Veluppillai Thangavelu
When sorrows come, they come not in single spies, but in battalions was used by Claudius in Shakespeare play, Hamlet, Act IV Scene. What this means is that when disasters occur, they do not happen alone but many other calamities occur simultaneously to compound human tragedy. This is exactly the pathetic situation Sri Lanka government finds itself right now.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa government is engaged in fighting a do or die battle in multiple fronts. Firstly, the daunting battle to beat the COVID-19 virus which is playing havoc on all fronts. As of January 02, the number of infected cases stands at 64,983 and the dead at 826.
Secondly, the daunting task of repaying foreign loans amounting to USD 5 bn in 2021. Like the beggar with the begging bowl, the government is on a pilgrimage around the globe to look for lenders like the IMF, World Bank and other lending agencies. USD 5 bn is no small change when Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves stand at USD 5.5 bn now. Before the change of government in November 2019 the foreign reserves stood at USD 7.5 bn. Apparently, the government used the foreign reserves to settle foreign loans that fell due in 2020. External Debt of Sri Lanka increased to USD 51.61 bn in the third quarter of 2020 from USD 50.81 bn in the second quarter of 2020. The country’s Nominal GDP was reported at USD 21.1 bn in Mar 2020. As of 30 November 2020, Sri Lanka with USD 4,549 bn in foreign reserves ranked at 96 out of 194 countries. Thus, the financial health of the country is in terrible shape like the Coronavirus.
The Rajapaksa government while fighting a do or die battle to contain pandemic COVID-19, has wittingly or unwittingly opened a second front against not against the Muslims but the Hindu Tamils living in the North East. Scores of Hindu Temples and places considered holy to the Hindus are under siege by the pan Sinhala–Buddhist Presidential Task Force and the archaeology Department.
The PTF was appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last June 2020 that comprised Buddhist monks and the head of the Derana media network. The Gazette notification claimed that “There is a growing danger that these heritages are becoming degraded with time due to natural and man-made action. Since many of the archaeology Heritages in the Eastern Province are based on the Buddhist religious background and associated with those places of worship, it has been recognized that the guidance and patronage of the Venerable Maha Sangha are still needed in the identification and management of those heritages”, The PTF was also asked to “identify sites of archaeological importance in the Eastern Province to the Buddhists in order to “preserve the historical heritage of Sri Lanka” in the island’s eastern province. The gazette notification came after the President met with the Buddhist Maha Sanga in Kandy last year.
The Sri Lankan military sent a high-level delegation to the Eastern province last month, including the war crimes accused army head and Defence Secretary, where they pledged to establish a naval sub-unit to protect Buddhist sites.
The Eastern province, the traditional habitat of the Tamil speaking people has come under decades of intense Sinhalization and colonization from state-sponsored settlement schemes. In recent years, the state has used the guise of ‘archaeology’ to take over vast areas of lands in the North-East and mark them as ‘Buddhist sites’.
The US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2016 said that the construction of such sites and Buddhist statues in non-Buddhist areas in the North-East, despite objections from locals and leading civil society with the perception of “Buddhist Sinhalese religious and cultural imperialism”.
Tamils have also voiced fears about further appropriation of land by the state through the task force, as the gazette announced the body would be able to “identify the extent of land that should be allocated for such archaeological sites and take necessary measures to allocate them properly and legally”.
“The Presidential Task Force on Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province may issue instructions or request that all Government Officers and other persons requesting assistance in the provision of services comply with such instructions,” the gazette concluded.
The eleven members of the pan Sinhala-Buddhist Task Force on Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province include:
1. Archaeological Chakravarthi Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thero
2. The Chief Prelate for the Northern and Eastern two Provinces, Chief Sanganayake of Thamankaduwa Direction, and Chief Incumbent of Arisimalai Aranya, Ven. Panamure Thilakawansha Thero
3. Major General (Retired) Kamal Gunaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Defense
4. Dr. Senarath Bandara Dissanayake, Director-General of Archaeology
5. Ms. Chandra Herath, Land Commissioner General
6. Ms. A.L.S.C. Perera, Surveyor General
7. Prof. Raj Kumar Somadeva, Senior Lecturer, University of Kelaniya
8. Prof. Kapila Gunawardena, Medical Faculty, University of Peradeniya
9. Deshabandu Thennakoon, Senior DIG, Western Province
10. H.E.M.W.G. Dissanayake, Provincial Land Commissioner, Eastern Province
11. Dilith Jayaweera, Chairman of Derana Media Network
The PTF is headed by Major General (Retired) Kamal Gunaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence. He led the 53rd Division during the war and is accused of committing war crimes.
