Reconciliation in Sri Lanka – Some significant issues
Posted on September 15th, 2013
Shenali D. Waduge
Unless and until anyone can prove that ethnic animosities between the Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus had prevailed throughout Sri Lanka-â„¢s history there is no compelling need to use uncritically western concepts such as -Ëœreconciliation-â„¢.
Genesis of Reconciliation
The Government and people of Sri Lanka must be warned of embracing ideas that have had origin in western settler countries to meet contingencies that were peculiar to their societies and irrelevant to older countries with rich civilizations such as India and Sri Lanka which have been built on Hindu and Buddhist religious foundations which place a heavy emphasis on -ËœAhimsa-â„¢ (Non -“violence) to all living beings. It is these ethical foundations that have prevented Buddhist and Hindu civilizations from going on the offensive, conquering other people-â„¢s lands and plundering and robbing their resources without any qualms of conscience, as vividly displayed by followers of Abrahamic religions in the west and middle east even to this day in their immoral quest for world domination.‚ ‚ ‚
More specifically the idea of -ËœReconciliation-â„¢ grew out of contexts such as the genocide, mass murder, liquidation and extermination of indigenous people in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, parts of Africa including South Africa, North and South America.‚ These were crimes against humanity similar in magnitude to the -Ëœholocaust-â„¢ of the Jews in the Second World War, all of which were committed by European Christians.
Hidden objective of Reconciliation in Sri Lanka
We must not lose sight of the strategies and ploys used by foreigners in Sri Lanka ‚ during the period of western colonial domination (1505 – 1948) under three Christian powers i.e. Portuguese, Dutch and British ‚ to disunite the ‚ two ethnic communities ‚ and create new communities of people with allegiance to a foreign sovereign instead of the local sovereign and to ensure disunity prevailed to divert ‚ public attention from the plunder of resources and transformation of the country into a vassal state ‚ dependent on the colonial West.
The process of -ËœReconciliation-â„¢ is subtly meant to make the majority community i.e. Sinhalese Buddhists, feel guilty and inferior with the thought that we are not measuring up to other peoples-â„¢ (in the West) expectations and standards in respect to inter -” communal relations and other areas. This is a form of psychological domination, practiced by the western countries through their heavily prejudiced state apparatus and jingoist mass media full of lies and euro – centric propaganda and meant to instil in the minds of non – Europeans a defeated mind set weak in spirit and lacking backbone to overcome challenges and achieve victories. Sri Lanka’s inestimable victory in the Cricket World Cup (1996) under the able captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga and the comprehensive and resounding victory over terrorism achieved in May, 2009 under the guidance and leadership of President Mahinda Rajapakse provides mettle and grit to stand up and call a spade a spade and accept the challenge of de-colonising our minds. ‚ ‚ ‚
If -Ëœreconciliation-â„¢ is the chosen path then there cannot be a time bar to -Ëœreconciliation-â„¢ more so when major issues that the country faces today are very much part of the problems created with cunning and craftiness by the western colonial countries during their period of governance of this country. -ËœDivide and Rule-â„¢ was a central plank of colonial administration. Therefore, it is incumbent on the people now to insist that the country-â„¢s government demand that reconciliation bogeys cannot be accepted unless and until the injustices meted out by the colonial rulers upon Sri Lanka be addressed first. It is also important to bear in mind that any genuine reconciliation cannot restrict its scope. The grievances, injustices‚ and the persecution of the Sinhalese Buddhists during 450 years of colonial rule cannot be simply brushed aside from the scope of efforts at Reconciliation by concentrating solely on the claims of minorities.
Colonial Injustices await international inquiry
Let us now look at why reconciliation needs to start with the injustices and inequities committed by the colonials commencing from the unsolicited entry of the Portuguese to this country in 1505.
Fact 1: There was NO institutional Christianity nor‚ indigenous Christians in Sri Lanka when the Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka.
Fact 2: The Portuguese came in‚ the guise of Traders, but with an ominous plan to‚ conquer Territory and to Proselytize (Commerce, Conquest and Conversion).
Fact 3: Christianity was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese and imposed by force using violence and sometimes reward unethically going so far as to destroy Buddhist temples e.g. Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara in 1578, and Hindu kovils and building Churches over destroyed sites and killing those who were defending their places of worship including Buddhist monks. If Buddhist temples along maritime coast are not older than 150 years it is because the Portuguese destroyed them ‚ with the blessings ‚ of the Roman Catholic emperor of Portugal, his Viceroy in Goa, the Pope in the Vatican ‚ and Roman Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Moreover, there can be no worse crime than foreign invaders supported by local accomplices wiping out the historical evidence of a nation.
‚§‚ 1000 pillared temples in Devundara and Trincomalee, Saman Devale Temple, Kelaniya temple were ransacked and burnt (Dr. Susantha Goonetilleke)
‚§‚ Kochikade Church in Colombo and Madhu Church in Mannar were originally Pattini Devales (Prof. Endagama). Also destroyed were Nallur Kandasamy Kovil, Kailasanathar Temple, Munneswaran Temple in 1575, Sri Vishnu Temple in Devinuwara in 1588, Tirukethieswaram Temple, Matota temple, Tiru Konesar Temple in 1622, Thirukonamalai temple in Trincomalee, among others
‚§‚ Buddhist schools ransacked and burnt and monk-scholars killed -” Sunethra Devi Pirivena in Kotte, Vidagama Pirivena in Raigama, Tottagamuwe Pirivena in Hikkaduwa. Learning of these Buddhist monasteries were recorded in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam.
‚§‚ Vidagama Pirivena of Raigama originally a 400 acre complex has been turned into a Church and Church graveyard.
