How to Solve the Ethnic Problems without a New Constitution
Posted on January 6th, 2017
By Daya M from Australia
As a patriotic Sri Lankan living in Australia, I am writing this with the hope that the President of Sri Lanka and the Members of Parliament will get the chance to read it and think seriously about implementing my proposals given below. If the President implements my proposals, the ethnic and religious problems in our country can be solved while ensuring the unitary status of the country and in doing so, become the most respected statesman of Sri Lanka and not just another selfish and egoistic politician.
If the President implements my proposals, he will be killing not just 2 birds with one stone, but 3 or more birds with one stone. I will describe them briefly below:
- Solve the ethnic problem, especially the Tamil problem, where they claim that the Sinhalese are discriminating against them and treating them as second class citizens.
- Do away with the need to hold Provincial Council elections, which the SLFP will surely lose to those who oppose the Government.
- Prevent the former President and his men from coming to power again by taking away their main arguments and the reasons for their popularity.
- Save an enormous amount of money spent on Provincial Councils and Councillors which can be spent to develop the country at district and village levels.
Some Tamil politicians have been clamouring for a Tamil homeland amalgamating the Northern and Eastern Provinces and a federal constitution which would effectively divide the country. Their argument for this is that they are discriminated against, even though they have the same rights as the Sinhalese. Any Tamil can aspire to reach any position in government service or in the private sector as present and historical records show. There have been Tamil Commanders of the three Forces, IGPs, Attorney Generals, Chief Justices, Heads of Departments and Governors of the Central Bank etc. When asked about discrimination, the only thing my Tamil associates could come up with was the standardisation of marks for the University entrance. It applied, not only for students from Jaffna, but for all other students from major cities where the facilities were better than in rural schools and small town schools. Anyway, they overcame the problem by sitting for the exams the second time from rural schools.
Since the end of the war and even before, the Tamils have been living among the Sinhalese in harmony without any problems since Premadasa’s time as the President.
My proposals are given below:
- The Tamil ethnic problem, as well as the Muslim problem, can be solved easily by enshrining a Bill of Rights in the constitution which guarantees equal rights to every citizen of Sri Lanka irrespective of race, religion, caste, gender or sexual orientation.
- Bring in anti-discrimination legislation criminalising discrimination based on religion, race, caste or gender. Australian anti-discrimination legislation can be an example to be copied. Then the Tamil politicians will have no legs to stand on, but ordinary Tamils, especially the low caste Tamils, will like it.
- Appoint an independent and powerful commission to oversee this legislation with offices in provinces with Assistant Commissioners with judicial powers to solve any problems of discrimination.
- Get rid of the 13th amendment and abolish the Provincial Council system, which then becomes superfluous. The demands of Tamils for devolution of power to provinces and the colossal waste of money and corruption due to provincial councils can be eliminated.
- Amend the constitution to change the preferential voting system so that the highest vote getter in each electorate is elected, which will eliminate in-fighting and minimise corruption. If you are keen to have proportional representation, restrict the number of such MPs to about 20%. This is the most important thing to eliminate corruption. This will ensure the election of educated and honest men and women.
- It is also important to ensure in the constitution that all laws are applicable equally to every citizen such as land ownership, marriage and divorce laws etc irrespective of race or religion.
If these proposals are implemented, there is no need for a new constitution which would need a referendum. You will only need a 2/3rd majority in the parliament to amend the existing constitution. I am sure that the President will be able to convince most MPs, except some Tamil Vellala MPs, to vote for these proposals and at the same time take the wind out of the sails of former President Mahinda Rajapakse and his followers.
I have no doubt that our President would love to be remembered as the Statesman who saved the country from foreign influences and unified the country without dividing it on ethnic lines. People, especially the Sinhalese, will hail him as the saviour of our country if he repeals the 13th amendment, which Mahinda Rajapakse could not or did not do. As everyone knows, this is the only country the Sinhalese have and we all want the President, as the Head of the State, to save the unitary status of the country and preserve it for future generations. If the President can do it, I am sure the people will hail him as the new King of Sri Lanka, just as he himself hailed the former President after he won the terrorist war. If he allows a new constitution to devolve power to the provinces or let things to go on as it is now, people will call him the lap dog of Ranil Wickremasinghe and the Western countries or a traitor of Sri Lanka. I hope and pray that our President has the backbone to implement my proposals.
Around the 20th of January next year would be the best time to implement my proposals when Donald Trump becomes the President of the USA. Ranil can be sent to attend the inauguration ceremony so that he is not there to oppose the new amendments to the constitution.