Members of the Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province have been entrusted to:
1. Identify sites of archaeological importance in the Eastern Province,
2. Identify and implement an appropriate program for the management of archaeological heritage by conserving and restoring such identified sites and antiquities,
3. Identify the extent of land that should be allocated for such archaeological sites and take necessary measures to allocate them properly and legally, and
4. Preserve the cultural value of sites of archaeological importance and promote the uniqueness of Sri Lanka, both locally and internationally, and make recommendations for the promotion of such heritages.
The PTF has embarked in its unholy mission in earnest. It is ably assisted by the Archaeological Department, the three Divisional Secretaries of the Eastern provinces as well as the Sinhala-Buddhist army and Police. Wherever members of the PTF go they are flanked by the army as well as the police providing security.
It is a known fact that high-ranking army Commanders have openly proclaimed that the army is a Sinhala-Buddhist army since 98% of the force consist of Sinhala-Buddhists. It is the same Sinhala-Buddhist army that had erected Buddhist Viharas and Buddha statues all over North and East, especially the North since May, 2009.
Two days ago, Army Chief Savendra Silva, who is accused of war crimes and facing travel ban by the US government, flew to Thayidy, accompanied by a posse of Buddhist monks in the North, to lay the foundation stone for a Buddhist Vihara where there are no Buddhists. The Vihara is being constructed in a private property seized by the army during the civil war.
Galagoda Atte Gnanasara, a leader of the extremist Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force, or BBS), has argued: “This is a Sinhala Buddhist country. We have a Sinhala Buddhist culture. This is not Saudi Arabia. But you must accept the culture and behave in a manner that doesn’t harm it” (The Economist 2013,35).
Scores of villages with Tamil names are given Sinhalized titles to make it easy for the Department of Archaeology to takeover of villages claiming they were historically connected to Buddhism.
Scores of Tamil Hindu temples in the North–East have been already laid siege by the PTF and the archaeology Department under the cloak of identifying Buddhist ruins. The officials and staff of the three Districts in the Eastern Provinces have also been pressed into service.
The PTF has identified Buddhist places of importance in Thiriyai, Thennamaravadi, Kutchaveli, Kumpuruppiddy etc. Stones have been laid along the boundary lines of such lands.
The Department of Archaeology had by means of recent gazette notifications ceded the land to 7 Buddhist Organizations. The affected people have gone to the courts to assert their rights. More lands are slated to be taken over by the Department of Archaeology!
Tamil Hindus by nature are very docile and indifferent people. Generally, they don’t believe in fighting to death to defend their religion. Hinduism is not an organized religion and has no single founder or systematic approach to teaching its value system. Nor do Hindus have a simple set of rules to follow like the Ten Commandments. Unlike the Christian or Islamic traditions, which have the Bible and the Koran, Hinduism does not adhere to a single text.
Yet a common thread among all these variations is the belief in a Supreme Being and adherence to certain concepts such as Truth, dharma, and karma. And belief in the authority of the Vedas (sacred scriptures) is accepted to a large extent.
There is a commonality between Hinduism and Buddhism, they both share many beliefs and uses the same terminology and concepts yet have subtle differences as well. The fundamental belief in both Hinduism and Buddhism is that there is a continuing cycle of life, suffering, death and rebirth called samsara and that this cycle is based on karma, i.e. actions and subsequent reactions. Both Hinduism and Buddhism also share the belief that liberation from samsaracan be attained, but both pursue a different path to achieve it. In Hinduism, this liberation from samsara is called moksha after death, whereas in Buddhism it is known as nirvana in the present life itself. Another major difference is Buddhism does not believe in a soul or a creator god.
In this context, The Federation of Saiva (Hindu) Temples U.K. have issued a press release condemning the seizure of Hindu Temples to build Buddhist Viharas using state resources. Here are some excerpts from the press release dated 21 January 2021:
(1) Last week, at the Kurundurmalai Adi Iyanar Temple in the Mullaitivu district, a Trident was pulled out to install a statue of Buddha. A Buddhist ceremony was held by monks in the presence of State Minister Vitdura Wickramanayaka. The place was decorated with Buddhist and Army flags. Hundreds of soldiers were seen clearing the area and participating in the ceremony. This act has shocked the Hindu Tamils. Tamil leaders have strongly condemned this act as a blatant attempt to Buddhistize the traditional habitat of the Tamils.
(2) The buddhistization under the cloak of identifying Archaeological sites (read Buddhist sites) follows the Sinhalization of the North-East since independence in 1948. Because of state-aided colonization of Tamils’ traditional habitat they have been reduced to a minority in Trincomalee (33.6%) and Amparai (17.4%) Districts. Even recently under the Weli Oya (Manal Aru) scheme, a new Divisional Secretariat has been created in the Mullaitivu District. This Divisional Secretariat consists of 18 villages comprising 3,336 families (11,189 persons). The then President Mahinda Rajapaksa personally handed over the land-permits to the Sinhalese settlers in 2010.
