language provisions. Your attempt to show otherwise is extremely disingenuous and insulting.
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sach / February 25, 2015
why always start at 1948? Why ignore 1939 and 1922?
Is it because it is disadvantageous?
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Burning Issue / February 25, 2015
“why always start at 1948?”
That was when all sides got together and endorsed a Constitution to build a plural and multi-faith country based on secularism and equality. What happened prior to that point was disregarded. This is how agreements and pacts are made to move forward. If TNA and GOSL were to agree on a way forward, the Tamils cannot dwell in the past. Do you understand this concept?
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sach / February 25, 2015
really? But so called ethnic conflict started in 1939 with racist GGP’s speech in navalapitiya riots. It is his same speech that we see everyday in CT by tamil racists. Nothing started in 1948.
1948 is the reference point you give for your own ease. And no tamil leader willingly came to form a nation. Call for eelam started in 1922 and racist dog GGP said SL was a tamil country in 1945 in parliament. It was plural Sinhala leaders like DS who said Ceylon to Ceylonese.
It was racist dogs like GGP who started everything. Tamil leaders did not join to form a country in 1948. those racist [Edited out] could not do anything else.
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Davidson Panabokke / February 26, 2015
Tamils were in the government in 1948 and it’s after the two Citizenship Acts of 1948/1949 that split the Tamils with SJV faction leaving the govt to form Federal Party in December 1949 leaving behind Tamil ministers in the government.
Please go by actual facts.
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Javi. / February 27, 2015
“Nothing started in 1948. “
Sachet/ Holdall with AHF – Acute Hissy Fit.
Independence by accident in Denial,
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Javi. / February 27, 2015
“It was racist dogs like GGP who started everything.”
You have no idea of difference between race or ethnic because you are a born to kill mercenary just to belch & fart like any other Lankian sihala rump.
Can see you are product of Singlish night school night soil.
your passport should be flushed in the toilet because it is like used elastoplast.
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Davidson Panabokke / February 26, 2015
why always at 1948?
when we began to have the rule in our hands and responsible fully for decisions we make.
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sach / February 26, 2015
Does the decisions made prior to 1948 and conflicts existed prior to 1948 cease to exist the moment we got power into our hands.?
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Anpu / February 25, 2015
BI,
Well said.
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Off the Cuff / February 25, 2015
Dear Anpu,
I have countered BI.
Why don’t you join the debate?
Nothing to add?
Kind Regards,
OTC
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Burning Issue / February 26, 2015
OTC,
You countered no one! As I told you in no uncertain terms that writing long posts does not mean you argue well!
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Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Dear Burning Issue,
My comment of February 25, 2015 at 11:09 pm addressed to you is still waiting for an answer. It was written before you made this comment on the following day (26/2/2015). Everything that preceded my latest post to you was countered. If you do not agree, highlight what I have missed.
That you decided to focus on the length instead of the content shows that you prefer to avoid addressing issues instead of countering them. I don’t depend on making empty statements to counter what you write, which unfortunately is what you do.
Kind Regards,
OTC
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Javi. / February 27, 2015
” writing long posts does not mean you argue well!”
Muttal you are asking for feathers from a tortoise.
Turtle’s Head `Shit Intubated` and In The Box.
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Off the Cuff / February 25, 2015
Dear Burning Issue,
I dealt with TWO aspects of RMB’s Article. You are going elsewhere.
If you have the facts to counter what I have written please do so without using the common Separatist tactic of clouding the issue with extraneous issues.
I have asked pointed questions from RMB as to how the elected govt can be called a Sinhala Govt when the govt and the top administration includes Tamils, Muslims and Burghers. You have avoided an answer.
It is the same with the armed forces.
You seem to have been taken aback to learn that the Deputy Security Forces Commander of Jaffna was a Tamil, the late Major General D. Ratnasabapthy. This was despite the LTTE blanket Death threat on ANY Tamil who dared to join the armed forces, which is the reason why Tamil soldiers were scarce.
Colonel Tuan Nizam Muthaliff RWP is a Lankan Malay. He was honoured for gallantry and was the Commanding Officer, Sri Lanka Army Military Intelligence Corps.The assassinations of the LTTE’s “Col” Shankar, “Lt. Col” Gangai Amaran and “Lt.Col” Charles are some of their successful operations.
David Blacker who was a regular contributor before is a Burgher whose mother was Tamil.
I will be happy if you have the capacity to call a spade a spade instead of a club.
Re “You can say it was the Tamils such as GGP who started the communal feelings, but it will not wash”
I don’t just say things. I give references and prove what I say. Unfortunately you just say things with no proof.
That GGP was the FIRST person to bring Racism in to Lankan Politics of the 20th century is absolutely true. It is not I who say that. It is Mr. T. Chellappa-pillai, the retired Chief Justice of Travancore, a renowned mathematician an eminent English, Sanskrit and Tamil Scholar who Edited the English pages of the Anglo Tamil fortnightly Tamil Paper the “Hindu Organ” who said that.
These are his very words.
“ “THE WRITING ON THE WALL”,
“….. A verbal bombshell dropped unwittingly by a Tamil politician at Nawalapitiya appears to have set the South on fire……. A slander against a community by an individual, though unintended, is inexcusable …… Communal differences, though there existed hardly any during the time of the last generation of leaders, have now been multiplied and intensified, thanks to the hot-heads and irresponsible talkers in the country who care more for the plaudits of the mob than for the welfare of the people. Ceylon today is seething with petty problems which have been created by thoughtless gas-bags, and which threaten to poison the peaceful conditions in the country….. Let us hope that wise statesmanship will prevail among leaders who should realize the imperative need for the welding of the communities into a Ceylonese Community for the political and economic salvation of the country. The writing on the wall is too clear to be ignored.”
(Hindu Organ June 22, 1939)
Re “The Tamil language acceptance is only on paper; there has been no political will to implement the Tamil language provisions. Your attempt to show otherwise is extremely disingenuous and insulting”
I have given you the dates and the name of the GA who was hand picked by the PM and NQ Dias to impliment the Official Language Act in the North. The GA Mr. Neville Jayaweera convinced the PM Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike to allow him to implement the The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act No. 28 of 1958 instead.
At that time though it was passed in Parliament it had not been Gazetted in to Law. Yet Mrs B gave her unofficial approval to implement it. Instead of talking through your hat just because the information exposes the duplicitous nature of the Tamil Political Leadership of the time, ask someone who should know about it like Mr Devenasen Nessaiah who was a GA Jaffna some time after Mr Neville Jayaweera.
The North did not see the Official Languages Act. What they experienced was the The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act No. 28 of 1958. It was implemented by 14 Tamil DROs who formed the head of the Northern province led by Mr Neville Jayweera.
I just posted my second comment to RMB.
Please try your hand at factually repudiating it.
Kind Regards,
OTC
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Burning Issue / February 25, 2015
OTC,
Please note that writing a lengthy posts do not mean that they carry substance!
“I dealt with TWO aspects of RMB’s Article. You are going elsewhere.”
I have not gone elsewhere; far from it! I made references to the foundation of the Sinhala Buddhist belief system that is directly contingent on Mahavamsa. I said that it is generally accepted that Tamil generals fought under Duttagaimunu. Yet, Sinhala defeated the Tamils; this is what has been taught to the Sinhala students for generations.
Dayan J has explicitly stated that, MS was not elected by the majority of the majority; hence, his victory is meaningless to the Sinhala Buddhists or to this effect. He stood on a platform with known chauvinists and racists. It is generally accepted among the Sinhala that the Sinhala army defeated the Tamils in May 2009; this has been the rallying call. It has been the Sinhala successive governments that marginalised the minorities since independence. Of course, there were Tamil and Muslim ministers and MPs. Still the Sinhala dominated governments that exclusively stood for Sinhala Buddhists’ interests. Hence, it is absolutely correct for RMBS to terms as Sinhala governments and Sinhala army.
You can write or make umpteen points and make reference David Blacker, it will not change anything.
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Off the Cuff / February 25, 2015
Dear Burning Issue,
Re “I have not gone elsewhere; far from it! I made references to the foundation of the Sinhala Buddhist belief system that is directly contingent on Mahavamsa. ”
Of course you went elsewhere and you are still there.
With a 75% majority any Democratically elected government will have a Sinhala majority. There can be no argument about it unless an infamous system like the 50-50 is adopted to reduce that majority to a minority as proposed by Mr GG Ponnambalam or some such perverted method.
Hence Sri Lanka will always have at least 75% of her elected representatives from the Sinhala community. That does not make it a Sinhala govt. If you claim it does, prove it by providing the answers to the several questions that were asked from RMB. The questions that you have studiously avoided.
Re “Of course, there were Tamil and Muslim ministers and MPs”
Exactly, Ministers are in govt not in the opposition. That’s why it is not a “Sinhala Govt” as RMB says. Those Ministers held powerful ministries.
