{"id":44210,"date":"2012-06-06T00:58:09","date_gmt":"2012-06-06T00:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=44210"},"modified":"2012-07-11T07:19:46","modified_gmt":"2012-07-11T07:19:46","slug":"narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Narrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tissa Jayatilaka<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tissa Jayatilaka<\/p><\/div>\n

A revised edition of Handy \u00a0Perinbanayagam \u00a0A Memorial Volume & The Jaffna Youth Congress<\/em><\/strong><\/span> <\/a>edited by\u00a0 Santasilan Kadirgamar, published by\u00a0 Kumaran Publishers, Colombo, was\u00a0 released under the auspices of the Indo-Lanka Foundation on the 4th<\/sup> of March, 2012 at the Saraswathy Hall in Colombo. The first edition of the above publication, also edited by Santasilan Kadirgamar, was produced and distributed by the Handy Perinbanayagam Commemoration Society in Jaffna on 28 June, 1980.<\/p>\n

A noteworthy feature of the present revised edition of the publication is its availability in all of the three national languages – – Sinhala, Tamil and English. It was the editor\u2019s determination to make the ideals and vision of the late Handy Perinbanayagam, the founder of the Jaffna Youth Congress (JYC), accessible to all Sri Lankans that made him bring out the volume in all three languages. He endured the delay thus involved in bringing out the revised edition because of his motivation to release all three versions of the book simultaneously.\u00a0\u00a0 It is both fitting and proper he should have done so. For Handy Perinbanayagam the Ceylonese nationalist (not, please note, a narrow ethic nationalist) would not have wanted it any other way.<\/p>\n

The publication is most timely given that we are at a moment in our history\u00a0 \u00a0when the need for a principled search for genuine national reconciliation is extremely urgent.\u00a0 To this end, the legacy of Handy Perinbanayagam and the Jaffna Youth Congress should serve as a stimulus and congenial guide. Absent such a reconciliation, our future as a united country is in far graver danger than most of us seem to realize.<\/p>\n

Handy Perinbanayagam (1899 \u2013 1977) pioneered the movement in Ceylon for total national independence (\u2018Purna Swaraj\u2019). Inspired by and imbued with the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, he was an educationist of the highest calibre. He fought for the right of a child to be educated in her own native language and for a people\u2019s right to be governed in \u00a0their own. The book before us today is a well deserved tribute to Handy Perinbanayagam\u2019s long and distinguished service to the people of Sri Lanka and to our world in general. His was the voice of liberal humanism.<\/p>\n

Handy Perinbanayagam was a remarkable Sri Lankan and citizen of the world.\u00a0 Among all that he has said and written, what I cherish are the two following:<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the first:<\/p>\n

What Sinhala is to the Sinhalese, Tamil ought to be for the Tamils. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

A minority need not be subordinate to the majority in a free country<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The other expressed by Handy Perinbanayagam \u00a0\u00a0in 1947 goes like this:<\/p>\n

In spite of the reverses which the ideal of one Ceylon, Free Ceylon, has received recently we hold our faith in it.\u00a0 The conception of a free country where politics is free from the ideas of race and caste calls for courage and imagination and true statesmanship.\u00a0 We shall not subscribe to anything less than that, for nothing less will save Ceylon.<\/em><\/p>\n

How very prophetic!<\/p>\n

The Inclusive Vision of Handy Perinbanayagam<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inspired as he was by Gandhian ideals, Handy Perinbanayagam never wavered from his ideal of \u00a0\u00a0a united and independent Sri Lanka.\u00a0 He believed utterly and steadfastly in the dignity and equality of all human beings and hence rejected any form of social exclusivity.\u00a0 Handy Perinbanayagam was also, when the occasion demanded it, unconventional and unorthodox in his thinking.\u00a0 At times, we thus find him in disagreement with the orthodoxy of the Christian Church.\u00a0 He subscribed to the view that the principles of Christianity and Saiva Siddanta were virtually inseparable.\u00a0 As a non-conformist ,\u00a0 as one who likes to question dogmas and orthodoxies, and as \u00a0one who prefers inclusivity to exclusivity, I have found myself naturally drawn to the independence of spirit and thought that marked the life and work of Handy Perinbanayagam.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

In spite of the reverses which the ideal of one Ceylon, Free Ceylon, has received recently we hold our faith in it. The conception of a free country where politics is free from the ideas of race and caste calls for courage and imagination and true statesmanship. We shall not subscribe to anything less than that, for nothing less will save Ceylon.<\/p><\/div>\n

