Track record of Tamil Nationalist politics is repeated failure capped by defeat
by Dayan Jayatilleka
When in the individual sphere there is a long continuity of failure, a rational human being re-examines his/her life, while an irrational one blames everyone else. The latter condition usually requires professional assistance to overcome. The empirically evident track record of Tamil nationalist politics in Sri Lanka is that of repeated failure capped by defeat.
However the dominant tendency in Sri Lankan Tamil nationalist politics, including in this postwar moment, has been quite other than one of self scrutiny. The hallmark of –and the trouble with— Tamil nationalist politics in Sri Lanka and therefore the underlying Northern Tamil social consciousness, is the combination of the utter unwillingness to recognize reality (dealt with in my recent articles) with the utter unwillingness to take responsibility.
The Tamil responses to my pair of recent articles on Tamil politics reveal the same old narrative of blaming the Tamils’ travails entirely or mainly on the Sinhalese, the Indians, the international community, i.e. anyone but themselves, their attitudes, their political aims and their leadership. Self awareness and self criticism seem alien to the Lankan Tamil temper.
The "best and brightest" of the Tamil Diaspora are not immune from these flaws of intellectual and ethical character. I refer to the latest report of the UTHR Jaffna ( "Let Them Speak", Dec 13, 2009), which blithely concludes that "…the key to military dominance lay not in brilliant strategies, but in an utter disregard for the lives of civilians and combatants alike, driven by their leaders’ single-minded pursuit of personal power". The subtext through which the pathetic racist myth of Tamil superiority is perpetuated is that "the key" to the Tigers defeat was not "brilliant strategies"— instead the Southern side won because it was the more bloodthirsty and barbaric! Unfortunately for the UTHR-J (and its family of Sinhala fellow travelers), not a single military commentator with credentials anywhere in the world has said this or is likely to, whatever doubts they have about a " Sri Lankan model" which can be applied elsewhere and the criticisms they may have of the Lankan armed forces’ heavy-handed tactics.
The UTHR-J report’s own survivor testimonies prove that whenever the Tigers mounted or attempted a counter attack and breakthrough, they found themselves drastically short of ordnance, of ammunition, unlike in earlier campaigns. Now in the UTHR-J’s absurd mental universe this may be due to "an utter disregard for the lives of civilians and combatants alike, driven by their leaders’ single-minded pursuit of personal power", but every sane analyst knows it was by means of a brilliant strategy which deployed Sri Lankan naval assets in unprecedented blue water operations, interdicting and destroying the LTTE’s much vaunted logistical chain, consisting of its unparalleled (for a non-state actor) shipping network and guarded by Soosai’s dreaded Sea Tigers.
Secondly, the UTHR-J asks the Lankan people and the world community to believe that the Sri Lankan armed forces were more bloody-mindedly barbaric than Velupillai Prabhakaran and the Tamil Tigers. Thirdly it ignores the great number of states whose far better armed militaries would have as little or less compunction in using massive force against terrorists, especially separatists, but haven’t yet succeeded in eliminating them militarily. Fourthly it ignores the actual ongoing use of firepower with a ghastly rate of collateral damage by some of the world’s superpower/major power militaries (98% civilian casualties in drone strikes), without achieving anything like the success of the Sri Lankan security forces.
The UTHR-J report also argues that after the liberation of Kilinochchi, the Sri Lankan state should have resorted to a political solution. This begs the question of what political solution short of immediate, unconditional and total surrender, would have been acceptable to any state and any military in that situation, and which state would not press home its advantage and militarily destroy an enemy as fanatical as the Tigers after thirty years of war punctuated by peace talks wrecked by the foe.
The misplaced arrogance of Tamil nationalism is also manifest in a philippic in the Sunday papers (Sunday Island Dec 27, 09) and comments on websites concerning my advocacy of S Thondaman as a role model and my underscoring of his success. The remarks attribute Thondaman’s success – unsurprisingly – to the Northern Tamil struggle and depict it as a by-product of that struggle. This smug self congratulatory interpretation, once again confirmatory of inflated self regard, begs the question of how S Thondaman was able to achieve something out of the Northern Tamil struggle while the Northern Tamil leadership was not! For instance, Ceylon’s independence was a by-product of the giant struggle of the Indian masses for Independence, but that latter goal was achieved, and it was not the case that Ceylon, the by-product, succeeded, while the main struggle, that of India, collapsed. In Sri Lanka, the hill-country Tamils succeeded in regaining citizenship while the Northern Tamil nationalists could not achieve a single one of their demands, however justifiable or not, starting with "fifty: fifty" and (a bit) later, federalism, and winding up with Tamil Eelam, confederation and the ISGA! What they have achieved thanks to India — a measure of provincial autonomy— they are not willing to settle for or accept!
The Tamil responses to my remarks on Thondaman also focus on the continued poverty of the hill country Tamils. What these arrogant observations obscure is that S Thondaman did not lead a comfortably-off ethnic community to totalitarian and then military rule and IDP status, as did the nationalist Northern Tamil leadership. He did not lead a community from functioning households into shellfire devastated and mine-ridden neighborhoods without the compensation of even an honorable truce. He led a community that was disenfranchised and in semi-serf conditions, to full political citizenship while Northern Tamil nationalism led an enfranchised community to conditions of quasi-occupation.
Contrast the chronic refusal of critical self scrutiny within Tamil society and social consciousness, with the behavior in the South, within the Sinhala social formation, in my lifetime. After the uprising of April 1971 and its brutal yet inevitable suppression, the intelligentsia went into a mode of self searching, ranging from LSSP’s theoretician Leslie Gunawardene in the Daily News to Leel Gunasekara’s short stories, originating in his experience as a public servant involved in rehabilitation. No area, from literature and theatre to temple, church and public policy was insulated from this self critical gaze.
Then again after the anti-Tamil attacks of 1958, 1977, 1979 and July 83, enlightened responses from among the Sinhalese ranged from and were reflected by Tarzie Vittachi’s Emergency ‘58, MIRJE, the SSA’s volume on ethnicity, Gananath Obeysekara’s ‘The Institutionalization of Political Violence’ and his reflections on ‘Dutugemunu’s Conscience’, the seminal debate on Jatika Chinthanaya in the newspapers, to the huge volume of material published mainly in the Lanka Guardian, and contained in Dr Kumar Rupesinghe’s two volume bibliography. Wilhelm Reich was mandatory reading for any discussion of the behavior of the Sinhala mob. Mervyn de Silva kept critiquing and satirizing "the Sinhala psyche" and the "Mahavamsa mindset". Latter day explorations into role and function of Sinhala Buddhism include the path-breaking The Work of Kings by Prof HL Seneviratne of the University of Virginia.
To provide one last example, the hideous carnage practiced by (and later, on) the JVP’s during its second insurrection, led to excavations of violence in the Sinhala heritage. While University of London based Australian Bruce Kapferer’s was the most sophisticated of the genre, a young Sinhalese radical, CA Chandraprema got there first with a racy polemic that picked up on the sadistic scenes of Yama in Buddhist temple art. (Chandraprema’s immediately following book on the Sinhala South was both precursor of and an indispensable background reading for the understanding of the Southern resurgence in its Rajapakse-ist and now Fonsekan variants).
Where are the Sri Lankan Tamil equivalents? Where are the critical explorations, revaluations and deconstructions of Tamil politics, culture and the collective Tamil psyche that have honestly confronted and analytically explained the justifications of the massacre of old men and women worshipping the Sacred Bo tree in Anuradhapura, the burning of TELO youth on the streets of Jaffna, the social marginalization of the Eelam Left which sought links with the Sinhala south, the cult of Prabhakaran and the suicide bombers, the reviling of the IPKF and the cheering on of Tigers’ war against it, the excuses made for every escalation of demands, shift of goalposts and unilateral walkout from negotiations, the subordination and subservience to tyranny, the arrogant dismissal of the murdered Tamil leaders and learned victims of Tiger violence — such as, but not only Amirthalingam, Tiruchelvam, Yogeswaran, Kadirgamar, Dr Rajani Thiranagama, Mrs Sarojini Yogeswaran, K Pathmanabha and L. Ketheeshwaran?
