28 March, 2024

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Two Alleged Genocides – And Canada’s Claimed Support For Conflict Prevention In Sri Lanka

By Chandre Dharmawardana

Dr. Chandre Dharmawardana

David McKinnon, Canada’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka  has stated, on Canada’s National Day that “Canada would continue to support conflict prevention efforts in Sri Lanka, where  it has been seen how hate speech and media can entrench communal divisions”. Meanwhile back in Canada, successive Canadian governments have failed to understand how this very “hate speech” is being entrenched in Canadian municipal discourse and even in parliamentary proceedings by militant diaspora groups. They wish to replay the old ethnic animosities of their homeland   in Canada too.

This has been possible because of electorates where minority groups determine the “swing vote”. Canadian politicians usually know  little about Sri Lanka,  and prefer to  parrot what gets them the votes even when they find out the facts. Many candidates running for office in Canada believe or assume that  all Sri Lankan immigrants in Canada are Tamil ethnics. They readily  accept that a “genocide” of Tamils had occurred, and that most  Sri Lankan immigrants are  refugees from that “genocide”. This is surely very convenient for would be refugees.

The now defunct Northern Provincial Council (NPC) of Sri Lanka led by Mr. Wigneswaran had declared in 2015 that all Sri Lankan governments since independence in 1948 had practiced “genocide” against Sri Lankan Tamils (see: Island, Feb 2015,).  Sri Lankan political historians and jurists have largely ignored this,  conveniently treating it as  mere political rhetoric of extremists who even discourage  inter-ethnic  marriage and strive to create mono-ethnic communities subservient to them. But the Canadian Tamil Diaspora has taken up the drum beat of a “Tamil genocide” back in Canada.

Canada’s federal inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls released its final report with a verdict of “genocide”, indicting Canada’s policies since the times of Sir John A MacDonald.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accepted the findings of the report, while informally endorsing the claim of “genocide”. The leader of the opposition, Andre Sheer contends  that “Genocide” isn’t the right word to describe what was done to the Indigenous people.

But was it right for what happened in Sri Lanka?

Canada is a signatory to the  1948 UN Convention on the  Crime of Genocide.  Following the federal  inquiry report, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States wants an international panel to investigate the claim and activate justice indicting Canada.

According to the University of Wisconsin scholar William Denevan and collaborators, the population of native people in the early 16th century in North America may have been as high as 110 million. Of this, an  estimated native population  in Canada during Jacques Cartier’s times could have been as  high as  10 million. It dwindled to record lows in the late 19th century, and recovered partially. It  now stands at  nearly  a million, or about 1.5 million on including  Métiis and  Inuits  as well. That is, the native population has dropped by a factor of at least 10  in  five  centuries, while  European numbers  have  increased exponentially. The record  lows in the Native population of the late 19th and early 20th century resulted from deliberate Colonial policies. Sir John A. MacDonald’s  policy of starving First Nations to death to make  room for  European settlers, willful denial of  health needs,  residential schools, negation of treaties etc., took their toll.  It was a time when a “Good Injun was a dead Injun”. More recently, during WWII, refugee Jewish ships were turned way with no qualms.

However, Canada turned a page with the quiet revolution in Quebec, and with leaders like Tommy Douglas and Lester Pearson making a difference, and Canada became a country with a conscience.

And yet, in spite of all these well-known facts, Canadian legislators have been very cautious since a  proclamation of a “Genocide” when Canada is at the receiving end is not in the plan. Casting stones at others is much easier, especially if there is political capital to be made.

Three Canadian municipalities, namely Toronto, Pickering and Brampton  have rushed  to cast stones and declare  May 18 as the “Sri Lankan Tamil Genocide commemoration day”. Furthermore, Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam (a provincial legislator)  has tabled the “Bill 104: Tamil Genocide Education Week in Ontario”. Clearly,  inter-ethnic battles of their homeland  are  being imported to Canada by  militant diaspora groups who work hand in hand with Canadian legislators  who know very little about Sri Lanka.

Demographics   indicate a  robust growth, rather than  a genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils, a 12% minority. The Tamil population of 734,000  in 1946 (i.e., just before independence)  increased  to 2.3 million at the 2011 census, after the fall of  the “Tamil Tigers”  in May 2009. In addition, some 0.9 million Tamils have emigrated, with most coming  to Canada. So the Tamil population has increased by  a factor of 4.4., strongly exceeding the 3.5 factor of  growth of the Sinhalese (the 72% majority) during the same period.

The majority of Tamil speakers  live in the Sinhalese areas. According to  CIA fact sheets, at most 5% of the population were under  the Tigers. The RCMP and the news media in Canada (e.g., Stewart Bell, National Post),  as well as in Sri Lanka  (e.g., see  Shamindra Ferdinando’s  series entitled “War on Terror”, Island) have reported how  Canadian Tamil organizations  funded  the Tigers who are proscribed as Terrorists in most countries even today. The columns of the veteran Tamil Journalist JBS Jayaraj claim that the Tigers killed more Tamils  than attributable to state terror. This view seems to be echoed by the late Sebastian Rasalingam a writer who is believed to be a rare voice of the “depressed” castes. Even  Mr. Chandrahasan, the son of the iconic Tamil leader SJV Chelvanayakam seems to have echoed similar views.

 SJV Chelvanayakam  founded the Ilanaki Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) in 1949 claiming a part of Ceylon as the “exclusive homeland of the Tamils.”. The idea of ethnic communities living apart – apartheid – was a respectable political philosophy in 1949. However, the majority community has never accepted the concept of an exclusive Tamil homeland. The Moors living in the Eastern province have strongly opposed the amalgamation of the East and the North to form an “Eelam”. Consequently  the ITAK was never trusted by the majority community or by the Moors. The ITAK in its turn did little to win such trust, printing Eelam stamps even in the 1950s, while its chief ideologue of the times, Mr. Navaratnam, wrote a text emphasizing the irreconcilability of the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The Sinhalese were themselves concerned with preserving their Identity derived from a Sinhala-Buddhist heritage, with “political monks” behaving with scant regard to the very teachings of the Buddha. The ITAK  gradually morphed into a  full-blown separatist party that pledged military action in 1976 at Vaddukkoddai. As an irony of history, this was an ancient garrison-fortification town known as “Batakotte”, designated to protect the country against Chola invasions. The ITAK, having roused the militancy of its “boys”, and  having  failed in its attempts to reach  a negotiated settlement with the state, actually found itself at the mercy of its own extremists. 

The northern peninsula, cleansed of Sinhalese and Muslims by the Tigers, and with Northern Tamils a mere 5% of the population, was now pitted against the military might of the state backed by the Sinhalese and the Moors. This  launched a set of  armed conflicts supported by unprecedented types of terrorist action, use of suicide cadre and child soldiers, now known as the Eelam wars. They lasted for three decades, mainly because the tigers were supplied with weapons and funds from the Diaspora living in the West. The Western politicians  pushed for peace negotiations but took no action to control the flow of such funding of terrorism from within their  shores.

Deaths during the Eelam wars struck all  Lankan ethnic groups equally hard. The claim of “genocide” focusing only on Tamil deaths of a claimed 40,000 during the last days of the  Eelam wars is currently under review by the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). The Organization of American States probably wants a similar review against Canada in regard to its treatment of native people. It should be noted that Canada is  a main sponsor of the indictment against Sri Lanka, now that the USA under Donald Trump has left the UNHRC.

 The indictment before the UNHRC is  contested by  knowledgeable authorities including Lord Neseby’s British House of Lords investigation. Their estimates of casualties come to some 7000, of which 5000 are Tamil-Tiger fighters. Scholarly studies of wiki-leaks of diplomatic dispatches, studies by the American Physical Society of satellite images of shelling, the report of the Paranagama commission etc., indicate similar lower figures of casualties.

However,  the municipalities of Toronto, Brampton and Pickering  rushed to judgment to please ethnic pressure groups. The Canadian Parliament itself sponsored  a sham hearing hosted by Mr. Garry Anandasangaree where the event was announced with short notice. Admissions were controlled and cut to a short time window to just voice the genocide story.  

If a genocide of 40,000 occurred in the last weeks of  Eelam IV,  mass graves of  40,000 killed have to be somewhere. But even the NPC under Mr. Wigneswaran who claimed a Tamil genocide has NOT succeeded in demonstrating any mass graves. The Mannar mass grave, which was excavated with great expectations of providing some support to the NCP genocide claim fell completely flat. Radio-carbon data indicated that the skeletons were from a massacre during Portuguese times by a Hindu-Tamil chieftain who exterminated fellow Tamil converts  to Catholicism. Furthermore, if 40,000 were killed by shell fire and bombings, some 160,000 injured are expected as “collateral”, but  very few  injured were found among the 300,000 held in the war zone when freed in May 2009.

A grave injustice is being committed by the Canadian municipalities in their rush to judgment about a “Tamil genocide”. This contrasts strongly with  the cautious approach of the House of Commons regarding  the alleged  genocide of aboriginal peoples. The good intentions contained in the  Canadian High Commissioner’s statement is unfortunately not being played out in Canada itself.   