Re “I said that it is generally accepted that Tamil generals fought under Duttagaimunu”
The Sinhalese had the magnanimity to invite a Tamil speaking Nayakkar to be their King and to hand over the Tooth Relic of the Buddha to his care. It did not make the Kandyan Kingdom a Tamil one.
You are trying to live in the past. I am writing about the present. Dutugamunu did not fight this war. It was fought by the Sri Lankan forces which had a preponderance of Sinhalese because the population is preponderantly Sinhala. It had a dearth of Tamils because the Megalomaniac Prabahkaran had issued a FATWA on anyone who dared to enlist. Yet there were some brave Tamils who put the cowards to shame by fighting alongside their Sinhala and Muslim brothers to rid this country of Terrorists.
My comment does not discuss either the Mahavamsa or Dayan hence they are irrelevant. But you have made a foolish assumption that needs to be challenged.
You wrote “MS was not elected by the majority of the majority; hence, his victory is meaningless to the Sinhala Buddhists or to this effect”
MS polled 59% of the vote. That is why he is President. The Tamil vote (including Indian origin Tamils) is 15.27%, The Muslim vote is 9.3% both together is 24.57%, get the picture?
The Minority of the Majority stood with MS and that minority vote of the Majority (34.43%) was much more than the ethnic minorities put together. Without the Minority of the Majority (those who you term the Sinhala Buddhists to whom the MS victory is meaningless), Rajapaksa would have remained the President for the next 8 years and 2 months.
The Military Governor and Douglas Devananda would have ruled the North reducing Wigneswaren to a puppet. Any public protest by Wigneswaran’s NP govt would have been met by a counter protest by Tamil strongman Devananda. Hence please do not underestimate the power of the Minority of the Majority.
I note that you have dropped your challenge about the Father of Racist Politics of the 20th century GGP. You have also dropped your challenge about the Language issue in the North.
I write facts and it is not with the intention of convincing you. It is a counter argument to the article by RMB and those who argue on the same lines as RMB. It is meant for those who have the intelligence to weigh both arguments and arrive at a decision.
I have invited you to debate what I have written in my second response to RMB as it is relevant to what you have already challenged (February 25, 2015 at 4:26 pm). Though you have not done so yet I hope you will do so in the near future.
Kind Regards,
OTC
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sach / February 28, 2015
Sri Lanka is overwhelmingly Sinhala. SL history is overwhelmingly Sinhala. The only people that can be called a nation in SL is SInhala. The only people that defended this country from external enemies are Sinhala…while Tamils were simply proxies of external powers.
So yes SL is Sinhala….just because Tamils starting from GGP is jealous about that, we cant change things
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Davidson Panabokke / February 26, 2015
When the decisions made by the governments discriminated against the Tamil communities in general the governments can be called Sinhala governments irrespective of a few Tamils who didn’t raise their voices against discrimination. In history all over the world that has been happening with human nature (simply as biological species and or particularly as a species with higher thinking skills).
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Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Dear Davidson Panabokke,
Please join the discussion and support what you say with specific instances.
Please read the following three comments that I have addressed to RMB before that, as your questions may have been answered by me in them.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779015
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779174
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779748
Kind Regards,
OTC
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rajjeeva / February 25, 2015
Exceptions is not rule.
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Davidson Panabokke / February 26, 2015
When the decisions made by the governments discriminated against the Tamil communities in general the governments can be called Sinhala governments irrespective of a few Tamils who didn’t raise their voices against discrimination. In history all over the world that has been happening with human nature (simply as biological species and or particularly as a species with higher thinking skills).
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Burning Issue / February 26, 2015
Davidson Panabokke,
I have had experiences debating with OTC on Groundviews for many years! He is one who does not accept logic but go round the mulberry bush until one is exhausted so he can claim victory. GG Ponnampalam is their fall-back! In my view, He is no different to other charlatans like Anagariga Dharmapala and SWRD but OTC does not want to accept as such. He endeavours to show that the Tamils planted the racist seeds among the Sinhala; this is why the Sinhala leaders acted the way they did. In effect, according to OTC, the Tamils are racists but the Sinhala Buddhists are the victims!
No one can dispute the fact that since 1948, the execute powers resting with the Sinhala, and Sinhala alone. It has been they who singlehandedly bastardised the constitution to suit the whim and fancy of their own. There were/are many Sinhala chauvinists but many just played to the galleries to win votes. They just used the ethnic issues as political football to win power. GGP was exactly the same but unlike the Sinhala folks, the Tamil did not buy into GGP’s antics until the Sinhala Only episode!
I have been trying tell these fellows that, in Jaffna, GGP only won three seats at the 1948 elections. SJVC lost to Nadeesan a UNP candidate at KKS. Many Independent candidates won in the north; some became as ministers in the first government. There is no proof whatsoever that there was noticeable Tamil Nationalism at that time!
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Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Dear Burning Issue,
This is a cowardly attempt. If you want to discuss what I write address your comment to me. Don’t try to use Davidson Panabokke as a Human Shield.
I have written three comments addressed to RMB and all three are interconnected and addresses what RMB has written in his article. You have only challenged my first comment and has avoided contesting the other two despite repeated invitations to do so.
I have not written anything about GGP in my first address to RMB. It was you who dragged GGP to this discussion vide your first comment February 25, 2015 at 3:30 pm. Hence it is foolish to try to be sanctimonious.
Everything that you wrote that had a bearing on my comment was answered. You tried to drag irrelevancies like the Mahavamsa, Dutugemunu and what DJ wrote (which I avoided addressing in my comment to RMB) into the discussion in order to draw a Red Herring and go on a wild goose chase but I refused to fall into that trap.
Now you are trying to bring in Anagarika Dharmapala whose childhood was spent during the last 15 years of Arumuka Navalar the Tamil Nationalist whose Nationalism Excluded the Tamil Peasants that he considered were chattel rather than human. That was a time when the edicts of “Manu” ruled your community with an iron fist.
Gamarala challenging one of my comments used a truncated speech of Dharmapala to quote him out of context with you cheering him on. After I responded to the challenge both you and he fell silent and that comment still remains unanswered. That is your Logic. (https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-dr-d-j-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-1774173)
.
Re “No one can dispute the fact that since 1948, the execute powers resting with the Sinhala, and Sinhala alone.”
That is a perfect example of your Myopic Obtuseness. You are making emphatic statements in ignorance.
Lanka had several Minority govts that depended either on Tamil Parties or Muslim Parties or both to stay in power. Thus the Tamil or Muslim parties that supported the govt had the power to bring down the govt at anytime they wished.
Re “in Jaffna, GGP only won three seats at the 1948 elections”
In 1948 the Tamil peasantry were subdued slaves who thought their Periya Dorais were Gods. They were gods of sorts because they owned all avenues of production and all land. The peasantry had no independent voice and their very existence depended on the Periya Dorais’ whims and fancies.
In 1935 G.G. Ponnambalam declared that he was a PROUD DRAVIDIAN (The Hansard, 1935, column 3045). He started attacking Sinhalese History. The FIRST Tamil Sinhala riot of the 20th century in 1939 was the result. This was racism not nationalism.
“The Hindu Organ” (p. 4 — June 22, 1939), Writing about the Nawalapitiya Hate Speech of GG Ponnambalam, Headlined their article thus;
“Mr. Ponnambalam’s N’pitiya speech” and beneath it the strap line: “Mr. Bandaranaike’s challenge.”
The Tamil paper has identified GGP as the cause and SWRDB the effect.
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
“This is a cowardly attempt.”
Obnoxious Transvestite Chuff/Chuffe,
You are more than a coward invertebrate arse licking Sloth whith no sence of shame because your breed.
Even in the west the breed counts.
Get flushed in the pig sty of your domain.
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
Burning Issue,
It is the free Atta Pirikana Seuvra being spread on every thread by the Bestiality Breed —-`Obnoxious Transvestite Chuff` —–
to drive not just you but Newsroom CT into a state of confusion for all expecting it to shut down or run it to his fancy- SABOTAGE- that is what he is being paid by terrorist at Large the sihal/douglas karuna and the government of SL etc.
I were were you guys I would copy and paste crap from the web in reply till Newsroom takes him to task.
As far as I am concerned my intention is to make the trolls cannibals.
Less is more.
/
Burning Issue / February 27, 2015
Javi,
Thanks point taken
/
Off the Cuff / February 27, 2015
Dear Burning Issue,
Ha ha haa, you got checkmated my friend.
Next time think twice before challenging someone.
You don’t have the facts to contest what I have written.
First you try to avoid responding by using Panabokke as a Human Shield. Though that was cowardly you would have remained clean. Now you are grabbing at straws thrown by an uncouth guttersnipe who has been defecating all over CT (thanks to lenient moderators) and if you think a writer writing absolute filth is fit to give you advice I can only sympathise with you.
Try not to get soiled by the contents.
Lie with dogs and you will get up with fleas, Guaranteed!
