Mahaa Sinhala kari balla – nagitinu. Wal dravidaya marapang. Salli mall leva ka ka inna ponnayanta (eunuchs – beautiful) ida denna epa. Yatath wijitha waadi vahallu prakasha karana me bhootha satanata niyama Sinhalaya athul wuna witharai. Umbala mona paata unath apita kamak ne. Umbalava okkoma puke arala maranne. Marapu welawath kiyanawa. Goo kaapang! Jayawewa!!

Long live nationalist vigilantes. They are all we need.

Sounds all too much like the stuff that happened during the nationalist youth uprising not so long ago. Which is rather unsurprising to me, having seen how well such elements have captured the hearts and minds of the masses. Ah well, start brushing up on your patriotic calls-to-arms and damn-the-foreigners, people – we’re in for some heavy mass-paranoia and the public expression of a pent up inferiority complex.

I agree with you, Indi – the problem with the “Sinhala Buddhist” in this country (and the vigilantes who profess the same religious bent) is that they’ve missed the point you’ve just made re: improving THIS country. It’s so much easier to point out other people’s mistakes and do the tribal dance-and-shout than correct oneself. Reminds me of that story about the princes running after the woman who stole their clothes…

btw, is this Shanka Amarasinghe the old thomian-debator-lawyer-rotaractor Shanaka?

Against vigilante nationalism

Sanjana Hattotuwa

Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant
Tacitus, Agricola, ch. 30.

From death threats to doomsday scenarios, the prognosis is bleak for Sri Lanka in the face of a rapid deterioration in the space open for alternative and progressive voices in polity and society. The attenuation of democracy leaves in its place a firmament of intolerance and hatred that may well confirm what Dayan Jayatilleke calls in his most recent column the ‘permanent purgatory’ of Sri Lanka.

Commander Mayadunne’s letter to the ‘enemies of the motherland’ from the Therupuththabhaya Brigade, recently sent to a number of leading civil society and media activists in Sri Lanka, demands a response that both recognizes the full import of his words and tries to fashion appropriate responses which do not further inflame a volatile context. This said, reasoned and dispassionate arguments promoting pluralism and democracy, the author fears, may not be well received by Commander Mayadunne and may well hasten, in quick succession, a cudgel blow to the head and an enfilade of bullets. Given the sweeping damnation of anyone associated the ‘infamous imperialist forces’ it is also unclear whether any section of Sri Lankan polity and society can effectively engage in a constructive dialogue with the likes of the Therupuththabhaya Brigade.

The ostensible powerlessness of words to combat this growing vigilante nationalism must not prevent us from speaking against such virulent anti-democratic views with the steadfastness that has underpinned all democratic reform championed by civil society, progressive media activism and on rare occasion, by the State in Sri Lanka. Already, voices in the international community have decried such threats and hate speech. However, it is simply not possible to address such hatred through the support of the international community alone, given that in the minds of those such as the Therupuththabhaya Brigade, the international community, CIA, donor aid, imperialism, the dollar sign, Christianity, federalism, western decadence, g-strings, Sony Playstations, Microsoft Windows and all manner of other ‘evil’ is conflated into one giant adversary hell bent on destroying ‘our motherland’.

This confounded farrago of vitriol is fuelled, in part, by the hitherto remarkable and discouraging inability of the peace process to communicate with the grassroots, addressing their fears and concerns in a sustained manner. Marginalized and increasingly radical, Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim grassroots communities are emboldened to make erroneous assumptions of key facets in the peace process by such statements as the ‘division of the country’, ‘traitors’, ‘imperialist forces’ etc.

Any engagement with grassroots goes far beyond the partisan televised coverage of meetings with communities, the odd political rally and attempts at trucks with loudspeakers rolling through the countryside. The inability of the previous and incumbent government to open up the peace process to include a larger spectrum of voices than just its own and the LTTE, the LTTE’s own intransigence in its transformation into the democratic mainstream, the zero-sum politics in Sri Lanka and the almost primordial animosity between the UNP and the SLFP have all contributed to a sense of apathy with regards to the peace process amongst grassroots communities. People don’t feel they are a part of the peace process. The peace dividend, federalism, interim administration, joint mechanism – all these are alien concepts, which have not been explained in ways that they can identify with. They don’t understand why we are talking with the ‘enemy’, to what end, what peace entails and why the peace dividend never touched their lives. Unfortunately, it is this very fermentation of insecurities within and between all communities that the intolerant froth of garrison nationalism now feeds on.

The process of engaging communities in dialogues that open up the space for public support of on-going peace initiatives is not yet a lost cause. It is also the only way in which a non-violent groundswell of opinion can be mobilized to act as a bulwark against the further deterioration of democracy in Sri Lanka. High-profile statements and condemnations from local, regional and international civil society and media actors alone are insufficient to create the necessary conditions or support to effectively combat growing extremism. For as long as communities themselves continue to feel far removed from the peace process, share no sense of ownership in it, have no interest in its continuity and deal with modes of governance that are unresponsive to their individual and group aspirations, extremism will have a healthy breeding ground.

For much too long, the people in Sri Lanka have been left out of discussions on peace. We have visioned peace between the State and Non-State actors, between the relative merits and demerits of secession and asymmetrical federalism, between internal self-determination and extra or contra-constitutional processes leading to a peace agreement et al.

We have not talked to, about or with people.

The people are at the heart of any peace process – they are its firmament, the fire through which the process itself, and any agreement that is part of it, is forged. Multi-stakeholder partnerships, involving the widest possible spectrum of participation from civil society (not just Colombo based NGOs, but civil society writ large), business, media and all shades of grassroots communities does not lead, as many argue, to cacophony and a lack of direction, but rather, encourages multiple dialogues at various levels of society that can effectively counter efforts to derail the peace process by spoiler mechanisms. Working in sustained partnerships with grassroots communities, reflecting their unique and collective ideas, concerns and fears in the fabric of Track 1 dialogues, a peace process can achieve the resilience needed to combat the many challenges that are an inextricable part of conflict transformation. No single or collective effort from civil society, media activism and international opinion can fully transform the dynamics within Sri Lanka itself – this transformation lies in the confluence of such interventions coupled with initiatives to broaden the debate on the peace process within Sri Lanka itself. Such processes would strip away what is currently a top-heavy and exclusive peace process to make way for inclusive, participatory, open, accountable and transparent dialogues.

In such a contest of ideas and opinions at variance with each other, it is the assumption that inclusive dialogues prevent a radical escalation of extreme voices, strengthens progressive voices from within Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities, combats the extremism and rabid nationalism purveyed by certain sections of these communities, and identifies and neuters the growth of extremist ideologies that not just threaten the peace, but our very lives and the future of Sri Lanka.

Lest we become a living expression to the words of Tacitus and create peace in Sri Lanka only through the conception of a wasteland, we need to look beyond the rhetoric, however venomous, of those such as the Therupuththabhaya Brigade and urgently explore ways in which a broader societal consensus can be created and sustained that challenges the audacity of such voices to speak on behalf of entire communities and peoples.

Amidst the deeply disturbing erosion of basic values of democracy, a growing fear psychosis and the silencing of voices supportive of a just and sustainable peace, we must continue to stand up against threats to our collective futures, lest our silence becomes the death knell for the creation of a peaceful Sri Lanka that respects the sanctity of life, celebrates difference and eschews violence.

Ado Hattotuwa. Api thopiwa maranawa. Tho paahara balla. Yatath vijitha waadiya. Thamusege kadda apita therenne nethi hinda heta udey hathah maarata api umbata puke arala maranawa. Mayadunne Senpathita – jayawewa!!

Gotta love ‘em.

Yeah Dulan, let’s blame all the Sinhala Buddhists again! Hi ho!

I mean, only the Sinhala Buddhists are the problem, and they are they reason the whole country sucks. Sinhala Buddhists should be ashamed of themselves and should hang themselves until they have paid for their sins. Just why was Sri Lanka cursed with Sinhala Buddhist people? Sri Lanka would be so much better off without Sinhala Buddhists.

Did I mention how much I hate Sinhala Buddhists?

*** yawn ***

Wait, so Shanaka is this grandly titled senpathi ? Dude, that is some literate Sinhala you got going there.

/confused
/no, not really :)

What I’d like to know is why these guys are being given so much publicity ? For free, even ? I saw the original letter. It looked like they’ve (I think, not sure on this point nor if it is legally admissible evidence of any sort) admitted to murder. It also is out and out hate speech… Why are we letting such vitriol through ? I don’t advocate sweeping it under the carpet, but doesn’t anyone else get the impression that they _want_ the attention ? Highlight and replicate the content, point to this as as an example of people who are sufficiently sick in the head to not realize that they’ve just celebrated the murder of another human being in the name of “their cause”, but why give their fictitious names or titles prominence ?

*shrug* whatever segment of the populace is involved in the peace process, the disaffected elements are always going to feel like they’ve been shortchanged, cheated or that they’ve “lost something” out of the deal. I couldn’t decipher much of S.H’s wordy responses (I’m an illiterate barbarian, that’s what), but that’s my response to what he says. I don’t think these nutters are going to be happy unless they get _everything_ on their terms.

Ado Shanaka, apart from raising the heckles of straight women on this blog, you’re now a fire breathing Sinhala senapathi!:)

I think you’ll make a fabulous politician in Sri Lanka – don’t let London corrupt you…

Thimal, you’re not an illiterate barbarian, lest you wish you align yourself with those who sent that letter ! :) I’m truly sorry you didn’t understand me – my fault entirely for writing in a fashion that was difficult to understand. Given my own shortcomings, I can possibly help answer some of the important questions you raise here by pointing to two webpages:

http://www.beyondintractability.org/m/dealing_extremists.jsp

http://www.beyondintractability.org/m/extremists.jsp

The two resources will give you a good introduction to ‘spoiler dynamics’ (as it’s called in Peace and Conflict Studies).

