Sri Lankan Solidarity Movement
It is with great pain that we say that we completely disagree with this treacherous government regarding their stance with regard to extremely important, grave and critical issues facing Sri Lanka, mostly this treacherous government trying to bring on a treacherous new constitution which is nothing but a federal constitution or an Eelam, which the vast majority of Sri Lankan people, and almost all Sinhala people, especially almost all Sinhala Buddhists, do not want.
Perhaps these NGO types, neo-colonialists, this treacherous government etc. do not understand or even feel, but we Sinhala Buddhists know that our ancestors had to safeguard Theravada Buddhism for thousands of years with their lives. Today Buddhism is but a minority religion when taken on a worldwide basis and Theravada Buddhism is even more of a minority religion. So NGO types, neo-colonialists, this treacherous government should please not keep endlessly insulting this minority religion i.e. Theravada Buddhism endlessly which is not only painful but an insult to the ancient
Sinhala Buddhist civilization which our ancestors built on this island with great care. As a Buddhist I have no problem with other religions whatsoever and have great respect for all other religions but NGO types, neo-colonialists, this treacherous government seem to have some kind of hatred towards the indigenous religion of this country i.e. Theravada Buddhism. Even the bishops, the maulavis or the right thinking kurukals, all have said they have no problem with Buddhism being the state religion or Buddhism being given the foremost place in the constitution. However the NGOs, the neo-colonialists and this treacherous government do not like it.
Some may not know it and care but Sri Lanka in ancient times, was a foremost place of Buddhist learning and dissemination. Buddhist scholars from all over the world came to Sri Lanka to study the thripitakaya and copied it to take back to their home countries. The services rendered to Buddhism
by ancient Si Lanka is outstanding and incomparable in the ancient world. Some may not know it but the two Burmese merchants, Thapassu and Bhalluka, just after the Buddha’s passing away, came to India to study the thripitakaya and bring back relics and on their way home to Burma landed in Thiriyaya, Trincomalee, where the Girihandu Seya the most ancient stupa in Sri Lanka still surviving was built by the Sinhala king at the time with the patronisation of Thapassu and Bhalluka, who went back to Burma and built the Shweddagon Chaitya, the foremost Chaitya in Burma.
Ideally, the 13th amendment which was forced upon Sri Lanka by force should be abolished. Please consider that the Sinhala people are the indigenous people of this country. Consider the many archaeological finds which attest to this fact and reproduced below…..
……..Looking at the ancient history of Anuradhapura, a large settlement appears to have been founded before 900 BC at the site of Anuradhapura where signs of an iron age culture have been found. The size of the settlement was about 15 hectares at that date, but it expanded to 50 ha, to ‘town’ size within a couple of centuries. Three major sites at Anuradhapura have been excavated by the Archaeology Department. From 900BC (early iron age), large quantities of artifacts, which were characterised by the use of iron, high grade pottery and possibly cultivation of rice have been found. This culture developed progressively and expanded into city life by 700 BC.
The Sinhala civilization which emerged in Sri Lanka with the mixing of the indigenous tribes, Yaksha, Naga, Raksha and Deva with an influx of Indo Aryans who migrated around 543 B.C., took root in the dry zone, the rolling plains of the North, North Western and North Central (Rajarata) and the East and the South Eastern (Ruhuna) of ancient Sri Lanka………
In fact, Sri Lanka has a pre-history dating back at least 34,400 years since the earliest skeleton found on the island is over 37,000 years old.
Therefore the Sinhala people are the indigenous people of this island as attested by many pre-historic and historic archaeological finds. The Sinhala people built the hydraulic civilization of the island comprising at least 17,000 (which are in existence today) small, medium and large scale reservoirs in the dry zone of the country. Therefore this island is our homeland. As the indigenous people of the island, we have first rights as the first peoples as other first peoples around the world i.e. the Aborigines in Australia, the Maori in New Zealand, the American Indians in Bolivia have. In fact, the Sinhala people being the majority in the island, there is no doubt that we have the first and foremost rights to this island, our homeland.
If NGOs can shout from the rooftops about ‘rights’ of the indigenous Aborigines of Australia, the Maori of New Zealand, the American Indians of Bolivia etc., why are they so hostile towards the indigenous people of Sri Lanka ‘the Sinhala’?
As the indigenous people of this island we have land rights which no one can take away from us to this island which is our homeland. As they say land is freedom and freedom is precisely that, being able to live in your own land, your homeland, in freedom.
