By Paul Newman –
Dr. Paul Newman
Bishop Rayappu Joseph is called the Oscar Romeiro of Mannar by the Tamils of Sri Lanka. He is known as ‘Kotiya’ or the Tiger Bishop by the Sinhalese.
A Doctorate in Canon Law from Rome, he was ordained as the second Bishop of Mannar in 1992. Since then he has become the voice of the voiceless Tamil civilians in the north, and the most hated person in the Sinhalese dominated south.
Under his leadership, Mannar diocese is running homes for war orphans, abandoned children and the elderly, health care centers, dispensaries, girls’ hostels, vocational training centers, rehabilitation centers for refugees, centers for fishermen, and conducting human rights training programs for the clergy and civilians.
For the work he is doing in the war ravaged Tamil areas, people already feel that he might be in the reckoning for a Nobel Peace Prize soon.
Bishop Rayappu has fostered the spirit of humanism and human rights, as he says human values and Christian values are one and the same.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, Catholic Bishop of Mannar
In this land where no one dares to talk, he stands tall as a person who is fearless, forthright, morally upright, and most importantly outspoken when it comes to highlighting the problems of his people as he considers them as his prime duty.
He believes that it is the Providence of God that he is the Bishop and takes up the cases of torture, disappearances, land grab, and the issues of women, especially war widows, orphans, and the crippled as a special mission entrusted to him.
He says, “Being a chosen shepherd of Christ I am accountable for the lost sheep”.
Mannar is one place where one can see protests against human rights atrocities and they become exceptional as a good number of priests in their cassocks take part in them.
In September 2008, as the civil war was escalating, and Colombo ordered the foreign observers to leave the war zone, the Bishop ventured into Killinochi to assess the situation there.
He made a bold statement to the media later that the Tamils in the war ravaged zone had been reduced to the status of ‘walking skeletons.’
He says today their condition has worsened as they have been completely silenced.
“They walk but without the inner life. The government has forced them to live with bitter memories. Those affected by the conflict are denied access to psycho social counseling,” he says.
The Bishop says the war against the LTTE was over in 2009, but the government is still in war mode.
The clear evidence for it is the massive presence of armed forces and the police in Tamil areas. It is estimated that over 90 percent of the Sri Lankan armed forces is concentrated in the Tamil dominated areas of the North and East.
He wonders why there should be PTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) when the government claims that it has wiped out ‘terrorism’.
The Northern Provincial Council is ‘toothless,’ he says and demands that more powers be given to the provincial Chief Minister to deal with local issues.
The Bishop calls for a halt to the militarization, interference in civil administration, extra judicial executions, cultural domination of Buddhists, installation of statues of Buddha where there are no Buddhists and in holy places of people of other faith, imposition of Sinhala as a medium of instruction in schools, and coercion of Tamils to study Sinhala, which he says are part of the ethnic and structural cleansing of the Tamils taking place under the present military Governor of the Northern province.
He has championed the cause of the people displaced from Mullikulam where the Navy is constructing a huge base. He wants the government to return the land taken away from the civilians.
The Bishop is a targeted person. Often Colombo’s notorious Criminal Investigation Department sleuths are at his door steps to find out what he had narrated to the visiting dignitaries from other countries who call on him.
He was interrogated after he appeared before the LLRC for making a submission on the missing persons and seeking clarification on the 146,679 unaccounted persons. The last interrogation was after his statement on the deportation of Tamils asylum seekers from Australia.
Bishop Rayappu demands an independent international inquiry into the genocide of the Tamils. He argues that only an international inquiry under the aegis of the UN will bring out the truth.
He wants every human rights respecting country to force Sri Lanka to accept an International Inquiry and to look into the material losses suffered by the Tamils to be accounted.
He does not want the accused criminals to become investigators of their own crime!
On the idea of setting up of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the lines of South Africa, the Bishop feels it is premature to take up such a momentous task without taking the victimized community into confidence.
“In South Africa the oppressors were not it power when the TRC started functioning, but in Sri Lanka the regime which is accused of committing Genocide would be the one appointing the members of the TRC.”
Navi Pillai, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Stephen Rapp, the US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues in the Office of Global Criminal Justice are some of the international dignitaries who have held discussions with him.
During the meeting with Rapp, the Bishop wanted an international Investigation on the Sri Lankan forces alleging that they had used cluster bombs in the heavily crowded ‘No Fire’ or ‘Safe Zone’ during the war.
In 2012 too, the Bishop and 31 other clergy members wrote to the UN Human Rights Commissioner demanding an international investigation.
On the much harped about issue of development of the north, the Bishop feels the parameter for judging these development should be to ask whether the local people are happy with it.
One should not draw conclusions that the people are happy just by looking at the massive roads and other infrastructural developments, he urges.
‘We want freedom not roads. Development is welcome, but freedom is what we thirst; we need a constitution to which we can go back and refer. We are a nation; we have our identity which needs to be protected. We have our right to develop ourselves,” he says.
Reconciliation to him should begin with justice. People may be forgiven but they need to pay for their crimes is his contention.
rohan j / March 5, 2014
May the good lord bless him, protect him and give him the courage to look after his flock who are being tormented by the bullies. R j.