“Shanka Amarasinghe the old thomian-debator-lawyer-rotaractor Shanaka”?!

Oh my… Are we blushing? :)

Sanjana – I agree with you whole heartedly on the need to acknowledge and engage in dialogues with and between the different worldviews.

What model(s) of grass root engagement do you see as being useful in the Sri Lankan context? Are we talking about Town/ School Hall meetings (i.e. Q&A sessions ), opening up debates and discussions between the various actors and protaganists and/or their repesentatives, Truth and Reconcilliation (T&R) hearings at the local level, may be even a T&R courts to offer some sort of justice, etc? Would this be a – to want of a better words – a “Travelling circus” that visits villages and towns on a regular basis for multi-tracked events? What would be the initial duration of such a scheme and how would such a vast process be funded?

More questions later, I’ve got to go out now.

Shanaka, weren’t those your lines in Thicker Than Blood? :) I’ll vote for you machang. Anyday.

By the way, Yatathvijithawaadiya is one word…

Sorry Morq. I’ll remember that for my next hate latter/admission of murder.

Thimal you raise an interesting point. Can this be termed a confession of murder under the Evidence Ordinance if the writer is found? Point to ponder indeed.

Yes they do need publicity. But by giving them that very publicity we might try to make it counter productive. It’s a double edged sword. Just remains to be seen how it is seen (as ivap said) at the ‘grassroots’. We are a bunch of nationalist chauvinist pigs machan. From the educated entreprennuer down/up to the kathi wielding farmer (just to mention the diversity – not trying to create classist divisions). It’s a cancer machan – and just as hard to remove. Sinhala nationalism is unfortunately justified by even the less militant as being righteous indignation.

One has to feel for them as many have had harrowing experiences at the hands of LTTE aggression through no fault of their own. This shroud of legitimacy which both ’causes’ seem to veil themselves with is the chief perpetrator of intolerance. The actual definition of the word ‘compromise’ doesn’t seem to hit home with a vast majority of people. It’s bloody sad. We are a nation of stupid motherfuckers.

Dulan – yes, I am he! For the record though, I was never an Interactor OR a Rotaractor. That one Rotaract debate was because I was a ‘potential member’. It was sort of like NZ giving Joe Rokokoko citizenship to win them the World Cup. I have since gotten rid of all potentiality and gone back to being a disbeliever of all holierthanthough social organisations.
You also left out swimmer,waterpolo player, actor…:) Accuracy I prithee.

Hatts – it is physically impossible for me to blush. I’ve been trying to rub the brown off in the shower but it won’t go.

Kamak ne!! Mama umbalama okkomalava maranawa. Mata Sinhala ugannana aapu thimalva heta udey dahayai vissata puke deparaka arala maranawa. Mahaa Kalu Sinhalayata – Jayawewa!!!

Sanjana: On rereading my initial comment, I come off (to myself) as offhand and slightly dismissive of your response. I certainly didn’t intend it that way and thank you for your (informative) links… I hadn’t seen the approaches laid out in that fashion; and conflict studies and the like are pretty much a closed book to me anyway. Err. what does “hobbesian club and cudgel politics” mean, might I ask ? :) The mighty Google wasn’t very helpful. The Hobbesian reference, I mean.

ivap: I can’t offer a reasonable alternative to what you suggest, but I can’t see _any_ politician resisting the temptation to turn a “travelling circus” into a walking promotional campaign for himself or his causes. Mobilizing a “grassroots” movement without having the message diluted or distorted is hard. I also refer you to the cynical practice of astroturfing :) Sorry, optimism was travelling on the other bus and I missed it this morning.

Shanaka: If you were a debater our paths may have crossed briefly. For my sins, I was roped into it when I was in school. A long while ago, so I don’t remember many people from that time. Yes, Rotoract too, for ummm, one debate or two, I believe.

Heh. I don’t know about publicity. Is it not said in advertising that any publicity is good, especially when one is starting out ? :) In what I’ve seen of mob politics, the first few band together slowly, but once people around see a bunch, the crowd grows larger very quickly. From what I’ve heard, there could be no more than 10 people at most in this…

Mata Sinhala ugannana aapu thimalva heta udey dahayai vissata puke deparaka arala maranawa

Haiyoo. Mama adha udhe dahayai vissata nidhi ne :( Can we do this tomorrow ? So sorry. Did you ring the doorbell for long ? Call first before you turn up for an assassination attempt please :)

I did mean ‘grassroots’, that was called rush typing…:)

thimal – I think there might be ways to include politicians in the process such that their participation is constructive and at the same time passively limiting the oppotunities for astroturfing. There are a lot of mothers and fathers who just want their stories to be heard and a lot of citizens with a lot of questions. Also, every party will have the opportunity to astroturf thus no one is left out. Thanks for pointing out astroturfing, until now I thought it was something for playing cricket or tennis on. BTW, hope you catch that bus soon.

shanaka – To clarify, I wasn’t referring only to those affected directly by the LTTE but for those in every part of the country with questions and a/or stories to tell.

Thimal: No offence taken. Details of Hobbes can be found here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbesian. In short, what I meant was that Sri Lanka is going back to the Stone Age, where everything was settled amicably by pummeling the life out of anyone who disagreed with you – unless of course, they got to you first. You get the picture…

IVAP: Quoting from Owning the Process: Mechanisms for Political Participation of the Public in Peacemaking (http://www.c-r.org/accord/peace/accord13/index.shtml):

“Wars and the processes to end them can be a defining period in the development of a country. They can shape the relations between the antagonist groups, often lead to a reordering of state institutions and the economy, as well as influence the fundamental political and social qualities of the society. The wreckage of war seems to inevitably compel attempts to end it; thus from destruction comes the potential for substantial change. The events that together comprise what is commonly referred to as a ‘peace process’ are the political vehicle to begin to make this transition. The nature of this process – who participates (including to what degree, at what stage, and in what capacity), the agreements reached, and how they are implemented – can have direct influence over the future form and content of the constitutional and governance structures of the country and the relationships between its inhabitants.”

One of the reasons Info Share was set up in Sri Lanka was to help in what we saw (in 2003) as serious problems in the peace process, wherein official negotiations were far removed from the people on the ground, and that growing gaps of miscommunication and public ignorance were fertile grounds for extremism and spoiler dynamics against the peace process (http://www.info-share.org/doc_view.php?record_id=1&cat=2_0)

The problem continues to date. Ideally, you would have many processes on every level – from grassroots to dialogues within and between elites – that contest, challenge and discuss issues related to the peace process. It is incumbent upon the government and other principal stakeholders in the official negotiations to create this space.

All of the methods that you’ve described in your post can be used. However, what’s important is that such movements breathe life into other movements, so that at the end of the day, the impetus for such dialogues comes from within the communities itself, as opposed to a ‘travelling circus’ that goes every month to kick-start discussion. So the idea is to empower people to carry on dialogues – village / town hall meetings, Sunday morning discussions in Church, pirivena’s, after school meetings with parents and teachers, ad hoc meetings with Gramasevaka Niladari’s, meetings with the local MP’s, meetings with women’s groups and activists, dialogues through art, theatre, music and culture, including discussion with children, people to people contact involving, say, fishermen from the South and fishermen from the North-East, mothers who have lost their sons to war from the South with those who have suffered the same trauma from the North-East – the dialogues that can be created on a number of levels are only limited by one’s imagination, the political will for such dialogues and the sustainability of such initiatives.

This, in short, is a huge area and ties in very closely to the half-arsed attempts at reconciliation in Sri Lanka. The recognition that such dialogue is necessary and is an inextricably part of the peace process will ensure funding – but as with many other things, it requires those at the helm of the peace process to acknowledge the importance and then act on it.

In the meanwhile, we can create such dialogues in our own small way – in our schools, offices, over a kottu at Pilla’s, through OBA’s, taking trips to just speak to people outside of our comfort zones in Colombo, to attend meetings and learn more about the rich texture and diversity of opinions with regard to the peace process, to always critically analyse view both in favour of and opposed to the peace process, to eschew the facile notion that any sustainable peace is possible without such dialogues.

Could I ask:

Where were the voices of outrage when the Thinamurasu editor was killed by the LTTE?

Why didn’t the FMM organize a protest rally over this death?

Where were the voices of outrage when the LTTE was threatening journalists for not toeing its line?

The failure to condemn both sides means that one is open to accusations of being partisan…

Is that a fair assesment?

To add some spice…

“”Yes, it is the caving in to terror when the same people do not condemn the killing of elected representatives of the Tamil people, whether they are Pradesheeya Sabha members, the Mayors of Jaffna, or other political activists, as we have seen happen with the EPDP members in recent months, especially after the ceasefire, rush to condemn the killing of a journalist.

I don’t think those who remained mute when all those killings took place, have any right to protest at Taraki’s killing.”

>> http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2005/05/08/fea04.html

Sanjana – Thanks for the reply, I agree with the view that people need to feel empowered enough to see themselves as stakeholders, contributors and ultimately responsible for the peace in the community (local to national). Starting a campaign to form and/or expand civil society groups that take ownership in the peace process is undoubtedly a challenging task. Good luck!

To take this discussion a step further, do you see those “half-arsed attempts at reconciliation” leading to something much larger. IMHO, from an outsider’s point of view, it appears to be heading in the right direction. From the latest news I’ve seen (I couldn’t find the yahoo/AP article, try the cache….interesting), it appears to be headed in a positive direction. This expansion could be seen as a confidence building measure earning the trust of those who were/are affected as well as encouraging others to take those tentative first steps.

Also are you interested in expanding on “garrison nationalism” and nationalism writ large? As you and I might agree, “nationalism” when used/defined as a term for upholding / striving for the ideals of the democratic nation-state has the capacity to produce positive outcomes. Personally speaking I’d like to see this explored in the theacedemic.org or similar, however Indi’s blog will suffice.