Throughout the war, Tamil nationalism displayed two alternating mentalities: one of pretensions to superiority or over-lordship and the other of perennial victimhood. This manifests itself in two modes: inventing and venting. "Over-lordship" manifested itself in the Tigers’ conduct during the anti-IPKF war, the lethal transgressions of the CFA, the demand for the ISGA, the themes of the Pongu Tamil demonstrations, and the demand (voiced in Tamil Nadu itself) that India intervene to stop the war notwithstanding the unapologetic stance of pro-Tiger Tamils regarding the murder on Indian soil, of Rajiv Gandhi. "Perennial Victimhood" manifested itself even after the brusque sequestering of the Sri Lankan armed forces in the North and East by the Indian peacekeeping force in pursuance of the Indo-Lanka accord which empowered the Tamil people of that area.
It continues shrilly in the truth-varnishing of Vany Kumar (Damilvany Gnanakumar, to be precise), the demonstrations against the Kerry-Lugar report and in everyday mainstream Lankan Tamil nationalist discourse: all failures and defeats are the fault of obdurate Sinhalese, those who supported them and those who have failed to support the Tamils sufficiently (as if India didn’t pay the price in Perumpudur, for such support and trust, with most Tamils justifying the war against the IPKF and the Rajiv assassination itself).
In the dominant Tamil discourse, no minority is as oppressed, self sacrificial and deserving as it is. While any politically literate person would remember Bloody Sunday, mass internment without trial and the "dirty protest" death fasts of Bobby Sands and his comrades in Northern Ireland, for most Tamils, a Good Friday type settlement which is good enough for Northern Ireland’s Catholic minority (devolution within a unitary state) somehow wasn’t and isn’t good enough for them.
Northern Ireland’s Catholic church and its priests condemned the terrorist use of violence (violence against noncombatants and unarmed civilians) by the Provisional IRA, but Sri Lanka’s Catholic and Protestant Churches (and priests and nuns) in the North never went on the record unambiguously doing the equivalent. Instead, the admirable postulates of liberation theology were distorted to justify terrorism and opt for Barabbas. As a Christian, I trust that the moral failure of collective Tamil nationalism in worshipping evil, not in the form of the Golden Calf but of the Black Tiger, is understood to have resulted in a classically Old Testament outcome in Nandikadal.
Here’s my bottom line: why can’t the Tamil nationalists adopt the progressive perspective concerning Sri Lanka’s politics and the Tamils of Lanka, advocated by politically sophisticated, successful Tamil friends and well wishers such as N Ram, Malini Parthasarthy and The Hindu? What does this unwillingness or inability indicate?
61 Comments
I wonder why this question of adopting a progressive perspective is not posed to Sinhalese nationalists. The real question is why both Tamil and Sinhalese nationalists refuse to adopt Sri Lankan nationalism, which is quite frankly non-existent. The Sinhalese who refuse the north autonomy are refusing to accept Tamils as equal partners in Sri Lanka, what is so progressive about that stance?
I think you need two hands to clap. We have a situation where no one is willing to compromise or negotiate on their positions due to the majority sentiments of each community. Thats why we need a third party to bring them together as in N Ireland.
Norway came forward to play this role but compromised its neutral status by leaning towards the LTTE. Hence a third pary acceptable to both and of neutral leanings is required. This will be resisted by the Government as it does not want to internationalise the issue. The issue has however been internationalised like it or not.
It is not the Tamil people lack the capacity to think or that they are fools who will fall for 2 measures of Rice or the promise of a Rs.10,000 salary increase. From the time of seeking recognition for their language and the restoration of voting rights to those whose franchise was stolen, their cause was just. It was delayed because what goes as justice has to come from that quarter that controls the 70% plus of the majority votes. The right for the Tamils to conduct their affairs on their own in the NEP is denied from 1987 on various false and flimsy pretexts. And so the void was filled in by a group of amateurish gangsters and fascists posing as pseudo-nationalists. But this has to give in sometime - for too much of blood and resources from both sides have been lost in its quest. If at least 75% of the IDPs are allowed to vote and the integrity and legitimacy of a democratic poll
is allowed to take place Tamils will make a decision of their own and will take
responsibility of their decision to map out their future - denied so far.
ISS
Dear Anonymous,
Don't be obtuse. The Southern progressives have always supported Northern autonomy, and sacrificed their lives for their identification with that cause. I too have always supported it. N. Ram, Malini Parthasarathy and The Hindu editorialists have done so for 25 years.
Dr.Dayan Jayatilleke has gone into the business of "Divide and Rule the Tamils " using the power of Sinhalese Nationalism (both UNP lead governments and SLFP lead governments from 1948 to now have been using the majoritarian voting power under the diguise of parliamentary democracy to deny the just rights of the minorities).
Now that LTTE has been crushed with the support of external help in many forms, he dragged Thondamans and praised them ( but not any of the upcountry leaders who are non pro Thonadamn party and others like Mano Ganesans into his analysis )so that Kandyan or upcountry Tamils do not support the NE cause. He supports Douglas (but not his 10 point demand to Rajapakse ), Karuna ( not Pillayan )& other non pro LTTE leaders to divide the Tamils further.
He attacked the educated Tamils, saying that they can not think the way he thinks. Basing on the reactions he recieved from number of Tamil intellectuals he has extended his business by dragging selected Tamil Nadu's non party leaders ( but not the likes of Thenmoli, Kaunannidhi or Chithambaram, not IAS like G.Parthasarathy and Venkataraman, or sadly not even Subramaina Swamy ) like Mr.Ram of Hindu news paper and thus seeking external help to silence the Tamils further or to bring them in line with the his thinking that majority has the right own and rule SL based on Sinhalese Nationalism (or rather Mahinda Chinthanaya )under the pre text of Socialist Democracy.
Having won the brutal war against the LTTE with the help of the external support in many ways, Jayatilleke now realises that the Tamils are not the only losers, but the majority of the Sinhalese are going to suffer too in the long term and the external forces may break the hold of Sinhalese Nationalism / Chauvanism and their rule since 1948. He knows Mahinda Chinthanaya is going to fail. So, One option to keep the staus quo of Sinhala Buddhist Supremacy over Tamils and other minorities is to do foxy things like JR Jeyawardne & co. He is arm twisting and threatening non LTTE Tamils too with his writings. In this writing he is also running and seeking refuge from selected Trios ( he mephaised that they are Tamils ) from Tamil Nadu, to influence the Centre leadership in New Delhi to deny even federal status to NE.
Another inportant point to note is Dayan never attacks Premadasa ( he was part of JR & co ) for being instrumental in making LTTE fight IPKF and for asking IPKF to leave from his soil SL using his executive Presidency's power.
It is time Tamils all over the world including those in SL and Tamil Nadu learn what is "MACHIAVELLIAN ".
ps: humble request to the editor, please post this
I think this is a brilliant analysis of the Tamil predicament.I agree with most of what DJ says in this inspired essay. Tamils:
Wake up from your coma and start rethinking the problems of the northern Tamils -- though one doesn't really know where to begin!