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Burning Issue / February 27, 2015
OTC,
Please do not flatter yourself; it is bad for you. I had my say many a time both on Groundviews and on CT; I have nothing further to add. I have summarised as to what you are about and you know pretty well as to what I am about. The people on the forums know as well!
/
Off the Cuff / February 27, 2015
Dear Burning Issue,
Yes, you TRIED to have your say without facts to back you up. That was a fatal mistake. Whether it is CT or GV it was always the same. What you could do on CT is up there in black and white for anyone to see. What you were able to do on GV was no different. That you don’t have anything else to say was apparent. I knew it when you started to hem and haw and hiding behind others after my post of February 25, 2015 at 11:09 pm
I know what you are about. Here is a sample from CT itself.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/sinhala-buddhist-bigotry-root-cause-of-strife-in-sri-lanka/comment-page-2/#comment-912510
I always try to write the truth and will apologize without reservation if I am proven wrong. If you can’t face the truth then tough luck.
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Already replied.
Please see above
/
Off the Cuff / February 25, 2015
Dear Mr R.M.B. Senanayake,
This is a continuation of my original and is my 2nd response.
Your analysis overlooks critical areas and hence you arrive at erroneous and misleading conclusions that obscures the real reason for strife. this is exactly what Tamil propaganda is trying to achieve.
The Lanka Tamil leadership has been staking a claim to a part of Lanka which is Grossly and Absurdly disproportionate to their numbers. They claim nearly 40% of Lanka as their traditional homeland. They base that claim on the British Demarcation of provinces.
Only 7.9% of the 15.27% total Tamil population (includes Indian origin Tamils) live there. The balance 7.37% of Tamils live OUTSIDE the N & E with the Sinhalese
Tamil population of Northern and Eastern Provinces
Lanka Tamils 1,598,219
Indian Tamils 11,940 (not indigenous)
As a percent of Lanka’s Population 7.91%
Others Living OUTSIDE North and East 17,742,614
As a percent of Lanka’s population 87.15%
This includes Tamils living outside the N and E.
Almost HALF the total Tamil population of Lanka lives outside N&E.
The Tamils want 40% of Land for a population of 7.9% and expected 87.15% of others (of whom 7.37% were also Tamil) to be satisfied with the remaining 60% of Land.
If you think this is just please justify it.
However there is unbiased evidence that before the advent of the British, the Kandyan Kingdom reached up to Elephant Pass (which is the thin strip of land between the Southern end of the Jaffna Peninsula and the extreme Northern end of Mainland Lanka). Please view it on Google Earth to gain an actual perspective.
The Dutch built a Fort at Elephant Pass in the 17th century to protect the BORDER of the Dutch held Jaffna Tamil Kingdom from the armies of the Kandyan King. (http://www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl/en/location/?id=813)
.
Hence the Tamil Kingdom did not even encompass the present Northern Province!!! The Eastern Province was wholly within the Kandyan Kingdom of the Sinhalese.
You have overlooked the people who were dispossessed of their Lands, homes and Livelihood by the British using draconian Laws.
“According to the 1946 census on population in the agricultural sector of the island, 40% of the agricultural peasant families found in the former Kandyan Kingdom were landless while there were 26% landless agricultural families recorded in the wet zone” (Herath 1995: 79).
1. The British enacted the Crown Land Enforcement Ordinance in 1840 to claim the unoccupied and uncultivated land in the Kandyan kingdom (Farmer 1957:90- 91). As a result of this ordinance, 90% of the land in the Kandyan highlands was designated as land belonging to the British Crown (Herath et al, 1995:77).
2. The Waste Land Ordinance Act of 1897 (and the Crown Land Encroachment Ordinance in 1840), annexed more lands as crown lands where villagers could no longer claim them according to the new British imposed rules (Roberts 1979:233, Obeysekara 1967: 98-100).
3. The majority of the Sinhalese villages effectively lost the structural prerequisite of land tenure systems (Obeysekara 1967:101).
4. The ‘Land Settlement Ordinance of 1889’ allowed the colonial authorities to sell these STOLEN lands at will. “Many villagers in the Kandyan area were deprived of their high lands formally used for chena cultivation or grazing the cattle” (Mendis 1951:85).
Have you deliberated on the plight of over a million of the Sinhala whose Lands are now populated by a Million Indian Origin Tamils?
Re “According to the Mahawamsa, Viyaya and his men brought women from South India as their wives. So there is some blood relationship as well”
Vijeya is not a Sinhalese. His 700 followers were not Sinhalese either. The Veddhas are not Sinhalese. All of them however are Parental populations of the Sinhalese along with some more Indian subcontinent populations as per recent scientific studies. The Sinhalese did not come here, they evolved here.
There is Scientific evidence that the Indian origin Tamils (IOT) of Lanka are genetically separate from the Lanka Tamils. Hence the Lanka Tamils could not have originated from South India where the IOT originated from. However the Lanka Tamils and the Sinhala are genetically related. Thus there is a strong possibility that the Lanka Tamils are Tamil speaking Sinhala.
You seem to be having a Myopic view of the ethnic problem. The CORE issue is LAND and it has always been Land. Everything else is camouflage intended to cloud the real issue.
No right thinking Sinhalese will stand in the way of a JUST devolution. A Majority of the Majority will support it IF the Land claim is in proportion to the Tamil population living within that Land. Please remember that along with land all resources within it and a 200 mile exclusive economic zone will also be claimed.
Solve the Land Issue and the Ethnic problem will vanish.
Kind Regards,
OTC
(a third response will follow)
/
Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Dear Mr R.M.B. Senanayake,
This is my third and final comment. It is a continuation of my second response.
Re “It was more a conflict between the Sinhala dominated state and the Tamil people”
Again and again you use rhetoric instead of facts.
Even in the 1970s the North was a Fiefdom ruled by High Cast Tamils who were 40% of the Tamil population of the North. They have been programmed for Centuries to believe that they are chosen by “Manu” to rule over the rest of humanity. It is their voice that was heard even in to the 1970s. The Low cast 60% had no voice, in fact they had no rights at all as they were considered to be chattel not Humans.
If as you say the Tamils were persecuted, that persecution was perpetrated by the High casts on the Low casts. What they did qualify under Article 7 of the ICC statute as Crimes against humanity (pages 3 and 4 Rome Statute).
The Low Cast did not posses Land (remember they were the majority). They could not drink from public wells, could not attend school, could not travel in public transport, could not attend Hindu Temples (Kovil), could not cut their hair, could not employ drummers, could not burn their dead, the women could not wear a blouse to cover their breasts and they had to use the “sari pota” criss cross fashion in the front, Oppressed Old women went about naked above the waist, they could not wear any jewelry and one group was prohibited to come out during daylight. They had to live in designated villages and had no freedom to move. Their employment was fixed for generations (a scavenger’s progeny would be scavengers generation after generation even if they had the brains of an Einstein). The mere act of wearing a shoe and using drummers have caused Tamil Tamil riots where low cast dwellings (slums) have been set alight.
Here is an excerpt from a Low cast Tamil who wrote in response to one of your articles.
The poor Tamils worked in the properties and homes of the upper-caste Tamils. We could not go in buses, or attend school. Our very presence was `polluting’. When the buses were nationalized by SWRD, the CTB allowed any one to travel in them, That angered the Tamil leaders. It was the Church that grudgingly opened doors very slightly to the oppressed Tamils by allowing them to learn English and read the Bible. In my young days I sat on the class-room floor or carried a low stool from class to class, as only the high castes could sit on chairs. The teachers treated me and and another child like me as excreta and punished us for daring to be there. But I thought that was the law – each had his station in life.
When I moved to Hatton, and later to Colombo, I found a very different world. It was a transforming experience for me and my wife to find that our work mates, mostly Sinhalese, would actually sit with us and share a cup of tea, as if that was normal. We found that we could go to night school and study without been threatened, beaten up, or go and borrow books, and do things that would bring swift retribution `back in the North’. Our dwellings would have been torched, and our women would have been raped with impunity.
This was in the late 1950s, when Mr. RMB is claiming that the Sinhala bill was introduced to `hurt the Tamils’. There were far more horrendous things going on in Tamil society. Young Tamils knew nothing about the south, and everything they knew was what they heard from their ruling masters and poisonous propagandists. We implicitly obeyed our Periya Doreis and the Tamil pamphlets told the `truth’ – the Cingala were our enemies. Very few young Tamils had ever traveled to the south. In our young days low-caste people were not allowed on trains although there was no such law. In the 1950 and 1960, `low-caste’ Tamils could go in trains in the Sinhalese areas, but after Vavniya we ran the risk of being assaulted and even thrown out of the train. All Indian estate workers in the early days went to India on foot, avoiding high-caste Tamil areas on their path, as their women could be raped as `rightful game’ by tradition, and they could be ordered to do menial work for the right of passage, or the privilege of drinking water or lighting a fire.
The writer is Mr Sebastian Rasalingam who grew up in the Jaffna peninsula. He moved to Mannar after world-war II. Later he moved to Hatton and married an Indian origin Tamil Lady and finally came to Colombo. Now in his 80s he lives with his offspring in Canada.
