31 Responses to “India Responsible for the Misery of Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu”

1. Lorenzo Says:
   April 14th, 2013 at 1:45 pm

   Well said!

   “Tamil Nadu support for ‘Tamil Elam’ is actually a depiction of their desire for a free Tamil Nadu nation from India.”

   Exactly. They can’t say they want their Tamil Nation, so they say they support a Tamil nation in SL.
   Endian fools don’t get the message.

2. Voice123 Says:
   April 14th, 2013 at 2:57 pm

   சிறப்பான யோசனை டில்ரூக், நாளை பிரக்கும் விடுதலை தமிழ் நாடு, நாளை பிரக்கும் அஸட் காசிமீரம்!

3. Vis8 Says:
   April 14th, 2013 at 5:54 pm

   Well said!. The bankrupt Tamil Nadu politicians’ rallying cries are only to shout at Sri Lanka, for fabricated allegations, and their beloved voters will swallow the bait and get worked-up accordingly……………… all this only till they get elected next year….

4. Ananda-USA Says:
   April 14th, 2013 at 7:34 pm

   Bravo, GOSL!

   Stop the CREEPING COLONIZATION of Sri Lanka by Indian workers.

   Keep jobs in Sri Lanka for Sri Lankan citizens!

   Get Sri Lanka out of the DEADLY EMBRACE of India that destabilizes and undermines Sri Lanka at every opportunity!

   BRAVO!

   ………………..
   Govt. curbs jobs for Indian skilled workers

   By Chris Kamalendran
   SundayTimes.lk
   April 13, 2013

   The Government is to reduce the number of Indian skilled workers in Sri Lanka and replace them with Sri Lankans, Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge said. He said the new policy decision by the Government would include a reduction of Indian workers in existing projects and limitations on the number coming for future projects both in the public and private sectors.

   The minister referred particularly to the Colombo Dockyard where some 800 Indian skilled workers were employed. The other sectors included the steel manufacturing industry where more than 1,500 Indians were employed.He said the Board of Investment (BOI) would be directed to impose restrictions on the number of Indians recruited for projects approved by it.

   “‘Our policy is to encourage Sri Lankans to be trained for the jobs now being done by foreigners,” Mr. Lokuge said though denying the new policy was linked to the strained relationship with India, and especially the crisis in Tamil Nadu. Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who is the President of the All Ceylon Harbour and Dock Workers’ Union told the Sunday Times that the move to discourage foreign workers would give more job opportunities for Sri Lankans.

   However, the latest Central Bank report on Wednesday claimed that the unemployment rate declined to 4 per cent last year from 4.2 per cent in 2011. Over the past few weeks, there have been several attacks on Sri Lankan visitors including pilgrims and Sri Lankan institutions in Tamil Nadu.

   The latest attack was on a group of Sri Lankan Tamil artistes hosted by their counterparts in Chennai. The residence in which they were staying was attacked by a group who warned that no one and nothing from Sri Lanka should be brought to Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, India is continuing to delay issuing a visa for Sri Lanka’s new Deputy High Commissioner to Chennai. The Sunday Times reported exclusively last week that the visa application has been pending since December last year. The Indian High Commission has declined comment on this issue.

5. Voice123 Says:
   April 14th, 2013 at 7:43 pm

   Us Sri Lankans have a sizeable Tamil and Muslim minority and we are concerned about the human rights of Tamils and Muslims in India. We will get together with concerned groups in USA and elsewhere to fight for Tamil Nadu and Kashmir human rights and independence.

6. Dilrook Says:
   April 14th, 2013 at 8:20 pm

   That is good news Ananda. However with low unemployment (4%), it will be very difficult to replace these Indians with locals. Productivity improvement, mechanisation (wherever possible), work design and design improvement of layouts should also be looked at.

   Colombo port is highly restricted as it was not expanded into land. Reclaiming land from sea for expansion is a joke. Without expanding the port inland, labour, operational and economic productivity cannot be improved. Cargo handling cannot be further mechanised due to congestion. Other efficiency gains cannot be obtained.

   For instance container yards are over 15 km by road from the port which adds to 30 km of road transport and double handling of containers. If these yards were just next to the port, it improves efficiency. Same goes for other support services like banks, freight forwarding, storage, etc. Layout of efficient ports must be replicated in Colombo.

7. Ananda-USA Says:
   April 14th, 2013 at 8:30 pm

   In 2011, Sri Lanka bought 18.9% of its imports from India, but India bought only 4.5% of our exports.

   China came second with Sri Lanka buying 12.4% of our imports from that country, but bought zilch from Sri Lanka.

   The US (22.1%) and the UK (12.1%) imported the most from Sri Lanka.

   Therefore, although India is the closest market for our products, India buys very little from Sri Lanka!!!

   Here are the figures from Wikipedia.com:

   Exports
   $10.89 billion (2011 est.)

   Export goods
   textiles and apparel, pharmaceuticals, tea, spices, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish

   Main export partners
   United States 22.1%, United Kingdom 12.1%, Germany 5.2%, Belgium 4.9%, Italy 4.8%, India 4.5% (2008)

   Imports
   $20.02 billion (2011 est.)

   Import goods
   textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment

   Main import partners
   India 18.9%, China 12.4%, Iran 7.7%, Singapore 7.5%, South Korea 4.8% (2008)

   Gross external debt
   $19.45 billion

8. Ananda-USA Says:
   April 15th, 2013 at 3:28 am

   When GULLIBLE Westerners encourage DISHONESTY, there is NOTHING to stop waves of fake Tamil refugees invading their shores.

   Meanwhile, Western Neo-Colonialists HAPPILY USE THESE FAKE ACCUSATIONS for their own ends to destabilize and undermine Sri Lanka.

