{"id":96890,"date":"2019-12-25T16:24:27","date_gmt":"2019-12-25T23:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96890"},"modified":"2019-12-25T17:13:27","modified_gmt":"2019-12-26T00:13:27","slug":"dear-mr-president-paddy-farmers-must-be-honored-and-given-the-highest-recognition-in-the-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/25\/dear-mr-president-paddy-farmers-must-be-honored-and-given-the-highest-recognition-in-the-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Mr. President, paddy farmers must be honored and given the highest recognition in the society"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kudaligamage Geethanjana<\/strong> <\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Rajapakses, Geopolitics, \u2018Eurocentric Developmentalism,\u2019 and the western hegemony (Part 23)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0d9c\u0dbb\u0dd4 \u0da2\u0db1\u0dcf\u0db0\u0dd2\u0db4\u0dad\u0dd2 \n\u0dad\u0dd4\u0db8\u0db1\u0dd2, \u0d85\u0db1\u0dcf\u0d9c\u0dad\u0dba\u0dda<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dba\u0db8\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0daf\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dd9\u0d9a<\/strong>, \n<\/strong>\u0db8\u0da9<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0ddd\u0daf\u0dcf\u0d9c\u0dad\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d85\u0db4\u0d9c\u0dda<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9c\u0ddc\u0dc0\u0dd2<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dad\u0dbb\u0dd4\u0dab\u0dba\u0dd9\u0d9a\u0dd4\u0da7  \u0da9\u0dd9\u0db1\u0dd2\u0db8\u0d9a\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dca \n\u0dc3\u0dd0\u0dbb\u0dc3\u0dd3,<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dd4\u0db9\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dda<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0dd2\u0da7<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dd9\u0dbd\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dca\u0db8<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dca<\/strong>\u200d<\/strong>\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0d9a\u0da7\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0db4\u0dd2\u0da7\u0dd2\u0dba\u0da7<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9c\u0ddc\u0dc3\u0dca<\/strong>, \n<\/strong>\u0d85\u0db4<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0da2\u0dcf\u0dad\u0dd2\u0d9a<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dca<\/strong>\u200d<\/strong>\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0d9a\u0da7\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dab\u0dca\u0da9\u0dcf\u0dba\u0db8\u0dda<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0dcf\u0db8\u0dcf\u0da2\u0dd2\u0d9a\u0dba\u0dd9\u0d9a\u0dd4<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dbd\u0dd9\u0dc3<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d91\u0d82\u0d9c\u0dbd\u0db1\u0dca\u0dad\u0dba\u0da7<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d91\u0dbb\u0dd9\u0dc4\u0dd2\u0dc0<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0da7\u0dd9\u0dc3\u0dca\u0da7\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dad\u0dbb\u0d9f\u0dba\u0d9a\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dca<\/strong>\u200d<\/strong>\u0dbb\u0dd3\u0da9\u0dcf<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dd2\u0dbb\u0dd3\u0db8\u0da7<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dad\u0dbb\u0db8\u0dca\u0dc0\u0dd6<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0db4\u0dd2\u0dc5\u0dd2\u0d9c\u0dd0\u0db1\u0dd3\u0db8\u0d9a\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0db8\u0dd9\u0dbb\u0da7<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0da2\u0db1<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0db8\u0dcf\u0da2\u0dba<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dad\u0dd4\u0dbd<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dd4\u0db9\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dd4<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9c\u0ddc\u0dc0\u0dd2\u0dad\u0dd0\u0db1\u0da7<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc4\u0dd2\u0db8\u0dd2\u0dc0\u0dd6\u0daf\u0dcf<\/strong>, \n<\/strong>\u0d85\u0db4<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0dca\u0dae\u0d9a<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dd8\u0dc2\u0dd2\u0d9a\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0dca\u0db8\u0dd2\u0d9a<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0db4\u0dca<\/strong>\u200d<\/strong>\u0dbb\u0dad\u0dd2\u0db4\u0dad\u0dca\u0dad\u0dd2\u0dba\u0d9a\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d87\u0dad\u0dd2<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dd2\u0dbb\u0dd3\u0db8<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0db3\u0dc4\u0dcf<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d85\u0dc0\u0dc1\u0dca<\/strong>\u200d<\/strong>\u0dba<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0db8\u0dcf\u0da2<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0d82\u0dc3\u0dca\u0d9a\u0dd8\u0dad\u0dd2\u0d9a \n<\/strong> <\/strong>\u0db4\u0dc3\u0dd4\u0db6\u0dd2\u0db8\u0d9a\u0dca<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0db6\u0dd2\u0dc4\u0dd2<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9a\u0dbb \n\u0d87\u0dad\u0dd0\u0dba\u0dd2<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc3\u0dad\u0dd4\u0da7\u0dd4<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc0\u0dd2\u0dba<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0dc4\u0dd0\u0d9a<\/strong>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Mr. \nPresident, the day when our young paddy farmer who cleaned himself off of mud \nand dressed in a denim jeans, and go directly from the paddy field to the \ncricket field as a member of our national cricket team to play a test match \nagainst England team,<\/em><\/strong> that would be \nthe day we can happily confirm that we have been successful in creating \nappropriate socio-cultural background for socially sustainable agriculture in \nSri Lanka.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

