{"id":108633,"date":"2020-11-13T16:04:12","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T23:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=108633"},"modified":"2020-11-13T16:04:12","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T23:04:12","slug":"a-new-constitution-for-the-island-nation-of-sinhale-a-submission-to-the-experts-committee-to-draft-a-new-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/11\/13\/a-new-constitution-for-the-island-nation-of-sinhale-a-submission-to-the-experts-committee-to-draft-a-new-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"A NEW CONSTITUTION FOR THE ISLAND NATION OF SINHALE – A submission to the Experts Committee to draft a new Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"

THAWALAMA DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Puselahena Estate, Kindelpitiya, Millewa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1st<\/sup>\nNovember 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secretary,
Experts Committee to draft a new constitution,
Room 32 (Block 02) BMICH,
Bauddhaloka Mawatha,
Colombo 7,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Sir,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A NEW CONSTITUTION FOR THE ISLAND\nNATION OF SINHALE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heeding to a request that has been made to the Public\nby the Experts Committee appointed by the government to draft a new\nConstitution for our country, the Thawalama Development Foundation wishes to\npresent the information submitted below in this regard for your kind consideration\nand necessary action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History\nis a methodical record of past events while traditional stories and myth coming\ndown for generations is legend. Two thousand five hundred years of history from\nthe advent of Prince Vijaya is recorded as written history in the great\nchronicle of Mahavamsa. Myth and traditional stories take us beyond this\nwritten history in the Mahavamsa to a Ravana civilization approximately five\nthousand years ago, a Mahabali civilization approximately ten thousand years\nago, a Tharaka civilization approximately twenty thousand years ago and a Manu\ncivilization approximately thirty thousand years ago. Though this is a mythical\nbelief there is ample evidence through recent archaeological findings in places\nsuch as Balangoda and Buttala to prove that men had lived in this island for\nwell over thirty thousand years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nrecorded history in the great chronicle Mahavamsa attributes Prince Vijaya\u2019s\narrival in this island to around 483 BC. There were four tribes living in this\ncountry then known as Heladiva. The four tribes were the Nagas, the Devas, the\nRakshas and the Yakkhas. Since the country was inhabited by four tribes the country\nwas also known as Sivuhela(Sivu meaning four). Prince Vijaya was crowned as\nKing of Heladiva and was the ruler of this island for thirty eight years (483\nto 445 BC). He married a Yakkhini Princess named Kuvanna who became his queen.\nHowever there was no immediate integration between the Yakkha tribe and the\nimmigrant Sinha tribe that arrived in this island with Prince Vijaya from North\nIndia. Therefore with the demise of King Vijaya his queen Kuvanna or their son\ndid not become the ruler of this island. \nIt was Panduvasudeva a relation of King Vijaya from the Sinha tribe\nsummoned from North India that became the next ruler of this island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis possible that the integration of Sinha tribe with the indigenous people\nnamely the Nagas, Devas, Rakshas and Yakkhas may have taken many more decades\nand would have been completed probably during the reign of Pandukabhaya (377 to\n307 BC) who was the fourth King of the island after Vijaya\u2019s arrival. King\nPandukabhaya had many indigenous people joining his army to defeat his uncles\nand to become the ruler of the island probably because his paternal grandmother\nwas an indigenous lady from a Hela tribe and not an immigrant from the Sinha\ntribe. It was during the reign of King Pandukabhaya that this island known as Heladiva\nor Sivuhela was identified as Sinhale after a complete integration of the\nimmigrant Sinha tribe from North India with the four indigenous Hela tribes of\nthis island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nisland which was henceforth known as Sinhale was divided into Ruhunu Rata, Pehiti\nRata and Maya Rata for possibly administrative expediency and after this\ndivision the island was referred to as Thunsinhale. The supreme king or the\nemperor ruled the country from the capital city that was situated in the Pehiti\nRata during ancient times and therefore was better known as the Raja Rata. Due\nto invasions initially from South India and subsequently from European\ncountries the capital city was later relocated either in Maya or Ruhunu Rata.