Northern Province Chief Minister, C V Wigneswaran has called for Sri Lanka’s history to be rewritten, by a panel of Sri Lankan and foreign experts, to depict the country’s past, impartially and honestly. He said that this would halt the distortion of history, that was provoking communal feelings.
Speaking at the inauguration, of the SOS Children’s Village in Jaffna last Sunday 5th January, Wigneswaran said that Sinhalese Buddhist propagandists, were claiming that Sri Lanka was a Sinhalse Buddhist country, and therefore other communities must live according to how the majority community wished.
He further pointed out, that these propagandists needed to be reminded, that the Tamils were always here, as the majority of the North and East of the country. He said that this was acknowledged in a letter to Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, by illustrious personalities such as E A Samarawickrama, and Sir James Peiris, way back in 1919.
He added that, these Sinhalese Buddhist propagandists were using, the 6th Century AD Pali Chronicle- the Mahawamsa, to create ill feeling against Tamils, by portraying them as aliens.
Against this background, Wigneswaran referred to an article published in the Colombo Telegraph, titled ‘Mahawamsa- An insult to the Buddha’ by the Sinhalese journalist Sharmini Serasinghe, saying it was an exceptional article that portrays the truth.
Wigneswaran warned that, if the country’s distorted history is continued to be taught in schools, trouble will inevitably ensue. Therefore he suggests, for a panel of Sri Lankan and foreign experts, to be entrusted with the task of re-writing Sri Lankan history impartially, from the earliest times, to that of independence from British rule, in 1948.
*The story above is based on the report filed by PK Balachandran‘s to Indian Express
Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Chief Minister, C V Wigneswaran requests:
“Therefore he suggests, for a panel of Sri Lankan and foreign experts, to be entrusted with the task of re-writing Sri Lankan history impartially, from the earliest times, to that of independence from British rule, in 1948.”
Would he have any objection if the panel is chaired by
Dharshini Irathinavalli?
Could we have the following members on the panel.
Kamalika Pieris
Nalin de Silva
Champika Ranawake
Bandu de Silva
Representatives from BBS, JHU, Ravana,…………
Our resident historians, Navin, Banda, NAK, Vipushana, Hela, sach, Abhaya, Kautillya………
M Sivananthan, Rama, Maveeran, Kali,………
Bell Pottinger, Nonis, Keenie Meenie Services (KMS Ltd), ……….Palitha Kohona, Subramanya Swamy, N Ram,……..
When can they start work on the revisionist history?
/
J.Muthu / January 8, 2014
Come on Veddaha…you mentioned all clowns of madness. North east must be thamils and land for thamil ealam nationals nothing else. AS far as i know u and your bro and sis welcome our beloved land….you will be free like any free animals in this world…we can sing and dance any where we want…
/
Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
J.Muthu
“North east must be thamils and land for thamil ealam nationals nothing else.”
Let me see the evidence
“Come on Veddaha…you mentioned all clowns of madness.”
I don’t need evidence.
“AS far as i know u and your bro and sis welcome our beloved land…”
You welcome my people to our land. Don’t you this is bit rich coming from you?
“you will be free like any free animals in this world…we can sing and dance any where we want…”
No you won’t. You will be too busy fighting either your Sinhala brethren or your Tamil brethren as both of you are self destructive people.
Now please find Ben Hurling first and then start organising the masses for the next Southern Asian Spring.
/
Thiru / January 8, 2014
Sri Lanka has become untrustworthy, it authorities liars and its experts are not any better either – starting from the Chief Justice, historians statisticians and others.
We have to import truth in large measure to supplement the scarce local variety.
/
Ward / January 8, 2014
Muthu, pl calm down:
Two versions of recent history:
A Tamil living in the US appeals to the visiting President
http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/10/post_585.html
A Sinhalese goes to the US to make the same appeal to the US (on the advice of PR firms):
http://www.kadirgamarinstitute.lk/media/press_release/Public%20lecture%20delivered%20by%20Asanga%20Abeyagoonasekera%20Executive%20Director%20LKIIRSS%20at%20Virginia%20Tech%20University.pdf
/
Anpu / January 8, 2014
“.. recent history” what about starting from 1948?
A MEMORANDUM
FROM THE TAMILS OF CEYLON
TO DELEGATES ATTENDING
THE 20th COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE IN SRI LANKA.
First September, 1974
Greetings to all delegates in the name of the Tamils of Ceylon. We extend to you a very warm welcome.
This memorandum is presented to you in the hope that through you, world conscience will be awakened to the present plight of the Tamils in this country, who are being systematically subjected to a denial of human rights, various forms of racial discrimination and other practices which could lead to the genocide of the Tamils.
The Tamils of Ceylon constitute a separate nation divided from the Sinhalese nation by territory, language, religion and culture. (See Appendix) At the beginning of European conquest, there were THREE SEPARATE KINGDOMS in Ceylon: A Tamil kingdom in the North and two Sinhalese kingdoms in the South. The Tamil kingdom fell to the Portuguese in 1619. The Dutch replaced the Portuguese in 1659, who in turn capitulated to the British in 1796. The British also took over the Kandyan Sinhalese kingdom in 1815, thus gaining mastery over the three kingdoms covering the entire island. These territories which were isolated from each other and administered as separate areas were brought together into one administrative unit by the British in 1833. This was done for reasons of administrative convenience without consent of the peoples of the island. In fact the Kandyan Sinhalese protested against this unification.
The British thus imposed a common administrative system on the whole island with English as the Language of the government. In this way they brought together two peoples who had lived separately through the ages. When it became clear that the British were ready to share some of their authority with the local leaders, the conflict between the Tamils and the Sinhalese came to the surface. In 1945 when the time came for the transfer of power to the peoples of this country, the Board of ministers submitted their own proposals for a new constitution. The Tamils almost in one voice rejected their proposals in-as-much as they were calculated to place the minorities of Ceylon in a position of subordination to and dependence on the racial majority.
A Royal Commission under the Chairmanship of Lord Soulbury was sent to Ceylon in order to examine and discuss any proposal for constitutional reform in the island. Recognizing the general state of apprehension and suspicion in the minds of minority communities when power was to be transferred from neutral British hands to the people of a country, the commission became alert to the need for minority safeguards.
The Commissioners therefore accepted the assurance of the Board of Ministers in the belief that the latter were fully aware that the contentment of the minorities is essential, not only to their well-being but to the well being of the Island as a whole.
Moreover the British Government issued a White Paper on the basis of the Commissions report and made it clear to the Board of Ministers of Ceylon, that any legislative action by the British would be conditional on the acceptance of their proposal by the minorities. This acceptance was secured by many promises and assurances by the Sinhalese leaders, the hollowness of which have been manifest by the actions of successive Governments. It is significant that Lord Soulbury himself was later disillusioned by the disregard of these assurances by the Sinhalese leaders. Lord Soulbury has in his forward to the book, Ceylon a Divided Nation by Professor B. H. Farmer said:
“The Commission had of course a cursory knowledge of the age long antagonism between these two communities but might have been less hopeful of a solution had
Mr. Farmers book been available to underline the deplorable effect of centuries of troubled history upon the Ceylonese today… Needless to say the consequences have been a bitter disappointment to myself and my fellow Commissioners…”
The Tamils however hoped that the administrative unity established by the British
Government could be preserved and towards that end made three significant suggestions.
(a) Balanced Representation:
Our earliest request was for balanced representation in the legislature as advocated by the Duke of Devonshire, who was Secretary of State for Colonies. It was based on a balanced scheme of representation that would avoid the danger of concentration of power in one community but would ensure its equitable distribution among all communities and the people as a whole. But the Soulbury Commissioners did not grant this.
(b) The demand for a Federal Constitution:
Secondly, within a year of independence, when the position of the Tamils was fast deteriorating, the demand for a federal form of government was put forward. It was felt that this was the only way of keeping together two distinct nations in one state. It may be remembered here that Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake strongly advocated federalism as far back as May 1926 or even earlier, but would not concede when he came to power. The following excerpts are taken from his speech of his in the Ceylon
Morning Leader July 17th.
“If they considered past history then they would see that the three communities, the Tamils, the Low-country Sinhalese and the Kandyan Sinhalese had lived for over a thousand years in Ceylon and had not shown any tendency to merge… A central form of Government assumed a homogenous whole…”
But when the objections were dissipated he was convinced that some form of FEDERAL GOVERNMENT would be the ONLY SOLUTION.”
The New Constitution of 1972 and the six-point formula.
Thirdly, these suggestions were finally rejected and a new constitution was unilaterally imposed in 1972. This Constitution took away even the meager safeguards provided in the Soulbury Constitution and in addition imposed further disabilities on the non-Sinhalese, non-Buddhist population. This brought the Tamils together under the banner of the Tamil United Front (TUF). comprising all Tamil political parties, major trade unions and prominent non-party Tamils. The TUF is today recognized as the voice of the Tamil people.
The TUF rejected the Constitution and put forward a six-point formula as the minimum prerequisite for keeping the two nations together., while preserving the territorial, linguistic, religious and cultural integrity of the Tamils. The Tamil United Front demands that the Constitution should be amended so as to secure the aspirations of the Tamil people in respect of the following:
(a) The Tamil Language should be given the same status in the Constitution as the Sinhala Language.
(b) There should be constitutional guarantee of full citizenship rights to all Tamil-
speaking people who have made this country their home. There should be no different categories of citizens and no discrimination between them, and also no power to the state to deprive citizen of his citizenship.
(c) The state shall be secular, while equal protection is afforded to all religions.
(d) The Constitution should provide for valid fundamental rights guaranteeing the equality of all persons on ethnocultural grounds.
(e) The Constitution shall provide for the abolition of caste and untouchabilitty.
(f) In a democratic and socialist society, a decentralized structure of government alone will make it possible for a participatory democracy where power will be peoples power rather than state power.
The reasonableness of the demand put forward by the TUF is amply demonstrated by the fact that every single political party with the Sinhalese leadership had accepted the demands in some form or other both before and after independence, but this Government has not even cared to consider these proposals.
The Tamils have traversed a long road and are now at the end of their tether. When two nations cannot get on together they come to the parting of ways. Has the parting come? That is the problem of the Tamils of Ceylon.
UNDER NEO-COLONIALISM.
The Sinhalese leaders have one objective, of converting the bi-national, bi-lingual, multi-religious state of Ceylon into a uni-national state with one nation – the Sinhalese, a uni-lingual state with the Sinhala only and with one religion – Buddhism, involving genocide against the Tamils. This is substantiated by the following statement to the Press by a Cabinet Minister of the present Government and reported in the Ceylon Daily News of 27 th August 1974:
“In fact one of the things happening now is that, many Indian Tamils who were earlier isolated are now learning Sinhala and even adopting our names and religion This is part of the social assimilation.”
For the sake of brevity we give, in some detail just six areas where there is pursuance of the above policy, and list the others;
1. CITIZENSHIP AND DISFRANCHISEMENT.
Within a few months of gaining independence, it was not difficult for the Sinhalese leaders to forget all the promises and assurances they had given to the Tamils, and by the Citizenship Act. No. 19 of 1948 to make a million Tamils stateless, who prior to Independence enjoyed the same rights as other Ceylonese.
This act affected adversely the totality of Tamils and even Muslims. Those who had
Tamil or Muslim names had to submit proof of Citizenship in regard to many matters connected with the Government. The following are some of them:
(a) Employment in public sector.
(b) The issue of Passport or other travel documents.
(c) The issue of certificates of citizenship.
(d) The issue of Rice Ration books.
(e) Inclusion of names in the Electoral Registers.
(f) The registration of transfers of property or shares.
(g) The registration of a person as a Ceylonese Trader.
(h) Other spheres reserved partly or fully for Ceylonese.
In the following year the Ceylon (Parliamentary) Elections Amendment Act. No. 48 of 1949 was passed which again deprived the same group of Tamils of the right to vote. At no time did the Board of Ministers (all Sinhalese) of the State Council of Ceylon, who negotiated the Independence with British
Government ever give even an inkling of their intention to deprive half the Tamil population of Ceylon of their Franchise rights. On the other hand, in the memorandum they submitted to Whitehall on constitutional reforms they devised a scheme of representation under which they expected the Sinhalese to have 58 seats, Ceylon Tamils 15 seats, Indian Tamils 14 seats.
The deteriorating position can be seen in the following table:
COMMUNITY
1947
% of seats 1952
% of seats 1956
% of seats 1960
% of seats 1960
% of seats
Sinhalese 63 73 73 78 77
Ceylon Tamils 13 12 12 11 11
Indian Tamils 7 Nil Nil Nil Nil
Muslims 6 8 7 6 7
The above figures will show that a constitution devised and fashioned to give weightage in representation to minorities was in fact perverted to give weightage to the majority-
2. INROADS INTO TAMIL TERRITORY
The Government implemented schemes of State-aided colonization of traditional Tamils areas by colonizing Sinhalese and thereby increased the Sinhalese voting strength in the legislature. Within the first few years of Independence, colonization of the Eastern Province, a Tamil area, by the Sinhalese had proceeded at such rapid rate that before the end of the 1950s there were enough Sinhalese to return a Sinhalese member to Parliament. Apart from such colonization, special licenses were given to Sinhalese to obtain lands in Tamil areas in preference to the Tamils of the area. Illegal squatting on Crown land by Sinhalese was encouraged and regularized while Tamils were punished and driven away. All this was not a natural movement of population but a Government directed plan.
3. LANGUAGE.
It is in regard to the right to use their language on the basis of equality with their fellow citizens that the Tamils have experienced the greatest humiliation and disappointment. Up to 1955 there was never a doubt that Sinhala and Tamil would be on equal footing and enjoy equality of status. Indeed in the State Council a resolution to the effect that Sinhala and Tamil would be the official languages was accepted by a large majority.
Speaking on the occasion the late Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake said:
“But generally speaking there is no question that one of the most important ingredients of nationality is Language, because it is through the vehicle of language that the aspirations, the yearnings and triumphs of a people through the centuries are enshrined and preserved. Therefore all that it means to a nation from the psychological, from the sentimental, from the cultural points of view, the value of nationality from all those points of view are expressed through the medium of language. That is why language is such an important ingredient of nationality… What then is the object of having Sinhalese alone as the official language? If the objection is that it is rather awkward to have more than one official language, I should like to point out that other countries are putting up with more than two official languages and are carrying on reasonably satisfactorily… I do not see that there would be any harm at all in recognizing the Tamil language also as an official language. It is necessary to bring about that amity, that confidence among the various communities which we are all striving to achieve within reasonable limits. Therefore, on the second point, I have no personal objection to both these languages being considered official languages; nor do I see any particular harm or danger or difficulty arising from it.”
(Official Report State Council, 25h May 1944: Vol. I c809)
The Official Language Act No. 33 Of 1956, however, provided that Sinhala shall be the one Official Language in Ceylon. The Tamils considered this act a great betrayal and have not ceased to agitate for equality of status for the Tamil Language.
In 1961 for 57 days the Tamil speaking people performed Satyagraha outside of the Chief Government Offices in the Principal cities of the Tamil territory — Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna — thus bringing the administration in these areas to a stand-still.
The Government imposed a state of emergency and used the Armed Forces to unleash a reign of terror in these areas. The Tamil M.P.s and leading Tamils like Kanthiah Vaithianathan were placed under detention. When some legislative provision has been made for the use of the Tamil language in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, Sinhala continued to be largely used as the sole language of public business causing inconvenience, embarrassment, and humiliation to the Tamils.
4. EDUCATION.
We list herein specific areas in education where there is severe discrimination:
(a) Education amending Acts Nos. 5 of 1960 and 8 of 1961 took over Schools run by
Tamils and Christian denominations but Buddhist Privena Schools were allowed to continue as voluntary schools with state aid.
(b) Estate schools for children of Tamil plantation workers were not taken over and continue to remain the extremely poor standard in which they have been all the time.
(c) Tamil medium schools in Tamil areas were converted into Sinhala medium schools, thus forcing them to study in Sinhala medium.
(d) After the take-over of the schools, some schools in South Ceylon where there were predominantly Tamil children were converted to Sinhala schools without alternate provisions for the Tamil children.
(e) The medium of instruction in four schools in the North was changed from Tamil to Sinhala.
(f) Access to Higher Education.- Since the present Government came into power there has been racial discrimination. In 1970 admissions, a higher standard was required of Tamil Students. Merit was abandoned. and under cover of giving weightage to students in rural areas, the Government instituted a racial system of admission. We give below the minimum aggregate marks required of Tamil and Sinhalese students in 1970.
Aggregate marks required for admission to the University from:
Tamils Sinhalese
Peradeniya- Engineering 250 225
Katubedde- Engineering 232 212
Medicine and Dentistry 250 229
Agriculture, Veterinary & Bio-Science 184 174
Physical Science 204 183
Architecture 194 180
Since then Government has conceded that this ww a mistake, but it continues with the same objective through a secret scheme of standardization based on language media and area quotas: the consequential effect is to whittle down the admission of Tamil students wbo on the ground of merit alone would be eligible for higher education.
5. VIOLENCE AGAINST TAMILS.
The Tamils have been subjected to violence in 1956, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1974. In
1958 Tamils outside the Tamil territory were set upon by organized groups of Sinhalese and were subjected to murder, torture, rape and looting. In 1961 it was used to disperse the Satyagrahis; in 1974 violence was used to disperse large crowd listening to a non-political cultural address where nine persons were killed. The Police and Army often ran berserk and spread violence and terror over a much larger area than the prescribed scene.
6 STARVATION AND DEATH.
The plantation industry of tea, rubber and coconut constitutes the backbone of the economy of this country. It is a tragedy of the worst magnitude that the very Tamil workers on the plantations whose labor provides the life blood for the economic life of this country have been made political, social, and economic outcasts by the operation of national laws, since this country attained independence. The extent of the problem faced by over a million Tamil people concentrated on the plantations has assumed the character of genocide by reason of starvation due to unemployment, low wages, and drastic cuts imposed on the quantities of food items made available to them. The cumulative effect of all this is a sharp increase in their death rate and plantation workers and their families have been forced to move into towns to beg for food.
We conclude by merely listing the other means whereby the Tamils are put to grave hardships:
1. Denial of equal opportunities of employment to Tamils in Government Service and
Government controlled corporations.
2. Sustained propaganda against Tamils through Government approved school textbooks.
3. Continued Police and Army action in Tamil areas.
4. Denial of the right of peaceful assembly.
5. Denial to many Tamils and Tamil leaders the right to leave the country.
6. Absence of effective provisions in the Constitution protecting the Fundamental Rights of minorities.
7. Arbitrary arrests and detentions (at the moment there are 42 Tamils under such detention) and
8. Cruel and inhuman treatment at the time of arrest and during detention.
9. The grant of :the foremost place to Buddhism and imposing on the State a constitutional duty to protect and foster that religion.
