Tamils sowed the seeds of this war long before independence thanks to Chelvanayakam (who wasn’t even born in Sri Lanka). Tamils love to blame the Sinhalese, Sri Lanka, North Indians, Hindi speakers, Brahmins, Malalayalis, Kannadigas, Buddhists etc etc for everything under sun but never look within. If they did they would find out that most of the problems Tamils face are caused by themselves.

Blacker was just answering my question about the original cell and what happened to it. Myil Selvan, the LTTE is finished, get over it.

Speaking of Ceylinco, anyone remember The Akasa Kade, and The Spotted Deer?

WTF is Myil talking about? I wonder what sort of reality distorting goggles you wear.

I think myil has finally cracked.

Dear The way of the dodo,

Not cracked but intact

Dear Prasad,
May be it is easy for you to forget and move on, cos you were in your ivory tower and driving around town in a tank. But tell that to the people who lost something or someone. Put yourself in their shoes and have some consideration.

As for ceylinco house, yes I remember Akasa Kade.

Dear HarRoz,
You said:
“Tamils sowed the seeds of this war long before independence thanks to Chelvanayakam (who wasn’t even born in Sri Lanka).”
My response:
1. What’s wrong with being born in a different country?? Working to better the lives of people is what is necessary.

2. The president’s brother did not want to be a sri lankan and got U.S. citizenship

3.Chelvanayakam led a nonviolent satyagraha against sinhala extremist terrorism. He fought for equal rights the right way. And the GoSL responded with terror but Chelvanayakam still persisted with nonviolent agitation. But someone forgot to tell Chelvanayakam that he was dealing with sinhalese chauvinists and not the British. Nonviolence worked with the British but it didn’t work with the sinhala extremists.

4. Long before Chelvanayakam, it was Anagarika Dharmapalawho vented against the muslims, which resulted in the riots of 1915 against muslims. This fact is not much talked about by the GoSL.

You said:
Tamils love to blame the Sinhalese, Sri Lanka, North Indians, Hindi speakers, Brahmins, Malalayalis, Kannadigas, Buddhists etc etc for everything under sun but never look within. If they did they would find out that most of the problems Tamils face are caused by themselves.
My response:
Obviously you have not thought properly about this. Tamils are not blaming everyone. But groups like Brahmins want to keep their favoured status in society and in this age of equality that’s not going to work. The Brahmins should realize that they are equal as anyone else. In the same vein the sinhalese(no stereotype intended) should realize that they have to treat everyone else as equals and should understand their feelings.

Do you seriously think Tamils were the only that suffered during war. It’s not too easy for us sinhalese to move on as well, but most of us have we don’t run around pointing fingers at tamils asking compensation for thousands upon thousands of our civilian that got indiscriminately slaughtered. We have forgiven the tamil community in this country for supporting the LTTE for so many years. It’s people like you who are stuck in a quagmire.

I have met quite a number of Tamils who had suffered in the war, what a great majority of them want isn’t some meaningless sympathy apology. That’s something people with ‘special’ interest are whining about.

So lets cut to the chase here shall we. you claim that tamils in this country aren’t treated equally, then why don’t you tell us exactly what needs to be done to answer the Tamil grievances? I want some concrete policy suggestions, not a collection of sentiments.

Dear The Way of the Dodo,
Thanks for your comments and questions.
Well let’s start with the constitution, implement the 17th amendment. Beef up the 13th amendment or seriously devolve power through another amendment.
Police force should be independent and transparent
Judiciary be made fully independent
Abolishing of executive presidency and replace with Prime Minister as head of government and President as, ceremonial, head of state.
Make treasury and central bank transparent and accountable to parliament
These are some of what I would like to see in the governing structure of this country

Ok. So what exactly do you expect from a beefed up 13th amendment. Can you give a concrete set of requests.

Dear The Way of the Dodo,
You asked me for some concrete steps and I have already given you some.
Anyway:
As for the 13th amendment being beefed up; I would say, change the role of the governor. The Governor is nominated by the president and nothing can be done in the provincial council without the governor agreeing to it. And give police and land powers to the provincial councils.
merge the northern and eastern provincial councils and provide separate clause to provide for the Muslim community’s strength in the East. This may mean setting up a separate council to cater to muslims or a separate council in the Northeastern provincial council.

Do you are asking for a de facto state for Tamils. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m fine win the provincial councils being given more power and the major being elected. But merging of the two provinces is nonsensical. What does it hope to achieve other than create a ‘tamil’ nation. This way there won’t be any need for special Muslim clauses as well.

Not asking for separate state but more autonomy. Even if you can’t understand this how can I expect the majority of sinhalese to understand?

What does merging the provinces got to do with autonomy. Each of the provinces can have their relative autonomy separately. Like I said you can have the police the land rights, of course both of these should also conform to the common law, and an elected mayor.

The reason the Tamil nationalists/separatists want the Northern and Eastern Provinces merged is so that Tamils will be the majority of the population in the unified province. Without the merging, Tamils will only be a majority in the North. While they’d still be the largest ethnic group in the East, they wouldn’t be the majority as the combined Moors, Sinhalese, Malays, and Burghers would outnumber them.

If there is to ever be a democratic secession of the NE, the Tamils will need to have a majority at the ballot. Having only the North secede would be difficult as they’d lose Trinco, and a lot of mineral wealth, as well as fertile land in the east.

Dear David Blacker,
You said:
If there is to ever be a democratic secession of the NE, the Tamils will need to have a majority at the ballot. Having only the North secede would be difficult as they’d lose Trinco, and a lot of mineral wealth, as well as fertile land in the east
My response:
What you must not forget is that the above mentioned reasons were exactly why the GoSL moved in sinhalese, to dilute this strength. And also created tensions between Tamils and Muslims, so as to be able to divide and conquer.

If settling Sinhalese in the north and east is going to smash Tamil separatism then I’m all for it. Tamil separatism must be defeated hook, line and sinker. Handing over 30% of the land area to a group of separatists is not a good idea at all.

Myil, The GOSL doesn’t have to put any effort into creating tension between Tamils and Muslims. The Tamils seem to be doing a wonderful job of it by themselves. You chaps talk about Tamils being mistreated by sinhalese, but that is nothing compared to the ethnic cleansing the LTTE perpetrated upon the Muslims. Within a space of 48 hours they lost everything they owned. Do you seriously think Muslim of the north east will ever trust Tamils. And not just the 1990 incident, but the LTTE has persistently slaughtered muslims for the past two decades for no particular reason. This talk about trust is nonsense.

Once more, Myil, you display your inability to think beyond your narrow racial thesis. The Sinhalese that were moved into the border areas were displaced by hydro-electric projects that benefited the entire country, including Tamils in the NE. I see nothing wrong with them being moved into the NE, just as Tamils have moved south. Are you suggesting that the NE is only for Tamils, as the LTTE did? Even if those Sinhalese were moved into the NE with the express purpose of countering Tamil majority (the theory is absurd as the new arrivals are a tiny fraction of the Tamil population), I think it’s only natural that a central government should try to prevent a province from seceding, by going about it in a sociological manner, rather than a violent one. Even if democratic secession is preferable to violent secession, it doesn’t mean that secession itself is acceptable.

Also, if the Tamils are so worried about the demographic balance in the NE, why don’t all the Tamils living in the south move to the NE? That’ll certainly counter the influence of the ‘colonizing Sinhalese’.

Finally, the GoSL is correct in keeping the North and East as two separate provinces, since they are quite distinct in demographic, and it would be irresponsible of them to disregard the wishes of the Eastern Sinhalese, Moors, etc who might not want to secede and live in a Tamil-dominated Eelam, particularly in view of the Tamils’ awful treatment of the NE Muslims.

David,
it’s not so much the placement of Sinhalese in the North East that caused problems, rather (i would say) the allocation/distribution of resources. As I recall from a report agricultural development in the NE, Sinhalese villages were located closer to water sources, and the crops on their farms needed more water, which meant less water for people further down, directly impacting their livlihoods. I’m not suggesting that this was done intentionally, but it was a consequence of land distrbution, and it’s really issues like that that caused tension more than just Sinhalese presence in the North East.

Where did you pull that shit from ash? Do you remember what happened at Mavil Aru that set the stage for the latest war? It was the LTTE blocking water to Sinhalese farmers down stream – ie Tamils had access to most of the water and denied it to Sinhalese farmers downstream.

Dear Sumi,
You need a fact check sumi. Back in the 1950s there was no LTTE.
As for Mavil Aru, it was the GoSL that stopped sending building materials for a water tank being constructed in LTTE territory. That’s how Mavil Aru anicut was blocked. Anyway, the SLMM had negotiated with the LTTE and were on their way to open the anicut when the SLAF bombed it.

“Anyway, the SLMM had negotiated with the LTTE and were on their way to open the anicut when the SLAF bombed it.”

And good job too, otherwise the LTTE would still be around.

Thanks to India

Dear David Blacker,
Thanks for your engagement, even though blinkered.

It’s not narrow racial thesis. Just trying to bring the whole truth out. What I said is what happened, unfortunately you are trying to bring up details to obscure the truth. How sad.
Hydro-electric projects displaced people hence they were moved, which is correct. But the hydro-electric projects also became an excuse to move in sinhalese to Tamil and Muslim villages. This created further problems for those minority communities.
Example: The gal oya project of the early 50s created sinhala villages in western Batticaloa, which was done according to acceptable rules, such as, giving first preference for Tamils and Muslims since they were the major groups in Batticaloa. Due to low response from the minority groups it was then opened to sinhalese and they came and settled. But during the anti-tamil riots of 1958 the sinhalese from these settlements attacked Tamils, hence proving these settlements as hotbeds for racial tensions and insurgencies like in 1971.