(3) Various institutions of the Government of Sri Lanka make use of Acts of Parliament most of them enacted before the enactment of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution to undermine the powers conferred on the Provincial Councils on land. The relevant Acts are:
(I) Mahaweli Authority Act No. 23 of 1979 (as amended)
(ii) Urban Development Law No. 41 of 1978 (as amended) and Town and Country Planning Ordinance No.13 of 1946 amended by Amendment Act No. 49 of 2000
(iii) Sri Lanka Ports Authority Act No. 51 of 1979
(iv) Tourism Act No. 38 of 2005 which retains sections of the Tourism Development Act No. 14 of 1968
(v) Antiquities Act No. 24 of 1998 together with the archaeology Sites of National Importance Act No. 16 of 1900
(4) This buddhistization under the cloak of identifying Archaeological sites (read Buddhist sites) follows the Sinhalization of the North-East since independence in 1948. Even recently under the Manal Aru (renamed Weli Oya) scheme, a new Divisional Secretariat has been created in the Mullaitivu District. This Divisional Secretariat consists of 18 villages comprising 3,336 Sinhalese families totalling 11,189 persons.
(5) The Ven. Ellawala MedhanandaThero, a member of the archaeology Heritage Management Task Force, stated that the team examined and identified 2,000 sites as Buddhist heritage. This poses an imminent and ominous threat not only to Hindu places of worship but also to lands belonging to Hindu Tamils. In short, many historical Hindu temples are under siege by the different arms of the government. The government has declared virtual ‘holy war’ against Hindus and their places of worship. United and concerted action by Hindus all over the world is needed to halt the buddhistization and colonization of Hindu temples and their lands.
There are other Hindu temples the Archaeological department is claiming as Buddhist sites of importance. At Vedukkunari there is a Hindu temple called Athi Lingeswarar. The Archaeological Department is laying claim to this ancient Hindu temple as a Buddhist site. When the Hindu temple trustees resisted the take-over, the Archaeological Department filed a case against the 4 trustees and the temple priest charging them with obstructing excavation in the area. All of them were remanded by the court and two weeks elapsed before they were granted bail.
Such examples can be multiplied. Kanniya Hot wells holy to the Hindus were taken over by the archaeology Department overnight. When the authorities of the adjoining Hindu Pillayar temple wanted to demolish same to build a new one, the Archaeological department said no. However, the same department allowed a Buddhist monk to build a Buddhist Vihara and a pansala at the same site.
Now all these cases are before courts. The Hindus rightly fear more temples will be targeted for taking over under one pretext or other.
As though in response, Hindu Association, Civil Societies, Tamil National Political Parties have organized a massive long march from Poththuvil in the East to Point Pedro in the North from February 03 – February 06.
The Police have swung into action and had obtained restraining orders from courts against scores of frontline activists’ leaders, including Shanakiya Rasamanickam, MP and Thavarasa Kalaiarasan, MP both from the Batticaloa district, participating in the march. The Police is expected to approach courts in the North to obtain similar restraining orders. The excuse given by the Police is there is an imminent threat to peace and order.
It is not understood why on earth, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government facing multiple problems in several fronts, had opened another front against the Hindu Tamils.
Rumble 2021 / February 4, 2021
Choices
(1) We should turn our land into a Marxist/Communist country and ban religions altogether so the non believers can live peacefully. Time for JVP to rule the land.
JVP solution for the National Question – North for the TNA and East for the Muslim parties. Is separation allowed by the JVP??
Or
(2) Military rule
/
Pandi Kutti / February 4, 2021
WHy east for the Muslims son of Thamizh turncoat? East is ancient Eezham Thamizh land and Thamizh are the largest community not Muslim. Muslim are also Thamizh and they can live in peace and dignity with the Thamizh who are the real owners of the east. You indeed want to destroy the Thamizh as revenge for your turncoat Appa’s death. Like father like son
/
Eagle Eye / February 4, 2021
Pandi Kutti,
“Thamizh who are the real owners of the east.”
—
BS! Do you know where Sinhala Kingdoms Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa existed? Sinhalayo and Vedda Eththo who are the Native people and owners of Sinhale (now Sri Lanka) did not give the ownership of East or North to Thamizh who were brought to Sinhale by Portuguese and Dutch from Hindusthan to do the dong key work for them. They are occupying Sinhala land in North and East. Please return Sinhala land to Sinhalayo.
/
Dinuk / February 4, 2021
Veluppillai Thangavelu – Have you read the book “Cold War Monks: Buddhism and America’s Secret Strategy in Southeast Asia” by Eugene Ford. Yale University Press 2017?
Also please read the book; The ISIS is US: The Shocking truth behind the Army of Terror” which reveal that the CI set up ISIS to destroy Islam.
