By Rajan Philips –
Rajan Philips
The 48th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that began on August 13, is already remarkable for two new developments. The first is the enabling of the UN High Commissioner to update in real time the charge sheet against the Sri Lankan government. This is not due to any arrogation of powers on the part of the High Commissioner, but is entirely the result of the government forever piling on its past follies with new ones. The indictments in Geneva are becoming serial only because the government’s misdoings in law and order are already serial.
The second development is more hilarious than serious, and it is about competing letters that are reported to have been sent to the High Commissioner by Tamil political personas. News about the letter writing tamasha was restricted to the Tamil media, until DBS Jeyaraj brought it out to laugh out loud in the open. It is difficult to project the future trajectory of the new letter writing politics, but there are plenty of political tamashas from the past that will fit the present episode into a familiar pre-war pattern.
High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s opening statement on Sri Lanka has more references to the current goings-on than any past occurrences. Early on, in her third paragraph, Dr. Bachelet alludes to the “corrosive impact that militarization and the lack of accountability continue to have on fundamental rights, civic space, democratic institutions, social cohesion and sustainable development.” In the very next, fourth paragraph, she takes on the “new state of emergency” and expresses concern that “emergency regulations are very broad and may further expand the role of the military in civilian functions.” Then the sting, “the Office will be closely monitoring their application.”
There you have it. The monitoring of the application of Emergency Regulations is now on the UNHRC radar. It is not that UNHRC is going to crash the sky down on the Rajapaksa presidency, but so long as the Sri Lankan file remains open in Geneva the list of charges and indictments against the Rajapaksa government will keep growing. The Commissioner’s statement lists all the recent transgressions of the government in addition to declaring Emergency Rule.
The highlights include excessive force on peaceful protesters, and their arrests and detention in quarantine centres; continuing deaths in police custody besides torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials; the suspension of the case against former Navy commander Wasantha Karannagoda for the enforced disappearances of 11 men in 2008 and 2009; and the Presidential pardon of Duminda Silva, who was convicted for murder.
The unenviable task of defending the indefensible fell to the new Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Prof. GL Peiris (PGLP), who has returned to his old portfolio after a ragged stint as Minister of Education. He had little to say about the current goings-on and not too much to say about the positive achievements of the government. He of course rejected the suggestion of any “external mechanism to investigate issues in Sri Lanka.”
There may never come a time when an external mechanism gets established in Sri Lanka. But talking about it will never end until Sri Lanka has a government that finds the will and resources to put its own house of disorder into order. If there has been any lingering illusion that the present government may yet rise up to this task, that was blown away, yet again, by the thuggish antics of State Minister Lohan Ratwatte in the Anuradhapura Prisons.
Apparently, he held the portfolio for Prison Reforms and Prisoners Rehabilitation, and Gem and Jewellery Industries – a very ‘methodical’ (the term President GR has used to explain the logic behind his cabinet assignments) combination of duties. After the Anuradhapura fiasco, Mr. Ratwatte remains State Minister of Gem and Jewelry Related Industries, minus Prison Reforms and Prisoners Rehabilitation. He half-resigned after Anuradhapura and the President accepted the half-resignation without fully firing him. Talk about domestic mechanisms!
Mastermind and the Scapegoat
Not surprisingly, the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings have also become a permanent item of concern for the UNHRC. The Commissioner expressed solidarity with the victims and religious leaders and their cry for truth, justice, and full accounting for the tragedy. She also expressed the Commission’s deep concern about the prolonged detention without trial of Lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah (now over 16 months) under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Similarly, Ahnaf Jazeem, a teacher and poet, has been detained, also without trial since May 2020.
The case of Lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah has been on UNHRC’s radar for some time. And the Sri Lankan government took note of it and referred to it during a media briefing in Colombo, on September 10, by Defence Secretary, General Kamal Gunaratne. The briefing became a headlined story and General Gunaratne reportedly appeared at the briefing “flanked by Navy Chief VA Nishantha Ulugetenne and IGP C.D. Wickramaratne.” The principal purpose of the meeting was to ‘decry’ alleged efforts by interested parties to implicate the President in the Easter bombings.
Towards the end of the briefing, General Gunaratne brought up the arrest of Lawyer Hizbullah and the fact that “the Lawyer’s arrest had been raised at the highest level at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council.” He went on to assert that “in spite of representations made to the UNHRC on behalf of the lawyer, they had irrefutable evidence regarding the detainee’s involvement in Easter carnage.” The question is if there is even plausible, let alone irrefutable, evidence why could not Mr. Hizbullah be put on trial?
Those who follow this matter in Sri Lanka and quite passionately outside Sri Lanka say that there is not even a shred of evidence against Mr. Hizbullah. And government lawyers in the Attorney General’s Department have lately gone quiet on the matter. Earlier one of them even described Mr. Hizbullah as a behind-the-scenes terrorist operator during a court hearing. If government lawyers could be so unkindly indifferent to the plight of one of their colleagues and a lawyer of some repute, what fairness could others expect from their system of justice.
To be clear, the reason why Defence Secretary General Gunaratne brought up the arrest of Hizbullah at the media briefing likely has nothing to do with prosecuting the long detained lawyer. It also may not have been intended as a rebuke to the UNHRC. A plausible, not necessarily irrefutable, reason could be that he wanted to prop up the detained lawyer as a scapegoat for Easter bombings to divert attention from the gossipy search for the ‘real’ mastermind behind it.
The attempted diversion would seem to have backfired. You cannot scapegoat Lawyer Hizbullah any worse than he has been hurt so far. But the tag of mastermind may have escaped the gossipy underworld and got stuck in the respectable public domain. To be fair, General Gunaratne did not use the term ‘mastermind’; other Rajapaksa supporters did, but only to ‘decry’, just as the General did, the mastermind allegation that was mostly social media gossip. Not anymore. And no one can ask for proof of any kind, since the government itself is not interested in proving or disproving anything about the Easter bombings. But for His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith.
How far the Cardinal will go in his search for truth and accountability for the Easter carnage is not a matter for mortal minds. He seems to have indicated that he is prepared to go to Geneva via the Vatican. And he has demonstrated to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa that a Sri Lankan Head of Government or State can go to Italy, or Rome, or New York, as much as they want, but to visit the Vatican, they will need a visa from the Church in Sri Lanka. But there is more than a stroke of irony in the Cardinal’s search for truth and accountability through the western medium of Human Rights.
“Monavada me manawa himikam (What are these human rights)?,” Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith haughtily asked in a sermon at St. Matthew’s Church, Ekala, in September 2018, as the Journalist Sanjeewa Fernando has poignantly reminded us (Daily Mirror, 15 September 21). I wrote about it then, with a 1948 picture of Elanor Roosevelt holding the English version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, because the Cardinal’s sermon and reports about it hit Sri Lanka when the UN was celebrating the 70th anniversary of the universal declaration. This was also when Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mangala Samaraweera were being savaged by nationalists for co-sponsoring the infamous UNHRC Resolution 30/01 in Geneva. Now no one asks, what are these human rights? If at all, the question might be, who are you to ask?
Letter Politics
Resolution 30/01 has now grown to Resolution 46/01 and the ‘progress’ in between has been less than a handful going by what Minister Peiris listed as his government’s achievements in his address to UNHRC. Included in his list are the work of agencies that were established through the efforts of the late Mangala Samaraweera in the face of opposition by the SLPP and others. Despite earlier threats to dismantling these agencies (The Office on Missing Persons (OMP), The Office for Reparations (OR), and The Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), the government is now taking credit for their work. But UNHRC resolutions are not going to end and what has become a bi-annual UN audit on the government is likely to continue indefinitely. The government’s frustrations are obvious even though it has far worse things to worry about.
