8 October, 2024

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The Story Of Green Shoots Of Hope Behind Barbed-Wire Fence

By Mahesan Niranjan

Prof. Mahesan Niranjan

Prof. Mahesan Niranjan

A few weeks ago, in the town of Kilinochchi in the North of Sri Lanka, I visited a large factory. An exciting visit to Kilinochchi, because just six years ago, the likes of you and I would have felt that this town was on a different planet. It was not accessible to us, being under control of a determined rebel, who, generously endowed with brutality and stupidity in equal measures, put tens of thousands of innocent people to be massacred on the firing line between him and his equally callous foe. Today, to our delight, Kilinochchi is just one hour drive from Jaffna and six hours and ten minutes by train from Colombo.

Observe from the North: a friend from the newly established Faculty of Engineering of the University of Jaffna was able to greet me at the Kilinochchi railway station at 1:00 PM, then drive to Thirunelvely for a meeting, and be back at 5:30 PM to join me at dinner. He could do that because the highway is in good shape. His Faculty that wasn’t there last year is up and running, though in temporary buildings, with a few dozen students and about ten bright young lecturers. The potential of the place and the people I met was impressive. That there was much hard work to be done, and that there was the space to do it in, was striking.

Observe from the South: if you take a train ride to Kilinochchi, you can still see Station Masters using Victorian signalling systems, passing bronze tablets through engine drivers — a secure system ensuring only one train is on the track between any two stations. Seated on comfy seats of air-conditioned carriages, you will notice two step changes when you pass Vavuniya: (a) the journey becomes suddenly very comfortable – the railway tracks being brand new to the north of Omanthai, the train travels primarily in one direction, rather than the usual six degrees of freedom it enjoys on tracks laid during Suddha (white man) times in much of the rest of our country; and (b) density of army personnel you come across suddenly increases – stationed there due to a security necessity of avoiding our country going down the war path once again, and the social and political necessity of demonstrating who the real boss is. Real or imagined my inferences are, you judge.

At the factory in Kilinochchi, I observed two men in conversation. One was a manager of the factory. The other, to my pleasant surprise, was the Sri Lankan Tamil fellow Sivapuranam Thevaram, my drinking partner in Bridgetown pubs. They were speaking in English, despite having two other languages — Sinhala and Tamil — in common between them. That should not be surprising as command of the English laTrainTravelnguage opens many doors which otherwise remain closed. Even better, English has its own beauty. For example I can’t think of another language in which you can insult someone by saying “with all due respect!”

Now Sinhala and Tamil are, according to some scholars, very different. The former is derived primarily from Sanskrit, an ancient language at the root of the Indo-European family, and has evolved substantially over several millennia. Tamil, on the other hand, is from the Dravidian family, with origins in South India, and has stayed fairly constant, over an equally large timescale. They certainly differ a lot in phonetics. For example, Sinhala diphones /ga/, /ha/, / ka/ are represented by the same character in Tamil, and though in wide use, they are absent in classic Tamil. Similarly, you won’t find the same sharp distinction between /la/, /La/ and the retroflex /zha/ in Sinhala.

What a good starting point to define the differences between us, and fight it out?

But if you go slightly deeper into the languages, as Thevaram’s good friend Brave Lion (not his real name) — an expert in the field of Computational Linguistics — had explained, the morphological and grammatical structures of Sinhala and Tamil are almost identical. Compare the way you modify words: /amma/ (mother), /ammage/ (mother’s) and /ammata/ (to mother) with similar morphological changes in Tamil /amma/, /ammavin/, and /ammavukku/. Do you see similar structures?

Go even deeper, and consider phrase movements shown in the figures below. Do you see the one-to-one mapping between Sinhala and Tamil, both of which differ so much from English?

t2s t2e

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superficial differences in phonetics disappear when we dig deep down into grammatical structures, don’t they?

Is that not a good metaphor to ask the question that, if genetically similar people dress and eat slightly differently, and cling on to slightly different sets of superstitious beliefs glorified as their age old cultures, should we work towards building a political future based on their similarities, or insist on exaggerating their differences?

Let us return to the factory in Kilinochchi.

