By Raj Gonsalkorale –
Raj Gonsalkorale
Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole in an article appearing in the Colombo Telegraph on the 1st of March, poses the question “Tamils’ hopes fading: Every village is Sinhalese? Raghavan sacked?” Firstly, it will be useful and important for the good Professor to clarify for all of us who he means when he refers to “Tamil hopes are fading”. The Tamil population demographics and its composition is very complex and Professor Hoole should inform readers whether he is referring to all Tamils living in the country or whether he is referring to a specific group of Tamils. There are Northern Province Tamils, Eastern Province Tamils, Plantation or “up country Tamils”, Tamils living in areas outside the above areas who are from all of the above areas, Tamil speaking non Tamils (Islamiyath Thamilar or Tamil Muslims) and so on.
Dr. S. I. Keethaponcalan, Chair of the Conflict Resolution Department, Salisbury University, Maryland in an article titled “Who Is A Tamil?” published in the Colombo Telegraph in December 2016, states that in view of the devolution debate in general and devolution to the North-East Provinces in particular, the term “Tamil” means “Sri Lankan Tamils,” who live or have roots in the North-East Provinces. He also says that “The Sri Lankan Tamils on the other hand, believe that the North-East Provinces are their “homeland” and they fought for a separate state”.
One is also entitled to ask Professor Hoole whether he too agrees with Dr Keethaponcalan’s point of view that when he refers to “Tamil hopes are fading”, whether in fact he is referring only to the hopes of “Sri Lankan Tamils,” who live or have roots in the North-East Provinces and who believe the North and East is their homeland. This clarification is important as one needs to know the wants, needs and objectives of the group of Tamils referred to as Sri Lankan Tamils by Dr Keethaponcalan’
Dr Keethaponcalan goes on to say that in Sri Lanka, a distinction is made between Indian (or plantation or up-country) Tamils and Sri Lankan Tamils and that this distinction is important for two reasons.
One, because there are historical differences between the two groups. Sri Lankan Tamils have a very long history in the country. They are native to Sri Lanka. Hence, they are often called indigenous Tamils. He says If he remembers correctly, historian K.M. de Silva called Sri Lankan Tamils the “Indigenous Tamils.” Some nationalist Sinhalese believe that Sri Lankan Tamils were of recent origin, hence not native to the country. Nevertheless, Indian Tamils were mostly, but not exclusively, brought to work in the plantations during the colonial era.
Two, the issues and concerns of the Indian Tamils or Up-country Tamils are different from the Sri Lankan Tamils. Their problems are mostly social welfare related and could be resolved through administrative means, including administrative decentralization. They do not ask for a separate state and have worked closely with Sri Lankan governments. The Sri Lankan Tamils on the other hand, believe that the North-East Provinces are their “homeland” and they fought for a separate state. Hence, lumping Indian Tamils and Sri Lankan Tamils together under the label “Tamil” would certainly undermine the Indian Tamil’s socio-political welfare.
Their issues would become less significant. Therefore, in terms of political discourse, it is important to make a distinction between the Indian Tamils and Sri Lankan Tamils. It seems that the Indian Tamils have been increasingly adopting the label Up-country Tamils.
He also states that he subscribes to the idea that Muslims are not Tamils. They are an independent social group defined by religion. Every social group has the right to define it’s identify as it deems fit. The Muslims have the right to define who they are. Tamils trying to define the Muslims identity may make them hegemonic. Therefore, Tamil people, do not include the Muslims. The recognition that Muslims are an independent group has the potential to promote Muslim-Tamil reconciliation.
Dr Keethaponcalan mentions that Sir Ponnampalam Ramanathan had famously argued that Muslims are Islamiyath Thamilar. This notion created serious rift between the two communities. Muslims believed that Tamils have political motives to label them as Tamils. Many Muslims who write about Muslim-Tamil issues often start their analysis from Ramanathan. The label, Islamiyath Thamilar makes the Muslims a subcategory of Tamil. Hence, the resistance
The complexity of the composition of Tamils from a Sinhala perspective and how Tamils themselves define their composition is a barrier that has created difficulties in finding a solution to what is generally referred to as the “Tamil” issue.
The writer, in an article published in the Daily FT “New Constitution: Reinforcing the Tamil homeland theory or solving the “Tamil” issue?”, pointed out that in contemporary Sri Lanka, only two provinces have a Tamil majority. The Northern Province, which has a Tamil population of 93.8% and the Eastern Province, a Tamil population of 39.2%. The statistics quoted in this article are from the Census conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics in 2012. Nationally, 51.5% of all Tamils in the country live in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, while 48.5% live outside these two provinces. In reality, 48.5% of the Tamil population lives as minorities in seven of the nine provinces in the country. In the Eastern Province, the Tamil population is a minority if the Sinhala and Muslim population is combined.
