{"id":82194,"date":"2018-10-21T22:42:15","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T04:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=82194"},"modified":"2018-10-21T15:37:05","modified_gmt":"2018-10-21T22:37:05","slug":"justice-c-v-wigneswaran-chief-minister-of-northern-province-is-running-away-from-a-public-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/10\/21\/justice-c-v-wigneswaran-chief-minister-of-northern-province-is-running-away-from-a-public-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice C. V. Wigneswaran, Chief Minister of Northern\u00a0 Province, is running\u00a0 away from a public debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

The\u00a0 note below deals with the refusal of Justice C. V. Wigneswaran to debate with Mr. H. L. D. Mahindapala.<\/p>\n

When Mr. Mahindapala accepted the challenge of Justice Wigneswaran to a debate\u00a0 Mr. Ranjith Soysa of the Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights (SPUR) offered to facilitate the debate.<\/p>\n

In reply to this offer Justice Wigneswaran has refused to join in a debate. He replied to Mr. Soysa in the following e-mail :<\/strong><\/p>\n

——– Forwarded Message ——–<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Subject: <\/strong><\/td>\nRe: Re: ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGE OF JUSTICE<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Date: <\/strong><\/td>\nMon, 15 Oct 2018 17:12:06 +0530<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From: <\/strong><\/td>\nCV Wigneswaran <cv.wigneswaran@gmail.com><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
To: <\/strong><\/td>\nranjiths@spur.asn.au<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Saw this only now.We are at the tail end of our term of office. Hence quite busy.I had given five matters to be considered.Please let me know what your views are re- same. We can go from there.When we are trying to find out the truth we must be certain as to what our individual thoughts are.Then we could discuss matters. Please set out the five points and give your views re each of them.\u00a0 If for example you do not accept Sinhala Language came into existence only around 6th or 7th Century AD \u00a0then state your views and the basis of your view.For example such and such inscription refers to the Sinhalese or Sinhala language in 3rd century BC etc. Then I shall check the verasity of your statement and come back to you. We are not here to check on our oratorical skills. You can get a Historian or Archaeologist to answer my questions or my views and come out with his or her views.Thanks. Sorry for the delay in responding. The communication was in the sent mail.W<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This reply indicates that Justice Wigneswaran is reluctant to debate\u00a0 with Mr. Mahindapala. As Mr. Soysa was not involved in the debate he forwarded Justice Wigneswaran\u2019s reply to Mr. Mahindapala who initially accepted the challenge to debate with him. The following is Mr. Mahindapala\u2019s reply sent to Mr. Soysa which was forwarded to Justice Wigneswaran with a covering letter. This reply contains some additional material to the reply sent to Justice Wigneswaran.<\/p>\n

————————————-<\/p>\n

Justice C. V. Wigneswaran<\/p>\n

Chief Minister<\/p>\n

Northern Province<\/p>\n

Jaffna<\/p>\n

Dear Sir,<\/p>\n

I wish to forward\u00a0 the following response I received from Mr.. H. L. D. Mahindapala to the e-mail you sent me.<\/p>\n

I forwarded it to him as he was the first to accept your challenge to debate the issues raised by you.<\/p>\n

I stepped in to merely facilitate the debate and\u00a0 not as a participant in the debate.<\/p>\n

His response is self-explanatory.<\/p>\n

I trust you will send your \u00a0response as stated in your e-mail to me..<\/p>\n

Wishing\u00a0 you all the best.<\/p>\n

Ranjith Soysa<\/p>\n

SPUR<\/p>\n

————————————-<\/p>\n

Dear Ranjith,<\/p>\n

Justice C. V. Wigneswaran, Chief Minister of Northern\u00a0 Province, is running\u00a0 away from a public debate<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for forwarding the e-mail sent by Justice C. V. Wigneswaran in reply to your offer to provide the logistics for a debate with me on the various\u00a0 issues raised by him. I am very disappointed to note that he had turned down the offer to debate the issues he has raised selectively. In the past he has been vociferously challenging the Sinhalese to debate with him on some\u00a0 of the critical issues of Sri Lankan history. In issuing several challenges to debate with him he was posing as the great Tamil hero ready to vanquish the Sinhala enemies. But now when he is requested to take up the challenge he seems\u00a0 to have lost his early enthusiasm for a debate.<\/p>\n