The manager was explaining the set up in the factory. They had over a thousand employees, mostly women. A clever young engineer explained how efficiency in production was optimized. She had done extensive work study calculations: how long does it take to move a small object from one place to the other; to cut the object into the right shape; to fix the pieces together; to fold it into the right shape for packing; to stich the correct label in, and put the finished product into the box for export. She can then measure how efficient each worker is. There is a target to be met and there is bonus payment to be gained for doing better than the target. “Their basic salary is about Rs. 10,000 per month,” the Manager said in response to Thevaram’s query, “and I have a highly efficient and motivated workforce here,” he said with a sense of pride.

Being bombarded with terms like “efficiency,” “work study,” “productivity,” and “bonus payments,” — notions that form the foundations of capitalism – made my friend rather uncomfortable. Thevaram is from the Left of politics. Though he has never read Marx, associations on the left bank of LongRiver (not the real name of the river) at HillTop University (again, not the real name), had cultivated in him a deep sense of suspicion about capitalism.

That discomfort Thevaram felt in the factory was, however, short-lived. As he looked across the factory floor, he made eye contact with one of the young women working there. Just a moment’s glance when she took her eyes off her much practiced routine. Her beautiful eyes pierced through him and jogged his memory. They told him a story. It was the painful story Thevaram’s wife’s cousin’s cousin had told him a few months back during a visit to Bridgetown.

This wife’s cousin’s cousin is from a farming family in Strawberrykulam (name changed to protect identity), of two boys and two girls. As the war intensified, the boys, considered to be of relatively higher risk were sent abroad by selling part of the land they owned. After rather perilous journeys, one through snow covered Serbian mountains and the other through the cargo holds of a container ship, they eventually settled in England. The young girls lived with the parents.

Then there was a day in 2008, a recruiting team of the striped ones arrived to take the older girl away. One member of each family was needed for the war effort. The girl was scared, ran away and hid somewhere. They searched all over the farm and couldn’t find her. So they took the younger girl. She was kicking and screaming. The parents were begging the little girl be spared. The recruiters had come well prepared with sticks and beat the parents who stood in their way. As they dragged the girl along the gravel road, the soles of her feet split and bled, the brother — the wife’s cousin’s cousin — had reported with tears in his eyes. Hearing her sister has been caught, the older girl surrendered. That did not mean the release of the younger one – the recruiters got two for the trouble of one.

Perhaps a bonus payment was received for their efficiency, who knows? After all, the rebellion was not against capitalism, was it?

Thevaram stood in silence on the factory floor, staring into the eyes of the young worker. What was her life six years ago? Could it have been what the wife’s cousin’s cousin reported? Would she have been dragged away from home, absorbed into the fighting force and sent to the front line with explosives strapped to her belly? Would that fight and the illusion of the “promised land” have been a better choice for her than being a factory worker now, whose efficiency at work was subject to meticulous analysis for the chance of a bonus payment – the essence of capitalism Thevaram so dislikes?

The moment’s silence from Thevaram brought out an amazing reaction from the manager, who said “you are right.”

How very strange?

“Right about what,” I hear you ask. After all, during the preceding moment Thevaram had not spoken anything.

“Several of the girls here were ex-combatants,” the manager said, “they were held in Boosa and places like that.”

He certainly was thinking what Thevaram was thinking. There is no need for language when your thoughts are synchronized, is there? None of the three languages they had in common between them was needed.

You might ignore this as a minor detail, but the subsequent conversation of the two men was in a mixture of Tamil and English.

PalmAtStation

On his way back, at the Kilinochchi railway station, Thevaram photographed a plant – a tiny palm with fresh green shoots. He shared it with friends as the metaphor he so desperately wanted to see in Kilinochchi, reinforcing a sense of relief in him.

Yet the measures taken by the gardener who was claiming to protect the plant seemed totally disproportionate. As you see, a razor-sharp barbed-wire fence has been erected around the plant.

The gardener appears not to have read modern history books which record that the war in our country ended more than five years ago.

Are his intentions honourable?

Latest comments

  • 6
    1

    The barbed wire around the coconut seedling is to protect it from hungry cows and goats. It is a common practice. Palmyrah seedlings on the other hand does not require protection as the leaves’edges are sharp.

    • 0
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      “Palmyrah seedlings on the other hand does not require protection as the leaves’edges are sharp”

      Fascinating thought!
      But palmyrah trees were decimated recently, perhaps the poor Naanal survived the destruction. I think it is not for us to judge what is right and wrong about other’s deeds, but we should try to help in what ever the way we can.

  • 6
    2

    Niranjan,

    “…Hearing her sister has been caught, the older girl surrendered. That did not mean the release of the younger one – the recruiters got two for the trouble of one.”