You cannot compare Tamils moving south to sinhalese being moved into the NE. Tamils came of there own free will and were not aided by the state. But sinhalese were moved in for the express purpose of diluting minority strengths, that’s what I’m against. If sinhalese were moved because they were displaced, that’s understandable but that was not always the case.

I’m not saying the NE is only for Tamils but that’s how the NE came to be. The British created the provincial system hence NE was demarcated along majority Tamil speaking areas and place names. That’s why when sinhalese were moved in place names were also changed to a sinhala one, example: manal aru became weli oya.
David Blacker kindly check your facts about sinhalese numbers in the eastern province. Today the Eastern province’s biggest group is muslims with close to 40% with Tamils and sinhalese rounding it off with around 30% or sinhalese slightly less. Yeah, I bet you can count that on your fingers?

Sociological manner? well it turned pathological.

It’s not about secession, it about autonomy. Anyway talk of secession and sovereignty are modern concepts brought on by the British system created through roads, railways, telegraph, telephone and administration that truly united this island for the first time. Before the British united this island there were three kingdoms and before that possibly more. When the Mahavamsa talks about Parakrama bahu uniting the island, what it means is that other kingdoms or principalities acknowledged him and probably paid some sort of tax. But 1000 years ago it was impossible to move up and down this island in a matter of hours, rather it would have taken weeks. Hence no unitary state but something more like a confederal state or further loose.

Blacker, that’ s rather childish of you. Do you seriously think the GoSL will let Tamils move back into Weli Oya, Morawewa, etc? Their hard earned gerrymandering is not going to be easily given up.
Hopefully the GoSl will allow the SL Tamil refugees from India to return to their places of residence before the war. Don’t forget we need resources as well if we move back. Will the GoSL provide that for us as they did for the sinhalese?? Very childish.

Let the people of the North and East decide to merge or not. They don’t need people like you living in ivory towers and cushy neighbourhoods to tell them. Muslims will likely support merger if they are given some assurances of their demographic strength. The sinhalese, well that’s why they were moved in, so that they would vote NO. And I don’t know why you keep talking of a separate state? Colombo?

Myil, I still don’t see anything beyond a racial thesis here. Tell me once again, what is objectively wrong with diluting the minorities in the North and Northeast.

And Myil, If it were entirely upto the people of the north they would have seceded by now. Sadly, the North & East doesn’t belong just to the people of the North and East. A solution for the whole problem will require a national mandate.

I highly doubt the Muslim community prefers living under a jaffna based administration as opposed to a more regional government. Especially considering how kind the LTTE has been to them over the years. And frankly, they would prefer a batticaloa or trinco based administration simply because they would be the dominant party in such an administration. Your logic fails here.

Myil, u is a genius
Hatz off

U is a satirist or whateva innit

Comedy gold! Sri Lanka’s own Borat from Kazakstan :) Yagshemah! Sorry it took urs truly so long to see dis

Myil, while you are nitpicking over whether I got the numbers right or not, you missed the whole point — which is that the Tamils do not have a majority in the East, and if they want the East to secede they must have it merged with the North.

The bottom line, Myil, is that I see no problem with the demographic change in the NE. SL is Sri Lankans, not just for you Tamils in the North and the Sinhalese wherever else. It is Tamil racism as much as Sinhalese that has caused this rift. The only difference is that the Sinhalese outnumber the Tamils, so you got shafted. In the North, you outnumbered the Muslims, so you shafted them.

You ask why I mention separation, well Sherlock, it’s cos for thirty bloody years that what your Tigers fought for. It’s the heart and soul of Tamil nationalism, and anything short of it will be accepted only under duress. You ask for autonomy now, because VP’s body rots in the mud. You will not get autonomy under this govt, and you will not get federalism. You will get Tamil PC ministers like Douglas, Karuna, Pilliyan, KP, and the other thugs and former Tigers until you’re pacified and the non-Tamils feel you can be trusted. Then you’ll get elections.

If you think the Eastern Muslims will choose to unite with the Tamils against the central govt, take a drive down to Amparai and have a chat with those Moors. I’m sure they’ll tell you what’s what. I’ve walked through a Moor village in ’91 and seen their mullahs crucified to their front doors, their women hacked to pieces. Unite with you? They will fight you to the death.

As for your ivory tower bullshit, you know nothing about me, so getting personal just proves your lack of any concrete argument, and your utter unwillingness to see that you’re the problem. As Stephen Covey said, “The way we see the problem is the problem.”

SL’s Tamil people need to wake up, forget autonomy and self rule and federalism and your bullshit arrogance — it was your impotent politicians that left the road open for maniacs like VP. And now, again, when you need to use common sense, you bugger on about Tamil culture being diluted. You goddamned people are diluting in the dust and rain of the Wanni without homes. Give up your nonsense and see them fed. I believe through and through for absolute equality and fairness for all races in this country, and I spit on your nationalism. Wake up, reinvent yourselves, and win back the trust of this country before your people are lost forever.

“Tamils are colonising Colombo now”…

Dear Ruki,
Tamils came to colombo for economic and security reasons and were not aided by the State (government)
But the sinhalese were moved into villages and towns of the Northeast where tamils and muslims were living for the specific reason to dilute the minority strength in the Northeast aided by the GoSL. Hence, Manal aru became weli oya, mudathikulam became Morawewa, etc.
When the GoSL is discriminating and favouring the sinhalese in such manner then we have a problem.

Why don’t we run the narrative like this:

“” Tamils should stop colonising Colombo, Kandy and other areas in the south. They move in and build their ghettos, hindu kovils and try to impose their Tamil culture and language on the Sinhalese. They speak loudly in Tamil and make a nuisance of themselves with their noisy Hindu processions in the streets. Before complaining about the Sinhalese, why don’t the Tamils in central Sri Lanka pack their bags and leave? Afterall, they are the biggest recipients of “state sponsored colonisation” in the history of Sri Lanka. “”

Does that sound fair to you?

Honestly i wish Sinhala people would stop colonizing the area live in. All of a sudden we have a ton of overly zealous Buddhists who go around blasting ‘bana’ like it’s a cocaine addled 31st night block party.

Most of sri lankan cultural practices are annoying in one form or the other.

Dear Ruki,
you don’t seem to understand the meaning of colonising. In this context it refers to the GoSL favouring sinhalese, by aiding and abeting, in moving them to parts of the Northeast where the Tamils and Muslims were the biggest groups. This was done so as to reduce the Minority majority in that part of Sri Lanka.

Colombo became a city and a commercial hub thanks to the Portuguese, Dutch and British. They were the ones who built it and developed it.

How exactly do you build a ghetto?

Tamils are not imposing any culture on other groups. You saying it is rather ludicrous.

Sinhalese also worship Hindu gods and take part in Hindu celebrations. You can see a Hindu god in the vicinity of Buddhist temples and viharayas all over this country.

The Tamils in central Sri Lanka are citizens of this country just like you and me. Nobody needs to go anywhere. They were not recipients but rather laboured in hard conditions to prepare the land for the tea industry. The tea industry, formerly SL’s biggest export earner, was built by the hard labour of these people. They were brought as indentured workers who were paid a pittance for their hard work. The sinhalese refused to work for such a price and hence they were brought. Today SL is known the world over for its Tea.

You are the one who seems to be making a nuisance of yourself. What you say is not correct and definitely not fair.

The government is aiding sinhalese and muslims moving into north east because they were given 48 hours to pack up and leave. In order to create the LTTE apartheid. Don’t forget history buddy.

And myil, colonizing involves forcefully taking over land. Sri Lankan belongs to the GOSL as long as any laws aren’t broken it has every right to encourage people to settle into the North & East. Infact, diluting the bullshit ethnic purity of the north is a sure fire way to stop this racists nonsense. The same goes for the south as well. The sooner the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims get into a cluster fuck the better. And I meant that in the literal sense of the word.

Great! and Hey, don’t forget the Burghers : )

Sorry Mayil more than 1 million Tamils were the beneficiaries of “state sponsored colonisation” and dumped in central Sri Lanka. They were not even from this country but from another country! If the Sinhalese can accept these people from another country, then the Sri Lankan Tamils damn well better be able to accept Sinhalese (and Muslims) in the north and east of the country. It’s not a choice.

In anycase, Tamil ethnic cleansing must be reversed and the north must be as multi-cultural as the south of the country. For too long the north has been Tamil-only. This has given rise to a belief among Tamils that only they have exclusive rights to the land.

If there are Tamil Hindu processions in the streets of Colombo, Galle and Kandy, there should be Buddhist processions in Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

If you want to see a Tamil ghetto, just go to Wellawatte.

Just some thoughts about Tamils of Indian Origin. As far as I’m aware, Indian Tamils were brought to Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was then known, by our British rulers to work in the plantations because we, the Sinhalese, were too lazy to do the work required. It wasn’t a calculated, politically motivated decision taken to directly impact the demographics of the region.

Ceylon Tea, which resulted from the sweat and blood of these Tamils of Indian Origin was once the defining product of our country and is still one of our best known exports. Before the advent of Garment factories and Tourism, Tea was our main source of Foreign exchange and is still very important to our economy.

I believe that we, as a nation, should be grateful to the “Tamils of Indian Origin” for their contribution to our Nation.

Let’s also not forget another important Tamil of Indian Origin, Muttiah Muralidaran and his contributions to our Nation.

Not lazy, but unwilling to be further exploited to support the economic agenda of the colonials I think, after being evicted from the land they worked hard upon and which was enjoyed freely by them for generations. No fault of the Indian Tamils of course.

Is that right, Shammi?

In any event, I think we owe a debt of gratitude to these Tamils of Indian Origin or ‘Estate Tamils’ for their contribution to our country, and think they’ve more than earned the right to call themselves Sri Lankans and be treated as equals, which they (even today) are not.

Personally, I have nothing against the Brit and his “economic agenda” either – they definitely took from us, but they gave us a lot as well, didn’t they? The plantations, the railways, our legal system, our police force, our army, a lot of the road networks, some very nice architecture and of course cricket.

