{"id":110705,"date":"2021-01-15T17:15:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T00:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110705"},"modified":"2021-01-15T17:15:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T00:15:41","slug":"the-tamil-menace-in-sinhale-sri-lanka-its-historical-perspectives-and-present-ramifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/01\/15\/the-tamil-menace-in-sinhale-sri-lanka-its-historical-perspectives-and-present-ramifications\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tamil menace in Sinhale (Sri Lanka) its historical perspectives and present ramifications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara Former Permanent Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayaka <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The objective of this essay is to\nbriefly explain the story of the origin of the Sinhala nation and how the\nvaliant Sinhalese have defended their motherland  and its culture against all invaders over the\nmillennia  and the history of the never-ending\nchain of Indian invasions on this Island from Rama to date and their\nramifications and implications on its political economic and socio-cultural\nspheres, with special attention on the Tamil menace in the Island nation that\nhad tormented this Island nation throughout history, continues to date and\nmight even persist for ages to come, if corrective measures are not taken by\nthe present day leaders in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil menace in Sri Lanka is as\nold as human history. The insatiable longing in South Indians to capture and own\nthis Paradise Island on earth also has the same antiquity, if it is not older.\nIn recorded history it goes back to the 2nd<\/sup> Century BC. Long before\nhistory dawned, even Rama was supposed to have invaded this Island with an army\nof Monkeys lead by Hanuman in prehistoric times. But that was, rather\nstrangely, not to capture the country as the South Indians dream Tamils continues\nto do but to rescue his consort Sita from Ravana\u2019s captivity, who had abducted and\nimprisoned her to avenge, punishment inflicted upon his sister Suparnaka who\nwas ruling over Dhandakaaranya in South India, that was under Ravana the Great,\nthe King of Lanka at that time. Then of cause another North Indian Aryan Prince\nVijaya according to legend landed on the Island in 543 BC who was supposed to\nhave found the Sinhala nation. According to history he has not landed here as\nan invader to capture the country and his landing was not planned either. It\nwas by mere accident he landed here as he was banished from then India by his\nfather. On landing here he met Kuweni a local Princess of the Yaksha tribe and he\nmarried her and with her help Vijaya found the Sinhala Nation and the Kingdom,\nto make long story short, although there is another version to the origin of\nthe Sinhala Nation to say that it is called Sinhala as it was the Nation found\nby the amalgamation of the four tribes Yaksha, Raaksha, Deva and Naga who\ninhabited the Island long before, even Vijaya arrived on this Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Mahavamsa\nthe Great Chronicle of the Sinhala Nation <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mahavamsa the Great\nChronicle of the Sinhala Nation, his arrival in the Island in 543 BC, coincided\nwith the date of passing away of Lord Buddha Subsequently in 307 BC the advent\nof Buddhism took place officially during the reign of King Devanampiyatisa. In\na way it was also an ancient Indian invasion. But to the contrary of what the\nSouth Indian Dravidayan Tamils did over time and what present day neo-colonial India\nis doing it was the greatest religio-cultural gift any country in the world\ncould have given to us. It laid the foundation for the Sinhala Buddhist\ncivilization in this Island nation giving a unique identity to the Sinhala\nnation in the world for ages to come. Since Vijaya\u2019s time, until 177 BC the\ncountry was ruled by Sinhala Kings for 484 years without any interruption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first\nSouth Indian Tamils to invade this country<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sena \u2013Guttika two horse traders from\nSouth India were the first Tamils to invade this island in 177 BC It marked the\nbeginning of an eternal chain of successive attempts by the hungry Tamils from\nSouth India to take possession of this blessed land. Historically these sordid events\nof Tamil invasions that followed on this Island could be phased out as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. 177 BC -101 BC Sena-Guttika to\nDutugemunu. 2.!01 BC–1214 AD. Dutugemunu to Magha. 3.1214 – 1739-Magha to\nNarendrasinha. 4.1739- 1815.Narendrasinah to Sri Wickrama Rajasinha. 5 1815-\n1948 Sri Wickrama Rajasinha to Independence  IBritish colonial rule}.  6. 1948 to 1972 Independence to Republic of\nSri Lanka. 7 From 1987 to 2009 and 8.2009 to date. The age of messing up and\nuncertainty)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. 177 BC\n-101 BC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sena \u2013Guttika invaded and killed\nMutasiva the Sinhale King and ruled the Anuradhapura Kingdom until Asela\nreplaced them in 155 BC Again in 145 BC Elara another Tamil from South India\ninvaded the country and he ruled for 44 years until Dutugemunu the Greatest\nWarrior King of the Sinhala Nation defeated him  in combat in 101 BC. King DutugEmunu brought\nthe whole country under one parasol. The golden period of Sinhala civilization\nbegan with his ascending the thrown. He was succeeded by his younger brother\nSaddhaatissa in 77 BC.