The writer also pointed out that if the intention of a new Constitution, whenever it is formulated, is to devolve power, or some powers, to the provinces and make them more independent (of the centre), and provide avenues for greater self-determination, from a Tamil perspective, their minority status in the seven provinces and in the Eastern Province (when the Sinhala and Muslim populations are combined) will not provide the freedom and the flexibility their brethren will have in the Northern Province. So, in this sense, a class of Tamils who are more equal than others (in the rest of the country) will be created.
If the “Tamil” issue arose on account of domination and discrimination by the Sinhala majority, then, a new Constitution will change nothing except in the Northern province as the status quo in regard to the majority position will remain elsewhere irrespective of constitutional provisions that prohibit discrimination by race, religion, gender, disability, etc. as already enshrined in the current Constitution.
In respect of the “Tamil” issue, granting greater devolution of powers to provinces will benefit the Tamils in the Northern Province and to a lesser extent the Tamils in the Eastern Province. Other Tamils will have to work out how best they could share power with the Sinhala community and other communities and work for the betterment of all communities. The question that springs to mind is whether this is in fact what a constitution model should be for the entire country, and what kind of constitutional structure would provide the foundation for a society which accepts and respects the diversity of the country.
The ”Sinhalisation” or introducing a deliberate strategy to make villages in the Northern, and to a lesser extent in the Eastern province, “Sinhala Buddhist” villages, as alluded to by Professor Hoole is not right and it is counter-productive to ethnic harmony and reconciliation. If one forgets history for a moment and looks only at the contemporary situation, the Northern province is nearly 94% Tamil. If the Sinhala community wishes to establish some villages in that province as “Sinhala Buddhist” villages to prove a historical point, then they should also be willing to accept the Sri Lankan Tamil point of view that villages in the Eastern province were also historically Tamil villages.
The Northern province is essentially a Tamil province going by contemporary, recorded, population statistics whatever “historical” debates one might have. Similarly, the Eastern province is a province where the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim populations are there in equal numbers. Other provinces have Tamils as minority communities.
Professor Hoole should make it clear to all Sri Lankans who he is writing about when he says “Tamil hopes are dashed”. He should also clarify whether the dashed hopes are more to do with a deep rooted political issue rather than an issue faced by Tamils throughout the country where Sinhala/Buddhist domination had made Tamils, all Tamils, feel they were discriminated by the majority community.
If it is to do with a political issue, which is substantially, the Tamil homeland issue, it is a highly debatable issue and it is one without any solution as it has no contemporary bearing and only circumstantial information. If Professor Hoole is arguing for such a solution, and says Tamil hopes have been dashed, there will not be any hope for the Tamils he is referring to. The question of provincial devolution, both administrative and political, is something that can and should be visited, but, there has to be clarity on the ultimate objective/s and desires of the different groups of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Classifying only some Tamils as Sri Lankan Tamils does not appear to facilitate such a clarification especially to others who are not “Sri Lankan Tamils” and also to the majority Sinhala community.
critical thinking / March 4, 2019
EELAM dream is indeed, India will never support it, I spoke to one major General who visited with IPKF in 1989, He said India will never allow Sri Lankan break up? why because, he said it in Indi’a interest to not let greater Tamil empire with Tamil Nadu. OK, it is shared interest between INDIA &SL.
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Abdul Kader. J / March 4, 2019
critical thinking:
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Poor general doesn’t know it is the safest option for India as SL Tamils will try to enslave TN Tamils saying they are upper caste species and fight to rule them. TN Tamils will no have time to think about Delhi.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / March 4, 2019
Dear Raj Gonsalkorale, as an old Royalist, are you not ashamed to come out with this racist crap, displaying your ignorance. With mounting evidence based on geology, archaeology and genetics surfacing, it is rank racism on the part of Sinhalese to claim the entire island as theirs and worse racism by Muslims to claim eastern province when they had gone there as refugees fleeing persecution by Portuguese 400 years ago. The ethnic distortion in eastern province was created by successive racist regime, which settled Sinhalese from outside, linking revenue districts of Padiyatalawa and Mahaoya removed form Uva to east and ethnic cleansing of Tamils in three major riots and during the 30 year war. If you link the two revenue districts back to Uva, correct the atrocities committed by successive governments in resettling Tamils in their original places, then eastern province will once again become a Tamil majority. The rightful owners of eastern province are the Tamilized descendants of Veddhas who have lived in an area extending from south of Mahaveli to Kumana in coastal eastern province. Also Trincomalee district north of Mahaveli was under Jaffna kingdom and was under control of Tamil chieftains from time immemorial. It is the sovereignty that they lost to Portuguese and not returned to them by British that they are demanding to be restored. North-east merger can be easily affected, by removing the two said revenue districts as well as Lahugala AGA division in Amparai district and Gomarankadawela AGA division in Trincomalee district. If there is a will to do justice one can do it, but the problem is majority of Sinhalese like you who are racists are giving lame excuses to deny Tamils their right to their land and power. So please stop attacking Tamils who are exposing the racist nature of the state and the people who rule it.