\nWhen the supreme king or emperor resident in the capital city that was located\nin one of these subdivisions the other two subdivisions were sometimes ruled by\na sub king or a regent who was a close relation of the king but he was always\nsubordinate to the supreme king or emperor residing in the capital city. During\nthe advent of the first European power the Portuguese to this country in 1505\nA.D the capital city was Sri Jayawardenapura in Kotte that was situated in the\nMaya Rata. The Portuguese gradually established control over the Maritime\nProvinces of the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nDutch took over the rule of the Maritime Provinces from the Portuguese in 1656\nA.D and in 1796 A.D the British took over the Maritime Provinces of the island\nfrom the Dutch. When the European powers commenced to establish their rule over\nthe Maritime Provinces of the island the kingdom of Sinhale gradually moved to\nthe interior central hills and the capital city was finally established at Maha\nNuwara in the Ruhunu Rata. Invading British forces found it very difficult to\napproach the strategically situated Maha Nuwara that was in the central hills\nas it was virtually surrounded by the Mahawali River and thick jungle. A\nBritish expeditionary force that tried to capture the king of Sinhale in 1802\nA.D was virtually annihilated during that attempt. The kingdom in the hills\nfrom where the king reigned was also known as Kanda Uda Pasrata which the\nBritish later called Kanda and subsequently Kandy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nkingdom of Sinhale was ceded to the British by the Sinhalese Chieftains through\nthe Kandyan Convention signed on the 2nd<\/sup> of March 1815 and was never\nconquered by the British. The name of the ceded country mentioned throughout\nthe Sinhala and English text of this International Treaty is called Sinhale,\nthe name by which the island was known through the centuries. The letter and\nspirit of the Convention was never observed by the British Colonial\nadministration. This resulted in two rebellions. One was in 1818 and the other\nwas in 1848. British were able to crush both these rebellions in the most\nruthless manner and continue with their British colonial rule until the\ngranting of independence to Ceylon on 4th<\/sup> February 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Independence was however granted by the\nBritish to a country called Ceylon and not to the country called Sinhale that\nwas ceded to them by the Sinhala Chieftains, through the Kandyan Convention.\nThe implication of this intentional or unintentional omission was overlooked by\nour national leaders at that point of time. Had independence been granted to\nthe nation of Sinhale that was ceded to the British, then there would never\nhave been any ambiguity with regard to the rightful ownership of this island.\nJust as much as the world accepts that France is the land of its indigenous\npeople the French, Germany is the land of its indigenous people the Germans,\nChina is the land of its indigenous people the Chinese, Japan is the land of\nits indigenous people the Japanese and so on and so forth, Sinhale would have\nbeen the land of its indigenous people the Sinhalese. There would never have\nbeen any room for a mythical Tamil homeland known as Eelam in this\ncountry.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word ILAM<\/strong> (Eelam), today, comes into much\nprominence. It is, apparently, being used to connote the impression of a land of the Tamils\u201d. Indeed, the\nTamil word ILAM<\/strong> was never before used in that sense. On the contrary,\nthis Tamil word ILAM<\/strong> did not refer to Tamil land but to the Landof the Sinhala people\u201d. None other\nestablishes this than the Tamil lexicon published under the authority of the\nhighest seat of Tamil learning, namely the University of Madras. Page 328 of\nthis Tamil lexicon has the following entry: ILAM, <\/strong>n< Pali, Sinhala, 1. Ceylon.What\nit says is that ILAM<\/strong> means the\nland of the Sinhala people. The Tamil word given as the meaning of ILAM<\/strong>\nreads SINHALUM\u201d. <\/strong>The term ILA<\/strong> in Tamil means SINHALA\u201d<\/strong>,\nhaving its origin in the word HELA<\/strong>, by which term the ancient people of LANKA<\/strong>\nwere known. Thus ILAKKACHU<\/strong> in Tamil means Sinhala Coins\u201d- ILA<\/strong> means Sinhala, Kachchu\nmeans Coins. Similarly, since NADU<\/strong>\nmeans LAND<\/strong>, ILANADU<\/strong> means Sinhala\nland. According to the said lexicon the word ILANADU<\/strong> was derived\nfrom ILAM<\/strong>. The foregoing establishes the fact that the word ILAM<\/strong>\n(Eelam) never referred to any Tamil land but always signified the Sinhala land. Therefore if one were to ask for ILAM<\/strong> (Eelam), what is being asked\nfor is the traditional homeland of the Sinhala people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil culture evolved for\ncenturies in Tamil Nadu situated in South India and not in this island which is\nthe traditional homeland of the Sinhala people. Therefore Tamil Nadu the\ntraditional homeland of the Tamils is where they can practice self-determination\nand not in the northern and eastern parts of this island that is an integral\npart of the nation of Sinhale now better known as Sri Lanka. It was to\nestablish a separate homeland for the Tamils in the northern and eastern parts\nof this island that the LTTE fought a war for three decades with the government\nof Sri Lanka. Though the LTTE was convincingly defeated in 2009 some Tamil\npolitical leaders who are supported by the LTTE rump in the Tamil Diaspora\nstill continue to speak about Tamil aspirations for self-determination and also\nwith regard to the need to establish a traditional homeland for the Tamils in\nthis country. These Tamil political leaders also aspire to have the Security\nForces that protected and preserved the unity and territorial integrity of the\nnation by defeating LTTE terrorism removed from the Northern Province. Such\naspirations are unrealistic and would never be acceded to by the Sinhalese majority\nin this country even if undue international pressure is applied upon the\ngovernment of Sri Lanka. Therefore these Tamil politicians instead of following\na path that would drag the Tamil minority once again to a dark age of war and\ndestruction should instead join hands with the government of Sri Lanka to\nrapidly develop the area affected by the war to usher in peace and prosperity\nfor the Tamil people living in the northern and eastern parts of the\ncountry.