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 !01\nBC-1214 AD <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then too there had been many minor\nTamil invasions from time to time   This\nperiod was followed by the most destructive and devastative Tamil invasion in\nSri Lankan history ever, the Kalinga Magha invasion of the 12th century\n(1214-1235). Mabgha destroyed everything that was Sinhala Buddhist. He robbed\nthe treasures, burned royal palaces and Buddhist temples, destroyed and\nvandalized the Tanks and irrigation network that was the foundation of the\nGreat Rajarata Sinhala Buddhist civilization. \nThis marked a turning point in Sri Lankan history and civilization and the\nshifting of the Rajarata Sinhala Kingdom and civilization to the South West part\nof the Island for the first time in history sending Rajarata civilization in to\noblivion under a jungle tide that lasted for 600 years until the lost cradle of\nSinhala Buddhist civilization was at last re-discovered under British colonial\nrule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.1214-1739\nAD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the period that followed the Magha\ninvasion Sinhale Kingdom was shifted from place to place (Yapahuwa Damabdeniya,\nKurunegala, Gampola, Kotte, Sitawaka, to Senkadagala) and later disintegrated\nin to two and sometimes three or four and finally the Kandyan Kingdom founded\nby Wimaladharmasuriya in 1590 got established as the last Sinhale Kingdom and\nremained so until 1815 which marked the last year of the Sinhale Kingdom that\nended up finally with ceding it to the British empire in 1815.Meanwhile with\nthe death of Narendrasinga in 1739, the linage of Sinhala Kings also ended up\nwith his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 4\n1739-1815. Sri Vijaya Rajsingha \u2013Sri Wickrama Raajasingha.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kin Narendrasinha\u2019s Chief Queen was a\nSouth Indian who by intrigue got her brother Sri Vijaya Rajasingha crowned as\nKing of Kandy with the help of Welivita Saranankara Thera. With this change\nover from Sinhala to Tamil monarchy the tradition of Sinhala Kings came to an\nend and it was replaced by a South Indian Tamil due to the follies Welivita\nSaranakara Thera, may be driven by his long time desire to get Royal patronage\nto get Upasamapada from Thailand.  He was\nsucceeded again by another Nayakkaara, Kirti Sri Rajasinha. Rajadhi Rajasingha succeeded\nhim and finally Sri Wickrama Rajasingha another Nauakkara whose paternity was\nunknown was enthroned, under the patronage of Pilimatalavva. With Sri\nWickrama\u2019s capture by the British 1815, the Kandyan Kingdom also came to an end.\nThe Sinhalese wanted to get rid of the South Indian Tamil, a tyrant King. Thus the\nSinhale Kingdom was again ruled by four South Indian Nayakkara Tamil Princess from\n1739 to 1815. Although this was not by invasion on their part but by intrigue\nin the Royal palace due to the follies of Narendrasinha marrying a South Indian\nTamil woman, the 76 years of Nayakkara rule of mixed events filled with intrigue\nand internal squabbles, the Sinhale Kingdom ended up in a historic tragedy of\nceding it to the British Crown, thus ending the 2282 years glorious Sinhala\nKingdom. These 76 years of Nayakkara rule also left behind a legacy of South\nIndian cultural impact in every aspect of Sri Lankan life style, which could be\ndescribed as a South Indian Tamil cultural invasion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to note that up to\nthis point all Indian invasions were from South India only. The other Indian\nStates in the north had no interest on Sri Lanka for conquering either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 5 1815- 1948 – <\/strong>As India was also under British and\nthere was no Independent India during this time India did not have any direct involvement\nwith Sri Lanka on  the Tamil issue. But the\nBritish carried out a covert programme of promoting and strengthening Tamils in\nthis country against native Sinhalese in a subversive intrigue against the\nSinhala nation with the intention of having a future divided Sri Lanka with a\nstrong and dominant Tamil community and a weak Sinhala nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 6. 1948 to 1987.<\/strong>  After India was declared an Independent\ncountry in 1947 it began to assert over the internal matters of all neighboring\ncountries where there were people of Indian origin, mostly settled by the\nBritish. Since India openly spoke and treated them as people of Indian origin\nthey also began to look for India to preserve their Indian identity and solve\ntheir problems without trying to integrate with the native people of the\ncountries where they lived and earned their living. Perhaps inspired and\nmotivated by the Kautilyan concept of annexing adjoining States for empire\nbuilding India must have been dreaming of the building of an Indian Empire.