I just wondered randomly what would have happened if we hadn’t got independence… Then we’d all have British Overseas Passports. I’m sure a lot of Sri Lankans would really like any sort of British Passport these days, judging by the number of Sri Lankans I’ve met in the UK who were illegal immigrants by virtue of overstaying their visitor visas, and also by the fact that a lot of educated people in Sri Lanka have already emigrated, are actively trying to, or at least thinking about it.

Although thinking about it, the Brits did nothing for us – after all, we still have a royal family complete with a crown prince, which also IS the law of the land, negating any requirement for a legal system introduced to us by those interfering Brits.

Thanks to mervin, we also have the law of the jungle.

I also momentarily forgot that it was not the Brits or anyone else who gave us the railways, roads and flyovers, it was HM King Mahinda and the UPFA. Who also won the war for us. without any contribution from that Sarath fellow.

Hey Mahinda, why don’t you take a look at Thailand which was never colonised by any western power…it’s far more developed than Sri Lanka and ahead of any other South East Asian country which was colonised (barring Singapore). Maybe if we didn’t have any colonial overlords, SL would be like that that.

If we didn’t have any Indian Origin Tamils in Sri Lanka we would have way less poverty, less illiteracy, and wouldn’t have to feed another 1 million+ mouths and associated healthcare/housing/infrastructure etc etc. All the tea estates weren’t set up for Sri Lanka’s benefit but for the benefit of the British Crown.

I’m not a historian. so if i were to idly speculate, Sri Lanka may have been far wealthier if it were not under british rule. And independent Sri lanka in 19th century would have been the preferred port for the French, Dutch & Turkish merchant vessels operating in the indian ocean. We may have also sided with the Nazi’s during WW2 provided we were allied with the Japanese at the time.

Most of the LTTE cadres in the Vanni were composed of Indian Tamils who settled there instead of going back to Tamil Nadu. If we didn’t have Indian Tamils, the LTTE wouldn’t have had half its fighting force. Sri Lanka and her people survived for thousands of years without tea. It’s pretty silly to assume everything would have gone to shits without tea bushes and Indian tea pickers. If you ask me, making an economy around cash crops that are subject to changes in weather/disease is pretty stupid. But then, the Brits were only interested in the $$ for their ugly queen’s coffers. The hill country has been ass raped by tea estates and tea factories, leaving exotic creatures without a home. I’m surprised that the central hills STILL made it to the World Heritage list.

I can’t agree or disagree with any of the comments posted regarding whether or not we would have been better off without being colonized. It’s all just idle hypothesis. I just wondered idly what it would have been like if we were still a British Colony or Territory… By the way – we have been colonized for almost 500 years, right? First the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally the Brits? Although I think it was only the Brits who had complete control over us…
I do take issue with this ruki’s comment about cash crops being stupid – we’ve depended on them as an important (even primary) source of foreign exchange ever since we gained our independence. What do you suggest we should have done instead?
By the way, what’s wrong with “Indian Tamils” settling here after they were born here, probably to parents who were also born in Sri Lanka? You don’t see the people of Sri Lankan origin who have been born or naturalized in countries like the US/UK/Canada/Australia/New Zealand etc being asked to go back to where they came from do you? If you trace anyone’s roots far enough, you’ll find that everyone is a migrant. If you were to trace our roots yet further back, you will find that we all – Americans, Norwegians, Uzbekistani’s, Peruvians, Sri Lankans – share a common ancestor.
I’m also amused at the contempt with which some Sinhalese (and even Sri Lankan Tamil) people regard this cheap imported labour force from India… Do they forget that another primary source of foreign exchange being remitted to our country comes from Sri Lankans working as drivers, maid and labourers (cheap imported labour) in the middle east?

Yes Mahinda, I don’t think it’s correct to label the Sinhalese as lazy. Compared to the fiendishly active British our lifestyle would appear slow paced of course. But we were self sufficient in food, not in debt to anyone and satisfied with the little we had. The Indian Tamils brought to the estates would have had no choice in the matter, driven hard by the British masters.

Nobody said that the Indian Tamils were not welcome in Sri Lanka now, did they? I have no contempt for the Indian Tamil population of Sri Lanka. I pity the state the Brits have left them in. I believe that their standard of living should be raised by giving proper awareness to the adults and education to the children. I think alcoholism is their main problem and addressing this, should solve a lot of issues that these families face.

The British gave us a lot of good things, true. (Being low country catholics employed by the British, my ancestors would have benefitted greatly by them) However I’m sure all these good things were mostly incidental, while the Brits strove to achieve their own objectives, not out of any particular magnanimity towards the natives.

Whilst aprreciating the architecture, roads, railways, (especially this) etc., we did get about in the old days, and also have a decent army and an efficient administrative system, didn’t we?

In my personal opinion the value placed on a British passport is overrated. People who lived here in their youth yearn to come back for good. If there were better employment opportunities here more people would opt to stay.

Just to make you smile, I want to tell you that I voted for the General last time, because I didn’t want your namesake to get a massive majority and because I don’t like his moustache, and because the General looks good in a uniform : )

For the victory, I salute both of them for their contribution and unwavering dedication.

Hi Shammi,

Fiendishly active British??! Where did you get that from?

As I said in my previous comment, I really can’t even begin to imagine what Sri Lanka would be like if the Protuguese, Dutch and British didn’t invade us. I doubt anyone can, however knowledgeable they are about Sri Lanka’s history. It would be pointless trying to speculate and extrapolate from back then and work out what might have been – because what happened happened and we just have to deal with it.

You might however find that looking at what actually did happen, identifying mistakes from the past and learning from them in order to take better decisions and improve our future would be a much more productive use of our time.

Which is why we need to learn that the repression and discrimination against Tamils which began in the 50′s contributed to the “ethnic conflict” and the very existence of the LTTE.

We need to create a more inclusive culture, without any discrimination against Tamils for our country to truly prosper. This is probably where one of the things we got from those interfering Brits, the English Language, could have (and can still) really help us. Making the national language Sinhala was detrimental for the whole of Sri Lanka. If we all learned English properly, then our differences wouldn’t be so prominent.

Instead of making Sri Lanka “Sinhala Only” we should have improved education for everyone, in English. As it is, a lot of Sri Lankans speak only very basic English, which disqualifies them from getting jobs. How many top CEO’s in Sri Lanka do you know of that can’t speak English? Can a suitably qualified individual who speaks no English get a job as a management trainee or something at somewhere like Dialog? Possibly, but more often than not it’s a case of “sorry boss. kadda barinang job eka ne”.

We should protect our culture, but I don’t think it should be at the expense of the development and unity of our country.

But I suspect the politicians back then got a lot of popular support from the Sinhalese majority because of them announcing their “Sinhala Only” plans, ensuring their political longevity. So in the past, politicians used the racial divide to obtain the popular support of the majority, but time has shown that their actions were to the detriment of the majority in the long term and benefited only the politicians themselves.

Also, a lot of people seem to have very misguided views about religion and culture. Dodo, another regular commenter here posted a comment somewhere about being annoyed about people putting bana and pirith on loudspeakers at volumes more suited to cocaine fueled beach parties or raves or something.

He or She is right. We should not enforce our religious and cultural views on people. We should respect people’s rights to observe their religious practices and celebrate their festivals now and again, but forcing our religious views upon others is not really right.

Your motives behind voting for the General are questionable – this is why we have people like paba and duminda silva in parliament today – but you made the right call, in my opinion.

The General is not corrupt at all despite all of the bs allegations, he is a proven, brave leader and I hope that he will one day lead our country.

Don’t know much about fonseka’s corruption but there is an allegation of rape against him that has been around for a long time. there might be some truth to that.

If there was even the slightest truth to that, the Government would have brought charges against him by now – after all They have brought every conceivable charge against him already, haven’t they?
Maybe they are still looking for a suitable woman to “train up” to “come forward” with the an allegation of rape…

@NIC: Thailand isn’t ahead of every South-east Asian country. As I understand it, Malaysia, which was colonised, is by most measures a good bit ahead of Thailand. Malaysia has a GDP per capita (PPP) of USD13,769 vs. 8,060 for Thailand, a Gini coefficient of 40.3 vs. 42 for Thailand, and an HDI of 0.829 vs. 0.783 for Thailand. So having colonial overlords isn’t as decisive as all that. Malaysia’s experience of colonisation wasn’t that different from Sri Lanka’s – complete with huge imports of agricultural labour from India.

Well then Lotus eyes, maybe Sri Lanka should follow in Malaysia’s footsteps and have policies for the bhoomiputra Sinhalese?

Maybe, we could have become something like post meji restoration japan, becoming an axis power, eventually conquering india and causing wanton destruction and get humiliatingly defeated by the allies. But ultimately become the third richest country in the world thanks to the Marshall plan.

To be honest that won’t be a bad deal.

I think what would’ve been more likely is that if Britain hadn’t colonized India and Sri Lanka, we’d probably have been eventually colonized by India.

Mahinda, I don’t know about the present time, but the British would have been pretty active to become the greatest naval force and aquire the most extensive empire of the world in the 18th / 19th centuries, if I remember correctly. And I wasn’t saying the British occupation was either good or bad, but that their motives weren’t altruistic. Just like the Portuguese or the Dutch their main aim was profit.

I wholly agree that the English language would be useful in providing access to information and as a link between people of different ehnicities. In fact I have commented as much on a recent post of Indi’s.

I am all for cultural freedom of any hue, sans the loudspeakers of course. Never said anything to the contrary. In fact I think that diversity enriches the tapestry.

What I don’t understand is exactly what “discrimination” and “repression” the Tamil population of Sri Lanka face today.

Sinhala only is a thing of the past isn’t it? I also think the govt. is entitled to decide the time frame for releasing ex LTTE cadres, as long as they are treated humanely while in custody.

