{"id":86711,"date":"2019-03-24T04:31:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-24T11:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=86711"},"modified":"2019-03-24T04:31:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T11:31:48","slug":"four-million-kandyan-peasants-betrayed-by-the-closure-of-the-department-of-kandyan-peasantry-rehabilitation%ef%bb%bf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/03\/24\/four-million-kandyan-peasants-betrayed-by-the-closure-of-the-department-of-kandyan-peasantry-rehabilitation%ef%bb%bf\/","title":{"rendered":"Four million Kandyan peasants betrayed by the Closure of the Department of Kandyan Peasantry Rehabilitation\ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara President Mahnuwara Jesta Purawesiyange Sanvidhanaya<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

( A revised article fist\u00a0 Posted on December 24th, 2014)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

24.3.2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who are Kandyans<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this essay I refer to all those people who lived\nwithin the territory known as the Kandyan\n Kingdom at the time of\nsigning the Kandyan Convention in 1815 and their descendants irrespective of\nwhere they live, here or abroad, as Kandyans. The area under reference covers\nthe whole territory within the legal definition of the Kandyan Kingdom\nin 1815. However in this article I am referring to the problems of the people\nliving within the two provinces of Central and Uva only, since the Kandyan\nPeasantry Commission covered only those two Provinces.  These two provinces cover nearly \u00bc the total\narea of the country and they together claim about 1\/5 the population of the Island, which is roughly around 4.million.  Kandyans, particularly those who lived within\nthese two Provinces, were the heroic people who sacrificed everything including\ntheir land, freedom and lives in tens of thousands in battle against three\npowerful invaders, Portuguese, Dutch and English between 1505 and 1815 and\nsubsequently against the oppressive rule of the British colonial intruders in\ntheir repressive and brutal massacres in 1817-1818 and 1848 freedom struggles\nto retrieve the Motherland, the Sinhala nation and Buddha Sasana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Westerners used the word Kandyans to differentiate\nthe lowlanders from highlanders in this Island.\nRobert Percival in 1803 (11 Years in Ceylon) called those who inhabited the\nlowland and parts contiguous to the coasts \nwho lived under the dominion of \nEuropeans at that time ‘Cinglese\u201d and those who lived on the hills-\nCandians (Kandyans), which simply meant the people living on the hill country.\nTogether these two groups Percival called Celonese. Thereby they divided the\nSinhala nation in to two rivalry camps, Kandyans and low country people\n(Udarata and Pahatarata minisu) for the first time in their 2500 year long\nhistory.  (The word \u2018Kandyan\u2019 was adopted\nfrom the word kanda, which simply meant mountain in Sinhala). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately the people of this country, without\nrealizing the future dangers of this colonial conspiracy also continued to use\nthese terms, that is Udarata and Pahatarata, in later years, sometimes\ndisparagingly of each group to the detriment of the unity of the great Sinhala\nnation. The Sinhala nation has paid a very high price as a result. Therefore at\nleast now Sinhala people in this country must think afresh, throw this damn\nudarata pahatarata katha<\/em> and act as one indivisible nation called the\nSinhala nation, (irrespective of, in what part of the country or the world they\nlive) as we were known up to 1815 from the birth of this nation in the 6th\ncentury BC or even before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to this division the people of this Island were one indivisible united nation called\nSinhalayo, which simply meant the people of the Sinhale, the name by which this\ncountry was known for millennia. The fact that the name used to refer to this\ncountry in the Kandyan Convention was also Sinahale, confirms this long\ntradition. Even Tamils and Muslim minorities in this country were then known as\nSinahalayo, which means the countrymen of the Sinhale. To that extent they all\nwere Sinhalese, although ethnically, religiously they were different. (Muslims\neven adopted Sinhala ge names Like Mudiyanselage, and Vidanelage etc and\nmarried Sinhala women as they did not bring women from Arabia, thereby\nintegrating with the natives, unlike the present day communal Muslim\npoliticians like Hakeem who agitate for separate administrative mono Muslim\nunits and try to behave like original Arabians on Sri Lankan soil, although\nthey are only the hybrid set of people whom I have named as \u2018Mu-Singhalayo<\/em>–\noffspring of Muslim men and Sinahala women).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we would never have had a nation called Sinhala or\na Country by the name Sri\n Lanka if not for the heroic battles the\nKandyans, \u2018marked by the pride of independence and warlike habits\u2019 (as Percival\nsaw them), fought against these ruthless invaders from 1505 to 1848 and the\nsacrifices they made. If they had not defended the country in battle we would\nhave definitely lost the 2500 year old Sinhala Buddhist Civilization forever\nand this country would have been known today only as an insignificant tiny\nIsland in the Indian Ocean on the World map by the name of some unknown\nEuropean invader, explorer or a sea pirate just like America and many Islands in\nthe Pacific are known today.  