\nThis situation made Indian immigrants a thorn in the throat in the respective\ncountries. This situation became worse in this country due to many reasons like\nits proximity to India and its abundant natural resources the envy of many\nnations, its geo strategic location right at the at the centre of the Indian\nOcean  in global power struggle and above\nall the stupidity and naivety of local political leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamils always look at India as their\nmother land and they never accepted this country as the home land of the\nSinhala nation. This line of thinking was promoted by the local Tamil\npoliticians in the North and the East and finally it ended up in claiming 1\/3\nof this country as their traditional Homeland as dreamt by the Vadukkodai Declaration.\nIndia heavily backed this by promoting a separate State concept for Tamils in\nSri Lanka which they called EELAM, which no Tamil realized that it simply meant\nthe land of the Sinhala people. India provided \na massive programe of military training for the LTTTE cadre all over\nIndia and they were given all support including 3.2Million US $ in addition to\nmilitary support to fight against the Lankan Government. Finally forced old\nJ.R. to concede to that request through the Rajiv\/JR Accord of 1987 July 19 and\npaved the legal framework to divide the country in to 9 separate States using\nthe political boundaries carved out on land as Provinces by the British, with\nthe 13th Amendment virtually making Sri Lanka the 30th State of India at gun\npoint. The JR\/Rajiv Accord and the 13th<\/sup> Amendment also virtually\nnullified the 1978 Constitution and reduced it to a mere piece of paper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamils in this country under these\ncircumstances completely forgot that they are living in somebody else\u2019s country.\nThey never treated this country by word or deed as their motherland. They only\nhad their physical bodies here, their minds and hearts were always in India. Their\nmother land was always India and their total allegiance was to India.  Even the Tamil coolies brought by British to\nwork on plantations in the hill country as their slave labour in millions and\nleft behind as a set of stateless people when British left the country in 1948\nbegan to think and act as they have already formed a branch of Tamilnadu right\nat the center of this land of the Sinhale Kingdom which they called Malayanadu.\nThis in short is exactly how Tamils became a menace to this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is more appalling was there was\nno native Sinhala leader who could stand up against this tragic travesty of\nhistory of this Island and the right royal betrayal   of the motherland of the Sinhala nation, who\nhad found the civilization on this Island 2600 years ago and built up the\nunique Sinhala Buddhist civilization. \nNone of these kalusuddhas<\/em>\nspoke a single word against this historical tragedy committed against the\nSinhala nation. S.W.R.D in 1956 brought about a Sinhala Buddhist revival and\nonly Sirimavo gave some meaning to the 1948 fake Independence in 1972 and freed\nthe country from British rule by declaring it as an Independent Republic. She\nwas the only head of State since 1948 who spoke and did some work to relieve\nthe Heartland (Sinhale Hadabima) of the country from Indian control.  But all what she did was reversed by JR the\ntraitor in 1987 by signing the Rajiv\/JR Accord of 1987. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sad\nlegacy of British Party politics, the curse of mother Lanka<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sad legacy of British Party\npolitics divided the Sinhala voters in to rival watertight compartments that\ncompelled them to woo the Tamils vote as warring rivals to come to power,\nconsolidate it and remain in power at the peril of the Sinhala nation. As a\nresult in no time the majority became a minority and the minorities especially\nthe Tamils assumed the power of the majority, taking the control of the\nnation\u2019s destiny in to their hands both locally and in international fora like\nthe UNO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vaddukoddai Convention<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile the Vaddukoddai Convention\na blatant lie and a naked travesty of history of this Island nation was passed\non May 15 1976, by the TULF meeting Presided over by Mr. Chelvanayakam. The\nfollowing quote alone proves the diabolical misrepresentation of history by\nthese Tamil maniacs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas,\nthroughout the centuries from the dawn of history, the Sinhalese and Tamil\nnations have divided between themselves the possession of Ceylon, the Sinhalese\ninhabiting the interior of the country in its Southern and Western parts from\nthe river Walawe to that of Chilaw and the Tamils possessing the Northern and\nEastern districts;\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn\u2019t it a historical political and\nnational tragedy that the Government at that time or any thereafter never\nchallenged this type of misinformation? This also proves that we never had a\npatriotic government ever since 1815 in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAP OF EELAM AS CLAIMED BY VADUKKODAI DECLARATION <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

