By Rajeewa Jayaweera –
Rajeewa Jayaweera
Less than 72 hours after Gotabaya Rajapaksa took oaths as the seventh Executive President of Sri Lanka, an unannounced and uninvited visitor arrived in the country. Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar landed in Colombo as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special envoy with an invitation for the Sri Lankan President to visit India. The visit is due to take place during November 29-30.
Jaishankar, while communicating Prime Minister Modi’s good wishes to Rajapaksa, also reportedly conveyed India’s expectations.
Indian External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, during a regular press briefing, stated the following; “The External Affairs Minister conveyed to President Rajapaksa, Indian expectations of the Sri Lankan government taking forward the process of national reconciliation to arrive at a solution that meets the aspirations of the Tamil community for equality, justice, peace, and dignity. He went on to attribute the Sri Lankan President’s announcement of being the President to all Sri Lankans irrespective of their racial and religious identity and commitment to ensure the development of the Northern and Eastern Provinces to Modi’s communication.
An editorial comment in the much-respected Hindustan Times on the day of Jaishankar’s arrival in Colombo was equally bumptious. Commenting on the electoral result, it said, “His (Rajapaksa’s) return will mark not just the arrival of a new regime in Colombo, but also the shrinking of space for an inclusive Sri Lanka.” It further stated India having realized the fragile nature of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government had engaged with the Rajapaksas and assured of non-interference in the elections.
The editorial opined India had no choice but to do business with Gotabaya Rajapaksa and commended the Indian government for reaching out to the new President by dispatching Jaishankar to Colombo.
It then cautioned the Indian government of the need to draw clear red lines on two issues.
Firstly, India must recognize Sri Lanka’s right as a sovereign entity to engage with Beijing. However, Delhi should make it clear it reserves the right to exercise its leverage if Indian security interests were affected.
Secondly, the question of accommodating the Tamil minority. It stated, “The Rajapaksas must be told that a return to an exclusive ethnic State could potentially lead to a revival of the Tamil insurgency which will harm both countries.”
The editorial concluded, “Delhi must respect the political dispensation in Colombo but be firm when necessary.”
There is little difference in substance between the Indian Prime Minister’s message and content of the Hindustan Times editorial.
As President Rajapaksa embarks on his maiden official visit, it is hoped, strategies have been developed to meet the Indian demands. The Indians may even be inclined to demand its pound of flesh in return for non-interference in the Presidential election.
The Chinese issue may be the easier of the two to manage as President Rajapaksa with a small team could decide and manage China’s footprint in Sri Lanka, currently considered as considerable. The need to avoid any agreements detrimental to Indian security concerns is a given. But then comes the tricky questions of the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Port, which has been leased to the Chinese for 99 years. The wisdom of President Rajapaksa’s public announcement of the 99 years lease being a mistake is questionable. Any attempt to renegotiate need be undertaken discreetly, bearing in mind, it is not only Indian sensibilities that need be reckoned with.
On the Tamil issue, whether we like it or not, India’s involvement spans over three decades and cannot be wished away. Therefore, they should be co-opted into the process. Sri Lanka must decide if the utterly useless Provincial Council system needs to be retained for the sake of one community. Or else, should it be replaced with another mechanism that will address the issue of power devolution to the satisfaction of all communities.
In case of opting to continue with Provincial Councils, the Colombo government must go all the way and implement the 13th Amendment in its entirety, including Police and Land powers. India has devolved Police and Land powers to its 29 states without any consequences to its sovereignty and national security. Sri Lanka would do well to study the Indian system. Considering the implementation of the Indian model is an option. India, for its part, cannot ask Sri Lanka to devolve more power to the periphery than those devolved to its own states. Meanwhile, India could use its influence to convince Tamil leaders to give up the demand for a merged North and East. India did advise the TNA to do so a few years ago, even though the issue is still on the table.