We would\nalso never have had Senanayakas, Bandaranaikes, Jayawardhanas or Rajapaksas as\nour Prime Ministers and Presidents and we would have had Dicks, Toms and\nHarries instead. We would also have had no Buddhist monuments like\nRuwanweliseya and thousands of Buddhist ruins as they would have been razed to\nthe ground by the invaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such the whole credit for defending and protecting\nthis 2500 year old Sinhala Nation, Sinhala Country and the unique Sinhala\nBuddhist civilization should squarely go to these heroic and patriotic people\ncalled Kandyans.  Therefore all Sinhalese\nshould be ever grateful to those great people for having protected this country\nand the Sinhala race from extinction, for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although such is the historic realty it is a tragedy\nthat, apart from compiling the Kandyan Peasantry Commission (KPC) Report that\nwas published under Sessional Paper XV111 1951 by the then government, none of\nthe post independent governments has at least faintly recognized the sacrifices\nthese people have made in history and made any genuine attempt to ameliorate\nthe problems of Kandyan people or taken suitable steps to rectify the\nhistorical injustices inflicted upon them by the invaders. Similarly they also\nhave miserably failed to restore their lands and birth rights they had lost in\nthe battles led by national heroes like Keppetipola, Gongalegoda Banda and\nWeera Purana Appu against the invaders, in return to the heroic sacrifices they\nmade to protect this land to posterity, at least as a mark of gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a bunch of ungrateful people we have been. Instead\nof recognizing and engraving their due place in rock, all governments have\nforgotten and betrayed them throughout history. \nHaving neglected them politically, economically and socially, today they\nhave been reduced to mere paupers and refugees in their own motherland where\nthey have lived, fought and died for 2500 years or more. Shame on all\ngovernments responsible for this situation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kandyan Peasantry Report of 1951 had identified\nlandlessness as the main problem among the Kandyans. In 1949 it was 39,000. But\ntoday it is over 200,000. The other problem areas identified were roads,\nirrigation, soil erosion and land degradation, education, health facilities,\nhousing, unemployment and poverty. These problems remain unsolved and they have\nbeen so acute that today Kandyan areas are rated as the poorest in the whole\ncountry.  The KPC Report recommended the\nsetting up of a high powered Development Board. This was indeed a super Authority\nand an excellent institutional framework, but it never saw the light of the day\nup to date. In 1953 the Cabinet accepted the recommendations of the Commission\nin principle and a six year development Programme was prepared under the\ndirection of the then Minister for Home Affairs A. Ratnayaka, incorporating the\nmajor recommendations of the Kandyan Peasantry Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was only in 1958, a\nC grade sub-department called the Kandyan Peasantry Co-ordinators\nDepartment was created to implement that programme. It was placed under a\ntoothless coordinator whose function was merely to disburse limited funds among\nother line departments for haphazardly selected and scattered minor road\ndevelopment and other programmes. As against the fully pledged and powerful\nDevelopment Authority proposed by the Kandyan Peasantry Commission, the new\ndepartment was only a tiny mole. Subsequently the coordinator was renamed as Commissioner in 1964 and the department was upgraded\nto B class. Then it went in to a deep and long slumber for about 25 years. In 1989 a Project Ministry was created under the Ministry\nof Mahaweli Development and they renamed it as the Ministry\nof Upcountry (may be feeling shy to use the word Kandyan) Peasantry Development.\nMeanwhile in 1993 JICA (Japan International\nCooperation Agency) also made a study of the project area that resulted in the\npreparation of a ten-year Master Plan. The main emphasis of this plan was\nagriculture and rural development. It estimated the cost of implementation of\nthe ten-year programme at RS 15.4 billion. The plan\nperiod ended in 2003 with zero results. Again a new organization called Sri Lanka Udarata Development Authority (SLUDA) was\nestablished on 24th August 2005 under Act No 26 of 2005 again for\nidentifying, formulating and coordinating, the implementation of development\nprojects within the Udarata Area\u201d. It was packed with political stooges and\nmade another siphon only for them to suck the meager public funds. It also died a natural death in January 2014 with its closure to accommodate the Divineguma, with no service done to\nKandyan peasants. Divineguma was a combination of the Kandyan Peasatry Com\nDept, SLUDA, Southern Development Authority and Janasaviya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you see how all governments have deceived the Kandyan\npeople for 66 years, playing a game of hide and seek policy at the expense of\n1\/3 of the nation\u2019s population for whom the entire