He has back-pedalled saying that debates are to test the oratorical skills\u201d and not exercises to seek the truth. If this is true I\u00a0 wonder\u00a0 why he\u00a0 threw challenges to debate the\u00a0 issues\u00a0 identified by him, in the\u00a0 first\u00a0 place. Besides, he\u00a0 should know that there are many ways of finding the truth. It is well known that some of the controversial issues of science, religion, politics, history etc have been debated in leading\u00a0 universities and other\u00a0 public fora as a means of\u00a0 testing the validity of the competing arguments. Whether it is the Panadura Wadaya<\/em><\/strong>, or the historic Huxley-Wilberforce debate on Darwinism, (1860 at Oxford University) public debates have contributed significantly to raise awareness and increase the knowledge bank. It has\u00a0 helped the general public to find answers to their questions and to discover what they consider to be the truth which can be both\u00a0 provisional and\/or relative.. Since he\u00a0 is convinced that the facts of history, archaeology, numismatics, inscriptions etc., are on his\u00a0 side he need not\u00a0 be scared to debate. It is somewhat puzzling, to say the least, as to why he has decided to run on reverse gear at this stage, after issuing public challenges with gusty bravado initially.<\/p>\n

He is now asking\u00a0 you to send your points of view on the issues raised by him. After that he promises to check your points\u00a0 of\u00a0 view and send his replies. This approach, you will remember, is what we did at school:<\/strong> the school master corrected our copy and we had to accept his verdict. This schoolmasterish attitude is not\u00a0 what\u00a0 is \u00a0expected by the Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims etc., to sort out the ideological issues bedevilling the nation. He knows that the issues raised by him are of immense interest to the public. We live in an\u00a0 age where the public has a right to know the pros and cons of the issues that face them. Why is he reluctant\u00a0 to argue his case in public now? He is also trained as a lawyer to argue his cases in public. So why is he running\u00a0away from the challenges he\u00a0 had thrown at the Sinhalese frequently?<\/p>\n

I think this is his way of dodging the debate for reasons best known to him. This is further confirmed by asking you to respond instead of asking me to respond to the issues selected by him. It is\u00a0 absolutely silly of him to\u00a0 ask you to\u00a0 respond when you had neither raised the issues with him, nor\u00a0 had the intention of debating with him. He knew that the challenge to debate with him was accepted by me and not by you. As stated in your e-mail to him you only offered to facilitate the debate without burdening him with costs and other pressures related to organising a public debate. So why is he asking you to respond when you had nothing to do with the debate?<\/p>\n

Consider also the absurdity of the exercise he had set for you. He says: If for example you do not accept Sinhala Language came into existence only around 6th or 7th Century AD \u00a0then state your views and the basis of your view. For example such and such inscription refers to the Sinhalese or Sinhala language in 3rd century BC etc. Then I shall check the verasity (sic) of your statement and come back to you. We are not here to check on our oratorical skills. You can get a Historian or Archaeologist to answer my questions or my views and come out with his or her views.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since it\u00a0 is\u00a0 not\u00a0 your responsibility to reply please let me handle it my way. Please ask him\u00a0 to check it\u00a0 and send his response to you. I am\u00a0 sorry to make you the post box but since he\u00a0 has raised\u00a0 it with you (unwarrantedly) please bear with me.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my response to the issue of the Sinhala language raised by him :<\/strong><\/p>\n

As in all other\u00a0 issues raised by Justice Wigneswaran there\u00a0 is a hidden political motive in raising\u00a0 this\u00a0 issue. He wants you to acknowledge that the Sinhala Language came into existence only around 6th or 7th Century AD\u201d in order to boast that the Tamil language is an\u00a0 ancient language that dates back to the pre-Christian era. He also wants you to acknowledge that the Sinhala Language\u00a0 is made up of Tamil, Pali and\u00a0 other\u00a0 dialects of that time.\u201d (See the letter\u00a0 he sent\u00a0 to\u00a0 Mr. Gallege Punyawardana.) This is\u00a0 typical\u00a0 of\u00a0 the kind\u00a0 of boasts trumpeted by Tamil ideologues to make-believe that they are superior to the Sinhalese. Only a warped\u00a0 mind\u00a0 obsessed with imagined greatness can indulge\u00a0 in childish\u00a0 stupidities like this.<\/p>\n