The US weaponized Buddhism and Islam to fight Communism and Marxism in Asia during the long Cold War and to stop national liberation struggles. The Easter Bombings were staged by US Special Forces using Zaharan et al to set up US bases in Sri Lanka..
This US is continuing now with the Diasporas of South Asia being weaponized So too US is using religion and stoking conflict in Sri Lanka this time to destablize Lanka and fight China.
The US has been weaponizing Buddhism for decades during the Cold War to fight Communism.
Modi has been using the Ravana- Ramayana project to weaponize Hinduism too..
/
Pandi Kutti / February 5, 2021
Racist Chingkalla kurangu, Still repeating the same lies . Chingkallams are largely descended from Indian Thamizh immigrants and Buddhism also arrived from India. Chingkalla language and the present Chingkalla ethnicity, only came into existence around 7AD. Before the arrival of Buddhism , what was the religion practised in the island . Hinduism. Even the Vedda worshipped and still worship Thamizh Lord Murugan. Look at all the prehistoric religious sites . Kathirkammam, Okanda, the pancha Iswarams all Hindu/Saivite. Before Chingkallam evolved around 7AD , you mean to say the people were all mute and did not speak. No they spoke in Thamizh or its local dialect Elu. This is why Chingkallam has around 35-40% Thamizh origin vocabulary. The North and East has always been Thamizh and now Chingkallams are trying to use the state power and armed forces to deliberately destroy this ancient Thamizh Hindu heritage. The South Indian slaves brought in by the Portuguese and the Dutch were settled along the western and southern coasts and their descendants are the Chingkalla Karawa, Durawa, Salagama, Hunu, Berewa . Making up 50% of the present so called Chingkallams. You must be one of them.
/
Rumble 2021 / February 4, 2021
PK are you still confused dude?? see my comments below to VPS and over to you…
/
Pandi Kutti / February 5, 2021
Only creature confused is you. The Chingkallams have always been very cunning and sly. Divide and rule . They have divided the island’s Thamizh into Eezham, Indian origin and Muslim ( deliberately encouraging the Arab origin myth so that the Muslim Thamizh will move of from their Thamizh identity) . Officially created three different ethnicity for them, with the support of corrupt leaders and idiots like you and set one Thamizh group against the other. They even tried to divide the Eezham Thamizh again in the name or religion, caste and region but it did not work. However, they did the opposite for them. Kandyan and Low country Sinhalese were two separate ethnicity . They made them one , despite most of the Kandyans still considering themselves as different. They wanted Chingkalla unity but division amongst Thamizh so they can easily divide rule and ultimately destroy each Thamizh group. The North and East is the homeland of all Thamizh living in the island. Eezham , Indian origin and Muslim. They can all live here as equals. Thamizh are not religious bigots.
/
Rumble 2021 / February 5, 2021
Dear PK
Thank you for the response. I thought as mush too.
No humans are devious enough to be met your summary except the TNA congregation since 1948. The shear presence has created all that has take place in our Land…is a hard one to digest/comprehend for any humans.
As I said TNA is now tasked with undoing all the hate they have created we will see how that goes???
/
Rumble 2021 / February 4, 2021
My Dearest PK
When the FP sent the killers to Colombo in 70’s to kill their opponents were they sending the a message to the entire Nation what was comming now passed?? when they could killed their enemies in their homes who had no protection.
This was I guess the precursor to the “River of Blood speech in Colombo by the TULF after 1977 election victory “before” the riots that killed innocent Tamils??
I have listed the standard thuggery list by the FP/TULF earlier and are you the social media version by the same??
Yet to see one constructive discussion except repeating the same and wondering you have reached your limits??
/
V P Singam / February 4, 2021
First of all, these Sinhala Buddhist bigots should understand and realize that all the Buddhists in Sri Lanka are EX-HINDUS. Their religious way of life gives ample proof of this fact. They visit Hindu temples and seek boons from Hindu Gods, belief and practise Hindu astrology and more than anything else they observe religiously Hindu New Year ( Please note there is nothing called Sinhala New Year which is misnormer). Infact, even Lord Buddha was born into a Hindu royal family and brought up and nurtured in Hindu tradition and customs. He was born and lived as a Hindu. These incontrovertible facts, I hope, will sink into the heads of these bigots and pseudo religious zealots.
/
a14455 / February 4, 2021
Stupid monkey .
Lord Buddha may have come from a Hindu family but he rejected everything Hindu as garbage.
/
Eagle Eye / February 4, 2021
V P Singam,
“First of all, these Sinhala Buddhist bigots should understand and realize that all the Buddhists in Sri Lanka are EX-HINDUS.”
—
So what?
Hinduism is an extension of Brahmanism. Buddhism is an extension of Hinduism.
Hindus in Hindusthan did not embrace Buddhism for several reasons.