   ………………………..
   Tamils flee for cash, not from harm

   by DINOO KELLEGHAN, in COLOMBO
   The Australian, April 13-14, 2013

   Dinoo Kelleghan is a former foreign editor of The Australian and was a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal from 1997-2004.

   IN contrast to the weary boatloads of Sri Lankans making the dangerous asylum-shopping trip to Australia, millions of different shoppers are out in force here as the island prepares for Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations this weekend.

   This year, economists noted a change in the spending patterns – lower-income people are spending more freely than the better-paid shoppers in the capital, Colombo.

   The reason? The gushing torrents of remittances home from Sri Lankans who have gone abroad for employment, often making empty claims of persecution to leapfrog others who stand patiently in long queues outside Western embassies in Colombo to get a work visa.

   The hunger for foreign money is intense in Sri Lanka, born of decades of dependency on remittances from those who went overseas legally to work, and the tens of thousands who smuggled themselves out of the country during the 30-year civil war that ended in 2009. Asylum-seeking has become a habit, unconnected to reality, and the trawler that sailed into Geraldton this week with 66 Sri Lankans aboard is simply a part of that economic pattern.

   THE asylum boat that arrived in Geraldton this week should be viewed in context.

   The number of Sri Lankans of every walk of life who have at least one relative in Australia is astonishing. Every doctor, every lawyer, trishaw driver I have met over the past two months after returning home following 33 years in Australia has a family member in Melbourne or Sydney.

   Vicariously they will ask you where you have lived, whether jobs are not plentiful, whether life is not marvellous overseas.

   Yes, you can find work in Australia easily. Yes, you get money there even if you don’t work. People get free houses there, money for getting a baby, sustained help in finding work. Just a little bit of hardship at the start but everyone knows you’ll get there in the end, and if you go in by boat as an asylum-seeker the Australian government just has to take notice of you, and they start looking after you straight away.

   These are facts, and no matter what propaganda Canberra puts out to deter people-smuggling, these facts are good enough to make many Sri Lankans make a down payment of half a million rupees to a people-smuggler and pledge to pay the rest when they start earning in Australia, plus, for Tamils blackmailed emotionally by the Tiger-controlled smuggling syndicates, a dollar a month for “Tamil welfare” for the rest of time.

   The civil war has been over almost four years. There is no foundation on which Sri Lankans – Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim or Burgher – can claim to have a well-founded fear of persecution.

   There are a few individuals who have tense relations with government and other political parties but my own experience as a member over seven years on Australia’s Refugee Review Tribunal indicates that embassies here are well aware of them, share information, track them and help them with visas for getaways.

   As Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canberra, Thisara Samarasinghe, said the so-called asylum-seekers were fleeing to Australia for “economic opportunities”. “I do not consider there’s any Sri Lankan should leave Sri Lankan shores and ask for refugee status in any country,” Admiral Samarasinghe told ABC’s Lateline on Wednesday night.

   Tamils in the northeast who get on the boats to Australia are not fleeing persecution but leaving for a chance of a better life.

   The area has always been poorer than the rest of Sri Lanka – it is dryer, harder to cultivate, there has never been any industry, and this was the fault of governments since independence in 1948 but also of industrialists, many of whom are Tamil, who never bothered to invest there.

   The decades of Tiger control of the area cemented in the poverty while the rest of the country was starting to prosper. The Tigers, who collected millions of dollars for development of “Eelam”, merely squatted on the land and controlled it with a fascist hand.

   While life is poor and jobs are hard to find the facts are at variance with those who claim that Tamils in the area live destitute and face persecution from the authorities. The government-run bank of Ceylon in 2011 revealed that within two years after the war’s end, about 40,000 displaced persons in the north who lived in the main Manik farm IDP camp had opened new accounts and that about $US1 billion then rested in some 80,000 IDP accounts.

   When I interviewed some former Tiger fighters last year who are now living normally following rehabilitation, none of them said they were suffering from persecution even when pressed. Their problems were lack of jobs, lack of education and training to get jobs, and difficulties with others over contested land.

   As for claims that Tamils face persecution simply for having been actual or suspected Tiger foot-soldiers, the outgoing head of the International Organisation for Migration, Richard Danziger, was reported saying on April 10 that the IOM had encountered about a dozen complaints of current harassment from the 8000 former Tigers fighters it had been assisting. About 300 ex-militants were still in custody but 12,000 had been through rehabilitation.

   Even if, hypothetically, Tamils in Sri Lanka’s north and east suffered persecution they would find a much easier and shorter and cheaper passage to India, just across the narrow Palk Strait. The fact that some of the Tamils coming by boat to Australia originate from camps in India in fact makes persecution claims against Sri Lanka irrelevant.

   Sri Lanka’s Tamil population is spread widely throughout the island, not huddled in fearful groups in a few places. Tamils now outnumber Sinhalese in the capital, Colombo. At least six of the 20 billionaires on the Sri Lankan stock exchange are Tamil.

   The country is doing well despite rising prices – growth is more than 6 per cent. But there are about two million Sri Lankans working abroad, earning enough to send home about $US10bn ($9.5bn). That’s the party many Sri Lankans want to join.

   Dinoo Kelleghan is a former foreign editor of The Australian and was a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal from 1997-2004

9. Lorenzo Says:
   April 15th, 2013 at 6:31 am

   “WASHINGTON: US secretary of state John Kerry has proposed a 16% cut in the American aid to India, reflecting the transition from a traditional “donor-recipient” relationship to a “strategic partnership” between the two countries.

   “With respect to India, for the fiscal year 2014, the State Department request is $91 million. This represents a 16% decrease from the fiscal levels 2012 (the previous actual spending),” a senior state department official told PTI.

