Dr Sudath Gunasekara Hanthana Pedesa Mahanuwara   

                                                                    (Summary)

Dr Sudath Gunasekara (SLAS) Re tired  Permanent Secretary to Sirimavo Bandaranaike, President Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association (1991-1994) and President Mahanuwara Sinhala Bauddha Jesta Purawesiyange Sanvidhanaya. 17.3.2019

(This open letter envisages a new system of Government based on our own culture under a new Constitution to put an end to the present state of anarchy and Jaathidrohi palanaya in this country and restore political stability and sanity to save the Motherland and the Sinhala Buddhist culture for posterity, as it had been done by our ancestors for millennia and to make this country once again “The Wonder of Asia.

I present this message as A Plea to the Mahasangha and all patriotic segments of this country to take the lead to end the current political, legal, economic and social instability in this country and bring back sanity and law and order to this land to save the Motherland, the Sinhala Nation and the Sambuddha Sasana, from the present critical crisis and protect it for posterity).

2/‎23/‎2019.

Introduction

The whole country knows that there is no Government in this country today, in spite of the fact that there is a President, a Prime Minister, a Parliament with 225 MPP (196 elected and 29 appointed), 9 Provincial Councils with 9 Governors, all political rejects and misfits, (California State USA, 6 times bigger than this country has only 1 Governor), nearly 157 Ministers (112 Central Government (until recently), and 45 Ministers with 5 Chief Ministers in the Provincial Councils), with nearly 700 PC Members, and 336 Pradesiya Sabhas with 8825 Members,  maintained at enormous cost, bleeding the nation, with facilities and privileges not heard or given to politicians anywhere in the world. Moreover for every 16 people in this country we have 1 public servant (1/16) and for every 2235 people we have 1 politician (1/2235). Thus we have the top heaviest political machinery and public Service in the whole world (a world record) but conversely with zero return to the country or the people who maintain all these wasteful institutions plagued with thousands of liars and thieves. Isn’t this total anarchy and naked day light gang robbery of a nation by corrupted politicians and their supports with impunity?

In fact this had been the glaring anomaly ever since this Government was installed in power in January 2015, a sad trend started in 1987 with the inauguration of the JR regime with an open economic policy.  The so-called Public Service today also has got pused to the level of a domestic service of the political party in power, with very few exceptions found once in a blue moon. The situation is getting aggravated every day. Therefore the crying need to seriously address this grievous national problem as soon as possible before the country collapses completely beyond redemption.

In order to achieve this noble objective, which, I consider will be a historic land mark in the political history of this country if implemented, I propose below a comprehensive list of 50 steps needed to be taken immediately to arrest this appalling situation. I do not claim this list to be perfect. I request you to read all documents referred to in this document, to fill the gaps and to get a better idea about what I am trying to say here.

The 50 steps                                                                                                                                                                                  

1 To replace an utterly corrupt, disastrous, treacherous and non-functioning government, by the politicians, for the politicians and of the politicians and their families, cronies and their government servants, with a “True Yahapaalanaya” by the people, of the people and for the good of the people and to set up a Civilization State” as Martin Jaques  proposed in his When China Rules the World” (2009), based on our own indigenous systems of governance headed by an honourable set of Statesmen and  True Public Servants, who love the country, its people and their culture.

2 To take the reins of power of Governance in to the hands of 75% Sinhala majority and end the tyranny of minority politics in this country, which has ruined this country since 1948 while ensuring minority rights and their due place in this country.

3 To ban all Political Parties named after ethnic, religious, regional or divisive basis like Federal, TNA, TELO, SLMS, TC and EPRLF or any other like who go against the Non-negotiable conditions of the Sri Lankan State. (See Annex 1 for the 15 Non-negotiable conditions)

4 To end the age of keeping everything in the hands of corrupt politicians by getting the politicians to implement an election manifesto prepared by the people like in 1956, instead of hitherto prevailed practice of politicians imposing their election manifestos to get the votes and get their things done, while ruining the country.

