The elusiveness of a Sovereign and Flagship State for the Dravidic Peoples of the Indian Sub-Continent will be a prime cause of future instability in the region.
Posted on March 26th, 2012
R Chandrasoma
The word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”DravidicƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢refers to the Indic people who speak Tamil or a related language and are ethnically distinct from the peoples of the Northern parts of India who use ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”AryanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ languages in their common discourse. They are generally fairer and finer in their physiognomy. From ancient times the two groups had an uneasy co-existence and the Dravidic people resented the assumed superiority of the Northerners ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” especially of the Brahamins or ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”BabunasƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ who who practiced a kind of apartheid based on religion and superstition. Today, the Tamils have more than proved their worth as world citizens and the ancient social classifications irk them greatly. Their antipathy towards the imperium of the Northerners is now openly expressed in the clamour for autonomy in their ancient territories.
This feeling that the Tamils are denied their due lot as inheritors of an ancient culture rankles the Diasporic Tamils as well as the hard-pressed compatriots in India. There are peoples across the world whose claims in history and their contribution to human culture cry out for recognition as citizens of a defined sovereign state. The Kurds for example have been fighting for centuries to achieve autonomous statehood. The Tamils ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the more reflective among them ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” feel strongly that theirƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ identity as Indians does not suffice to quell the passion for true independence that is the rightful heritageƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of a people with a cultural history that is coeval with the history of India . As long as the Tamils world-wide have no Sovereign Home nor Flagship status in the United Nations – despite their antiquity as a culturally defined people – there will be tensions of a potentially dangerous kind in South Asia.
It is now a matter of recorded history that the first attempt to regain the lost standing of the Tamils in South Asia was the Eelam Movement in Sri Lanka. Backed by India under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Indian strategists of the day believed that a sovereign Eelam in Sri Lanka would defuse the explosive fissiparousness of the Southern part of their own territory by assuaging Tamil sentimentsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ on their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”second-class statusƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in an India dominated by fairer-skinned Northerners. How the Eelam movement was hijacked by a murderous maniac and the ensuing chaos and blood-letting are too well known to be retailed here. Sufffice it to say that the Tamils are back to square one and the Indian strategists seek new ways to beat off a second weave of Eelamism in their own land – now that the Sri Lanka option is no longer open. Sri Lanka isƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ currently a highly militarized state with robust friends that include the Great Powers China and Russia.
The Eelam bogey has not gone away but has returned to roost in the land that is its true breeding-ground ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” India. That a period of great instability lies in the future for the peoples of India is an uncontestable truth. A prime cause of this instability is the discontent of the Tamil-speakers of South India who will not accept their defeat in Sri Lanka as the end of their struggle. Their political fervour ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” blunted due to their defeat in Sri Lanka ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” will gather strengthƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as a freedom stuggle of greater authenticity and power in that it will be the stuggle to establish a free Tamil state in the land that was once authentically theirs. Sri Lanka lies athwart the expansion-route of the Tamils but was never the source of that distinctiveness that sets them apart from the rest of the world.
That Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his band of Strategic Advisors are acutely aware of this dire predicamentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ threatening the fragile Union of Indian States is made evident when we reflect on the volte-face in basic policy reflected in the actions recently seen in Geneva, One of the founding fathers of the Non-Aligned Movement bcame a tame amd apologetic lackey of the West. This about turn was dictated by fear ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the fear of the break-up of the Union if Tamil polifitical sentiments are not humbly addressed. The reality, then, is this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Tamil claims for independence and statehood will be the great destabilizing force in South Asia and India as a whole enters a period of danger heightened by the fact that this sub-continent no longer produces charismatic leaders of the kind typified by Gandhi and Nehru. An India in ferment will be a threat to Sri Lanka and it behoves our leadership to see that our land is armed, united and resolute.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
March 26th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Good point. Why are our Sinhalese people still blinded to the fact that a desperate Indian Central government is merely using Sri Lanka as a diversion and a shield to protect them from Tamils seeking self determination in their true homeland Tamil Nadu? We owe NOTHING to that oppressive entity that is the Indian Union. There was no Country as India before the British Suddhas created it for the Hindis. Hindi speaking northerners have oppressed Tamilians for centuries. These same oppressors regard Sinhalese as even lower down than their Tamilians. t’s in Sri Lanka’s interests to now support Tamil Nadu independence before India Central dismembers us to placate Their frustrated Tamilian nationalists. We Sri Lankans have no obligation to be the scapegoat or shield for the oppressive Indian Union. They always backstab us to save their own cowardly hides. Free Tamil Nadu so they can get rid of the current clowns that run the state and put in some responsible peace loving rulers willing to face their many real issues such as caste ism.
March 26th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Can Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province decide to MERGE with the Northern Province … ALL BY ITSELF? REALLY?
The National Government of Sri Lanka and the citizens of ALL OTHER PROVINCES of Sri Lanka HAVE NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT THE MERGER? NOTHING?
This ILLUSTRATES the danger posed by setting up Provincial Councils as semi-autonomous fiefdoms to the national integrity of Sri Lanka. They are TOO LARGE, and HAVE TOO MANY POWERS!
They ALREADY BEHAVE as if they WERE INDEPENDENT Sovereign Nations!
That is why I advocate REPEALING the 13th Amendment, DISSOLVING ALL Provincial Councils in favor of SMALLER DISTRICTS reporting DIRECTLY to the National Government.