   This is in continuation of the trend that has emerged over the past few years. ”

   -timesofindia

   This aid cut has nothing to do with the recipient.

   USA has NO MONEY to give!!! Hooooo! Uncle Sam goes begging. We should collect some old clothes, shelters, tents and send to USA.

10. Fran Diaz Says:
    April 15th, 2013 at 8:39 am

    Dilrook says : “Tens of thousands of Tamils from India illegally migrate to Sri Lanka every year. They are running away from Indian misery to Sri Lanka. Thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils leave Sri Lanka alleging persecution. But they avoid India which is just 40 kilometres away and boat to faraway lands! If India was any better for Tamils they would not risk their life to fare the seas for thousands of kilometres; they would simply go to close-by India”

    HOW TRUE ! This is the crux of the problem !
    CASTE/POVERTY problems of Tamil Nadu have been foisted on Sri Lanka, starting from British & Dutch Colonial times.

    High time Tamil Nadu took ownership of its own problems and stopped accusing Sri Lanka of “mistreatment of Lanka’s Tamil people” – Tamils of Lanka prefer to be Sri Lanka than to be in TN. Delhi govt. should stop mollycoddling TN.

11. SA Kumar Says:
    April 16th, 2013 at 3:05 am

    Tamils of Lanka prefer to be Sri Lanka than to be in TN.- no
    Tamils of Lanka prefer to be Saiva Thamil Eelamist than to be in TN.- correct !

    Naalai pirakkum Saiva Thamil Eelam !!!

12. Voice123 Says:
    April 16th, 2013 at 4:49 am

    SAK, you must sacrifice for the greater glory of the Tamil (Nadu) nation you love. Sacrifice, no short cuts. TN Viduthalai War 1 coming. Nalai Pirukkum. Chingalvam brothers are supporting.

13. Ananda-USA Says:
    April 17th, 2013 at 1:30 am

    Jeyaraj’s widow compares Weliweriya blast with Boston attack

    By Shamindra Ferdinando
    Island.lk
    April 16, 2013, 10:09 pm

    UPFA MP Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, yesterday said that the terrorist attack on the Boston marathon was the first attack on a sporting event in the world since the assassination of her husband, Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, as he was about to flag off a marathon at Weliweriya, Gampaha on the morning of April 6, 2008.

    The Weliweriya blast claimed the lives of 12 persons, including Minister Fernandopulle, who held the highways and road development portfolios at the time of his demise and athlete K. A. Karunarathne, the former national and South Asian gold medalist. Among the wounded were a number of children.

    In a brief interview with The Island, Dr. Fernandopulle stressed that the Boston attack was a grim reminder that terrorists could strike in any country, regardless of its political and military might.

    The Gampaha District MP pointed out that the international community had reacted angrily to the latest terrorist outrage with the US vowing to track down those responsible. But unfortunately, Western powers had conveniently ignored the Weliweriya suicide blast, she said, adding that the Colombo based international media and a section of the local media, too, failed to highlight the LTTE taking advantage of a sports event to eliminate a high profile target.

    An irate MP pointed out that those demanding accountability on the part of the government for alleged atrocities committed during the conflict had been silent on sordid LTTE operations.

    Responding to a query, the MP said that until the government had eradicated the LTTE leadership in May 2009, attacks on civilian targets had been a common occurrence. Those who had been preaching to Sri Lanka on democratic rights and free and fair elections had never condemned the LTTE when it targeted political rallies, political events and prevented Tamil speaking people from exercising their franchise, the MP said. It would be pertinent to mention that since the government’s triumph over the LTTE, there hadn’t been a single terrorist attack, though some predicted the LTTE could wage a guerilla campaign for many years. Those shedding crocodile tears for LTTE combatants and Tamil speaking civilians had been mum during the reign of LTTE terror, she said.

    Dr. Fernandopulle contested the last parliamentary polls in April 2010 on the SLFP ticket. She represents the Katana electorate, previously nursed by Jeyaraj.

    MP Fernandopulle said that those who had carried out the Boston bombing would have reached their target as ordinary civilians. “May be they were there as spectators or perhaps as competitors. What we have to realise is that even the best of security measures in place can be manipulated by those masquerading as civilians. We experienced on many occasions the horrors caused by terrorists in disguise. They were never in uniform during clandestine operations in the city and its suburbs,” Dr. Fernandopulle said. Referring to the Weliweriya blast, Dr. Fernandopulle said that the suicide cadre had been in civilian attire.

    Commenting on US Ambassador Michele Sison’s recent address to the Colombo based Foreign Correspondents’ Association, Dr. Fernandopulle said that the US envoy had quite rightly acknowledged that the US was suffering due to terrorism. Sison was quoted by a US embassy as having said: “We, too, have faced terror. We know how it can tear at the very fabric of state and society.” Unfortunately, the US had failed to realise that some of those demanding a war crimes inquiry against the government had been directly supportive of the LTTE throughout the terror campaign, Dr. Fernandopulle said.

    Sri Lanka had never been an issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions until the conclusion of the conflict, the MP said. Had the LTTE somehow managed to survive the military offensive, Sri Lanka would never have been the subject of discussion at Geneva, Commonwealth or any other international forum, she said. In fact, those who had sided with the LTTE during the conflict were now campaigning against the country both here and abroad.

14. Ananda-USA Says:
    April 17th, 2013 at 1:52 am

    Why do Indian Tamil illegal immigrants still pile into Sri Lanka by night from the “perfect” Tamil Valhalla in Tamil Nadu?

    Escaping endemic discrimination and abject poverty in the Tamil Valhalla to the more tolerant, more prosperous, Resplendent Land of Sri Lanka, perhaps?

