Why the Sri Lankans should re-elect Mahinda Rajapakse as President once again?
Posted on December 29th, 2014
Ganapathy Moorthy
I would like to write it in first person as I want to express my views and feelings just as I happened to grasp them. Therefore, whoever read it, agree or disagree with it, but I just want them to think about what I said before they make any conclusion.
As a Sri Lankan Tamil living in Canada, and a very common man, I will not be receiving any personal benefits or gains by writing in support of Mahinda Rajapakse, or Maithripala Srisena in the presidential campaign. However, as someone who was once a staunch supporter of the TULF (I am ashamed to say that now), the now defunct party of the Tamils that initially espoused the idea of a separate nation for Tamils within Sri Lanka, I feel writing about my observations and understandings of the political happenings in Sri Lanka, especially to the concerns of the Tamils who live In Sri Lanka.
I had lived in Sri Lanka until I was forced to leave the country in 1988 due to threats to my person by the LTTE. When I say that I faced threats to my life by the LTTE, do not think that I was attached to any other rival militant groups of the LTTE. I was a school teacher, and I used to express my opinions frankly on the various Tamil militant activities and the destructive effects they had on the normal lives of innocent Tamils at that time, and refused to make any financial or other kind of contributions to the militants, which was more or less made mandatory by them, especially the LTTE. I even used to criticise them openly, and that was the reason why I faced threat from the LTTE as they never ever tolerated negative comments on them. And, had I continued to remain in Sri Lanka, the chances were that I would have either been taken and tortured by the LTTE or been killed labeling me a traitor to the cause of Tamil Eelam or a social evil. It was because, as far as the LTTE and their cohorts concerned, there was only one concept with two expressions prevailed, one was Pro-LTTE for ‘EELAM’, the other was ‘TRAITOR’ of the EELAM cause, and for the EELAM cause they would not consider anything or anyone that they saw as hurdles on their barbaric activities (atrocities). I believe that at least 40 percent of the Tamils, especially young men who fled the country during the time period of 1985 to 2009, had to leave the country fearing the LTTE. Another 40 percent were undoubtedly economic refugees seeking green pastures , and only about 10 percent might have been subjected to unwarranted arrests and harassments at the hands of the Security forces. However, the overall fearful condition that prevailed in the country at that time also was a justifiable factor at that time. I have seen how the militants beheaded and displayed the head of (Tamil) policeman whom they thought was spying on them whereas he was merely carrying out his duties. (Killing or even pose a threat to the safety of security personnel and policemen would not be tolerated in any manner and the severest actions would be taken to control it, like giving more powers to police and security personnel to handle such situations, by the governments in the western countries.) I have seen how they executed people just because they were friendly with the members of the other groups. I have seen government officers and petty officials killed by the LTTE because they would not obey their orders. Most of all, I personally witnessed how the members of the TELO group, many of them misdirected young Tamil men from the eastern province and elsewhere who had nowhere to hide and seek refuge in Jaffna, were burnt alive by the LTTE. I was never a fan of TELO or any other militant groups, but that particular incident completely opened my eyes as to the nature of armed groups and the possible end result of violent struggle. I was narrated by people as to how the Muslim people of Jaffna were chased away within a notice of 24 hours’ time without allowing them to take away any of their belongings. Above all, I have seen the young school boys and girls who were initially seduced to join their groups by the various militant groups initially (and later on subjected to forceful recruitment by the LTTE) thus depriving them of their education and a better life afterwards. The above were a few of the numerous atrocities committed by the LTTE during the 30 years of war in Northern Sri Lanka. But elsewhere in Sri Lanka, like Colombo, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Kaththankudi and some other areas, people from the three communities, Singhalese, Muslims and Tamils, high and low, were continued to be killed, have their properties destroyed, and subjected to live in a fearful condition unable to lead their normal life. The one confusing factor for me during the LTTE era, was that the pro-LTTE people in Jaffna preferred to have their children sent to a foreign country and those LTTE supporters or who pretended to be pro-LTTE, would have all of their nears and dears safely settled in foreign countries while at the same time wanted the fights in Sri Lanka to continue and say that more youngsters should be joining the LTTE cadre. Many diaspora people, who have moved to Canada from European countries other than the U.K, said they had to move to Canada in order to have their children get educated in the English medium! All the while, those people would like the war in Sri Lanka to continue unabated so that they could get through the refugee claims successfully. In short, for the wellbeing of a small percentage of Sri Lankan Tamils, they wanted the sufferings of a large percent of people – Singhalese, Tamils and Muslims alike – to continue through the war. I have seen some people in Canada, who have all their relatives settled in safely, were propagandist and raised money for Eelam cause, i.e. the LTTE. (Well, I do not know the money thus collected was sent to the LTTE, but have seen those people to lead a comfortable life spending freely without having a regular job)
