Myanmar Crisis - Parallels with Sri Lanka

We are not surprised to hear about the crisis in Myanmar. When the US declared its pivot to Asia, we knew that a problem or problems would suddenly erupt in Asian countries. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Myanmar has become a victim. The foot soldiers are the Bengali terrorists & the Guinea pigs are the Rohingyas and collateral damage are the Myanmar Buddhists & Hindus. The scenario is no different to the crisis that erupted in Sri Lanka. Both Rohingyas and LTTE have armed movements and are using bogus historical backing to seek a separate homeland. The West & UN are assisting because Myanmar & Sri Lanka are crucial to their geopolitical and corporate agendas while the destruction of Theravada Buddhism remains an unfulfilled historical objective.

Terrorists are not Freedom fighters

It has become fashionable to promote terrorists as freedom fighters. LTTE armed militants were also projected as representing the Tamil people, the same argument is now being used to justify the Bengali armed militant groups that are firing and attacking while pretending to be innocent Rohingyas. LTTE did the exact same. How and who could determine whether they were civilians or terrorists? The armed Bengali terrorists are plucking out fighters from among the Rohingyas just as LTTE plucked its fighters from the Vanni Tamils. None of the elite high class/caste Colombo Tamils or Tamils living overseas sacrificed their children and none of them stopped a single Tamil child being kidnapped and turned into a child soldier. LTTE created their cadres and child soldiers from these Vanni poor and low caste Tamils. Poverty stricken Rohingyas must be easy bait too. Another common feature is that both entities are international narcotic smugglers and this is one key reason why there are forces that wish to use these armed elements to safeguard the passage for smuggling. Kosovo Liberation Army that the West molly-cuddled were similarly used to smuggle narcotics through Europe! Kosovo independence enabled the setting up of a NATO base and continuity of the smuggling nexus. KLA have many similarities to the LTTE. Kosovars Muslims equalled Tamils and Sinhalese equalled Serbs while the same scenario will apply to Myanmar as well.

NATO treated the KLA as a legitimate representative of the Kosovar Albanians – just as the West is treating LTTE created TNA and soon Myanmar will see the emergence of a political party aligned to Rohingyas whom the West will back.

There have been links to LTTE and Rohingya terrorists too and arrests made in Thailand are evidence.

http://www.ssig.gov.my/blog/2009/06/17/rohingya-with-links-to-ltte-al-qaeda-arrested-in-thailand/

Bogus history & minority discrimination – stepping stone for separatism

Strangely while Rohingya name did not exist until its usage in the 1950s the term Ceylon Tamils emerged only after the 1911 census, prior to that all Tamils were known as Malabar Tamils or Indian Tamils because they found their origins in South India.

Of course Britain has to take the bulk of the blame. It was Britain that transported Muslims from then Bengal to Myanmar to work just as colonial rulers brought in South Indians to then Ceylon as cheap labor. If anyone should be taking descendants of those that were brought from overseas for Britains profit & advantage it should be Britain! Not stopping there, the policies of divide and rule, giving undue and unfair prominence to minorities completely ignoring the rights of the majority is how the colonials created the mentality of minorities believing that they could make any demands and the West would happily entertain them.

Myanmar Government continues to claim Rohingyas have no historical claim to Myanmar or Rakhine state and that they descend from present day Bangladesh and Bengal came under Islamic settlement only after 12^th century. The same argument is used regarding Tamil Nadu being the origins of Tamils as the same ethnic group cannot evolve or originate from two separate countries. Moreover, many of the Northern Tamils have Sinhala birth names is evidence that Sinhalese were living very much in the North and would have married Tamils that had arrived from South India. The many Buddhist artifacts, archaeological sites proves beyond reasonable doubt of a Buddhist civilization in North and East Sri Lanka while the colonial records further establishes this. Other than the South Indian invader rule, where is the evidence of a Tamil civilization?

To hide these truths, tragically even in the academia have been roped in to put their names against a bogus history being peddled, obviously for handsome payments. The Rohingyas are now adopting the same tactic and soon we are likely to see plenty of false history emerging and it would be good for Myanmar to have their history properly documented and ensure that it cannot be tampered with even for payments. Unfortunately, there are some in Sri Lanka’s academic circles and intelligentsia who have readily become part of that bogus history writing.

Diaspora support

While Sri Lanka’s LTTE were able to create a powerful diaspora many whom went overseas following the July 83 UNP government sponsored riots and became the contributors to the LTTE kitty while also creating a powerful lobby and pressure groups many registered as humanitarian organizations, charities etc that enjoyed tax-free exemptions. The LTTE international nexus was so powerful that its annual profits were declared USD300m by Janes Intelligence. It was they who provided material support to the LTTE while engaging foreign parliamentarians making use of Tamil ghetto areas to pressurize foreign parliamentarians to speak on behalf of them in exchange for the Tamil votes. Money talks and foreign MPs walk became the sole reason why many a foreign MP stood on top of pro-LTTE stages that had gigantic cutouts of Prabakaran and some even delivered speeches.

The Rohingyas are having links to Al Qaeda & ISIS both of which have the political backing of the West and the manpower & money supplied by Western-satellite states. Therefore, Rohingyas would not require to create any diaspora in the nature of the LTTE Tamil Diaspora but a group of Rohingya refugees will certainly be groomed and be used to carry out a well-planned and well-funded smearing campaign against Myanmar. Already PR agencies and actor training organizations must be preparing the scripts and footage to use against the Myanmar Government. We have seen a plethora of fake news, false pictures circulating already. Soon the documentaries will come out like C4 funded by diaspora and would probably be used every time there is a UN/UNHRC session or some international forum that the Myanmar Government is attending. These are areas that the Myanmar Government should now itself prepare for.

They’ll be plenty of foreigners screaming ‘allow access to aid workers’ authors will jump to write books ‘counting the dead’ or someone might die to come out of the ‘cage’, there will be non-stop figures being quoted as ‘dead’ all without names, dead bodies or even skeletons. These are factors Myanmar Government should immediately address and for every allegation being made ask the envoys direct questions which Sri Lanka’s Government and envoys failed to do even in the best of diplomatic language. Even after a two weekly consultative sessions briefing envoys by the GOSL on the situation in the war front at no time did these envoys raise concerns but after the conflict they bring out a list of complaints of what the GOSL did not do! They’ll be plenty of foreign MPs giving figures of dead in their parliament as if they stood infront and personally counted the dead.

Therefore, our advice to Myanmar is – every time a UN envoy or diplomat makes an allegation – ask them proof and continue to demand the evidence. Do not accept their statements without drilling them for evidence to substantiate their claims. This is a must that the Myanmar government and officials must take serious note of.

Both had plenty of ‘fake’ refugees which is why they soon became known as economic migrants –

https://www.facebook.com/rick.heizman?hc_ref=ARQU2g4MvxcmTHoIv8fNVAABtUwY8psNzyX6kVj5oMtVGtuKaAdBaN9nBzLzdThvHvU

Geopolitical – Corporate – Neocon agenda

Both countries are important players in China’s Belt & Road initiative. While Sri Lanka is geopolitically advantageous for trade and maneuvering from East-West or West-East, Myanmar abounds in natural resources, gas, oil, jade. What the colonialists could not do during colonial rule the neocons are returning to complete! Look at the manner that immediately after regime change in Sri Lanka, the puppet government removed all restrictions for foreigners to purchase land and are opening arms to invite foreign businesses under any conditions they want while privatizing and selling of national assets and strategic areas are taking place completely ignoring public angst and opposition. Every Tom Dick Harry and yankee are allowed to enter Sri Lanka and dictate terms and given red carpet welcomes!

An article by Chris Kanthan further establishes this https://www.activistpost.com/2017/09/rohingya-genocide-links-corporatism-geopolitics-wahhabism.html

Media Lies

We cannot comment on Myanmar media but Sri Lanka’s media has definitely been anti-Buddhist, anti-national mainly because it is owned by non-Buddhists and families linked to the UNP or Indian-establishment. At no time throughout 30 years did the media ever call LTTE as terrorists and every strike was always reported as ‘alleged’ apart from a handful of writers many have opted to take a stand of simply reporting but not trying to protect the nation or its people from terror using the power of their pen. Immediately after the conflict the media went on a wave of sensationalism going beyond their mandate completely influencing ignorant viewers/readers.

Myanmar government must keep tab on the news (local & international) as the distortions will start piling. We like to make reference to how media SUBSTITUTED the word ‘EVIDENCE’ when the PoE referred to ALLEGATIONS”. A breakdown of this unethical conduct by media is given below. It is more than likely that the same media presently carrying out a tarnishing campaign against Myanmar and in particular the Buddhists will do the same.

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/05/11/sri-lankas-military-victory-over-ltte-terrorists-media-and-hr-groups-purposely-distorted-ban-ki-moons-panel-of-expert-report/

There’ll be plenty of NGOs & Human Rights organizations jumping to get a piece of the cake. Conflicts are always a lucrative business and zero conflicts means no jobs for them, so you know why there will always be some sort of conflict and these peace angels will be shedding plenty of tears crying for the ‘victims’, spending lots of time compiling reports and preparing documentaries, releasing statements, speaking as panelists and if lucky some may even be called ‘comrades’ of the terrorists and land themselves a role of envoy in a UN humanitarian mission! We’ve seen it all happening in Sri Lanka and we will not be in the least surprised if the same recipe is used for Myanmar. There may be a little variance the Church was heavily involved with the LTTE while it is most likely that Islamic NGOs funded by the West’s satellite Islamic countries will play a bigger role in Myanmar.

The bias and hypocrisy is visible in the manner that despite over 200 UN Resolutions against Israel nothing happens, while nothing is done against all of the US/UK & NATO illegal invasions, regime change, internal interference, covert operations, sponsoring and funding terrorism, while it is also baffling why the Muslim world are up in arms with Myanmar over Rohingyas but complete silence against Saudi bombing of Yemen leading to virtual starvation and malnutrition of its populace.

Targeting Buddhism

We can recall how Buddhist monks were often referred to as terrorists compared to Al Qaeda and ISIS and the many articles written denigrating Buddhists and bashing Buddhism which is nothing to be surprised about as it is all part of the Abrahamic religions to destroy Dharmic faiths in particular a scientifically proven one when the faith & ritual based religions are being regularly questioned by awakened followers. Both Western Christian & Islamic invaders particularly targeted Buddhist sites, artefacts and killed Buddhists and Buddhist monks. History is witness – destruction of the Nalanda library, Buddhists killed in Maldives, all former majority-Buddhist countries either Islamized or Christianized inspite of Buddhism being the only philosophy to have spread throughout the world among so many divergent communities without having to use a single sword or forced conversion.

Take lessons from Sri Lanka’s mistakes

· Immediately arrest anyone going against Myanmar’s laws and file charges against them without delay. Log the reasons for the arrest and charges officially and issue letter to all foreign embassies informing them that they can see the transparency with which Myanmar is taking action against people who are going against country laws. Sri Lanka’s mistake was not to denazify the LTTE & take action against the LTTE cadres who were arrested, and the TNA the LTTE proxy in Parliament as well as investigate all those who were directly/indirectly supporting the LTTE whether they were local / foreign etc. Therefore, Myanmar must appoint a Commission to look into these terror links immediately & take legal action against them.

· We will not be surprised if the new UNSG appoints a personal panel to appraise him of the Myanmar situation. Watch out as this is likely to become the foundation for successive UNHRC Resolutions following oral statements by UNHRC head that would aim directly at changing Myanmar’s constitution, internal legal systems, education and subtly target to ruin the Buddhist history and heritage of Myanmar, already attempts by infamous and notorious civil society organizations that have been well-funded to brain-wash minds of people and create a bunch of western worshipping locals is rolled out. That plan has succeeded in Sri Lanka but it is likely to take a lot more homework in Myanmar.

· We are very happy to see that Myanmar is taking a bolder role in refusing to allow every UN envoy or their puppets to enter, a mistake Sri Lanka continues to make and has resulted in unnecessary interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka to the level of even dictating to the government of what they want done or undone. It is something Myanmar should continue to be aware of and not allow to happen. Meddlesome envoys are only carrying out orders aligned to a diabolical agenda.

· A silver lining comes in both India, China and even Russia realizing that the enemies are now encircling Asia and none of these countries wish to have an unstable Asia amidst the predicted Asia’s Century. For India, though they played a bully to Sri Lanka believing themselves to be superior to Sri Lanka and attempting to give more prominence to Hinduism over Buddhism, in the context of Myanmar and the Islamic involvement, India will now realize that its own turf is now under threat and India are no fools to decide what India’s priorities are. In the case of China rolling out its revived Silk Route (maritime and land) China does not wish to have any Islamic terrorist group causing trouble which invariably would justify the interference or even invasion of Western forces for which they are now nicely preparing the scenario using the same media that happily lied to enable the illegal R2P invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and a host of other countries.

Shenali D Waduge

Can LTTE proxy, the TNA dictate what goes into a new Sri Lankan Constitution?

Everybody including Sri Lanka’s Parliament & the diplomatic community seem to be ignoring some ground realities. LTTE remains banned and TNA is a mouthpiece of the LTTE and often described as LTTE political proxy. If these are mere allegations, then the onus is on anyone in power to launch a Commission and investigate the TNA and remove all doubt. Until such time TNA cannot be dictating terms given that TNA received just 515,963 votes which is 4.62% of all votes cast in 2015 General Elections. The most baffling thing is how TNA leader has become the Opposition Leader in Sri Lanka’s Parliament! There can be no reconciliation when at the back of our minds the fact that TNA are linked to LTTE remains alive – it is a concern for not only the majority Sinhalese or minority Muslims but every Tamil that suffered, died and every Tamil child kidnapped and turned into LTTE child soldiers. All of TNA’s wailings and demands are not worth its water when it sat silent and was an accomplice to LTTE’s crimes over 30 years.

TNA and its leadership cannot pretend that the rest of the world are illiterate. There is enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt of TNA’s links with LTTE. Guilt by association makes TNA culpable for much. LTTE’s terror was brutal and inhuman. No amount of complaints against the Sri Lankan Army can omit the murders, assassinations, bombs, suicides, anarchy for which LTTE was responsible upon not only Sinhalese and Muslims but Tamils too. Justice for the victims cannot be denied claiming LTTE leader and ground force is no more. A lot of people were helping and funding and promoting the LTTE. If the West can hound men over 90s because they were former Nazi’s why are they not going after the LTTE? Among those who helped were not only Tamils but Sinhalese, Muslims, Foreigners and even diplomats, UN personnel, NGOs, foreign governments too. None of these links cannot be ignored by going after the Sri Lanka Army only. Moreover, TNA cannot be allowed to dictate anything until it is cleared of any wrong doing. As things stand TNA is guilty by association and guilty due to collective responsibility for a host of no ordinary crimes. These are unlike the allegations thrown at the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. These have names of victims, footage of incidents and LTTE acknowledgement.