5 To get all people to give up their kepuwath, meruwath UNP/ SLFP/ JVP type of blind party political affiliations, which has divided the Sinhala people and made the minorities the King makers, and to organize the Nation as a ‘We Sinhala Movement’ as one mighty patriotic force who will put the country before the party and all other petty considerations like religion and caste to unite the nation as one formidable and undefeatable ‘Force’ and to end the minority power of hijacking the  Sinhala Buddhist nation in to political wilderness. United we stand and divided we fall. Our failure to understand this simple gospel truth and getting blindly trapped in the divisive noose of party politics set by the colonial British to ruin this country are the main reasons of our down fall as a nation.                     

6 To restore the lost heritage of the Sinhala nation and the main aspects of their Independence and identity, starting from 1505 to date, which the politicians of this country have miserably failed to do during 71 years of so-called Independence (See Mahanuwara Charter 2019 for details).Teaching true history of this country from 543 BC should commence immediately in all schools as a compulsory subject for citizens to differentiate between fact and fiction.

7 To scrap the Indian imposed 13th Amendment and Provincial Councils, a white elephant and a curse imposed upon us by India, that has completely destabilized the once effective and less costly District Administration and Governance in this country, by multiplying and duplicating public institutions, number of parasitic politicians and public servants, dividing the country in to 9 semi-federal units paving the way for permanent division of the country in to a no return situation, wasting billions of public funds with zero benefit to the country, that could otherwise have been gainfully spent on the development of the country. Concurrently the abolition of Rajiv/JR Accord of July 29^th 1987 that gave birth to PCC and many other serious political disasters, like 1) the Traditional Tamil Homeland in the North and East, 2) granting Official status to Tamil Language in this country (when it is not given even in India where over 70 million Tamils live) and 3) granting Citizenship to all Indian Estate labour on the plantations on an affidavit from a JP, also has to be removed forthwith.

8 To punish all involved in the CB mega Robbery starting from Ranil Wickramasinha, the chief conspirator-cum schemer and the first accused ending in recovering the total loss to the country, life imprisonment, confiscation of property and ending in death penalty for those found guilty.

9 To cancel all disastrous agreements entered in to by this Government with Foreign countries to sell or lease out the nation’s assets and making prior Parliamentary approval mandatory before signing any international agreement in future.

10 To declare all land 5000 feet above sea level as strictly reserved forests as in the days of the Sinhala Kings to protect the country’s geographical Heartland that provides the source for all rivers in this country which in turn determines and dictate the entire life system and the civilization in this Island nation: limit all human settlements to areas below 3000 feet, to protect the physical stability of the central hill country” of the country, thereby increasing the water resources for agriculture, hydro- electricity, industries and domestic use.

11 To restore all lost rights of native Kandyan Sinhalese who fought for 443 years against three enemy invaders Portuguese, Dutch and British to protect this nation for us.

12 To set up the separate Ministry for Kandyan Peasants, the Authority and the Institutions recommended by the Kandyan Peasantry Commission of 1951, to rehabilitate them immediately to rectify the historical injustices done to them and to abolish the newly formed Hill country Tamil Village and Infrastructure Development Ministry and all so-called development programmes started under it with ADB assistance by this Government that will ultimately lead to the formation of a permanent Indian enclave right at the centre of this country. (These people were brought by the British after 1840, as slaves who worked for the British to enrich the British Treasury. While toiling for their British masters they earn their living and transferred all their savings to India annually up to 1948). My question to Ranil and his government and all politicians who pamper these alien people is, as to why they are giving these lands outright and privileges to decedents of an alien slave force, while the Kandyan Peasants, the real owners of these lands are being blatantly discriminated.

13 To drastically reduce the number of politicians and institutions at all levels starting from Parliament and Ministries to an economic level the country could afford.

14 To limit granting Citizenship to Estate Tamils only according to Nehru-Kotalawala Agreement of 1954 and annul all Citizenships given under any other politically motivated treacherous agendas since 1954 and to enact strict laws on giving citizenship to foreigners;

15 Limit it to only persons who accept the 15 non-negotiable conditions laid down in the Mahanuwara Charter 2019, who learn the Sinhala language and who accept and respect this country as the land of the Sinhala nation and agree not to challenge this inalienable status at any date even in future (please see Annex!)