BTW, I don’t know if you have seen this latest article titled Why I am Proud to be What I am : A Sinhala Buddhist in the AsianTribune. Looks like there is someone else who wants to discuss why the Hobbesian zeitgeist is not a new french dessert. I suspect that it might be addressed to your 09/05 article.

Colombo – Katunaya is hardly reminiscient of the main highway of Catholic Rome is it? In fact Rome doesn’t have any highways in the city centre. And we don’t have as many pigeons.

O Tempora…O Mores. The problem with Sri Lanka is that the idiots are in power. Where are Dostoyevsky or Macchiavelli when you need them?

Not sure about Dostoyefsky or Machiavelli, but this guy makes them look like social workers. I think he left out the part where the Jaffna University Library was torched to the ground under the administration of J.R. Jayawardene, where thousands of tamil palm-leaf manuscripts and historical texts were lost in the ashes. So he says, we’re the morally superior race and the rest of you homeless people should be happy that after 50 something years of independence we’re still in a bit of a muddle as to where to put you. But don’t worry, there’s a stripe on the flag if you’re ever in doubt?

I’m reluctant to dismiss his comments too easily. I think there are a few streams of consistent thought conflated into his arguments. Of late, having read some of his previous writing, I am forming the view that he is more of an old-school conservative/realist liberal democrat. I’ll run this through my head and hopefully have something up on my blog sometime tomorrow.

sophist – Did you happen notice how Rome seems to have many Sri-Lankans around every corner of the city?

g’nite.

I know machan. And it’s bloody distressing because they look like they’re about to come and say ‘Lankavenda’ and ask you for money. I’ve heard first hand stories of that shit.

I agree with you that Mr. Mahindapala does have more of a strand of credibility than the gentleman, the death of whom triggered this discussion, but unfortunately he has dumbed down his thoughts far too much. It seems like a Mickey Mouse guide to origins of the conflicty: our version. And I also dislike the whole ‘Sinhala Buddhist’ tag. What about us Sinhala Christians for crying out loud?? Api otuwoda??

On the whole his tone is slight too sanctimonious for serious sitting up and taking notice.

Heshan, you can read the comment I left responding to some Dandanayake fellow on http://indi.ca/2005/05/tarakis-murderers-in-sinhala

I would ask you to go and see one of the FMM protests before you start quoting from Lucien.

ivap, will take up your suggestions in the near future. Tied down with the more mundane work of research for a Masters – which is a bit hilarious really, since discussions here are more interesting to me than quoting some old fart in Harvard style to prove the point I’ve made is actually something that’s been made before…

I think Mahindapala’s article is good, in so far as it opens a lot of space for critique – from Ruwani’s hilarious (but insightful) comment on the flag to more serious attempts at looking at exactly what he means by ‘my’ people and ‘Sinhala Buddhists’.

Sophist – there are no Sinhala Christians. Only confused Sinhala Buddhists… Kapish?! :)

Ivap
Your link to acdemic doesn’t work. Is that a Srilankan Blog site??

Isn’t it ‘capiche’?

Nanda – A thousand apologies, I meant to type theacademic.org.

Shanaka – Singhala-who?

He may come across in that manner but I believe an engagement with his views is necessary. IMHO, His ability to combine singhala-buddhist with liberal democratic views, can and at times do, distort the expectations of a responsible democracy. He seems to have the ear of those in the Diaspora that object to the current peace process and he seems to be dumbing it down to compete with some of the separatist propoganda in the west.

Sanjana – No worries, looking forward to it. Keep away from them jelly-fish, can be as dangerous as rabid-nationalist.

Ivap’s right, I shouldn’t really dismiss the dude. The article, though emotionalycharged and partially coma-inducing is well written and strewn with a consistency that befuddles and scares me. But why does the Sinhala Buddhist feel under threat? Why does 70 something percent of the population feel like an endangered species? I have all the time in the world for facts, and ideas and debate but none for nationalist hysterics. Even though I’m not a Sinhala Buddist, it gave me twinges of pride at certain points, but made me want to tear my eyes away in others because divisiveness even in literature can do more harm than good, and a national display of piety and self-righteousness soon turns into a substitute for real action.

I’m going to start a Sinhala – Christian militant faction to vindicate our rights as a subaltern. Anybody want to join. No bloody AOG’s and Catholics. Just good old-fashioned Protestants who can sing hymns without playing drums.

We will be called the Kithunu Balakaaya. Please send in application forms with recent photograph.

Ruwani raises a very valid point. Why does a 70% majority feel so cornered. Is this mass insecurity a racial trait or is it common in many such contexts? Hope someone can tell me.

Morq ‘capiche’ or ‘kapish’ who cares? As Indi says often as the death knell to any argument that he wants to have the last word in ‘go fuck yourself”…:)

Why are the Sinhalese people riddled with so many divisions? Why does there not seem to be much sense of togertherness among the Sinhalese? Is it because if you speak for the Sinhalese or advocate for Sinhalese unity you are immediately branded as a “racist” and an “extremist” while it is perfectly alright for other ethnic groups do so with regards to their own communities? For example, imagine if the Sinhalese had a website comparable to the much-linked-to website Tamilnation.org – except with a Sinhalese point-of-view, a Sinhalese bias. Somehow I have no doubt that there will be plenty of Sinhalese themselves (mainly from the NGO crowd no doubt) who will be hostile towards it and write article after article condemning it as a bastion of extremism. Sad really.

Sophist:

Why does a 70% majority feel so cornered. Is this mass insecurity a racial trait or is it common in many such contexts? Hope someone can tell me.

We’re about 20 miles from India, a much larger and more powerful country. We have internal beef with Tamils who, while being a minority here, vastly outnumber the Sinhalese globally (74 million worldwide). The literal ‘Land of the Tamils’ is directly across the Palk Strait and “From the 7th century onwards, the empires of Tamil Nadu played a significant role in Sri Lankan politics and there is concrete evidence of Tamil settlements in Sri Lanka in that period (Wikipedia).

Unless you consider water an effective defense, Sinhalese are just a minority in Greater India. I mean, Rama crossed the thing with a damn monkey army. I don’t that anyone wants to colonize this island, but historically and geographically the Sinhalese are in a weak position. Doesn’t justify being dicks or not incorporating some of the richness of Tamil Culture into our own, but the Sinhalese are effectively ‘cornered’. Being on the doorstep of a world power will make anyone insecure. I should make clear that I think immigration and globalization/diversity is good, but almost every culture on earth will defend its identity at the expense of other values. Like being happy and alive, for instance.

btw, I think the death knell is more accurately ‘HEY Pipals! Any of U hot LADiezzzz want to tex da G-MAN!!!’ Seeing as the Sophist is online 24 hours a day I think ‘Go Fuck Yourself’ may actually be redundant.

Pardon the interruption, this traitor to the motherland living the south-east asian outpost of western decadance would like to know what “Kithunu Balakaaya” means in english.

ivap: kithunu is (I think) a formal Sinhala word for Christian (dont think it makes a distinction between Protestants and Catholics). Balakaaya means any one of force, regiment, brigade.. a group of people organized for some purpose.

indi: All of your reasons are valid, I presume. But I’ve never thought of it quite like that. I’ve figured it’s more precisely what Heshan points out elsewhere on the site. Compared to the Sinhalese, the minorities seem more organized, more with it.. and consequently more threatening, especially if one’s impression is that the majority seems disunited and infighting amongst themselves. Sort of a reverse siege mentality, if you like. It’s not a numbers thing.

Same reason why there are so many jokes about persons of African American origin getting pulled over more by cops. We might well ask why a majority caucasian America fears the african americans or indians ? :) (in case someone quotes this out of context, this is a joke :p)

In SL, it is also true that minorities hold the ruling parties in SL by the short and curlies come election time.. since neither of the main two have gotten enough seats to win an outright majority recently. So the minority reps have gotten to play kingmaker quite a bit. A line of _”We quit the coalition and the government falls”_ seems somewhat disproportionate influence compared to the actual number of people represented by those politicians, right ? (I personally think the way party politics work is to blame, but I’ve heard what I said touted as a reason)

sophist: I don’t qualify for your brigade. What a shame, eh? Sight unseen, your party line sounds like it might be more acceptable than the alternative ;) But I can’t sing.

Compared to the Sinhalese, the minorities seem more organized, more with it.. and consequently more threatening, especially if one’s impression is that the majority seems disunited and infighting amongst themselves. Sort of a reverse siege mentality, if you like. It’s not a numbers thing.

Thimal: Nationalism is usually explained in reference to… other Nations. You’re proposing an entirely new psychological construct while there is already a more simple explanation in Indian Geopolitics (numbers if you will). Territorial Concerns explain pretty much every political conflict on Earth throughout all of human history. It also explains swathes of ape behavior and dogs pissing on things. What you’re proposing is that Sri Lankans have mental problems which somehow make this conflict different from every other conflict on Earth. What you’re proposing is that

A) Neither Territory nor India are relevant to Sri Lanka (a sea change in Conflict and Political Science)
B) They been replaced by an entirely new and vague psychological construct

Unfortunately, even Sri Lankan history doesn’t bear that out. Sinhala Nationalism has existed for thousands of years, due mainly to the force of Indian Kingdoms like the Chola. In the absence of any evidence towards your claim, one will usual take the more simple and parsimonious theory. Sri Lanka is, figuratively, not an island. Examining Sinhalese motives outside of Indian Geopolitics is like talking about Canada without America, or Ireland without England. Sri Lanka is not some magical island where regional geopolitics do not apply. Somebody swam to India, for chrissakes. If you’re going to talk about Sinhala Nationalism you must talk about India.

Umm. No.