10. Denial of the right of representation to 50,000 in the Kankesauthurai Electorate by maliciously refusing to hold the by-election for the last two years.
THE COMMONWEALTH AND TAMILS
Sri Lanka is today a State with two nations and the Tamil nation there in seeks its inalienable right of self-determination. The Tamil problem is not an internal affair.
The Shri Rajagopalachari, the First Governor General Of India has stated:
“Most private wrongs are done within family walls, and most public wrongs within the borders of States. If world opinion is to consider state frontiers sacrosanct then there will be no chance for world progress as a whole; tyranny would have received a world charter.”
Any attempt therefore, to regard the Tamil question as an internal affair of the State of Sri Lanka, would amount to an evasion of recognizing the political and social realities in the country. There is little doubt that the situation, fraught with many dangers, is gradually getting out of hand and is one for which there are unfortunately many parallels. From all accounts the Tamils of Ceylon are beginning to despair of obtaining their right, through discussion, compromise, and peaceful means; tensions and frustrations are beginning to crystallize around issues which sooner or later am likely to lead to a point of no return.
In Ceylon today there is closely a situation where immediate action and assistance are necessary to stop a bad situation from getting worse. The question would arise whether the subject of minority nationalities in Commonwealth countries could be discussed even if such a subject is not on the agenda of the conference. There have been occasions in the past when the conference did consider subjects like Kashmir and Apartheid even though they were not on the agenda. The rapidly deteriorating situation here, demands in the name of common humanity that the Tamil question of Ceylon be considered at the 20th conference. Recent history shows that the nations of the world have moved to help a smaller nation in distress, only after many paid with their lives for their legitimate rights.
The CPA is an Association of Commonwealth parliamentarians who, irrespective of
race, religion or culture are united by community of interest, respect for the rule of law and the rights and freedoms of the individual citizens and by pursuit of the positive ideals of parliamentary democracy.
THEREFORE, IT IS OUR HOPE THAT THE PROBLEMS OF THE TAMILS IN
CEYLON WILL RECEIVE SYMPATHETIC CONSIDERATION OF THE
DELEGATES ASSEMBLED AT THIS CONFERENCE AND THAT THEY WILL
USE THEIR GOOD OFFICES TO HELP IN THE SOLUTION OF THIS PROBLEM.
S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, Q.C.,
President, Tamil United Front,
16, Alfred House Gardens
Colombo 3,
Sri Lanka
/
Anpu / January 9, 2014
As the ever increasing prospects of a third UN resolution as in many years looms over Sri Lanka its mendacious propaganda machinery has gone into overdrive to placate the changing world-opinion regarding the treatment of their own Tamil speaking citizens. (1)
Washington Times of 12th December 2013 wrote, “Since 1948, the Sri Lankan government had implemented a strategy of disenfranchising Tamils. This strategy included restricting Tamil access to higher education, business licenses, and settling non Tamils on Tamil land. Although the Tamils cried foul, the world ignored them, until now.” (2)
In response to Tamils adopting the Gandhian style of peaceful protests for equal status, they were treated with the full force of state- organized violence. Paragraph 30 of the UN panel report of 2011; initiated following Sri Lanka reneging on its promise for an independent probe into war crimes states “…Elements in the Government encouraged, or in some cases sponsored, episodes of anti-Tamil violence in 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1983. This violence culminated in the 1983 anti-Tamil attacks, which were the most extensive…” (3)
Writing about the 1983 attacks, Paul Seighart in his report ‘Sri Lanka: A mounting tragedy of errors’ said, “Communal riots in which Tamils are killed, maimed, robbed and rendered homeless are no longer isolated episodes; they are beginning to become a pernicious habit……One of the most striking features of the episodes of communal violence, for instance has been the lack of retaliation by Tamils against the Sinhalese in their midst, with the result that virtually all the victims on each of these occasions have been Tamils’. (4)
(1) http://www.kadirgamarinstitute.lk/media/press_release/Public%20lecture%20delivered%20by%20Asanga%20Abeyagoonasekera%20Executive%20Director%20LKIIRSS%20at%20Virginia%20Tech%20University.pdf
(2)http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/freedom-and-liberty/2013/dec/12/tamil-tragedy-case-equality-law/
(3)http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf
(4). ISBN 0907247040 P.15
Put together, they paved the way to the exodus of many Tamils from their motherland now forming a large contingent of Diaspora giving voice to the voiceless in Sri Lanka and with whom Asanga Abeyagoonasekera seeks to engage with, despite his government crowning them as ‘rump of the LTTE’.
Speaking about LTTE, Howard Debenham former Australian high commissioner to Sri Lanka from 1992 to 1994 said, “It is often overlooked that Tamil militarism was, in the first place, spawned by the deliberate demonization of Tamils (both Hindu and Muslim) in the early years of Sri Lanka’s independence from Britain.” (5)
The reason for this state violence and the reluctance to accommodate minorities can be found in a study conducted by the East-West Centre in Washington:
“This study argues that political Buddhism and Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism have contributed to a nationalist ideology that has been used to expand and perpetuate Sinhalese Buddhist supremacy within a unitary Sri Lankan state; create laws, rules, and structures that institutionalize such supremacy; and attack those who disagree with this agenda as enemies of the state.
The nationalist ideology is influenced by Sinhalese Buddhist mytho-history that was deployed by monks and politicians in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries to assert that Sri Lanka is the designated sanctuary for Theravada Buddhism, belongs to Sinhalese Buddhists, and Tamils and others live there only due to Sinhalese Buddhist sufferance. This ideology has enabled majority super-ordination, minority subordination, and a separatist war waged by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)” (6)
B. H. Farmer in his publication Ceylon: A Divided Nation; with extensive research experience in Sri Lanka, endorses this sentiment. “Since those saddening days of 1958 Ceylon has had its share of trouble…The truth, though unpalatable may be to some, is simply that nobody unacceptable to the present Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism has any chance of constitutional power in contemporary Ceylon” (7)
(5) http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/inclusion-the-way-to-real-peace-20090315-8yv7.html
(6) http://www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/sinhalese-buddhist-nationalist-ideology-implications-politics-and-conflict-resolution-s
(7) Ceylon: A Divided Nation. B. H. Farmer (Issued under the auspices of the Institute of Race Relations, London.) London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1963.
The Sinhala Buddhist mytho-history emanates from Mahavamsa chronicle which teaches that Sinhalese Buddhists are the sole rightful occupiers of Sri Lanka and that Tamils and all others are inferior interlopers who must be destroyed to honour Buddha.
Sinhalese Buddhists seek to accomplish this goal of a mono-religious, mono-ethnic state through a Tamil genocide. The Permanent People’s Tribunal sitting in Germany this December of 2013 to examine genocide reached unanimous consensus that the Sri Lankan state was guilty of crimes of genocide against the Eezham Tamils and that the genocide is continuing even after the end of the military operations against the LTTE. (8)
This genocide is multifaceted including,
•the subtle imposition of Sinhala language and religion on Tamils (9)
•the systematic grabbing of their lands (10)
•the state sponsored colonisation of the North East with Sinhalese from the south (11) in direct contravention to paragraph 6.104 of the LLRC recommendations (12) which states that ‘The land policy of the Government should not be an instrument to effect unnatural changes in the demographic pattern of a given Province
•the Coercive Tamil population control in the Northeast (13)
•the calculated sabotage of almost every aspect of economic life in the north of the country, farming, selling vegetables, running hotels, restaurants and even barber shops (14) and destruction of fishing boats (15) by the occupying army.
(8) http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=36878
(9) http://www.theweekendleader.com/Causes/615/Exclusive:-Inside-Lanka.html
http://www.dailypioneer.com/home/online-channel/top-story/123295-sri-lanka-destroying-tamil-culture-karunanidhi.html
(10) http://tnapolitics.org/land-issues-in-northern-and-eastern-provinces-by-hon-r-sampanthan/
(11) http://groundviews.org/2013/09/19/state-facilitated-colonization-of-northern-sri-lanka-2013/
(12) http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/CurrentAffairs/ca201112/FINAL%20LLRC%20REPORT.pdf
(13) http://groundviews.org/2013/09/13/coercive-population-control-in-kilinochchi/
(14) http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/abuse-by-sri-lankas-army-rubs-salt-in-wounds-of-war-tamil-women-say/2012/07/06/gJQADaSiRW_story.html
(15) http://www.electricscotland.com/thomson/fishing14.htm
Although the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local elections in the North were held soon after the war, the government was dragging its feet in conducting the Provincial Council (PC) elections mooted by India under the provisions of the 13th amendment that would have given the Tamils a modicum of self-rule.
The international community and India played a great role in convincing the government in Colombo to hold democratic elections in the volatile North. (16) When the date was finally announced for the PC election the comments coming from the government side were quite staggering:
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa opposed the holding of Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections, saying empowering a “hostile” provincial administration with land and police powers will have grave repercussions. (17)
Deputy Minister Faizer Musthapha says that the proposed NPC election wouldn’t help solve problems faced by the Tamil speaking people… it could worsen the situation, while urging the government to review its position.(18 )
Ven. Vappa Thero says the 13th Amendment should be abolished before the Northern Provincial Council election. (19)
Nevertheless, the Tamils whom the government claims to have ‘rescued’ from the clutches of LTTE voted overwhelmingly to elect the Tamil National party. This is despite the Commonwealth Monitoring report stating the ‘The heavy presence and influence of the military, including persistent reports of overt military support for particular candidates, reported cases of the military actually campaigning for selected candidates, and military involvement in the intimidation of the electorate, party supporters and candidates…’ (20)
(16)http://thediplomat.com/2013/09/democracy-at-last-for-sri-lankas-northern-province/
(17)http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/gotabaya-rajapaksa-opposes-holding-of-npc-elections/article4749705.ece
(18)http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=80158
(19)http://www.colombopage.com/archive_13A/Jun27_1372341699JR.php
(20)https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-polls-cwealth-observer-report-slams-military-influence/
The Economist commented on the Northern Provincial Council that “The provincial council is weak. Real power lies in a shadow military administration, including an army commander who is now governor. It will carry on deciding day-to-day matters. Meanwhile, the army forbids crowds from gathering in the north. Its spies spread fear. A policeman on polling day admitted that even he was scared of them. Many Tamils say just talking to a foreigner provokes interrogation. Plain-clothes figures sporting military haircuts frequently skulked near this correspondent, interrupting meetings. None of this suggests that reconciliation between Tamils and the Sinhalese majority is going any where”. (21)
Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu and former president of Ireland are also of the opinion that the climate required for reconciliation does not yet exist in Sri Lanka (22)
In his quest for international support for a military solution to a protracted political problem President Rajapakse made convincing promises. In July 2006 he said “In sum, any solution needs to as a matter of urgency devolve power for people to take charge of their own” (23). In June 2011 he told the Indian government who also helped the president in achieving that military adventure, “If I make any devolutionary concessions to the Tamils, 13A Plus, Minus, Divided or Subtracted it will be curtains for me.”(24) In February 2013 in his speech to the nation delivered on Independence Day he rejected new power for Tamil-dominated provincial councils and warned foreign governments, not to interfere in the country’s internal affairs. (25)
The message from the Sri Lanka regime cannot be clearer. The discourse for a peaceful co-existence with power-sharing does not exist now or ever.
(21)http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21586877-continuing-repression-tamils-and-their-defiance-suggest-reconciliation-far-harder-lines
(22)http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Hope-and-reconciliation-Healing-Sri-Lankas-wounds-of-conflict/articleshow/18896788.cms
(23)http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/10003
(24)http://tamilcanadian.com/news/index.php?action=comments&id=17400
(25)http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/world/asia/sri-lankan-leader-seems-to-reject-greater-autonomy-for-tamils.html?_r=1&
Paragraph 435 of the UN report of 2011 says ‘…the LLRC fails to satisfy key international standards of independence and impartiality, compromised by the composition of the Commission and deep-seated conflicts of interests of some of its members. (12) Nonetheless, the international community accepted it, requesting Sri Lanka to implement its recommendations. But after two resolutions at the 19th and 24th sessions of the UNHRC defiant Sri Lanka said that it ‘did not concur with the US-sponsored resolutions’. (26)
In the face of increasing world criticism in the way Sri Lanka continues to act against its own citizens it has redoubled his effort to disseminate false propaganda even engaging with top PR firms to enhance the country’s post-war image. (27)
In a joint press release, US Congressmen Johnson and Davis said, “Given the magnitude of horrors Sri Lankans bore witness to, and how the most egregious alleged violators of international law remain unpunished, accountability for the guilty is essential for helping those who have suffered to heal, and the country’s diverse population reconcile” (2)
In his submission to the LLRC in 29th November 2010 Judge Weeramantry formerly a Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and a Judge of the International Court of Justice said “…the Executive Presidency had in the past been used “to postpone elections, to topple elected governments, to disrupt the judiciary, to ban political parties, to suppress demonstrations and lead the country towards a violent culture, to sell state institutions at under-valued prices, to defend criminals and to grant concessions to unscrupulous businessmen. Agreements that betrayed the country were entered into using the powers of the Executive presidency”. (28)
Responding to the Rajapaksa regime’s repeated complaint of being unfairly targeted by the international community, Yasushi Akashi Japan’s Representative for Peace-Building, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka said: “Pressure is what you make of it. You can either allow pressure to get you down or make it disappear by doing the right thing.”(29)
(26)http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/27940-govt-wont-comply-with-unhrc-resolution-gl.html
(27)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11606899
(28)http://blog.srilankacampaign.org/2011/01/senior-judge-speaks-out-about-how.html
(29)http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=94100
/
Kautilya / January 8, 2014
Thanks for nominating me to the panel. Is the Ur-சென்மVedda going to send in a cheque to support the cost of re-wrting history? Or are the Singala-Buddhist types going to pay from their taxes? or is it funded by just the NPC?
I can understand why the Vedda
did not include Sittrappalam and a few others.
But why did he drop off Karthigesu Indrapala?
The favorite for the chief editor of the history is said to be Native Vedda himself.
But Wigneswaran likes Chaaramanikya Sherasinghe to be the editor because she is a Colombo-7 coffee-table historian? What about Nira W? She was also writing history with the blessing of Chandrika?
But that really will not satisfy Wigneswaran in the end. All he needs to do is to go back to the 1930s, because G. G. Ponnambalam already wanted the history re-writen, and stated his version of the history in Talawakelle in 1939, and set off the first Sinhala-Tamil riot.
Old Wiggie does not know recent history, and he is trying to repeat history?
/
Anpu / January 8, 2014
” stated his version of the history ” what was his version – please tell us.
Thank you.
/
Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Kautilya
“I can understand why the Vedda did not include Sittrappalam and a few others. But why did he drop off Karthigesu Indrapala?”
You have failed to note that I have also not included
Prof Gananath Obeysekere
Prof S Pathmanathan
Prof Sudharsan Seneviratne
Prof H L Seneviratne
Dr SU Dereniyagala
Prof K Rajan
Prof Romila Thapar
Prof Rajan Gurukkal
Prof Prof. Y. Subbarayalu
Prof Noburu Karasimha
Prof Osmund Bopearachchi
and many other learned historians.
The reason for omitting them is beyond your comprehension. Just forget it.
/
M.Sivananthan / January 9, 2014
What about Daya master, KP, Joseph Rayappu, Thoma soundaranayakam and others?
/
Lanka Liar / January 10, 2014
Why your God father Doglas is left out.
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Padraig Holmang / January 8, 2014
@Native Vedda
Could we also add,
Rajpal Abeynaiyaka
Malinda Seneviratne
Dayan Jayathilake
Michael Roberts
Padraig Colman
The entire staff at the Lake House newspapers
The entire staff at Rupavahini and ITN and SLBC to the panel?
/
Silva / January 8, 2014
What about Hudson Samarasinghe, the foul mouthed imbecile?
/
manisekaran / January 8, 2014
Why did you miss David blacker because he is missing nowadays :-)
/
Yasodara Fukushima / January 8, 2014
Mr. Native Vedda,
You Conveniently ignored prof. Suriyapperuma and Malinda Seneviratne.
You made me laugh when I read that most beautiful highly interllect (according to my cousin Fatima Jim Fukushima Softy) Madamme Irathina Valli’s name.
Make sure when rewriting history that we have a Ponnambalam Ramanathan too, to make the Muslims belittle. If you cant find a P. Ramanathan then please include Paisa or Paiser Mustappa.
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Yasodara Fukushima
I am sorry I have missed out many resident historians too particularly my apology goes to JimSofty.
/
Anthony / January 8, 2014
What about Jackson Anthony? He said Rajapakshes are decending from Buddha.
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Anthony / January 8, 2014
And Mervyn Silva who acted as Dutugemunu. He said he will teach Madam Navaneetha Pillai Sri Lankan history.
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Silva / January 8, 2014
And Geetha Kumarasinghe too! She would fly in swans on to the debate table to calm down the diligent debaters.
/
K.A Sumanasekera / January 8, 2014
Dear Native,
Shouldn’t you suggest the following names too , to make it politically. sexually and religiously correct and represent all stake holders who have settled in our beautiful Island which even one of the Diaspora territory news papers, the Age reckons one of the top five places to visit in 2014….
Mangala Samaraweera, Kiriella, Jehan Perea, Ms T , Ms Serasinghe, Paikiasothy and Emil Poorten,
..
Nearly forgot one of the main players, your own clan chief Mr Thissahamy..
And of course without Kirubaharan, and Reverend Emmanuel, the revised or rewritten or even brand new version wouldn’t get the tick from the Diaspora International community of Cameron and Harper,
Also you should think of some eminent Naduans to represent the Cholas , Pandyans and the Dalits who migrated , invaded or just arrived as refugees …
/
JULAMPITIYE AMARAYA / January 8, 2014
N V;
Oh My,
You forgot to mention the most important,
IMPORTED personalities here.
Why you miss the F KING JARAPASSA, USA Imported Hothambaya, and other Dahja Jarapassa malabari clan
/
Silva / January 8, 2014
NV, Hek…hek…hek!!!!
/
ken robert / January 9, 2014
Sounds like a formidable line up!
Ken
/
Navin / January 9, 2014
Native Veddha:
Why did you leave out the following experts?
1) J.L.Devananda
2) G K Nathan
3) N. Kumaraguruparan and
4) Veluppillai Thangavelu
Where shall we organize the confab? Oslo? London? Nakhon Pathom?
Who do you think is best suited for the editor of the final compilation?
1) Eric Solheim
2) Ron Ridenour
3) Pon. Chandran
4) The Sociel Architects (TSA)
5) TU Senan
6) Krisna Saravanamuttu
7) Eric Ellis
8) Brian Senevirathne
9) Gareth Evans
10) Rama Mani
11) Paul Newman
12) Gordon Weiss
13) Bruce Haigh
Also please don’t forget to ask:
1) S. Sivathasan to write a chapter on how Sri Lankan Tamils acquired their “Unconquerable genetic traits”.