16 To take immediate steps to restore and protect the ancient archaeological and historical monuments to protect the Sinhala Buddhist Civilization and culture all over this country and pat special attention to restore all place names, names of rivers, all damages done during the Portuguese, Dutch, British rule, LTTE war and destruction done at present in the North, East and some areas of the NCP

17 To allocate all employments under Government strictly according to ethnic ratios and have strict rules even in the private sector, to protect rights of our citizens.

18 To follow a Non-align Foreign policy protecting the Sovereignty, freedom and Independence of the country and to assert as an Independent nation without cowing and bowing down to anybody.

19 To give pride of place to Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing industry, Export promotion, Shipping and Aviation as key sectors in the economy

20 to stop all wasteful public functions such as foundation laying and opening petty projects at state expense and talking shops (meetings) organized by and for politicians with expensive flower decorations and also expensive pavilions etc. to exhibit their vanity spending millions of public funds and wasting millions of valuable man hours and to compel the politicians to go for actions at least now and stop talking which they have done for the past 71 years and also stop forthwith all meetings organized to hand over appointments  etc and post all such letters by post to recipients as it was done in the past.

 21 To revise the pension scheme for all retired public servants so that every pensioner will be placed on the same pension salary point entitled to a person retiring from the corresponding post at present irrespective of the date on which the former has retired, in order to do justice to nearly 600,000 pensioners, who are struggling to keep their heads above water.

22 To Ban sending slave labour (especially women) to other countries including domestic servants to Middle East and to provide employment avenues for them locally to stop our cultural erosion, and instead to start a program of sending skilled professionals only, like Doctors, Engineers, Technicians and Managers etc enabling creation of jobs for those who pass out from our Universities and technical colleges as a major source of foreign exchange

23 To ban all Schools under the ‘International’ labels so that we will have only National Schools that will implement the national Education policy of Sri Lanka in this country in future, as only a broad based National Educational policy that suits the country in the context of the new world, could lay the sound foundation that could meet the challenges of this emerging world, for proper nation building.

24 To Reduce annual Public holidays (currently in the range of 125 -135) not to exceed 12, to maximize productivity in the country. (as proposed under item 10 of Siya Panatha)

25 To stop poaching and robbing all our marine resources in our territorial waters by any foreign country, including India that leads the game depleting our marine resources

26 To impose death penalty for all found guilty on all serious and anti-social crimes starting with narcotics

27 To lay down special qualifications for politicians. Things like impeachable character, a Clean record, minimum educational qualifications, reasonable assets, unassailable patriotism and character, etc + five years compulsory permanent residence in the electorate for which he/she  seeks nomination and an upper age limit of 75 years with recall provisions and finally to make the JRS  once again the most august assembly in the country.

28 To have a strict code of ethics and conduct to politicians and public servants with clear and strict performance targets, including a ban on all politicians and public servants other than Cabinet Ministers and National level officers attending state functions outside their areas of authority unless the chief guest invites him/her for some special duty, as the present practices involves a wanton wastage of enormous amounts of public funds.

29 To demand that all politicians have to agree to work free for one year under the new system

30 To appoint a permanent commission to inquire in to malpractices of all politicians and high officials from 1987 and punish those found guilty with confiscation of property illegally acquired, removal of civil rights and any other punishment courts deem fit for the offences committed.

31 To restructure the present system of Govt Machinery with lesser number of public servants under 15 Ministries, Departments and Statutory Boards and institutions that will continue as implementing agencies policies and programmes of the Government.

32 To set up an independent professional Judiciary and a Public Service where all recruitments, placements and promotions will be purely made on merits based on competitive examinations. Meritocracy should be the hall mark in the seats of Government in all these fields including politics.

 

33 Main features of the new Government under the new Constitution

A

1) An Uttareetara Purohita Saba/ Advisory Council of 17 members (see Sec.  05 of Mahanuwara Charter 2019 for details (Instead of one Purohita in the past) 

2) Uttareetara Jatika Selasum Mandalaya/Permanent Supreme National Planning Council  consisting of 10 or 15 eminent persons in fields like Economics,  Law, Finance, Agriculture, Environment, Industry, Education, Trade and Commerce, History and Culture of this country etc, to prepare the overall National Plan so that politicians will have only to implement national policies after they get elected. This will also has to be regularly evaluated, monitored and corrective measures taken to get this programme and the broad work plan given in the Mahanuwara Charter 2019 to be implemented by the new Government to the end without flaws. This Council should be chaired by the Prime Minister.