‚§‚ 1557 AD -” Seven storied Kithsirimevanpaya built by Dambadeniya kings in Kelaniya was destroyed by Portuguese Capt Diego de Melo who drowned all defenders ‚ in the Kelani river.
‚§‚ 5 storied Royal palace in Kelaniya converted to a St. Bartholomew Catholic church in 1557AD
‚§‚ 3 storied Dalada Maligawa of Kotte destroyed by Portuguese in 1557AD
‚§‚ 1624 -” Portuguese demolish ancient Gokanna temple into the sea and built Fort Frederick from the stones and pillars of the temple.
‚§‚ Portuguese conquistador Fellipe de Oliveria is said to have destroyed 500 Temples in Jaffna the number of Buddhist temples that were destroyed in the rest of the country is unimaginable.
‚§‚ Papal Bulls of 1452, 1455, 1456 mandated Portugal to acquire territory and convert heathens. Coastal communities underwent mass conversion (Jaffna, Mannar, Negombo, Chilaw -” fishing communities)
Fact 4:‚ Divide and rule began with the Portuguese for they found it easier to convert Tamils and made Jaffna Tamils compete with the Sinhalese. Prof. Endagama points that the existing family system along traditional framework and familial obligations was broken by Catholic conversions who were now told to worship only their Christian God. High class Sinhalese/Tamils were first converted on the assumption that the lower classes would automatically follow. It was often these converted Tamils and Sinhalese who changed their allegiance and went against their own and revolted against native monarchs in favour of the colonials. They became mercenaries (Lascoreens) and intelligence ‚ ‚ gatherers for the Portuguese and later the Dutch and British.
From 1624-1626 the Franciscans had converted 52,000 Jaffna Tamils. In 1634 over 70,000 Christians headed by 25 parishes in Jaffna (Friar Paulo da Trinidade) while Antonio Boccaro that same year reported that -Ëœnearly all natives are Christians-â„¢ with Father Fernao de Queiros also describing Jaffna as being -Ëœwholly Christian-â„¢. Eventually 42 parishes divided among the Franciscans and the Jesuits.
The Portuguese had 115,000 Hindus converted to Christianity. But, many of them reverted to Hinduism when Dutch replaced the Portuguese in 1658.
Fact 5: Western names, rituals and western cultures, attire, eating habits, music introduced to the natives of Sri Lanka and spread by the new Sinhala / Tamil converts. (Fernando, Mendis, Fonseka, Rodrigo, Perera). The Portuguese introduced strong liquor manufacture, ‚ ‚ cattle slaughter and beef eating in a country that banned the killing of all sentient beings and animals.
Fact 6: Portuguese destroyed the self-sufficiency at village levels of the indigenous natives and introduced concept of import-export
Battles against Portuguese
‚§‚ 1593 Kadugannawa -” 400 Kandyans led by Konappu Bandara battled to prevent 12 year old Dona Catherina from being married to a Portuguese army officer. If marriage had taken place under Roman law the principle -Ëœcujus regio, illius religio-â„¢ would have prevailed -” he who rules the land determines the religion. If so Portuguese king would have used his legal authority to conquer Sri Lanka and declare Roman Catholicism as the official religion of Sri Lanka. The Buddhists would have had to baptise themselves or die. Konappu Bandara went on to marry Dona Catherina and became King Vimaladharmasuriya 1 ‚ He built a two storey building to deposit the tooth relic in Kandy. He died in 1604.
‚§‚ 1591 -” Last Battle of Jaffna by Lankan army to defend Jaffna near a great Dagaba in Atchuveli killing scores of Sinhala soldiers. 5000 Sinhala troops including Mudaliar Atapattu were killed and Portuguese began ruling Jaffna thereafter with the Tamil Christian community of Jaffna becoming their strongest supporters.
‚§‚ 1598 -” Kandy destroyed. 10th war against Portuguese. Local collaborators paid by Portuguese for allegiance
‚§‚ 1615 AD -” 11th War against Portuguese. Orders from Goa to stop Sinhala merchants trading in Trinco, Batticaloa and Jaffna. Portuguese launched offensive with help of local collaborators capturing Gampola, Maturata, Badulla, Tumpane, Matale, Harispattuwa.
‚§‚ 1618 -” Portuguese crush revolt of Kuruvitarala near Balangoda also with the help of local collaborators (Catholics and Moors and greedy Sinhalese). Portuguese and collaborators laughed as the local kings palaces, schools, temples, shops, horse and elephant sheds were all burnt and Buddhists temples destroyed. Over 1000s of surrendered Sinhala warriors (Prisoners of War) were beheaded while the commanders were chained and dragged to their deaths. Collaborator poet Dom Jeronimo Alagiyavanna Mukaveti wrote glorifying ‚ the feats of the Portuguese over the Sinhala patriots in his eulogising poem -ËœKustantinu Hatana-â„¢ (a war ballad about the Portuguese General Constantino de Sƒ¡ de Noronha).
‚§‚ 1630 AD -” 13th War against Portuguese ‚ Constantino de Sƒ¡ de Noronha was the 6th and 8th Governor of the Portuguese controlled areas of Ceylon. ‚ He destroyed villages and agriculture up to Badulla He was finally killed in the Battle of Randeniwala in 1630, when the Kandyan Armies led by King Senerath and his sons defeated the Portuguese in Randeniwala.
‚§‚ 14 major battles took place between Portuguese and the Sinhalese.
Reconciliation : Portuguese and the Catholic Church as their accomplices must first apologize for their crimes in Sri Lanka
‚§‚ Role of Catholic Church in colonization -” policy to annihilate native religions,
‚§‚ Great buildings and infrastructure of an ancient civilization destroyed by Portuguese fire power primarily because even Lisbon Portugal-â„¢s capital city could not compare to the buildings, Temples ‚ and other structures in Kotte, Sri Lanka.