2) C V Wigneswaran himself to write a chapter on how LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran though identified as a terrorist world wide is actually a “great hero”.
3) TNA leader R. Sampanthan to write a chapter on how LTTE became the “sole representative of Tamils” and what other Tamils leaders most importantly he himself did at the time.
4) Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran to write a chapter on LTTE from the perspective of its legal adviser. Veluppillai Thangavelu and Madam Usha Sri Skandharaja can be co-authors add valuable input on how the funding apparatus worked in Canada
/
Native Vedda / January 9, 2014
Navin
Thank you for your impressive list.
Eric Solheim is welcome to write VP’s belated obituary.
This is what Wiggy wants:
“Therefore he suggests, for a panel of Sri Lankan and foreign experts, to be entrusted with the task of re-writing Sri Lankan history impartially, from the earliest times, to that of independence from British rule, in 1948.”
So lets us narrow down the period from prehistory to 1948.
As you very well know I am not in the habit of one person to other hence we will write down the names and pick names out of a hat. I think it is perfectly valid and reasonable if done correctly.
You can recommend as many names as you wish.
/
Velusumana / January 9, 2014
Uruwaruge Vanniyattho (the royal and native race to SL) may want to add a few words.
/
M.Sivananthan / January 9, 2014
NV is now a Tamil Tiger Vedda. So, he dont like to include Uruwarige Vanniya to the list because NV cannot converse with him.
/
Velusumana / January 9, 2014
URUWARIGE WANNIATHO (THE ROYAL/NATIVE CLAN FROM SL) MAY HAVE A FEW WORDS TO ADD.
/
bbs dayan / January 10, 2014
the historian Professor Indrapala’s book could be a good starting point for such a rethinking without getting too ideological about it. see the link below to a good review of the book
REVIEW ESSAY
A Post-National, Post-Colonial History
of Early Sri Lanka and South India
Ravi Vaitheespara
University of Manitoba
K. Indrapala, The Evolution of an Ethnic Identity: The Tamils in Sri Lanka, c. 300
BCE to c. 1200 CE (Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2nd rev. ed., 2007).
If the practice of writing South Asian history has been particularly susceptible
to the dangerous imperatives and projects of nationalism, nowhere is this more
flagrantly exemplified than in the case of Sri Lanka. If the legacies of colonial
and nationalist historiography of India privileging the ‘Indo-Aryan colonist’ as
the founders of Indic civilisation have been the subject of some substantial
recent critical interrogation, there have been fewer challenges to the legitimacy
of similarly colonialist and nationalist narratives of the ‘Indo-Aryan’, Sinhala-
Buddhist founders of Sri Lankan civilisation. In the case of India, one could
argue, recent attempts to write post-Orientalist and subaltern histories derive at
least part of their appeal and resonance from their attempt to overturn the
impact of colonial and nationalist historiography. In the Sri Lankan case,
where such historical narratives and their popular deployment in school texts
and the media have gone virtually uncontested, there appears to be little
resistance to the increasingly-normalised and strident claims made on behalf of
the ‘Sinhala-Buddhists’ as the rightful ‘Bhumi-Putras’ (‘sons of the soil’) of Sri
Lanka and the so-called ‘minorities’ as later invaders.1
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00856401.2011.587394#.Us_2ZLRHh-4
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Anpu / January 8, 2014
Mr Wigneswaran – we tamils should start writing the history straight away without waiting for GOSL.
/
Vibhushana / January 8, 2014
There are no traces of Tamil settlements in Sri Lanka before 10 CE. Vingeswaran’s ‘foreign experts’ will concur. Why 10CE ? This was the period where the island saw brutal south Indian invasion by Kalinga Magha. The Sinhala capital was forced to move southwards as a consequence. Kalinga was beaten back. However the Sinhala population in the north never full recovered. Well, it did upto Sankilii and Prabakaran. Sankilli committed genocide on Sinhala population. Prabarakan followed suit. There were 18,000 Sinhala population in the north in 1980 no longer there.
‘Tamils were always here’ is like saying ‘French were always in England’. Of course they were always here. Due to the close proximity trade and commerce obviously left a footprint.
The bottom line is that any part of Sri Lanka has never given birth to a ‘Tamil culture’ hence a Tamil homeland. Sri Lanka on the other hand is the home of ‘Sinhala culture’.
I welcome an ‘independent foreign investigation’ on this score. Perhaps that will finally bring an end to this palawa.
/
G1 / January 8, 2014
Please read this comment below is posted by fellow forum-er ‘Saro’ on January 6, 2014 at 10:05 pm
“Tamils lived in India for more than 11 millenniums according to archeological evidence. Some morons claim they waited 18 miles away from Sri Lanka until Vijeya and his 700 accomplices set foot FIRST on the shores and after some 1000 years Tamils started “invading”. Vijeyan came from 2,500 miles away. Even a child can understand crossing 18 miles of Palk Strait is easier than 2,500 miles. Further, Tamils have always been seafarers as even the British who ruled more than half the world borrowed the word ‘catamaran’ – multihulled vessel with two parallel hulls for geometrical stability- from Tamil language. Even if you believe Mahavamsa, the origin of Sinhalese was from hybrid of male lion and female human and as there is no evidence of lions in Sri Lanka they must go back to Africa or wherever they migrated from in a scenario of having to leave this island. But Tamils and Muslims consider Sinhalese as their sahotharaiyo and want to stay here and enrich the culture and economy.”
Also if you bring the archaeological evidence of Buddhist culture prevailed in North & East in early days to prove your theory, you should know that Buddhism was once widely practiced religion in Southern India and definitely should have influenced its way in to N&E too.
Here is one example…..
check this following link.
http://www.usashaolintemple.org/chanbuddhism-history/
(now don’t say this website is hosted by LTTE rumps)
So Vibushana Shaodaraya………….don’t you agree that its time to re-write the real history than rely on that bull-crap story of Lion ram the Princes story…..?????
:-)
/
Maveeran / January 8, 2014
Absolutely right there man. Too bad these dumb sinhalese wont agree on this.
/
Vibhushana / January 8, 2014
Distance from England to France about 18 miles too. Does that mean England was a French homeland before the Norman Conquest?
Catamaran or no Catamaran, there is no trace of Tamil culture before 10CE. This is not based on Mahavamsa mind you.
/
Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
You realize that if these were just small scale Tamil fishing communities, their presence would have long since disappeared. By your logic, many Native American tribes can not claim to have lived in North America before the White man because many Natives tribes were nomadic and did not create structures that were permanent enough to have survived.
How likely do you think it is that even though Dravidian culture was established in South India before Vijaya colonized Lanka, none of these Dravidians would have ventured the short distance into Lanka (especially Tamil fisherfolk).
/
Vibhushana / January 8, 2014
I don’t know but it seems your brain is permanently stuck on the Mahavamsa. You need to move away from “Mahavamsa mindset” before talking logic isn’t it really?
I thought I tried my best to explain its very unlikely for 200 people on a boat change the entire demography of the island. Vijaya is only a legend like Santa Clause. Therefore “Dravidian” culture pre-existing Vijaya is a moot isn’t it really?
The biggest change in demography as I described before occurred with the landing of Kalinga Margha in 10 CE with a massive army to overrun the north. Before that there is NO evidence of permanent South Indian settlements.
Tamil fisher-folk can travel to Malayaleee speaking areas as well as Sinhala island. Tourists and migrant labour, mercenaries crossed shores all the time. When the Tamils arrive they brought there culture here with them. It did not BEGIN here as the Sinhala culture. Do you see the difference?
/
thivya / January 8, 2014
There is no culture called Sinhala culture. It is the Tamil culture that is projected as Sinhala culture. Every thing is borrowed, adulterated, stolen and imitated. Even in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., what was to eventually become the Sinhala language had not evolved to the point where it was suitable for the compilation of important treatises like the Dipavamsa, Mahawamsa etc. When there was no Sinhala language in Lanka or in any part of the world before 8th A.D., it is thuggery to claim that there were Sinhala people in Lanka prior to the 8th century A.D.’ :)
/
Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
Vijaya colonization is your own culture’s claim of ethnogenesis, it isn’t a Tamil concoction. The fact that Sinhala can be traced to North India linguistically points to Sinhalese originating in North India and consequently adds to the plausibility of the Vijaya story.
Lanka would have been sparsely populated because Veddah were hunter gatherer people, so a small colonization party from North India can effect demographic change especially since Vijaya is stated to have exterminated many Veddah.
Sinhala culture also did NOT begin in Lanka, it came with North Indian colonizers, which is why your language is Indo-Aryan. Unless you want to claim Indo-Aryans originated in Lanka, there is no way around but to accept your founders came from North India.
The point of stating Tamils being in Lanka before you Sinhalese is to point out that you don’t have any special ancestral claim to Lanka over Tamils. You can’t claim Tamils invaded a Sinhalese Lanka when Tamils would have been living in Lanka before the Sinhalese.
Let me reiterate, Sinhalese culture did not begin in Lanka, it began in India .
/
Vibhushana / January 9, 2014
Hey there,
Sinhala, Malyalee, Tamil originate from the same Brahmi script. The part that makes Sinhala “Indo-Aryan” are 2 vowels that distinguish it from the other scripts in the region. If Vijaya added anything to Sinhala it was the 2 vowels which represents about %5 of the script. If North Indians added anything more, then Sinhala link to India will be more pronounced surely?
Sri Lanka was “Sparsely populated” is simply hearsay. Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Iron age settlements found right across the island suggests otherwise.
The reality of course genetically people across the subcontinent are the same. The divergence in language, script and customs took place as settlements in various geographic pockets progressed. Its determined largely by geography. The settlements to the left of Ghatts mountain range Malyalee culture evolved. To the right Tamil culture evolved and to the south in the island of Ceylon is where Sinhala language evolved.
“Tamils being in Lanka before you Sinhalese” is a typical infantile claim. Sinhala culture “began in India” is based on mythology on Mahavamsa isn’t it really?
/
Palmsquirrell / January 9, 2014
Sinhala is Indo-Aryan because the language belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of Indo-Iranian. The script is essentially South Indian.
Sinhala being an Indo-Aryan language is proof that it is not native to Lanka, and infact came from North India.
Finding settlements does not prove Lanka was heavily populated, because we are not talking about Harappan or Sumerian level of urban civilization here.
/
Vibhushana / January 10, 2014
Hindus have Iranian origin. In fact going further you can even say they have African origin. Human civilization moving globally east to west means the whole of Asia one way or the other have roots in the African continent.
Now just because Hindus have Persian roots does that make them “foreigners” in Hindustan? People integrate previous human waves and strongest and fittest traits and traditions survive to create a unique culture called “Hindu”.
Similarly, Sinhala is the indigenous culture of the island formed mixing with multiple influences. Its most significant strain is indeed Indo/Iranian. This strain is possibly from Vijaya arrival.
The resulting culture unique and indigenous because its not found anywhere else in the world. If Sinhalese spoke in a language or have traditions that have similarities elsewhere in the world I would have no hesitation to say Sinhala is not native to Ceylon.
Tamils living 22 km to the north is of no consequence. There are more than enough indication that the Sinhala culture thrived and evolved its unique traits despite constant threat of emanating from the subcontinent.
/
thivya / January 10, 2014
It is obvious Vibushana does not know anything about Malayalam. He just repeats what the history twisting de Silvas, Fernandos and Pereras blabber in Lankaweb. :)
The Malyalam language is less than 900 years old. It is just a regional dialogue of the ancient Tamil country (Chera Nadu). The only difference is the script was changed due to the non-Tamil influence and invasion. That’s why the Tamils and Malayalees, the blood brethren, took separate identities. The Malayalam language is almost the same as Tamil with a little more Sanskrit words, that’s all. Even now anyone who is fluent in Tamil can easily understand Malayalm.
In Tamil, Malayali means the people from the mountainous or hilly region of the Tamil country.
/
Citizen / January 9, 2014
There are some reports that in the Indian history Sinhalese culture had its roots in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Their culture with the Sinhalese are identical. Even there are incidents to show that Prince Vijaya was reported with his 700 men from Orissa to Mantai. Whatever arguments that are put forward, the fact remains that there were two nations in Sri Lanka. Prior to the Tamils and Sinhalese, there were two clans – Rakshas and the Nagas. Indian history gives instances of the existence of Nagas in the Andhra Pradesh region.
On the whole, I am of the view that the history of Sri Lanka should be re-written and I concur with C.V.Wigneswaran.
/
Coco-Jumbo / January 9, 2014
YES, EXTENDING WAY DOWN TO NAGAPATINAM AND OUR NAGADIPA, SAILING IS THE BUSINESS.
SOME THINK BUDDHA REFUSED TO MEET THE SOUTH INDIANS AND SAIL FROM THERE, PREFERING TO PLOUGH HIS WAY FROM AFAR OR FLY SRILANKAN AIRWAYS.
/
sach / January 10, 2014
Do you know that they have unearthed photographs showing Vijaya a sinhalese from indian getting into a shop.?
/
sach / January 10, 2014
How much you want to scream it is a fact that sinhala culture originated in Sri lanka. Pick me a single sinhalese from india then we can atleast give a little heed to what you say. The sinhala langauge developed in SL, all their books were written in SL, it is in SL that you find evidences for evolving sinhala language. All Sinhala customs even the ones adopted from india has drastic changes with that of india. Interestingly those who champion the cause that sinhala is not a unique people with a unique culture run with their tails behind when asked the question how SL tamils are a unique bunch.
Between why have you started using Mahavamsa as a 100% true source for history when you and your ilk have been bashing Mahavamsa from time immemorial. Changed the strategy?
why are you using mahavamsa now?:)
/
sach / January 10, 2014
North Indian connection to Sinhala language doesnt mean that sinhala population as a lot must have migrated to SL from North India. It gives several options.
1. Sinhala people migrated from North India. (but this is pointless as there is no mention or any evidence of a sinhala culture or sinhala community there).
2. Buddhism both theravada and mahayana was prevalent in SL. With these religion, Pali and Sanskrit language came to SL. As Sinhalese were primarily buddhists and in ancient times religion is an important factor in civilization this did affect for the formation of Sinhala language. As buddhist monks were the ones who wrote in SL most, that is very much understandable.
The evolving and formation of Sinhala script and language can be seen in stone inscriptions all over the country.
3. Migration from india – Obvious all ancient settlers in SL have migrated from india. Poeple in SL have migrated from all over india from North India to South India. But they didnt come here as Sinhalese but they got assimilated to the existing community and their initial customs and traditions that they brought from india were assimilated which is a natural process. The migration may have been done as those who came seeking refugees, armies, traders.
The evidences sugges the possibility of number 2 and 3. because both these can be proven and has been proved.
/
Coconut / January 9, 2014
>> Even a child can understand crossing 18 miles of Palk Strait is
>> easier than 2,500
> Distance from England to France about 18 miles too. Does that mean
> England was a French homeland before the Norman Conquest?
Indeed it was…
What we recognize as “French” today is the culture/language derived from Latin and the Germanic tribes (Franks, Merevingians) that invaded ancient Gaul and renamed it France. Before this invasion, the ancient (northern) Gauls were very close to the ancient Britons, sharing language and religion (Druidism). The name “Britain” itself derives from Brittany in northern France and the Brittan language is very similar to Cornwallish and other old languages spoken very sparsely today in southwestern England and Wales.
But the historical point is really irrelevant. Britain does not regard the descendants of the Normans as any less British because they showed up “only” 10 centuries ago.
/
Mound n' Henge / January 10, 2014
WHERE ELSE DO YOU THINK THE CELTS CAME FROM ???
Another dung theory !!!
/
Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
A quote from JL Devananda.
“The ancient Tamil literature and the excavations (archeological findings) in Jaffna proves the existence of Tamils including Tamil Buddhists (Theravada and Mahayana) but there is no evidence what so ever to prove the existence of a separate Tamil Kingdom in Jaffna before the 13th century AD and the same goes to the Sinhalese.”
OTC
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Easwaran / January 15, 2014
Vibhushana Do you know the Sinhala language came into existence only in the 8th century AD. Formed with the mixture of Pali,as Buddhist scripts were in Pali, locals were speaking Tamil and Vaddas spoke Elu. Devanampiya theesan was the son of Anpusivan, when Buddhism was spread by King Asoka’s emissaries King Asoka was a worrier king concurring other kingdoms. He came stuck in Orrisa, where many of his men lost their lives so did the orrisians. Since then he became a follower of the Buddhist philosophy and this became a religion after 200 odd years of Buddha’s death. Buddha was a Napalise Hindu crown prince, at the age of 29, on the eve of his coronation, he saw what his father did not want him to see, Ill and disabled, funeral, ect,ect. he left his throne, infant and his young wife to find out how to over come these misery. You should get out of you well, and broaden the horizon by reading avidly. Dravidian culture and language is Tamil. Do you know there were five famous Sivan Temples around the Island The fifth temple is under the sea in Dondra area. Ravana was a Hindu king, he did the last rights for his mother at Trinco. If this is myth like vijaya, Seetha wakai still exists in Srilanka. The numerical strength of Sinhalese, is made up from Tamils assimilation, South Indian solders- Malayalees, Cholas did not go back they settled in the Island. Kandiyan kingdom was ruled by Indians from 1739 till 1815. Srivickramarajasinhan last king of Kandy. Parakramabahu was an Orrisian. DNA study on both Srilankan Sinhalese and Tamil showed no marked variations. What about Kathirkamam? Is He a Sinhala God? There are many evidence to show Tamils had been living even before Gauthama Buddha was born. I rest my case now, you do your research to disprove all these. Why was Deepavamsa, Cullavamsa and Mahavamsa was written in Pali and not in Sinhala?
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Manoharan / January 8, 2014
I am afraid GI is immersed in false Tamil nationalism. The ethnic Identity of “Talil”, or “Dameda” did not occur until about the Cankam period. In early times, the language used was a form of Parkrit. The Tamil ethnic consciouness proper came about around the 1st century BC or so, while prior to that there were many southern tribes. read Karthigesu Indrapala’s “evolution of an Ethnic consciouness”. It is evident from the incriptions available that there were small numbers of Tamils all over the country, while the Sinhalese wrer the majority.
However, what matters is not what happened in the past. What matters is what exists here and NOW, TODAY.
Today also, we Tamils live everywhere in the Island. The attempts to corral us into a small northern corner by labeling it the “exclusive Tamil homeland” is a myopic vision of some deluded land-owning Tamils who wanted to protect their fiefdoms. A far richer multi-ethnic tapestry is being woven in the larger Colombo metropolis. That is what we must support.
We must not allow out-dated politicians with outmoded ideas to once again drive the Tamils into a cul-de-sac. Why is Wigneswaran talking about history, when the most pressing problems for the North are going to be issues like fresh water, inundation of the low-lying peninsula by global warming and also destruction of the precarious groundwater system, pollution due to rapid post-war growth, shortage of land etc. Has he thought of evolving a master socio-economic plan for the re-building the North? No, he prefers to put his pottu on his forehead and creep into Nallur Kovila, pray to the Gods emphasizing his antediluvian mentality, and then come out talking of re-writing history or the constitution.