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Thiru / March 5, 2014
Anybody who tells the truth about the atrocities committed by Sri Lanka on Tamils is a kotiya or a tiger to those Sinhalese who are hell bent on destroying the Tamil nation.
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Kutti Machan / March 5, 2014
Saul Nothing-New Man, the propagandist for hire, endorsing Koti Lucifer Peeshop Rayappukka is like Mervyn Silva giving a character certificate to Gnanassara!
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Burt / March 6, 2014
Amen to that.
My prayers are with the good Bishop.
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Concerned Citizen / March 6, 2014
This Bishop did not condemn the LTTE terrorist for abducting children from schools, homes and orphanages to train as child soldiers and suicide bombers. This Bishop did not condemn LTTE for herding around like cattle around 300000 civilians to use as a human shield to protect the terrorist leaders. This Bishop removed the Virgin Mary statue and took it to the LTTE controlled area, preventing other Catholics from praying to this statue. This Bishop did not condemn the attacks and killing of Buddhist clergy and pilgrims or Muslims worshiping inside mosques. This Bishop has fabricated stories to slander the Sri Lankan armed forces and the Government. Either this Bishop or Father Emanuel insulted Jesus Christ by stating Jesus was like Prabakaran. We could go on and on with his qualities which some people seem to be admiring as the author of this article.
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TotalBull / March 6, 2014
Wow you have rolled me over with your concern for children.
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Palmsquirrell / March 6, 2014
” 300,000 civilians” , a number you pulled out of your you know what.
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Senguttuvan / March 6, 2014
To Lankan Tamils who engaged the misfortune of suffering both from “friend” and foe for 3 decades and more, the Bishop is a God send. He is truly an inspiring man of the cloth who fearlessly suffers with his people. Even a non-Christian such as I bow to a true Servant
of God. The Nobel Prize will be enriched if such a man is chosen for the award.
Senguttuvan
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Amarasiri / March 7, 2014
rohan j,
Paradeshis and Kotiyas and Myths Holders
So who are the kotiya? So who are the Sinhala, So who are the Tamils. So who are the Sinhala? So who are the Buddist? So who are the Hindus? So who are the Mahanam Monk Buddhist racists?
So, who are the native Vedda, who inhabited the land, for 25,000 years before the Para-deshis from South India arrived?
Want to Read more? Bead below.
http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/6/15923_space.html
The Genetic affinities of Sri Lankan populations – [Reproduced here on a special request made by our LNP friend MURU, this article (web site) was first found by our friend MAGHA.]
Friday, 15 June 2007 – 11:25 AM SL Time
Genetic affinities of Sri Lankan populations
Human Biology, by Kshatriya, Gautam Kumar
Genetic Admixture.
Table 9 presents the estimated values of admixture for the two hybrid populations (the Sinhalese and the Tamils) based on 13 polymorphic loci, fitting a trihybrid model using the ancestral frequencies shown in Table 10. (Tables 9 and 10 omitted)
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.
In conclusion, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka were the Veddahs, who have had little admixture with the Sinhalese and possibly none with the Tamils. The Veddahs are distinct because they were confined to inhospitable dry zones and were hardly influenced by the neighboring inhabitants. Furthermore, the Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan Tamils are an admixed population genetically. The Sinhalese, who first came from northwest India under the leadership of Prince Vijaya in 543 B.C., have received and exchanged a substantial amount of their genes with the populations of northeastern and southern India. The Sinhalese and the Tamils have no contribution from the population groups of northwest India. In fact, the contribution made by Prince Vijaya and his small band of 700 companions to the original pool of the Sinhalese must have been eliminated by the long-standing contribution (over 2000 years) of the population groups of northeastern and southern India.
Furthermore, although there is a noteworthy contribution from the Bengalis (northeast India) to the present-day Sinhalese, the Tamil (South India) contribution predominates. The contribution from the populations of northeast India were diluted, probably because the Indian influence on the Sinhalese after the eighth century A.D. became predominantly South Indian (Raghavan 1964). Thus the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka are genetically more similar to the Tamils of Sri Lanka and India, who were always in close proximity with each other historically, linguistically, geographically, and culturally.
Acknowledgments: I am extremely grateful to Ranajit Chakraborty (University of Texas, Houston), w…
Source(s)
(http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3659/is_199512/ai_n8732666)
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Ajith / March 5, 2014
A very good sensational analysis of Bishop Rajappu. It is not surprise that Racist Buddhist Sinhala call him as “Kotiya”. He is not the first man or last man they call “Kotiya”. They call every one who speak truth, justice, human values as “Kotiya”. You don’t expect any good from uncivilised creatures.
All peace loving civilised citizens of Sri Lanka and people around the world respect Bishop Rajappu. He stands for justice, peace and love.
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Amarasiri / March 5, 2014
Ajith, (RE: Dr. Paul Newman Write up)
“It is not surprise that Racist Buddhist Sinhala call him as “Kotiya”. He is not the first man or last man they call “Kotiya”.”