Here are a handful of examples of LTTE-TNA links

The most damning comes from the West itself wherein EU Election Observation Mission Chief Cushnahan released his EU report on 17 June 2004 establishing the LTTE-TNA alliance

Quote: Firstly, the LTTE intended that no other rival Tamil party (or Tamil candidate from the mainstream political alliances) to the TNA would be able to claim to represent Tamil interests. A chilling message to this effect was sent early in the campaign when a UNP candidate and an EPDP activist were murdered. Incidents such as this seriously restricted the right of the parties other than the TNA to campaign freely in the Northern and Eastern Districts. During the 2004 elections, the major incidences of violence was perpetrated by the LTTE, whereas at the earlier elections, the primary source of the violence (although not all), were the two largest political parties. Unquote

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=57713

The amendment to ITAK constitution in 2008 has a footnote endorsing the 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution for separatism. ITAK is the main constituent party of the TNA alliance formed by LTTE in 2001.

TNA has no grounds to say it has nothing to do with the LTTE when its party manifestos’ on which it campaigned for elections declared LTTE was the ‘sole Tamil National Entity’ (2001 TNA manifesto) TNA goes on to say “Accepting the LTTE’s leadership as the national leadership of ‘Tamil Eelam’ Tamils and the Liberation Tigers as the sole and authentic representative of the Tamil people, let us devote our full cooperation for the ideals of the Liberation Tigers’ struggle with honesty and steadfastness. Let us endeavour determinedly, collectively as one group, one nation, one country, transcending race and religious differences, under the leadership of the LTTE, for a life of liberty, honour and justice for the Tamil people.” (2004 TNA election manifesto)

DBS Jeyraj himself describes how TNA was formed by LTTE - http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/31433

Letter to Indian PM - 'Mr. Modi, TNA is a LTTE's proxy'– Anandasangareehttp://www.mfa.gov.lk/index.php/en/news-from-other-media/5352-mr-modi-tna-is-a-lttes-proxy-anandasangaree-

Should the Government revoke PTA as demanded by LTTE proxy TNA?

Malin Abeytunge http://www.slguardian.org/2011/09/should-the-government-revoke-pta-as-demanded-by-ltte-proxy-tna/

TNA Still LTTE Proxy - A. H. M. Azwer

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/12/15/tna-still-ltte-proxy-upfa-mp-a-h-m-azwer/

“When the 8000 students who sat for the G.C.E(O/L) exam were taken away for compulsory training by the LTTE the TNA kept mum. Some of them are now dead” (2009 Anandasangaree)

Woo India: LTTE tells TNA MPs (2006) The advice was given by LTT'E Political Wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan at a meeting with TNA MPs in Kilinochchi.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/040606/news/17.html

LTTE-TNA conference concludes: "Tamil people have no interest in SL Presidential elections" (2005)

TNA leaders to meet LTTE leadership in Killinochchi (2004) “Mr. Sampanthan and former national list parliamentarian Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham will be leaving from Trincomalee to Killinochchi Tuesday morning to meet Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan and other LTTE leaders regarding mapping out election strategy, TNA sources said.”

https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=11238

TNA, LTTE meet on Interim Administration proposals (2003)

“It was during the April 2004 election that, according to the PHW, the TNA presented itself for the first time as a proxy for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)” (UN Refugee website) http://www.refworld.org/docid/4f435cce2.html

There are plenty of links with TNA attending pro-LTTE fronts overseas and addressing LTTE sympathetic ‘refugees/asylum’ seekers and other Tamils who had managed to go overseas as economic migrants.

Following the regime change this are some of the statements made by the TNA

· There is no LTTE now, so how can TNA be a proxy – Sampanthan http://www.dailymirror.lk/60307/there-is-no-ltte-now-so-how-can-tna-be-a-proxy-sampanthan

· TNA demands probe over 'illegal occupation' by Sri Lankan Army (2016) http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/tna-demands-probe-over-occupation-of-civilian-lands-by-sri-lankan-army/article8528548.ece

· Major Sri Lankan parties reject TNA’s demand for federalism (2015) http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/major-sri-lankan-parties-reject-tnas-demand-for-federalism/article7496371.ece

· TNA demands power devolution in Constitutional reforms http://nation.lk/online/2016/01/27/27205.html

· AUTONOMY TO NORTH EAST UNDER FEDERALISM IS OUR DEMAND -MAVAI SENATHIRAJAH,TNA MP http://srilankabrief.org/2016/12/autonomy-to-north-east-under-federalism-is-our-demand-mavai-senathirajahtna-mp/

· Call for autonomous unit in North-East renewed http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=155101

· TNA DEMANDS DEVOLUTION OF POWERS IN THE NEW CONSTITUTION http://telo.org/?p=151043

· TNA is even hob nobbing with the foreign diplomats and insisting on what should get included in the constitution.

The racism of the TNA leaders have had little opposition even from members of Parliament. From Sambanthan to Wigneswaran to Sumanthiran and Sivajilingam there are no signs that the TNA relinquishes any of the demands that LTTE was propagating – bogus homeland, demand that Sinhalese cannot live in the North, removal of Buddhist structures/sites and artefacts, demands to withdraw the army, forbidding Tamils to marry Sinhalese are just some of the racism that regularly spews out of Wigneswaran’s mouth. These are besides the resolutions passed by the NPC some of which are violations of the penal code like claiming genocide when Tamil population figures are increasing which denies any genocide claims. http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2017/04/04/racism-of-chief-minister-wigneswaran/

Wigneswaran appears to forget he is just one of 9 other Chief Ministers in the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka - http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2013/09/30/c-v-wigneswaran-is-only-a-chief-minister-and-not-president-of-sri-lanka/comment-page-1/

Those who are drumming ‘reconciliation’ completely ignores the extent of racism by the TNA leaders that are infecting the minds of the Tamils too http://www.sinhalanet.net/racism-foundation-stone-of-tamil-nationalism-liberation-struggle

Further reading

· ITAK-TNA DENYING FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF SINHALESE AND MUSLIMS TO LIVE IN NORTH SRI LANKA http://www.onlanka.com/news/itak-tna-denying-fundamental-right-of-sinhalese-and-muslims-to-live-in-north-sri-lanka.html

· SRI LANKA ACCOUNTABILITY: INVESTIGATE LTTE-TNA ALLEGIANCE http://www.onlanka.com/news/sri-lanka-accountability-investigate-ltte-tna-allegiance.html

· Are the demands of ITAK – TULF – TNA – LTTE – LTTE Fronts & India one & the same? http://www.sinhalanet.net/are-the-demands-of-itak-tulf-tna-ltte-ltte-fronts-india-one-the-same

· DENAZIFY THE LTTE–TNA (BOTH ARE ONE AND THE SAME) http://www.onlanka.com/news/denazify-the-ltte-tna-both-are-one-and-the-same.html

· If LTTE & TNA demands are the same – why is Sri Lanka Government agreeing to implement them? http://www.sinhalanet.net/if-ltte-tna-demands-are-the-same-why-is-sri-lanka-government-agreeing-to-implement-them

How dare TNA and leadership be allowed to even make statements on enforced disappearances or war crimes when they are well aware of the crimes committed by the LTTE for which no TNA leader or even Wigneswaran opened their mouths to object. The meetings and discussions held with LTTE leadership inspite of Tamils living in fear, being kidnapped and turned into child soldiers deprives TNA leaders from claiming to want to take charge of the welfare of the Tamil people.

The audacity with which they come before Parliament and speak without any guilt is incomprehensible. Nonetheless, it is obvious that the TNA is fast becoming a nuisance to the Tamils themselves. The loss of elections at cooperative levels and the fact that TNA leaders are not getting the red carpet welcome by Tamils in the North is clear evidence that people are not going to put up with the TNA nonsense for too long. TNA are where they are because the LTTE gun gave them that power.

However, we must all demand that no constitution can take place, no new Acts can be passed or accepted by a government which refuses to launch a comprehensive Commission to investigated LTTE and TNA links. If TNA believes it to be clean there is nothing to worry. However, the people, the victims must have justice. These victims have names, have addresses and there are death certificates and for all their deaths TNA too stand guilty.

New laws cannot be brought and have these be made applicable to events in the past. However, under existing laws a Commission to investigate links of the TNA to LTTE is possible and a Presidential Commission needs to be appointed immediately and all TNA leaders brought before it and questioned.

Similarly, all those who have disappeared as a result of JVP, UNP (Batalanda) should also be investigated. Until and such times all these people who are guilty in the eyes of the public CANNOT and SHOULD NOT be allowed to determine what the citizens of this country should be given. These parties and individuals have not by their conduct served the nation or the citizens and they should have NO ROLE in any decision making in Sri Lanka leave alone decide what gets into a new constitution.

The People must rise and object until the TNA, JVP, IPKF or even UNP comes with a clean chit for their past crimes which have victims with death certificates not like the bogus figures the LTTE-TNA-Diaspora comes up with on a regular basis.

Shenali D Waduge

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2013/03/23/commission-of-inquiry-on-indian-war-crimes-in-sri-lanka/

7 Reasons why Sri Lankan Citizens should reject the New Constitution

1. This Government has lost the confidence of the People including those that voted for them

a. Every promise made before elections has been broken

b. Coming on the ticket of anti-corruption the reality is that the present is more corrupt than those they accused.

c. A lot of irregularities and illegalities have taken place since January 2015

d. The manner that Bills are being passed and how MPs are being co-opted to vote for these dubious legislations raises further alarm bells.

e. Even in the present context when revolutionary parties suddenly take sides with the government and proceedings are stopped until some promised ‘exchanges’ occur – these scenarios should make the People question why this constitution is being hurriedly passed by tapping to MP weaknesses? If rumors prove to be true, this is unethical and immoral and the People must reject this in toto. Bribery democracy is unacceptable.

2. The bona fides of those promoting a new constitution is questioned

a. TNA is the LTTE political proxy– it is not absolved of links to terrorists. Until and unless that is done TNA or its representatives (MPs, NPC Chief Minister) cannot be making demands which are virtually in line with what LTTE sought through the gun

b. Some of the NGO heads have a history of being paid to work against the state. They are earning dollar/sterling pounds to destabilize the country and carry out orders of their NGO masters. Such people cannot determine what goes into or is removed in a constitution.

c. When foreign envoys are regularly promoting a new constitution– we all must take a step back and wonder why? Why are they more interested in a new constitution than us?

d. We cannot omit that immediately after the yahapalana government came into power the extremist sections of this coalition openly claimed that the government would give in to their demands and these would be incorporated into a new constitution. Statements by the TNA over years, statements by LTTE, statements government heads had assured the LTTE diaspora are all aligned to the provisions inserted into the new constitution. These are serious malpractices by a government to fool the people by honoring commitments to them in exchange for bringing them to power.

e. Every individual who has a dubious record cannot be allowed to tweak the constitution to fulfill those who are paying them or their own personal ideologies.

3. The PM’s credibility is at serious stake. His appointment of the former Governor who is now using the argument that he is a foreigner and cannot be questioned and the Bond Commission stating that this is the biggest financial scam since 1948 denies the PM to be allowed to make another bigger mistake by tabling a new constitution which is making drastic changes to the country’s periphery.

4. TNA is no representative of the Tamil people. As LTTE proxy, TNA shoulder the responsibility for crimes committed by the LTTE in terms of guilt by association. These allegations need to be exonerated only after an independent Commission investigate LTTE-TNA ties. Moreover, with LTTE committing various heinous crimes upon Tamils, the victims are unlikely to be supportive of LTTE. Therefore, TNA cannot claim to be representative of Tamils. Moreover, it has been proved by TNA Chief Ministers own actions that the Province he has been running as Chief Minister has failed to provide for the people of that Province in so far as the budgetary allocation of funds has not been utilized and gets returned to the Treasury. This goes to show that even the fundamental role of the TNA Chief Minister has not been fulfilled. Moreover TNA has lost several cooperative elections clear indication that the Tamil people are not satisfied with the TNA and they are losing whatever support they had. These dynamics have to be taken into consideration given that TNA is promoting wider powers to the Chief Minister which are likely to be detrimental not only to the province but to the people living in the province and to a larger extent the rest of the country.

5. Several Tamils have openly come out to say ‘we want homes not merger of north-east or federalism’ and these sentiments cannot be ignored just because some politicians and political parties want bigger control for themselves over the people and territory. Sovereignty is inalienable from the people therefore the People’s will is about the Parliament, above the Ministers, above any Provincial Council, District or Municipality.The Will of the People must be taken to account first.

6. We are a small island nation. Do we need to be copying systems in countries 10 times the size of us? Federalism is for those countries. Devolution is for those countries. If the entities already given powers cannot handle the powers they control or serve the people to their satisfaction what good is giving them more powers? The Majority of the People are dissatisfied with performance of the Provincial Councils including the Parliament. All of us are disappointed in the manner the country is run from Prime Minister downwards. In such a scenario what good is going to be done in giving each of the same poor-performers more powers?

7. There are some sine quo non areas that no one can touch especially people whose credibility is at stake.

a. The foremost place to Buddhism must remain

b. Sri Lanks’s Unitary character must remain Unitary in the translations of all 3 languages.We hear that there are attempts to insert ‘United’ into the English translation.

c. The country’s history and heritage cannot be siphoned off and diluted. Its place must remain untouched.

d. Land, Police, Fiscal/Monetary, formulation of Education Syllabus, International Aid & Foreign Relations, Archaeological sites etc must remain in total control of the Centre

e. Governor appointed by the Centre is above the Chief Minister & his powers cannot be diluted and passed on to Chief Minister with increased powers.

f. Federal states need devolution. Sri Lanka is a small island we don’t devolution but only administrative changes enabling provinces to better facilitate the People. At all times the golden rule must be changes must benefit the People not career politicians and their stooges. Demands for power devolution is NOT with intent to serve the People but ONLY with intent to wield more power to the politicians and their henchmen. This is not a healthy scenario and is likely to lead to more trouble.

g. No Province can be treated inequally and above other provinces. No Chief Minister can be superior to the other Chief Ministers. Presently we see a lot of malpractice taking place. Every envoy that arrives dashes to the North or the East to see the Chief Minister of these two provinces. Every foreign statement is on these 2 provinces ONLY. Every demand being made is ONLY about these two provinces, ONLY about one community forgetting that others were also victims.