GOSL … Please take Note!
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People of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province must decide on merging and North and East – Chief Minister
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 25, Colombo: Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan says the people in the East would have to decide on whether or not to merge the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Chandrakanthan has said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) cannot make any decision with regard to merging the North and East.
Addressing a public rally in Vavunathivu, the Chief Minister has said the political leadership in the North was not concerned about the people in the North and has isolated the people in the East.
He has noted that the East would not be able to develop as it has in the past few years if the North and East were merged.
He has added that as a former member of the LTTE, nothing was achieved except destruction.
According to Chandrakanthan, the TNA has not responded to a statement made by him expressing desire to discuss a political settlement with them.
Therefore, he has said the Eastern Provincial Council would continue to work for the betterment of the people in the East and it would be the people in the East who have to decide on a merger of the two provinces in future.
March 26th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Nehru introduced “No Separation” legislation in 1962 to prevent fragile Union of Indian States knowing Tamil Nadu will walk away. It true the Tamils in South Asia started Eelam Movement in Sri Lanka and India helped them to keep the Indian Union intact. NOW ITS TIME our politicians to pass a legislation in parliament quickly as possible to prevent taking and acting about any form of “Separation” of Sri Lanka. If this come up in Parliament we can see the “true picture” of many political parties in Sri Lanka. This should be 13++
March 26th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
I agree with the heading. This is what I have been harping on and on and BLOODY FOOLS cannot understand this. They think it is SL’s fault!
NO MATTER what, good governance, human rigths, no abductions, northern economic growth rate of 22%, national economic growth rate in excess of 5%, no bombs going off, annual violent deaths down from 4,000 to 15, devolution, Tamil grievances, Tamil aspirations, power sharing, etc. CANNOT stop or FOOL Tamils from their goal – a Tamil Nation.
We can waste our time, money and land to satisfy them. No point. They consume all these like beggars and then again demand a Tamil nation. That is their NECESSITY. We must accept and respect that FACT.
This is what we must fix first.
But I disagree on the solution proposed……….
“An India in ferment will be a threat to Sri Lanka and it behoves our leadership to see that our land is armed, united and resolute.”
Armed? – Good but not practical. We cannot face the Indian challenge through arms. No way!
United? – Good but not practical. MOST Tamil people will NEVER be united against a Tamil Nation. Why should they? EPDP, CWC, TMVP and other “thuggish” parties will but not MOST Tamils.
resolute? – Yes. Fully agree.
This is the solution – Make Tamil a minority in the north. Do what Tamilnet calls “structural genocide”. Structurally genocide the Tamil NATIONAL identity.
March 26th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Ananda-USA,
No district councils either!
Village councils at MOST.
Why do we ALWAYS think of various ways to cut the melon? What benefit do we get? NOTHING! Then drop it!
March 26th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
Lorenzo, correct. We can’t fight Tamilian extremists backed by HINDIA but we can fight extremist Tamilians together with sensible genuine Tamilian leaders like Subramaniam Swamy in an independent Tamil Nadu. Real issues should come to the fore, not bogus nationalistic emotional garbage like now and cowardly Hindian politicians won’t be able to use us as their political scapegoat and shield any longer. The oppressor puppets Singh, Rahul Gandhi types will have to face the wrath of their own people.
March 26th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
In fact Jaffna people like military government. What they don’t like is Ponna governance where there is no one to complain !
Is it easy to to do “structural genocide” now they know about it ? The best way is to join the provinces. Join north to north central, east to another one etc until their is no majority.
Most of all must declare China as our friend rather than onw and then declaring India as our friend nonsence. We ned to side China openly and officially.
March 26th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Provincial Councils are a definite NO NO as they would inevitably lead to the secession that has already been declared in the LTTE agenda. It is time that the 13A was repealed through a National Referendum, and a New Constitution based on the District as the Unit is instituted.
March 27th, 2012 at 12:22 am
Oh, HELL! Why is Minister G. L. Peiris running to meet Hillary Clinton after the dirty tricks she just orchestrated against Sri Lanka, in Geneva?
Shame! Sri Lanka SHOULD NOT BE DOING THIS!
Sri Lanka should stand by her statements that she does not have to explain her sovereign decisions to ANY OTHER COUNTRY!
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Sri Lanka Foreign Minister to meet Secretary Clinton on May 18
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 27, Washington, DC: Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris will visit the United States in May to hold discussions with the US Secretary of State.
The spokesperson of the State Department Ms. Victoria Nuland said Monday that the Secretary will meet Minister Peiris on May 18th at the State Department.
The Secretary is expected to discuss with Minister Peiris the Sri Lankan government’s plan to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
…..More
March 27th, 2012 at 12:27 am
Lorenzo,
I didn’t propose DISTRICT Councils at all.
I proposed DIRECT RULE of the DISTRICTS by the National Goverment.
In addition, EMPOWER the MPs to EARN their salaries by working to uplift the lives of their constituents. Right now they are useless tax-supported parasites with any work responsibilities, and without any authority to benefit their electorates. Let them WORK for their PAY!
March 27th, 2012 at 12:30 am
Oops!
Lorenzo,
I didn’t propose DISTRICT Councils at all.
I proposed DIRECT RULE of the DISTRICTS by the National Goverment.
In addition, EMPOWER the MPs to EARN their salaries by working to uplift the lives of their constituents. Right now they are useless tax-supported parasites WITHOUT any work responsibilities, and WITHOUT any authority to benefit their electorates. Let them WORK for their PAY!