nation is indebted for\ndefending the country for 350 years against the enemy. Beside some scratchy\nworks like few useless roads here and there and few school buildings, the only\ndevelopment that had taken place was report writing and mere lip service only\nto ‘ameliorate\u201d the socio-economic conditions of the Kandyan Peasants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this backdrop, if you observe carefully the sequence\nand the manner in which this subject has been handled for the past 66 years you\nwill note how reluctant and lethargic and deceptive the successive governments\nhave been in handling the problems of the Kandyans. The meager and ridiculous\nfinancial allocation of Rs. 358,691,957 provided (over a period of 33 years\nfrom 1961 to 93) to rehabilitate nearly 1\/3 of the total population in the\ncountry spread over almost 1\/3 the area of the country who fought heroically\nand paid the biggest penalty for independence of the motherland, further proves\nthis indifference displayed by the then governments towards Kandyans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The foregoing brief note summarizes the ill-treatment all\nsuccessive governments have displayed towards the Kandyans over the past six\ndecades until, finally both the Department of Kandyan Pesantry Rehabilitation\nand the Udarata Development Authority (SLUDA) were wounded up by the then\nGovernment in Jan 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demise of the Kandyan Peasantry Commissioners\nDepartment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This decision is the latest betrayal in this long chain\nof ill treatments and conspiracy by all governments against the Kandyans. I see\nthis as the climax of the long chain of betrayals of the Kandyans. With this\nact they have finally killed and buried for good, not only the subject of\nKandyan peasantry rehabilitation that never took off the ground for 56 years\nbut also the patriotic tribe of proud Sinhala people called Kandyans, as they\nwere dubbed by the British.  It is more\nthan evident now that closing down the Kandyan Peasantry Department and the\nUdarata Sanwardhana Adhikariya in January 2014 has completed the last rituals\nof the Kandyan peasants. The Kandyan Peasantry Commissioners Department and the\nUdarata Sanwardhana Adhikariya were replaced by the Divineguma Development\nDepartment on 8st Jan 2014. It is reliably learnt that this new super\ndepartment at the moment does only Samudhi work, though the office in the\ncentral region operates from the former KPC office at Peradeniya. All\nactivities pertaining to Kandyan Peasantry Rehabilitation has completely come\nto an end. Why the then Government did this treacherous act against the\nKandyans is the million dollar question, I ask from all those responsible for\nthis anti Kandyan decision?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not question the rationale for a separate national level\nsuper Department with such super powers and resources called Divineguma since\nit constitutes a separate issue. Why that Government decided to close down the\nDepartment of Kandyan Peasantry Rehabilitation which was the only Government\nDepartment set up on the recommendations of the Kandyan Peasantry Commission\nReport (the most comprehensive Reports on the problems of Kandyan people with\ndown to earth recommendations to address the problems of these areas). The KPC\nReport was undoubtedly one of the best documents ever produced in this country\nby eminent people for the rehabilitation and amelioration of historical\ninjustices inflicted upon a set of patriotic people who had lost everything for\nthe sake of posterity in the process of the heroic battles they fought against\nthe enemy over a period of 350 years, with no parallel perhaps in any other\ncountry even though it has failed to touch upon \nthe three vital issues of  Kandyan\nRehabilitation namely a) the failure to address the issue of restoring the\nphysical satbility of the Central hills country, the geographical Hadabima of\nthe country, b)  the landlessness and the\nneed to restore the lands to its original owners and finally C) to address the\nserious socio-economic and political problem of 1.2 million Indians forming an\nIndian enclave right at the center of the country, that could develop in to a\nbig threat to the independence of this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore I see the closing down of the KPC Department as\nthe biggest disgrace and betrayal against the Kandyan people\nby any Government in this country. The Kandyan Sinhalese, though they keep\nsilent for obvious reasons like ignorance of what happens under their own noses\nand fear of political repercussions and mainly due to absence of enlightened\nand fearless  leaders among them to fight\nfor their rights, will never forgive the government or those so-called\nrepresentatives voted for this ill-conceived and treacherous bill that has\ndeprived 1\/3 the population of this country nearing 4 million of their\nlegitimate rights.  Therefore I request\nthe government to immediately re-establish the SLUDA they have abolished in Jan\n2014 and convert it to the Kandyan Peasantry Development Authority recommended\nby the KPC in 1951 at least now and hand it over to a competent set of men who\nare knowledgeable and committed to implement the recommendations of the Kandyan\nPeasantry Commission with suitable adjustments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That would be the highest honour one could\npay to the Kandyans who were in the vanguard  \nin defending the motherland and the Sinhala nation for 350 years.  