There is also growing frustration of a different kind in Tamil political circles and that seems to have been the trigger behind the recent letter politics involving Tamil MPs and ex-MPs. In a matter of weeks, three letters are reported to have been sent to High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet – all three letters reportedly dealing with developments in Sri Lanka affecting the Tamils after the Commission’s March 2021 Resolution 46/01. And all three letters have been sent by people associated with the TNA, with the sole exception of CV Wigneswaran, the former Chief Minister and now MP, who is no longer with the TNA. He reportedly signed the first letter along with six current and former MPs belonging to TELO and PLOTE organizations.
TELO and PLOTE are the smaller constituent parties of the TNA along with the dominant ITAK (aka Federal Party), and the purpose of the first letter was to pre-empt a letter that was to be sent on behalf of the TNA and was being prepared by TNA leader R. Sampanthan. The TNA leadership was obviously miffed by being upstaged by its smaller partners, and eventually sent its own letter under Mr. Sampanthan’s singular signature. The tamasha did not end with it. A rogue third letter was also sent allegedly by nine dissidents – all belonging to Mr. Sampanthan’s ITAK organization, who took exception to the TNA leader quoting (in his letter) a UN Experts Panel report that associated not only the Government of Sri Lanka but also the LTTE with potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It might be more challenging to keep pace with the egotistical, if not petty, goings-on in the world of Sri Lankan Tamil politics than to monitor the human rights violations of the government of Sri Lanka. Even the UNHRC will be constrained to focus on the latter and ignore the former. The irony is that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka may have become a permanently self-sustaining matter for the UNHRC in Geneva. And it will likely keep running its course, with resolution after resolution, even if there is no corresponding change on the ground in Sri Lanka. And nothing can change in Sri Lanka with a government that is increasingly going wayward, on the one hand, and with Tamil political leaders, on the other hand, who can do nothing more than write competing but redundant letters.
Eagle Eye / September 19, 2021
“Not surprisingly, the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings have also become a permanent item of concern for the UNHRC.”
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Surprisingly bombings and chopping civilians into pieces by LTTE Tamil terrorists never became an item of concern for the UNHRC. What UNHRC did was turning the whole thing upside down. They turned the real victims of Tamil terrorists (Native Sinhalayo) to aggressors and the aggressors who declared war against Sinhala nation (Tamils) to victims. The International community accepted that. What a funny world!
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leelagemalli / September 19, 2021
BP EE,
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You can come with the same OLD baila record again and again, but TRUE nature of Rajapakshes are exposing to entire world today. Looking at that, I can be happy our stupid people to have voted for them.
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No doubt he is SILLY speech going to be before UN assembly day after tmorrow,, the bugger et al will perhaps have to commit suicide sooner than later. How can the bugger et al see in the eyes of people today ? Leadership s enability to protec t the people costed the land over 11000 lives during the last 6 weeks.
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Not even petty issues such as distribution of free granted JABs has become a big work to Nandasena today. Shying Nandasena did not come out his asylum camp (Janathipathi mandiraya – Presidential secretariat/Office) all these weeks until he left the country for NY day before y day; even if only setbacks were reported in his govt.
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nimal fernando / September 20, 2021
Sisyphus is happy because he has accepted the punishment assigned to him. Sisyphus understands that he has to roll the boulder up, and when he achieves this goal while standing at the top of the hill he experiences happiness, momentary happiness. He looks forward to this happiness.
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“One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
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EE, are you happy?
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Dinuk / September 20, 2021
Arresting the wrong Hizbullah after the Buddhist monks protested is part of the cover up of the fact that it was M.L.M Hizbullah who works with both UNP and SLFP/PP who is the foreign asset behind the Easter operation in Sri Lanka. M.L.M HIzbulla is the person who know the foreign funders and designers of the Easter attacks – a US Special Forces with Saudi funds and networks project.
It is M.L.M Hizbullah or Kathankudi, the same town as Zaharan who should have been arrested. This is a Tale of 2 Hizbullas!
The Sri Lankan CID is still being played by external actors. Arresting Hijaz Hizbulla is part of the cover up operation of the foreign hands behind the Easter attacks which were funded by Saudi Arabia the CIA’s cats’ paw for militant Wahabi-Salafi Islam.
M.L.M Hizbullah had poliical cover from Ranil Wickramashinghe, and the Rajapakse’s and got huge amounts for the so called Sharia University with Rishard Bathudeen to destroy WIlpattu for the CIA backed Saudi-ISIS operation to take over the East and West coasts of Sri Lanka for US lily pad bases in the Indian Ocean to do surveillance of the Indian Ocean from Sri Lanka. This project that was also part of Millennium Challenge COrporation (MCC) project is still ongoing. Kerawalapitiay power plant sold to US firms, and the road to US surveillance operation in Iranavilla being constructed etc.
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nimal fernando / September 20, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alhGqH3cYgA
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Who is to blame? Shall we blame Rambo?
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Any, pain is pleasure people ……… into Bad-Faith?
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Dinuk / September 19, 2021
Mr.Phillips, Have you heard of the word LAWFARE? The process whereby law and justice is turned against itself for Realpolitik.
This is what is happening in UNHRC. Please read the book “ISIS is US: the Shocking Truth Behind the Army of Terror” by Wayne Madson et al. UNHCR is part of the cover up operation of the fact that US and Saudi was behind the ISIS claimed Easter Attacks to get a military base in Lanka purpotedly to fight ISIS but that plan backfired because of the Cardinal saying that it was staged by Superpower that sells weapons all over the world.
It was M.L.M Hizbullah former Governor of the Eastern Province who partnered with and protected Zaharan and NTJ., Hizbullah was funded by Saudi and he passed on the funds to Zaharan and Co and met with Saudi embassy representatives soon after the Easter 2019 attacks at a hotel in Passikudha before they got on the plane.
US is using the UNHRC stick to get the Rajapakse Borthers to keep the cover on their ISIS operation. FBI removed the Suicide Bombers phones to conceal evidence after going to Lanka to “help with the investiations”
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Eagle Eye / September 19, 2021
“The Commissioner expressed solidarity with the victims…”
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Did any of the UNHRC Commissioners expressed solidarity with Sinhala Buddhists who were the real victims of LTTE Tamil terrorists?
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old codger / September 19, 2021
Eagle,
“Did any of the UNHRC Commissioners expressed solidarity with Sinhala Buddhists who were the real victims of LTTE Tamil terrorists?”
Why do people who live in Canada worry so much about Sinhalayo?
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Eagle Eye / September 20, 2021
old codger,
“Why do people who live in Canada worry so much about Sinhalayo?”
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Why Tamils who live in USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, India worry so much about Demalu in Sinhale/Sri Lanka?
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leelagemalli / September 20, 2021
Oc, as repeatedly added that has nothing to with sinhalayas, but the pathology of this slave. Aiyoooooo☹☹☹☹☹☹🐃🐃🐃
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Eagle Eye / September 19, 2021
“…and their cry for truth, justice, and full accounting for the tragedy.”
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In case of the victims of LTTE Tamil terrorism, UNHRC did not have to bother about truth, justice, and full accounting for the atrocities committed against Sinhala Buddhists because they did not make a hue and cry like the victims of Easter Sunday terrorist attacks by Muslims.
Although Sinhala Buddhists did not make a hue and cry, Tamils who were the aggressors started making a hue and cry asking for truth, justice and accountability soon after the elimination of Tamil terrorists. Therefore, UNHRC paid attention to their side of the story.
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If Sinhalayo asked for commissions to each and every attack carried out by Tamil terrorists, the number of commissions could have run into several hundreds.
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Eagle Eye / September 19, 2021
“If government lawyers could be so unkindly indifferent to the plight of one of their colleagues and a lawyer of some repute, what fairness could others expect from their system of justice.”
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Is there a law saying that lawyers cannot become terrorists?
So, do you expect lawyers to be sympathetic when a lawyer commits a crime?