The Tamils, Muslims etc. (no disrespect to them and in fact those Tamils and Muslims who care about this country will agree with me) are descendants of immigrants to the country and cannot demand homelands and besides they are minorities in the country, not the majority. Where in the world does descendants of immigrants get homelands, unless the Sinhala are the stupidest people on planet earth, which we are. The present day provincial boundaries were created by the British without any consultations with the Sinhala people in order to divide the Sinhala people’s homeland and for divide and rule purposes and nothing else. Prior to that we had the Kandyan Kingdom comprising almost all of the island except the Jaffna Peninsula (which was invaded by Aryachakravarthi the invader and so still a part of the island) and prior to that the Rajarata, Ruhuna and the Malayarata which was the entire island.
Therefore even the 13th amendment should be scrapped since minorities as per the UN charter are entitled to language, cultural and religious rights which Sri Lanka has provided and continue to provide a long time ago and provided political rights too ( which we need not give at all) in the form of provincial councils. In a small country such as Sri Lanka of 65,000 km2, there is simply no space for nine provincial councils and nine provincial governments.It is absurd to partition this small country in this way and in particular the North and the East comprise over 28% of our land area, over 66% of our coastline and over 66% of our exclusive economic zone which we are giving away as ‘homelands’ to descendants of immigrants to the country i.e. Tamils etc. while we stupid Sinhala, the real indigenous people (whose actual homeland this island is) gets less and less of everything and will soon loose a huge part of our homeland once the treacherous new constitution is brought forward, which would be the biggest betrayal our unfortunate island has ever seen in its over 37,000 years of pre-history and ancient history. Why on earth did over 35,000 of our brave soldiers and over 7,000 of our brave villagers get massacred at the hands of the LTTE for over 26 years, why on earth did over 23,000 of our soldiers get disabled if we are going to hand over Eelam now in the guise of this new treacherous constitution?
Some people say we have no international support for a centralised government which is a unitary state. I say to those people, make your case, show those internationals evidence (which we have plenty of) that the Sinhala are indeed the indigenous people of the island from a pre-history of over 37,000 years ago, to those who built a great hydraulic civilization, of over 30,000 small, medium and large scale reservoirs and a Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this island and most especially based in the dry zone of the island. Show the internationals our great irrigation reservoirs built thousands of years ago, the great stupas built thousands of years ago, the Buddhist statues, the architecture, the development of our own script, our most ancient inscriptions, our earliest landscaped gardens such as at Sigiriya, our ancient sculpture, our ancient steel making, our ancient ports and they will not only be convinced but extremely impressed.
The 13th amendment forced upon us should be scrapped forthwith since it serves no purpose but to segregate our homeland which is this entire island and create separate states to be handed over to the Tamils etc. who are but descendants of immigrations to the island which is not only crazy but is a gross violation of the indigenous Sinhala people’s rights to this island, our homeland. Besides, those Tamil people and Muslim people who care about this country will agree with me and they too support one central government, based in Colombo the capital, which will set one set of laws applicable to the entire island for all subjects such as education, higher education, finance, transport, agriculture, irrigation, healthcare, religion, culture, environment, water resources, energy, defense, trade, land, housing, industry etc. which is the only sensible thing to do, i.e. have one set of laws, debated in parliament by representatives from all over the island and come up with one set of laws applicable to the entire island. We are a small island and if we do not come together as a unitary state with a strong central government, we will surely get alienated from each other compartmentalized into provinces (created by the British without any consultations with the Sinhala people in order to divide the Sinhala people’s homeland and for divide and rule purposes only and nothing else) or separate countries, with each ethnic group not being able to interact with one another and being suspicious of one another and never, ever coming together to move forward. The 13th amendment was designed to precisely achieve that unfortunate end and with the treacherous new federal or Eelam constitution, this island, our homeland, will surely fall apart in to two, three or even four countries and this will then be the end of our ancient Sinhala Buddhist civilization, our ancient hydraulic civilization in this island and surely the end of the Sinhala people. Why on earth did over 35,000 of our brave soldiers and over 7,000 of our brave villagers get massacred at the hands of the LTTE for over 26 years, why on earth did over 23,000 of our soldiers get disabled if we are going to hand over Eelam now in the guise of this new treacherous constitution?