March 27th, 2012 at 12:42 am
Now, let us follow this up with ASKING NORWAY to CLOSE DOWN their Embassy in Sri Lanka.
Don’t need those Terrorist Loving Sidewinders in Sri Lanka.
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Sri Lankan government to close several foreign missions in Europe
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 27, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has decided to shut down several diplomatic missions in Europe while establishing several new missions in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
March 27th, 2012 at 2:47 am
Have a look at this picture of TN Chief Minister, shameful Tamil people and their leaders.
From Daily Mail UK.
Disgusting!
Simply disgusting!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2120782/Tamil-finance-minister-prostrates-chief-minister-prior-presenting-Budget-Assembly.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
March 27th, 2012 at 6:00 am
Voice 123,
Even fair politicos of Tamil Nadu like Subramaniam Swamy want the 13-A implemented in full. Approaching/including Tamil Nadu for solutions won’t work – they will only use Sri Lanka for their own benefit only, with nothing given in return. Tamil Nadu leaders have to Modernise their state area on their own.
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We have to have our own solutions to the problem.
* Remove the 13-A once and for all. Replace with District Development Councils.
* Deport all illegal migrants. By keeping them on here, we are giving more hopes of an Eelam. Become less and less dependent on Tamil Labor, especially for tea estates by using machines to pluck tea which can operated by any ethnicity.
* Modernisation of all Lanka, our style – no blind imitations.
* Ports & Airports to be manned by the Armed Forces of Lanka.
* English language as a link language and Science & Technology to be taught in all schools, including to Buddhist priests.
etc.
At least the 13-A should be removed fast or the mechanism to do so set in motion, before GL goes to meet the Secy. of State, Hillary Clinton. Has anyone any idea how that may turn out ?
March 27th, 2012 at 7:17 am
Fran our leaders fall time and time again for the nonsensical doublespeak of the Hindian politicians. They obviously regard Sri Lankans and the Sinhalese as lowest of the low, for them to play with our economy, society and very lives of our children. They are a feudal class that can’t even provide basics for their own poor masses so they use Sri Lanka as their scapegoat. We may as well by pass them and deal directly with Tamil Nadu. One less excuse for the Hindian politicians incompetency and backwardness and one step closer to the day of reckoning to their own exploited masses. All bar the corrupt Hindian politicians, will be better off. Even the 13th amendment was the brainchild of the Hindian politicians who want us to abandon our own culture and adopt their useless “federal model”.
March 27th, 2012 at 8:25 am
Voice 123,
Agree with most of what you say. But, this part : “We may as well by pass them and deal directly with Tamil Nadu” would be a disaster of monumental proportions. In the past, Tamil Nadu has shown exactly how they will treat Sri Lanka – take all with contempt ! What help has Lanka EVER received from Tamil Nadu. The past with Tamil areas in India we know full well. In near history, they have merely off loaded their unwanted low caste/Dalit origin Tamils into Lanka whilst controlling them all through Tamil politicos in Lanka, and lately trying to take over the fishing grounds belonging to Lanka. How can we ever trust them ?
No, we have to device our own systems to develop with help from whatever others. TN has to device theirs. It is better we go our separate ways, till TN Modernisers. The sure sign of true Modernisation in TN would be if Lanka Tamils opt to go back to TN of their own accord.
March 27th, 2012 at 10:44 am
Fran Diaz asked:
“At least the 13-A should be removed fast or the mechanism to do so set in motion, before GL goes to meet the Secy. of State, Hillary Clinton. Has anyone any idea how that may turn out ?”
If G.L Peiris’s statements reported in the following news article are to be believed, he will lay down the principle that Sri Lanka will beat its own drum and dance to its own tune; not those of foreign powers.
But, the very fact that he runs to explain these matters to Hillary Clinton in Washington, DC does not augur well for Sri Lanka having the guts to adopt independent policies in its own interest.
Therefore, Patriots in SL and ABROAD will have to remain vigilant, and apply the necessary pressure if the GOSL strays from opposition to DEVOLUTION of any power to regions on communal bases.
No special rights should be DEVOLVED to any community on the basis of race, religion, language, caste, sex or wealth. Granting special rights to one community will violate democracy, discriminate against the rights of all other communities, and set the stage for the eventual disintegration of Sri Lanka as ONE Nation, of ONE People, sharing ONE National Destiny.
………………….
Sri Lanka rejects UN resolution, will continue own process to implement LLRC recommendations
Mon, Mar 26, 2012, 07:45 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 26, Colombo: Dismissing speculations that the resolution adopted by the United Nations can impose economic sanctions on the country Sri Lanka today assured the public that there will be no such move as the UN Human Rights Council has no powers to impose economic sanctions.
Addressing a media briefing External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said Sri Lanka does not accept the UN Resolution and there will be no change in Sri Lanka’s stance to bow down to any foreign pressure.
“There is no justification for this form of intervention. The people of this country do not want to decisions imposed on them,” he said.
The Minister stressed that Sri Lanka does not need unwarranted pressure to successfully implement the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
He added that the Internationalizing the issue which is internal to Sri Lanka, by any initiative through the UNHRC at present would not help but only harm the reconciliation process launched by the government.
The resolution tabled by the United States was adopted at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva last week with 24 countries including India voting in favor and 15 countries opposing it. Eight countries abstained from voting.