Neverthelss, i am obliged to say that DJ is a little too sweeping in his condemnation of the progessive forces in Jaffna who did raise their voices, vigorously at time,and against fifty-fifty,federalism and eelam.They were however drowned out by the Tamil "nationalists" who were given adequate amunnition by the draconian policies of post1956 governments.Please do some historical research and recognise that from 1949 -- 1956 the tamil leadership gave "responsive cooperation" with the Colombo government.The UNP even won a seat in the Kankesanturai constituecny, defeating SJVC.DJ should examine closely the conribution made by southern racists(excluding the intellectuals that he mentions)to the rise of NE Tamil revanchism,
Rajan
I ask bloggers to shun and not waste their time responding.
Dayan Jayatilleka,
Yes, progressives on both sides of the ethnic divide support compromise and Northern autonomy. Progressives on both sides have risked their lives for the cause of a united Sri Lanka. Unfortunately only one problem, there is a critically low supply of progressives among both the Tamils and Sinhalese. With regards to The Hindu, this media outlet is by no means moderate or progressive but totally one-sided. The Hindu served to belittle the suffering of Tamil IDPs during the last phase of the war. This newspaper also fired DBS Jeyaraj for factually reporting IPKF atrocities. Ultimately, the lack of progressive views is not exclusive to SL Tamil political culture but a chronic disease that has spread throughout Sri Lankan ethnic communities.
So basicaly you are saying the Singlaes are Big and Strong, and Tamils must please the wishes of would be masters ? Have you forgoten why 2002 ceace fire was signed ? it was because the Sigaleas who were unable defeat the tamils liberation movement.
Now just you have turned the tables with help of regional powers, suddenly we can't give up our right's and become 2nd class citzens ? say we adapt to this wish of yours what are we going to get out ? we still face the singalease thugary , racisam and riots ? without any say in things which determins the future of tamils ?
By the way you might sound like gentelment, I do not think you are sir. after all you are nothing more then a facilitaor of the war crimes. Do not waste you crocdile tears for tamils.
rather the preaching to the tamil try that to the Racist
nation you belong. We have faith in our goals. We have seen the dream come true before our eyes only to be destroyed by regional power. This makes's even stornger that our goals to gain freedom
from oppression is not a dream. Its attainable.
dear dayan jayatilleka,
i have been keenly following you and in fact you have also featured in tamil litterary press in tamil nadu as a poster boy of srilankan or sinhalese variant of marxism.
i think you have given an opportunity for me thank you very much.you talk of lack of self criticism or introspection among northern tamils and achievement of thondaman for indian tamils.
i dont think northern tamils and indian tamils demands were same.as said by anonymous indian tamils main demand was getting the citizenship of srilanka and labour rights whereas northern tamils were citizens already so there was no need for them to fight for citizenship but the fight was for equal rights as citizen vis a vis sinhalese.
srilankan marxist have always been like you let it be rohan wijeveera or colvin de silva mixing marxism with a heady cocktail of sinhalese nationalism thus forgetting in the process that there is no place for nationalism in marxist ideology.northern tamils were not allowed democratic space they were totally ignored can you explain to me why 1958,1983 riots took place and has a single person been persecuted for it.
what was the role of jayawardene,dissanayake,athulathmudali.it is the failure of sinhalese civil society which is responsible for the emergence of prabakaran and disappearance of chelvanayagam.it is only sinhalese who have to introspect not northern tamils no where in the world victims introspect even if they introspect they do it after they regain their rights.
where is the talk of introspection originating when leave out tamils even sinhalese live in fear in srilanka.journalist if they criticise white vans will come knocking down on your door.dayan i have read enough of your writings,interviews you remind me of indian marxists who are not concerned about their own countrymen who live in miserable condition but their heart beats for chavez,morales,castro.
please dont ever mention that ram,malini parthasarathys whose heart never beat for northern tamils they were more comfortable with srilankan elite.see how ram got egg on his face after he was taken to tamil idp camps and gave a good certificate.his credibility is at all time low.pls dayan criticize rajapakshes and their misrule and see the consequences.this is not a blank endorsement of lttle or prabakaran rather tamils want rights that they should get it at the earliest.lets see only time will tell whether they will get it or not bye happy new year
Why does Dayan write articles that are addressing to the Tamils?
The answer is simple. He and the Sinhala hegemonists thought that with the fall of the LTTE, the Tamil people will knell down to the Sinhala rulers. It didn't happen and the Tamil issues are now used by the western powers to tame the rough state. In this attempt, the world is convinced that Sri Lankan state is a brutal racist force.
That is why his anger is on Damilvani and UTHRJ. Damilvani is innocent and she doesn’t have any personal agenda. She came open to let the world know what has happened in Vanni. Her relatives in Vanni was threaten and she was silenced for some time. She has back on media now. The known LTTE bashers UTHRJ is always on western agenda, they cannot simply continue with blaming LTTE. They need to look at the other side as well or cease its operation.
On the (English) media front, only support the Sinhala rulers enjoy are from India, especially from the Hindu. (Anti Dravidians Malini and Ram)
Dayan knows that they cannot change this trend even his favourite "progressive" person Mahinda would get elected. Only rescue is Tamils to come forward and say no war crimes have happened
Sir Dayan asks Why? Why? Why?
The answer is very easy
1.The belief that there was a tamil kingdom in North East
2.They lived there for thousand of years even before the Sinhalese
Therefore they want the restoration of their Tamil Kingdom in the so calles Tamil homeland.This is the bottomline Sir Dayan.So anything short of this is rejected like shit.
An independant commission should be appointed to investigate the truth about this comprising by Sin,Tam and some credible Unesco officials.Then any body can produce evidence to prove their point and averybody will come to know the truth.
If the above is proved beyond reasonable doubt then there is no option but Federal.If not then there is no option but the present constitution.
To my knowledge this claim can not be proven reasonably by providing archeological and documentory evidence.Always ealamist cling onto one or two available documentory(only availability) evidence as there are no archiological evidence to prove.
What is the homeland of SL Muslims and Indian Tamils?
Some time in psychatrists treat patients by hipnotising and revealing the truth from the patient.This is a simillar one as this mindset is a syndrome.
Excellent article. I think Dayan makes some good points that Tamil nationalists especially need to address.
I put forth that one of the reasons for the Tamil tragedy is the insular nature of the Tamil community. It is too inward looking, too ethnocentric and too wrapped up in itself. It is always somebody else's fault; there is no attempt to shine a mirror inward and see all the flaws. Unlike the Sinhalese community, the Tamil community will easily accept someone claiming to be their "sole representatives" even though that person may be the devil himself. For members of this community who subscribe to the Tamil centric ideology, the ethnic cleansing of Muslims from Jaffna was the Muslim's fault, the massacre of Buddhist pilgrims at Anuradhapura was the Buddhist pilgrim's fault, the bombing of the Dalada Maligawa was the temple's fault and so on and so forth. Until the Tamils at large stand up and face up to the fascism, violence and ethnic hatred within their community the downward spiral will only continue to take them downwards into nothing.
*** It is not the Tamil people lack the capacity to think or that they are fools who will fall for 2 measures of Rice or the promise of a Rs.10,000 salary increase. From the time of seeking recognition for their language and the restoration of voting rights to those whose franchise was stolen, their cause was just. ***
Your Language and Identity have never been taken away from you. That is the Truth. You have no Just Cause... if you are so concerned about putting your So-called Identity above everything else then SRI LANKA is NOT FOR YOU...
You best move back to Tamil Nadu as that is a place that puts "BEING TAMIL" above anything else, including real issues like EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, JOBS, CIVIL RIGHTS, and SOCIAL PROGRESS...
that's just a bunch of Ignorant masses of 65 Million TAMILS sitting around making noise about the fact they are "TAMIL".
"Tamil Politicians speak like Idiots,... because they are Speaking TO Idiots."
Dear Dr DJ,
Regarding your response to "Anonymous", what have the "The Southern progressives have always supported Northern autonomy, and sacrificed their lives for their identification with that cause" achieved in the past 60 years? And where are they today? Remember how you were trash binned from Geneva?
