As with terminally sick cases Sinhala society does not realise that it is sick. They live in the Glorius Past of the ancient kings and 2500 year civilization. Little do they realize that the world has moved on, beyond the boundaries of race, religon, caste or creed. The Sinhalese Taliban, namely JHU and NPF have hijacked the Sinhalese and have launched on a pro-Sinhala racist agenda. They have even discarded the teachings of Lord Buddha who preached the doctrine of non-violence.

Thankyou, Millions of Dushy ranedunges needed in sinhala society. Dushy your kind of people needed, Mahainda modayas circle. So called Dr advicers poisoning unthinkable Mahindas tiny little brain. So many mahindas gangs well earned enough money for their generations. Some guys worked in Petrol pump attentents living in million dollor houses in california. Still they making money in srilanka.
THANKS TO MAHINDA, PIRBKARAN TRIED 30 YRS ARMS STRUGGLE FAILED(MAY BE). BUT TAMILS DREAM OF TAMIL EALAM WILL BE REALITY SOONER OR LATER. NO BODY GOING TO SUPPORT SINHALA ANCIENT THEORIES.

Dear Dushy,

Very True, this country was ruled under ONE KING only on certain specific time frames. What you fail to mention here is that during the "other periods" of history, not only the north, but other parts of the country too were fragmented and ruled under different kings. However these KINGDOMS WERE NEVER BASED ON ANY PARTICULAR HOMOGENEOUS ETHNIC OR RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION, to give right to a claim for a separate country or a federal state in the north, based purely on ethnicity.

Sinhalese lived quite amicably with dravidians and muslims in all parts of the country and vice versa. There was never discrimination based on race or religion until the europeans arrived.

If your theses is right, India which was only consolidated briefly under King Asoka as the Mahabharata should have disintegrated much earlier, and other countries which have several widely spoken languages should have disintegrated too. Each separate ethnic group in these countries were ruled by their respective chieftains before the colonial masters descended on them!

But the world order does not operate that way and you know it!

Let us put this in the right perspective. What we have here in Sri Lanka is a demand for power sharing in the lines of a federation of states, in to which the UN officially recognizes the right to separate! Failing which, the proposition is for total separation by the minority to curve out a ethnically homogeneous country for a population of 2 Million Tamils, where no outsider is allowed to possess land or settle. (If the latter is allowed, or the displaced Singhalese and Muslims from the north are allowed back, the notion of the ethnically homogeneous state goes for a six).

As long as these demands do not conform to at least some form of rationale, your views are bound to fail, just as the often repeated theorem that the LTTE can not be defeated was laid to rest for ever.

We all need to understand that we have fooled ourselves long enough from the days of the 50:50 representation demand. Let there be no further bloodshed!

This is in essence wah all Sri Lankans irrespective of their ethnicities should understand. Not only sinhala nationalism, there is tamil nationalism as well and it is more kind opf robust phenomenon. What I as a Tamil, now a second class citizen thanks to the LTTE, not because of the so-called persecution by Sinhala state, perceive is that Tamils are a minority with a "majority complex" and sinhalese are a majority with a "minority complex" in their minds.

Dushey's views are more theoratical than practical considering waht I said above. So what is the way forward? What kind of devolution we need? What would be recations of India which will never allow to have Sri Lanka partitioned? How would this government proceed with reconciliation process etc etc.

First of all we need to blast the language barrier. We need a model like Singapore forcibly imposed sooner than later. Then all communities would be able to communicate effectively with each other which would pave ways fro more understanding. This will allow communities not to be fooled by opportunistic politicians.

The other major factor in the future of Sri Lanka could be Tamil diaspora. Unfortunately most of the second or third generation men/women, boys/girls do not what Sri Lanka is or even where it is located. Sadly they are being brainwashed by parents and relatives that Sinhalese are chasing us to be killed and therefore we need Tamil Eelam for survival! I happened to have chat with a couple with two kids yesterday in London whom confirmed same to me. So we need time.

I do not think southern polity at this juncture will compromise much on devolution. As Dushey very correctly said, though the ruling elite do not understand the dynamics of world politics, Sri Lankan diplomats know this very well. Some have told me that Diaspora Tamils have already won their battle in the Western capitals. However, these diplomats are often being castigated in Colombo as very inefficient lot!

Sri Lanka will have a long way to go to be a model democracy and it is certainly going to be tough journey. My feeling is that we will not succeed considering the current trends in the socio politics of Sinhalese and Tamils. Diaspora Tamils are still living in the day dream of Tamil eelam without even thinking of its sustainability.

Dushey's view that would Mahinda end as liberator or conqueror, is the big question. My feeling is that he has the courage to be a liberator but bold initiatives are needed and he needs people around him in his absolutely certain second term to start a real nation building process. I hope Dushey's article would be an eye opener for Sri Lankan masses and I am sure that he would translate this into Sinhala and Tamil so that majority of Sri Lankans can read it. Please continue writing as we have only a few like you at this absolutely decisive juncture of our history.

Mahinda cannot leave his extremist friends and move back to the center because he may meet with the same fate as SWRD. History will, therefore, repeat itself!

Dushy Ranatunga, You do not know what you are talking about. You talk like typical Tamil-Extremist-propaganda Machine. It is those extremists who used all these ancient stories and Mahavamsam to their advantage.

With respect to YAPA patuna Kingdoms, Western democracies are a recent concept in the east. Earlier, even when the King was a EMPEROR, there were sub-kingdoms ans those "Yuvarajs" paid "taxes" to the main Kingdoms.

The next thing is your brain can not understand anything about "nationalism".

I say, Sinhalas are not nationalist at all. In comparison to Tamil extremists, Sinhala people never used their Aryan- descending legend, Mahavamsa, or any thing else to chase out Tamils, to kill tamils violently OR to treat tamils unfairly.

Sinhala people should appreciate their history and what they have, they must be thankful to the people who preserved their history; who build their histroy and in the same way it is the DUTY AND THE RESPONSIBILITY of the present sinhalas to protect it. In that way, Sinhala people should feel nationalistic and should act nationalistic.

At present, what is worrying is Sinhala people don't act to preserve what they have and build on that.

Excellent piece Dushy.

Mahindas moment of truth has arrived. Will he cut the cancerous racism of the Sinhalese which he encouraged ? or will he go down with them ?