    No wonder the fake Sri Lankan Tamil refugees “escape” from Sri Lanka to distant Australia ignoring the nearby Tamil Heaven!!

    These fake “political refugees” are really “economic refugees” looking to prosper on the Government dole as the Australians are gradually beginning to understand.

15. sridaran Says:
    April 18th, 2013 at 12:09 pm

    Ananda – are you still living in the British era, when the tamils were brought from India to work in the Tea Estates. Since you are in the USA, you also should be aware of the slave traffic that brought black slaves from Africa to the US. This is all history – and the blacks of America like the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka have integrated into the local population. But I know that racists like you always like to belittle the colossal strides that Tamil Nadu has made in recent times . Do we care when dogs bark – never . But to imagine that in this modern age, citizens of Tamil Nadu still want to leave their homeland and seek greener pasteurs in Sri Lanka – come on Ananda – you are an ace comedian. You ran away from your resplendant , prosperous paradise on earth ( of political killings, white vans etc. ) to live in the US. Indians are also seeking greener pasteurs in the US, UK, Australia, Canada etc. But, of all places in the universe – Sri Lanka ???? Come on Ananda – we have better intelligence !!! Do you have any statistics about your imaginary ‘piling of Tamil illegal immigrants into Sri Lanka ‘ by night ? I also note a contradiction in your comment . You also say that “No wonder the fake Sri Lankan Tamil refugees “escape” from Sri Lanka to distant Australia ignoring the nearby Tamil Heaven!!” Then who are these lunatics ‘piling ‘ into Sri Lanka ‘paradise ‘ ???

16. Lorenzo Says:
    April 18th, 2013 at 2:05 pm

    This sridaran is making PERSONAL ATTACKS here.

    Lankaweb should delete his useless posts.

17. Ananda-USA Says:
    April 18th, 2013 at 10:43 pm

    Sridharan,

    You were so focused on vilifying me that you MISSED MY POINT ENTIRELY! Instead of attacking messenger … address the points I made, with facts.

    Before the Eelam war began, it is a fact that Indian Tamils were sneaking illlegally into Sri Lanka. These were the so called “kallathonis”.

    Once the Eelam war began to rage in Sri Lanka, Indian Tamils stopped coming illegally to Sri Lanka for economic reasons fearing for their lives, but Tamil Nationalists come to Sri Lanka to fight against the Sri Lankan government, especially since the government had no control over its northern and eastern coastlines.

    Now that the war has ended, and peace reigns with unemployment at a low 4% (compared to 7.8% in the US and over 20% in certain EU countries), illegal immigration of Indian Tamils into Sri Lanka has begun in earnest and is rising rapidly.

    If you had been reading the news, last year there were several reports of tens and hundreds illegal Indian Tamils working rice in fields in the Eastern Province being arrested and deported to Tamil Nadu by the GOSL. That is apparently only the TIP of the ICEBERG. You just have to stop day dreaming about your virtual Eelam and focus of real news being reported in Sri Lankan media, and in official government announcements.

    You waxed enthusiastic about the Tamil Valhalla of Tamil Nadu. Where have you been hiding your head? You seem to have completely missed out on the ENDEMIC DISCRIMINATION against the low caste people of Tamil Nadu who are nearly half of the population. Here are a few examples: There are entire communities in Tamil Nadu who depend on eating rodents/rats as the sole animal protein they can afford. About a year ago, Dalit students were beaten up as they attempted to attend the Ambedkar College i(n Chennai, I think). Dalits can’t get access to education facilities, to community water resources, or to any decent jobs, which are hogged by the higher castes. Dalit women are routinely raped and the police do nothing about it and blame the women. Also, just as in Sri Lanka 50 years ago, when there were temple riots, in Tamil Nadu the high caste people still deny access to the Dalits to the Hindu temples. Tamil Nadu government does little to uplift the people, and tries to preserve the advantages enjoyed by theh higher casytes and the ricvh band powerful …. so they excite the “sRi Lankan Tamils issue” as a sure fire way to divert the people from their real problems and win their votes. Bloody demagogues … all of them!

    The divisions between high and low castes are not the only divisions in Tamil Nadu. There are the rich vs poor and sub-ethnicities vying for power and wealth. I remember Ramadoss, a Vanniyar, agitating for a separate state for his Vanniyar community. Ramadoss had earlier worked with the Vanniyar Sangham founded by him in 1980. PMK is based amongst the Vanniyar community. PMK has advocated the bifurcation of the state of Tamil Nadu, a proposal that was seen as a casteist line as PMK is stronger in the northern half of the TN State where it commands 50% of the vote bank namely the Vanniyars. There are many such ethnic fault lines within Tamil Nadu.

    SO YES, Tamil NADU is a FESTERING HELL HOLE for most poorer Tamil people. It is this discrimination and poverty that drives Indian Tamils illegally into Sri Lanka. It is also possible, that some of them are being deliberately introduced into Sri Lanka as future insurgents.

    I don’t blame anyone for wanting to go to a another country to escape discrimination or poverty; but it is up to those countries who cant afford to admit an unending stream of “economic refugee” wolves in fake “political refugee” sheepskins, violating their laws, and undermining and overloading their welfare systems, and demonizing the countries of origin just to keep that “political refugee” door open, that I object to.

    I care about illegal Indian Tamil immigration into Sri Lanka for three reasons:

    1. they overload the welfare systems and infrastructure that poor Sri Lanka is struggling to provide for its own citizens;

    2. they add more potentially disaffected people working in an underground exploitative economy (just like illegal Mexican immigrants in the US) to a minority that has already become a threat to Sri Lanka’s continued survival as a sovereign nation. So it is not only the economic burden, but the future threat posed by these Tamil immigrants to Sri Lanka who will exacerbate an already bad problem with disaffected Tamil people, and

    3. these illegal immigrants may be deliberately being introduced into Sri Lanka to be activated as insurgents in the future as future insurgents by the Tamil National Movements in Tamil Nadu.

