Thanks for clarifying. I agree that moderate Tamils need to start speaking up now that big bad LTTE isn’t there to silence them. This includes me by the way.

On the first point, except for Chandrika and Ranil, I don’t know of any other significant politician that said sorry. I am quite happy to stand corrected if you can provide evidence.

Firstly, I think it’s bullshit that Tamil people aren’t donating. I know for a fact that they are. And anyway, how can you say that Tamil people as a race are not generous just because you may have come across some who don’t donate? For all you know those particular people aren’t the donating type: many people are not, whether they are Sinhala or Tamil or Marsian has nothing to do with it. Some human beings give and some give less and some don’t at all. Those are personal quirks and characteristics and has nothing to do with race. If you say you came across Tamils who didn’t donate, well I came across so many Sinhalese and Muslims and Burghers AND Tamils that didn’t donate. But I’m not going around attributing their personal choices to their entire kind now am I? And anyway Sinhalese people donating should not be treated like some amazing bonus and we shouldn’t be saying ‘Wow, the Sinhalese are so kind and generous’. It is our duty to donate and help out in any way that we can. These are our fellow citizens. There’s no Tamil or Sinhalese or any such thing, every Sri Lankan is duty bound to help the people in the IDP camps.

And what’s this about how the Tamils have to make the first move? YES they are insecure, and they have every right to be. It has been 30 years of being harassed at checkpoints, 30 years of being told their children can’t get into particular schools, 30 years of being called a Tiger, 30 years of being second best when it comes to everything from jobs to school to just simple humane treatment. Of course they’re insecure. Once again it should not be up to any one particular ethnic group, but it is the duty of everyone who is ready to say “I want to live in harmony with every law abiding Sri Lankan citizen”. It should be up to you and me and every secure Tamil person, as well as every sincere Sinhalese person. It is up to us all.

If everyone waits for the ‘other side’ to make the first move, this is not going any where. It is time for the pro active to speak for the insecure, for the fearless to speak for the fearful.

What VP did and this is unfortunate is he managed to take a fight for equal rights and the natural push back to the extremes. Now we need to try and bring this back to the middle ground so the fight for equal rights, self determination for everybody canbe done in a civilized manner. It will be a long, hard fight…but at least its better than blowing the crap out of each other.

Quick Poll:

Will you please say AYE if you think that Prabhakaran ruined a Sri Lanka where Tamils and Sinhalese lived happily and peacefully?

How many times Sinhala politicians, people, and activists said sorry for what happened in 1983? How many Sinhalese got labeled as “traitors” for saying so?

But do we hear an acceptance from the Tamil’s end for this call for peace? Haven’t we paid enough during last 26 years? Just get the truth! It is the Sinhalese people who suffered from this war, more than the Tamils. After 83, Tamils in North was protected by LTTE (if they supported the Ealam). Tamils in Colombo was protected by the government and they never exposed to a repeat of 1983. Tamil diaspora was protected by those governments. But Sinhalese? They were mascured in the North by the LTTE. Killed in Colombo and other places with Suicide bombs. Harresed in other countries by pro-Ealam Tamil diaspora. This is the truth…

Nayagan,
Your comment sums up the type of “Tamil mentality” which I’m talking about. No further comments.

Indi,
I cannot reveal much information here; because I always like to keep my anonymity. I have three Tamil collegues working with me, who are close friends of mine and coming from very rich families. I’ve forwarded them a list of items needed in certain IDP camps and asked them to get a support from Tamil community in Colombo. You know, I wouldn’t write a comment like above; if I got a positive response from them. I’m not generalizing. Just expressing my personal experience.

As a Sinhalese; I am ready to let go all these past things. I’m sure a majority of the Sinhala community is thinking like that. OK let’s say that we Sinhalese deserved all these brutality during last 26 years, as a “settling score” for 1956 and 1983. But, why don’t Tamils feel that “it’s enough now”??? Even after the war has come to an end; why don’t we hear Tamil people crying out for friendship and unity? Do we still have to use force to put a NATIONAL flag in their homes?

I am surprised how bad indi’s sinhala is though. It sounded like you cant even say ‘mama iye mathara giya’ propely in past tense! hilarious accent, am sure you get wiered looks everywhere you go. Cant imagine u opted to stay there and also do things like this! Good work! But, be careful trying to interpret people of sri lanka though because lack of understanding and unabale to converse at ease in the way they converse mean you get a third party view all the time. Really appreciate you recorded these stuff, so we got to see first hand imporessons, if not ur translations into english would have killed the meaning of both sinhala and tamil in the translaton. The uneasiness in terms of language and culture that you proably feel in SL as a forigner are somwhat simmilar to what tamils feel in walking in sinhala areas, and that is the barrier is language, which was a mian reason for the conflic as well and that is something for mahinda to resolve.

You may have hit the nail on the head :)

@ Indi

I stand corrected. Yes, I just read the ACT profile.

Thank you for that.

The wealthy Tamils are insanely discreet, but they are doing a lot. Of the organizations I see sending a significant amount of aid, a lot of the ops is handled by old-family Tamils and a lot of the donations come from prominent Tamil families. They are, however, insanely discreet. They keep their work and donations anonymous.

Tamil unhappiness has more dimensions that shutting their shops. I guess I’d recommend talking to them. I can’t get any of the wealthier Tamils I hang out with to go on the record, but via mail and phone they’ve told me they feel uneasy. I would appreciate hearing from sources to the contrary.