Dr. Rajappu believes in the Myths that has been taught to him, That is fine. What is much better is that he is using those beliefs in the myths to save the fellow humans, the innocent Tamils from the Sinhala Buddhist Mahanam Racists and the LTTE racist Terrorists.
What is so particular here is that in an earlier era, such trainrd priests were in the forefront of the Inquisition and the killing and wholesale destruction of the people m they they did not follow Christianity and its myths. They are now fighting Buddhist Rebirth Myths and Monk Mahanama Para-Sinhala myths, with After-life Myths.
Want to know more? Read below.
Who stared killing humans in SL man? It was Prabakaran and his terrorist clan. that the Sinhala Buddhist Racists who taught them how to kill innocent Tamils to VP.
Remember, 1958 and 1983. Remember Somarama who killed SWRD.. They were ALL Sinhala Mahanama “Buddhist” Racists . “Buddhist” because they are NOT Buddhist. They are racists.
So we had a situation where the Paradeshis. the Para-Sinhala killing Para-Tamil based on Mahanama racism. That is NOT True Buddhism. This is what the True Natives, Native Veddas have to say about the Para- Sinhala and other Paras-, the Paradeshis or foreigners.
1. All the above descriptions support the Sinhala and Tamil as Para-Sinhala and Para-Tamil, like Para-deshi, Foreigners, as far a the Native Veddah are concerned, who walked at least 16,000 years ago when Lanka and India were connected by a land bridge as the sea levels were low. So, the Sinhala and Tamil Nationalism need to be identified as, Racism, Para-Sinhala Nationalism and Para-Tamil Nationalism.
Monk Mahanama imaginations of Mahawansa need to be exposed and discarded. Why? Non- Confirmation bias of Mahawansa Did Dr. Para-nawithana, the noted Sri Lankan Archaeologist. believe, the Imaginations of monk Mahanama of 5th Century such as:
a) Grandfather of Para-Vijaya was a lion? Any DNA data in support of this imagination?
b) Buddha visited Lanka three-times in 500 BC? any support for the Imagination.
c) During one visit, Buddha left his giant footprint on top of Mount Samanala Kanda, “Adams Peak”. Did he fly by the Dandu Monera Yanthraya, Giant Bird, and parachute?
d) The Veddah are the offspring of Para-Vijaya and Kuveni. Is there any DNA data to support this? No. Another Monk Mahanama Imagination. Sri Lanka’s indigenous inhabitants, the Veddas — or Wanniya-laeto (‘forest-dwellers’) as they call themselves — preserve a direct line of descent from the island’s original Neolithic community dating from at least 16,000 BC and probably far earlier according to current scientific opinion.1 Even today, the surviving Wanniya-laeto community retains much of its own distinctive cyclic worldview, prehistoric cultural memory, and time-tested knowledge of their semi-evergreen dry monsoon forest habitat that has enabled their ancestor-revering culture to meet the diverse challenges to their collective identity and survival.
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Tolco / March 5, 2014
One wonders why there is no equivalent to this man in the Sinhala south.
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Point Man / March 5, 2014
Tolco
Are you blind? The few racists among Buddhist monks are the counterpart of this Satanic Bishop Rayappuksa in the South!
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Paul / March 5, 2014
Tolco in the South there are better people than this racist priest. Have you never heard of A T Ariyaratne of the Sarvodaya movement? They help all people of all races and religions although they are a Buddhist organisation. Don’t you know about their relief schemes in Padaviya, Jaffna, Mannar & Vavuniya? Justice Wigneswaran was the chief guest at their 57th AGM..
more http://www.sarvodaya.org/
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Unreal / March 6, 2014
I salute the Bishop.
Now to ponder on: why there is no equivalent to this man in the Sinhala south … .
Bishop Rayappu Joseph is a product of history. (Pardon me for digressing, LTTE too was one)
The Bishop submitted himself to serve the people at the mercy of Sinhala south.
Inference ( & answer to your question): There is no man in the Sinhala south who is needy of such service!
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STANLEY / March 5, 2014
Perhaps GOD wants us all to see Evil “face to face” so we have a visual image of WHO our true enemy is? THE ENEMY OF ALL CATHOLICS IN SRI LANKA SATAN LUCIFER BISHOP RAYAPPU LOOKING FOR MORE BLOOD BATH IN PEACE TIME IN PRESENT TIME SRI LANKA
SORRY THEY DONT CALL YOU KOTIYA BISHOP BUT WE CALL YOU LUCIFER OR SATAN
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Fathima Fukushima / March 5, 2014
Well said.
He surely is.
He will die without seeing Tamil Elam. May be he can find Tamil Elam and Thalaivar in hell.
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PalmSquirrell / March 5, 2014
” On the much harped about issue of development of the north, the Bishop feels the parameter for judging these development should be to ask whether the local people are happy with it.
One should not draw conclusions that the people are happy just by looking at the massive roads and other infrastructural developments, he urges.
‘We want freedom not roads. Development is welcome, but freedom is what we thirst; we need a constitution to which we can go back and refer. We are a nation; we have our identity which needs to be protected. We have our right to develop ourselves,” he says.
Reconciliation to him should begin with justice. People may be forgiven but they need to pay for their crimes is his contention.”
