{"id":84311,"date":"2018-12-21T15:23:34","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T22:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=84311"},"modified":"2018-12-22T05:39:36","modified_gmt":"2018-12-22T12:39:36","slug":"countrys-downfall-and-creation-of-the-eelam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/12\/21\/countrys-downfall-and-creation-of-the-eelam\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinhala infighting, discrimination faced by the Sinhalese and emergence of the Tamil Eelam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. It is Sinhala infighting that will bringforth the country\u2019s downfall and creation of the Eelam<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Denying the Sinhalese the right to live in most parts of the north and the east and other acts of discrimination against them in those areas is the biggest problem that Sri Lanka faces today<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Sri Lanka is the oldest democracy in Asia where Universal Suffrage was implemented in 1931.\u00a0 We had successful state council elections in 1931, 1936 and a parliamentary election in 1947. In the 1947 election, Sinhalese overwhelmingly voted for DS Senanayake\u2019s UNP.\u00a0 He became the Prime Minister.\u00a0 LSSP having \u00a0secured 10% of the total vote became the main opposition party with Dr NM Perera becoming the Leader of the Opposition.\u00a0 Tamil parties were insignificant then and there were nil Muslim political parties.\u00a0 \u00a0Unlike today the Sinhalese then were not divided on party political lines. \u00a0They voted en-mass for the major Sinhalese political party \u2013 UNP.\u00a0 With the defection of SWRD Bandaranaike to the opposition in 1951 where he formed his own political party \u2013 SLFP, the Sinhalese became a heavily divided community, based on party political lines.\u00a0 Sinhala infighting commenced with grassroots members of UNP and SLFP clashing against each other during election times and thereafter.\u00a0 Violence, thuggery, vote rigging, lies and various election malpractices have become a hallmark of the Sri Lankan elections.\u00a0 The ugly scenes we witnessed in the parliament recently are simply a reflection of this.<\/p>\n

    In the past 67 years, though the majority Sinhalese have fought out fiercely among each other based\u00a0 on party political lines, the Tamils and Muslims have always been careful not to follow suit.\u00a0 Like what the Sinhalese did from 1931 to 1947, having wisdom, they have always stuck to their own ethnic candidate when it came for voting.\u00a0 Thus, in today\u2019s parliament neither the UNP nor the SLFP (for this essay Pohottuwa is included therein) are struggling to form a majority government.\u00a0 They are compelled to seek support from minority political parties, who in turn make most unreasonable and unjust demands.\u00a0 TNA is the best example.<\/p>\n

    It is very clear that in the future no person\/party would be able to come to power in Presidential\/Parliamentary elections without the direct support of minority parties who have grown enormously since 1931.\u00a0 How did they manage to grow this much, it is time for the Sinhalese to take a stock of it.\u00a0 This is important as the growth of the minority populations will continue to rise in time.\u00a0 Sinhalese would not be able to state they are comprised of 75% of the population.\u00a0 Recently a Buddhist monk from Dambulla stated on radio that the Sinhala population now in the country should be in the middle to late sixty percentage mark than the middle of seventy (also taking into account the large number of illegal immigrants in the country).\u00a0 How much truth is in that statement, the writer is unsure.<\/p>\n

    It is high time we Sinhalese realise that it is an utter foolish thing to fight among ourselves based on party political lines.\u00a0 A true patriot will assess actions of political parties and their leaders on a piecemeal basis \u2013 how they react when Sinhalese rights are affected or threatened to be affected.\u00a0 A true patriot will criticise unpatriotic acts committed by political party\/leaders, no matter how faithful they are to them.\u00a0 This is because the true patriot\u2019s foremost loyalty lies with the nation, not with the political party and the leaders that they support.<\/p>\n

    Unfortunately this is not happening today.\u00a0 Patriots blinded by party affiliations and cult like political personalities, tend to disregard unpatriotic acts committed by their leader\/s to whom they show deep loyalty. \u00a0Even when they know that particular acts by their favourite politician\/s are damaging to Sinhala interests\/causes, they keep quiet or try to play the veracity down. \u00a0In actual fact, such persons cannot be categorised as patriots.\u00a0 A close examination of them shows that they \u2018go shopping\u2019 on behalf of their leaders owing to having received or in anticipation of receiving favours\/benefits from them.<\/p>\n