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K.Anaga / March 4, 2019
Trying to recall 2500 years of history of Srilanka where Sinhalese and Tamils have supposed to have lived, does not bring in the desired results to satisfy the Sinhalese nor the Tamils. It is not possible to look back so far and and come to proper conclusions . Let us go back to 1948 when the Sinhalese have supposed to have got their freedom from British rule. But the Tamils did not get their freedom. Instead their masters were replaced from the Britishers to the Sinhalese.
The Tamils rightly claimed that North and East of Srilanka were their homeland. There is no dispute to the demographic composition in the North up to now, though arrangements are in progress to change the texture of the population. However in the East,thanks to DS.Senanayake ( Father of the Sinhala nation) the composition of the population was considerably changed. The Sinhala population in the Eastern province in 1948 was only 4% But to day it is approximately 33%. well and truly colonized by successive Sinhala governments to change the texture of the population. The Tamils belonging to the Muslim religion, who were considered part and parcel of the Tamil population was bought over and brain washed by the Sinhala Governments to numerically reduce the Tamil population in the East – a divide and rule policy. This was amplified by the defection of Karuna from LTTE with the assistance of a Muslim, a good friend Of RANIL, who was glorified by the minister of health recently.
Not only Vijeya Kala but even the ordinary Tamils in the village say that if the Tamils are to survive as Tamils, Return of the like of Prabaharan is a must, though may no be with arms and ammunition, but with a brave/honest heart like his.
Sam Sum has to be kept in their place.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / March 5, 2019
Raj Gonsalkorale, did you hear that when Sambandan asked Sirisena to summon the council making the constitution, Sirisena told Sambandan, when there are several issues to be attended why do you want a new constitution. Sambandan gave his warning to Sirisena, you promised at the last election of promulgating a new constitution and why are you saying this now. If you do not do it, we will find other ways to achieve it. For this Sirisena never uttered a word and like a dog summoned the meeting. This shows that there is no escape of sharing land and power with Tamils in a fair and effective manner.
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bodin / March 5, 2019
This man writes glibly that ” then eastern province will once again become a Tamil majority. He, and not Gonskorale is the racist. The racist writes
“The rightful owners of eastern province are the Tamilized descendants of Veddhas who have lived in an area extending from south of Mahaveli to Kumana in coastal eastern province”, and of course he has no evidence to support it, not even a few potsherds.
Look at what the British civil servants like Denham and Horburg and Lewis wrote in their annual administrative reports. Except for some small pockets along the coast, most villages in the Eastern Province were ancient SINHALA villages which were SINHALA dominated even in the late 19th century, as noted by the British civil servants, and by historians like Dr. Gerald Pieris, and writers like Wilson, so in law of SJV Chelvanayagam in his earlier writing before he became an Eelam Zealot..
Some of those ancient Sinhala villages became MUSLIM villages under king Senerat. So Tamils who claim the East as their “exclusive homeland”
Even the Northern province cannot be claimed to be a place where the Tamils had a majority. Read Captain Percival’s account of the Northern Province. He lived there and gives clear evidence that the majority population in the Norther Province during the 1800-1820 period were “Mohammedans”, i.e., Muslims. And our people were driven out by the LTTE.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / March 5, 2019
Please write in your name without being a coward of being labelled a racist. You seem to be ignorant due to your bigoted mind brainwashed by racist claims in Mahawamsa. Did you know that a seat of rule of Veddhas has been found in Vaharai. Is this not proof of the presence of Veddhas in the area. Secondly stone inscriptions in Tamil of 2000 year vintage has been found in Mahiladitivu and Kathiraveli in Batticaloa district and Weber Stadium in Trincomalee. All these were found by chance and not by effort of government. In contrast not a single stone inscription in Sinhala has been found in eastern province. With modern equipment several ancient artifacts denoting Tamil presence in eastern province could be unearthed. Archaeological department with Sinhala racists will not venture into it and racist Sri Lanka government will never give permission nor funds to find out the truth. Saivaism was practiced in Sri Lanka several years before the advent of Buddhism and Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee is the oldest place of worship in eastern province. This is why Sinhala racists want to destroy it to eradicate history, and the recent attack on Siva statue in Trincomalee proves it.