Why are we Tamils for ever destined to always have such a a myopic set of leaders, where even the myopia is directed backwards?
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Burning_Issue / January 8, 2014
Manoharan,
“We must not allow out-dated politicians with outmoded ideas to once again drive the Tamils into a cul-de-sac. Why is Wigneswaran talking about history, when the most pressing problems for the North are going to be issues like fresh water, …”
With all respect to you, Justice Wigneswaren knows there are pressing needs in terms of rehabilitating and resettling the Tamils. You do not need to remind him of that. He is absolutely right to make reference to the lopsided history that is being propagated by the institutionalised racist state machinery. I am not a separatist but a staunchly against nationalism of any shape. In Sri Lanka Mahavamsa history is being used institutionally marginalise the minorities let alone the Tamils. On this note, it is right and proper that Justice Wigneswaran draws attention to this false history!
Would you also tell me as to when exactly when the Sinhala as a term came in being?
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sach / January 8, 2014
“but a staunchly against nationalism of any shape”
But you misses the Tamil Nationalism that is so obvious.
Recognising tamil heritage in SL and even formulating a better representative national flag can be achieved. but there is a way of getting things done and there is some thing called timing! Looks like Wiggie, doesnt know the art of it!
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Burning_Issue / January 9, 2014
Such,
Obviously you did not see me commenting on and challenging the Tamil separatists!
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sach / January 10, 2014
There are tamil nationalists who openly act like Tamil seperatists and there is another set of Tamil Nationalists who are rabid as the former though doesnt show seperatist tendencies in open. I am referring to the latter.
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Abhaya / January 9, 2014
it is sad indeed , you find an educated and hopefully broadminded man who want to sole the day to day problems . it just ends up with a clown who quote the another clown who is idiot senasinghe as an authoritative source .
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Native Vedda / January 10, 2014
Manoharan
“Why are we Tamils for ever destined to always have such a a myopic set of leaders,”
It seems myopia and stupidity are infectious in this part of the world perhaps the Tamils contracted both from Sinhala/Buddhists.
“where even the myopia is directed backwards?”
You mean, Tamil short-sightedness is improving since Wiggy won the elections. It is time you advised your Sinhala/Buddhist brethren to find remedy for their myopia from Wiggy.
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Off the Cuff / January 12, 2014
“It seems myopia and stupidity are infectious in this part of the world perhaps the Tamils contracted both from Sinhala/Buddhists.”
Excellent, the Tamil Christians, Sinhala Christians and Moors have 20/10 vision. It seems they had wise counsel from “this and that” parts of the world. Perhaps they had the benefit of Tamil Nadu, the Evangelists and the Saudi types! ha ha haa.
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Bebon / January 8, 2014
Tamils have very little history in Sri Lanka and has very tiny brain.. So even it re- written, thamils cannot hold history on memory as brain is too small hold it up .. therefore, we start re-written from 1880″s which make very comport for tamils
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Burning_Issue / January 8, 2014
You only need to examine the Sinhala language honestly then you will know more about Tamil history in Sri Lanka!
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ken robert / January 9, 2014
A hugh chunk of sinhala words are loan words from tamil. This is besides close proximity to south india. Language of south india and Srilanka from 10 th century to current date is reasonably clear. But any thing before that, be it vattalethu of tamil or sihala brammi need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Claiming land ownership based on language and religion is counter productive for developing the country and deepens the prejudice that is pervading this nation.
History taught in srilankan schools about srilanka has not contributed to national reconciliation, instead brewing ethnic hatred.
Wiggie is right in saying history needs to be rewriiten, however criticising mahavamsa is not the right way. Alternatively multi ethnic nature of our country needs to be inculcated into the curriculum.
This should prevent our country men boasting about our 2300 year old culture infront of audience from developed world.
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sach / January 10, 2014
Or rather it shows the tamil roots of Sinhala people.
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
That is not an Intelligent comment. Can you please refrain from such comments.
OTC
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Afzal / January 8, 2014
Makes much sense G1
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Afzal / January 8, 2014
CM C. V. Wigneswaran is right, if you honestly look at the social problems we are facing today major cause of the issue is related to extremist elements in majority community’s claim that this is a nation for Singhala Buddhist. While we have no quarrel with them to what ever they want provided they let the other communities too live with freedom, peace and dignity.
Think for a moment ! Today is there a threat to the Sri Lankan Buddhist ? If the Buddhist of this island opt to live as Buddhist there is not a single human being who will prevent them from doing it!
The question all the Singhala Buddhist brother & sister should ask themselves is “am I a living as a such a person ?”
If you ask me I would say 85% of them don’t. Change yourselves rather than trying to beat the bush around rest of us !
“G1” has posted a comment from “Saro”, it makes perfect sense it is impossible to assume that the Tamils & keralites from India did not crossed what could have been a land locked Sri Lanka (or what ever it is called then) many millennia ago.
I would suggest the Sri Lanka flag also should be changed to be more representative of all communities. Besides what does it mean by a Lion holding a sword with front paw ? why would an all concurring lion need a sword ? doesn’t it makes the Lion much more vulnerable when it’s standing by 3 legs rather than 4 legs when it can showcase all it’s might ? and attack with vigor if need be ?
Country is in a cross roads, we have a ruling family which is plundering the resources and selling every bit of it while making us and many more generations poorer by day. for the 1st time in decades we have a party which has the guts to questions the ruling party, ask the question no one would dare ask !
If we don’t rise up and bring about change now, in 100 years many more like us will be still making such comments, and there will still be people like “FAT FUK” too :)
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Liberal One / January 8, 2014
Bloody extremist, learn the history of the country first before asking for all the privileges. The lion part of the flag was taken from the flag used by one of the greatest kings of our country, King Rajasinghe. On the other hand which country does have a flag that represent all ethnic minorities in it’s flag? Does so called best democracies of USA or UK have that?
Bigots like you will always find excuses to exclude oneself from the country identity, it’s not the fault of the majority but you.
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Burning_Issue / January 8, 2014
King Rajasighe was the king of Kandian Kingdom and did not represent the entire nation. Did you know that first group of people to demand a federal state were the Kandians?
“On the other hand which country does have a flag that represent all ethnic minorities in it’s flag? Does so called best democracies of USA or UK have that?”
You do not understand as to why those counties did not propagate one community over another! Your small brain cannot fathom as to why Indian flag was designed the way it is!
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Liberal One / January 8, 2014
//King Rajasighe was the king of Kandian Kingdom and did not represent the entire nation. Did you know that first group of people to demand a federal state were the Kandians
As far as majority of Sri Lankans are concerned King Rajasinghe represented all of Sri Lanka and tried his best to free our motherland from invading foreigners.
Yeah Kandyans demanded a federal state but they didn’t go on a violent separatist struggle to meet their political needs did they? That is how responsible citizen behave.
small brain? You mean the idiots who don’t know from where the lion part came to our national flag and whine about it?
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
Tamils were in Lanka before you Sinhalese so they weren’t invaders.
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sach / January 10, 2014
So you mean the stupid sinhalese invaded a functioning tamil community in SL and got hold of the majority of the country, that too while there was logistical support for tamils in TN?
Given the pattern of migration and invasion, if Sinhalese were invaders they would have lived in the North while the tamils lived in the south. The reason Sinhalese were pushed into the north is the tamil invasions.
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Prasad / January 8, 2014
The Story of the Lion (National) flag
It is believed that the first Lion Flag was displayed at the Kandyan Kingdom by the last Kandyan King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe who was from the Nayakkar (Royal) family that ruled Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Some Sinhalese believe that the flag carried by King Dutu Gemunu to Vijithapura Battle was a lion on a red background. The only source for this belief was the painting on the Dambulla Golden Rock Cave Temple, but this is not true because when Prof. Paranawithana reproduced the drawing in his famous book ‘Sinhalayo’ he showed a flag without the picture of the lion. It is interesting to note that the mural was painted at the Dambulla temple about 200 years ago, after the arrival of the Europeans.
In 1908, the opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe’s maternal grandfather D. R. Wijewardena (the famous NEWS paper man and the founder of the Lake House publishing) discovered three Sri Lankan banners at Chelsea Hospital, England, and one of them was believed to be the banner of the last King of Kandy, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe.
He sketched the flag and later the Royal flag with the emblem of the Lion holding a sword in its right paw (It did not have the saffron and green stripes as well as the four bo-leaves) was printed in colour.
The first time the Lion flag became a centre piece of attraction and the public became aware of the actual design of the flag was when D. R. Wijewardena in his Sinhala newspaper ‘the Dinamina’ issued a special edition of the paper on March 2, 1915. On the front page were portraits of the last King and Queen of Kandy surmounted by the royal insignia Crown and the Lion flag in colour.
In 1948 Jan 16, Hon. A. Sinnalebbe the Muslim MP for Batticaloa District brought a motion in the State Council that Lion Flag of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe should be made the national flag of the country.
Then Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake named an Advisory Committee for the formulation of a National Flag. The Members of the Committee were Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (Chairmen), Sir John Kotalawela, Mr. J.R. Jayewardene, Mr. T.B. Jayah, Dr. L.A. Rajapakse, Mr. G.G. Ponnambalam, Senator S. Nadesan, and Dr. Senarath Paranavithana (Secretary).
The Tamils did not accept the Lion flag of the Kandyan Kingdom as the National flag of the entire country and they do not accept it even now. The Nandi flag (cow) was the flag of the royal family of Jaffna Kingdom. This was the flag raised by Tamils in Jaffna on the independence day of 1948. The Lion flag was not official, instead of raising the Lion flag of the Kandyan kingdom that the Tamils know nothing about, they settled for the Nandi flag of the Jaffna kingdom, something they are more familiar.
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Afzal / January 8, 2014
Thanks for your efforts Prasad, my argument is to look for a way to bring about change which could enable all of us to come out of this quagmire. A solution which is acceptable to all. if it required let the majority be given preference (which is pretty clear in current constitution) at the same time let it give due respect to minority communities too. (LLRC is a good starting point)
I think the problem is not so much in the present setup, but rather how it is implemented. Much of it has to do with rulers of the land who’s only objective is to stay in power, if the rulers are genuine in bringing about peace and prosperity to all we could live with current setup.
Just look at all the orchestrated dramas taking place in the country, no community is spared should we still be protecting this lot ?
Change in the mindset is the need of the hour !
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sach / January 8, 2014
picked up from a website called Karava.
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Thora / January 9, 2014
GOING BY THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD THE OLDEST THE STATE & ROYAL EMBLEM WAS ‘FISH’….LATER CONCH, BO TREE & A TYPE OF SWASTIKA….SOME TIME AFTER LION.
BUT THIS CANNOT BE POSSIBLE, OURS IS NOT AN ISLAND COUNTRY.
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Liberal One
“Bloody extremist, learn the history of the country first before asking for all the privileges.”
Where can I authentic history of this island?
Don’t confuse yourself with history and Mahawamsa.
There is no need to learn history nor is there need to ask privileges, only if those people are given rightful places in this island.
Privileges are of course given to the cronies, under various pretext.
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Liberal One / January 8, 2014
I’m not talking about Mahawamsa. Have a look at all the flags our kings used before complaining about the lion in the flag.
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Easwaran / January 15, 2014
Well said.Do agree whole heartedly. We should be able to stand up for our rights. the green and orange strip in the flag to represent the Muslims and Tamils. That too was inserted after confrontation because JR wanted the flag only the Lion with the sword. Latter DS agreed to the Tamils and Muslim demand and these two strips were added. Now the flag tells us the Lion is threatening the two communities with its sword. Yes the flag should have symbols to represent all communities and religion.
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Yasodara Fukushima / January 8, 2014
Gi, ayyo oya is a maara one no men.
Dont let Tamils and Muslims know Vijaya was a Hindu.
All our Sinhala Buddist brothers and Sisters believe that Ravana Vijaya, Kuveni were pure Sinhala Buddists.
We have managed to fool the sinhalese that wearing Satakaya also is a Buddists practice.
Please dont tell its a Tamil or Dravida dress.
Our king horarable mahendra percy will be upset.
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sach / January 10, 2014
Even any sinhala kid would say Vijaya was not buddhist.
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Maveeran / January 8, 2014
[Edited out] Go back to Orissa you arsehole.
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Maveeran
“[Edited out] Go back to Orissa you arsehole.”
Take Maveeran’s family with you – whoever it is.
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Maveeran / January 8, 2014
No you rodhi vedha, take your loin cloth with you back to Orissa to cover your filthy arse.
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Fonseka / January 8, 2014
Go back to the hell and see your sungoat is living in the asshole of yama raja.
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Maveeran / January 8, 2014
[Eduted out]
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kalaweddage malli / January 9, 2014
[Edited out]. keep your mouth shut. remember your Sungoat how surendered and beg for a life in Vellamullawaikkal.
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Maveeran / January 9, 2014
Kadawesigay malli. Give your ping pong ball sixed brain a break.
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Vibhushana
Since you seem to be a historian on your own right, could you respond to my trivial questionnaire below:
What is Tamil Culture?
What is Sinhala Culture?
What is Sangam literature?
What did happen to the 12,000 Tamil Buddhists who were included in the population census of 1871?
“This was the period where the island saw brutal south Indian invasion by Kalinga Magha.”
Where was Kalinga situated?
Where did Vijaya the thug come from? Do you have any evidence to prove his presence in my ancestral land?
Do you believe you are a descendant of a lion, the laziest of all beasts?
Have you ever had the chance to check your DNA? If you had, did you notice any Aryan Sinhala/Buddhist exclusive DNA footprint?
When did your ancestors move to my island from South India? Where did they actually come from?
If you don’t know the answers please feel free to ignore the questions.
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Vibhushana / January 9, 2014
Hello there Native,
A “culture” is a combination of customs and traditions.
Sangam literature is a bunch of stuff no one knows neither its author, time of publication nor its origin.
Kalinga is situated on the eastern coast of India.
I keep saying Vijaya is Mahavamsa mythology. I will stand by this.
Aryan/Drvidian division is a hoax some say originated in Tamil nationalist camp.
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Native Vedda / January 9, 2014
Vibhushana
I asked you specific questions and I want to see whether you are capable of answering them. If you want drop names by all means feel free to do so.
I will ask the questions again:
What is Tamil Culture?
What is Sinhala Culture?
What is Sangam literature?
Where was Kalinga situated?
Your answer:
Kalinga is situated on the eastern coast of India.
Your comment at
January 8, 2014 at 3:57 am
You say:
This was the period where the island saw brutal south Indian invasion by Kalinga Magha.
Kalinga was never part of South India. Kalinga Maha probably an Oriya who brought 20,000 South Indian mercenaries to capture a kingdom in this island.
You say:
“I keep saying Vijaya is Mahavamsa mythology. I will stand by this.”
What are you doing to remove this myth from School history text books.
Almost all Sinhala Historian start with Vijaya myth as their gateway to this island’s history. Why don’t you force them to rewrite the history without this Vijaya myth being included in them.
Even the so called eminent Sinhala scholars who are conditioned to the extent that they can’t omit Vijaya’s disgraced perverted story. What are you going to do about it if you don’t sincerely believe Vijaya myth?
Do you subscribe to the idea that Sinhalese are Aryans by their race and the ancient irrigation system should be known as Aryan Sinhala Hydraulic Civilisation?
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Vibhushana / January 9, 2014
Native,
Vijaya is there to make the story pretty. Sinhala culture would have been present when allegedly arrived.
Sinhala historians tend to use term ‘Aryan’ commonly used in Tamil nationalist discourse to differentiate Indian north from the south. Sinhala people naturally prefer to affiliate with North Indians because South Indians has always been a nusence and an irritation.
I cannot comment on hydralic irrigation as that is something I am not familiar with.
cheers
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Native Vedda / January 9, 2014
Vibhushana
Could you revisit my comment again at
Native Vedda
January 9, 2014 at 6:13 am
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Palmsquirrell / January 9, 2014
Sinhala historians use the term “Aryan” because Vijaya is reputed to have been a North Indian Aryan prince and Sinhala is an Aryan language. It has nothing to do with Dravdian nationalism as the later emerged only in the last century.
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sach / January 10, 2014
All the time you wanted others to stop believing in Mahavamsa, so now you want others to believe in it? cant make an argument without it?
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / January 10, 2014
Vibushana,
I think culture is the refinement of mind, morals and taste displayed by an individual, a collection of individuals or a country. It s displayed in many aspects if life including agriculture.
The grossness, perverseness and crudeness displayed by individuals , collection of people or a country in many aspects of life, often is described by the term ‘lack of culture’.
The profound is the pinnacle of culture, while the mundane is at the bottom of the pile.
Dr,Rajasingham Narendran
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / January 10, 2014
The last sentence should read:
– the mundane and the gross—
Dr.RN
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
Small scale Tamil settlements / fishing communities would have been present in Northern Sri Lanka before Vijaya and his entourage landed because Southern India was already firnly Dravidian speaking at that point.
” The bottom line is that any part of Sri Lanka has never given birth to a ‘Tamil culture’ hence a Tamil homeland. Sri Lanka on the other hand is the home of ‘Sinhala culture’. “
You speak as if there is only 1 monolithis South Indian Tamil culture. The very fact that Sri Lanka is physically separated from the Indian mainland would mean there would be some cultural differences in Ceylon Tamil culture from Indian Tamil culture.
Using your logic that Sri Lanka is the home of Sinhala culture, one can say that the North American continent is the home of the American European culture and as such the North American continent is the Euro-American homeland.
Sinhala culture is just an amalgamation of North Indian, South Indian and to a lesser extent Veddah cutlure. Sinhala culture started in India, not Sri Lanaka because Vijaya the founder of Sinhala culture came from what is Bengal and Orissa today.
You Nationalists have been trying desperately to claim some special native like claim to Lanka when you are not native at all.
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Liberal One / January 8, 2014
Really? Did vijaya or his ancestors spoke sinhala? or use sinhala alphabet? both which are unique to this island?
//Sinhala culture is just an amalgamation of North Indian, South Indian and to a lesser extent Veddah cutlure
Agree with that, Sinhala culture was born by mixing of different cultures but sinhala culture unlike tamil culture is unique to this island.
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Burning_Issue / January 8, 2014
Liberal, you are not so liberal!
The Sri Lankan Tamil culture is also unique to Sri Lanka. Please do not automatically assume that all Tamil culture is same! The Sri Lankan Tamils evolved in Sri Lanka. If Chola had not invaded, it was totally conceivable that the entire country could have been Sinhala speaking since the arrival of Buddhism. On the same token, if Buddhism had not arrived, it was equally and totally conceivable to conclude that, the entire island would have Tamil speaking and Hindu! The Sinhala language was developed by the Buddhist monks at that time the Tamil language was a fully developed language; this is indisputable. The Sinhala scripts are dravidian based; you only need to compare the scripts of Telungu, Malayalam, and Khanadam. The Tamil scripts were also rounded in structure; it only changed after 10th century AD!