Thank you for harping on Thondaman's achievements. The "Thotta Tholilali" continues to live in 2m X 3m line house, earning less than US$ 1.00 per day!!
Dear Dayan,
You professionally and ethically, you are way past your shelf life. Rajapakse has used and dropped you like a sheet of soiled Kleenex. We Tamils have finally realized your duplicitous nature.
So please stop your inane rambling and your circular logic and go back to teaching other peoples ideas. If I may remind you of the old saying.."It is better to keep silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt".
Good Luck
"Why can’t the Tamil nationalists adopt the progressive perspective concerning Sri Lanka’s politics and the Tamils of Lanka, advocated by politically sophisticated, successful Tamil friends and well wishers such as N Ram, Malini Parthasarthy and The Hindu? What does this unwillingness or inability indicate?"
From Mount Olympus, do you resume to tell us who we should emulate?
"The Southern progressives have always supported Northern autonomy, and sacrificed their lives for their identification with that cause".
That may be so. But you are not one of them! So don't resume to talk for the progressive Sinhalese. Your crowning glory was in Geneva 09. Boy did you show us, Tamils how much you progressed!
.
DJ, recently you becoming a professional DJ.
You're really confused...
Do not bring The Hindu into this, they were with LTTE until Rajiv was killed.
Don't blame UTHR-J, they were always against Tamil terrorists and Sinhala terrorists.
Where as You, lied to the world and made 29 nations to say, "well done Srilanka with your humanitarion rescue operation". You lied so well that even Rajapakse brothers were shocked, and hence you were 'fired'.
Hope you'll be okay soon.
:-)
"The Southern progressives have always supported Northern autonomy" and the proof of the pudding is in
its eating - and so you had to give up Geneva ! Is
not the King of Hambantota from from the South & Progressive ?? One Dayan (In No.) does not go far these days - as even the APRC Report of EXPERTS is hidden from its own Progressives to-date -
......."condition usually requires professional assistance to overcome..." DJ !!
Whether the Tamils nationalists approach is right or wrong, When the Tamil Holocaust denier and the one who vehemently defended the Tamil holocaust in UN says what is wrong with the Tamil nationalism, It really looks funny and one wonders of his ulterior motives.
Dayan,
I commend your excellent, audacious, detailed analysis of the perpetually duplicitous and hypocritical stances of Tamil Nationalism. A few years ago in a discussion with a personal friend of mine, who's a professor of Tamil origin teaching economics at the University of Arkansas, I expressed my regrets and sympathies towards the atrocities suffered by Tamils during the '83 riots. Regrettably, his only response to what I thought was my progressive and introspective view as a Sinhalese was: " Your people Gayan, your people did that"
S.Thondaman once went into a police station and 'rescued his henchman'after abusing the police officers.He is a cosummate thug & bootlicker of the Rajapakse regime.It is hilarious that he is being advocated as the future leader of lankan tamils!
About the reported remarks of UTHR-J - 5000 bombing missions were carried out by the airforce,killing hundreds if not thousands of civilians in the "LTTE areas".Even hospitals were bombed.Gotabaya said that hospitals outside the so-called No Fire Zone would not be exempt from attacks by the army and air force.Aerial photos of the NFZone showed bomb craters.If this is NOT bloodthirsty and barbaric,What can it be ?Rape too was used as a weapon of war, and continued in the IDP camps,and is being divulged by the few who escaped.
All this verbiage is to suppress the fact that tamils were targeted as a race merely because they demanded equal rights with all other communities, and when that was denied,the youth who were most affected decided that only a separate area of habitation for tamils where they could decide their own way of living and prosper,and took up arms to acheive it.The seniors who sided with the oppressive state were eliminated,as has happened in all liberation movements.Rajiv Ghandi sent the IPKF "on a short sharp exercise" to disarm the LTTE and perpetrated atrocities on tamil civilians.If he had become prime minister, things would have been much worse,and he had to be eliminated. The same suppression of tamils goes on even now.
Dear Dayan,
Still we have a lot of problems with your articles!
So, you still claim that you are a progressive.Didn't N.Ram,Malini Parthasarathy and Hindu editoriolists conyinue to support 13A with Northeast merger and hence northeast autonomy agaist watered down Northern autonomy?
again leave aside N. Ram –the supposed CPM figure, not a naxalite!
“Hindu” is supposed to be the most conservative,reactionay paper in the whole of India!
Yet you claim that you and “Hindu’ to be realists amd on the same wavelength-strange bed fellows!
and you want to benefit from the reflected glory of real southern progressives like Vijeya Kumaranathuga who of course fought for the Indo-Lanka Pact, 13 amendment, North East Merger and negotiations with LTTE and as a consequence sacrificed his own life!
So what is common between Vijeya and you Dayan?
How about our Northern Progressives like Douglas and Sitharthan, They are still for North East merger and North east autonomy!
They are also maximalist!
You have left them in the wilderness!
Why do you always want to preach to the Tamils rather than concentrate on the Sinhalese?
As a Christian it is always better to sermonize to your own flock!
Or you are convinced that it is useless and they are beyond redemption!
We know international progressives. They are not even nationalists or patriots and their loyalties are beyond boarders.
They are internationalists.
None of them are realists.
Realists are always conservatives.
The leftist have another name ie Socialist Realism.
If you have any hesitation read Maxim Gorgy.
Then you will understand the difference between plain realism and socialist realism.
Have you ever heard about poverty? What causes poverty?
People fight for generations for freedom, liberty, and justice against all odds!
Only the name changes-feudalism, capitalism, imperialism, globalization but the oppression continues……
You want to give a time limit! -like time interval between elections-4 or 5 or 6 years for the realists to change their strategy or you want them to change their goal ?
Dear Dayan
The reality is that there is Sinhala nationalism, Tamil nationalism and Muslim nationalism!
The question is how to accommodate these three nationalisms within a single county called Sri Lanka?
Any realistic ideas?
But what is the prerequisite for the resolution of the national question?
Without participatory democracy, good governance and Rule of Law Sri Lanka is doomed!
Neither Sinhala Nationalism nor Tamil nationalism could survive and prevent this catastrophe
Mr. Jayathilake,
You have not even made any comment for my last comment for your article.
I want to ask you if srilanka was occupied by India and part of a Tamil Nadu, will sinhalese would stay away without fighting for freedom? You simply a racist, hiding under a falsehood of socialism advocate us to be the slaves of you. As I mentioned earlier Srilankan forces are illegally occupying our lands and the Tamil homeland was merged with Srilanka without a referandum. Now the thing needede is to rectify the mistake and allow both tamil eelam and srilankan people to exercise referandum whether to be as a single country or separate countries.
In none of your article you have never attempted to writefor the justice of a common tamil man. Even now, after the independant verification of the genuinity of the video showing the great soldiers of the Sinhala nation killing the nonm armed tamils, neither you nor the sinhala govt never tried to find the truth and culprits , but the denial without the investigation is the order of the day.
The same SLFP and MR was shoting and sat infront of UN in Geneva to investigate the matter of killing during the JVP insurgency. It simply shows how the so called govt is looking after the interest of Tamil people. You know what happened to the investigation of Bhavagavathi's commission.
Mr.Dayan, you are simply a typical educated sinhala Racist. You tried to hide with your socialist ideas but you could not. Come on take your mask away Dont try to show crying for tamils
Dont talk about Mr.Ram. He is a traitor even to the Tamils in Tamil nadu, and he is working against the common man of Tamil nadu as well in the line of Brahmin cultule in India.
Karikalan.