At the same time, it is necessary to impress upon India of the inadvisability of bringing to bear unbearable pressure on the Sri Lankan government. Compelling Sri Lanka to implement politically unacceptable measures will only result in strengthening extremists and weakening the Colombo government.
India’s own experience in Jammu and Kashmir managing a population opposed to the central government and its final solution is a case in point. After years of protests and the involvement of nearly half a million soldiers and paramilitary forces in maintaining law and order, on August 5, 2019, Delhi revoked the special status, or limited autonomy granted under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir and split it into two federal territories in order to integrate it fully to India. It put paid to “the aspirations for equality, justice, peace and dignity” of the predominantly Muslim population in Kashmir. Nevertheless, Delhi insists Sri Lanka accord these very same terms to the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
The Hindustan Times editorial speaks of India “exercising its leverage” and of “drawing the red line.” If not already spelled out in Modi’s message, cloaked in diplomatic jargon, it will undoubtedly be communicated during the forthcoming summit.
“Drawing the red line” may be deciphered as exceeding Indian tolerance, especially on the two issues mentioned herein. “Exercising leverage” is another matter. In early 2015, the Yahapalana government took up the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen poaching in Sri Lanka’s northern territorial waters. Having promised to resolve the issue, Delhi has done nothing about it to date, and the Colombo government has fallen silent. That is India, “exercising its leverage.” Had the Sri Lankan navy fired upon the Indian fishing vessels, that would amount to “crossing the red line.” India does not respect the air, sea, or land borders of small nations.
In 1987, India exercised its leverage by invading Sri Lankan air space for an unsolicited airdrop of food to the north. Further, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was force-fed, and an invitation was surreptitiously orchestrated from the Head of State to send a Peace Keeping Force. The force left two and half years later, having failed to achieve its mission objectives.
Leverage may be applied in many forms. India and Sri Lanka signed a free trade agreement in 1998. Trade between the two countries exceeded USD 5 billion in 2018, with Sri Lankan exports to India amounting to USD 690 million and Imports from India almost USD 4.5 billion. The Indian footprint is present in Sri Lanka as prominently as that of China. In the event of Sri Lanka “crossing the red line,” Indian leverage does not require the involvement of its armed forces as in 1987. Trade embargos are the most common form of leverage applied by economically powerful countries to bring aid-dependent nations such as Sri Lanka to its knees.
President Rajapaksa has his work cut out in India. He must walk the tightrope of balancing the pragmatic need to appease India with the practical need to engage with China. He must bear in mind Chinese assistance and aid to Sri Lanka surpass that of India.
Benefitting from the Indian carrot while avoiding the Indian stick is the name of the game.
JD / November 29, 2019
The article is very much like an paid advertisement, pre midetated.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / November 29, 2019
Dear Rajeeva, BJP solution to Sri Lanka is the same as for Kashmir, a Buddhist majority state and a Hindu majority state side by side as union territories. Yes during last regime, India in order not to rock them told TNA that they will not insist on a north east merger, but will not be against if Tamils demand it. India may have realized the need for a merger especially after the complicity of politicians of both sides and top security officials in organizing and/or ignoring the Easter bomb blast by Muslim extremists from the east. It is well known to them that Pakistani agents are working among Muslims in the east with tacit approval of all Sinhala governments to promote hatred towards Tamils. In this context, a north east merger becomes a paramount importance. it appears that Tamils are not going to give up that. Law has to be the same for all, if Sri Lanka cannot be divided, Tamil homeland also cannot be divided. On the basis is justice, Sinhalese and Muslims in the east can say that their areas cannot be merged with north, but how can they say Tamil areas cannot be merged. When 80% Sinhalese are in the east for less than 100 years and all Muslims settled there as refugees 400 years ago, how can you ignore the demand of Tamils who are there for more than 2000 years, which has been proved archaeologically. Rightful owners of east are the Tamilized descendants of Veddhas and not Sinhalese or Muslims. There has to be some sort of merger if the problem is to be settled in a fair manner. Redraw the boundary of east without giving credit to alteration of ethnic balance either by settlement of Sinhalese or ethnic cleansing of Tamils, both of which are not permitted in the modern world, and link the new region with north, which would bring the original position of Tamil majority status.