I would genuinely like to know what I’m doing that makes Tamils feel excluded. In my (possibly narrow) experience, Tamil friends enjoy all the privileges that I do, and most of them seem rather better off than the rest of us. I see the underprivileged suffer wherever they are in the country, irrespective of their ethnicity.

Re. the election, I am realistic enough to know that regardless of who became president the absolute power the post holds would ultimately corrupt the individual.

Good point. But that’s if India was actually India, i.e., one country.

The Brits were the ones who actually united all the differing kingdoms, sultanates, etc, etc.

But we may have been colonized by a South Indian power

We already have been colonised by “a South Indian power” – Tamils – who are not native to Sri Lanka. Tamils weren’t satisfied with their kingdom and invaded Sri Lanka and tried to usurp the land.

Ruki, this is exactly the sort of comment that makes people want to send you to bed on time, so you can get a good nights rest, go to school on time, get an education and grow up to be a person who is not prone to making idiotic comments.

When you grow a bit older and are in year 9, do yourself a favour and read the ithihasaya book that the nice miss gives you. You will then learn that even the Sinhalese aren’t native to the island now known as Sri Lanka, and are in fact descendants of Prince Vijaya, who turned up around 700 bc or thereabouts, according to the Government history textbook, if I remember correctly.

You don’t see Tissahamy and his mates protesting at galle face or somewhere similar, strongly encouraging all of us to fuck off back to wherever it is that we came from, do you? So I strongly suggest that you do the same and learn to accept that Sri Lanka belongs to Sri Lankans, whether they are Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Malay, Burgher or whatever, and that we really don’t have any right whatsoever to tell another Sri Lanka to go elsewhere or fuck off back to wherever they came from. We’re all bloody immigrants.

No the Sinhalese are pretty much sons of the soil. They didn’t come from India. There never was a Sinhalese people in India, no Sinhalese kingdoms and no Sinhalese speakers. If you have any evidence to the contrary please do share. The Sinhalese people came into being in Sri Lanka and the Sinhalese language developed and flourished in Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka alone. Everything of the Sinhalese civilization is to be found in Sri Lanka and not India. There are no true Veddahs in Sri Lanka anymore – most of them mixed with others to become the Sinhalese people of today. It’s the Sinhalese who give Sri Lanka its uniqueness.

On the contrary, Tamils are the ones who came from India and pretty recently too. The highpoints of Tamil culture, history and language are to be found in Tamil Nadu India and not Sri Lanka. Tamils in Sri Lanka are just a minority who stayed over from invasions – like the Tamils of Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh. Absolutely nothing of the Tamils gives any uniqueness to Sri Lanka. If someone at a South Asian function asked for a traditional Sri Lankan dance would you put out Bharata Natyam? No, because all the Indians would be saying “It’s an Indian dance!” …Kandyan dancers and Southern dances would not get that reaction. This is because they are the product of the native peoples.

The Tamil Anuradhapuras, Sigiriyas, Polonnaruwas, Ruhunas are not to be found in Sri Lanka but in the Tamil homeland of Tamil Nadu. Even today it is to Tamil Nadu (the real Tamil homeland) that Sri Lankan Tamils run to at the drop of a hat.

I know these simple facts are too bitter for many to swallow.

Dear Ruki,
Now come, come, you’re not doing your homework are you?
Some of what you say is true and the sinhala language is found only in Sri Lanka. But how this came about seems totally obscure to you.

My understanding is, Sinhala language formed thanks to the advent of Pali, which is the language that Buddhism came to Sri lanka in. Over the years Pali with other dialects or Tamil came to form the sinhala language. This is how sinhala has its uniqueness and also due to geographical distance or, somewhat, isolation.

Now how did the sinhala people come to be? According to one account: Vijaya married Kuveni (a woman of the yaksha people[one of two native peoples named in mahavamsa]the other being the Naga people) and their two children were the progenitors of the sinhala people.

But who were the yakkas and nagas?Research indicates they were not of Indo-Aryan heritage.
According to some accounts the Nagas got their name because they worshiped the Naga ( cobra) snake. Today in hinduism it is the Saivite sect that practices the worship of the Cobra, which is prevalent among the Tamils. Hence some claim that the Nagas were ancients Tamils or more appropriately Dravidians, given the time period.

What I believe is: Vijaya and his friends came from, somewhere close to Bengal, and mixed with the yakka and naga(probably dravidian) population and with the coming of pali the formation of the sinhala language gave them a separate ethnic identity. the reason I say this is, Vijaya did marry a Tamil princess from Madurai(after Kuveni). Hence his other friends also could have married Tamils from across the palk straight. Hence if Tamils were in Tamil Nadu area back then, it is only plausible that Tamil fishermen would have sailed to SL and established communities. Even before Vijaya came to SL there were the 5 ishvarams dedicated to Siva (Shiva) around the coasts of SL. Munneshwaram in Chilaw, Tondeshwaram in Matara, Naguleshwaram in Jaffna peninsula, Koneshwaram in Trinco and Ketheeshwaram in Mannar, they received worship from Hindus in India as well. These five ishvarams were dedicated to Shiva, and the primary worship of Shiva was and is primarily among the Tamils, known as Saivism. Hence Tamils and Sinhalese very probably have the same ancestor at least on one side of the family. Sinhalese say they are decendents of Indo-Aryans but the truth is, they are partly indo-aryan and partly dravidian. But political shenanigans won’t allow the truth to come out.

There is a theory that sinhalese are related to gypsies. I’m going to go with that :)

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v426/n6965/full/nature02029.html

Genetic studies seem to say we are a mostly bengali with a little south indian in the mix. However, it seems we are closely related to Iranians as well, through the gypsy connection

Hey, Ruki, unless you want to do away with all accepted Sinhalese history (Mahawamsa-based), and write your own, it’s clear that the Sinhalese under Vijaya were from India — specifically Orissa or West Bengal. Just because they don’t speak Sinhalese in India anymore doesn’t mean a thing. Languages fade away or change when people move around. German is an Indo-Aryan language, so how come they don’t speak German in northern India? The English are mostly from Normandy and Saxony, so how come they don’t speak English in France and Germany anymore? Dutch is a mix of English and German — where do you think they learned that, in Amsterdam? Don’t be foolish.

The Sinhalese were the first invaders and colonisers of Sri Lanka; the Tamils, Moors, Burghers and Malays came later, but that’s all.

And if you think the Tamils have colonised SL, you need to dig up a dictionary. Colonising means you come in, conquor the locals, impregnate their women, steal their land, and make ‘em work for you — you don’t come over and trim their tea bushes.

Ruki: The main lesson to take home from Malaysia (or, at any rate, pre-Mahatir Malaysia) is that affirmative action policies can be coupled with policies that build an inclusive national identity. A comment on Indi’s blog doesn’t really give one the room to get into the details (Timothy Daniels’ “Building cultural nationalism in Malaysia” gives a good overview). But perhaps the single most important factor was that every single expansion of the bumiputera policies – including the NEP that was brought in after the 1969 riots – was formulated, agreed and implemented *jointly* by the main Malay, Chinese and Tamil parties. A very cautious and pragmatic form of coalition government basically ensured that the Malaysian equivalents of the SLFP and FP (which existed) never had any chance of gaining power. Mahatir’s policies upset this balance quite severely, but there’re plenty of signs that it’s in the process of being restored. The point is that if the UNP and the ACTC had been as pragmatic as these parties were, Chelvanayagam would’ve been an obscure 50s politician, and you guys would’ve been living in a country that had the highest standard of living in Asia and where ethnic conflict would’ve been a ridiculous idea.

Malaysia owes a lot to mahatir if you ask me.

Nope David Blacker, the Sinhalese never came from India as a people. If there ever was a Vijaya he was not a Sinhalese, just as the first Norman to go into England was not English. The Sinhalese as a people came into being in Sri Lanka and in Sri Lanka alone and they are a mix of native Veddahs and immigrants from North and South India (just as the English are a mix of various people but are English). The Sinhalese language developed entirely in Sri Lanka and not in any part of India, just as English developed in England and not on continental Europe. It’s closest cousin is Dhivehi and not Bengali or Oriya or any other Northern Indian language. The Sinhalese “invaded and colonised Sri Lanka” as much as the “English invaded and colonised England” — if that makes any sense.

Tamil on the other hand developed entirely in India. The fact that it is a recent addition to Sri Lanka is the fact that there really is no difference between SL Tamil and Indian Tamil. The Malayali language is a relatively recent language having branched off from Tamil in the 6-7 century. The Malayali people live just next door to Tamil Nadu on the same land mass. If Sri Lankan Tamils were such an ancient people they would be speaking a different language like Malayali, being separated by a body of water from what is Tamil Nadu. The fact is the bulk of SL Tamils are just recent arrivals whose language hasn’t evolved from Tamil.

“Colonising means you come in, conquor the locals, impregnate their women, steal their land, and make ‘em work for you ”

Well according to the Mahavamsa and other sources the Tamils did plenty of that in Sri Lanka.

“My understanding is, Sinhala language formed thanks to the advent of Pali, which is the language that Buddhism came to Sri lanka in. Over the years Pali with other dialects or Tamil came to form the sinhala language. This is how sinhala has its uniqueness and also due to geographical distance or, somewhat, isolation.”

So that means Sinhala is the language of the soil, while Tamil is just a foreign addition from South India. Just as English is a mix of Germanic, French and Norse?

Er… no. It means that Sinhalese developed out of certain Indian languages, while Tamil came here largely as a developed language. In fact, Sinhalese borrows its grammar structure from Tamil, as well as hundreds of nouns. If Sinhalese developed itself here in Sri Lanka, how did it take Tamil grammar if there weren’t Tamil-speaking people living here? So either Sinhalese developed initially in India alongside Tamil, or it developed here alongside Tamil. Either way, it’s clear it developed alongside Tamil, indicating that during the process Tamils were present. Just because a language doesn’t exist in its original location, does not mean that it never did.