Bryan Pfaffenberger’s book, ‘Caste in Tamil Culture’ has the following
“The alleged oppression of the Tamils by the Sinhalese is mostly a defensive garb, to conceal the inner conflicts caused by the caste system among the Tamils”.
“Becoming a Vellala involves assuming Vellala customs and gaining control over land. It is precisely for this reason that entire villages may be burnt down and people killed over trivial incident as a Pallar cutting his hair or wearing a shoe. For Vellala much is at stake.”
It is the “Sinhala Govt” that enacted The Prevention of Social Disabilities Act in 1957 which drove the first nail in Vellala dominance coffin. Yet for 14 more years nothing happened as the Low Cast were too poor to spend on a civil action. Thus the act was amended in 1971 allowing the Police to prosecute on receiving a complaint.
Re “Western Lawyers and statesmen believe that international law is central because it imposes an obligation on states to punish individuals guilty of the most serious violations of international law”
Though that belief of yours is misplaced as even recent wars in other parts of the world prove, I will instead deal with the above and it’s application to SL.
Delivery of Justice is the aim of Laws and Courts. Whether the System is local or International that objective does not change.
The UNSG’s POE, (Mr. Darusman, Ms. Yasmin Sooka and Mr. Steven Ratner) made the following statement in their report. They say “… these actions did not, in law, amount to the use of human shields insofar as it did not find credible evidence of the LTTE deliberately moving civilians towards military targets to protect the latter from attacks as is required by the customary definition of that war crime” (POE report 237)
Please note the bold text. Thus the “experts” say MOVEMENT is the Sine Qua Non in committing the war crime of employing a Human Shield.
Darusman and party has exonerated the LTTE of using a Human Shield stating that evidence of MOVEMENT of civilians could not be found. Thus they have simultaneously exonerated the LTTE Fund raisers and Financiers who are living in the West. Saving the Financiers could be the motive as most LTTE leaders are dead.
Strangely the Rome Statute of the ICC says something quite different.
Article 8 War crimes 2 (b)(xxiii) Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations; (page 6)
The word “MOVEMENT” that the “experts” say is the Sine Qua Non, is absent and instead the word “PRESENCE” is seen as the Sine Qua Non.
Obviously the UNSG’s Experts have had a very strong incentive to prostitute the ICC Statute.
Is this the JUSTICE that the UN is delivering?
Are we as a country going to submit ourselves to a Kangaroo court and a Wild West style Lynching?
I believe I have dealt with all the main issues that you have raised in your article. I trust that you will endeavour to explain your point of view in more detail in the light of what I have written.
All that I have written can be substantiated and if you need more details I can provide them.
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Dear BBS Rep,
I disagree with RMB’s analysis as I find it without substance. He is looking at the problem piecemeal. My disagreement is based on RMB’s use of Rhetoric instead of facts. Your agreement may be due to other reasons.
I have detailed why I find RMB’s analysis a poor one in the three comments I have addressed to him. The links are given below. RMB has still not responded and I am awaiting his response since he may have logical reasons to write what he wrote. Hope you can give some input by criticising mine and supporting RMB’s.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779015
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779174
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779748
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah / February 25, 2015
Your analysis spot on Mr. R M B Senanayake!
/
sach / February 25, 2015
RMB says if we dont pander to tamil racists , west will give eelam…..
Usha the LTTE supporter says…..yeah yeah that is true lu…..
So RMB, think for a moment, isnt this a sign that you’re wrong?
/
Burning Issue / February 25, 2015
such,
“RMB says if we dont pander to tamil racists , west will give eelam…..”
RMB never once used the term “tamil racists”; this is your fascination! What he has said in effect, if MR gang were to remain in power, it would have been easier for the Tamil Diaspora embolden with almost certain findings of the UN investigation to push for separation! You are completely submerged in the Sinhala hegemony idea predicated on the belief that SL belongs to the Sinhala Buddhists. This is your problem. You are prepared to lie and be dishonest or do anything to perpetuate the Sinhala Buddhist hegemony!
Based on the RMBS’s analysis, it is clear that the Tamils and Muslims have acted jointly to prevent a communal calamity in Sri Lanka. By electing MS as President and RW as Prime Minister, they have created conducive conditions for reconciliation. The fact that, both Sampanthan and Sumanthiran attending the Independence Day celebration after decades of non-attendance speaks volumes. If the TNA is indeed advocating separatism, they would have stayed away!
Many milked the NPC CM’s genocide claim without studying the contents! They took exception to the word Genocide but failed to see as to what has been highlighted. CM’s family is integrated with Sinhala families and he is an embodiment of Sri Lankan identity. He can stand up and call a spade a spade as regards to what the Tamils have been going through since 1948; this does not make him a racist.
/
sach / February 25, 2015
RMB did not use the word tamil racists and yes that is one of the problems. Inability to identify tamil racists and call a spade a spade is one of the biggest problems. It is commonsense you cannot talk about a Sri lankan identity and so called ethnic reconciliation while pandering to tamil racists. If one is to demonize sinhala racists they need to treat the tamil racists the same way.
Demonizing Sinhala people (not only racists) while bending backwards to Tamil racists will surely not solve anything and we dont need such a solution.
I wont comment on Wiggie’s family connections because that sounds unethical. After all doesnt your argument suit Vasudeva as well? whose only daughter is married to a tamil man (wiggie’s son) yet he faces all the demonization as a racist for organising a rally. This is your problem. You people have double standards in such a disgusting manner. If you think Wiggie is not racist and an embodiment of SLn because his children are married to sinhala, the same can be said to Vasu.
Calling a spade a spade! yeah that is why Wiggie called the terrorist Prabhakaran as a hero in an election rally. A murderous thug who even killed thousands of tamils and made many tamils die. (I wont even comment on Sinhala people as killing sinhala is totally acceptable to you.)
Of course nobody studied the NPC resolution., That is true. Had that was studied properly many of their claims will disappear into thin air.
If a tamil can be a racist, murderer, terrorist and still get away with it I dont see why a sinhala should nt. Dont expect to be treated differently.
/
Burning Issue / February 25, 2015
such,
“Of course nobody studied the NPC resolution., That is true. Had that was studied properly many of their claims will disappear into thin air.”
You have made yourself look a complete imbecile by write the above on public forum! It is simple isn’t it, you just need to read the document that CM published and make his claims to disappear! Why are you here writing senseless comments incessantly calling people racists etc?
/
sach / February 26, 2015
I dont incessantly call people racists, I call racists as racists and especially the racists who are given a free pass by so called moderates.
Cut the crap, the tamil people majority are a tribal community. They are extremely rigid and not flexible. A people who want to have only what the want by hook or crook. They will and can do anything that goes to any level for that. So it is difficult to handle them. The so called Sinhala moderates have found a method, a self serving but useless.
That is bending to them in the maximum. They know tamils are inflexible, so dont question tamil racists. BUt at the same time they know Sinhala people are liberal and very flexible. So target the easy fellow to mould them to fit the situation. That is what is going on.
And you cannot deny anything I said before, that is why you selected only a part of my comment.
between I meant a proper analysis and an answer to Genocide wiggie’s resolution was not done. So when I said ‘proper’ that means something which is not biased towards tamils. Got it GGP racist?
/
Burning Issue / February 26, 2015
such,
There is a well known motto that says that when one is in a hole one should not dig deeper! This is exactly what you are doing. Calling me a racist will not mitigate your situation!
/
sach / February 28, 2015
What situation BI?
I call racists as racists! I dont see a reason why people of the caliber of GGP cannot be called racists. All tamils (or most) are reincarnations of GGP and they are indoctrinated by GGP history….The acute hatred of Mahavamsa comes with that.
Tamils make a big deal out of Mahavamsa while Sinhala people dont give a damn about it…..at the same time tamils want to play the victim.
Tamils started racist politics (even casteist) but they were stupid to realise they cannot do that against a numerically larger community.
/
Ram / February 25, 2015
For an ex-GA he has been exposed as utterly ignorant or impervious to the truth by the comments above.
/
Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Dear Ms. Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah,
“Senator TGTE”
I have addressed 3 comments to RMB in which I have contested RMB’s analysis and shown it to be cockeyed.
If you are able to prove me wrong please feel free to do so.
Kind Regards
OTC
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
Proved wrong??””able to prove me wrong “”
You were borne as son of the dirtiest man the in a pig sty.
World’s Dirtiest Man: 80 Year Old Iranian Man Hasn’t Bathed in 60 Years; Smokes Animal Poop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqVoZcf3fO0
/
Piranha / February 25, 2015
Dayan perhaps knows that Rajapaksa was going to be found guilty of war crimes by the UNHRC report and feels that being no longer the head of state and without immunity Rajapaksa might be hauled up before a court. Rajapaksa becoming the prime minister will protect him and that I think is the only reason Dayan is fighting for the deposed dictator.