    For these reasons, Sri Lanka simply can’t afford to allow illegal Indian Tamil immigration; RACISM has NOTHING TO WITH IT!, it is purle Sri Lanka’s fight for survival.

    You also sais that “No wonder the fake Sri Lankan Tamil refugees “escape” from Sri Lanka to distant Australia ignoring the nearby Tamil Heaven!!” Then who are these lunatics ‘piling ‘ into Sri Lanka ‘paradise ‘ ???

    Again, you have MISSED the POINT: I just told you that Tamil Nadu is not a better place than Sri Lanka, with respect to discrimination and economy, for Sri Lankan Tamils to go to. So they want to go to far off, but richer, Australia. But they will not be admitted, unless they scream that their lives are in danger and they demonize Sri Lanka internationally … just to get refugee status in richer countries. MACHIAVELLIAN, DISHONEST CROOKS … all of them! If their lives were REALLY AT RISK, they would escape to much closer Tamil Nadu, as some Sri Lankan Tamils did when the Eelam war was raging to escape a war zone. But most Sri Lankan Tamils from the North, especially the richer Tamils, just moved to the South, settled among the Sinhalese, and prospered. They are still prospering among the Sinhala people …. look at the greater Colombo area’s new Tamil majority.

18. sridaran Says:
    April 19th, 2013 at 3:54 am

    Lorenzo, pls understand this is a public democratic forum where you are supposed to exchange ideas. I have been following your posts regularly , and I presume you have a hatred towards Tamil Nadu and its people . I was born in Sri Lanka , and went to school there. During my school days, we were a group of about 10 upcountry tamil students. We also had about 15 Jaffna Tamil students. We freely mingled with the Sinhala boys – but the Jaffna Tamil group kept us at arms length. They never mingled with us because they considered Indian Tamils as ‘inferior ‘ . Whenever there was an argument or ‘boys fight’ , the word ‘kallathoniya ‘ was used on us more by the Jaffna boys than the Sinhala boys. Since you Lorenzo also belong to this same group, I can understand that hatred for Indian Tamils is in your blood – that is why you spit so much venom in your postings. This is exactly why , here in Tamil Nadu , I am contradicting the so called Eelamists and Prabhakaran supporters. I don’t need this Eelam virus here in Tamil Nadu. The educated , sophisticated class in Tamil Nadu don’t have any regard for the political jokers here. Tamil Nadu people should concentrate on the own development and future. Let the Jaffna Tamils look after their own problems.

19. Lorenzo Says:
    April 19th, 2013 at 4:28 am

    Sridaran,

    In democratic public forums, people don’t make personal attacks like dirty Tamil Madu racists. No wonder they are stateless and tasteless.

    Jaffna people CANNOT look after the own problems because Jaffna is UNDER the rule of SL, MR and the greatest armed forces (SLA) in the world. THEY are the decision makers.

20. sridaran Says:
    April 19th, 2013 at 8:31 am

    Lorenzo, again you have come out with a ” koheda yanne – malle pol ” type of answer. If you want to debate with me , stick to the points . Blowing only hot air is wasting time Lorenzo ! I have never made any personal attacks in any of my postings . If anyone insults my mother land and mother tongue – then I respond immediately ! I have never used words like ” Dirty Sri Lankan racists , stateless , tasteless ” etc. etc. These words are not found in my vocabulary , because I was born to educated parents of good upbringing and family traditions. But the same cannot be expected from morons like you Lorenzo – since you don’t have the same upbringing and the same family background. A persons quality shows in the words he uses. Vulgar, unparliamentary words regularly used by you will not be tolerated by any right thinking person. Use decent words – let us have a good argument ! I really enjoy when you come online dear !!!

21. Voice123 Says:
    April 19th, 2013 at 1:46 pm

    This Sridaran character earlier came onto Lankaweb and claimed Sri Lankans were all wearing amudes before the British came and gave us culture. Clearly, he wants to perpetually be a coolie to the British – just like most Indians, especially those in government.

    “Dalit women are routinely raped”

    This only reflects the general attitude of Indian society. In Iindia, when the woman is raped, particularly from poor and lower caste backgrounds, the women are blamed. The disturbing thing is that some Indians going to live in the west are now even trying to rape vulnerable women and girls in their new host countries eg some cab drivers from India routinely try to rape drunk underage girls and women who they should be assisting to get home safely. This is because they are taking the attitudes prevalent in India around the world. Some are even claiming it is their “culture”! Its no wonder many people around the world hate them. I hope Indians are reading this. They constantly delude themselves into thinking they are an advanced nation while the majority of their people are discfriminated against and struggle to find a roof over their head and a daily meal. Indians are now trying every trick in the book to claim assylum in the West, some are claiming they are persecuted because they are gay, some are claiming they are politically persecuted, some are claiming they are persecuted because of their religion, some are claiming they are being forced to get married, some are claiming they are being forced not to get married – all these things are ploys for them to seek greener pastures in the west, while at the same time claiming India is some highly advance country, more advanced than China and rest of Asia etc. Everybody is laughing at their silliness. Get your act together you fools.

22. Ananda-USA Says:
    April 19th, 2013 at 1:48 pm

    Lorenzo,

    Your inspired guess about the Al-Quaida affiliation of the Boston bombers may be DEAD RIGHT!

    The Boston bombers have been identified through video information and public input to be Tamerlan Tsarvaev (26) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (19). They are Muslim brothers, born in Chechnya. The elder brother is a car Mechanic and a forger engineering student at a community college, and the younger is an engineering student at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. Their uncle describes them as losers jealous of people who are doing better than them.