3) An Executive President elected by all the people in the country who shall be the Head of the State, Head of the government and the Chief Commander of the Three Forces

4 Prime Minister; The Chairman of the 15 Executive Committee

5 Jatika Rajya Sabhava JRS/ (Parliament) of Elected Members representing 198 electorates (No National list MPP thereafter) Five years permanent residence within the respective electorate for all candidates should be made compulsory to get nomination.

6) JRS to have 15 Executive Committees whose Chairmen will form the Cabinet of 15 assisted by 15 Deputy Ministers, representing the 15 Districts that have not got a Minister. Of the 15 Chairmen 1 will get elected as the Prime Minister. (For details see Towards a Government without Political Parties” mentioned in Mahanuwara Charter 2019)

7) The present system State machinery of Ministries and Departments with semi-government institutions will continue, of cause reduced in n umber.

8   To enact a new Constitution base on our own civilization as more fully described in Mahanuwara Charter 2019.                                                

(No man or woman who is not prepared to agree to the conditions given in Annexes 1 &11 and Charter2019, even if he/she is Sinhala should be appointed as a Minister or a Deputy).

B Local Government

9 To form 1) Grama Sabha, 2) Village Councils at Korale leve for villages and, Urban Councils and Municipal Councils for Urban center s.. Pradesiya Sabhas will be abolished under this system.

34 To restore former District and Divisional Agricultural and Coordinating Committees to be presided over by District and Divisional Secretaries (Disapathi and Upadisapathi)

35 To completely reorganize and upgrade the present Grama Seva System with resident village level officers to be named Gampathi  in place of present itinerary Grama Seva Niladhary system, transferable only within the respective divisions, transferable once in 5 years, as both the Village officer Gampathi and the Village formed the rock foundation of the effective administration in this country from the inception of history, at least from 307 BC

36 To divide the Island again in to Tun Rata with 10 districts for each totaling 30 for the whole country. Five new districts to be set up Mahiyanganaya, Wellavaya and Seruwavila for Ruhunu Rata. Yapahuwa (kurunegala  2) for Maya and Willpattuwa for Pihitirata (Dividing Anuradhapura in to 2)

37 To ban clergy of all religions from contesting elections to Jatika Rajya Sabhava or any other political body

38 To ban appointing defeated politicians and their family members to any post under the government violating all recruitment procedures to government and semi-government institutions or local and foreign services.

39 To stop all special privileges to all politicians and public servants like Duty free and official vehicles and punish all those who have misused this facility from 1987 as given in Siyapanatha item 88.

40 To abolish the Pensions rights of politicians and convert it once again to an Honourable public service as it had been in the past and to end politics being pursued as a fraud and a big business

41 To disqualify persons like RW, Kiriella, Mangala, Rajitha Senaratna, S.B Dissanayaka, Champika, Mutuhettigama, Richard Badurdeen, Rauf Hakeeem, Mervin Silva, Vigneswaran, Sivajilingam. Sumanthiram and most present day and any other person including all those who violate the 6th Amendment to the Constitution or found guilty of any treacherous action against the State or the country. They also should be debar from holding any public position for life including removing civil rights for life and confiscating illegally acquired property in addition to any other punishment the authorities deem fit.

42 To stop all interference by foreign countries or any foreign organization in the internal affairs of this country and to govern only according to the wishes and aspirations of the Bhoomiputras of this country.  The age of Navi Pillay, Samantha Power, the British Prime Minister, Geneva and all other similar organizations like Amnesty International and UNCHR, ordering us what to do should be put to an end immediately.

43 To Terminate diplomatic relations with all countries that do not conform to these  Sri Lankan national policies and who consistently act against  the interests of the Sri Lanka Government and support the LTTE remnants  both at Home and abroad  and the so-called Tamil Diaspora  operating from New York and London  and many other countries.