    Your relatives should present this to the UNHRC war crimes investigation committee so that we will have the complete truth of what happened during the war, including atrocities like these committed by the LTTE. It is in nobody’s interest to have only the other side’s atrocities reported to the UNHRC.

  • 3
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    Tamils are actually Sinhalese who speak Tamil due to invasions. And Tamil and Sinhalese language are not that far apart. In S.E.Asia where Malay and Chinese languages are quite different from the South Asian ones, people there tend to mock Sinhalese and Tamil languages the same way (angalae, pungalae etc.).

    • 5
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      You say that Tamils are actually Sinhalese who speak Tamil due to invasions.

      Are you sure … ?

      Couldn’t it be that Sinhalese are actually Tamils who chose to convert themselves to Buddhism and started speaking a newly developing language to win the favour of our rulers, when our Kings began showing patronage to Buddhism and its scriptures.

      This is analogous to Sinhalese (Buddhists) and Tamils (Hindus) becoming English speaking Christians, during the British rule.

      • 0
        3

        How can one start to speak a newly developing langauge? Dont you see the inadequacy of your own argument?

        It is the language they were speaking were evoloved and in a continuous state of development. No one start using a newly developing language. How can a civil population start using a newly developing language? That is irrational and a stupid argument.

        And in north and east is filled with ancient buddhist sites, So your argument doesnt really help you that after buddhism ppl in SL started using a new language.

        And there is no proper evidence to suggest people in SL converting to relgiion and sinhala to win kings patronage. why should sinhala ppl convert to sinhala?

        It is common knowledge that northen and wanni were constantly under invasions from tamil kings in TN. So what could have happen is the opposite of what you suggest. It is with the continuous tamil invasions people in north were subject to language replacement…

        And look at the places both languages had prior to european arrival, Tamil was the trade language a kin to english today in souther south asia. Are you suggesting natives in SL stopped using tamil (with such advantages) and started a newly developing language coming from (sri lanka :))

        And SL tamils share genetics more with the sinhala ppl and not with indian tamils. why because they belong to the same bunch while the former was subject to language replacement by tamil invasions

        • 1
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          Calm down.

          I don’t know where to start to respond to your tirade.

          I’ll pick portions from your jumbled protest to add order to my response.

          … why should sinhala ppl convert to sinhala?

          – At no point did I say that sinhala ppl converted to sinhala’. All what I said was, ‘Sinhalese are actually Tamils who chose to convert …’.

          … How can one start to speak a newly developing langauge?

          – Every language that is in day to day use develops gradually over time. Tamils who converted to Buddhism picked up the words in the languages in which Buddhist scriptures were written. Thus evolved Sinhala. Over time, Tamil speaking Buddhists – the converts – started to let go Tamil and graduated to Sinhala speaking Tamils (Sinhalese).

          … Dont you see the inadequacy of your own argument?

          – Now, tell me, whose argument is inadequate. Does your cap fit you!

          … How can a civil population start using a newly developing language?

          – The converts did not speak Sinhala, to begin with. They were Tamils. They spoke Tamil. While practising Buddhism picked up the words in the languages in which Buddhist scriptures were written. Thus evolved Sinhala.

          … north and east is filled with ancient buddhist sites

          – Good for you. Yes Tamils in North and East practised Buddism, but did not abandon Tamil. (There are Tamils and Sinhalese who abandoned their languages to become only English speaking, you recall, don’t you.)

          If you still don’t get it, find the right cure.

