Tigers Stress On Recognition of Tamil Sovereignty As Basis For Any Future Dialogue
by a Special Correspondent
Even as President Mahinda Rajapakse was addressing the 62 sessions of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York last week, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had in a pre emptive move made a call to the UNGA to rein in the Government of Sri Lanka by calling for a halt in military operations.
The LTTE had stressed that the “recognition of Tamil sovereignty was the basis for any dialogue.” The Tigers in their statement had said “The Government of Sri Lanka must end its deceptions; halt its military oppression, ethnic cleansing, and serious human rights violations; accept the aspirations of the Tamil people; and come forward to find a resolution that is based on the right to self-determination of the Tamil people.”
While as widely speculated President Rajapakse in his speech was to bank on the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) as the panacea for the ethnic issue, the Tigers had dismissed the APRC exercise as one meant to fool the international community. “This tactic of appointing ‘APRCs’ and ‘Round Tables’ to resolve the national conflict is an established deceptive habit of successive governments of Sri Lanka,” the LTTE had said.
While emphasising that they were still ‘restraining themselves in the face of government military operations’ the Tigers had further said that “it is always the LTTE that keeps the doors wide open for peace talks.” The LTTE statement is significant in that it marks a significant shift in Tiger strategy.
Following is the full statement:
The delegation led by Sri Lanka’s President, Mahinda Rajapakse is gathered in New York, USA, to take part in the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly. This delegation, as in the past, will use this opportunity at the UNGA to discredit the Tamil struggle for self-determination as terrorism and mislead the international community to cover up Sri Lanka’s failed records on human rights, humanitarian issues, and peace process.
At the time when world leaders are assembling at the 62nd session of the UNSG to discuss international issues, the Political Wing of the LTTE wants to focus attention on issues related with the current conflict situation and the peace process. As the LTTE and Tamil people are denied a fair chance to interact directly with the International Community (IC), we choose to submit this statement.
(a) Sri Lanka and the peace process
Since elected to office, President Mahinda Rajapakse has been systematically weakening the IC-backed Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the LTTE.
It has blatantly ignored all the promises that were made at the Geneva talks.
Further, the GoSL has tried to isolate the LTTE, a party to the cease-fire and peace talks, from the IC and thus obstructed the Tamil people from directly interacting with the IC on their legitimate aspirations in a fair conflict resolution process.
GoSL has made schizophrenic public statements that ranged from, the intention to “wipe out the LTTE” and give a political solution to the Tamils, and to “weakening the LTTE” in order to “force” it to come to the negotiating table.
The appointment of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) to come up with a constitutional framework for a resolution to the conflict is another classic example of its duplicity.
This tactic of appointing ‘APRCs’ and ‘Round Tables’ to resolve the national conflict are an established deceptive habit of successive governments of Sri Lanka. But some members of the international community had shown confidence in this latest APRC and have been assuring everyone that it would come up with a framework for the resolution of the conflict. This misplaced confidence has not brought any constructive outcome to date.
On the other hand, the leaders of the GoSL make regular toxic comments and victory parades on the execution of the military campaign. Cynically exploiting the international discourse on “terrorism,” the GoSL locally justifies a war against the Tamil nation.
The latest and most categorical evidence came at the speech given by the Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapakse, in the presence of his brother, President Mahinda Rajapakse, in Trincomalee on September 14, which was nationally televised. He said,
“We cannot establish permanent peace in the country by winning only half or two third of the war against terrorism….. President Rajapakse cannot implement the desired political solution to the north and east conflict unless LTTE terrorism is defeated 100 percent.”
Two important facts can be gleaned from this statement that was clearly endorsed by the President himself. Firstly, that the GoSL intends to intensify the war in the north and secondly that the APRC was a fa‡ade to fool the international community.
Indeed less than a week after making this televised statement in Sinhala, the GoSL on the eve of its representation at the UN General Assembly has again paid lip service to the peace talks.
Genocidal war against Tamil people
The growing statistics of civilian casualties amply prove beyond doubt that this war conducted by the Sri Lankan armed forces is indeed a genocidal war against the Tamil people. Oppressive laws sanctioned by a majoritarian Sinhala Government are legitimising its brutality. The Emergency Regulations give cover and impunity for unlawful arrest, torture, killing, and disposal of bodies without investigations.