7 From 1987\nto 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the LTTE coming in to the seine in\nearly 1980s and picking up the EELAM idea after this resolution, they declared\nopen war against the State causing massive los to a nation over a prolonged\nperiod of 30 years until it was wiped out by the Rajapaksa government in 2009.\nAlthough they defeated the LTTE cadre including Pirapaharan on Sri Lanka soil it\nnever consolidated the victory on ground like in the past by Dutugemunu and\nVijayaba and also never dismantled the international LTTE network called Tamil\ndiaspora spread all over the world like an octopus. The dismal failure on the\npart of the Sri Lanka government between 2010 to 2015 and the complacence and negligence\nand promoting separatism from 2015 -2019 has made the issue more complicated.\nThe dismal failure on the part of the Sinhala politicians to put the clock back\nand restore pre 1815 status quo of the Independent Sinhala Kingdom is perhaps\nthe main reason behind this confusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.2009 to\ndate. The age of messing up and uncertainty)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I put the period between 2009 and\n2015 as the age of messing up as the then Government miserably failed to\nconsolidate the historic victory gained in 2009 and messed up in priorities by\nnot putting a sound and stable foundation for future political stability which\nis  must for nation building. The\ngovernment of the day paid the heavy toll for this negligence at the 2015 elections.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again the new government that came to\npower with intrigue and coups hatched both at home and abroad also had no clear\nleadership or an action plan to rescue the country out of that complacency and\nmess. It was virtually radar less and leaderless and it was like ship without a\nCaptain, the President and the Prime Minister pulling the rackety government\ncart in two opposite directions, infested with chronic vituperative infightings\n disastrously ended up in August 2019 as\nthe most corrupted, ineffective and disastrous Government this country ever had\nsince 1948. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New\ndimensions of Tamil Factor in Sri Lanka politics.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the British leaving the country\nin 1948 the Tamil living in this country, both estate labor and those living in\nother parts of the country raised their ugly communal heads calling themselves\na separate nation with heavy support from the new Indian Government. They began\nto agitate for equal rights in everything with the native Sinhala people who\ncomprise over 75 % of the total population of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the Tamils living in the North\nand East claim for a separate Homeland for them while the army of South Indians\nTamil labour occupying the land owned by our ancestors before 1815 claim that\nland  as their Home land. Thanks to all\nsuccessive Governments since 1948 today have become the virtual owners of this\nland while the original owners, the native Sinhalese who were chased out by the\nBritish from their ancestral lands when they took their land by force either\nlive in the valley bottoms in abject poverty as refugees on their own\nmotherland neglected and discriminated by their own politicians or thousands of\nvillages displaced due to building reservoirs like Kotmale and Victoria  to change \nthe demographic map of the central Province have been sent out of their\nancestral lands en -masse to the Dry Zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile the Indian Central\ngovernment treats all Tamils living here as Indian people and provides them\nwith special facilities often bypassing and ignoring the Sri Lanka Government.\nAt the same time India also directly deal with the Tamils living in Sri Lanka\nand exert pressure on the Government to grant them equal rights and to satisfy\nthe expectations of the Tamil people and fulfill the Government\u2019s commitments\non the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, not given even to Tamils in\nTamilnadu. This is how the Indian Government is bullying the Sri Lankan\nGovernment today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classification\nof Tamils in Sri Lanka <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil presently living in this\ncountry could be classified as follows for study purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Descendants of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 War prisoners and captives of early\ninvaders from South India from time to time starting at 2nd  century BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Captives brought from India by\nKings like Gajaba I in retaliation to invading this country after defeating\nthem and waging war even in South India. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3Those who have come on trade from\ntime to time and preferred to stay behind<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 South Indians brought here by the\nPortuguese, Dutch and British before 1840 to work on their Projects and left\nbehind high and dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 South Indian Indentured Tamil\nlabour brought by the British to work on the newly opened up plantations in the\nCentral Hill Country and left behind when they left in 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6Temporary visa holders living as\nillicit Immigrants<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 Illicit immigrants popularly known\nas Kallathonis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 Transitory labour who come for work\nas chiep labour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9 Indian who have come here for\ntemporary employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 People employed in Indian Projects\nlike IOC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early comers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Those invaders who were left behind from very\nearly times got absorbed and integrated to the main stream and became Lankans\nor Sinhala people while some of them retained their religion and culture. Also\nin between there were others especially the converte South Indian Muslim Tamils\nwho came from time to time in small numbers, not as invaders but as traders who\nwere later known as Muslims going by their religion. Most of them got married\nto local Sinhala women and even took Sinhala ge names and lived among the\nSinhala people often under Royal patronage. For example those in Mavanella,\nGalagedara, Madawala, Udunuwara,Yatinuwara an dKuBuk kanduar in th eKAndy\nDistrict and those in Panamapattuwa in the East settled by King Senarat   But\nall these immigrants learned the Sinhala Language got absorbed in to the main\nstream while retaining their religious identity only. In addition to the\nlanguage of the country, that is Sinhala, they also spoke Tamil. This may be\ndue to the fact that most of them came from South India and also they did\nbusiness with both local and Indian Tamils across the sea.  But the important thing to note here is that\nalmost all these people, both Tamils and Muslims knew the language of the Land\nand they never claimed as separate nations until recent times. Prior to 1815\nall of them were known as people of Sinhale. \nSo, even today nearly 95 % of the population in this country is conversant\nin Sinhala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The estate Tamils who were brought by\nthe British after 1840s, even though they were deliberately kept separated from\nthe local as a community also learnt Sinhala as they came in contact with the\nneighboring Sinhala villages.  So if you\ntake the language as the dominant factor that unifies a nation, in this case\nSinhala, what is the other name by which you should name this country and the\nRatavesibhaavaya (Citizenship)? they should be given. See our immediate\nneighbor India, then countries like Thailand, Japan, China, Korea, Russia,\nGermany, France, Italy, Greece, Spain and England to name only a few. All these\ncountries are named after the dominant language spoken in those countries and\nthe citizenship is name by the name of the country; in our case Sinhala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Rise of\nTamil Ntionalism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It is only at the Donoghmore reforms the Tamil\npoliticians tried to establish a separate identity, though there were seeds of\nTamil nationalism even as early as 1911 when Aurunachalam Ramanadan as Director\nof Senses and Statistics named the Tamils in the North and East as Ceylon\nTamils (when translated SinhaleTamils)   and he broke away from the Ceylon National\nCongress and founded the Ceylon Tamil League in 1923.  Ponnambalan in 1935 demanded the famous 50-50\nrepresentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the growth of Tamil communal\npolitics they assumed a Tamil National\u201d\u009d attitude and Tamil\nnationalism emerged which in later years tried to assert as a separate nation\nwithin this country. No wonder these minions behave like goliaths when there\nare no Sinhala statesmen of stature to draw the line and tell everybody that\nthis country has only one nation and those who talk of many nations will be\ncharged for treason or deported to their original places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communal\nTamil politics getting firmly established in this country<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1947\nFormation of the Federal Party <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vaddukoddai Resolution was\nadopted on 14 May 1976 calling for the creation of an independent Tamil Eelam\nby the Tamil United Liberation Front under the leadership of S. J. V.\nChelvanayakam. It contested the 1977 Sri Lankan parliamentary election on its\ndemand for Tamil Eelam and won an overwhelming mandate in the Tamil areas,\nbecoming the main opposition party in Sri Lanka, the only time a minority party\nhas done so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LTTE taking\nto arms and its defeat in 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was followed by the LTTE taking\nto arms. Fought for 30 years and finally defeated in 2009 under Mahinda\nRajapaksa But in spite of the defeat of the LTTE cadre still the Eelam ideology\nand the Tamil separatists movement is living both at home and abroad as the\npowerful Tamil Diaspora supported by the Western world.. As such no one can\ntake it for grant that the Tamil threat is over. It will persist for ages to\ncome unless we take immediate corrective measure to defeat it and the Sinhala\nnation is at great danger and risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adenda<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept\nof a nation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the idea of nationality is\ndifficult to define the term nation in modern society is generally used to\ndescribe a community of race and language, geographic unity, community of\nreligion, common political aspiration and, above all,  historical development over a long time. This\nis of course not universal. But however it is essentially a sentiment of unity,\nspiritual in character and the will of a people to live together as Laski put\nit. The unity is the outcome of a common history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhala people in this context\nhad been a nation at least from the 6th century BC in this country, long before\nthe west even conceived the idea of a nation as outlined above. Even the four\ngroups who lived here previously got identified as one nation as Sivhela\/Sinhala.