It is arguable of course that the Tamil influence in Sinhalese came later, with Tamil invasions, just as English was influenced by the Norse of the Scandinavian invaders. The difference is that the core of English — particularly its grammar structure — remain Anglo-Saxon; Norse only simplified the grammar. Sinhalese grammar, however, is Tamil at its core, and not just the nouns, which could have been borrowed later.

When it comes to Buddhism, the claim to divine right is even more tenuous — since before the advent of Buddhism to SL, everyone was Hindu.

So-called Sinhalese-Buddhist culture is so mixed with Hindu culture as to be almost indistinguishable at times. Again, supporting the thesis that the Sinhalese ethnic group developed alongside the Tamil, or was absorbed into the latter and then branched out again, or at the very least spent the greater part of its existence alongside it. Genetically too Sinhalese are indistinguishable from Tamils. Sort of like the Serbs and the Croats.

A language that is formed in a location does not give its speakers any right to that land that is above the speakers of a language formed outside, anymore than building a house makes you more its owner than if you’ve bought it. In fact, language has little to do with it, and religion even less.

Most Sinhalese attempts to prove ‘right’ to SL based on historical precedence invariably falls flat. Even if the theory was sound, it makes little difference. If people have a right to citizenship, that is the end of it — they are Sri Lankan in every meaningful way.

David,

I think you maybe a little wrong about the genetic distinction between Sinhalese & Tamils. Wiki suggests there is much more evidence for Sinhalese & Tamils are quite far apart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Sinhalese#Predominantly_Bengali_origin

Hinduism was the religion of the Indo Aryans who colonised North India after the decline of the more ancient Dravidian civilization. These Indo Aryans who maintained racial purity and a strict caste structure also wrote the Vedas. So the Dravidians must have embraced Hinduism from them later. Someone please correct me if I have got this wrong.

Jainism and Buddhism only developed later (5th century B.C.) among Indo Aryans who disliked certain Hindu practices such as animal sacrifice. So the original Aryan settlers of Sri Lanka (aound 6th century B.C. or even as early as 9th century B.C. as the inner city excavations of Anuradhapura seem to indicate) may very well have been Hindus.

However it was Buddhism that brought sweeping and abiding changes (3rd century B.C.) to the island. Today, Buddhist culture gives the predominant flavour to the country’s identity. This flavour to me is both unique and aesthetically appealing. But sadly, Tamils/Hindus seem to feel discriminated and excuded by this particular Buddhist identity most probably due to the aggression of a few hardcore Buddhist extremists. Most people I’m sure would totally agree with David, that the way forward for us is equal rights for all Sri Lankans of all hues anywhere in the country.

The scientific studies indicate genetic origins and close affinities among some races. But today in Sri Lanka I doubt if one would find any pure races. All of us must be somewhat kottu or achcharu. This is a good thing, as a rich mixture of genes leads to improved progeny.

Hey Dodo, would you know if the Sri Lankan gypsies are also related to the Romani?

You’re right, Dodo, technically it seems that they ARE distinguishable, but my point was that there’s almost no difference between a Sinhalese and a Tamil really, and even the genetic tests aren’t very conclusive no? Check out those pie charts — Kshatriya’s test puts the Sinhalese at 70% Tamil, 25% Bengali, and 5% Veddha, while Papiha puts them at 72% Bengali, 16% Tamil, and 12% Gujarati.

Shammi,

Gypsies being related to Sri Lankans was the best part about that wiki page.

I fucking hate pikeys…

Yes, gypsies and Sinhalese would have common Indo Aryan ancestors. I meant, the roaming Sri Lankan gypsies (ahikuntika) and the European Romani?

Pommies and Limeys I know. Who are Pikeys?

‘Pikey’ is a racist term for a Gypsy, used by Brits, and Asians who’ve watched Guy Ritchie movies. Mahinda, looks like you’re revealing yourself.

Thanks, David. Mahinda, I’m surprised!

I don’t think,mahinda quite understood the connotation of ‘picky’. It’s like how those stupid wanna be hip hop gangster types that loiter about colombo these days. They use the term ‘nigger’ liberally, when in reality nigger is an absolutely taboo term for anyone who isn’t an African American.

wtf?
David – What do you mean I’m revealing myself?
Shammi – Why are you surprised?
Dodo – Nigger, please. It was a joke. I just love quotes from Snatch. Is that ok with you? (David you may give yourself 10 points)
BTW, Dodo you US superstar, you, there is a new drama about the use of the word nigger in the US these days, with that Dr Laura radio type announcing on LKL that she’s quitting over her use of the “N Word”. I personally thought she had a valid point “Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO and listen to a black comic, and all you hear is nigger, nigger, nigger. I don’t get it. If anybody without enough melanin says it, it’s a horrible thing. But when black people say it, it’s affectionate. It’s very confusing…”

Yes, apparently SF says Pikeys have just as much rights as anyone but that they shouldn’t make too many demands.

Surprised ‘cos I haven’t seen Guy Ritchie movies. (Also surprised at Madonna wanting to leave the guy!)
But you shouldn’t ever even joke with Dodo about hating gypsies.
I once saw Whoopie Goldberg going on about a low melanin type using the ‘N’ word while liberally using it herself. I was not confused. Considering the pain, humiliation and discrimination which they have suffered, that word, like the word ‘boy’ used by a white person would naturally be offensive to them.

Blacker, I’ll let that one go :)

Shammi, you’re missing out. Guy Ritchie is a legend. Lock Stock, Snatch and Layer Cake are 3 of the best movies ever. Snatch is by far the best though.

Ok. Nigger is an offensive term that brings back unpleasant memories of unpleasant times. Then why the hell do some of them still use the word? I can understand and appreciate the thinking behind some of the “burials of the N word” conducted by some black groups, but why do some of them still use it as a term of endearment or whatever amongst themselves, and scream bloody murder when a white guy uses the term??!

what happens to half caste people when they call someone nigger? Is it a lottery between getting a response along the lines of ‘sup homie? or getting beat up?

Mahinda, don’t worry too much about the nuances of the American vernacular. Just stick to the SF evangelizing.

Besides, guy ritche has made one good movie. That’s it everything else is either horrible or a merely carbon copy of that one good movie. Oh and he didn’t make layer cake

Dodo,
I don’t really need some self important cunt to tell me what to worry about, thank you very much.

Alright. Sorry about the inappropriate language. But Dodo, you seriously need to go and soak your head or find some way to get rid of your annoying attitude. If you have something to say about my previous comment about the usage of “the n word” why don’t you try and explain that, and justify why it’s ok for African Americans to use the word, but is considered racism when its used by people of a different race? Who do you think you are to tell people not to worry about something like that?

‘Cos when a black guy says ‘nigger’, he’s laughing at himself (self-deprecating). When a white guy says it it’s not. Why don’t you stroll over to Pilawoos and call ‘em ‘thambi’ and see how that goes.

How is this a good analogy?
Muslim people don’t call each other thambi, unless they are addressing a younger brother or younger male, because thambi means “malli’ in Tamil.

BTW, I do actually call some of those Pilla guys thambi on a regular basis. Goes down fine – as long as the bugger is not clearly older than me, and I follow up the rest of my order in Tamil. They never called out the boys to bash my skull in when I addressed them as thambi – they just come back with the cheese kottu or whatever it is that I ordered.
So forgive me, but I’m really struggling with the applicability of your analogy.

How on earth did I miss your response Mahinda. Oh well. Mahinda words get meaning in the context they’re used in, for example the terms like fag, fairy carry different meaning depending context. Nigger is no different. If you draw from an African American heritage you can use the term ‘nigger’ without any implied pejorative. If you don’t draw from such a history the term nigger is pejorative. It is really simple.

I see. So it’s really that simple is it?
And you speak on behalf of the entire African American community when you say this? Including the NAACP and that Nita Hanson woman?
So someone who “draws from an African American heritage” may use the N Word without it being construed as having any racist connotations, but if someone who does not “draw from an African American heritage” uses this word, the usage automatically assumes a pejorative quality, right? I assume that I am to understand that this is also not hypocritical in the slightest.
I just wanted to clear something else up as well – this “rule” appears to bring with it a concept of racial purity. Where exactly would you draw the line? For instance, if a white guy thought he was pretty fly because his great grandfather was Black, but this was not immediately apparent by looking at him, would he get beaten up for referring to an African American as a nigger? Surely that contravenes the right he has, as “someone who draws from an African American heritage”…
I appreciate your efforts in clearing this up for me, dodo-man, I really do.

Mahinda, you say, “Muslim people don’t call each other thambi, unless they are addressing a younger brother or younger male, because thambi means “malli’ in Tamil,” then go on to say, “BTW, I do actually call some of those Pilla guys thambi on a regular basis. Goes down fine – as long as the bugger is not clearly older than me, and I follow up the rest of my order in Tamil.” But you also say, “So forgive me, but I’m really struggling with the applicability of your analogy.”

How is it that 2+2 never seems to make up 4 for you, Mahinda? I noticed this when we discussed the Ban panel and SF too.

Is it really incomprehensible to you that it’s OK for Moors to call each other “thambi” (since you spoke to them in Tamil, they’d assume you were Tamil or Moor), but not OK for a Sinhalese to call ‘em that? In the same way, it’s OK for blacks to call each other “nigger”, but not for a white to do so? Context, Mahinda is, I think, what you really struggle with.

And your nonsensical argument about a guy with black blood who looks white being beaten up for using the “n” word is as funny as your coup ideas. You don’t see blacks calling strangers “nigger” — it’s used on friends or in music. So it’s unlikely that your hypothetical black white dude is gonna get any worries.