The IC having squeezed the LTTE now bides it's time to squeeze the Govt as it did in Bosnia. Squeeze both sides they said. A lack of demand of our garments have already sent the economy down the " pallang ". A statement on the GSP+ will send us all into a tizzy. Who will pay the men and women who took arms for the Govt now that the military project is almost over ? The " war veterans " will demand their flesh as done in Zimbabwe and this time the Sinhalese who egged them on will have to pay.

The next chapter will be the real history of Srilanka.

Dear Dushy,

You make some good points in your article. I see that you have changed your tune very much from your previous srticle titled "Exit the tiger enter the dragon" where you concluded that the opinions of the west did not count.

I don't altogether agree with your military analogy. According to the government some 50,000 well armed soldiers faced some 2000 LTTE fighters many of whom were alleged to be forcibly recruited "child soldiers". The fact that this war has taken 18 months and the LTTE are still undefeated says a lot about the bravery and the dedication of the LTTE under the leadership of Prabakharan. They have certainly given the Sri Lankan defence forces a run for their money.

Despite your obvious intelligence you still do not seem to understand the Tamil psyche. Despite many rumours that he has left these shores, Prabhakaran is still in the thick of the fighting and it is unthinkable that he will desert his people. This is just not on the cards.

I do completely agree with your long term strategic assessment that until the racism in the Sri Lankan ruling elite has been cut away, the country will not know real peace.

Regards

Segaran

Same triumphant song herd so many times
in the past by political rowdies such as
Jeyawardena & Lalith,Rajiv & Dixit,and
Chandrika & Ratwatte as to broken tamil
tigers back, Now Mahinda and his rabble
singing the same old song loudly, Racially
polluted sinhala brains also play background
music for that ugly song comparing racist
animal dutugemunu. Minister Sripala de silva
openly declared in sinhala parliament that India
is playing a vital role in the war against tamil.
This is not the victory of Mahinda's regime.
So, have to wait and see who breaks whose back
in the future.

Dear Dushy,

Reading your article I thought that history is not taught at our shools the way you have put it. We have always been taught that we were one country. If the history as you say is indeed is true, then we are sure to face a repetition.

My point is, historically and naturally, Sri Lanka cannot be one country. If the lessons of history are well learnt then it is only natural that the country is ruled separately, geographically. Now this need not be a different State. It could be in the form of a federal State. By holding the country as one, we are going against nature. Can human beings go against nature without self destructing?

At the moment the clamour is for two regions. Not for many regions. So as you say, we may have to devolve as much power as possible. Remember, India would never allow a separate State in Sri Lanka. So we have to be innovative and devolve power. Is the Sri Lankan state ready for that. After all the military victories, I do not think anyone would allow it. So, I think we are a cursed country? We are cursed to live with eternal strife.

Chinthaka

Sinhalese turn vicious when shown aggression. Uncontrolled emotions are destructive.

The unitary state is a myth inculcatated on us-Sinhala Buddhist. We both have been fighting for last 2000 yrs for this cause and it has never been a realistic dream.
At the same time Prabakaran is not the cause of the problem but one of the myriads of effects. It is same with MR as well.
So the collapse of LTTE or the death of Prabakaran will never lead to a permanent solution for the conflict. Similarly collapse of the current extremely patriotic regime will never help in finding a solution.
Only way of finding a solution is changing the Sinhala Buddhists ideology and accommodating a way of self determination for Tamils.
King Velu did not run away from his capital and is not hiding among his people on the beach, using the people as a human shield but he strategically abandoned it and will come back if survives the massive man hunt currently in operation.
Equally MR is also hiding behind a human as well as a bullet proof shield as all our democratic leaders used to do.
In recent history only leader who openly challenged his opponent for a single combat was JRJ against Wijeweera in 1987-1989 period but it was a political gimmick.

Dushy, you be careful. Do not come to sri lanka just yet.Remember all the journalists who have been either killed or have left the country.The nation cannot afford to lose people like you.

As NGOs like to say, LTTE is the result of Sinhala Nationalism, your so called cancers are result of Tamil terrorism.

We all know those parties you mentioned JHU, NFP etc came to existance many years after LTTE and as a direct result of LTTE activities.

So once the cause is eradicated those illnesses will also go away.

...:In Quebec, Czechoslovakia, and Scotland, referendums have been held or speculated, on separation. This is the future, whether the Sinhalese like it or not...."

In reality, Sinhalese, Tamils or even Muslims in Sri Lanka have to learn that no one is going to live in peace by physically or mentally invading the comfort zone of other people. Majority of Sinhalese or Tamils NEVER live together in the same neighborhood. This is the fact. Respect the rights of all citizens. No one is superior to others. If you still think that your are better than your competitor then look at the big players playing at the next level.

The government is run on the financial support from big greedy giants. What giants want is safe return for their investments. In your life time, you will be directly or indirectly working for the giants. Whatever language you speak or what ever religion you follow, try to learn to respect other human being. Don't play with the life of innocent people.

babaji@earth.paradise

Dushy Ranetunge has the courage & wisdom, that the Tamils like Douglas, Sangaree, Sidaarthan, Karuna and Pillayan and majority of the anti LTTE educated Tamils, do not have. He reflects the thinking of a Sinhalese statesman hope Mahinda will erase the Mahinda Chinthanya and reformat his thinking based this piece of honest work by Dushy.

If the Sinhalese leaders lead the masses in the right way and devolve the power to the minorities through constitutional change, devolved power structure will give more progress to the two nation one country SriLanka which could do better than other South Asian countries. This will make Indian Centre to change too respecting the constituents of the Southern states or for that matter of any state.

Therefore the Tamil Diaspora particularly the youth among the diaspora must not give up and continue the Tamil struggle. If the political struggle is sustained ,Sooner or later the majority of the Sinhalese masses will realise that the Mahinda Chinthanaya controlled by JHU, JVP will not make SL prosperous and peaceful any more. The majority of masses will also realise Since 1948 Sinahalese leaders have been ruling using majoritarian democracy is wrong and now with the help of IC, India China & others under the guise of fight against terrorism conquering the minorities' homelands diplacing them within their homelands into refuggee camps snfd depopulating the areas for futre colonisation by occupying with Sinhalese army is totally wrong too.

dear seran,

/*
the LTTE are still undefeated says a lot about the bravery and the dedication of the LTTE under the leadership of Prabakharan.
*/

ltte hard to defeat becos each time Sinhalese try to defeat, you trick Sinhalese thinking there is a political solution to weaken their resolve. You then whip up emotions in Tamil Nadu, blackmail India, con everyone on earth with genocide talk. You are just a bunch of con artists even decent people now well aware.