If the President does not implement my proposals and bring in a new constitution granting all the powers to the provinces, he will be considered as the greatest traitor we ever had, worse than Ehelepola Nilame, Chelvanayagam, JR Jayawardena and Prabakaran. I hope and pray that President Sirisena will come to his senses and see to it that it will never happen.
May the Gods bless our President and MPs and guide them to do the right thing and not bring in a new constitution to divide the country!
Note: A letter containing an extract of this article was sent to the President a few weeks ago, but I am not sure whether he got a chance to read it. Can someone please print this and hand over to him and all the MPs, if you think it is worth doing. I am not at all being critical of our former President who ended the 30 year terrorist war.
January 6th, 2017 at 4:13 pm
Very true.
However, Malabars (Sri Lankan Tamils) already have these plus much more. A Bill of Rights is going backwards for them. Such is the fallacy of the “ethnic problem”.
However, I agree these must be the remedies to convince the sane that there is no ethnic problem.
January 6th, 2017 at 4:38 pm
The President if he has a spine should sack the Prime Minister immediately, bring back Mahinda Rajapakse and make him the Prime Minster, give the defence Ministry to Gotabhaya Rajapakse, remove 13A, and refuse the writing of a new Constitution. Use the 1978 constitution amending it as and when required. Keep the 1978 Constitution as the Principle Constitution without replacing it with a new constitution.
January 6th, 2017 at 6:07 pm
The Vadukoddai Resolution (1976) gave the ‘Rights’ to Tamils to kill Others in Sri Lanka and destroy govt property. This went on for nearly 30 yrs.
It is the Vadukoddai ‘Bill of Rights’ that must be Officially removed by Tamil leaders of today in Parliament.
That and the ILLEGAL 13-A MUST BE REMOVED.
If a BILL OF RIGHTS is important, write it into the existing Constitution as an Amendment.
January 6th, 2017 at 6:42 pm
What have the Tamil Leaders done to mitigate the damage done to Sri Lanka & her People by the LTTE because of the V’koddai Resoln (1976), for nearly 30 yrs ?
* The least they can do is to Revoke the V’koddai Resolution officially in Parliament.
* Allow the existing Constitution to remain without pushing for a new Constitution.
* Allow the ILLEGAL 13-A to be removed from the existing Constitution.
January 6th, 2017 at 7:32 pm
The only solution is Sinhalese to unite and stand up to Indian imperialism and Indian Colonial Parasites.
The Gentleman Patriot from Australia should go to Fiji on a fact finding mission.
January 6th, 2017 at 7:35 pm
I largely agree with Charles wrt the immediate action the President should take to dismiss Ranil Wikunanasinghe as the PM, dismiss his ENTIRE CABINET of Ministers, invite MR to be the new Prime Minister and to form a new government under the SLFP banner.
Let the UNPatriotic party become the new OPPOSITION replacing the Treacherous TNA in that role.
More Importantly, a New Constitution concentrating power in the National Government without ANY SUB-NATIONAL local government be enacted. It should:
1. REAFFIRM Sri Lanka as a UNITARY NATION in which Sovereignty is vested in all of its CITIZENS. As sovereignty is veated in the citizens, all amendments made to this Constitution should be approved by the government (executive, legislature and judiciary) and by a nationwide refrendum by all of the citizens.
2. OUTLAW in PERPETUITY all SUB-NATIONAL local government entities and Declare that the National Government of Sri Lanka is the ONLY legal government in thd nation.
3. DECLARE the existing 13th Amendment as an ILLEGAL Law imposed by India, and REPEAL it, and immediately DISSOLVE all Provincial Council local governments as entities that aid and abet the disintegration of the nation.
4. Create three branches of the government:
4A. The EXECUTIVE comprising an EXECUTIVE President, a Vice President, and a Cabinet of Ministers managing the Administrative apparatus of the government, and a DISTRICT SYSTEM of Administration of Sri Lanka by a District Governor and District Staff who are employees APPOINTED by the National Government.
4B. The BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE comprising a House of Representatives elected by the voters from the electorates forming each District with each Representative representing approximately the same number of voters, and a Senate comprising 2 Senators elected by each District.
4C. The Supreme Court JUDICIARY to interpret the Constitution and adjudicate the constitutionality of laws passed by the Legislature and Administrative procedures of the Executive. All other Courts will be administered by the Department of Justice reporting to the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General.
5. Declare Buddhism to be the STATE RELIGION. Declare that religious freedom of worship will be guaranteed to every citizen. Declare that proszelyting by foreign missionaries, religious conversions by them, and propagation of their religions in Sri Lanka to be ILLEGAL.
