The recent clash between the students at the Jaffna University has shown the increasing need to enhance people-to-people engagement to develop greater understanding and sensitivity to the concerns of each ethnic and religious community, while also understanding the reasons for the frustration of the students.
“While the government, Tamil parties and liberal academics are having a positive rapport at the highest levels, this relationship of trust and cooperation has yet to permeate the student consciousness. This problem is likely to exist at the larger community level also. There is a need for a more concerted effort to be made for people-to-people engagement to develop greater understanding and sensitivity to the concerns of each ethnic and religious community,” the National peace Council (NPC) said.
The NPC also said that it is necessary for the government and university administration to keep reasonable ethnic ratios in mind when allocating places for students to universities in different parts of the country.
Emphasizing its point further, NPC noted that the Jaffna clash follows a clash March this year between Tamil and Sinhalese university students in the Trincomalee campus over an incident of ragging.
“The high proportion of Sinhalese amounting to between 60 to 80 percent of the student body in some of the university faculties in the North and East has caused a feeling of being under pressure by the influx of Sinhalese students in traditionally Tamil (and Muslim) areas,” the statement said.
According to NPC, the changed ethnic composition of the student body is invariably accompanied by a change in the administrative composition of the university system. “Both these factors may be viewed with anxiety by the Tamil and Muslim communities in the North and East who are seeking to protect their identity not least in the areas in which they are a majority,” the statement added.
Nuwan / July 22, 2016
“The high proportion of Sinhalese amounting to between 60 to 80 percent of the student body in some of the university faculties in the North and East has caused a feeling of being under pressure by the influx of Sinhalese students in traditionally Tamil (and Muslim) areas,”
What would happen if the Brits, Americans or Australian feels the same way about influx of Asian students into their Universities. Mere statement of that nature would be labeled as racist.
Yet in Sri Lanka…
“The NPC also said that it is necessary for the government and university administration to keep reasonable ethnic ratios in mind when allocating places for students to universities in different parts of the country.”
Who the…is this National Peace Council? What sort of peace they preach while proposing racist policies? So they want two Tamil student in Uni of Ruhuna? Such an idiotic proposal…Madness!!!
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Analyst / July 22, 2016
Nuwan
The Racist. Please write something that you’re sure about.
Writing lies shows clearly your motive.
Spreading lies is a crime . You can be charged for causing Racial Hate. Use your brain.
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J. Nallasany - Talawakella / July 23, 2016
“I am not worried about the opinion of the Jaffna people… now we cannot think of them, not about their lives or their opinion… the more you put pressure in the north, the happier the Sinhala people will be here… Really if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy.”
– President J.R.Jayawardene, Daily Telegraph, July 1983
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Nuwan / July 24, 2016
This so called NPC is the one that is spreading a racism and segregation. I can’t do anything for you not having a brain enough to analyse that…Yet you call your self an Analyst…Funny!
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Analyst / July 24, 2016
RUWAN is the kind of Racist ready to unleash full scale Riots and Death IN SRI LANKA.
Thank god the Democracy and the Freedom of Speech through CT. prevented your. MADNESS.
Most certainly the ANARCHY IS DEAD AND HOPEFULLY BURIED FOR GOOD.
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Analyst / July 24, 2016
ERROR Sorry Ruwan,
Please READ Nuwan the Racist above.
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sr / July 22, 2016
Let students to discuss and settle matters.
Outsiders’ intervention will make it a mess.
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ruwan Semasinghe / July 23, 2016
What settlement would you expect with hundred tamil students who wieldeng clubs and baying for the blood of Sinhala students at aa culetural event of the university..; when these marauding thugs were represented by Tamil lecturers at the inquiry and when Sampanthan , the political leader of the tamil community and Mp represented them in courts. This is a non-baiable offence as law stands.
You are aware that the residences of these victims were entered into and the contents burnt after the sinhala students were forced to vacate.
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Analyst / July 23, 2016
Ru wan serasinghe
What made you think they’re Tamils ? They look more like your type.
You really don’t know your relatives how they look.
Be certain before assuming .
Sorry for you. Unless you’re jumping the gun for your own satisfaction.
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sr / July 23, 2016
Ruwan Samasinghe
If you’re right I wonder if it’s a tit for tat for black july.
Tamils faced the same fate in the hands of some racists and they were (in thousands) so helpless and evacuated and despatched to Jaffna along sea route.
Even the Tamil IGP failed for unknown reasons.
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radish.S / July 22, 2016
With Nuwan and his ilk goodbye to reconciliation and peace. Asian students pay huge amounts to British, American and Australian Universities to study there. It is not free.