I did say your points are valid, if not in so many words. There are territorial politics at play in SL, as much as in any situation where a number of satellite nations are flanked by a large country. (South East Asia has another particularly good example). Indian influences have dominated our history, indian influences are relevant. The comments I made were not in relation to the relevance of Indian Ocean politics, but more so as an addition to what you said. It would be a mistake, I believe, to dismiss the psychological aspects of minority/majority relations within our own country entirely in favour of looking around us for external influences. Your previous comment focused entirely on Indian ocean politics. People don’t get elected (or at least get a popular vote) anymore saying that they’re going to stick it to India. That only happened when the IPKF were here. People get popular support by saying “look, those guys are organized. They’re violent. And they’re going to take a chunk of our country away from us. Are you going to stand for that ?”. Indian influence ? Maybe, but it’s not the primary cause of nationalism, I’d think.

Take for instance the Hutu vs the Tutsi. Territorial conflict ? I don’t think so. They did a great job of killing each other based on solely on tribal affiliations, did they not ? I’m not justifying nationalism by any means… but I believe the concerns I voiced are more representative of why the majority of people feel cornered than merely pointing to Indian influences, valid as that point is. Are those vague psychological constructs invalid, you think ? Should Mexico start by talking about the US when people want to discuss the Chiapas guerillas ? If physical proximity is your only consideration, then the Phillipines needs to talk about the China or Japan (in relation to the Mindanao separatists) too.

I don’t have any grand ideals here, but we can’t arbitrarily decide to cast off our moorings and move away from India if they suck. The Indian influence is always going to be there. I haven’t forgotten how many “training camps” are based in Tamil Nadu either.. but fixing internal politics is easier (relatively speaking) than telling India to avert their eyes from us.

Round 2: (heh heh heh)

Nationalism is usually explained in reference to… other Nations.

Funny, the first definition that I could find said devotion to the interests or culture of one’s nation. No mention of other nations anywhere in that.

What you’re proposing is that Sri Lankans have mental problems which somehow make this conflict different from every other conflict on Earth

Regardless of the merits of your assertion that Sri Lankans have mental problems, I certainly made no such claim. Can you quote anything I said to substantiate that ? :)

What you’re proposing is that
A) Neither Territory nor India are relevant to Sri Lanka (a sea change in Conflict and Political Science)
B) They been replaced by an entirely new and vague psychological construct

My premise, which I stand by, is that nationalists in this day and age are less concerned with India and more concerned with preventing the partition of their nation. This is indeed a territorial concern. But unlike in earlier instances of history which you cite, the LTTE members are, as far as I know, Sri Lankans. Not foreign devils ;) They want their own piece of land somewhere up north (and points further south if some of the proposed maps I’ve seen are accurate). Those who are styled Sinhala nationalists are intent on prevention of this separation of control and the willy nilly granting of judicial and political authority to an entity which … on the face of it … got to where it is today primarily by the force of arms. Is that a valid definition of the term “nationalist” for you ? It sounds workable to me. Where does India come into that picture?

India (perhaps certain elements within the country and more specifically Tamil Nadu) has run training camps for the trigger happy. Elements in the country have acted as an intermediaries for smuggled arms shipments. They have a vested interest in making sure the US doesn’t park a CG in Trinco. I can think of lots of reasons why nationalist fervour should be whipped up against that big bully, the injuns. But don’t all of those pale into insignificance besides the fact that some of our very own Sri Lankan citizens want to fence off an area of the playground and put up big “tresspassers will be prosecuted” signs on the fencing ? Why must anyone talk about India before we sort out our own internal affairs first ? How many nations do you know which classify this as an international conflict between Sri Lanka and India as opposed to an internal separatist struggle ?

good points, was being a bit of a dick. I do think we have some answer to Sophist’s question.

I think it’s an extension of the age-old Sinhala/Chola-or-anybody-else tension. Still unclear what the internal mechanism is, but there certainly is one.

good points, was being a bit of a dick. I do think we have some answer to Sophist’s question.

I think it’s an extension of the age-old Sinhala/Chola-or-anybody-else tension. Still unclear what the internal mechanism is, but there certainly is one.

What if Sri Lanka join India as a State?Wouldn’t that fuck up everything and will be really interesting?

For chrissake Heshan, you want to know the Sinhalese ‘as a whole’ don’t have a sense of ethnicity or nationality or whatever you call it?

Because we don’t leave a threatened existence!

If I speak Sinhala:
I can get things done in a Government office.
I can talk my way out of being arrested for a minor offence.
I don’t get called a terrorist.
I can read the board on a bus.
I can read the signpost for a road.
I have a better chance of getting a job.
I can read more newspapers.
I can get more political opinions.
I can get more options on TV.
I have more channels to listen to on the radio.
I have movies to watch produced in my country.

Our fucking ethnicity and our language are in our face day in and day out. It’s subcounsiously fed to us in our schools, in our neigbourhoods, in our homes. So we don’t need a fucking website or a group like the LTTE. We have 80 fucking percent of the population.

If you’re Sinhala Biddhist, in Sri Lanka, you lead fucking comfortable existence don’t you think?

If you guys are really interested in this subject, there is a book you might find useful “Language, Religion, and Ethnic Assertiveness The Growth of Sinhalese Nationalism in Sri Lanka by Prof K N O Dharmadasa ” (http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=12792)

This book is based on his PhD Thesis submitted to Monash, Australia and sort of a summarized version is also available in Sinahala ( Jathikanuragaya – Visidunu Paublisers)

If you cannot control your temper Morquendi, you ought to think twice about voicing your opinions :) It appears as if I have hit a nerve with you, but no matter. In my opinion, the most privileged people in Sri Lanka are a segment of Colombo Sinhalese who follow the Christian tradition. They have been as such since the colonials arrived in Sri Lanka and continue to hold much power in the politics and economy of the country.

Whenever anyone speaks for the Sinhalese people, individuals like you push them down by calling them “racists”, “extremists”, “bigots”, and other such wonderful labels that show just how broadminded and unbiased they are. Reading through your blog, it is clear that you have a problem about the JVP and are possibly scared about its rising popularity. I am yet to hear you say anything negative about the LTTE when that organization hasn’t even joined the democratic process and continues to kill people with impunity even after signing a ceasefire agreement.

Did the FMM,which you seem to be so enamoured of, organize a protest march and release a statement when the Thinamurasu editor was killed by the LTTE? Yes or No? And if no, why not?

On another note, when are you going to raise your voice for the thousands of Sinhalese peasants who were unceremoniosly kicked off their lands by the British to make way for tea plantations and Indian labourers and who have not – to date – received any recompense?

Would it be “Sinhalese extremism” and “racism” and “bigotry” to campaign for them, according to you?

And where are the Sinhalese and Muslims living under LTTE control? Where are the Sinhalese signboards in LTTE controlled areas? What are you thoughts on the LTTE having ethnically cleansed the areas they control of all non-Tamils?
your thoughts intrigue me.

Sivaram Could have been killed by LTTE. Yeah this is also a theory in Sivaram’s murder. And why U guys give too much attention to this person while every day LTTE kills few persons from movements opposed to LTTE’s hegemony?

An auto driver killed in Batticaloa by LTTE. An EPDP cadre killed by LTTE. Former Trinco Municipal chaiman is fighting for his life ( LTTE shot him) all happened this week.

Who cares for these Cold Murders?

How come Sivaram is enjoying a privilege whereas others do not have it? Why Thimal? Why Indi? Why Chandare? Has Sivaram got 4 balls and 2 dicks? Is it because he fucked BBC Tamil service Aananthi Sooriyapragasam?

Seelan: Fortunately, I am not in a position where I could confidently answer your following question.

Has Sivaram got 4 balls and 2 dicks?

Be that as it may, please do understand that I rarely dignify abusive and/or obscene responses with any sort of response my own. I’m breaking one of my rules in doing so now, but only to make my position clear.

As I’ve made clear elsewhere (no, I’m not going to type all that out again), I am sad that a man was murdered. I don’t care if the LTTE or this new bunch of sickos did it… or even if he was hit by a truck. The main reason I got involved was because I felt he was getting _only_ accolades for his journalism and it pissed me off that people could consider a discussion of his legacy complete without giving credence to the fact that his writings on the LTTE position were compromised by his own personal political interests and bias. Yes, I called him a shill and I also called his work on TamilNet less than credible. That remains my opinion of his work there. In a way, I was committing a distasteful act by impugning the dead. Again, I’m unapologetic about it. S.D must have been a literate, educated person. A good writer. I found his work comprehensible and easy to read. Nonetheless, he sold out in the name of his professed political cause and thus, lost credibility with me. That *never* made his murder justifiable or somehow deserving in my eyes.

I don’t dispute the fact that the LTTE is killing lots of people and those killings, by and large, go unnoticed here and in the mainstream media. If the point of what you say is to draw attention to it here and now, you’ve done your job. And you didn’t need the histrionics, I assure you. I knew it already. If you want to talk about those murders, ask the site owner (Indi) :) But please don’t kid yourself that this site is about balance or free speech or equal coverage for all points or any of the things you’d expect because it is not.

Yeah. This blog is in now way capable of addressing all the injustices in the world. I’d suggest a temple, church, or mosque if you’re looking for that kinda justice. As it is it’s just a couple of very human voices. If you think we’re not criticizing the LTTE enough then start your own blog and speak out.

All this blog is doing is criticizing the murder of one man, Sivaram. I think that’s worthwhile its it’s own little way.

You guys are talking a lot about peace building, freedom of expression, etc etc but the way you guys express yourself suggests that you are not ready to practice what you preach…

Indi, by placing a space to comment after you invite your reader to express what they think of what you write …don’t you? if you don’t want that then please replace the word “comment” with “praise the author” or something like that. Then only the readers who agree to your opinions can use the facility to comment

All right, it’s back to Dildonayake for you. I am all for freedom of speech. The Net is free and you can say whatever you want. indi.ca is, however, not a soveriegn government and you have no particular rights here. If you want to pay me taxes I’ll give you a bill of rights, but until then you’re in my house and you either take the shit or get out.

Do you know why I’m fucking with you Dildonayake? Because your logic is childish and fundamentally flawed.