1. Gauthama Buddha went against Hinduism and said “Not by birth is one an outcast; not by birth is one a Brahman. By deed one becomes an outcast, by deed one becomes a Brahman.” So, Brahmins went against Buddhism.
2. Gauthama Buddha said my teachings are for wise people. ‘Moda’ Hindus in India could not grasp Buddha’s teachings.
3. Gauthama Buddha said if you want to attain Nibbana you do it yourself, I am only a guide. Lazy Hindus in India did not want to do it themselves but wanted someone else to do it for them and sought help from multitude of Gods and Linga.
Wise Sinhalayo managed to grasp Buddha’s teachings but Hindu influence prevailed because of Hindu Dravida invasions and some Sinhala Kings marrying Hindu Queens. When the King built a temple a Devalaya was also built for the Queen to worship. See how our Sinhala Buddhist Kings respected religious freedom.
/
Mallaiyuran / February 4, 2021
Eagle,
“Wise Sinhalayo managed to grasp Buddha’s teachings “
Is that why Rapist Army always stands Nirvana without pants and earned name, as one of the Army uses rape as weapon, from UN? Sound like 250,000 Nirvanis got it well what Buddha said,… that is a lot man! Listen man, Buddha is only a Hindu reformer. Buddha statue is only a Mortha of Siva. Sivaligngam represents a meditator, who is in Meditation. This shape is available with Hindu for 9,000 years. Until Buddha lived, there was no new religion as created as Buddhism. Unless he dies and earns the parinirvana state, the name Buddha was not available for him. So there was no Buddhism in his life time. It was created only after 150 years of his death. Nothing Buddha said that was not in Hinduism until then. Brahmanism Piramanan-Periyan always within original Hinduism. But the Arianism was the one didn’t exist and Buddha opposed. Don’t misunderstand the words of languages. Just after the death on Buddha the Aryan Bald head s transposed the Arianism as Brahmanism. The first one was a birth related; who won the Hindus Valley people seated them on that statue. The second one was in practice, where educated and statesmen were elevated as Brahmans (Periyavan-s).
/
Rumble 2021 / February 4, 2021
Dear VPS
(1) With all due respect to what you said above the Muslim religion is the fastest growing religion in the world today even in the west.
(2)They also do not believe in family planning/birth control therefore population growth also now more than the Ceylon Tamils who practice Hinduism/Christianity etc.
(3) I am trying to locate some historical facts or the National agreement that exists to say TNA and Muslim Parties have worked out their cohabitation arrangements. If anyone knows such things please share.
(4) once the devolution/separation takes places all the Muslims need a place to go from the South and the same for the Tamils. North and East pretty much going to be overflowing with people to start with? let along the population growth rate yet to be discussed??
(5) Vanni is already Indian Tamil show and more upcountry Tamils settle here may a future too according to FP/TNA planning yet to be discussed?
/
Rumble 2021 / February 4, 2021
(6) One has to differentiate between LTTE vs TNA planning for the North and East not limited to the separation and federalism.
(7) According to TNA/FP/TULF one has to work out the details yet as to the arrangement of the Southern Tamils (Muslims/Indians/Ceylon) re homed in the North and East and administrative details?? should give a call to TNA hq. The LTTE separatism had it all figured out differently the cause and the methodologies I do not believe but TNA had a good ride on that too. .
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 6, 2021
Vanni is not Indian Tamil it is predominantly Eelam Tamil but there are many Indian Tamil settlers who had come here and settled , escaping Sinhalese violence . They make up around 10% of the Tamil population in Vanni. Get your facts correct instead of being a mouth piece of the Sinhalese establishment
/
Rumble 2021 / February 6, 2021
Dear SSS
I got that from my friends in Paranthan & is a very rough value and may be I am incorrect.
I have no other way of confirming the exact statistic.
/
SJ / February 5, 2021
It is not certain what the Buddha’s religion was at birth. Hinduism is such a woolly concept any way. It was after Sankara in the 8th Century that the ‘religion’ we know as Hinduism got defined in some form.
The Buddha rejected the major trappings of the Brahminic religion like soul, god and caste.
/
Mallaiyuran / February 5, 2021
“Hinduism is such a woolly concept any way. It was after Sankara in the 8th Century that the ‘religion’ we know as Hinduism got defined in some form. “ So the Buddha religion had become a concrete wall in 500BC? Why do you get into everything that you cannot even dream what you are talking? Buddhism still a Kapok cotton. Hinduism is not a religion that ever strike nail on anybody’s head. It does not propose how, where the said god is existing or even a god existing. Sankara said man is the god. He is considered one of the Atheistic Hindu philosopher. Buddha nailed a solution(final word – God is not there) through his philosophies. Change will not be accepted in that. But Sankara was rejected by Mahadeva with in a century. Mahadeva said thatGod and man are two different entities. Finalized fluffy talks are Buddhists’ philosophies. Continuous, dynamic, ever changing practices are Hinduism.