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Liberal One / January 8, 2014
As far as I am concerned I don’t care which language came from where. But don’t lie just to meet your political aspirations. Sinhala language is categorized as an Indo-Aryan language not a Dravidian language.
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
He didn’t say Sinhala was a Dravidian language, he said Sinhala script is Dravidian based. Sinhala script mirrors the Dravidian version of the Brahmi script instead of the North Indian version of Brahmi.
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sach / January 8, 2014
BI,
what are the elements in SL Tamil culture that makes it unique from indian tamil culture? I honestly want to know. Because i too believed in what you said. Once i asked this same question from a tamil i know, he said there is no difference.
Are their differences in language apart from accent?
Are their SL tamil literature? dances, religious customes specific to SL tamils? would like to know!
Between you said,
“The Tamil scripts were also rounded in structure; it only changed after 10th century AD! “
I am not an expert on this area but i cant fathom how script can change from being round to square shaped. Normally script change in the reversing order.
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sach / January 10, 2014
i expect BI to answer
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Burning_Issue / January 10, 2014
Such,
“i expect BI to answer”
What did you think that I would prevaricate or avoid all together? You asked me these questions because you are not an expert on these areas. I can tell you I too am not an expert in this subject but grasped information from various sources.
Tamil Scripts:
I think I have read in Prof Indrapala’s second book where he mentions about the Tamil script taking squarer shape only after the 10th Century AD. Even before I was intrigued as to varying shapes of various Dravidian based languages; particularly about Tamil scripts! One can easily compare Sinhala with Malayalam, Telungu and Khanadam but Tamil scripts appear different.
If you study the following webpage it will make sense as to how the Tamil scripts evolved. The prominence of the Chola Empire was responsible for standadising the Tamil scripts throughout Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
http://www.tnarch.gov.in/epi/ins2.htm
I tried to embed a picture but it did not work; you can find this picture in the above-mentioed link at the beginning under the title: “Tamil Alphabets in Various Times”
If you look at this picture above where you will see the Tamil scripts from various times. The more prominent squarer from only came into being after the Chola prevailed over other territories.
Sri Lankan Tamil customs and language:
“Are their differences in language apart from accent?
Are their SL tamil literature? dances, religious customes specific to SL tamils? would like to know!”
The Sri Lankan Tamil language has retained many old Tamil vocabularies. Many words are used in different context purport different meanings when expressed. The written form of Tamil remains consistent between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. Many old Tamil Literary works:
http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/6238
“The intimate cultural integration of Ceylon with Tamilnadu of South India is well sustained by several sources. Of literary evidence we have the epic poem Manimekali among “the greatest of the classical epic poems of Theravada Buddhism,” and the Cilapaddikaram, the epic of the Anklet, singing the chronicle of Kannagi.”
However, the rituals and customs have evolved noticeably. If you compare funeral and matrimonial rituals you will see vast differences. This may even vary within Sri Lanka itself. The cast system (I abhor this practice with complete belligerence) in particular is incomparable. Some of the cast divisions in Jaffna is unheard of in Tamil Nadu. Again, I am not an expert on this subject but know that there are more than noticeable differences.
It is a custom in Tamil Nadu (I only know through the Tamil Movies) that a lady’s younger bother can marry her daughter. Sri Lankan Tamils find this practice abhorrent. Among the Tamil in Sri Lanka, cousins (a brother/sister siblings’ children) can marry. This practice is also not avidly followed these days.
The villages in Tamil Nadu practice Village Panchayats that has been codified within the Indian judiciary these days. By contract, this practice is nonexistent among the Sri Lankan Tamils.
May be Dr Rajasingham Narendhran is the man who can shed more light in this topic.
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sach / January 11, 2014
BI,
Thanks for the infor, I said i expect your answer because i thought you had missed my comment and as this is a very interesting subject i expected your answer.
About tamil alphabet being curve shaped earlier as you say and how it became square shaped is difficult to understand. what is the view of historians regarding that? Sinhala script became round shaped mainly due to writing on Ola leaves.
Was Manimekalai and Cilappadikaram written in SL? What else are the tamil literature works of SL tamils?
I have heard there was a modern Tamil literature tradition in SL before the violence how can I learn about it?
I have noticed that marriage custom among estate tamils. A custom that is normally looked down upon. Many sinhalese think that is the same in North.
An interesting observation, you point that tamil script were round earlier and later became square. May be both modern tamil and sinhala originated from that round script where sinhala evolved into a round form while Tamil evolved into a square shaped one.
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Native Vedda / January 12, 2014
“A custom that is normally looked down upon. Many sinhalese think that is the same in North.”
It is not similar to Sinhala/Buddhist customs. I am told the mother in law of the bride does not check the white sheet the morning after their first night.
Was your mother in law upset?
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sach / January 12, 2014
feeling like missed out? i understand, poor fellow!
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manisekaran / January 14, 2014
To know how dravidian scripts evolved
http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/103/10/1220.pdf
Please go through all the listed science publication at the end of it. India itself was inhabiatated from a caln that is descendant of Africans called dravidians. Predominantly Indian were dravidians of Indus valley people except those who came from Kybher pass of Iranian origin ( who are Brahmins). Hence people of Bengal, orissa, or andhra or kerala are perdominantly dravidian and no wonder you who also descended from the same pool of gene is none but a dravidian claiming Aryan.In acient days anyone who is not brahmin is not arayn and prohibhited to take part in presiding religious rituals.
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
The Sinhala Alphabet is from the South Indian version of the Brahmi script which itself is ultimately of Levantine origin.
Vijaya spoke the language that morphed into Sinhala. Tamil of today is not the carbon copy of Sangham era Tamil . Languages change over time ; modern English is different from the English spoken in Medeval times. Ebonics is unique to America , but it is still a dialect of American English which ultimately originated in England.
Ceylon Tamil culture is unique to Lanka; it has less Brahminical influence and conseqently is closer to Ancient Dravidian cutlure than Indian Tamil culture.
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sach / January 10, 2014
So what are the unique elements in SL tamil culture that is not in Indian tamil culture
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Vibhushana / January 8, 2014
Hello there,
Japanese mythology of the Sun, Greek mythology of the Wolf and Sinhala mythology of the Lion are the same.
They are myths told by story tellers to keep things interesting in ancient times. The Bible for example is full of myths too. If a son of a lion is the beginning of the Sinhale then Japanese must be little children of a sun goddess too isnt it really? You should not start to believe the Mahavamsa only when it suits you.
Vijaya and 200 followers would have added to and influenced the indigenous culture. Surely you cannot imagine 200 taking over language and culture of the entire island? If Vijaya’s roots were adopted entirely then you would clearly see traces of Sinhala existing in India inst it really?
Tamil fisherman can travel 18 miles to the island. Similarly Sinhala fisherman can easily travel to South India and camp on a beach. Does that mean Sinhalese have a ‘homeland’ there?
Forget the Mahavamsa. The evolution of the Sinhla script is embedded in rocks and stone in all 4 corners of the island. Its the script that tells the story of Sinhala homeland in the island.
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
You are comparing the alleged ethnogenesis of sprouting from a lion (or the Sun) to recollection of ancient migration and colonization. The former is scientifically and logically impossible while the later is very plausible.
Not all religious myths are complete fables. Bible is also considered a historical document that provides insight into the history of the region.
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Vibhushana / January 8, 2014
I don’t want to sound like a broken record.
Migration of 200 people on a boat cannot change the demography of an entire island the size Ceylon. 200 people is a drop in the ocean compared what is needed to change demography.
In the case of migration of Vijaya the beginning of Sinhala is as plausible as the ethnogenesis involving a lion isnt it really?
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
A small number of people can change the demographics and or the culture of a place , it has happened countless times in history.
Small numbers of invaders (relative to the native populace) can linguistically and culturally change a place.
Example:
Spanish conquest of Central America.
Turkic speakers imposed their language on vast swaths of Central Asia and Anatolia .
Arabs changed North Africa and the MidEast ( the non penninsula part of the MidEast) to Arabic speaking.
Aryans imposed their language on the Indian SubContinent.
British domination and cultural influence on the SubContinent.
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Vibhushana / January 9, 2014
Nothing is impossible. With the Sinhalese the “North Indian” flavuor amounts to just 2 vowels in the alphabet. Nothing more. Read above.
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Native Vedda / January 9, 2014
Vibhushana
Would you please respond you my comment at
Native Vedda
January 8, 2014 at 6:52 am
I would be most grateful.
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sach / January 8, 2014
Sinhala culture didnt start in india.
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sach / January 10, 2014
Now it seems those who cant get out of the mahavamsa mindset is the Tamils :). Is Shamini going to write another article on Mahavamsa mentality of Tamils :)
There is not even a shred of evidence to say sinhala culture started in India. Actually that is one of the dumbest things one can say.
After all who are dravidian people? Arent many historians reject this so called dravidian theory?
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Prasad / January 8, 2014
Vibhushana
Do not talk RUBBISH!
In the Dutugemunu-Elara episode, the Mahavamsa says, Dutugemunu had to conquer not just one Tamil king (Elara) but 32 Tamil Chieftains around the Anuradhapura principality alone. He also killed around sixty thousand Tamils in the war. How could there be 32 Tamil chieftains in the area of Anuradhapura alone and around sixty thousand Tamils killed in the war if there were no Tamil settlements? Even the Mahavamsa is not denying the fact about Tamil settlements in the country (Rajarata) during the Elara-Dutugemunu period. Similarly, King Valgambha had to fight seven Tamil chieftains to reassume sovereignty at Anuradhapura.
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Vibhushana / January 8, 2014
Look here, Prasad is it?
You need to move away from your “Mahavasma mindset” then you see clearly.
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Burning_Issue / January 8, 2014
Prasad,
One more point; fighting on those days were all about territory and not about ethnicity. Tamil generals fought along with the Sinhala and vide versa. Only the modern Mahavamsa influenced Sinhala portray it as Sinhala V Tamil!
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Native Vedda / January 9, 2014
Prasad
“Do not talk RUBBISH!”
How dare you tell Vibhushana to stop talking RUBBISH.
Remember it is his birth right, you cannot simply shut him up.
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M.Sivananthan / January 9, 2014
Kalinga Maga was not South Indian but from Orissa.
His soldier generations are known MADAPALLY(Magadha Paali) in Jaffna. Now they are Vellalas.
Madapally was the majority in the North. Read Simon Cassie Chetty’s census report of 1864.
C.V.Wigneswaran is a Madapally!
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Pillai / January 10, 2014
They will speak Oria then.
Dutch tobacco farmers.
(Asokan Mahadha in Bihar, not Kalinga/Orissa, the Sun god / Surya cult and animal sacrificing Durga, Kali cults are popular in that part of India, not Jaffna. These cults exist in SL, but in the south)
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Douglas / January 8, 2014
Mr. Vigneswaraan: After listening to your “honorable” speech made at the Sarvodaya Annual Sessions, I thought you would get down to do some real job of work for the benefit of the community (meaning all Sri Lankans). You have taken a 360 degree turn a round. What is happening to you? This change looks to me as some “disaster” taking “within” you after the meeting at the Temple Trees.
Please forget the “history”. You have undertaken and given the mandate to do a job of work as the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council. Please remember, the people voted you, because to them you are more respectable and most importantly a “reliable” person than most of your colleagues in the TNL who were “errand” boys of the LTTE.
So please without “bull-shitting” (I know this term is not appropriate, but compelled to use it in this instance)get down to do the work of the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council and set an example to others in other Provincial Councils, most of whom are unscrupulous misfits to hold such positions.
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
You are speaking as if Wiggneswaran calling for a review of Lanka history means he is not capable of devoting time for other matters. What reason do you have to conclude that Wigge speaking about Lankan history is somehow taking away from his NP CM job.
History of Lanka is a central part in the ethnic conflict so it is very much in the interest of the NP Chief Minister to bring it up.
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Levi / January 8, 2014
Hello Douglas
Please remember if you take a 360 degree turn you will be still facing the same direction. So you admit c.V has not deviated from his original outlook.
Please learn your Geometry. I am sure you have forgotten it.
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Steve / January 8, 2014
You all fools, does not matter Tamil or sinhalis all idiots ..!!
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Sunila mendis / January 8, 2014
Hon, Wigneshwaran is quite correct when he says that history interpretated according to bias Mahawanse tries to prove Sinhala hegemony which discriminate against the minority communities. Not only does it discriminate but also creates an inferiority and superiority complexes among communities. As he correctly requests the re writing of Sri Lankan history by a panel of Historians ,I would like to remind him that this task was done by a group of ethnically mixed historians from Sri Lankan universities. However, it was printed but not published due to fear I suppose.
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Maveeran / January 8, 2014
I totally agree with C.M Wigneswaren. Let the history be written properly this time. No matter how much the Sinhala racists tried to destroy the rich cultural history of the Tamils of Ceylon by burning the Jaffna Libruary, the truth shall always come to light. Also include how these Sinhalese got into power by licking arses of their colonial masters while the Tamil kings fought against these white invaders. Also let the world know how these Sinhalese came to Ceylon from from Orissa. Sinhalese who came from Orissa started their life as humble servants of the Tamil mudhali’s and when the British invaders came, the Sinhalese seized the opportunity to get in power of the Island by serving their white masters.
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Maveeran
“Also include how these Sinhalese got into power by licking arses of their colonial masters while the Tamil kings fought against these white invaders.”
Did they, how wonderful a story. Write the screen play and pass it to Seeman who could produce a wonderful film. If you need Sinhala actors please contact Mervyn and MR.
“Sinhalese who came from Orissa started their life as humble servants of the Tamil mudhali’s”
Is this according to your new Tamil Mahawamsa isn’t it?
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Kautilya / January 8, 2014
The Arunachalam Ponnambalams, the Ponnambalam Ramanathans, and others like him were the “Sinhalese who got into power by licking arses of their colonial master“?
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Prasad / January 8, 2014
Why, what about the Sinhalese???
During the colonial period, the Sinhala Buddhists like the Senanayakes, Bandaranayakes, Jayawardenas, Wijewardhenas, Kothalawalas, and many others changed their religion and licked the arses of their colonial master.
The best part is, the Sinhalese selected those who licked the arses of their colonial master as their leaders to govern the country.
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Bebon / January 8, 2014
Tamils have very little history in Sri Lanka and few tiny brain.. So even it re- written, thamils cannot hold it on memory as brain is too small hold ii up .. therefore, we start re-written from 1880″s which make very comport for tamils
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Prasad / January 8, 2014
Baboon,
You seem to be confused. It is the other way around. The Sinhalaya is very famously known as the Modaya who will gobble a bucket full of kavum in no time.
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sach / January 8, 2014
So you mean these modays came and invaded you the brainy one who was having logistical support in TN? Dont you sense something is wrong here
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lal / January 8, 2014
There are many jokers from the Tamil community writing rubbish about Sri lankan history, but non of those morons have the guts to admit Tamil invasions of Sri Lanka, murder of Sinhala women and children, looting and destruction of ancient Sinhala cities. There are enough, and we don’t need any more of these parasites. What Mr W should do is to find a few Tamils who can contribute to the economic, social, cultural development of Sri Lanka as a whole. This is a challenge for you, Mr W.
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
lal
“There are enough, and we don’t need any more of these parasites.”
You are right. I hate to agree with you.
We too don’t need both Tamil and Sinhalese parasites on our soil. Please go back to your your homeland which is either in South or North India. Don’t forget to take your Tamil brethren with you.
“What Mr W should do is to find a few Tamils who can contribute to the economic, social, cultural development of Sri Lanka as a whole.”
So that your thugs with the support of your armed forces could have another chance to loot, burn down their properties and rape and kill their women. It sound very reasonable.
It is only appropriate you appeal to Lalu Prasad Yadav,your Bihari cousin. Please write to him I am sure he would certainly write back to you if he is not in prison.
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lal / January 8, 2014
Native Vedda,
You communicate quite well with the pen, thanks to Free Education provided to you by the Sinhalese in government. Your pen is mightier than your bow and arrow, which you should discard. All you need to do now is learn some table manners, good hygeine practices and toilet training, and you’ll be a civilised man/woman. If you can do that, there is hope for the rest of your wild tribe too. Happy Hunting!
(And, I sense you have a sense of humour.)
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ravivararo / January 8, 2014
There are many modayas like lal from the SIN-HELLa community writing/claiming rubbish about Sri lankan history based on moda(maha)wansa nightmares, but non of those morons have the guts to admit SIN-HELLA atrocities, murderers of Tamil (Hindu, Muslim and Christian), man women and children, looting and destruction of ancient Tamil cities, cultures, place of worship etc etc. There are enough, and we don’t need any more of these parasites. What Mr W should do is to find Tamils and other NGOs, Western Countries who can contribute to the economic, social, cultural development of Tamils (Hindu, Muslim and Christians) as a whole. This is a possible for you, Mr W.
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
Will Sinhala Nationalists admit the assimilation of Tamils into the Sinhala fold ?
Will Sihalaese admit Tamils would have been living on the island , atleast in small fishing communities, prior to Vjaya colonized the Island?
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Sunila mendis
“I would like to remind him that this task was done by a group of ethnically mixed historians from Sri Lankan universities. However, it was printed but not published due to fear I suppose.”
Could we have details of this reseach.
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JayGee / January 8, 2014
CV you are an idiot
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
JayGee
“CV you are an idiot”
Yes I too thought so, for demanding a review on the history of stupid Sinhala/Buddhists and their equally stupid Tamil brethren.
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truth / January 8, 2014
“What Mr W should do is to find a few Tamils who can contribute to the economic, social, cultural development of Sri Lanka as a whole. This is a challenge for you, Mr W.”
So that the Rajapakses can enjoy life to the full without doing any work except killings and live like parasites!!!
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ela kolla / January 8, 2014
stupid Vignwaran, your race’s history was written in nandikadaal lagoon…you old croocked dick
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Afzal / January 8, 2014
Ela Podda got one, he voted 1 up for himself !!!
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ravivararo / January 8, 2014
since no one will vote up.
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ravivararo / January 8, 2014
but you don’t have even that ah?
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ela kolla / January 8, 2014
[ edited out]
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Afzal / January 8, 2014
Well done mate, don’t worry keep trying. It is said “Biggest mistake is not making a mistake”
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Liberal One / January 8, 2014
We have a constitution that treats all Sri Lankans equal. Why should we be concerned about Mahawamsa or stupid racist wiggi?
Is this man threatening us when he says “trouble will inevitably ensue”?
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Liberal One
“We have a constitution that treats all Sri Lankans equal.”