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Punchi Point / March 9, 2019
1. There are no Tamil stone inscriptions in Srilanka from 2000 years ago. Why don’t you show us these inscriptions?
2. What exactly can be found that is going prove that Tamils not a relatively recent diaspora of Tamilnadu?
3. Please leave the Vaeddas alone. They do not care for the Tamils and consider the Tamils as outsiders. Vaeddas have always been hunter-gatherers and not are known to have “seats of rule” anywhere. Having “seats of rule” would make them into non-Vaeddas, like their kinsmen who came out of the forest and got assimilated into the Sinhalese.
4. Shaivism is a northern religion that came gradually down south after the Sangam age. Shaivism among Tamils date from post Sangam time, i.e after 3 century AD. FYI there is not a single mention of the name “Shiva” in the entire corpus of the Sangam literature. If there are pre-Christian Shiva temples in this island, then it is Sinhalese Hindu sites, not Tamil. As per the Tamil document Yaalpana Vaipava Malai, Vijaya built many temples to Shiva and hindu Gods. Which means that at the time Yaalpana Vaipava Malai was written (18th century) it was accepted among the Tamils that they had not built these temples. Yaalpa Vaipava Malai also attests to the diasporic immigrant nature of the Tamils in the island.
Sinhalese do not need to eradicate anything or prove anything. The very existence of the Sinhalese as a unique nation is proof enough. It is the Tamils who are struggling to rob the Sinhalese history and cultural heritage to claim it as yours.
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Rabok / March 5, 2019
Racist idiots like you are the ones who keeps on barging about Tamil homeland in Northern and Eastern provinces – there were no permanent Tamil homelands in Sri Lanka — Few Pandiyan and Sola invaders from South India invaded N & E areas and ruled those areas for years and were finally chased out of the country – Tamils.,Muslims and Sinhalese of this are equally suffering due to inefficient, corrupt Government run by inefficient corrupt bureaucratic officials and Politicians
Upper class Jaffna Tamils wants to maintain their dominance by acquiring political power in their regions — LTTE arms struggle and current Tamil politicians political struggle have similar roots (former used guns and the latter is using political manipulations) – normal Tamils were / are suffering
At least now stop taking BS and try to think as Sri Lankan and try to save this Country from corrupt and inefficient and brainless Sinhalese and Tamil Politician
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / March 5, 2019
Please write in your name without being a coward for fear of being labelled a racist due to your bigoted mind brainwashed by racist claims in Mahawamsa. Please read the reply I have given to the previous racist commentator which applies to you as well.
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Native Vedda / March 7, 2019
Rabok
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“Few Pandiyan and Sola invaders from South India invaded N & E areas and ruled those areas for years and were finally chased out of the country – “
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There is no evidence to suggest all those Kallathonies who invaded this island over a long period of time had gone back to their homeland. Their descendants now identify themselves as Sinhala/Buddhists or mutants. Aren’t you one of them? If you believe in myths tell us whether Rama’s Monkey Engineers went back to whence they came. Did Vijaya and his hoodlums go back to their Sinhapura?
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We can stop this conflict if (you) the descendants of Kallathonies went back to you ancestral homeland Tamil Nadu, sooner the better.
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“normal Tamils were / are suffering”
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Crocodile do shed tears.
Leave the worrying to the Tamils and Sinhalese and let them find a way to sort out the enduring problem created by the Sinhala/Buddhist fascists, whose ideology was first manufactured by the public racist Anagarika Homeless Dharmapala.
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Do us a favour, please pack your bags and leave this island, when you go take your fascist siblings with you.
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Leonard Jayawardena / March 5, 2019
Dr. GS:
You write, “It is the sovereignty that they [the Tamils] lost to Portuguese and not returned to them by British that they are demanding to be restored.”
By the same token, should “sovereignty” be restored to the Kandyans if they demanded it since there was an independent Kandyan kingdom in existence until 1815 when the British conquered it and united it with the rest of the country afterwards? As you are probably aware, in the early twentieth century the Kandyans asked for a separate federal state from the British before their departure from Sri Lanka.