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vithura / November 29, 2019
The author is misled in claiming that the striping of article 370 put paid to Kashmiri’s aspiration for equality, justice, peace and dignity. On the contrary the striping of it, has brought the status of was J&K in line with the other states of India, thus respecting the principle of equality, justice, peace and dignity across the Union of India. Even the former PM Nehru has stated on record that he had based the concession of article 370 to J&K on a very optimistic assumption that ‘the partition’ itself was temporary and that Pakistan would return to the fold and that J&K would completely integrate with India. In such a back drop, one can safely say that any attempt to draw parallels between the revocation of ‘special status’ of Kashmir and the Tamils issue here, to vitiate India’s demand for a solution that meets the aspirations of Tamils on the basis of equality, justice, peace and dignity, will definitely not work.
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Rajeewa Jayaweera / November 29, 2019
Nehru may have lived under the illusion, the partition was temporary. However, there was no such illusion among the millions in Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan agreed to the UNSC Resolution 47 adopted on 21 April 1948 by a vote of 9 members. The Soviet Union and Ukraine abstained.
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The Muslim majority J&K joined India for no other reason than it having a Hindu ruler. It was totally opposed to the manner in which the rest of the sub-continent. decided to join India or Pakistan.
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The Plebiscite should have taken place a long time ago. Had it been the case, Article 370 would have been dumped and J&K would have either joined Pakistan or become an independent state meeting the aspirations of the Kashmiri people fo justice, peace, and dignity ignored by India for over 70 years but deceitfully.promoted for Tamils in Sri Lanka.
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Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others…………….
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vithura / November 30, 2019
Annexation of J&K was done entirely legally just as all other princely states of India were brought under the Union by a legal Instrument of Accession introduced by Govt. of India act of 1935. The Maharajah Hari Singh signed the same legal Instrument of Accession just as all other rulers of all states of India, making J&K an integral part of India. There is nothing illegal about it, period. If anything, the preemptive invasion of Kashmir by Pakistan, has no basis in law and their only basis to justify their illegal occupation of that part of Kashmir, is the claim that majority of Kashmiris are Muslims.
On your point on plebiscite, the resolution 47 never got off the ground to see the light of day and the UN commission itself declared it as failure far back in 1949, thus making the whole exercise on plebiscite, for all its intents and purposes ‘dead’.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / November 30, 2019
Dear Rajeewa, you are getting everything mixed up. Kashmir was a Hindu kingdom at the beginning which was overrun by Mugals, who forcibly or otherwise made it a Muslim majority region. British drove the Mugals away and reinstated Hindu rule which was in a way correction of an injustice. Please remember Kashmir not only contained Hindus and Muslims but also Buddhists who are ethnically related to Tibetans whose lands were forcibly annexed to Kashmir. At the time of independence Kashmir King opted to be an independent state not joining either India or Pakistan. This decision should have been honored by all. Instead of it, Pakistan invaded Kashmir to annex it. It is only then that the Hindu king signed the accession to India and invited Indian troops, who drove away Pakistani troops from most of the areas. Thus presence of Pakistani troops in Kashmir is illegal while presence of Indian troops is legitimate. At that time, Nehru a weak PM agreed for a ceasefire without driving Pakistan completely out of Kashmir. He also foolishly agreed for a plebiscite. Now the situation is different with a strong Indian army and a strong government. Defeat of China under BJP government shows this. This is why Pakistan despite the initial shouts is now quiet. If at anytime Pakistan tries to enter Indian controlled area, they will be driven out from the area they control as well. Please remember that China is occupying 15% of Kashmir, taken by force when India was weak. According to BJP Kashmir and Sri Lanka are the same, one a Hindu land which has become Muslim majority and the other a Hindu land which has become Buddhist majority. Yes people who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others, but they can do so if other people do not have the power to throw stones back. This is the sad plight of Sri Lanka, which due to clouded consciousness you are unable to accept.