‚§‚ Introducing sadism, barbaric forms of punishment and inhuman cruelty to animals to a peaceful society. South Indian rulers showed their cruelty to showcase their superiority the Portuguese and other colonials were simply enjoying watching natives suffer death.
‚§‚ Creating a new community of Catholics and Burghers -” many from raping Sinhalese women and children born out of wedlock and women brought to the level of sex slaves.
‚§‚ Portuguese principle -ËœBegin by Bible, if unsuccessful then use the Sword-â„¢ -” implemented in 1522 AD and entered interior Sri Lanka for the next wave of conversions by denigrating Buddhism.
‚§‚ Robbing, raping, committing adultery and killing natives en masse (records of Faria Sousa), killing children for fun, killing a husband and eating his flesh in front of his wife (recorded by Portuguese observers and writers ) is really no different to Syrian rebels eating the heart of a Syrian soldier in 21st century!
‚§‚ Promising protection to ruling class in exchange for allowing Catholic missionaries to propagate Christianity, building of churches and to convert people -” implemented by 1543AD
‚§‚ Memo from King of Portugal to Viceroy in India to destroy all local religions -” 1546 -Use diligent officers to discover and reduce to fragments, all forms of idols. Apply rigorous penalties on locals who dare to engrave, cast, sculpture, or paint any figure in metal, bronze, wood or clay-.
‚§‚ Creating traitors and fifth columnists ‚ -” puppet king Don Juan Dharmapala hands over Kelaniya Rajamahaviharaya and Daladage at Kotte to Portuguese against Mayadunne
‚§‚ By 1597 Portuguese began using caste tactics and religion to dissent. Trade and its administration was given to converted Catholics of high caste families creating a new rich caste/class of converted Tamils and Sinhalese who abandoned their heritage and roots for worthlesss titles and various other material rewards. Patriotic Sinhalese and Tamils coined the derogatory term -ËœRice Christians-â„¢ to refer to such people. ‚
‚§‚ Portuguese soldiers were to throw live prisoners including Buddhist monks, to the crocodiles and women and children had their limbs chopped off while mothers had to hold their children and be tortured to death. Mothers and children were crushed between rocks. Portuguese were drinking, eating meat, laughing and cheering the Sinhalese being tortured.
‚§‚ Changing demography of the country -” Portuguese bring South Indians to Jaffna for tobacco cultivation in 1630. This practice was continued on a more extensive scale by the Dutch.
The lessons and choices for contemporary leaders and nationals
One can barter and sacrifice history, heritage and one-â„¢s religion like Don Juan Dharmapala , one can strike peace pacts like King Senerath of Kandy did in 1617 which Portuguese broke in 1628 by taking Trinco and Batticaloa (this was the same king who on compassionate grounds resettled Muslim traders whom the Portuguese under Constantino de Sƒ¡ de Noronha were going to annihilate ‚ under orders from the Portuguese King, in the Eastern region of the Kandyan Kingdom i.e. ‚ Batticaloa), collaborators of the type of Alagiyavanna Mukavatiya who wrote even poems glorifying ‚ the Portuguese or natives can collaborate with the enemy forsaking their own countrymen -” do we see much difference in then and now?
Buddhist resurgence in 1956
From 1505 and following over 450 years of foreign colonial rule it took until 1956 to break away from the norms and usher a resurgence of Sinhala Buddhist awareness. That too was quickly branded as -Ëœethnic-â„¢ and -Ëœextremist-â„¢ by the ‚ ‚ ‚ subversive Catholic Action movement that even attempted to take over the country by a military coup in 1962, following the success of the Catholic Church in collaboration with USA, in installing Ngƒ´ „ƒ¬nh Di¡»”¡m, a Catholic as the first President of South Vietnam, a pre-dominantly Buddhist country, through fraudulent elections.
The challenges have not changed. Evangelical groups continue to use unconventional methods to convert, they have exploited country laws and operate as registered companies or NGOs, they use inducements and lure people to convert giving privileges and incentives. The best example was King Bhuvanakabahu of Kotte whose grandson Dharmapala was appointed as heir in 1543 and placed under the protection of King of Portugal. Dharmapala was christened as Don Juan and upon his death in 1597 Portuguese claimed de jure title to the Kingdom of Kotte ‚ on the basis of an invalid last will and testament left behind by Don Juan Dharmapala.‚ ‚
Reconciliation must start with rectification of the injustices of the Colonial rulers
If the nation of Sri Lanka is reeling from one crisis to the other it must be accepted that the roots of these intractable conflicts go back in time to the arrival of the colonial power houses in the form of Portuguese, Dutch and the British who destroyed the cultural framework, destroyed native agriculture, the traditional economy and the social structure and forcefully implanted Western systems and methods in the best interest of their economies. If Sri Lanka-â„¢s engineers were sent overseas to teach how to construct canals and storage tanks prior to colonial arrival it speaks volumes of the capability of the Sinhalese. Therefore reconciliation must start from the point of time where the civilizational prestige of a nation and the rightful status and authority of its indigenous people were usurped and it is the usurpers who need to not only apologize but compensate for their crimes both tangible and intangible.
The Dutch have recently apologized to Indonesia for its crimes during colonial rule, Britain said almost the same to India -” we look forward to British Prime Minister David Cameron making that much awaited apology to Sri Lanka prior to teaching Sri Lanka a lesson on human rights when he comes for the Commonwealth Heads of Meeting and Portugal too needs to also apologize to Sri Lanka. That is not all, for annihilating Sri Lanka-â„¢s ancient civilization, its cultural heritage, its artifacts and much of its history itself as well as the sadism and killings of indigenous people must be compensated. The demand for reparations by the victims cannot be wished away by the colonial perpetrators. A catharsis is required like in South Africa.