First off, you cite one article and assert that Sivaram was a Terrorist based on that bastion of research. Then you (and Seelan) ask why we aren’t condemning all of the LTTE’s activities. Holy shit, the LTTE kills people? Has someone alerted the press? The house is on fire and I only have two hands. I’m going to get everything I can out, and this particular week it was Taraki. You’re sitting on the curb bitching about all the stuff we left inside, without lending a hand. The basic flaw in your logic is that you demand perfection – you demand that we condemn every murder in Sri Lanka. *This is a classic case of the best being the enemy of the good*. I got the TV out of the house and you’re complaining about the stereo not getting equal treatment. Damn it, go in the house yourself. I’m not going to throw the TV back in just so everything is equally burnt. That’s what you’re doing, *you’re saying we can’t save the whole house, so let everything burn*. The end result of your argument isn’t more discourse, it’s condemning Taraki as a Terrorist and not commemorating him as worthwhile writer. It’s nihlistic and doesn’t help anyone, and I’ll call you on it. By discourse I mean doing a useful and ongoing chronicle of LTTE killings, not coming here and telling us to stop talking about Taraki.

If you want true free speech get your own blog. I won’t block you from commenting, but if you can’t take the heat get out of my kitchen.

My my…this is my car tyre. I’ll piss on it if I want to!! Well done Indi. That’s telling him.

Fuck off Dandanayake. You and your pseudo – sinhala thadabala name. We have no time for you here. You go against the grain. Your ideas are simple and unconvoluted. You don’t quote World Bank statistics and haven’t read mind numbingly boring articles about the subject you purport to speak of, and are not vested with the vicarious authority of information which as we all know can crush an argument in one fell swoop. We can do without the likes of you.

Furthermore…you completely deserve the epithet Dildonayake, although many will perceive that it was thrown at you randomly without any provocation or necessity whatsoever. Nay! You are indeed a phallic substitute for you call a spade a spade – and here we call it a digging utensil.

So get your dirty criticising, rational comments of our Indi’s blog. We will tolerate no abuse of our Beloved Blogger Brother. All contrary opinions can go…and as the great Indi said “fuck themselves”. So bugger off Dandanayake and stop pointing out pertinent things, because it makes us feel insecure and we don’t like that.

*falls over laughing*

Man, this is going to be fun. Sophist, I had almost given up on you commenting again here, so before you disappear into the swathes of grey concrete in London, care to drop me a mail ? I find your views interesting and wish to subscribe to your newsletter ;)

[first name] at gmail should find me.

yes, stay in the kitchen d-nayake. Sophist has been sleeping on the couch for weeks so it’s really no matter.

Sivaram is an advocate of Tamil Tiger Fascism. An agent of LTTE whose duties among others is to run the LTTE news agency Tamil Net which is exactly the same as Langapuwath( Buruhu puwath) of the eighties. Sivaram betrayed all his PLOTE mates including his wife’s brother- in- law Vasudeva of PLOTE.

Sivaram an unprincipled socio path. Who has never been loyal to his wife. Killed two innocent blokes of PLOTE Ahilan and Selvam. Had a woman in every port. An anti social personality. An anti libertarian whose duty is to enjoy his life at the expense of others freedom and bigotry.

Listen Heshan,

There’s nothing wrong with talking about the rights of the Sinhalese. It’s just that the Sinhalese are not denied their basic civil and political rights the way that Tamils are denied their rights. That my friend, is a fact, and you know it. Overall, in the Sri Lankan scenario, the Tamil community has less access power and the decision making process than the Sinhala community does.

So for instance you talk about the Sinhala people who were displaced by the British (I have never heard this one before and would love it if you could introduce me to some of these displaced people. I have checked with some friends who do community work in the estate sector and no one’s heard of this problem), well, all I have to say is that there are many many thousands more Tamil people who have been displaced by the Mahaweli project, by ehtnic cleansing in the South and the war in general.

These displaced Tamil communities have less access to legal procedures and the decision making process than the Sinhala displaced community. Would you argue with that?

I am not saying the Tamil people have more problems than the Sinhala people (they do, but let’s keep that out of the argument), I’m just saying that they don’t have the same ways of having their concerns factored into the decision making process because the central Government in the South remains primarily Sinhala and secondarily Buddhist.

Now let me get a little angry…

Heshan, please go to Kilinochchi and see how you feel like a fucking foreigner there, and then think about how a Tamil speaking person feels like when they come to Colombo. You fucking think about how you’d feel if there were areas in what people told you was your country, where you couldn’t speak your language. How do you think that feels like? The Sinhala people can now understand what it’s like because it’s possible to go to Kilinochchi, but fucking keep in mind that the Tamil people of the North and East have been feeling like that each time they come to Colombo to get their passports or their IDs or anything like that.

Here’s something for you to think about. Think of a reversal of the sitation. Say you have to go to Kilinochchi to get your Passport. Can you imagine trying to explain things to a LTTE official in Kilinochchi that you lost your ID when your house got bombed, when you can’t even speak his language and he thinks you’re a terrorist who’s come to blow him up.

Be a little more open minded. Try and think about things from the other side. They’re human too, not some fucking paid daily slaves who come work in your house. Get out of Colombo more often. Go to the Vanni, it’s beautiful area. Ask those people what they want. Don’t fucking read the papers for their opinion. They can’t speak Sinhala, but they try and explain things to you. They don’t hate you. They’re not like the average-on-the-road Sinhala person in Colombo who thinks every Tamil person is a terrorist.

Fucking think about it, before you get into all that Sinhala-Buddhist-people-have-rights-too shit…

In response to the displaced people Morq is absolutely right – Sri Lankan natives hardly inhabited the hilly regions of the country, they considered it too infertile, so the estate sector actually did not displace anyone during the initial plantation drive. There was noone there.

Morquendi, I was reading till here:

by ehtnic (sic) cleansing in the South

Is that dramatic license on your part ? Ethnic cleansing ? You can’t be serious ?

And one more thing, Morquendi. Have you talked to someone who’s ended up in hospital after having someone blow themselves up near you ? Because I fucking have. And then, maybe then, you might realize why some people (not even everyone) worry about someone sitting next to them on a bus being a terrorist. And hey, guess what.. at least the Sinhalese that you rail against haven’t yet gone around blowing things (or themselves) up in population centers because they’ve been discriminated against. Way to prove a point. I think I don’t get a fair hearing, I hunt your ass down and blow you up. How’s that for a principled negotiation tactic ?

Thimal – machan! This is the most animated and aggressive I’ve seen you get. Nice. You make an insanely obvious point. Blowing oneself up in public is not the most effective way to bring the blower uppees to the table for negotiations. I understand completely what you’re saying about the paranoia – which brings me back to my earlier point that a lot of people have been affected by the LTTE violence and their prejudices are not irrational.

Morq you too are absolutely right. I had the worst of both worlds at one point machans. Pater was in the army and I toured the hotbed of the East during the initial ceasefire before Premadasa got buggered. It is a stunning area with a lot of Sinhalese people as well. And yes – no goddam newspaper is going to tell you that average Joe wandering the streets doesn’t hate your Sinhalese Buddhist ass. Having Pater in the army for 18 years in my childhood also meant that I lived through the agony of not knowing whether he’s coming back when he left after 2 days a month at home. He was in Palaly before Jaffna was overrun. It was fucking traumatic.

But I can’t hate the Tamils for it. And I can’t refuse to listen to their grievances because they put me and my mother through hell. So as Jesus said – we have to turn the other cheek. Sometimes the Bible is so simple you dismiss it without seeing its obvious relevance. As Morq says the Sinhalese have it relatively better off than the Tamils, so why shouldn’t we be the first ones to give an inch?

Thimal, please study some Sri Lankan history.

There have been at least 8 instances since 1948 when the Sinhala communities of the South have turned against their Tamil neighbours. And I don’t mean just in Colombo. In the past race riots have been more widespread. In Galle, Matara and the southern heartland. In Anuradhapura (yes in the holy city itself!), in Matale, in Kandy and all over the estate areas.

I put the start in the post-56 (after the Sinhala only act) period (a series of incidents in 57 and 58) even though some people cite earlier incidents. July 83 was just one in a series of ethnically motivated riots which served to drive the Tamil people out of the South. As recently as two years ago riots targeted Tamil communities in the Bogawantala and Talawakelle area. So it’s not stopped yet my friend.

Who did these riots target? The Tamils. Who were involved in victimising the Tamils? The Sinhalese (albeit a politically motivated few). If this is not ethnic cleansing then I don’t know what is. Maybe you could look it up and tell me. They may begin as personal vendettas. They may begin as business disputes. But they always end up being race riots.

So I suggest you do some basic reading on Sri Lankan political history before you being to refute claims of ethnic cleansing.

Yes, the LTTE too murdered Sinhala villagers and drove out Sinhala villages from places like Gomarankadawela in the NCP and various locations in the Ampara district (I forget their names but if you want them I can give you a list of the place I have been to). We don’t even need to mention what the LTTE did to the Muslims in 90!. These were also moves to ethnically cleanse an area and they are as unacceptable as July 83.

But we also have to keep in mind that the Sinhala villages who were affected in the Trinco district and in some areas in the Ampara district were farmers taken from the South and from the NCP and planted there in the fertile paddy lands of the East. This was a calculated move and a part of the Mahaweli Scheme. It disrupted the ethno-cultural contiguity of the Tamils along the east coast, and tilted the geo-political nature of the area by allowing more sinhala votes.

Now we see the results of those moves when those mad monks are trying to protect a illegally constructed statue in Trinco town. They want more rights for the Sinhala people of Trinco! They don’t want the Tamils to treat them like they treated the Tamils in the South.

Anyways…

No Thimal I have not ‘talked to someone who’s ended up in hospital after having someone blow themselves up near you ?’. I just went to my neighbours funeral. So you talked to someone who was in hospital. Big fucking deal. I lost my hearing for a day after the bomb in front of the PMs office. You want to compare notes? Oh fuck man! I was more affected than you are! Har har.