    Already Sinhalese have been denied the right to live in majority of the north and the east of Sri Lanka which consists of 1\/3 of the country and nearly \u00be of the coastal area.\u00a0 This is one of the biggest problems that the country faces today.\u00a0 But very few speak about this.<\/p>\n

    The racist, Wigneswaran did not want Sinhalese even to live in the north as free citizens (this is not about Sinhala colonies\/settlements) and even placing a Buddha statue for worshiping purposes was strenuously opposed by him.\u00a0 The hidden agenda of his Elangu Thamil Movement was to create the north as an ethnic enclave exclusively for \u00a0Tamils. \u00a0And he succeeded in doing that.<\/p>\n

    Wigneswaran\u2019s administration took measures not to display Sinhala writings in northern billboards, hoardings and public signs.\u00a0 Train arrivals at the Jaffna railway station were not announced in Sinhalese by the station\u2019s public address system. The writer had earlier reported how a very powerful TNA MP intervened to chase out Sinhalese from farming lands in the Trincomalee district where the land in question was subsequently given to Tamils who were recent arrivals to the area.\u00a0 The list of discrimination faced by the very few Sinhalese now living in the north and east under the hands of Tamil administrators is endless.<\/p>\n

    Neither the SLFP nor the UNP have shown an interest to assist the Sinhalese plight in the parliament.\u00a0 Due to infighting they seldom have time even to investigate the acts of discrimination faced by the Sinhalese in the north and the east. \u00a0These parties talk about a \u2018Sri Lankan identity\u2019 without acknowledging that Sri Lanka has a Sinhala Buddhist foundation (in Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad established the \u2018Bhumiputhra\u2019 identity for the indigenous Malays, thus protected their rights and aspirations).<\/p>\n

    Thousands of Sinhalese (and Muslims) who were former residents of the north and the east are stranded in the south without a pathway of returning to their former places of residence. Since winning the war in 2009 governments took no concrete action to resettle the displaced Sinhalese in the north. \u00a0In 2010 about 150 Sinhalese who were former residents of the north (they all spoke fluent Tamil), parked in the old Jaffna Railway station demanding the return of their northern lands, were provided with CTB buses by the then government to return to the south.\u00a0 They were promised land in the south should they agree to return to the south. \u00a0Thus, majority of them returned; the very few diehard former residents who remained in the north established the Navatkuli Sinhala village (about 6 km to Jaffna).\u00a0 The writer is a Patron of the village association.\u00a0 Today, it is a successful Sinhala village in the north \u2013 built through sheer hard work of the residents.\u00a0 But, it lacks a school, thus school children have difficulty in living there.<\/p>\n

    In Mannar, the Madu Road Sinhala School was closed shop early this year, after the existence of at least 40 years.\u00a0 The reason given by the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) was the shortage of Sinhala students and teachers.\u00a0 What would happen to the excellent buildings and the large schoolyard; only the NPC\u00a0 would know.\u00a0 The 13th<\/sup> Amendment blocked Land and Police powers to the provincial governments, but due to weak central governments, since its inception the NPC has acted as if it has Land powers.\u00a0 That is why they are now only demanding Police powers.<\/p>\n

    The Yahapalana Government\u2019s promise to re-open the Jaffna Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya\u00a0 never materialized (Prabhakaran bombed and flattened this school in 1985 which boasted the best science laboratory in Jaffna schools). \u00a0Prior to 1983 this school had about 3500 students.\u00a0 It has produced Sinhala luminaries, for example, Maithripala Senanayake and KB Rathnayake. \u00a0That land is currently occupied by the Army (located in close proximity to Jaffna General Hospital – parts of it had been gradually taken over by squatters). \u00a0It is feared that under the government\u2019s land release scheme, this land may be handed to the NPC or a similar body.<\/p>\n