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Nuwan / July 24, 2016
So what? If Sinhala student pay to study in Jaffna Uni, It’s all OK?
Get my point. A certain Thero last week, in his analysis stated that Tamil students in Jaffna feels threatened by the excessive Sinhala student admission to Jaffna University and Batti campuses. May be…But if that is the case where is reconciliation. Erection of Buddha statues in Tamil regions is invasive, ignorant on Tamil sensitivities etc. Indeed, but when a suburban house turns all of a sudden into a Mosque and BBS run a rampage…who talks about the invasion the sentiment and sensitivities.
The unfortunate situation is the debate in unbalanced. When Europeans feel and express their concerns about thousands of migrants moving in, they would be called extreme right wing, racists. Yet, many would follow Trump, Haider or Hanson. Will there ever be reconciliation? What can you do about the extreme right when this kind of incidents occur?
Sinhala students in Jaffna Uni will now be definitely following BBS. (Gnanasara has already visited the victim at the hospital). Nothing can stop that. When TNA bails out the attacker, Jaffna Tamil Students will start following them. Who can stop that…
NPC do you have any answers?
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Ajith / July 22, 2016
1881 population statistics shows that 95% of them are Tamils in the North East of Srilanka. I don’t have any statistics for the period before 1881.Unitil 1948, the population distribution remained the same. I assume that the population distribution should have remained the same for many centuries. Similarly, in the rest of the island Sinhalese were above 90% of the total population. However, since 1948, the population distribution in the North-East, particularly in the East started to change artificiaaly with the government sponsored settlements in the North East by Sinhalese. This is the root cause of the ethnic problem and it is the one that lead to the armed struggle and blood baths in this island. The North East is occupied by Sinhalese only military, police and Navy (over 95%). The military is involved in agriculture and native people are in a disadvantage position to compete in the market in terms cost. In otherwords, North East is now an occupied land by Sinhalese.Under this situation, the changes in student and staff population is definitely a way of colonisation of North, not reconciliation. If you want reconciliation, give all the powers including land, police, Higher education to the Provincial council and then let the Northern Provincial Council to implement the reconciliation.
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jim softy / July 23, 2016
Is it 1800s Dutch brought Malayalis to grow tobacco ?
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ravi perera / July 24, 2016
Ajith,
I have produced this many times before. Read again.
Whilst it is acknowledged that Jaffna was, for about 300-400 years out of our history of 2500 years, a seat of political power ,it nature and question such as whether it was a “kingdom” or not and the extent of its power is still disputed among historians. However even those historians who support the view that the seat of power was, both a kingdom and Tamil Kingdom are at once in agreeing that it was a kingdom of fluctuating fortunes, the territory of which was largely confined to the Jaffna Peninsula and never extended to the Eastern Province.
As Professor K M De Silva said
A Tamil kingdom did exist from the the 13th century to the early part of the 17th , but except during a brief heyday of its power it seldom controlled anything more than the Jaffna Peninsula., and some adjacent regions on the coast and some parts of the interior.
Set against a history of 2500 yrs the independent existent of this kingdom covered a very brief period, and even during this period its status and influence varied dramatically; at times a very powerful kingdom; at others a satellite of expanding Dravidians States across the Palk straight, and at times subjugated by the Kotte Kingdom, and generally acknowledging its suzerainty.
There is little or no evidence to support the claim made in the TULF Vaddukodai resolution that there was either an unbroken national consciousness or a continuing tradition of independent statehood.
Professor CR De Silva said ;
A separate kingdom in Jaffna existed in Sri Lanka from about the 13th century to 1619. During Certain periods the kingdom was so powerful that for a brief period it captured power in the western seaboard almost up to the environs of Colombo.
But for most parts of of the 400 yrs it was a rather week kingdom confined to the environs of the Jaffna Peninsula. It never wielded power in the present day Eastern Province.
Nor was it always independent, for it often acknowledged the sovereignty of the dominant power in south India and was once overwhelmed by a Sinhala army from the south.
But most significantly the Tamil kings of North did not think of them as separate rulers of Tamil Kingdom. They like all the other Sinhala kings aimed ultimately at being the Monarc of all Sri Lanka.
The first ground on which a secessionist claims the Northern and Eastern provinces as being the traditional homeland is demonstrably false.
The second and the only other ground on which this claim is made is that there is in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, the boundaries of which were drawn by the British purely for their administrative purposes .