*The author is a Canadian and Sri -Lankan academic living in Canada and attached to the Université de Montreal, and may be contacted at chandre.dharma@yahoo.ca

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Latest comments

  • 12
    6

    How can you contradict wigneswarans statement
    From 1956 periodically Sri Lankan state and its police armed forces.supported and encouraged Genocide of the Tamils
    Culminating in 2009 peak of killing 40,000 Tamils as stated by Expert Panel report
    Now the Sri Lankan state has started with Muslims
    Like the LTTE Easter attack was reaction to it. It has been said intelligence services ISIS did not anything about it till two days and just claimed responsibility
    So author should look inwards for the actions of municipalities and work with his Sinhala Buddhist Fundamentalist terrorist and State terrorist how to improve the situation
    They should know unlike terrorism against Tamils for 70 years and continuing Muslim having powerful wealthy nations to back will not tolerate the nonsense for long years

    • 5
      2

      Don’t know much about history
      Don’t know much biology
      Don’t know much about a science book,
      Don’t know much about the french I took
      But I do know that I love Lanka,
      And I know that if you love Lanka, too,
      What a wonderful country it would be — With apologies to Sam Cooke

      I don’t know or care to know the past history of Lanka; it doesn’t matter much …….. what matters is the present and the future …….. and the best way forward.

      So, here’s something without History, Biology, Science or ………… but simple truth and facts.

      I don’t think there are many Lankan-realists out there who realize how close we came to being a real or de facto partitioned country like Cyprus or Ukraine or few other places around the world that were “forced partitioned” by “greater forces.”

      Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran saved us.

      Every ultra “Sinhalese Buddhist” out there should have a statue of him next to their statue of Buddha and worship him every morning after worshipping Buddha. That’s how close you buggers came to losing your beloved “Sinhalese Buddhist” country!

      But are we ready when the next threat comes? Sure, just like we were ready even after several prior-warnings of the Easter bombings. That’s the essence of “Sinhalese Buddhists” for ye in a nutshell. Soreee if I hurt ye feelings ……. but the handful of truly smart ones of ye out there know it’s the truth ……… others just want to feel and think and sound they are smart in the little space in their crap-clogged brains.

      • 5
        1

        continued

        Not that I’m an admirer, but how has Israel survived in the midst/among such hostile numerically superior odds?

        The way the “world forces” are shaping up around us ……. we can’t afford not to look at their tactics.

        Sooooo if ye are the most rabidly selfish ultra “Sinhalese Buddhist” out there and ye don’t give a toss about the minorities but only care about yourself …….. what is the smart way to go about it?

        Antagonizing the minorities?

        The next time all the stars align and India makes a move using the Tamils as a fifth column ……….. there won’t be no Prabakarm to save us!

        Now, what I’m going to say, only the very smartest handful of ye “Sinhalese Buddhists” out their whose brains are not fully clogged with all the prejudice gunk and have even a little space left capable of free-thinking will comprehend.

        If you are concerned about the security of ye beloved “Sinhalese Buddhist” country ……… the best way to go about is not by antagonizing the minorities but by incorporating them into the society/fabric of the country and make them full stakeholders.

        The greatest security/defence we can have against the Indian-threat is nothing but a Tamil population that feels they are full stakeholders of the country!

        Now, how many of ye racial/religious good for nothing rabble-rousers out there will get that? :))

        • 5
          1

          NaMo NaMo. Sadly it appears the majority race will never learn from the past

    • 7
      1

      Very similar to what the crackpot Racist (Natural Science) professor Nalin Silva used to write, Prof. Chandre Dharmawardana also writes similsr racist articles (earlier he used to write under the pet name Gamvasiya and comments in CT under the name Kautilya). Reading Prof. Chandre Dharmawardana’s (another Natural Scientist and NOT a Social Scientist) racist articles is just like reading another article of Prof. Nalin Silva. These people can speculate or create anything and write glamorized articles to convince a few confused and misguided individuals but calling them ‘FACTS’ is simply ridiculous.

      Most of their arguments are fully biased based on assumptions, hypothesis, analogies, etc. They never come up with any solid evidence to prove what they say is true but simply quote some ‘scholars’ whose credibility is in question (either a racist like them without any *verifiable data* or some biased researchers with hypothetical assumptions/interpretations or un-authoritative/officially un-published, half-baked historical work of some researchers completely neglecting the controversial nature of their research.).

      Prof. Chandre Dharmawardana is suffering from the same symptom that most Sinhalese suffer. Weather it is a Sinhala elite educated in Royal/Ananda, Vishaka/Devi Balika, Peradeniya/Colombo, Oxford/Cambridge, Harvard/Yale, etc or the uneducated Sinhala village coconut plucker/toddy taper, Vatti amma, or trishaw driver, there is hardly any difference when it comes to their thinking. It is very difficult to differentiate an educated from an uneducated. They all have the same low mentality and narrow mindedness. Sometimes I feel that the coconut pluckers are much more intelligent than these so called ‘Educated’ like Prof. Chandre Dharmawardana.

  • 11
    6

    Prof. Chandre,
    “The Northern provincial council led by Mr. Wigneswaran……………
    ” conveniently treating it as mere political rhetoric of extremists who even discourage inter-ethnic marriage and strive to create mono-ethnic communities “
    Really? Shouldn’t you research before you rant? CVW’s children are married to Sinhalese .

    • 6
      12

      This shows that CVW’s children are far more broad-minded than Wigneswaran himself. That Wigneswaran urged Tamils to maintain racial purity is a matter of recorded history.
      Tamils must recognize that the Northern Province had a LARGER population of Muslims (Moors, as used by this author) when the British took over Sri Lanka. Please read Captain Percival’s book on his stay in Jaffna from 1802 to 1820 where he gives population information, showing that the Moors outnumbered both Sinhalese and tamils.
      The Moors were settled in the East by King Senerath when the Moors sought refuge of the king when they were being massacred by the Portuguese and later the Dutch due to their religious intlerance. That is how the East acquired a large number of Mulsims. The Sinhalese were the predominant group in the East at first, and even well into the late 19th century.

      And yet, the ITAK is ready to claim that the North and the East are their exclusive homelands.

      • 4
        2

        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

      • 5
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        I have in my comments repeatedly said that going beyond 1948 will not serve any purpose. Whether we like it or not we were under the British rule from whom we have obtained Independence in 1948.. The term ‘WE’ may not be quite right. It is the Sinhalese who got the independence. As far as the Tamils speaking people are concerned their masters were simply replaced by the Sinhalese despite opposition from the Tamils and suggestions made by them to have equal rights via the constitution. Not that the Constitution is a’gospel’. The Ivor Jennings constitution which provided for certain amount of safeguards for the minorities were violated unashamedly. With regard to almost all the other ‘periodical ‘ constitutions, Tamils were not a party to it.
        Exclusive homeland did not mean that no other community should live their, coming to live on their own. It opposed the state aided colonization to safe guard the texture of the prevailing population .

        Not only the human populations is not safe in the ‘exclusive homeland,, but, even the Gods are not safe. Lord Buddha is encouraged by the Hmuduruwas to displace his own gods like Pillaiyar ( Ganadeiyo) and his parents and brothers.
        If only Buddha come back to life, he will die of shame by witnessing the activities of Hamudruwas and the politicians who support them.
        You can write and write but…………………………………………….?

        • 2
          4

          State aided resettlement of the North is a must, especially to return the Sinhalese and the Muslims who lived there. .
          The Jaffna man, soon as he gets a bit rich, migrates to Colombo. If he gets even more rich, then he migrates to Canada or some such place (but never to the Malabar coast!).
          So, what incentive is there for a Sinhalese to go to the North with its arid hot climate and the soon-to-come shortage of water, inundation due to rise of sea level?
          That is why incentives are necessary, together with the removal of discriminatory legislation like the “Thesdavalam” [a legal system brought to Jaffna copying what exists in the Malabar coast].

        • 1
          5

          K.Anaga,
          “Exclusive homeland did not mean that no other community should live their, coming to live on their own.”

          Then why the hell Vigneshwaran say ‘Sinhalese are not welcome in the North’? Prabhakaran did ethnic cleansing of North by expelling Sinhalayo and Muslims. After the war ended Sinhalayo who went to claim their property were chased away by Demala thugs.

          What justification is there for the remnants of Demala invaders from Hindusthan and descendants of slaves brought from Malabar by Portuguese and Dutch to this country to claim an ‘Exclusive Homeland’ in this country?

          “It opposed the state aided colonization to safe guard the texture of the prevailing population.”
          According to Oxford Learners Dictionary the definition of ‘Colonizer’ is:
          “a person who helps take control of an area or a country that is not their own, especially using force, and sending people from their own country to live there.”
          https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/colonizer
          Sinhalayo are the Native people in this country. Sinhalayo and Veddas have evolved from Homo Sapiens that had lived in this country 125,000 years ago. Saying Native people colonizing their own country is a big joke. It is ‘Para (Foreign) Demalu’ who came from Hindusthan that colonized Sinhale. North and East was the cradle of Sinhala civilization where Sinhala Kingdoms Anuradhapura and Pollonnaruwa existed for thousands of years. Demala invaders destroyed these Kingdoms by massacring Sinhalayo.

