By Rohana R. Wasala
It seems to me
that the former NPC CM and present Jaffna District MP octagenarian C.V.
Wigneswaran has taken to dispensing racist hatred in order to wipe out the
Sinhalese race as a pest. It is funny, but regrettable that he indulges himself
in this sort of thing. But since the Sinhalese are not what he pretends them to
be, his blasts of unprovoked hate will only irk them a bit, but will certainly
fail to cause them any harm if sense and sanity prevail. All his anti-Sinhalese
Buddhist assertions that are made without any basis in fact are so silly and
childish that I, a fellow Sri Lankan of his belonging to the Sinhalese
majority, think that he should be causing much embarrassment to the sensible
members of his own Tamil community. But we cannot ignore the fact that there
certainly is method in Wigneswaran’s madness. Fraudulent and frivolous though
his claims are, in the interest of natural justice as well as
authentic knowledge about our true history, they should not be allowed to
go unchallenged.
That is why a
prominent, internationally recognized Sri Lankan archaeologist, who has been
conducting excavations for delving into our buried history and prehistory, over
the past thirty years, promised, in the latest (September 7) episode of a
series of NethFM Radio interviews (also subsequently broadcast on the You Tube)
called ‘Unlimited History’ to disabuse Wigneswaran of his misconceptions in a
proper scientific manner in the near future, despite the extreme pressure of
work due to the project which the archaeology professor is currently engaged
in. The scholar meant is Professor Raj Somadeva, who deems it his
responsibility to give Wigneswaran an adequate answer.
Wigneswaran told
a Sunday Observer interviewer (September 6): ‘The genuine grievance of our
people is the non-settlement of their political issues. Not the denial of
economic sops! Economic sops would not solve the long term problems of our
people. When we speak of the needs and aspirations of our people why do you
Southerners view it as communal politics? When the Government wants to give
priority to Sinhala and Buddhism why did you not identify that as communal or
parochial politics?’ The pot calling the kettle black! I think Wigneswaran must be
invited to confront his young co-ethnic Arun Siddharthan on a TV discussion for
an answer. But he will not dare do that, not only because the young man who is
the grandson of a toddy tapper by profession, as he proudly claims, but because
he will have a hard time explaining to him why, he, as NPC Chief Minister he
returned all the development funds the government sent for his province
unutilized each year during the five years he held that post, while the
poor voters who elected him suffered without even the barest essential
infrastructure and other needs after the devastation caused by the war. I
am not sure whether Wigneswaran deserves the honour of being challenged by a
reputed archaeologist.
The
following argument of the MP is from the same source: ‘If we do not have the
right of which we are entitled to under the UN Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, Tamil speaking people of the North and the East would become Sinhalese
within 15 or 20 years. Already the people from Negombo to Puttalam who were
Tamil speaking when I was a child, have now become Sinhalese. The Tamils of
Anuradhapura in the Old Town where I lived as a boy have become Sinhalese. Many
people of recent Indian origin have become Sinhalese. The only way to preserve
our individuality is to become entitled to the right of self-determination so
that the people of the North and the East would look after themselves while
being part of the Sri Lankan polity’.
Could
all the Tamil speaking people of the North and the East become Sinhalese within
that short period if the few thousands of war-displaced Sinhalese are resettled
in those areas (but there is still no talk of the issue being addressed)?
Throughout history many Tamils who came from South India to Sri Lanka as
traders, guests, invaders or mercenaries merged into the Sinhalese community;
so did many Muslim men who arrived in Sri Lanka to do business. Many of the
Tamils in Jaffna today are degraded descendants of the original Sinhalese who
were living there when the first permanent Tamil settlements appeared in the
north only in the 13th century, after the expulsion (in 1236) of the invaders
led by Magha of Kalinga (not a Tamil), who, with his 24,000 strong army of
Kerala and Tamil mercenaries devastated (1215 CE) Polonnaruwa, the seat
of the Sinhalas’ flourishing hydraulic civilization and ruled there for 21
years. Some of the fleeing soldiers settled down in the north without returning
to India. What became of Magha is not known. There was no Tamil north before
the Magha invasion which, though it was repulsed, permanently destabilized the
island kingdom.
Even
during the recent thirty year separatist war there were Tamils who changed
their identity to Sinhalese, while living among the Sinhalese in the South for
work as well as for protection from Prabhakaran or equally likely for avoiding
detection by security forces for involvement in terrorist activities. If
the reverse of this happened, it would be natural too. But Tamil supremacist
Wigneswaran’s fears of immediate bastardization of Tamils through admixture
with the Sinhalese are not well founded.