This kind of barbaric activities continued unabated with more and more ferocity from the time I left Sri Lanka until the LTTE was finally defeated militarily in May 2009. Now, there were three presidents in control of the country before Mahinda Rajapakse, along with the same Sri Lankan army and generals serving the country. Ranil appeared more a powerful prime minister under U.B. Wijethunga, and Chandrika Bandaranayake. He was able to bypass the presidential power and sign the ceasefire agreement with LTTE with the Norwegians as facilitators. General Sarath Fonseka had been in the Army, and many other able commanders like him were there during the time of previous presidents, still the war was not winnable because the leaders before Mahinda Rajapaksa were not courageous enough to withstand the pressures from certain western powers. For those powers, they need some puppets in countries that either located strategically around the globe or have some kind of wealth resources, to be manipulated for their own global interests. And the so-called elites from Colombo had been more accessible for such powers than someone from a rural background. (The Colombo elites are more accessible for western powers because Colombo elites would like to identify themselves along with western culture and the English language, rather than with that of the rural Sri Lankan natives – people and languages). Here, I have to mention another strange thing I found among the Tamils of Sri Lanka. The Tamils, who found nothing wrong to convert to Christianity during the time of foreign rule and afterwards, mostly to gain educational and employment facilities, (Many orthodoxy Hindu Tamils in foreign countries have become converts too!) find it very disgusting to see any statue of Lord Buddha erected in the Tamil areas. There have been numerous churches spread throughout the Tamil areas, and Hindu temples in the predominantly Singhalese areas, and nothing seemed to be wrong about that! While the Tamils accepted the existence of Churches, and the Singhalese population accepted the existence of Hindu temples among them, why the Tamils particularly make noise about Buddha statues erected among them. After all, Buddhism and Hinduism co-existed for thousands years in Sri Lanka and India, and there had been evidence in history, that until the 9th century, Buddhism had been adopted by Tamils in South India as well as North Sri Lanka for over thousand years. The reasons for the Tamils to embrace or respect Christianity with eager must have been that those who spread the religion are white skinned (and had strong fire power) and therefore accepted as superior to them. So, according to the Tamil mentality, it may be the same with other communities as well, anything introduced by a superior must be respected and adopted. This is why Mahinda Rajapakse wants all the Sri Lankans to forget about racial and religious differences and to join together to work for the developments of the country. Many people, who like to identify with the elites of Colombo and elsewhere in the country, do not want to listen to a man from the rural area. Come on!, only a man from the rural area, from among the common mass can understand and solve the problems of a common man. They now say that Sirisena (the common candidate) also belongs to rural heartland, but unfortunately and obviously he has been used by the same Colombo elites for their own benefits. Whatever it may be, in politics no one could afford to be fully truthful and honest (being around 60 % honest and truthful would be the best!) and lead a successful political career. The people are forced to choose the better of them. As such, seeing all of the happenings in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan people have no better choice but Mahinda Rajapakse at present.
Let’s assume for instance as to what would have happened had the war not ended in May 2009. The sale and purchase of arms would have continued for many more millions of dollars. And who would have collected the profits of it? The arms brokers would have amassed huge profits within Sri Lanka and elsewhere while the same would have caused sufferings and destruction for the common man in Sri Lanka, – Singhalese or Tamils. Most importantly, many more thousands of innocent young men, both from Singhalese on the army side, and Tamils from the LTTE would have continued to lose their lives along with the destruction of the livelihood of many innocent people. Mercifully, all these things came to an end with the end of war in May 2009, and we all, Singhalese, Tamils and Muslims alike, have to be grateful to the President, Mahinda Rajapakse, just for that reason alone. But, it was not only for ending the war that we have to show gratitude to the government. During the 30 years of war, Sri Lanka had gone backward at least 50 years in terms of development works, education for the North-East student population, and transportation/infrastructure facilities that would have contributed to the prosperity of the whole country. After 30 years of war, and the backward decline of the economy, the present government under the leadership of Mr. Rajapakse has set the development works on the forward track and we all can see them throughout the country, north, south, east and west. I have made my visits three times after the war, and the great relief and liveliness I see in the faces of the people now is almost tangible. Many of my close relatives, who had been caught in the final stage of the war, mostly blamed the LTTE for their predicaments, and not the Government forces who actually liberated them from the clutches of the LTTE. One of my sisters, even considers the Sri Lankan army men who saved them as ‘angels’. She said, if it were not the Sri Lankan government forces, she might have lost her other two sons too to the LTTE.( one of her son, a teenager, was dragged away forcibly by the LTTE during the final war and was sent to the war front without any training to fight the army where he was pathetically killed. She called the Tigers ‘demons’).