Human rights and humanitarian law violations: In the 21 months since President Rajapakse came to power in November 2005, 1974 Tamil civilians were killed by the Sri Lankan armed forces and its allied paramilitaries and 842 Tamil civilians were either arrested or abducted and then disappeared by the same forces. Among those killed were four popular Tamil Parliamentarians, Joseph Pararajasingham, Nadaraja Raviraj (both of whom were sitting MPs), A Chandra Nehru (a former MP) and V. Vigneswaran (an MP designate elected to replace the assassinated Pararajasingham).
Over 69 of those killed during this period were children under the age of 16. In addition to these killing of children, more than 150 civilians, among them many children, have sought safety in the Jaffna Human Rights Commission in fear of their life. Indeed the vast majority of the civilians who have been killed and disappeared in this period are the Tamils.
More than 500,000 people in the Jaffna peninsula are cut off from land access to the outside and are denied delivery of essential items by land and are kept in an open prison for its own military purpose by the GoSL. Despite repeated requests by the people of Jaffna and at the last Geneva talks by our side, the GoSL has not heeded to this request and has kept the A9 route closed.
Land grab: The occupation war started by the GoSL last year has forced hundreds of thousands of Tamil people from their land thus depriving them of livelihood. Many civilians were killed and disappeared in the process. The displaced were then forcefully resettled against their wishes in certain locations. Indeed the UN High Commission for Refugees announced that it was withdrawing from the resettlement involvement due to this flawed process. In Sampur and Muttur East, the GoSL confiscated lands belonging to the people by declaring them as High Security Zones and is implementing programmes to create new Sinhala settlements in these regions.
Media suppression: In order to obstruct information about its war on the civilians that is causing unimaginable hardship for the people, the GoSL is suppressing media freedom in many aspects. Those who operate despite such threats are murdered. Eleven journalists have been murdered since 2005 by the GoSL operated forces. The Uthayan daily from Jaffna, the voice of the most threatened people, is continuously operating under threat. Another journalist from the south who exposed corruption in weapon procurements of the GoSL has also come under death threat.
Labelling ‘terrorist’: Representatives of the international community, who have raised their voices on these horrendous violations of humanitarian norms, have been repeatedly targeted by the GoSL with the most vicious attacks. It is typical of the leaders of the GoSL to use the brush of “terrorist” and “LTTE sympathiser” on anyone who raises their voice for justice and decency in this island. Among those who have been painted thus are, UN Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, UN Representative for Children Affected by Armed Conflict, Ambassador Allan Rock, and Australia’s Former Foreign Minister and current President of International Crisis Group, Gareth Evans. They have all been called by senior members of the GoSL as “White Tigers.”
(b) LTTE and the peace process
We strongly believe that the international community understands that the Tamil liberation struggle against oppression has been taken up according to international norms. And it cannot be compared to aimless, intolerant causes of violence: terrorism
Further, we expect the international community recognise that it is always the LTTE that keeps the doors wide open for peace talks. LTTE unilaterally declared a ceasefire in 2000, after recapturing many towns in Wanni and the major Sri Lankan military camp in Elephant Pass, thus paving the way for the ensuing peace efforts. Yet the then regime of President Kumaratunga did not come to the peace table until after testing its military strength in yet another military operation and facing further losses.
We again gave time and counsel to the new regime of President Rajapakse to take forward the peace process. But his regime ignored all the agreements reached at the table, and even refused to heed the humanitarian needs of the people.
Whereas the LTTE continued to respect and urge for a full implementation of the cease-fire agreement, the Rajapakse regime eventually embarked on its war of occupation. It started the Mawilaru attack on the pretext of humanitarian need despite the patience exercised by the LTTE.
This military campaign of Sri Lanka has continued ever since in the east and the north, under variously codenamed operations, while the LTTE has continued to restrain itself, confining only to defensive operations.
(c) Expectations of the Tamil people from the international community
In the context described above, we urge the international community:
1. To recognise the concept of the sovereignty of the Tamil people, and support the peace process in accordance with this principle.
2. To provide appropriate opportunities to the Tamil people to express their aspirations, as have been given to the people of East Timor and Kosovo.
The Government of Sri Lanka must end its deceptions; halt its military oppression, ethnic cleansing, and serious human rights violations; accept the aspirations of the Tamil people; and come forward to find a resolution that is based on the right to self-determination of the Tamil people. The IC must rein in the GoSL to bring it in line.