Can a constitution illegally and unethically passed be rejected and unaccepted by the People? Can any lawyers take legal action knowing the ground situation?

There is little point appealing to anyone in the international community – not one of them have raised a single voice against all of the corruptions, illegalities and malpractices being committed by Yahapalana Government which is quite shocking given their clarion calls before January 2015 for good governance and anti-corruption. Goes to show the international community are equally corrupt.

Where is the Joint Opposition? Do they seriously think that the people who are disappointed with the present government are waiting to accept them with open arms? People are not fools now. Every voter is now a disgusted voter. Every member of Parliament has disappointed the People irrespective of the party they belong to. We are maintaining a bunch of opportunist, greedy, power hungry and selfish MPs who think only about themselves and not the country. Rhetoric on the country, the Armed Forces and the place of Buddhism and heritage are simply stage performances to woo voters. Where is the leadership by those not party to the yahapalana illegalities? Why are they not rallying people against the proposed new constitution? People are not going to be coming to any future May Day rally or walk if at this crucial juncture action is not taken to stop something as dangerous as a new constitution being passed.

Shenali D Waduge

Constitutions are not Career Ladders for Politicians, their families & henchmen

Why is there a hurry to pass a new constitution? Look at the parties and individuals demanding a new constitution. Everyone EXCEPT 99% of the People want a new constitution. This is quite hilarious given that to this 1% even foreign envoys and foreign NGOs are also involved. So what are they all after – POWER for themselves, their families & their henchmen and we the citizens have to foot the bill. We must firmly put our foot down and reject this. Two main reasons to reject his new constitution is that the majority of Sri Lanka’s citizens did not ask, need or want a new constitution that is tweaking everything to the advantage of a handful while those seeking it are having hidden agendas including the foreign interest groups.

Is increasing Parliament going to provide any relief to an already inefficient and ineffective Parliament? No as it is with 225 Parliament, Provincial Councils, Municipal Councils etc what is the relief or service people are getting? Even the garbage problem cannot be solved by them. People are still without roads, proper housing, proper schools, how many schools has any government built? How many university hostels has any government improved? Against this look at the costs of re-renovating their official residences and the colossal amount of money they waste for helicopter rides, escort vehicles with security waving white hands and becoming a public nuisance to us all.

Let the provinces be reminded that over and above the funds allocated to the Centre to spend on the provinces the Provincial Councils request a separate budgetary allocation and the Northern allocation has always been 2^nd to the allocation requested by the Western Province. However, at no given time has the Northern Province spent the full allocated quota on the people and the amount gets returned to the Treasury. So much for the Northern Chief Minister thundering about looking after the welfare of his people!

Why insist to change existing Unitary Constitution? The parties promoting Federalism under which confederal features are currently being craftily inserted are those whose party have propagated a separate mono-ethnic state. Why would they insist to change the Unitary Constitution otherwise? The present constitution is no impediment for the to serve their people if that is the real motive. It is because within the present unitary structure they cannot maneuver their hidden agenda. The provision to insert that the people of the provinces can decide to demerge is part of this insidious plan. Isn’t this why we should object, why should a handful of people’s hidden agendas be incorporated to a document applicable to all? We do not wish to be party to any constitution that is attempting to cut the country to pieces just so that a bunch of people can reign supreme forever over the people living in these areas.

Every new clause is controversial. Why should constitutions be changed to suit the whims and fancies of one or two controversial Chief Ministers whose credibility is at stake? Why are they eternally insisting on land powers, police powers, foreign aid, foreign relations, fiscal powers etc… ? TNA is a political proxy of the LTTE which ran its own police, own courts, had its own currency, own schools… let’s not forget this. Without exonerating TNA of LTTE links are those in power insane to be delegating these demands into provincial councils removing all checks and balances and ability for the Centre to control them? When the Chief Minister of the North is on record demanding no Sinhalese should live in the North and demanding the removal of Buddhist sites which have been in existence for before the Tamils arrived from South India, why is no one in the Centre objecting to these demands?

Mono-ethnic enclave but rest of the country has to foot the bill. The most hilarious part of wanting one’s own mono-ethnic enclave is that they want the Centre to fund that area, provide resources to that area and even allow people of that area to live, buy property, go to school and even work in all other parts of the island. But people in other parts of the country cannot buy property, work or live and soon they might not even be allowed to enter that mono-ethnic enclave without permission. The people who are accepting these demands need to seriously get their brains checked.

Let’s also remember that present day demarcation of countries including their names are creations of the West and as a by-product of colonial rule. These artificial demarcations/borders etc are the reasons for many of today’s conflicts. The island originally had 3 administrative units – Ruhunu, Maya, Pihiti

Elections/Referendums

No one has still explained why there was any need for a man who had been living all his life in Colombo, went to school in Colombo, became a Supreme Court judge would need to be parachuted to the North and the Tamils of the North who didn’t even know who he was were asked to vote for him and that’s how he became the Chief Minister. What kind of democracy is this? Therefore, we cannot trust in elections or referendums if the element of cheating and rigging is not dealt with. Simply having a bunch of people calling themselves election monitors who issue a basic report cannot remove the reality that voters have been influenced by different means and methods to vote. This is certainly no democracy.

Tamil/Muslim Deputy President– Another career goal of politicians that has no relevance or use for the ordinary voters and will become another tax burden to the People who will end up having to pay to maintain this title. We do not need such a title to waste our money. None of the titles people hold currently have given us dividends for the expense we incur to maintain them and their families. We do not want to have this title.

We don’t need to increase Government

Sri Lanka is an island nation. We are a small country. India is 48 times the size of Sri Lanka. We don’t need to be dividing or carving territories copying what other countries do. Let’s not forget the British ran the country with just 1 Governor and the Kachcheri system. More the systems, more the confusion. Look at the present Government and the overlapping of portfolios – no Minister is taking charge because several ministers are in charge of virtually the same thing and it is confusing the public service and the secretaries.

While these politicians are nicely being Father Christmas to each other – our problems whether town/district/province-wise remain unsolved. Garbage is not collected on time, drains are not cleaned, mayors are bribed to put up illegal structures, municipalities are bribed to put up condominiums above the accepted floors, environmental hazards are not looked into, restaurants and hotels are serving dirty food in unhygienic kitchens and bribery often results in no action, the poor man gets jailed for minor offences the rich man gets away despite whatever offences, to pass a file for approval from municipalities/provincial councils ends up having to take more than a day’s leave and plenty of begging and pleading, while it is a pleasure to drive outstation as the roads are fantastic just look at the pot holes in the roads in Colombo! From school admission to basic health services in government hospitals the service is getting poorer and it is not to say that private sector is the solution. All of the private hospitals are places where they end up draining your money dry coming up with all types of reasons to fatten one’s bill once admitted – no doctor today can give an assessment of the ailment without prescribing upteen tests.

Women Quota

Now there is a new flurry for women’s quota being debated in Parliament. If everyone is to be treated equally why should there be separate quotas for women? Is this a ruse to enable the present MPs to bring their wives, daughters and even daughter in laws to power to make a full family affair as campaigning too would be easier!

Country	Population	Size	No. in Government
Mozambique	22,948,858	309,494	250 members serving 5 year term
Syria	22,517,750	71,498	250 members elected for a four-year term
Taiwan	23,071,779	13,892	113 seats
Australia	21,766,711	2,967,893	Senate, consists of 76 members. House of Representatives, consists of 150 members elected for 3 year term
Cameroon	19,711,291	183,567	180 for 5 year term
Cote d'Ivoire	21,504,162	124,502	255 members
Ghana	24,791,073	92,456	275 members
Korea, North	24,457,492	46,540	687 Supreme People’s Assembly
Madagascar	21,926,221	226,656	184 members

More importantly, an important article by Lasanda Kurukulasuriya asks a poignant question “Is SL Being Used by Big Powers into Making the Indian Ocean Another South China Sea?” while another by Tamara Kunanayakam claims Sri Lanka: The New Constitution – A Neo-colonial Project! There is no need for the UN officials, or foreign envoys to be going campaigning for a new constitution in the form of lobby groups taking with them handsome handouts… if proven, these are tantamount to bribery.

People would not be making these assertions if there was no background foundation to them. It is the seriousness of what these scenarios are depicted that entails the Citizens to rise against all attempts to pass a New Constitution by these opportunist and power hungry and self-serving politicians who have no love for the country or its citizens. Every change that they are planning to introduce is going to be tax burden on us the Citizens and for that reason alone we should come out and reject it.

Shenali D Waduge

Vaiko, a Telugu Naidu (robot) wasting his useful life

By Kanthar Balanathan, Australia

Vaiko is an attorney from Tamil Nadu who founded a political party called MDMK, but failed in his political career in Tamil Nadu. He played his stunt activities by supporting various other prominent parties, even then he could not gain at least a 1 % of prominence in the Tamil Nadu Government. The assumption now is that he has become a ROBOT that executes orders given by a program or power. He may be an educated fool to behave like a robot without realizing the consequences.

Quote from web “V. Gopalsamy, also known as Vaiko, is a prominent politician in Tamil Nadu, in south India. He was born in Kallingappatti, Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu in 1944. His origin is from the Telugu speaking Kamma (Naidu) community of Andhra Pradesh. His ancestors migrated to Tamil Nadu during the Vijaynagar period. He is the founder of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a political party that espouses the cause of the Tamil people and Tamil nationalism. He is known to be a supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which is banned as a terrorist organization in 32 countries including India, as a result he was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) in 2002 and once-again on 23 October 2008 for sedition.”

Ref: https://www.southdreamz.com/portfolio/vaiko/

Every failed politician in Tamil Nadu is carrying a flag called, “Tamil Eelam”, with an imprudent assumption that it will give influence and credence to their political advancement. Vaiko is number one in the run. Seaman and some other jokers are also on the run. Tamil Diaspora from SriLanka has an immature idea that if Vaiko speaks at the UNHRC, it will add to their claims. The final result will be that they have only reduced the capital in their coffer. It would have been wise if they could spend the funds to develop the N&E. The capital idiocy is that the Tamil politicians and Diaspora want SriLanka to pay for everything, and at the same time, they want separation (Tamil Eelam). Fundamentally it indicates that the Tamils from SriLanka and the Tamil Diaspora including TGTE are ignorant, ill-informed, and incompetent to handle their political issues. This goes to Sambanthar and Vigneswaran.

Vaiko’ s ancestry who is domiciled in Tamil Nadu hails from Andra. Who is dominating Tamil Nadu?

The answer: Are there only 39.5% Tamils in Tamil Nadu while Telugu people are about 41%?

Ref: https://www.quora.com/Are-there-only-39-5-Tamils-in-Tamil-Nadu-while-Telugu-people-are-about-41

Reading the contents of the above will give some knowledge about Tamil Nadu. Tamils are a minority in their own state (Tamil Nadu). The Chief Minister elected may be a Telugu, Malayali, or Karnataka. For the Tamil Nadu people, caste is more important than language. The Muslims in Tamil Nadu speak quite a good Tamil than any Tamilian.

What is the objective of Vaiko attending the UNHRC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRagHNzLrHs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7cGJdEcI6E

How long are the Tamils plan to invite Tamil Nadu people to support them? Tamil Nadu is changing to be part of Andrapradesh where Hindi will reinforce to be the language of TN in the future. Vision and mission of Delhi are to bring Hindi the language of India.

It is an observation that Vaiko and the Tamil Diaspora are cowards, who have no ability to speak, but converted ROBOTS to be programmed by foreign powers for their own advantage.

Illegality of Rohingya asylum seekers smuggled to Sri Lanka: UNHCR can hire an island in Maldives and keep them!

There are several issues that need to be dealt with within the legal framework and devoid emotional ties. Firstly, no person can enter a country illegally. Anyone entering a country must have valid identity, valid passport and valid visa approvals. Sri Lanka is not a party to the 1951 Refugee. Convention or the 1967 Protocol. Therefore, Sri Lanka is not bound or cannot be forced to accept any refugee or asylum seekers. The danger in this Convention is that over a period of time signatories are bound to give citizenship to these refugees. Human smuggling/illegal people transportation is a global business & transnational crime. With Sri Lanka cash strapped, already with own IDPs to resettle we are not in any position to be accepting & looking after refugees/asylum seekers. Given the emotional involvement, this next questions why the 57 member Islamic Organization states who are Majority Muslim nations are not accepting these Rohingya Muslims with open arms?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpk3iMTDLYU

(30 Rohingyas landed in early 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbVAEo-SJSI

(38 Rohingyas found in a rented home in Mount Lavinia are these the same Rohingyas who were intercepted in early 2017?)

A video has emerged depicting a house in Mount Laving keeping over 30 Rohingya refugees all with families & children and some even attending schools. Two Muslim officials of the UNHCR had also been present while it is alleged that regularly Sri Lankan Ministers visit with food & provisions. It is alleged that there are 13 other places where more Rohingyas are being kept. All these certainly needs to be verified & confirmed but it does raise credibility of government statements and assurances that publicly confirmed that the GOSL had not decided to accept any refugees.

Given that neither India or Sri Lanka are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, Sri Lanka is NOT bound to accept any refugees or asylum seekers. Countries that are party to it will have to at some time or other offer citizenship to these refugees.

The question is who is looking after them, feeding them, paying for their rent, clothes and how were they able to get admission to a government school. Generally a citizen to admit a child has to produce birth certificates, grama sevaka certificate and so many other records. How did people who do not even have proper passports or visa get their children admitted to schools.

The other all important question is in the event of a birth of a child of an asylum seeker what is the procedure followed? Is that child given citizenship in that country. A federal court has ruled that a baby born in Australia to an asylum seeker is not entitled to a refugee visa. What is the law to be followed in Sri Lanka?

From the video clipping it emerges that UNHCR officials (Muslim) have been involved and are visiting them. The next question is, has UNHCR opened refugee status determination (RSD) file for each of these Rohingyas?

The public have every right to be given answers. Given that the people are mindful that a well organized and planned attempt to bring Muslims into the country has been put in place.

This first emerged in 2011 when environmentalists highlighted deforestation inside Wilpattu forests and setting up of illegal Muslim settlements plus a mosque. A report was handed over to the President in 2015 detailing over 1500 houses being constructed illegally funded by countries treated as funding terrorists (Qatar)

http://nation.lk/online/2015/06/27/illegal-settlements-around-wilpattu-national-park.html

The response of the Muslim minister was “These Muslims whom I am resettling and have resettled in the Wilpattu National Park after clearing the jungle and also in the Northern province, are partly my voter base. There is nothing illegal in building houses and places as I have acquired permission in a correct manner from the relevant line ministries and this is sanctioned by the government,”

Sri Lanka’s Government must take a stand not allow ethnic-MPs to turn refugees into vote base likely to lead to plenty more unwanted troubles!