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Eagle Eye / September 19, 2021
“But UNHRC resolutions are not going to end and what has become a bi-annual UN audit on the government is likely to continue indefinitely.”
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Thanks to racist separatist Tamil politicians who passed Vadukkodei Resolution to create a separate State for the Dravidians who came to Yapanaya to work for Portuguese and Dutch, declared war against Native Sinhalayo and promoted Tamil terrorists.
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Ajith / September 19, 2021
Eagle,
I appreciate your courage and will to stand for Sinhalayo (sorry they are not native) thuggerism and brutality with lies and fake theories for long even without a single Sinhalese support.
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old codger / September 19, 2021
“Monavada me manawa himikam (What are these human rights)?,” Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith haughtily asked in a sermon at St. Matthew’s Church, Ekala, in September 2018,”
It’s painfully obvious now, that this allegedly wise prelate, along with many allegedly wise Hamudurwos, were taken for a bloody good ride by the Rajapaksas, along with 69 lakhs of their followers.
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leelagemalli / September 20, 2021
Oc, but their Rev MR was too soft, he could get the criminals , I mean Rajapakshes promised, but he didn’t do so is a greater failure
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 19, 2021
Native Sinhalayo? Who are they ? When did they become native? The vast overshelming majority of them are descended largely from South Indian, that too Tamil and some North Indian immigrants. Even the so called Sinhalese DNA reveals this story. 70% DNA is Indian Tamil, 25% DNA is Bengali and only 5% contribution for the indengenous Vedda. The Sinhalese language may have evolved in the island but it evolved again from three Indian languages, Pali, Sanskrit and Tamil. Out of these three only Tamil belongs to the island and to the region, the rest are from the plains of Northern India. Nothing native about this. The Sinhalese culture is Indian, Buddhism is Indian so where is the native culture?
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 19, 2021
The island from ancient time was divided into Sinhalese and Tamil parts and even your anti Tamil fairy tale Mahavamsa constantly talks about Tamil lands to the north and east of the island. It was ruled by both Sinhaese and Tamil kings and by the 10TH century the Tamil lands became a separate kingdom. Meaning the Sinhalese never had any control of the island’s Tamil lands from ancient times until the British handed the power to them in 1948. So where is this fairy tale about the whole island being the land of the Sinhalese, when in reality it was not until the British gave them the entire island in 1948. They had no right to have done that without the Tamil people’s permission. Treated us like some slaves or vassals. You could have called the island a Sinhalese island, if prior to the arrival of European colonial powers the entire island was Sinhalese and the Sinhalese were ruling the whole Island. They were not and even the two so called Sinhalese kingdoms had kings who were of Tamil ancestry. The third kingdom was Tamil ruled by a Tamil king. Get your facts correctm before posting the same rubbish again and again.
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GATAM / September 20, 2021
EE,
Why do you always stop thinking beyond a point?
You KNOW about them very well but you still want to live under one roof with them! How greedy is that!
If you believe greed breeds misery (Buddha) you know the solution.
Can you understand that?
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GATAM / September 19, 2021
The military will not change. The governments will not change. These are facts.
If we want peace the only way is to split the island into 3 mono ethnic nations and relocating people.
Until then the merry-go-round will continue. Don’t forget some will profit from all these and some others will fulfill their crazy desires too. (And people don’t care at all. They have their own problems.)
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 19, 2021
Gatam, there are only two ethnicities in the island. Sinhalese and Tamil. Three ethnicities if you count the Veddah. The Muslims are ethnically Tamil. The identity is religious and not ethnic. They have a right to be separate from the HIndu and Christian Tamils if they want to be, just like the Slavic originally Serbian Muslims of Bosnia but this difference is based on their religion and not on their ethnicity or origin, as it is the same as the Tamils. A little bit of Arab amongst a few hundred Sri Lankan Muslim families, out of a population of 2 million Sri Lankan Muslims cannot be used to claim a separate western Asian or other origin for the Sri Lankan Muslims, as more than 95% of them are of Dravidian Tamil origin and even the so called 5% with some Arab in them are aroudn 75-80% Dravidian Tamil by ancestry.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 19, 2021
Further historically the island had only Sinhalese and Tamil nations. There was no Islamic of Muslim nation. They arrived from South India a few centuries ago and lived originally amongst the Eelam Tamil nation, largely along the north west coast and then after the arrival of the Portuguese amongst the Sinhalese and Eelam Tamil nations. This idea to claim an Islamic nation only in the Tamil areas, where 28% of the island’s Muslims live and share the same language and ethnicty as the Tamils was a deliberate ploy by the Sinhalese Sri Lankan state to muddy the waters and deny the Tamils justice. Also to steal as much as land as possible from the Tamils, This is aided and abetted by certain hardling local as well as foreign Islamic groups and nations. We do not want another South Asian Afghanistan or Pakistan, for pretend Arab South Indian Dravidian Tamil converted to Islam, carved from ancient Tamil Hindu land, especially when there was never one
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Eagle Eye / September 20, 2021
Siva Sankaran Sharma,
“Further historically the island had only Sinhalese and Tamil nations.”
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Historically Sinhale had native Sinhalayo, Vedda Eththo and Dravida invaders from Hindusthan called ‘Demala’. There was no such group called Tamils in Sinhale until British used that term in 1911 census report because Demalu did not like the term ‘Malabar’ that colonial rulers used for them.
You should get your facts right.
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GATAM / September 20, 2021
SSS,
That is chauvinism and that is root cause of all problems.
There are 3 ethnic groups. Muslims are a distinct and separate ethnic group. All 3 needs a nation each. Until we accept and respect others’ equitable rights, riots, war crimes, human rights abuses, etc. will continue. (And some will profit from them.)
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 20, 2021
There is nothing chauvanistic about stating the truth. The Sri Lankan Muslims are not a separte ethnic group but descended from largely low caste immigrant Indian Tamil Hundus, who coverted to Islam and migrated to the island a few centuries ago. Now for political and economic benefits, using their religion and a little bit of Arab that a few families have to claim a different ethnicity. To justify this now deliberately discarding their Tamil Islamic culture that they had broght with them from their original South Indian homeland and Arabising themselves. Their parent population in Tamil Nadu prouldly call and identify themselves as Tamils. Like the former Indian president Dr. Abdul Kalam or the famour Indian musician and composer AR Rahuman. However their direct descendants who have crossed the sea and moved 20 miles south and deny this and claim to be Arab. DNA tests have also proved that there is far below average Arab or any other heritagte amongst the Sri Lankan Muslims and they are genetically the same as the Sinhalese and Tamils, who are all the same as the South Indian Dravidians, including the Tamil Muslims of Tamil Nadu.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 20, 2021
. The British and later the Sinhalese to deliberately divide and rule the Tamils, encouraged this fake Arab myth. You have a right to live in freedom and with equal rights but have no right for a separate homeland, especially only in the Tamil areas , where you arrived as refugees a few centuries ago fleeing Portuguese persecution. Arrive and claim refuge, in the Tamil east as fellow Tamils, begging for your life, was taken pity as fellow Tamils and was given land and even Hindu Tamil Mukkuva women to marry and now trying to steal and claim the land of the people who took pity on you and gave you refuge, all in the name of Islam and a fake imagined Arab origin. A few hundred Arabs over a span of a few centuries, of whom only a few would have taken local Tamil comfort women, would not have produced 6 million Tamil Muslims in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. stop posting your Islamic rubbish.
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Jaffna Man / September 19, 2021
Thank you for this article.
Even as the AG’s Dept. practically drops all charges against my lawyer Hejaaz Huzbulla for lack of evidence, the same dropped matters are being raised in Sri Lanka Gurdian today.