    The central government once outlined that insufficient number of Sinhala students in Jaffna is the reason for not re-commencing the school.\u00a0 There is legitimacy in this argument; yet, the government is bound by its promise made during the election time.\u00a0 The government can start it as a National School and of course Tamil and Muslim students should be allowed to attend classes.\u00a0 Until the Sinhala student numbers are increased, the symbolic presence of the \u2018Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya\u2019 in Jaffna will be a good way forward for the Yahapalana government\u2019s Reconciliation program. \u00a0If TNA opposes, it will be a fine demonstration of their racism.\u00a0 Many Tamil schools have propped up in the south since the war ended, and no one has complained.<\/p>\n

    In Silavathura (Kondachchiya), Sinhala children are compelled to study in Tamil language as there is no Sinhala school there.\u00a0 Many residents have left the village to areas such as Medawachchiya and Anuradhapura in order to provide education to their children.\u00a0 The same problem exists at Kokilai Sinhala village.\u00a0 In Kokilai, there is an attempt to remove the Sinhalese people from their existing fishing village to elsewhere.\u00a0 This will affect their livelihood, and they do not know any other trade than fishing.\u00a0 The Sinhalese in Kokilai live in ramshackle huts, people in the surrounding areas, having received government assistance, live in much more comfortable houses.<\/p>\n

    Jayagrahanaya Organisation which the writer is an Executive Member has spent millions of rupees in the past few years to \u00a0improve the living standards of the Sinhalese in the north and the east. Bogaswewa, Helambawewa, Madu Road, Kondachchiya,\u00a0 Dehiwatta\/Gomarankadawala have been some of our projects. This organisation under the able Presidency of Dr Anula Wijesundera is doing a yeomen service to the Sinhalese in these areas.\u00a0 Other notable patriotic members of the Organisation are Dr SD Jayarathne, Sepali Nammuni and Manel Vasanthi.<\/p>\n

    Since winning the war, thousands of acres of land that the military occupied in the north and the east have been disbanded.\u00a0 This trend continues.\u00a0 TNA demands the release of allegedly hardcore terrorists currently held in remand custody.\u00a0 This shows that TNA does not care about the law and order situation of the country.\u00a0 They only want their men and women released, regardless of the severity of the criminal acts that these people have allegedly committed.<\/p>\n

    As stated before, when we must demand governments to act against the discrimination faced by Sinhalese in the north and the east and criticise the racist acts of the Tamil politicians, what we have done has been to quarrel among ourselves.<\/p>\n

    It is essential to mount a massive campaign that land in the north and the east should be opened up for the Sinhalese to live and do business. \u00a0For this, we must confront all politicians \u2013 Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim.\u00a0 Are we ready to undertake this fight?\u00a0 It is unlikely that we are.<\/p>\n

    It has been reported that TNA now wants the central government to alienate all crown lands including jungle and forest lands.\u00a0 Unless the patriots raise a strong voice, the government may succumb to the enormous TNA (and western government) pressure, and release them.<\/p>\n

    If Tamils can live safely anywhere in Sri Lanka, even in the deep south, why cannot the Sinhalese live in the north and the east?\u00a0 After all, the north and the east are traditional Sinhala Buddhist areas. Thambapanni (where Vijaya landed), Nagadipa (where Lord Buddha visited), Dambakola Patuna (where Sangamitta Thero landed), Yapa Patuna (ruled by Prince Sapumal), Yodha Wewa (built by King Dhatusena<\/a> in the fifth century and restored by King Parakramabahu <\/a>in the twelfth century), Malwathu Oya (the route taken by Sangamitta Thero and fellow nuns from Jaffna to Anuradhapura), Iranamadu Tank (built by King Dhathusena) are all located in the north. \u00a0Everyone knows land is extremely scarce in the south and there is plenty of livable land in the north and the east.\u00a0 Put simply, the south is jam packed and the north and the east are sparse, but, we Sinhalese are forcibly denied the right to live in the Tamil dominated north and the east. \u00a0If fair dinkum<\/em>, TNA should agree to vary\/reform laws that may be discriminatory, so that the Sinhalese could buy and sell land in the north\/Jaffna on freehold basis. The central government must be proactive in this regard.<\/p>\n