It’s the same with any word or phrase used in a racial context — that word again, Mahinda. If I were to say “Sinhalese are dumb,” that would be racist because I’m not Sinhalese. If I said “Burgher chicks are tarts,” it wouldn’t be racist, just ignorant. Get it, Mahinda?

Blacker,
Nigger is slang for Negro, which means “black” and is the term used by white people back in the day to describe slaves from Africa.
Today, Nigger is not an acceptable word, really, in any context. Many prominent Black leaders, including the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, have challenged the entertainment industry and the American public to stop using the N-word and other racial slurs.
Thambi on the other hand is a perfectly acceptable Tamil word.
Some of the guys in Pilla know I am Sinhalese. I only use this word when speaking in Tamil. I never say “ado thambiyo, mehe wareng…” because it is unacceptable in that context. I’ve never heard of any Muslim or Tamil leader campaigning against the use of the word “thambi”. Have you?
Regarding your other area of expertise, Mr. Blacker, once upon a time soldier who thinks he knows more about the military matters than even the greatest Commander the Sri Lankan Army has ever had, SF, I hate to be the one to have to tell you, but the editorial of the Sunday Leader has a paragraph that will definitely get you all hot under the collar.
“If Fonseka had been as ruthless as Mahinda, he would have staged a coup. He would have promised the moon to officers and politicians and dumped them when he was in…”
I can’t believe they said this despite everything you’ve said. Can you?
I think you should take strong action against this. Since a strongly worded letter from you would only finds its way to the bin, I suggest you go on a fast unto death outside the Leader office.
This might have some really positive outcomes for you – if Mahinda hears that the great David Blacker is on a hunger strike outside the Leader office, and taking his side over SF, he may well send you a pack of lemon puff and come visit with a glass of water after the obligatory 2 days required to constitute a successful fast unto death. I just thought of this because I heard somewhere on the grapevine that Mahinda had recently lost someone who shouted a lot and decided to go and correct everybody about everything, whether they wanted him to or not, and I thought you might be a good replacement candidate.

Slow day at the office, Mahinda? Still don’t understand what context means? Lol, you’re basically arguing my point for me — namely, that words or phrases used in some contexts are acceptable, and in other contexts are not. Should I use smaller words, or have you got it now?

As for the Sunday Leader editor’s knowledge on military matters, I’ll look for that page when I run out of toilet paper. I’m surprised you even read that paper given the con job they did on your god SF.

BTW, did you ask your mango friend SF those questions I passed to you? Guess not, or you wouldn’t still be prattling on about coupes.

What a waste of effort. I should have stuck with my initial response

Hello boys.

Right. Lets put your “context” in perspective.

A few other words have been mentioned here, supporting this context theory about the usage of the N word…

Off the top of my head, they are (in no particular order), thambi, fairy and fag.

Lets see if these three word could be used in the presence of polite company.

Little boy: thambi, ungoluku pashikida?

Little girl: Mummy, I’m going to be a fairy in the school play.

Little boy: daddy said he’s going to buy a packet of fags.

Although the last one isn’t great, these comments wouldn’t really upset anyone, right? But we also agree that they can be offensive if used in a different context.

When is it ever ok to use nigger in in the presence of polite company?

As I’ve pointed out previously, many educated and respected African Americans actively campaign against the use of this word, even by members of their own community.

So if you don’t like it, don’t use it. You know, goose-gander/speck-plank etc etc etc

Its a fair point of view, really, and shared by millions of Americans – Black, White and other shades.

“When is it ever ok to use nigger in in the presence of polite company?”

Define polite company, Mahinda. IF you mean people of mutual respect, then two drug dealers having a chat over a spliff could call each other “nigger”, and all would be well.

And 2+2=?

Is that how you want to look at it?

I was thinking more along the lines of accepted norms of families as a part of communities comprised of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, and yes, mutual respect.

The last time I checked, 2+2 was 4, Pi was approximately 3.14 and Stefan Boltzmann’s constant was approximately 5.670 X 10 (to the power) -8 , in SI units.

In case you were trying to infer that I’m the type of person that would claim that 2+2 was anything but 4, then you’re wrong. I’m from a slightly more mathematical/science based background.

If you were looking to get a answer to 2+2 that was in excess of 4, then you’re actually more qualified to provide such an answer, seeing as these advertising types like to use concepts like ‘synergy’, in their marketing spiels, right?

My point exactly, Mahinda. 4 will do. Pi and Boltzmann aren’t part of the question. What is polite company for you may not be for someone else. So when you choose to discuss a subjective subject, you need to use context to decipher the answer.

As for your advertising crack, c’mon, surely there are a few less hacked cliches you could come up with? I think synergy became a client servicing catch phrase somewhere in the mid-90′s. I think it died out about ten years ago.

I’ve actually been trying to draw your attention to the hypocrisy of the position you’re trying so hard to defend, but never mind…

Mahinda, now that you’ve dazzled us with his maths/physics speak can you make point please.

If you can’t work out the point I was trying to make by reading the fairly detailed comments I’ve made, dodo-man, you need to go back to school. Disagreeing with the point of view outlined is your prerogative. Not being able to identify the point can only be attributed to stupidity.

I think, to white people, the word is an uncomfortable reminder of how the blacks were treated by them, and blacks use it to rub it in. Denying white people the right to use it, is like having control over the word, isn’t it? It’s probably wrong, but God knows, they’re entitled to a little slack, aren’t they? A white person objecting to them using the word would naturally get their back up.

I do however object to the way rap artists use the word ‘bitch’, and also the use of obscenity.

Mahinda, this grand exercise in equivocation isn’t taking you anywhere. Original point that both David & myself made has not been addressed. All this talk of polite company and finding the millionth digit of pi is meaningless. because neither of those arbitrate the meaning of words, their connotations to be precise. The meaning of the words are arbitrated by the ‘context’ they’re used. Another example would be terms like ‘ado’, ‘ban’. When I call my friends ado it doesn’t carry any negativity or any sort of impoliteness. infact, it’s often used in an endearing way. Do you think I can get away with calling my father ‘ado’.

LOL dodo, you really do seem to be as dumb as your extinct namesake, sometimes.
You claim I’ve not addressed the “original point” that you and your mango friend blacker made.
I guess you must be talking about ‘context’ again, and missed some of the comments I’ve made above.
Of course the exact meaning of some words are dependent on the context in which they are used.
I’ve made it abundantly clear that I fully appreciate this fact.
Lets try again.
The good shammi has jumped in here with her $0.02 as well, and has been kind enough to mention the fact that she isn’t very keen on the way “rap artists” use the word “bitch”.
In this context, it is offensive. Fair enough.
However, if I was to refer to a female dog, I could use the same word that shammi seems to find so offensive even in front of HM the Queen, without causing offense.
I hope you appreciate the point I’m making, which is that there are in fact words that can be offensive when used in some contexts, but are completely innocuous when used in a different context.
Now my ugly, stupid, duck like friend, I challenge you to present a way in which the word nigger may be used in a context which is completely unoffensive when used by anyone, in any situation.
Which brings me back to my point. The word nigger is severely offensive to some people, and its use is not really considered, by society at large, to be politically correct.
I (and countless millions of others) think that it is hypocritical of some African Americans to continue to use this word as term of endearment, and consider it perfectly acceptable for a black person to use the word, yet scream bloody murder when a white person uses the word. Technically speaking, this effectively constitutes discrimination on racial grounds. Is that what you’re advocating?

Mahinda, once again you are not making sense.

“I challenge you to present a way in which the word nigger may be used in a context which is completely unoffensive when used by anyone, in any situation.”

Ah a picard moment, you’ve defeated your own argument by using the term nigger inoffensively.

But more to the point, the connotations of the word ‘nigger’ does not depend on place set but on who uses it. So asking for a situation where ‘anyone’ can use the term ‘nigger’ inoffensively amounts to nothing more than a red herring. Even if it weren’t a red herring, what the hell does it establish? Does finding a neutral way to use the term nigger make it more or less legitimate. That’s just a silly and non sequitur line of reasoning.

And Mahinda, countless millions of people are perfectly fine with the status quo as far as ‘nigger’ is concerned. Dr. Laura is making a fuss because people have grown tired of her rants about gays and she’s loosing her audience. so she needs to concoct another farce to sustain her career.

And there is no discrimination here, words are merely strings of symbols they don’t have meaning or value beyond what they represent. Saying black people being allowed to use ‘nigger’ endearingly is discriminatory is as hilarious as saying my father’s friend being allowed to call my father ado in an endearing way and myself not being allowed to use ado the same way towards my father is discriminatory towards me.

Mahinda, here’s my 5 cts. worth again, and you can call me the c word if you want to, it doesn’t bother me. Only, I don’t like obscenity in music because kids of all ages listen to it. Besides, there won’t be any obscenities left to use when you really need them.

Like Dodo says it’s who calls whom a nigger that counts, not why everybody can’t use it. I’d call a sibling all kinds of names but be thoroughly offended if anyone else did. Discrimination doesn’t come in to it. You could say that was unfair, but if you aren’t sensitive enough to understand that, there’s no point in saying anything further.

‘Nigger’ used among blacks could only mean something like ‘brother’ whereas coming from white lips it can only be threatning or demeaning, unless of course the white people were a UN panel conducting an enquiry in to whether an enquiry was necessary to evaluate if the use of the word had caused a violation of human rights of either party.

LOL Dodo,

If you want to address your father using the word ado, go right ahead – I personally wouldn’t object. But I would like to point out that while the use of the word ado in certain contexts is inappropriate, it can easily by used in many contexts where no one would be offended by the use of the word.

I’ve said this because you’ve completely missed the point I’m making – that the word nigger, used in any application – whether it is used as an open insult, a term of endearment, or even during a discussion of the relative merits of its use – is offensive to many people. By many people, I mean millions upon millions of people, including African Americans.

The words ado, fag, fairy and bitch can be used by two or more people amongst themselves in contexts where no third party would be offended if they happened to overhear the conversation. The use of the word nigger in any context whatsoever is offensive to countless millions of people.