/
Vibhushana / February 25, 2015
I suspect a little bit of Buddhist wisdom is wise for the Gon Demala here.
Recollecting the past usually bring regret. Thinking of the future results in anxiety.
That is why Buddhist’s say “live in the present”. Our mediation techniques are geared to teach people live in the present.
So despite all that My3-Ranil govt has done why has TNA started the problem all over again?
This is how it wins elections. It has done aboslutely nothing in the past 5 years. Whipping up communalism is all it has.
The UN is wasting time and money that can be used for things like famine so that a bunch of putrid Gon Demalas can win an election.
/
Simon / February 25, 2015
“Living is the present” is about accepting your current crimes against minorities. Mediate please on your Gon ness, it may help to settle it.
/
Native Vedda / February 25, 2015
Simon
Vibhushana is again hearing voices, in his head. Please help him.
/
Vibhushana / February 25, 2015
Why don’t you show how its done by accepting your crimes against low castes first?
Then take a cue from Moslems how to conduct yourself. Take them as your role model.
/
Burning Issue / February 25, 2015
“Then take a cue from Moslems how to conduct yourself. Take them as your role model.”
Aluthgama!
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
“low castes first?”
Make them cannibals! Whooo Hoooo!
No problem with Dal(eat)IT buds there is a factory for canning the preeeek preeeek parripu and coconut heads like you.
That is standard SOB.
/
Justice & Fairplay / February 25, 2015
Everyone has a right to say his piece but no one has the right to cast racist remarks. The reference to ‘Gon Demala’ is seen as one such.
Poor show the writer, poor show the editorial staff. This only can demean this website.
/
BBS Rep / February 25, 2015
And Vibhushana, who will lead your meditation techniques geared to teach people live in the present – Galagoda Aththe Gnanasaara??
/
Alahakoon / February 25, 2015
I too think this Gon Vibushana is Gnannassara’s Abithiya.. He calls Lanka Tamils as “Gon Tamils”, how foolish is this Buruwa.. He is taking about “Live in the present”, but all his comments were with his past, knowledge. He says
“My3-Ranil govt has done why has TNA started the problem all over again”
Gnansara Abiththiya is living in past but unfortunately he has no idea about his “Vignanaya” which is always past..
/
Lanka Watch / February 25, 2015
Whenever DJ writes in CT or any other journal, he is hacked by the readers but still he continues to write, inciting people to revolt
against the minorities and the govt. supporting them.This is unbecoming
of an educated man, who had served in civilised countries and a Prof.
of some repute. He should clearly state whether the majority expects the minorities to play a secondary role in a democratic country or work
with the majority and be equal partners in developing the country. His
constant attack on TNA and the minorities are disgusting.
He talked much about the Nugegoda meeting and can one of the organisers
win a seat in a future ordinary election,including DJ and Wimal. People
of all walks of life attended the meeting, which was the 1st public
meeting held by the combined opposition after EP election, through curiosity to know what the opposition thinks about the regime change. It is any one’s guess as to from where and how they came to the venue as they were all not from Nugegoda but DJ described,the attendees at the meeting were all Sinhala Buddhists anti govt. forces. These type of reporting by a experienced journalist is not very conducive to bridge the gap between the majority and minorities.
Former CJ alleged to have demanded a diplomatic posting to hide his wrong doings as if the diplomatic corp is the final resting place for criminals and like wise, the way he is attacking the govt., it is obvious that DJ is also looking for a posting out side the country.
President should oblige and get rid of bad rubbish
/
Native Vedda / February 25, 2015
Lanka Watch
“This is unbecoming of an educated man,”
He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.
Confucius
Now you see how dangerous this “educated” smart ass patriot is.
/
Navin / February 25, 2015
Just say “DJ is a dishonest man”. That the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
N.V.
It’s like pouring water on ducks back- they dont even know how to hold hands and let fly knuckleduster (but they praise LKY against all odds)on stupid sabotage actors like stinker abcd. Fortunately I don’t think in sihal or tam`ill to feel intimidated.
Sadly Tam’ill trolls for Tam`ills don’t learn (all like fatty VP) but feel intimidated to play into Transvestite SABOTAGE with a partner acting kid.
Sach, Aaabcd,OTNut the leader from Canada training are classic internet pooks they start day with program – `sabotage ready made` what their reply carries is the virus sabotage like- DDOS Distributed Denial of Service. Deja vue from 1999.
Once you program sabotage the stress level is less than replying to a query.
If you play kung fu with it Lankans will shit in their ambude.
Tam`ills on CT especially anpu. are surely very stupid they feel they are sitting an examination for some genius [Edited out] writer of article who gets cheap thrills. Sheep need to re-tail become the curious wayward monkey to win.
/
Simon / February 25, 2015
Dayan is trying to be a Cyril Mathew. Hoping to stirrup communal hatred to a point of explosion after which he can pontificate on it and give it a Gramsican line while while fanning the flames of Communal ism.
,
Yes, the Sinhalese need to come to terms with their collective crimes. So have the Tamils who bury their heads in sand when it comes to the babaric atrocities committed by LTTE in the name of Tamil Liberation.
In doing so they should accept their commonality – of people whose values are yet in the pits of human civilization.
An international inquiry into their sorry state will help them come out of the hallucinatory state of civilization that they currently assume to be in.
In other words – morons should grow out of their moronic state of mind.
/
Richard Kaz / February 25, 2015
The Sri Lankan state’s military campaign to defeat the LTTE and whether it was a no holds barred campaign with no consideration for civilian lives has to be seen in the context of the state’s previous actions against Tamil civilians. History repeatedly shows that Tamil lives do not matter to the Sri Lankan state with not a single person held accountable for all the state-initiated anti-Tamil pogroms and other anti-Tamil violence. It is not only about the Rajapaksa regime’s crimes but about the fact that the Sri Lankan state is allowed to commit crimes against the Tamil people with impunity. It is this that the Tamil people want stopped and the only way it can be stopped is to hold those responsible, however important they are, accountable for the crimes.
This author states that the allegations of war crimes must be refuted by the current government. But he doesn’t say that the allegations should be refuted with facts. What if the allegations are true? and that is why we need an international investigation to find the facts. If the current government cannot refute the allegations with facts but resorts to whitewash the crimes with in bogus internal investigation as we have seen in the past, then for the Tamil people, it is the same old position of the Sri Lankan state, Tamil lives do not matter.
/
ela kolla / February 25, 2015
sinhalse buddhists are the superior in this country and don’t need to reconcile with tamil speaking [Edited out]
ask them to co-exist with sinhalse buddhists..
/
Extremists Conference is Needed / February 25, 2015
We will have issue settled when the Sinhala extremists talk to the Tamil extremists and come to some sort of agreement.
How about a Sinhala – Tamil Extremists conference? It can be held after the Sinhala Tamil New Year.
Invite : JHU, TNA, BBS also UNP, SLFP and BBC. Wimal and Dayan are required attendees as well.
Happy diplomats can also attend and potificate on their peaceful Western ways that started WWI and WWII
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
terrorism is very profitable business why not become cannibal??
gone to the ECN = dead
Less is more!
/
Simon / February 25, 2015
But Kolla, the concept of co-existence is beyond the capacity of Sinahla Buddhist to understand. So what do we do with those dumbos ?
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
who wants to cooo like ela??
Oi you become cannibal – less is more.
/
Sri / February 25, 2015
Native Vedda
Could I put it much more elegantly What Confucious is reported to have said,
‘Learning without thinking is useless,Thinking without learning is dangerous’
/
Native Vedda / February 25, 2015
Sri
Thanks
Any version of Confucius quote which aptly describe Dayan is welcome.
/
Billa / February 25, 2015
Mr RMB Senanayake: Appreciate your honest, sincere, unbiased write up. Wish we had many of RMBS’s and not DR DJ’s !
I just couldn’t stop sharing my honest feeling with a person like you.
I don’t think we can compare Sri Lankan prolonged state terrorism against the minority Tamils since 1956 together with Sinhala Armed forces’ brutalities with that of LTTE or Pirabakaran’s. Prabakaran started defensive methods only in 1983 after continued intolerable discrimination and crimes against Tamils. Then it developed into hit and run warfare and gradually became a conventional one.
They did eliminate Tamils, many good Tamils, other armed groups, opponents etc.,in the process, which is not at all acceptable, but they had their strategies, wrong or right they believed in.
He or LTTE did not do any intentional crimes against Sinhalese or other ordinary folks of any race. I’m not sure but I believe so. He’s not a megalomaniac like Gota .
I’m aware that they did give some sample taste of ‘terrorism’ to make the majority feel how terrible the minorities would have experienced the state terrorism of many many years and how well they can do it too. Sinhala people are not aware of those continued terror acts of the state. State media helped the Govt of the day with all kinds of anti LTTE probaganda, in and out side the country with great success. One have to be a Tamil minority to know and feel the years of brutal horror. What Sinhalese experienced is sad but miniscule, compared to the gory experiences of poor Tamils for year and still.