6. Declare Sinhala to be the SOLE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE. Declare Tamil and English to be LINK languages while English is declared to be a COMPULSORY international language for all citizens.
7. Declare the current Lion Flag as the National Flag, and Namo Namo Matha sung in Sinhala as the National Anthem. Declare as ILLEGAL all other versions of the National Anthem sung in all other languages.
8. Declare as ILLEGAL all Discrimination on COMMUNAL BASES (such as race, religion, language, caste, sex and wealth) when allowing access to government and private institutional benefits. Citizenship of Sri Lanka should be declared as the only community basis of assigning such benefits.
9. Declare as policy that the government will recognize only ONE SYSTEM OF LAW, the National Laws of Sri Lanka, nationwide. Accordingly, all community-specific laws such as Thesawalamai laws, Sharia laws, Kandyan laws, and other religious laws, that apply to all social, economic, and marriage/divorce and family inheritance are hereby declared REPEALED and henceforth ILLEGAL.
9. Declare National Integration of all community groups nationwide as government policy. Accordingly, the government will commit to a program of demographically homogenizing the nation and will act against any and all groups that oppose that policy and erect barriers to its implementation. In particular, it will be declared ILLEGAL to claim exclusive ethno-religious homelands in different parts of the country, and the government will be committed to preventing and eradicating such entities.
10. Declare as illegal the interference by foreign nations and foreign entities in political and religious matters within Sri Lanka, and participation in such activities by Sri Lankan citizens and NGOs shall be declated to be TREASON.
11. Declare as ILLEGAL the GRANTING or SALE of citizenship to foreigners. Dual-citizenship may be granted to former citizens of Sri Lanka subject to investigation of their PATRIOTIC credentials on a case by case basis. Under no circumstances can citizenship be granted to former citizens who have been engaged in terrorism or unpatriotic acts against Sri Lanka.
12. Declare as ILLEGAL the SALE of land and other real estate in Sri Lanka to non-citizens. Such real property can only be LEASED by non-citizens by the government of citizens of Sri Lanja for specified periods not exceeding 5 years at a time, but renewable every 5 years. All such leases must be approved by the Government of Sri Lanka.
13. Declare as ILLEGAL the grant of military bases within Sri Lanka to foreign countries, except with the legal approval of the Parliament and approval in a referendum by the people of Sri Lanka, for the express purpose of the defence and protection of Sri Lanka.
14. Declare the President of Sri Lanka to be the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka, and that the Armed Forces and other Security Forces of Sri Lanka to be responsible ONLY to the sovereign people of Sri Lanka and their elected government. Accordingly, no foreign government or foreign entity clsiming global judicial authority, shall be given the authority to sit in judgement against Security Forces personnel of Sri Lanka. The Armed Forces and Security Forces of Sri Lanka shall always serve the elected civilian government of Sri Lsnka snd shall not engage in partisan political activities.
15. Declare that a National Militia, comprising all adults of both sexes between the ages of 18 to 60, will be setup to assist and serve as backup to the regular armed forces of Sri Lanka, to deter even the largest enemies of the Sri Lankannation, to inculcate PATRIOTISM in the fabric of the nation, and to create a disciplined society that, although small in numbers, is ready and able to support the national vision.
…………..
We are NOW beset by a great threat that endangers the very existence of our Motherland as a Unitary Sovereign nation.
But, if us also a GREAT OPPORTUNITY to craft an ENDURING and PERMANENT SOLUTION to rickety framework national governance that limps along from one crusts to another.
Let us FURTHER CONCENTRATE POWER in the Central National Government, DENY ALL AVENUES to the SEPARATISTS attempting to transform our Motherland into a patchwork nation of warring ethno-religious Bantustans, and RESTORE to the Sinhala Buddhist majority community their rightful place that the majorities of most countries preaching devolution to us hypocritically enjoy!
Let us SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY presented by the DISASTEROUS Yamapalanaya ….. to CRAFT an ENDURING SOLUTION that would permit Sri Lsnka and it’s people to FORGE AHEAD to s brighter FUTURE as ONE Inseparable People, of ONE Indivisible Nation, sharing ONE Indomitable National Destiny!
January 6th, 2017 at 7:42 pm
An additionsl requirement in the New Constitution I proposed should be:
16. Declare as ILLEGAL all communal political parties espousing a separate communal aspirations, existence and national benefits. Accordingly, the TNA, ITAK, SLMC, EPDP, PLOT, JHU, etc etc would be BANNED!
January 6th, 2017 at 8:41 pm
I agree 100% with Ananda. There is enough evidence to ban TNA and other racist Tamil parties. They have too much freedom to dance around.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:03 pm
Hello Daya,
Don’t you know that “the ethnic problem” was given the proper solution in 2009. It was again resurrected by our good politicians.