          • 2
            0

            Eagle Eye,

            From ancient times, Sri Lanka was known by a variety of names. Thambapanni (Prince Vijay), Heladiva (Mahavamsa), Sinhale/Sihala Dipa (Deepavamsa), Lanka (Ramayana), Eelam (Tamil Sangam), Taprobane (Greeks), Serendib (Arabs), Mummudi Cholamandalam (during Chola rule), Ceilao (Portuguese), Ceylon (British), Ilankai (Tamil), Sri Lanka (Republican constitution). Today the official name of the island is Sri Lanka. Anybody and everybody can use the above names for their busnisses, but they cannot change the official name of the country without a constitutional change.

            Throughout the entire history, right from the beginning, Sri Lanka which was known by all the above names had NEVER been mono-ethnic but was always a multi-ethnic land with many different races/tribes, and the best evidence to prove this is none other than the Pali Chronicles.

            According to the Mahavamsa, before Vijay came from India to form the Sinhala kingdom, there were four different races/tribes in Heladiva known as Yaksha, Naga, Deva and Raksha (according to the ancient Indian Hindu, Buddhist & Jain texts, these same tribes were also living in India with many others). Hela was not a mono-ethnic race but a multi-ethnic nation comprising the above four races/tribes.

            According to the archeological/epigraphic evidence, during the early historic period the races/tribes that lived in the island of Lanka were Demadas, Kabojas/kambojas, Milekas, Muridis, Merayas, Jhavakas and the ruling clan were Lambakannas and Moriyas. It was multi-ethnic. Similarly, Sinhala during early historic period was a nation (not a mono-ethnic race) comprising of multi-ethnic races/tribes (including Vijay’s people, Elara’s people, Hela tribes and many others). The early Damilas/Tamils of Lanka were also a part of the Sinhala nation.

            Continued…

            • 2
              0

              However, after the long Chola rule (Mummudi Cholamandalam, AD 993 – 1070) ended in Sri Lanka in the 11th century, a large part of the Chola Tamils (Saivate Hindus) neither returned back nor assimilated with the local Sinhala nation. Instead, they moved and settled in the North and created a new Tamil identity which later spread to the East as well. By the 13th Century, they created the Jaffna Kingdom. Later, by the late 14th Century, Muslims came as traders and settled in the island and formed another separate Muslim identity. The biggest mistake our rulers did was, allowing them to create separate Tamil, Muslim identities. Otherwise, if they were made to assimilate into the Sinhala nation, today all the Sri Lankans irrespective of race/religion will be known as Sinhalayo.

              Those South Indian agricultural labour/slaves brought by the Portuguese and the Dutch for cinnamon and tobacco plantation later assimilated with the local population and became Sinhalese (in the South) and Tamils (in the North). Only those brought by the British for Tea/Rubber plantation still remain as a separate group known as upcountry/estate Tamils. Several other new ethnic identities came into existance after that, such as Burghers, Malays, Estate Tamils and so on.

              Today, the multi-ethnic Sinhala nation is reduced to a mono ethnic Sinhala race along with many other races (Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Malays, etc.). Therefore, today we cannot talk about a Sinhala Nation or a Sihala Dipa that existed once upon a time, it is now a Sri Lankan Nation and Sri Lanka. Before the 11th century AD, even the South Indian Invaders ruled the island as a Sinhala nation. It was only after the 11th century Chola rule ended, the Sinhala nation was reduced to a Sinhala race along with a Tamil race and our own rulers should be blamed for this.

              • 3
                4

                Most of the Tamil invaders and migrants from India ( Chera, Chola and Pandian) from ancient, medieval and recent, assimilated into the Sinhalese identity and not into the Sri Lankan Tamil identity. This is why the modern day Sinhalese share a 70% DNA with the Indian Tamils , whereas the indigenous Eelam Tamils only 17% DNA with Indian Tamils , proving who are the descendants of the Indian Tamil immigrants and invaders. The Sri Lankan Tamils are largely descended from the indigenous Dravidian Naga who adopted Tamil as their mother tongue around 3000 years ago. The indigenous dialect Elu is a simple semi Tamil Dravidian dialect . The Sri Lankan Tamils and the original Sinhalese not the present day ones, who are largely descended from Indian again largely Tamils, share a 55% DNA , proving these people were one and the same. Saivaism was the ancient religion of the island long before Buddhism arrived, This is why there are five ancient prehistoric Ishwarams dotting the five convers of the island and the ancient prehistoric shrine venerating the Tamil god Lord Murugan in Kathikammam. The king who converted to Buddhism was a Tamil Naga , he was the son of king Muta Sivan , this is a pure Tamil name meaning the great or venerated Siva. The ancient Tamil/Elu speaking population from the island were called Eezhava or Eezhavar/Eelavar or Chingkallavar. Eezham or Eelam means the land of toddy or metal and Chingkalam means the red or copper coloured land in Tamil. With the arrival of Buddhism and Pali . The Tamil word Eelam got Prakritised to Hela and Chingkalam to Sinhala. Elu + Prakrit = Hela or old Sinhalese . That just like Elu was very close to pronunciation to its Tamil mother , that modern Sinhalese that now has 60% Sanskrit/Pali derived vocabulary due to the influence of Buddhism but the base or foundation is Tamil . Got it

                • 0
                  3

                  Siva Sankaran Sharma,
                  According to findings of Prof. Raj Somadeva, Sinhalayo have a history that goes beyond Mahawamsa. According to his findings that have been confirmed scientifically, Sinhalayo and Vedda Eththo have evolved from Homo Sapiens that lived in this country 125,000 years ago. Evidence for this was found in Pathirajawela in Hambantota District.
                  DNA of Sinhalayo are closer to Veddas, not to Indian Tamils. May be you got the data from a study conducted by a Demala person or you yourself cooked it.

                  Demalu who live in this country are either the descendants of invaders who were allowed to settle down here by Sinhala Kings which is only a small percentage or the descendants of slaves brought from Malabar by Portuguese, Dutch or British.
                  —-
                  There are no solid evidences to show that Demalu lived in this country 3000 years ago.

                  • 4
                    0

                    Eagle,

                    Prof. Raj Somadeva is one of the top class jokers in the academic circle of Sri Lanka and is highly ridiculed by most of the researchers and scholars in the same field. He is contradicting all the other researchers.
                    A very small Vedda contribution to the Singala gene must be due to the inter-marriages between Sinhalese and Veddas. R. L. Spittel (Wild Ceylon) also comments on this large-scale intermarriage between Sinhalese and Veddas. Veddas gradually became Sinhala-Buddhist when the vast area of the Western, Sabaragamuva, Uva and Kandyan regions were converted into rice cultivation after the fifteenth century consequent to the emergence of Buddhist states in those areas.

                    The archaeological record dates human habitation to around 125,000 years. mtDNA evidence provides dates from 85,000 and 65,000 years. The discovery of 30,000 years old Balangoda man is evidence of pre-historic mankind in Sri Lanka (Fa Hien-lena near Bulathsinhala, Batadomba-lena near Kuruwita, Beli-lena at Kitulgala, Alu-lena at Attanagoda and so on). There would have been many ancient tribes and civilizations in the South Asian region (India and Sri Lanka) very similar to other countries like Africa, China and so on but most of them disappeared over time. The last of them in Sri Lanka are the Veddas (most probably the descendants of the Balangoda man) but however, they have very little to do with the present day Sri Lankan population (Sinhalese and Tamils). In other words, the present day Sinhalese and Tamils are NOT the offsprings of the pre-historic generation of Sri Lanka. The present day population (Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims) are migrants and their ancestry is in India. Only the Veddas are the original natives of Sri Lanka who descend from the pre-historic people of Sri Lanka.

                    Continued below…

                    • 3
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                      In an interesting findings it was also found that the Sinhalese and Sinti Roma (Telagu speaking ‘Ahikuntaka’ community) also have a high frequency of Haplogroup R2 (38% and 53% respectively) (Sengupta, S; et al. (2006), The American Journal of Human Genetics 78 (2): 202–21). These findings point to a multi-faceted origin of Sinhalese and the other ethnic groups with a similar genetic pattern of mixed genetic background.

                      You will never find a Sinhalese by digging into their DNA/genetics because the Sinhalese are a heavily mixed population. There is nothing called a pure Sinhalese. They are mixed people from Bengal, Orissa, Andara, Tamil Nadu & Kerala. The present Sinhala population is categorized as follows:
                      If a person’s mother tongue is Sinhalese and if s/he follows the Buddhist culture then that person is a Sinhala-Buddhist. If a person’s mother tongue is Sinhalese and if s/he follows the Christian culture then that person is a Sinhala-Christian. If you dig into the DNA/genepool of any Sinhala person, you will find something very strange due to heavy mixing. Genetic studies is good for some educational purpose but it will not help with the present ground situation.