In any case, the
Sinhalese account for nearly 75 % of the Lankan population. It is a historical
fact that Sri Lanka is the unique homeland of the Sinhalese who gave the island
its name ‘Sinhale’, just like Tamil Nadu is the homeland of the Tamils. The
Sinhalese do not demand or enjoy any special rights that the minorities do not
enjoy because they are non-Sinhalese. Well over 70% of Sri Lankans are
Buddhists. It is the practice in secular democratic countries around the world
including the USA, UK, Norway etc to give special recognition to the religion
of the majority, while ensuring the same freedom of belief and worship for
people of other religions without any discrimination. It is globally
appreciated that no other religion is more tolerant towards other faiths than
Buddhism.
Wigneswaran
falsely claims that Tamil is the oldest living language in the world. A glance
at the Web is enough for anyone to dispute this claim, because there are
dozens of other candidates (than Tamil) for the title of ‘the oldest living
language’ among the world’s over 7000 different languages. Whether Tamil is the
world’s oldest language or not, it has no bearing on the fact the Sinhalese are
descendants of the oldest humans who lived on this island. We have overwhelming
written, epigraphical and archaeological evidence scattered across the length
and breadth of the island to prove that Tamil speakers were definitely not the
earliest inhabitants of the island. The first homo sapiens who lived there so
many millennia ago were the ancestors of the Sinhalese. However, they could
have been conquered by a north Indian prince as claimed by the Vijaya legend.
But the main body of people were the indigenous tribes who in the course of
time came to collectively constitute the Sivhela nation.
Fresh
archaeological evidence, unearthed, for example, at the Pahiyan Rock near
Kalutara in the Western province, shows that the caves there provided shelter
to humans who used bows and arrows tipped with polished bones to kill small
arboreal mammals like monkeys for food some 48,000 years ago. The tribal people
who lived there and in other parts of the island then and in the following
millennia had to have communicated in their own indigenous language/s. These
early forms of verbal communication, in the long course of unrecorded history,
must have gradually evolved into Sinhala, ‘the language of ‘dipe danan’ ‘the
islanders’ that the missionary Mahinda Thera used to address the courtiers and
the commoners of Sinhaladweepa when he arrived from modern Sanchi in India in
236 BCE. This evolution had taken place only within the island, completely
independent of Tamil or other foreign language. The system of vocal sounds in
Sinhala is the most distinctive feature that separates it from Tamil and other
Dravidian languages. For the Tripitaka of Theravada Buddhism to have been
committed to writing on ola leaves in the 1st century BCE at Alu Vihara, Matale
in central Sri Lanka, the Sinhala writing system had to have been advanced
enough.
Wigneswaran
stated,a month or two ago, in a different context from the Sunday Observer
interview referred to above, that there had existed a historical Tamil state in
the north; he also stated that the Sinhalese language originated in the sixth
or seventh century CE. That is, his opinion is that the Sinhalese language came
into existence only after the birth of Christ. This only betrayed abysmal
ignorance. Wigneswaran was immediately contradicted by archaeology professor
Raj Somadeva alluded to at the beginning, an alumnus of Sweden’s top ranked
Uppsala University (for research and education). Professor Raj Somadeva is the
head of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology of the University of
Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. He is a scholar who is engaged in archaeological
excavation and exploration, devoting himself to efforts that even go beyond the
demands of his profession, in order to divulge Sri Lanka’s ancient history. He
has made many findings based on his own absolutely independent excavations and
studies using his expert knowledge. Particularly, as a result of his research
into a history that goes back far beyond the two thousand five hundred years of
written history, the Ravana legend is being revealed to have an element of
truth; it can no longer be dismissed as mere fiction. Professor Somadeva
who found the Sinhala antiquity of Sri Lanka has proved with evidence that the
country was known as Sinhaladveepa in the past and that Tamils and other races
arrived there for trade
This is how
Professor Somadeva responded to Wigneswaran then, drawing upon his
archaeological explorations: Firstly, it must be said that his statement
is a completely baseless fabrication. I say so based on my academic background.
According to the oldest available literary sources with which we can interact,
the language known as Sinhala or Sihala was in circulation in Sri Lanka even at
the time of the arrival of Mahinda Thera. It is recorded in the sources that
Mahinda Thera preached the Dhamma in the language of the ‘dipe danan’ (people
of the island). We can understand what this language was from taking into
account the fact that erudite monks compiled a series of books or atthakatas
(commentaries) to elucidate abstruse points in the Dhamma. These commentaries
were called ‘Sihalatthakata’s. In some instances, the Sihalatthakata tradition
has been referred to as ‘porana atthakatas’ (ancient commentaries). These
commentaries were called Sihalatthakata because they were written in Sinhala.