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is true that there are many\nexamples of new countries being formed overnight. In our immediate neighborhood\nthe division of India into India and Pakistan or the creation of Bangladesh\nserves as good examples. However the formation of nations does not happen\novernight and in fact takes several centuries. A nation also has its own\nindigenous population and a language of its own. The nation of Sinhale had been\nin existence for over 2000 years and it had its own indigenous population the\nSinhalese and a language namely Sinhala when it was ceded to the British on 2nd<\/sup>\nof March 1815. This nation of Sinhale was identified as a country called Ceylon\nby the British. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party that was governing the country in\n1972 promulgated a new Constitution and Ceylon was renamed as the Republic of\nSri Lanka without having used that opportunity to revert back to the Nation of\nSinhale which was the ancient identity of the island. Unlike in Sri Lanka the\nnational leaders of Myanmar were much more patriotic and valued their\nhistorical identity. Therefore British colonial Burma reverted back to its\noriginal name of Myanmar after independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the rationality behind\nour political leaders changing the name of the ancient island nation of Sinhale\nto that of a country called Sri Lanka? Did it not result in converting an\nancient nation into just another country of recent origin? Was the name of the\ncountry changed to Sri Lanka because the governing party at that point of time\nwas the Sri Lanka Freedom Party? What was the actual origin of this name Sri\nLanka? The meaning of Sri is resplendent or very splendid. Admiring the very\nsplendid beauty of this island people living in neighboring India called it the\nAlankar Dwipa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name Lanka was derived from\nthe word Alankar by dropping the first letter A and the last letter r.\nTherefore Lanka was only a nick name used from ancient times for the splendidly\nbeautiful island nation of Sinhale. When the new Constitution was promulgated\nin 1972 our political leaders only succeeded in changing the name of the island\nto its ancient nickname instead of the real ancient name of Sinhale. This only\ndiluted the claim of the indigenous Sinhala people to this island nation and\nfurther encouraged the Tamil separatist demand.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the British colonial era\nIndian Tamil indentured labour was inducted to Burma too. However after\nindependence the far thinking Burmese national leaders requested the Indian\nTamils in that country to integrate into the majority Burmese society by\nchanging their names to Burmese and those who were unwilling to do so were\nasked to return to India. This resulted in an increase in the majority Burmese\npopulation and a corresponding decrease in the minority Tamil population. Even\nthough the Indian Tamil indentured labour spent much of their sweat and toil to\ndevelop the plantation industry in Ceylon had an integration exercise similar\nto that practiced in Burma been suggested for this country after independence\nthat would never have been accepted by the Sinhalese people who believe that\nthey belong to a pure race. Have they forgotten that their very race is a\nresult of an integration of the indigenous Nagas, Devas, Rakshas and Yakkhas\nwith a migrant Sinha tribe from\nIndia over 2000 years ago that resulted in the formation of the nation of\nSinhale? It is also a fact that this island nation is strategically situated\nvery close to the main shipping route in the Indian Ocean. Therefore much\nintegration was inevitable between foreigners and the Sinhalese people for many\ncenturies and to believe that a pure Sinhala race exists today is nothing but\nfallacy. DNA tests have proven that the Sinhala race is far from pure and is\nvery much mixed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Constitution of\nindependent Ceylon was the Saulsberry Constitution. This Constitution of Ceylon\nwas repealed and a new Constitution for the Republic of Sri Lanka was adopted\nand enacted on or about 22nd<\/sup> of May 1972. This 1972 Constitution of\nthe Republic of Sri Lanka was repealed in 1978 with enactment and adoption of a\nnew Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Therefore\nwhen constitutions were adopted for the country in 1948, 1972 and in 1978 the\npolitical leadership of our nation had three opportunities to reestablish the\nnation of Sinhale that was ceded to the British on 2nd<\/sup> of March\n1815. These political leaders voted to govern the country by the people even\nafter 72 years of independence from the British failed to adopt and enact a\nconstitution for the nation of Sinhale making separatist claims irrelevant. The\nThawalama Development Foundation would be thankful to the Experts Committee if\nit gives due consideration to enact a new Constitution for the nation of\nSinhale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yours faithfully,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anil Amarasekera\/-<\/strong>Lt Col. A.S.Amarasekera (Retd.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Director of Operations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THAWALAMA DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION Puselahena Estate, Kindelpitiya, Millewa. 1st November 2020. The Secretary,Experts Committee to draft a new constitution,Room 32 (Block 02) BMICH,Bauddhaloka Mawatha,Colombo 7, Dear Sir, A NEW CONSTITUTION FOR THE ISLAND NATION OF SINHALE Heeding to a request that has been made to the Public by the Experts Committee appointed by the government to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-constitution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}