No it didn’t, it doesn’t and it won’t.
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Liberal One / January 8, 2014
No it does, unlike many constitutions around the world.
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Liberal One
“No it does, unlike many constitutions around the world.”
We are talking about the constitution of this island not the world.
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
A constitution means nothing unless a government abides by it. Case in point the US before the civil rights era and its treatment of Blacks despite the constitution claiming equal protection for all.
Whether or not Sri Lankan constitution claims to treat all equally is moot because the GOSL since independence from British has always favored Sinhalese and Buddhism over others .
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear Palmsquirrell,
You say “Whether or not Sri Lankan constitution claims to treat all equally is moot because the GOSL since independence from British has always favored Sinhalese and Buddhism over others”
That’s a Tongue in cheek comment.
Can you explain why Tamils Rioted amongst themselves in 1923, 1929 and 1931, long before Independence? Why was the Prevention of Social Disabilities act needed 9 years after Independence? Why was more teeth needed 14 years later to the same act? Why was there collusion in Jaffna between ALL elected Tamil politicians and ALL 14 DRO’s ,the Highest civil administrators of Jaffna to SUBVERT the Social Disabilities Act? They had one thing in common, ALL of them were High Cast Elites from the ruling class.
When you talk of Tamils you are not really talking about ALL of them but only about 25% of the Landed and Ruling class amongst Tamils. Ms Pearl Thevanayagam a high cast Tamil lady says 75% of Tamils were a Servile Oppressed class. They lived in segregated Open Prisons without any social mobility, stripped of all Humanity, deprived of all educational opportunity, deprived of religious freedom and LOCKED in to specified “professions” with no hope of ever coming out of that “profession”. A child of a scavenger will also be a scavenger carting human excreta even if that child had the brains of an Einstein due to being born in to a scavenging family.
Mr Thomas Johnpulle a Tamil writing in the Sri Lanka Guardian on 3 Oct 2011 states
“on 12 April 1957 the Social Disabilities Act No. 21 was passed in parliament. Tamil children of ‘lower castes’ could attend school regularly only after this act. People of ‘lower castes’ could participate in religious rites in Kovils without any disturbance from ‘high caste’ individuals. A reawakening happened in the north among previously marginalised Tamils………….Prevention of Social Disabilities (Amendment) Act No. 18 of 1971 was introduced to overcome the weaknesses of the previous act. The initial act required an aggrieved party to take the matter to court. However, most ‘low caste’ Tamils were poor and couldn’t afford to go to court. The amendment authorised police action in case of a complaint. This was to be the last nail on the coffin of Tamil caste discrimination. Tamil race based political party leaders were furious”
The amendment was needed in 1971, to defeat the oppression that was still going on 23 years after independence!
Yes there is this Primacy Clause for Buddhism in the Lankan Constitution. Buddhism had State patronage long before the British came and that status was preserved in the Kandyan Treaty. Though a Secular State is preferable you cannot convert a Non Secular State in to a secular one by force. Lanka today is non secular. The 1915 riots was triggered by a challenge to that status by Coastal Muslims from India
However unlike in the UK, that debars royals outside the Church of England from the British Crown, Anyone of any ethnicity and professing any religion has no Constitutional hurdle to aspire to the Highest Office in Lanka despite that primacy clause.
Hence please get off this “GOSL since independence” from British has always favoured Sinhalese and Buddhism over others Crap.
Kind Regards,
OTC
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Palmsquirrell / January 9, 2014
You are going off on a tangent , because my post was in response to the poster claiming Lankan constitution treats everyone equally , but I pointed out that GOSL has always favored Sinhala Buddhists.
Your post is about caste in Tamil communities, a different matter to GOSL’s treatment of non Sinhala . Caste isn’t native Tamil culture but Brahminical Aryan culture imposed on Tamils through religion.
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Off the Cuff / January 10, 2014
Dear Palmsquirell,
You say “You are going off on a tangent , because my post was in response to the poster claiming Lankan constitution treats everyone equally , but I pointed out that GOSL has always favored Sinhala Buddhists.”
But you haven’t quoted the parts of the Constitution that does so. Instead you make a spurious claim “…the GOSL since independence from British has always favored Sinhalese and Buddhism over others”
Where is your proof?
Instead of repeating this GOSL mantra please provide proof.
I countered by showing that the GOSL enacted Laws and liberated the majority of Tamils who were oppressed and confined to Open Prisons by Tamils themselves. That was in favour of the Tamils though it went against the Brahmin and Vellala High cast Tamils. That oppression was not done by GOSL.
You say “Your post is about caste in Tamil communities, a different matter to GOSL’s treatment of non Sinhala.”
No my post is about Oppression. Cast is but a tool of that oppression. Tamil Political leaders tried to perpetuate that oppression by getting it written in to the Constitution. If that attempt succeeded the majority Tamil Population in the North would even today be uneducated and confined to Open Prisons. Thankfully that did not happen. It is the GOSL that enacted the Social Disabilities Act. If not for that Act even today the Majority of Tamils in the North would be totally Uneducated and Illiterate, working for a pittance or for free to the 25% ruling High casts and living in Open segregated Prisons. Thanks to GOSL that didn’t happen either.
You say “Caste isn’t native Tamil culture but Brahminical Aryan culture imposed on Tamils through religion.”
Before Christianity came most Tamils were Hindu and a few were Buddhist. Cast was endemic amongst Hindu. Even after Christianity arrived Cast still remained a tool of oppression in the North. Even some churches were designated Low Cast churches. Whatever the cause the result was the oppression of the majority Tamils of the North. You cannot blame GOSL for it.
Bset Regards
OTC
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Palmsquirrell / January 10, 2014
“But you haven’t quoted the parts of the Constitution that does so. Instead you make a spurious claim “…the GOSL since independence from British has always favored Sinhalese and Buddhism over others” “
The Language Act, the discrimination and favoritism for public service jobs, the dominance of the armed forces by Sinhalese, the dominance of the Colombo police by Sinhalese. The ineffective and indifference by GOSL in protecting Tamils during the many anti Tamil riots.
” Before Christianity came most Tamils were Hindu and a few were Buddhist. Cast was endemic amongst Hindu. Even after Christianity arrived Cast still remained a tool of oppression in the North. Even some churches were designated Low Cast churches. Whatever the cause the result was the oppression of the majority Tamils of the North. You cannot blame GOSL for it. “
Caste while originating with Aryans and Brahminism didn’t limit itself to Brahminism and Hinduism , because those of the upper castes who converted still retained caste bigotry. Indian/Pakistani Muslims ,Sikhs and Christians still hold prejudicial feelings based on caste.
My point is that Caste is an insidious instittution that did not die even after conversion away from Brahminism/Hinduism and is found in many non Tamil non Hindu SubCon populations, so do you really expect Tamils to be much different when they have been brainwashed by Hinduism.
–
I am not arguing that there wasn’t discrimination amongst Tamils but the argument here was on whether GOSL ever treated non Sinhala as equal .
/
Off the Cuff / January 10, 2014
Dear Palmsquirell,
You say “The Language Act, “
What about it? You were referring to the Constitution and you have not brought evidence from the Constitution to establish your claim.
Here are the first two articles from the Constitution
18.
3[(1)] The Official Language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.
4[(2) Tamil shall also be an official language.
(3) English shall be the link language.
(4) Parliament shall by law provide for the implementation of the provisions of this Chapter].
National Languages.
19. The National Languages of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala and Tamil.
Where is the Discrimination you talked of?
BTW, The Sinhala Only was NEVER implemented in the North.
This is like the beggars wound, it Never heals
You say ” the discrimination and favoritism for public service jobs,..”
Irrespective of ethnicity corruption exists. It was there when Tamils held the key posts in govt it exists to day as political and Nepotism not as Ethnic bias. Bring facts to the table not vague insinuations.
You say “the dominance of the armed forces by Sinhalese,”
Snhalese are 75% of the population, hence it will be always dominated by the Sinhalese. But if you are talking about insufficient Tamil representation, you should ask your self why? We had Tamils heading the Forces. I am personally aware of Tamil officers who received death threats for joining and serving the Armed Forces. Some of them held very high office.
Anyone joining the armed forces have to go through security clearance. There are many Sinhalese who get rejected and that applies to all other ethnic communities.
You say “the dominance of the Colombo police by Sinhalese.”
Same answer as above. What happened to the Tamil officers who served in Jaffna at the time of Alfred Duraiappas murder?
Joining the forces was taboo for Tamils when the LTTE was the dominant force for the Tamils.
You say “The ineffective and indifference by GOSL in protecting Tamils during the many anti Tamil riots.”
I agree with you there. But that had nothing to do with the Constitution. 1983 was a a politically driven pogrom. It was lead by UNP Ministers (read the UTHR(J) reports). It was the ordinary Sinhalese and Burghers who protected the Tamils at the risk of their own and their family’s safety from armed thugs and mobs.
Non of what you have stated can prove your contention of Constitutional Racism.
You say “so do you really expect Tamils to be much different when they have been brainwashed by Hinduism.”
The point is If you want to Campaign against Slavery you need to eradicate Slavery at your end first. The Tamils Practise the MOST Inhuman form of Slavery on their own people. That oppression is unparalleled in modern Lanka.
You say “the argument here was on whether GOSL ever treated non Sinhala as equal”
If they were not treated as equals you would not have a SCJ Wignesvaran in the Supreme Court, you would not have had Siva Pasupathy as an AG, I believe that the Inspector General of Police in 1983 at the time of the Pogrom was a Tamil. Chief Justice S. Sharvananda was in office while the IPKF was in Jaffna.
Kind Regards
OTC
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Brad / January 8, 2014
First the TNA wants Tamils to be recognized as a nation, now they want to rewrite history? Where is the TNA heading with all this?
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Brad
“First the TNA wants Tamils to be recognized as a nation, now they want to rewrite history?”
It is perhaps in the interest of Sinhala/Buddhists who are stuck with Mahawamsa mindset that Wiggy is demanding this review, not by racists on both sides but by professional historians.
In a way a review would help my people too.
How long do you want to dwell/chant Mahawamsa mantra which denigrates origin of Sinhala people? Would you like to remain a people of lion (beast), a product of incestuous relation who also committed parricide?
Think Wiggy’s request as an opportunity and move on.
/
Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear Native Veddha,
This country does not belong to Sinhala Buddhists (though I am unsure why religion and ethnicity came to be combined). This country belongs to all her citizens. It is a fact that almost 75% are Sinhalese and close to 90% of that are Buddhist but that does not confer them with ownership. That goes for all others who are citizens as well. It is a collective ownership in which each citizen has an equal stake.
That History will show a Tamil Kingdom smaller than the Northern Province with a Sinhala Kandyan Kingdom bordering the Tamil Kingdom at Elephant Pass with No Tamil Kingdom in the East.
Controversial or Acceptable?
There is proof available in the Dutch National Archives that states the Dutch built a Fort at Elephant Pass to protect the Jaffna Peninsular from the Sinhala Kandyan Kingdom. This establishes that the boundary between the Jaffna Kingdom and the Sinhala Kingdom ran through Elephant Pass.
Elephant Pass De compagnie stond in de 17de eeuw dikwijls op vijandelijke voet met de koning van Kandy, die sterk verbonden was met het boeddhistische deel van de Ceylonese bevolking. Bij Elephant Pass was een smalle landengte waar een fort gebouwd werd om de grens met het gebied van de koning te bewaken. Olifanten die op Ceylon waren gevangen, werden langs dit punt naar Jaffna gebracht om verkocht te worden in India, vandaar de naam Elephant Pass (http://www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl/nl/post/?id=813)
Translation
Elephant Pass During the 17th century the Company was engaged in a war of attrition with the king of Kandy, who had close ties with Ceylon’s Buddhist population. There was a narrow tongue of land at Elephant Pass a fort was built to guard the border with the king’s territory. Elephants captured on Ceylon were herded past here to Jaffna to be sold in India, hence the name Elephant Pass
Kind Regards
OTC
/
Siva Sankaran Sarma / January 10, 2014
Uh oh, it seems these Peelam nutcases will have to rewrite the documents held in the Dutch archives too If they want to get their way :D
/
Off the Cuff / January 10, 2014
Tough to contest to peddle your view?
/
Agnos / January 8, 2014
What people need is commonsense, not someone’s story as ‘history.’
Sri lanka’s northernmost point is only some 10+ miles from the Tamil Nadu coast, and the island was always within the South Indian sphere. Tamils were known to have been a seafaring people from very early times. It stands to reason that Tamils would have been in Sri Lanka from ancient times.
The Sinhalese people who claim origins in West Benghal, Bihar or Orissa and migrated from far away (like 1500 miles) from SL’s coast to the island, have unsurprisingly adopted South Indian customs, wearing sarongs and eating string hoppers and pittu, all suggesting that South Indian and Tamil influence was stronger in the country than any North Indian one. Therefore most of the so-called ‘historical’ claims made by Sinhalese historians over the centuries are probably self-perpetuating myths, I would strongly suggest, based on the need to accommodate a rapidly increasing population that kept telling itself, ‘unlike those Tamils, we don’t have any other country.’
The Tamil side probably has some of its own historical myths as well.
I don’t read history much; we know historians are often commissioned by those in power to write their own fantasies as truth. And this was at a time when the printing paper was not invented, the mode of communication was very primitive, and the king’s edict had to be obeyed. I am skeptical about much of the written history, and I would strongly urge people to use common sense and basic intelligence and ask the right questions.
/
Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear Agnos,
A good thoughtful comment.
Please read Dr. Gautam K. Kshatriya in “Genetic affiliations of the Sri Lankan population” (1995) (wiki) and in “Genetic affinities of Sri Lankan populations Human Biology”, by Kshatriya, Gautam Kumar. (http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/6/15923_space.html)
Kind Regards
OTC
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / January 8, 2014
The history taught in our schools should be reviewed and made more objective and less community biased. The type of history taught in our schools is the root cause of the communal divide. The history taught in schools has to further the concept of unity in diversity. There are plenty of objective and In-depth publication on the history of this island, to the extent to which history can be unbiased. However, these are for the discerning scholars.
The history I learned in school was community neutral. I learned of the the greatness, achievements , dastardliness and treachery of the rulers of Lanka ; of foreign invasions ; forays of our armies into foreign territory and instances like when King Gajabahu introduced Pathini worship . I learned these as events in our history sans anti-Sinhala , Tamil or Muslim connotations riding piggy back on interpretations. History was my favourite subject in schools and has remained a life-long passion. I read on my own the history of the world and that of India avidly, whenever I came across a book on the subject. The ‘ Discovery India’ by Jawaharlal Nehru was particularly inspiring.
It is time each community learns of the history and culture of the other communities in Sri Lanka, while learning their own, objectively, while in school.
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
“It is time each community learns of the history and culture of the other communities in Sri Lanka, while learning their own, objectively, while in school.”
I came across an examination paper on History for Grade 11 . You can access it by copy paste the first two lines as in the following details:
PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NORTHERN PROVINCE
Provincial Level Year End General Exam – 2013
History II
Grade – 11
Index No : ………………………….
Please read through the entire question paper and let us have your comment.
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aratai / January 8, 2014
Interesting exam….I scored 0.
:-)
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sach / January 8, 2014
exactly!
Instead of Sinhala vs Tamil history the children should be taught the history scientifically.
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran,
A wise comment old friend
Best Regards
OTC
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / January 12, 2014
Dear Off the Cuff,
Thanks and welcome to the commentator side show.
I am reading the various comments here with much interest and the foreboding thought that such debates will never end. There is an old Tamil proverb that talks of a blind old lady in a pitch dark room trying to look for something she seeks! We can be be compared to this blind old lady. Our history like the pitch dark room with a lot of junk and some valuables imbetween. We will never get what we seek, but will wreck whatever is in the room and will injure ourselves in this search.
Dr. RN
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Sengodan. M / January 8, 2014
It is true that a record of impartial history should be made available. But that could be done only by an impartial government and never by a government that follows a policy of racial Supremacy!
Sengodan. M
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K.A Sumanasekera / January 8, 2014
Vellala CM should forget about the East.
Can this rewriting of Mahavansa populate the North?.
Ms Serasinghe’s old turf and my ancestral territory is now has the second best and second biggest city next to Colombo. It is by sheer increase in population by internal migration of Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and even Foreigners. .
How can the CM populate the North , let alone Jaffna when he doesn’t want non Tamils there?.
30 years of self rule imposed by the CM’s new Hero couldn’t get even the Vellalas from Wellawatta to settle there.
Is he planning to do it now?.
Or has he got other plans like bringing in all the Diaspora back home ?.
Or is he planning mass migration from Tamil Nadu ?…
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Levi / January 8, 2014
Hi Sumane1
You Sinhale community made a mess of everything what india did for Sri Lanka. As the Famous saying Goes ” Sinhalaya Modaya kavun Kanda Yodaya.”
They to ensure this country does not divide into two democratically merged North and East.
Your Moda Wansa prodded by MR filed the Case against Merger. And Youa Moda CJ gave the verdict.
Result
The Northern Province Got 80% voting for TNA.
If you analyse voting trend of the Country You will always fine the Combined NE never got anywhere near two third. Best they Achieved was less the 60%.
North always polled over 2/3 even during the leanest years.
Indians knew this. Their think Tank came out with a trojan horse. The separatist could not arque back. Because for all purpose they got something they asked for. That Council would have had checks to prevent break up of the Country democratically by voting for separation. Now if MR is in a position where ha cannot allow the NP to function.
ALL WHAT INDIA DID HAS GONE WASTE.
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear Levi,
You say “Result The Northern Province Got 80% voting for TNA.”
When was the last time the Northern Province had a National political Party with National politics? The Vellala Tamils who controlled the Jaffna economy and politics whipped up racism long before Independence.
G.G. Ponnambalam began the racist cry in the 1930s.
He declared that he was a PROUD DRAVIDIAN (The Hansard, 1935, column 3045).
At a meeting in Navalapitiya in 1939, Ponnambalam attacked the Mahavamsa and the Sinhalese in such extreme terms that the people attacked him, and the first Sinhala-Tamil riots began, with clashes in Navalapitiya, Passara, Maskeliya and even in Jaffna (Hindu Organ, November 1, 1939)
Bandaranaike and others at first worked on the Ceylon equivalent of the “Indian national congress” and sought to obtain independence within the concept of a ” Ceylonese” nation which embraced the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and other groups. The Older Tamil leaders (Ponnambalam Arunachalam and Ponnambalam Ramanathan) were favourable to this, as long as they controlled the show. GGP played the communal card to break the hold Arunachalam and Ramanathan held in Tamil politics. (see Dr. Jane Russell’s, Communal Politics under the Donoughmore Constitution, Tissara Publishers, 1982).
This is identified as the main cause of the failure of the Ceylon National Congress and the concept of a United Sri Lanka (Prof. K. M. de Silva, University of Ceylon History of Ceylon, p401).