          • 0
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            You need not tell me to calm down; in CT conversations I have seen it is always the person who has lost his calm who asks others to calm down.
            You did not say Sinhala people are the ones who convert to Sinhala but the irrationality of your argument suggests it. You said “Sinhalese are actually Tamils who chose to convert …”..This is what I pointed out. The tamils (if we are to call them tamils for the ease of argument) were not actually tamils like you are today but an evolving community who ended up evolving into sinhalese. They did not start from tamils, probably tamils in northern SL (if we ignore the migrant indian tamils) and Sinhalese evolved from this bunch. It is your own fallacy if you term this particular group of people as ‘tamils’, because they are not tamils in today’s ethnic sense.
            “Every language that is in day to day use develops gradually over time. Tamils who converted to Buddhism picked up the words in the languages in which Buddhist scriptures were written. Thus evolved Sinhala.”
            So if every language evolved , then how is your notion that so called ‘Tamil buddhists’ adopted a NEW language called Sinhala when Sinhala is the logical outcome of the evolving language of the native people? How is it the same tamil Buddhists adopting a new language? Is it something a kin to apostasy in muslim mindset?
            Hinduism is heavily Sanskrit based, if going by your logic, even tamil should be a heavily sanskritised language. But it is not. And recent Buddhist excavations in TN have pointed at Buddhist heritage in Tamil Nadu. But that has not made tamil into Sinhala in TN and we didn’t see a gradual sinhalisation of TN. Then what do Buddhist ruins in North and East suggest? Are they belonged to so called tamil Buddhists who adopted new Sinhala language?
            I still see you fail to grasp the inadequacy of your argument. How can you call tamil Buddhists adopt a new language called Sinhala when you yourself in another way say Sinhala is the logical outcome of the language evolvement of the native people in SL. The reason you struggle here is you cannot bear the fact Sinhala is the NATURAL outcome of language evolvement in SL.
            Sinhala doesn’t have words from only Tamil and Pali, there are many Sinhala words especially in south that are unique to the people in south. How can Tamil Buddhists turn Sinhala because of Pali while Tamils didn’t become Sinhala while using a more Sanskrit based religion?
            Where are tamil literature of the past from SL? None, right?
            The reason people in wanni and north could not subject to this natural evolvement was due to the tamil invasions by TN which made them replace their own evolving language called Sinhala to invader’s tamil.
            Before asking others to take a cure, try to understand what your own argument fail at.

            • 2
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              Such `Boo`ts (spanish)Buró/ donkey,(english)

              Spanish Roofing S type Rustic Antique Red, Dark /Light, `Mission Clay Roof Tile`
              – Sihala Ulu, Sihala Olu, Sihala Boru.
              Even in 1970 GL Peiris did not have a Sihala dictionary to lecture at Colombo campus.
              1 English; Shirt Spanish: Camisa; Sinhala: Amude/Camisa
              2 English: Shoe; Spanish: Zapato; Sinhala: Amude/Sapatu
              3 English: Towel Spanish: Toalla; Sinhala : Amude/Toalla
              4 English: Table Spanish: Mesa; Sinhala : Amude/Mesa
              5 English: Closet Spanish: Armario; Sinhala : Amude/ Armario
              6 English: Space; Spanish: Sala; Sinhala: Amude/Sala

              Sanskrit/Pali Ha ha Ho ho>!!!

    • 5
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      Why not the hypothesis that the Sinhalese are Tamils who became Buddhists and then Sinhalese?

      It is time we gave up such nebulous hypotheses and move forward on the basis that the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others are all Sri Lankans and equal citizens with rights to the use of their language, practice their religions; and entitlement to equality under the laws of the land and equal opportunities.

      Dr.Rajasingham Narendran

      • 5
        1

        Dr.Rajasingham Narendran

        “Why not the hypothesis that the Sinhalese are Tamils who became Buddhists and then Sinhalese?”

        Do you think you could rationally convince these stupid people of their past or present supported by scientific evidence?

        There have been several studies on genetics which time and again confirmed affinity among Sinhalese and Tamils in this island and Tamilnadu.

        The little islanders are averse to rational civilisation.

        • 3
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          Dear NV,

          Intelligence, common sense, rationality, logic and science are aliens in the political dialogue in Sri. Lanka. Even the shocking three decades plus of war and its consequences have not been therapeutic,

          Dr. RN

      • 0
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        well same can be argued as” why not the SL tamils are not sinhalese” ?

        • 4
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          sach

          “well same can be argued as” why not the SL tamils are not sinhalese” ? “

          Because stupid Tamils and stupid Sinhalese of this island have close affinity with stupid Tamils of Tamilnadu, both share 74 % of their gene pool.

          If you don’t want to be identified with stupid people of this island and South India see if you can share your stupidity with other stupid people elsewhere.

        • 2
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          Dear Sach,

          I am pasting a slightly edited version of a previous comment I made in CT some time back. I am sure you will agree with what very current science reveals than with myths perpetuated to support diverse political agenda.