\nThat is why the land was called Sinhale, meaning the land of the Sivhela\/Sinhala.\nWith the introduction of Buddhism in 307 BC they became Buddhists and ever\nremained as \u201dThe Sinhala Buddhist Nation\u2019 in this country. With all the\nvicissitudes of history even in 1815 more than 95 % of the people in this country\ncame within this category except a few numbe, along the Northern and Eastern\ncoastal littorals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Tamils\nand Muslims have their own motherlands elsewhere whereas Sinhalese have none,\nother than this country their homeland and motherland from the dawn of history\nor even before.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamils have a motherland in South\nIndia and Muslims have motherlands all over the world including the entire Middle\nEast Africa, Pakistan, Indonesia and  Malaysiya.\nTherefore none of these people can claim this land as their motherland. Thanks\nto British they also have Maldives, a part of Sri Lanka Sinhale before 1948.\nTherefore Tamils and Muslims living here are only visitors or intruders who are\nenjoying the nature\u2019s luxuries on this Island and trying to make this their own\nland by annihilating the Sinhala Buddhist nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinhalese\nhave only this Island as heir motherland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinhalese are the people who found\nthis land and who built up the civilization on it for 2500 years or more. They\nare people who defended it against all invaders throughout history. This was\nindeed their only motherland from the dawn of history. Thousands of\narchaeological, epigraphical and literary evidence often running even to\nprehistoric times spread over the entire length and breadth of this country\nbear enough evidence to this conclusion that has been proved beyond all doubts.\nTherefore it is irrefutable. From point Pedro in the North down to Dodra in the\nSouth and from Puttalam in the West to Batticalloa in the East what is buried\nunderneath is the heritage of the Sinhala Buddhist civilization <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I challenge Vignesvaran (who claim\nthat 4 specimens of Sivalingam or  Hakeem\nor any one of their grandfathers name who had been a Tamil or a Muslim King in\nthis country who has built one Stupa, an irrigation tank or even a field canal\nor an edict by a Tamil besides a one made by a Sinhala King in any part of the\nIsland. In this historical backdrop Tamils, Muslims and any other minor ethnic\ngroup in this country that forms a part of the Sri Lanka nation or the Sinhala\nnation is only an integral part of the \u201dNation Lankan or Sinhala\u2019 as this\ncountry had been known as the land of the Sinhala people right through out in\nhistory. The land cede to British in 1815 was Sinhale.  (See the Kandyan Convention).  No man or woman can contradict it unless he\nor she is an incurable lunatic. Therefore at least now these minority ethnic\nmental cases should understand their limitations and the legitimate role within\nthe Lankan nation, and concede to this historical reality and learn to live\nwith the major community without running to America, India and other countries\nasking to tame the Sinhala nation and thereby create unwanted problems for us\nas well as for themselves. I am positive that the big majority, who are\nsensible, are prepared to do so. For those who are not prepared to concede to\nthis irrefutable reality, I think, it is high time that they should renounce\ntheir craving for this day dream of possessing this land and go back to their\nown motherlands without trying to dream of a motherland on somebody else\u2019s\ncountry and claiming illegal ownership of someone else\u2019s soil by going round\nthe world just denigrating our country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand one last word for our\npoliticians. I think, it is high time that first and foremost  they should rise above petty and narrow party\npolitics and assert and behave as statesmen and write this provision in to the\nConstitution of this country and declare that anyone agitating, behaving or\ninstigating, aiding and abetting others to talk, act or behave as separate\nnations or agitate for separation, contravening the law of the land, shall be\ncharged for high treason<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indian\nGovernment always thinks Sri Lanka is one of its suzerainties <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otherwise\nhow can the Indian Minister of External Affairs orders Sri Lankan Government\nlike this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nlatest verbal invasion by India<\/strong> on this country was displayed last week\nwhen Indian Minister of External Affairs\nDr. S. Jaishankar yesterday urged the Sri Lankan Government to satisfy the expectations\nof the Tamil people and fulfill the Government\u2019s commitments on the 13th\nAmendment to the Constitution. He further said It is in Sri Lanka\u2019s own\ninterest that the expectations of the Tamil people for equality, justice,\npeace, and dignity within a united Sri Lanka are fulfilled<\/strong>. That applies\nequally to the commitments made by the Sri Lankan Government on meaningful\ndevolution, including the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The progress and\nprosperity of Sri Lanka will surely be advanced as a consequence.