Heed the Voice From The North and Answer Allegations – Sept.28,2016 Media Release
Posted on October 16th, 2016
Ira de Silva Canada
National Peace Council of Sri Lanka
12/14 Purana Vihara Road
Colombo 6
TO: Mr. Jehan Perera & Others of Governing Board
I am writing to you regarding your latest Media Release of September 29,2016. While you claim that your vision is “a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected”, it is obvious that your organization, which was at the forefront of supporting the LTTE during the war by advocating the division of Sri Lanka to appease” Prabhakaran, has not changed it’s goal and are continuing to promote Eelam, by NOT respecting freedom, human rights and democratic rights of the population outside of the north, primarily the Sinhalese and to a lesser extent, those of the Muslims, other non-Tamil minorities and those Tamils who do not support Eelam.
You state that the issues highlighted at events, such as the Eluga Thamil – Rise Up Tamils” meeting headed by Wigneswaram, who is the avatar of Prabhakaran, “reflect long standing Tamil grievances, aspirations and fears.” In spite of your organization having received millions of dollars from Norway and other western countries, to support the Tamil terrorist/ separatist movement in Sri Lanka, while at the same time providing you with millions for a very comfortable life, you have never answered the question of what these so-called “Tamil grievances” are. Before you call for these “grievances” to be remedied, is it not essential that you define/list them? If you can not list these grievances in your next media release, stop making these vague, unsubstantiated statements as they are patently false.
Further, throughout the war on LTTE terrorism, you advocated, perhaps at the command of your donors, that the LTTE be given their demand for Eelam claiming that it was the only solution. Your workshops which you held in the south, not the north, tried to sell Eelam demanded by the LTTE, which the whole world recognized as terrorist, fascist and undemocratic which, far from respecting the rights of all communities, murdered all communities. This media release indicates that you are back on track, perhaps at the demand of your donors, with this same theme supportive of Tamil rights and demands at the expense of all the other communities in the name of peace building. Is it only the voice from the North that must be heard? What about the vast majority outside the north? What about their freedom to live anywhere in Sri Lanka, their human rights and democratic rights, which you seem to have no respect for in your enthusiasm for only hearing the voice from the north?
Why should Tamil aspirations translate into a federal solution in the new constitution after this “Rise up Tamils” meeting which is the embodiment of the Eelam demand for a separate state? That meeting was a showcase of Tamil racist/fascist demands, no different to those of Prabhakaran prior to 2009. It demands the removal of Buddhist sites in the north. Do you consider that democratic? Do you support the demand that no Sinhalese should be allowed to live in the north? Is that not undemocratic but fascist? Is Sri Lanka not for all Sri Lankans? Do you not believe that Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims have the right to live anywhere in the island? To demarcate the north for Tamils only is not just undemocratic, it is the goal of fascist Eelam which Sri Lankans thought ended in 2009. Obviously you believe otherwise because you support the exclusion of non-Tamils from the north. Was all the death and destruction by Tamil terrorism which endangered the lives of all Sri Lankans insufficient for you or do you believe that by supporting the demands made in September 2016 in Jaffna you can get more millions from your foreign backers? If Sinhalese are to be excluded from the north, by the same logic do you support the exclusion of Tamils from the rest of the island? Also, are all the kovils to be removed from outside the north? Since you claim that these demands should be entertained in the constitution, is it not logical that there should also be a provision to exclude the Tamils in other areas of Sri Lanka?
It is ironic that you believe that ” Sri Lanka has entered into a period of conflict transformation”. Since May 2009 there has been no conflict. Since the “transformation” in January 2015, there has been a continuous effort by the current government to appease the TNA which incidentally was and is the voice of Tamil Eelam. If a Canadian judge, who is not involved in Sri Lankan politics, can recognize that the TNA was the voice of the LTTE terrorist movement, (quote – the “TNA was subservient” to the rebels ..membership in the party was tantamount to membership in the Tamil Tigers”), it is a joke that you, the other foreign funded NGO’s and the ignorant in Sri Lanka are unaware that there can be no reconciliation when one side does not believe in it, in this case the representatives of the Tamils of the north, but just uses it to further their demands and promote that the north must be “heeded, not ignored or rejected” at the expense of all others. So far the people of the north and their leaders, although they are also stakeholders in a peaceful and reconciled country, have not made any statement or effort at reconciliation but are promoting not peace but a division of Sri Lanka. The resurrection of the LTTE is now accelerating, funding from overseas is continuing, political demands via the western countries that supported the LTTE are gaining momentum. You obviously do not have any interest in the news items that prove this is taking place and dismiss it as propaganda which it is not.