_______________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The colonialism \nand its pet dogs Kolombians who maintained apartheid and segregated social \nconditions in Sri Lanka had used their brainwashing mechanism of colonial \neducation to marginalize and continuously mock villagers and paddy farmers for \nso long, so the newer generations firmly have determined never to go into \nagriculture, especially into paddy farming. The young generation of the village \nSri Lanka has said it aloud, GOODBYE!!!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems iPhone \nand mamoty are not mutually complementary tools for our young generation. But \ncomputers along cannot feed a nation. Cold and belittling social condition \ntoward people who occupy in agriculture is a unique issue in Sri Lanka uncommon \nin other parts in the world. This condition of social demeaning toward farmers \nis not common in Latin America or in Europe. Like any other profession, \nagriculture also gets its fair share of the labor force in every generation in \nthose countries. So then what went wrong in Sri Lanka to have a different \nsituation? Why is our young generation going away from agriculture? I personally \nknew some village fathers who firmly determined that they would never let their \nchildren go through the bitter experiences of marginalization that they had gone \nthrough as paddy farmers in the society. Every parent in the village sending \ntheir child into higher education in our universities intended to disconnect \ntheir child from the agrarian culture that they inherited for generations. They \nwant to see a full stop. Therefore we must understand that one of the major \nchallenges of paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka is a social issue that has created \na severe labor shortage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President \nGotabhaya Rajapaksa rightfully avowed to the nation that his administration will \nput maximum effort to develop our agricultural economy to make us self \nsufficient in food production. Yes, it is a clever strategy considering our \nagriculture friendly rich soil and climatic conditions. All other negative \nconditions that had weakened the agricultural economy could be fixed, and all \nthe problems could be resolved but one; the unappreciative social condition \ntoward paddy cultivation needs to be addressed as our first priority if we truly \nneed to resolve this issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shortage of \nyoung labor has been felt in the agricultural sector for quite some time, \nespecially for paddy farming. It is expected that Sri Lanka may have to import \nforeign labor for paddy farming within the next ten to twenty years; if paddy \nfarming happened to exist at all in Sri Lanka without vanishing with no trace by \nthat time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among many \nreasons, there is a very special political reason behind paddy cultivation for \nus to protect and preserve our agriculture especially paddy cultivation in Sri \nLanka at any cost. As I have explained in the previous article, paddy \ncultivation is anthropological evidence of national heritage; a civilizational \nact. Paddy cultivation was the main dynamism that shaped the Sri Lankan culture \ninto a unique culture among other cultures in Asia. Buddhism had assimilated \ninto Sri Lankan culture only later on. Etymological studies of paddy farming \nculture prove that the activity was here in Sri Lanka for many millenniums \nbeyond our knowledge of the history of the island; especially its related \nlanguage and the Sinhala terminology it used are as old as the history of the \npaddy plant in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/22\/the-etymology-of-sinhala-language-related-to-paddy-cultivation-in-sri-lanka-is-vital-anthropological-and-archaeological-evidence-of-the-history\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhala words \nused in the culture of paddy cultivation are the oldest words that are still in \nuse in the Sinhala language. Since we haven\u2019t found these words anywhere else, \nthe ancientness or primordial character of the words used in paddy cultivation \nalone proves that Sinhalese people were living in this island and built their \ncivilization for a long time from time immemorial. In addition to the language \nused in paddy cultivation related activities, the ethics, rituals, belief \nsystems, folk arts, folklore, and folksongs are some of the indisputable \nattestations that prove that Sinhalese were inhabiting this land way before \nBuddhism introduced into the island nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the strong \nbondage between paddy cultivation and its related belief system that has left a \nsplendid cultural heritage for the future generations of our nation. The \nreservoir, the stupa, the village and the Buddhist temple (<\/strong>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0\u0dba\u0dd2,<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0daf\u0dcf\u0d9c\u0dd0\u0db6\u0dba\u0dd2,<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0d9c\u0db8\u0dba\u0dd2,<\/strong> \n<\/strong>\u0db4\u0db1\u0dca\u0dc3\u0dbd\u0dba\u0dd2)<\/strong> <\/strong>is the moto and \nthe slogan of Sri Lankan culture after Buddhism was introduced. They are the \nwell-established edifying element of our cultural identity. The day paddy \ncultivation ends in the island will mark the day of the end of the \ndistinctiveness of Sri Lankan culture. Thus the uniqueness of Sri Lankan culture \nwill end. The oldest occupation of the Sinhalese will vanish. The magnificent \nancient irrigation system will die without a valid purpose. The glorious past of \nthe Sinhalese people will be a subject for the sixth-grade essays. Without this \nsolid anthropological evidence to prove the authenticity of the information, the \nfighting against the global intellectual agenda of separatism will be ever more \ndifficult. It will go very well with the separatist project because \narchaeological evidence is the enemy of separatism. In the end, the phrase \u2018Sri \nLankan civilization\u2019 will be added to the list of lost civilizations and \ncultures of the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intellectual \nproject of separatism in Sri Lanka is a global issue, largely controlled, \nfantasized and financed by global actors. Watch the following video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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