We cannot allow minority politicians to fatten their voter base by bringing illegal asylum seekers!

http://www.onlanka.com/news/is-there-an-illegal-settlement-and-mosque-inside-wilpattu-national-park.html

However, Sri Lanka saw a 780% increase in asylum seekers and they were all Muslims.

It was in 2017 that Sri Lanka’s coastguards seized an Indian fishing boat and detained 2 Indians and 30 Rohingya Muslims among whom were 14 children.

As of March 31, 2017 there were 572 asylum seekers in Sri Lanka from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Syria other than the Rohingyas – all Muslims.

These asylum seekers have travelled quite a distance bypassing many countries many of them Muslim countries too. Why should they travel so far?

§ Afghanistan to Sri Lanka - 3,191 km

§ Pakistan to Sri Lanka –

§ 2,769 km

§ Yemen to Sri Lanka - 3,607 km

§ Iran to Sri Lanka - 3,904 km

§ Syria to Sri Lanka - 5,199 km

§ Bangladesh to Sri Lanka - 2,027 km

§ Myanmar to Sri Lanka - 2254.4 km

The majority populace has many reasons to be concerned and raise objections against these asylum seekers.

Firstly, we don’t know how many of these asylum seekers are linked to Al Qaeda & ISIS given that there are 5 Rohingya groups under tutelage of terrorists. In 2016, Sri Lanka’s defense authorities revealed that 36 Sri Lankans had joined ISIS.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/101721/36-sri-lankans-gone-to-syria-some-to-join-isis-def-secy Another article pondered whether Sri Lanka was turning into an IS hub www.ceylontoday.lk/print20160701CT20161030.php?id=3383 While another explored Sri Lanka as a transit hub for cocaine smugglers. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/08/31/Sri-Lanka-an-emerging-transit-hub-for-cocaine-smugglers-.html

Sri Lanka whilst not being signatory to the Convention is not bound to accept or keep any of these asylum seekers, therefore it is wrong for the UNHCR to slyly house them and even send them to school, how many in the Government or even in the Opposition knew of this arrangement?

If the Japanese PM can tell that his country has to deal with falling birth rates and an aging population before open its doors to refugees, Sri Lanka must have the guts to say we too are just out of a 3 decade terrorist conflict and we are having internal IDPs to resettle (as of 2016 - 42,038 IDPs need to be resettled). Moreover, the Muslim birth factor is a subject that Sri Lanka will soon have to deal with seriously too. Myanmar has taken the issue seriously enough to bring legislation – only one spouse, religious conversion law, interfaith marriage law and population control law.

Hungary, Austria, Czech and Poland refused to take Muslim refugees. While Western countries are now complaining of cultural issues and assimilation problems that authorities are unable to handle. India has also refused the 40,000 Rohingyas and has banned them as illegal immigrants. The reluctance of Bangladesh to accept them is probably due to the population explosion that Bangladesh is unable to deal with!

However, it is practical that Muslim asylum seekers/refugees should be put up in Muslim majority countries where they practice Islam and follow the same cultures. UNHCR must make this part of their policy when formulating applications.

There are 1.9billion Muslims globally. 57 Muslim nations make up the Organization of Islamic Cooperation of which 49 are predominantly Muslim with a combined population of 1.6billion holding 70% of the world’s energy resources, 40% of natural resources. The collective GDP of these countries was $4.7trillion. However, the combined GDP of $4.7trillion of these 57 countries is less than Japan’s $4.8trillion.

The contribution of OIC was only 8% towards world GDP.

The Arab states in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman & UAE) had refused to accept the 9m Syrians displaced since 2011. As GCC is not signatory to the UN 1951 Refugee Convention it is not bound by law to accept refugees.

56% of the world's 21 million refugees are being hosted by just 10 countries who account for just 2.5 percent of the global economy. (Amnesty International)

Jordan (2.7m), Turkey (2.5m), Pakistan (1.6m), Lebanon (1.5m), Iran (979,400), Ethiopia (736,100), Kenya (553,900), Uganda (477,200), Congo (383,100), Chad (369,500)

The UK that has been part of the bombing campaign against Syria resulting in the exodus of refugees has taken less than 8000 Syrians since 2011.

We next come to the biggest and often not spoken aspect associated with refugees/asylum seekers and one that should get the attention of the Sri Lankan public who feel sorry for people travelling in boatloads.

Human smuggling is a business & a transnational crime

The reality is that human smuggling is a transnational crime & billion dollar business. Of course it is a great way for the UN and INGOs and NGOs to interfere in the internal affairs of countries plus enable them to raise funds through appeals and secure life long jobs too.

According to UN human trafficking is a $150 Billion a year industry. 20.9 million people are living in some sort of slavery (that’s the entire population of Sri Lanka)

There are approximately 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today

Smuggling illegal immigrants is a big business. According to a UN report depending on the immigrant’s country of origin they pay something between $150 to $100,000 which covers the cost of the journey, hotel, bribes, taxes paid to the drug cartels. Apparently it is $10,000 to be smuggled to Australia!

Into this baby selling trade is also involved. Buying babies from pregnant women in Nigeria is another lucrative trade. In Nigeria a women gets $378 for giving a boy and $189 for delivering a girl for trade. Babies in Indonesia are sold from $160 to $250. Even children in the UK are sold for $25,000.

Child trafficking is also a lucrative trade. Notice how many children were among the 31 Rohingyas who were intercepted living in a house in Mount Laviniya a few days back without the knowledge of even the police. According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 20% of all human trafficking cases involve children. According to UNICEF at least 1.2 million children are trafficked globally annually. Of this 230 million children worldwide are born without official birth certificates, making them impossible to track. In Thailand it is $25 typical price to “rent” a child beggar.

Aligned to this is the global prostitution trade as well. There are 42million prostitutes worldwide in an industry that generates at least $186billion

Many of these refugees are sold into prostitution. In Iraq girls are sold - $5,000 for Virgins, $2.500 for Non-Virgins. In Canada $4,879 is paid by pimp to trafficker. According to ILO $99 billion from commercial sexual exploitation. A 2003 study in the Netherlands found that, on average, a single sex slave earned her pimp at least $250,000 a year.

To further highlight the dangerous scenario the BBC Radio 5 Live investigation report is noteworthy. Quoting from the report

“African refugees dreaming of a better life in Europe must attend anti-Western “religious education” courses before boarding the ramshackle vessels.”

"European police don’t know who is from IS and who is a normal refugee.”

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/577796/Islamic-State-earn-millions-human-trafficking

According to ILO The Asia-pacific region accounts for the largest number of forced laborers— 15.4 million (62% of the global total). As you can see unbelievable things are happening. Therefore, there is very valid ground for caution. Human trafficking has surpassed the illegal sale of arms.

The reality is shocking. This is why any asylum seeker must be viewed with caution. Sri Lanka does not know the gravity of the situation.

Given that Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, there is no requirement to accept Rohingya Muslims and UNHCR should desist from encouraging boatloads to arrive to seek shelter in Sri Lanka.

As a solution, it is suggested that UNHCR approach Maldives and hire an island to maintain these Rohingya asylum seekers given that the UNHCR would be anyway maintaining them (food, clothing, housing etc). Since Maldives is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, UNHCR would have to seek permission from the Maldives government but it is advisable that Muslim refugees be placed in Muslim countries as these Rohingyas like all Muslims insist on giving prominence to their faith, their eating habits, their dress habits, their prayers, their Shariah compliant laws and customs and it is best that countries that follow these laws and customs will be the best and happiest place for these Muslim refugees/asylum seekers amongst their own.

It is the most practical solution that would make these Muslim Rohingyas feel at home and the Muslim majority countries can be happy that they are looking after their destitute brothers and sisters. The issue of non-Muslims not wanting them in view of the complications that are likely to arise as a result of marriage, religion, birth, customs would not arise if Muslim refugees are living with people who follow the same in countries where Islam and Shariah laws prevail.

Shenali D Waduge

(please refer attachment for the graphics)

§ http://www.colombotoday.com/52233287-2/

§ http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/06/01/ltte-human-smuggling-links/

§ http://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/human-smuggling-fees/

§ http://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/human-trafficking-prices/

§ https://www.factretriever.com/human-trafficking-facts

Why is everyone silent about 443 years discrimination against the Sinhalese?

Sri Lanka: by 1956, 30% Ceylon administrative service, 50%clerical service, 60% engineers & doctors, 40%armed force were held by ONLY Tamils who were less than 10% of the population.

There are some facts stubborn to accept but need to now be brought to the table. Everything cannot revolve around one community. Every change and every solution cannot be determined on what that one community only demands completely ignoring the other communities. No solution or option can omit some ground realities ignoring how and who created the issues the currently prevails. Are people aware of the actual discrimination and the foundation by which the current status has arisen? The discrimination against the majority lasted 443 years whereas none of the minorities were marginalized before 1505 under the majority rule.The leaders of minorities want to return to the 443 years. This has never been showcased.

Firstly, it must be accepted that Tamils did not evolve in Sri Lanka. If so, then they should refer to themselves not as Tamils but by another name. If they evolved in Sri Lanka how can they explain the existence of Tamils in South India. The same race cannot evolve in 2 separate countries. The Missionary Guide Book too affirms this “The Tamulians who it is supposed came over from the opposite coasts of India”. While Tamil Nadu politicians and Indian Government show concern for Tamils because they descend from South India which is why they always interfere into Sri Lanka’s internal affairs. G G Ponnambalam himself said Tamils are not Ceylonese but Dravidians.

Secondly, there was an influx of Tamils to Sri Lanka especially after the arrival of the colonials because the Sinhalese refused to work as labor while there was insufficient Tamils living in Sri Lanka to work on the colonial plantations, even if they were willing to work. This was the prime reason for the colonials to transport scores of aliens from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka who ended up coming with their families and having children which eventually led to Sri Lanka being forced to keep them using the foreign legal terms contrived by these illegal occupiers. Colonial records and the post-independence interactions with Indian & Sri Lankan Government gives further details of the actual numbers who were living and working in Ceylon in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Thirdly, divide and rule policy was to not only divide the people but also to convert as many as they could and create locals who were stooges and worshippers of foreign rule. At independence what took place was only a transfer of powers from the white sahibs to brown sahibs. Education and medical missionary work was the modus operandi used which invariably meant publishing material ridiculing and insulting native religions, their cultures, values and practices. So when we raise alarm over these same missionary NGOs distributing pamphlets and virtually doing the same as the missionaries did in ancient times people should not feel offended or find fault.

The point of a “divide and rule” policy was to put a minority into a position of power that they would not otherwise possess. By doing this the colonial administration created a group of people who were dependent on them for their power/livelihood and would carry out the colonial desires. The majority were made to feel inferior while the minority were encouraged to adopt a superiority complex.

Anyone looking at the troubles in Sri Lanka should first ask why were there no troubles between the people before the foreigners arrived?

Isn’t it odd that all these ethnic issues emerged only after 3 colonial powers invaded, occupied & ruled Sri Lanka? Therein lies the answer. It was their divide and rule policies that split people up to pieces and plunged them against one another using deceptive ploys and strategies. Should these same countries be allowed to return to interfere in our internal affairs, is what we should all be asking ourselves now.

With the sole objective of proselytizing, first the Americans followed by Catholic & Protestant Missionaries were set up in North Sri Lanka. The American Methodist Missionaries began its first Mission School in 1816. The American missionaries became fluent in Tamil and used this as a basis to influence. By 1818 according to Jane Russel, Tamils constituted over 40% of the franchise for the Educated Members seat. By 1822, 42 schools were functioning in the peninsula. In 1823 Asia’s 1^st English education school was opened in the Batticotta Seminary in Vaddukoddai (Batticotta is not Batticoloa)

By 1848, 105 Tamil schools and 16 English schools had cropped up in the Jaffna peninsula. In 1862, Rev. Miron Winslow published the first Tamil-English Dictionary.

Image may contain: 2 people, hat and text

By 1929 Jaffna peninsula had 65 English schools and 426 Vernacular schools.

With unfair and favored English education imparted on Tamils, it enabled Tamils to emerge as the first Asian surgeons, accountants, engineers and teachers and were even recruited by Colonial British to Malaysia and Singapore.

(Kandiah Arundavarajah)

Look at the composition of population!

· 1824 – 841,940 - Ceylon Population (source South Asia: A Short History by Hugh Tinker)

· 1834 – 1,167,700 (more than 100 Christian Missionary schools was teaching over 7000 students)

· 1871 - 2,400,380 (first proper census)

· 1911 – 4,106,350

· 1931 – 5,312,000 (in 1938 Tamils held 19.4% of government jobs)

· 1953 – 8,098,637

In 1946, two years before independence, 33% of the civil service and 40% of the judicial service were Tamils, (Chandra Richard De Silva, 1983 p.116)

By the time Sri Lanka became independent in 1948, about 60% of government jobs were held by Tamils, who formed hardly 10% of the population.

By 1956, 30% Ceylon administrative service, 50% clerical service in railways, postal and customs, 60% engineers, lawyers & doctors, 40% armed force & 40% of other labor forces were held by ONLY Tamils. 31% of students admitted to university were Tamils who comprised only 10% of the population.

WAS IT WRONG TO ADJUST THIS IMBALANCE OR SHOULD THIS 10% HAVE CONTINUED TO ENJOY WHAT THEY DID WHILE THE REST OF THE 90% REMAINED AS THEY WERE LIKE UNDER COLONIAL BRITISH RULE.

Even this 10% is questionable given that many a Tamil were brought by Portuguese, Dutch & British and made to settle down and work in Sri Lanka, so there were not really natives.

The question or rather objection is not Tamils holding portfolios but the fact that the ratio against their population while the majority were denied such purposely because of divide & rule policies was unfair and had to be addressed and the imbalance resolved. Naturally, it caused ripples because people who were enjoying unfair privileges did not wish to give up those privileges while it must be pointed out that even amongst these minorities only a minority amongst the minority were enjoying the privileges. The low caste minorities were denied.

According to Patrick Peebles (The Plantation Tamils of Ceylon) of the 123,565 working in the 996 plantations 115,092 were Indians of which 40,604 were Indian females. That makes only 8473 Sinhalese or Moors. Peebles also confirms that 1336 were Moors so the remaining 7137 would have been Sinhalese.