The educated Sri Lankans of the period around 1920 to mid- 1950s – – give or take a little – –\u00a0 much like Handy \u00a0Perinbanayagam and others of the JYC, \u00a0were part of the bilingual intelligentsia of our country.\u00a0 They were not frogs in the well as most of their counterparts appear to be today.\u00a0 Our predecessors, for the most part, were aware of our indigenous traditions and values just as much as they were familiar with traditions and values that are universally valid.\u00a0 They were at home in their indigenous languages as they were with English.\u00a0 We then had the ability and self- confidence to let other cultural winds blow across the length and breadth of our island home and absorb from those winds what was useful and leave out what was of no use.\u00a0 We thus achieved a synthesis of human values which stood us in good stead.\u00a0 It is a pity that we do not manifest that ability and that national self-confidence today.<\/p>\n

The ideals of the Gandhian movement, the idealism of the American missionaries who propagated western Christian liberal values (happily minus the vested interests the generality of their imperialist British counterparts manifested), and the impact of the Hindu nationalists who established Hindu schools in the north combined to shape the broad and humane worldview of the JYC.\u00a0 One of the defining features of the American missionary education enterprise in northern Sri Lanka was its emphasis on the study of both Tamil and English.\u00a0 It is the fine combination of this indigenous and non – indigenous tradition of learning that ensured that men like Handy Perinbanayagam and his JYC colleagues were not culturally divorced from their roots.\u00a0 They were thus rooted in the particular as at the same time they reached out to the universal.<\/p>\n

The Evolution and History of the JYC<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Jaffna Students\u2019 Congress, the precursor of the Jaffna Youth Congress, came into being in the 1920s – – 1924 to be precise.\u00a0 Hector Abhayavardhana in his perceptive essay titled Tamil Nationalism and the Sinhalese<\/em> (see his Selected Writings<\/em>, Colombo: 2001, pp.350 – 368) suggests that the break up of the Ceylon National Congress with the departure of its influential Tamil members around 1924 may have had something to do with the formation of the Jaffna Students\u2019 Congress in that year which later metamorphosed into the Jaffna Youth Congress.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how Abhayavardhana puts it:<\/p>\n

Though Arunachalam and his followers had no visible connection with the formation of the Students (sic) Congress (later the Youth Congress) in Jaffna, it is possible to conjecture that the breakup of the Ceylon National Congress and the formation of the Students Congress in Jaffna were not completely unrelated.<\/em><\/p>\n

Abahayavardhana goes on to make a key point about the Jaffna Students\u2019 Congress in that it was a national and not a mere regional movement confined to the peninsular of Jaffna or the Northern and Eastern provinces.\u00a0 Its perspective, notes Abhayavardhana, \u2018was an all-island one and its goal was explicitly announced to be independence, national unity, secularism, and the overcoming of all caste barriers.\u00a0 It contributed the first manifestation of genuine nationalism in the country\u2019. We thus see that notable Sinhala Sri Lankans such as D.B. Dhanapala, P.de S. Kularatne, \u00a0G.K.W. Perera, once a Principal of Nalanda Vidyalaya and later a State Councillor,\u00a0 A.E. Goonesinha \u00a0\u00a0the labour leader, the father of Marxism in Ceylon Philip Gunawardene (even though based in London at the time), D.S. Senanyake, George. E. de Silva, E.W. Perera, D. B. Jayatilaka, Francis de Zoysa, S. W. Dassanaike, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, N. M. Perera, Leslie Gunewardene,\u00a0 S. A. Wickremasinghe,\u00a0 W. Dahanayake ,\u00a0 J. R. Jayewardene,\u00a0 Colvin R. de Silva\u00a0 and Selina Perera joined forces with the JHC. \u00a0So \u00a0\u00a0also did up country Tamil leaders such as Peri Sunderam, \u00a0Malay leaders such as T. B. Jayah.\u00a0 Not only was the JYC able to transcend ethnic limitations by having under its umbrella a diversity of Ceylonese, it was thereby also able to overcome the limitations of its peninsular base (Cheran 2009).<\/p>\n

The spirit of sturdy independence its members extolled is evident from the very first session of the JYC held at the Ridgeway Hall, Jaffna (later the site of the Jaffna Town Hall) on 29-31 December 1924. Handy Perinbanayagam was the chief organizer and he was assisted by several Jaffna youth, prominent among them being \u00a0\u00a0M. Balasunderam\u00a0 and S. Durai Raja Singham. \u00a0The JYC was the first organization in that era made up of members from the English-educated class, \u00a0in Jaffna or elsewhere in the country, to use one of the indigenous languages together with English in the conduct of its business. \u00a0One of those present at the 1924 Sessions in his speech highlighted the national awakening taking place at that time in the country. He called upon those present to alleviate the suffering of the economically weak, the unemployed, and the oppressed men and women. These laudable objectives, he stressed, may be achieved through a sincere \u00a0desire to serve the motherland (Kadirgamar 1980; 2012).\u00a0 The emphasis thus was very much on national unity, social justice, and sectarianism.\u00a0 The JYC may be considered as perhaps the earliest true nation builders of Ceylon. They were nationalists of a very special kind as distinct from the narrower\u00a0 type\u00a0 exemplified by\u00a0 G. G. Ponnambalam,\u00a0 S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, the Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam,\u00a0 the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the\u00a0 Jathika Hela Urumaya and like-minded groups of non-political actors in the country.<\/p>\n