There have been many people who narrated as to what actually happened during the final war. People had been used as human shields to protect the Tigers on the run. The whole story had been twisted, distorted and with patch up works and fabrications, used for propaganda by the pro-tiger elements among the diaspora people and to the international community.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), like their masters before (the LTTE), and their predecessors (the TULF), never understood the sufferings of, or worried about the common Tamil people. All they are concerned is the continued possession of parliament seats and enjoy all the benefits received through it. Almost all of their children are either settled or studying in foreign countries.
As for those who crossed over to the opposition at the last moment after having enjoyed positions, power and benefits all these years – Singhalese, Tamil or Muslim politicians – they cannot be trusted at all. They would do anything for their own benefits. Giving any weight to their cross overs and listening the reasons they give to the public, would be nothing but utter foolishness.
For all these reasons, the Tamils, and the Singhalese along with Muslims have been indebted to Mahinda Rajapaksa, and have to show their gratitude by electing him for another term. When there is an able leader available, it would be foolish to go for someone else who is going to be used as a puppet for the sheer interests of some group of people.
December 29th, 2014 at 4:33 pm
Today (12/29/14) across many Western media outlets led by the Financial Times an article titled “BUDDHIST MILITANCY SPARKS INTERNATIONAL CONCERN”. I read the article this morning but by the time I got to it this afternoon the article was difficult to read, let alone find. So I copied what I could and now paste the contents here:
Buddhist Militancy Triggers International Concern
Shahabadeen Sahira had a traumatic first-hand view of a new wave of militant Buddhist nationalist groups, whose rise across parts of Asia has triggered growing international alarm.
Wearing a black headscarf, the elderly Muslim former schoolteacher recalls her ordeal in June, when a gang burst into her home near the southern Sri Lankan coastal town of Aluthgama, during the worst religiously inspired violence to hit the tropical island nation in three decades.
“They came and took everything I had,” she recalls of the men from the country’s largely Buddhist Sinhalese majority, who burned dozens of homes in two days of clashes with Muslims. Three people were killed. “My house was ruined. All my money, all my jewellery, was gone,” she says. “If I could meet those responsible, I would ask: ‘Sir, does your Lord Buddha teach this?’”
The bloodshed was sparked by a street-corner disagreement between a Buddhist monk and a young Muslim. But Alan Keenan, analyst at the International Crisis Group think-tank, says it is part of a wider trend: the rise of a new generation of militant anti-Muslim Buddhist organisations. The most prominent in Sri Lanka is the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or Buddhist Power Force.
According to Mr Keenan, BBS, formed in 2012 by two hardline monks, played a critical role in stoking June’s violence. The outbreak followed a fiery rally addressed by senior BBS leaders.
In addition to its increasingly high-profile role in Sri Lankan politics, the BBS has also forged ties with other extreme Buddhist groups in Asia – notably in Myanmar.
There, the so-called 969 nationalist movement – the three digits denote nine special qualities of Buddha, six of his teachings and nine of the monkhood – has also been accused of inciting anti-Muslim sentiment.
More:
Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/buddhist-militancy-triggers-international-concern-rise-of-new-generation/#vVhGBXWuQ9MuQrJk.99
AND
A Talk On Bodu Bala Sena, Sri Lanka’s Militant Buddhists
With a Buddhist revival during the 20th century, Sri Lanka saw a rise of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism as a political force in 1956. BBS was born May of 2012 in the aftermath of the military victory of Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The BBS is registered as a non-profit and lead by Buddhist monks who broke away from Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), another political party headed by Buddhist monks.