Excellent point. This is a clear denunciation of those Sinhala Nationalist apologists who try to deflect criticism of the tyranical nature of GOSL towards Tamils by pointing at the infrastructure development.
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ramona therese fernando / March 6, 2014
PalmSquirrel,
The Bishop sounds(is) a very good man. However he suffers the very Un-
Christian Eelam delusion. A true Christian will not see borders, cultures and races. A true Christian Bishop will pull his flock out of depression due to Eelamic psyche, and instead work with concepts like Holiness, Love, Acceptance, and Assimilation – the way the Buddhistic Sarvodaya movement works.
It is most Democratic and Christian-like for the Gosl to place Buddha statues and teach Sinhalese to the North and East. For there are many Kovils and Tamil speaking persons in the rest of the country.
I pray for the happiness of the Tamil person. I pray that they will assimilate into the Sinhalese fold of tolerance and mixed-marriages.
All Hail Mother-Lanka!
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Palmsquirrell / March 6, 2014
You who advocated for the slow motion genocide of Tamils have the nerve to judge the Bishop. It was you in an earlier thread who advocated the assimilation of Tamils into Sinhala culture, which is cultural genocide.
GOSL is pushing Sinhalese onto Tamils in a bid to exterminate Tamils, because Tamil language is the main component of Tamil identity. Tamils should not be pressured to learn Sinhalese.
Don’t give us some faux concern for Tamils when you want Tamils to be gobbled up by Sinhala culture.
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ramona therese fernando / March 6, 2014
Palmsquirre,
Tamils can never become extinct through Sri Lankan policies because of the 72-million Tamils in Tamil Nadu. But Sinhalese can become extinct because of the propensity to Terrorism by Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
Sinhalese, on the other hand, are quite open to learning Tamil.
Again I say, assimilation is Love and Acceptance. Genocide is Terrorism, Torture and Death.
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Palmsquirrell / March 7, 2014
” Tamils can never become extinct through Sri Lankan policies because of the 72-million Tamils in Tamil Nadu”
So by this logic Saddam could have exterminated all the Kurds in Iraq and can claim it was not genocide because there are Kurds in Syria,Iran and Turkey.
So the White elite in Mexico could exterminate the Mexican Mayans and claim it isn’t genocide because there are Mayans in Guatemala.
Do you realise that the Nazis could claim there was no genocide of Jews and Roma because there were many Jews and Roma living outside of the reach of Nazi Germany.
You realize that the defintion of genocide is: deliberate extermination in whole or in part of a race or ethnic group.
Tamils could become extinct in Sri Lanka if GOSL succeeds in its cultural genocide. We have already seen Sinhala hegemonists carry out genocide of Tamils.
Tamils resorted to violence to counter Sinhala violence. You ignore the very crucial backstory to Tamil militancy.
Sinhalese aren’t going to be extinct since Tamils have never shown a desire to forcefully assimilate Sinhalese or rule over the Sinhalese areas. Tamils only wanted self determination in the Tamil dominant North and East.
Assimilation when pressured, coerced or in the backdrop of ethnic chauvinism like we have in Sri Lanka is the opposite of love and acceptance. It is cultural genocide.
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ramona therese fernando / March 7, 2014
The difference between these places and Sri Lanka is the word “Exterminate.”
In Sri Lanka, the word that is used is one of great virtue: “Assimilate” which based on Love, Marriage, Offspring, and Learning and Appreciation of Two Cultures.
In no way has Sri Lanka ever tried to exterminate her Tamils. In fact, it was the Tamils who inadvertently tried to overrun the whole country with little understanding of the greater population of Sri Lanka.
The problems in Sri Lanka started in 1958 after Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain. Tamils wanted a greater control of central government and central commercial enterprise, which they felt was based on their ability, intellect, and knowledge, rather than on democratic principle and the veracity that over 75% of Sri Lanka was Sinhalese Buddhist.
Reactions in the form of riots and attacks against the Tamils at that time were due to poverty, unhappiness and the lack of Western education of the Sinhala masses. The Tamils masses had a better grasp on Western learning at that time, due to their smaller and more concentrate numbers in the north of Sri Lanka.
However, these “pogroms,” as the Tamils called them, were not in the form of ethnic cleansing based on creating Racially-Pure bloodlines (like what the Germans did to their Jews, or how the Hindus created their caste system to place humans into eternally segregated racial groups).
Should 2.3-million Tamils hold 17.7-million other Lankans at ransom based on Tamils’ lack of understand and acceptance of the rest of Sri Lanka? By alienating themselves from the rest of Lanka, they will form a tight liaison with Tamil Nadu. Based on the Eelam mindset, Sinhala-Buddhist heritage will surely be constantly under threat. It will be a continual war of heritages.
Tamils feel that their heritage is under threat. But Tamil heritage can never be at threat of becoming extinct in Sri Lanka because of the 72 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu. However, Sinhala Buddhist heritage under threat will mean its complete annihilation.
In modern day, with the ability to move and marry according to will, staying secluded in one’s own ethnic niche will kill modernity, democracy, fairness and progression. Therefore it is best that Tamils assimilate with Sinhalese and become one Lankan race, and this is exactly what Sri Lanka’s government is espousing.