                    • 0
                      0

                      Raja Jokerdeva,
                      Please do not falsify published genetic studies and give false references to your bogus claims. Sengupta’s study is available free and anybody can check that there is no mention of Sinhalese or Sinti Romas in it. Also, Sinti Roma is not a Telugu speaking “Ahikuntaka community”. Sinti is a sub-group of the Roma people and genetic show that Roma people’s main Y Chromosome haplogroup is H and not R2. Sengupta’s study which you have falsely referenced, namely the study “Polarity and Temporality of High-Resolution Y-Chromosome Distributions in India Identify Both Indigenous and Exogenous Expansions and Reveal Minor Genetic Influence of Central Asian Pastoralists” confirms that the present day Indian populations are largely descendant from the first settlers of India. Therefore that study actually confirms in part what Prof. Raj Somadeva has stated and completely contradicts you.
                      Here is the link to the study:
                      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1380230/
                       
                      All present day non tribal populations have gone through all the stages of developments from tribes to present day peoples. The question is where. As far as the Sinhalese is concerned it is in this island they evolved. Tamils on the other hand evolved in south India and later came here. There’s no point trying to construct fake theories to prove otherwise. Quoting from a recent article by Professor Chaubey: “The first genetic study of Vedda along with other Asian populations suggested their long period of isolation. However, the analysis of alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein allele frequencies supports the view that the Veddas are biologically most closely related to the Sinhalese.” Not only Chaubey but all geneticists studying Srilankan people have found genetic affinity between Vaedas and Sinhalese to varying degrees, while the Tamils show no genetic affinity to the Vaeddas. So stop your dumb lies and stop falsifying published studies.

              • 0
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                first, Singhalese spies who are acting as Singhalese patriots have to wipe them off sri lanka. then remove others from sri lanka to other countries.

          • 2
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            Eagle Eye!
            If Wigneswaran had said something to your dislike ask him why he said so.
            My understanding is that Sinhalese are no welcome as colonizers. The dictionary meaning fits well as far as the Tamils are concerned. The Tamils always had a kingdom of their own until the Britisher came and did the damage. What the Sinhalese are doing is to send people from the Sinhala areas to colonize the Tamil Areas with ulterior motives . . Not only the Sinhala people, even statues of Buddha is’ Colonizing’ the Tamil Hindu Temples so as to displace the Hindu gods.
            Whole of Ceylon/ Eelam belonged to Tamils until prince Wijaya came in with his dirty 700.

            • 0
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              K.Anaga,
              There was no Jaffna Kingdom in Sinhale. This is a story cooked up by Demalu.

              According to Father Fernao de Qeuyroz’s treatise ‘Conquest of Ceylon’, when the Portuguese first arrived in Sinhale in 1505 there were 15 ‘kinglets’ subject to the King of Kotte among whom the ‘kinglet of Jaffnapatao was one.
              When the Portuguese under Fellippe de Oliveria attacked Yapanaya in 1619 AD, the King Senerath of Kandy sent his troops headed by Mudaliyar Attapattu to defend Yapanaya because the North was part of the King’s Kingdom. It was Sinhalayo who fought against Portuguese to defend Yapanaya, not Demalu.

              When British signed the Kandy Convention in 1815, there was no mention of a Jaffna Kingdom. So there was no reason to hand over a Jaffna Kingdom that never existed to Demalu when they left.

              According to Bengali history, Vijaya Singh landed in an island called ‘Seehol Deep’, not ‘Demala Nadu’. Sinhalayo lived in this country when Vijaya came.

              • 4
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                Moda Eagle,

                “When British signed the Kandy Convention in 1815, there was no mention of a Jaffna Kingdom”

                FOOL,

                When British signed the Kandy Convention in 1815, there was no mention of a Kotte Kingdom either, why? Because the Kotte Kingdom and the Jaffna Kingdom fell under the Portuguese rule in the 16th century (very long before 1815). The only kingdom that existed when the British came was the Kandyan Kingdom. Learn some very basics before you rant rubbish.

                • 5
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                  Moda Eagle,

                  “When the Portuguese under Fellippe de Oliveria attacked Yapanaya in 1619 AD, the King Senerath of Kandy sent his troops headed by Mudaliyar Attapattu to defend Yapanaya because the North was part of the King’s Kingdom.”

                  FOOL,

                  King Senarat, the Buddhist King of Kandy who married Dona Catherina gave his two sons Kumarasingha and Vijayapala in marriage to the daughters of the Hindu King of Jaffna thereby establishing a strong relationship between the two kingdoms. The upcountry kandyan kingdom and the Northern Jaffna kingdom were strong allies against the low country Kotte Kingdom. King Senarat sent his troops from Kandy to support the Jaffna king because they were his in-laws. Learn some very basics before you rant rubbish.

      • 4
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        You constantly keep on repeating this lie , thinking that a lie often repeated will become the truth. There is not such person called Captain Percival . Have googled and there is nothing. Please provide us reliable links and not false websites , created by racists. Native Tamils were a minority and the South Indian origin immigrant converted Dravidian Muslims called Moors were in the majority in the north. Go and tell these stories to someone stupid or creating a fake history to steal the north also from the Tamils , just like the east ?

        • 1
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          To: Mr. Sharma (from India? pretending to be a Tamil?)
          Nowadays, even a child knows how to search on google:
          Captain Percival’s book is easily found by anyone who wants to look. But some don’t want to see the facts.

          Titled An Account of the Island of Ceylon, Containing its History, Geography, Natural History, with the Manners and Customs of its various Inhabitants, it was published in 1803 by Captain Robert Percival of the 19th Foot Regiment.

          It provides vital information for the period 1802-1820 on the coastal areas, including several important maps and charts, and the last chapter described every road in detail, giving placenames and such things which are Sinhala names. So, while the North was traditionally Sinhalese (Weligama even according to the Sigiri Graffiti) the majority of residents in 1802-1820 were our Mulsim people, i.e., Moors. Then came at second level came Sinhalese and Tamils in numbers.
          When the British took over, Muslims were the majority there, and so, when the British left, Northern province cannot be claimed to be the exclusive homeland, or even the homeland of the tamils, and use that to drive us from the Northern province at gunpoint.

          It was of such interest to the British government and its civil service that a second edition appeared two years later. A French translation read by Napoleon made such an impression on the emperor that he toyed with the idea of trying to wrest the island from the British.

          Here is the link to the book itself on google.
          https://books.google.ca/books/about/An_account_of_the_island_of_Ceylon.html?id=Szm7dvQ4MVsC&redir_esc=y

      • 4
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        Hello lying Thullukan or a Chingkallam deliberately posting as a Thullukan.

      • 2
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        We do not want your fake history . Still does not prove anything. It is a well recoded fact by the Portuguese , Dutch and later the British and even by your Mahamvamsa comic that the north and east of the island are inhabited by Tamils and it is their homeland. Population statistics taken by the British also proves this
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Province,_Sri_Lanka
        stop lying
        Muslims in the east arrived only a few centuries ago as refugees fleeing Portuguese persecution along the then Tamil north western coast, where they first settled when they fled their South Indian homeland, begging for asylum from the eastern Tamils, as the Sinhalese did not want more of them settling in their areas and stared to attack and kill them. In desperation King Senarath asked the eastern Tamil Vannimai chiefs , who came under his loose control , after the fall of the Tamil Jaffna kingdom , if they could settle these Muslim Tamil refugees, fleeing the Portuguese, as the Sinhalese do not want them. They obliged, took pity on them and settled them They gave them lands and even Hindu Tamil Mukkuva women to start families, as 90% or more of these Muslim refugees were men, as most of the old women and children were killed or perished when they fled. Stop lying and distorting history , with all sorts of links that are not from reliable sources.
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Province,_Sri_Lanka
        This is the census of the east and Tamils have always been the majority as the land was theirs and they had been living and ruling the east from ancient times. That the Tamil/Sinhalese kings of Kandy having loose control of parts of the east from time to time does not negate the ancient Tamil history and claim of the Tamils to the east.

        • 2
          2

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Province,_Sri_Lanka
          This is the census of the east and Tamils have always been the majority as the land was theirs and they had been living and ruling the east from ancient times. That the Tamil/Sinhalese kings of Kandy having loose control of parts of the east from time to time does not negate the ancient Tamil history and claim of the Tamils to the east. These Kings of Kandy had a Tamil origin and spoke Tamil at home , their queens were from South India and they practiced Hinduism at home but fostered Buddhism publicly , as the majority of their subjects were Sinhalese Buddhists. To the eastern Tamils these kings were Hindu Tamils , as they dealt with them in Tamil and patronised Hinduism in these areas , as they themselves were Hindu Tamils. The court language of the Kingdom of Kandy was both Sinhalese and Tamil. This is the reason the Kandyan convention is largely signed in Tamil. As you can see from the population statistics , Sinhalese percentage only started to increase after state sponsored colonisation of the east after independence and Tamil percentage started to decrease due to this and large scale killing and ethnic cleansing of Tamils in the east by the Sri Lankan state and Muslim home guards. Please do not lie and distort history , either for your Sinhalese Buddhist Fascist or fake Arab Islamic Wahhabi/Salafist end. Sinhalese and Muslims are now comers to east , the former arrived after independence as you can see in the statistics and the later a few centuries ago as refugees. Now both have ganged up to deny and steal the east from its Tamil owners , with fake history and citing all sorts of bogus and unqualified historians and fake web sites.

    • 8
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      Old codger’s advice to Chandre “Shouldn’t you research before you rant?”
      Research is not Chandre’s forte.
      He exhorted us recently to use glyphosate. This was in spite of warnings to the contrary from UN recognised/appointed experts in Environmental Science.

    • 1
      0

      Old codger

      “Really? Shouldn’t you research before you rant? CVW’s children are married to Sinhalese .”

      Research?
      What research?
      Why do you insist on rational behaviour from bigots?