The founder editor of the SL Guardian is the idealistic Nilantha Ilangamuwa who has given up the editorship and works in the port . After I wrote him a reference for that job, I thought the LG was defunct until I was alerted about the dishonest article today. Apparently I am an editor. Nilantha asked me to join the Board nearly 10 years ago. I am not consulted on anything. Other Board Members are not consulted. I was told nothing of the new editor whose name I saw for the first time today. I therfore believe his appointment to be fraudulent or improper.
. I believe that because Hejaaz’s name figures prominently at Geneva, moves are afoot to continue to blacken his name by taking over the baton as the AG’s attempts are miserably failing. We will see this continuing, I bet, till the current Geneva sessions are over.
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2021
Jaffna Man
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Sri Lanka Gurdian has changed considerably somewhat from a middle of the road media to a right wing propaganda organ for quite some time. A liberal media has now been changed into a Sinhala/Buddhist fascist supporting campaigning organ.
Lost its senses of right and wrong, lost its direction, …. and its purpose.
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Ajay Sundara Devan / September 19, 2021
These Tamil MPs and ex-MPs couldn’t open their mouths when Prabhakaran violated the human rights of the Tamil people and committed war crimes against them on even a larger scale than the Sri Lankan government. How dare some of these letter writers object to the inclusion of LTTE war crimes in the UNHRC probe? These fellows are of the same caliber as Weerawansa, Gammanpila, Rev. Ghandasara, Lohan Ratwatte et al.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 19, 2021
The LTTE are no saints but to state they violated and committed war crimes against the Tamil people on a much larger sale than the Sri Lankan government is utter rubbish and lies . Even as per Sri Lankan government statistics, the LTTE killed around 3000 civilians, Sinhalese, Tamil and Tamil Muslims and many of these so called civilians were not even civilians but government para militaries and thughs, who were masquareding as civilians, especially amongst the Sinhalese and Muslims. Compare this to the over 1 million Eelam Tamils chased away from the island by the Sri Lankan state and over 300000 innocent Tamil civilians, around 145000 in May 2009, alone killed by the Sri Lankan state and armed forces on the pretext of fighting the LTTE. You must be joking. The LTTE did commit war crimes but not to the scale of the Sri Lankan state. However objecting to their inclusion in the UNHRC probe is a joke. All wrong doings both by the Sri Lankan state and the LTTE should be probed and the culprits punished. However the funny part is the surviving LTTE stalwarts are all now in the Rajapakse camp. Sinhalese and Tamil war criminals and rogues.
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Dayan / September 20, 2021
@Ajay Sundara Devan – Can you explain how you measure the Human Rights to a measurable numeric scale.. I am quite confused with your comment ‘committed war crimes against them on even a larger scale than the Sri Lankan government’. In terms of number of incidents and gravity of the incidents I am pretty sure SL forces will be on the forefront or in par with the militant group. But to proof the case we need impartial inquiry which we are saying to the world not required because we haven’t commit any or our own system will take care of it (but not sure who that protection for)
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Captain Morgan / September 19, 2021
Why should anyone insist that the Tamil parties in Sri Lanka should write only one letter to the UNHRC about the problems of Tamils? In practice, every one of these letters can be treated as corroborating the issues raised by the other letters.
So many fundamental rights applications were made to the Supreme Court at various times for various reasons. In most of these cases there were several petitioners, sometimes more than ten, who raised objections based on similar grounds and nobody considered that unusual. So let us look at the matter of Tamil parties writing to the UNHRC the same way. Let a thousand flowers bloom, why should there be only one?
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Captain Morgan / September 19, 2021
“After the Anuradhapura fiasco, Mr. Ratwatte remains State Minister of Gem and Jewelry Related Industries, minus Prison Reforms and Prisoners Rehabilitation. He half-resigned after Anuradhapura and the President accepted the half-resignation without fully firing him. Talk about domestic mechanisms!”
Sri Lanka after gaining independence has always been considered a land like no other, and the president’s acceptance of a half-resignation is another happening that confirms this truism.
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Ajith / September 19, 2021
If we ask a question, What is the outcome of Independence of Sri Lanka or handing of power by British to Sri Lankans from Ceylonese?
During British Ceylon was a united country of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims but after the so called In dependence Sri Lanka this country is now divided into many dimensions. Sinhalese divided into two or more political parties(West sponsored, East sponsored), Tamils divided into many political parties (India sponsored), Muslims divided into many political parties (Arab sponsored) fighting each other. Now West, East, India, Arabs) fight directly fight for control of this island.
The country became poor and poor and we are running around UNHRC, USA,UK and China begging the world.
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Eagle Eye / September 19, 2021
Ajith,
“During British Ceylon was a united country of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims but after the so called In dependence Sri Lanka this country is now divided into many dimensions.”
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Before British left Ceylon, they divided the people in this country and created the environment for them to fight with each other after they leave. Main division was created between Native Sinhalayo and Tamils. Probably, British who elevated V Tamils to the most privileged community in Ceylon persuaded them to demand a Federal System/separate State after they hand over the country that they took from Sinhalayo in 1815.
SJV Chelvanayakam who came to Ceylon from Malaya during British rule formed the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (toned down as Federal Party in English) in 1949 which had as its hidden agenda the establishment of a separate state. That is where the problem started.
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Punchi Point / September 19, 2021
Silonese = Sinhalese
Malabars = Tamils
This was the terminology in the beginning of British rule. Ceylonese was used for the Sinhalese and Malabars for the Tamils, Moor/Mohamadans for the Muslims. Later on everybody here including the Tamils, Muslims and the Burghers were called Ceylonese, a name they actually have no right to, as Ceylonese simply means Sinhalese.
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Pandi Kutti / September 20, 2021
Stop lying the Portuguese and Dutch called the Chingkallams Siamese and not Silonese. You are and out and out racist . They called the Thamizh Malbars, as they were ruling the Malabar areas, modern day Kerala, and the Eezham Thamizh are geenrally similar to them in their culture and religion and at that time the Malbar region ( Kerala) was also speaking a form of Thamizh. Now Chingkalla Buddhist Fascists are trying to create fake history ,
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GATAM / September 20, 2021
PP,
Only Kerala Malabar coast people (Jaffna Tamils) were called Malabars. Others were called Mukkuvars and Tamils. That was until 1911. A new ethnic grouping was invented in 1911 called Ceylon Tamils.
Thesawalami law applies to Malabar coast people only, not to other Tamils. Read the Ordinanace please.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 20, 2021
The term “Malabar” was the common but improper name applied by Europeans prior to the 20th Century to the Tamils of Ceylon. Just like the term Siamese was used by the Portuguese to describe the Sinhalese and Moors to describe all South Asian Muslims, including the Sri Lankan Tamil Muslims. This means as per you Sinhalese are Siamese. Tamils are the ancestors of the Malayalis or Malabari and not the other way around. The confusion arose, as the Portuguese and Dutch colonised Kerala and the Malabari were so similart to the Tamils and even speaking more or less the same language. The is enough and more historical evidence, including the existance of Tamil kingdoms and chiefdoms from ancient time to prove Tamils have been living in the island long before a people called Sinhalese evolved. Now Sinhalese racists and fake Arab South Indian origin Islamic extremists are creating new stories to justify the stealing of Tamil lands. Mukkuva are a caste amongst the Tamils and are the predominants caste in east Sri Lanka, in the north the predominant caste is Vellalar.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 20, 2021
Thesavalamai is the law of the former Tamil Jaffna kingdom , just like the Kandyal law is the law of the former Kandyan kingdom. This law was codified by the Dutch and applies to all Hindu and Christian Tamils who are native to the northern province, which was the core territory of the Jaffna kingdom. The eastern Trincomalee and the north west Puttalam/Chilaw areas were condidered outlaying areas and not part of the core territory. It applies to any Tamil originatign from the northern province, with regards to their personal, property inheritance and marriage. It does not apply to the Muslims from the north as their considered not native but aliens from South India. In the east Tamils come under the Hindu Mukkuva law, but this is not codified.