There is clearly no justification for once racial group claiming proprietary , exclusive rights over the others within these two boundaries set artificially by the British merely because there are more members of that group over the others. If there is any validity in such contention it would follow with even greater force from the same principle, since there is and always has been within the natural borders of Sri Lanka, am overwhelming preponderance of Sinhalese, the entirety of Sri Lanka is the homeland of the Sinhalese.
Whilst Tamils are an overwhelming majority in the North the same can not be said about the Eastern Province. Muslims and the Sinhalese together constitute about 64% of the eastern Province.
Although the Sinhalese are about 25 % of Eastern Province, the Tamils and the Muslim settlements are largely confined to the coastal areas (Particulary in Ampara and Trincomalee) which are relatively thickly populated compared to the sparsely populated Sinhalese villages which are spread over a huge area.
Thus of the 22 assistant government agents divisions in the Trinco and Ampara districts the Sinhalese constitute the overwhelming majority in in 10 namely, Padavi Siripura,Gomarankadawela,Kantalai, Moraweva and Seruvila in the Trincomalee district and wevgam pattu ,panama pattu and bintennepattu in Ampara district whilst the Tamils constitute majority only in Trincomalee town and Tirikkovil in Amara .
Thus the Sinhalese constitute the overwhelming majority in about 60% of Trincomalee district and 78% of Ampara district.
This spartial distribution of the population was not a recent phenomenon caused by so called colonisation but one existed long before any Sinhalese was settled in the North and the East with state assistance is borne out by the findings of Professor G H Peries professor of Geography at Peradeniya university in his paper entitled an appraisal of the concept of the traditional homeland in Sri Lanka.
Following is part of what he had to say.
“For the issues with which the present study is concerned, the feature of the crucial relevance borne out by our maps is that in the Eastern Province as a whole in 1921,all the Tamil settlements are confined to a coastal strip barely extending 10 miles from the coast o the interior. The Sinhala settlements on the other hand though comparatively few were scattered over extensive areas of the interior, covering the entirety of the admistrative divisions of Bintenna,Udapalatha,Yati palatha and meda plaltha of wewgam pattu and panama pattuin. In the northern part of the the batticalo and Trincomalee districs were mostly uninhabited /scattered Sinhala settlement.
This must be taken in the context of the fact that the Sinhalese names of numerous abandoned village tanks marked in our source maps in the inhabited tracts bear testimony to earlier process of de population. Our maps show further that the only non Sinhalese population clusters that were located in 1921 even a few miles to the interior of the seaboard were those associated with the irrigation works restored in the preceding decades. We can also observe that the Tamil settlements nearest to the claimed southern boundary of Kumbukkan oya was a coastal town of mixed population about 35 miles north of that boundary”
The pattern of settlement distribution assumes significance from several points of view. In the first place considered in the light of our earlier observations on the trends of demographic change in the Preceding centuries the pattern as it prevailed in 1921 represents what may be regarded as the culmination of a long drawn out historical process featured, on the one hand, by territorial advances of the Tamil population and on the other , retreat and recession of the Sinhalese population.
This , in turn implies that the process of “Tamilization’ in the eastern lowlands of Sri lanka had not penetrated significantly into the interior even at its most extensive territorial spread.
The second point of significance arise from the fact that, often the “Tamil Homeland” is being defined with reference to the modern administrative units. Given the spatial patterns of ethnicity borne out bu our maps the demand by one ethnic group for exclusive proprietary rights over Provinces and districts encompass extensive tracts of territory which it had never occupied (and much of it, in every sense is the homeland of the other ethnic groups) appears in its true light as one which lacks a rational basis.
In a functional sense sparsely settled interior of the eastern lowlands of Sri lanka was not a hinterland of the settlement clusters of the littoral. Both the interior as well as the littoral were very largely rural.
Hence, a core periphery concept is of no relevance to the issue. More specifically, there is no empirical basis for a theoretical assertion that because there was numerical preponderance of the Tamils in the coastal areas , hinterland, areas, regardless of the traditional rights of the other ethnic groups, should form a traditional hinterland of the Tamil areas.
The fact that the eastern littoral itself is not ethnically homogeneous (Well known but purposely over looked) is also illustrated by our maps with a fair degree of superiority.
The littoral is as much the traditional homeland of the Muslims as it is of the Tamils. And in many areas , the Muslims constitute the majority which has no common cause with the Tamils and in fact is bitterly opposed to the EAST being MERGED with the NORTH
Unfortunately for the Tamil secessionists there is not only a Total absence of any shred of evidence any part of the East having being governed by a Tamil King, but does not even have a numerical preponderance which could provide them with the remotest justification that East is part of the Traditional Tamil Homeland.