That will also help the Government to rectify\nthe wrong done to Kandyans by the Government by closing down the only state\ninstitution, even though it was lifeless, \nthat was there to alleviate their grievances even in a marginal way. I\ncan vouch that, for politicians, this will be a golden opportunity to win over\ntheir votes.  If this is not done\nimmediately, I don\u2019t think President Rajapaksa or any one in his Government has\nany right under the sun to ask for the vote of a single Kandyan man or women,\nas  it is his Government which is\nresponsible for this heinous crime  of\nclosing it down. One must also remember that closing down of the Kandyan Peasantry\nDepartment is both an insult and a deprivation as well, not only to the people\nof these two Provinces but to all those who are called Kandyans living all over\nSri Lanka and even abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conspiracy to remove all traditional Villages\nin the Knuckles region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding insult to injury currently a more\nserious conspiracy is taking place to chase out all Sinhala people from the\nhill country under the guise of environmental protection and ecological reasons\ntaking refuge under the recommendations of ICUN, a Geneva based international Agency. Under this\nproposal Knuckles region was declared as a Conservation Forest in 2002 and\nagain an Environmentally Protected area in 2007 and action has already being\ninitiated to remove all the people from traditional villages, 100 or more\naround the Knuckles mountains that had been there from 3rd, 2nd and 1st\ncenturies BC. sometimes going down to even 500 ft msl in certain villages like\nMeemure, while keeping deaf, blind and dumb on one of the worst ecological\ndevastations in the world that has been going on for centuries on the central\nhill country, through deforestation and resulting soil erosion, land\ndegradation, drying up of streams and underground water resources and thereby\npausing a serious threat to the survival of the entire life system in the whole\nIsland and the extinction of an ancient civilization from the map of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I am\nalso compelled to ask the proponents of this move whether they consider frogs,\nsnakes, lizards and insects more important than human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This move is an international conspiracy\nagainst the Sinhala nation designed to wipe out Sinhalese from the central part\nof the Island and convert it to the Home of nearly 1.2 m South Indian Estate\nlabourers, who were brought here by the British, in late 19th century to work\nas cheap coolies on their plantations and left behind as a flock of stateless\nmen on our soil when they left the shores of this Island in1948. The present\nGovernment also shamelessly continues the same betrayal by consolidating Tamil\nsettlements within the tea estates. As against the natives they are also\nprovided with unlimited political, economic and social benefits. All these\nfavours are afforded to them on the part of Governments to get their vote. But\nnone of them have the brain to understand the hidden conspiracy of the\ninternational anti-Sinhala lobby deployed through their institutions like ICUN.\nAt every election and often even after, these estate Tamils put their vote on\nsale by public auction and get their things done at the expense of the birth\nrights of the natives. When they fail the auction they use the ‘election gun’\nto fire the “vote bullet’ after every election to get in to the\ngovernment. What a shame on our politicians who betray their own nation for\nshort term political gain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While all successive Governments have granted\nprivileges to this set of foreign collies who worked for the British up to 1948\nand repatriated all they earned to India and continue persistently to treat\nIndia as their Motherland in this manner, no government has restored even an\ninch out of some 600,000 acres forcibly taken over by the British, to\nBhoomiputras who have lived there at least for 2500 years as the sole owners of\nthis land. Even after the estates were taken over by the Government in 1972\nwith so much fanfare no action was taken to \u2018nationalize\u2019 them by restoring\nthese lands to their original owners, who happened to be the natives who owned\nthem. No government has taken any tangible steps to date even to restore the\nforest cover on the deforested hills or at least on degraded and marginal lands\nwhich form the prime watershed of the Island.\nNo government seems to have realized the devastation these exposed high\nlands  do by carrying  away millions of tons of soil annually in to\nthe sea turning the Heartland of the nation in to an unredeemable barren\nsterile desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Governments\npaving the way for a Tamilnadu at the center of the country<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile it must also be pointed out that no\nGovernment has taken any action, to prevent the rise of a separate Indian Tamil\nenclave, a Malayanadu, right at the centre of the country. Instead  all regimes have allowed them to establish,\nexpand and consolidate, Tamil settlements in these areas that pauses a big\nthreat to the sovereignty of the future Sri Lankan State. The 13th Amendment to\nthe 1987 Constitution granted Sri Lanka Citizenship merely on an affidavit,\noften bogus, even without a preliminary inquiry to all Tamil estate labour by\nthe JR government.  