    Tamerlan was killed last night in a shootout with the police; the Szhokar is still on the run on foot.

    Significantly, after the Boston bombings, Dzhokar wrote that his fealty is to “Islam” on his Facebook page!! We know Chechnyans fight in significant numbers for Al-Quaida units in Afghanistan and elsewhere. It appears that these two guys have international connections and may have become radicalized and transformed into Islamist terrorists.

    The police are clearly convinced that there two are the Boston bombers; Dzhokar will soon be caught alive, shot dead, or will commit suicide. Since there may be additional bombers working with them, I hope he will be caught. Then the US will have to grapple with whether to torture them for information, or will abide by the oft-repeated respect for “human rights” that the US hypocritically flings in Sri Lanka’s face at the UN! My guess is that Dzhokar will be shot down like a dog in the streets, as he RICHLY DESERVES!

23. Lorenzo Says:
    April 19th, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    Sridaran,

    You have come to the WRONG COUNTRY!

    Go back!

24. Ananda-USA Says:
    April 19th, 2013 at 11:08 pm

    Sridaran,

    I am tired of this ONE-SIDED accusation of Sinhala Buddhists as RACISTS, and the GLORIFICATION of the Tamil Valhalla of Tamil Nadu by Eelamists wanting to capture and create a Tamils-Only Eelam in a large part of Sri Lanka, on behalf of 12.5% minority in Sri Lanka few of whom live in the areas claimed by for the Tamil Eelam.

    We Sri Lankans KNOW that NO MINORITY …. Tamils, Muslims, Hindus, or Christians … are EVER TREATED BADLY in Sri Lanka, and there was NO CAUSE for the attacks launched on Sinhala People and the war that followed. That was how Sri Lanka’s ENEMIES exploited Sri Lanka’s Military and Economic weakness. That EQUITY was achieved for ALL of Sri Lanka’s People, NOT BY MINORITIES, but by the POLICIES ENACTED by SUCCESSIVE Sri Lankan governments dominated by the SINHALA BUDDHIST MAJORITY of Sri Lanka.

    Our Tolerant Buddhist Ways created the Social Equity in Sri Lanka today.

    So, I am going to start posting videos posted on the Web by various segments of Indian Tamils in Tamil Nadu of the ENDEMIC DISCRIMINATION they face in Tamil Nadu.

    If, you won”t believe me, then listen to THEM: Tamils from Tamil Nadu waling about they VICIOUS DISCRIMINATION they face in the Tamil HELL of Tamil Nadu!

    This is just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG of information that is available … Hope you like IT!

    ……………………..
    Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu: Parts I-VI (In Tamil)
    By Aravindan Neelakandan

    Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-I Dalit Hindus in Dindugal district are being harassed by upper castes who are Christians. Hence pseudo-Dalit movements fall silent over the atrocities. When a Dalit youth is attacked and human excreta forced into his mouth, pseudo-Dalit leaders and media turn the other way and a fact finding team exposes the truth

    Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-IIWhile caste Christians make atrocities against Dalits, the pseudo-Dalit organizations as well as media turn the other way. Movement for National Vigilance (Sri.B.Gautham, Chennai) exposes the atrocity indulged in against the Dalits through a fact finding mission.

    Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-IIIWhen Caste Christians force excreta on a Dalit youth for daring to walk the road of upper castes, pseudo-Dalit leaders and media turn a blind eye. Movement for National Vigilance (Sri. B.Gautham) exposes the inhuman atrocity and analyses the factors and offers a solution for social harmony and justice through a fact finding mission.

    Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-IVWhen Caste Christians force excreta on a Dalit youth for daring to walk the road of upper castes, pseudo-Dalit leaders and media turn a blind eye. Movement for National Vigilance (Sri. B.Gautham) exposes the inhuman atrocity and analyses the factors and offers a solution for social harmony and justice through a fact finding mission.

    Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-V

    Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-VIThis is part-6 of the atrocity Hindu Dalits face in Tamil Nadu, Didukkal district. When Christian upper caste Christians thrust human excreta in Hindu Dalits Mouths for walking in the street with footwear, media and pseudo-Dalit leadership look the other way. But a fact finding team exposes this here. We thank Sri. Gautham for giving permission to upload the video.

25. Ananda-USA Says:
    April 20th, 2013 at 12:34 am

    Here is more on the ENDEMIC DISCRIMINATION by Tamils against Other Tamils in the Festering Hell Hole of Tamil Nadu. When viewing, please activate the ENGLISH Captions!

    There is NO DISCRIMINATION even REMOTELY like this in Sri Lanka.

    How dare these HYPOCRITES criticize Sri Lanka; they should look at their own crumbling house and UPLIFT their own people FIRST!

    Let us GET THE TRUTH OUT into the OPEN!

    ………………………………..
    Casteism in Tamilnadu – a discussion

    A discussion about caste discrimination of Dalit Christians in Tamilnadu. (English subtitles available). Director Amudhan discusses his documentary “Seruppu” which details the hardships and discrimination faced by Dalit Christians in Trichy, Tamilnadu.

26. sridaran Says:
    April 20th, 2013 at 12:42 am

    Voice 123 – you are another character who is afflicted with ‘Tamil Nadu Phobia ” . You are the fellow who was advising about latrines. Now you say I spoke about amudes. You want India to be permanently in the 18th century . But sorry your prayers will not be answered ! We are barging into the 21st century with full force. We lead the world in IT . We are a nuclear power. The world bank forecasts that our economy will overtake the Chinese economy in a few years. The number of Indian youngsters coming out of universities is increasing by the year. Whether you like it or not – we go only one way – that is up. But , I am also pregmatic. The social evils, the caste systems – these are all baggages we carry from the past. But slowly , as education level improves among middle and lower classes – things are improving and are not as bad as they were 10 years ago. But since you are wearing colored glasses permanently, your vision will be always colored and – sorry – I can’t do anything about it ! If I place a glass tumbler with half water in it in front of you, I know what you will say . You will say ‘it is half empty ‘ , since your mindset is always negative. I will say ‘it is half full ‘ , since my mindset is always positive !