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Native Vedda / March 8, 2019
Leonard Jayawardena
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“By the same token, should “sovereignty” be restored to the Kandyans if they demanded it since there was an independent Kandyan kingdom in existence until 1815 “
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What a clever question.
Why not.
By the same token sovereignty (whatever that is) should be restored to my people and only my people who have lived in this island for at least 35,000 years until the Kallathonies from North/South of India swarmed this land.
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Mahendran Thiruvarangan / March 4, 2019
The Indian vs Sri Lankan Tamil distinction appears in the census. According to the 2012 census 70.4% of the Sri Lankan Tamils live within the 8 districts of the Northern and Eastern provinces.
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Royal forever / March 4, 2019
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / March 5, 2019
Raj Gonsalkorale and all other racists who are making comments, please get your DNA tested and you will be surprised to find that your ancestors were Tamils. In two studies conducted among Sri Lanka population, the core genetic material in Sinhalese was South Indian. The results – Sinhalese – South Indian 65%, Bengali 26%, Veddha 9%, in contrast to Ceylon Tamils – South Indian 65%, Bengali 29%, Veddha 6%. When genetically Sinhalese were originally Tamils, how can Sinhalese be present in Sri Lanka before Tamils., and claim the whole land as theirs.
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Rabok / March 6, 2019
whether our core genetic materials are from South India or from another world we are the majority population of this country – few Tamil racist idiots can sit on their head and shout that we need a separate state and want to have a separate Government Phoo !!! These racist idiots had already sacrificed and destroyed many innocent Tamils by inciting them to take up arms and still do not see the the reality or do not want to see the reality and inciting communal disharmony – we sinhales definitely know majority of normal Tamilians do not care two hoots about a Eelam or bloody Federal state – what they want is to carry out their business activities peacefully and educate their children well and live a good peaceful life -that is why most of the Tamils are doing business in other provinces other than North and East and living peacefully among Sinhalese – If you racists are not happy with Sri Lankan Gov. – go to hell – go and live in Tamilnadu – this country is for all who thinks themselves as Sri Lankans – not for racist idiots
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Kumar R. / March 6, 2019
Rabok,
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Indeed there are Tamil racists and bigots, not any different from Sinhala racists and bigots. Both are just fringe elements in each segment of the respective population – and it is the silent majority among the Sinhalese and Tamils that have the burden of keeping those fringe emasculated – else they run riot!
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Your outburst here will be more rational and useful if only you would be equally critical of the counterpart-fringe that is at least equally responsible for the mess the country continues to be in since at least 1956.
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Rabok / March 7, 2019
Yes we of course had and still have so many Sinhalese racist who apparently thought and still thinking that this country only belongs Sinhalese Buddhist — bloody hell
I firmly believe that this country belong to all Sri Lankans – no part of this country belongs to any racial group – my heart still aches when I remember 1983 massacre of innocent Tamils who were our friends – The racist like Cyril Mathew of UNP Gov. and other Racist sinhale politicos remain dead silent for days allowing sinhale thugs to rob and kill freely – Few years after this mayhem I happened to be travelling to an east Asian country and at the immigration counter I was called a man from a country of barbarians – I had no place to hide my face – Starting from mad racist Chelva to be followed by few TULF idiots and finally by LTTE idiots they all sacrifice the innocent Tamils like Sinhale racist who throw hay to the fire by rousing racial immotions of innocent sinhale civilians to increase their vote base – If lord Buddha or Jesus were living among us during past few decades they would have died of heart attack when they witness the way their followers were misusing the pure philosophy they preached to give a better understanding of life on earth
AT LEAST NOW STOP TALKING ABOUT EELAM AND FEDERAL BU.. SH.. AND TEAM UP TO THROW UNEDUCATED /BRAINLESS SINHALESE , TAMIL AND MUSLIM POLITICAL THUGS AND IDIOTS IN THE PARLIAMENT AND FORM A GOVERNMENT OF POLICIES AND PRINCIPALS THAT WOULD GIVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES TO EVERY SRILANKAN BASED ON THEIR MERITS
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Kumar R. / March 7, 2019
Rabok,
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You are so quick and confident in identifying who the mad racists are among the Tamils are – Chelva, TULF, LTTE. Can you be equally candid on who you think are the mad racists among the Sinhalese? Who among the following are not-racists in your view – MR & Gota gang, Sirisena, Ranil, Chandrika, Sirimao, Banda? SEveral of the yellow robes in prominence?Just curious!
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Also, you had an an interesting recommendation to Tamil racists: “If you racists are not happy with Sri Lankan Gov. – go to hell – go and live in Tamilnadu.” Given that you are correctly convinced that the country belongs to both Tamils and Sinhalese, would it not be fair that you also give your recommendation as to where the Sinhala racists should go?