/
Eagle Eye / February 4, 2021
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
/
Eagle Eye / February 4, 2021
North East is the cradle of Sinhala Buddhist civilization. That is where Sinhala Kingdoms Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa existed.
Demala invaders who came from Hindusthan from 3rd Century BC destroyed these Kingdoms and Sinhala Buddhist heritage sites. After Europeans colonized Sinhale, Demala invaders stopped coming but the same destruction was done by Demalu who were brought to Yapanaya by colonial rulers to work in their projects. That destruction is taking place unabated up to now.
The other group responsible for the destruction of Sinhala Buddhist heritage sites are the descendants of Muslim refugees saved by Sinhala Buddhists when faced persecution by Portuguese and settled in the East.
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 6, 2021
Polonarwas was never founded by the Sinhalese but by the Tamil Cholas . Sinhalese racists and the Sri Lankan government are now going around spreading lies , myths and fake history to support their Sinhalese only land. Large parts of the island until the Europeans , especially the British arrives was exclusively Tamil and Hindu and now Sinhalese are trying to use the power of the state , that was granted to them by the British , to steal this ancient Tamil Hindu history of the island , that predates Sinhalese and Buddhism , as theirs. What the author of this article states is 100% correct. Getting fake historians , the racist Archeological department , that everyone know is the hand maiden of Sinhalese Buddhist Fascism and never has been interested in real and Archeology or history but only to promote Sinhalese Buddhist Fascism.
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 6, 2021
When Anuradhapura was founded , there were no such people called Sinhalese . The Sinhalese as a people and a language only came into definite existence around the 7-9 Century AD. This was founded by the Tamil Nagas who were ruling the island and other South Indian Tamil dynasties like the Chola( king Ellalan) . The king who converted to Buddhism was a Tamil Naga( Thevanai Nambiya Theesan was his title , later Prakritized to Devanampiya Tissa both more or less meaning the same in its original Tamil for or in Pali) We do not know his real name but we definitely know his father who ruled before him was King Mootha Sivan , which is a pure Tamil name meaning the great or venerated Siva and Anuradhapura was already the capital of the of this kingdom by then and even as per your Mahavamsa fable it was surrounded by Tamil chiefdoms and villages, even as far as the 18Th century. There was no Sinhalese kings or people . Later Buddhist converted Naga kings only continued to use this city as their capital, that was founded long before by Hindu Tamil Naga kings, King Ellalan or Mootha Sivan or even Thevanai Nambiya Theesan or even Thuttal Kayavan son of Kaavan or Kaakai Vanna Theesan were not Sinhalese but Tamil Naga Former two were Tamil Hindus . The latter two were Hindu converted to Buddhism.
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 6, 2021
The name Theesan later Prakritized to Tissa in Pali , was a very common Tamil name during this era , as evidenced by the Keeladhi excavations in Tamil Nadu, that is comparable and very similar to the Indus valley civilization. Now coming to Polonnarruwa . It was a city founded by the Tamil Chola dynasty and not by the Sinhalese as it is now being falesely portrayed . Its Tamil form, Pulainari, is mentioned in Tamil inscriptions found at Polonnaruwa of the Chola period. The name was perhaps a contraction of its ancient name Pulastya nagara or Pulatti nakaram meaning city of the Hindu sage Pulastya. t was renamed under Chola rule as Jananathapuram or Jananathamangalam. The place was later known as Vijayarajapuram as mentioned in the records of Jayabahu I, which probably was derived from the name of Vijayabahu .
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 6, 2021
All its ancient buildings Hindu and Buddhist that are of UNESCO heritage were all built by the Tamil Cholas and not by the Sinhalese. Even the greatest king who ruled this kingdom Paramabahu is of Tamil Pandian heritage . The title Bahu or Pandu means these king are of Pandian Tamil origin. This is why he built a statue honouring the father of the Tamil language Sage Agathiar , as he was a Tamil himself. Now the Sinhalese falsely going around stating is a statue of himself. No one builds a statue of themselves when they are living. Any idiot can see it the statue of Sage Agathiar . Typical copy of the Sage Agasthiar found in South India. Stop lying Sinhalese extremist, living a nice life in the west.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonnaruwa
/
Lanka Canuck / February 6, 2021
During the early historic period (6th century BC to 3rd century AD), Lanka/ilamkai (as mentioned in the Ramayana) was a part of South India separated by a shallow sea and was only a walking distance before the sea levels rose. Even today, one of the ancient bridges that was linking South India to Sri Lanka can be seen in the NASA shuttle images. During that period, irrespective of whether they were Yakkas, Nagas, or any others, all these tribes were Saivaite Dravidians (devotees of Lord Siva, Saivaism is a sect of Hinduism/Brahmanism prevalent in Sri Lanka before Buddhism). The Naga tribe not only lived in both Sri Lanka and South India but they were also moving back and forth between Sri Lanka and South India. All the ancient rulers of Sri Lanka before the arrival of Buddhism were also Saivaites (followers of Saiva Siddhantam). The Pali chronicles leave us in no doubt that the worship of Siva was prevalent in Anuradhapura and elsewhere in the island. The numerous occurrences of the personal name Siva in the Pali chronicles and in the early Brahmi inscriptions also support this. As per Ramayana, even the Yakka king Ravana was believed to be a Dravidian chieftain and a strong devotee of Lord Siva.