As a post-war political organization, Professor Silva says that the BBS has been a “major obstacle” to peace in Sri Lanka. As Buddhists constitute a great majority of the Sri Lankan population, the BBS pushes for internal purification and the safeguarding of Buddhism against external threats and enemies.
Though the BBS is not an armed group, they incite violence through indirect means like “[manipulating] religious symbols.” Professor Silva referenced the Althugama riot incident, in which violence broke out between the Buddhist and Muslim population in Aluthugama, a coastal town in western Sri Lanka, the BBS manipulated the image of a monk’s robe by making the robe into a symbol that Muslims cannot touch. If any Muslim laid hands on the robe of a monk, even if in self-defense, the Buddhists had good reason to attack Muslims. This caused three days of riots, in which BBS members and other Buddhists raided many Muslim shops and homes. There was “no action taken against BBS for inciting violence.”
The BBS views its own political role as not for the purpose of consolidating power, but rather for the higher objective of preserving and promoting Buddhism. Seeing the Muslim as Christian population as a threat to this Buddhist state, the BBS has Anti-Muslim and Anti-Christian campaigns and propaganda. Seeing them as a cultural threat, the BBS has boycotted Muslim shops and campaigned against the hijab. “They take the law into their own hands,” says Professor Silva, and conduct raids as moral police at places like Evangelical churches.
More:
http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2014/11/03/a-talk-on-bodu-bala-sena-sri-lankas-militant-buddhists/
Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/buddhist-militancy-triggers-international-concern-rise-of-new-generation/#vVhGBXWuQ9MuQrJk.99
THIS IS IN CONTEXT OF NO REPORTS ON THE RISE OF HINDU NATIONALISM IN THE BJP IN INDIA. THE EUROPEAN NATIONALISM MOVEMENTS AND RIGHT WING ORGANIZATIONS WINNING BOTH POPULARITY AND SEATS IN RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS AND THE MID TERM ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES THAT BROUGHT SWEPT IN THE CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICS INTO POWER IN THE CONGRESS.
NONE OF THEM WERE EITHER LABELED BY FAITH OR EVEN MENTIONED (AS IN INDIA). I CAPITALIZE SO MY COMMENT STANDS OUT OVER THE CUT AND PASTE ABOVE.
December 29th, 2014 at 4:41 pm
AS A FOLLOW UP TO THE ABOVE ARTICLE THIS FOLLOWING APPEARED IN THE HINDUSTAN TIMES (ONLY IN THAT PAPER AND ALREADY IT IS ABOUT TO BE REMOVED 12/29/14)
PK fire spreads; Hindu radicals cry for ban, vandalise theatres (Hindustan Times 12/29/14)
The uproar over Aamir Khan’s PK escalated on Monday as Hindu radical groups vandalised theatres and multiplexes across several states, demanding a ban on the movie for apparently showing organised religion and godmen in a bad light.
Activists of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) along with fringe groups protested outside cinema halls, damaged property and ripped promotional posters of the film which they said has hurt religious sentiments of Hindus.
The protests undermined senior BJP leader LK Advani’s endorsement of the Rajkumar Hirani-directed movie as a “wonderful and courageous film” and that everybody should watch it.
The film, released on December 19, landed in trouble after Hindu seer, Dwarakapeeth Shankaracharya Swaroopananda Saraswati who has a large following in Varanasi, and yoga guru Baba Ramdev disapproved of several “objectionable scenes” in it.
“Derogatory remarks were made against the Hindu religion … this wouldn’t be tolerated at any cost,” said Madan Verma, a Bajrang Dal in Agra.
In Lucknow, inspector general of police (law and order) A Satish Ganesh said forces have been put on alert and seniors officers were told to make special security arrangements to prevent any communal flare-up in Uttar Pradesh.
The All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPLB) executive committee member, Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangimahli, asked the censor board to snip out the objectionable scenes to avoid religious discord and maintain communal harmony.
Over two dozen Bajrang Dal activists — carrying sticks and iron rods — smashed window panes at theatres screening PK in Ahmedabad. “Why the movie shows only Hindu gods and godmen in poor light? Why Aamir Khan’s religion was not made fun of?” asked a leader of the hawkish Hindu outfit.
Police lodged a complaint against the vandals. “We have asked for CCTV footage to identify those involved in the incident,” an officer said.