Quoting Mr. Philip Fernando
In a recent email exchange senior Journalist Mr. Philip Fernando made the following comment which provides food for thought for all those concerned with the ongoing developments and future of Sri Lanka, both in the short and long term.
-The majority community in Sri Lanka has to cautiously assess the rising presence among the minorities as well as their access to international resources with great care. Most‚ cohesive ethno-cultural groups , with a firm sense of common purpose, will not voluntarily accept any nationalism other than its own. ‚ Sri Lanka has so far avoided going overboard in their quest to preserve what they believe is their heritage. ‚ Lessons from‚ across‚ the Palk strait even after the‚ partition‚ of India are quite relevant.‚
Here are things to ponder–Gandhi pleaded with Jinnah, “you can cut me in two if you wish, but don’t cut India in two.” Yet in the end Muslim intransigence and militancy received their reward in the form of Pakistan, a separate homeland for Indian Muslims, replete with a constitution that irrevocably enshrines Muslim dominance; Indian Hindus, still suffering today from a restive Muslim minority, received their reward in a secularist (“multicultural”) India, which denies the Hindu majority any institutional expression of their ethno-cultural character. Hindu leaders may have profited from secularism, but the Hindu masses they nominally represented did not.‚ ‚
The lesson of Gandhi’s failure is clear: In interracial relations a group that defines itself by its tolerance will lose against a group that doggedly pursues its own self-interest. Shrewd ethnocentrism is more politically powerful than compromising tolerance. We could call that a sociological law, if it were not so obvious.‚ “India,” as Godse complained at his trial, “was vivisected and one-third of the Indian Territory became foreign land to us…. This is what Gandhi had achieved after thirty years of‚ indisputably‚ powerful activism.‚ Sri Lanka won the war but the TNA may not have learnt anything–not when you read their manifesto-
Buddhism which brought so much prestige, honour and international recognition to India since the enlightenment of the Buddha 2600 years ago lost its place and was disowned by India for over a period of 800 years. ‚ Hinduism in India is facing a similar decline thanks to the foolishness of Indian leaders for their uncritical acceptance of ideas born and bred in the western Christian traditions rather than their own. Today the national leaders of India particularly the Government of India no longer sees itself as the protector of the glorious Buddhist -” Hindu civilization. Secularism, Pluralism, Multi-culturalism and the like being foreign doctrines make sure that the Indian state abandons any form of association or allegiance to its much vaunted spiritual and religious heritage.
Sri Lanka must not fall for the trap India has fallen into
India no longer gives moral voice or defend deep seated traditions rooted in Indian culture and heritage such as -ËœAhimsa-â„¢ (non -” violence) to all living beings, speak highly of its sages like the Buddha, Mahavira and chakravarti Kings like Asoka, Buddhist‚ missionaries like Arahant Mahinda and Sangamitta, all of whom contributed to bestowing the respect and influence that India still enjoys today in the wider world.
In contrast Muslim countries will never abandon their Islamic heritage. In fact they are proud and deeply committed to its growth and spread universally.
Sri Lanka must never fall for the trap that India has fallen into whose public voice and national conscience is now being heavy manipulated by a mass media owned and controlled by foreign funded groups that are hostile to even the retention of its indigenous spiritual symbols as part of India-â„¢s identity.
Balancing the LLRC Report
Those putting pressures upon Sri Lanka dictating the demarcation of the periods to be investigated do so to omit scrutiny of their crimes and wrong doings. What needs to be reiterated is that while the Report of the LLRC under the Chairmanship of C. R. de Silva, P.C. addresses the grievances of the minorities through a variety of recommendations to correct the inequities it leaves out altogether from its Report any reference to the historical injustices suffered by the Sinhalese Buddhists under 450 years of foreign domination, despite eloquent submissions made to that effect by a number of individuals and organisations with nationalist credentials. These historical wrongs had to be rectified by any post – independence Government of Sri Lanka. The revolution of 1956 through the ballot was meant to redress the justifiable grievances of the majority community who suffered the most under colonial rule.‚
The Report of the Press Commission (1964) under the Chairmanship of Justice K. D. de Silva (father of C.R. de Silva) deals with some of these issues in a sensible manner and calls on the national press to be‚ fair and more balanced in its reportage and analysis of issues including editorial comment.‚ Much of the historical injustices committed by the western powers and the insidious role of the Press were referred to at length in the 1964 report. In contrast the LLRC has side stepped the issue of the grievances of the majority in the immediate post – independence period presented in the submissions by nationalist groups, associations and individuals and not even a reference to their submissions has been made. ‚ This itself shows that the LLRC Report lacks objectivity, complete representation and a balance for any concrete reconciliation to take place. The Government of Sri Lanka must seriously consider re- publishing the K. D. de Silva Press Commission Report of 1964 to provide the balance that the LLRC Report seriously lacks‚ but also take upon itself to make available in a published printed form all the submissions made to the LLRC.
‚ Shenali D. Waduge
September 14th, 2013 at 2:21 pm
Shenali,
“Reconciliation” is a word that is MISAPPLIED to the situation in Sri Lanka: there should be NO RECONCILIATION with the Eelamist MURDERERS who terrorized Sri Lanka for over 30 years, just as there is NO RECONCILIATION practiced in Europe and America against the murderous Nazis of Nazi Germany. No Reconciliation … NONE!
