Just over two months ago, the Tamils went to the polls for Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council elections with defiance, yet with a cautious sense of festivity. Military harassment of voters and party candidates had been thorough and brutally innovative throughout the campaigning; in addition to the typical battering of election monitors, cash-for-votes and widespread intimidation, government supporters had even printed a fake newspaper.
The night of Election Day, one retired man from Jaffna would not dare predict the polling results. If the Tamil National Alliance won, there might be retribution, he said; destroyed cars, people beaten up and houses set on fire. Yet, if they lost, the military violence already in place might never end. For now, the elections themselves – the first in 25 years – were reason enough to celebrate, he said cheerfully, showing a small bottle of arrack – local coconut spirit – in his pocket.
Then, against all the odds, the TNA won a landslide victory, with 30 out of 38 seats on an unexpectedly high voter turnout.
The dream of an independent Tamil Eelam may be dead, but for many northern Tamils the provincial elections in the northeast had opened another narrow window of opportunity to claim the equal rights they have struggled to win for so long. Though primarily a symbolic defeat for the central government, the TNA’s success had also reignited hope that now – finally – the Tamils might have a chance at the reconciliation that, four years after the end of the Eelam IV war, has failed to materialize.
Read more in the Diplomat
Amarasiri / December 5, 2013
Sri Lanka: Tamil Struggle Continues……………………………
“Then, against all the odds, the TNA won a landslide victory, with 30 out of 38 seats on an unexpectedly high voter turnout.”…………………
……………………………………………………………
This was the message to the Sinhala Buddhists Racists,that only an Egalitarian Society can cure the ills. The Sinhala Buddhist Racists and the Monks want to maintain their Hegemony and the Tamil people and the Tamil Racists will have none of it……………………………
Only an Egalitarian society with the separation of the temple and state can cure………………………………………………………
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Banda / December 5, 2013
Let’s see how it all started: At the election for the ‘educated Ceylonese’ in 1912, Sinhalas in Colombo elected Ponnanbalan Ramanathan, a Tamil over their own man Sinhalese doctor named Marcus Fernando. Hardly an act of racism. It was after that D. S. Senanayake, Baron Jayatilleke, and Arunachalam Mahadeva, Ponnambalam Arunachalam and Ponnambalam Ramanathan tried to forge the Ceylon equivalent of the “Indian national congress” to look forward to obtain independence within the concept of a “Ceylonese” nation which embraced the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and other groups. So who spoiled it? Some say, Bandaranaike was primarily responsible for the present crisis. Not true. He donned the national dress and embraced Buddhism but never used jingoism to be popular. // After introducing universal franchise or one man one vote in the 1931, an ambitious young Catholic lawyer named G.G. Ponnambalam (GGP)realized universal franchise would reduce the Tamils to a minority. ‘Communal Politics under the Donoughmore Constitution’ by Dr Jane Russell says; as the Hansard reports in 1935 (column 3045) shows Ponnambalam claimed that he is a PROUD DRAVIDIAN and rejected the Ceylonese concept that embraced all the ethnic groups. // GGP didn’t stop there. GGP and various Tamil writers carried on a full campaign against Universal Franchise by attacking the Mahawamsa and degrading Sinhala people. Russell writes in page 131 of the said book: “The Ceylon Tamils had no written document on the lines of the Mahavamsa to authenticate their singular and separate historical authority in Sri Lanka, a fact which Ceylon Tamil communalists found very irksome”. At political meeting, GGP claimed that the Tamils have always ruled the Sinhalese, and that the Sinhalese were “a race of hybrids” and an offshoot of the Tamils. Prof. K. M. de Silva has cited such fact as a main cause of the failure of the Ceylon National Congress and the concept of a united Sri Lanka (University of Ceylon History of Ceylon , p 401). // Hindu Organ November 1, 1939 reported that ‘At a meeting in Nawalapitiya in 1939, Ponnambalam attacked the Mahawamsa and the Sinhalese in such extreme terms that the people attacked him, and the first Sinhala-Tamil riots began, with clashes in Nawalapitiya, Passara, Maskeliya and even in Jaffna.’ The anti-Sinhala movement of GGP made him a popular among the Jaffna people. And his party ‘Tamil Congress’ captured power from the moderate Tamils like Ponnambalam Ramanathan. It is against GGP’s racist program Bandaranaike and many others took up more polarized nationalist position. Come up with proof to prove your point if you can Amerasiri.
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aratai / December 5, 2013
Good information, Thanks Banda, for sharing this.