Between 1843 & 1859 (within 16 years), 903,557 Indian coolies had entered Ceylon brought by Colonial British.

“[A]lthough [the Tamils] constituted only 11 percent of the country’s population, Tamils comprised 33 percent of the civil service and 40 percent of the judicial service...[t]hey further accounted for 31 percent of students in the university system (DeVotta, 115).”

However, even in 1971 the statistics does not reveal any discrimination.

In the 1969-1970 intake to science and engineering courses, Tamils constituted 35%, while they constituted over 45% of the intake of engineering and medical faculties.

In 1972, a district quota system was introduced in order to benefit those not having adequate access to educational facilities. The standardization afforded opportunities for poor Sinhalese, Tamils & Muslims to gain admission to universities that previously they were unable to do. Again, those against this new system were those who wanted to continue the elitist rule that benefited only them (handful of Sinhalese & Tamils)

The other very important aspect often neglected is the fact that while the colonial rulers may have planted the trouble, the troubles became regularly watered by opportunist local politicians who realized that the best way to win votes was to also drum ethno-linguistic slogans. It is also the fault of the voters for being party to this.

Returning to the issue at hand what must never be forgotten is that before 1505 the Sinhale kingdom was ruled following the Dasa Raja Dhamma by even the South Indian invaders that ruled parts of the island. Thousands of years of that rule came to an end with the arrival of European colonial rulers who through their divide and rule policies – divided people by ethnicity, created tensions, created classes, created a capitalist system and a bunch of brown sahibs and the favoritism was such that from schooling to employment given to those who converted ended up minorities reaping the fruits of colonial rule.

So we come to the question where before 1505 the Sinhalese Buddhists ruled in a just and fair system where there was no animosities between the Tamils or Muslims which eventually changed after 1505 and has continued to this day. The favoritism was such that at the time of independence the minorities were enjoying far more than their ethnic composition. No one likes to speak about this aspect and nobody wishes to acknowledge that it was unfair by the Sinhalese to have denied them for over 450 years their due place.

The argument is, was it alright for a minority of the minority 10% to enjoy 443 years of undue privileges but it is not alright for the majority to complain because when they ruled none of the issues that currently prevailed existed.

Shenali D Waduge

Discrimination in Sri Lanka – A Reality?
Anuradha Yahampath

I want to start my speech with reference to an incident that took place in Jaffna on the 16th of December 2016. Where a bus-van collision led to the deaths of 11 Sinhalese travelling to Chavakachcheri, in the North of Sri Lanka. The Tamils who arrived at the scene did everything to help the wounded Sinhalese. The touching scenes were relayed by media.

It takes a brave few like those who helped the victims and those who held candlelit vigils for the deceased, to awaken the rest of the community to the true status quo.

Only 7 years had passed since defeating one of the most brutal Terrorist organizations in the world. The LTTE were responsible for the invention of the suicide bomb and were widely regarded as one of the most inhumane practitioners of warfare. The military action was against Terrorists not the Tamil people. The defeat was not of the Tamil people. Victory is not for the Army. It is a victory of people to live together. Peace was delivered to all the People, be they in North, East, West or South of Sri Lanka.

It takes time and effort to heal all the war wounds, but the brothers and sisters of the Chavekachcheri Tamils showed us that the reconciliation process that had been in progress since the war ended in 2009 was working.

I would like to share another story. When a daily news paper quoted on the 13th June 2017 that the Jaffna Teaching Hospital Director had said that caste differences among the people living in the North were discouraging them from donating blood, thus resulting in a shortage of blood for transfusions at the Hospital. It was the Sri Lankan Army who came forward with 200 soldiers to donate blood. These are the very soldiers that the TNA, the Chief Minister of the North, and the Opposition Leader together with LTTE fronts, have been humiliating, even claiming that they were responsible for genocide, calling for war crimes tribunals, demanding that these soldiers be removed from the North.

In a land of Racial Discrimination would you find people of different races coming together spontaneously at a time of need?

What is this so called discrimination that the Tamil Expatriates and a few Tamil political leaders from Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu, India are talking about when constitutionally and economically Tamils in Sri Lanka enjoy a higher share than their demographic percentage?

To give a few examples, there are currently 33 Tamil MPs in Parliament; the Opposition leader is the leader of TNA, which was the political wing of the LTTE, and the current Governor of the Central Bank, is also a Tamil National.

There are many Tamil academics and scholars, who hold prestigious posts in many Universities and other Institutions. Tamils Diplomats, Journalists, Judges and public servants are numerous, and many are being respected as citizens of Sri Lanka, without prejudice.

Many of the largest businesses in Sri Lanka, which are mostly based in the capital, are owned by Tamil People. For example the two most successful supermarket chains are owned by Tamils and frequented by Sinhalese majority. The Sri Lankan Tamils have the luxury of enjoying all their religious and cultural holidays, like Pongal, Mahasivarahri and Deepavali unlike their expat counterparts.

Sri Lanka is one country that has given equal language status to a minority language. Tamils of Sri Lanka make up only 11.2% of the population. Sri Lanka has a separate colour to depict Tamils and Muslims in the country’s national flag – has India shown such a gesture when 9/10th of the world’s Tamils live in India?

Healthcare and Education are basic human rights and is equally and freely accessible to all citizens of Sri Lanka regardless of their ethnicity.

While Tamils can live, buy property, indulge in business, and educate their children throughout Sri Lanka who can claim being discriminated?

These false allegations and fabrications of discrimination do exist, as a desperate measure to seek help from international bodies to federate the beautiful island of Sri Lanka by Separatists Tamils. These very same separatists have openly supported the LTTE in their goal to create a mono ethnic Tamil enclave.

Tamil Separatism started during the time when the British colonized Sri Lanka. The colonists, who mastered on ‘divide and rule’, encouraged Separatists to work against the Sinhalese representation in the constitutional council.

A few years later in 1939 during British rule when GG Ponnambalam demanded 50-50, his demand was for 50% of parliament seats for non-Sinhales and the balance 50% could be for Sinhalese and the non-Sinhalese.

That was the Discrimination that our fore fathers had fought and defeated for the sovereignty of our motherland.

It was in 1949, immediately after the independence of Sri Lanka that Chelvanayagam formed the first racist party in Sri Lanka called Ilankei Thamil Arasu Kachchi – the direct translation being Sri Lankan Tamil state party demanding a federal state for Tamils. Later Vaddukoddai Resolution was formed in 1976, seeking a separate homeland for Tamils by TULF.

The difference between Prabakaran and the separatists before him was that he used the most gruesome methods of terrorism against the Sinhalese. Using his own Tamil people, which included women and children as weapons and human shields to fulfil this same dream of Eelam to divide and rule. LTTE’s discrimination against their own people had started by killing Tamil policemen, politicians and numerous other Tamil civilians whoever had the guts to oppose terrorism.

Riots of 1983 in Colombo following the killing of 13 soldiers were by thugs who looted and destroyed. This black mark caused upon one of the most generous Nations, generous I would say because even on the day of black July, every one of us brought home our Tamil friends, to protect them from this unbearable hooliganism.

LTTE used this day’s horror to strengthen their war tactics getting sympathy and support from the international community. Expatriate Tamils of Sri Lanka still use 1983 to claim impunity without considering the repercussions they are bringing to their motherland and to their relatives that are back at home.

That is the discrimination that the Tamil diaspora is creating for their own people to seek asylum for greener pastures.

If I were to name the numerous terrorist attacks of LTTE on Buddhist monks, civilians at worship, innocent villages, farmers, unarmed police, the forces and thousands of civilians, I would be here the whole day.

What I want to emphasize is that even with the continuous attacks on the citizens of Sri Lanka, be they Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslim, there wasn’t a single civil retaliation. The Tamil expatriates and the international Community have advantageously overlooked this.

On the 19th of May 2009 the Forces of the Sri Lankan people defeated Terrorism. With that the aspirations of Separatists were defeated.

The apparition of Eelam was defeated.

After the war ended in 2009, the development of the North and East was the primary focus due to the lack of it in the past 30 years. LTTE was ruling a de facto state in the North. According to Janes Intelligence LTTE was making $300m profits annually but LTTE did not make a single road in the areas they ruled. The LTTE did not spend on building a single school, did not allow children to study – they were kidnapped and sent to LTTE orphanages where they were trained in armed combat. Even at the height of the war, the Government of Sri Lanka ran classes for IDP children preparing them for O-Level-GCE examinations.

The LTTE discriminated against their people, but this has been advantageously forgotten and ignored.

It is only after an era of peace has been established that the UN human Rights Council demand a constitutional change in the name of accountability and reconciliation. Accountability and reconciliation are ideologies backed by World’s super powers that are looking to divide the sovereign states in advancing their country’s need to be a Hegemonic power.

The demands of the UN Human Rights Council Resolutions are infringing and violating the UN Charter and exceeding the UNHRC mandate.

The demands of the UN human rights resolution are fundamental, that they cannot take place without constitutional reform. Fundamental change cannot be proposed without radical ideas and thoughts. These thoughts are the false allegations of discrimination and racism against minority groups in Sri Lanka. Seeds of radical thoughts have been planted and fermented by those that seek to colonize the world in the modern era.

A select few individuals can be brainwashed to ensure the destabilization of countries into mono ethnic enclaves with a promise of an independent state which will finally lead to a never–ending conflict between those divided. May I remind this forum that the newly created ‘independent’ states of Kosovo and South Sudan are failures of the UN System. Sri Lanka does not wish to enter this list.

The UN demanding Sri Lanka to draft a new constitution, ordering us to make fundamental changes to an independent country in the name of human rights is nothing but discrimination against a sovereign state and interference into its internal affairs

Banda-Chelva Pact: JR’s Kandy march for Sinhalese & a New Constitution

Political opportunism and opportunist politics has been a curse to the country. Looking back we can only conclude that our politicians have failed the people and the nation with their opportunism and greed to remain in power at any cost. Sadly, another trait is that there are no lessons learnt and mistakes not repeated. We are entering another major misadventure and faux pas if we allow the passing of this new constitution. Leaving matters to the politicians alone has proved a futile and dangerous adventure. The people need to now rise and not allow the destruction of our island to continue.

It is very important to know the background to the incidents to understand the larger picture of things.

The UNP had been in power from 1947 lost elections in 1956 to the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP coalition) led by SLFP leader SWRD. UNP 9year reign came to an end and SWRD became the 4^th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1956. UNP had only 8 seats in Parliament. ITAK led by Chelvanayagam won 6 out of 9 seats in the North and 4 out of 7 seats in the East.

The 1956 election campaign was significant mainly because it was the first time that the election propaganda centred on reverse discrimination and concentrated on what the Sinhalese had been denied. That many did not wish to highlight the disadvantages and discriminations faced by the Sinhalese over 400 years was seen in the manner many have reacted to the enforcement of Sinhala as the official language.

The propaganda revolving around this Act completely ignores some ground realities.

· How many are aware that just 10% of the Tamil minority were enjoying the best of jobs in the Government service even after independence?

· How many knew that the language of administration was English throughout colonial rule and when power were transferred to the local elite (comprising Sinhala, Tamil & Muslims who were also educated in English) who comprised hardly 10% of the population. It was impossible for this 10% to run a country using only English (when 90% did not know English).

· The most interesting thing is that S.W.R.D could not read or write Sinhala while it is quite possible Chelvanayagam suffered same in Tamil – both together were flogging communal politics to remain in power! So where was the sincerity for language by either party!

· What gets purposely hidden is that Tamil never enjoyed official language status whereas Sinhalese was used prior to the foreign invasions since 1505. Therefore, in reversing the discrimination and reverting to the language used prior to foreign invasion no one should complain about.

· The demand to reverse the discrimination was to restore the confiscated rights that Sinhalese had been denied for 443 years. Why are these realities never discussed?

· Also omitted is the manner that ITAK carried out an anti-Sri campaign on 19 January 1957 tarring cars that bore vehicle number plates with ‘Sri’ and replacing with ‘Shree’. Counter campaigns started only AFTER the ITAK action! Cars would not have existed before colonial arrivals however, why didn’t Tamils object to the English letters on vehicles too using the same logic!

· Also omitted from mention is how ITAK called for action against ministers visiting the northeast for official purposes. Cabinet Ministers Dahanayake, M Marikkar were attacked in Batticoloa, M P Siriwardena who went on a mail train to Jaffna had his path blocked by Amirthalingam’s youth!

The FP also called for a boycott of government ministers and deputy - ministers

This was the background behind the Official Language Act making Sinhala the official language in May 1956.

Tamils protested against the Sinhala Only Act with a satyagraha launched on 5 June 1956 at the Galle Face. These protests were nowhere near to the manner Tamils protested when the Social Disabilities Act was introduced in 1957 enabling low caste Tamils to gain education that they had been denied.

The background to this is also important because of the hype against Sinhala Only totally ignores the discrimination that Tamils were suffering under Tamils!

Sir P Ramanathan leader of the Tamil elite was also upholder of the caste system. When Donoughmore Commission wanted to grant universal franchise to all persons (male & female) above 21 years in 1931, he objected and even got 79 village headman to plead with the Governor of Ceylon to not give low castes the voting rights!

Sir P Ramanathan also demanded separate carriages to low castes when the railway service from Colombo to Jaffna was launched.

It was the Tamil Workers Association who opposed the caste-based differential seating & differential serving food at schools in 1930s. However, caste structure was such that Tamil low castes could not enjoy tea or food or even go to the temple or move about in public places as equals to Tamils. Not many are aware that on 21 October 1966 over a 1000 Tamil youth started a “Mass Movement for the Eradication of Untouchability’.

There are two kinds of Tamils – the elite and the low castes. This saw minimal changes with the 1957 Social Disabilities Act brought by SWRD.

With the background to the Sinhala Only Act clear, shouldn’t everyone be asking why a supposed issue with language ended up with a Pact that promoted devolution? Incidentally, the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact was signed on 26 July 1957 giving ‘Reasonable Use of Tamil as a working language’. Important to note that it was signed over a year after the Sinhala Only Act but immediately after the Social Disabilities Act which the Tamil elite including Chelvanayagam were against.

In short, Tamils opposed the removal of the caste structures far more than the Sinhala Only Act. This needs to be clearly and openly brought to the discussion table.

Political opportunism and opportunistic politics has ruined Sri Lanka’s progress. UNP opposed the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact calling it a sell-out of the Sinhalese.

