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Dear Editor,

Wanniya people

Having just read part of a speech given by an eminent old politician praising the Sri Lankan Army, I found this a little over the top, given reports of the behaviour of troops in Trinco years ago, when a very undisciplined part of it, raped and bludgeoned its way through the town. Another soldier shot the veddah/Wanniya tribesman, Punchi Banda even though he had been given an identification card to return to his homeland.

Apparently troops then sought to machine gun the forest creatures. It is time the Sinhalese realised that they too were invaders as we were taught at school and these gentle guardians of the forests were the original and dispossessed owners of the land of Lanka.

As a part Sinhalese, I am appalled at the Army's behaviour, although I know that there maybe some honourable members who have suffered much. It is also amazing that one M.P should ask that the population be increased because the Army suffers a recruitment problem, in a land so ecologically devastated with so many unable to have a decent meal a day as we discovered in 1997.

The Tamil problem started in 1958 with the rise of nationalism and the Government's insistence on the medium of education in schools being a form of the language that even the Sinhalese themselves find difficult to speak!

A lady in Lanka recently told me she wished the British were back. As one who lived in the Lanka of the forties, I can assure everyone that we did have peace and harmony among all the inhabitants of the island and that I attended school with children of all religions and races.

A German visitor remarked on the peacful multiculturalism of the island. Looking at Singapore with envy, one cannot help thinking that Lanka could have gone the same way if not for the political ambitions of those who sought power through appealing only to the majority race, itself a conquering people from India.

I wonder if the original peoples of the island will ever return to their jungles we also found so lovely, the green gem of Lanka?
sincerely
An exiled Lankan
Anne Williams

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