      Isn’t it why,

      We don’t need no education
      We don’t need no thought control
      No dark sarcasm in the classroom
      Teachers, leave them kids alone

      Hey, teacher, leave us kids alone

      All in all you’re just another brick in the wall
      All in all you’re just another brick in the wall

      Excerpts from
      Pink Floyd Lyrics
      “Another Brick In The Wall

      • 0
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        Wow!
        Native, did you see the SSS- EE dogfight? Where do they get the stamina?

  • 3
    4

    Prof Dharmawardena : From Science to politics. What you have said could have been parroted by many of our guys among the AB 225 without even an GCE (OL).- only qualification big mouths.

    The Sinhala Tamil conflict cannot be solved by parroting what some harebrained characters in SL says.It need a serious and a deep study..

    As far as I am concerned, certain things said about our history cannot be accepted as genuine history eg Sirisangabo committing suicide the way it was described in our history books and the way we were taught. That is only one, there are many more.

    What ever our boast, I think that the people who wrote our history had ulterior motives.The Tamil / Sinhala conflict too enters that regime.

    In order to avoid raking up new wounds, I suggest you go back to 1958 and the roasting of the Peiris family at Padaviya.

    • 9
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      Professori,
      Whatever Mr. Wigneswaran might have said, he hasn’t set up fake websites with fake maps. As for refugees influencing Canadian politicians, aren’t you yourself in Canada? Why can’t you influence them?

    • 9
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      Racking up old wounds is NOT the way to reconciliation. It is by forgetting the past and loking to the future that we can have reconciliation. This claim of a Tamil genocide is a way of keeping a beggers wound alive. Similarly, racking up how the Peiris family was roasted is a way for a Sinhalese to keep racking up anger against the Tamils. That is what we should stop.
      Genocide has a strict legal meaning and the UN uses it. That does not include individual acts or communal riot, but it includes deliberate governmental policy to eliminate a community, as Hitler did in Germany, ans as White invaders did against “Red Indians” in North America, as the Spaniards did with the Incas and mayans”.

      Did the governments of Sri Lanka from D.S. Senanayake to Ranil Wickremasinghe attempt to deliberately kill off the tamils? If so, as this writer has pointed out, how did the Tamil population increase by a factor 3 to 4?

      • 2
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        You are a fake Chingkalla racist lawyer trying to advocate for the devil .

        • 0
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          Pandi Kutti,
          Truth is a bitter pill to swallow.

          • 3
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            Eagle Blind Eye kallathonie Demela convert

            “Truth is a bitter pill to swallow.”

            True, how do you intend to catch up with it?

  • 5
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    Chandre D,
    Read what is recorded, including footnotes & references, and then decide:-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_and_state_terrorism

    • 2
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      There is no point requesting him to read all these links , he would have read all this and like the rest of the Chingkallmas and Thullkans know the truth and what really happened but like most of them will never acknowledge it or what really happened , as they will have to acknowledge their guilt, therefore will keep on coming to this and many other forums to post his lies and misinformation to deny and justify what happened, as despite all their education , they are mean racist and nasty. Unlike the Germans and the Japanese who had to greatness to acknowledge the injustices they caused or were forced to by others and rectify, these people do not have the capacity or the will , as they are all brainwashed, mean, petty minded, nasty racist and will never acknowledge what they did but keep on denying what they did and will continue to do so and justify this. No wonder this country is in a mess , as this man represent the so called Chingkalla educated elite. People who should know better but advocate racism , lies and marginalisation of minorities and justify discrimination , whilst living a lovely life in the west. They enjoy everything the tolerant west offers but advocate and justify racism and discrimination back home.

  • 9
    1

    Chandre:

    Show me a group of people who are willing to be self-critical.

    Canadians like to think they’re the only true Liberals in the whole world.
    Tamils, while believing their language and culture to be the greatest the world has ever known, like to claim they’re the only true victims in Sri Lanka.
    And what about the Sinhalese?
    They assure themselves they can’t be the bad guys. After all, the Buddha specially chose them in the whole wide world to perpetuate his teaching.

    May all beings be happy at heart.

  • 10
    3

    Using the word genocide should be done with great caution. No Sri lankan government had such a deliberately policiy if “eliminating Tamils”. May be the JR Government looked the other way during 1983 Black July, but it was not genocide as asserted by Wigneswaran, or as claimed by the Canadian Municipalities. I come from a family where my father is a Tamil and I live in Mt. Lavinia. So I understand the problem, and I believe that what we need is a strong multi-ethnic societry of the sort that we have in Colombo, and not this attempt to create an “Exclusive Tamil Homeland”, that has caused so much bloodshed.

    • 5
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      Lots of Sinhalese post under Tamil identities to justify their Sinhalese state sponsored structural genocide on the island’s Tamils , and also to hoodwink the world that many Tamils support this policy. You are one of them and think people are stupid. Nadesan indeed , most probably Nandasena. You lived in Mt. Lavinia and your father was a Tamil who was your mother ? Sinhalese and you were brought up speaking Sinhalese , studying in Sinhalese and following Buddhism? Tamil just by name but Sinhalese in every other way . I have seen your types and every Tamil has come across these types. Have a Tamil father and carry a Tamil name but Sinhalese in every other way and hate Tamils . These people and these recently Sinhalised South Indian origin immigrant communities are the biggest anti Tamils

      • 4
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        Sharma= Dharma is not even a Tamil name, but a borrowed North Indian name, like the names of the Sinhalese.
        I wouldn’t be surprised if I have a better knowledge of Tamil and its literature than you have.

        Let us look at the untenability of the Eelam concept from a political point of view.
        (i) Muslims are against the Eelam concept; (ii) Sinhalese are against the Eelam concept; (iii) Thondaman Sr. refused to join with the Vaddukkoddai resolution and so they rejected the Eelam concept. (iv) India proper rejected the Eelam concept and send the IPKF to put down Eelamists and instead attempted to impose the Provincial Councils. (v) There is no support for it from Pakistan (vi) or Bangladesh, or (vii) or Muslim Maldives. So all our international neighbours are opposed to it.

        So I as a Tamil see NO FUTURE in the Eelam concept.
        The TNA will definitely find that in the next election; our younger generation will NOT lend support to such hog wash at a time when free-trade zones are what is being looked for instead of exclusive enclaves.
        I think we are ready for business with everyone, and NOW wise enough to stop fighting for race, caste and creed ideologies.

        Remember what G. G. Ponnambalam said in reply to SJV claiming that the North is the “exclusive homeland of the Tamils”, and when he accussed GGPonna of being a “traitor to the tamils” . GGP said that the:
        “homeland of Tamils is everywhere and anywhere in Sri Lanaka”,
        and this is true. In the same way, we have to admit that Sinhalese and Muslims have lived, and will live anywhere in the country.

        • 3
          4

          Here is one Tamil who has not clambered down into the cesspit of Tamil exceptionalism and racism. GGP’s declaration is valid today and is the only sane path. Sri Lanka is for ALL Sri Lankans. Tamils live happily in places like Galle and Matara, the ‘heart’ of the south. Ergo, it is the right of a person of any ethnicity to live in Jaffna or Mannar or wherever. Imagine the uproar if a French-Canadian is barred from settling in Ontario or British Columbia. Yet Canadian officials like the High Commissioner parrot the official line, motivated by petty political considerations, regardless of the reality of life in Sri Lanka. Pathetic. In my view, McKinnon should be declared persona non grata if he continues on this path of outright hypocrisy. The arch-hypocrite Bob Rae was booted out of Sri Lanka when the SL govt. of the day realized he was cultivating Tamil votes while pretending to contribute to ethnic amity. So we do have form.

          • 2
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            He is not Thamizh but a Chingkallam posting under a Thamizh identity . An anti Thamizh Chingkalla racist , just like you. Just read his posts full of anti Thamizh venom and hatred. I am a Thamizh but I do not believe in any just rights for the Thamizh and nothing occurred . Thamizh should not demand for any rights or their ancient lands , as the immigrant South Indian origin refugee Thullukans and the Chingkallams oppose it. What utter garbage. Of course they have always opposed it as one wants to steal the Thamizh lands and create a Wahhabi/Salafist Caliphate and the other wants the entire island for Chingkalla Poutha Fascism and he and you are working very hard for this.

            • 1
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              You Thamizh lost the war, and so the land belongs to who won the war.
              Clear and simple

        • 2
          2

          Sharma/Sarma in a Brahmin name that is common amongst Jaffna Tamil Brahmins. Come to Jaffna and see the most common family name amongst Jaffna Brahmins is Sharma. Other names are Shastri/Sastri Kurrukal Etc. I reiterate again that you not a Tamil but a Sinhalese racist posting under a Tamil identity or a half Tamil ( Tamil father) but still Sinhalese in every other way and a racist posting his or her anti Tamil venom and justifying Sinhalese racism against the island’s Tamils . A Tamil only in name and using this as an advantage to justify state sponsored Sinhalese racism . You , as well as a few others have tried to cunningly to use the anti Brahmin sentiment that was whipped up by Dravidian parties in the 60s/70s in Tamil Nadu about the alleged North Indian origins of Tamil Brahmins and declare them as non Tamils , against me. For your information Sri Lankan Tamils have never been anti Brahmin and unlike in Tamil Nadu and rest of South India, Jaffna Brahmins are fully integrated with the rest of the Tamils and many joined the LTTE . So your efforts will fail. You and a few other anti Tamils do not like what I state so are trying to isolate me from the other Tamils by using my caste. It is only anti Tamils like you who are bothered about my caste and my origins , Sri Lankan Tamil bloggers aren’t. For your information it is not only my name but 90% or more of so called Tamil surnames/names are derived from Sanskrit . so shut up and do not try to cunningly use caste to divide the Tamils so called Sinhalese Nadesan

          • 1
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            No good Brahamin will cross the sea. If you have any knowledge of Hinduism you should now that. There are NO true Brahamins in Jaffna. Only பாரசவன் crossed the sea and went to other places. So in a traditional sense, you must be nothing else and so utterly lower-grade compared to துவிசாதி.