The responses of Tamil writers to Dayan's article, as seen above, only serve to vindicate what Dayan has written. There is absolutely no introspection, only screaming and whining along with that all-too-familar persection mentality. Tamils need to understand that they are partly, if not mostly responsible for the plight of their community. If Tamil leaders had made wiser choices in the past, and the Tamil people had no given into violence and racism, their lot would have been much better. Unfortunately it appears that the Tamil community still think that they are heads and shoulders above everyone else, even though the Sinhalese leadership has - once again - outwitted and outdone them. The path to the Tamils salvation lies in rejecting violence, hatred and racism. Hating the Sinhalese people is not going to get the Tamils anyway except a one way ticket to another Nanthikadal outcome.
Dyan, anyone can be wise after the event. I read only the title of this piece you have written. I lost interest in your writings for some time now. You are an educated fool who thinks that smarty pants like you can fool all the people all the time. You know what the answer to that already.
I choose to ignore Devinda's vitriolic outburst here since it is a visceral product and a clear manifestation of his uncontrollable and incruable anti-Tamil anti-Indian hatred. Sadly, the Island has many such sick minds. This, therefore, has to be accepted as necessary evil in a land where also live many decent Sinhala people now ready to chart a new course with their Tamil brethren. Perhaps the Indian sage Prince Siddharta said it best with such serene grace "Pls take back your abuse. It does not belong to me." Sinhalese, as much as the Tamils, came to this deepa from India, my friend - the difference being the time and the place....There are many confused individuals arguing in this blog. Take Thamilan for instance. When the incident he refers to took place S. Thondaman, whom her castigates so viciously, was dead at least 4 years. And this creature calls himself "Thamilan" little realising he fools none but himself...As to Mano Manoharan's concerned notation please note that Thotta-Tholilali now gets over US$4 (over Rs400) per day and many of them are no longer in Line-rooms. However, much needs to be done on both scores in the future for that man/woman who produce that green/black gold through the blood, sweat and tears of their labour upon which is dependent the many developmental expenditure of the entire country - from the late 19th century.
ISS
Dear Gayan
Your refer to your taml friend telling you......
"Regrettably, his only response to what I thought was my progressive and introspective view as a Sinhalese was: " Your people Gayan, your people did that"".
Gayan Gayan, I was there in 1977 and 1983. I can assure you that your friend is right!
"Your people did that, Gayan, Your people did that"!
You say..."I thought was my progressive and introspective view as a Sinhalese"......
Progress...., Regressive..... All just labels...
Dayan
you are correct in some aspects. Tamils have to re-evaluate their political course. But why do you always say things that will be pleasing to the people in power and take-up the side of the people in power may it be UNP or SLFP or who ever. There are some important issues regarding the upcoming election. Why don't you look around and talk about corruption and nepotism. I know you may justify it because you don't want to be seen on the opposite side of people in power. With all these wishful ignorance for convenience sake you still want to pretend as a preacher to Tamils and an 'interllectual'. If you want to see a cowerd look at the mirror, if you want to see a bold intellectual look at your wife.
Thamilan the joker outdoes DJ?
Thamilan: In terms of hilariousness you outdo DJ by a mile.
So according to you S Thondaman "is a cosummate thug & bootlicker of the Rajapakse regime.It is hilarious that he is being advocated as the future leader of lankan tamils!
Poor Mr Thondaman died in 1999. Mahinda Rajapakse became prime minister only in 2004, and President in 2005. Mr Thondaman must have been doing all you allege from his grave. And most Sri Lankans would have to have a really dim view of the mental faculties of the estate Sri Lankans to think that Mr S Thondaman in his grave can be advocated as their future leader, if that's what you think.
I am not sure what is more hilarious - your joking about the supernatural abilities of S Thondaman to influence the Rajapakse regme from his grave, or the mental faculties of most Sri Lankans, or your obvious lack of familiarity with the basic facts of Sri Lankan life.
Unfortunately, I tend to agree with "Expatriate". If expatriates don't have a grasp of the history of Sri Lanka, it;s probably better you don't blog and waste everyone's time with half-baked comments on the recent troubles.
Sir,
I am beginning to lose my confidence in you as an intellect. This very hasty article of yours and views expressed therein certainly do not belong to an intellect.
The sentiments being discussed and analysed by you, begins nowhere and ends nowhere.
Are you attributing militancy of LTTE for the misery of the Tamil people? Are you blaming Tamils for their advocacy for justice and fair play, ... ...
What is the issue. Where do we begin.
Political marginalization of a nation of people, by an ethno-centric Sinhala government which took its numerical strength to absurd limits, shall we say, is the beginning of the ruination of our country, that was blessed with potentials most other countries would have been envious of. (We have the best - intelligent and resourceful - manpower, which is the primary wealth of any nation)
You try to hide behind your selected comments of well recognised authors. That is not fair by them, and even more so, fair by your credentials.
There are several quotes, from the recorded 'positions' of the Sinhala leadership, on the rights of Tamils towards in a free and fair Ceylon. A Ceylon you do not seem to care much about. There were promises and assurances of the Sinhala polity - amply recorded in the hansard - towards easing the fears of the Tamil leadership.
Sinhalese as well as Tamils are sons of the land. Anything to the contrary will be impossible to defend in a modern society. Let us begin there. ( Remember your claim that you had the opportunity to become a 'true' citizen of yet another developed country!)
It would be totally hypocritical to begin the story of the strife in Sri Lanka, with the advent of Tamil militancy. In fact, militancy on the soil belongs to the Sinhala politicians, thugs, Law enforcement, and the armed fores.
Tamil militancy, that began after every democratic measure was exhausted, is the bi-product of Sinhala arrogance, and dominance.
It is sad that you would rejoice 'your' Sinhala military victory, against a group of Tamil men and women, who took to arms as the last resort, to protect their community that was in every way subjugated. In a democratic State, was there any alternative left for minority Tamils, devoid of any political authority, resources, seat of power, propaganda mechanism, diplomatic leverage, etc., etc.,
Militancy, when you think about it, is the intent to deprive, to discriminate, to marginalize, to oppress, to persecute, and not the compulsion to carry weapons. You certainly know that.
The potency for militancy in a democratic country cannot be eradicated as long as the disadvantages imposed on minotities groups negates their liberties and deprives them of their opporunities. Militancy cannot be crushed by force, but by magnanimity.
LTTE was not defeated by the Sinhala military or its capabilities; it self-destructed itself.
India did not create LTTE (as you imply); Sri Lanka created LTTE. But, India destroyed LTTE, for overplaying its cards. This very India could some time, look back, turn tables, create its own version of LTTE, and destroy 'our nation' if Sri Lanka would overplay its!
Majoritarian chauvinism thinly coated with "progressive thinking". Politicians and so called intellects fail the people and continue to do so. Better off, if people are left alone.
Devinda Fernando....
At least you are not ashamed of being a unvarnished racist Sinhalese and you certainly don't hide behind sophisticated words like "progressive" and "polemic" unlie Comrade Dayan!
"And so the void was filled in by a group of amateurish gangsters and fascists posing as pseudo-nationalists."
If Mr ISS made this statement when Prabakaran was around.he would have been battered to a pulp and dumped in a drain in Scarbourough or eliminated without a trace if he is in Lanka.
Rajapaksa has now given him the freedom to make these statements without being killed. Isn't that a marvellous outcome for the freedom of Tamil people.
ISS is blinded by his hatred towards Sinhala people. That is the only reason for his repeated one liners about two Chundus of Rice.
Dayan Jayatilleka writes articles which give ideas for a pragmatic solution to the Tamil grievances. His writings seem to reflect some of the practical thinkings of the Rajapaksa regime, after working in the administration.So people should absorb the finer points of these writings if they are really interested in a practical solution in the new landscape.
Bagging and ridiculing him may please some pro LTTErs in the diaspora , but it would certainly do nothing for the long suffering Tamils in Srilanka.
The responses so far to DJ's article indicate the sad continuation of the unwillingness on the part of Tamils to constructively engage with the rest of the country.