A.Rajasingam said,
September 29, 2007 @ 11:57 pm
Time and again it is the same story of dragging the issue right from the beginning of SWRDs regime and eventually to bank on the outcome of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC). The international community or the Tamils on their part are not ready to have any faith in Mahindas government. The recent trend shows systematic and calculated act of disregarding the Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) in addition to the de-merger of North East Provinces which was merged in pursuance of the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord. As stated correctly it is a deception by the Sri Lankan government. Every successive government is keen to override what has been initiated by the previous government. However, Ranil made a bold and genuine attempt in signing of the Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) and the solution was almost underway or a stepping stone towards a durable solution, but Chandrika had dissolved the Parliament. The dissolving of Ranils government was not taken in the best interests of Sri Lanka. But the signing of the Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) does not mean that the LTTE should go on a free spree of killings and abductions of prominent Tamils in Colombo and North-East Province by the LTTE which occurred in 2005 and 2006. As for the present military confrontation between the GOSL and the LTTE, both parties is to be blamed. After the Presidential election the GOSL dragged the LTTE and launched the military operation for which the LTTE too has contributed by not allowing the people of Northern Province to vote.
Though the issue of oppression of Tamils has been addressed at international level, it is evident from the past records that the call for negotiation which could be treated as a hot for truce, was deliberately avoided by both parties because each party wanted to be in a strong position than the other and were eager to dictate terms on each other. It is true that terrorism should be defeated but that does not mean that the Military should lay hand on representatives of the international community on the pretext they were LTTE sympathisers. I must stress that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that the Military has lost its head in waging a war on the terrorists should be aware that the battle with the terrorists is battle between the visible and the visible. When people were living in fear from both parties, steps should have been taken to protect them and not to launch of mortar fire and aerial bombings on civilians positions and complicate the matter though LTTE was using them as a shield. Military solution is not the answer to the Tamil issue. The right of self-determination should be afforded within the framework of federal form of government is the answer to this burning solution. The action of President Mahinda only shows that he wanted to be a hero among the Sinhalese, but not as a Statesman. If Mahinda is a statesman he would have advocated federalism as the solution. The fact that Mahinda wanted to fulfill the mandate of the Sinhala is no excuse in committing genocide.
xmp said,
September 30, 2007 @ 3:21 am
Hmm….They (LTTE) have a choice between existence & anihilation.
They dont speak for the Tamil people.
AND
Who are you Mr Special Correspondent?
veerakathi said,
September 30, 2007 @ 5:22 am
Human Rights
&
State Terrorism in Sri Lanka
o There is widespread racism and state terror that has been directed at the Tamil people since Ceylon gained independence from Britain in 1948.
o The Sinhalese came to Sri Lanka about 2500 years back and claim to be Aryan race, which is a bunch of crap
o Tamils have been living in Sri Lanka for more than 30,000 years and called it Ellam.
o In 1769 the British arrived and absorber the Island of Ceylon into its huge empire.
o Before Portugese, Dutch & British came, there were three Kingdoms in Ceylon, Tamil kingdoms in North and East, one Sinhalese kingdom in Hill Country and one in Costal areas of Ceylon.
o British centralised all powers in Capital Colombo for administrative purpose , unified the whole country by amalgamating three Kingdoms into one Country and brought large amount of Tamil Labours from India to Build Tea estates and these Tamils built the national economy and earn highest amount Foreign exchange today ( US $ 900 Millon per year )
o When British left in 1947, they handed over centralised power in Colombo to Sinhalese and the first Sinhalese majority parliament stripped, (which consisted of Racist like DS Senanayaka, SWRD Bandaranayaka & JR Jeyawardena,) one million tea estate Tamils in the central hill country of their citizenship and right to vote, because they voted against the ruling party and happened to be Tamils.
o The third parliament of Ceylon in 1n 1956, under the leadership of SWRD Bandaranayaka and with the support of UNP, made Sinhalese the only official language and as a consequence large number of Tamils lost their job opportunities. LSSP leader Colvin R De Silva warned one language, two countries, two languages, one country.
o During nineteen seventies the Government of Srimao Bandaranayaka, with the support of Badudeen Mohammed, NM Perera, Peter Kennaman & Colvin R De Silva implemented the standardisation policy where Tamil student have to get much more marks to enter university, irrespective of their merit, and abolished the Constitution Drafted by Last British Governor and deleted the protection given to Tamils under that Constitution and these act angered moderate Tamil Politicians and young Tamil students and provided a strong motivation to start armed struggle, another foolish act of Sindhalese
o Major Sinhalese political parties and Majority of the Buddhist Monks are totally racist and anti Tamil.