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Rohan25 / September 20, 2021
Silonese! From where did you get this rubbish from. The Portuguese described the Sinhalese as Siamese most probably because they were Buddhist like the Siamese. The Tamils as Malabars,as the Sri Lankan Tamils in a lot of ways are still very similar to the population in Kerala, that the Portuguese invaded, than to Tamil Nadu. The culture, food, religion, the way the homes were built and also at thet time Kerala was speaking Tamil or at least a form of Tamil. They called the Muslims or Tamil Muslims as Moors, a term that they used for all South Asian Muslims, not only the Sri Lankan, as the only Muslims they had encountered prior to their travels, where the Moors from North Africa, who ruled the Iberian penisula for over 1000 years. This term ” Moor” was used very derogatively and other than the Sri Lankan Tamil Muslims, all other South Asian Muslims discarded this derogative term immediately, as they were neither Moors and did not want to be called by a derogative name. All these three names were incorrect. The Sinhalese were not Siamese, the Tamils were not Malabars and were far older and the Malabars descended from the Tamils and not the other way around.
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Ajith / September 19, 2021
Once you have gone into UNHRC it is not possible to come out of it because UN is a place for super powers to play with resolutions to make the small vulnerable countries to suffer politically, socially and economically. The super powers have veto power in the security councils. The small vulnerable countries depend on them for their survival. For example, USA had a group of countries and China has a group of countries. The UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka is supported by the West lead by USA and Opposed by China lead group. Either USA or China do not interested in human rights of Sri Lanka. They want to keep Sri Lanka under their control. As long as the internal problems are solved it will continue. The resolution is not in support of Tamils or Sinhalese. There is nothing about Tamils in the resolution. It is about human rights only because Tamils have no powers in governing the nation. It is UNP/SJB (West)and SLFP/SLPP (China) are the dominant factors. Sri Lanka depends on both West and East. Unless there is a necessity, the West or East will not support Tamils. If the country false fully with China, then there is a necessity to India or West to create a separate country.
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Eagle Eye / September 19, 2021
Ajith,
“Once you have gone into UNHRC it is not possible to come out of it because UN is a place for super powers to play with resolutions to make the small vulnerable countries to suffer politically, socially and economically.”
—-
Sri Lanka did not go to UNHRC. Sri Lanka was dragged into UNHRC by a group of people who had vested interests because Tamils started the war against Native Sinhalayo after passing Vaddukkodei Resolution to create a separate State by grabbing land in the NE. So, Tamils should take the responsibility for what Sri Lanka is going through at UNHRC facing war crimes and crimes against humanity charges fabricated by Tamils.
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leelagemalli / September 20, 2021
EE bp,
U always touch the other end. If SL never goes to UNHRC, did they come to us? In fact ur masters are the ones to blame for violating basic human rights in the country today, leaving space them as reasons in involving internal issues. Decent good governance govt save their bums however it has become similar to the bull entered to porcelain house. These men who are in leadership should be in jails but u the kinda punnaku drinkers trust ed them. Now the entire nation is in a lurch. ☹☹☹☹🐃🐃🐃🐃☹☹
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Black Lankan / September 19, 2021
Eagle alias Blind Goon, I thought you were taken to Italy to hold placard to welcome Mama before he proceeded to San Marino bank to deposi some more. He needs absolute morons like you to exploit the 6.9 million fools. Umbatta bath parcel hambaunada?
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leelagemalli / September 20, 2021
Bl,
If he was taken to Italy, surely ended up being caught by those furious protesters and will have to face it no doubt. Thanks god he has nt joined the dogs in that mission. ☹🐃😡
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Eagle Eye / September 19, 2021
“The second development is more hilarious than serious, and it is about competing letters that are reported to have been sent to the High Commissioner by Tamil political personas.”
—-
In a letter sent by Tamil politicians they had wrote:
“Under the guise of “development projects,” government – driven Sinhalese – Buddhist colonization (settlements) is growing in traditional Tamil areas with the intent to change the demography and deny Tamil people access to their lands.”
“Acquiring Tamil archaeological sites and installing Buddhist monuments to claim those places as Sinhala Buddhist historical sites is cultural genocide indeed! The original inhabitants of this Island from over 2000 years were Tamil speaking. There was no Sinhala language until the 6th or 7th century AD. Those who welcomed Buddhism into the Island were Tamil speaking people. Yet the Lands are claimed as belonging to Sinhala Buddhists.”
—-
What a load of rubbish! Yet, Michelle Bachelet who does not know the history of Sinhale, the Land of Sinhalayo and Vedda Eththo might believe this rubbish from people who came from Hindusthan and settled down in Sinhale after 12th Century.
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Pandi Kutti / September 20, 2021
It is not a load of rubbish but the truth. The Veddah migrated to the island from the South Indian mainland prehistorically, when the island was linked to India. then came the Proto or Semi Thamizh speaking Dravidian tribes like the Naga and the Yakka. It is these people who gave the island its ancient Thamizh names that are still used today in different forms. Cheran Theeve meaning the island of the Chera or Naga. Serendib originated from this word. Chingkallam meaning the red or copper coloured land, that got Prakritised to Sinhala I presume Ceylon. Ilangu or Ilanku meaning shining or resplendent in old Thamizh from which the work Lanka originated. In Thamizh we still say Ilankai. Taprobane from the river Thamaraparni that flow in Southern Thamizh Nadu and empties at the Gulf of Mannar . Thamiram means red or copper both in Thamizh and Sanskrit. Parani meaning leaf/tree . This means river of red leaves. Meaning lotus. Thamarai. This became Tambapanni”, “Tamradvipa in Pali /Sanskrit and Taprobane in Greek.
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Pandi Kutti / September 20, 2021
It was these native Thamizh largely Yakka in the southern, central and western parts of the island, who converted to Buddhism and gradually evolved as the Chingkallams around the 7-8AD. They are the original Chingkallams . The Naga did not convert much to Buddhism or converted and reconverted back to Saivaism, therefor retained their Thamizh identity and became the Eezham Thamizh. This is why the Eezham Thamizh and the original Chingkallams, especially from the interior Kandyan areas are very closely related, as they are one and the same people, who now have two different identities, due to the arrival of Buddhism. Later both people got mixed with other immigrants from India. Again largely from the Thamizh country but many from North India too. Due to the arrival of Buddhism and large scale conversion to Buddhism down south, the population there got Prakritized and mixed their Thamizh dialect Elu with the Pali and Sanskrit of Buddhism and Chingkallam evolved. The King who converted to Buddhism, was a Thamizh Naga. Thevanai Nambiya Theesan, son of King Mootha Sivan or great or venerated Siva in pure Thamizh. His title was later Prakritized to Devanaam Piya Tissa, we do not know his original Thamizh name.
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Native Vedda / September 20, 2021
Eagle Blind Eye
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The b***s carrier to Sinhala/Buddhist fascist Udhaya Ganapathipilla Minister of Energy happily twitted he had successfully concluded negotiations on purchase of crude oil on credit facility from Emirate National Oil Company.
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Will he lead mobs in the future to attack Muslims for various reasons, particularly his inadequacy of self pride?
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Lasantha Pethiyagoda / September 19, 2021
Justice delayed is justice denied…time is a critical factor in matters of legal jurisdiction. State power can be used to erase evidence if it so desires, and an international court cannot pass a verdict (implementable or otherwise) without proof of evidence. That is why far greater crimes against humanity than the Easter bombing have never been punished or perpetrators brought to justice.