Tamils continued to insist that they are effectively a majority community (Morning Star, January 2, 1934).
G.G. Ponnambalam stands out as the ORIGINATOR of Racism in modern Sri Lanka.
Yuo say “if you analyse voting trend of the Country You will always fine the Combined NE never got anywhere near two third. Best they Achieved was less the 60%.”
A population of 60% is still a majority. The Tamils in the East is a minority of about 40% of the population of the East. Your argument is deceptive and is a Trojan horse to gain majority control of both the North and the East. The area of the North and the East is about 40% of Lanka.
The Tamils living in the North and East is less than the number of Tamils living elsewhere in the country and is about 6% of the total population of Lanka.
No right thinking person will allow this 6% who campaign for an Exclusive Tamil homeland, to control 40% of Lanka’s resources (including the scarce resources Land and Water). This is like the previous attempt at getting the Tamil Hindu Cast system perpetuated within the Lankan Constitution.
You say “Now if MR is in a position where ha cannot allow the NP to function. ALL WHAT INDIA DID HAS GONE WASTE.”
Can you please explain in detail what you mean by that statement please?
Note:- The Hindu Organ was Published in Jaffna by Tamils of Jaffna.
Kind Regards
OTC
/
Levi / January 9, 2014
Dear OTC
I never said/talked of a Sri Lankan Nation. As Sinhala Buddhist call themselves that they are Helaiansor some others. In return the Tamil speaking minorities called themselves Originally Tamils subsequently a section Startyed to Call themselves EElamites.
From the time Sri Lanka attained Independence from British the Sinhala Majority called themselves the owners of this Island. The Tamils of This Island gradually came to believe that the sinhalese are out to see that tamil speakers do not have erepresentation in the affairs of the Country. The Tail Nation Never Voted for a Sri Lankan Party. Because All those Sri Lankan Parties were Parties of Sinhalese.
If I remember correct at the very first Election held for Dominiun of Sri Lanka had elected members from amongst Commuynists and UNP from Jaffna.
However Tamil of Indian origin had 8 of 12 Parlimentarians from that communities. They were pounished by the UNP Majority Sinhala Government by making them loose their Voting Rites. They were Helped G.G.Ponnampalam Christian Tamil From Jaffna. The Very Samr G.G. Ponnampalam now is accused by the Helaist as the cause for the Navalapitiya Riots. For Calling Spade a Spade. He Called Mahawansa a fib.
From that time onwards tamils stated to Vote for a tamilan Party. In Jaffna. Most of the Tamils from North Living outside North refrained from Voting.
That is clearly seen by the ethnic ratio in Colombo District and the ethnicity of the elected from Colombo.
Tamils never wanted until very recent times to break this Country into pieces.
It was Sinhalese who wanted it to happen.
Former Prime minister Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranayake who at one time has regretted that he is unable address them in His mother Tongue. This he is supposed to have said when ha landed in Colombo after graduating London. Tghe funny side of the Story is that the Translator happened to be a Tamilian. Whos suppossed to have translated with his limited Sinhala Vocabulay as below. ” UOO KIYAANAWA UOO TA UOO GE AMMAGE BASHAWE KATHAKARANATA BARIBAWATA GANAGATOVENAVALOO.”
Later He became a Ardent Buddhist who introduced Sinhala Only Act. To be rewarded with death by a Buddhist Priest in 1959. He is also the Prime Minister Who Was Playing Billiard whe 1958 pogrom took place in Colombo in May 1958. He is also supposed to have uttered to Hon V.V.Giri Then High Commissioner for India in Ceylon that the Tamil Refugees in the Royal College Camps are his hostages for the Wellbeing of the Sinhalese in Jaffna. At that occasion he tried to intervene on behalf of the refugees in the Royal College Camp.
The Tamil Nation in the Northern Province Always Voted for A Tamil Nationalist.
What I came to say was That India Wanted to prevent the breaking of the Sri Lanka as a Single Country by democratic means in the interest of India by ensuring by creating a diluted Provincial Council by amalgamating The North and East together. This resulted in that Council will never have a 2/3 Majority make a Democratically acceptable unilateral Declaration of a Sovereign State like what was declared by the infamous declaration by Varatharajaperumal with no takers.
You are always talking of Cast System. When I Say You I mean Sinhala Buddhist. You are trying to correct others when your own home is housing rotting Corpse of Caste. You are still unable get your own suppressed caste members into the Asgiriya Chapter.
You are quoting You are Taking of a Hindu Organ. I never spoke of a Hindustan. Only Hindustan That is there in the world is Nepal. The Birth place of Siddartha happens to be Nepal. I Never Spoke for or against Tamils. I Only Mentioned how The oppotunity Sri Lanka had to dilute the concentration of the Tamils by making a Common Northeastern Province to see that the Country doesnot split sreated by India for her own benifit and was benificialk for the whole Country was Squandered by the Moda Sinhalyas becaues of their Minority Complex although they are a Majority.
When I said MR Lost the oppotunity. I made the Statement beacause the Dictator fears to have a democratically elected opposition. He fears to allow it to function beacause a sucessful functioning of the Council will prompt other councils to demand more autonomy resulting in dilution of his absolute hold on the Country using all possible means.
The NP although reduced in size is democratically in a better position to bargain. With his bought over Opposition involved with Woman Scandal and Murder.
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Levi,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
/
Burning_Issue / January 9, 2014
“G.G. Ponnambalam stands out as the ORIGINATOR of Racism in modern Sri Lanka.”
Here he goes again! Many contributors on Groundviews corrected him on this; he still harps on about it!
GG Pon was in government when DS disenfranchised the estate Indians Tamils! Even if GG was the “ORIGINATOR” of racism as OTC claims, what had happened to the promise that DS made to the minorities of Ceylon that they would not come to any harm by the majority? Racism is institutionalised in Sri Lanka with the Sinhala Buddhist at the top of the tree! Suppose it is all due to GG’s irresponsibility!
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Off the Cuff / January 10, 2014
Dear Burning Issue,
It is a Fact that GG Ponnambalam used Racism to break the hold the Ramanathan’s had on the Tamils.
I have provided references and those are in print. You cannot hence say that he was no racist and that he did not instigate the VERY FIRST Sinhala Tamil Riots of 1939. There were other racists before him but non of them caused an Ethnic Riot.
I am not discussing the vague Mahavamsa Era where someone can play with the time line. This is recent recorded History. If you want to challenge what I have written provide evidence. Contrary to your claims, No One has been able to disprove me yet. Please link to any post anywhere that proves otherwise.
Please debate with Honesty. This is recorded History and will not change even if History is rewritten by CM Wigneswaran himself.
You say “GG Pon was in government when DS disenfranchised the estate Indians Tamils! Even if GG was the “ORIGINATOR” of racism as OTC claims,…”
Burning Issue, 1939 came 9 years earlier to 1948. The Citizenship Act saw the light of day 9 years after GG Ponnambalam instigated the FIRST Sinhala Tamil Riots in 1939.
His Racism started much earlier in 1935. He was not a proud Ceylonese but a Proud Dravidian (The Hansard, 1935, column 3045).
GG Ponna being in govt during the citizenship Act of 1948 proves only that there was Lanka Tamil support for the Citizenship Act number 18 of 1948. It does not disprove the FACT that he was the Racist who triggered the First Tamil Sinhala Riots of the 20th Century in 1939. That was a poor Red Herring that you used.
There is no “even if” about it. I have proven that GG was the ORIGINATOR of racist politics that led to the First ethnic riot of the 20th Century between Tamils and Sinhalese. It may be uncomfortable for you to stomach but the TRUTH often is.
My sources are not Sinhalese they are Tamil. Hence you cannot call it biased.
/
Anpu / January 10, 2014
Dear OTC,
“My sources are not Sinhalese they are Tamil. Hence you cannot call it biased. ” – what a nonsense!
Karuna, KP, .. name the few they are Tamils too. For me STOOGES is the right word to describe them.
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Off the Cuff / January 10, 2014
Dear Anpu,
I was referring to my sources not yours.
Kindly list the sources that I used, who you consider are Stooges.
The “Hindu Organ” was a main source. Is it a Stooge. If so a stooge for whom?
Did you know that the the Founder Tamil Editor of the Hindu Organ was a Nephew of Arumga Navalar the Tamil Nationalist?
Anyone not supporting separatism is a stooge for some Tamils.
That’s what they called the illustrious Lakshman Kadirgama too.
/
sach / January 11, 2014
I dont think there is any point in blaming GG or even Bandaranaikes. The blame should be on the people.
It is difficult to point at one person in the history. I believe it is a chain of events.
The persecution of Buddhists and hindus by the British and targetting by christian missionaries created a reactionary Buddhist revival and a Hindu revival movements by Dharmapala and Arumuga Navalar respectively. It is intersting to note that Dharmapala’s buddhist revival movement targetted only Christians and Muslims and not Hindus. The movement against beef eating was very much a part of Dharmapala’s campaign.
With the rise in nationalism and rise in ethnic consiousness among the two ethnicities could have happen. I dont know much about Tamil literature but it was quite apparent in Sinhala literature that a nationalistic drive was emerging. As the sinhalese were the majority they had the upper hand.
Then came the historical discoveries. The history was being written by the British and other european historians. mahavamsa was discovered, historical places in north central was discovered, which must have energized the sinhala nationalism. The sensationalist ethnic nationalistic slogans might have created an eeri feelings among tamils which made tamil leaders to react and the age of mahavamsa bashing. The tamil leaders may have reacted strongly which again resulted in Sinhala reaction and vice versa.
That is the chain of events and now we are in such a bad situation. Thousands of people died in a war and gave birth to LTTE terrorism. It is quite sad the cycle is still continuing.
We have to stop and think. what is wrong is not the history books or any stone inscriptions. The way we looked at our history. The history of SL has history of both sinhala and tamils. Instead of looking at historical sites as this is our sinhala history or their tamil history, we need to look at them and appreciate them as the history of people who lived before us. That is the way for us to lead in the future.
We dont have to rewrite the history but we need to dig deeper and revise the history. there is a point in what wiggie says but unfortunately he is the wrong man to say that and this is the wrong time to say that.
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Burning_Issue / January 11, 2014
“Then came the historical discoveries. The history was being written by the British and other european historians. mahavamsa was discovered, historical places in north central was discovered, which must have energized the sinhala nationalism.”
Who discovered these discoveries? Who translated the Mahavamsa in Sinhala? Europeans did!
/
XXX / January 8, 2014
Once I thought it was only the LTTE which consisted of ultra violent, racist criminals. Day by day the ones who are supposed to be moderate are showing their true color. Rewrite the history of a country? What kind of a bigoted extremist would ask to rewrite the history of a country?
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
XXX
“What kind of a bigoted extremist would ask to rewrite the history of a country?”
This is a serious, intellectually honest question.
As you refused to even look at the most your prehistory we as the native islanders continue to respect your Sinhala/Buddhist history which says Sinhala race was born out of beast women copulation and incestuous relation and did practice parricides.
If you are happy with the above we too are very happy for you.
Wish you well.
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
If the history is made up of lies or distortion , it needs rewritting .
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Suresh / January 8, 2014
Frankly speaking, I think justice Wigneswaran’s request to re-write the history of the country has great merit. We all know that the Mahawamsa is a total farce!Can we please get together on this, and come out with a document that is realistic? A woman mating with a non-existant LION? AND we believe it? PHOEEY! 90% literacy is for the asses in the masses!!
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sach / January 8, 2014
mahavamsa is a very valid history book. The arly sections upto Asoka have mythical stories, but the value it has in understanding the history of SL is extremely high!
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Levi / January 9, 2014
Dear sach
So at least you admit all what is said in the Mahawansa before Asoka Era are fibs.
lets begin from after Asoka period.
!. Asoka was a Born Hindu. Who Killed enough Human Beings in the Name of Ruling India. He finally Got sick of Killing and adopted to Buddhist philosophy. He repented his sins. tried to make amends to his wring doings after admitting his follies.
Remember this island was populated long before Both Mahwansa and Asoka. Surely they too were human beings. They ate cooked food. The buried their dead with rituals. So what happened to thgeir History?
However much one try to wipe the Slate clean. Our ancestors(Human) have left delible marks in Sri Lanka of having lived well over 10 000 years before Mahawansa the myth.
Devanambiyatheesan is admitted hindu who converted himself to Buddhism with the Coming of Mahinda Asoka’s Son. What Was he Was he Sinhalese?
Then we will come to an another mythical legend in Ravana. A Siva Worshipper who has failed to get a mention in the Mahawansa. But presently adopted as a Hela hero.
Why NP Chieh wanted to rewrite the History was to remove from Mahawansa all fibs written by a mad celibite Monk with lots imagination.
A Rational Scientifically unchallange able Story ( I mean it Not History) must be writen incorporating all acceptable tales and discarding the unacceptable fibs.
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sach / January 10, 2014
I have always mentioned that mahavamsa’s initial part prior to Asoka is full of myths. That was the accepted notion even among historians who used to dig history using Mahavamsa. That is not a truth found out now.
and who cares about Asoka and what he did? i see no relation of that to what we discuss. what is the point of asking me what the people lived before Asoka period did in SL? There are no written sources about it but the recent findings in Archeological sites says that Sl was inhabited.
And about Devanambuyatheesan i have never heard of. I see many historians everyday in CT. Is that a new finding? You need to tell that to Nathan annas cos the eelamists today do not have a single argument. Each and every eelamist have a different arguement.
I dont know why chelliah wants to remove mahavamsa but i think it is because it is an impediment to many bogus historians, that is why. I hardly imagine how a person talking about a Devanamb..theesan can talk about rational scientific analysis of history in the same para.
mahavamsa has both myths and facts. It is the single most important doc about history in SL. For a book writen in 5AD it is amazingly factual.
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Native Vedda / January 10, 2014
sach
“I have always mentioned that mahavamsa’s initial part prior to Asoka is full of myths.”
Then why have you allowed schools to use history text books that includes beast women copulation, incestuous relation and parricide?
Even the so called eminent historians write the Vijaya myth as if its was a gospel truth.
“mahavamsa has both myths and facts. It is the single most important doc about history in SL. For a book writen in 5AD it is amazingly factual.”
Could you weed out facts from myth for me as a layman I am confused about your lifestyle.
/
sach / January 10, 2014
idiot i am not the ones who make syllabuses and i wasnt even taught that Vijaya is a true story in school. The ones who use the vijaya stroy most are actually tamils not sinhalese.
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear Suresh,
You say “A woman mating with a non-existant LION? AND we believe it?”
No the Sinhalese don’t believe it though the dumb degenerates who want to use it to denigrate the Sinhalese do so.
Humans mating with animals (bestiality) exists even in this modern day (research the subject please). However there is no scientific record of bestiality producing live offspring. The actual Fools are those who say there are such offspring living.
Literary embellishments such as God fornicating with Monkey females and Human females producing Live offspring, God’s with composite animal/Human body parts, multiple heads, multiple limbs etc are very common. But believing them is of course foolish.
Kind Regards
OTC
/
Levi / January 9, 2014
Dear OTC
Thanks you have cleared most important part of the Fable. The Lion Mating. However you have not given your answer to the The brother taking his sister as his wife. I have heard this is prcticesd in Royal line of Bhutan too. ( I subject to correction). Please clear this too for the uneducated fools. Then comes the story of the 700followers who drifted from North India. This too need clarification.
(1) How did they Managed to come through the Palk Straight without seeing land on either sides. I am sure the Gap between Sri Lankla and India was very much smaller than today. ( Sea erosion for over 2500 years as the story Goes. Were those thugs so doped they did not see the landmass on either side of the Boat.
(2)Were there Boats that Could accomodat 700 passenger with food and water for the journey. Giving the Benefit of the Doubt that Seafaring Technology was advance enough Could the boat has crossed the adams Bridge. It is Still too Shallow for the Indian Ferry Boat to cross. It circum naviuaged the Island to south Bar during the Monsoons. During the British times.
(3)Having reached the western Coast Vijaya sent hiss followers one by one in search of water and food. It is said that he as the fist did not turn up as he is supposed to have learnt later the Kuveni imprisoned them, he sent the next and then the next and the next so on till all 700 have gone. Was he (a) Such a modaya to have waited till all of them disappeared one aftyer the other.
(4) Usually when someone is sent on an errand you give him time to return. Say a minimum of 30miniutes. If what is said is admitted as truth. It means 350Hours. That is counting day and night. What a fool to belive that a group of people starved and in thirst after such a long journey stood by looling for 15days without food and water untill Vijaya went and conquered Kuveni and freed his friends. This Crazy Notion can come from a Mad Monk because he does not know the pangs of hunger and thirst ( He lives on Alms).
Only such person will even imagine this scenario.
Thats all for Now
Cheers
Levi
/
Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Levi,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
/
Pandit Koralage / January 10, 2014
OTC,
“…. there is no scientific record of bestiality producing live offspring.”
Of course there is. Go look in the mirror!
/
RajasH / January 8, 2014
The sunken Continent of Tamil. Period.!
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread678086/pg1&mem=
/
sach / January 8, 2014
And people point at Mahavamsa as illogical!
/
Siva Sankaran Sarma / January 8, 2014
So called “Eelam” Tamils trying to rewrite history because they have none? I’m not sure exactly which part is news here :D
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Palmsquirrell / January 8, 2014
What history do you have?
/
Maveeran / January 8, 2014
Siva Sankara Sarma is a Sinhalese [Edited out].
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Native Vedda / January 8, 2014
Maveeran
“Siva Sankara Sarma is a Sinhalese [Edited out]. “
Well said.
By the way how did you manage to find out this open secret?
/
Fathima Fukushima / January 8, 2014
Well said Siva!
Chingalams need not rewrite history. It is already there.
Soon Tamils will be history mark my word.
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Fathima Fukushima / January 8, 2014
What a joke!
Tamils have no history in SL.
No point twisting history to create an artificial history.
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Maveeran / January 8, 2014
I’l make you history, once I catch your lame arse.
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RajasH / January 8, 2014
Today is history Tomorrow
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sach / January 8, 2014
One of the greatest misfortunes of this country had been educated people without any common sense and wisdom. They only have the ones they read in books. They have made this a bloodbath. It seems the line of educated fools is still not broken.
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Thesailangkymannan Thamothirampillai / January 8, 2014
Why ? all these arguments.Very recently Mr.Subramaniya Swamy from India and Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Mr.Kariyavasam openly said and declared that the Singalese are settlers from North India mainly Bihar and Orissa. If these statements have some some historical validity, what evidence you all have to say the country belongs to Singalese. Some Eelam historians have ulterior motivations including some Tamils. So what is wrong to attempt to rewrite the true history of Eelam. This 21st century is better placed to collect all evidences to proof this way or the other.