“Reconciliation” has found currency, particularly in the West, because of what transpired in South Africa under Nelson Mandela after the ouster of the Afrikaans (Boer) regime practicing Apartheid against the vast majority of native South Africans, and its APPARENT success. This Reconciliation basically amounted to the Black South Africans FORGIVING the White South Africans for the systematic discrimination, racial subjugation, and wholesale theft, they practiced against native Black South Africans over centuries of colonial and apartheid rule. It allows the white South Africans the opportunity to live in Black ruled South Africa, without taking revenge on them for their awful crimes.
The world considers this “Reconciliation” practiced and advocated by Nelson Mandela to be the reason a bloodbath was avoided in South African when that country was liberated from Aparthied rule of the whites, and advocates that “Reconciliation” BLINDLY to all other developing nations having such problems often rooted in the colonialism of the past.
HOWEVER, there are many stresses and strains developing in South Africa today, because liberation from white rule did not eliminate the inequities that had developed over centuries of white rule. The bulk of the wealth and land of South Africa is still monopolized by white South Africans; this the burgeoning black population bitterly resents. There have been violent protests in the recent past against this situation that is continuing today.
An assessment of the success of Mandela’s Reconciliation can only be written in the distant future with 20-20 hindsight of how these disparities and inequities are ironed out: peacefully or violently. Most white South Africans who could convert their assets to money have already fled to other Western countries, fearing retribution, while still others are preparing to leave. While FEAR of retribution drives some,, others are driven to leave because centuries of inbred racist brainwashing cannot be displaced from human minds of the whites within one generation.
In contrast, in independent Sri Lanka, there was no such racist discrmination practiced against TAmils. On the contrary, it is the Eelamist Tamils who developed a Racist ideology, encouraged and fostered by the presence of Tamil Nadu with its 60 million Tamils nearby across the Palk Strait, who shared their caste ridden racist ways of thinking. This ultimately resulted in terrorist murders designed to create a backlash, and alienate the Tamils and drive them towards supporting the creation of a separate state of Eelam in Sri Lanka praticing a form of Aparthied.
The majority Sinhala people of independent Sri Lanka never discriminated against the Tamils, and gradually uplifted Tamils together with all people of Sri Lanka. Those who embraced the communal transparency of independent Sri Lanka, particularly the Sinhala community, jettisoned even their caste system which was decaying even before independence under Buddhism’s influence.
Therefore, what are we being asked to “Reconciiate”? The Racism of the Tamil Eelamists seeking to create an Apartheid State?; their systematic MURDER of all who opposed that murderous Racist Vision? Just as the world has tarred and feathered the Nazis and to this day reject their vision of a German Master Race “Uber Alles”, the People of Sri Lanka must comitt themselves to REJECTING by leaf, branch, trunk and root the Eelamist vision of a Apartheid Tamil State in Sri Lanka, and cry out “NO RECONCILIATION” with the Communal Racists and Mudrers of hundreds of thousands of our fellow Sri Lankan citizens.
The underlying principle of the Westerners blindly advocating “Reconciliation” is still is what it was in the colonial age: “What is mine is MINE; What is yours is NEGOTIABLE”. They advocate approaches for us that cost them nothing, but which they would not practice themselves if they wore our shoes.
The South African Model of RECONCILIATION, the darling of the biased and jaundiced Westerners, DOES NOT APPLY in Sri Lanka and should be REJECTED TOTALLY.
Instead, the Western Model of TOTAL REJECTION of the Nazi vision, and NO RECONCILIATION with Nazis should be adopted against the Eelamists, by TOTAL REJECTION of the Eelamist Apartheid Vision, and NO RECONCILIATION with Eelamists.
September 14th, 2013 at 3:36 pm
Sri Lanka nationalist party seeks legal action against major Tamil party
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 14, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Sinhala nationalist party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) says that legal action should be taken against the major Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for promoting separatism even after the defeat of tiger terrorism.
Participating in a national radio program, the National Organizer and the Media spokesman of the Jathika Hela Urumaya Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said the Tamil party is attempting to create a dark era once again through the Northern Provincial Council election.
Warnasinghe said the election manifesto released by TNA calling for self-determination in a merged North and East has challenged the laws of the country, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity.
According to the JHU spokesman, Sri Lanka should have adopted a measure similar to what Germany did after the war banning everything including the political movements connected to Nazism and ban every organization associated with the Tamil Tiger terrorist group LTTE.
Participating in the same radio programme, the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the Open University Raja Gunarathne said that the people of the North should be further enlightened about the reality.
He said that after being subjugated to terrorism for several decades they are now used to implement orders being given to them and measures should be taken to make them capable of independent thinking.
“People of the north should be given the opportunity to decide whether they want to make their children inherit the cyanide capsule once again or to march through the peaceful path,” Gunarathne said.
September 14th, 2013 at 3:37 pm
Shenali – Thank you for this excellent contribution, the facts which are sadly forgotten by those who are representing Sri Lanka. I would read “western colonial domination” defined as ILLEGAL OCCUPATION of Sri Lanka for which reparations are very much overdue. An attempt at reconciliation should begin with the former colonial masters publicly admitting their guilt for the ethnic problems created by them – S de Silva – London
September 14th, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Lets not try to tell people what they want. Lets LISTEN TO THEM.
At the north PC election TAMIL people have a choice.
Vote UPFA for reconciliation.
Vote TNA for racism.
Lets see what their choice is without deciding on behalf of them.
September 14th, 2013 at 4:50 pm
Jayalalithaa vows to bring Tamil pride home
By T Muruganandham – CHENNAI
IndiaExpress.com
September 8, 2013
It’s an island of discontent. Katchatheevu, a buffer piece of land between India and Sri Lanka, which was ceded to the neighbouring nation in 1974, is back to taking centre stage in Tamil Nadu politics, with all regional parties adopting an anti-Centre stance on the issue. The reason being, the island is a lifeline for fishermen from the state.