It is easy to understand that books written to explain difficult matters in the
Dhamma to the male and female lay Buddhists (upasaka upasikas) were composed in
Sinhala, because it was the language of the islanders.
Wigneswaran has
stated that Tamils have lived in this country from pre-Buddhist times. Here we
must be clear about what is meant by the term ‘Dravida’. It is the same as what
is meant by the term ‘Dravidian’ in English. It denotes a language family, not any
racial identity. The Dravidian language family is an extensive one. It includes
many languages. Tamil is only one of them. Professor Somadeva describes a gold
foil document found in the Jaffna peninsula: What is shown here is the oldest
metal foil with writing (found in Sri Lanka). It is a gold foil. It was
discovered at Vallipuram in the Jaffna peninsula. This gold sheet record in
Brahmi script was written during the reign of king Vasabha (69-111 CE). It was
made to record (for posterity) that the minister Irshigiri who was in charge of
Nagadeepa built a vihara named Piyagunkatissa there.” Professor Somadeva
authoritatively establishes with archaeological evidence that the history of
ancient Sinhalese goes back to the era of Ravana. A social media comment about
him runs as follows: Many who fought for Kuragala were inspired by a sense of
nationalism. But it may be stated confidently that the most crucial attacker in
the Kuragala controversy was Professor Somadeva. His Kuragala report is an
academic contribution that no person or group could reject. It is not a figment
of his imagination. It is a document written after deep study. Savants of
our time like Professor Raj Somadeva provide proper guidance for the
Sinhalese who strive to protect the country and the nation out of mere
emotional impulse to launch into an intelligent and comprehensive struggle.”
Professor
Somadeva made this remark about Wigneswaran’s ‘federal’ idea: Although any
other matter may be changed or interpreted to suit (the whims of) an individual
or group, subjecting history to the influence (of such distortions ) could
generate unexpected long-term complications. Very recently, I read in a
newspaper a statement made by a certain politician. I understand that the
statements relevant to your questions to me are parts of the same agenda.
Everyone has a right to hold and defend personal opinions. This applies in
respect of the federal idea, as well. However, it is my view that intelligent
politicians must understand that history cannot be federalized”. (I found
much of this information from internet sources.)
Postscript
Professor
Somadeva answered Wigneswaran from a program recorded at a rock surface in the
wilderness close to Wattegama Viharaya about 20 km from the main Monaragala
town in what was the ancient Ruhuna. The program was broadcast on NethFM Radio
and on You Tube today (September 15). Some students from the Postgraduate
Institute of Archaeology (University of Kelaniya) taking part in excavations in
progress under the supervision of the professor in the area and some local
villagers were among the audience. They were in the process of identifying and
copying some ancient rock inscriptions in the place. The scenic rocky place is
overlooking a vast plain covered with jungle surrounded by mountains. There are
a large number of ancient ruins and inscriptions scattered in the locality,
according to Dr Somadeva. In the vicinity of the place where they were sitting,
there were ruins of what they thought was an ancient Buddhist monastery
complex.
About
Wigneswaran’s assertion that Tamils were the earliest inhabitants of the
island, Dr Somadeva refuted this claim by referring to the use in archaeology
and anthropology of information found through modern genetic methods to analyse
fossilized specimens such as human bones for tracing the routes along which
human populations spread radiating from Africa. It has been established that
Tamils had reached the region today known as Pakistan in prehistoric times,
only to be gradually pushed downwards to south India, where they are today.
This happened when white skinned peoples from the Caucasus region (including
Turkey, Iran, etc) overran northern India and established their power
there. As Dr Shiran Deraniyagala has shown through his excavations at
Pahiyangala caves, that place had been inhabited by early humans over 48,000
years ago! However, this does not mean that the indigenous population had
remained pure free from admixture with tribes travelling from India, because
9000 years ago India and Lanka formed a continuous landmass. Genetic
hybridity of races was the norm.
To
say that one language is older than another, one should be equipped with
knowledge derived from various related disciplines such as philology and
linguistics (which Wigneswaran did not possess). In the case of the relative
histories of Sinhala and Tamil in Sri Lanka, although the early Sinhala
language inscriptions written in the Brahmi script are found, there are no
Tamil words in such inscriptions, which suggests that Sinhala has a longer
history in the island than Tamil. Dr Shiran Deraniyagala developed the the idea
for his Harvard University PhD thesis that the indigenous community divided
into two branches as Veddah and Yaksha about 10,000 years ago. This means that
the Veddas and Sinhalas share a common ancestor, and Tamils were not the
earliest inhabitants of the island of Sinhale.
The
hour or so long three-part You Tube video (Unlimited History – Episode 24), is
worth watching.