Look, anyone who lived in Colombo was affected by the bombs so let’s not say stupid things that sound a lot like ‘my weewee is bigger than your weewee’. You said one stupid thing, I said one stupid thing, now we’re even. So let’s not have pre-school arguments anymore.

The LTTE used to blow thenselves up in Colombo. That doesn’t make all Tamil people terrorist suspects. It’s your kind of thinking that drives the police to do what they do when they arrest a Tamil person for something as minor as a traffic offence.

But they Sri Lanka Army, Navy and Air Force, and the STF in Ampara, the military arms of the Governments that you and I have elected into power, have done things which are far far worse than someone blowing themselves up. You know that. But the Tamil people of the North and East don’t look upon all Sinhala people as terrorists, torturers, murderers and rapists!

But it’s not about who’s done the most damage. Or who’s more wrong. It’s about moving forward. Something you seem to be unable to do.

Perhaps more reading will help you understand, but I also suggest visits to the North and East. Also, talk to the Sinhala people in the border villages in Ampara and try and understand the logic that drives them to be one of the strongest pro-peace voices (though seldom heard) in the country. They have been more victimised by the LTTE than anyone in Colombo, yet they want peace. If someone who saw his child and wife being hacked to peices by the LTTE can look forward, forgive them and demand peace, I don’t know why you can’t.

Morq – you are ruthlessly aggressive as usual. Yet beneath all your outrage you drive home a very valid point.

And the difference between you and me, Morquendi, is that I don’t assert the rights of one ethnic group over another in all of this. It’s all too easy for you to paint one side black with the use of words you misuse. And while I don’t claim to be a Sinhala nationalist, it doesn’t sit right with me to let you portray all Sinhalese (by extending your average-guy-in-the-street statement) as monsters.

You use a word, ethnic cleansing. Last I checked in Colombo as well as places elsewhere, there were no ghettos. Now, can you say the same for the LTTE controlled areas ? You mean to say that the Sinhalese aren’t ghettoized there ? Where’s the balance, Morquendi ? You speak of moving forward. Do you move forward by painting one side so black as to equate them to monsters ? Is that *your* attempt at diplomacy ? But thank you for insinuating I don’t know my history. I can’t change what happened before I was born, even though I know of (at least some) of those events you cite. I can however, do my bit to change the future. I just don’t opt to do it by saying one side is worse than the other as you do (despite your denial). Your initial rant never made a single point of reference to anyone other than how the Tamils were hard done by. And this was in response to Heshan’s assertion of the rights of the Sinhalese. Is that a balanced portrayal of events, you think ? Your whole argument is based on “the tamils have suffered. hahahaha. now the sinhalese are finding out what it’s like. deal with it, suckers”. Not true ?

From my point of view, Tamils _are_ discriminated against, at points in our history through stupid, shortsighted and downright bigoted legislation and at other times through the agitation of a few. Of course that needs to be changed. I remember ’83 very vividly, though. I never want to see that happening again in my lifetime. But the point you conveniently avoided answering is that if people treat someone who looks like a Tamil with suspicion, it’s only because they don’t want to run the risk of that person turning out to be a suicide bomber. Is that a fair point ? I’m sorry you have personally experienced so much trauma at the hands of terrorists. It however, proves my point. Like you, many other people have experienced the same. Very few of them _hate_ Tamils, but can you blame them for being wary around them ? The thing the LTTE has done best thus far is drive a wedge between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities. If you deny this (and no, this isn’t a dick size contest. I don’t factor in my experiences or my friends’ experiences at the hands of suicide bombers at all), then you’re missing the point of why there is so much distrust today. That was the point of my reply, not a calculated response at showing the breadth of my experience and suffering at the hands of the LTTE not-s0-smart-bomb brigade.

I’ve had to live with constant fighting in the north and east for most of my lifetime. I want it to stop, I want to move on. I don’t think I have any right, personally, to say I want people to start fighting again. I don’t know what it’s like to bear arms for my country, so I feel unqualified to tell other people to die for it anymore. Above all, I don’t believe that shooting someone or blowing someone up is a solution. But I don’t make sweeping statements demonizing one community over the other as your comments are wont to do. Giving someone a taste of their own medicine (as you advocate in this thread and elsewhere), in my experience, just provokes an endless cycle of violence and bigotry. If you want it to stop as you claim, Morquendi, isn’t addressing the concerns of both sides (instead of speaking only for one) a good place to start ? It’s people on both sides. I understand that perfectly. Do you ?

Someone else can pick it up from this point if they’re interested or sufficiently motivated to do so, I’m done :)

It’s seems that we are moving far away from the point we started.

Morquendi you wrote

“So for instance you talk about the Sinhala people who were displaced by the British (I have never heard this one before and would love it if you could introduce me to some of these displaced people…”

I do not wish to go into another debate with you on this subject…but let me tell you a few things about this area of Sri Lankan history that you don’t know ( or have missed)…

What Ruwini said about “the hilly regions of the country…” is far from truth.

John Davy’s book, “An account of the Interior of Ceylon”, provides enough information about the agriculture in this area. He wrote…“( Agriculture) is in no part of the world more respected or more followed than in the Interior of Ceylon…”.

The importance of land, then no need to be explained. The cultivation of this area was of two types – dry and wet. The wet cultivation produced the staple food; rice but the rest produced by dry or chenna cultivation.

When British started plantations, lot of resistance came from those who were engage in this chenna form of cultivation. The British auctioned large amount of land and they didn’t want to see the local affluent buying these lands. For an example an European could buy as much as 4000 arcers of land while native could by only 36 acres. Even the pricing were different depending on the buyer.

In order to get rid of the burden of natives who claimed for the land The British brought the “Waste Land Act” in 1840.

“In the past, land in Ceylon was owned by the king, who allowed the people to use it and also donated areas to chiefs and to temples. During the colonial period, the Dutch introduced the Roman-Dutch law system. A drastic ordinance was introduced in 1840 (Waste-land act) to enable the colonial government to gain more control over land. Many peasants, who could not prove ownership of the chenas, which they had been occupying for generations, lost it to the crown and became landless. The peasants could only regain access to their land by paying tribute to the mudaliyar8, a revenue officer with far reaching powers. The system allowed the revenue officer to relocate land and to adopt the role of a traditional feudal aristocrat”

Anneke Hoogvorst – SURVIVAL STRATEGIES OF PEOPLE IN A SRI LANKAN WETLAND
(library.wur.nl library.wur.nl/wda/dissertations/dis3434.pdf)

“The discussions with them revealed that their ancestors came to this area during the British period in search of land for chena cultivation. The Waste Land Act implemented during the British period and the later takeover of the forest lands by planters for tea cultivation might have had serious impacts on the peasantry in the upcountry areas, who used the forests for chena and highland crop cultivation. It might have driven them to migrate into the isolated Monaragala districts, where the authority of the colonial administration was somewhat weaker…”

Small Tank Cascade Systems in the Walawe River Basin ( IInernational water management Institute working paper 92)- P. G. Somaratne, Priyantha Jayakody, François Molle and K. Jinapala
(www.lk.iwmi.org/pubs/working/WOR92.pdf)

I think the above two excerpts explains what this wasteland act and its consequences.

In fact the story doesn’t end here. The “Rajakari Kramaya”, which enables the state to obtain the service of its subject without paying a fee in exchange of the land they occupy and other privileges they enjoy , was exploited to the maximum to build the infrastructure to facilitate their plantation programs. While Indian workers were given a daily pay, the natives were employed to build roads as slaves ( under Rajakari Kramaya).
For an example “The famous Colebrooke-Cameron commission (1833) report says …”more than 3000 people were employed daily to build the Colombo-Kandy road during 1820-1830″

And I see you guys talking about systematic colonization in Tamils areas by Sinhalese. Then how about the Indian Tamils brought to Sri Lanka during this period ? ( not only British all our colonial masters did this repeatedly).

Initially during the “coffee phase” of the plantation economy, the Indians were brought down here only during the harvesting season and they went back after the season. But later with the start of Tea plantations, the situation changed.

In 1845 there only 26,000 Indians but by 1880 the number increased to 125,000. Finally in 1911 they surpassed the number of Ceylon Tamils living in Sri Lanka. (Ceylon Tamils 528,024 Indian Tamils 530,483 – Census Report 1911). By 1815 the areas considered as Up-country ( or Udarata) was totally in the hands of Sinhalese and by 1911 20% the population of the same areas was formed by Indian Tamils.

(Now don’t assume that I’m calling for an expulsion of all Indian Tamils from Sri Lankan because I’m not)

Some two years ago The Island published an article, written by Pushpamala Iriyagolla, on this subject. That article explained this subject in detail with references to the historical documents. Unfortunately I don’t have a copy of that article with me.

Finally, just a simple thought of mine…I have spent hours if not days, in side libraries in search of historical roots of the NE conflict. It didn’t take a long for me to realize, that the history of this country is among the worst hit victim of the political turmoil we are experiencing. Not only lot of reading and careful analysis but huge amount of courage is required to understand history. Though history can be useful to identify the root cause, I don’t think it can be used as an effective tool to resolve the conflict.

“The Waste Land Act implemented during the British period and the later takeover of the forest lands by planters for tea cultivation might have had serious impacts on the peasantry in the upcountry areas, who used the forests for chena and highland crop cultivation…”

Firstly, Chena harvesting is the highly wasteful method of temporary forest-clearing to make way for slash-and-burn cultivation, this actually grew in importance after the coffee era, and I wholly refute the idea that it was of great economic importance to the Sri Lankan peasantry before the colonies. I would draw your attention to more accurate economic texts like the IBRD 1956 report commissioned for former president J.R. Jayawardene(The Economic Development of Ceylon) or Snodgrass’s very useful text: Ceylon: An Export Economy in transition (1965) to find out more about what peasant agriculture was like before the colonies, very sparse, very low yield and just at subsistence level.