    You repeatedly talk about the caste system in India. The caste system is prevalent all over the world, and is NOT unique to India alone. I found the following in Wikipedia :

    Kandyan Castes
    In the Central Highlands, some traditions of the Kingdom of Kandy survived after its collapse in 1818, preserved in unique forms of the caste system until the post independence period. The most important feature of the old system was rajakariya, or the “king’s work,” which linked each caste to a specific occupation and demanded services for the court and religious institutions.[3]
    The connection of caste and job is still stronger in the Central Highlands, and at events such as the Kandy Perahera, an annual festival honoring Hindu gods and the Buddha, the various castes still perform traditional functions. There are four categories such as Raja, Bamunu, Velanda, Govi. Raja highest caste in Kandyan Kingdom Rajamanthri Govi Kula is Prince aristocracy of the Kandyan Kingdom. The Goyigama in the highlands differ from those of the low country because they preserve occupational divisions within the caste such as herdsmen (Patti), woodcutters (Porowakara) etc. The highland interior is home to the Wahumpura (Dewa), or traditional makers of jaggery (a sugar made from palm sap), who have spread throughout the country in a wide variety of occupations, especially agriculture.
    In the low country, these sub castes within the Goyigama have faded away, and high status is marked by European titles and degrees rather than the older, feudal titles. Honorific titles hearkening back to ancestral homes, manors or vasagama, or noble houses or gedara still marked the pedigrees of the old nobility in the 1980s, and marriages between members of these families and common Goyigama were rare. The status of secondary castes in the low country (Salagama, Durava, etc.) improved dramatically after the collapse of Sri Lanka’s traditional feudal system.
    In the Kandy District of the highlands live the Batgama or Padu, another caste of agricultural laborers who have escaped the British period consolidation of the cultivator caste. Also untouchable Rodiya and the Kinnaraya who display the vestiges of a hunter gather tribe, were traditionally segregated from other groups because of their menial status. Living in all areas are service groups, such as the Hena or Rada, traditional washermen who still dominate the laundry trade; the Berava, traditional temple drummers who work as cultivators in many villages; and the Navandanna or Achari types are traditional artisans.

    Southern Castes
    There are still major differences between the caste structures of the highlands and those of the low country, although some service groups are common to both. The southwest coast is home to three major castes other than the majority Goyigama common to both Low Country and Up Country, some of whose ancestors are believed have migrated from Southern India at a later period but who have become important actors in the Sinhalese social system: the Salagama, the Durava and the Karave. The 100 BC Anuradhpura Abayagiri terrace inscription referring to a Karava navika may be the first reference to a specialist occupation.[4] These groups have exploited their traditional occupations and their coastal positions to accumulate wealth and influence during the colonial period. By the late 20th century, members of southern castes, especially by the Karave, Durava and Salagama had moved to all parts of the country, occupied high business and academic positions. Formerly untouchable Rodiya and Kinnaraya are also found in the low country.

    India has its share of problems – I know. But 21st century India is NOT 18th century India. We are today an economic and military power to reckon with.

27. Lorenzo Says:
    April 20th, 2013 at 5:09 pm

    The why not these Tamilians go back to Endia?

    Problem solved.

28. Ananda-USA Says:
    April 20th, 2013 at 9:58 pm

    sridaran,

    Yes, there were strong caste divisions in Sri Lanka … related to the service the various groups performed for the king, but not embedded in the RELIGION as in India. As you well know Buddism rejects caste distinctions as a basis for assigning the worth of individuals, and fought that battle in Nidu India during the Buddha’s day as well. That is precisely why Dr. Babasehab Ambedkar led his Dalit community to embarce Buddhism in 1955.

    The majority Buddhist is PRECISELY the reason why caste distinctions are practically vanished among the Sinhala people since independence irrespective of their religion, whereas the Hindu majority Tamil community is STILL divided along caste lines.

    In fact, I remember when I was an Engineering student at the Peradeniya eFac, certain of my Tamil colleagues came all the way from Jaffna to Colombo to borrow my class note, rather than walk to the high caste Tamil students in Jaffna. At Peradeniya, we sat together in class, lived together in the residential halls, played and partied together, but yet when the Tamil students went back home, the caste distinctions were reasserted. Our Tamil batchmates from Colombo did not do this; they were fully assimilated and integrated into the tolerant mindset of the Buddhist majority.

    On the eve of India’s independence, Dr. Ambedkar was trying to get Mahatma Gandhi to include in the Consitution of India a clause declaring caste discrimination illegal. But, Mahatha encountered strong opposition from the rest of the Indian Congress. Therefore, since the Dalits were OUTSIDE the Hindu caste system … and therefore a de-facto NON-EXISTENT community, Ambedkar demanded classification of the Dalits as a unique sovereign community within India. Mahatma Gandhi opposed this also … saying that such a declaration would make PERMANENT the discrimination against Dalits … and prevent their EVER being assimilated into a caste-less future Hindu society. As it turned out, Ambedkar caved in and supported the Congress’s bid for independence from India, accepting only a promise from Mahatma that a national referendum would be held on the issue after independence. We know that in 1955 or so, frustrated with the failure to get Hindu society to accept the Dalits as equal human beings, Dr. Ambedkar left the Hindu religion and embraced the other great religion of India … Buddhism …. that would accept ALL human beings as equals.