The result would be unilateral imposition of solutions on Northern Tamils that the rest of the country think fit.
No threat of violence or threat of Western interference can deter Sri Lanka to find it's own solutions. If reps of Nothern Tamils including diaspora wants to continue with that path, we the Sri Lankans are ready to face it.
While DJ rightly & successfully defended SL in Geneva, I do not think he support all the policies of the present regime vis a vis the ethnic issue. He seems to be searching for partners from the other side of the divide to work on practicle solutions (close to 90% of the population does not support seperation as a solution and therefore it is not practicle for example - which Wickramabahu's PhD brain doesn't understand). The responses so far doesn't provide sufficient hope.
A hand of friendship has been extended....accepting or rejecting is up to you Tamils.
Thank you for spending your time on writing and thinking about Tamils. Can any politician in Sri Lanka win an election without taking the racial card? Burning a historical library as revenge (just for a different political opinion) happened only in Sri Lanka. Can you blame Tamils for that?
While I do not completely agree with the Op-Ed, it is certainly a useful contribution to the contemporary debate. Dayan makes a valid point that Sri Lankan Tamil society has never looked inward to explain the succession of post-independence failures. The element of self-scrutiny is indeed lacking.
This said, it is not entirely bleak. There had been voices of dissent, the UTHR (J)and Karalasingam being two such strands, many of which had been marginalized by the rising tide of a vehement Tamil ethno-nationalism epitomized first by the TULF and then by the LTTE. Now that the LTTE has been defeated, it is time to resume the internal intellectual debate in an environment of relatively more freedom nationally.
So while I do not entirely concur with Dayan's Op-Ed, it is timely and relevant.
A few other points. The Sinhalese appear just as unable to explain why Sri Lanka never joined the ranks of the East Asian 'Tigers' when it was eminently poised for such a track record in 1948. The southern elite appear unable to see through the demogogery of the dominant post 2005 ideology. And N. Ram and Nalini Parthasarathy are hardly voices to be emulated given the intellectual dishonesty both have demonstrated on a variety of issues - Tibet being just one!
Kalu Albert makes several glaring mistakes..I do not live in Scarborough. I am more at home in Kurunduwatta. I have been very critical of VP/LTTE for over a quarter of a century and predicted he will bring doom to Tamils. I have pointed to them the wisdom and vision of the late Thondaman in 1976 and thereafter. I have also given VP/LTTE their dues in their beginning for the sacrifices they made to defend Tamil lives from State savagery and injustice. Unfortunately, they took a fascistic path in the illusionary pursuit of the 1st Tamil Kingdom in the world and killed many brilliant Tamils in the wake - who disagreed with them...Reference to 2 measures of rice is not anti-Sinhalese. That is what brought JRJ/UNP to an avalanche of a victory in 1977. I think JRJ/UNP are pre-dominantly Sinhalese....I do not hate the Sinhalese. If you read my writings/interventions carefully from then till now. I think the Sinhala and Tamils only one alternative - is to gather the strength and the reality to work together. I was involved at the higher levels of many bodies with Buddhist and Tamil leaders trying to bring unity to the Island. I still am. Even a man like Gen Fonseka has come round to this after making foolish statements while in uniform. Happily, so the JHU/JVP if we are to go by what they now say..
But, box on, friend. It is still a free country and society and your right to criticise - rightly more than irresponsibly - is precious to me.
ISS
The post independence history of Sri Lanka simply does not show repeated failure capped by defeat.
It shows repeated political failures between 1948 and 1982, yes. But it shows a military success in 1987 in achieving an Indian "invasion" (and Sinhala evacuation), success in 1991 in achieving an India evacuation, success in 1994 in forcing the UNP govt to cease military offensives and bringing the Kumaratunga govt to a deal, success in 2001 in bringing the Kumuratunga govt to the CFA and defeat only in 2009.
So that's 3 military victories (at disproportionate cost, admittedly) to 1 military defeat. And each new peace deal saw the Sri Lankan govt having to offer more and more...
Hence, unless the history of Sri Lanka were to stop right now, one should not consider the destruction of one paticular group (the LTTE) or idea (Eelam) as being any long-term defeat of Tamil Nationalism.
Rather, it is equivalent to the bginning of a new cycle, just as the "victory" 1987 paved the way for Premadasa, 1994 paved the way for Kumaratunga, and 2001 laying the foundations for the Mahinda/Gotabaya/Fonseka trident.
The challenge for the Tamils is to find a mechanism for constructive Tamil nationalism (just as the Scots have a constructive form of Scottish nationalism within the UK), whilst for Sinhalese the challenge is to allow friendly Tamil leaders actually deliver some benefits.
Alas, for reasons I don't understand, those Tamils who have consistently tried to be constructive (Devananda & Siddharthan) have been ignored or sidelined, whilst those with the blood of hundreds (if not thousands) on their hands (Karuna) are in the cabinet.
People always try the methods that appear to work...in a generation, once the memory of the cost of struggle have faded, if the injustices linger which route will people assume to be the most productive?
The Tamils need to forge alliances with mainline parties in order to achieve their political goals. But, it should be just only one part of their strategy as the Southern polity (Including our DJ) cannot be trusted in providing Tamils equal status, if history has taught the Tamils any lesson.
The SL Tamils should first clearly define and spell out their political objectives for equality in SL and then begin to build their lives with the Diaspora help, and become financially strong, and should be in a position (like the Jews of USA / Keralites of India) to influence and work with the main SL political parties.
Since SL Tamils have limited freedom to speak their minds in SL under the current constituition and GOSL terror aparatus (white vans etc) they should build and keep strong ties with Diaspora and international community to voice any wrong doings of GOSL against their interests.
At the same time, the Tamil Diaspora should continue with their political activities in exposing the injustice practices of the GOSL in the world capitals, possibly through their trans national govt or else.
This twin strategy could be painfully slow, but definitely result in success in the long-term once the Sinhalese majority comes to terms that any wrong doing or injustices of the GOSL against Tamils is not going to fly without paying a price internationally, as the author stated. If that never happens, then there will be times, the right geo-political climate changes may hit the region, and the Tamils might be allowed to go separate by the regional/international powers keeping their own interests in mind and not because to bring peace /justice to Tamils.
This sort of non-violent twin strategy will eually stunn the world as it did with the brilliance of LTTE's military capabilities (not its political capabilities) and help to build a lasting reputation for SL Tamils in the world for their defiance and determination to win their rights.
Dear Ravindra,
Dayan refers to S.Thondaman - the grandson of Arumugam Thondaman - who now holds a powerless portfolio & advocates him as a possible future leader of the tamils.
I am also writing about S.Thondaman.He and his co-MPs were once addressed as "parademalas" by the president's brother and resigned their portfolios in a huff, but later went crawling back to regain them,the perks & the salaries.I am only stating what was in the media.
Is this man fit to lead the tamils?
Hello Prof.Dayan,
LTTE is no more and please do not waste your time flogging a dead horse.
Let us talk about you ,a guy who thinks he knows better. A guy who unconditionally supported Premadasa during whose regime Richard was tortured and murdered. A guy who unconditionally supports Percy during whose regime Lasantha was tortured and killed.There is a nineteen year gap between these two tragedies,has any thing changed in nineteen years? Are we better off today? SriLanka will never change unless, or until a liberal intellectual like you stop licking the a.... of fascists.Have you wasted your time at Griffith?
Cheers,
Siva.
Thamilan the joker digs a bigger hole for him/herself and demonstrates once again the need for many northern Sri Lankans to expand their thinking
Oh dear. Having made basic errors about Sri Lankan Tamil politics, Thamilan digs a bigger hole for himself: "Dayan refers to S.Thondaman - the grandson of Arumugam Thondaman - who now holds a powerless portfolio & advocates him as a possible future leader of the tamils.