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ramona therese fernando / March 7, 2014
It is of course quite terrible what happened to the Tamils during the race riots of 1958, 1977 and 1983. Many Tamils lived in great fear and suffered immensely during these times. It would seem quite natural then, that they should ask for a separate state.
However, the terrorism that ensued from the N&E was far greater and out of proportion compared to the actuality of the Sri Lankan situation. For amidst the LTTE terrorism, was an even great challenge for Lanka- the problems between the JVP and the government – the rich vs. poor.
The lack of understand of successive governments with the Sinhala-Buddhist majority was an even sorrier one compared to that of the government with the Tamils. The merciless depravity that occurred on these poor citizens of our land spoke of an incredible far greater cruelty that is hardly ever spoken about and usually written off as good lesson on delinquents. It was about the majority government attempting to repress and eliminate their own race based on what the government felt they could not handle.
This then goes to show that it was hardly ever a genocidal racist reaction by any Lankan government or people, but an inability of Sri Lanka to cope with her emerging nation after independence, and the inability to implement the simplest of plans and aspirations.
In this era, with greater world-wide knowledge, education and interaction between higher-powers (China is with us right now, but we hope the US will also pitch in – we ask the US to help us, and not hurt us), we will hope for some understanding from the Tamils, and not an angry vengeance which will help no one, and not even themselves.
In the end, what the Government and people of Sri Lanka are asking is not for Tamils to convert to Sinhalese, but for Tamils to learn to interact and understand Sinhalese, and if some completely assimilate, that will be an even better thing.
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Palmsquirrell / March 6, 2014
In an earlier thread, you were in favor of the cultural genocide of Tamils; I am ofcourse referring to your advocation of imposing Sinhala language onto Tamil chidren in the hopes Tamils will eventually get absorbed into the Sinhala fold. This is clear cut genocide. So your concern for Tamils is fake.
It is neither democratic nor Christian like to wage genocide, because GOSL placing Buddha states in the north , where there were none , and to impose Sinhala on Tamils is genocide. It is all attempts to steal Tamil lands and to destroy Tamils as an ethnicity.
You advocate cultural genocide and yet have the nerve to accuse the Bishop of being discriminatory. What you really want is for Tamil leaders and the Tamil community to give up their roots and assume a Sinhala identity.
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Ravi / March 6, 2014
This person is either naïve or insane or a mentally retarded nut case. Why is she blabbering about Rayappu? If the Sinhala racist bishops could get rid of him, they would have done it a long time ago. The Sinhala cardinal and the Sinhala regime know very well that any harm to Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph will bring international wrath on them. This person, with a questionable ancestry to Sri Lanka, have no rights to tell neither the SL Tamils nor the Sinhalese what to do.
Even though I am not a Christian, I have tremendous respect for the Tamil Catholic priests and Bishops in Sri Lanka, because they were never afraid to stand up against the tyranny. Many of them sacrificed their lives to defend the oppressed people and that was the message of Jesus Christ. Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph is the Man of God. The Vatican knows very well about the Sinhala racism and how the Tamils are treated by the majority race in SL.
Even a retarded Sinhalaya will tell that the International community will trust Bishop Rayappu Joseph rather than any Sinhalaya or Sinhala website and he says more than 146,000 Tamils are MISSING in 2009 alone. The innocent Tamils were killed because they were Tamils. The Bishop also raised the issues of militarization, colonization, land grab, Sinhalicization, Buddhicisation and civil as well as human rights abuses that take place in the Tamil land following the war. Long live Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph.
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ramona therese fernando / March 6, 2014
Palm Squirrel and Ravi,
Ravi, I am glad that you are not using Abusive Ad Hominem tactics this time (although it is yet a bit there – you can’t seem to help yourself; I forgive you anyway), but are giving some points that can be argued upon to be corrected.
Again I say: Assimilation is Love, Caring, and Acceptance. Genocide is Terrorism, Torture and Death.
All Modern Democratic countries espouse Assimilation (Love and Acceptance of other Races- very Buddhistic in principle).
Assimilation is something that naturally comes out of the human condition. Hindering Assimilation construes Genocide. And the reason the Sinhalese would especially want more assimilation is because of the 30-long-year Tiger Tamil terrorism in the country. They do this in a bid to stop Terrorism from even rearing its head again.
Again I say Tamils can never become extinct through Sri Lanka’s aversion to terrorism, because of the 72-million Tamils in Tamil Nadu. But Sinhalese can become extinct because of the propensity to terrorism by Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
If Sinhalese-Buddhists were Chauvinistic-Minded like the Tamils, they too would want the separation of races and country. But as it is, many Tamils live in the Sinhala areas of the country, and Buddhism in Sri Lanka is also ingrained with some Hinduism. Sinhalese are not troubled in integrating with Tamils.