\u201d He further\nadded The progress and prosperity of Sri Lanka will surely be advanced as a\nconsequence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the expectations of Tamils\nin this country he is talking about? Is it the separate Tamil State, when India\nitself has denied it on its own land in Tamilnadu, where even their language is\nnot recognized as an official language andagitation for separation has been\nbanned by Statute. This was the first official visit of a high-level foreign\ndignitary in Sri Lanka in 2021 as well as the first official visit outside\nIndia in the New Year. That alone shows the importance India pays to Sri Lanka\nat a time in history when India\u2019s relationship with all it\u2019s neigbhours right\nround is at stake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus the South Indian Tamil invasion\non this Island had been a continuous chronic legacy from 2nd century BC to 1815.\nAll these invasions from 2nd Century BC up to 1815 shared the following\ncharacteristics. First they were all South Indian and the rest of the\nsubcontinent had no connection to them. Second they were frequent and recurrent\nbut short lived except the Elaara invasion. Third none of them could capture or\ncontrol the whole Island. Fourth all these invasions were decisively defeated\nand Sinhala Kingdom was fully restored. As such none of these I early invasions\nhas left behind any imprints of their culture other than the vestiges of their\ndestruction and devastations done to the native Sinhala Buddhist civilization in\nthis country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only after India became an\nIndependent country it had started to throw its weight around dictating the\nneighbour countries as to what they should do and what they should not do: with\nwhat country they should have dealing with and with what country they should\nnot etc Whenever there is difference of opinion it bully and invade. It appears\nas if India thinks every country and everything around the Indian Ocean belongs\nto India. That is why India has fallen out with all its neighbours Probably\nIndia is trying to experiment Kautilyan tactics of statecraft for empire\nbuilding. It is high time that India and its crazy politicians should\nunderstand that the world has changed a lot since then and every Independent\nand sovereign country has its own right of decision making irrespective of it\nsize and military power. It is the responsibility of the Government of the\ncountry to  tell India in plain terms to\nmind its own business without interfering with our domestic matters. On the\nother hand if India is so concerned about the Tamils in Sri Lanka, often more\nthan their own people, the best thing it should do is to take all these people\nthere without trying to dictate to us as to how we must treat our citizens. So\nthat both India and Sri Lanka will be relieved of this pain in the neck for\ngood and the Tamils presently living in this country will also enjoy heavenly\npleasure back in their beloved and cherished Motherland.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post\nColonial Period.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British who discriminated against\nthe Sinhalese in fact had over the years built up a superiority complex in the\nminds of Tamils in Sri Lanka by providing them with better education facilities\nin their areas and more government jobs whereby they prepared the background\nfor communal clashes between the native Sinhalese and Tamils <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 During the period between 1505 and 1815 of\nWestern colonial invasions all the colonial powers brought slave labour from\nMalabar in South India to work on their tobacco farms and other projects as the\nproud native Sinhalese refused to work under the White invaders. Meanwhile\nbetween 1840  and 1910 British imported\nlarge number of coolies as indentured slave labour from South India to work on\ntheir newly opened up Coffee and Tea Plantations in the central hill country\npartly as again native Sinhala people refused to work under the white people\nbut mainly because South Indians were cheap and submissive labour. Adding\ninsult to injury the British, maintained these estate regions as virtual\nenclaves\u2019 separated from the native Sinhalese and left them behind as an army\nof Stateless Indians coolies (over 1.2 Million) when they went back in 1948\nleaving an eternal political headache and an economic and social burden to this\nIsland nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the fruits of this sad legacy\nof divide and rule British colonial policy we are compelled to reap and\nstruggle for the survival of our nation and the motherland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One last word to modern India for our\nmutual interest, isn\u2019t it worthwhile to remember that not only  in ancient times but even in modern days Sri\nLanka has decisively defeated the Indian manipulated LTTE menace in 2009,\nwithout their support, even though it took 30 years to do so due to the fault\nof our own leaders at home.  