You “call on the government to answer each and every one of the allegations made against its reconciliation process and to take this message to the people through an effective communication strategy”. The government can not and will not be able to answer these allegations because they know that these are not mere “allegations” but facts. The government hopes that the public will do as they do and hide their heads in the sand believing that the people will be fooled into believing them and support the denigration of the security forces, collude with the pro Eelam forces in the international community to try the armed forces in kangaroo courts as their reward for eliminating the hierarchy of the LTTE, remove them from the north to facilitate the Tamil only policy you and Rise Up Tamils” are advocating to exclude non-Tamils from exercising their freedom of movement in the island which, in case you are ignorant of it, is a fundamental right. It is hoped that the “effective communication strategy” you are calling for will be based on facts and evidence because the “people” having suffered for so long by the actions of groups such as yours which are of no benefit to them or Sri Lanka. Can the government disregard the voice of the people who are not from the north when they are the majority?
In conclusion, perhaps as a first step to aid reconciliation, foreign funded NGO’s such as yours should be barred as it is obvious that your overriding interest is money, not the country.
Yours truly,
Ira de Silva
Canada
October 16th, 2016 at 11:25 pm
Well said, Ira!
This self-appointed Defender of the Eelamist Murderers, well paid by the Norwegian backers of the Tigers, is indeed getting back into his TREASONOUS ACT once again.
This shameless TRAITOR to the Sri Lankan people was one of the chief paid propandists of the foreign powers and the Tamil Diaspora.
It is a TESTIMONY to the truly amazing forbearance of the Sinhala Buddhist community of Sri Lanka that this man has not been tarred, feathered and chased down the streets in Sri Lanka in his birthday suit.
May the Hatarawaran Deviyo of Sri Lanka teach him a lesson he will not forget ….. SOON!
October 17th, 2016 at 1:49 am
The LTTE massacred over 35,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members, Police Force members and Civil Defense Force members over 6000-7000 overwhelmingly Sinhala but also Muslim civilians, 1,253 Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF) members, over 2,000 Tamil Armed Group members who supported the Government of Sri Lanka and who were against the LTTE, around 3,000 Tamil civilians and all this add upto 47,000. Around 35,000 LTTE terrorists are estimated to have perished too. In all around 84,000 in total have perished on both sides in the war.
As you can see it is the brutal LTTE terrorists who massacred over 47,000 mainly Sri Lankan Armed Forces members, Police Force members, Civil Defense Force members in over 26 years of war. Over 23,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members are today both temporarily and permanently disabled due to the war. Over 13,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members are permanently disabled due to the war. Over 156,000 Sri Lankan Armed Forces members have been injured due to the war. Over 6,000-7,000 overwhelmingly Sinhala but also Muslim civilians have been massacred by the LTTE terrorists in the war of over 26 years.
The LTTE terrorist group also ethnically cleansed the entire Sinhala and Muslim population of the Northern Province, of over 65,000 Sinhala people and over 75,000 Muslim people of the Northern Province in the 1980s and the 1990s. The LTTE also ethnically cleansed the entire Sinhala population of the Batticaloa District in the East of over 25,000 Sinhala people.
Today, the Sinhala people and their descendants of over 135,000 are yet to be resettled in the North and in the Batticaloa District and Muslims of over 115,000 are yet to be resettled in the North. Uptil 2012, of the above number, around 32,000 Sinhala people and around 32,000 Muslims has been resettled in the North.
The LTTE terrorist group recruited over 20,000 child soldiers, all Tamil youth, as attested by UNICEF itself which stated in 2007 that perhaps the LTTE has recruited over 20,000 young persons under the age of 18 years into its cadre between 1983-2007 inclusive.