You’ve suggested above that my use of this word above is inoffensive. You’ve also mentioned the Dr. Laura issue. However, during that infamous call, Dr Laura wasn’t trying to insult the caller, Nita Hanson. She was merely trying to make a point about the use of this word – discussing its use, as we have been doing.

Despite this, Nita Hanson said she found this “very insulting and upsetting.”

Now of course you’re going to argue that Hanson was upset because Dr Laura is not an African American, but then I’m no African American either, which means that even if the only reason Hanson found Dr Lauras use of the word offensive was because it was used by a non African American, then by the same virtue, my use of the word above is equally offensive, which effectively negates your ‘picard moment” theory.

I notice that you chose not to address the later part of my comment, my ugly, stupid, duck like friend, so I’m going to assume that you somehow missed it, and have re-posted it for your benefit below.

Which brings me back to my point. The word nigger is severely offensive to some people, and its use is not really considered, by society at large, to be politically correct.
I (and countless millions of others) think that it is hypocritical of some African Americans to continue to use this word as term of endearment, and consider it perfectly acceptable for a black person to use the word, yet scream bloody murder when a white person uses the word. Technically speaking, this effectively constitutes discrimination on racial grounds. Is that what you’re advocating?

By the way, have you ever heard two Pakistani people refer to each other using the word “paki”? Or two Chinese people refer to each other as “chink”?

Shammi, I’ve never used any profanity in any reply directed at you.
I read your comments which state your opinions on the use of the “n word” and disagree with you. I’ve made my views on the matter clear in some of the comments made above, so I don’t think I need to press the matter in this reply to you.

How about a black American being addressed by a white American as ‘boy’? If the black man objected would that be discriminarion too?

why would it be??!

Ok, ‘boy’ was irrevelent, and this is the last time I will bother you with my opinion on this post.

Even if, as you say, the word ‘nigger’ was not acceptable in any sort of polite company, I would say that white people who created the word, and used it to discriminate against and insult African Americans, or others who didn’t do anything about it, don’t have the right to be offended by an African American (quite a mouthful) using the word in any fashion they pleased.

I would say that it was a matter for the African Americans to sort out among themselves, as they were the ones who suffered most because of ot and they had every right to object to a white caucasian using it.

That’s what I would say to a UN panel investigating the matter.

Oops! irrelavent.

Why would anyone WANT to live as a Tamil for a year? I guess you would get your refugee status accepted faster.

my goodness, IQs really are lower in the tropics.

Nandalal, statistically speaking there is no real disparity between the tamils and the sinhalese over here. Income distribution is very much similar for both sections of society. Proportionately speaking educational opportunities are also very similar. The same can be said about employment in the private sector, healthcare sector, and judiciary as well.

“Proportionately speaking educational opportunities are also very similar.”

The way of the Dodo… actually today Tamils from jaffna get to enter university with lower marks than students from the southern provinces. Strangely, the Tamil politicians who scream “discrimination” at the drop of a hat are deathly silent over this. Wonder why.

Dear Ruki,
The system is based partly on a district quota system, where the Z score is determined by the highest score achieved by student(s) from that particular district. This Z score figure can change from year to year. I have seen some years where the z score for Jaffna, in a particular subject, being higher than colombo and other districts and in other years not so. It depends from year to year.

As for discrimination it exists in various forms and formats and depends from time to time. At one time the GoSL was trying to stop Tamils getting into universities because Tamils already constituted a high disproportionate number than their proportion in the population. Today that is not the case, I hope.

Muttiah Muralitharan plays for the SL cricket team.

But, just because Murali plays for Sri Lanka does not mean that Tamil are not discriminated. Murali excelled the average. In other words, it was hard to discriminate someone who was world class. But those players who are average can be easily discriminated. Just giving an example.
Not so famous Tamils who are average can be easily discriminated. It depends on the time , the place, etc, etc. Example: Northeast Tamils were evicted from Colombo by the GoSL. NE Tamils disproportionately arrested or viewed with suspicion or in terms of jobs find it difficult. So it depends but this is not to say that there are no equal opportunities. Like I said before it depends on the place, the timing and the people involved, the context, if you will.

Ruki, frankly, I don’t know what your game is? You need to come up with something more than racist rants.

Bullcrap Mayil, Jaffna students have been getting into SL universities with lower marks than Southern Students for A LONG TIME. Dittor for Tamil students from Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Mannar. None of the Tamil politicians who were screaming about “discrimination” have anything to say about it. Suddenly the system is “fair” I suppose? Now that Tamils are the beneficiaries? Another example of Tamil double standards.

“Murali excelled the average. In other words, it was hard to discriminate someone who was world class. But those players who are average can be easily discriminated. Just giving an example.”

If it wasn’t for the support of the SL governemnt, SL cricket and his Sinhalese co-players, Murali’s career would have been over when the chucking controversy erupted.

In addition to Murali’s superior skill his ready smile and friendly attitude would have won him loads of love and respect from all those people and made them want to support him through thick and thin.

I’m a Sinhalese Sri Lankan.
I personally view Ruki and people like him (or her, if that’s the case) as the source of Sri Lanka’s problem. They insist on highlighting the differences between our communities rather than our similarities, and seem to feel quite comfortable about discriminating against our minority communities.

Ruki was only countering some of Myil’s claims. They are communicating what they feel strongly about, with words, not guns and bombs.

Give me a break “mahinda”… what I can’t stand is double standards and Myil and many of his ilk have a lot of them.

Sorry if I offended you, Ruki.

Would you care to explain this comment? “Why would anyone WANT to live as a Tamil for a year? I guess you would get your refugee status accepted faster”. You make being Tamil sound like having HIV.

I don’t agree with Myil for complaining about Sinhalese being moved to the North and East and also in suggesting that the North and East should be merged.

We really should stop discriminating against each other. Our leaders should really be leading from the front in order to create a more inclusive, egalitarian society in Sri Lanka instead of throwing sound bites about equal rights around and actually using the racial divide to consolidate their political positions.

I agree with Dodo as well – “The sooner the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims get into a cluster fuck the better. And I meant that in the literal sense of the word”. I used to know a lot of people from the Seychelles and Mauritius, two very racially diverse countries that have virtually no racial discrimination or tension, and always wondered why Sri Lankans could not be more like them. Maybe this dodo will also like Mauritius like his extinct namesake did.

Shammi’s enthusiasm for Dodo’s suggestion is also duly noted.

I’m not against Sinhalese moving into the North and East. What I am against is the racist policy of moving in sinhalese for the express purpose of diluting Tamil’s and Muslim’s demographic strength in the North and East, aided and abetted by the GoSL.

If sinhalese families of their own accord moved into the North and East for purposes of finding a job (economic reasons) that’s fine. But when the government supports only one ethnic group and helps to move them in, all for the express purpose of diluting the minorities strength then we have a problem. And that’s what happened.

No. Over a million Tamils were plonked down in central Sri Lanka and live there to this day. Theyweren’t even from Sri Lanka. The government must end Tamil ethnic cleansing and hegemony in the north and the east of the island and if this means settling Sinhalese there then so be it. The Tamil separatist claim must be snapped at the backbone. The silly “Tamil homeland” claim must be shown up for what it is – a farcical fairytale. Under the Mahaweli Scheme more than enough landless Tamils and Muslims got land, including plum areas that were never given to a single Sinhalese. Tamils need to let go of their wet dream of controlling 60% of Sri Lanka’s coastline and 30% of its land area. It is just not going to happen.

The Tamils composing 12.6% of the population were happy in the pockets of the British runing an apartheid state. Not a peep about the 2nd class status of the majority Sinhalese. The Jaffna Tamils just couldn’t handle the fact they wouldn’t be running everything anymore. The Jaffna Tamil political class even opposed universal franchise because it would dilute their power. So they used Standardisation as a rallying cry – even though it actually helped poorer Tamils living outside the Jaffna District!

The british system was based on merit. They did not plan to support any particular side. British schools were built all over the island.Anyway, even today we have that system with O/Ls and A/Ls and the university system with a few minor changes.

We even have the British parliamentary system (the presidential system excepted) and the British political legacy.

We have the British military system and the British military is well respected among the Sri Lankan military. The President’s three sons ran off to British institutions for their studies. And also in SL they went to British founded schools. So did the previous President’s offspring.

We have to thank the British for uniting this island through their network of roads and railways and the administrative system.

We have to thank the British for most of the schools that are around today

It’s funny that they, the British, whom you say were running an aparthied state suddenly decided to give the country into the hands of the sinhalese and leave?

And don’t let me start with the cricket! so much for apartheid.

See, this shows your complete ignorance. There were actually very very few British schools in sri lanka. Most of the rural masses never got access to anything remotely similar to a proper school. Unless of course you convert to catholicism. but even then, the missionary schools in the interior were too few are far in between.

The madya maha vidyalaya system that provided education for the vast majority of this country’s citzens came with Kanangara in the post independence era. Even then there weren’t enough english teachers, or enough teachers for that matter. As a result these kids never got the facilities the urban schools and other missionary schools provided. Therein, lied the discrepancy. This had to fixed, and standardization was the solution. To this day it is the solution. How many kids from vanni do you think will get into the engineering or medical faculty if the Z-score was replaced by a raw merit score.

@ Ruki,

You know nothing of history. Please do not type just because you have fingers and an Internet connection.

The British brought workers from South India first to work on the coffee plantations. Because the labor was needed only seasonally, they crossed the Palk Strait and walked to the central hills; then after the work was done, they walked back and recrossed the Palk Strait.

Then there was disease that wiped out coffee. This was replaced by tea, which required work throughout the year. Thus the Indian labor was brought here on a permanent basis. Women to pluck the two leaves and bud and the men to clean the weeds and do other hard manual work.

Nothing to do with the train. Please do not talk rubbish.

