Tamils in Sri Lanka: Time to ponder a new future

by Hiranya Malwatta | March 20, 2009 at 11:04 am

467 views | 15 Recommendations | 11 comments

Dr. Rajasingham Narendran is an intellectual of Sri Lanka, and many times I have seen people classifying him under the same category of the Great Lakshman Kadirgamar. But to me, there will never be another Kadir, either among the Tamils or the Sinhalese. Kadir was a great human being who repeatedly said that he does not look at a person and see his race, that he sees only another human being. He repeatedly said he is a Sri Lankan before anything else. Kadir saw the grievances of all Sri Lankans in the same light. Sinhala man's grievances were the same to him as the Tamil man's. How I wish he was alive today !

However, Dr. Rajasingham Narendran is someone worth listening to. He most definitely puts the blame for this conflict solely on Sinhalese racism. He does not talk about Tamil racism. He does not talk about how the Tamil politicians wanted 50% of parliamentary seats in a country where the Tamil population was a mere 18% soon after Sri Lanka won political independence in 1948. He talks of Tamil grievances, which most definitely is valid. It is appalling to hear how Sinhalese mobs have treated the Tamils in the fifties. I myself remember as a kid how gruesome the riots in 1983 were. But the average Sinhalese person had nothing to do with any of that. I remember my parents protecting the Tamil neighbors from the mobs.

The difference between Kadir and Dr. Rajasingham Narendran is that, the latter omits to mention those riots were triggered by other incidents. He forgets to look at both sides of the coin. Kadir saw both the sides.

My opinion - As long as a person thinks of himself as belonging to a 'RACE' rather than a 'NATION', discrimination will happen. It does not matter whether he is from the Majority or the Minority. Sinhalese discriminated in the past, no questions about that. But the Tamils discriminated at one point in history too. Soon after 1948, Sinhalese were oppressed and became the second class citizens in a country where they were more than 75% of the total population.

However, Dr. Rajasingham Narendran is someone worth listening to. He is someone who has progressive thinking. Someone who is not bent on revenge for the past. Who wants to put a stop to all the lies conjured up by the LTTE propaganda machines, and spread all over the internet by the Tamil diaspora.

Hats off to Dr. Rajasingham Narendran !

Tamils in Sri Lanka: Time to ponder a new future

By Dr. Rajasingham Narendran

While the sympathy, concern, assistance, expertise and investment of the Tamil Diaspora are necessary and are to be appreciated and welcomed, they should not be in a position to decide what is good on the political front for the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. These are the Tamils who have chosen to live in Sri Lanka, by willful choice or by not having the opportunity to choose. These are the Tamils who have lived through three decades of horror. These are the Tamils who have been caught in the jaws of a nutcracker for almost all their lives. These are the Tamils who will continue to live in Sri Lanka, come what may. The Tamil Diaspora should not be permitted to play a decisive role in our affairs any longer. Their grievances, hate, revenge and dreams should not continue to be our burden. They live in the past with reference to Sri Lanka and have not experienced the present. Their lives, lifestyles and aspirations are now different from ours. They are Tamils of Sri Lankan origin, but no longer Sri Lankan Tamils. They are our kin, but not our fellow citizens. They no longer know what is good for us. The unstinted and unquestioning support of the Diaspora, bordering on reverence, undoubtedly led the LTTE astray and to its alienation from most Tamils living in Sri Lanka.

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Tamiya

at 22:19 on March 23rd, 2009

How about you let us ponder about our future for a change?

Give ballots to Tamils and let us decide how we want to run our lives.

Ever thought about Tamils voting referendum to actually understand what Tamils want?

Hiranya Malwatta

at 23:45 on March 23rd, 2009

"The Tamil Diaspora should not be permitted to play a decisive role in our affairs any longer. Their grievances, hate, revenge and dreams should not continue to be our burden."

Tamiya, it is not me saying this, it is Dr. Rajasingham Narendran saying this, a SRI LANKAN TAMIL CITIZEN, a person who has the interest of the fellow SL Tamil citizens at heart.

But of course not your interests(sitting in some country far away shouting Genocide as your last trump to save a murderer), or your Terror leader Prabhakaran's.

Leylla (not verified)

at 16:54 on March 27th, 2009

Once you drove Tamils out from the country, you think you have got Tamils' lands? Tamils will be always the citizens of Tamil Eelam - the independent Tamil state, whether you like it or not.

So get used to it.

lalith

at 07:08 on May 9th, 2009

Where? In Tamil Nadu? Never an Eelam in Sri Lanka.

It looks as if you are still not used to getting your bums kicked by the Sri Lankan Forces.

All Terrorist supporters have to get used to it.

israeli.agent

at 08:20 on May 9th, 2009

Have you completed the scuba diving course successfully? Because the "Aqua Eezham" that Mr. Piraphagharan and cronies going to establish will have only one inlet and will be 120 meter underwater.

.Agent.

lalith

at 07:09 on May 9th, 2009

Tamiya, Tamiya, Tamiya,

Did you ever know that the main Democratic (not Terrorist) party, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was the majority party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1994?