VP did not target Sinhalese, he never hated them, but the terrorist State who were killing poor Tamils in North and East made him to fight the terror state tooth and nail. LTTE was blamed for many killings undertaken by others. Example: Laxman Kadirgamar, Vijaya Kumaranatunga, Janaka Perera and a whole bunch of politicians. Well, Praba and LTTE is history now and the whole truth may come out soon, after the UNHRC inquiry, if at all it’s held.
LTTE was described as a bunch of Bata slipper wearing 5000 poor malnourished kids then and now after killing those kids and winning'(killing) the so called war with unconventional means, and now they are described as the “worst and the most dangerous terrorist outfit of the world” by Lankan media and Government. Now the state is claiming to have defeated the worst terror group of the world. What a joke ! LTTE did keep the unprofessional unethical war criminal army at bay for 30 years. When they flew over Lanka with their home made planes, they only bombed Air force H/Q and oil tank farm. They could have bombed towns or cities but the did not. They never hated Sinhalese but only the brutal ruling racist political bastards. Bloody racist state controlled media propaganda did the worst thing of blaming the LTTE for every thing.
Prabakaran is gone but not the aim, unless the ruling opportunist and fake patriots realize the seriousness and urgency. If My3 or RW thinks of ‘shaping’ the matter and play delay tactics… they will regret.
You cannot fool all the people all the time. Sincere efforts only will pay.
/
Off the Cuff / February 25, 2015
Dear Billa,
Re “He or LTTE did not do any intentional crimes against Sinhalese or other ordinary folks of any race”
Wow that tells a lot about who you are.
Still worshiping your Sun God Prabahkaran?
Obviously your children were not amongst the 100,000 + Tamil children abducted by him and used as cannon fodder.
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Tilak de Silva / February 27, 2015
I’m surprised at your ignorance of your own so called leader, worshipper Velupoolai Prabahkaran, ‘he is not a megalomaniac, he never hated Sinhalese, he could have bombed cities with his home made planes’
Sir you need to come out of the delusion that you are living. If Prabahkaran was such a hero, why did he have to use children as cannon fodder, why Adele Balasingham had to be recruited to train the female brigade in Killinochchi. What wsa the reason that he compared other children not worthy of an education that he provided his children overseas.Let me explain he was a puppet controlled by LTTE goons overseas, though he had control of the North he had no brains, may be brawns but badly used. Finally he got what he deserved, sadly he used innocent people as a shield to save his life, to the last day he used others as cannon fodder, for that he is a coward and you has the audacity to hail him as a leader, for goodness sake, get real.
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K.A Sumanasekera / February 25, 2015
R. M.B Senanayaka says Sinhalese have to bend over to the Tamils to stay in their own country . when Cameron, Harper and Kerry send Jordanian Zeid to punish Rajapaksa and the 5.8 Million inhabitants.
I don’t think it is necessary..
I mean after handing over one third of their Land Mass , why do they have to bend over too?..
What the thinking inhabitants must be pondering is..
Do they have to keep the Wella Gardens where it is, or is it going to be shifted lock, stock and barrel ?,.
Is India going to take back their ex citizens ?.
Or are they going to the North?.
Last but not least, will the Muslims be relocated to the East?.
I mean 75 % can’t sleep , eat and work in 67 % of the land while 25 % have the luxury of enjoying 33 % of the land mass… Right”
My elders tell me that the last time the West and the UN did survey work to divide land was in Cyprus.
And All the Turks moved to the North and the Greeks came back to the South..
Hopefully Zeid will read that file before he does the “surveying” in Srilanka.
/
Sri / February 25, 2015
RMB
Thanks!
Look at developing scenario critically and impartially!
Dayan is against the abolition of Executive Presidency because he believes that it will result in instability and leads to separation.
According to Dayan , it is the executive presidency EP that holds the country together.
The moment the executive presidency is abolished, the country will fall apart.
JR Jayewardene seems to be so farsighted for being the father of historic 1978 Constitution that brought in EP.
But unfortunately not even Dayan had ever acknowledged the contribution of JRJ.
His new found friends that includes SLFP and the left were vehemently opposed to EP from inception.
Dayan seems to believe that there is an international conspiracy with the backing of TNA and the diaspora.
On the other hand, the main beneficiaries of EP are minorities and Tamils because they have a say in the election of the leader as what happened in the election of Maithripala Senanayaka as Executive President.
The minorities will benefit by the retention of Executive presidency.
Dayan, if the EP is not abolished, Mahinda will continue to be in the wilderness.
The abolition of EP is now in the interest of Dayan,Mahinda,Vasu, wamal and Dinesh!
See the irony!
Let Dayan think again!
.
/
Anpu / February 25, 2015
Dear Mr Senanayake,
Thank you for your analysis – spot on.
If we had Sinhalese leaders who think like you we would be living in a paradise. Sadly we had the wrong leaders, DJs, Vibushanas, Mahindapalas,…
/
Off the Cuff / February 26, 2015
Dear Anpu,
I have posted 3 comments addressed to RMB showing that his analysis is cockeyed. Why don’t you join with Usha, Burning Issue and RMB to prove me wrong?
Here are the links to the three comments.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779015
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779174
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/dayans-speculations-about-tna-future-sri-lankan-state/comment-page-1/#comment-1779748
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Taraki / February 25, 2015
‘..and the UN as well as the Western Powers if not India too, would feel fully justified in accepting the Tamil demand for a separate State’
Do you really think India will allow a separate Tamil state just south of its border? Its never going to happen is it?
/
Native Vedda / February 25, 2015
Taraki
“Do you really think India will allow a separate Tamil state just south of its border?”
It depends on Hindian interest in this island as well as in (H)Indian ocean and then how majoritarian smart ass patriot treat the minorities. Leave South India to the Hindians, let Hindians worry about it, it shouldn’t bother you at all.
On the other hand if and when Hindia decides, it has the ability and cloud to create and sustain another little Bangladesh in this island. Hindia will let/force Sinhala Eelam to secede from rest of this country.
Since fate of Tamil Eelam, Sinhala Eelam, Eeelam has always been entangled in Hindian foreign policy choices I suggest you abolish your armed forces.
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
NV both the sihala and tamil at present have either greedy leaders or sooty leaders- North South poles apart that they have no idea how to tickle the middle.They pride in being conservative for whom I really don’t understand.
So as you say my prediction is that this island will go begging on knees to Hindia like Nagaland and Sikkim in the nude saying take me now I want marry you Hindian but not like bangaladesh the religious problem ever after. then I would not be suprised that the Jaguar Tam`ills as usual will wage war for the sihal to get freedom from Hindia – cycle of samsara. because Babuvas from Patna will come to take over permanently- because they like the sea breeze
You know who would finally kick the bad customers arse the Chinese- 3-5 billion is peanuts to China which lost 100 in 3 months 2007 Citi bank US investment in real estate (it is the max they can draw in 1 year).
Remember once JR thought he was smart arse and told WB we wont pay you
Well now here we are- even Greece cannot get off from the spell.
/
ela kolla / February 25, 2015
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/
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nike / February 25, 2015
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/
/
Bensen Berner / February 25, 2015
It is unprecedentedly a crucial time for the Sinhala Tamil relationship. Any wrong move on either side can derail and destroy the relationship for ever. The Northern Province Chief Minister has already made known the genocide, the human rights abuses and the war crimes against the Tamil people to the world. They are on record and it is international knowledge. The extremists and the opportunists in the Sinhala polity see an opportunity to come back to power using Rajapaksa despite his crimes and unsurpassed corruption. Even the BBS, a Trojan Horse, is making overtures to infiltrate into the government in the guise of bringing harmony. If the Sinhalese and the Tamils do not make it this time they will never do so. Bensen
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sach / February 25, 2015
we will never make peace with tamil racists and we dont want
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Burning Issue / February 25, 2015
such,
the feeling mutual! The Tamils do not want to make peace with the likes of you!
/
sach / February 26, 2015
Tamils do not want peace or reconciliation. That is not news, actually the crux of my argument.
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
Sachet the offshot
the crux is you are mercenaries seated on ice -cream.
Become cannibals – less is more!
/
Tilak de Silva / February 26, 2015
All these pontefecating pundits write and utter re: Sinhala forces and the governing politicians barbarism, yet no one raises the issue how and why the forces were deployed in the North and the East. I agree there were issues with the Tamils since independence, as Tamils never accepted the loss of positive discrimination created by the colonial powers, every country under British rule since independence had to dismantle the colonial system of administration to allow the national race to implement the suitable system of governance. Much more seriously though Tamil differences were existing, it was Velupoolai Prabahkaran and his LTTE cohorts funded by overseas Tamil goons who created the situation for government to end the 30 year war. It is time people talk of facts and not apportion blame to governing party and brave soldiers who made sacrifices. Sinhalese have a tendency to blame the wrong persons when a situation is sorted, it is our habit the sooner we get away from this selfish habit a better people we are, not blaming ourselves for situations created by other minorities in the country.