After ’83, they never really trusted the Sinhalese or the Govt. But, since Prabhakaran was there, they knew that the Sinhalese wouldn’t repeat the ’83 incidents for Prabhakaran would surely have retaliated. Simply put, Prabha was their leverage. Now that he’s gone, they have no assurance what’ll happen next. That what if is a big factor for them, a big worry. What if these convoys go mad and started something? is their thought…

This is where the govt need to address the problem. They first need to put a stop to all these celebrations – they can wait, there is much work to do – and ensure that the Tamils are protected. Make them feel safer. That will take time, but it can be done. And once that is done, then the rest will be easy…

Now here I am assuming that you were not in the country after the 83′ riots .

There are few sure signs to check if Tamils are afraid.

1. The Wellawatte and Petah shops will be closed either the full day or half day.

2. The Kovils will have the gates semi closed and the shops near the Kovils will be completely closed.

3. The Jewellary, Car sale and clothes shops will be closed.

4. Tamil people will not be at work.

If these 4 signs are not there then the rest is all talk.

This is one of the issues with the Tamil community . At least with the ones that live in Colombo and suburbs.

They are not the donating type. They did not donate when tsunami hit southern cities and they will not donate to their own brethren in IDP camps.

It is not racism. Its just that my people are very careful about their money. That is all.

Why do you think LTTE use force to get money from the tamil community ? Otherwise they will not give that is all.

So VIC, just understand their mentality. It is not that they do not care it is just that they cannot donate their money.
It is a matter of economics and nothing else.

Indi, there are certainly quiet celebrations. Definitely not on the streets but the Jewellary, insurance, real estate ,media and Clothing tamils and Doctor and Lawyer communities of tamil lot are jubilant. Again because now Jaffna will be open for trade.
Every single person that you have spoken to are the people on the street. Just like the Sri lankan uneducated people who are celebrating on the streets these people whom you have spoken to are innocent.
They are not the million dollar tamils who are keenly awaiting for the raods to open to start trade again.

The people whom you have spoken to , their lives will not change. Now the same cannot be said with the other community.

Indi, compare oranges with oranges and not with apples.

Do you see any of the super rich sinhalease celebrating on the streets ? Or any of the educated for that matter ?
They may be quietly happy but they are not running down the streets with flags.

Speak to a couple super rich tamils that have built palaces in Colombo 6 and at the Golf course and you will find them jubilant and already making arrangements to visit , trade with Jaffna. They have to be the educated and the lot that are owners of their own business that generate millions. Not the type that make money to run their day to day life.

Would have been interesting to know what people like garland seller refer to as “equal rights”. Probably things like check point situation.

Meanwhile people have to be educated on the history of the problem (Sinhalese, Tamil & others alike). Many really don’t know history or significance of what just happened for that matter.

Now it’s a game of winning trust & course of learning history, so it will never repeat.

i too have been waiting for a blowhard such as yourself to publicly proclaim, using your real name and image, that the Singhalese need no affirmative action programs or constitutional hedges to feel secure in the continuity of their culture.

it seems more than a bit rich for someone representing what is historically the MOST insecure ethnic majority in ANY population worldwide to claim ethnocentrism on the part of Tamils as a tamil-imposed barrier to working together.

I have been rounding up donations within my family and to a person, everyone was more than willing to give–but to an organization that was transparent, accountable and had readily available financial reports. Money that won’t be siphoned off by overhead, pet projects in non-conflict zones and ‘charity’ to bikkhus. Are you sure that the organizations you worked for fit that criteria?

before, the chauvinists complained that the tamil diaspora was giving freely to humanitarian organizations that were simply LTTE fund feeders with zero accountability or transparency–now you’re asking people to donate money without explaining exactly why, how, when, where and by whom it will be spent and for what purpose. How does that make sense?

I’ll say right here, Tamils like myself are more than willing to play ball–but are you going to play by rules which enrich all or just yourself? You can’t have your love cake and eat it simultaneously–give up the cultural protectionism and the rubbishing of anything attributed to Tamils in SL history and you’ll find allies aplenty. Getting them to talk, however, requires that you show some interest in THEIR problems and not your own insecurities.

I’ve been involved in organizing donation collection campaigns with a certain media institution last few weeks, and we appointed individual agents to collect a list of items from several private and government offices in Colombo and suburbs. From the feedback I got from these agents, majority of those who donated were Sinhalese. Many Tamils actively ignored donating anything for the IDP’s. If they were only concerned about the suffering people at IDP camps, but not about the dieing LTTE leaders; they would have played an active role in these donations. But it didn’t happened that way.

Most Tamils reacted to the situation in last few weeks as reacting to something happening in another country.

I don’t believe in the idea that “every Tamil is a terrorist” or “every Terrorist is a Tamil”. We recently saw many Sinhala terrorist working closely with the LTTE.

To be very optimistic; I would like to believe that Tamils are still feeling a bit unsecured. That’s understandable. Now the government and the Sinhalese people have a duty to revoke this unsecured feeling from the Tamil people. And I honestly believe the Tamil people will let go their ethnocentric ego and accept the hands of friendship.

Trust is a mutual transaction. You can’t give trust to somebody; if they don’t trust us back. I honestly believe, Tamil people whould make the first move. Someone from the Tamil community (a blogger may be) should rise up and say “OK; now the LTTE is gone, and we are willing to live in harmony with Sinhalese”. I have blogged about this many times; but still I’m surprised to see no voice from the Tamil community is willing to say these few words clear and loud enough.

To what extent I should express that happiness is another matter. I celebrated with like-minded friends, including Tamil Sri Lankans, over a quiet drink and a meal.