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sach / January 8, 2014
Sinhalese didnt come from Orissa. It was all developed here
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear Mr Thesailangkymannan Thamothirampillai,
Sri Lanka belongs to her Citizens not to any particular ethnicity. No ethnicity has any exclusive rights to any part of it.
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Levi / January 9, 2014
Dear OTC
“The Sri Lankan Moors have not been found contributing to the Lanka Tamil genetic make up in any significant way but the Lanka Tamils for some strange reason has been consistently attempting to annex the Lanka Moors as their own while fighting and rejecting their own parentage! “
Well Said!
The Moors Claim that they are descendants from Arabs. Who Married Tamil Women when they Came to this Island for trade.
What befuddles me is that by their admission their original Mother is a Native Tamil. Apparently their seem to to be some truth in their claim.
There is a series of Poets and their creations in Arabutamil. This language is written Arabic letters using tamil words. So how come Ceylon Moors have no contribution from Tamil.
Not meaning any insult to any body. including myself. I am sue who my mother is so are you. The father is a father because mother said so!.
So defintely the if their is any Scientist who says otherwise is defintely wrong.
That is why we call our land the Mother Land and Our Language the Mother Tongue. I am yet to see a race who identify themselves by their fatherland or father tongue. May be BBs does it.
Sinhalese have 69.86% Tamil blood. Tamils living in Sri Lanka has 55.20% Sinhala Blood.The Conclusion is The Sinhales are very much more Tamil Than Tamils. The Tamils in Sri Lanka are more Sinhalese than Sinhalese.
By the way you have forgotten to deal with karas & Duras and the 12000 famiuiles brought to this island from india and settled in Demela Hathpattuwa.
Also please remember to account for the kerala-malayalam connection to the Tamils of the North and their Thesavalmi based on Malabar decendents.
so the story Goes on and on!
Cheers
Levi
Also account for Rajapakes going to Malayalam Hindu Temples and officiating at Katharagama Shrine.
Justice Wickneswaran has cros bred grand childred. Whilst MR too has tamil in laws. lastly but not least The Prince is waiting too is a cross bred Euro lankan whose motherland ( native) is not Sri Lanka.
So why not reconsile and admit the facts and decide to live married or divorce?
/
Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Levi,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
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RajasH / January 8, 2014
to start with the historians/poliricians/civil socities etc should advocate to drop the Sri from Sri Lanka.
Sri was added to Lanka by the then PM Srimavo Banadarnaike.
Lanka as the name of the country or even better revert back to Ceylon
When we get the name of the country right the historic prospectives will then follow on
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear RajasH,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
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sach / January 8, 2014
there is no doubt the tamil heritage of Sl needs to be recognized. but there is a time for every thing. It is just sad this man has no intelligence and wisdom. He is nothing but a fool!
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K.A Sumanasekera / January 9, 2014
Will the TNA UNP joint Manifesto at the next Prez election promise to fulfil this Vellala CM’s demand to rewrite Mahavamsa?…
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear CT Readers,
“Against this background, Wigneswaran referred to an article published in the Colombo Telegraph, titled ‘Mahawamsa- An insult to the Buddha’ by the Sinhalese journalist Sharmini Serasinghe, saying it was an exceptional article that portrays the truth”
Chief Minister, C V Wigneswaran would have also noted that Ms Serasinghe was unable to defend her “exceptional Article” that was hotly challenged. She could not write a SINGLE comment rebutting the challenges to her article.
Did CVW find the article exceptional because it suited his agenda?
It was Politically easy to refer to Sharmini’s undefended article than to refer to the MahaVeer speeches of Prabhakaran. Chief Minister CVW is using a Cats Paw to pull Kos Ata (Jack Seeds) from the Fire.
“It must also be remembered that the TNA engaged in pro-LTTE rhetoric during its recent provincial poll campaign.Wigneswaran himself shocked and disappointed many by indulging in such talk.After hearing several cases under the Prevention of Terrorism Act(PTA) and imposing sentences when serving as a Judge, the Sitar playing Wigneswaran strummed a different melody by saying the tigers were freedom fighters and not terrorists.He also called LTTE leader Prabhakaran a great hero.” (DBS Jayaraj)
Dr. Gautam K. Kshatriya in “Genetic affiliations of the Sri Lankan population” (1995) (wiki) and in “Genetic affinities of Sri Lankan populations Human Biology”, by Kshatriya, Gautam Kumar. (http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/6/15923_space.html)
The following is based on the above scientific studies.
“The Bengalis, the Tamils, and the Veddahs are considered parental populations for the Sinhalese. The Bengali contribution is 25.41%, the Tamil (India) contribution is 69.86%, and the Veddah contribution is only 4.73%. Thus the Sinhalese have a predominantly Tamil (India) contribution followed by the Bengalis and the Veddahs. The fusion of the Veddahs and the Sinhalese was recorded in the ancient chronicles of Sri Lanka (Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa) as early as 543 B.C., but the Veddahs were subsequently pushed to the inhospitable dry zone for a long period of time under pressure from early colonizers.
By studying the Sri Lankan Tamils, one can see that the Sinhalese, the Bengalis, and the Indian Tamils can be considered ancestral populations. The contribution of the Sinhalese to the Sri Lankan Tamils is 55.20%. Similarly, the Bengali contribution is 28.17% and that of the Indian Tamils is 16.63%. The results indicate a predominant influence of the Sinhalese (who already have a high contribution from the Indian Tamils) and the Bengalis to a lesser extent.”
It is an accepted fact that the Veddhas are indigenes of Lanka.
This study indicates that Lanka Tamils do not have any genetic contribution from the Veddha population.
Secondly, The Sinhalese have a 400% greater genetic connection with Indian Tamils than the Indian Tamils have with Lanka Tamils (69.86% for Sinhalese against 16.6% for Lanka Tamils).
Thirdly, the Sinhalese contribution to the Lanka Tamil genome is 55%
This indicates that the Lanka Tamils are an OFF SHOOT of ancient Sinhalese who have mixed with Indian Tamils at a later date.
Indian Tamil + Bengali ——> Veddha = Sinhalese (Sinhalese are more Tamil than Lanka Tamils)
Sinhalese + Bengali —–> Indian Tamil = Lanka Tamil (Lanka Tamils are more Sinhalese than Tamil).
The Sinhalese evolved in Lanka and the the Lanka Tamils evolved from the Sinhalese not vice versa as per the above scientific study.
The Sinhalese identity is the Language. (However a language similar to Sinhala is spoken in the Maldives).
This explains why the Lanka Tamils do not have a continuous historical record in Sri Lanka as a separate entity. The Mahavamsa is as much a Historical record of the Lanka Tamils as it is of Sinhalese
This is also a possible explanation for the majority population remaining as Sinhalese.
The Sri Lankan Moors have not been found contributing to the Lanka Tamil genetic make up in any significant way but the Lanka Tamils for some strange reason has been consistently attempting to annex the Lanka Moors as their own while fighting and rejecting their own parentage!
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Native Vedda / January 9, 2014
Off the Cuff
Thanks to your methodical approach to the study of Tamil/Sinhala genetics. It makes makes everything fall into place.
“The Sinhalese evolved in Lanka and the the Lanka Tamils evolved from the Sinhalese not vice versa as per the above scientific study.”
Let me express your conclusion as I understand it.
The Sinhalese evolved in Lanka
The Lankan Tamils evolved from the Sinhalese.
Bengalis evolved from Tamils and Sinhalese.
Vijaya had already had Sinhala DNA because Sinhalese had already contributed to the Bengali genetic pool. Therefore Vijaya carried the Aryan gene from Sinhalese.
The Sinhala Aryan gene spread through out North India and Europe and the Sinhala language evolved into Indo Aryan language group.
It makes a lot of sense.
Thanks for your analysis which I would say immensely entertaining.
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear Native Veddha,
What I have presented is from a scientific study by Indian Scientists. Use what they have written (I provided the source) or material from another scientific study to rebut what I have written (not your assumptions please).
You say ” Bengalis evolved from Tamils and Sinhalese”
That’s like saying your Father and Mother evolved from you.
Children evolve from parents not vice versa as you have erroneously assumed.
The rest of your post is based on your erroneous assumption and is hence a fallacy.
Kind regards
OTC
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Mahadana Muththa (Jnr) / January 9, 2014
Native Vedda,
Don’t waste your time replying to this dimwit ‘Off the Cuff’. He has no sense of humour.
Just check his ceaseless harangue on Sharmini Serasinghe’s tongue-in-cheek reference to the Buddha’s birth, in her piece ‘Mahavamsa- An insult to the Buddha’.
He has reacted the same way, he has to your tongue-in-cheek comment, “Bengalis evolved from Tamils and Sinhalese”.
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Ken Robert / January 9, 2014
Mahadana Muththa (Jnr)
“Don’t waste your time replying to this dimwit ‘Off the Cuff’(OTC). He has no sense of humour”
I strongly disagree. OTC is a learned clinical geneticist specialising in human migratory genetics, his father studied with Gregor Johann Mendel (father of human genetics), He did his PhD in population genetics with Dr Wilhelm Weinberg and currently working with Dr Spencer Wells, research scientist in human genome project and author of the book called Journey of man: genetic Odyssey.
ken
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Ken Roberts,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
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kattakarawala / January 10, 2014
Mahadana Muththa (Jnr),
You are correct.
This idiot OTC takes everything literally.
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Kattakarawala,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Mahadenamuththa,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Mahadenamththa,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
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Ken Robert / January 10, 2014
Native
Your comment is even more entertaining the trivial frivolities of ‘off the cuff’
We, Sri lankans are blessed with immense creative talent (OTC), and and an astute analytical minds (NV).
ken
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Ken Roberts,
My reply is here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
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Sirloin / January 9, 2014
The Eastern Vedars or Coast Vaddhas are mixed with Tamils.
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Off the Cuff / January 9, 2014
Dear Sirloin,
According to the Scientific Report referred to in my comment above the Sinhalese have 69.86% genetic contribution from Indian Tamils as against 16.6% for Lanka Tamils.
This points to the Lanka Tamils branching off from ancient Sinhalese and then developing a separate identity of their own.
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Palmsquirrell / January 9, 2014
If Ceylon Tamils branched off from Sinhalese, they would not be speaking a language far closer to Indian Tamil than it is to Sinhala.
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Palmsquirell,
You say “If Ceylon Tamils branched off from Sinhalese, they would not be speaking a language far closer to Indian Tamil than it is to Sinhala.”
Your Logic is twisted.
Put a newborn Tamil Child in a Sinhala home and see what Language the child will speak, read and write. Reverse the situation and the Sinhala child will be using Tamil as the mother tongue.
Think Carefully before you write.
Note My replies to most of your comments are here https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/npc-chief-wigneswaran-wants-sri-lankas-history-rewritten/comment-page-1/#comment-844272
Kind Regards
OTC
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Palmsquirrell / January 12, 2014
A newborn Anglo-Saxon child raised in a Sinhala speaking household will speak Sinhala. So what point were you trying to make, that a child absorbs the language of the elders around it; who argues against this?
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Off the Cuff / January 14, 2014
Dear Palmsquirrell,
You ask “So what point were you trying to make, that a child absorbs the language of the elders around it; who argues against this?”
You did, more than once. At least try to remember what you have written before asking silly questions.
“If Colombo Muslims were more Arab than Tamil, why do they speak Tamil as their mother tongue” Palmsquirrell, January 12, 2014 at 7:21 pm
“If Ceylon Tamils branched off from Sinhalese, they would not be speaking a language far closer to Indian Tamil than it is to Sinhala.” Palmsquirrell, January 9, 2014 at 6:24 pm
Kind Regards,
OTC
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M.Sivananthan / January 9, 2014
Northern Tamils are from Orissa with Kalinga Maga. So, dont rant they have branched out from Sinhalse.
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear M Sivananthan,
I understand that some Tamils consider that they are Brahminical and superior to the Sinhalese . Hence any suggestion even if Scientific that your parentage is in most part Sinhalese would be anathema to your psych.
But I suppose you have the intelligence to study the Dr Kshatriya report at the link I provided and also in the Wiki.
So please go ahead and study it and provide us your analysis of it and prove that much acclaimed Tamil Wisdom and the much maligned Sinhala Foolishness.
Hope you are up to it!
Have a nice day,
OTC
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Levi / January 9, 2014
Dear sach
So at least you admit all what is said in the Mahawansa before Asoka Era are fibs.
lets begin from after Asoka period.
!. Asoka was a Born Hindu. Who Killed enough Human Beings in the Name of Ruling India. He finally Got sick of Killing and adopted to Buddhist philosophy. He repented his sins. tried to make amends to his wring doings after admitting his follies.
Remember this island was populated long before Both Mahwansa and Asoka. Surely they too were human beings. They ate cooked food. The buried their dead with rituals. So what happened to thgeir History?
However much one try to wipe the Slate clean. Our ancestors(Human) have left delible marks in Sri Lanka of having lived well over 10 000 years before Mahawansa the myth.
Devanambiyatheesan is admitted hindu who converted himself to Buddhism with the Coming of Mahinda Asoka’s Son. What Was he Was he Sinhalese?
Then we will come to an another mythical legend in Ravana. A Siva Worshipper who has failed to get a mention in the Mahawansa. But presently adopted as a Hela hero.
Why NP Chieh wanted to rewrite the History was to remove from Mahawansa all fibs written by a mad celibite Monk with lots imagination.
A Rational Scientifically unchallange able Story ( I mean it Not History) must be writen incorporating all acceptable tales and discarding the unacceptable fibs.
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Pandit Koralage / January 9, 2014
Hey OTC,
You have done a cut, copy and paste job here, of the identical comment you posted on Sharmini Serasinghe’s thread last week.
So I’m doing the same here with my response to you-
According to you, “Evidence suggests that the Sinhalese (55%), Bengalis (28%) and Indian Tamils (17%) are the parent stock of Lanka Tamils. Hence Lanka Tamils are an offshoot of Sinhalese.”
Then you say, “The Bengalis, the Tamils, and the Veddahs are considered parental populations for the Sinhalese….. Thus the Sinhalese have a predominantly Tamil (India) contribution followed by the Bengalis and the Veddahs.”
Adding to the confusion you say, “By studying the Sri Lankan Tamils, one can see that the Sinhalese, the Bengalis, and the Indian Tamils can be considered ancestral populations. The contribution of the Sinhalese to the Sri Lankan Tamils is 55.20%. Similarly, the Bengali contribution is 28.17% and that of the Indian Tamils is 16.63%. The results indicate a predominant influence of the Sinhalese…”
Then you add “It is an accepted fact that the Veddhas are indigenes of Lanka.”
Then how did “Indian Tamil + Bengali ——> Veddha = Sinhalese” happen?
“Sinhalese + Bengali —–> Indian Tamil = Lanka Tamil”
Adding to the confusion further you say “But perhaps someone who thinks All Yemenis and Iranians and their descendants should be Muslim just because they are Arab might even in this day of Scientific knowledge, believe in Mythical Crap……”
Are you now suggesting that we are now descendants of Yemenis and Iranians, as well?
“The inability to separate Ethnicity and Religion results in foolish conclusions.”
Isn’t that what chauvinistic Sinhala-Buddhist fools like you OCT, have done?
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Off the Cuff / January 11, 2014
Dear Pandit Koralage,
You say “You have done a cut, copy and paste job here, of the identical comment you posted on Sharmini Serasinghe’s thread last week.”
Of course its a paste from my original comment to Anpu. I am not Dumb to retype my own comment.
You say “So I’m doing the same here with my response to you”
That is Dumb because my answers to you are already there in that thread where you said a person’s religion can be determined by the person’s ethnicity. When asked how that was possible you were heeing and hawing instead of answering. Hence I will redirect you to my answers.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/mahavamsa-an-insult-to-the-buddha/comment-page-4/#comment-833476
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/mahavamsa-an-insult-to-the-buddha/comment-page-4/#comment-835417
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/mahavamsa-an-insult-to-the-buddha/comment-page-4/#comment-836989
If you post anything new I will address them.
Kind Regards
OTC
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Levi / January 9, 2014
Dear OTC
“The Sri Lankan Moors have not been found contributing to the Lanka Tamil genetic make up in any significant way but the Lanka Tamils for some strange reason has been consistently attempting to annex the Lanka Moors as their own while fighting and rejecting their own parentage! “
Well Said!
The Moors Claim that they are descendants from Arabs. Who Married Tamil Women when they Came to this Island for trade.
What befuddles me is that by their admission their original Mother is a Native Tamil. Apparently their seem to to be some truth in their claim.
There is a series of Poets and their creations in Arabutamil. This language is written Arabic letters using tamil words. So how come Ceylon Moors have no contribution from Tamil.
Not meaning any insult to any body. including myself. I am sue who my mother is so are you. The father is a father because mother said so!.
So defintely the if their is any Scientist who says otherwise is defintely wrong.
That is why we call our land the Mother Land and Our Language the Mother Tongue. I am yet to see a race who identify themselves by their fatherland or father tongue. May be BBs does it.
Sinhalese have 69.86% Tamil blood. Tamils living in Sri Lanka has 55.20% Sinhala Blood.The Conclusion is The Sinhales are very much more Tamil Than Tamils. The Tamils in Sri Lanka are more Sinhalese than Sinhalese.
By the way you have forgotten to deal with karas & Duras and the 12000 famiuiles brought to this island from india and settled in Demela Hathpattuwa.
Also please remember to account for the kerala-malayalam connection to the Tamils of the North and their Thesavalmi based on Malabar decendents.
so the story Goes on and on!
Cheers
Levi
Also account for Rajapakes going to Malayalam Hindu Temples and officiating at Katharagama Shrine.
Justice Wickneswaran has cros bred grand childred. Whilst MR too has tamil in laws. lastly but not least The Prince is waiting too is a cross bred Euro lankan whose motherland ( native) is not Sri Lanka.
So why not reconsile and admit the facts and decide to live married or divorce?
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Palmsquirrell / January 10, 2014
” The Sri Lankan Moors have not been found contributing to the Lanka Tamil genetic make up in any significant way but the Lanka Tamils for some strange reason has been consistently attempting to annex the Lanka Moors as their own while fighting and rejecting their own parentage! “
“not been found contributing to the Lanka Tamil genetic makeup” simply means there was little Moorish admixture into the non Muslim Tamil population ; it does not imply there was no Tamil admixture into the Muslim population.
How exactly are Lanka Tamils denying their heritage? They claim descent from Dravidians from South India.
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Kalu Nangi / January 10, 2014
Thank you Off the Cuff!
Your sensible analysis sheds light on the similarities between the Tamils and Sinhalese and more importantly, the similarities between the Sinhalese and Bengalis. Though we are taught as children that Sinhalese descended from Vijaya, a Bengali Prince, the Bengali connection is conveniently forgotten when the historians glorify Sri Lanka as the land of the Sinhalese.
We, Sinhales and Tamils, are both originally visitors to this land. If we appreciate that reality, both communities will be able to live in peace.
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