/
R.M.B Senanayake / February 26, 2015
Thanks OTC for quoting what I said in 2009. I am still of the same opinion.
Yes Neville Jayaweera in Jaffna was faced with the problem of implementing the Sinhala Only Act in the North. N.Q Dias expected him to do so. Yes the Tamil Language Special Provisions Act had not been gazetted. Neville went to Sirimavo and got permission to soft pedal the Sinhala Only implementation. The administration then was largely in English. Neville did not implement the Sinhala Only Act in the North but the issue was to let the status quo remain.
You criticize me for calling it a Sinhala Government. True there were Tamils as judges and public officers who all belonged to the career services. True that the LTTE did not want individual Tamils to hold public office. Yes Tamils were there in the Army and the Police as well. They were career officers.Gradually as they retired the number of such officers declined.
What makes a government Sinhala is not the presence of individual Tamils or Burghers in the career services recruited much earlier, but the directing policy of the policy makers where the policy makers were drawn from the elected majority. This policy was discriminatory against the Tamils as they allege. Why I used the term Sinhala Government is because there was no place for elected Tamil politicians of the majority Tamil political party to be co-opted although there were individual Tamils picked by the Government. The position is still the same except that the Tamil politicians have now the opportunity to run the Northern Provincial Council. But its efforts were stymied by the previous regime and the then Governor ran the administration. Hopefully things have changed. But the majority Tamil political party must be co-opted to the government at the Center as well. The Tamil political parties may not agree unless there is a permanent political solution though.
/
burning Issue / February 26, 2015
RMBS,
Any person with sense would understand what you said in the article. Ohh no, not OTC; he will try and prove black is white. However, I do not class him as a racist but a charlatan in the belief that the minorities must confirm to the majority and assimilate. This is his idea of nation building. One can espouse such a view within an established country such a Britain but Sri Lanka was put together in hope that the majority would accommodate the minorities with equality.
The language is the major factor in quarrelling; once Sinhala replaced English unceremoniously, the division is deep and permanent. There is a quandary; if the Tamil language is restricted within N&E, there is acceptance that, it is a separate region/territory. But if the trilingual policy is adopted nationally, in time, it is possible to overcome divisions based on ethnicity. I would like to hear your views on this though I understand that this idea is economically cumbersome.
/
Anpu / February 26, 2015
I agree with RMBS and BI. Thank you RMBS and BI. Keep writing and commenting.
/
Off the Cuff / February 27, 2015
Dear Anpu,
You have become a Yes Man without a mind of his own. I pity you.
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Off the Cuff / February 27, 2015
Dear Burning Issue,
You studiously avoid discussing the plight of over a million Sinhala Peasantry that became Landless and reduced to penury by British Draconian Laws.
You studiously avoid discussing the unparalleled demographic change caused by domiciling COMPLETELY ALIEN Indian Tamils in the stolen Lands. The numbers exceeded the TOTAL Lanka Tamil population.
The neglect of these Landless Sinhala Peasants and the unreasonable opposition of the Tamil leadership when these people were settled in Gal Oya valley, claiming that Gal Oya is a Traditional Tamil Homeland is the REAL cause of ethnic strife.
You avoid discussing this issue as you cannot meet my arguments and is stumped when you are asked to explain how a small population of 80,000 in 1792 can populate a vast land of 26,000 sq km, produce their food and defended a POROUS boundary of nearly 2000 km, against a population more than 5 times their size.
You are stumped when asked to justify the 40% Land claim made by the Tamil Leadership for a population of 7.9% while expecting 87.15% of others (of whom 7.37% were Tamils) to be satisfied with the remaining 60% of Land.
The Avarice of the Tamil Leadership for LAND has been the REAL cause of ethnic strife.
Now that you cannot meet logical arguments you resort to guerrilla methods. Unfortunately you don’t realize that it exposes you as a coward.
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
I noticed you anpu and co have fed into OTC open trap by answering his sabotage Start Dear…
Kind regards – can you see shit pouring out of his mouth well you anpu etc are drinking it COOLAID.
If I were to tell you how to sink the puss all 3 holes in 1 on this public domain he would copy it faster than you can blink- that is my observation.
you folk feel intimidated and respond the style he wants.
I would spin the low class to infinity whether anyone is black brown pink yellow
Sena is pleased with him because he in his dotage loves praise- everybody is dispensable kick the poor[Edited out]
/
Manicka Vasagar / February 26, 2015
Thank you for your article.
Explains it all well.
/
ABCD / February 26, 2015
@RMB senanayake
Since you brought about the arrival of vijaya and his men. Yes they did get their wives from southern india. But we have to remember that vijaya came with just 700 people. So the idea that the sinhalese race sprung up with just 700 individuals is ludicrous and far too much credit is given to vijaya. The early sinhalese probably evolved due to the merging of vijayas clan with the native tribes that existed. Acoording to the mahawamsa this happened during the times of king pandukhabaya. It was he who brought about an end to the conflict between the sinha clan and the yakshas. So if anything the credit for the creation of the sinhalese race should go to him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandukabhaya_of_Anuradhapura
Like i mentioned earlier the early sinhalese were due to a merger between vijayas clan and the native tribes. However there was a thrid element. There was continous mass migration from southern india( esp kerala and tamilnadu) to sri lanka. Eventually these south indians became sinhalese. Most sinahlese today are probably descended from migrants from kerala.
SO to summarize my points. Th early sinhalese were probably a merger between vijayas clan and the native tribes. But most present day sinhalese are probably descended from south inda.
/
Javi. / February 27, 2015
“”SO to summarize my points. “”
Stinker, A-rsenic B_linky C_omatose D_emented
the product of night school night soil underwear.
`Hate is more lasting than dislike.` – Adolf Hitler
Georgia Bulldog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRPjx993U80
Become a cannibal,
Less is more fascist Japanese concept.
/
Off the Cuff / February 27, 2015
Dear Mr R.M.B. Senanayake,
I have given you no indication that I disagree with what you wrote in 2009. In fact I am of the same view and is in complete agreement.
I thank you for accepting most of what I have written and it shows a desire to engage constructively.
Re “Neville did not implement the Sinhala Only Act in the North but the issue was to let the status quo remain”
As I pointed out before, you seem to be ill informed about that. Mr Jayaweera himself contradicts what you say.
Here in his own words is what transpired at the meeting he had with the PM Sirimavo and NQ Dias.
Note- due to some technical issue all the text I see is bold since February 26 morning. Hence I will use italics to show emphasis in quotes from Mr NJ. In an attempt to shorten the comment I have edited the text for length.
Quote
First, I explained to the PM that the implementation of the OL Act in Jaffna from the 1st of October 1963, was a practical impossibility. Of the 50 Sinhala clerical staff…….48 had either submitted medical certificates or …. had their transfer orders cancelled….
Secondly, I questioned the wisdom and morality of trying to enforce the OL Act in the Jaffna District……… I said that under the provisions of the Act, all receipts issued by the government for payments, all invoices, all registrations of births, marriages and deaths and all correspondence with members of the Tamil public, and the language of the courts and court records, should be in Sinhala. ….. I said that it was grossly unfair by the people and any attempt to force the issue will only aggravate hatred and conflict. I turned to N.Q.Dias and somewhat impudently asked,
“Sir, how would you like it to have your children’s marriage certificates issued in Tamil, or your grand children’s birth certificates issued in Tamil or your own death certificate issue to your next of kin in Tamil?” N.Q. made no response but kept fidgeting with his wristwatch.
I said that as a practical first step towards reconciliation the government must refrain from forcing the OL Act on the Tamils at least within the Jaffna District. Given that for practical reasons the Act could not be implemented in Jaffna in any case, it would be more prudent to abrogate it rather than pretend to enforce it and aggravate conflict.
I said that at the same time the government must allow the GA of Jaffna to implement the Reasonable Use of Tamil Act within his district, at least in the spirit if not in the letter. This Act, conceived by her late husband as a partial concession to the Tamils, had not been gazetted yet, though passed in Parliament
….to my absolute astonishment, the Prime Minister turned to me with a smile and said that she quite understood my problem and sympathised with me…….. without waiting for an answer from NQ, she went on to say that as a trial, and as long as the experiment was limited to the Jaffna District and is not publicised, she would go along with my proposals. She emphasised however, that there will be no official change in government policy, and neither will there be any written confirmation of what was said at this discussion.
…..Prime Minister Mrs Bandaranaike’s extraordinary magnanimity that evening opened the door for me to launch within the Jaffna district an experiment in governance with justice and righteousness towards all. Without any official pronouncement to that effect, I allowed the OL Act, which I was expected to enforce rigorously within my district to lapse, and instead proceeded to implement the Reasonable Use of Tamil Act.
Unquote
As you can see for yourself Neville did get the PM’s approval to implement the ungazetted Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act in the Jaffna District and commenced to implement it instead of the OL Act. He was not letting the status quo remain as you said.