UNP tore Chandrika’s devolution package in 2000 inside Parliament and burnt it as everyone watched over television. This same party is now going further than SWRD or CBK by introducing a new constitution that devolves powers to the provinces that cannot be revoked or taken back! Is this not a sell-out of the Sinhalese given that this is the exact autonomy that the LTTE and racist Tamil leaders had been aspiring for in different language & mediums?

If SWRD was accused of playing the communal card to enter power wasn’t JR & UNP doing the same and this was the reality behind the march from Colombo to Kandy claiming that Bandaranaike was betraying the Sinhalese by signing the B-C devolution package creating Northern and Eastern Provinces Regional Councils (Regional Council Bill)

The insincerity behind the proposed march from Colombo to Kandy by the UNP in October 1957 eventually did not last 2 days. The initial plan to march to Anuradhapura was shelved claiming it was too long. Incidentally, the Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter was to assist by requesting people to assembly in Kandy on 8^th October 1957 and to take a vow before the sacred tooth relic that the UNP would prevent the division of Sri Lanka.

The walk was led by JRJ, Dudley Senanayake, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Anandatissa de Alwis, Dr. M V P Pieris, M D Banda. Eventually from over 1000 of people the march ended up with just 100 people and the march was called off at Imbulgoda. The meeting in Kandy on 8^th October which was a poya day went as planned. The attendance was poor. Though the walk was a failure, Bandaranaike abrogated the pact unilaterally.

Opportunist politics and political opportunists have destroyed unity amongst the communities.

According to C V Vivekananthan, Bandaranaike after returning from studies at Christ College, Oxford in 1925, formed a political party called Progressive National Party and advocated a Federal State instead of a Unitary one. Dr. T. James Rutnam was its General Secretary but Rutnam was against SWRD’s federal formula and supported an unitary state!

Advocating federalism in the 1920s, 1930s & 1940s it was decentralization advocating provincial council system and this changed to a different tune to come to power using the Pancha Maha Balavegaya Sanga-Veda-Guru-Govi-Kamkaru, [‘Budhist clergy, aryuvedic physicians, teachers, peasants & workers’ which brought him to power in 1956.

Was SWRD’s Indian ancestry the reason? Yasmin Gooneratne in “Relative Merits: a Personal Memoir of the Bandaranaike Family of Sri Lanka’ traces his ancestry to Neela-Perumal an Indian officer migrating to Sri Lanka in 16^th century serving the Kandyan kings. Neela Perumal was made high priest of the God Saman temple and given the name “Nayaka Pandaram’ in 1454, the name became Pandara Nayake and the P was later substituted with B to make ‘Bandara Nayake’ which later became Bandaranayake. Pandarams are Brahmins in India & record keepers of the royal court.

Incidentally, the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact promulgated “Provision is to be made in the Bill to enable two or more regions to amalgamate even beyond provincial limit”wasn’t this what the Indo-Lanka Accord & 13a eventually implemented?

The Pact also included “Further provision is to be made in the Bill for two or more regions to collaborate for specific purposes of common interests” notice these are the sentiments presently canvassed by Chief Minister Wigneswaran and the TNA all of which are components of confederal systems.

Another provision in the Pact was “Provision is to be made for direct election of regional councilors”– another demand being incorporated into the new constitution!

Powers to be devolved in the Pact included “regional councils should have powers over specified subjects including agriculture, co-operatives, lands and land development, colonization, education, health, industries and fisheries, housing and social services, electricity, water schemes and roads.” Others included “regional councils shall have powers of taxation and borrowing”

Are these not the same as those TNA are demanding? How can citizens of a country colonize their own country?

If you take the BC Pact, Indo-Lanka Accord, the 13a, the PC Bill, regional councils proposed by Neelan and GL Pieris, the ISGA & PTOM demands against the present proposals you can see how similar the demands are but worded differently.

SWRD who initially promoted federalism in the 1920s gave a lame excuse in the 1950s that he had ‘changed his mind’. It is these petty foibles by politicians that have created unnecessary divisions in society and among people who have lived and want to live peacefully without nomenclatures and political ideologies thrown before them for the gain of politicians only.

As the nation braces a very vulnerable and uncertain future, the people need to seriously wake up and remove allegiances to political parties even politicians and realize the dangers at stake. Do we want to knowingly walk into a destable future? Are we opening doors to enemy traps, what are the outcomes of some of the detrimental proposals that have been put forward in the past but luckily rejected, if they are to be cunningly passed now? Should we knowing the hidden agendas agree to these proposals are just some of the thoughts that should now be working on everyone’s mind.

“a society whose citizens refuse to see and investigate the facts, who refuse to believe that their government and their media will routinely lie to them and fabricate a reality contrary to verifiable facts, is a society that chooses and deserves the police state dictatorship is going to get “ Ian Williams Goddard

Shenali D Waduge

Discrimination in Sri Lanka – The reality

Following is the speech delivered by Dr. Nalaka Godahewa at the 36th session of the UNHRC in Geneva on 27 September:

Mr. President, a myth has been spread over the years, that there is discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Out of a population of 22 million people in Sri Lanka, 11.2% are Northern Tamils while the upcountry Tamils who came to Sri Lanka during British colonial times, are about 4.1%. But these are not the only minority communities in Sri Lanka; 9.3% of the Sri Lankan population are Muslim. Several other minority communities such as Burgers and Malays amount to 0.6% of the population. The majority community is obviously Sinhalese at 74.9%.

Political propaganda

Since we gained independence in 1948, we have been repeatedly hearing this complain that there is discrimination against Tamils. But interestingly, no other minority community in Sri Lanka seems to be complaining about discrimination based on ethnicity. Why?

That is because, discrimination based on ethnicity is a myth, created and successfully promoted by the Tamil political leadership for so many decades. It is pure political propaganda with an ulterior motive.

Let me explain what I mean here. Since colonial rule, we have always had Tamils holding very high positions in our country, whether it is in politics, Judiciary, academia, in the Government service or in the private sector.

Every Sri Lankan Government since independence has had high profile Tamil ministers in the Cabinet. A very good example would be our former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. When he was killed in 2005, by the Tamil separatists, Kadirgamar was a strong contender to be the next prime minister of Sri Lanka. Who knows – he could have even been the president of the country had he lived.

The Chief Justice of the country who recently retired is a Tamil – K.J. Sripavan. The current Governor of the Central Bank is a Tamil – Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy. Even his predecessor was a Tamil – Arjun Mahendran.

The last President of the Sri Lanka Bar Association was a Tamil – Geoffrey Alagaratnam. One of Sri Lanka’s most popular sportsman, Muttiah Muralitharan who holds the world record for the highest number of wickets in cricket is a Tamil.

Rudra Rajasingham, a Tamil, was a former Inspector General of Police. The current Navy Commander Tavis Sinnaiah is a Tamil. The Election Commission of the country has only three members and one of them is a Tamil – Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole.

Two members of the 10-member Constitutional Council are Tamils – Radika Coomaraswamy and R. Sambanthan. The Opposition Leader in Parliament is a Tamil – R. Sambanthan. There are 33 Tamil MPs in a Parliament of 225 members.

The present Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council C.V. Wigneswaran is a former Supreme Court Judge. The Director General of Customs P.S.M. Charles is a Tamil. The immediate past Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange is a Tamil – Krishan Balendra. R. Theagarajah, a Tamil, was the CEO of Sri Lanka’s largest development bank, NDB, until recently.

The largest media network – MTV, Sirasa – are owned by the Maharaja family who are Tamils. The largest supermarket chain – Cargills – is owned by the Page family who are Tamils. The largest brewery in Sri Lanka – Carsons – is owned by the Selvanathan family who are Tamils.

I could go on and on…!

So where is the discrimination based on ethnicity in Sri Lanka?

History behind it

To understand the truth behind this false propaganda, we must understand the history behind it.

The colonial rulers were well known for their policy of ‘divide and rule’. In order to create division amongst the communities, they offered the minority, administrative positions over the majority. As a result, when the independence was granted in 1948, the minorities, Tamils in particular, were holding most of the senior administrative jobs.

The high caste, Western educated, English-speaking Tamils who were holding senior positions in the Government under the British rule did not want to lose their positions of power when the country gained independence. That’s how the 50-50 power sharing demand was put forward by the Tamil leaders though they represented less than 10% of the population.

Wouldn’t that have been discrimination against the majority Sinhalese if 50:50 power sharing was granted as Tamil political leadership requested?

Let us now see what the actual position is with regard to the minority communities in Sri Lanka.

Even in our National Flag, while the Sinhalese are represented by the maroon background, the saffron stripe represents the Tamils and the green stripe represents the Muslims. How many other countries in the world have given such recognition to the minorities in the national flag itself?

All public documents carry both Sinhala and Tamil languages – the marriage certificate, the death certificate and the immigration forms are examples. All Sri Lankan currency and notes are in Sinhala and Tamil. All communities receive the same free education and free medical facilities in the country with no discrimination whatsoever.

There are no places anywhere in Sri Lanka that allows only Sinhalese to enter. Tamils, Muslims and all other communities enjoy same access to public utilities. Public transportation is common to all.

There is no race based discrimination is participating in sports or representing the country even at national levels.

So where is the so-called discrimination?

Discrimination in Jaffna

Having said that, I must also point out that discrimination still exists in Jaffna where there is a specific land law called Thesavalami. This law does not allow anybody other than a Tamil to buy land in Jaffna. But Tamils have no restriction whatsoever to buy properties elsewhere in the country. Then this is clear discrimination against the other communities.

You should also know that the real discrimination of Tamils actually comes from within their own community.

For example, the Jaffna Tamils think they are superior to the rest of the Tamils. The Trinco Tamils think they are superior to Batticaloa Tamils. Tamils in the north and the east have no regard for estate Tamils.

This discrimination apparently existed even within the LTTE who fought for a separate land for Tamils. Colonel Karuna, the former Eastern commander who defected the LTTE in 2004, has repeatedly mentioned in his interviews, that the northern cadres treated the eastern cadres as an inferior lot.

Can anyone deny that even today, the high caste Tamils discriminate against low caste Tamils in Sri Lanka? Do they sit and eat together; are there intermarriages between the high caste Tamils and low caste Tamils? Isn’t it true that those who mix-up are shunned by the rest?

There was a time even the places of worship did not allow the low castes Tamils to enter. There was a famous incident in 1957, when C. Sunderalingam, a former Cabinet Minister, slept in front of the gates of Nallur Kovil to prevent low caste Tamils being allowed to enter the place of worship.

Today the Tamil politicians cry about an imaginary discrimination based on ethnicity. But it was a Sinhalese leader, former Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, who passed a bill in Parliament in 1957 allowing equal rights to all Tamils. The bill was needed because the high caste Tamils were denying their own low caste Tamil people the basic human rights.

The Social Disabilities Act 21 which was passed in 1957 had to define some very interesting offences. It says:

No person can be prevented admission to a school because of the caste

No person can be denied employment because of the caste

No person can be prevented of entering and being served in a restaurant because of the caste

No person can be prevented or denied from using water from public water supply because of the caste

No person can be prevented or denied entering a public cemetery because of the caste

No person can be prevented or denied wearing any kind of clothes because of the caste

No person can be prevented from worshipping at any place of worship because of the caste

The list goes on…

Isn’t it shocking to even imagine that those people who have been propagating false propaganda about ethnic discrimination were actually denying the basic human rights of their own people?

Is the situation different today? Sadly the answer is no.

The caste-based discrimination is very much alive in Jaffna. That is why the Jaffna blood bank has to repeatedly seek support of Sinhalese to find blood for Tamil patients. There are always blood shortages in Jaffna hospitals because most of the residents are reluctant to donate blood thinking it will be given to someone from another caste.

During the war, it was Government soldiers who donated blood to Jaffna hospitals from which even the terrorists benefited. Just two months ago in June 2017, more than 200 soldiers and officers from the three armed forces donated blood in Jaffna responding to a special request from the blood bank.

Sinister forces have not given up

When post-independent Sri Lanka started offering equal rights to all citizens, the English-speaking, high caste Tamil politicians did not like it. When they couldn’t prevent it happening, they started poisoning the minds of ordinary Tamils with false propaganda that it is better for the Tamils to have a separate rule. The objective was very simple. The elite wanted to go back to their age-old practice of suppressing and exploiting their own people.

Unfortunately as it always happens, a lot of people were successfully misguided by these politicians. The emergence of terrorism, which brutalised the country for more than 30 years, was a result of this false propaganda.

Let us therefore be clear that Sri Lanka eventually faced a terrorist problem and not an ethnic problem.

Sri Lanka has now wiped out terrorism. The people of all ethnicities now want to live in peace and in harmony. They have nothing against each other. We accept Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and all other communities of Sri Lanka as citizens with equal rights. The Sinhalese have already extended their hands of brotherhood to the people of the north and the east. Since the end of the war, the bulk of Government development expenditure were routed to the north and the east. Economic development opportunities are now available to all Sri Lankans.

Yet the sinister forces have not given up. They continue to spread hatred. They continue to preach separatism. They continue to mislead the international community false information.

It is up to the ordinary Tamils now to assess the true situation and decide how far this bogus ‘self-determination’ bid will lead them to. The must figure out whether this cry for separatism is for the benefit of all Tamils or to give power back to the elite who are unhappy with the equal rights regime?

There was a time when all Sinhalese, Tamils Muslims and other communities lived in peace and harmony. It was the colonial rulers who disturbed that peace first. Now it is continued by some Tamil elite who have ulterior motives.

Rewrite our history books

We must come together once again to rewrite our history books. The older generation needs to separate the realities from the lies. The younger generation should not be taught to carry the aspirations of the old and must be encouraged to live in peace and harmony.

Let us therefore say no to ethnic-based solutions. Let us say no to the external forces who only want to divide us.

In conclusion, I like to emphasise once again that no minority is discriminated by any constitutional, legislative or judicial provision in Sri Lanka. Ethnicity-based discrimination in Sri Lanka is a total myth. Whether Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims we are all citizens of equal rights in a unitary state.

Care needed to foolproof devolution

By Dr Kamal Wickremasinghe

Since breaking the yoke of colonialism, Sri Lanka has shown an undue interest in ‘playing around’ with constitutions. With the exception of the 16 May 1972 constitution that officially proclaimed independence as a republic, such maneuvers have been motivated by cynical political objectives portrayed as burning national need. It is widely agreed that the objective of the much despised 1978 edition was to help the personal need of J. R. Jayewardene to entrench himself as an autocratic executive president, making up for lost time in gaining political leadership. All similarly motivated subsequent amendments from the 17th to the 20th were portrayed to the country as urgently needed at the time. Such priority has never been assigned to finding solutions for the chronic failure of economic development.