            There is no genetic code difference between most communities in Sri Lanka as there has been a lot of inter-breeding. So a Tamil is some one raised in Tamil culture and educated in Tamil culture.
            When you try to say that a Tamil is some one born of Tamil parents, that is PURE RACISM.

            • 2
              1

              Joker Brahmins have crossed the sea and the Jaffna Brahmins and many other Brahmins crossed the sea. The reason you cannot cross the sea is that you are supposed to perform the SandhyaVathanam ritual on land. You need not do it for three days but if it is more than three days . You will have to perform a rituals , so as not to loose caste. . Sea journey even during ancient times from India to the Arabian Gulf or to Malaysia and many parts of SE Asia does not take three days and in the case of Sri Lanka just a few hours. Good try . If you are an actual Tamil Hindu you should have known these facts , proving that you are indeed a Sinhalese imposter

              • 0
                2

                So “Sharma” is this so-called low grade பாரசவன் Brahamin who has crossed the sea in less than three days so as not to loose caste..

                Brahamins who were allowed to do that were those who did not have the துவிசாதி status and were low-grade பாரசவன்.

                So, this Indian should stop interfering in our affairs in this country and go back to the cursed land he came from where CASTE is still upheld.

                It is these types who have come to this country and kept Jaffna in its primitive state, without ever allowing a chance to move forward. We had a Chief Minister who makes a show of going to Temples and doing rituals while living in a world dominated by Technology and scientific advances. We have this bunch of caste ridden Wigneswarns and Sharmas running the show. It is not just the Saivaites, but also the Catholic church which only has —Pillai types appointed to high office among Tamils, that is at fault.
                To make matters worse, the young people have become accustomed to getting handouts from their relatives in the West, and they have become good for nothing youth.

                Tamil Marxist continued to wink at casteism and made no inroads politically, and finally supported violence and the LTTE as they couldn’t pull of their own violent revolution.

                Only multi-culturalism, commerce and tourism can break the curse of casteism and Periya-Dorei control that our community has had to endure for centuries. Even today we are ruled by the Kith and Kin of those who ruled the Tamils in 1919 – by the same caste and clan, and by the same families living in Colombo and abroad, be they Saive or Christian.

                • 2
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                  The only thing low grade and third rate is you not Siva Sankaran . Useless nasty racist fake. You have lost the argument/debate and now resorting to anti Brahmin personal insults. If you are a real Sri Lankan Tamil you will not insult a Brahmin for being a Brahmin , Indian Tamils may do this but Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus will never resort to this. This is a fact.

                • 2
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                  We all crossed the sea , my ancestors, yours and everyone else in the island , including the Vedda( may not them as there may have been a land bridge at their time) . So stop bleating and screeching here. Neither Vigneswaran nor I have ever made statements here or anywhere supporting caste discrimination. So stop lying and being nasty , vindictive and vituperative as you have nothing else to say. Stating the real origins of the islands Sinhalese and Muslims is not casteist. This is stating the truth and breaking lies and myths about fake Aryan and Arab origins that they hardly have but strut around , using it against the Tamils, when in reality both people are largely descended from immigrant Indian Tamil low castes. Most probably you do not like this truth told, as you are casteist. It is you who are casteist and nasty , not me or Vigneswaran. This why you trying to cunningly use my caste to turn the rest of the Tamils against me but it will not work. You do not know anything about Brahmin people or Tamil Brahmin sects , so shut up and do not make an idiot of yourself. The only people who do not want Tamils to develop and live in dignity are not the Tamils , Vigneswaran or anyone but Tamil quislings, Sinhalese and Muslims , they want to damn the once prosperous Sri Lankan Tamils and steal their lands and destroy them and their ancient history in the island and you belong to one of these categories , either the first or the second.

        • 4
          1

          Nadesan,
          I know who you are? You are one of those who ran away to celebrate with Mahinda the massacre of Tamils by Mahinda. You are an animal doctor. Yes Muslims are against to Eelam concept. What they got from Buddhist Sinhala Fundamentalism for their support to Buddhist Sinhala Fundamentalism? Do you know what is the policy of GG Ponnampalam? Have you heard about the 50-50 demand? What does that mean? Do you know what is the policy of Federal Party? India has a Federal structure, Pakistan has a Federal structure? It was accepted by SWRD. It was accepted Chandrika. It was accepted by Srilanka and International community in 2002 by Oslo accord. Who is opposing it. Why can’t you go back to Srilanka/ Why do Srilanka need a American citizen to be President? Wigneswaran is not talking about Eelam concept. Do you think Muslims were attacked by Sinhala Buddhist state because of Eelam concept?

          • 3
            3

            It was accepted by SWRD. It was accepted Chandrika. It was accepted by Srilanka and International community in 2002 by Oslo accord. Who is opposing it?

            BUT It was opposed by Prabhakaran, and the TNA its poltical mouth piece follwed suite. The Oslo accord was destroyed by Prabhakaran.
            Thiruchelvam was assasinated by Prabhakaran because he proposed a Federal system.

            The TNA cannot EVER win a federal system as it has not attempted to win the confidence of the majority community. They acted as the LTTE mouth piece, then they put people like Wigneswaran as the chief minster and expect the Muslims and Sinhalese to trust them is sheer madness.

            We could have had a federal system if the LTTE did not annihilate people like Canagaratnam or Amirthalingam who could have come to an agreement with JR. But they were all declared traitors.

            First you need TRUST before you can have federalism. Name one thing the TNA or Wigneswaran has done to win the trust of all communities?
            All this talk of genocide, and the moves in Geneva are not going to help reconciliation or generate a federal sentiment – they are designed to generate a separatist sentiment.

            When that happens, we Tamils who live in the south are the ones who have to bear the brunt of the damage.

            • 4
              1

              Pirabhaharan was just 4 years old when SWRD Banda-Chelva signed an agreement which was destroyed by Buddhist Sinhala Fundamentalists followed by 1958, 1962, 1977 and 1983 genocidal attack. The Oslo accord was not destroyed by Pirabhaharan, it was destroyed by Chandrika. In 2015, TNA gave its full support to the Government of Srilanka in 2009 and 2015 and came up with a proposal. What happened to that now? Who oppose that proposal now? What happened to that trust? You may think Sinhala and Srilanka is Mahinda, but the truth is that Buddhist Sinhala politicians played double game using Tamils until 2009 and now play the same game using Muslims. Where is the law and order now? Where is the justice now? Where is the development of Srilanka? Where is the peace in Srilanka?

              • 2
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                Prabaharan (Born on 26th November 1954) was only 2 years and 8 months old when Banda-Chelva pact was signed on 26th July 1957. Oslo accord of 2002 was rejected by Prabaharan (He scolded Balasingham for agreeing to it) and was sabotaged by Chandrika who dismissed UNP government. Indo-Lanka accord of 1987 was sabotaged by both Prabaharan and Premadasa.

            • 4
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              Nadesan, Tamils may not get federalism like Canadian or Australian states, but will get some form of federalism like in India. Already 13th amendment is in the constitution, which has federal features, though the governments have refused to comply with fully. Remember what Modi said when he was in Sri Lanka last, go beyond the 13th amendment and settle the Tamil problem, to which none of the Sinhala politicians opened their mouths against, because they know that BJP means business and you cannot cheat them like stupid congress party. 13th amendment envisages full police and land powers to a temporarily merged north and east subjected to a referendum in the east which can be indefinitely postponed. Indo-Lanka accord is an international agreement which one side cannot abrogate or refuse to fulfill unilaterally. It has been violated by de-merging north and east by supreme court which has no jurisdiction over an international agreement and also refusal to devolve powers granted in the agreement such as police and lands. In this context India has the moral right to intervene first diplomatically and if it fails militarily. Even it can take back Kachchativu given to Sri Lanka as a goodwill measure, if Sri Lanka turns hostile like how Russia took back Crimea. India has realized that Sri lanka is promoting Islamic terrorism against Tamils and if this goes unchecked it will be detrimental India’s security. Modi openly gave the invitation to TNA while in Sri Lanka to see him to discuss the problems of Tamils. So do not rush to condemn Tamils and wait for the drama to unfold.

    • 5
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      Get out of my home you genocidal racist facist, you have your own home sori Sinhala Lanka.

      However, the world is now gradually gaining insight into Sinhala genocide of Eezham Tamils, blessed and led by Hindia.