What follows will show you that the Tamil Language (SP) Act was actually implemented in Jaffna and that EVERY GA who came after Neville continued with the precedent he set and the OL Act remained a dead letter in Jaffna.
Quote
What this meant in practice was that the policy handed down from Colombo that birth, marriage and death certificates should be written only in Sinhala and likewise all receipts and invoices as well, was ignored. Instead, these documents could now be issued in any of the three languages, as requested by the recipient party. Letters written to members of the pubic by all government departments within the district continued to go out as before in Tamil or English, and the courts continued to function as before without any change in language. In the day to day administration of Jaffna it was as if the OL Act had never been enacted.
I must emphasise however, that letters and even telegrams sent to people of Jaffna by government departments in Colombo, much to my embarrassment, continued to go out in Sinhala only, strictly in compliance with government’s official policy.
Not surprisingly, the Tamil politicians remained deeply suspicious of my initiative to suspend the enforcement of the Sinhala Only policy throughout the Jaffna District. They interpreted my initiative as being merely a cunning tactic for taking the heat off the issue and for buying time, and that I would return to the fray once everyone’s attention was diverted elsewhere. The suspicion of me was so acute that for another few weeks Federal Party volunteers, policed every public office in the district from where receipts, invoices, certificates and similar documents were being issued, for satisfying themselves that the documents were not being issued in Sinhala!
As the weeks passed, the Tamil leaders realised that my response was not just a tactic but signalled a fundamental change in practice, if not in policy, which though not officially declared, or publicly acknowledged, was notwithstanding, a voltroceedings even strayed into thethe Sinhala Only policy in Jaffna.
During my three year tenure, the precedent I established on the implementation of the Sinhala Only policy in Jaffna, was virtually set in concrete, in that, none of the GAs who followed me, veered from the pattern I had set. Without risk of contradiction I can claim that there cannot be any Tamils, living or dead, who have received certificates, licences, receipts or invoices from any public office in the Northern Province except in the language of their choice.
unquote
note the words of Mr Jayaweera “Without risk of contradiction I can claim that there cannot be any Tamils, living or dead, who have received certificates, licences, receipts or invoices from any public office in the Northern Province except in the language of their choice”
Did ANY Tamil on this forum ever say so?
They didn’t because doing so devalues the victim cry!
Since this comment is already very long I will respond to the rest in a subsequent comment.
BTW I have addressed three comments to you. You have not touched on the last two yet.
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Off the Cuff / February 28, 2015
Dear Mr R.M.B. Senanayake,
In my previous response on February 27, 2015 at 1:49 am to yours of February 26, 2015 at 10:29 am, I have very clearly established that the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act was implemented in the Northern Province from October 1963 onwards (52 years).
The Tamils had had their Language elevated to it’s rightful place as the Language of Administration of the Northern Province. It is nothing but fair for it to be so.
However it is a CENSURE on the TRUTHFULNESS of Tamils from the Northern Province who contribute to CT and claim otherwise. The so called Sinhala Only was NEVER implemented in NP and became a dead letter for the Tamil people of the North. What they had instead was the enthroning of the Tamil Language as the Language of administration dethroning English. This took place in 1963 Fifty Two years ago.
Re “What makes a government Sinhala is not the presence of individual Tamils or Burghers in the career services recruited much earlier, but the directing policy of the policy makers where the policy makers were drawn from the elected majority”
On the one hand you accept that Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Chettys etc held high and powerful positions in Govt, Civil service, Judicial Services, Armed Services, Police and middle and lower ranks of the Bureaucracy. On the other hand you make contradictory statements such as the above.
All govt servants are Carrier Officers. They are not supposed to be businessmen (though unfortunately this is the case irrespective of ethnicity).
Could you please explain what you mean and how it can be achieved with examples, keeping in mind that the population distribution is 75% Sinhala, 11.1% Lanka Tamil, 4.1% Indian Origin Tamil, 9.3% Muslim, 0.2% Burgher, 0.2% Malay, 0.03% Chetty.
How would you ensure an equitable and fair distribution of resources while keeping in mind that Revenue from indirect Taxation (which is the highest govt tax revenue) is contributed in the proportion of the National Ethnic Ratio.
S Thondaman (Minister 21 years continuous, under 4 presidents) Dr. Badiudin Mahmud (Minister of Education 10 years), ACS Hamid (FM 12 years, Justice Minister 4 years), Lakshman Kadirgama (FM 9 years) were powerful policy makers just to name a few. Paskaralingum the Permanent Secretary, though not a minister was a policy maker who not only influenced his Ministers but also a Lankan President.
You seem to be alleging that there is a “POLICY” that prevents recruitment of minority community members into “CARRIER” services of govt. When you make such a sweeping and generalised comment you should establish that by showing examples of a GENERAL nature. Can you please do that?
You say “Why I used the term Sinhala Government is because there was no place for elected Tamil politicians of the majority Tamil political party to be co-opted although there were individual Tamils picked by the Government”
I am confused. That is the strangest explanation I have ever seen. Individual Tamils were not picked by the govt, they were elected from the party that won the election. It is the party that wins that forms a govt. That’s how democracy works all over the world. Every Govt of Lanka had elected Tamil and Muslim politicians but you say that is not enough.
Sri Lanka is a democracy. There are different parties because they have different policies. The UNP and SLFP are multiethnic. Thandaman’s CWC, Ponnambalam’s ACTC, Chelva’s ITAK, Sampanthans TNA, the Muslim Congress are all mono ethnic.
We have seen many coalition govts over the years when parties come together when no single party has a clear majority in parliament. GG Ponnambalam’s Tamil Congress (ACTC) with the UNP, Thondaman’s CWC (Indian Origin Tamils) with the UNP, Muslim Congress with the UNP and many more. Coalitions happen when parties in that coalition agree to a common program.
The largest Tamil political party is the ITAK. It is a separate political entity wishing to establish a Tamil Kingdom (Arusu Katchchi). No majority political party in the South wants a Sinhala Kingdom.
You are blaming the Sinhalese simply because the mono ethnic Tamil party of the North is unable to find common ground due to their intransigent policies.
Isn’t that completely irrational RMB?
Kind Regards,
OTC
/
Soma / February 27, 2015
“Intellectual” blah,blah,blah!
Man on the street:
“We Sinhalese are 75%. This is an isolated island ( yes, physically isolated though not very far from Tamil Nadu) Tamil racists and their supporters can get UN, India, any silly ****** here. They can twist the arms of any silly Sinhala leader at the helm. But Sinhhala PEOPLE will reject any division of our country. We will be on the street – yes all 75% will be literally on the street. We will demand that all Tamil speaking people (Jafna, Baticalo, Wellawatta , Estate, Muslim, Christian/Hindu Tamil, Muslim Tamill) physically (yes PHYSICALLY) move into the “separate state.” “
Do you hear that?
I think RBS will factor that into his equation when he writes next.
RBS, there is only one way everybody can pack together and sail peacefully in this small boat. It is as simple as a unitary system where all citizens are absolutely equal in all respects. In view of the demographic distribution of Tamil speaking peoples throughout this small island there is no conceivable “solution” other than that. It has to EVOLVE, not imposed and it will. If writers of your caliber can successfully hammer that into the heads of racists of either divide instead of contributing towards the greatest possible bloodshed you are doing a service to the humanity.
Any writer on the so called Tamil issue(particularly those on Tamil side of the fence) worth his salt should tell the Sinhala people what they should do with the “Tamils” living on other side of the “separate estate”.
One doesn’t have to be a soothsayer to predict what they WILL do.
(I have been repeating this infinite times: There is no way (ABSOLUTELY N O W A Y) you cam impose a “solution” against the will of the majority with no adverse reaction on the minority. “Economic sanctions? True India can feed those in the North (air drop parippu) but what about those living among the Sinhalese? A severe form of economic sanctions can be imposed on them by the Sinhalese. Even if you drop an atom bomb on Colombo more Tamils (Tamil speaking people I mean) will die than Sinhalese.)
Soma
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Native Vedda / February 27, 2015
Soma
“but what about those living among the Sinhalese? A severe form of economic sanctions can be imposed on them by the Sinhalese”
You could enforce all sorts of severe forms of sanctions against minorities if you want to see the island is divided into two. Your Sinhala/Buddhists majoritarian self destructive arrogance will be the comfortable vehicle for separation.
Please do remember being the majority means you have more stupid and self destructive people than all other minorities put together.
It is for Hindia to decide whether this island remains one country or several states.
“worth his salt should tell the Sinhala people what they should do with the “Tamils” living on other side of the “separate estate”.”
The minorities have a choice where they want to live:
They can go back to Tamil Nadu
Tamil Eelam
Western Countries
Antarctica
Therefore its not your problem so you leave the worrying to the Tamils.
I can see rage in your typing, which always has led to self destruction.
What do you mean by unitary state as oppose to united state?
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