I am\u00a0 prepared to concede that\u00a0 the Tamil\u00a0 language is a rich language that predates the Sinhala language. But all that\u00a0 belongs to S. India. Jaffna Tamils are not entitled to claim the greatness of the Tamil language which was created in Tamil Nadu. \u00a0If the Jaffna Tamils are great, as they think they are, they should have, like the Sinhalese, created a new language and contributed to the grandeur of the global culture. But they failed to achieve such greatness. When the Jaffna Tamils claim the greatness of the Tamil language they are not establishing the\u00a0 greatness of their ancestors or contemporaries. They are only paying homage to the creative and pioneering genius of the Tamils of S. India. Tamils of Jaffna have nothing to show in\u00a0 terms of their greatness. Can they, for instance, compare their anthills with the monumental achievements of the Tamils of S. India or the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka? At best they have been mediocre imitators basking in the glory of the splendid culture of S. India.<\/p>\n

Each nation is entitled to claim the greatness created by their ancestors with their blood, sweat and tears on the native soil into which they were born. Since\u00a0 the Jaffna Tamils consider themselves to\u00a0 be a\u00a0 nation\u201d on Sri Lankan soil they must prove their\u00a0 greatness by revealing their achievements on Sri Lankan soil. They lose their legitimacy to be a nation\u201d on Sri Lankan soil if they claim the achievements of Tamil Nadu, which is another nation\u201d. The Sinhalese, on the other hand, can be proud of the Sinhala language because it was a unique language that was made by the Sinhala people, with the genius of the Sinhala people, for\u00a0 the Sinhala people who made history on\u00a0 Sri Lankan soil. The Tamils are claiming\u00a0 greatness and glory of a language made by Dravidians\u00a0 of the S. India. It did not\u00a0 come out\u00a0 of the greatness of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. Sinhala, on the contrary, came out\u00a0 of the greatness of the Sinhala people. The Tamils of the north\u00a0 never contributed a new language to the global, national or even the Dravidian culture.<\/p>\n

The Tamils\u00a0 of Sri Lanka were good mimics who could parrot the S. Indian language. There is no greatness in that. When the Jaffna Tamils talk\u00a0 of greatness they invariably get mixed up with the greatness of Dravidian culture of S. India. They think they are great because they can imitate the original culture of S. India. The Sinhalese, on the contrary, are great because their genius produced an original culture, original civilisation\u00a0 and an original language. The Americans, for instance, do not go around crowing\u00a0 that they are great because they came from the great English culture. It is their creativity, energy and genius that made America great. Even the English language acquired a new vibrancy in their tongues. In fact, Winston Churchill said that America and Britain are two nations divided by one language, implying that\u00a0 though they borrowed heavily from the mother country the Americans invigorated the language with a distinct accent, idiom, flavour\u00a0 and meanings. With their Nobel Prize winning poets, novelists and dramatists the Americans made their own contributions to the enrichment of\u00a0 the English language. Where are the Jaffna Tamil poets, novelists and dramatist who shone\u00a0 brighter than the S. Indian creative artists?<\/p>\n

So\u00a0 what\u00a0 have the Tamils to\u00a0 crow about? Where, O where, can one find the greatness of the Jaffna Tamils? Justice Wigneswaran attempts to laugh at Sinhala language by dating\u00a0 it\u00a0 to the 6th<\/sup> or 7th<\/sup>\u201d centuries.. Scholars trace its\u00a0 origins to Prakrit\u00a0 which dates back to 3rd<\/sup> B.C. As it evolved it\u00a0 picked up words\u00a0 from Tamil, Pali, Sanskrit etc., by inter-acting with other languages. This is a common trend found\u00a0 in all other cultured languages. For\u00a0 instance, there are over 1,000 Indian words (pariah, catamaran, mulligatawny etc) in\u00a0 the English language. All languages and cultures were enriched by borrowings. Justice Wigneswaran wants to slight the Sinhalese for borrowing from the Tamils as if the Sinhala language could not\u00a0 have emerged in\u00a0 the 6th<\/sup> century without it. It is apparent that the general thrust\u00a0of\u00a0his\u00a0argument is to promote the myth that Sinhalese owes everything to the superior Tamils who were the great founders and architects\u00a0 of the nation.<\/p>\n