There is nothing these secessionist could do about the absence of a claim founded on history but to continue to LIE about it, there was nothing they could do about the absence of a numerical preponderance of Tamils in the east except to UNILATERLY DENY THE SEPERATE ETHNIC IDENTITY OF THE TAMIL SPEAKING MUSLIMS and equally UNILATERLAY ACQUIRE THEM AS PART OF THE FICTITIOUS TRADITIONAL TAMIL HOMELAND, just to give them the NUMERICAL SUPERIORITY; while at the same time alleging falsely that they had been made a minority in their homeland by the COLONISATION of the East with the Sinhalese state assistance
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ranjith / July 22, 2016
population wise sinhalese are the majority here in this Island as such most number of sinhalese student sit for advance level examination in every fields science,arts or commerce. as such most number of sinhalese student getting through for university entrance in every fields is natural phenomena. with limited number of university facilities UGC or higher education ministry has no option but to recruit students on merits in to universities.no room to consider ethnicity or religion or any other factors. Everybody should understand that..
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Native Vedda / July 23, 2016
Racist ranjith
You also have more stupid people than all other minorities put together, a fact that you are proud of.
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Ajith / July 22, 2016
Everybody understands that Sinhalese are majority in this island, so there are more university places needed for Sinhalese students. Can you please give a breakdown of students and staffs by ethnicity, courses and Universities for the past 10 years?
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jim softy / July 24, 2016
Some universities had more Tamil medicos and injos.
Sinhala students never complained.
I think the southern govt politicians are responsible.
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sach / July 24, 2016
When going to a university in SL it is immaterial whether you are sinhala or Tamil. The university entrance is decided by the Z score of the student and the university rank in the list of preferences. Therefore UGC or any government body does not decide whether to have more sinhala in Jaffna uni or not but it simply a result of Z score and university rank.
I am 100% sure if these Sinhala students were given places at J’pura or CMB these students will be extremely happy.
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jim softy / July 22, 2016
CT’s Tamil editors on purpose dis not show the photos of how Tamil Students came and obstructed and prevented Kandyan dancers moving along with the procession.
If sinhala students, even if a buddhist monk did something wrong, it is head news in CT.
HEre sinhala students were the beaten, Tamil students engaged in violence throwing stones at the building and breaking glasses.
Now, talk something else.
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ruwan Semasinghe / July 23, 2016
Colombo Telegraph is run by Diaspora , the Vatican and CIAfor the separatists , Sinhala minorities to destabilise and then cause anarchy.
Yankees and the Vatican achieved their goal in Iraq, Syria, Lybia, and Brazil.They invaded Vietnam and failed. Will Ranil the Colombo 7 non budhist who hates sinhala budddhists deliver the goods for Vatican and Americans and the west. This is a religious war by religious minorities to destroy the 2364 year old heritage.
Where Portugese, Dutch and British failed will traitors succed this time.
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Rohan / July 23, 2016
[Edited out] Please write instead of posting web links – CT
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crazyoldmansl / July 22, 2016
Sinhala and Tamil rowdies…at it again. Thats the sinhala and tamil culture to blame…
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Dankottuwa Manike / July 22, 2016
The Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna Uni must be sacked in the first place for not protecting the Sinhalese students.
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Rohan / July 23, 2016
Ha! Tamil students were beaten up in Peradeniya, unprovoked! Did anyone call for the head of the VC or anyone else?
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Rohan / July 23, 2016
Well, can you call for the prosecution of the Hanguranketha Area Clique? N o, you won’t! Your intention is not solving problems, you are not part of a slution, actually main part of the problem!!!
According to an investigative report:
Anura said that there was a clique of undergraduates who virtually controlled the Sinhala Graduates at the Jaffna Varsity. Most of them were from the Hanguranketha area in Kandy district. According to Anura it was this clique which pressured the Students into making demands at the last minute and urged them not to relent. It was also this clique which frightened students about a potential Tamil attack and persuaded them to leave Jaffna immediately.
Jaffna University vice – chancellor Dr. Vasanthy Arasaratnam and other senior Academic staffers were horrified by the incident.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / July 23, 2016
With reference to the admission of more Sinhalese students to the Jaffna University Science Faculty, Dr.N. Edirveerasingham the stated the following facts in the thread by Dr.Harini Amarasuriya,
” In 2011 and I think 2012 (I stand corrected on the Dates. May be the VC or the UCG can correct it) there were approx 150 vacancy in the Science Faculty. No candidate from the Northern schools qualified for entry to Science faculty. There were Sinhala students who qualified for entry but did not have the zScore high enough to enter any other universities. UCG offered them the place in the science Faculty of univ of Jaffna.”