o In July 1983 the Sinhalese thugs aided, supported and encouraged by Sinhalese politicians, Buddhist monks and Sinhalese army and police killed thousands of Innocent Tamils, burned down their houses, business premises, medical clinics and lawyers offices and ganged raped Tamils girls and this is known as ‘ July Holocaust’ or ‘ Black July’ .
o The Tamil armed struggle gathered momentum after this foolish act of Sinhalese and resulted in the development of present day Tamil Army known as ‘Tamils Tigers’
o Some feel that creation of a Tamil Federal state or a Scottish style Tamil Parliament will bring peace; this solution will not work, because this type of political system to work, the central government should be trust worthy and Tamils have no trust in Sinhalese central government or Sinhalese politicians. They cannot be trusted, because Sri Lankan army, police and state machinery is one hundred percent Sinhalese.
o The only option for Tamils to fight Sinhalese state terrorism is to create their own state which existed before Portugese, Dutch and British came to Colonise Ceylon – Sri Lanka.
o WITH OUT A TAMIL ARMY TAMILS HAVE NOTHING – POLITICAL POWER GROWS OUT OF BARREL OF GUN – ARMY IS HE CHIFE COMPONENT OF STATE POWER –
o The ‘Tigers’ control their own territory and run it like a totalitarian dictatorship now, after winning an independent state for Tamils, they have to grant democracy to all people, otherwise Tamil people will revolt
o Tamil Army is a militant army with a cause, to disarm them is impossible and no army can fight them forever.
o The ‘war on terror after 9/11’ has been used by Sri Lankan States (past & present) to suppress Tamils and opposition descendants and get plenty of foreign aid from US, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, China and Israel. Tamils and their Tamil Army are not terrorist, but freedom fighters. The Sinhalese and International media describes the entire Tamil people as terrorist and remain silent about Sri Lanka state terrorism for the benefit of their Geopolitical agendas.
o FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL IS A FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT.
Geera said,
September 30, 2007 @ 10:39 am
Sovereign mean a separate state! This is another ploy by theLTTE to hoowink the givernmenrt and the IC. Sri Lanka wil recognize the tamils only to the extent India has recognized the tamils as separte entity but within a single country.
Proud of being native Indo-Ceylonese said,
September 30, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
To Veerakathi:
o The Sinhalese came to Sri Lanka about 2500 years back and claim to be Aryan race, which is a bunch of crap
———————————-
Yeah! These Arians need some more height and blue eyes. Ridiculous calling them self Arians.
All right, let assume they are Arians; they invaded Northern India not more than 4000 years ago. So when could they reach the so-called Sri Lanka?
Shame on you hide your roots from Dravidian and Thai origin. And when you say ?we are Arians?, you are proud and indirectly mean that you are better race than the native Indo Ceylon races.
My advise to Sinhalese: Don’t be ashamed to declare your real root and be proud of saying you are non Arians. Because the Arians were uncivilized and astonished the civilization in India, when they invaded the country 4000 years ago. Throw the Mahavansa away and be proud saying my ancestors had never had trace of incest episode!
Devinda Fernando said,
October 1, 2007 @ 12:28 pm
Once again we have to sit here and listen to the same old tired rhetoric from these retarded Parrots of LTTE Propaganda. Tamil Grievances BWARRRRKKK!, State Terrorism BWARRRRKKK!, Genocide against the Tamil People BWARRRRKKK!
Will these people ever give it a rest? They claim to write these detailed analyses of the situation but it all comes down to the same thing doesnt it? Stalling Tactics – to help the Tigers get their head above the water. Yes, come on people! We have seen this over and over again with Prabharkaran. Negotiations mean nothing to the man, it has always been and always will be EELAM or NOTHING.
Allow me to further untangle this Web of BS that the author has neatly spun together.
The CFA this is no longer in effect. We can all agree it exists on paper but lets face it, the LTTE used this as a way to regroup and rearm and return to the fighting. Plain and Simple. Muthur and Sampoor are the prime examples of how the LTTE attempted to checkmate the SL Army but failed miserably. They used 2002 to 2005 to collect money from the Diaspora and regroup for One Last Final War. Eelam War IV was coming and everyone knew it. Anyone who gets up here and barks about the GoSL breaking the CFA is laughably full of it.