          “I refer to an article by Ranawana et al, on ‘Mitochondrial DNA history of Sri Lankan people: their relation within the island and with the Indian sub-continental population, Journal of Human Genetics(2014), 59,29-36’
          . The results of this study involved the Veddas, Up-country Sinhalese, Low-country Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils in the island. The Muslims were not sampled in this study. Their most important results with minimal scientific jargon are:
          1. The Vedda population was genetically separated from other Sri Lankan ethnic counterparts. 2. Two Vedda subgroups were intermingled with the Sinhalese, both Up-country and Low-country, but not with any of the Tamils.
          3. The genetic matrix in which the Tamil and Sinhalese subgroups , that cannot be clearly separated from each other, were observed towards the major branch of the Lankan genetic tree, with the majority of the Vedda people towards the other.
          4. Interestingly, some Sinhalese groups were relatively closer to the Tamils than to the rest of the Sinhala subgroups. 5. Another analysis of the same data also showed that the majority of the Sinhala and Tamil subgroups form close genetics proximities among themselves.
          6. The Up-country Sinhalese are genetically closer to the Sri Lankan Tamils.
          7. Sri Lankan subgroups were closer to each other, when compared to Indian Tamils.
          8. All the Sinhalese and Tamil subgroups intermingle well with the majority of the Indian sub-continental populations forming a large genetic matrix.
          9. However, the Indian Tamils were separated from the rest of Sri Lankan subgroups, with only two exceptions.
          10. This is further strengthening of the hypothesis that Indian Tamils are genetically distinct from the rest of the Sri Lankan ethnic groups.
          11. Up-country Sinhalese, Low-country Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils exhibited similar frequencies of Haploid group M.
          12. A package of Indian-specific mitochondrial DNA harbouring a coalescent age of about 50,000- 70,000 years, were present in the ethnic populations of Sri Lanka.
          13. Haplogroup U2 was found in all studied populations, with its marked high frequency observed in Sri Lankan Tamils.
          14. The western Eurasian contribution to the Sri Lankan maternal gene pool was 19.4 %. This study is one step in advance of Kshatriya’s study and has more clarity.

          Future research can only clarify matters further. In view of these studies should we be discussing , debating and wrangling over which community has the greatest claim to the ownership of Sri Lanka. What will both the Sinhalese and Tamils say about their claimed genetic uniqueness? How will we all try to build a Sri Lankan nation on the premise that we are the same people genetically, who came through the Indian mainland from a journey that began in East Africa millions of years ago, to establish ourselves in the Lanka of old and further evolved over the millennia. This study is also case for us to endeavour to make our essential genetic unity a basis to accommodate our present and very superficial cultural diversity. I hope sense prevail and nonsense dissipates.” On google if you type the words ‘The genetics of Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka’ you will find the full paper. Once you read my summary above or the full publication, please let me know whether you agree that the Sinhalese and Tamils share a common genetic heritage. The Sri Lankan Tamils appear to be also less mixed with other peoples studied and clearly unrelated South Indian Tamils.”

          Dr.RN

          • 0
            2

            Actually it is the same point i put forward, that SL tamils and sinhala people come from the same bunch. My point was regarding the remark that sinhala is a new adopted identity. Sinhala was the logical outcome of the language evolvement of the people living in this part of SL.

            And the genetic study further disapproves the aryan origins of sinhala people. I mean look at pictures of sinhala people in kandy during british conquest. they dont look aryan to me, fully dark and dravidian (if such a thing exist at all.)

            • 0
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              Bravo! Thanks.

              Dr.RN

          • 0
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            Dr R N
            “The Sri Lankan Tamils appear to be also less mixed with other peoples studied and clearly unrelated South Indian Tamils”

            I believe that both Srilankan Tamils and Sinhalese share their genetic ancestry with Kerala people( malayalees).

            Prof Pathmanathan has researched on the shared cultural, linguistic and religious identities between Kerala and Srilanka, and Sir James Peiris researched on the evolution of Karava caste in Srilanka and its roots to Kerala. It is my hope that future genetic studies needs to consider this association.

            Commenting on similarities between Sinhalese and Tamil, there is lexical and syntaxial similarities, in spite of the phonological differences, this has been addressed in previous columns by yourself in an article and Dharshanie Ratnwalli’s articles published in CT.