However, little thing never occurred to you was each time you conned and thought you won, you kept losing dignity you were started with. Not only you lost friends, your actions left Tamils in Ceylon less in quality and quantity. After Velu gone no one to force anyone to commit suicide and die on their feet. The great eelam con job only guarantee Tamil to live on their knees in perpetuity or assimilate with Sinhalese.

Dushy
There is clear distinction between nationalism and racism. Sinhalese did not want to create a monoethnic country ever but tamils dream on to create tamil only kingdom in 1/3 rd of SL. As I said befor this war will be finished by the Charles Darwin's laws. Those cannot adapt may perish. may survive in other pastures.

Guys why do not you talk to Canada about having a separate enclave for tamils? They are very democaratic and understanding about desire of races' self rule. So they might be willing to accommadate your agenda.

what a different type of article by this writer.Is it because the LTTE has choosen a non violent path to resolve the problem or he has got a bonanza from them.Otherwise if the readers would have gone through the articles written by this writer to Asian Tribune site some time ago,Anybody can undestand the contrast in between this article and the previous ones.This type of people are more dangerous than the terrorist

Hi Janaka,

You state that the Sinhalese were never interested in creating a monoethnic country?

What do you call "Sinhala only", "Sri Lanka is a Sinhala country" etc? are these evidence of a plural democracy?

Sinhalese want a Sinhala eelam and Tamils want a Tamil eelam?

hey are a mirror image of each other. Prabakaran lives in the Vanni and a Sinhala Prabakaran lives in Colombo.

When it is stated "you are with us or you are against us", the option presented is you are with the child abductors or you are with the white van abductors.

The middle path is dead,as the Buddha.

just another bla bla about the history of sinhalease,it seems that sinhala army used its own muscle and brain to capture??? few places not a word about indian money,materials,military personalss,pilots ,advisors who are really behind this so it is clear the past history of sri lanka is like this.if you believe that aborgines came to australia after white colonise believe mahavamsa same book after 500 years will write under the reign of so and so big projects like mahaweli,kotmale dams were contructed using the talent of sinhala engineers.there was a question raised in article in the ex-air lanka inflight magazine....why the nose of ancient buddha status resemble greek???? answer is simple these were made by greek sculptures so the dams of ancient sri lanka.who cares sinhalease will beleieve these stories like defeating tamil rebels jayawewa

//Panhinda: Sinhalese try to defeat//
Shame on you guys. Sinhalese are not defeating. The Brave army - Indian army is doing the job. You just celebrating for short while. This wouldn't last for long.

Dushy, well written but we have lost hope.

Miserable power struggle. If only the polity had maintained the agreements reached in the fifties, how high we would have reached as a nation.

We are still discussing the same strategies agreed and lost then, with politicians of the same kind.

Since then the country has lost so much in material, personnel, and feelings of trust - more than anything else is the nondevelopment of nationhood.

Can anyone expect this to change and expect any honest nationhood?

If the purpose of your article is to create sensation and derive some pleasure from comments from particularly Tamil people waiting for an opportunity to vent their anger on Sinhalese, you have achieved that purpose to a limited extent.It is the fashion among some Sinhalese to display a holier than thou attitude to the world and convince other Sri Lankans through distorted an nonsensical analysis of historical and recent facts that you are somehow a different breed of Sinhalese and in the process insulting your own kind.It is a lie to say that the Sinhalese community in general are any more racist than the Tamil or any other ethnic community in the world.Every ethnic community wishes to maintain its identity distinct from others. Try running for parliament in your constituency in the UK and tell us next time how racially accommodating you Anglo-Saxon brothers and sister there are.It is common knowledge and you ought know if you are a student of the current ethnic conflict, that it was the hooligan element of primarily the main cities in Sri Lanka that committed the atrocities on the Tamils under the foolish countenance of politicians,but this too after provocative acts of violence of the extreme nature that had been committed by the Tamil extremists with the specific aim of bringing that result on the Tamil people living amongst the Sinhales, to kick start their campaign of terror in the Island on an international scale.The biggest crime the Sinhalese people committed,at least in my view,is the fact that we failed to stand up against the atrocities perpetrated on our Tamil brothers and sisters and speak up for them vociferously enough.It must also be gainsaid that the Tamil did the same in their areas when crimes of the cruelest kind were being committed against the Sinhalese and the Muslims.One need only look at Justice Sansoni's Report to learn of the vicious crimes perpetrated by the Tamils against the minority Sinhala community in the early days of the conflict and this continued.You should do some research and write about this aspect of the matter too.It is not all a one sided affair as what you are projecting it to be.You need two hands to clap for the right or the wrong reasons.In my estimation both sides must take blame.However,on a more constuctive note and in the face of defeat of terrorism there is hope for both communities to sit together and analyse their actions and non-action and set the agenda for real peace.This is what is important;not blaming each other.You would do better for both communities if you advocate this peace rather than surreptitiously promote hatred.

You forget that about 50 percent of tamils live in South in Colombo and up country with Sinhalese.Unlike in Dutugamunu-Elara period these tamils live safely among Sinhalese.So I think the winning of war this time prevail more years than you imagine.Your predictions depend on past experience, and you are living in London. You better come to Srilanka and find the facts.

Sinahala people don't really know the suffering of tamils. Hardly sinhalese mingle with tamils and majority of them have never been to north or east. I have sinhala realatives and friends. My best firend is sinhala and lived under the same roof for many years, never talked about politics to aviod confrontation. The truth is every tamil person in Sri Lanka lives with fear and uncertainty . I would like to share my personal experience, quite similar to most of the tamils.
1977- witnessed the riots in the south (age of 5)
1981-1984- witnessed atrocities of SLA in the roads of Jaffna, burnt the precious library, including government buildings.
1984-1992- studied with constant fear of shootings and shelling, especially from the nearest army camp to my school, many building in my school were bombed and shelled, so many displacements, got injured by aerial bombing, lost close family members and properties. Studied without electricity for 7 years. Despite all these difficulties I passed my A/Ls with fantastic results.