  • 10
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    Stop lying and spreading misinformation you racist . It is a genocide and Canada is correct . In 1948 the Sinhalese percentage was 67% Tamil percentage 25% Muslim 7% other 1% . After 60 years Sinhalese from 67% climbed to 75% Tamil from 25% down to 16% Muslim or Sri Lankan Moor from 7% up to 10% . How did this happen ? 1) Due to forced Sinhalisation of poor hundreds of thousands of poor Tamil Catholic families living along the north west coast from Negombo to Puttalam. 90% of the so called Sinhalese in this area were all Tamils a generation or two ago. The southern Sinhalese Catholic church and its racist priests were in cohorts with the Sinhalese government. Even now when you go to these areas , you get a very strong feeling that you are in an area that was Tamil until recently . The place names, the people , everything , just like in many parts of the eastern province that were ethnically cleansed of its Tamil population and Sinhalese settled. 2) One million Indian origin Tamils who had lived in the country for more than eight generations earning most of the island’s foreign exchange were made stateless and forcibly deported. another 1 million indigenous Eelam Tamils were ethnically cleansed and chased out of the country during the 30 year old war , largely to the west. At the time of independence every district in the north and east had a Eelam Tamil Hindu majority. Now only 6 out of the eight districts in the north and east have an Eelam Tamil majority , due to ethic cleansing , killings, high Muslim birth rate and most importantly southern Sinhalese being settled on ethnically cleansed Tamil lands and state lands or the former royal lands of the Tamil kings and chiefs, that were historically used by the local Tamils from ancient times and should have been left for their benefit Eg: Like grazing and forestry.

    • 8
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      Most Tamils live in Sinhalese areas , an often quoted lie by Sinhalese racists , even if they live in Sinhalese areas so what? Most Scots in UK live outside Scotland, so Scottish rights in Scotland should be denied as per your stupid argument? In fact it is the opposite, even as per your government statistics 51% of the island’s Tamils ( Indigenous and Indian origin) live in the north and east and 70% of the indigenous Tamils live in the north and east and 90% of the rest live in the greater Colombo area , where they had lived for generations. Colombo and the western coast was once part of the Tamil homeland. and thousands of Indigenous Tamils , who have not taken on a Sinhalese identity still live in their ancient ancestral villages and towns along the north west coast from Negombo to Puttalam. These once Tamil lands part of the Tamil Jaffna kingdom , was declared as Sinhalese lands by the British , despite the fact the people along the coast were all Tamils then. 80-90% of the Tamils living in the Sinhalese areas are the Indian origin estate Tamils and traders who have always lived there for the past 200 years , as this where they were settled by the British . Stop lying and distorting the truth.

      • 3
        5

        Mr. Sharma, the less you spew forth your bile the better because we’d be less aware of your gross ignorance of history. And, if you are so obsessed with living in ‘Tamil Lands’, why not step over the Palk Straits and go live with your beloved brethren in Tamil Nadu? Seriously.

        • 3
          2

          Another Chingkalla racist spewing out his racist bile

    • 2
      3

      Sharama says
      Due to forced Sinhalisation of poor hundreds of thousands of poor Tamil Catholic families living along the north west coast from Negombo to Puttalam. 90% of the so called Sinhalese in this area were all Tamils a generation or two ago.

      So Tamils were not annihilated but they simply became Sinhalese by assimilation.

      THAT IS NOT GENOCIDE.

      You have accidentlly admitted the truth. ?

      • 4
        0

        Moron , the state forcibly assimilating people to give up/deny their identity and take another identity or religion is also genocide. Go and read the UN charter. This is what happened along the former Thamizh North West coast. From Negombo to Puttalam. All those so called Chingkallams were Thamizh a generation or two ago.

      • 5
        0

        rodrigo
        Perhaps it is a GENOCIDE by assimilation?. It is a process of slow killing. To day they claim to be Sinhalese and support Sinhala only . However they continue to be Catholics until they change themselves as Buddhists with the support of the CARDINAL> Not that I love any particular religion. I consider religion is the cause mass murders.
        Religion is not necessary for man to exist but man is necessary for religion to exist and continue the ‘good fight’

  • 0
    3

    In fact, the LTTE lost all legitimacy after the assassination of the Indian PM in 1991. The so-called “Tamil Eelam”, had it materialized, would not have gained any international recognition, as LTTE was on the list of banned terror organizations in the UK, US, and other places. Numerous LTTE leaders including VP were on the Interpol list for terrorism, arms trafficking, drug smuggling, and other charges. This begs the question, if Sri Lanka was defending itself against a universally recognized terrorist outfit, to what extent can it be held liable for genocide? One issue here is that the LTTE itself did not abide by any international conventions, other than returning dead bodies. Secondly, the State was clearly defending its citizens and territory from an entity which refused to negotiate in good faith, meaning only a military option (resulting in collateral damage) was left. Lastly, once the war ended, all claims of “genocide” and “war crimes” ceased. If there was an actual genocide, the period following 2009 would have been the ideal opportunity.

  • 2
    5

    Wigneswaran is protecting High Caste Tobacco Farmers’ hegemony. Wigneswaran told Muladuwa school children, when they asked about their future employment, it is not to become doctors, engineers or well educated, instead POLICE. wigneswaran’s children are married to Sinhala people. while wigneswaran told Tamil youth in the North not to marry Sinhala youth and preserve the Tamilness. But, They are not listening to him. wigneswaran had mentioned some Racist stuff to Tamils in the East. they have scolded him saying do not come again. Now, Wigneswaran wants Overseas living LTTE rump help to continue his racist election campaign. Send him some money.
    ITAK boss MAvai Senathiraja was chased out from ITAK leadership and form TNA because he was a life long LTTE member and was working for LTTE. He was chased out from ITAK and TNA. HE tried to gang up with Karuna and Anandasangaree. I think he got the leadership again and he is trying at least for a National list MP post that is why he says he is supporting the Army presence in the North to Stop the Wahhabi attacks. Mavai Senathiraja also helped those Norwegian LTTE Tamils( who killed a beautiful – School girl, to be gang raped and killed and video everything, a business venture) to be escaped back to Europe. They all Lands and there problems will solve. That is what International community wants too.

  • 7
    1

    As someone who spent a fair bit of time in Canada – 30+ years -, was politically active in support of progressive causes, inclusive of managing Federal, Provincial and Territorial election campaigns and worked extensively with the aboriginal and new immigrant communities, this kind of piffle from an alleged “academic” makes my stomach turn because his level of intellectual dishonesty is truly disgusting.
    This is simply piffle spouted in an effort to justify the blatant racism of which Sri Lankan politicians have been guilty and the pogroms that resulted therefrom. Perhaps, this “academic” would care to tell us how come there was a big enough vote of Tamils of Sri Lankan origin to elect the first EVER Sri Lankan to the House of Commons in a General Election not so long ago.

    • 0
      1

      There were two Sri Lankan Tamils elected to the house of commons in Canada. First it was Rathika Sithsabesan from the NDP, then Garry Anaandasangaree from the liberal party.
      Rathika S did not win the next time as she profited from Jack Layton’s pinkwave during the first round.
      However, what has all this to do with the definition of genocide as we know according to the law?
      How can ethnic reconciliation between the Tamil immigrants and Sinhala immigrant occur if one side is trying to blame the other side and create dissension even in their new country, when the UN definition of genocide is not satisfied even by a very wide margin?

      • 3
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        Reconciliation can only occur when people acknowledge the truth and try to remedy what happened not deny and bury the truth in the name of Chingkalla Poutha Fascism like you and the author of this article is trying to do.

      • 4
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        Lawyer Alwis:
        Rathika Sithsabaiesan was the FIRST person of Sri Lankan origin to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons. Since you have to be told the obvious, Ms. Sithsabaiesan was elected from the federal riding with the highest number of Tamil-speakers in Canada (check your statistics) and, since you have to be told the obvious, they were there because they were driven out of Sri Lanka by the racist policies of Sinhala-only “leaders.” Incidentally, it might help for you to check the names of those who were actively involved in Sri Lanka’s struggle for independence for some fairly obvious Tamil names.
        “Red herrings do not a discussion make” in case you weren’t already aware of the fact!

        • 0
          4

          And, Mr. Poorten why did these highest number of Tamils abandon Rathika next time round? Also, why did the whole of the NDP fair so badly the second time round. Rathika got in thanks to the “Pink wave” of Layton. Once Layton passed away, Rathika also went into oblivian.
          Mr. Poorten should not be so naive as to equate “genocide” with progroms. Please look at the elgal defintion.
          Mr. Poorten should not be so naive as to imagine that “Canada (check your statistics) and, since you have to be told the obvious, they were there because they were driven out of Sri Lanka by the racist policies of Sinhala-only “leaders.

          So, they went to Canada and found that Tamil is an official language there? They went to Germany, Poland, France, USA etc., where German only, Polish only, French only, and English only are allowed and yet seem to be very happy without that Tamil!
          Many Tamil leaders who launched the separatist movement could hardly make a speech in Tamil -they knew enough to call the servants and not much more.
          Naive political analyzes is the cause of much damage and bloodshed.
          [edited out]

    • 1
      4

      To: van der Poorten

      There being “a big enough vote of Tamils of Sri Lankan origin” does not prove that their chant becomes true. Perhaps next year the Rajapaksa clan may have a big enough vote to get back into power (god forbid); and is van der Poorten then going to say, “See, the Rajapaksas have come to power”. What they say and do is right?