A counter affidavit filed by the Centre in response to a PIL filed by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for “retrieving” the islet has come as a shock for the state. UPA’s affidavit said the islet was a disputed area which was settled by India and Lanka through agreements in 1974 and 1976. Moreover, the Centre has categorically said the Tamil Nadu fishermen have no right to engage in fishing along Katchatheevu as per the two agreements. The Centre’s stance taking sides with Lanka has evoked very strong protests from fishermen and leaders of political parties alike.
Jayalalithaa had put forth strong arguments in her PIL providing documentary evidence to prove that the islet was indeed part of Tamil Nadu from time immemorial. She has been in the forefront in the fight for retrieving this islet right from her first tenure as the chief minister of the state in 1991.
Since then, she has been fighting both legally and politically to retrieve Katchatheevu. She has written many a letter to successive Prime Ministers on this issue and on August 7, 2008, she took her legal battle to a new level.
She, as AIADMK’s general secretary, filed a PIL before the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for declaring the agreements of Katchatheevu dated June 26, 1974 and March 23, 1976 as unconstitutional.
Jayalalithaa’s primary contention was that the cession of Katchatheevu island has been purported to be effected without any constitutional amendment as such is non-est and void ab initio. In this connection, she quoted a similar incident that took place in West Bengal in 1960,i.e., 14 years before the ceding of Katchatheevu.
When the Centre decided to cede Berubari in West Bengal to Bangladesh in 1960, the then chief minister of the state moved the SC and the apex court had given verdict against the Centre’s decision, as a result till now Berubari, remains part of West Bengal.
On May 3 2013, Jayalalithaa moved a resolution in the Assembly urging the Centre to retrieve Katchatheevu from Lanka to put a full stop to the sufferings of the fishermen from Tamil Nadu in the hands of Lankan Navy and to find a permanent solution to the livelihood issues faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen. The Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution.
In a belated move, DMK president M Karunanidhi, a couple of months ago, filed a petition before the SC to ‘retrieve’ Katchatheevu.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:24 pm
As I mentioned in the article “Expose and Exposed” in this magazine what has been stated above will be read by a select few who know of the existence of the “Lankaweb”. If the Buddhist Sanga uses her power to get a channel on Sri Lanka’s Television program, what was written in this articl would make a powerful statement if it is done as a documentary series covering the invasion and forced conversion done by the European Christians.
There is a saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”. If so a documentary on a Buddhist TV channel can give a visual experience of what is written in this article. By doing so it can also address the issue of the rapidly rising Muslim population either by birth or conversion or both. If there is anytime that the Buddhist majority need a voice and a picture to record these deeds from the European Christians to the Tamil Tigers then it is now.
September 14th, 2013 at 5:49 pm
One more point. Here in the US Sri Lanka is practically unheard of. I have lived in the US for over forty years and have lived in various parts of this continental sized nation and yet Sri Lanka and her history is not known by a population that is more fascinated by their own Hollywood or social event than knowing about the world.
The 30 year long war has now come and gone and most Americans do not even know it ever happened, except for a select few. The Media coverage is about this nation and for the Americans. Even during Presidential debates the weakest point is “foreign affairs”. On on occasion at a party where I was in discussion about Napoleon Bonaparte an American who entered the conversation asked me if Napoleon fought Hitler. In another situation the question was did the US civil war happen after world war 1 and yet in another situation an elderly white man insisted that India’s history did not predate the time of Christ. This is after he returned from a trip to that nation, and yet in another situation where I was talking of my European vacation a white woman asked me if the city of Florence was in Italy (Florence being the birthplace of the Renaissance). In another example I showed two American ladies a very expensive book on pre Islamic architecture of India and Sri Lanka and I heard them refer to these marvelous structures as the “pagan temples mentioned in the old testament of the Bible.
It is due to this level of self imposed ignorance that I believe the Tamil diaspora have easily convinced an ignorant politician of the so called human rights violations on them by the Singhalese majority. As the statue of the Hindu God Shiva in the “Shiva Nataraja” pose shows that ignorance and not moral turpitude is the worst sin that man can commit as Shiva dances upon the dwarf of ignorance. When ignorance of such magnitude exist mischief makers make good use of it and it ends up with Colombo paying for it.
This is but another reason that the Buddhist Sanga must and I repeat must take control of the destiny of Sri Lanka by first starting to educate a Western world who are proud of their ignorance of the history and culture of Buddhist Sri Lanka. To date there is not a single documentary that I could find here in the US that covers Sri Lanka’s civilization and the nation as a whole. not one. As long as the void of ignorance exists the Tamil Diaspora will use it to their advantage and at the end win. The same level of ignorance is allowing the Muslims to grow from strength to strength in Sri Lanka and have a sympathetic ear if they are confronted by the Sri Lankan Buddhists.
The new arsenal of the Buddhist Sanga must be communication through a visual access such as TV. It is up to the Buddhist Sanga to make documentaries of high quality for world audience who once they learn of the grandear of Sri Lanka and the horrors of the civil war can then make up their own minds without the lies being fed to them by the Tamil Diaspora. On a side note it would also help Sri Lanka’s tourism.
September 14th, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Excellent research and this will go into our database..
Unfortunately, the same local stooges have not change their colours and still bending over backward to foreign churches and colonials…
These people have no national pride.
September 14th, 2013 at 7:30 pm
Well said Shenali!!
Our pundits need a lesson like this on true reconciliation.
Any Tamils condemning LTTE bombings??….. hmmm.. pure silence!!!!!!