Also, Sinhalese, unlike Tamils, are not absolute in their separation of castes, and there has been much mixing of castes throughout history. For example, many coastal Karava and other Sinhalese have much blood-connection with the Govigama Sinhalese and vice versa. The only difference is in the places they live- the Karavas and others are mostly in the coastline, and the Govigamas, more inland. Caste among the Sinhalese is a fluid occupational status in relation to Buddhism, compared to an absolute and unchangeable occupation status of the Tamils in relation to Hinduism
I speak not only as a coastal Karava Sinhalese(Fernando-Kurukulasuriya being my married name, but also because I am proud to have Tamil, Sinhalese (Govigama) and European in my heritage. I am truly proud to be member of the Lankan race. And I give honor the majority of our country, the Sinhala-Buddhist, and I understand and accept the Government’s need to stop Terrorism and Unify our Much-Beloved Island.
I am truly proud to be member of the Lankan race. And I give honor the majority of our country, the Sinhala-Buddhist, and I understand and accept all Lankan Governments’ need to stop Terrorism and Unify our much-Beloved Island.
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NAK / March 5, 2014
A good script for a comedy.
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justice / March 5, 2014
The good bishop survives because he is a beacon of truth and justice.
Else,he would have (been) “disappeared” long ago.
He is called many names by those who are uncomfortable with truth in this ‘dharmadwipa’.
Tamils asking for truth and justice is considered a crime by the sinhala nationalists.
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Damian / March 5, 2014
Hail Bishop Rayappu Joseph! May the good Lord bless and give more strength to you.
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Siva Sankaran Sarma / March 5, 2014
One Peelamist stooge rubbing the back of another? I’m shocked, truly :D
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Javi / March 5, 2014
“”The Bishop is a targeted person.””‘We want freedom not roads.!””
It shows the corrupt animal rules Lanka.
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srinath.gunaratne / March 5, 2014
The Good old priest did not teach humanism when his sun god is recruiting and killing minors in wholesale. Maybe he is breeding more child soldiers in his orphanages. Man, how long did it take for him to remember human rights. Is this writer wearing clothes?
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Burning_Issue / March 5, 2014
Srinath,
You told the world that you liberated the Tamils from the sun god! It is in this mirage of libration, the Bishop alleges that so much injustices are afoot. The LTTE was an unelected terror organisation; whereas, GOSL is an elected government that should treat all citizens as equal. It is under this auspices that the Bishop is critical of MR and his policies. 5 years have elapsed since the end of the war, it appears that overzealous victory triumphalism that have enjoying obviously obscuring your senses! I am not a Christian but the Bishop is twice of a man than you are!
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S.D. Dharmasena=Los Angeles / March 5, 2014
Rajappu is Prabhakaran’s Uncle. KOTIYA coming back. Innocent Tamils are again facing big troubles .MAY GOD BLESS THEM
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Thondamannar / March 5, 2014
here’s the face of the real LTTE terrorism. Rayappu & the catholic church……….
Now it is evident it was Rayappu & the Catholic church thyat are after the divisin of Sri Lanka and who had decimated Tamil youth & Children through a senseless war sub contracted to Velupillai.
It is the this Rayappu and the Northern catholic Clergy & Church who have blood on their hands of Duraiappa, the Amirthalingam, Yegesh, scores of other Tamil professionals & intellectuals and moreover of the Tamil youth & children who had been destroyed and sent to their graves over the last 30 years.
Who are the KOTIYAS ? Rayappu & the Tamil Clergy of the North & East and the Catholic Church.
Rayappu & the Catholic church of the North’s hidden agenda was to create martyrs of unsuspecting catholics in the South with the aid of the Sinhala Catholic Clergy of the South at the hands of the Buddhist.
Had this backlash occured the Eelam would have been handed over on a platter by the Catholic & Christian Clergy of the South with the support of their followers.
With it Norway would have awarded the Nobel prize to Rayappu for his humbugging Human Right work.
VATICAN & the Church of Sri Lanka remained quiet with the hope of expanding the silently the Holy Roman Empire.
Its time, Catholic Clergy in the South & their followers took on this marauding evil Rayappu and the tamil Catholic Clergy of the North. This situation need to be ended once and for all. Eelam demand will fester as long as Rayappu & the Tamil Catholic Clergy are not being dealt.
All this while, while Rayappu & the Tamil Catholic & Christian clergy in the North were at play, Sinhala Cardinal & the clergy were pulling the wool over the eyes of their southern sinhala foloowers and the politicians.
LTTE Terrorism & Eelam is all about the Tamil Clergy of the North & their followers. Eliminate them all or eelam will fester with blessings of the Vatican with a view to expanding holy roman empire.
These clergy are not Priests or missionaries but THEY ARE MERCENARIES AND TERRORISTS WHO HAVE HIJACKED jESUS cHRIST.
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Devendra / March 5, 2014
Ask any Tamil mother who has lost a child to LEET canon Folder. They will tell you that this man hide in white robe will pay for his encouragement and brainwashing of Tamil youth to join LTTE. No matter how hard he attempts to hide behind the white robe, the GOD will get him. He is as guily as SunGod for sacrificing the lives of Tamil youth for his mythycal homeland and Tamil Chuvanism.
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Nigel / March 5, 2014
Here was this Bishop when the LTTE was killing innocent civilians all over the country? Did he ever call for an international investigation with the Tamil Navi??