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KA / December 1, 2019
You have been saying this. Gota has already defied Modi in the interview he gave even before attending Moid’s summons.
Without the specific time frame, all the strong posturing by Modi & (H)india is nothing.
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Native Vedda / December 1, 2019
Rajeewa Jayaweera types himself into a cornor
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“The Plebiscite should have taken place a long time ago.Had it been the case, Article 370 would have been dumped and J&K would have either joined Pakistan or become an independent state meeting the aspirations of the Kashmiri people fo justice, peace, and dignity ignored by India for over 70 years but deceitfully.promoted for Tamils in Sri Lanka.”
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Rajeewa as usual forgets the 1977 elections in which TULF asked the people of North East to vote for a Separate State and got overwhelming majority for its demand, when the Tamils were met with violence immediately after the elections.
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People should base their arguments/advice on principles not on moving the goal posts.
What a hypocrisy.
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Rajeewa Jayaweera / December 2, 2019
Native
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I usually do not respond to your one-sided and often snide comments but decided to make an exception today due to the devious nature of your response.
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The Mountbatten Plan required every state to express its wishes to join India or Pakistan by signing an instrument of accession. The deciding factor was if the state had a majority Hindu or Muslim population. In almost all states, rulers belonged to the majority community and their decision reflected it.
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Kashmir was an exception with a majority Muslim population and a Hindu ruler who dillydallied without signing the instrument of accession according to the wishes of his subjects. He panicked when Pakistani tribesmen entered the region and was blackmailed by India into signing the document in order to send troops to his assistance.
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A plebiscite was called for by UNSC and agreed by India and Pakistan in 1947 to address this anomaly.
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To compare the same with 1977 TULF requesting Tamils in the North and East to vote for a separate state was essentially a call for cession.
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If facts have been willfully forgotten, there has been a change of goalposts or hypocrisy, it is certainly not from my side.
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Native Vedda / December 3, 2019
Rajeewa Jayaweera
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I am sorry I had to read your typing.
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“He panicked when Pakistani tribesmen entered the region and was blackmailed by India into signing the document in order to send troops to his assistance.”
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Do you still believe it was a bunch of Pakistani tribesmen entered the region?
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“To compare the same with 1977 TULF requesting Tamils in the North and East to vote for a separate state was essentially a call for cession.”
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People should base their arguments/advice on principles not on moving the goal posts.
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One sided??
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / November 29, 2019
Dear Rajeewa this is geopolitics at play. India is once again using Tamils to bring down Sri Lanka to its feet. Unlike last time, whether India is genuine in getting the rights of Tamils is something we have to wait and see. Last time JR very wisely on the advice of USA surrendered to India. If not the result would have been catastrophic. But when Sri Lanka surrendered, India forgot about Tamils and made a botched up solution as they could not completely ignore Tamils. Last time Sri Lanka bribed Indian officials such as diamond necklace to Romesh Bandhari and cash and whiskey to others who misled Rajiv Ghandi with a false propaganda that Tamils want to create a greater Tamil land with Tamil Nadu, for which he ultimately paid the supreme prize. I am sure by now Sri Lanka would have commenced ways to bribe and do false propaganda, which may not work with BJP officials. By its letter India has pitched high about Tamils, which no country could find fault with. Gota saying that he will re-negotiate the deal with China cannot fool BJP people. Modi wants to settle the problem once and for all, and there is no way that Gota or Mahinda can take him for a ride. Even the 13 point demand put forward by Tamils could not have been done without the instigation of India. For Sinhalese those demands may be outrageous, but for international community all of them will be taken as fair. With Bouganville voting for independence from Papua New Guinea, and Sidmas of Ethiopia a mere 4% of 105 million population voting for a full fledged autonomy, you cannot expect Tamils in Sri Lanka to be satisfied by some crumbs thrown by Sinhalese. If Gota and his cohorts resist in not surrendering to India, then they are sure to face humiliation more than in 1987. I have been saying all along that Tamils will never get justice without international intervention.
