MahamahaRaja

Whenever western media report on Sri Lanka, they are always very keen to point out that while the Sinhalese may be happy that the war is over, Tamils often, privately, confess to them that they are weary. These journalists insinuate, and sometimes openly state, that most Tamils still want self-rule over the northern and eastern regions which they dominate today. While some of this is wishful thinking on the part of the media, there is definitely some truth to their claims.

Although a Sri Lankan effort, ultimately it was Sinhalese nationalism which brought about the victory over Tamil terrorism. The victory was overwhelmingly Sinhalese: it was foresight of Sinhalese politicians, the noble sacrifices of the Sinhalese civilians, the leadership of the Sinhalese military commanders and the blood of Sinhalese soldiers which gave us the peace and security we all enjoy today.

Worryingly, it now appears that several voices, coming from some unusual corners, are slowly forgetting this and are eroding the Sinhalese unity of purpose. Most insulting is that they compare righteous Sinhalese nationalism with the vacuous and racist ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-EelamƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ism. Certain Sri Lankans who once decried the parity of status given to the government of Sri Lanka and Tamil terrorists by western powers during the war period, now say something equally appalling as the meddlers. This injustice must be countered forcefully.

It is all well and good to preach about being magnanimous in victory, and it would be great if we could say that most Tamils did not support terrorism, and that they would instead like to live with the Sinhalese and Muslims peacefully in one nation. Some assert Tamil terrorism and separatism was just a hiccup, something which the next generation of Tamils will look back on with confusion as to what their ancestors were thinking.

Yes indeed, it would be great if this was the case. But unfortunately for the Sinhalese, and Sri Lanka, the most recent episode of Tamil supremacism, in the form of terrorism, was no aberration.

From the time of Dutugemunu through to the colonial period and even into the post-colonial era, Tamils have always sought to take our homeland from us. These attempts, though they were failures, have brought us to the brink of extinction as a nation and a people every time it has been instigated, and I for one say enough is enough!

Initially there were full-fledged military invasions from Tamil Nadu, later demographic changes were made by colonialists shipping in Tamil plantation workers and other indentured labourers to Sri Lanka by the boat load. Then, a politico-economic oppression of the Sinhalese was engineered by the British sponsored Tamil elite, which lasted well into the independence era (until the Sinhala Only Act), and most recently a brutal campaign of terrorism was the Tamils’ modus operandi. Finally, in the post-terrorism period, we see a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-human rightsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ based assault against the Sinhalese, with the former terror-backing, suicide bomber worshipping Tamils and their enablers now spouting humanitarianism.

In all these periods of history, the weapons, slogans, banners and degree of foreign meddling have been different, but the aim, the grand purpose, of Tamil onslaughts against the Sinhalese has been the same: occupation, oppression and extermination. In some way or form, some group of Tamils, from armies of savages to suicide bombers, has been attempting genocide against the Sinhalese for most of our history.

In some respects, this is not surprising. Even in their homeland, Tamil Nadu, Tamils operate a stifling caste-based system of mono-ethnic racism against both non-Tamils and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-unworthyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Tamils alike. If they cannot even treat their own Tamilian brethren well, how can they possibly co-exist with Sinhalese and Muslims, peoples who have a totally different culture, religion and language to them?

It is from an analysis of these facts of Tamil culture and viewing recent events in the full historical context, that we must face up to a sobering truth: it is exceedingly difficult to live with Tamils. This is not to say that all Tamils are bad, there are plenty who are decent, peaceful people, but unfortunately, they form a tiny minority of a race which has a strong tendency to produce maniacal tyrants to rule them, worshipped with cult-like fervour and followed without question. Prabhakaran was a case in point, as are the members of the Tamil Nadu political stage, consisting mostly of Dravidian cinema artists. Perhaps being able to fake emotions (a requirement for acting) comes with the ability to fake histories, as both these ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-skillsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ allowed hundreds of thousands of Tamils to migrate to the rich west!

Being passive, and letting down our guard now that Tamil terrorism has been militarily defeated, is a recipe for future disaster. Let us not forget that it was this passivity, this kavum kahnne sureya, mentality which first invited terrorism to our shores ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Tamil supremacists, ruthlessly crushed in India, Malaysia and New Guinea, thought their best chance at fulfilling their delusions of statehood was by agitating against the easy-going Sinhalese. When unacceptable political demands based on myth-making and historical revisionism were rejected by the Sinhalese for the nonsense that it was, Tamils decided to start a campaign of terror.

Let us refresh ourselves of some basic facts:

1. The Sinhalese were the first civilization on this island

2. The cradle of Sinhalese civilization and their Buddhist culture was the northern parts of this island

3. By the time of colonialist invasions, political, social, religious, military and cultural control over the entire island was by a Sinhalese Buddhist king, whose throne was at Kandy.

4. These facts are based on archaeological and chronicled evidence from numerous sources, both within Sri Lanka and outside Sri Lanka.

Therefore, we can say that Sri Lanka is the homeland of the Sinhalese. Others are welcome here, but they must accept these four points and abide by them. No matter their race or religion, all Sri Lankans must above all else strive for the preservation of the Sri Lankan way of life, which means that they must all to safeguard and perpetuate Sinhalese Buddhist culture. This is not asking much, and is the minimum required of citizens of America, Britain, Russia, Australia and other developed countries.

The above four points form the basis of our nation, and was the strength upon which our victory was won against Tamil terrorism against all odds. It is upon this foundation which we can morally and righteously reject any and all calls for separatism.

In Sri Lanka, some are now beginning to advocate western style multiculturalism (multikulti), but as the leaders of Britain, France and Germany (countries with large numbers of racial minority citizens) have stated recently, promoting multiple cultures within one country leads only to division, ghettoization and terrorism. What these leaders say is that only one culture can exist in each of their countries, namely British, French and German varieties of Christian culture, respectively.

Similarly in our case, it is only the Sinhalese Buddhist culture which can exist in Sri Lanka, because as elucidated in the above four points, it was the Sinhalese who built civilization on this island, and it was the hard work of our kings and the blood of our armies which protected this nation from Tamil and other foreign invasions.

Multikulti has failed in the west, and it has failed in Sri Lanka.

I have no problem with other races living in Sri Lanka as equals. There should be no race-based barriers. However, it appears that many Tamils see themselves as more equal than others. For example, while Tamils are free to settle in any part of the island, as they have done to such an extent over the past 30 years of Tamil terrorism as to now dominate Colombo, non-Tamils are not allowed to own land in the northern regions. This, and other injustices against the Sinhalese, must end.

We also have the right to tell minorities when they go too far, such as asking for a homeland to be carved out of Sri Lanka when they already have one in south India, and to remind them that if they do not want to live in a Sinhalese Buddhist nation, they are more than welcome to leave. Tamil Nadu is just a short boat ride north of our country, freedom of movement is guaranteed by our democratic state, and we must urge malcontents to exercise that right.

Until the Tamil psyche changes, we have every right to assert our identity as Sinhalese, living in the Sinhalese nation, which by the way, is our one and only homeland. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the Tamils are going to change any time soon, and for this reason, we must stand up for our history, rights, dignity, for justice, and most importantly, for our liberty. We can no longer leave our survival to the chance arrival of a national hero, good will from minorities who seek to destroy us, or non-interference from foreign meddlers.

We forget this at our peril.

This essay can also be found at thambiraja.wordpress.com