Sinhala arrogance and aggression with their indiscriminate policies made tamils to choose the violent path to fight for their rights. Jaffna has been under the army control for 13 years, it is maintained as an open prison, therefore the government decided not to redevelop Jaffna.

if emperor ashoka -who embraced buddhism after saw deaths,bloods,pieces of flesh in the wars- live today he will commit sucide for promoting budddhism in sri lanka and if devanambiya dissa live today he would have self-immolise for encouraging sinhalease to embarce buddhism a religion which talk about kindness,tolerence and love is doing just opposite in sri lanka better sinhalease study the true buddhism.sinhalese voted solomen dias,julias richards,dudly and percy as the guardian of buddhism because they have no knowledge about this religion

Dushy Ranetunge DO NOT use the word RACISM to describe Sinhala people specifically Sinhala-of Buddhist world view.

At NO STAGE the Sinhala Buddhists consider they are SUPERIOR to the Tamils or Muslims.

They may claim that they have a claim to Sri Lanka and it's territory. BUT NEVER THEY HAVE CLAIMED that they are Ethnically Superior to the Tamils.

Even in the past the Tamils have been seen as invading OPPONENTS. But NEVER ETHNICALLY INFERIOR to the Sinhalese.

The world RACISM is a world introduced to describe the treatment of WHITES on NON_WHITES using evolution of Charles Darwin. That is Non-whites are primitive and the whites are superior and cultured. These concepts do not apply to Sri Lanka or the Tamil Rights issue.

The question that you have ask is:

IS TAMIL HOMELAND....THAT IS EXCLUSIVE TAMIL HOMELAND is justifiable in Northern Province , Eastern Province and the Puttalam District..Exclusively for Tamils...

Can other minorities live in that part of Sri Lanka....

YOU have to also observe that Sinhala people no matter how bad people say they are NEVER organised themselves into an ARMED MILITIA targetting TAMILS and TAMIL speakers exclusively in Sri Lanka.

There are Tamils in areas of high Sinhala Concentration without any problems...BUT are there Sinhalese in the SO CALLED TAMIL AREAS.

IF TAMIL NADU was independent of Central Indian government and had an army..THEY WOULD HAVE INVADED SRI LANKA and annexed the so called Tamil Areas....

SO WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT GRIEVANCES OF THE TAMILS ??

If the Tamil grievance is that they do not live in a MAJORITY TAMIL COUNTRY...THEN THE SINHALESE CAN NOT HELP THAT...CAN THEY?????

Dushy:

Light at last. My fear is your transmogrification will now place you in direct confrontation with the Sinhala Buddhis supremacist cabal – with which you were identified for your somewhat extremist views. The darling of that clique Nalin de Silva will call you names in the next weekly issue of that newspaper, which makes no secret it has no place for dissenting views from the Tamil side. Good sense and sound education wins over prejudice in those minds of those of good breeding. By the way, the East was not won by the gallantry of the SLA but by that quisling Karuna excising the LTTE, accused of embezzlement.

The split was engineered by a Moulana in pants who was richer by Rs100 million by the experience. Karuna’s fees much more – with real estate both in Malaysia and London, they say. He was a prize catch and so the Brits too played dirty getting involved in bogus passports, visas and the lot. Even the highly venerated British justice system too, it seems, played a role in the sordid Karuna fiasco. Nalin’s men will roast you for stating Jaffna had its own kingdom during 1215-1619 - though I figure it goes well beyond that. The good Professor preached to those JVP and other extremist Sinhala youth in his Chintanayas “Jaffna Tamils came only 400 years ago with the Dutch to plant tobacco” – and he teaches in the University.

Devolution to Tamils that you now advocate is what we have been fighting for over 5 decades – and look at the lives and resources lost on both sides during the period. The country itself, in addition to being close to bankruptcy is in the process of disintegrating. You exercise some cunning in conceding the North but saying nothing of the East. Incidentally, a Referendum in the East now or in the future will be unacceptable to the Tamils. It would have - 50 years ago. But since successive Sinhala governments used State resources to surreptitiously send in Sinhalese from the South only for the purpose of gradually changing the demographic pattern of the EP, where Tamils were - over 85% at the turn of the last century.

They are now reduced to less than 50% of the population. As to the restoration of democracy there and the people of Batticoloa breathing the air of freedom courtesy Karuna and Pillayan – well! well! Yes! we right along maintained what you now admit that unlike Rajapakse and his henchmen senior and respected Lankan diplomatcs (how refreshing the tribe has not gone into total extinction) well tuned into global trends acknowledge the Tamils (Northerners – in your careful parlance) always had the moral high ground and global sympathy.

You hav e the savvy and the decency not to call the global community “White tigers” as is the norm now – even with educated men like the pugnacious Professori from the Peace Sec. Your present realisation the military is now in serious want of resources is yet again something we have been warning for decades. For that we were also called “Tigers” “Anti-Sinhalese:” - whereas the striped ones knew not if we were black or white; men or women. We equally state loud and clear the larger portion of all what is said to have been spent on arms purchases in the past two decades went to line the pockets of our leaders – both uniformed and in cloth (both sarong and sari).

To heave a heavy sigh commenting “the days ethnic majorities controlled the political aspirations via legislative or physical control of minorities at the point of the gun will diminish within this century” is largely true. As to the timing, the century has just begun and any hopes of this filtering to the end of the century will be wishful thinking. The day of reckoning is around the corner – most would think. The cruel methods that you now lament to chain the Tamils into subjugation are continuing in the Wanni even today –and the wisdom you espouse against this brutality must reach those confused quarters in and outside uniform that make the decisions to make war and peace.

What is at stake now is the future of both Sinhalese and Tamil civilians who must live together in the future in peace, harmony and with mutual respect to each others pluralistic culture – as we did so wonderfully not too long ago.Both sides must engage in much give and take if we are to re-build that united nation of Lankans again. With accomadating minds of Sinhalese, such as yourself, this is within our reach. The impediment for the moment is from those pre-occupied with “cancer, radiation treatment,
Final solution” and the like in their suspect mental equilibrium. But then so was Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin at the latter stages of their unfortunate lives – all of whom continued to believe an entire people – nay the world – can be kept down through the barrel of the gun. Their names and memory are recalled with contempt and revulsion when and wherever they come up. By the way, Congrads for being on the list of the high-income earning bracket in the UK. Good to have some of our boys (or girls) there because the Indians seem to have a virtual monopoly in this as well.. I know at least a Jaffna boy in the film industry is also in the high bracket too there. May your tribe grow to the delight of us all in the Resplendent Isle.