Besides, in assessing\u00a0 the greatness of the Sinhala language it must be noted that it not\u00a0 only flourished but also refused to go\u00a0 under the\u00a0 pressures of Tamil, Pali, Sanskrit languages competing to reign supreme in \u00a0Sri Lankan\u00a0 soil. If, for\u00a0 instance, the Tamil language was so great and powerful no\u00a0 other\u00a0 language could\u00a0 have had a chance of survival. The fact that the Sinhala language triumphed over the other languages and retained its identity speaks volumes of the greatness, the power and the creative energy of the Sinhala people and their language.<\/p>\n

Tamil\u00a0 ideologues tend to brag about their past as if there is sanctity in their antiquity. Consequently, in their eyes, the Sinhala language flowering in the 6th<\/sup> century lacks the superiority of ancient Tamil language. But this twisted dating system of assessing the\u00a0greatness of language, culture, history etc., on antiquity invalidates the monumental achievements of civilisations that came later. For\u00a0 instance, when\u00a0 the Sinhala language began to flower in ,the 6th<\/sup> century neither the English nation nor\u00a0 the language, as we know it now, existed. The Father of the English language, Geoffrey Chaucer, wrote his masterpiece, Canterbury Tales<\/em><\/strong>, in 1386 and that too in Middle English. During that time the\u00a0 language of the English court was French and not\u00a0 English. Tamil ideologues do not\u00a0 downgrade English\u00a0 because\u00a0 it flowered\u00a0 about eight centuries after the emergence of Sinhalese, do they?<\/p>\n

In comparing the value\u00a0 of a language it is futile to grade it on the date on which it emerged as a full blown flower. As pointed out in the previous paragraph, the English language emerged about eight centuries after the Sinhala language. Yet the English language has attained a status higher than that of Sinhalese or Tamil because of its growth with the developments of the times and its utility value. So does anyone care whether Tamil or Sinhalese existed before English or after the birth of English? In\u00a0 Sri Lanka the value of the Sinhala language too has risen to indelible heights because it has defined and shaped the nation\u2019s identity as that of the Sinhalese. Its utility value too has risen to a new level because the Tamil and Muslim elite \/<\/strong> leaders speak fluent Sinhala in pursuing their professional goals, inter-actions with the majority Sinhalese and, most of all, in playing politics.<\/p>\n

The day that I knew that the Sinhala language had reached the\u00a0 indispensable level was the day I saw Kumar Ponnambalam, the son of G. G. Ponnambalam who was the bitter political opponent of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, address the court in impeccable Sinhala. Outside, in the political arena, he would excoriate Bandaranaike and downgrade Sinhala as being inferior to Tamil. But inside the court he\u00a0 would\u00a0 bend in two when addressing the\u00a0 court in Sinhala. I am equally impressed with Justice Wigneswaran and Mr. M. Sumanthiran when they address media\u00a0 conferences in Sinhala Though it is not\u00a0 politically correct for them to acknowledge it officially, they acknowledge in performing their public duties the value and even the supremacy \u00a0of the Sinhala language. The Tamils have come a long\u00a0 way from the time that S. J. V. Chelvanaykam, the political father of Prabhakaran, went from kachcheri to kachcheri urging the Tamil public servants not\u00a0 to learn Sinhala.<\/p>\n

The strength and the power of the Sinhala language was derived from the resistance it put\u00a0 up to overcome \u00a0the high-powered pressures of Pali, Sanskrit and Tamil languages. The\u00a0 pressures of the Tamil language would have been the greatest, particularly with the state patronage of the colonial Dravidian rulers. The survival, growth and the triumph of the Sinhala language over all the competitors proves the cohesive power of the historical forces that engendered and energised it to define and preserve its\u00a0 identity amidst all adversities. The Sinhalese left their mark by defeating all the alien forces that came to\u00a0 conquer them with notions of superiority. The latest was Velupillai Prabhakaran, the putative saviour of the Tamils backed by the entire Tamil elite, both at home and abroad. They did not last long because neither the forces that came down from the North nor\u00a0 the West arrived here to protect nor foster the deep-rooted Sinhala-Buddhist culture. They invaded the nation at various\u00a0 times to ram their anti-national culture down the\u00a0 throat of the Sinhala-Buddhists. However, the overwhelming and unmistakable narrative of history that survives defines the triumphant trajectory of the Sinhala-Buddhists rising steadily above the alien and\u00a0 inimical forces to save their identity, their culture, their history and, above all, their primary political objective of making this island a fit-dwelling\u00a0 place for\u00a0 \u00a0men.\u201d (Mahavamsa<\/em><\/strong> – 1: 44).<\/p>\n