Then after the war starts we hear the same old tired crying and weeping and rolling around in the sand – putting on an Oscar worthy show of SUPREME SUFFERRING for the International community to see! OH BOO HOO! Lets all cry for Tamils! Its Genocide all over again they scream and shout! WAAAAAAAH! They are killing Tamils! WAAAAAAH Tamils are being harassed at Check Points! WAAAAAAAAH! Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide! WAAAAAH! Typical tactic is to list all the Tamils who have been killed in this recent round of fighting then throw in past atrocities as a way to increase the gravity of the situation. The Tamil Defense Mechanism. Never criticize the LTTE or any of their numerous and vile atrocities committed on the Sri Lankan population because they are the ONLY TRUE SUFFERERS here. Anything they do is not to be talked about because of what has happened in the past. They in essence have a free pass whenever they torture, murder, and kill innocent people.
Let me remind our LTTE proxy mouth pieces on these online forums that casualties have occurred on both sides. Of the 5000+ people killed in this new round of fighting (which the LTTE are solely responsible for creating) 2,500 are Sri Lankan soldiers. Men and women who have bravely put their life on the line and paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend us against these Terrorists. Im sorry if I dont quite feel sympathetic to those who shout from foreign countries about Tamil Grievances while simultaneously refusing to denounce the LTTE. Go tell Prabharkaran to return to peace talks then well start caring about legitimate Tamil grievances. Until then War must continue, and in War there will be suffering on both sides. If the LTTE are serious about peace then they should return to the negotiating table, otherwise well have to wait and see how long they last in combat against the second most battled hardened troops in the world.
Prabharkaran has played the Tamil Diaspora community like a prize fiddle, and those who are educated and informed of the true situation are simply hiding his agenda for him for their own selfish aspirations of power. The GoSL reacted in Self-defense, as any government would.
That is what we elect our government to do protect the sovereignty of our land. Anyone who has a problem with that,.well, they will just have to fight us for it.
Suresh M said,
October 1, 2007 @ 6:11 pm
The days of Tamil Eelam is going to be reorganized as a separate sovereign entity by world body is not far away. If you need recent examples, there are three available to Sinhala State Terrorist. East Timor, Kosovo, and Dharfur. Sinhala polity is banking on their savior India to bail them in all international forums (i.e. UN Human Right), but remember even mighty Russia couldnt help Kosovo forming a separate state.
Gamini said,
October 1, 2007 @ 8:25 pm
Dear Mr Special Correspondent
The Tamil people are not obstructed from interacting IC on the contrary they are encouraged to interact with the IC, it is terrorist organisations that par take in suicide bombing and child conscription that the IC wants nothing to do with.
The LT TE are wasting their time issuing statements on their “principles” etc, the past 30 years of their brutal campaign of suicide bombing and political assassinations has provided all Sri Lankan’s and the IC ample testimony of where they stand.
The whole world has moved on there is no good will and little room for negotiations, IC particularly India cant and wont deal with terrorists, especially of the kind that assassinate prime ministers and foreign ministers after signing peace treaties.
One only needs to look at the way the world is reacting to the peaceful protests in Burma and contrast this with IC’s resolute hand wringing when it comes to the Sri Lankan Tamils and see what the LTTE has achieved thus far.
Devinda Fernando said,
October 1, 2007 @ 11:34 pm
**** The days of Tamil Eelam is going to be reorganized as a separate sovereign entity by world body is not far away.***
LOL! Suresh! That sounds so Familiar!? Boy, I’ve heard that before,…but where, Oh where, did I hear it? OH YES! Out of the LTTE’s mouth to the Tamil Diaspora Community – only back then it was: “Eelam is Around the Corner”
You have run out of spin material so you’re recycling old talking points with a slight change in the hopes that people don’t notice.
Ya ya ya – we heard the East Timor, Kosovo, Darfur, analogies over and over again,… like a broken record,…..typical BS from the same spin doctors. But here’s the fundamental difference between your obviously erroneous comparisons,… you see you can cry Genocide to the average person, and the average good heartened Tamil Diaspora person living abroad, and he or she will most likely believe you and send you money for your weapons and guns. And once in a while all you have to do is show them a couple of dead people on some websites and slide shows and YouTube clips but in order to really Cry Gneocide to the UN,….THERE ACTUALLY HAS TO BE A GENOCIDE….. otherwise everyone will sooner or later smell your BS. So keep crying that the Sky is falling down and you’ll see as everyone else has Chicken Little that you’re just making noise for nothing.