The resolution is a “highly selective and arbitrary process not governed by objective norms or criteria of any kind,” the Minister said adding that despite its adoption, Sri Lanka will continue with its current process of solving the national issue.
“Our policy in respect of all matters will continue to be guided by the vital interests and wellbeing of the people of our country,” Prof. G. L. Peiris said.
He said Sri Lanka will continue to engage with the UN and its organs in the most proactive manner as Sri Lanka consistently has done in the past.
Speaking of the relationship with the US and India, the Minister reiterated that Sri Lanka has a strong relationship with the two countries and hope to strengthen the relations further.
“One single incident will not change the Government’s foreign policy,” the Minister said.
Minister of Irrigation and Water Management Nimal Siripala de Silva speaking at the media briefing said that the government has absolutely no intention to hold a referendum on implementing the LLRC recommendations as some have suggested.
Minister de Silva said that there is no legal requirement to implement all the recommendations of the Commission in the exact manner.
The resolution on Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka calls on the Sri Lankan government to speedily implement the recommendations of the LLRC and take credible steps to ensure accountability for alleged serious violations of international humanitarian laws committed during the final stages of the country’s civil war.
March 27th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Thank you, Ananda, USA.
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Another piece of information from the LankaPage :
* Sri Lanka to expose India
Tue, Mar 27, 2012, 08:03 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 27 (The Nation) In what seems like a major development, Sri Lanka has expressed its commitment to raise India�s human rights violations in the occupied Kashmir at the UN. Although the Sri Lankan government stated that this was a tit for tat because New Delhi had voted in favour of a US sponsored resolution against the country for its crackdown on Tamil insurgents, it would still help boost the Kashmiri intifada.
It is definitely through such international condemnation that New Delhi can be ultimately pressurised into giving up the occupation. That Sri Lanka has taken a stand means a lot, especially when not many countries are willing to talk about a territory that New Delhi has come to assume as its integral part. The atrocities that the Indian forces have been committing normally are ignored by the Western media. Even the recent discovery of mass graves in the valley that contained thousands of mutilated bodies of innocent Kashmiris did not get the coverage that it deserved. What is, however, shameful is that our own government has also been downplaying the conflict. Consider, for instance, the reluctance to even discuss it straightforwardly with the Indians. This has happened repeatedly during the talks and bilateral meetings with Indian government officials. Unfortunately, in various meetings the government simply kept towing the Indian line that terrorism should be regarded as the core issue. There is little doubt that this guilty silence is also meant to curry favour with the US that appears totally against respecting the will of the Kashmiris owing to its strategic partnership with New Delhi. Also these days, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir and JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been vociferously defending the rights of Kashmiris. In fact, in each one of his public addresses, he vents his spleen at the government for sitting idle. While his enthusiasm is welcome, one cannot help but wonder what he was himself doing when he was very much a part of the coalition government. It is a sad reflection on his state of commitment to the Kashmiri cause that one did not hear him speak with as much fervour back then. Now that he is out of power and needs something to derive political mileage explains why he is so eagerly whipping up pro-Kashmir sentiment.
It should, however, come as a shock for New Delhi to hear that the Sri Lankans have made up their mind to expose the atrocities in the held Valley. This is apart from their worry that China alongside has also reiterated that it considers the Valley as a disputed territory. Under circumstances of the sort, the reality that it cannot endlessly maintain its stranglehold over Kashmir should dawn on New Delhi. The peaceful way out is to let the UN hold a free and fair plebiscite.
March 27th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Govt’s FOOLISH confrontational approach to India MUST stop.
We should not blindly follow these stupid tit for tat responses to India.
That is NOT the way to go.
STOP right now. We CANNOT fight or go against India to such a damn foolish extent. We are going back to JRJ’s FOOLISH tactics. Some village thugs may clap Mervin style but I will NOT. This madness must stop. I don’t like this COWBOY diplomacy which is rather village style and damn foolish.
1. SL warns India of repercussions on Kashmir. – GOOD
2. SL says will not implement UN resolution – GOOD
3. SL refuses to write back to India – GOOD
4. SL rejects India’s explanation – GOOD
BUT
Exposing Indian human rights violations – DAMN FOOLISH. Stop this BS right now.
SL’s enemy is NOT India but Tamil nationalists.
By confronting India we are helping Tamil nationalists.
Instead we should SCRAP 13A.
WITHOUT scrapping 13A, trying to meddle with India will have DISASTROUS consequences.
March 27th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Govt’s FOOLISH confrontational approach to India MUST stop.
We should not blindly follow these stupid tit for tat responses to India.
That is NOT the way to go.
STOP right now. We CANNOT fight or go against India to such a damn foolish extent. We are going back to JRJ’s FOOLISH tactics. Some village thugs may clap Mervin style but I will NOT. This madness must stop. I don’t like this COWBOY diplomacy which is rather village style and damn foolish.
1. SL warns India of repercussions on Kashmir. – GOOD
2. SL says will not implement UN resolution – GOOD
3. SL refuses to write back to India – GOOD
4. SL rejects India’s explanation – GOOD
BUT
Exposing Indian human rights violations – DAMN FOOLISH. Stop this BS right now.
SL’s enemy is NOT India but Tamil nationalists.
By confronting India we are helping Tamil nationalists.
Instead we should SCRAP 13th Amendment.
WITHOUT scrapping 13A, trying to meddle with India will have DISASTROUS consequences.