Protests were witnessed in Jammu and Bhopal too. A police officer in the Madhya Pradesh capital said the film’s screening has not been stopped, though.
The Shiv Sena’s Jharkhand wing in Ranchi warned of unparallel protests if PK was not banned immediately. “The protest may turn violent if the situation demands,” a party leader said.
The Sena has been staging protests in Maharashtra and some pockets of Punjab since the release of the film in which an alien (Aamir) lands in India and gets trapped in religious prejudices.
December 29th, 2014 at 4:45 pm
I ALSO COPY AND PASTE THE HISTORY OF THE BJP, RSS AND MODI AND HOW THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS IS WILLING TO PAINT SRI LANKAN NATIONALISM AS “BUDDHIST MILITANCY” BUT DEFTLY AVOIDS ANY SUCH REFERENCE TO INDIA, ISLAM OR THE EUROPE.
In India the Bharata Janata Party has come back to power. they are intrinsically linked to the RSS. the RSS assassinated the Mahatma and the BJP are radical Hindu Nationalists. In India the repercussions of such a movement could be dangerous but in the island nation of Sri Lanka the rise of Buddhism as a state faith is part of her history. So much for that. A little bit of what is happening in India that may impact Sri Lankan politics:
The RSS was founded in 1925 by Keshav Daliram Hedgewar, a Doctor from the central town of Nagpur in Maharashtra, who agitated for both independence from the British crown and the strict segregation of Hindus and Muslims. What may surprise the West is that some of the most prominent figures of the RSS deeply admired Fascism and Nazism, the two regimes that swept Europe at the time. As such , the RSS was outlawed by the British (and was periodically banned by the Indian government after independence). Indeed, Naturam Godse, the man who assassinated the Mahatma in 1948, was himself a former RSS member who felt that the Mahatma made too many generous concessions to the Muslims. In the decades prior to that event, senior RSS members had direct links to both Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Part of the RSS fascination with these regimes was their shared opposition to the British Empire – however, it went far beyond that. The RSS (as well as other Hindu nationalists) admired the way Mussolini and Hitler reorganized their respective nations so quickly from the wreckage of war to build a powerful economy and military under the banner of patriotism and nationalism.
“There are only two courses open to the foreign elements, either to merger themselves in the national race and adopt its culture, or to live at its mercy so long as the national race may allow them to do so and to quit the country at the sweet will of the national race” wrote RSS founder Gowlwalka. “that is the only sound view on the minorities problem. That is the only logical and correct solution. That alone keeps the national life healthy and undisturbed…The foreign races in Hindustan must either adopt to the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture, i.e. of the Hindu nation and must lose their separate existence to merge in the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinate to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment not even citizen’s rights”. If one were to replace “Hindu” with “German”, Golwalkar’s words would match Hitler’s rhetoric almost exactly.
Pracharaks or Sangh (Ornagizaion) Those who leave their families, often stay unmarried and lead detached lives devoted to the “organization”, when deputed to the Bharata Janata Party (BJP) or other RSS affiliates, they are called “Sangathan Mantris” (Organization Secretaries). In BJP units they are usually designated General Secretary (Organization). The “Sangh) has over a hundred affiliated Organizations, but most Pracharacks working in the BJP are either from the RSS or ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidvarthi Parishad or All Indian Student Council)
Narendra Modi began his political career and spent twenty years in the BJP as a pracharak, a “spreader of the doctrine”, in other words an organizer and apparatchik for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu nationalist movement known as the RSS. Pracharaks are expected to devote their lives to the cause of Hindu nationalism and among other things, remain celibate. Modi is “single” with air quotes or married* with an asterisk; as a young man he abandoned his wife to embark on a career as an RSS organizer, a state of affairs he deemed necessary to acknowledge only 40 years later as he stood on the cusp of becoming Prime Minister, and the fact that he habitually filled his marital status on electoral documents with an equivocal dash could no longer be ignored. Palash Ghosh of the International Business Daily performed a signal service with his article on the historical roots of the RSS quoted below:
The RSS doctrine is Hindutva, literally “Hindu-ness”. The idea that the preservation and advancement of Hindu identity is key to India’s revival. Like the Deoband and Barelvi schools of Islam, the RSS emerged as an Indian self -strengthening movement resisting the imposition of British rule and values during the Colonial period. Rejection of the Muslim contribution to Indian civilization (made as a result of Mogul conquest and rule that the British eerily recapitulated) was also integral to RSS identity politics. So after the British were gone, the RSS was still around, excoriating Muslims as an alien cancer and repudiating the Congress Party’s secularism as an attempt to institutionalize Muslim privilege at the expense of Hindu interests. In fact “secularism” and legal expression, “constitutionalism”, especially as they enable the myriad government set asides for both Muslims and so called “other backward Caste Hindus” are derogatory epithets in the RSS catechism. The political affiliate of the RSS is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi’s current outfit. He’s been advancing the RSS electoral agenda since he was seconded to the BJP some 40 years ago. Concerning Modi’s political agenda, one of Modi’s many critics in the “left secular” Congress leaning media wrote:
“For Modi, as RSS pracharak, history is an act of cleansing, and ethnic cleansing is merely a way of restoring what the fascist regards as normative and normal. For Modi, the old pracharak, Muslims were “dirt”. They were an irritating reminder to the Hindu majority that minorities still defined the polity. Like many Hindus, Modi actually believed that electoral Democracy makes a majority feel deprived, guilty about the way it feels about minorities. Such a “majoritarianism” feels that too much attention and privilege is paid to Muslim minorities. For such a group, Democracy becomes a source of stress. Modi understood these “majoritarian” sentiments, shared them and harnessed them. He created legitimacy for communalism. He used communalism as a vector to return to electoral power”. For over a decade, Modi’s detractors have been attempting to force the spotlight on the fascist elements of his ideology and politics, and have failed to exact any meaningful political cost as he has risen to the position of ultimate power in India. Will his critics succeed in bringing him to book this time? Do not count on it. The first indication that Narendra Modi is something more than the proud steward of “the world’s largest democracy” is the embodiment in the term “pracharak”
December 29th, 2014 at 10:07 pm
Appreciate your courage by bringing up facts and what you faced during the dirty war with L.T.T.E.Terrorists. This letter should be read by all. This is the time to unite and face the enemy together. Western backed Govt’s always wanted to remove our South Baiya from the throne but failed.This time too they are spending millions to overthrow him but will fail again for sure. They cannot buy our people so easily except few who are greedy of green bucks and medals they offer.
Chandrika the witch has to pack her baggage and leave on 9th and if she likes she can take her bigot son Maru Sira with her as he will not be able to travel from Colombo to Pollonnaruwa on 9th because people will have a present for him on the way.
December 29th, 2014 at 11:32 pm
>>>There have been numerous churches spread throughout the Tamil areas, and Hindu temples in the predominantly Singhalese areas, and nothing seemed to be wrong about that! While the Tamils accepted the existence of Churches, and the Singhalese population accepted the existence of Hindu temples among them, why the Tamils particularly make noise about Buddha statues erected among them. After all, Buddhism and Hinduism co-existed for thousands years in Sri Lanka and India, and there had been evidence in history, that until the 9th century, Buddhism had been adopted by Tamils in South India as well as North Sri Lanka for over thousand years.<<<
This is an interesting observation. I think you could have gone one step further and say the Hindu caste system, which is based roughly on a color line, makes the white churches more acceptable to Hindus than Buddhism. Buddhism is anti-caste according to the express teachings of the Buddha, and even untouchables or lowest caste people were admitted into the sangha by the Buddha, some rising to the highest spiritual attainment of becoming Arahants.
December 30th, 2014 at 1:18 am
It is really nice to see that there is at least one Tamil with a spine straight enough to call spade a spade. But, all these revelations are well known to Sinhala readers and this should be made availabe to people in the north who seemed to be still in the dark and are like putty in the hands of the TNA.
It is a long time need for those like Mr. Ganapthy moorthy to come forward and rescue the Tamil community from the lutches of the likes of TNA who never intend to make their lot any better are only interested in the festered wound of the begger.
December 30th, 2014 at 9:52 am
Thanks, Mr Moorthy.
Those who talk of protecting criminal(which can not be excused), remember the notorious criminal protected by both JR and Ranil. When he was pardoned by JR, he left the prison on an elephant. For some reason he was later assassinated.
Also remember the betrayal of the brave loyal members of the DEEP Penetration of the army, alleged by Ranil, who managed to assassinate of some of the worst LTTE leaders that made 2009 victory easier. Most of who were later assassinated bt the LTTE.
Also do not forget what the country was like before 2009 where people did not know if they would return home after leaving home.