:-)
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Anpu / December 6, 2013
“The International Crisis Group Report 141 of November 2007 in its summary said, “….The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) have never been able to agree on a proposal for power sharing with the Tamil community. Instead, they have engaged in recurring bouts of ethnic outbidding, with each undermining the other’s devolution policies. In other words when one considers the bouts of state sponsored violence against the Tamils in which they were ‘killed, maimed, robbed and rendered homeless’ before the ‘state- created’ militancy raised its head, each Sinhala majority political parties competed among themselves, which one of them would inflict the maximum obstruction for Tamil political advancement.”
http://www.nakkeran.com/Grievancesoftamils.htm
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yarlpadi / December 7, 2013
I think that Banda is mainly correct.I am not sure however about SWRD:Was not the Sinhala Maha Sabha formed earlier?
It is strange that the leaders of both the Tamil Congess and the Sinhala Mahasabha were formed by OXBRIDGE graduates!!
By the way ,GGP was not a Catholic but an ardent Hindu.His brother however was a Catholic convert and a priest.
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Ellison jayawardene / December 7, 2013
Thank you / No thank you Bandara for your attempt to twist the history of Ceylon / Sri Lanka.
No Tamil Leader ‘attacked Mahawamsa’ in the 30s or to date.
Sinhalese hating Tamils developed only after 1948.
GGP was a devout Hindhu.
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pirana / December 8, 2013
Panda or Pandaram otherwise known as Bandara lately because of Sinhalisation.My dear Tamil brother listen!
I don’t think it is worth my while to respond to your entire drivel but I belive I should challege you one one matter. the people did elect Ponnambalam Ramnathan over Marcus Fernando because in the early days of ceylonese politics it is not the ethnicity that matterd but the caste.
Marcus fernando was a karawa Sinhalese( in any event the Karawas, Durawes,Salagamas are South Indians) who were held in very low esteem by the Kandyan Govi aristocracy.They preferd a Vellala Tamil , Vellala being equal to Govi among the Tamil caste hierachy they ( the udarata Govi Sinhalese) preferd a Tamil Vellala over a Pahata rata minisu a low- country karawa so-called Sinhalese.Rest is history.May I also add that the history repeatd itslf again when Sarath Fonseka a Pahatarata man ( karawa) contested against this time a so-called low country govi Mahinda Rajafuckser we all saw how the castism was rekindled.
As regards GG Ponnambalam all I can say is I am ashamed that some people think that he was a Tamil leader of any subsatance but i for one hold him in contempt. Ponnambalam supported the Sinhalese to defranchise the Hill country Tamils that is more than enough for me to discard him in the historic rubbish bin.
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WINSTON DEVALLIERE / December 5, 2013
WELL SAID AMARASIRI, “Only an Egalitarian society with the separation of the temple and state can cure………………………………………………………” AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I’VE BEEN PUSHING FOR, FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, UNTIL I ULTIMATELY LEFT THE COUNTRY BECAUSE I FOUND NO HOPE FOR CHANGE EVEN FAR INTO THE FUTURE.
LOOKING AT THE INSIDE FROM OUTSIDE AS IT WERE, IT’S CLEAR TO ME THAT THE GOVERNMENT,[ AND DON’T THINK THIS PREPOSTEROUS] IS CHARTING A COURSE AIMED AT PROVOKING A BACKLASH WHICH IT WILL THEN CRUSH AND USE TO IMPOSE A MILITARY BACKED DICTATORSHIP.
MARK MY WORDS: LOOK OUT FOR MARTIAL LAW WITHIN A YEAR OR TWO THE MOST. I’M AMAZED THAT YOU PEOPLE OVER IN COLOMBO DON’T SEE THE SIGNS. I GET A DISTINCT FEELING THAT ONLY TISARANEE HAS BEEN ABLE TO PROBE THE DEPTHS ACCURATELY.
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Banda / December 6, 2013
Thisaranee had been predicting many prophesies for a long time. DEVALLIERE can read them in many a past Sri Lanka journal. She is no half-baked traitor. She sees terrorists as freedom fighters and sense nationalists as extremists. So, she did everything she could to prevent MR from being elected the President of Sri Lanka in 2005. // When MR was elected president, Thisaranee had become an economist and an expert on thrift. She strarted writing article after article to advise the government on how to save money by cutting the defence budget. When that didn’t succeed, she and her cohorts started to mock the moral raising campaign aimed at our forces. On 1/1/2006, Thisaranee wrote to Asia Tribune to say, President Rajapakse returned from his inaugural pilgrimage to India almost empty handed. Little she knew, MR had convinced India the need to eradicate LTTE. // Tigers closed Marwi Aru sluice gates and started the war. When our forces opened the gates, won the East and started to march towards the North, Thisaranee poured more and more write-ups to worn us that India will never let LTTE to be defeated. As LTTE faced defeat after defeat, she talked about dynastic longings (Sunday Island 11/03/2007) of MR in just over two years into his Presidency. // When our forces reached the gates of Kilinochchi, Thisaranee wrote that LTTE would never let its administrative capital to be overrun. She had gone so far as to say that our army would face the same fate as the German army in Stalingrad in WW11. When LTTE had being cornered finally to Mulathivu, Thisaranee said LTTE would fight a guerrilla war from its jungles for years to come. That’s the credentials of her predictions. When have you joined Thisaranee’s league, DEVALLIERE.