44 all recruitments to State jobs to be done through open competitive examinations and viva voce with no political interference.

45 To resettle all displaced people due to LTTE atrocities or during the war in their original places within six months.

46 To ban all types of Communal segregations and make the whole Island open to people of all communities without any discrimination and to punish persons like Vignesvaran who openly preach and act against this principle.

47 All Universities to be made independent seats of higher learning catering to the development needs of the country and cultural resurgence, subject to the implementation of the Government’s National education policy.

48 To Minimize foreign travel both for politicians and State Officials. Both politicians and State officials going on foreign study tours or training should submit their reports within one month after they return, as to what lessons they have learnt, that could be made useful to the country, to the JRS by politicians and by officials to the Secretary/Head of Department to the relevant Ministry/ Department.

49 To channel disbursement of all public funds through State Official as it was done in the past and stop the present practice of allocation of public funds to politicians either by seats or through Decentralized budget invented for political bribing to minimize financial mismanagement

50 To make the Secretary to the Treasury and the Ministry of Finance once again the Head of the Public service and the Secretaries to Ministries to be appointed only from the Secretaries Service (see Siya Panatha Sec.3 for details). This will insulate Public Service from political messing and restore independence, discipline and quality of public service.

(For details on each item please see relevant sections in the Mahanuwara Charter 2019).

(As no man or woman who is not prepared to agree to these conditions is fit to be a citizen of this country or to take to national politics or get appointed to public service in Sinale, no such person should be elected or appointed to any public position).

Lastly, let there shall be no Ambalamas (stoppages) in this “Great National Leap Forward” until the final destination is reached!

Annex 1

The 15 non -negotiable conditions

1 Name of the country shall be Sinhale as it had been known at least from 543 BC up to 1972 (2515 years).

(All historical and literary sources have referred to it as Sinhale, Sinhala Dveepa or Seehala Deepa, Lakdiva or Lanka, but never as EELAM. Only ancient Malayalam people of South India had referred to this country as EELAM by which they simply meant the land of the Sinhala people. The country that was ceded to Britain in 1815 by the Kandyan Convention of 2nd March 1815 was Sinhale, translated to English as Ceylon, meaning the land of the Sinhala people. Therefore that original name of the country has to be restored. Note both Sinhale and Lanka had been used synonymously from very ancient times to this country. The prefix Sri was added in 1972 Constitution when they named the country as The Republic of Sri Lanka and today it is known internationally as Sri Lanka and it has got permanently established by now. As such it could be called either Sinhale or Sri Lanka, if necessary after public consensus. Thereafter this country shall be known in all languages either as Sinhale or Sri Lanka. To call it by any other name like EELAM, Ilankai or Kalisthan thereafter will have to be declared as treason).

 2 Name of the Nation of this country shall be Sinhala as it had been in vogue at least from 543 BC up to 1815. But again the nation could be called either Sinhala or Sri Lankan for reasons given in item 1 above. Tamils or Muslims thereafter shall not be referred to or called as nations in this country any more. They shall be called minor communities only (Sulujana kotas not minorities which is erroneously translated as Sulu Jati).

3 Its citizens shall be known as Sinhala or Sri Lankan. There shall be two categories of citizens.

1815. a) Citizens by decent: all those who were citizens before 1815.
1816. b) Citizens by registration. This includes citizens who are registered after accepting the conditions laid down in Annex 1 and 11 included here in, subject to the conditions prescribed in Mahanuwara Charter 2019 item 7 regarding citizenship.

4 Buddhism shall be declared the State Religion while freedom of practicing other religions, with no right to manifest or propagate will be guaranteed as it had been done from the beginning of history of this country up to 1815. Buddhism has to be accepted by people of all other religions as he State religion of this country as it had been accepted by Kings and subjects alike in the past and even in contemporary times ‘as the main tree where all other religions are only small branches’ as Rev Malcolm Ranjith Fernando has aptly said.