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Liberal One / March 5, 2014
This priest is an open separatist, who was having hope on Prabakaran to deliver him a christian state. I think people who suffered because of war have a right to call this racist priest a kotiya, specially since he is still continuing to work against the country.
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Shan / March 5, 2014
Why this man in white-robe is not talking anything about the atrocities of the Tamil terrorists to the Sinhalese? Why is he silent about bombs in buses, trains? why he is silent about the disaster caused by the Tamil terrorists to the airport? why he is dump and mum about the killing of national leaders, massacring of infants, Buddhist clergy, farmers, civil servants and innocent people? Why is he silent about the Air strikes launched by the LTTE in Colombo with their air power? why he does not talk about the destruction of the national interests? why? why? This shows he is another partial LTTEer, Koti-hapuwa and a biased inhuman racist.
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carlion / March 5, 2014
This wolf in sheep’s clothing did nothing when his sun God was recruiting young Tamils to be used as canon fodder. Now he is attempting to collect points by starting so called humanitarian projects. He has and will fool the whole world, but he as a Catholic by name only and will have to face judgement from God which may not be too far away. HE BETTER GET READY.
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noel-jones / March 6, 2014
Rayappu Joseph is a [Edited out], covering himself under the guise of a Catholic Father to evade the arrest. [Edited out]
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JimSofty / March 6, 2014
Why Tamils are not happy in Tamilnadu and come to Sri Lanka to suffer and be unhappy ?
Even Joseph Rayappu is from Tamilnadu and came to Mannar to be unhappy.
Why Josepah Rayappu or his mouth pieces do no talk about his past criminal and terrorist activities ? How he erred to people, those things too should be discusssed.
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Palmsquirrell / March 6, 2014
Tamils were in Lanka before you Sinhalese.
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Vani Pulendran / March 6, 2014
Palm in hand
Show others evidence of ourselves before Sinhalese. I cannot find a single trace.
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kali / March 6, 2014
We take our hat off to the man of Steel standing up to the Thug MR and his cronoies.
May God be with you.
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Disgusted / March 6, 2014
He must be a man of steel, for not showing any remorse, sympathy or empathy for the little children dragged away from schools, orphanages and homes by these LTTE terrorists
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Fathima Fukushima / March 6, 2014
He is Joseph Goebbels.
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Spring Koha / March 6, 2014
The issues raised and the pertinent questions asked by Bishop Rayappu Joseph are those that ALL Sri Lankans should find resonance with. The brave but brittle dignity that our Tamil brethren show as they struggle through their present daily existence should leave ALL of us Sri Lankans uneasy. We are simply storing up trouble for our children by bequeathing them a torn and hurting section of our citizenry. Everyone has a stake in the New Sri Lanka and we must ask the blunt questions and demand both answers and action to ensure that ALL our people walk together with equal dignity. In an ideal world, we would have seen Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith add his signature too, and, yes, why not, all the other catholic clergy too. I would go further and say that in a country where 99.96% profess to be Buddhist/Hindu/Muslim/Christian, I would have expected all the leaders to have come out and supported all if not most of the questions raised. That, alas, may be expecting just too much.
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Liberal One / March 6, 2014
lol do you think each and every one one us needs to be against peace and stability of their country like you? Irresponsible, naive, fools are a minority. That is true for any country.
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sagar / March 6, 2014
he tells the truth which most of the sinhalese people don’t know because of malinformation by the sinhalese medias.
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Lankan / March 6, 2014
Who is the KOTTIYA today, if what the Government of Sri Lanka tells us is true then there are no Kotiyas today. Then who are today’s Kotiyas? Is it the one who bribed and became the President of Sri Lanka? Is it the one who is harbouring KP and Mahathaya and hugging them and kissing them? Is it the one who is using the white van to abduct and kill his opponents? Who is the “TRUE KOTIYA” today? Or are we all Kotiyas as we are swallowing all the lies of today’s KOTIYAS!
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Park / March 6, 2014
Regret the error, I should have written Karuna and not Mahathaya.
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Liberal One / March 6, 2014
lol you use multiple names to comment no? Why did you use the name “Lankan” above when in reality you are a dreaming eelamist trying to rob our country?
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Maveeran / March 6, 2014
Dies it really matter you silly twat! Go sit on a pile of shit you nasty sinhala inbred. What Father Rayappu talks is the truth, people like yourself got used to live as slaves of Jarawapassa. God bless Bishop Rayappu Joseph for speaking out for the Tamils.
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Rajan Walpola / March 6, 2014
Maha-Ooran
You are back again. Go and lick this Bis-hop back side.
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Liberal One / March 6, 2014
Look what kind of trash this priest attracts!
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silva / March 6, 2014
Tamils are heart broken that LTTE was destroyed. Truth is they were more barbaric than Sri Lankan army.My opinion is Sri Lankan army had to adopt some of terrorist tactics to destroy them. Any Tamil who want live and prosper in Sri Lanka should be happy about the defeat of LTTE. More than other Sri Lankan’s, people who were living in north could not express their view at least moderately under Terrorist rule.