Furthermore while\nallowing direct foreign aid to flow freely from India and anti Sinhala and anti\nBuddhist countries of the west to the plantation areas the government also has\nprovided the estate sector billions and appointed Ministers from among them\nlavishly without any rational basis., with no regard to the threat they pause\nto the  future of the natives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this is how all the Governments have\nacted with regard to the native Sinhalese, when it comes to Estate Tamils the\nsame Governments have denied the right of Sinhalese people displaced by\nVictoria and Kotmale reservoirs due to their own actions and those displaced as\na result of Walapane earth slips to be settled within the estates due to\nprotest by estate Tamils and chased them out to the Dry Zone ( again as a part\nof the major conspiracy to wipe out the Sinhala people from the Central Hill\nCountry), thereby uprooting them from their natural habitat. This is how our\npoliticians treat the natives as against the aliens. Why should the government\nof Sri Lanka\nget permission from South Indian estate Tamils, who had been here only for few\ndecades, to settle a Sinhala victim of a land slide on our own soil,\nirrespective of where it is located?  The\nfunniest part is that most of these estates belong to the state as they had\nalready been nationalized in 1970s. I wonder whether there is any other country\nor Government in the whole world which treats its own native people in this\nmanner. Shame on all governments.                                                                                                                                       \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While they chase out Sinhala people from the\nHill country in this manner look at the swift action taken by the Government to\nsettle Estate Tamil victims of the recent Koslanda Tragedy and the speed with\nwhich the Government has acted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government has taken a decision to build\nnew houses immediately for those who have lost their line rooms due to the\nKoslanda disaster. The Badulla District Secretary Rohana Keerthi Dissanayake\nsaid. According to him, the required land has already been identified. The\nPhysical Planning Department and the National Building Research Organization\nhave examined these lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Dissanayake added that the Government\nwill commence building the houses once their recommendations are received. The\nBadulla District Secretary revealed these details at a meeting held at the\nBandarawela Divisional Secretariat to make inquiries into the facilities\naccorded to the displaced families. Bandarawala Divisional Secretary E.M.S.B.\nJayasundara was among those who joined in this meeting\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(News.LK the Official Govt News Portal of Sri\nLanka 9th Nov 2014)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is how the Sri Lankan Governments react\nwhen Indian estate labourers are involved (who always treat India as their motherland and whose allegiance\nis always with India)\nin contrast to the stark indifference shown towards the Kandyan peasants. the\nreal bhoomipuras of the land. We have no objection what so ever as Sinhalese\nand Buddhist for helping someone in trouble. But what irritates and hurts our\nminds and hearts is the way they ill-treat the Sinhalese, the sons of the soil,\nde facto as well as de jure heirs of this land, who have sacrificed so much and\nso long in history to protect this nation for posterity. This clearly proves\nhow our own Governments treat Sinhalese as outcastes and while they embrace\noutsiders and enemies of the nation with both hands just to win their vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doesn\u2019t this clearly show how all the post\nindependent governments have given in to estate Tamils for short term political\nconsiderations while betraying the sons of the soil? Don\u2019t these displaced\nnatives have a birth right to be settled in their own surroundings that once\nbelonged to them? Meanwhile these Governments also have not done anything to\nsolve problems like roads, irrigation, health and education of those poor\nKandyans who live in valley bottom villages wedged in by sprawling plantation\nraj on the mountains. I only hope politicians will have the brain to understand\nthe difference between the political strength of nearly 4 m patriotic Kandyan\nSinhalese who treat this country as their one and only Motherland as against\n1.2 m South Indian estate Tamils whose eternal allegiance is to India.  I hope the President will take immediate\naction to rectify this serious blunder in view of the forthcoming Presidential\nelection at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deaf, dumb and blind so-called\nrepresentatives of the Kandyan areas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The present Parliament has nearly 100 if not\nmore representatives who are supposed to be representing Kandyan areas. In\naddition there are also hundreds of Provincial Council members including five\nChief Ministers, 20 other ministers, five Governors and thousands of\nPradesiyasabha Members. We know that a good number of them are\nnon-Kandyans.                                                                                                                     \n                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   But\nother than the Tamil and Muslim members who represent only the interests of\ntheir own community, I think all others have been elected by the Kandyans.\nTherefore isn\u2019t it a tragedy and an unpardonable omission on their part that\nthere was not a single member in Parliament, Provincial Councils or the\nPradeshiya Sabha, either in the Government or the Opposition who had the guts\nto stand up and speak one word against this gross ill-treatment and historic\nbetrayal in Parliament or any other forum on their own people who have voted\nthem in to power. Thereby all these members have collectively and individually\nbetrayed the people who have elected them. We know they have done so for\npolitical survival as they knew very well that, from nomination day to the last\nsecond and they sit in their seats at the respective councils, they depends\nwholly on the pleasure of the party leadership, under the present \u2018democratic\u2019\nsystem that prevails in our country. I pity them. But what a disgrace on their\npart as the descendants of those  proud\nKandyans who were once described by Robert Percival as a people \u2018whose\ncountenance was erect, his looks haughty, his mien lofty and his whole carriage\nmarked by the pride of independence and they are men with war like habits\u2019.\nAlas where those lofty qualities of Kandyans are gone? Shouldn\u2019t the present\nday Kandyans be ashamed of their stupidity and servility which were unheard and\nunknown in the days gone by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could any one of the present day\nrepresentatives honestly say actually as to whom do they represent? Today the\ncandidates for electorates are selected by the party leadership. Even if the\ncandidate happens to be from Timbaktu or be a polpitta<\/em> people have no\nchoice but to elect him\/her. As such they are not representatives of the people\nand they are also not answerable to them either. Apart from the brain and the\ninclination to serve the people they also have no feeling for the people,\nbecause their survival solely depends on the will of the party leader and not\non the will of the voters. As such none of them, in my opinion, has a moral or\nan ethical right to remain in their seats and enjoy the enormous and princely\nbenefits and perks of office at the expense of the poor people anymore under\nthe guise of representing them. Therefore all those who voted for this bill should\nresign forthwith if they have an atom of self respect; I am sure which they\ndon\u2019t have. If they don\u2019t do so the people of these electorates should force\nthem to resign before they are physically chased out by the masses at the next\nelection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also interesting to note that according\nto the Task Force report of 2003, Kandyan areas fall within the poorest\ncategory in the Island. The lowest human Index\nof 0.694 for the Island is also reported from\nthe Kandy District. Similarly lowest per-capita income in the whole Island and the poorest infra structure facilities,\neducation and health facilities are also reported from Kandyan areas. What do\nall these indicators show, Isn\u2019t it a mirror image of the interest, lethargy,\nindifference and the degree of commitment all successive governments have\ndisplayed towards the Kndyan areas and their people. Does not this show the\ndegree of efficiency and the capacity of the politicians as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had at least 1 % of the recommendations of\nthat wonderful Kandyan Peasantry Commission Report of 1951 been implemented by\nthe successive governments today the story of the Kandyan people would have\nbeen much different. At the same time if the Nehru-Kotalawala agreement of 1953\nhad been implemented there would have been no Tamil Problem in the upcountry\nareas as well. They would also have been naturalized and integrated to the Sri\nLankan society like the present day Kauravas and Salagama people in the South\nwestern maritime areas who had migrated fro SW India\nin the medieval times.. At least the present government should persuade\nArumugam Thondaman to ask his people to learn the language of the natives and\ntry to integrate with the Sinhala society like how the Kauravas and Salagamas\nwho came from South India in the days gone by have done or leave this country\nand go back to their much beloved motherland in South India without trying to\nlive in Sri Lanka as South Indians. This is how it happened in Burma when it got Independence from the British in 1947. I\nthink it is high time that all governments should stop wooing and pleading\nestate Tamils on their knees by offering political and economic bribes for\nshorter political gains at the expense of the future of this nation or should\ntake immediate action to solve this eternal national problem by getting them\nnaturalized as Sri Lankans or repatriated to India or United Kingdom before\nthey declare a Tamilnadu right at the centre of this Land of the Sinhala\nNation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking about the lack of leaders among the\nKnadyans, I remember what once Rev Ellawala Medhananda Thera said that \u2018even\nbuffaloes have leaders\u2019.  