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Keynes! / March 8, 2019
Rabok,
“FORM A GOVERNMENT OF POLICIES AND PRINCIPALS THAT WOULD GIVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES TO EVERY SRILANKAN BASED ON THEIR MERITS”
Whom do you have in mind as the alternative? Gota?
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Native Vedda / March 8, 2019
Rabok
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“whether our core genetic materials are from South India or from another world we are the majority population of this country”
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Brilliant.
Therefore as majoritarian you have more stupid, bigoted racist, crooked, war criminal, …..people …….. than the rest of the minority put together.
No wonder why the island is racing to the bottom.
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Punchi Point / March 9, 2019
Sankaralingam, what is this genetic study? Please do not talk of non-existent genetic studies. That’s fraud. Also, as said earlier, genetic material for all humans is DNA. You cannot talk of “core genetic material” in humans.
Please see this comment:
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-politics-of-persuasion-an-evaluation/comment-page-1/#comment-2126306
Sankaralingam hasn’t still given any specific references upto today, but reluctantly mentioned a “couple of studies”. One study he mentioned, actually states that the Fst values show that the Tamils have brought in new alleles to the island population for some gene(s) studied in that study – its a nicer way of stating that Tamils are immigrants. Fst is a powerful statistical measure used to map migration patterns using genetic data, so Sankaralingam what do you say? In that study there are interesting finds about the Muslims too, who show some affinities to middle-east – which Sankaralingam and SivaSankaran Sarma categorically deny.
Colombo Telegraph, please ask Sankaralingam to give exact references to these diverse genetic studies he is talking about. It is your journalistic duty to see to it that lies are not posted and spread through your site. When it comes to genetic studies, some discussion forums forbid even mentioning genetic studies, as a lot of nonsense is claimed by posters. Sankaralingam has been asked many times to give references to his diverse claims, but he just ignores and posts the same made-up claims again and again. Why can’t you just post his comment with a request for references? Your slogan says “in journalism truth is a process”. Take your pledge seriously and start the process by asking for documentation – its not like you have to chase a politician risking your life to find the truth, its a simple matter of asking a person who is commenting in your website for references.
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sbarrkum / March 4, 2019
Mahendran Thiruvarangan says
According to the 2012 census 70.4% of the Sri Lankan Tamils live within the 8 districts of the Northern and Eastern provinces.
Not true
35% Sri Lankan Tamils live in Sinhalese Majority areas..In comparison only 1% Sinhalese live in Tamil majority areas.
The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora is 22% of the Sri Lankan Tamil Population.
The numbers are from the 2012 census. The third column (in Sinhala) are the Indian/Upcountry Tamils. In comparison less than 1% Sinhalese live in Tamil majority regions
http://sbarrkum.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-numbers-ethnic-cleansing-and.html
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / March 4, 2019
If 35% of Sri Lankan Tamils are living in Sinhala majority areas, how is that Sri Lankan Tamils are unable to elect a single MP from those areas even under proportionate representation. Since most of Sri Lankan Tamils live in Colombo district, there would have been at least one MP elected from there, if we are to go by this statistical data of 35%..
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Leonard Jayawardena / March 5, 2019
Dr. GS: Having lived most of life in Colombo in a neighborhood of mixed ethnic groups, I would answer that the reason for this is that the Tamils who live among the Sinhalese by and large have a cosmopolitan outlook and tend not to vote along communalistic lines.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / March 5, 2019
LJ, I was born and bred in Borella and lived there for 44 years, and left the country only because of the anti Tamil problem which was continuing unabated. Borella had a small population of Tamils, which was almost wiped out in 1983 riots. All Tamil residents of Borella will agree with me. Though there was Tamil population in Colombo, electorates were carved out to deny Tamils any representation. Now with proportionate method, Indian Tamils like Mano Ganesan are being elected. I am sure 99% of those who voted for him would be Tamils. Is this not on communal lines. It is an accepted fact that people in Sri Lanka vote on communal lines. You have not mentioned where you lived for me to counter your claim of living in a mixed area. When Kumar Ponnambalam contested provincial council election in Colombo, all those who voted for him were Tamils, which disproves your statement. Some Tamils did not vote for him because of not wasting their votes, and not because of anything else. I was educated at Royal College which is both multi-ethnic and cosmopolitan in outlook. Please do not try to hide reality.
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JTC / March 6, 2019
Always ashamed of your Tamil side. And want to say me 100 percent Arya sinhala.