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leelagemalli / September 20, 2021
LP,
Levels has fallen today as former powerful minister to become the next Ambassador to the US now. Even if MS is seen anti Rajapakshe, his was demanded while the situation is worsening. No doubt Badula Gunawardhana will do the same with Consumer authority next, is it not like a Prof came down to the levels of a phd student? Abudassa kale labuth thiththali? 🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃☹☹☹
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Punchi Point / September 19, 2021
If the UN and human rights were for real, then the Tamils will be granted their right to return to Tamilnadu, and the Tamils who wish can go back to Tamilnadu, while the rest can stay here and live peacefully with the Sinhalese. Its pointless trying to forcibly establish another Tamil state here when there already is one in Tamilnadu, where all Tamils come from. The two state solution the Tamils seek is never ever going to end in peace and prosperity for any of the parties involved. The conflict will only be given a different and more dangerous dimension and the whole island will end up like Israelis and Arabs waging endless wars and conflicts for many generations to come. The UN must take a stand and first of all refer the Tamil vs Sinhalese problem to the International Court of Justice to get a verdict about the validity of the Tamils’ claim for a separate here. Then proceed according to that verdict in the ICJ. Its absolutely pointless beating around the bush, issuing resolution after resolution which never resolves any problem at all for the Tamils or the Sinhalese. Things are only getting worse.
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Pandi Kutti / September 20, 2021
Punchi , why should the Eezham Thamizh return to Thamizh Nadu, when they hardly originate from there? It is the ancestors of the vast majority of the present day Chingkallams and Thullkans who originate from Thamizh Nadu. Both largely from low caste Thamizh Nadu Thamizh. The former migrated and converted to Buddhism and some to Catholicism and became Chingkallams and the later converted to Islam and migrated here and once crossing the sea, change from Thamizh to Arab. You and the rest of the anti Thamizh band can return to Thamizh Nadu or the jungles of Odisha to pay homage to your Lion King ancestor and never come back and the island will be a better place. The island was a two state until the British for their own convenience made it a one state and then handed power only to a racist Chingkalla majority, who do not know how to govern and created all this mess. Do not blame it on the Thamizh. As if there is properity now. Just living on borrowed money and loans and most of the population wallowing in poverty. This is not a Chingkalla Buddhist land, was never. Large parts of it was Thamizh and Hindu. Now thanks to the British, the Chingkallams are trying to convert the island to a Chingkalla Buddhist Fascist land, with fake history.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 20, 2021
Why should the Sri Lankan or Eelam Tamils return to Tamil Nadu, when it is the ancestors of the vast majority of the Sinhalese, both low and high born, who originate from Tamil Nadu. DNA proves this. Sinhalese share 70% DNA with Indian Tamils, Sri Lankan Tamils only 17% DNA with them. It is a recorded fact that around 50% of the present day Sinhalese are directly descended from immigrants from Tamil Nadu and then Tamil Kerala, who only migrated to the island during the Portuguese. Dutch colonial era. Now their Sinhalised descendants are the biggest anti Tamils, as we recently evidenced the behaviour of a state minister at the Anuradhapura prison. You must be one of them too.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 20, 2021
All Sinhalese led governments since independence have been a danger to the island’s Tamil population and their existance as a people, however this current government led by the Rajapakse brothers and their kith and kin are the most dangerous to the island’s Tamils and now even to the Muslim Tamils. Action needs to be taken to oust them. They are hell bent on making this island only a Sinhalese Buddhist Fascist Ghetto and destroying all traces of island’s ancient Eelam Tamil history civilsation and heritage and is now being aided and abetted by armed forces and many state establishments like the Archeological and Forestry/ Land department, that are now largely manned by Sinhalese Buddhist Fascists. Funny this so called Christian Cardinal who denied and lied to the UN and Vatican about the war crimes and structural genocide on the island’s Tamils, is now dancing up and down and threatening to go the same UN and Vatican, as Sinhalese Catholics have been affected. Protected the racist war criminals as a fellow Sinhalese, not thinking one day the same fate will befall on his minority Sinhalese Catholic communitytoo, at the hands of these racists. The Muslims have realized this too latet, that they were being used as a tool by the Sinhalese to marginalize and discriminate their fellow non Muslim Tamils.
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Rohan25 / September 20, 2021
Good and also take the Sinhalese back to their ancestral homeland Tamil Nadu with them or to LA LA land in Bangaldesh and leave everything to the Veddah. The Sri Lankan Tamils are largely descended from the indigenous Dravidian Naga, who adopted proper Tamil as their mother tongue, around 3000 years ago and were here long before Buddhism arrived or a people called Sinhalese evolved, from the converted local Dravidian Naga.Yakka tribes and other Indian immigrants. Instead of constantly posting lies,rubbish and displaying your racism towards the Tamils, please google and read and post some sense . Many Sinhalese do this but sadly you are not one of them. I wish there were more of them.
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Native Vedda / September 26, 2021
Punchi Point [edited out],
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“If the UN and human rights were for real, then the Tamils will be granted their right to return to Tamilnadu, “
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Good idea.
I support your idea.
Could I also suggest that UN passes an enforceable resolution which demands Tamilnadu to accept all descendants of Kallathonie converts (now identify themselves as being Sinhala/Buddhists).
I will be most grateful.
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Rajash / September 20, 2021
Letter Politics
News about the letter writing tamasha was restricted to the Tamil media, until DBS Jeyaraj brought it out to laugh out loud in the open.
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Is there any harm if more and more letters are sent to UNHTC highlighting the plight of the Tamils?..
…why is it a Tamasha?
——
DBS is another Rajapaksa mercenary
very disappointed with Rajan Phillips trying o make tamash out
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Rajash / September 20, 2021
very disappointed with Rajan Phillips trying o make tanasha out of Tamil genocide
======
Tamils are disunited at every level…and the Sinhalese are exploiting and making joke of it since independence
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Black Lankan / September 20, 2021
Moda Eagle alias HLD, have you come back from Italy after carring the loot to San Marino on your head. By the way now coming to your cooked up SL history, what Sinhala language you are talking of at aroud 600 CE except some verbal communication. Why your Mahavambu in Bali. Why even today Sinahala written language is a mix of pali, sanskrit, Tamil and vedda language. Tell me a single thing that is local to present day sinhalaese be it religion, language, culture, food, dress. By the way you have no business here being a Portuguease with your complexion. How about your masters ethnicity? You are the guys who were converts during tobacco cultivation days. Dont ever mix up buddhsim with sinhala moron. If you know true evolution of Buddhsim in India and its spread south wards then you wont utter such BS. Like the Tamil Nadu Tamil speaking Telungus who ruled SL and later became Tamil speaking Buddhists and then christians and finally Bandas and Nayakas you being a Matara Veddha who inherited Portuguese gene and became a fair complexioned, brown eyed fool and for survival like Bandas and Nayakas gradually pretended to be Sinhala Christians and then Sinhala Buddhists and committing all the possible atrocities, killing the natives and now betraying your same converts like Kasyappa and many others. But now you buggers cant run to TN for help. Blind, read your history first and how long you can go on lying, you are too old.
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Punchi Point / September 20, 2021
Siva/Rohan, Tamils are the exact same people here and in Tamilnadu. If any genetic study found that they are not, then there’s something wrong with the study – no study has ever found that. You are not intelligent/knowledgeable enough to understand that study you keep quoting. That study confirms that the Tamils have no genetic affinity to the Vaeddas. How come? if you have been here from time immemorial, as you claim and descend from the mythical Nagas? Tamil history is very clear about the Tamil territory, and it never included this island. This island was categorized as a country speaking a foreign language called Cinkalam, and the island too was called Cinkalam. FYI, this island is too small and without any natural barriers within it, for all the ethnic and language transformations and evolutions that you describe to happen – in short – if the history you describe for the Tamils happened here, then there would be no Sinhalese, as the space, time and conditions needed for the Sinhalese to evolve would have been taken up by the Tamils. In other words – no two languages can evolve on top of each other, as you think it happened here.