Any actors willing to cry in front of Ugly Betty for the “disappeared” (en route to Australia!!!)???? Plenty!!!!
For minorities “reconciliation” is accepting their racist agendas and being silent. Thanks to people like Shenali a lot of ordinary people now know this.
September 14th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Thank you Shenali,
Reconciliation cannot be achieved by confession, repentance, absolution and penance. It has not even worked in the Catholic Church which developed the RITE of reconciliation in the course of its history. Their confessionals are now empty.
The reconciliation the white man and his boot lickers advocate is yet another instrument of domination, just the same as what are called Human Rights and crimes against humanity. Such weapons of domination do not apply to those who wield them. Just one example is the so called crime of using chemical weapons. The nation that used the atom bomb and orange agents and napalm has never been brought to book. The height of irony is that it is such perpetrators of the most gruesome acts of murder and pillage who hold the scales as regards lesser mortals.
Reconciliation as advocated by the whites and coloured whites is sheer nonsense. It is infantile when proposed to nations such as OURS with a history that reaches out into the night of time, times when our self assumed present teachers were not even in swaddling clothes.
Reconciliation is nothing more that getting human co-existence back on track after derailment just the same as vehicles that run off the road. Reconciliation is effected through the day to day rubbing of shoulders of human beings whatever their ethnicity, caste or religion. It is an ongoing process and going on damned well in this country. To hell with the rest.
Statutory reconciliation has not worked anywhere it has been put on show: not in South African, not in Australia, not in the USA. They are just other museum pieces and nothing more.
Mario Perera
Kadawata
September 15th, 2013 at 1:58 am
A great article! Portuguese were none second to British, French, Spanish, Dutch and Belgium land looters and invaders. Greedy European blood suckers never stop their main policy of imperialism. They live on and exist on imperialism. Now imperialism operates all over the world through their diplomatic missions, Spy services, U.N.O and NGO’s but more systematically.
Shame was in 2005, when Ranil was prime-minister; he tried to celebrate 500 years of Portuguese invaders arrival to Sri Lanka (1505-2005). He was about to go to Lisbon for invitations but on patriotic journalists and politicians protests, Ranil had to hide his tale in between legs.
September 15th, 2013 at 1:02 pm
Sampanthan is TWO FACED and speaks with a FORKED TONGUE, like the Eelamist Rattler he really is. To the Tamils he hisses “Separate State …. Support us for a Separate State of Eelam”, but turns around and rattles to the GOSL and the Sinhalese it is ONLY a call for “Self-determination for Tamils”.
To us observing the ANTICS of this Separatist Snake …. it means the SAME THING: TREASON, for there is no SELF DETERMINATION for ANY CONSTITUENT COMMUNITY of People in Sri Lanka that is SEPARATE from the SELF DETERMINATION already enjoyed by ALL Citizens through universal franchise.
Calling for “Self Determination for Tamils” that is distinct from the Self Determination of ALL other Sri Lankans is a TREASONOUS CALL for a Separate State.
If it looks like an EELAM, walks like an EELAM, talks like an EELAM, and smells like an EELAM … then it IS an EELAM that he wants!
ARREST, PROSECUTE, CONVICT and PUNISH this SERIAL SEPARATIST for TREASON, NOW!
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Sri Lanka Tamil party rejects allegations of demanding a separate state
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 15, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s major Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today rejected the allegation that its election manifesto demanded a separate state of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka.
Speaking to media at a press briefing in Jaffna, the leader of the TNA, R. Sampanthan said the party only wants to uphold the right of self-determination of the Tamils in a merged north-east while preserving the integrity of the country.
“We have never asked to divide the country. We have very clearly said, without any attempts to hide, that a solution should be found within the country,” Sampanthan told reporters.
He said the party will ask for whatever necessary to find a solution and the party is ready to discuss and negotiate with the government in future to achieve such a solution.
Sampanthan said however, he was very disappointed the way the Sri Lankan President has alleged that the TNA plans to divide the country and create a separate state.
He said the President when he recently visited Vavuniya, had spoken in a manner to create confusion among the people.
The Tamil leader said the President has told the people that the TNA is now asking for what the Tamil Tigers wanted and therefore it cannot be considered.
Sampanthan said the President doesn’t say what the Tamil Tigers had demanded and he doesn’t say what the TNA is demanding.
“It is wrong to speak in such manner without explaining what we (TNA) are asking for and why they (the government) are unable to give it,” Sampanthan said.
September 15th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
Talking NONSENSE is part of the Tamil Elam project.
Until the Tamil Elam chicken hatch the egg and come out TNA wants to PLAY DOWN it is a chicken fearing that we will boil the egg.
We should boil it regardless.
September 15th, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Thank you for yet another wonderful article, Shenali. We need to send these articles to the US Ambassador and the UK High Commissioner. We in the US are fed up with the horrible publicity put out by the UN and the State Department. We should have our own reporter at the State Department press conferences. The only person who talks about SL at these press conferences is an Indian journalist who always spins a negative story. Also, did any of our true journalists like Shenali get a chance to speak to Navi Pillay?
September 16th, 2013 at 7:05 am
“”JAYALALITHAA WOWS TO BRING TAMIL PRIDE HOME”” atleast by fixing a permanent Toilet in every home, so that they do not have to go to the Railway Lines to defecate. Way to go Jayalalithaa, way to go. All dalits will love you. We will not call it TOILET-NADU anymore. You must be knowing what TAMIL PRIDE is to have the facility of shitting in your own home. You live with your pride Jayalalithaa, even though it does not fill your stomach.
Pride Goeth Forth on Horse-back, Grand and gay,
But cometh back afoot, abegging its way.