Mixed race kids try hard to cover up their minority identity.
Rosa, barrkum go overboard
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Punchi Point / March 9, 2019
closing italics. . . . .
Whats the difference between all these Tamil groups? Tamils are Tamils. Adding prefixes to differentiate people as to when they migrated from the same parent population in Tamilnadu, to the degree it has been done in this island to distinguish between Tamil groups is very discriminative to the Estate Tamils. They are looked down upon by the Tamils in North East. As I see it, there are Estate Tamils and Non-Estate Tamils. What defines the Tamilness, namely the Tamil language, culture etc, is the same, regardless of when they migrated from Tamilnadu.
Your population numbers in your blog is from 10+ years back. Also even then those are not very accurate. There are some good research articles about the subject. You should read them and get a more accurate numbers. In north America alone there over 600,000 Tamils from Sri Lanka, according to one source.
Its claimed by diverse Tamil politicians that there are 1.2 to even 2 million Tamils in the asylum diaspora. (Tamil diaspora is essentially an asylum diaspora, except of a handful the rest are bogus asylum seekers).
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Plato. / March 4, 2019
The essayist is splitting hairs; Prof: Ratnajeevans piece was quite straight forward!
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Karikalan / March 4, 2019
Mr. Raj Gonsalkorale,
Prof. Hoole has raised an issue in a straightforward manner – in plain, precise language . Why not stick to the issue and respond?
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Naman / March 4, 2019
In Tamil Nadu the Muslims consider themselves as Tamils FIRST and then only as a Muslim.
That’s the way to go. As they too are minorities of SL and stand to get our equal rights together. If we quarrel among us, the GoSL will exploit it. The Sinhalese were targeting the Muslims in 2014 as Rajapaksa Regime had sorted the Tamils of the North and East. Since the Indepdence from the British Empire, all those who were resident in Ceylon should have been considered as Ceylonese and GoSL should not have made Indian Estate workers STATELESS.
They work hard for minimal pay and low living standards. The foreiexchange earned by them were being wasted away by the Corruption in this Country.
Every one should listen to the recent speech of Mr Sumanthiran in the Parliament to know why the Tamils doesn’t feel equal
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Bodin / March 5, 2019
So in Sri lanka the Hindus must consider themselves Sri lankns first, and being Vellalar Tamils second.
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Spring Koha / March 4, 2019
In my lifetime, I remember the days when were all Ceylonese. We joined together and resisted and ousted the Colonial master. We thought that Independence would be the dawn of time of peace and prosperity. So did the young leader of Singapore, I believe. Our people travelled the world without hassle.
Then came the devious politicians eyeing the main chance. SWRD (but not only..) offered the Sinhalese heaven – Overnight! Educated, he might have been but he had no idea of the visceral forces of division he was letting loose. Ever since then our communities haven’t been able to live in peace.
We were all turned into Sri Lankans. The pogroms started. Sri Lankans who once travelled the world untroubled, suddenly became pariahs. I got fed up at being viewed with suspicion at immigration counters all over the world.
The so-called ‘Tamil Issue’ was never a problem. This was an invention of the devious Sinhalese politicians who thrived on divide and rule.
The simple fact is that without an enduring reconciliation that will bring peace and harmony to ALL our people, every community will live in fear of what the other will do. Gnanasara is waiting to come out and repay his political puppet masters with a fresh round of mayhem.
Politicians and their hangers on who preach divide and rule should be rounded up and incarcerated (why not turn Mattala into an open air prison?).
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Dionysus / March 4, 2019
The call of the Koha, whether at Spring or otherwise, is always welcome.
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Rtd. Lt. Reginald Shamal Perera / March 6, 2019
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We joined together and resisted and ousted the Colonial master.
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No, you didn’t. Instead, you (if you are a Tamil) collaborated with the colonials to subjugate the majority even more. If you are a Muslim, you were a bounty hunter for the colonials to betray our heroes fighting the colonials for two shillings.
That’s why you miss the old Ceylon. Because you miss the unfair advantages you had. And you are never getting that back. NEVER.
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Spring Koha / March 9, 2019
Reginald Shamal Perera
I am neither of your assumptions, and I certainly haven’t chosen to abandon the country I was born in, and live in a land I didn’t fight for.. Any advantage I have, has been worked for and earned. Moreover, only a parvenu would claim to to be a ‘Rtd. Lt’ whatever that is. The accepted etiquette is that only those who attain the rank of Major and above would use it after retirement. To use is otherwise signals a jumped-up petty-minded.