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Shiromi Menikdiwela / November 29, 2019
Rajapaksas are like most of the down-southeners, uncivilized morons with a big ego/ big talk etc and it will be interesting how much this GoRa is pretending himself as the new Technocrat he is…
From the looks of things it will be the same Junta regime with more ex-military-men with serious HR violation cases at the helm of the new regime.
with the economy in shambles and Sira/RW done nothing for 5 yrs., India will take most of the control in Geo-Politics with the backing of the USA which is in one camp against the new-Nazis Chinese CCP.
some interesting times ahead for Sri Lankans.
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ajith / November 29, 2019
It is time to UNP to look for the opportunity to explore the revival of the party. Without a delay they should solve the leader issue and come back to politics. Parliament election is coming soon and the party should look for all opportunities where they can get back Sinhala voters. The first step is why Gota met the Indian foreign minister who came without any invitation. Secondly why he made a visit immediately to meet the Modi government. Has he agreed to devolve more powers to Tamils? Has he agreed to sale more land to India? UNP should small point into security to magnify the problem. Will they do or If not let JVP to do it?
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Richmond Peiris / November 29, 2019
“Leverage may be applied in many ways”!
“…need to draw clear red lines on two issues”.
Of course, yes! Apply it and draw red lines too, then be ready to face the consequences if Sri Lanka feels ‘this big brother is bullying her’. Let’s take just a recent example! Rajiv Gandhi forced Sri Lanka to swallow a half-baked pact in 1987. What happened to him and the boys he and his mother IndiraG trained?
1. Rajiv Gandhi (Indian PM) was welcomed to the signing ceremony with a rifle butt pat on his shoulder by a sailor of the guard of honor of the Sri Lanka Navy. (The sailor lamented throughout the court hearing that he hadn’t had a kitchen broom (Ilapotha) to treat the PM instead; seeing this unexpected drama, old Dickey JR, the President of Sri Lanka, laughed it off and the guy was released later since he had no intention to kill the bullying big brother)! However, the Tiger boys were different. Look at the 2nd point.
2. Then, RajivG was welcomed again in Madras by the LTTE boys and girls with a beautiful garland. Due to their very high IQ level (as per some comment writers on CT) they made a ‘Western’ decision; that’s to wipe out the immediate opponent without considering the pros and cons of the act. Accordingly RajivG was blasted into cornflakes while being garlanded by a tigress.
That’s how the half-baked forced pact ended!
What both Sri Lanka and India should learn from their long past is to respect each other’s decisions without trying to take undue advantages out of any geopolitical situation since both have advantageous opportunities as well as deadly limitations!
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K.Anaga / November 29, 2019
Rajeeva!
Your statement ” Srilanka would do well to study the Indian system” should be taken seriously by the government together with ” India has devolved police land power to its 29 states without any consequences to its sovereignty and national interest.”
Sinhala politicians are in the habit of crying foul whenever such statements are made.
Let them be realistic in their attitude towards solving the Tamil problem rather than crying Tiger-Tiger-Tiger. If this suggestion would have been implemented when SJV Chelvanayakam proposed a similar solution., the need for LTTE wouldn’t have arisen.
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Eagle Eye / November 30, 2019
The patriotic Sinhala Buddhist President was little more than a wimp during a press meet in Delhi with PM Modi. Firstly, Modi spoke in Hindi, whereas our patriot spoke in expressionless English rather than in Sinhala. He has received a credit line USD 450 (for God’s sake, not even a grant) and in return, has agreed even to return the Tamil Nadu fishing boats apprehended by the Navy. Why waste resources sending the nave to patrol the seas? Just let the Indian fishermen come and rape the northern seas. Who is bothered? Not even the champions of the Tamil cause Sampanthan, Sumanthiran, Vigneswaran et. al.