There is a 3 wheeler problem now due to Indian Colonial Parasites invading us, which was never solved even by 2014.
How to solve it ? Now they are truing to surround our capital.
කොළඹ වටලන්න ත්රිරෝද රථ සැරසෙයි
ප්රදීප් ප්රසන්න සමරකෝන්
“කොළඹ නගරයේ බොහෝමයක් ත්රිරෝද රථ ගාල් ඉවත් කරමින් තිබෙනවා. මේ වැඩේ කරන්නේ නගර සභාව හා පොලිසිය. මේ කරන අසාධාරණ වැඩේ නතර නොකළොත් කොළඹ ඉන්න මුළු ත්රිරෝද රථ රියෑදුරන් එකතුකරන් දැඩි වෘත්තීය ක්රියාමාර්ගයකට එළැඹෙනවා.” යෑයි ලංකා ස්වයං රැකියා වෘත්තිකයන්ගේ ජාතික ත්රිරෝද රථ සම්මේලනයේ සභාපති සුනිල් ජයවර්ධන මහතා “දිවයින” ට ඊයේ (06 වැනිදා) පැවැසීය.
මෙහිදී තවදුරටත් අදහස් දැක් වූ ඒ මහතා මෙසේද කීය.
“මේ ත්රිරෝද රථ ගාල් ඉවත් කිරීම නිසා ත්රිරෝද රථ රැකියාවේ යෙදෙන ත්රිරෝද රථ හැත්තෑ දහසක් අසූදහසක් විතර කොළඹ වටේ කැරකෙනවා. එහෙම වුණාම නගරයේ රථවාහන තදබදය තව තවත් වැඩිවෙනවා. දැන් රජය ත්රීවීලර් වෙනුවට කාර් ගෙන්වන්න හදනවා. මොකද කොමිස් ගහගන්න. නමුත් ත්රිරෝද රථ වෘත්තියේ යෙදෙන රියෑදුරන් ගැන, ඔවුන්ගේ රැකියාව ගැන, ඔවුන්ගේ පවුල් පිළිබඳව කිසිම සොයා බැලීමක් නැහැ. ඒ විතරක් නොවෙයි. ත්රිරෝද රථ වෘත්තිය සුරක්ෂිත කර දීලාවත් නැහැනේ. කොළඹ ත්රිරෝද රථ ගාල් දිගින් දිගටම ඉවත් කරගෙන යනවා නම් අපි ඉදිරියේදී මුළු කොළඹම ඉන්න ත්රිරෝද රථ රියෑදුරන් පෙළගස්වා දැඩි වෘත්තීය ක්රියාමාර්ගයකට යනවා.”
January 7th, 2017 at 12:22 am
Look mates this is just continuation of Indian agenda. If you cannot see it particularly those who are from Western countries I think I am mad.
I know for a fact Indian vermin and colonial parasites are good at brainwashing the so called Sinhala patriot living in the West. They live with the Indians in Indian ghettos and portray to the world conflicts in Indian colonies as internal conflicts.
January 7th, 2017 at 4:22 am
My suspicion that Christie is a RAW agent commenting on every article at LankaWeb is confirmed by his comment above.
Sinhala patriots living in the West are mostly professionals and do not live in ghettos with Indians. They never trust Indians and do not associate with them to be brainwashed by them. Even at work places they keep the Indians at arms length.
January 7th, 2017 at 5:44 am
Thanks LankanDon for your complements.
Most of the Sinhalese are not professionals, they may be before migrating to the West.
Thank you if you do not suck to Indians.
Most of the Sinhala Patriots cannot see what Indian Union, Indian colonial parasites and Indian vermin do to their subjects like we Sinhalese.
January 7th, 2017 at 8:59 am
Christie,
You are wrong when you say Sinhalese are controlled by Indians; throughout history no power other than the British were able to fully control Sinhale. That too perhaps due to our unwritten constitution or the custom of transferring the power to queens brother when the king doesn’t have a heir.
The situation is the same. The west and India tried through the sun god, but failed. The Indians (at least those in the south) had good expectations.
Your assertion that SWRD was made PM by Indians is also wrong. If he was put in by them, why would he try his best to get a seat in the UN for China by giving a three hour long speech on their behalf?. He was a nationalist and laid the foundation for the liberation of the rural masses from the Colombians by making Sinhala the official language. Is that the reason you are attacking him and even calling SL, Ceylon?.
Please be assured that SL will never go under Indians and politicos who are indirectly supporting them also will be removed soon by the people.