I hope the\nlocal Tamils will also learn a worthy lesson from what I have said here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 My advice\nto Sinhala political leaders.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First to Sinhala political leaders<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am addressing this note to you as\nLeaders without addressing it to all politicians for the simple reason that you\nare the people who lead other politicians by whipping them with the Party whip\nand they just follow you like a herd of lambs either to everybody\u2019s prosperity\nor doom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Please understand at least now, that you and\nyour predecessors who had lead this country since 1948 the date of so-called\nIndependence, that is still to come, are solely responsible for  all the current appalling political, economic\nand social crises that bleed this country and the nation for <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, groping in the dark, without\nnot knowing what this country is, its nation and its heritage are<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, your sole objective of self\n\u2013 interest and power that opens the door to wealth and privilege<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirdly, even if you know the three\nthings mention under one above you have sidelined them as they run counter to\nyou ambitions under the second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth In this rat race for self-\ninterest you forget about broader national interest and pamper the minorities to\nget their votes and ignore the Sinhala majority who are divided on blind Party\nlines and blindly vote the Party to which they are wedded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So knowing this predicament and the\nonly way to come to power and remain in power is to woo the minorities, like\nthe hungry fox that followed a goat expecting its testicles to fall you went\nafter the minority foxes to form Governments and made the minority a majority\nand the Majority the Minority in this country and brought about this pathetic\nsituation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get out of this pathetic and\ntragic situation, assuming that the none of the present day politicians will\nabandon this practice we have now look for an entirely a new to counter this\nsituation and save the Sinhala nation and the motherland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that all the major Political\nParties such as the SLFP.UNP.LSSP.CP and JVP are no more there and also all of\nthem have failed and the SLPP which I not a political Party and it is only an\ninterim arrangement of former SLFP rejects and drops outs from all other\nparties around one person Mahinda Rajapaksa who also has failed as a Sinhala\nNational leader with his runnibg after Tamils and Muslims  even his brother Gotahabaya  also has failed by his dependence on Muslims\nand this is the best time to look for a new National Sinhala LEadeship. Tamil\nin spite of the fact none of them have voted him, as he himself has admitted\nafter the Elections is also pretending to act as a Sinhala leader sonly this is\nthe best <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of this game of political\nChess the country has completely failed to raise its head as an independent\ncountry for 72 years. Therefore if we are to move ahead as an Independent and\nvibrant nation first we have to restore back to the pre 1815 status as a free\nand Independent country within the framework of one country, one nation and one\nlaw first. Ban all political parties named after ethnicity, religion or any\nother divisive criterion and have only two National Parties until we evolve a\npolitical system without Political Parties. All political leaders who cannot\nagree to this formula should immediately say good bye to politics in this\ncountry for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 <\/strong>and Tamil and Muslim minorities\nliving in Sri Lanka<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then ask the\nminorities to accept that status quo or return to their own countries without\ngiving headache to us. Under this system Tamils can go back to their\nMotherlands in South India and Muslims to \neither Arabia or India depending from where they have come,<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara Former Permanent Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayaka Introduction The objective of this essay is to briefly explain the story of the origin of the Sinhala nation and how the valiant Sinhalese have defended their motherland  and its culture against all invaders over the millennia  and the history of the never-ending chain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sudath-gunasekara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110705","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=110705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}