March 27th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Fran, I agree with your analysis of Tamil Nadu but that is contemporary Tamil Nadu. You thonk that cant change? Why do you think Tamil Nadu is Full of hate filled, intolerant, gullible, inferiority-complexed, mostly uneducated, poverty struck misguided people with corrupt clowns and puppets in charge? This is not their natural condition or their potential. They have been encouraged to be tools and pawns of elite Indians and the manufactured “Sri Lanka issue” is just one of their many political diversions. I believe a free Tamil Nadu, free of Hindi manipulation, more egalitarian, educated, without casteism, modernized and properly developed with peaceful politicians who are actually more concerned with improving their own people, and not murdering ours – that is Sri Lanka’s best bet. But If you like you can keep trying the same old approach with Hindia hoping somehow they will change and do the right thing by us. Keep hoping!
March 27th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Fran, and yes when Tamil Nadu is properly developed there will be no reason for our Tamil chauvinists to remain in Sri Lanka or claim our country. They will happily return to their motherland.
March 27th, 2012 at 7:01 pm
Lorenzo said:
“1. SL warns India of repercussions on Kashmir. – GOOD
2. SL says will not implement UN resolution – GOOD
3. SL refuses to write back to India – GOOD
4. SL rejects India’s explanation – GOOD
BUT
Exposing Indian human rights violations – DAMN FOOLISH. Stop this BS right now.”
Bullseye, Lorenzo, Right on Target!
It is ONE THING to point out the ERRORS & HYPOCRISES in India’s actions; It is QUITE ANOTHER to UNDERMINE & PROVOKE India and HELP Tamil Nationalists DESTROY India.
The former approach GETS THE MESSAGE ACROSS to India, but the LATTER will HELP India’s ENEMIES to destroy the only BARRIER to the Racists of Tamil Nadu, and will DRIVE INDIA into RETALIATION against Sri Lanka.
As Lorenzo says, we have to CONFRONT inconsistencies in India’s policies inimical to Sri Lanka, including preventing Indian interference in the governance of our country, while REPEALING the 13th Amendment. and ADOPTING Ethnic Integration as our National Policy. That is SUFFICIENT; no need to cut off our noses to spite our faces!
March 27th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
If you have wondered about the MOTIVATION behind Britain’s Channel 4 VENDETTA against Sri Lanka, the following article may provide a CLUE.
Marital Allegiances between Eelamists and Native Britons SEEM TO BE UNDERMINING British National Interests.!
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Diaspora Link To Channel 4 Revealed
By Faraz Shauketaly
The Sunday Leader
March 25,2012
Pics: Stuart Cosgrove and Shirani Sabaratnam
The Sunday Leader has unearthed startling evidence showing that the LTTE-leaning Diaspora in Britain have made in-roads to the highest levels within the British Channel 4 TV network.
Sri Lankan born Shirani Sabaratnam originally from Jaffna and Vaddukoddai is married to Channel 4 TV’s Director of Diversity, the well-known British journalist Stuart Cosgrove. Stuart Cosgrove’s responsibilities at Channel 4 is without doubt a major one: he oversees Channel 4’s strategy to have innovation and to have creative diversity. He also is in charge of managing strategy and development of new companies, within the general ambit of Channel 4’s operations with the ultimate aim of establishing Channel 4 as the “most creatively diverse media organisation in Europe”.
Vaddukoddai is famous for the so-called “Vaddukoddai Resolution” when the TULF in 1976 first called for the separation of the North and the East in order that Tamil aspirations could be better dealt with.
In 2010 Stuart Cosgrove participated in an unusual referendum: amongst the Tamil people of the world who voted for the creation of “Eelam” – a motherland for the Tamil community in the North and the East of Sri Lanka. Sometime thereafter, Stuart Cosgrove wrote about that election, “Maryhill (in Scotland) was chosen as a polling station in a global referendum organised by expatriate Tamils in their tense stand-off with Sri Lanka, a country that has resisted their independence.” He added, the “referendum is a fascinating story of democracy withheld, with more plotlines than a political thriller and enough constitutional twists to send Scotland’s political intelligentsia into paroxysms of near-erotic delight.” Cosgrove also said, “My interest went beyond the observational. I was there to cast my vote. My wife, Shirani Sabaratnam, is a native Tamil speaker from Jaffna, on the northern peninsula of Sri Lanka. She still holds Sri Lankan citizenship and, as a “qualifying spouse”, I am allowed to participate in the poll. So, strange as it seems, the stubby pencil of democracy was rightfully mine. As I handed over my identity papers, I was acutely aware of the paradox. Voting Yes/Yes in the 1997 Scottish referendum on devolution seemed natural; voting in a referendum on Tamil independence was an unexpected experience.”
Cosgrove was able to vote at the referendum because under the so-called rules of the Tamil Diaspora, he was a “qualifying spouse” through his marriage to Shirani Sabaratnam. Stuart Cosgrove waxed eloquent about the Tamil Diaspora’s battle with Sri Lanka’s government, “Tamils have for decades fought a relentless battle with successive Sri Lankan governments, demanding greater civil rights. With well-organised communities in Toronto, London and Paris, the Tamils are the undisputed world champions of diaspora politics.”