The point I brought up, was of your dismissive claim that the Ceylonese were displaced (i.e. mass migration to make way for plantation agriculture) I’m not talking about 150 people who had to go to Monaragala because their land was sold off, I’m talking about people moved in the thousands or hundreds of thousands, which did not occur, it is factually inaccurate. At it’s height plantation agriculture held about 3.25 million acres of land, a large quantity of labour was required to work this land and it was available in almost unlimited supply from impoverished South India. So the more valid point would be: Why did the Native Ceylonese not fill this need? Two answers are:

1. There weren’t enough of them in the area.

2. The villagers in the surrounding area did not want to come.

These are the most plausible answers that economic historians have come up with regarding the poor participation of the native Ceylonese in the estates, if they were so rampant in Chena activities in the hill regions of the country, then why could they simply not switch to participate in plantation agriculture? For one, it would have been more effective and in the long run more of a stable income. The inhabitants of the hilly regions, grew mostly coffee themselves, and perhaps a few low-yield crops, but certainly nothing that would have been missed too much. Chena cultivation was mostly confined to the dry agro-zones of the east and the south east.

There is one glaring point of course that can’t be hidden, that’s the distribution of land, the British bought it cheap and sold it cheap, and when it became expensive they made a mint through speculation. But that’s the way it goes if you’re a colony.

What you originally posted was misleading and that’s why I decided to comment. As I wrote, anyone who’s read John Davi’s “An account of the Interior of Ceylon” will reject this.

“In response to the displaced people Morq is absolutely right – Sri Lankan natives hardly inhabited the hilly regions of the country, they considered it too infertile, so the estate sector actually did not displace anyone during the initial plantation drive. There was noone there. ”

You summarized some complex historical event in a distorting manner. According to you natives hardly inhabited the interior and none was occupying these highlands when British started plantations.

You are making a mistake by using economic point of view analyze the situation. (I’ll try to grab a copy of the text you have mentioned and try to learn the economic aspects of this event…thanks for the info)…the chena cultivation was no importance to the British, economically, I agree . But it was of great importance to the Sinhalese who had been dependent on this method for generations.

The views of the economic historians you mentioned reminds me of the events of native Americans chased away from their ancestral lands by Modern while Americans…At lease they had leaders like Seatal to speak on behalf of their heritage…

The migration of 150 people to Monaragala quoted in IWMI is just an example for what happened and not the only case of such migration.

If the sinhalease had the capital participate in plantation agriculture, they would have bought the land taken from them. But you know the bleak economic status of sinhalease of those areas after going through a series of invasions. The 1818/1848 riots ripped of everything and anything if they had managed to secure anything for them. Therefore, expecting them to switch to plantation agriculture was something not practical.

The two reasons you were not the only reasons mentioned for importing Indian people here. According to Pushpamala Iriyagolla, colonial government put an extra condition which prevented the recruitment of natives, when they auction/distribute the crown lands. (I regret that didn’t have a copy of her article to The Island).

Morquendi,

Thanks for calming down… well, for kinda calming down. I would like to ask you a few questions if that’s alright.

1. Is Colombo a mono-ethnic city or a multi-ethnic city?

Isn’t about 25-30% of the population in the city of Tamil origin? Aren’t the Sinhalese actually a minority in Colombo when the populations of Tamils and Muslims are added together? Or am I mistaken? Please correct me if I am.

2. How many Sinhalese and Muslims live in LTTE controlled areas, and more specifically how many Sinhalese and Muslims live in Kilinochchi? Are there any?

3. How many Sinhalese and Muslim businesses, cultural centres, schools, movie theatres & religious places exist in Kilinochchi?

Would you agree that there are numerous Tamil businesses, cultural centres, schools, movie theatres and religious places that function freely in the South among the Sinhalese, let alone Colombo?

4. Are there any signboards in the Sinhalese language in LTTE controlled areas? And isn’t it true that there are many Tamil signboards in Colombo and other major urban areas in the South? Isn’t there a legal duty to have trilingual road signs and street signs (and many of them there are)? Does such a policy exist under the LTTE?

5. I’m not sure whether you are joking about TV channels, but just in case you’re not, all the “Sinhalese” channels include Tamil programs. But both the “Tamil” channels do not include any Sinhalese programs… why is that?

6. Why are areas under LTTE control mono-ethnic while the South is multi-ethnic?

7. Many Muslim students wanted a transfer out of Jaffna university because they said they did not feel safe there. They said they would rather go to unversities in the South. Why don’t they feel safe being amongst Tamil-speakers?

8. Why do many Tamil parents flee with their children to government-controlled areas?

9. Where do you get the idea that every Sinhalese considers every Tamil to be a Tiger? Have you carried out a proper survey? If so, would you mind sharing the results?

And finally,

10. Do you think it is racist for the Sinhalese people to claim the island of Sri Lanka as their Homeland?

Also,

11. If I am not mistaken, students from Jaffna can today enter Sri Lankan universities with lower marks that say, students from Kandy or Ratnapura. Is this discrimination against the Sinhalese according to you, and if it is not, do you consider standardisation (which is often used to explain the rise of Tamil militancy) as discrimination against the Tamil minority? And if so, why?

Yes a lot of questions I know, but as I said, your thoughts intrigue me :)

Heshan, Thimal, first let me answer Danda.

So Danda, where are all these people who were displaced by the British. Tell them if they contact me I will put them in touch with people who will file petitions with the Human Rights Commission on their behalf.

Thimal,

I agree with what you say. This is not the first time I have painted myself like a pro-LTTE propaganda machine. But this is generally because a majority of the people who enter these arguments are Sinhala nationalist bigots and the only way I know to deal with them makes me sound pro-LTTE. So, apologies to you. And thank you for a rather controlled reply to my quite angry post :)

I also agree that demonizing one part of the divide only makes things worse. But I also think that one of the problems is that a vast majority of the Sinhalese are not aware of the terrible things that they have done, and their Government has done in their name. I believe that if they knew of what a toll the war has taken on this country in very concrete terms then we could genuinely strive to create a pro-peace movement at a grassroots level. Then we could take the discourse on peace beyond the NGOs in Colombo.

And sometimes, when you try to make someone stare their demons in their face, things get a little difficult, and you need to push things to see how far they can go.

On the other hand the Tamil community, I believe, is fully aware of what the LTTE has done to them, and done in their name. It’s just that they have no options because a) the LTTE has killed off everyone else and b) because the Government in the South is not yet willing to give them space.

I WROTE A LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG FUCKING REPLY TO HESHAN’S QUESTIONS AND INDI’S BLOG ATE IT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry Heshan, tomorrow night. I’m too tired to do it all over again.

Morquendi, I’m sorry I don’t know of any person who can represent them. I remember of a government commission appointed to look into the grievances them.( Udarata Gami Punaruthapana Komisama ) and I don’t think this commission did anything useful…

Divaina Sunday edition used to publish a column called “udarata Sandeshaya” (~ Message from upcountry). The historical background, the present grievances of these men and women were discussed in this column…now they don’t publish this column anymore…one of my friends from Badulla told me that this columnist is a family friend of them and I asked him to give his contact details ( I would like to talk to him and learn…)

Two or three years ago Uva Provintial council passed a resolution to ask for compensation from British government for all the sufferings the people of Uva had to go though during British military campaigns to establish their grip over the region. The records of British military and administrative officers who served in these areas testify for these atrocities. But this resolution failed to produce anything useful as nobody persuaded it.

I really don’t know how practical is to go for fresh cases against these events took place more than hundred years ago. I’m sure our own people will rise up against such an effort saying that these things will ruined the cordial relationships with Europeans Nations.

Here you go Heshan,

1. Is Colombo a mono-ethnic city or a multi-ethnic city? Isn’t about 25-30% of the population in the city of Tamil origin? Aren’t the Sinhalese actually a minority in Colombo when the populations of Tamils and Muslims are added together?

Colombo is a multi ethnic city. I don’t know, but you are probably right about the figures. You can check the website of the Department of Census and Statistics for data from their 2001 census. I’m just too tired to Goole for it right now.

But then, I don’t think Colombo has had a Tamil mayor for the past 40 years of so. Again I am too tired to check but I think the CMC has a list of mayors.

What I’m trying to say is that even though Colombo is a multi ethnic city, the political representation in Colombo, as a district, or in the CMC does not adequately reflect the multi-ethnic nature of the city.

What that means to me is: Tamils can live in Colombo as long as they don’t try to get involved in the decision making process. Not good.

2. How many Sinhalese and Muslims live in LTTE controlled areas, and more specifically how many Sinhalese and Muslims live in Kilinochchi? Are there any?

The only Sinhala person I know who lives in LTTE held areas is the toddy tapper/arrack brewer from Panadura who moved to Kilinochchi after the CFA so he could start up a small palm arrack brewery there. He has good business. Beyond that I don’t know is any Sinhalese or Muslims live there, but in many locations in the East there are several Sinhala and Muslim communities who live in LTTE held areas, particularly in Ampara.

3. How many Sinhalese and Muslim businesses, cultural centres, schools, movie theatres & religious places exist in Kilinochchi?

I guess the brewer is Sinhala business :) Kilinochchi does not have any Sinhala cultural centers. Thank god for that! Kilinochchi has one school which had the shit bombed out of it by the Army and the LTTE.

They’re not called movie theaters. THEY’RE CALLED CINEMAS!!!!! And no, Kilinochchi does not have and Sinhala cinemas or Tamil cinemas or any other kind of cinemas.

And just for the record, I resent the fact that you identify cinemas as Sinhala or Tamil. There are cinemas that show Sinhala movies. There are cinemas that show Tamil movies. There are cinemas which show English movies. And there are cinemas which show all kinds of movies in any language.

Would you agree that there are numerous Tamil businesses, cultural centres, schools, movie theatres and religious places that function freely in the South among the Sinhalese, let alone Colombo?