Obviously, Thamilan doesn't seem to be able to check his own references, which can only undermine the credibility of most of what else s/he says about Sri Lanka - Dayan refers to S Thondaman - but as a role model (see the Island article he cites). NOT as a leader. Dayan is far too smart to think a dead man can be a leader now. Well at least smarter than Thamilan.
As for actually claiming that S Thondaman is the grandson of Arumugam Thondam, Thamilan not only displays a woeful ignorance of basic family links in the Sri Lankan tamil communities, but - and I have to assume that Thamilan hails from northern Sri Lanka tamil descent - demonstrates once again the fundamental disrespect and condescension that Thamilan and many other northern Sri Lankan tamils treat the estate Sri Lankan tamils with. Such condescension that Thamilan can't be bothered to even get the names of the principal leaders and the father figure of the estate Sri Lankan tamil struggle right.
That I suspect explains a lot about why the northern Sri Lankan tamils did not persist with non-violence and democratic engagement and why S Thondaman and CWC split so quickly from the chauvinist Eelam campaign. The condescension - keenly felt by many Sri Lankan estate workers - did not provide a fertile ground for building solidarity between the two communities, and the disregard for really understanding what was going on with the estate community would have been a fundamental barrier for northern Sri Lankan tamils to learn from the experience of the estate community.
See here for Wiki link explaining that Arumugam is the son of S Thondaman
Doctor Dayan, heal thy self!
you said: ... while an irrational one blames everyone else. The latter condition usually requires professional assistance to overcome...
Please take your own medicine! Please get professional assistance, and stop blaming everyone else other than your masters!. It think it's too late for a govt. appointment.
Dr.Dayan Jayatilleke (one of the Sinhalese Professors who wears all the thinking hats conceptualised by De Borno ) the defenfer of Mahinda Chinthanaya, has been writing of Thondaman and the Tamils in SL a lot,here is an interesting news
http://www.island.lk/2009/12/31/news3.html
Two CWC top guns join UNP
Two crossovers won’t affect us , says CWC by Dasun Edirisinghe :
Deputy Education Minister M. Sachithanandan and National Organiser of the Ceylon Workers Congress R. Yogarajan resigned from the CWC and joined the UNP yesterday.
They said they would support the candidature of Sarath Fonseka.
He said: "I have been in the CWC for 32 years and am the Deputy Chairman of the party. But, today we are disappointed with the current leadership of the party. The leader acts according to his whims and fancies with no heed for the needs of his party and community. There is no point in my being with the CWC anymore. We, therefore, decided to join the UNP," Sachithanandan said.
Sachithanandan said that as Deputy Education Minister he had not been able to do anything for his community.
Earlier this month, the CWC offered its unconditional support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for the Presidential election to be held on January 26.
Contacted by The Island for comment, President of the CWC and Deputy Minister of Estate Infrastructure Muthu Sivalingam said the party’s support was unconditional, but President Rajapaksa knew what they needed. However, the estate workers’ wage hike would be discussed once Rajapaksa was re-elected for a second term, he said. The crossover of only two members would not affect the mighty CWC in any way, he said.
WOW , ISS you are an extremely privileged person to live in Kurunduwatta. I mean real Kurunduwatta. I do not want to appear to be a fool like Ranil who did not know the difference between Pamankada and Alimankada.
My dream is to live there one day, but I do not think it will ever materialize.Imagine going for a jog along those tree lined streets and coming to a Lankan brekkie prepared by your own cook, or chef in modern terms.
A lot of your owmn people living in Western countries will envy your life. This indicates that Srilanka, despite all these propaganda is not a bad place after all if a person from the minority Ethnic group can live better than most members of the majority.
I am sure that you will certainly agree that the security of the ordinary people have improved in leaps and bounds with the elimination of the LTTE.In itself ,this is a great gift to the people from Rajapaksa, after thirty years of mayhem.
Do you honestly believe that Fonseka is a fairdinkum guy who can improve from where we are at now? If your mind is also clouded by hatred and revenge, of course the answer will be obvious.
Isn't Ranil a dishonest politician,who is trying to get to power through the back door?.The rag tag members of the JVP , Mangala are not worth even talking about.
Having read that you have been heavily invovled in the Srilankan scene at the highest level for a quarter century, you think these malicious allegations about Rajapaksas lining their pockets is fair?
Don't you want this unholy alliance that you are so keen on; to come up with real time proper policies? Is Fonseka's Rs 10.000 going to move the country forward economically and deliver jobs to people.?
Now that the scourge of Terrorism is eliminated, what we want is a solid administration which can develop the country. Infrastructure, Tourism.Aqua cultutre and Agriculture,Electronic and Data Processing Industries as well as traditional avenues such as garments motor vehicles and so on are potential targets.Even with all the lobbying by Ranil against investment. a lot of countries, even the Wesrtern Businesses have expressed their eagerness to invest in Srilanka.
Unfortunately these importantant issues are not brought to the public'a attention for these won't attract votes to the JVP/UNP Fonseka. Hence the constant chant of corruption and the sad part is even people of your calibre seems to fall prey to this ploy.
Good health, Peace and Happiness to you and all the others who contribute to this column.
Kalu Albert:
I will comment in response to a few of your own - that I think relevant. We have been in Kurunduwatta for generations. Its assumed safety was desecrated in
Juy 83 is well known when several Tamil bungalows were attacked/pillaged by goons coming in State vehciles and some army men in civils. It is no longer the lovely place it was - with lorries, buses and other running 24 hrs - in what was considered residential/quiet neighbourhoods...While I have often criticised Ranil, let me tell you he knows more about the difference of Pamankade and Alimankande - a poor analogy of an ambitious undesriable close to him. Or better stil, how to bring this country forward despite some weakness in his own adamancy in certain areas of his personality. If he was not cheated of his victory in 2005 we would have been close to Malaysia now...As to MR/SF, it is upto the Sinhala majority to demonstrate, if they are going to be fooled/cheated again with sudden reduction of prices of petrol, bread and what else? which are nothing but a calculated insult at their intelligence. The country, at any rate, for dedcades cannot be pulled out of the economic injury it has been imposed on by open thievery, profligacy etc., I agree with you there should be all round development. But how are we going to rid of bribery and corruption that has now entered the blood-stream of all politicians and most in the governance system (Police, Customs, Excise, the army to mention a few) One way to do is to get the Buddhist priesthood to be more responsible and learned.
Peace, Happiness and prosperity to you and all the decent people in this lovely land - my friend. Our people do not deserve less. They need to be saved from our politicians and their lackeys.
ISS
I should not have come here and not even try to join this disscusion, but I cant stop thinking about the all problem which people from SL, both Sinhalese and Tamils go through now... I am not a Tamil, I am neither Sinhalese, but somehow since I rember, I used to read lot about it and hear around.. and I would forget about it, if not small situation which happen to me lately and strong confussion which it has left.
Books I have rread about history of the SL and civil war [which I found not so many of these back home] were repeating the same sentence that it all has no point of starting it[the conflict], as the end wont have any satisfactionary solution, which possibaly could have made everyone,both of the sides, happy..
In One of the Book i could read that in 1960’s Tamils were clearly put on the side as a “strangers in Colombo”, that hardly they were employed in public institutions, were not allowed to speak tamil at work and Sinhalesians, called as a blue-blooded, were clearly “in power”. Then, later on I made a good friend who was Sinhalese, who was saying shortly after the last events in May how the war is going to make an order and the ultimate rules in the country, which in result will bring peace after long time. So ..the war was goin to be over. And I realized that SL got a peace, according to words of his..