If this is the fact, the Sinhala students have not been favored and it is consonent with the UGC admission policies. Organizations such as the NPC- National Peace Council and the Northern Provincial Council- should have studied the matter, before foraging for excuses.”
If Dr.Edirveerasingam is correct, the Sinhala students, also had not much choice In the matter! Further,, these facts point to the reality that the U of J Faculty of Science is not a premium institution.
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
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Nuwan / July 24, 2016
As you suggest Sinhala and Tamil students alike prefer the university close to home. Then implementation of NPC’s segregationist, racist, separatist solution to the issue of more Sinhala students in Jaffna University is very simple. Calculate Z-score on regional basis. That is, your sample includes only the scores from the students who lived and learned within, say, X km of the University of Jaffna.
NB: I think this will fly very well with students in Colombo district. They often complain about students from Monaragala district with very low scores enter the Colombo Medical college while a Colombo student with way high score can barely get into the Science faculty….!!!
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Lone Wolf / July 24, 2016
Dr RN,
” In 2011 and I think 2012 (I stand corrected on the Dates. May be the VC or the UCG can correct it) there were approx 150 vacancy in the Science Faculty. No candidate from the Northern schools qualified for entry to Science faculty. There were Sinhala students who qualified for entry but did not have the zScore high enough to enter any other universities. UCG offered them the place in the science Faculty of univ of Jaffna.”
I thank you and Dr Ethirveerasinham for this possible explanation for the increasing number of Sinhalese and Muslims studying at Jaffna University since 2010. To my best knowledge at the moment the Faculty of Arts is the only faculty without Sinhalese students simply because they offer nothing or very little in English. There are some Muslims.
I believe that last year about 80 Sinhalese started to study medicine in Jaffna. Tamils (28?) were less than 30 and almost as many Muslims (24?) as Tamils started.
Is this happening because of a decline in the results of Tamils? Or do the Tamils choose to study in other universities not in Jaffna?
Are there less Tamils studying, for instance, science and medicine in all of the universities in SL than some years ago? I know that many Tamils from Jaffna are studying medicine in Ukraine and Russia etc but that is not the explanation.
If there really is a decline in the results of Tamil schools then something should be done urgently.
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Rohan / July 23, 2016
[Edited out]
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Non PhD / July 23, 2016
The picture above and videos taken by some of the students from both sides shows that there is no “WALLS OF SECRECY/ under yah a papaya of MS.
But on the 19th of May 2009 or one or two days after that even the international media or UN personnel were not allowed in side the war zone.
Both Ven Dhammaanda Thero & DBS Jeyaraj have thrown more light on the subject of what happened in Jaffna Uni and why it happened.
When will the GOSL drastically reduce the presence of Army in the north ?
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Pacs / July 23, 2016
Any one to follow uni study should be given a chance and qualifying is a different matter.
Art and Tradition for a welcome reception practiced all over the world is according to the tradition of the host and the culture of the place where the reception is given.
I do not think That Kandyan Dance should be a strange on for the Tamils.
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jim softy / July 23, 2016
University is an open place for learning.
If Tamils can not tolerate the majority in culture in a neighbourhodd where they are the majority what else people can say about tamils.
Tamil violence is inborn.
If they can not kill others they kill their own saying it is a low caste.
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jim softy / July 23, 2016
Reacting strongly against Colombo’s Governor to North Mr Reginald Cooray, who went on record in Colombo on Thursday claiming that the SL police in Jaffna was searching for an ‘absconding’ [Tamil] student, the Student Union leaders at the University of Jaffna told TamilNet Friday evening that they would launch a long-term boycott bringing the education activities to a standstill if Colombo regime was backing the controversial claim of Mr Cooray.
Above tamilnet statement says all.
Tamil Students are protecting the student who created all these. that students may have connections to LTTE.
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Nuwan / July 24, 2016
…Colombo regime was… I thought Colombo has no regime post Jan 8 2015…My bad!!!!
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pacs / July 24, 2016
Moriori are the indigenous people of the Chatham Islands (Rēkohu in Moriori, Wharekauri in Māori), east of the New Zealand archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. These people lived by a code of non-violence and passive resistance (see Nunuku-whenua), which made it easier for Taranaki Māori invaders to nearly exterminate them in the 1830s.
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pacs / July 24, 2016
The Sinhala race is strongly unified by the insane and wicked antiTamil sentiment. If it is not there they will fight among themselves and die.
Better all the Tamils leave for now and return after they fight and die.
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sach / July 24, 2016
good plan
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