How absurd it is that in an area of 65,000 km2, which is small, with now a modern transportation network, a modern communication system of the internet, phones etc., where you can get from one end of the island to the other in a few hours, do you have nine provincial governments? Surely this is a system designed to divide this small island? On the contrary one strong central government with representatives from all over the island, at one place, making one set of laws applicable all over the entire island is the way forward to unity and most especially towards a developed Sri Lanka. Why are we stupid enough to still listen to the colonialists etc. and try to divide our own homeland in this way, our only homeland in this entire world. What right do we have to deprive future generations of their own homeland which is this entire island as attested by pre-historic finds, and ancient historic finds? Surely future generations will curse us if we do not safeguard our own homeland and bequeath it to future generations intact and in one piece.
A description of the Development of the ancient Hydraulic Civilization of Sri Lanka is provided below:
Sri Lanka is a classic example of a “hydraulic civilization” which developed during the ancient period. Looking at the ancient history of Anuradhapura, a large settlement appears to have been founded before 900 BC at the site of Anuradhapura where signs of an iron age culture has been found. The size of the settlement was about 15 hectares at that date, but it expanded to 50 ha, to ‘town’ size within a couple of centuries. Three major sites at Anuradhapura have been excavated by the Archaeology Department. From 900BC (early iron age), large quantities of artifacts, which were characterised by the use of iron, high grade pottery and possibly cultivation of rice have been found. This culture developed progressively and expanded into city life by 700 BC.
In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC) made Anuradhapura his capital and developed it into a prosperous city. King Pandukabhaya was the founder and first ruler of the Anuradhapura Kingdom.
The earliest chronicles or ancient texts, the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa say that the island was inhabited by tribes worshipping Yakkas (demons), Nagas (cobras), Rakshas (demons) and Devas (deities) from pre-historic times, as attested by many archaeological findings. These may refer to totemist iron age autochthones. King Pandukabhaya was therefore tribal and only partly Indo Aryan, there being an Indo Aryan influx around 543 BC into the island.
Anuradhapura was the royal seat of more than 250 Buddhist kings recorded in the royal genealogies, and the pre-eminent city on the island for some 1,400 years. One of the most notable events during the Anuradhapura period was the introduction of Buddhism into the country. A strong alliance existed between King Devanampiya Tissa (250–210 BC) and the Emperor Ashoka of India, who sent Arahat Mahinda thero, son of the Emperor Asoka, to Sri Lanka. King Devanampiya Tissa, guided by the Arahat Mahinda thero, took steps to firmly establish Buddhism in the country.
The Sinhala civilization which emerged in Sri Lanka with the mixing of the indigenous tribes, Yaksha, Naga, Raksha and Deva with an influx of Indo Aryans who migrated around 543 B.C., took root in the dry zone, the rolling plains of the North, North Western and North Central (Rajarata) and the East and the South Eastern (Ruhuna) of ancient Sri Lanka. As the essentially agricultural Sinhala civilization flourished, increasingly ambitious projects of irrigation were launched at a pace with a view to harnessing the monsoonal rains. The irrigation works in ancient Sri Lanka, the earliest dating from about 300 B.C., during the reign of King Pandukabhaya and under continuous development for the next thousand years, were some of the most complex irrigation systems of the ancient world. In addition to constructing underground canals, the Sinhala were among the first to build completely artificial reservoirs to store water. The well-known historical concept of Wewai-Dagabai” (‘the tank’ and ‘the stupa’) i.e. the four essential elements of the Sinhala civilization, a Buddhist stupa, an irrigation reservoir, a village and a Buddhist temple, highlights the historical importance of water and irrigation to the Sinhala civilisation.
The culture in the dry zone villages was based on the concept of Wewai, Dagabai, Gamai, Pansalai” which means the culture is based on the relationship between the components, namely: The Tank, the Stupa, the Hamlet and the Temple” which are common to any village.
Village tanks gained reference in inscriptions, especially during the reigns of King Walagambahu (104 – 77 BC), King Bhathikabhaya (21 – 7 BC) and King Wasabha (67-105 AD), There are reported studies that have been carried out on the historical aspects of small tanks in the country. Some references indicate that these small tank systems have been in existence since the era of BC.
The tanks and related water conveying structures were particularly developed in the dry and intermediate climate zones of Sri Lanka where average annual rainfall varies from 900 to 1800 mm. More than 12,000 operational tanks and reservoirs have been identified within these zones, and a similar number still remains abandoned as stated in Jayasena H.A.H., Chandrajith Rohana, Gangadhara K.R., 2011, Water Management in Ancient Tank Cascade Systems (TCS) in Sri Lanka: Evidence for Systematic Tank Distribution, Journal of the Geological Society of Sri Lanka Vol. 14 Prof. C.B. Dissanayake Felicitation Volume, 27-33.