A.Rajasingam said,
October 2, 2007 @ 8:24 am
It is true that the LTTE should be asquarely blamed for the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister. But they also follow the people who supported Rajiv Gandhi to decimate them. But there is a saying in Hinduism forget about what the enemy had done to you and God will look after him. But here is an issue where the Sinhalese Political leaders assert that they are the origins of Aryans which is absolutely rubbish and without any foundation. It should not be forgotten that the Sinhalese and the Tamils are from South India. If one can look at the customs and practices of the Telungus and even their scriptures and dresses, it is almost similar to the Sinhalese. Similarly the Tamils in Jaffna are from Kerala. The Thesawalamai Laws in its very first sentence states that the inhabitants of Jaffna are that of Malabar. It is true that the customs and practices of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and even their food, it is almost similar to the Tamils of North-East Province. However, with the passage of time on account of the invasion of South Indian rulers (Pandyans and Cholas) changes took place. Even there is evidence that there were Tamil scriptures during the Sinhalese rulers. Neverthless, the administration of North East Province was from Tanjore during Chola period and this is history. But there were also settlers from a small coastal hamlet called Vetharanyam in Tamil Nadu in the coastal areas of Jaffna. There were also battles within the Tamil Kingdoms in South India (including Kerala) as a result people would have fled to adjoining countries in addition to the gift of Jaffna to a poet by Pandyan King. It is history that Tamil princess were given in marriage to Sinhalese Kings and there is ample evidence. The temples of the sinhalese were built by Tamil architects and there is evidence in the Kandyan District. What about the fusion of the Arab traders, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English with the people of Sri Lanka. So the issue of Aryans and Dravidians are pure non-sense. What is vital that equality among Sri Lankans should be assured in its true perspective in keeping with the democratic lines. Politicians who raise these issues are mainly to decive the people for their survival. The unitary character of a government can only be achieved by the participation of all races through federalism in a democratic country. Federalism is an advance form of unitary character and not separation.
Suresh M said,
October 2, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
Back in 1976, when ‘Thanthai’ Chelva (TULF) declared Tamil’s demand for separate state called Eelam, There was a cartoon by Wijesoma ridiculing SJV in Sinhala media (Sunday Observer).
World has no tolerance for State sponsored terrorism against a section of its population, especially on minority. Sinhala terrorist will understand this soon.
A.Rajasingam said,
October 3, 2007 @ 8:18 am
Further to my assertion that Sinhalese are also Dravidians, it is history that the Sinhalese Kings were originally Tamils and the last kings of Kandy were from Nayakka dynasty. Still their names are being carried on as Dissanayakes, Bandaranayakes and Senanayakes. Further the so-called Fernandos and Fernanado Pulles are borrowed names from Portuguese with whom they mixed for more than 150 years as from 1505 and still been carried on, but their origins are from the coastal areas of India, like Cochin and Vetharanyam. Most of them still speak Tamil at their homes, but vehemently shout that they are Sinhalese like Minister Fernandopulle of Negombo. It is these people who pretend to be Sinhalese, attempt to establish that the Sinhalese are Aryans by deviating from the topic and out of sheer desperation writing nonsense. They are unable to bring out historical facts, deviate from the topic and desperately write like stupids. Therefore the issue of Aryans and Dravidians is unwanted, but is a question of recognition of equality of all races without any discrimination whatsoever.
Suresh M said,
October 4, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
Ref #12
So, you (Dr. A.Rajasingam) assert that Fernandos are not blue eyed, white skinned Arians!! How dare you.
Pity, some of these fellow Lankans even don’t know their origin. Even our Brahmins do not assert that they are Arians, as they have mixed with locals’ long time ago.
Siri said,
October 4, 2007 @ 10:51 pm
It is interesting to see how, many people here, apparently belonging to the Tamil ethnicity, talk about Sinhalese and the Aryan claim.
These arguments surely should be good for many Sinhalese to seriously look at, although Sinhalese rarely talk about their Aryan origin openly these days (even none yet in this forum).