Sabaratnam and Cosgrove live in South London and are perhaps the best known husband and wife media combination in Britain – they make a formidable team: Sabaratnam is the Commissioning Editor at UKTV and Cosgrove had similar responsibilities at Channel 4 for a while. Neither Sabaratnam nor Cosgrove had any direct input on the production of the films broadcast on Channel 4 about Sri Lanka. Both have made visits back to Sri Lanka – the fact that Cosgrove was permitted to enter Sri Lanka in spite of his professional job at Channel 4 – and in an interview published locally Sabaratnam indicated that there were plans to make a film in Sri Lanka. Whether it was a film about Sri Lanka was not immediately clear. Her plans for a film in Sri Lanka on the surface would be of immense benefit in terms of tourism, international positive exposure and for the film industry in Sri Lanka. However, the current revelations that Sabaratnam is very much an activist with the Eelam-seeking Diaspora in Britain, will serve only to sully those intentions.
Additionally industry sources in Britain have indicated that following up on the made-for-TV films, a full-screen film is also being considered for release next year.
Many questions have been raised as to how it is that in spite of the world’s hot trouble spots like in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Tibet, Iraq and Afghanistan, Channel 4 have yet to make a film based on their coverage of events in those countries and continues to have an abiding interest in the Diaspora’s battles with Sri Lanka. Many in Sri Lanka complained that Channel 4 had not given coverage to the atrocities committed by the LTTE which also included killings of civilians and children.
Zimbabwe in particular is of interest as it was the Channel 4 reporting that brought the world news of the ‘land grab’ from white farmers.
We attempted to contact both Sabaratnam and Cosgrove for a comment, but both were not reachable at the time of going to press.
March 28th, 2012 at 6:48 am
Voice 123,
The Caste System of Tamil Nadu (and the rest of India, may be to a lesser extent) is the engine that has driven their society for the past 3,000 yrs or so. In the context of Modernisation, it will take a great deal more time for Tamil Nadu to be Modernised than for smaller Lanka which is not caste bound. Are you aware that even now TN state govt. employs around 95,000 Tamil coolies as ‘night soil carriers’ ? You see, once human beings set in motion Systems that seem comfortable, they will not budge from such Systems, unless pushed to do so. The push for Modernisation is there in Lanka too, but that is mostly because of the village being held back due to some 500 yrs of Colonisation. Colonists did not bother about village development programs.
I do believe that Tamil Nadu will arrive at a point of Modernisation – but this will take a very long time. At this point in time, if Lanka ties up with TN, then we will be pulled backwards into their way of life, which is going backwards into caste based practices and other negative social aspects. In human societies, usually the larger society (not necessarily the better) pulls the smaller society into their way of doing things. Lanka is the smaller society here, and we will get sucked into their ways.
The potential for TN to develop is there, but the inertia of the Caste/poverty bind there is too enormous for quick growth. I repeat, it will take a LONG TIME for TN to grow into Modernity unless they have exceptionally sincere and able leadership. Tell me, why should Lanka be held back to satisfy TNs slow growth ? Lanka is a separate country.
March 28th, 2012 at 8:23 am
Voice123 said,
“when Tamil Nadu is properly developed there will be no reason for our Tamil chauvinists to remain in Sri Lanka or claim our country. They will happily return to their motherland.”
I disagree. Only a few will return to Tamil Nadu with improvement of its economy and loosening of the grip of the caste system, but most will remain where they are, and will try to EXPAND and CONSOLIDATE those areas of Sri Lanka into the Greater Tamil Nadu. The support for that will come from the richer and more capable Tamil Nadu.
The underlying MOTIVATION for that push to EXPAND and CONSOLIDATE is the inherent Tamil RACISM & INTOLERANCE of other people deeply ingrained over thousands of years into the Tamil culture.
That Racism, partly directed against their own people now due to caste intolerance, will be directed and focused wholly against non-Dravidian people of Sri Lanka, India and the rest of the world as the internally focused casteism is replaced by externally directed racism. That is the EXPANSIONIST VISION of Tamil Nationalists as expounded by the leaders of Tamil Nadu since independence. It may take another thousand years of CONTAINMENT of that EXPANSION for that Racism to fade.
We Sri Lankans see Tamil Racism mostly through the prism of Eelamist demands for a separate state in Sri Lanka. We are mostly UNAWARE of how Indian Tamils RESENT the non-Dravidian Peoples of India, the great majority of India’s population who have equivalent caste systems, who they routinely demonize as Aryan Invaders and lesser beings. I have personal knowledge of that attitude which you can confirm on the internet. In that case, their animosity is not based so much on differences between caste systems, but on ethnic differences and the historical memory of peoples origins chanted like a mantra by politicians and priests through the ages. Therefore, how can we assume that when casteeism is eliminated, racism will die as well?
Instead, the demise of both casteism and racism must come from enlightened leaders, like the Emperors Dharma Asoka and Akbar, reigning over many different races and religions, desire to achieve peace and harmony in their realm. They will use the power of the state to stamp out these evils and leave an enduring memory of a better society that will survive their own lifetimes. We recall that most of the Dravidian South India, and Tamil Nadu in particular, were beyond the control of these two Emperors and the societies they created, and never benefited from their enlightened ideas, allowing ancient intolerances to reign unchallenged.
Therefore, it is the yoking of the Dravidian States of South India to the more enlightened Northern States of India through a SINGLE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, that is capable of both CONTROLLING the expansionist designs of the Racists against other nations, and ENFORCING more enlightened policies INTERNALLY towards the creation of a better society throughout the nation, that will succeed in moderating and eventually eliminating Tamil racism.