5 There shall be one Law for the whole country for all Citizens as it had been up to 1815. Details have to be worked out by religious, legal and social leaders, based on the traditional native laws. Simultaneously ethnic laws such as Thesawalamei (Law for Malabar inhabitants) and Muslim law introduced to this country by the Dutch and British to divide the Lankan nation shall be abolished and banned.

6 Sinhala should be made- The official language of the State as it had been from 543 BC while Tamils will be provided the right of reasonable use of their Language by a competent committee appointed for that purpose. No one who does not know the language of the natives, that is Sinhala, shall be given full Citizenship of this country

7 One country, One Nation, One National Flag and one National Anthem concept must be enshrined in the Constitution. It should be sung only in Sinhala as given in the Constitution.(This will enhance and consolidate the unity and patriotism as one nation)

8 This country shall be declared the Historical Mathrubhumi of the Sinhala race and all other communities have to accede to that non-debatable and non -negotiable fact of history.

9 Sinhala people also must have the right to live in any part of the country of their choice and have the right to have their religious establishments like temples and shrines just as the Tamils and Muslims currently enjoy. If anyone objects or refuses this condition then they should leave for their motherlands in India or Arabia.

10 Sinhala Buddhist culture has to be legally recognized as the national/dominant culture of the Sri Lanka nation, while the freedom of practicing their own cultures for all minor communities will be guaranteed.

11 Under this proposal all Political Parties named after ethnicity, religion, region or divisive basis like Federal, TNA, TELO. SLMS, TC and EPRLF or any other etc, will have to be banned by law.  Even the Marxist parties like LSSP, CP and JVP should be banned as their political ideologies do not suit this country. There is no need to talk about the UNP,

12 The international community has to honour this Sri Lankan identity. Discontinue diplomatic relations with all countries that do not agree to these conditions and deport their Diplomatic representatives immediately and terminate all relations with such countries until they agree to do so.

13 This country will not get aligned with any World power. We will strictly adhere to the Non-aligned policy as a free, Independent and sovereign nation. Any attempt by any country to interfere or intervene with the internal affairs of this country will be rejected and defeated.

14 No national asset within the Island and its territorial waters shall be sold to or otherwise divested in any foreign country or agency.

15 To restrict recruitments to public service strictly to ethnic ratios (Please refer to Mahanuwara Charter 2019 and Siyapanatha for details) 

 

Annext 11

The New Sinhale/Sri Lanka Constitution should be based on the following historical foundation and premises.

1 Historically this country had remained the Traditional Homeland of the Sinhala Nation, at least from 543 BC up to date.

2 Since 307 BC it had been the only Sinhala Buddhist nation in the world.

3 Sinhalese Buddhists were the people who found, developed and fostered the unique Sinhala Buddhist civilization on this Island. It was also they who protected it from all foreign devastations firstly, the Indians, more particularly, South Indians, starting in the 2nd century BC up to the 12th century AD (culminated in the barbaric Magha devastation), who razed Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa civilizations (that ranked among the best in ancient and medieval world) to the ground.

Secondly, it was virtually destroyed for 443 years from 1505 to 1948 by the Portuguese, Dutch and British invasions. In all these wars it was the Sinhala Buddhists who had to face the brunt of the invader and die in battle in millions in defense of their Motherland. Among the long list of brutal and savages atrocities carried out by these invaders, shooting all those who could not be arrested, hanging them then and there, burning down all fields, houses and barns and slaughtering all animals of the natives to feed the soldiers of the invader could be cited as few example of the cruel crimes carried out by these invaders.

4 The name of the country ceded to British in 1815 was Sinhale as given in the Kandyan Convention of March 2. 1815. Except Taprobane and Serendib all other names over 23 like Zeylan and Ceylon simply meant the Land of the Sinhala people. Even the Tamil word EELAM means the land of the Sinhalese. This clearly shows that, right throughout history it was the Sinhala imprint that has flourished on this land.

5 It was the Sinhalese Buddhists, the architects of the civilization in this country, who fought relentlessly for millennia against the South Indian and thereafter Portuguese, and British invaders from 1505 to 1948and died in millions in battle to defend their motherland in the savages and brutal 1818 and 1948 especially in Uva and Matale historic uprisings against the British. It was they who lost all their lands in battles fighting against the enemies to defend the motherland for posterity.