To his eternal credit, Handy Perinbanayagam did not join a political party. He remained true to his ideals to the very end. Although the JYC subscribed to egalitarianism, Perinbanayagam was not a Marxist. His vision was broader, far more significant, infinitely more all-encompassing, and humane. The achievement of\u00a0 Handy Perinbanayagam becomes the greater when we remember that his radicalism was nurtured and preserved in an essentially conservative caste-bound feudalistic Ceylon\/Sri Lanka. Men of Handy Perinbanayagam\u2019s calibre\u00a0 will forever be remembered by those of us free of narrow political and social agendas for their sincerity and integrity – – qualities sadly not much in evidence today in our badly fractured society.<\/p>\n

The Jaffna Students\u2019 Congress, founded in 1924, held its first sessions that year in Jaffna.\u00a0 The period 1925 – 1931 was one of significant growth and, in the latter year, the Students\u2019 Congress became the Jaffna Youth Congress.\u00a0 The second Annual Sessions of the Congress were held in Keerimalai in 1925 and was addressed by P. de. S. \u00a0Kularatne who, it is reported, had his audience of visionary youth spellbound; the third scheduled for April 1926 were postponed to December 1926 and held in Keerimalai, the postponement being due to an outbreak of cholera in Jaffna.\u00a0 The Sessions of 1927 were significant as this was the year Mahatma Gandhi was chief guest at the invitation of Handy Perinbanayagam.\u00a0 One of the key decisions taken at the Annual Sessions of 1928 was to establish similar student organizations in Kandy, Galle and Colombo and in other posts of the country with the eventual aim of setting up an All – Ceylon Students\u2019 Congress.\u00a0 This decision became a reality, as Santasilan Kadirgamar notes, in May 1931 with the holding of\u00a0 its \u00a0inaugural meeting\u00a0 at The Plaza Theatre, Wellawatte. \u00a0Kadirgamar tells us that Jawaharlal Nehru, at the time holidaying in Sri Lanka, had attended the meeting in Wellawatte.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1929, the venue for the Annual Sessions of the JYC was\u00a0 Kankesanturai\u00a0 whilst that in 1930 was Thirunelvely.<\/p>\n

The Sessions of 1931 are significant as it was at them that the famous or infamous (depending on one\u2019s perspective) \u2018Jaffna Boycott\u2019 resolution was passed.\u00a0 This \u00a0\u00a0resolution called upon the members of the JYC \u00a0\u00a0to refrain from participating in the elections to the State Council as there was \u00a0no purna swaraj<\/em> \u00a0\u00a0or\u00a0 self-government on offer. Earlier the JYC had rejected the Donoughmore Commission\u2019s proposals for the same reason – – \u00a0\u00a0for not going far enough in the direction of self-government. \u00a0In 1931, as noted above, the Jaffna Students\u2019 Congress became the Jaffna Youth Congress.\u00a0 The Seventh Annual Sessions were held at the Jaffna Esplanade with Srimathie Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, the sister- in- law of Sarojini Naidu as chief guest.<\/p>\n

1934 is considered to be the year when the decline of the Congress began and the movement began to diminish as a force for change.\u00a0 It is also around this time that leading personalities of the day began to move once more towards sectarianism, moving away from the laudable goal of an overarching Ceylonese – – as opposed to a Sinhala or Tamil – – nationalism with\u00a0 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike founding\u00a0 the Sinhala\u00a0 Maha\u00a0 Jana\u00a0 Sabha\u00a0 and G. G. Ponnabalam the Tamil Maha Jana Sabhai.<\/p>\n

The Scholarly Reaction to the JYC<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apart from Jane Russell\u2019s research into and commentary on the JYC in her doctoral dissertation published under the title Communal Politics under the Donoughmore Constitution 1931 – 1947<\/em> (Colombo: 1982), very little scholarly attention has been paid to the Jaffna Youth Congress by our historians and political scientists.\u00a0 Santasilan Kadirgamar\u2019s indefatiguable labours as the primary historian of the JYC, \u00a0therefore, assumes even \u00a0\u00a0greater significance.<\/p>\n