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Pasel / December 5, 2013
Elections are not going to solve the Tamil struggle because Sri Lanka is not a democratic country it run by racist majority , Buddhist monks and thugs
not now almost 35 years ago Tamil party won the election and Sinhala racist government ignore it and started to crush tamil youths that is the reason took arms then Government called them as terrorist and went west and crust the LTTE but now no LTTE and the racist showing the color again
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Chuti / December 5, 2013
Tamils (LTTE) took arms to kill sinhales, Muslims & Tamils regardless their age or gender.. Killed devotees, kill monks, priests,politicos..everyone…. they are terrorist.. No other words for them..
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Pandaranayagam / December 5, 2013
The Sinhala South is in no mood to allow Tamils their right of internal rule. That the TNA won 30 out of 38 seats makes no difference as the dictatorial attitude the Sinhala Governor shows. The NPC remains paralysed. Quisling Devananda held sway so long as there was no legitimate government in the Province. Now that the TNA has won overwhelmingly there is, clearly, no justifiable role for him. DD votes are stalled because he illegally continues to Chair the meetings. The Govt washes its hands off and tells the world
“look we have nothing to do with this. The Tamils – Devananda and Wigneswaren – are fighting and the PC is paralysed”
If peace, reconciliation and justice are the rhetoric of the Rajapakse siblings Devananda, who has no role to play, should be told so unambiguously so that the legitimate NPC under CM Wigneswaren is given the necessary funds and the necessary State cooperation to
allow the NPC to function effectively. As to the Sinhala military-inflicted Governor since the Rajapakses claim they are prisoners to the Sinhala extremists to provide justice very soon the international community will play the role of the Govt. As to peace after the war under the Sinhala supremacist Rajapakses, this is unlikely to be serious. The Sinhala State will continue the war – this time around without guns, artillery and tanks. The Sinhala army is back in the streets – and the fascism continues with impunity and unabated.
As UNs Mrs. Navi Pillai eloquently noted ” while the war is over the immense suffering continues”
Pandaranayagam
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justice / December 5, 2013
He spoke the truth of all the dumb MPs & puppet Ministers blindly following a “good” leader but allowing all power to be concentrated in one family.
And that this is known and not liked by all peoples,both in the northeast and the south.
This is not liked by the beneficiaries,who kept interrupting him.
A good speech and one of the best so far,in parliament.
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Fathima Fukushima / December 5, 2013
Tamils have blood in their hands!!
LITERALLY!
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Arran / December 7, 2013
Do not say Tamils have blood in their hands all politicians have blood in there hands (Tamils Sinhala and the foreign gov in perticar) now is the time to start reconciliation or never,I am afraid the history will start again and we will be talking
About it you guess in after death where ever we are but we have to talk about future and the current situation not the past that is where I think every body is missing the point.
Arran
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Thondamanaru / December 7, 2013
Quote; “Tamil people and the Tamil Racists will have none of it……………………………
So will the majority. They too will have none of it chase the minority out of the South as well.
Aday! Tamil masquarading as Amarasiri, continue to flame the fires. Reality will take place sooner than later.
That is what you want. then you will have it.
Majority Catholics & Christians will rise up against the Tamil Catholic & Clergy as well…as they would not want to be Rayappurs or Majority community Traitor Clergy’s martyrs………
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Fathima Fukushima / December 7, 2013
So Tamils still want hot iron rods up their behinds?
They never learn.
Same demands, same punishment.
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pirana / December 8, 2013
Fartima fuckshimba
by your language You are showing that you are indeed a true Muslim.
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Das / December 7, 2013
It’s the duty of the majority community to look after the minority not to suppress them.you wait till march 14 to see what the international community is going to do if there is no proper steps are not taken.you will leave the international community no other choice other than to step in and devide the country.it’s better for all the communities to unite and find an amicable solution.
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