Ilaya Seran Senguttuvan

I totally agree for teh comments fo V Kanagalingam and Minchaka.

Those arer the ways that we need to think if we enat to resolve this problem permanantly and not allow our future generatiosn suffer.

Hi Sinhala voice,

Some definitions of racism found on Web dictionaries readily accessable by you are as follows;

1. hostile or oppressive behaviour towards people because they belong to a different race

2. a belief in a policy of enforcing the asserted right of control. — racist, n., adj.

I would say that the requirement for Tamils to register in Colombo is racism.
The shipping out of Tamils in busses, stopped by the Supreme court is racism.
The army commander saying that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala country is racism.
The army commander saying that minorities must not make undue demands is racism.
Sinhala only was racism.
Sinhala rioting against Muslims in Mawanella recently and many other riots against Tamils and muslims is racism.
A Sinhala High Commissioner that I am aware of who refers to muslims as "thambiya" is racism.
Paying estate Tamils Rs 180 a day when the normal wages in the country is Rs 500 a day is racism.
The government restricting Tamils into IDP camps and not allowing them to travel to Colombo is racism and a breach of their fundamental rights.
A Rajapakse calling an Estate Tamil "para Demala" is racism.

I can go on.Do you want me to?

I am not saying that Sinhalese are racist and that Tamils are not.

Both are a mirror image of each other.

At LTTE peace conferences in North America, Europe and the UK I have listened to Tamil doctors, consultants etc making racist statements. I also listen to Sinhalese doctors, consultants etc making racist statements.

It just happens that we are 70% of the population, so we account for 70% of the racism. Is that a fair assessment?

Dear Santhathevy,

/*
You just celebrating for short while. This wouldn't last for long.
*/

What will you do? unleash power stricken 14 year olds against multi-barrel rocket fire again? You virtual hero you! :)

Seran,

The Republic can settle its citizens where ever they want.

Tamils don't own the North or the East.

I hope they start settling some Sinhalese and Muslims in the North.

If Colombo can have more than 50% non Sinhalese, Jaffna can have more than 50% non Tamils.

Tamils in Jaffna must learn to live with others.

I have told you before, Tamils are the greatest beneficiaries of state aided colonisation with millions of Tamils settled by the Colonial powers in plantations.

Tamils are not in a position to complain about state aided colonisation.

..If Colombo can have more than 50% non Sinhalese, Jaffna can have more than 50% non Tamils....

I think, you can not compare Colombo and Jaffna in the same scale. Colombo is the financial hub of Sri Lanka like New York, London Toronto or Sydney. Tamil people are forced to come to Colombo as a transition place to get out of Sri Lanka. Another reason is Tamil people believe that living in Colombo is safer than any other cities in Sri Lanka just because of existence the of many foreign establishments.

Still don't forget a fact that in personal level we don't have any problem with living together with other ethnic people. The main problem in Sri Lanka is all governments haven been trying to racially profiling people. If majority of people think that success rate by any means should be related to ethnic background then we have one unsolvable proplem. This mind set is not going to be changed with in a couple of generations. So the quick reliable solution is develop the country with parallel processing approach. After all don't forget the fact that Sri Lanka is a developing country and the country is now in life support. Don't let it fall into coma stage.

90% of Sri Lankans Tamil and Sinhalese will agree
that Sri Lanka belongs equally to all communinities. However both Tamils and Sinhalese are unable to make the mental leap in deduction to realise that this also implies that the landmass should belong equally to everyone. The Sinhalese feel the whole island should be ruled by them as they are in the majority. The Tamils see nothing wrong in serving themselves 4 times as much land per-capita than they are prepared to concede to the Sinhalese. This is where it all breaks down.

They both need to realise that these are two extreme possitions and the conflict can only be resolved by meeting in the middle.

The Sinhalese need to realise that if a section of the population such as the Tamils wish to live separately, that they have every right to secede. Chunks of the country centred around Jaffna and Batticaloa can be partitioned to form Tamil states and hardly any Sinhalese or Moslem will be affected as there are non of them left in these areas today.

The Tamils need to give up the notion of their super state and agree to an equitable partition. i.e. a state proportionate to its population.

Next, Tamils in the South should be given the option of remaining in their homes in the South should they so wish to.

Therefore, I believe the obvious solution is to have a referrandum on who wants to join the Northern State, Eastern State or Southern State. Once the numbers are firmed up partition the land in latitudal and longitudal lines to create 3 separate enclaves.

Ideally, the partition should be complete. However given the unreconciled relations between the two communities it is not unfeasible that a border war should break out. To avoid this we need to consider a few other options such as to devolve everything but the military, confining troops to pre 83' bases. Another could be to make the Tamil areas Indian protectorates. The JHU will jump up and down, but what more could they do?

If the Lion flag is unbearable or unacceptable for Tamils they can replace the Lion with a Tiger in their National Flag, retaining the remaining features. Recognise both as interchangable and valid flags of Sri Lanka/Eelam.

Of course borders should be open and free for both communities to move back and forth without hindrance like between two shenghein states.

The Rajapakse regime may not be smart enough to realise the cost of not reconciling with the Tamils. However the pain of hundreds of thousands of garment workers losing their jobs, drying up of credit, hyper inflation, inability to pay soldire's wages will soon bring it to its senses.

The smart thing to do is to foresee all this early and act now to avert a disintegration like that of Zaire when Mobutu found he couldnt pay his army. But the question is if he is smart enough, and if he is, is he brave enough to take on the JHU and JVP?

Hi Anonymous,

I was born and grew up in Colombo upto my teenage years, when I came to London. We spoke English at home, our neighbours and friends were Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. It remains so todate. I walked to school at Royal college every day from off Alfred House Avenue. I played cricket on Duplication road, as it was not complete then.