Now, as I said, few days ago I realized that its far from real. I met a small group of peaople campaiging in city centre where I live. They were asking for the aid for Tamils in Sl and all those who were banited from SL. I couldnt just pass and ignore it. They told me their story.. their view, like whats really happening in SL, that women and children are hold in camps which are compared to the Nazis camps back from the II world war.. that kids are kiddnaped, kept humgry and women are raped, no one has any control on this, even ONZ was not allowed to invastigate that the human rights were not “broken.” I felt akward while standing there and sombody took a picture..Was confused cause ..was sure war was over.
Doesnt matter Im not from SL, or how much I know about it,but general tuth is always the same.. my grandad was fighting with Germans in II WW and he described me what war, camps and hate means.. war means the same and IT IS the same to everyone..
I admire buddhism tradition, I did find it enjoyable reading and eventually got deeper knowledge about it when i was teenager.. guess Sinhaleses were truely gifted to share one of the oldest tradiy tion of universal freedom and sharing love, following Buddha words.. So, speaking about it- why really no one can finnaly put in practice that what Buddha said? Or Krishna, or Mohammed..
Cause.. if you count the blood which you or your neigbour has lost, you will see that War never has a true winner..
yoga_woman@ymail.com
Dear Yoga-Woman:
Tamils have many complaints. But no where in the country did we sink to the level of being prevented to talk in Tamil at our workplaces. Perhaps, it is true
in public transport (trains, buses in the South) Tamils were reluctant to talk
to another in their own language but this was not a statutory requirement like
in some regions of Turkey where the Kurds could not talk their language in
public outside their traditional areas. Since you appear to be a non-Lankan thank you for taking interest in our pain. As comments in this blog show, both Tamils and Sinhalese are making efforts to regain our national composure in a new sense of spirit and determination.
May happiness and peace of this festive season be with you and yours.
ISS
Alex,
While Douglas D has an excellent track record for courage and bravery at Welikada (1983) and against the LTTE, he burnt his boat in the post-1987 period and proved he can be self-serving and as beastly as the LTTE - in the islets where his EPDP is well entrenched. Why he lost the affection of his two learned deputies - Thavarasa and Dr. Vigneswaran - is intriguing. His open desire to be a big businessman since then has eroded his vote bank among ordinary Tamils in the Jaffna District. The affable Siddarthan is held in due esteem in the Vavuniya District and is generally free of violence. He is good material for a future Tamil leadership. The "unspeakable" factor in Southern politics has not spared those across the Cadjan Curtain is an unfortunate reality in Lankan politics.
ISS
Dear Ravindra,
Thank you. I stand corrected. My apologies.
Hello ISS,
"Douglas D. HAS an excellent track record for courage and bravery,the affable Siddarthan is generally free of violence".Really?Are you having a laugh at their expense?Sir,a man of your calibre should know better.Have you herd about the murders of Sivaram,Raviraj and Maheswaran?Any idea as to who caused their demise?
No more jokes please,we want to hear only serious stuff from you.
Cheers,
Siva
Dear Ilaya Seran Senguttuvan,
I would like to thank you for your reply..
Thinking about what you said, well, ..Perhaps my knowledge is lacking much in the current political mix-pot but from what I have uderstood - that all known rule which is set up for Tamils [ of not speaking in own language in public places] is a good idea ?What about these camps, Im wondering.. is this just something which everyone can throw to the box of complaints?
yoga_woman@ymail.com
Siva,
If one does not know who did Mannannai in, his comments are not worth as someone even with a basic knowledge of Lankan Tamil politics. But let's keep
Mano G out of this - although Maheswaran said the G Bros were behind his earlier
shooting. Siddharthan - I thought - was clean unless you know better. I am only a student in the subject and am keen to learn more.
ISS
To Yoga_Woman
Madam:
The IDP camp tragedy and the butchery that followed (in which the LTTE also were not blameless) will go down to blacken the whole Lankan image in general - and sadly of one community in particular - for a very long time. You probably know the July 1983 pogrom in Sri Lanka is now part of history. Great teachers in the world tell us to avoid war at all costs because it breeds monsters out of otherwise decent human beings - Germany WW2, post-Yugoslava States, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa - are only a few examples. The reality a somewhat unjust peace is far better than a just war is perhaps one that we should seriously look into rather than be part of collective butchery-genocide no matter if the perpetrator is you or someone else.
ISS
Yoga_Woman ,I like to thank for your keen interest to know our problems , these problems did not start Just in the last 30 years. This problem has started before even we received independence from British. If you like More information try tamilnation.org It will give details of history of the conflict in full. In my children's ,my , my father's, and my grand father's understanding were and are that Sinhalees does not want to share the rights equally with other minorities Ie Tamils, Muslims and others .They want the lion's share and others have to settle for the crumps and bones .our fore fathers tried non violent , Ghandhian, Buddhist way of negotiations and democratic protests ,collaborations etc for 30 years all we received from them was violent riots repeatedly, looting, raping, discrimination on education, employment and finally amended the constitution in a discriminatory way without our consent. In view of lack of employment, education etc Young Tamils started fight back militarily violence was met with more violence and spiralled out of control and be came brutal. Only think which has now stopped is Tamil violence but the violence by the Sinhala army and the Key board violence, and divide and rule policy by Sinhala racists like Dyan Jayathilaka still continuing. There will not be peace until Tamils and other minorities are treated equally and justice restored on this Island. This island was not one country before the colonialist came there both Sinhala and Tamils had their own kingdoms. Over 60 years of history and my 3 generation of family experience tell me it is unlikely Sinhala and Tamil will be able to live together in single Srilanka unless there is a Paradigm Shift in Sinhala thinking. Only alternative left with the Tamils is SELFDETERMINATION, Or get assimilated.
I hope I have enlightened you.
Dear Dayan , I have Already told you and the readers of this bog the truth about you, TYPICAL SINHALA RACIST WITH FULL SINHALA SUPREMACIST MINDSET But has been writing indirectly now you have reveled your own colour.STOP PREACHING TO THE TAMILS. Go and preach MR brothers and Fonny how to avoid war crime investigations.
Although Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the Rome Convention which set up the International Criminal Court (ICC), the island nation can still be dragged before the ICC without its consent, senior cabinet minister and a former Professor of Law, G.L.Peiris, has said.( Is he lieing? )
This is a premeditated war crime and crime against humanity the IC,Un should not ignore. There are ample evidence already and any new evidences needed can be collected even now as a forensically trained doctor I can confirm there are technology available. Mahinda , Foney & Co can run but not hide for ever.
Kalu Albert, "My dream is to live there one day, but I do not think it will ever materialize.Imagine going for a jog along those tree lined streets and coming to a Lankan brekkie prepared by your own cook, or chef in modern terms"
Yes, YES Your dream will materialise in Future as there is no one to prevent another 1983 happning to the Tamils During the next porgam all you need is voters list and sinhala goons you can acquire a house or two and contents of your choice which is belonging to a defence less Tamils.
Kalu Albert, "My dream is to live there one day, but I do not think it will ever materialize.Imagine going for a jog along those tree lined streets and coming to a Lankan brekkie prepared by your own cook, or chef in modern terms"
Yes, YES Your dream will materialise in Future as there is no one to prevent another 1983 happning to the Tamils During the next porgam all you need is voters list and sinhala goons you can acquire a house or two and contents of your choice which is belonging to a defence less Tamils.
Hello ISS,
I do hope that you are not trying to pull my legs.Anyway a grey van used by the assassins of Sivaram was traced back to Mr.Siddarthan.He ought to know some thing about the identity of the assassin/s.One need not be very bright to deduce this.
As regards to Mano G, he is probably one of the few politicians who does not have blood in his hands.
Cheers,
Siva
Hello Pandaravanian,
Prof.Dayan is guilty of a few sins but he is NOT a RACIST.Please never call him a RACIST again.I am sure that better people have said worse things about him and he should be able to stomach your insults.
Cheers,
Siva