            • 3
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              ken

              M D Raghavan’s books can be accessed on these links:

              The Karava of Ceylon Society and Curure

              By M D Raghavan

              http://www.noolaham.net/project/38/3704/3704.pdf

              Ceylon: A Pictorial Survey of The Peoples and Arts

              By M D Raghavan

              http://www.noolaham.net/project/18/1769/1769.pdf

              Tamil Culture in Ceylon A General Introduction

              By M D Raghavan

              http://noolaham.net/project/11/1084/1084.pdf

              Sinhala Natum

              By M D Raghavan

              http://www.noolaham.net/project/76/7524/7524.pdf

            • 1
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              Dear Ken ,

              I have also noticed cultural similarities between the Sinhalese, Tamils and Keralites. The present day Kerala was the Sera Badu of old and one of the Sera-clhola-Pandya Tamil Kingdoms of old. The Jaffna Tamil dialect contains many words that are yet used in Kerala, both the Sinhala and Tamil food items and way if cooking are similar to those of the Keralites. Further, the a Redda and Haata worn by the Sinhalese a few decades back were typically Keralites. The Kandyan dancing is very close to Kathakali. Further, the ubiquitous Malayali toddy tappers of old had Sinhala mistresses in Sri Lanka and left their progeny. The British of the early years of colonisation referred to the Tamils as Malabaris, noticing the common customs and the way we spoke Tamil. I am sure future studies will confirm the genetic links.

              Dr.RN

  • 0
    6

    Niranjan, are you inching towards a poltioco to compete with douglas. You call yourself a professor – I am interested which academic instituition you belong to. Are you irrational or are you a chap who cannot decern truth from fiction. You must be having an agenda and a goal, watch the space. TIME WILL TELL!

  • 5
    0

    thanks for this article – and more importantly, the spirit behind the writings.

    Many of my SL Tamil friends say that their culture is very different from Indian Tamil culture. Some even admit that their SL Tamil culture is closer to Sinhalese culture than Indian Tamil. Of course many of my friends who are SL Tamils grew up in Colombo or the Hill country, and not Jaffna.

    Dr. Rajasingham Narendran has commented that Jaffna Tamils have a very distinctive sense of self. I have often wondered about that. Can some one explain what that mind set is (honestly, not derisively or provocatively)?

    I frankly do not see any insurmountable problems between the Sinhalese and Tamils in the Sri Lanka I grew up in. And I wish that our politicians and the military do not mess up this opportunity for unity and creation of a economy that serves everyone, not just the Sinhalese.

  • 0
    3

    .
    Is the large factory story real?

    :-)

    • 3
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      Aratai,

      Very much so! In fact a Tamil owned construction company carried out this project.

      Dr.RN

    • 1
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      diaspora protest don’t count.!
      it’s MAS (“Vidiyal” and “Vaanavil”) well connected with Jewish buyers worldwide.

  • 1
    2

    Dear Prof. MN,

    You are doing a better job than Comrade Vasu. I do not know whether Vasu, after nearly 5-years of Ministering National Integration, has learnt to speak in Tamil. He vists the OPA Bar occasionally with some of his classmates. May be to drown the sorrows of his political career.

  • 3
    2

    Professor Niranjan,

    Vellala Wigneswaran’s sons didn’t have to book a berth in a container. Nor did they trek in deep snow to escape from the Striped Ones … Correct..

    Wiggie didn’t have to sell his farm either..

    No wonder the CM payed homage to the late leader as the first official duty and praised Praba as a Hero…

    The ex combatants whom you have mentioned here earn LKR 10,000 per Month plus Bonus with the mid day provided.

    The athletic ones who joined the SL Army are on LKR 30,000 a month plus full board and lodging.

    But if are to believe the Verti Clad Vellalas from Kurunduwatta, who pull the strings in the NPC, these girls are all victims of exploitation by the bad Sinhala Buddhists.

    And they even use these girls as Sex Slaves according to their dispatches to the UN and Miss Pillai..

    Perhaps you should have accompanied these Verti Vellalas in Yarl Devi.

    And got your friend to bring the Vella CM by road in one of those Luxury Buses owned by Vellalas and operate from Vellala Gardens.

    And they could have listened to your drinking buddy’s sad recollections with the Manger of the Business. which brought a tear or two to this” hard core Sinhala Buddhist”

    And they wouldn’t have had any problem with the Diaspora Dialect either, unlike Miss Ananthi. who missed out on a place in the Vellala Cabinet of the NPC…

    You must think of writing something about how these Vellalas manged to dominate the Dalits so soon after the big Striped one left’

    Thevaram who seems to be from Mankulum, sorry Strawberrykulum might have plenty in put after a few pints at Bridgetown Watering Hole.

  • 1
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    Interesting as always. Ta.