That is why it is important for Sri Lanka that India remains ONE UNDIVIDED NATION: it CONTROLS Tamil Nadu and may EVENTUALLY ERADICATE Tamil Racism.
March 28th, 2012 at 8:43 am
Just as the yoking of Dravidian South India to non-Dravidian North India within a Single Undivided Nation of India is necessary to CONTROL & ERADICATE both casteeism and racism in the South India, the CONTROLLING and ERADICATION of these evils in Sri Lanka must come from the Implementation of a Policy of Ethnic Integration by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Ethnic Integration should be geared to eliminating Ethnic Concentrations through settlement incentives to attain a homogeneous population distribution throughout Sri Lanka, and laws enacted to dismantle racist practices (such as the Thesavalemai laws against sale of property to non-Tamils, and devolution of power on ethnic bases) and caste-discrimination among Tamils.
March 28th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Fran, agree with your analysis of Tamil Nadu. I am not suggesting we “tie up” with them by any means. That would be disastrous! It may take another 100 years for them to modernize. What I am saying is it may be easier for Sri Lanka to deal with a few small independent countries of comparable size, particularly if they are self governed, rather than have the current corrupt and exploitive system , with corrupt stooges of New Delhi running the show. It’s easy for New Delhi to make Sri Lanka their “political football”. Disagree that Tamil Nadu is the most backward Indian state. Have you been to the north and had to deal with north Indians on a daily basis? Child labour, bonded “slavery”, forced marriage, child marriage, dowry murders, honour killings, prostitutes in their temples, a crippling inferiority complex centered around colour, lack of basic hygeine (many people stink), defecating in public, infanticide, etc. reserve your judgement until you experiene it first hand. I have had daily dealings with them so I know. Many of them also look down upon us Sri Lankans. (They only have a modicum of respect for rich Sri Lankans with a good command of the English language, like the Bandaranaike family, and those who have achieved success in the West). They really hold the Sinhala masses in contempt. I was recently discussing issues of backwardness with some rich north Indians and would you believe it, their solution is for rich Indians to get together with western patrons and engineer some type of mass murder or mass famine as “population control” as they put it. I could hardly believe my ears. They only talk “human rights when it suits their politics. Don’t be surprised if these are the kind of people Manmohan Singh and Rahul etc associate with.
March 28th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Amanda USA agree with the problem of Tamil racism and need for ethnic integration. However your view of north India is unrealistic. North Indians are just as racist as Tamils. Whether it is true or not they regard Sinhalese as Dravidian also. Have you ever heard them talk disparagingly about “Sri Lankans black buggers or Sri Lankans nig@@ers? I have! Get rid of your dangerous fantasy that north Indians want to help us or treat us as “relatives”. They are only out for themselves. Emperor Asoka is LONG gone. Western powers won’t allow another Asoka to unite or modernise India. Latest backstabbing in Geneva only proves the true intentions of North Indians. In current global environment only a coalition of China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Muslim countries, Africa, etc can curtail Tamil and Indian (north and south) expansion .
March 29th, 2012 at 7:00 am
North Indians may regard Sri Lankans as inept at handing Tamil Nadu Caste/poverty problems impinging on Sri Lanka, whilst threatening a possible break up of India as well. It is the break up of India via Sri Lanka Tamil separatists that North Indians are concerned about. We are also bringing to focus India’s internal problems at international fora such as the UNHRC.
Tamil Caste problems of North Sri Lanka have been transformed into Tamil Separatism under our very noses over a period of 30 yrs. Have we identified the problems correctly and acted on them ?
March 29th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Ananda USA you are continuing to repeat a fatal mistake. Virtually Throughout history no part of India has been our friend even as they bicker amongst each other they all either look down upon us or hate us. Central government of India in its current form is a British creation and prone to corruption and elitism. It doesnt represent the Indian masses. This idea that a united India, is somehow in our interests, despite all evidence to the contrary, is poisonous and somethina a paid agent of New Delhi or RAW would say. The idea is thousand odd years behind time. After Asokan Buddhism was wiped out VIOLENTLY from all parts of India by militant Hindus. Fran, you have Tamil Nadu myopia. Casteism is equally bad in all Hindu societies, not just in Tamil Nadu Later north India was ruled by foreign Muslims from places like Turkey, Persia and Arabs who further removed any traces of Ashokan or Buddhist values from India. Thats not all. Then came the British, who used India and their willing Indian subjects to occupy and exploit Sri Lanka. Even today, ruling families in north India have foreign origins. Ananda USA Im still waiting for your answer. Have you lived in North India or dealt with them on a daily basis as I have? We owe nothing to India, north, south or centre. If it is in our interests we should make separate agreements with the South. Tamil Nadu also integrating Sri Lanka. After all India continues the British policy of divide and rule us, we should do likewise to them otherwise. Even Sri Lankans kings like Parakrama Bahu adopted this policy successfully. This worked for us until the Portuguese took away our independence. Don’t ignore more recent history, the past 1000 years or so. Enough said. Next time the Honduran FEDERAL GVERNMENT back stabs us, think of what I just wrote!
March 29th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Sorry there is an error in the above text before it whips up any paranoia let me correct it!!
It should read “we should have separate agreements with Tamil Nadu and their rival states in India whilst at the same time doing away with the 13th amendment and FULLY intergrating Sri Lanka. Remember NO PART of India is our friend.”