My doctor was Tamil, my first girlfriend was Tamil, my accountant even today is a Tamil friend from St Thomas College who lives in London. Even today, my domestics are Tamils. We were buddhists, but went to Christian homes to celebrate Christmas every year. My father a Buddhist and a lawyer worshipped at Kataragama three times a year and I would walk around placing hundreds of little earthenware lamps and pouring coconut oil around Murugans kovil.

It was a healthy interaction across ethnicities and religions.

From the whole country, only Jaffna has a record of intolerance.

The first recorded case of ethnic cleansing took place in Jaffna, when after the massacre of 600 catholics in Mannar, Sankili ethnically cleansed Jaffna of the Sinhalese who had lived in Jaffna for centuries. Prabakaran repeated it by ethnically cleansing the Muslims as well as the Sinhalese from Jaffna.

The Sinhalese, nor the Muslims have carried out ethnic cleansing on this scale in our 2500 year old history.

So, Tamil people also have a problem of intolerance that has to be dealt with, eh?

Lets not kid ourselves. The Sinhalese are far more tolerant than the Tamils. You guys have seriously pissed them off, for them to resort to the present actions.

Hi Dush,

As always your words are well put together and ceratainly carries the message to all sri lankans to remove their conspicuous veil of predjudice.
But Then we are not like many Europeans who conceal their predjudices and practice a cold war against those they hate or abhor with a huge smile on their face and donating $5 to look after an orphan as a result of war or famine or even a genocidal attack by some maniacs pretending to save a race.

Sri Lanka is an Island and for all intents and purposes protected from the vagaries of this cruel world which seems to have lost its course in life with those pundits who interpret well being as the ability to buy and spend as they please .. to hell with all else !

andy

MR dushy,
Tamils not benefitted from colonial powers settlement in plantations. Tamils from india settled in plantations because sinhalease are lazy and not hard workers. Only srilanka benefitted from these slave forces. You should remember part of srilankan economy depend on them. Now those plantaion people moving into other sectors of economy in srilanka, Who knows you have to bring more tamils from india to work in inhumane plantaion sector. You should know sinhala budhist lazy crowd never going work in this plantations. Do not preach tamils to learn to live with other people, We dont want to live with lawless sinhala society. No body knows when they go for violent against others( 1956, 1961, 1977, 1981, 1983).

Hi Veera,

If Sinhalese are lazy as you say, why has Sri Lanka attracted so many south Indians over the years?

There are no sinhalese going to south india, but over the years millions of south indians have come over, been swimming over to Sri Lanka.

Even Prabakarans lot came over from Malaya, did they not?

Is it that Tamils like to travel to a country with lazy people, or is it that these lazy people have a better quality of life than those other hard working people, who were dying like flies from famine only a few decades ago, in good old tamil nadu, the land of the wise hard working ones?

So You don't want to live with the Sinhalese and your attempt to get a Tamil homeland has landed you on the beach. Whats next?

Some idiot says he doesn't want to live with Sinhalese, well, who asked you to? Go to Tamil Nadu and live there. We don't want the likes of you here anyway. Do you know that Sri Lanka was a Self Sufficient country before the British came here grab all the fertile land from the SINHALESE and brought in the Tamils from hell hole called Tamil Nadu to work here? Do you know they did that because Sinhalese had a self respect to stand up to the British and refused to work for them? Do you know that Tamils got special preferences from British because they were willing to lick the white a....s? grow up boy, go to grade five you dropped out from. Learn some history and come.

I think it is in bad taste to say all Sinhalese are lazy – particularly in these highly-charged times. But in the penultimate part of this discussion, I see some contradictions. Although there was a large segment of native people here who could have been employed in the demanding Tea Plantations there must have been a compelling reason for the British to bring the required labour at much costlier terms from nearby South India. This labour force not only came here – they went to Malaysia, Burma and in smaller numbers to Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam around the same time. While some stayed back and were absorbed into the local citizenry many went back to India – notably those of the Chettiar grouping (Nattukottai and Vanigar) from the deep south Indian districts in and around Madurai such as Sivaganga (the electorate of senior Indian Union Cabinet Minister P.Chitambaram from the well known Chettinad family) Karaikudy, Chidambaram and Pillai castes mainly from the Trichy District. Both communities went into trading in and around the Plantation areas. Most Ceylonese who went from here to Malaysia were from the Vellalar caste. Interestingly, sometime in the 1930s there was a clamour by Anagarika Dharmapala for the eviction of all Indian labour from Ceylon, A cry that was thereafter taken over by A.E. Gunasinha, the guru and mentor of Premadasa. This campaign took a violent form where several of these Indian workers were physically attacked by local goondas to the extent some of these labourers left
the Island. Gandhi, Nehru and others influenced the British rulers then not to permit further migration to Ceylon – and this was done. This was to result in serious dislocation of the growing, manufacture and exporets of Tea, an important component of the economy, where the Plantation Associations composed of European Planters appealed to the British government here to use their influences with Delhi for the restoration of the Status Quo. This only succeeded after a strong delegation of Ceylonese politicians visited Delhi and appealed for the necessary labour supplies. I believe, among others, Kumari Jayawardena has done extensive research in this area. The composition of the names of this delegation will prove to be an interesting study. So the question of South Indian labour here has many interesting and historical facets, as one would see.

I am not too certain if Prabakaran’s parents, hailing from a different caste, returned from Malaysia. Most Ceylonese in Malaysia were Vellalars. I believe VP's father was a govt clerk working in the EP

Ilaya Seran Senguttuvan

My Friend Mr.dushy,
We ealam tamils dont want any stone age arguments. We suffered enough, We dont want any one ruling us. We tamils want to run our affairs, sinhala race never going to come out of dutugemunu mentality. Sinhala politicians make money out of this tamil blood. Only poor sinhalease going to suffer continously.

According to the argument of the intelligent ones, the British may have transported Africans to the United States cotton and tobacco plantations, because the Whites were a lazy bunch?

The only ones putting forward stone age arguments are the Eelam Tamils who have now lost the argument with their champions marooned on the beach. The sad thing is the Dispora are only arguing and not sending their kids to fight for the great cause, allowing the destitute Tamils in Sri Lanka to die on the beach.

Why don't the diaspora do like the jews and without waving flags in Canada and UK, take a ship to the beach and do somthing which is not lazy.