    If TNA wants favours such as governments to disband land, release terrorist suspects from remand custody; they should reciprocate in kind.\u00a0 Rather than placing every possible obstacle, they must allow the Sinhalese (and Muslims) to live in the north and the east.\u00a0 Freedom of Movement and Freedom to choose Residence is implied in our Constitution.\u00a0 It is enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights<\/em> \u00a0(Article 12) which Sri Lanka is a signatory.<\/p>\n

    If TNA wants favours, it should give a guarantee that it will strive to end discrimination faced by the Sinhalese in the north and the east.<\/p>\n

    Even during the British colonial rule the north and the east had more military camps than elsewhere in the country; this is because they are the most strategically important areas of the country.\u00a0 Talaimannar is the main gateway to Sri Lanka; it is less than 30 km away from India. \u00a0From time immemorial Valvetithurai has been a centre of invasions\/illegal migration from South India.<\/p>\n

    All political parties (including JVP) are hell-bent on pleasing minorities hoping that they could secure some of their vote. \u00a0There is nothing wrong with that provided that they fight against discrimination that the Sinhalese face in the north and the east.\u00a0 Empirical evidence shows that minorities in the north and the east vote for their own political parties; no matter how much the southern political parties do to develop those areas.<\/p>\n

    Preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity is the number one priority of any nation. \u00a0Currently this is under threat in our country due to Tamil separatist agendas and Tamil discrimination against the Sinhalese in regards to their rights in the north and the east.\u00a0 This is the biggest problem that the country faces today.\u00a0 The Tamil diaspora work day and night to achieve the Eelam. \u00a0They have close links in Sri Lanka. \u00a0TNA though talks about a unitary Sri Lanka has repeatedly demonstrated by deed that they secretly seek separatism.\u00a0 They were the LTTE proxy in the parliament.\u00a0 The examples are many. \u00a0The writer has personally confronted them in foreign forums.\u00a0 When overseas TNA MPs speak in a \u2018different language\u2019, which is very hostile to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

    The recent killing of two police constables in the east re reminds us that the separatists have not given up their ambition of creating the Eelam.\u00a0 Then, the massive Mahaveer Day celebrations held on 26 November 2018 (Prabhakaran\u2019s Birthday).\u00a0 We Sinhalese are not bothered about same; one prominent minister of the day – a \u2018foremost patriot\u2019, stated that we should be happy that such celebrations are happening.\u00a0 What he did not say is that the separatists are using the occasion to trump out their bogus claim that over 40,000 innocent Tamils were killed by our brave security forces in the final stages of the war.<\/p>\n

    Again, it is important that we bear\u00a0 in mind that \u00a0SLFP, UNP or JVP do not fight for the rights of the Sinhalese, basically there is no one to wage that fight. \u00a0The minorities have specialist political parties to look after their rights.<\/p>\n

    This is a fight that we Sinhalese patriots must wage. \u00a0It is foolish to think that someone else will come and do it for us; there is simply no one else to do it.<\/p>\n

    Through our own stupidity, complacency and ignorance (they are part of the reasons for our infighting) we are digging our own graves. It is high time that we Sinhalese realise the gravity of the problem that we face and show a desire to unite and fight, just how the minorities successfully do it for themselves.\u00a0 As stated before, between 1931- 1947 we voted for one party, keeping best interests of the motherland as the paramount consideration.\u00a0 That is why nationalist songs flourished those days and broadcast over the radio.\u00a0 This is not happening today.\u00a0 Lyricists today are scared to write patriotic songs, and they know they will not be broadcast. \u00a0A friend asked the writer recently \u2013 Have Sinhala<\/em> and Buddhism<\/em> become banned words in Sri Lanka?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Basically it is the Sinhala infighting based on political affiliations that is causing our destruction, it is our own actions that will help create the Eelam, and that could happen much sooner than we all think.<\/p>\n

    The writer is a Lawyer<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    chanakbandar@yahoo.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Chanaka Bandarage It is Sinhala infighting that will bringforth the country\u2019s downfall and creation of the Eelam Denying the Sinhalese the right to live in most parts of the north and the east and other acts of discrimination against them in those areas is the biggest problem that Sri Lanka faces today Sri Lanka is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chanaka-bandarage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84311","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=84311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}