/
Lanka Canuck / February 6, 2021
While Mahanama Thero (King Dhatusena’s uncle and author of Mahavamsa) was whipping up Theravada Buddhist Nationalism by portraying the Tamils as invaders and foreigners and portraying Dhatusena’s struggle to liberate Anuradhapura from 27 years of Tamil Rule as a heroic act, Dhatusena’s favorite son Moggallan fled to Tamil Nadu and returned with a huge Tamil army and defeated his half-Dravidian/Pallava step brother Kassapa in 491 AD.
After Raja Raja Cholan’s rule of the island (993 AD), his son Rajendra Cholan continued by adding the island as one of the provinces of the Chola Empire known as “Mummudi-Chola-Mandalam”. Sri Lanka remained a Tamil Nadu (Chola) colony under the rule of Raja Raja Cholan and his son Rajendra Cholan for eight decades (993AD –1077AD). It was Rajendra Cholan who later abandoned Anuradhapura and established the Poḷonnaruwa Kingdom.
From King Pandu Vasudeva to Parakrma Bahu, most of the Saivaite as well as Buddhist Kings and their Queens of Sri Lanka were from the Tamil Pandya dynasty. The Deepavamsa calls King Pandu Vasudeva (504-474 BC) as Pandu Vasa (a Pali/Prakrit equivalent of Pandya Vasa meaning one from the Pandya country).
It was only after the 12th century CE that the island got divided politically and geographically between Tamils and Sinhalese with the Jaffna kingdom being established in the North East, closer to the Tamil mainland.
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 7, 2021
Thanks LC for further information.
/
Rumble 2021 / February 7, 2021
(1)According to LC we are all entitle to rearrange history just as Israel is doing and have done to the Palestine… Zionism.
(2) The entire humanity can go about redressing their history is progress and evolutionary??
(3) That means the Aboriginals and the Red Indians have even bigger case where the history is only 200-30 years old?? where does it leave the Diaspora?
(4) So you all want change the history of Singapore and Malaysia and similar Nations as well?? we assuming that because many other countries this is not a full time scope (FP/TULF) means they have no history?? should they spent their time what we have done and doing in SL??
(5) if everyone did the same how would our world will look like?? …flying monkeys building bridges in the park strait I thought was all about human connectivity/cohabitation etc?? are we going to rewrite this too?
/
Eagle Eye / February 6, 2021
Siva Sankaran Sharma,
Dravidians who lived in the Northern part of the country were invaders (Chola, Pandya) from Hindusthan. These Dravida invaders ruled for short periods but they were chased away by Sinhala Kings. These barbarians did not build anything, they destroyed what Sinhala people build over a long period.
Addressing a Press Briefing on February 05th, Ven. Ellawala Medhananda said Demala (Tamil) politicians are spreading wrong information about Sinhala Buddhist heritage sites in the North and measures will be taken to provide correct information to the International Community. He said he examined about 1000 sites in the North and 99% are Sinhala Buddhist heritage sites.
According to the Head of the Department of Archeology, UNESCO has no control over archeological sites in the North. Department of Archeology will continue with excavations at Kurundaimale Temple site in Mulativ.
Tell your boss Vigneshwaran to challenge Ven. Medhananda if he can.
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 7, 2021
You are quoting Ven. Ellawala Mehananda Thera , who is a well known Sinhalese extremist, who at one time was elected to the parliament under a the Hela Jathika Uramaay and extremist rightwing Sinhalese Buddhist only party. Buddhist monks should not be indulging in politics and that too extreme racist politics. He is very close to the current Sinhalese Buddhist Fascist war criminal ( I do not state this but the UN) President. Who openly stated that he is exclusively only a Sinhalese Buddhist president. In a and racial island. Only 70% of the island’s population is Buddhist and 75% identity themselves as Sinhalese . The means he does not represent 25-30% of the island’s population and also does not want to work for them .