September 16th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
ANYBODY bearing WEAPONS against the State can be killed without ANY questions, whatever. Therefore, let us view 4,000 Eelamists taking up arms again, as a GOLDEN opportunity to COMPLETE the JOB of wiping out the Eelamists who escaped from Mullaitivu-pocket in the guise of REFUGEES!
As in the USA, THREE STRIKES and YOU ARE OUT! TWO strikes down now, ONE Strike to Go!
They are SLUMBERING in La La Land if they think that the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the GOSL leadership are STILL THE SAME weak kneed idiots they faced in the past.
Please do give us the NECESSARY & SUFFICIENT LEGAL JUSTIFICATION to FINISH the JOB, will ya?
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Sri Lanka fears regrouping of 4K LTTE cadre
By P K Balachandran – COLOMBO
New Indian Express
September 16, 2013
The Commander of the Sri Lankan army in the Jaffna peninsula, Maj Gen Mahinda Hathurusinghe, said, with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) glorifying the slain Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in its campaign for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections, there was a possibility of reactivating about 4,000 former Tiger combatants, who are still at large.
“There are about 4,000 former cadre of the LTTE who have not undergone rehabilitation. These could be mustered by the TNA leadership,” Gen Hathurusinghe told Express over phone from Jaffna.
He had earlier told Sunday Leader that in view of the utterances of the TNA leaders and the possibility of the reactivating un-rehabilitated ex-LTTE combatants, he was thinking of requesting the Defence Secretary to open more army camps in the Jaffna peninsula.
The Lankan army and the Colombo-based media are alarmed by a recent speech made by the TNA’s chief ministerial candidate C V Wigneswaran at Valvettithurai, the birthplace of Prabhakaran. Wigneswaran had said: “Prabhakaran is indeed a hero. President Mahinda Rajapaksa knows that the LTTE leader Prabhakaran was a warrior. I am not the only person who is of this opinion. The President of the country Mahinda Rajapaksa has also recognized Prabhakaran as a great hero. I speak out on the soil of the birth of Prabhakaran. He is not a terrorist.”
“When Prabhakaran was alive, the President came forward on his own to grant 13 Amendment plus (an improved devolution package). Now that Prabhakaran is no more, the President has begun to speak of 13 Amendment minus and even to the extent of saying there is no such thing as the 13th Amendment. This is because President Rajapaksa accepted Prabhakaran as a hero. He came forward to yield concessions to the Tamils. But he is not prepared for it now. Prabhakaran is not a terrorist. He was a hero and a warrior who fought for the liberation of the Tamils.”
Wigneswaran’s speech was distributed in other parts of Jaffna and some TNA activists were arrested in this connection.
Southern politicians and media have lambasted the TNA for demanding in its manifesto, “self-determination” for the Tamils, albeit within Sri Lanka through a federal constitution.
The Sinhalese consider this to be a separatist slogan. Even the respected south Lankan commentator Dayan Jayatilleka has said that the TNA cannot be trusted.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:17 pm
While introducing a forging-resistant National ID Card for all citizens is a GOOD thing, giving these to 1.6 Million potential ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS brought into Sri Lanka during the before May 18, 2009 is SHEER IDIOCY!
Statistical demographic data from the 2012 National Census DOES NOT REFLECT the expected reduction in the Sri Lankan Tamil population to less than 3% due to the IMMIGRATION of over 1.5 Million to Western countries. Instead, it shows that the Tamil population has INCREASED! How is this possible … EXCEPT through ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION from Tamil Nadu when the government of Sri Lanka lost control of its Northern and Eastern Coastlines to the LTTE?
With 20-20 Hindsight, we can now unravel the TWO FOLD IMMIGRATION strategy of the LTTE:
1. Smuggle Sri Lankan Tamils en masse ILLEGALLY as FAKE REFUGEES into Western countries to create the Eelamist Tamil Diaspora as a political and financial tax base.
2. Simultaneously, more than replace those dear departed fake Sri Lankan Tamil refugees with ILLEGAL INdian Tamil IMMIGRANTS from Tamil Nadu smuggled into Sri Lanka. Prabhakaran is now GONE; but the DIABOLICAL TRICK he played on Sri Lanka remains to BEDEVIL us to this day. The GOSL is turning a BLIND EYE to this MASSIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION SCAM perpetrated by the LTTE! Why?
The proposed National ID Card will help these ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS stake a permanent claim to Sri Lankan citizenship.
Issuing these ID Cards now before INVESTIGATING and DEPORTING ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS en masse from Sri Lanka, is putting the National ID CART before Illegal Immigrant HORSE!
Did Sri Lanka wage and WIN a War of National Liberation only to LOSE the Peace to ILLEGAL South Indian IMMIGRANTS?
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Sri Lankans to get new electronic national identity cards from November
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 16, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Department of Registration of Persons will commence issuing new electronic National Identity Cards from November for all citizens.
The new IDs incorporating fingerprints required for the current and future needs of national security will be issued through the Department of Registration of Persons for persons over age 15.
The Director General of the Department of Registration of Persons M.S Sarath Kumara says the new Electronic National ID with fingerprints will be introduced in November.
The new ID, comprising security features against tampering, counterfeiting or forging, will include the person’s photo, bio data, fingerprints, and also the blood group. It will conform to the relevant international standards.
Compiling data for this ID which consist with a photograph and family details according to international civil aviation standards are now underway, the official has said.
The ID will be issued for three time periods. The ID issued to 15 to 20 year age group is valid for 10 years. It is valid for 15 years for the 25 to 30 year age group. The ID issued for over 45 years of age has no expiry date.
The Director General says the internationally accepted ID could use to prevent malpractices and frauds.