The LTTE was notorious for its horrific terror tactics such as large scale bomb attacks and the use of suicide bombers in carrying out hundreds of attacks against mainly Sinhala civilians and the country’s leadership, horrific attacks against Sinhala civilians using IED devices, claymore mines and bombs, the massacre of Sinhala villagers in their villages in the North Central, Eastern, Northern and North Western Provinces, the coerced recruitment or abduction of Tamil youth and children for recruitment as child soldiers, forced money collection from Tamils with threats to life in case of non-compliance, attacks on Sri Lanka’s economic infrastructure such as the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Sri Lanka’s the then only international airport, oil storage facilities, hotels, planes, buses, trains etc. ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese and Muslims from the North and East of Sri Lanka, the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the systematic assassination of over 120 noteworthy Sri Lankan politicians, civil servants, senior military and police officers, prelates, activists, academics, journalists and other professionals who were assassinated by the LTTE who were but a few of the hundreds of assassinations carried out by the LTTE, including the former Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
October 17th, 2016 at 1:57 am
The Sri Lankan Tamils demanding a ‘Tamil homeland’ is a bogus demand as per the history and archaeology of the country. Even a few months back, a discovery was made of an archaeological site in Anuradhapura dating back to 800BC and included beads, pottery etc. Anuradhapura was a large village by 900BC and there was an expansion into a city by 600BC. There is plenty of evidence of pre-historic cave discoveries such a the Fa Hien caves, the Bellanbendi pellessa and other cave discoveries especially in the wet zone of pre-historic sites or iron age and stone age discoveries (due to the clay in the wet zone preserving such sites well). The oldest skeleton found on the island is 37,000 years old. We know there were four tribes Yaksha, Naga, Raksha and Deva and around 600BC there was an influx of people from India, possibly Bengal or Orissa. These people together with the four tribes Yaksha, Naga, Raksha and Deva together then formed the Sinhala nation. This is why Anuradhapura which was a village by 900BC expanded into a city by 600BC.
Does all this archaeological evidence not prove that the Sinhala people are the descendants of the indigenous people of the island i.e. the yakshas, Nagas, Rakshas and Devas? Much later by around the 16th century due to the Aryachakravarthi invasion of the Jaffna Peninsula the Sri Lanka Tamils migrated but into the Jaffna peninsula only. Later during the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial times, there were further migrations of Sri Lankan Tamils (called Malabars meaning those from the Malabar coast of India) for purposes of planting tobacco and indigo brought in by the colonialists.
Of course other people such as the Arab traders, Malays, then the Burgers (descendants of colonisers) also migrated to the island too.
Does this not then prove that this island inclusive of the North and the East is the homeland of all its people? So is this demand for a separate state by the Sri Lankan Tamils (called Malabars meaning those from the Malabar coast of India), descendants of recent migrations to the island, not absurd and unacceptable?
Let us state in the constitution that this island is the homeland of all its people, for the sake of justice and fairplay, by everyone concerned.
October 17th, 2016 at 1:58 am
There are further historical facts and figures which prove that this ‘Tamil homeland’ demand is completely bogus. Apart from many Buddhist ruins, a very important part of the Sinhala Buddhist civilization which is the extensive hydraulic system that still prevails in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The Sinhala kings built over 10,000 (please check this figure in research papers for accuracy) large, medium and small scale irrigation reservoirs in Rajarata and Ruhuna encompassing today’s, North Central, North, Eastern, North Western provinces. For example Yodha Wewa Reservoir in today’s Mannar in the North was built by the Sinhala King Dathusena. The Pavatkulam Reservoir in Vavuniya in the North was built by the Sinhala King Mahasen. The Kanthale Reservoir in the East was built by Sinhala King Agbo II. All of the irrigation reservoirs present in the North Central, North, North Western and East were built by Sinhala Kings.
In fact, to get the water to flow out of the reservoirs in a smooth manner, the Sinhala Engineers invented the biso kotuwa or the besi kotuwa (as in wathura besi kotuwa), a type of valve pit, or a type of water outlet out falling from the reservoir where water pressure can be managed so as not to damage the tank bund. Another use of the Sinhala irrigation engineer was the anicut where a river’s water was diverted using a dam type structure built across the river partially blocking the river flow and diverting the water into open channel flow canals.
The amazing and extensive irrigation system in Sri Lanka’s dry zone encompassing today’s North Central, North, East and North Western Provinces encompassing over 10,000 (please check this figure for accuracy) large, medium and small scale reservoirs, open channel flow canals etc. was built by the Sinhala Kings.