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JD / March 4, 2019
I thought Colombo would be a Tamil district with Wellawaththa as the Capital. Now, Wellawaththa is full of Muslims. More Tamils should come to the south, so that Tamils can elect more Tamil parliamentarians in the South. At present, State Languages, National Unification, extension and Reconcilaltion is headed by an Estate Tamil living in colombo. So occupy colombo. Increase the Tamil population over 35% of the total.
anywa, A Tamils with a DSc is talking this, I always think that JAFFNA style A/L passed VIYATHUN are very intelligent people.
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K.Pillai / March 4, 2019
Raj Gonsalkorale posses the question: “Which Tamils Hopes Are Fading?” and goes for a forensic discussion as to who is a Tamil or what is a Tamil.
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Raj: Take child labour for example. Every government will flaunt legislations to say that protections are in place. What are Child labour activists doing.
Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 was awarded to Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzay for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people.
Malala: For the right of all children to education.
Kailash: For agitation against abuse of child labour.
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In the then Ceylon, following independence, the disenfranchised so-called Up-country Tamils decided to voice their grievances.
Then the Tamil speaking Muslims were lured away from the Federal Party.
The toxic atmosphere evolved in which ALL Tamil-speakers were treated as second class citizens.
The ‘other’ Tamils from N&E dissented, were singled out and punished.
Several pogroms and a civil war later the ‘Hopes are Fading’.
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sinhalese buddhist / March 5, 2019
If people focused on the language people speak, instead of the ethnicity/religion, our island would be a better place.
If both Sinhala and Tamil were taught at all schools to ALL children and all government and private establishments had effective interpretation/translation services available to all, we would not be divided.
But racists from both sides, do not want to lose the privileges accumulated over hundreds of years, despite the negative consequences to the majority of the populace, and the fate of the sovereignty of this island.
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Kautilya / March 5, 2019
People naively think that if you solve the language problem, then every thing goes away . No, the Irish in the North and in the south speak the same language (ENGLISH), but they have been fighting longer than the Eelam wars.
The different countries in the middle east who speak Arabic have been fighting each other since time immemorial. Just recently it is the Qatar and its neighbour.
In the Epic Mahabharata, the two sides which fought each other spoke the same language (a form of Prakrit).
All the battles in English history (Queen Elizabeth the I etc, the Tudors ) were among English speaking groups within England.
The Eelam wars were caused by upper caste Tamils who lived in Colombo trying to do a land grab to keep their fiefdoms in the North under their hands so that they can continue to exploit the lower castes. Of course, Prabhakaran upset their plans by hijacking their project after assassinating the likes of Amithalingam etc.
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K. Vaiythiyanathan / March 5, 2019
I will sum up this balderdash piece with
just one line – Hoole is a fool, damn fool
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K.Pillai / March 5, 2019
Raj Gonsalkorale asks Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole: Which Tamils Hopes Are Fading?
The short answer is “ALL”.
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Plato. / March 5, 2019
K.Vaithiyanathan.
Your name reminds me of Sir.Kadiah Vaithiyanathan CCS who was the livewire in the Thiruketheeswaran Temple,which is now very much in the news. Dudley Senanayake was about to marry his daughter,but something happened and it did not materialise. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to provide proof since the Internet is quite recent!
What makes you think that Hoole is a Fool? Is it because it Rhymes so well?.
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Ayathuray Rajasingam / March 6, 2019
The Tamils in the Northern Province are mostly descendants of Kerala people or migrated from Kerala since time immemorial. The customs & traditions of the Jaffna people and that of the people of Kerala are similar. But the Jaffna people speak grammatical Tamil whereas the Up-country Tamils speak colloquial Tamil like Tamil Nadu. However, there is a probability that some Tamils from Ramanad District have also migrated to Jaffna. These issues are of considerable debate. It is a fact that some Tamils from Jaffna marry from the Nair community from Kerala while some Jaffna Tamils marry from Pillai community from Tamil Nadu. It should not be forgotten that Kerala was known as Chera Nadu before the arrival of the Westerners. This being the situation, after the independence, the Tamils in the North-East Provinces, Colombo District and the up-country Tamils were not united politically mainly because of the attitude of the politicians. But the fact cannot be denied that there was some mutual understanding between the people of North-East Province and the Sinhalese – leave alone the politicians. The Sinhalese always like to go to Hindu temples and offer poojas. Even marriages have been taking place between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The emotional political speeches are only temporary. Majority of the uneducated Sinhalese and the Tamils have become the targets of evil politicians for causing destruction, which will not last forever.. Therefore, the issue of fading of Tamil hopes cannot be readily accepted.
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