      It is very naive to claim that getting elected is equal to possessing the truth!

      To win votes in Canada or USA or even in Sri Lanka needs deep pockets. Who are the Markham millionaires who fund these campaigned? And how did they get that money? And if you want to keep that money coming, you need to keep that Canadian communal pot constantly stirred.

      • 4
        0

        Markham man:
        The Tamils who ended up in Canada were, as an established FACT, very largely refugees from a racist pogrom in Sri Lanka the author of which was JRJ. Do you deny that?
        Are you also suggesting that Sithsabaiesan’s and Anandasangaree’s supporters bought their elections for them?
        To suggest that I am espousing a “might is right” principle is a simple untruth because I have never, at any time in my life so much as suggested that election by anything less than basic democratic practices is acceptable.
        Attributing to those you disagree with you what they have never espoused is an old (and very cheap) debating trick, especially when spouted from under a pseudonym!

    • 3
      0

      Will Chandre support a Federal Constitution in Srilanka as in Canada where the French speaking Canadians live with honor, with no discrimination of their language all over Canada. Even in the embassies they greet you in English and French when telephone calls are made.
      All politicians in Srilanka live on votes by pretending to do good things closer to the elections, but there after they have their own way to earn as much as possible and continue their discrimination. If the Canadian politician support the Tamil cause what is wrong?

  • 0
    3

    I think you Sri Lankans should look at what is happening here in India.
    Indian politician Vaiko has been arrested and sent to jail for one year for making a pro-LTTE speech. See
    http://ptinews.com/news/10686369_MDMK-chief-Vaiko-convicted-in-sedition-case.html
    (But in Sri Lanka there seems to be no real law, and people seem to make pro-LTTE statements without a problem!)
    Also see his Tamil book: Kutram Saaturgiren
    Vaiko has also said that it was the INDIAN ARMY that killed a lot of Tamils.
    Another sedition case was filed against him for the speech he made at launch of the Tamil version of the book.
    Vaiko’s address in both book-launch events broadly centered around his accusation that Indian government was responsible for the killings of the Tamil people in Lanka in the civil war of 2009 between the LTTE and Army.
    So the genocide accusation should be brought against our INDIAN GOVERNMENT.

    • 3
      0

      Vinod Vyakutti another Sinhalese racist with a fake Malayali identity, to deliberately create ill feeling and anti Indian sentiments amongst Sri Lankan Tamils and unnecessarily involve India in to this. Thinking by involving India falsely the war crimes investigations can be scrapped. We Sri Lankan Tamils are not that stupid. Good try fake Vinod Kallakutti. From this article and the responses , the only obvious thing is that Sinhalese are racist to the core. Does not matter if they belong to the western educated elite , even living in the west, or peasants and manual unskilled workers. Christian or Buddhist. Low born or high born. They are all brainwashed with the Mahavamsa myth and lies , called the Mahavamsa mentality and in the name of Aryan Sinhalese Buddhist Fascism , will commit genocide , structural like forced assimilation , ethnic cleansing of Tamils from their lands and settling Sinhalese or actual killing and war crimes. This concept was ironically invented by a so called homeless converted Catholic low caste of recent South Indian immigrant origin, like half the present day Sinhalese population .

    • 1
      0

      VV,
      The IPKF did kill a lot of people on both sides of the conflict.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Peace_Keeping_Force

  • 1
    5

    To all Tamil racists in these forums who bark for separatism or elam or whatever shall understand if you all bark for anothe thousand years, you ill never get non existing elam or separate state as part of Sri Lanka. For us, this is more hilarious than Vinodha Samaya of yesteryear by Samuel Rodrigo, Annesly Dias and Bertie Goonethilake.

    1st Terrorist SJV Chelvanayagam started this in 1933 and other vellala leaders continued until 2009 by hoodwinking Tamil masses and as a result of annihilation of Prabhakaran led LTTE Terrorism, the Tamil masses learn a lesson for life and they will never support for such acall as elam or separate state anymore and therefore, it is only a day dream for vellala leaders mostly living outside Sri Lanka.

    • 0
      1

      Do you believe in caste distinctions? When you talk of “Catholic low caste”, are you “Saive High Caste Vellalar”?, or do you imagine you are “Brahamin”?
      There is lies the origin of the conflict. You need to keep your fiefdoms under your thumb so you can keep exploiting the low caste people, and the Colombo government is interfering in this?

    • 3
      0

      NTW the ultra racist, Tamils will not get a separate state because India is against it for security reasons. But at one stage if they decide that a separate Tamil state is a must to safeguard Indian security interest, then whatever you do you, cannot stop the creation of an independent Tamil state. More likely scenario is that if Sri Lanka fails to devolve power substantially to the Tamil homeland recognized by India, then India may use force. If India makes military intervention to achieve this there will be no Prabaharan to spoil their party. Why did you not ask Modi to mind his business when he ordered Sri Lanka to go beyond 13th amendment to settle Tamil problem. Get ready to hide under the bed like how you existed when LTTE was active.

  • 1
    0

    David McKinnon, Canada’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka has stated, on Canada’s National Day that “Canada would continue to support conflict prevention efforts in Sri Lanka, where it has been seen how hate speech and media can entrench communal divisions”.
    Chandre Dharmawardena must first attempt to find out whether or not there are reasons to believe that the statement is not incorrect.
    For example: The SLPP manifesto slogan “Reconciliation is another step towards Separation”. Will this ‘prevent conflict’?
    Will the mission statement of Bodu Bala Sena “To create a ‘Buddhist-Sinhala-Only SL’ prevent conflict?
    Are the anti-Muslim speeches of Gnanasara Thera, the founder/Leader of BBS Buddhism, messages of ‘Love…Love…Love’?
    Will Gnanasara’s deeds of violence, past/present, ‘prevent conflict’?
    .
    Instead of looking at the Lankan ground reality, Chandre goes on the offensive.
    He goes for the good-old blame game.
    {“…Meanwhile back in Canada, successive Canadian governments have failed to understand how this very “hate speech” is being entrenched in Canadian municipal discourse and even in parliamentary proceedings by militant diaspora groups…”} and so on.
    Canadians will treat this blah-blah-blah. Which Lankan eyes and ears do you want to catch? Why?
    .
    Editor CT adds: *The author is a Canadian and Sri -Lankan academic living in Canada and attached to the Université de Montreal, and may be contacted at chandre.dharma@yahoo.ca
    Do Canadian Universities ‘attach’ a person with cello-tape?

  • 1
    0

    It was Canadian and European money and support that kept LTTE terrorism alive for almost 30 years. Just like Adel ‘bitch-witch’ Balasingam and kallathoni third class lawyer Rudrakumarn, Erik Solhime is a war criminal as well.
    /
    First of all Canada must learn to treat the long suffering indigenous people well.

  • 0
    0

    Look at this news item: On Friday (5), the Kilinochchi office of ITAK, the main constituent partner in the TNA commemorated the Black Tigers Day, observed in memory of the first LTTE suicide bomber, who steered an explosive-laden truck towards an Army camp at Nelliady Madhya Maha Vidyalayam on 5 July 1987,
    When suicide bombers are commemorated without impunity, how can there be reconcilliation? How can you trust these people to have federal governments? There will be boarder warfare from then on.
    The Jahapalanaya government has made a mockery of justice and encouraging terrorism.

  • 0
    0

    Raja Jokerdeva,
    While we are at R2 and H haplogroup frequencies, it is clearly seen by published genetic studies that these haplogroup frequencies in SL-Tamils are the exact same as in Tamilnadu and Telugus, while the Sinhalese R2 and H haplogroup frequencies differ significantly from the Tamils and Telugus.
     
      Population        H   R2   Reference South Indian Tribals     31.1   4.4   Cordaux 2004 Andhra Pradesh Tribals    34.5   6.9   Fornarino 2009 Indian Telugus          26.7    20    Poznik 2016 Indian Dravidians/Tamils  32.9    6.2     Sengupta 2006 Sri Lankan Tamils       29.01  5.45    Poznik 2016 Sinhalese         10.3   38.5  Kivisild 2003
     
    References
    The Genetic Heritage of the Earliest Settlers Persists Both in Indian Tribal and Caste Populations (Kivisild 2003)

    Punctuated bursts in human male demography inferred from 1,244 worldwide Y-chromosome sequences (Poznik 2016)

    Independent origins of Indian caste and tribal paternal lineages. (Cordaux 2004) (This study has been criticized for some of the conclusions made out of the data)

    Fornarino (2009) “Mitochondrial and Y-chromosome diversity of the Tharus (Nepal): a reservoir of genetic variation.” (Reference is only for data for Andhra tribes)
     
    Both R2 and H lineages are extremely old in India and are considered to be autochthonous. R2 being in so high frequency and H being relatively low in Sinhalese is interesting in regards to Tamil claims, since these data throughly contradicts your claims, because H is associated with Dravidian tribes while R2 is not exclusively associated with any particular group, but is present throughout India including tribes and in Central Asia. As you see all your claims are just bogus claims. Also please understand that we do not need genetic studies to find out who the Tamils in Srilanka are. It is obvious that Tamils are a relatively recent diaspora of Tamilnadu – its a joke to deny this fact and try to claim all sorts of spurious claims as you Tamils do.

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