According to history, in early Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods in the dry zone of Sri Lanka, irrigation played a vital role in the nurturing of the Sinhala civilization. The greater part of this region receives a mean annual rainfall of 1,250 to 1,750 mm. In this whole region, which covers about seventy percent of the total land area of the island, only the Northern most peninsula and a stretch of land in the North-Western coastal belt with water-retentive limestone rock-strata afford scope for extensive irrigation by means of wells. Without artificial storage of water, human existence in the North Central Province would have been impossible. In the beginning, there were small-scale village reservoirs with a simple channel system. The North Central Province, although apparently flat, is in reality undulating, and the ancient tank builders took advantage of the nature of the terrain to create strings of tanks in the valleys called the small tank cascade system. The first most irrigation reservoir ever built in the world, the Abhaya Wewa” (Basawakkulama Wewa), built by King Pandukabhaya in the 3rd century B.C, is situated in Anuradhapura. Thereafter, construction of large reservoirs had been started in the 1st century B.C. during the reign of King Wasabha (67 – 111 B.C.). Historical records narrate that King Wasabha built 11 large reservoirs and two irrigation canals.
The finest example of the ingenuity of Sinhalese irrigation engineering is the invention of the “Besi-Kotuwa” (meaning ‘where the water flows down’ in Sinhala) in the 3rd century B.C. The Besi-Kotuwa is the equivalent of the modern day valve-pit or the Sluice Structure, which operates in the regulation of the outward flow of water. This invention allowed the Sinhala to proceed boldly with the construction of vast reservoirs that still rank among the finest and greatest works of its kind in the world. Therefore, from that day onwards, Sri Lankan tank builders developed a remarkable expertise in the controlling of large bodies of water which allowed them to build massive reservoirs. All the reservoirs and canals in an area were inter-connected by an intricate network, so that excess water from one will flow into another. The locations of these constructions indicate that the ancient engineers were aware of geological formations of the sites as well and made effective use of them. Underground conduits have also been constructed to supply water to and from artificial ponds, such as in the Kuttam Pokuna (twin ponds), and the King’s Garden in Anuradhapura.
The dry zone minor irrigation clusters of Sri Lanka were widely considered as one of the unique water conveying and management systems among the ancient civilizations of the world. This is now known as the ‘Tank Cascade System’ (TCS) and has been known to impact irrigation systems in Sri Lanka since the 3rd century BC. The ancient irrigation systems of ancient Sri Lanka consist of an intricate network of small to gigantic reservoirs called tanks connected through a series of feeder canals that brought water for year long rice cultivation to the dry zone. Some have been in operation continuously for more than 2000 years. There were about 30,000 reservoirs in Sri Lanka of which the majority was built from 3rdcentury B.C. to the 12th century AD. This compared to the Sri Lankan dry zone land area of about 40,000 sq. kilometres (where almost all the tanks are located), is almost equivalent to one reservoir for each sq. kilometre.
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Be that as it may, one has to question whether President Sirisena’s apparent attempt to have Sri Lanka liberated from the very forces that brought him into power was an honest exercise. Firstly, Sri Lanka is not facing any issue in the UN General Assembly or even in the UN Security Council and talking to those bodies is a useless exercise. The UNGA has not passed any resolution against Sri Lanka nor is it expecting Sri Lanka to fulfill any commitments. Even though the UNGA is the body that brings all the UN member states together at the highest level, other bodies like the Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council function independently and a statement made in one body does not influence the other bodies.
Our major exports have been plantation crops tea, tuber and coconut. Around 800,000 ha are cultivated with plantation crops and this sector, in the recent past, played a very important role in increasing our exports earnings. However, as indicated in table 2, production of these major export crops do not show any substantial increase during the last five years. Tea production has been fluctuating around 300 million kg during this period and it is unlikely that tea exports will increase substantially in the near future. As indicated in Table 2, it is the same story in the rubber sector. In fact, the annual total rubber production has decreased from 130 million kg in 2013 to 83 million kg in 2017. Coconut production too has declined during the present decade. This appalling situation in the plantation sector can be attributed to many factors, but the Ministry of Plantation Industries and the relevant authorities appear to have not taken affective strategies to remedy this situation. If the productivity of this sector is raised, it would be possible to increase foreign exchange earnings. However, as it is, it is very unlikely that it would be possible to increase the production of our major plantation crop by any substantial amounts.