To Say Sinhalese are lazy is in bad taste... But nevertheless accurate eh :-)? Lets go on to look at a few more bad taste stereotypes..

Sihalese: Lazy, stupid, corrupt, violent.
Tamils: Industrious, stingy, Intelligent, good at finance.
Jews: --Ditto--
SL Moslems: Deceitful, Greedy, Stupid.
Chinese: Greedy, Intelligent, Cruel to Animals.
Japanese: Intelligent, Industrious, Cruel to both Animals and Humans.
Australian Aborigines: Alcoholics, stupid, cannot adapt to our values.
Native Americans: --ditto--
Africans (regardless of origin): Violent, Stupid, Corrupt, Cannot govern themselves.
Europeans: Intelligent, Industrious, Pricipled, Keep conspiring to re-colonise Sri Lanka.
Arabs: Deceitful, lascivious, materialistic, dogmatic about religion.
Tibetans: Absolute darlings!

Friends

Forget the history; his story or her story. The world has changed from the time of Dutu Gemunu and Elara. Let us all be brothers and sisters in good old SriLankd.I am yearning for this day. I am 81 years old today.

When we are in Western countries (Sinhalese and Tamils)jointly speak of the white man's racism but when in Srilankd the ugly racism head springs up. Dash the racism and let us live not as Sinhalese and Tamils but as equal Srilankan citizens.

No harm in looking at matters in perspective in the hope we can learn therefrom and gain to be rid of our own anguish. The British moved Africans to the US cotton fields for the same reason they brought in Indian labour to Ceylon – a large labour force - which the locals could not provide - required to meet the growing demand for product and at economic cost. Thanks to Lincoln and others later this segment became a useful and productive part of that great country where they, once slaves looked down upon, have now produced, arguably, the most popular President of the USA. And, as far as the critical comments on the Tamil diaspora, in many instances, they have left the comfort of their new found homes and cush jobs in the west and have sacrificed their lives for the Tamil cause in the battleground. GoSL claims the last two martyred pilots came from the diaspora. I am not encouraging this but merely re-state this to meet the argument put forward. We can argue till the cows come home as to who came first, who fired the first shot and who is right/wrong etc. But war harms both sides more and more. Peace is the only answer. There's hardly a good war or a bad peace.

Ilaya Seran Senguttuvan

FIRST WE NEED TO CHANGE THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE TO ENGLISH. AS A START. AND FOLLOW SONGAPORE.

Both sinhalese and tamils have to think outside the box. We must all look at ourselves first before casting the stone. Each individually must look at our faults and not worry about the other persons fault, I beleave this is the only way to peace. Like Christ said, love your God the most high and then love your neighbour. This is the most important lesson to learn from Christianity and for true and lasting peace. As a tamil I do get angry when sinhalese people blame their violence on the tamils. But as a tamil I must accept resposibility for the violence that I commit too. We are both wrong, lets try and understnd each other. I also move for English as the official language, so we can start the communication process.

Any person leave alone a so called Sri Lankan who spoke in English at home and walked to Royal Collage (Bringing disgrace to the great school) and moved to London should not and dare not comment on what's happening over here !! I demand you to stop this rubbish !

If you really want to spread your line of thoughts come back and start living in Sri Lanka. Specially in Colombo where people of all religions and race live in Harmony.

First you should know the History. Who are Tamils ? When do you hear of the word Tamil first in the History? If you find the correct facts you will know that it is a combination of people who came to Sri Lanka (Hela Diva in the past) from Chola (Soli), Pandya and Kerala kingdoms. Elara was not a Tamil King - He was a Chola King (there were no Tamils then)

Yes, on many occasions the Singhala Kingdom was attacked by the aforesaid kingdoms and it has been a menace for the past 2000 years. During the time strong kings ruled Hela Diva, they were chased out or were ruled under a united kingdom. When ever we had weak rulers (May be like Ranil) they took the upper hand. Hence, if you insist the Tamils to have a separate state, please request for same from India.

Also if you want to speak of the past, start the movement to give back America to the Red Indians. There is only one tiny Island of Sri Lanka where any person immaterial of race or religion they practice could live in harmony. If they cannot, they can get out and find their own place to live.

There is no way a 15% population could demand for 1/3 of the land. Also don't forget that LTTE are not the sole representatives of LTTE.

Let's see whether Queebec would be called a separate state ever as you say - I doubt it will happen in several of my next births to happen.

I reiterate what I mentioned at the beginning - DARE you say anything when not living here. You left the country because you don't care and love the country. You wouldn't care what happens here. But we, the people who live here and intend to keep it free and full of values that were passed on to us by our ancestors intend to save it for our future generations to come.

So please get lost !!

N.C.Rajanayagam, I hail your comments and only wish all Sri lankans thought like you. Tamils if you want autonomy, you must first lay down your arms and renounce violence forever. Give the Sinhalese a chance and work together on a good devolution package in the name of the many thousands of wasted lives.

Sonia

"What is at stake now is the future of both Sinhalese and Tamil civilians who must live together in the future in peace, harmony and with mutual respect to each others pluralistic culture – as we did so wonderfully not too long ago.Both sides must engage in much give and take if we are to re-build that united nation of Lankans again. With accommodating minds of Sinhalese, such as yourself, this is within our reach. The impediment for the moment is from those pre-occupied with “cancer, radiation treatment,
Final solution” and the like in their suspect mental equilibrium.....May your tribe grow to the delight of us all in the Resplendent Isle."

Ilaya Seran Senguttuvan

"Give the Sinhalese a chance and work together on a good devolution package in the name of the many thousands of wasted lives."

Sonia

To,
The Author Mr.Dushy Ranetunge of London, Ilaya Seran Senguttuvan, Sonia and all others who have commented here and the readers who have not commented. Please find below my views which addresses all the comments mentioned.

“People who value democracy, equality and equity, needs to pressure the Sri Lankan state to take immediate action towards a meaningful and just power sharing arrangement. That is the only way to ensure security and the dignity of the peoples of Sri Lanka.

If peaceful coexistence through power sharing is not achievable, the only other solution that would be available will be secession” so said Mr. Lionel Bopage, former Secretary of the JVP.

There is a vast difference in the policy of the ORIGINAL JVP to which Mr.Lionel Bopage belongs and the policy of the present JVP.