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Punchi Point / September 20, 2021
BTW, you say that the Portuguese called the Sinhalese as Siamese – can you give at least one reference? I have read much of what is written by the Portuguese, but never came across any place where they called the Sinhalese Siamese. BTW The English word Ceylon (Pronounced Silon) is from the Portuguese Ceilao (pronounced Silao). The Portuguese Ceilao is from the Chinese word for Sinhaladvipa, Seng-ka-lo. Words aside – Tamils have absolutely no history here, as your writings prove – if you had a history here, you would not need to take Sinhalese kings whom the Tamils have no connection at all to, and turn them into Tamils by taking Sinhalese words and twisting and turning the words and letters to get a Tamil words out of them – if that’s all the history you have, then you are proving that you have nothing. I really cannot understand why the Tamils are so hung up on this crazy word games and think they can call it history. This is why we need to take all these issues pertaining to the Tamil-Sinhalese conflict up in the UN and the International Court of Justice. Lets see who wins.
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Rohan25 / September 20, 2021
Little brain, google and read proper history instead of repeating the same lies. The Portuguese called the Sinhalese Siamese. Yes the Sinhalese , the Tamils and the Sri Lankan Muslims are the same as the people of Tamil Nadu as they are all are South Indian Dravidians.If there is any Aryan or Arab it is very minimal. The ancestors of the Sri Lankan Tamils arrived here during prehistoric times. An ancient Dravidian spillover from South India. Most of the ancestors of the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Muslims arrived from South India musch later, Half the present day Sinhalese are descended from immigrants from Tamil Nadu who were imported during the Portuguese and Dutch era. Your so called Sinhalese aristocracy are descended either from Tamil speaking Naickers or Tamil Pillais and Mudaliyars and Pandian Tamils from Tamil Nadu. The Muslims arrived here from South India a few centuries ago, most of them during the early British rule.
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Rohan25 / September 20, 2021
The word Chingkallam it self if Tamil and the SInhalese languge is a mixture of proper Tamil, the local Tamil dialect Elu, Pali and Sanskrit. Ot of which only Tamil?Elu belongs to the island and the region and the rest from North India. Arrived here with Buddhism. Therefore what is native about this Sialo and Ceylon is derived from Chingkallam > which became Sinhala and then Sialo Ceylon. Chingkallam has a meaning, its Pali version Sinhala is Jibberish. Sinhalese assimilated more Vedda, however a very large percentage of the eastern Tamils are assimilated Vedda too. Another name for the Dravidian Naga is Chera and this is the reason the island was called Cheran Theevu in ancient times. The Naga were Dravidians and were the elite, originally they spoke a a low /semi/protoTamil dialect called Elu but later adopted proper Tamil as their language , Just like the population in Chera( Naga) Nadu were speaking a low Tamil dialect called Malayalama or Chera Tamil but the elite and rulers spoke proper Tamil. The Yakka were the peasants and spoke semi or low Tamil Elu dialect that mixed with Prakrit, when they converted to Buddhism became Hela or old Sinhalese. Proto Dravidian is old Tamil or Proto Tamil. It is the Tamil language that has retained almost 85% if Proto Dravidian vocabulary and many of its aspects.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / September 20, 2021
Modern Sri Lankan Tamils descend from residents of the Jaffna Kingdom, a former kingdom in the north of Sri Lanka and Vannimai chieftaincies from the east. According to the anthropological and archaeological evidence, Sri Lankan Tamils have a very long history in Sri Lanka and have lived on the island since at least around the 2nd century BCE. The Sri Lankan Tamils are mostly Hindus with a significant Christian population. Sri Lankan Tamil literature on topics including religion and the sciences flourished during the medieval period in the court of the Jaffna Kingdom. Sri Lankan Tamil dialects are noted for their archaism and retention of words not in everyday use in Tamil Nadu, India. 70% of the Sri Lankan Tamils live in the North and East of the island. Stop posting lies and misinformation. Sri Lankan Tamils have been living in the island, long before a people called Malabars or Malayalis originated from the Chera Tamils, or even before a people called Sinhalese and the Sinhalese language evolved. Trying to justify a fake history by using incorrect names used by ignorant European colonials during the 16th and 17th century. They also thought the world was flat and the sun moved around the earth them. This means this is still correct.
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Mahila / September 22, 2021
PP,
Good going to the ICJ, which most governments had avoided deliberately going to allow foreign judicial participation.
Even recently the new Foreign minister has reiterated that external intervention is not required as the Sri Lankan Judicial system is adequate in all respects. Foreign intervention judicially would polarise the situation further!
I read in another article and comment by a prominent subscriber (not sure who, saved in my archives – it was good point), the following,
Quote,
Now everybody is silent, because people feel that they are being attacked by foreign powers. This is what happens when third and fourth parties start meddling in other people’s businesses, even without giving a chance to look into the matter. One of the main reasons for the breakdown of the justice system is this outside element with the ethnic bias. It takes the matters out of the people’s hands and make the people of this country into criminals.
Unquote
Perhaps, ICJ is equally unwelcome, when Hybrid judicial system is unwelcome for transitional justice as claimed by SL government of Maithri/SLPP.
Seemingly to be going round the mulberry bush w/o tangible results for the pat 70+ years. High time we make up our mind!
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old codger / September 20, 2021
PP,
Why does the Mahavamsa record that King Mahasen destroyed 3 Hindu temples, if there were no Tamils here?
Even in the 15th century, Sinhala was not an official language, it isn’t on the Galle trilingual inscription by Zheng Ho. That’s because Veera Alakeshwara, the King, was a Tamil.
Enough of your lies. You can’t even convince yourself.
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kali / September 20, 2021
One Ryed Bandit,
You didnt know Karuna was the only Terrorist who was Pardoned by Gotha and made a minister. Here is something for you ignorant
“The Ceylon Tamils are south Indians who were amongst the first settlers in Sri Lanka who arrived as early as the 5th century BC.
The history of Sri Lanka before 1500 C.E., as recorded in its Great Chronicles, is considered unverifiable and is largely an obscure, confusing, and conflicting set of records about wars, invasions, usurpations, and dynastic rivalries. Beginning with the thirteenth century C.E., Sri Lanka was divided into three major kingdoms: a Tamil kingdom in the north, a Sinhalese kingdom in the southwest, and the kingdom of Kandy in the interior
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Punchi Point / September 20, 2021
Siva/Rohan, I asked you a simple question – could you please provide some references to as which document(s) the Portuguese call Sinhalese as Siamese? No European has ever mistaken Sinhalese for Siamese, all of them considered the Sinhalese as the indigenous people of this island, while all of them considered the Tamils as immigrants from Tamilnadu. There were a couple of early British colonial government officers who speculated that the Sinhalese might originate from Siam (or China, according to a Portuguese tale mentioned in Robert Knox’s book). There’s a huge difference between that and calling and actually considering the Sinhalese to be Siamese. Its like if someone says that humans originate from Chimpanzees, you cannot interpret that as humans are Chimpanzees. Also there’s a huge difference between speculating that the Sinhalese might have originated in Siam and actually stating and categorizing the Tamils in the island to be recent immigrants from Tamilnadu. There’s obviously very little similarity between the Siamese and the Sinhalese, while the Tamils are exactly the same here and in Tamilnadu, one doesn’t have to be rocket scientist to figure where the Tamils came from.
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Punchi Point / September 20, 2021
The British scholars categorized the Tamils as recent immigrants or foreigners because the Tamils themselves said so. The Tamils didn’t have a problem with being immigrants from Tamilnadu then. Even until about the 1920’s Tamils considered that Tamilnadu to be their homeland – now Tamils have all these totally idiotic theories about why Tamils are not from Tamilnadu. FYI All Tamils are recent immigrants from Tamilnadu, you cannot change that.