    Instead of being happy that these young ladies were gainfully employed, some readers were moaning in these columns not too long ago that the workers’ salaries were a little lower than those in the South. It had to be pointed out that the factories gravitate to where labour is cheapest and that the South may in fact suffer for this reason. The new infrastructure put in place would have had a positive influence on the decision to put up this factory and others up in the North.

  • 2
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    “Couldn’t it be that Sinhalese are actually Tamils who chose to convert themselves to Buddhism and started speaking a newly developing language to win the favor of our rulers, when our Kings began showing patronage to Buddhism and its scriptures”

    This is a comment appearing in the first place. Then Naren wrote the one appearing below.

    “Why not the hypothesis that the Sinhalese are Tamils who became Buddhists and then Sinhalese? It is time we gave up such nebulous hypotheses and move forward “

    Then he wrote this

    Aratai, Very much so! In fact a Tamil owned construction company carried out this project. Dr.RN

    Could somebody separate the milk, if there is any, out of this sewage?

    He was so concerned by the comment that is trying to oppose that the Tamils did not come from Sinhalese, but it is the other way. So he is hiding his ugly face with gentleman paint, with word of “all these are only hypothesis”. Then he is saying that it is like eating a banana, by passing all these. He sounds like a person that he never ever heard what form of communal divisions exist in Lanka.

    First, if Naren rejects all these as Hypothesis, Let me ask him a question “Is rejecting Aamarasisri’s claims that Veda was the first inhabitant of this land?” Would he oppose a scientifically analyzing or studying the Lankan races? If somebody does, that does he have a comment? We leave it there. He can answer to that.

    Our purpose is separating poison he is offering mixed with Milk. Here is a comment trying to find out who is this man is “Niranjan, are you inching towards a poltioco to compete with douglas. You call yourself a professor – I am interested which academic instituition you belong to. Are you irrational or are you a chap who cannot decern truth from fiction. You must be having an agenda and a goal, watch the space. TIME WILL TELL!” Naren is the one substantiated the Australian dentist’s essays. Now he is become the lawyer for Niranjan.

    When his master offers, Snake may drink milk, but if it spew anything, it will be only poison. Snake cannot be taught by any guru to spew milk, how much milk he may feed it with. Naren will there calling as separating the milk, where there is poison is flowing. Then there is double acting will come and join too.

    Amarasisri has posted many research links trying intellectual to find out who are the Lankan Tamils and Sinhalese. I believe it was about an year ago Professor Kumar David posted here an article deeply analyzing the DNA of the Tamils and Sinhalese. I am sure it is not that Naren could not simply separate milk, he would not have understood the article if he has read it. This sage Naren never can understand of what is purpose of that type of essays, beyond the academic fact finding. Even if they separate their lands as the political solution, for not being ended up as India and Pakistan, there is a need for Eelam Tamils and Sinhalese to understand who they are. Only ways to dissolve their misconception are educating and open and frank discussions. Not discount the way sage Naren doing. It is important to know, for the Mass, who they are. They have been programmed in the past with false hypothesis. That is why the communal-ism is present in Lanka. There is need to undo it. Cheating like Naren is not the way to undo it.

    First, Naren acted like he is a sage that he is above any human perception of divisions. As far as the mass is concerned, the divisions are real, hard and solid, alive, material and whatever else it would be. There is a need for educations. It is not the Lankan societies, no human being on this earth are Buddha or Ramakrishna to reject the differences. Our sage Naren, knocked it out first as it is only a Hypothesis. Then he wrote it is only a Tamils company built the factory. The reason is, first he did not like the comment that tried to claim that it was Tamils who came first. Then Naren wanted hide the robbery the paramilitary companies are doing in the North, so he said it was only a Tamils company which built the factory. It is well known that paramilitary is illegally digging sand for constructions. So the propagandists for paramilitary are trying to blind others as there are constructions companies flourishing all over the North because the government is opening factories in the North day and night.

    Royal Government has opened facilities in Andhra to employ 13,500 garment workers, for to keep their money safely invested. Even the Mahavamsa Modayas are getting the benefit of the Royals’ wealth. Royal Government is under heavy pressure from America to keep it GSP +. USAID funded with a southern company the Kilinochchi factory. Son Prince had taken photos lavishly has published in the news media to make people believe that this is his charity to Tamils. These coolies are writing stories thinking either they can fool the American diplomats or the Tamils of what has been happening.

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