But the tragedy\nin this country today with the Kandyans is that they don\u2019t have a single leader\nwho has the guts to stand up and utter one word against Colombian or Rohana\nleaders, either in the Parliament or in any other forum, against these gross\ndiscriminations and injustices precipitated on Kandyans. Leaping like frogs\nfrom one side to the other, not on principle but purely for survival and\npersonal gain, dancing to the beat of the party leadership like the monkeys at\nthe Sunday fair that perform acrobatics to the command of the snake charmers,\nwashing dirty linen of the leadership, singing hosanna praising the Kings new\nclothe, hewing wood and drawing water to the leadership among many other\nservilities known to everybody, that cannot be stated here, the present day\nso-called representatives of the people only seek their own\nself-aggrandizement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining thousands of these parasitic\nrogue politicians today has become the biggest burden and the curse of the\nnation. Watching these politicians fighting in Parliament or in other councils\nand driving like bullets and parading on roads in snow white suits surrounded\nand guarded by dozens of security officers paid by the suffering masses, seeking\nprotection from the very people who are supposed to have elected them, today\nhas become the only glimpse a voter could get of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore at least now the Kandyan Sinhalese\nshould take action to select and elect a set of educated, efficient and\nuncorrupt leaders from among themselves who will represent their interests in\nParliament unlike the present day representatives, who are often either\nparachutists and political opportunists or both and have become a set of\narrogant tormentors catering only to the needs of their leadership at the\ncentre but utterly useless to the people in the village or the town. They\nshould be men\/women who are committed to agitate and fight on behalf of the\nrights of whom they represent and restore their lost rights during the 350\nyears under colonial rule and thereafter to date. It is a pity and a tragedy\ntoo that unfortunately today we don\u2019t have Kandyans of A. Ratnayaka\u2019s, M.D.\nBanda\u2019s or M.B.W. Mediwaka\u2019s caliber in politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Kandyans fail to take appropriate measures\nat least now without repeating the follies of the past, the day the Hill\ncountry of this Island becomes a Tamil Kingdom and Malwatta and Asgiriya\ntemples and even Dalada MAligawa becoming Hindu or Muslim Headquarters,\n(already large number of temple lands are occupied by non-Buddhists mostly\nMuslims) and the Kandyan Sinhalese getting extinct or at least becoming a\nminority, is not that far. No Man or even a God will be able to prevent that\ntragedy in the light of the betrayals done by our politicians in the recent\npast and are being continued to be committed continuously for their personal\ngain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foot note<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2015 \nthe Yahapalanaya government has made an election promiss to give  7 perches of land from upcountry tea estates\nto each Tamil in the plantation sector. In 2015 general election it collected\n150,000 estate Tamil votes on this promise from the Kandy district alone. Meanwhile it also has\ngot India\nto build 40 000 houses on these tea lands. As a part of that package already\n1340 houses have been built, on the very land denied to native Sinhalese, and\nhanded to the Estate Tamils by now. With the 155 handed over last week at\nBogawantalawa at Bridwell this number has gone up to 4195. All these houses are\nbuilt on upcountry tea lands over 3500 ft above sea levl some going up to7700\nft. (for eg: 160 houses in Lidasal). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually alienation of Crown lands are done\nunder the provisions of the Crown land Ordinance and the Land Development\nOrdinance under the purview of the Government Agents of the relevant districts.\nIn this case the GAA are only invited for the functions organized by Tamil MPs\nof the area and as such the custodians o Crown Lands in the Districts are kept\nin the dark as to how Crown Lands under them are alienated. This also amounts\nto a negation of the authority of the Government Agents  in the Districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should be noted that prior to 1815 there\nwere only 3 settlements above 3500 in the entire hill country. Of them the\nbiggest was Kotmale, which had been there even during the time of Dutugemunu.