Therefore there is no doubt whatsoever that there was a Sinhala Buddhist civilization encompassing today’s North Central, North, East and North Western Provinces, even just by considering this extensive irrigation reservoir system. R.L. Brohier , H.C.P. Bell, D.LO. Mendis, Henry Parker and many archaeologists, irrigation engineers and surveyors have written many books and research papers on this subject. In fact even the British Governor at the time Sir Henry Ward marvelled at the ingenious Sinhala irrigation engineer and wrote on the subject and Even Sir Emerson Tennent, another British Governor marvelled at the ingenious Sinhala irrigation engineer and wrote on the subject. In fact, the Sinhala irrigation engineer was a master of hydraulics. Not only that, extensive data on rainfall patterns would have had to be collected to figure out the capacity of the irrigation reservoirs. Very accurate surveying of the lay of the land would have had to be carried out to come up with very accurate contour maps in order to figure out the placing of the reservoirs and the traces of the open channel flow canals.
October 17th, 2016 at 2:00 am
There is no Tamil Homeland! It is a completely bogus invention. The writer has got the history slightly wrong. Even the most recent Pandyan invasion just prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century by Aryachakravarthi only invaded the Jaffna peninsula only and the settlement of the Jaffna peninsula was very sparse. All earlier invasions by the Cholas etc. they invaded Anuradhapura and Pollonnaruwa and these was for short periods of time and there were no settlements whatsoever at all as a result. Most Tamils were brought over by the Portugese and the Dutch to work on Tobacco and Indigo plantations set up by the Portugese and the Dutch after the 16th century.
There were from around 600BC over 43 attempted invasions of the island by the Chola, Kalinga, Pandya, Vijayanagar and other South and Indian Kingdoms etc. However only six succeeded. There was one invasion by a Malayan kingdom too. These were during Sinhala Kings Walagamba, Dhutugemunu, Dhathusena, Vijayabahu I, Parakramabahu II, Buvanekabahu V and Parakramabahu VI times. However invaders invaded Anuradhapura, Pollonnaruwa and stayed only for a short period of time and left the island once they were overwhelmed. There were no settlements due to these invasions except the very last invasion by Aryachakravarthi of the Jaffna Peninsula.
When looking at Sri Lanka’s history, it is extremely obvious that from 600BC to around 1400AD there were three kingdoms, all Sinhala Buddhist, Ruhuna, Pihiti or Rajarata and Maya or Malayarata. Rajarata encompassed today’s North Central, North Western, Northern and even the Central Province. Ruhunu rata encompassed today’s Uva, Eastern and Southern Provinces. The Kandyan Kingdom from 1400AD encompassed most of the island inclusive of today’s Northern and the Eastern Provinces except for the Jaffna Peninsula. Even the Jaffna Peninsula was invaded and occupied by force by Aryachakravarthi (Pandyan) and actually did belong to Rajarata earlier and later the Kandyan Kingdom.
Today’s provincial boundaries were drawn up by the British colonialists as per their divide and rule policy and the Sinhala people were not consulted when drawing up these provincial boundaries. In the meantime, most Sri Lankan Tamils of today were actually brought over during Dutch and British times to the Jaffna Peninsula and elsewhere to work on tobacco and indigo plantations which were planted extensively in all the colonies since they were much sought after and made a lot of money for the colonialists. Therefore they are recent arrivals and cannot claim homelands or separate states whatsoever.
The usual practice when a colonial power hands over their former colonies is to hand it over to its original owners. Therefore the British colonialists should hand over the Kandyan Kingdom to the Kandyan Sinhalese from whom they took it by force. Since the Kandyan Kingdom encompassed the North and the East, these provinces too should be handed over to the Kandyan Sinhalese who are its rightful owners. Even the Jaffna Peninsula should be handed over to the Kandyan Sinhalese since it was part of Rajarata and was forcefully occupied by Aryachakravarthi (Pandyan).
Since this has now been done already, the TNA, other separatists or the US, UK EU, Canada, Norway, Sweden and India cannot demand that present day Northern or even the Eastern provinces be provided any more powers or be made into federal states since this is totally going against the history and archaeology of the island and totally going against the rights of the Sinhala people who also have fundamental rights to claim the entire island inclusive of the North and the East as their homeland first and foremost.
History which was dropped as a subject should be taught at school since Sri Lanka has a very long history and it is very beneficial for the next generation to learn the history and archaeology of the island based on actual archaeological findings, archaeological ruins, artefacts, stone inscriptions, ola leaf writings and so on. Otherwise people will believe any bogus history invented by interested parties to their benefit, not based on facts but invented for their own nefarious purposes. Today these settlers such as the Sri Lankan Tamils are inventing history for their own purposes without any archaeological evidence whatsoever to back up such bogus claims. Therefore it is imperative that history is taught as a subject in school as soon as possible.