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jayt / November 30, 2019
I told you no one can’t trust them
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VADC / November 30, 2019
That press conference held in delhi where everyone knows hindi, but if prez gota speaks in sinhala as you suggest anyone can’t understand it will became gibberish to them, in delhi pm modi never speaks in gujarati which is his mothertongue but when he goes to ahmedabad gujarati will be his primary language in there. Actually why are you commenting in here in english rather than sinhala? because some viewers of this website may not know any sinhala period :-D
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Native Vedda / December 3, 2019
VADC
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“That press conference held in delhi where everyone knows hindi, but if prez gota speaks in sinhala as you suggest anyone can’t understand it will became gibberish to them,”
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You cannot have one rule for minority (OTHERS) and another for majority Sinhala/Buddhists.
When in majoritarian country speak like majority people, we are told by the Sinhala/Buddhist fascists. Goat was in Hindi Speaking Sultanate of New Delhi, he should have communicated in Hindi as he represented the tiny Sri Lanka.
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Agnos / November 30, 2019
Mr. Jayaweera,
How touching that you shed tears for the Kashmiri Muslims while congratulating the elevation to the presidency of the white van bandit, who committed grave abuses of the rights of minorities–their abductions, disappearances and murders–, in your own country.
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Native Vedda / December 3, 2019
Agnos
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Here in Sri Lanka the law/justice work differently for different people.
If you kill one person you are sentenced to death, but moratorium on death penalty prevents from the state committing legally sanctioned murder.
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If you kill more than one person, perhaps in thousands you are elected to top offices as president, defense secretary, army commanders, or appointed as Ambassadors, …… promoted rapidly, become Field Marshal, ……
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If you want to be somebody in this island you should aim at inflicting horrendously large scale damages to human kind, innocent civilian.
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Hope Lord Naseby disagrees with me.
I am referring to Lord Naseby because it is “White Man’s Burden” to civilise us.
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VADC / November 30, 2019
Rajeewa are you buddhist? How could you oppose the creation of ladakh?
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concernd citizen / November 30, 2019
Ghana
What about Hyderabad, Hyderabad was ruled by a muslim king-Nizam of Hyderabad, but his subjects were hindus, he didnt want to join the Union, but the Indian army illegally overthrew the hyderbadi government overnight and annexed it under the union government. how is this is ok?
As usual you twist and turn facts to suit your arguments, this is the problem with you Jaffna tamils; in 1947, Sri lanka had a 20% plus hindu population with highly educated intellectuals, and still they couldn’t get the federal state when the British left, and now the tamils are less than 10%, and there is no way this will happen.
The main reason for this IS that most of Tamils in north are inherently evil, they have hatred in their hearts and look down upon their fellow tamils, and as well as other communities as well.
Look at Singapore, with less than 100 years of History, they got a separate country from Malaysia for the majority Chinese, and your people with 2000 years, still nothing.
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vithura / November 30, 2019
Nizam of Hydrabad was moghul invader hence did not have any right of an inch of Hindu India, hence his ousting and the ensuing annexation was absolutely justified. Please do not blame the Tamils for your lack of knowledge on the subject of Indian history. On the fall of Tamil Hindu population in Sri Lanka, yes you can take credit for the unbridled unleashing of pogroms on Tamils since Independence (1956, 1964, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1995 followed by the war) and their exodus to other countries, even for that you had to cunningly wait until the British had left, what a pathetic story, ha!
On to the federal state point you mention, the British did not have the stomach to extend their days of Empire as they were bankrupt following WW2 and having experienced the fall out from the 1947 partitioning of India and in their haste to get out of the Sub Continent felt that there was no mileage in trying to resolve the issue of a country that is disproportionately much smaller in size to India! Modern Britain has devolved extensive powers within the UK with the right to secede if they so wished! So, do not be fooled into thinking that the failure of Tamils not securing a federal arrangement with the departing British in 1948, is something that justifies that the case for Tamil federalism being weak, far from it.