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 7, 2021
Coming to this Ellawalla person who calls himself a Buddhist monk but now running around with the fake Archeological Department , Sinhalese extremists organizations. the racist occupying armed forces and many other government establishment to destroy the ancient prehistoric Sivan Ayyanar Saiva Hindu Kovil in the Muallaitheevu district and Sinhalize the area , with fake concocted history. They have gone there and destroyed the Sivalingam and Sulam or Trishool and installed Buddah Statues, falesely proclaiming this was an ancient Buddhist site and Kuroonthoor Malai’s original name was Kurunthagamma , just like he was claiming Tamil Pottuvil’s original name is Pali Buttawala and every thing in the north and east is Sinhalese and Buddhist not Tamil and Hindu. His racist extremist imagination runs riot.
/
Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 7, 2021
What a silly comment Tamil predates Sinhalese and all other modern Indian languages in South Asia even Sanskrit and Pali Sinhalese itself originated from Tamil and 40% of its vocabulary is derived from Tamil. Its grammar syntax lexicon and alphabet is 100 % derived from Tamil, This is not what I state but even eminent genuine Sinhalese historians state. Hinduism, especially Saivaism predates Buddhism by thousands of years. Lord Buddha himself was a Hindu and practiced Hinduism Buddhism only arrived in the island 2300 years ago and the Sinhalese language and people only fully evolved around 9AD. Largely from the local Tamil Dravidian Yakka and some Naga who converted to Buddhism and from Indian immigrants , again mostly from the then Tamil country in South India and some immigrants from North East India. Before that Tamil or its local variant Elu and Saivaism was spread throughout the island and still retained in the North and East of the island as the people here retained their ancient Tamil Hindu identity. Many of them converted to Buddhism and built many ancient Buddhist monuments in the north and east and these monuments are Tamil Buddhist and not Sinhalese but within a few centuries reverted back to their ancestral Hindu religion.
/
westham / February 4, 2021
After all these years we suddenly hear of Tamil Hindus. Why is a religious element brought into the equation so late in the day? Tamils have always been led by the church. You see Catholic priests at every LTTE event. Chelvanayagam, Anton balasingham, and prabakaran were all Christians. Clearly this is an attempt to by the Tamils to reframe the narrative as an Buddhist vs Hindu encounter. When it reality it was nothing more than an democratically elected government executing its sovereignty over a bunch of barbaric thugs.
/
Sadie1963 / February 4, 2021
Is this guy serious. Always attacking Sinhalese Buddists.Picking up figures from the sky to attack Gota led government. Where did he get the Figures for Covid 19 figures.saying that as of January 02 total infected cases stands at 64983 and the number of dead stand at 826. As of today 04 th of February the Total number of infected is stand at 65698 and total number of deaths stand at 330.
/
Svenson / February 4, 2021
‘It is not understood why on earth, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government facing multiple problems in several fronts, had opened another front against the Hindu Tamils.’
.
It is to dilute the East and North so that the Tamils and Muslims can no longer claim parts of the country as their ‘traditional homelands’ whilst living and prospering elsewhere. Can any Sinhalese Buddhist by a property in Kattankudy? Can a Tamil? Can the Sinhalese claim the Kandyan areas as their ‘traditional homelands’ and evict the Tamil majority there?
Once the Government has finished any citizen will be able to live anywhere. These schemes are not new, similar attempts were made by DS Senanayake.
/
GATAM / February 4, 2021
If true it is a funny battle without any Hindu dead bodies.
Again Gota failed.
/
Ajith / February 4, 2021
It is sad that none of the Southern civil societies, progressive professionals and the media hide these truths to the public.
/
Raj-UK / February 4, 2021
Seems the Buddhist supremacists are in favour of eliminating Hinduism to ‘protect’ Buddhism in SL, even though, Buddhism, very much evolved from Hinduism, which is considered to be the oldest religion in history. Yet, many Buddhists worship Hindu gods when it comes to asking divine favours, even some temples having its own ‘Katharagama devale’, which, if I am not mistaken, is dedicated to a Hindu god. Isn’t this all about hoodwinking the gullible Sinhala voters (just like the magic potion told to a self acclaimed healer in his dreams by another Hindu Goddess Kali?) for political gain?
/
V P Singam / February 4, 2021
a14455
Mind your language please. The way one writes and talk, speaks volume of his or her upbringing. One should uphold decency and decorum in his writing and speech. Refrain from writing like a country brute.
/
SJ / February 5, 2021
VPS
Your language too needs minding. I do not want to repeat your words.
What does ‘country brute’ mean in your parlance? Such snobbery does not reflect a particularly good upbringing either.
/
V P Singam / February 5, 2021
SJ
Consult a good standard dictionary to get the meaning. Read the comments in the right context and perspective. By the way, why are you getting agitated?. Is it the classic case of “birds of feather flock together.
/
Stanley / February 5, 2021
VPS perhaps you remember that joke about Vul Pariah Singham? It turns out to be true.
/