A new concept outlined below is a very great deviation of the system called "devolution" and is a meaningful and just power-sharing arrangement that addresses all problems and grievances of all sections of people in this bountiful Paradise Isle.

Many, who call themselves as ‘moderates’, are not willing to consider this concept which gives a certain degree of ‘power’ with ‘responsibility’ to everyone including the poor and voiceless silent majority in the country and not excluding the so-called “minorities”.

Now, one word, for those who are actually and sincerely interested in fostering a united country by supporting “devolution” as a means to achieve sustainable peace, please avoid thinking in terms of “devolution” and instead please try to think in terms of “sharing” of powers, rights, duties and responsibilities that cannot be taken back at any time by any government or individual by any method.

The best political solution would be to DILUTE the powers of all elected representatives by separating the various powers of the Parliament and empowering different sets of people’s representatives elected on different area basis to administer the different sets of separated powers.

It has to be devolution HORIZONTALLY where every set of representatives would be equal and in par and NOT VERTICALLY where one set of representatives would be above the other, which is the normal adopted practice when talking of devolution, in this power-hungry world. It is because of “devolution” being evolved “vertically”, we have all the trouble in this power-hungry world. So, for sustainable peace it should not be the present form of “devolution” but “dilution of powers” or “sharing of powers” in such a way that no single or set of peoples representatives - other than the common people themselves - is superior to another.

This system would eradicate injustice, discrimination, bribery and corruption - the four pillars of an evil society - and establish the “Rule of Law” and “Rule by ALL” for sustainable peace, tranquility and prosperity and a pleasant living with dignity and respect for all inhabitants in the country.

Everyone must have “equal” powers, rights, duties and responsibilities and most importantly everyone should be deemed “equal” before the law not only on paper but also practically – be it the Head of State, The Chief Justice or the voiceless poor of the poorest.

A detailed version of the concept, which is quite long is available for discussion by interested individuals with an aim to change the hearts not just a change of mind of the citizens of this country with the aim of preserving a UNITARY form of Government with every section of people from every part of the country PARTICIPATING in the GOVERNANCE OF THE COUNTRY in a practical and meaningful way. In a way it may be termed “participatory democracy”. In this system the country is NOT DIVIDED but the “powers of governance’ of the Parliament is separated and administered COLLECTIVELY by different sets of peoples representatives.

This system compels and allows the "silent majority" to freely voice their opinion and participate in the governance of the country.

Any constructive criticism is most welcome.

Singhala Voice, Singhalese cannot claim to be superior to Tamil or Muslims, because they most aobviously are not. They are the least educated, least succesful in terme of business and generally have been brought up with a inferiority complex, causing them to have to manipulate systems like education institutions to accept their intellectually inferior children.
The only Singhalese who believe in the Racial theory garbage are those who deseprately cling to some hope of being better than they actually are.
Rosh, you come close to confirming the fear of most non Singhalese, that the words intellectual and Singhalese is mutually exclusive.

Dushy

I 100% agree with your argument that both SINHALA and TAMIL have been racist. But SINHALESE have come a long way from Bandaranaike ( Racist Supremacist or oppertunistic Politician that damged our country ) and J R Jayawardena ( Did nothing for Tamil massacre in Colombo ) principles. Even then Sinhala only did not mean to etnic cleansing. Nobody chased tamils away from where they live.

Sinhalese know that that they have to address tamil issues politically. But Majority of the Tamils still can not grasp anything beyond Tamil Eelam. Look at the Tamil coments here full of hatred anger like they have done nothing wrong and admit nothing. They also need to address this issue and we need to sit like brothers and solve this broblem. When Sinhalese's offer them the hand of friendship they should grab it and try to resolve their problem. Dreaming of tamil eelam and sulking is not going to solve their problem.

It is sad to see that the Sri Lankans themselves try to convince that there is a issue of racism in this country. It is difficult to understand why they are so blind to see that races live in harmony in this country. Sri Lankans are not racists but they are nationalists. Sri Lankans live in other countries for years do not realize this as they look from a distance and misinformed by media and internet and make baseless comments. You must live in this country mix with your own people and learn what the reality is before making such comments. It is improper to cling on to outdated opinions about your contry based on things that happened in the past and to establish your opinons as if that is the reality.

"It will be written in the great book, that Velu hid among the civilians on the beach to save his bacon."

The author missed one point here. The modern-day "King" Mahinda didn't even go to the battle field or perhaps never held a gun in his hand. He just remote controlled from Colombo , while enjoying cushy lifestyle. If he had visited battlefield, he most certainly would have hid among the civilians to save his bacon too. So there is no question of comparing him to the ancient kings who MARCHED to the North and East or mocking King Velu who is more valiant than his opponent.

Our people always looking for a division. See other big countries, they do not want to devide. The place where I am living Canada is the residence for more than 150 nations, and some french people wanted to devide the province Quabec, but French people living in Quebec voted against divisin. But if we have a referendum in north, this stupid, short sited people will vote for division. Sri Lanka is a small country we will get together and evelop. Tamils think they are second class citizens in Sri Lanka. In Canada and UK they are not even 10th class citizens. Most of them uneducated and deficult to find jobs, 95% of them do very low labour jobs, and all the time they get social assistance from the government. See when they were in Sri Lanka they got free education, free health, Tamil as national language and so on. But now see tamils life in wstern countries.

First of all, You will never achieve as long as people like us live on this SL soil. We will stop all invaders trying to invade OUR BELOVED SRI LANKA!! This is a promise.

If you call majority of Sinhalese 'nationalists' or 'racists' what do you call the Tamils who demand for a separate homeland within Sri Lanka based on the ethnicity. Can you possibly use a different word? As someone has commented here, parties like JHU came into being long after the LTTE. And you conveniently forget the fact about the Tamils who live peaceful among the so called Sinhala racists in areas areas other than North & East. Sri Lanka is a very small country it is not practicable to divide it based on ethnicity or otherwise. If we can unite with everyone we all can have the benefits of development. Isn't it enough to sacrifice such a vast number of people belonging to all ethnic groups, Sinhala, Tamil & Muslim.

Why don't you try to build trust & love between communities at least now rather than pointing fingers and trying to instill hatred. History does not necessarily has to be repeated. Please let us make an effort to change our society, change the attitude of people and trust & love each other.

Well done dushi. very good article.