Judging by the apparent early support of politicians of all hues to the idea, there is also the disturbing concern that at least some of the politicians may be delusionally believing in a new constitution as a panacea for all national ills. After all, in 2000 during the height of the war, the then government thought a new constitution would have helped assuage the murderous LTTE. This time around, the expressed objectives are to end the executive presidency and, among other things, to enable a comprehensive political solution to the ethnic issue through devolution of power.

This deceitful history of both major political parties using the constitution as a means to political ends raises legitimate questions as regards the motives behind the current exercise. Noises being made by politicians of the ilk of cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne about an alleged ‘mandate’ for a new constitution are typically stretching the truth to its limits: their promise to the electorate was limited to abolishing the executive presidency and more pressing issues than the executive presidency enabled their victory. Irrespective of its motives, the current project has given rise to its own bureaucracy and more importantly, a conduit for the NGO wallahs to help achieve the objectives of foreign forces that finance their operations.

In principle, a constitution provides an opportunity to a nation to document its aspirations and to reinvigorate the democratic process by putting the individual citizen back in control by defining the rights of citizens to free speech, assemble, and to vote etcetera by placing limits on the power of the executive through delegation of certain functions to the legislature and the judiciary. All that sounds rational and convincing until we find that our former masters have no constitution of the type they insist that we should implement!

British ‘Constitution’

The United Kingdom does not have a constitution in the form of a document that clearly sets out the structure of government and its relationship with its citizens. The UK, New Zealand and Israel stand out as the three countries that have stayed away from a documentary constitution. Typically, however, Britain would tell the world that despite not having a ‘codified’ constitution, they have what is known as an ‘unwritten constitution’ in the form of a set of common law, case law, historical documents, and Acts of Parliament. But an ‘unwritten constitution’ is an oxymoron not dissimilar to ‘found missing’!

The fact worth noting is that Britain built a global empire by ‘planting flags’ on lands around the world, in the name of a monarchy, without ever stopping to write a constitution. In fact, the monarchy needed protection from the democracy of the citizenry but obtained a degree of domestic consent by distributing the crumbs of the loot coming from the colonies.

The case for a written UK constitution has been debated for several decades, peaking with the reforms proposed by the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the wake of Tony Blair’s connivance with American neocons by sending British troops for the 2003 Iraq invasion. In the meantime, crucial matters such as the composition, powers, and procedures of the two chambers of parliament and the territorial nature of the UK are determined by political decisions. The closest Britain ever came to codifying individuals’ basic rights was when the European Convention on Human Rights was given legal status with the implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998 in 2000.

Emulating New Zeland?

It is notable that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians has alluded to developing the constitution along the lines of the New Zealand system. This is surprising since New Zealand is another rare case of a country without a written constitution. It relies on some British laws incorporated into New Zealand law by the Imperial Laws Application Act 1988. The Constitution Act 1986 is the principal formal statement of New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements. The Treaty of Waitangi signed in 1840 between the first colonisers and Maori clan chiefs, that enabled the British to establish a government in New Zealand, subject to allowing Maori the right to continue to exercise ‘absolute sovereignty’ is the closest thing to a constitution New Zealand has, and it is hard to see any relevance of the New Zealand model to Sri Lanka’s specific circumstances.

Concerns about the need for a hurried process towards a new constitution can best be demonstrated through a review of the Interim Report of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly. The report is supposed to be a rough draft of the views of the subcommittees on the issues to be addressed. It is of concern that the current ‘rough draft’(that resembles a ‘dog’s breakfast’) is expected to lead to Sri Lanka’s new constitution by January 2018. There are great risks that the hurried process could lead to dangerous outcomes and the next government (to be elected if and when an election is held) will have to formulate a new constitution.

As per the report, the main aim of Sri Lanka’s constitution-makers appears to be to ensure the unity and integrity of the country in the face of the threat of separatism. They seem to be relying on a ‘federal’ constitution with ‘maximum devolution to the provinces, within an ‘undivided and indivisible Sri Lanka’. Even a superficial glance reveals the obviously conflicting nature of these aims.

Removing central control

The drafters appear to be relying primarily on the expanded devolution of powers to the provinces by removing the remaining few levers of any central control over the provinces. In the context of the aims expressed and the mechanisms proposed to achieve them an exploration of this key concept of devolution exposes the weaknesses of the proposed model. In short, the mechanisms of devolution proposed are of the kind that would be likely to escalate the conflict in the future and the proposed safeguards against this possibility are nominal and not based on empirical experience in Sri Lanka or elsewhere.

Essentially, the report is founded on an expanded version of the 13th Amendment and some changes to the key components of the center-periphery relationship. It shows lack of innovation on the part of the Committees that they have failed to look at the track record of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 (that was the desperate work of the virtually-challenged South Indian diplomat the late NJ Dixit) that gave rise to the Indian intervention and the 13th Amendment, including the fact that the rise of the LTTE coincided with its introduction. The partition of the country into tribally based provinces has only introduced a wasteful duplication of government administration, and the added disadvantage of introducing some provincial criminal element to national politics.

Contrary to the claims of ‘increased democracy’ delivered through the 13th Amendment limited electoral participation with only a little more than half the eligible voter population voting at the provincial council elections, the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the general public has been clear. The public’s response suggests that their aspirations go beyond the mere opportunity to cast a vote periodically, towards seeing effective poverty reduction policies and programs.

Divide-and-rule again

The push for devolution in Sri Lanka has its origins amongst the broader international forces with vested interests and our neighbor India, which could not offer any better solution to the ethnic issue that interests them. The neocons promote devolution as the latest ideologically based instrument for achieving the age-old colonial aim of ‘divide and rule’.The carving out of Kosovo from Serbia, Kurdistan from Northern Iraq, and South Sudan from Sudan was achieved through the agency of pro-imperialist separatists under the patronage of Western governments and Western-bankrolled NGOs operating under the bogus moralist cover of protecting human rights.

The neocon line of argument in favor of devolution is that spreading power among a wider array of actors helps mitigate ethnic conflict by compensating for historically centralized power structures that gave rise to grievances and violence and that incorporating the aggrieved groups into the political process leads to national cohesion. All this sounds almost believable until a careful look is taken at the real causes of ethnic strife and real-life experience (what the pretentious call ‘empirical evidence’) relating to devolution in post-conflict societies. Experience the world over has been far-reaching adverse consequences of devolution rather than positive results. Devolution has an abysmal record in addressing the critical issues in post-conflict societies and its potential in Sri Lanka in terms of safeguarding ethnic interests within a prosperous, unified national framework is similarly non-existent.

It is also noteworthy that major western countries such as the US were formed through the diametrically opposite process of ‘centralising’ groups of colonies to create a ‘united’ nation, through the Philadelphia Commission. The European Union is an attempt to amalgamate disparate nations with little in common other than the color of skin. But they advocate the reverse process of devolution they advocate for the developing world.

It needs to be recognized that the geographic, religious and linguistic differences among parties in conflict in countries around the world tend to hide the similarity of the underlying cause of anxieties over opportunities for education, health, employment. Academic research shows that countries with per capita incomes below USD 2,000 are eight times more likely to engage in intrastate conflict than countries with incomes above USD 4,000. Research also shows that, of the 55 civil wars in the world that reached a successful settlement since 1945, none had territorial decentralization included as part of the settlement; the more observable tendency is towards increased centralization as seen, for example, in Argentina, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Venezuela.

Devolution no solution

Devolution does not offer any means to address poverty during the lifetimes of several generations if it does assist at all. The failure of devolution is caused by its natural tendency to accentuate differences between regions, foster citizen identification with ethnic or geographic groups rather than the state and embolden demands for particularised services by minority groups. It also encourages the ethnic identification, accentuates inter-group differences, and fosters discrimination against local minorities such as cast groups.

The end result is ongoing disputes between the centre and the periphery, opening up divisions outside actors can readily exploit. Of particular risk are the countries where an ethnic group engaged in sectarian conflict has a support base just across the border or a large diaspora, a situation uniquely applicable to Sri Lanka.

Looking at the measures recommended to achieve increased devolution, the report wants to abolish the one existing safeguard of the Concurrent List that delineates the division of power between the centre and the provinces. It suggests a second chamber in the parliament elected mostly by the provincial councils. Practical experience suggests that the proposed safeguards such as the inclusion of a clause against secession and specific statements to the effect that ‘No Provincial Council or other authority may declare any part of the territory of Sri Lanka to be a separate State …’ will be reduced to mere words in operational terms.

Solution worse than problem

In the final analysis, attempts to solve the ethnic problem through more ‘legislative’devolution on the basis of presumed ‘local’, ‘regional’ or ‘national’ identity, would lead to the break-up of the wider Sri Lankan State, slowly but surely, by moving away from shared political institutions and laws. It will submit to separatist agendas.

While respecting local, regional or national social and cultural differences has the potential to help people to get along, history has shown that separatists are adept at using any powers at their disposal to accentuate differences and make reconciliation impossible in order to promote their long-term goal of the division. In order to deny them this opportunity, devolution needs to be seen as the Sri Lankan State power exercised by a subsidiary body, and needs to always involve a ‘cross-border’ element which seeks to bind all Sri Lankans in a common cause.

The emphasis needs to be on administrative devolution directly to the local councils through devolved provincial councils — rather than on legislative devolution— leaving the parliament as the representative of all Sri Lankans in ultimate control. It would help re-establish the centrality of the Sri Lanka context and to make the rest of the Sri Lankan population relevant to the North and the East.

The recommendation in the report to allow the merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces to form a single Tamil-speaking ‘Tamil Homeland’ — defying the Sri Lankan Supreme Court decision of October 2006—subject to a referendum in the two provinces can best be identified as the ‘killer proposition’. In combination with other recommendations to reduce the powers of the Governor and to remove the Concurrent List will weaken the authority of the Center and disintegrate Sri Lanka if implemented under a new constitution.

Looking for options under the current circumstances, it needs to be remembered that the current Sri Lankan government came to power in January 2015 with a mandate to abolish the executive presidency and reform the electoral system. It neither asked for nor received a mandate to introduce a new constitution that will radically change the country from a unitary to a federal state. The Interim Report is vague and avoids any reasoning on many important subjects. It even reintroduces the colonial name for Sri Lanka, Ceylon, which was abandoned in 1972.

There is a lack of honesty in the current constitution making process and the level of detail and complexity of the crucial concepts involved is beyond the grasp of most of the citizens it purports to protect.Their current level of understanding will make a national referendum not reflect the true acceptability of such significant changes. The change should be limited to abolishing of the executive presidency only if it is sorely needed.

Sinhalese are told that we don’t understand the demands of the Tamils, can someone please explain

Shenali Waduge

We are being repeatedly told by some ‘smart patriots’ that we don’t understand the demands of the Tamils. Who are these Tamils that ‘smart patriots’ are referring to – Tamil politicians, Tamil political parties, Tamil terrorists, Tamil Terrorist Diaspora groups, Tamil Nadu politicians, Tamil Nadu political parties, Tamil high castes, Tamil low castes or just ordinary Tamils. At the other end, who are the ‘smart Sinhalese’ who do understand the concern of the Tamils – are they dollar earning NGO heads, foreign government moles, politicians, academics & political analysts, businessmen thinking only of profit or the ordinary Sinhalese? While all Tamils cannot be lumped together, all Sinhalese cannot be done so too.

Let’s first take what we do understand

We do understand that the core problem is rooted in the divide and rule policies and germination of ideologies injected into the minds of a handful of people who have used them to stir trouble and make themselves socially and politically relevant and elevate themselves to champion this ‘cause’ they created.

To this scenario we can place all of the unjustified demands that have come ever since biased education system, privileges were afforded to the minorities purposely neglecting the majority since 1505. However, even while 10% of Sinhalese, Tamils & Muslims were privy to these special benefits 90% of others were not. Why does no one talk about this 90% rather than speak of what the 10% became denied after independence?

Another factor that we understand and continues to work on our mind is that there is a sequence of racist demands by Tamil political leaders covering unfair demands like 50-50 representation, the formation of ethno-racial political parties and the formation of ITAK in 1949 with the aim & objective of creating a Tamil state. We are also aware that across the Palk Strait in India, the Tamil Nadu leaders were also demanding a separate Tamil state. These factors cannot be ignored against any discussion on Tamil demands or Tamil concerns. At no time have we even questioned whether the bulk of the populace in Tamil Nadu, or Tamils in Sri Lanka wanted the demands made by these Tamil leaders except that they voted for them simply because they were Tamil.

What we cannot also remove from discussion is that armed militancy using Tamils began under patronage of India and South India and included a plethora of armed Tamil groups in which some of these ‘smart patriots’ served as Minister for whatever ‘adverturerism’ they may now claim!

What we also understand is that the Indian intervention in the form of the 13^th amendment & provincial council system came as a solution to the supposed ‘ethnic’ problem. We are now into the 30^th year and the 13a or the PC system has not solved but created more problems than we can now solve. Of course the smart patriots will jump to say that the entire 13a was not implemented and this is the reason for its failure. Had such been implemented we would not be having an island called Sri Lanka today and that is the reality that these smart patriots will have to wake up to whether they like it or not.

What we cannot also omit or neglect is to take stock of all the demands placed over the years by Tamil political parties like ITAK, TULF, armed militant groups including LTTE, EPRLF, LTTE diaspora groups, their resolutions in particular the Vaddukoddai Resolution, ITAK Resolutions as recent as 2013, demands placed by Tamil groups during the peace talks /cease fires like Thimpu Talks, demands for self-autonomy, Tamil Homeland, Internal Self-Determination, CFA, ISGA, PTOMs, etc and whatever new proposals are being made we need to first have official statements that all of these are null & void and are no longer being demanded. These demands have no basis for living in peaceful coexistence and have no basis for any claims of reconciliation.

What we also understand very well is that the present Tamil politicians in particular the TNA remain uninvestigated for LTTE links. Their present chants for re-merger are all aligned to the demands made by racist Tamil politicians and LTTE to carve out a separate autonomous state. The modus operandi has been to play the discrimination card and use well-oiled propaganda from LTTE’s illegal and legal international network to promote it. None of the validity of these discrimination claims have been challenged properly by Governments in power, the Opposition political parties, diplomats, academia, historians or even the media except a handful of patriotic people who have been challenging these claims over the years using the minimal communication modes at their disposal.