Here is an excerpt from John Davy, and early British scholar/officer, where he describes the inhabitants of the island:
“The inhabitants of Ceylon may be divided into two great classes: — the aborigines of the country, and foreigners naturalized. The former are the Singalese, the almost exclusive inhabitants of the Interior, and of the south-west parts of the island. The latter are chiefly Malabars and Moors ; — the one, confined principally to the northern and eastern maritime provinces; the other, the Moors, confined to no particular district, but living scattered amongst the people of the country, like the Jews in Europe, whom, in some other respects, they resemble”.
(An Account of the interior of Ceylon and of its Inhabitants, John Davy, 1821, Page 108)
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Punchi Point / September 20, 2021
Here is what Hugh Cleghorn says in his minute of 1799, which the Tamils have taken the first part and fraudulently distorted by dropping the second part:
“Two different nations from a very ancient period, had divided between them the possession of the Island. First the Cingelese inhabiting the interior of the Country, in its Southern and Western parts, from the River Wallowve, to that of Chilow, and secondly the Malabars, who possess the Northern and Eastern Districts. These two nations differ entirely in their Religion, language and manners. The former who are allowed to be the earliest settlers, derive their origin from Siam, professing the ancient religion of that Country, and although they occupy the more mountainous parts of Ceylon, they are by far the most numerous class of its Inhabitants.
The Malabars, have evidently emigrated from the Peninsula of India. They speak the same language. They adopt the same usages, and they follow the same worship as the Malabars of the Coast.”
Please note that by ancient Cleghorn didn’t mean from time immemorial, as he clearly says that the Tamils are immigrants, also he refers to Dutch possessions here as ancient.
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old codger / September 21, 2021
P.P,
“They adopt the same usages, and they follow the same worship as the Malabars of the Coast.”
Ok, produce just one bit of evidence that Malayalam, the language of the Malabar coast, is spoken in Jaffna? It is a fact that even people in Chennai find the Jaffna dialect difficult.
Can’t you make your lies more convincing?
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Pandi Kutti / September 21, 2021
v
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Pandi Kutti / September 21, 2021
Sorry, all these European colonials from the time of the Portuguese to the British have constantly stated and observed one thing. The island was divided into two homelands. The north, east and the north west coast Tamizh and the rest of the island, the south, west, and central interior Chingkallam. The was no Muslim or Islamic homeland and the island’s Muslim population lived and was spread both amongst the Sinhalese and Tamils, as they were a recent immigrant population. As for the rest they were not qualified linguists, historians or anthropologists to take their comments seriously. Just because Chingkalla language evolved in the Southern parts of the island from Thamizh, Pali and Sanskrit and the orignal Chingkalla people evolved from the island’s Dravidian semi/proto Thamizh speaking Yaka and other later immigrants, who converted to Buddhism and the Chingkalla language and ethnicity is not found anywhere else, does not mean they are truly indigenous or aboriginal and the Thamizh speakers of the island, who have a far older history in the island, and were there long before a people or language called Chingkallam evolved in the island , are outsiders, as Thamizh is also spoken in South India. Sri Lankan Thamizh dialects are very different to South Indian Thamizh dialects and are far more conservertive and archaic proving they have evolved in isolation.
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Pandi Kutti / September 21, 2021
The Thamizh speakers of Sri Lanka are the descendants of the ancient Dravidian semi ot Proto Thamizh speaking tribes , that spilled over from South India during ancient prehistoric times. The Malabars and the Malayalam language, who evolved a few centuries ago from the Chera Thamizh , have similar culture customs and forms of worship as the Eezham Thamizh and these people got confused and were not able to distinguish. No one speaks Malayalam in the north or east of Sri Lanka and at that time most of the population in Kerala were still speaking their local Thamizh dialect that was called Malyalama or Malabar Thamizh. Your arguments are pathetic and not convincing. Even in Europe from there these colonials originated, native French, German and other language speakers are spread across various lands. This means as per your argument native German speaker from Austria or Switzerland does not belong to these lands but to Germany. Arabic speakers are spread across many lands, native speakers of various forms of Hindi dialects are spread across 10 Indian states and Bengali and Punjabi and Pashtun are spoken by native speaker across the borders.
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Pandi Kutti / September 21, 2021
How can Sinhalese speakers who speak a Prakrit, that is a mixture of Thamizh , Pali and Sanskrit, of which only Thamizh is from the region and the island be native and aboriginal but speakers of Thamizh an older and original language of the region not native, just because dialects of Thamizh are still spoken in South India and was spoken in the Malabar region. This contrary to your argument only proves, that prior to the evolution of Chingkallam, the island was largely Thamizh or Proto/Semi Thamizh speaking and the Eezham Thamizh like the ancient Celts of Britain are the remanants of this population, people who did not convert and evolve, as Chingkallams.
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Punchi Point / September 25, 2021
I see a lot of Tamil lunatic theories about who the Sinhalese are and who the Tamils are, what the Sinhalese language is etc, all of which go against scientific anthropological and linguistic and natural processes of social formation, ethnogenesis, differentiation and evolution of languages, all of which apply to all languages and peoples universally. All Tamil theories based on fantasy and spurious fabrications are from the 20th and 21st centuries. Prior to the last decade of the 19th century – early 20th century Tamils never claimed to be indigenous to anywhere else than Tamilnadu.
Simon Casie Chitty (1807-1860), writes :
“The Tamils, as is well known, are not indigenous to Ceylon but emigrated from the opposite coast at different periods.”
Ref. The castes, customs, manners and literature of the Tamils – Page 4.
Compare this to what the Tamils are saying today!!
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Native Vedda / September 25, 2021
Punchi Point (Brain,Willi)
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“Simon Casie Chitty (1807-1860), writes :
“The Tamils, as is well known, are not indigenous to Ceylon but emigrated from the opposite coast at different periods.”
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Whats wrong with what Simon Casie Chitty said?
Tamils are the kallathonie descendants of South India.
A lot of them have converted to various religions and have become Sinhalese or Sinhala/Buddhists over a period of time?
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Punchi Point / September 25, 2021
Tamils are very occupied with who was called what, which is totally irrelevant in an ancient historical perspective, but, because Tamils totally lack any evidence for their claims, they have only one way to distort the history, namely by taking a Sinhala word, be it a name of a king or a name of a place, and shuffle the sounds and make the Sinhalese words into totally unrecognizable Tamil words.
Tamils have many idiotic theories:
Sanskrit is Dravidian
K.Loganathan
https://sites.google.com/site/vedictamil/sanskrit-is-dravidian
Tamil Origin of the English Language
Written by a Tamil writing under the fake name Samuel Livingstone
https://books.google.lk/books?id=aocrAAAAMAAJ&q
This is the same kind of stupid theories Tamils make about the Sinhalese language too. Whatever idiotic theories Tamils make, the Sinhalese language is a very ancient language and its antiquity pre-dates Tamil by many centuries, going by the datings for evolution for the Tamil language by all known linguists (Kamil Zvelebil, Southworth, Andronov, Krishamurti etc). The oldest Brahmi inscriptions found anywhere upto now is Sinhala Brahmi inscriptions from Anuradhapura, dated to 6-7th century BC (Ref. Deraniyagala 1989 excavation) and 6th century BC in another archaeological excavation by Allchin and Conningham (Passage to India, 1996).
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Native Vedda / September 25, 2021
Punchi Point (Brain,Willi)
“Sinhala Brahmi inscriptions from Anuradhapura, dated to 6-7th century BC (Ref. Deraniyagala 1989 excavation) and 6th century BC in another archaeological excavation by Allchin and Conningham (Passage to India, 1996).”
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Did any of those scholars conclude/claim what they found were just Brahmi or Sinhala/Brahmi? Even if it is 10,000 years old Sinhala Brahmi, what are you trying to prove?
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Are you in a religious mission to prove that first ape spoke Sinhala, wrote Sinhala Brahmi, practiced Sinhala Buddhism, flew first flying machine Pushpaka Vimana, committed first human trafficking, cooked rice and chilly curry, …………….. ?
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