Sinhalese, apparently, is a mixed lot, of Dravidian (mainly Malabar and Tamil), Bengalis, native inhabitants of Lanka, other north Indian ethnicities and also a lot of Mongoloid (ie Thai, Malay, Polynesian) , then Moor and so on.
However, in general, shouldn’t all human beings, be sensible enough, to totally leave these racial discussions aside?
For sure, a dog would carry its hauteur because it is a German shepherd, or a Doberman or a Dalmatian or some other.
Devinda Fernando said,
October 5, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
*** The unitary character of a government can only be achieved by the participation of all races through federalism in a democratic country.***
Interesting point. Yet what sort of Demcracy can their be under the LTTE or Prabharkaran?! He did not even tolerate other ARMED Tamil groups in the late 1980s to early 90s – so much so that he had most of their Leaders rounded up and murdered.
TELO, EPRLF, EROS, PLOTE, etc, etc the list goes on. All Tamil groups, all slaughtered by Prabharkaran. You Diaspora twits are smoking the GOOD STUFF if you think for a second the LTTE would share power with other Tamils even if Eelam were achieved.
= oh yes Rajasingham, and one more nagging issue for me,…. I am assuming you live in a Western country? UK, USA, Canada? Tell me, are any of those Countries Federally devided by Race or Ethnicity?
LOL.
Suresh M said,
October 9, 2007 @ 9:33 pm
Ref # 14
Siri, you’re not reflecting the majority, most of the Sinhalese view themselves as Aryans.
Ref # 15
Ferando,
Quebec is a French majority province in Canada. Quebec is represented in all Canadian Embassies.
Thamilan said,
October 10, 2007 @ 12:06 pm
Comment 15,
What kind of democracy do we have in Sri Lanka right now; it’s full of corruption and scandals. Corruption and scandals are the signs of a failed democracy.
Yes they are federally divided by ethnicity and language; go read the history of those western countries before you ask questions.
kumar said,
October 11, 2007 @ 1:00 pm
Devinda Ferando,
Are you shingala origin?
eesan said,
October 19, 2007 @ 3:07 am
The aryans of SL.
just take look at your reflection in your mirror and put that ” of aryan descent” theory to rest.
here is an experiment that u deluded “aryans” can carry out at any large international airport:
line yourself, wife and kids alongside some Germans or other Europeans, some Afghans or Pakistanis, some North Indians ,or some Malayalees and other “obviously south Indian” looking people.
Then ask one or a few unbiased and disinterested individuals which of the above group of people you and family resemble most.
Don’t bother reporting the results to me, I already know. I will concede Many Sinhalese have a smattering of aryan genes as do many south Indians, Tamils included.
Another thing: spoken Sinhalese is a Dravidian language in both syntax and vocabulary.
Raj said,
October 21, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
Dravidian vs. Aryan’s, get over it !
the only ones who are concerned with these petty differences are the Tamil’s in this forum who are more interested in preaching division than pluralism.
It’s like the sad inferiority complex that we see in sections of South India… Northern Brhamin’s control everthing they cant be trusted, they want to keep us down, they are responsible for our poverty blah blah blah.
Thamilan said,
October 22, 2007 @ 2:53 pm
Comment 20,
We don’t need to preach for division when it was divided long ago, thanks to your racsict politicans they made sure that it can never be joined to perform as unified nation.
Your problem is that you fail to understand the political and the racial history.
The political side demanded for separate setup for the North & East to evenutally a separate nation, clearly demoracy was not the system that Sri Lanka followed when this elected politician were ignored.
The racist side was the organized mass murder of Tamils and how the governement just ignored and let the Tamil live in fear.
I bet your pathetic Sinhalese heart is beating fast just thinking what the Tigers might do to you, get use to it, that is how the Tamil have felt and are still feeling.
Raj said,
October 23, 2007 @ 12:51 am
#21 Thamilian, is typical of Tamil’s in this forum, telling everyone else what there problem is without recognising their own problems, allow me to help. You support a brutal band of terrorists that routinely target civilians and elected officials including heads of state, your organisation has no respect internationally and has done more harm than good to the Tamil’s in Sri Lanaka.
And yes my heart is beating fast today, 20 terrorist suicide bombers and eight armed forces personnel lost their lives, families will be devastated and the problems are not resolved.
Judging by your frothing at the mouth excitement, your heart is beating fast today because the death and mayhem yesterday makes you feel proud in some perverse way and deep down you feel something has changed ?