6 None of the Tamils or Muslim at any time has supported the native Sinhalese in these wars. Instead they took the side of the enemy and particularly the Muslims, both in the Uva and Matale freedom struggles who supported the British by transporting their provisions, guns and ammunitions from the harbours to the interior and by spying against the Native Sinhalese. When Muslims were brutally murdered by Portuguese in 1665 and when those who survived ran to the King in Kandy it was the Sinhala King who saved them and settled in the Panampatuwa (these are the ungrateful people now asking for a separate State in the South East)

7 In the period of early political agitations even Tamil scholars wrote on the Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this country and accepted that this had been the Land of the Sinhalese from the dawn of history and they were the architects of the unique civilization in this Island nation. See what P. Arunachalam in his Sketches of Ceylon History (1906) and Ananda Coomaraswamy in his classic Medieval Sinhalese (1905) wrote and concluded about the Civilization of the country. It is a tragedy and a pity too that the present day Tamil politicians don’t understand what these great Sri Lankans had said. I invite extreme communalists like Sambandan, Vignesvarana and Sumanthiram to read these books and find out as to where they should stand in this country. Instead today they all follow a Malaysian born Catholic Tamil Chelvanayagam, who had migrated to this country (around 1903) as a 4 year old boy who later became the Father of Ilankai Tamil Arsukachchi idea (1947) and Grandfather of modern Tamil extremism in this country.

8 Even as late as 1965 K. Indrapala professor of History in his PhD Thesis Dravidayan settlement in Ceylon concluded that there were no Tamil settlements in the interior of this country and they were confined to a narrow coastal strip in the north and East. I am talking here on  Indrapala, who wrote  his PhD  Thesis in 1965 and not what he had said recently at LTTE gun point in his “The Tamils of Sri Lanka”: (300 B.C.-1200 A.D.)-

9 All minority races including Tamils and Muslims are thus only descendants of immigrants who had come to this country from time to time either as traders, invaders, slaves of colonial powers or illicit immigrants. Tamils in the North and East were brought as slaves after 1505 by the Portuguese, Dutch and British to work in their projects. There are very few who descend from those left behind by early invaders. The last category is the Estate Tamils who were brought as indentured labour by British to work on their Coffee and Tea plantations after 1840. Therefore they were British citizens who were left behind by the British when they left in 1948. As such none of these categories   has any legitimate right to call this country their motherland unless and until they become full citizens of this country after learning the Language and history of the land and integrate with the native Sinhalese. The irony is none of these people accept this country as the land of the Sinhalese. Instead they all want separate independent and self-ruling regions carved out from this Land. Some people like the LTTE and their proxies have declared even war against the natives claiming the land of the Sinhalese for 30 years. All native politicians who are supposed to have ruled this country since 1948 are responsible for this unfortunate situation.

All these crazy people must learn the wisdom of Rev Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith (one of the greatest sons of Sri Lanka in modern times} latest statement where he said “Buddhism in this country is the big tree and other religions are only small branches of the big tree.’ In my opinion this is by far the best description of the Sri Lankan society made by any religious dignitary or a historian ever. The same thing could be said with regard to ethnicity as well. Accordingly, I will put it as “Sinhala race in this country is the big tree and other communities are only small branches of that big tree“.

Why can’t the Tamil and Muslim politicians, the treacherous NGOs, Colombian Sinhala politicians and the so-called International Community also understand this all-time reality and learn to live together without quarrelling with the Sinhala people who are the true Bhoomiputras of this land. Both Tamils and Muslim could be compared to ‘parasitic plants on a Sinhala banyan tree’ struggling to kill it and trying to be the banyan tree. Now the time has come for Sinhala Statesmen to compel these immigrants either to accept this gospel truth and try to live amicably with the native Sinhalese or leave for good for their own motherlands.

If all these five categories could understand the wisdom of Rev Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the day they do so, on that day, ends the ethnic and religious clashes in this country.

                                                                The end

‎3/‎17/‎2019     

Dr Sudath Gunasekara

Hanthana Pedesa Mahanuwara