March 29th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
Another typo. This stupid American spellchek puts their stupid word in my text! It shouldnt read “honduran”. It should read “Next time the INDIAN central government stabs us in the back, think of what I just wrote.
March 29th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Voice:
I agree we should not fall into any Indian trap.
However, we cannot leave our Indo-Aryan identity that links us to the entire region culturally, through religion and value system. We know what happened in Geneva. India gave into Dravidian value system and the western value system.
I doubt India can overcome this.
All the nations in the region have the Indo-Aryan language centric culture including India (majority of Indians – North Indians), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan.
We must deal with any Indian group where it is beneficial to us. I see absolutely no benefit from any South Indian group.
King Parakramabahu the Great used “Kerala” and Pandya troops to annihilate the Cholas. He also had extensive dealings with Kalinga (Orissa).
In historical times we rarely had adverse effects from North Indian states. Emperor Asoka was our closest ally.
A case in point is just decades after Emperor Asoka sent an emissary of goodwill, South Indians attacked. That clearly contrasts the relationship we had with two different Indian approaches.
March 29th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
Voice123,
I think Dilrook (see above) has effectively refuted your statement that “Virtually Throughout history no part of India has been our friend even as they bicker amongst each other they all either look down upon us or hate us.”
Sri Lanka has had strong alliances, such as the alliance with the Mauryan Empire founded by Dharma Asoka, and with various states of India from time to time.
Many of our kings cemented those alliances by marrying Indian princesses, just as European kings did throughout history, and often helped sustain Indian kings in power with military help. As Dilrook said, we allied with Pandyas and Keralas against the Cholas when the Cholas became ascendent during the reign of Rajaraja I. Still later, we had alliances with Indian statesnot only against other Indian states but also against the Portuguese and the Dutch.
Finally, I have to say that I have detected no “looking down upon us” from ANY Indians that I have met either during my many professional trips to conferences in India, or in the MANY Indian friends I have had in the United States, including university roommates.
On the contrary, Northern Indians in particular, seem to have a special liking for us Sri Lankans, and we make great buddies.
March 29th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Voice123,
I have never lived for any significant length of time in India. But, I have visited many parts of India many times staying for at most a week. I have known literally thousands of Indians in the US, become very good friends with many, and lived as university roommates with a handful of Indians (and Americans). They instinctively like us as I do them. There are many things in our common experiences in related cultures that we share and react to by instinct. They love jokes, laughter and politics as much as we Sri Lankans do. I usually have to explain many things to my to my European and American friends, but not to Indians and Pakistanis. They are just like us.
March 30th, 2012 at 7:49 am
Amanda USA and Dilrook, agree with what you say about Pakistanis, Nepalese or any other Asians including Chinese, indonesians, filipinos etc but NOT Indians, north, south or centre! With a few exceptions, I find them mostly to be cunning, conniving, communal minded, sometimes smelly, backstabbing people more ready to side with the Tamil separatist diaspora than us. They also seem to enjoy rubbishing Sri Lanka to the white man. Next time the north Indians politicians such as Singh, gang up with Tamil Nadu to back stab us, ask your many north Indian friends for an explanation and think of what I said.
March 30th, 2012 at 8:18 am
How can Sinhalese be “aryan” by any stretch of the imagination? I have no part in such hocus pocus . The average Sinhalese more closely resembles South Indians like Keralites or eastern subcontinent people like Bangladeshis than North Indians. Was Queen Kuveni an aryan? Was the princess that Vijaya later married from Madurai in Tamil Nadu, an Aryan? The Nayakkar (nayake Eg Bandaranaikes, Senanayakes etc all descend from South Indians even Chandrika claims it. King Rajasinghe of Kandy was a Tamil Hindu. All those Puran Appus etc are South Indian. There’s no Appus etc in North India? And arent the Karavas said to be Sinhala speaking South Indians originally? There’s many more examples I can give but it would fill 10 pages. Anyway Isnt it racist to claim that Aryans are inherently better than Dravidians or any other Asians? I do not think Oriyans, Biharis or Bengalis claim to be Aryans in the first place. This whole aryan nonsense is embarrasing us and alienating us from other Asians and Africans. The so called Indo Aryan (hindi speaking) belt in North India is among the most backward in Asia and only gives rise to shady politicians like Singh and the Gandhis. You guys must be joking!
March 30th, 2012 at 11:52 am
India’s army chief Gen Singh said India’s air defence was “97% obsolete”, the army lacked the equipment it needed and its entire tank fleet was “devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks”.
…………
India army chief says leak of his letter is ‘treason’
BBC
March 29, 2012
India’s army chief General VK Singh has said the leak of his controversial letter on defence supplies to the prime minister amounted to “high treason”.
The source of the leak should be found and “dealt with ruthlessly”, he said.
In his letter earlier this month, Gen Singh said much of India’s defence equipment was “obsolete” and the forces were “woefully short” of weapons.
It is the latest in a series of rows between the army and the government and the letter led to uproar in parliament.
On Wednesday, Defence Minister AK Antony told parliament that the “government is committed to doing all that is necessary to secure the nation”.
In his letter, Gen Singh said India’s air defence was “97% obsolete”, the army lacked the equipment it needed and its entire tank fleet was “devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks”.
The infantry lacked “night fighting” capabilities and was crippled with “deficiencies of crew-served weapons”, the letter added.
….More