In realty the government will use this to hype up the threat of from the air and seek more advanced weapons and hasten the offensive in the North, the IC will gladly oblige because they cant risk letting terrorist organisation have an air force.
Thamilan said,
October 23, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
Comment 22,
Allow me to help you again; you support a brutal and racist policy of a government who are bent on not giving fundamental rights to the minorities. Not only that, the government’s Army you support carries out everything an organized criminal gang would carry out on civilians. I will remind you again, it is the government that created the problem and gave birth to LTTE. Your government’s lack of commitment to bring those who committed the crime against the Tamils was another problem. Here are some lines that reflect the view of your kind to the Minorities:
“If we are governing, we must govern. If we are ruling, we must rule. Do not give into the minorities. ” – Mrs. Wimala Kannangara M.P. Sri Lankan Parliament, July 1981
“I am not worried about the opinion of the Tamil people… now we cannot think of them, not about their lives or their opinion.. the more you put pressure in the north, the happier the Sinhala people will be here… Really if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy.” – President J.R. Jayawardene, Daily Telegraph 11th July 1983
Without the existence of the Tigers we would have been starved and totally annihilated, we are still alive because the Tigers have saved us from those racist like JRJ, Wimala K and etc. Can you find any quote that the Tigers said against the Sinhalese people? Tigers have openly expressed that they are not against the Sinhalese; they are against the racist policy of the government and the right to seek self-determination for the Tamils. From the above quote you can see whom your government is against, it is not the Tigers that they are against, it is the Tamils and the other minorities.
Your government is free to seek advance weapons, who will be paying for all these weapons, is it you’re already drained out economy. Sri Lanka is being run on money given by International community for development instead it is being pumped into military use. How long is the International community is going to take crap from your politicians, using their money and giving them false propaganda that they are crushing the Tigers when all of them are saying all you need is a political solution?
Raj said,
October 24, 2007 @ 11:08 pm
#23 Thamilian
Para 1.
Do you mean fundamental rights of minorities such as…
The right to vote – It wasn’t the government that stopped the Tamils in N/NE from exercising their fundamental right to vote it was the tigers.
Right Political freedom – The tigers routinely target elected officials including heads of state Rajiv etc, they have assassinated a multitude of Tamil political figures for daring to hold a different views. I can’t recall the last time there was election for the Tamil leadership, that right there has never been an election its survival of the fittest.
Right to a childhood & education – The tigers have infamous history of conscripting children as young as 12 to for training as soldiers, (I guess for Tamils in UK, Aust take the view hey it’s not my kid and plus they will die for good cause.)
Para 2.
A series of (possible) partial quotes cut and pasted without any references or context.
You may be a little out of touch with Sri Lanka at present, but let me inform you that the Muslim’s, Moor’s and the majority of Tamil’s live harmoniously with majority Sinhalese; they own business hold high positions in government. Colombo is in fact almost 1/3 Tamil, Muslim, and Sinhala.
Para 3.
Can I find a quote against the Sinhalese by tigers? You seem to think they tigers are engaging in some kind of orderly debate at a moot court, open your eyes its death and mayhem all the way!
The Sri Lankan people and the IC judge them on their actions, hence they are deemed terrorist by the world at large. They have thirty year record of targeting civilians and elected political figures through suicide bombings and death squads. (Try a quick Google search; this may help you identify a few of the atrocities)
Para 4.
I agree the cost of protecting the people against terrorists is high however the alternative is to give in to a group hell-bent on inflicting death and destruction on a slow march to setting up ethnically pure wonderland.
Tamil’s would be dead without the tigers? You are starting to believe your own propaganda, this is outrageous lie that doesn’t even deserve acknowledgment.
I agree that a political solution is optimal but the tigers don’t have the will or the foresight to take part in good faith in any form of political solution. They sign peace treaties to restock, settle scores and assassinate foreign ministers. Let’s not forget a generation of capable Tamil politicians have also been assassinated for seeking political solutions.
And as long as you people such as you take the view “By any means” the political solution will be elusive.
Thamilan said,
November 3, 2007 @ 7:57 am
Comment 24,
You seem to blame everything on the Tigers, pull your self together. Your government was committing crime against the Tamils long before the youths started the armed struggle. Bark all you want, keep on barking, your government is near bankruptcy.
It’s a waste of my time debating with you.