It is unlikely that archaeological excavations could discover a great Tamil civilisation of ancient\u00a0 or medieval times in Sri Lanka. If at all, only a study of the Tamil settlements that began in the 13th<\/sup> century could reveal the achievements\u00a0 of the S. Indian migrants, particularly that of the iron-fisted Vellalar casteists and\u00a0 their slaves also imported from S. India. Judging by the anthills left behind by the Tamil chakravartis\u201d and their Vellalar subalterns, or even by those who lived\u201d before,\u00a0 it is unlikely that they could match the achievements of the Sinhalese.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0 task before\u00a0 the Jaffna Tamils in proving their superiority is simple. All what they have to do is to provide evidence of their greatness left behind by the post-13th<\/sup> century settlers in the North. Can the new archaeological excavations reveal some hidden glory of the Tamils who had established a brand new civilisation, a new culture, a new language and other monumental achievements, comparable to\u00a0 that of\u00a0 either\u00a0 the Dravidians of S. India or the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka? There is absolutely no greatness in Justice Wigneswaran crowing about the Tamil language created and nurtured in S.. India, however old it is. Since Justice Wigneswaran is attempting to show the superiority of the Tamils of Jaffna he must provide historical proof from the Jaffna soil and\u00a0 not\u00a0 from S. India.\u00a0 I hope\u00a0 he will remember that we are talking about the history of the peoples of Sri Lanka and not S. India.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0 he\u00a0 is\u00a0 intends proving that the Tamils of Jaffna are cultural giants, far superior to the Sinhalese, he will have to show their monumental contributions to the culture of mankind. Can he at least name the great poets, novelists and dramatists that enriched the ancient Tamil language with their creative genius? Forget the Sinhalese, for the moment. Not even\u00a0 in a thousand life cycles can the Jaffna Tamils reach the heights of the magnificent achievements of their only homeland in S. India. The richness and the magnificence of Tamil S. Indian culture cannot be matched easily. Many and variegated are the contributions of the Tamils of South India to the treasures of human civilisation. The early classical love and war poetry, the architecture of the Pallavas, the deservedly famous South Indian bronzes of the Chola period, the intricate school\u00a0 of vocal and\u00a0 instrumental music known as the Carnatic system, the well-known Bharata Natyam dance, the philosophy of Saiva Siddhanta<\/em><\/strong>, the magnificent temples of the South \u2013 for more\u00a0 than two thousand years have the Tamils been contributing to Indian culture and taking part\u00a0 in shaping and moulding the\u00a0 great Indian synthesis,\u201d wrote Prof. Kamil V. Zvelebil, the distinguished Indologist in his introduction to The Poets of Powers <\/em><\/strong>. His discovery of the Tamil Siddha poets is an intriguing saga in itself. His unearthing of the lost Siddah texts and the spiritual revelations of Siddha thoughts are dazzling gems that are as brilliant as some of the Western literary giants like T. S. Eliot, Gerald Manley Hopkins etc.<\/p>\n

Compared to\u00a0 the these attainments what have the Jaffna Tamils produced to make\u00a0 them great? \u00a0\u00a0According to some accounts, even the Nallur Temple was built by the Sinhala rulers of Jaffna. It is obvious that the peddling of anti-Sinhala racism is not\u00a0 going to make the Jaffna Tamils great. Justice Wigneswaran has been indulging in beating the anti-Sinhala-Buddhist drum to make him\u00a0 look like the latest avatar of Prabhakaran.<\/p>\n

How far will this anti-Sinhala-Buddhist mantra take him? It hasn\u2019t taken him to any great lengths so far. So far he has gone only to the extent of making Tamils, like him, look like hollow men, their\u00a0 headpiece\u00a0 filled with straws of imagined greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yours sincerely<\/p>\n

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/p>\n

PS: Ranjith, I wish to thank you and SPUR for offering\u00a0 to facilitate the debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala. The\u00a0 note below deals with the refusal of Justice C. V. Wigneswaran to debate with Mr. H. L. D. Mahindapala. When Mr. Mahindapala accepted the challenge of Justice Wigneswaran to a debate\u00a0 Mr. Ranjith Soysa of the Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights (SPUR) offered to facilitate the debate. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82194","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=82194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}