Time and time again you are proving to be nothing more than a SF sycophant. If you think there haven’t been any violations of the Geneva convention by the GOSL, why were you calling for a ICC investigation. I wonder what your position on international investigations would be if by some miracle SF had won.

Sarath Fonseka was responsible for military operations that resulted in the deaths of Tamils. Tamils were killed under his watch. And you hold him out as the poster boy for reconciliation? Yeah ok.

Did SF even talk about reconciliations. My impression of his campaign was that he literally expected to run Sri lanka like he was the head master of some boys school. Complete with him walking around with cane in his hand, supposedly caning people into shape.

Ruki, what are you doing up at this time? You should be in bed. Do you want to wake up late and be late for the school van tomorrow?

Dodo, did you read the comment I made?

“If SF issued an order to kill such captured or surrendering LTTE personnel, he would be responsible for their deaths. If SF deliberately ordered soldiers to shoot and kill civilians he would also be responsible for their deaths. But I personally don’t think he issued any such orders.

If there are any allegations along these lines they should be investigated, ideally by an independent party. For instance, we all know what would happen if Gota was in charge of any investigation into SF, don’t we?”

I support SF 100% and think Sri Lanka would be a better place under him.

If however there is an allegation against him, this should be investigated. If he is found guilty of a violation of the Geneva Convention, he should be punished – he himself has a very strong sense of justice and has, throughout his career, also disciplined hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers and officers for various offenses, minor and serious.

No one should be above the law. Even though the president suggested that the law didn’t apply to him on the 27th of January 2010.

Ah dodo.

You inquire whether or not SF even spoke about reconciliation.

Allow me to point you in the direction of your favourite document, SF’s “10 point plan” as you called it the other day. Please refer page 14, point number 5.

5. I will start a process of national reconciliation

I will help all Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese affected by the war. A program of immediate relief measures for war affected persons and areas will be implemented, which will also address the burning problems of Tamil speaking persons. all remaining IDP’s will be immediately re-settled and the grant for resettlement will be increased to a minimum of Rs. 100,000 per family and assessed upwards based on need.

Within the first month I will take steps to register all other persons displaced due to the war and see that they are re-settled without further delay. All detainees in relation to terrorism will be prosecuted, rehabilitated or released. I will promote and foster our Sri Lankan identity based on our ethnic, religious and cultural diversity. I will ensure the freedom of worship without any hindrance or discrimination.

I hope that answers your question, dodo.

The only part of the “10 point plan” that is a little overly optimistic is the increase in salary by Rs. 10,000.00

The rest are all achievable and I know that SF would have done what he said he would, or at least tried his best to. He would not have just tossed the manifesto in the bin if he got elected and turned his attention to sorting his family and friends out.

This really is a great man we are talking about. Lots of people have written him off, but that’s only because they don’t really know the caliber of the man they are talking about.

When you side step the issue and make petty insults it means you’ve lost the argument mahinda.

Incase you haven’t realised SF didn’t come up with any “plan” – it was written for him by others, notably mangy samaraweera. SF is too much of a dullard to even string together sensible sentence, let alone use big words.

If SF is to be held accountable for “Tamil deaths” (I guess you mean civilians, Ruki), then Gota, his boss, and MR, Gota’s boss, will be both held accountable too.

It’s really hilarious. Mahinda, who worships SF and claims there were no war crimes, is still demanding investigations. Why? All just to get SF out of jail — he doesn’t really give a shit about the country. Ruki, on the other hand, who’s a borderline racist who wants the Indian Tamils kicked out, is suddenly concerned about “Tamil deaths” boo hoo. Why? So that it can be blamed on SF and get him outta MR & Sons Ltd’s hair. You two are both idiots.

Actually, Blacker, I do care about the country very much, thank you.

I used to think SF supporters are like apple evangelists, but now I think they’re like young earth creationists

Really, Mahinda? Every single one of your arguments winds back to SF being prez. It’s very likely not gonna ever happen now, so for a moment, take that it as a given that the general isn’t the Messiah. I know you must struggle to accept that, but give it a shot. Now, what do you suggest?

Blacker, what are you even saying? That supporting Gen. (Retd) Sarath Fonseka and caring about Sri Lanka and it’s future are mutually exclusive agendas?

They are not necessarily exclusive, but neither are they the same thing. Apples and oranges are not mutually exclusive. The are both fruits. But they are not both apples nor both oranges. Get it?

In SF’s only testing in SL politics, he has been found wanting — he has proved himself to be hesitant when he should have shown commitment (delaying to announce his candidacy and begin his campaigning), irresponsible (trusting UNP staffers to formulate many of his policies), ignorant (unable to explain or defend said policies to the media), rash (making promises that couldn’t be kept), unstatesmanlike (name-calling and threatening of his political opponents), and many other things. None of these things make him out to be the Great Shining Beacon that SL needs.

Apples and oranges??!

SF was hesitant in announcing his candidacy? Are you referring to SF not answering any questions regarding his candidacy while he was still the serving CDS?

He was very specific, even on the last day as CDS, while visiting the war memorial etc., that he would not comment on any speculation that he may come forward as a candidate at the forthcoming elections, as he didn’t wish to engage in politics while still in uniform.

A recent news item on dailymirror.lk

“The first Court Martial today found General (Ret.) Sarath Fonseka guilty and sentenced him for a dishonorable discharge from rank pending approval of the President, military officials said

The defence counsels of General Fonseka were not present at the proceedings of the first Court Martial this week, which examined cases relating to General Sarath Fonseka’s alleged involvement in political work while in active service.”

So you would have liked him to have run around giving interviews along the lines of “yes – I’m going to run for president – please vote for me” while still the serving CDS? So it would have made it easy for people to accuse him of being involved in political work while still in active service?

Interestingly, no one seems to mind the fact that Yoshitha Rajapakse campaigned strongly on behalf of his father, even appearing on the stage at several political rallies leading up to the PE. Yoshitha definitely was involved in political work while in active service. But that’s fine.

So you don’t mind having a hypocritical President, but would be really upset at the prospect of calling someone names.

I assume of course that you’re referring to the “kalavedda” comment.

I personally think SF was very kind in calling this individual, Upul Illangamge, a “kalavedda”. SF has treated this scum like a younger brother throughout his life. He even assisted this kalavedda to clear his name (kalavedda deserted the SL Army while on a course in the US) so he could return to SL when his father was ill. The kalavedda once tried to obtain defence contracts for his company, woxzone pvt ltd, using SF’s name, but SF quickly put an end to this when he heard of this.

SF is 100% clean, and has never attempted to make any money through any of his appointments or positions, for himself or friends or relatives.

The kalavedda, who will do anything for money and who was upset at SF for not allowing him to make some easy money through commissions, then decided to turn on SF and create the lies that he spouted during the PE.

I would go into more details about this whole incident and who paid who to do what (backed up by documents) which would paint some people in a very bad light, but I am not really in the mood for another visit from the CID.

Calling this guy a kalavedda is being quite kind to him, I think…

Oh, and incidentally, kalavedda is actually the president of British Borneo Defense, the legal entity that supplied the equipment in the now famous “Hicorp Deals”. Kalavedda filed legal action against one D Tillakaratne, stating that he had forged his signature, but a US expert nominated by courts has confirmed that the signature is in fact kalaveddas, and not forged as he claimed.

Sarath Fonseka is a great man. A very intelligent man, who given time, would be able to identify the correct strategy required to solve a problem, and also find the correct person (or the best fit) for the correct job, to get the job done. He would not be interested in making friends or keeping people happy – he loves his country and and is not in it to make money for the next 49 generations of his family – he has never made, or attempted to make even one cent in commissions in his entire life.

Don’t care about SF’s suitability or otherwise as a presidential cnadidate at this point. But I just heard he’s been stripped of his rank by court martial, and deplore the obvious political motivation behind this exercise.
To me he will always be a General and a war hero who made personal sacrifices to end the war and make the country safe for all of us.

Understand the prez has to ratify the decision. Have a feeling he might try to look good by vetoing.

Yes, Shammi, you could argue that the wording of the statement released by ‘military officials’,

“The first Court Martial today found General (Ret.) Sarath Fonseka guilty and sentenced him for a dishonorable discharge from rank pending approval of the President, military officials said,”

does make it look like Mahinda Maama is going to use this issue as a public relations exercise “the magnanimity of our great king, who can only be compared with the likes of Dutugemunu”. However, the BBC doesn’t seem to think this is likely.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10969968

By the way, Shammi, I think more people in Sri Lanka should really think about the suitability of some of the people involved in these incidents to be the President of our country.

They really need to examine whether or not the individual concerned will actually work towards the betterment of the country or pretend to do so and instead focus on the betterment of their family and friends while all the while pulling the wool over the eyes of the general public and eliminating and competition to their throne.

So the decision of the court martial has been approved after all, and the General loses his pension as well as his medals. Can this ruling be challenged in the normal courts or is it entirely a military matter?

It was mentioned earlier that he could appeal this verdict in civil courts, but I am not sure what the situation is at the moment. I’ll ask and let you know.

The verdict will be challenged in the court of appeal.

Good to know that, thanks.

Er… Mahinda, sorry to have let you rant on unstopped (again). No, I wasn’t referring to SF’s announcement of his decision to run for prez. Everyone new he was pretty hungry for that. What he delayed to do was clearly declare whether he would be allying himself with the UNP, JVP, or running as an independent. Meantime both the aforementioned parties declared him their candidate, while SF refused to comment. All of this (coupled with his subsequent inability to articulate any real policies, and his backtracking on comments he made as Army commander) made him look insincere, and a shaky proposition, and I believe contributed to his resounding defeat. On the ‘kalawedda’ comment, I really don’t care if that guy was his brother or his boarding school boyfriend, a presidential candidate (not to mention an officer and a gentleman) should have conducted himself in a better manner.