Somewhat cursory references to the JYC are found in the following publications: University of Ceylon History of Ceylon Volume 3 From the beginning of 19th<\/sup> Century to 1948<\/em>, edited by K. M. de Silva (1973), Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism Its Origins and Development in the 19th<\/sup> and 20th<\/sup> Centuries, <\/em>A.J. <\/em>Wilson(2000), S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947 – 1977 A Political<\/em> Biography<\/em>, A.J. Wilson (1994), A History of Sri Lanka<\/em>, K.M. de Silva (1st<\/sup> Edition: 1980); (2nd<\/sup> Edition:2005), and Sri Lanka in the Modern Age A History of Contested Identities<\/em>, Nira Wickramasinghe (2006).<\/p>\n

Interestingly Murugar Gunasingham, the author of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, A Study of its Origins<\/em> (Sydney : 1999) chooses to ignore the JYC altogether! He makes mention of the Jaffna Association, Jaffna Tamil Association, Jaffna Hindu Youth Society, but makes no reference whatsoever to \u00a0the Jaffna Youth Congress! A.J. Wilson thought that the JHC was \u2018Idealistic and impractical\u2019.\u00a0 According to Wilson, although the Congress\u2019 motives were honorable, it let opportunities pass by. He was one of those who considered the \u2018Jaffna Boycott\u2019 a tactical blunder of sorts. Here\u2019s how \u00a0he put it:<\/p>\n

The protest movement (Jaffna Boycott) petered out after two years, but the Tamils <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 had blundered by losing opportunities to secure places in the Board of Ministers,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the elective executive under the Donoughmore Constitution.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jane Russell is of the view that\u00a0 \u2018 the Youth Congress members performed social services in the villages, and their continual residence in the peninsula combined with such boldness, enthusiasm and almost quixotic \u00a0idealism, made the Jaffna Youth Congress a very potent force indeed in the Northern Province from 1927 onwards\u2019.<\/p>\n

It may well be that the JYC\u2019s call for a boycott was politically na\u00efve, \u00a0\u00a0\u2018quixotic\u2019\u00a0 \u00a0or unwise. But, the fact remains\u00a0 \u00a0that,\u00a0 \u00a0that decision wise or unwise, was not arrived at on the basis of communalism. It was perhaps a hasty decision taken in an anti-imperialist fervour, but it had nothing to do with communal politics that was rearing its ugly head by this time. In this regard, it must be noted for the record, that neither G.G. Ponnambalam \u00a0\u00a0nor S.J.V. Chelvanayakam \u00a0ever\u00a0 identified with the JYC. \u00a0Quoting from an editorial in one of our (unnamed) newspapers, T. Duraisingham in his\u00a0 Politics and Life<\/em> in Our Times Volume 1<\/em> notes\u00a0 that:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The story of the Youth Congress is the story of a splendid failure, it is splendid, in spite<\/em><\/p>\n

of \u00a0its failure. It failed not because of the usual vices that corrode public movements, but<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 because \u00a0of its very virtue.\u00a0 In spite of its end, as untimely as it was unmerited, the courage<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and the ideals that lay behind it and the tenacity of purpose that characterized it while it<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0lasted constitute an inspiration to all who come after it. <\/em><\/p>\n

Not too many political or social movements ever receive an obituary as memorable as the above. In these bleak times we are passing through, the ever fragrant\u00a0 memory of the JYC\u00a0 serves to lift the spirit of those of us\u00a0 who yet pursue that seemingly elusive brand of Sri Lankan nationalism – – as opposed to the\u00a0 narrow and harmful sectarian nationalism that some of our misguided citizens appear determined to pursue – – \u00a0and helps sustain the hope\u00a0 for a better and meaningful future for us all.<\/p>\n

*Comments Made on the Occasion of the Release of\u00a0<\/strong>Handy Perinbanayagam A Memorial Volume<\/em> & The Jaffna Youth Congress<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tissa Jayatilaka<\/a>\u00a0is<\/strong>\u00a0the\u00a0Executive Director\u00a0at\u00a0U.S-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":39467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nNarrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Narrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-06T00:58:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-07-11T07:19:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"129\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"185\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/\",\"name\":\"Narrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-06T00:58:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-11T07:19:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg\",\"width\":\"129\",\"height\":\"185\",\"caption\":\"\u0dad\u0dd2\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dc3 \u0da2\u0dba\u0dad\u0dd2\u0dbd\u0d9a\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Narrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Narrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Narrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2012-06-06T00:58:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-07-11T07:19:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":129,"height":185,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"14 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/","name":"Narrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg","datePublished":"2012-06-06T00:58:09+00:00","dateModified":"2012-07-11T07:19:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg","width":"129","height":"185","caption":"\u0dad\u0dd2\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dc3 \u0da2\u0dba\u0dad\u0dd2\u0dbd\u0d9a"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/narrow-and-harmful-sectarian-nationalism-and-the-jaffna-youth-congress\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Narrow, Harmful Sectarian Nationalism And The Jaffna Youth Congress"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tissa-Jayatilaka.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44210"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47798,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44210\/revisions\/47798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}