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Native Vedda / December 3, 2019
vithura
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“Nizam of Hydrabad was moghul invader hence did not have any right of an inch of Hindu India,”
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Therefore I can demand both descendants of Kallathonies Sinhalese as well as the Tamils to leave my ancestral land. When are you leaving?
Please note there is no such thing as “Hindu India”. A country’s physical features don’t become religious.
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Concerned citizen / November 30, 2019
Check your history knowledge first
There was no country called India before the British, it was only region where Hindu people lived
The Mughals were ruling this region for 600 years, thanks to the religion of Islam Where there is no compulsion in the religion, they left Hindus to practice their religion, if they were like the Christian missionaries, they could have converted everyone to Islam, but even after 600 years 85% of India is Hindu
Ruling or being in a country for 600 years , anyone has claim over anything
Ask the New Zealandrs Australians or even all of the South Americans
Secondly, there is no India like the land exists today if not for the British, for their convenience the British unified it and put in the Administration system to rule it. When the British came there were 55 different states, Himdians were never a ruling race, they were always subjugated by others in their history
Because of the British now you have a unified country called India and for the hindians the current period is like the golden age and best period of their civilization, And now trying to flex their muscles on the neighboring countries
After learning the history well, You can remove all the photos of the deities hanging in the wall and put the Union Jack and revere it daily, because if not for them there is no Hindia as it exists today
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Lester / November 30, 2019
The fact is, India cannot capture Kashmir ( 85,806 mi²) from Islamic militants. They were forced to hand over what is now Pakistan to appease the Muslims in 1947. They were beaten very badly by the LTTE in the 1980’s. In 2008, it took Indian security forces hours to contain the Mumbai attacks. In other words, a handful of militants were able to hold India’s financial district hostage for 68 hours. So what “leverage” does India have over Sri Lanka? Nothing. The SLA will soundly defeat them. Gotabaya should continue the Chinese alliance begun by his brother. People are unaware, but the Chinese are building a global empire. Right now, it is economic (in the form of loans), nevertheless, there could easily be a military component when the time is right.
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Gemini Cricket / December 1, 2019
Lester
Are you on drugs?
It is your type who believe that the earth is flat and the sun goes around the earth.
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Native Vedda / December 1, 2019
Lester
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I envy your selective memory and stupid toilet mind.
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“They were forced to hand over what is now Pakistan to appease the Muslims in 1947”
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The area of Pakistan in 1970 was about 1,029,483 km²
The area of Pakistan after 1971 is about 881,913 km²
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There was only one country Pakistan in 1970.
How did Pakistan manage to lose 147,570 km² within 24 years from its independence?
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” They were beaten very badly by the LTTE in the 1980’s.”
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Of course, while IPKF was beaten very badly by the LTTE the Sri Lankan armed forces were hiding either behind VPs bum or behind their women folks.
By the way since Sri Lanka won the LTTE, and LTTE won Hindian IPKF, therefore you can deduce Sri Lanka won the 4th largest army in the world.
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” a handful of militants were able to hold India’s financial district hostage for 68 hours.”
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If thought perversely a handful of militants were able to hold India’s financial district hostage for 68 hours was a great achievement what are you going say about the LTTE which was holding the entire country hostage for 26 or more years?
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“So what “leverage” does India have over Sri Lanka? Nothing. “
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Hindians always believed and treated Sri Lanka as the Sinhala state of Hindia, part of Akhand Bharat. Do you very often check your little willi still hanging where it should be? Of course not. Similarly Hindians don’t have to state it overtly. Sri Lanka is still hanging out there.
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Native Vedda / December 1, 2019
Lester
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” The SLA will soundly defeat them.”
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Of course SLA will.
During a security conference in Sri Lanka one Hindian retired Admiral reminded a single handed Sri Lankan general that it would take only 24 hours to flatten the entire security instalments, camps, bases, …. etc.
Don’t you think its time for you to shove your sense of bravado into holes in your body.