I don't think so. Tamils always had ballots, unless suppressed by the Psychopathic Terrorist Leader, Prabhakaran. Do you think that the Sinhala and Muslim people voted for the TULF from the South? Tamils always decided wisely on the ballots.

This was again till Chief Failing Sun God came to the scene. Do you know how many democratically elected MPs were murdered by the Terrorists, LTTE?? Here we go:

A Amirthalingam TULF Leader and Leader of the Opposition(1977 - 13 July 1989 - the day of his murder)

V Dharmalingam MP

Alakasasundaram MP

A Thigarajah MP

V Yogeshwaran MP

A Thangadurai MP

Sam Thambimuttu MP What Tamils want is understood.

So, don't go about scribbling you pen or wagging your tongue about what you don't know. What is not understood is what the scum of the earth Tamil Terrorists want, besides a dreamland of Eelam.

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René

at 03:44 on March 24th, 2009

This informative article includes some maps of Sri Lanka:

Strategic Miscalculation by the LTTE

Currently, Sri Lanka is at the threshold of being the second example of an absolute victory over a terrorist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The defeat of the LTTE is much a success of the Sri Lankan military as it is a grave miscalculation by the LTTE.

The beginnings of the collapse can be traced to changes in LTTE strategy from 2004 onwards. In October 2004, a delegation of the LTTE headed by Suppayya Pramu Tamilselvan undertook a month long tour of Europe and held high level meeting with senior officials of Foreign Ministries in ten European countries. The meetings were arranged by Norwegian diplomats in each of these countries.

The LTTE had by this stage undergone a paradigm shift in thinking, after many years of pursuing a military strategy, they had come to believe the next phase towards statehood was the progressive achievement of international acceptance. The LTTE believed direct diplomatic access in Europe had paved the way for “Proto-State” status in the corridors of Western powers.

The LTTE for the first time had shifted from power broking in Tamil Nadu politics as the means to pressure Sri Lanka, to building a more ambitious Western led diplomatic offensives against the Sri Lankan government. The LTTE were either misinformed by the influx of diaspora advisers or were under an illusion that access to Foreign Ministries equated to a foreign policy shift on Sri Lanka. It is likely that it was a combination of both, over ambitious diaspora advisers and LTTE delegations flattered by overseas experiences.

lalith

at 07:38 on May 9th, 2009

Rene

Thanks. Very informative article.

saravsk

at 11:02 on May 5th, 2009

Hiranya... i have been reading ur posts with interest. Whay havent you wrote about establishing a federal constitution in SL. Why are u not conceding that everybody have their rights and should be protected by constitution. India is a shinning example. There are displeasures and inequities in most of india but they are because of economic disparities not because of lack of rights or opportunities. The minorities in India enjoy more rights than the majority and most of india take pride in that. Ethnic issues are a festering wound for nations like SL and pakisthan who have had unitary constitution and reserved and restricted rights for the minorities and other religions.

israeli.agent

at 08:21 on May 9th, 2009

saravsk,

Please read the comment, the one just above your's.

http://my.nowpublic.com/comment/reply/2252328/327465

Currently, Sri Lanka is at the threshold of being the second example of an absolute victory over a terrorist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Do you know what is the first example of an absolute victory over a terrorist group? It is Khalistan. That happened , for the first time, in India. A shining example , indeed.

Me too was watching your activities with utmost interest. Why don't you write about the release of the poor civilians held hostage by that thug called Pirapaharan? Sri Lanka , being a sovereign country has all the right to finish of any all terrorism within the country. The capable government is just doing that.

Don't write lies that everything is rosy and shiny in India. Please look at this link.

http://www.tamilnation.org/diaspora/karnataka.htm

A sample from the site. Just fun to read.

Were they the so called "Aryan" invasions that came through the Khyber and Bolan passes as the European historiography had concocted? The probe began. Kannadigas indeed stand out as teachers to Tamils, by negative examples.

We find that most of the invasions on the Tamil country were from Karnataka. It began with the Kalabhra invasions around 250 A. D., and their pillage over the Tamil country for over three centuries. Then came the Chlaukya, Hoysala, and Vijayanagara Nayakka invasions on the Tamil land. The Telugu Pallavas ruled over the Tamils after the Kalabhras.

This kind of pure racial / ethnic hatred is the root cause of the problems faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka too. Rest of the tales are all lies constructed to give legitimacy to this "thiravida" claim.

So, why don't just clean up own house before asking the neighbor to do so?

.Agent.

Hiranya Malwatta

at 07:39 on May 9th, 2009

@saravsk>

hmmm

federal constitution - honestly it's too big a word for me. I can't pretend to understand the first thing about it. But I do know that India has its problems. What happened just a few days ago between the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala regarding a dam? And the long standing issue of Kanyakumari?

Once the LTTE terrorist menace is wiped out, it is up to the democratic Tamil leadership of the country to put forward what they want.

My personal opinion though is that anything based on ethnicity in Sri Lanka once again only is going to put us through the same vicious cycle.