\nNow a greater part of land there has gone under water due to the construction\nof the Kotmale reservoir and very few families are left behind. The other was\nat Mandaram nuwara on the leward side of Pidurutalagala, a small hamlet of very\nfew house put up during the Kotte period to accommodate some Hindu priests. The\nlast was in the Uma oya bsin, again few settlements below the 3500 level where\npaddy could be grown. The only other evidence available is limited seasonal\nmigrations of the pre-historic Bandarawelian from the low lands to the Hortain\nplains for Hena cultivation during the February droughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rest of the entire central Hill country was\nunder strictly reserved high forest through out history. This forest cover\nprotected the Islands prime watershed for all the rivers in the Island, estimated to be 103 in number. Beside protecting\nthe physical stability of the geographical Heartland the forest cover also\nacted as a rain maker and climatic regulator and a store house of bio\ndiversity. It also provided the perennial source of water for all the rivers in\nthe Island. These rivers not only provided the\nwater and alluvial soil for all agricultural pursuits and settlements in the\nwhole Island but they also kept the entire\nlife system in the country alive and the civilization agile. In fact it kept\nlife alive in the body Sri\n Lanka just like the heart of a man that\nkeeps him alive. The day the heart stops man dies. Similarly the day the forest\ncover that protects the physical stability of the hill country is no more, the\nentire life system and the civilization will cease to exist.  As such protecting the forest cover above\n3500 msl is extremely critical to preserve the entire life system and\ncivilization of this Island nation, without\ngetting  extinct. It is in this context\npoliticians and development planners should look at this part of the country\nand certainly not from the point of collecting few votes of plantation workers\non these tea estates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This\nis why I strongly argue that <\/p>\n\n\n\n

a) all land at the centre of the country  above 5000 feet should be kept under strictly\nreserved forests (Thahanchikele as was done during the time of the Sinhala\nKings) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

b) and meticulously managed under a  very scientific and systematic manner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

c) and all human settlements above 3500  should \nbe banned by law in order to protect this country from becoming a\nlifeless barren desert in no time. Productive tea lands between 3500 to 5000\nmay be used for large scale plantations run by state organizations like the\nJEDB and STPC and marginal and unproductive estates may be allowed to go back\nin to forest. They will go back to thick natural forest in no time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

d) all settlements should be confined to land\nbelow 3500 consisting of two types<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Cooperative Farms ( mixed and Mono crops\nmixed cluster settlements of native landless farmers and Estate labour who\nget  Sri Lankan citizenship under\nNehru\/Kotalawala Agreement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11) Small mixed farms of 2 1\/2 acre\nplots  developed on the Kandyan Forestry\n Garden type  given to families<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore the crying need to protect this\nparadise on earth as Marignoli  (1349)\nthe Italian friar and traveller in the 13th century rejoiced saying  “paradise itself exist on this earth and\nthat is found on the central hill country of ceylan, in fact one can listen tot\nthe falling waters of while staying there”, surpassing Marcopolo who said\n“there are only 40 leagues to paradise from Ceylan’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portuguese\nRibeiro who visited this country in 1640, has left us this account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018None need\nsuffer from hunger for this land is a paradise from the universal fertility of\nits soil. The valleys are covered with flowers and trees; water of the purest\ncrystal fills every stream; the air is healthful; and though the island is so\nclose to the equator, it is neither hot nor cold…I fancy that those who\ndeclare this island was the terrestrial paradise do not say so owing to its\nfertility and the abundance of many things required for life nor for the\npleasantness and healthfulness of the land, but, because so many kinds of\nriches are found thereon, small as it is….\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note:<\/strong> I am not\nagainst giving lands to estate labour of Indian origin. But first they should\nqualify under Nehru \/Kotalawala Agreement 1954 to be citizens of this country\nand renounce all their connections both physically and mentally with India for good,\nand accept this country as the land of the Sinhala nations and agree to live\nwith the Sinhala people with the long term programme of integrating with the\nNatives.  The only alternative available\nfor them is to get back to India\nwhich they consider as their motherland. In any case we cannot allow them to\ncreate an Indian enclave right at the centre of this Sinhala land. All parties\n(including India,\nthe Western colonial elements and all local Tamils should clearly understand\nthat principle as nonnegotiable and inalienable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara President Mahnuwara Jesta Purawesiyange Sanvidhanaya ( A revised article fist\u00a0 Posted on December 24th, 2014) 24.3.2019 Who are Kandyans In this essay I refer to all those people who lived within the territory known as the Kandyan Kingdom at the time of signing the Kandyan Convention in 1815 and their descendants irrespective […]<\/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":[143],"class_list":["post-86711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sudath-gunasekara","tag-kandyan-peasantry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86711","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=86711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}