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By the way Modi instead of building toilets in India has given $550 million to Gota. Any self respecting Sri Lankan leader would not have accepted the charitable act. However this is proud Sinhala/Buddhist shameless alleged war criminal didn’t refuse to accept it knowing full well most of it will be siphoned off by his family anyway.
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Lester / December 1, 2019
Native,
Indians are weak (physically), due to their vegetarian diet. That is why so many people invaded them (Aryans, Moghuls, Greeks, Portugese, British, Sinhala kings, etc.). If you read Gandhi’s autobiography, there is one section where he secretly eats beef so that (in his mind) he can be big and strong like the British. The only Indians who can fight are Sikhs. It did not take Sinhalese 26 years to defeat LTTE. JR was getting ready to finish the job in 1989 before paripu drop and other nonsense. The main difficulty was CBK being President from 1994 to 2005. Women and war are not a good mix, as they lack the decision-making skills and necessary brutality required to gain an advantage. Mahinda won the war in 5 years after sacking the human rights champions and giving his commanders free reign. SLA defeated LTTE in 5 years, IPKF took a beating, that means SLA can defeat IPKF. Btw, Buddhism is far superior to Hinduism. You Eelamists forget that Buddhism is also there in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. If these countries were Hindu, that would be the end of them. Vedic Hinduism is the belief system of conquering Aryans who came from Iran (Iran means Land where the Aryans lived). There is nothing ethical or “democratic” about it. In fact, Heinrich Himmler used caste as a model for the Waffen SS.
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Native Vedda / December 2, 2019
Lester
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Whats wrong with you bum?
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You are assuming various things in your head and ascribing me to identities which clearly I am not, ultimately you are arguing with yourself?
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Seriously what is the matter with you?
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Gemini Cricket / December 1, 2019
Native
I sometimes wonder why you even bother answering rabid idiots like Less-ter, Kudu Araganna sumane, Jackass JD, dumb blind vulture (not eagle), hell-arse and the rest.
These Goraka bastards will never change. They are so fixated onto their narrow views and due to their extreme ignorance and resultant greed, they will not let go of even a notion in their tiny brains.
As buddhist we say they are stuck in Samsara and will continue to slide down the slippery slope of servitude, till eternity. Pathetic isn’t it?
I am sure they grew up at a time when Radio was everything to them and Bandaranayake propaganda was drummed through their ears day in day out (much like now where TV is the center of our lives where Hiru and Derana reign supreme over idiots) eating away into their gray matter and turning it to chalk.
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Lester / December 2, 2019
Fake Vedda is upset because Sun God went to the Hell in a pile of mud. Now he wants India to come and get revenge. He thinks some Aryan Hindians will intervene on behalf of Dravidians. Here is quote from Periyar, a Tamil nationalist who inspired Sun God: ““We do not need to explain how the Aryans entered and settled in the Dravidian country, and subjugated and oppressed the Dravidians. Nor do we need to explain how before the Aryans entered the Dravidian country, the Dravidian country had a civilization and arts of the highest rank.” Who is the bigger idiot, the Fake Vedda or you for supporting him? You are upset because Gota gave a good kick to the Western coolies, aka UNP. That’s the way things are. You can’t logically expect 80% of the population to support the world’s biggest loser, Ranil. Even if the right reverends in all the world’s capitals vouched for UNP, as some buggers did on CT, UNP would still lose. The “Ranil” effect is exquisite. The best thing for you to do now is join Nishantha at BIA.
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Native Vedda / December 2, 2019
Lester
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What is your point if you have one?
Try bit harder you might find some points to type.
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Native Vedda / December 2, 2019
Gemini Cricket
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“I sometimes wonder why you even bother answering rabid idiots like Less-ter, Kudu Araganna sumane, Jackass JD, dumb blind vulture (not eagle), hell-arse and the rest.”
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During and after hard days work I need some fun.
I derive it from these morons. Remember it is free.
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charles / December 3, 2019
The truth is that India knows China is bigger super power so India has to be friendly with SL before China comes in.
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