I agree into certain extent Sinhalese are creating their own monster by allowing one family to rule the country and destroy all democratic institutions.If Tamil people want to be respected by majority community they should abandon their pro LTTE tactics and fight on common goal to achieve democratic country by defeating Rjapakse government.
Today they are in the power because majority of Sinhalese believe Curr rent family is the best option to prevent another tamil terrorist uprising. (my apologies of moderate thinking Tamil Sri Lankan Citizens)
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Dr. Rajasingham Narendran / March 6, 2014
Silva,
All Tamils are not disappointed that the LTTE was defeated. Most Tamils are frustrated and angry that their liberators- the LTTE and their likes- started destroying them, long before the process was completed during the last war and that they yet remain to be liberated from the grip of majoritarian governance. Which means that the government yet decides the fate of Tamils in the name and interests of the Sinhala majority!
Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
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Sama / March 6, 2014
Not in a form of gurilla, but through discussions, Sumanthiran and the like young politicians will work more for the rights of tamils- is my hope. Muslim community is mostly affected not having powerful voices to represent them today. Those who are caught by MR administration are even more abusive than any sinhala candidates. Listen to Azwer or Hakeem, then you will see it clearly.
Current MR administration is not democratic- this is known to everyone. They are even mean to sinhala people. They have gone on records being abusive. Their tactics make it clear if one would closely study the compsition of UPFA coalition.
I truly believe, that MR administration will achieve neither peace or any other dreams that the public has kept on them.
War victory against Ltte TERROR was something, and good governance is totally different. Latter is only achievable through a EDUCATED, PRAGMATIC, VISIONARY leader.
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Kettikaran / March 7, 2014
Mr. Silva
It has to be an either a hopelessly ignorant or a highly racially prejudiced Sinhalese who will fall to the venom of that politically ambitious (Christian) lawyer, who has been in almost all the major parties – including the JHU – and finally kicked out by them all. This deranged man is the one who coined the phrase “all Tigers are Tamils and, therefore, all Tamils are Tigers” He may or may not have realised in July 83 and thereafter many Tamils were slaughtered by Sinhala mobs believing in this highly dangerous concoction. It is encouraging to note the Sinhalese are beginning to see matters in perspective.That includes leading figures in the Sinhala Buddhist priesthood. Tamils, by nature, are law abiding, peaceful and religious. It is equally true some of the young were pushed into extreme radicalism
by uncaring Govts in Colombo. Those young liked to live and enjoy life as much as you and I. But the system refused this to them and so they were forced into arms. As the old saying goes radicals are not born – it is the injustice and inequality in society that makes them as such.
Kettikaran
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Wickramasiri / March 6, 2014
Pity Bishop Rayappu Joseph is not a forgiving Christian. Being revengeful and full of hate, he has always sent the wrong signals to his flock. Is it a Christian/Buddhist issue or a Sinhala/Tamil issue? As a man of cloth I would have thought Fr. Joseph would have contemplated, prayed, and realized that the answer lies in Christian love. Sri Lanka does have a major problem with rabid Buddhist monks, but it would seem that there are rabid Christians monks as well.
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Dushy / March 7, 2014
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Jesus (St. Mathew 5:10)
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Yogi / March 10, 2014
Rajappu-Joseph is a catholic priest who comes from the line of Portuguese colonialists who came to the North and burnt our Kovils and destroyed Hinduism, because the latter, being a tolerant religion, allowed these crooks to make in roads into our land. It is time to roll out these individuals, and get back OUR CULTURE. Even the Madhu Church was originally a Kannaki shrine, even in 1800. They took all these.
As Bishop Tutu admitted, they gave us the Bible to hold and asked us to close our eyes and prey. When we opened our eyes, our land and our culture had been taken from us.
Ralappu and hundreds of catholic priests worked for the LTTE. But in the end, the LTTE decimate the Tamils, by pitting a small population against a very large majority in the South. Rajappu Joseph’s orphanages [Edited out] If he had lived in the middle ages, he would have approved of Crusaders who went to wring muslim necks with bare hands, as servants of God.
Even the dead cadre were buried in catholic-church style graves, creating இருண்மயபூமி and going against our cultural practices of cremating the dead. Our tamil culture is gravely threatened by the rise of Catholicism and Christianity. Compare how many Tamils are converted to Catholicism or Christianity, as compared to the Sinhalese who have largely remained Buddhist, in spite of the Colonial onslaught.
All the “good works ” attributed to this Rajappu are directed to prosylitization of our people. We badly need another Navalar to fight this type of man. Instead, what do we read?
We read in these comment that he should be given the Nobel Price for Peace?
He should instead be held accountable for the [Edited out]
The tamils have always been political idiots; first blindly sucking the british, then allowing them to be led by Rich Colombo lawyers or Tamil Nadu politicians who have their own agenda. Now the kith and kin of the Colombo lawyers are abroad, and the Tamils have again blindly become the tools of the Diaspora.
Look at the likes of SJV Chelvanayagam, E.M.V.Naganathan, Nesiah, Saravanamuttu, Fr. Emmanuel, Sumanthiran, etc., etc. These are ALL Christians.
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