In the places in the South where the Tamil population does constitute a fair percentage of the population, all these things that you say are there, are there. Where there are no Tamil people (again, look at the 2001 census data), you won’t find any of these things. Why? DUH! Coz there are no Tamil people to run them!

4. Are there any signboards in the Sinhalese language in LTTE controlled areas? And isn’t it true that there are many Tamil signboards in Colombo and other major urban areas in the South? Isn’t there a legal duty to have trilingual road signs and street signs (and many of them there are)? Does such a policy exist under the LTTE?

There are no signboards of any kind for the roads in LTTE held areas! The closest thing I have seen is a scrawl on a wall at the Paranthan junction that points right and says ‘Mullaitivu’, like it’s the promised land or something. So calm down, signboards in Kilinochchi are not just in Tamil.

5. I’m not sure whether you are joking about TV channels, but just in case you’re not, all the “Sinhalese” channels include Tamil programs. But both the “Tamil” channels do not include any Sinhalese programs… why is that?

Oh boy! What country do you live in?

There are no Tamil channels in Sri Lanka. (Unless of course you know that secret about ShaktiTV that very very few people know about right now). The only two freqs on which you get a significant amount of Tamil programming is SLRC’s ChannelEYE and MBC’s ChannelONE/ShaktiTV shared freq. So, like I said, there are no Tamil channels. Watch more TV.

6. Why are areas under LTTE control mono-ethnic while the South is multi-ethnic?

Because non-Tamil people don’t want to go live there. Even a lot of Tamil people don’t want to live there. They have very little to offer the people. For example: no cinemas.

7. Many Muslim students wanted a transfer out of Jaffna university because they said they did not feel safe there. They said they would rather go to unversities in the South. Why don’t they feel safe being amongst Tamil-speakers?

Many Muslims students??? The figure was 25. There are already over 50 Sinhala and Muslim students studying various things at the Jaffna University. They’re in their 2nd and 3rd years. One of them who spoke to me said they were wondering why the new batch said they couldn’t study there. They were as perplexed by the issue as much as the UGC was.

8. Why do many Tamil parents flee with their children to government-controlled areas?

To watch movies. And they don’t flee, they walk across the Omntai checkpoint. No one flees anymore. Do you have figures or statistics for this?

By the way, this is a random stat: Even though Tom Dick and Harriet have been complaining saying that the LTTE is kidnapping more children since the TSunami, a UNICEF report shows that child recruitment has dropped some 43% since the Tsunami. Yes, that is still unacceptable. But it’s swiftly losing it’s use as a good stick with which to beat the LTTE.

9. Where do you get the idea that every Sinhalese considers every Tamil to be a Tiger? Have you carried out a proper survey? If so, would you mind sharing the results?

Experiment:

Take 10 women, make them wear something like a bomber jacket under their tops and get them to take a walk down Galle road from Colpetty junc to Galle face, two at a time, talking to each other loudly in Sinhala.

Next day, take the same 10 women and put a pottu on their forhead and get the do the same walk 2 at a time talking loudly in Tamil.

10. Do you think it is racist for the Sinhalese people to claim the island of Sri Lanka as their Homeland?

It’s not racist. It’s just stupid and wrong. As far as I’m concerned the only people who have any right to call this their homeland are the Vanniyalae Aththo (the Veddha). The Sinhala and Tamils should both go fuck themselves for fighting for something that doesn’t belong to them anyway.

11. If I am not mistaken, students from Jaffna can today enter Sri Lankan universities with lower marks that say, students from Kandy or Ratnapura. Is this discrimination against the Sinhalese according to you, and if it is not, do you consider standardisation (which is often used to explain the rise of Tamil militancy) as discrimination against the Tamil minority? And if so, why?

Good scores get you into campus, not ethnicity. And if you live in an area where you are denied access to proper facilities for your studies, like most rural areas, you get an edge. It’s simple.

By the way, that one above was me. Not Electra. Hehe.

Oh I think I fucked up the code. Sorry. You’re going to have to fix it Indi.

Danda, I’ve been looking for a couple of days now, and can’t seem to find the anti-native recruitment law. I have not exhausted every possibility yet, but am still searching. But explain how this would help those who want to run the estates? When the British settled in the West Indies, they got the locals to work in the sugar plantations. The British had guns, so could control any urges to revolt. Will write more later.

Re- West Indian sugar plantations, there was an influx of foreign labour there too, supplied by Indians and East African workers, but it wasn’t on the scale of South Indian in-migration to Sri Lanka. And though there was a part of foreign labour in this plantation sector, it was mixed with natives.

Thanks for your efforts… :)

Yesterday I found another article written by Anagarika Dharmapala on this subject. This article, originally published in a newspaper called “The Ceylon Nation”, describes about another Waste Land Ordinance came to operation in 1897. Therefore there were two British acts on acquiring land, not one.

I doubt whether we could use (effectively) the official records kept by colonial government to look into this subject. There were many instances of British achieving what they want through treaties, laws etc. They were very fair in their outlook. But they were indeed much more dangerous than the Portuguese swords…

Danda, Are you talking about the Citizenship Act? That disenfranchised the natives, but it wasn’t a law, per se, there wasn’t a law preventing natives being recruited by the Estate sector, by all accounts it was voluntary – for the Ceylonese, manual labour was considered infra dig and they sort of “ganang issuwa” to simplify an economic phenomenon of having a higher reservation wage to be enticed to work on plantations. It’s not uncommon. Can I direct you to an interesting publication of the University Teachers for Human Rights in Jaffna : http://uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport4.htm, it deals with the present situation of the up-country tamil populace with factually correct historical references. They are however, not inclined to be positive to Anagarika Dharmapala.

Re- the publications I told you about, The Economic Development of Ceylon IBRD report of 1956, I’m not sure where you can get it, you could try VYB at Unity Plaza or Lakehouse, but I fear you will run into a toothy L-O-L-ing Savi3 clawing the shelves for a copy of ‘Hw 2 fnd tru Luv’ or on the prowl for her next brain-haemmorrage victim(See comments on SL girls post , adjacent), so er, Amazon! More later..

No. this 1897 account is about Acquiring waste land …it seems this one was targeting the waste land in areas like north-central than central and Uva

Thanks a lot for the pointer to UTHR…I’ll go through the report…

About posting on SL girls…:) I’m not following that thread…not because I hate SL girls or something…I’m one of those boring guys who go home after work/lectures…don’t think I know enough of this subject to post a comment there…:)

Danda, why is this an issue? The academic discussion aside, there are no people who are claiming compensation. So it’s a non-issue outside of academia.

Morq,
Is African-Americans asking for repartions for slavery a issue ?

Chandare: Are they not seeking reperations from private companies that benefitted from slavery and didn’t the case against the government get thrown out?…hmm I wonder if condi wants some of the money should they win.

Danda – Last time I checked the East India company ( that first great multi-national ) was bankrupt and out of action, so you are left with the british government and not the empire. Do you really want to waste all the more money in the british courts, assuming that they accept it? Like you said how far back do you go? Are these people currently without land/property or is it a matter of compensation?

Morquendi was it you or me started talking about compensation …?

In fact I wrote

“I really don’t know how practical is to go for fresh cases against these events took place more than hundred years ago…”

Please reread the thread :)

My goal was to prevent another occasion of distorting history…( in era which rewriting history is a profitable industry…)

See Chandare, the number of African-Americans demanding justice is a LOT more than the number of displaced upcountry Sinhalese claiming compensation. If enough people believe it is an issue, then it is an issue. If someone like Dandanayake brings it up and tries to use it as another poor-oppressed-Sinhala-sob-story that does not make it an issue.

The day I meet/read of/see/hear an actual upcountry Sinhalese who was displaced by the British then I’ll believe it’s an issue. Till then it’s a non-issue, a dead thing brought back to life and zombified and set on a task (piss of Morquendi and Ruwani and all others concerned) by Danda.

WAIT! OH MY GOD! HE WANTS TO USE THE ZOMBIE TO PREVENT THE DISTORTING OF HISTORY!!!!

Go burn the bloody Mahavamsa first. The hard copy’s stored in the Ministry of Buddhist Affairs building. I’ll help you.

Forgive that last one. I just watched Shaun of the Dead for like the Nth time. Fucking hilarious movie :)

But really Danda, our history could not possibly be more distorted. The Mahavamsa has to be the greatest work of fiction EVER!!!!!!!!!! I suspect Tom Clancy wrote it. The action is so good. But the plots seem Dan Brown-ishly predictable.

Morquendi

I’m not surprised by your Mahawamsa-Phobia…one thing is for sure you have never read it…I’ve read it from, cover to cover. I have read not only Mahawamsa, but reams of literature written against it. I don’t want to get into a debate on the accuracy of its content ‘cause I believe I’m just a beginner as far as the subject of history is concerned.

But it seems that you know a lot…it seems that you have covered every little piece of literature related to the history/politics of our country…wow …a great achievement …at the age of 23…

Have you read “YåÒppå^a Vaipava Målai” by Mailvagana Pulavar(translated into English by the late Mr.C. Brito) ,Ancient Jaffna by Mudliar S. Rasanayagam ? Sri Lanka The National Question and the Tamil Liberation Struggle by Satchi Ponnambalam ? …you know Mahawamsa author cannot compete with them in fiction writing. Please read them and find out for yourself…

Dear ( well read ) friend Morquendi…I’m writing this for your information. The original Mahawamsa does not cover the colonial era in detail. You have search somewhere else. But there are enough and more written evidence left by colonial rulers themselves. Great scholars like Dr. Ananda Kumaraswamai, Dr. Paul E Peiris, Prof S Arsarathnam, Dr. Karthigesu Indrapala have complied lot of books on the subject based on these records. So no need to depend on Mahawamsa only…

You wrote

“The day I meet/read of/see/hear an actual upcountry Sinhalese who was displaced by the British then I’ll believe it’s an issue.”

Good policy. You should not accept anything without verifying. Please apply the same to “Mahawamsa” as well.