    Although Ambedkar was absolutely right in departing a religion that denied him basic human rights, Mahatma’s warning that

    Unfortunately for India,

29. Ananda-USA Says:
    April 20th, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    Oops ….. Continuing…..

    Although Ambedkar was absolutely right in departing a religion that denied him basic human rights, Mahatma’s warning that allocation of different special rights to different communities defined by caste would permanently embed caste divisions within India and prevent progress towards a casteless society was PROPHETIC.

    Today, Indian communities compete for government benefits (aka “reservations”) on the basis of caste. Although the intention was to alleviate the historical disadvantages of different caste communities, the identification of SCHEDULED CASTES, BACKWARD CASTES, and OTHER BACKWARD CASTES, ad inifinitum, ad nauseam in India has been to create a permanent, and fiercely protected, caste structure for government benefits.

    As one Indian Supreme Court judge once quipped “There is No Other Country in the World, in which people Compete to Degrade/Debase their own Communities to Secure Government Benefits as in India”. He was DEAD RIGHT … there is NO Other. The path to hell is clearly paved with good intentions.

    The government benefits enjoyed by these “Historically Disadvantaged Communities” to the exclusion of other Indian citizens in need, has caused immense animosity and conflict among the citizens of India. For example, there are many utterly poor Brahmins … damned by the “poorna noola” they wear across their chest … pulling rickshaws, and cleaning toilets, in the New Delhi area. They are in need just like the Dalits, but are excluded from applying for government benefits because they belong to a high caste.

    The SOLUTION TO THIS SELF-INFLICTED DILEMMA is SIMPLE. Give Government Assistance to people on the basis of DEMONSTRATED POVERT and NEED ONLY …. not on the basis of any other communal attribute.

    But fear and greed of those who are already on the gravy train, and the political clout they wield in VOTE BANK POLITICS will never allow that. As I recall, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, has proposed precisely this solution, but got nowhere in taking the country in that direction. The vested interests created by the caste based system enacted … and foreseen 67-odd years ago by Mahatma Gandhi … are just too entrenched. And so, India continues down the path of communal DISINTEGRATION with its people pitted against each other trying to preserve their caste-based allocations of the pie.

    That brings us to Sri Lanka. The Tamil Eelamists demand that Sri Lanka also go down a prallel path to COMMUNAL HELL by dividing Sri Lanka on the basis of another communal attribute: RACE.

    This kind of Communal Division of Sri Lanka into a Patchwork Quilt of Communal Bantustans is what the majority of Sri Lankans want to avoid.

    We don’t view India as a success, but as a COOMUNAL DISTASTER in the MAKING.

    We Sri Lankans are headed in a FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT DIRECTION: towards a society in which the only meaningful attribute of its people is that they are Sri Lankan CITIZENS.

    In such a society and system of governance, all other COMMUNAL attributes of race, religion, language, caste, and sex are unimportant. Any person’s status as a legal Sri Lankan citizen qualifies him/her to compete on the basis of the content of his/her demonstrated character, ability and merit for all the benefits Sri Lanka has to offer. That is OUR GOAL!

30. sridaran Says:
    April 22nd, 2013 at 1:21 am

    Ananda – I really appreciate the way you put forth your arguments , and though I may not agree 100% with what you say , yet it makes a sensible exchange of ideas from two extreme viewpoints . This is so different from that guy Lorenzo – who always comes out with nonsensical two liners !!! Anyway, getting back to the point – I am an old thomian . When we were at school, both the tamil and sinhala boys maintained a close rapport – and that continues to this day after the passing of so many decades. My sinhala friends always visit my home in Chennai periodically whenever they are on a shopping trip – and they never forget that ever precious bottle of ‘Athi Visesha ‘ over which we sit down for a journey down memory lane !! Whatever venom that comes out from extremists from both SL and Tamil Nadu, our friendship stands strong – and will stand the test of time . That is because we are mature enough to realize that we are first human beings . The language we speak comes later. Coming back to our main argument , I already stated in my previous answer that we are forced to carry excess baggage from our past . Some things do not vanish ‘just like that ‘ Ananda ! But a concerted effort has to be made by the younger generation. To relate a recent incident Ananda , a daughter of one of our distant relatives eloped with a low caste boy last year – and all hell broke loose !! My wife revealed the news to me one night over dinner – and she was so angry and agitated that this girl had disgraced the entire family . My son walked in at that time – and was amused by his mother’s outbursts . He waited till his mum spoke , and then asked her “What is the big issue here Mum ? The girl ran away with a human being – not an animal , is it ? Was it the boy’s fault that he was born into that particular family ? ” . My son is a software engineer with Infosys by the way – and his answer stunned my wife !! Later, when I was alone in my room, my wife walked in – visibly agitated – and asked me “Did you listen to what he said ? So, caste is not important for him ? Where is this generation going ? ” . I asked her to cool down and said “This is not the 18th century dear – you have to face the reality . Changes are inevitable as generations evolve – we have to accept this . It may be a difficult pill to swallow – but you have to ” . This is to give you one sample of the way the winds have started blowing Ananda . You are having the statistics of the past – I am telling you about the mood of the future generation . Don’t stagnate in the dirty excess baggage of the past . Extricate yourself and go forward ! Don’t condemn an entire nation to the gallows just because these social evils have not evaporated into thin air with advent of time . The process has started – you will notice it if you care to listen to signals emanating from the other side of the fence !!

31. sridaran Says:
    April 22nd, 2013 at 10:51 pm

    Lorenzo – you say ” You have come to the WRONG COUNTRY! Go back! ”

    I say ” I reply only to human beings “

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