Another aspect that we understand very well that smart patriots tend to conveniently overlook by trying to plug events and solutions happening in foreign climes is the caste divisions among Tamils. Sir Ponnambalam Ramachandran considered the leader of Tamil elite objected to Tamil low castes being given voting rights in 1931 and even cobbled 79 village headman to plead against the decision with the British Governor. He even demanded separate carriages to low castes when the railway service started from Colombo to Jaffna. Let us also remind that when SWRD brought the Social Disabilities Act in 1957 the Tamil elite leaders went to the UK to object to low caste Tamils getting education. They were so petty that these Tamil children were forced to sit on the floor and study! Has that changed? Not at all recently even in the UK a group of people were working on institutionalizing caste once more! Even in Tamil Nadu (translated as State of Tamils) where official language is Tamil, culture is Tamil, 99% people are Tamil – 21% of its 72m are Dalit low caste untouchables. So what is this looking after our own talk! The Chief Minister of the Northern Province bragging about his people is reminded that the budget his PC demands is never spent and returns to the treasury while he’s doing tours speaking of discrimination the money allotted for development is not even used!

What we don’t understand is what is this discrimination singalong that is being chanted repeated and given oxygen even by smart patriots.

The Prime Minister recently declared that the new constitution is going to be the answer to the ethnic problem. What is the ethnic problem? We militarily defeated an internationally banned terrorist movement. Who says we suffer an ethic problem and if so what is it? Can we be given in plain language what this ethnic problem is?

The proposals to give autonomy to the North in the form of delegating or decentralizing or call it what you will cannot ignore that the North is just 1 province out of 9 provinces. What is going to be given to the North has to be given to the rest of the provinces which are not even asking for autonomy. Who in the North are asking – its only a group of people who have just over 500,000 votes and who are yet to be investigated for LTTE links. Should we accept their demands given these realities? Moreover, when over 50% of the Tamils are living outside of the North, how can giving ethno-religious autonomy to the North solve an ethnic problem when Tamils are living with the Sinhalese? What is this working around the 13a mumbo-jumbo? To whose whims and fancies or ideologies must the country commit to… numerically? Many Tamils are now coming out to say they don’t want a re-merger of the north and east, they don’t want or understand federalism or confederalism but they do want asbestos sheets to make homes, they do want their children to get education and earn a living, they do want to visit other parts of the country. How many among the Tamils share these sentiments? Well certainly more than the handful of TNA politicians and the smart patriots trying to throw fancy notions.

Yes, we Sinhalese cannot understand what is it that minorities claim to not have. A tour of Colombo will reveal how many Tamils own land, property, residential homes, flats/apartments, shops. Take a list of companies and see the many Tamils in senior roles. Take the Parliament and see the number of minorities being represented. Take the Government holidays to see how minorities enjoy their festivals and even stamps have been issued for their leaders. Go to Marine Drive and see the many luxury buses that go every day to the North from Colombo. Look at the number of kovils, mosques and churches that are coming up regularly and being developed. So what is it they don’t have. Are all Sinhalese rich, are all Sinhalese living affluent lives? Are all Sinhalese being treated specially by law? Count the number of Sinhalese in prison, go and see the poverty scales of Sinhalese … how unfair it is to be projecting a wrong version by even the smart patriots?

Where we are going wrong and we will continue to go wrong is by not identifying what the problem is and who are the problem causers. By giving rule to a bunch of people who have no concern for their own people, we are creating more troubles than we can fathom. All of the solutions being put on the table are to secure the political careers of a handful of politicians and power changing hands among them and the political pundits that promote these solutions.

We gained nominal independence in 1948 and became a republic in 1972 and since then throughout 45 years what have we really achieved? Where have we developed? Who has benefitted, how many have become rich, elevated from poor to middle class etc?

We don’t need solutions that empower politicians to further trample and dilute our freedoms and rights. The present proposals come in not identifying what the problem is – we can’t be creating constitutions only to satisfy a small number of a minority who are controversial figures and not investigated for their separatist intent. We cannot be plugging solutions that are being offered in other countries just because some smart patriots are quoting them to become champions of these initiatives in Sri Lanka.

If anyone says Sinhalese do not understand what the concerns of the Tamils are, we want to have these concerns placed in simple language first. We see no reason to be applying this that and the other when we don’t seem to know what is the problem, who is having the problem, why it is a problem to them and who says it is a big problem when in reality what they claim to be the problem or what people claim to be the solution maybe both wrong!

Reality is - ask a Sinhalese and he will have 101 problems, ask a Tamil or Muslim he will give the same .... can we give solutions to all of these 101 problems?

Time to identify our enemies

As correctly stated in The Island editorial of Wednesday (11),'Crooks and fleas', our country today has earned notoriety as a rogues' paradise. The editorial further says "Nobody has been arrested over the Treasury bond scams which have caused colossal losses to some state banks and the Employees’ Provident Fund. There is irrefutable evidence to arraign the bond racketeers on charges of financial crimes and corruption. But, allegations against them are probed over and over again endlessly and, at this rate, the half-hearted investigations are likely to drag on till the cows come home. As the crooks responsible for the Central Bank bond rackets have been moving about freely other yahapalana cronies may have thought of going a step further and robbing foreign banks."

The basic question is 'who is responsible for creating this situation?'

The eradication of terrorism militarily under the Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) leadership was of ‘grave concern’ to some countries (including those who trained and armed the racial groups at the very beginning), who are interested in maintaining their ‘superiority’ over the others. On the other hand, the eradication of terrorism also caused tremendous hardship to the political wings of the militarily eliminated LTTE, the TNA and the GTF, the politicians who signed pacts with the terrorist leader and promoted so-called political solutions for three decades, and the NGOs. They were exploring every possible political avenue, by hook or crook, to topple MR and to install a puppet regime to achieve their goals.

We were under foreign powers for centuries due to the acts of saboteurs and traitors. We have witnessed, during our lifetime, how powerful are enemies within, when toppling regimes. Throughout our history, invaders manipulate public opinion to retain power more than artilleries. The tele-drama 'Muthu Kuda' currently screened by 'Ada Derana' shows how British invaders used the above weapons with the enormous support from power-hungry segments of society.

What we achieved in January 2015 was the mere consequence of manipulation of public opinion (similar to what the invaders did in the past) by these foreign and local elements to create distrust, ill-will among allies, and loss of confidence in the leadership of MR.

The coming few months will be very crucial, as the enemies of our nation and their paid agents will work overtime and will spend billions of rupees to turn the country onto turmoil, to trap all those who are opposing them to achieve their goals at any cost. Unless we are fully aware of what is going on, and act wisely to defeat the sinister motives of those enemies, the much awaited peace, stability and progress of our country, prior to January 2015, will be at stake.

S. AKURUGODA

The parable of Lute and devolution
Upali Cooray

A very thought-provoking pragmatic debate ended today(11^th Sept.) between Dr. Dayan Jayatillake(DJ) and Emeritus Professor Dr. G.H.Peiris (GP) in the Colombo Telegraph and in The Island newspaper, concerning the devolution of political power in Sri Lanka. There appears to be two contrasting views between the two who are known as backers of the Joint Opposition (JO). They have recently come out openly challenging the government’s attempt to carry out constitutional reforms enabling implementation of the 13^th amendment. I believe that some realities which did not surface in this debate and significant facts about their intellectual thinking over the years should be told in order to augment our understanding about the two intellectuals.

A well known academic and activist DJ has a chequered history behind him, becoming implicated in extremist politics, founded with others; the Vikalpa Kandayama” (Alternative Group) In the 1980s. His group supported the Tamil militancy for some time and maintained that their actions were a war of national emancipation, not terrorism. Vikalpa Kandayama” formed a relationship with the EPRLF of Vartharajah Perumal who declared Tamil Elam” in the North and East. Having being elected as Chief Minister he said that Sri Lanka Army is not required in his Elam. Vikalpa Kandayama was banned in 1986 and DJ who was a Minister in Perumal’s Elam government for a short stint, was indicted, in absentia, by the Colombo High Court on 14 counts comprising conspiracy to overthrow the state through violence. In the meantime, DJ had gone into hiding, spending two years underground in Sri Lanka and one year in India. He was then pardoned by President J. R. Jayewardene. Perumal fled to India.

DJ then joined the Sri Lanka People’s Party after its leader Vijaya Kumaratunga was assassinated and became a member of the party’s central committee. Chandrika Kumaratunga whom he now calls federalist was the leader of the party after Vijaya’s assassination. She adopted the same policy on devolution even at that time. DJ then gave up his radical beliefs and became a prominent supporter of President Ranasinghe Premadasa, serving as his advisor from 1989 to 1993. Devolution, democracy and development were Premadasa’s plan to resolve the ethnic problem.

DJ’s’ crowning glory was shielding Sri Lanka from denunciation by the UNHRC for alleged human rights violations during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009. DJ had been appointed for a two-year term but when his contract expired in June 2009 President Mahinda Rajapaksa extended his contract until June 2010. His glory was short lived, when on 17 July 2009 the Foreign Ministry told him by fax to “relinquish duties and return to Colombo on 20^th August”. According to DJ no reason was given for his sacking but it was suggested that Sinhalese nationalists” were unhappy with support for the implementation of the 13th Amendment.

Though the Indian government brought pressure on President Rajapaksa, to fully implement the 13 plus amendment he never did so. Tactically he held free elections in the Northern province and nothing more was given as required by the Indians and the Tamil Diaspora supported by the West. Chief Minister C. V. Vigneswaran was elected to office in 2007 who now adopts a more radical policy than the TNA and requires the government to fully implement the 13^th amendment plus.

On the other hand GP who has never been a political activist but a political thinker and an unofficial and a prominent member of the think tank of Rajapaksa government, and now the JO. He uses his geographic knowledge adeptly in his arguments why devolution of power should not be permitted by any government in Sri Lanka. DJ in his writings in English to The Colombo Telegraph and the Island newspaper implies that GP belongs to Sinhala fundamentalist school and a strong exponent of the concept.

What is not observed by many is, DJ in his Sinhala speeches does not dare to directly state that he is an exponent of the 13 amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka which would ultimately lead to a formulation of a federal state with police and land powers vested with the province.

Addressing the Viyath maga” conference organized by the war winning former defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa held recently, DJ was careful in his Sinhala speech not to show his innermost thinking but cleverly spoke of smart patriotism or enlightened patriotism instead of island mentality. He suggested that new elite such as professionals in the national list in a presidential system and unitary state would be the answer. He never elaborated that the unitary state would have the propensity to end in cessation.

An extract from his piece The ethnic issue: fantasy vs. reality”… (Colombo Telegraph 25^th Sept.) that any attempt by Colombo to roll back the 13^th amendment, scrap province and introduce the district as the unit of devolution will be met, in the first instance, by ceaseless Stayagrahas in the North and East and violent crackdown by state(especially under a more nationalist government) will be instantly transmitted by camera phones triggering a global media Tsunami of denunciation, resulting in an Indo-US response – against which China is too far away to defend us, should it be so inclined” .

The other question is DJ while superficially showing he is an activist of the JO, his writings in English are more on par with Yahapalana regime policy on the national question. As GP says …..there is no need whatever to regard our country’s proximity to India as Karmic determination that impels us to remain subservient to the very forces……..overtly or covertly supported the thirty year Elam war”

The Tamil terrorist problem in Sri Lanka began during the cold war. India subsequently became a strong ally of the US. Things changed rapidly during the last two decades and China has become the largest exporter of goods to both countries. A si’ne qua non.

China’s formidable power will unquestionably become more so, as the Port at Hambantota and the Port City in Colombo will attach us to the string of pearls. Besides, what GP failed to mention is the proposed KRA canal that would connect Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across southern Thailand. The canal would provide an alternative transit for shipments of oil to China and Japan shortened by 1200 KM. China refers to it as a part of string of Pearls in the 21^st century maritime Silk Road. The Chinese have completed feasibility studies by 2016 and awaiting Thai government and the King’s approval. What we in Sri Lanka should realize is that there is no other port between the KRA canal and Hambantota resulting in every cargo ship having to have a bunkering stop at that port. Therefore the argument of DJ that China is too far, strategically and geographically, will hold no water in the very near future.

In passing; The Island newspaper (10^th Oct) first page news item on Catalonia, is notable. It says Catalan independence would not be recognized: France. Pressure has mounted on Catalan President to back down after hundreds of thousands of protestors last week rallied to defend national unity”. DJ should comment.

GP in his book Twilight of the Tigers” challenges that the territorial devolution is a feasible method of settling Sri Lanka’s political problems and questions the thinking that started the peace process in 2000-01.Peiris had correctly foreseen the course of the war unlike DJ because he is an expert in this arena, having contributed to Jane’s intelligence review. Moreover, for years he has kept to an uncompromising patriotic position seeking to safeguard the island’s sovereignty. He stood alongside with persons such as H.L. de Silva and S.L Gunasekara in opposing federalism on the grounds that the devolutionary processes under consideration, including the north-east merger sub-state (which was later persuaded to the Supreme Court by a group of lawyers, its continued existence was unconstitutional, would imperil political stability). GP approaches the subject from a statist” position devoted to efficient centralized planning and delivery. The book is up-to-date by his expertise in economic Geography and political economy. Thus, study of his masterpiece on Sri Lanka Challenges of the new millennium would assist readers who wish to acquire in depth material on the issues he raises. The book would supplement his argument in the Twilight that the creation of an exclusive Tamil homeland would not work peacefully because of such issues as the distribution of water resources and agriculture, Jaffna Tamil Vellala superiority over Batticaloa Tamils (remember Karuna) would emerge as thorny flash-points for future confrontation.

The parable of Lute which DJ quotes(Colombo Telegraph 25^th Sept) is, Buddha living in Rjagaha in India questioned one of his disciples, having given him a Lute to play in which the strings have to be tuned to have proper balance…..” Similarly, if energy is applied too strongly, it will lead to restlessness, and if energy is too lax, it will lead to lassitude. Therefore keep energy balance and the balance of spiritual faculties”……

One has to question whether DJ has kept his intellectual balance similar to that of GP.

Upali Cooray

Roadmap to a frightening future for Sri Lanka & its citizens

The scenarios that are being projected is to draw the attention of citizens to the possible dangers and implications of the shortsighted & selfish decisions and actions of leaders and their inability to comprehend and learn lessons from history and the international crisis & conflicts taking place globally. These scenarios afford an opportunity for people to take a step back and imagine if the scenarios can happen in Sri Lanka and if they do, what would be the consequences. It also enables people to think of ways to counter or devise alternative solutions and remedies that would prevent or mitigate the likely chaos. At the back of our minds should be the never to be forgotten reality of what we have gone through since independence, the carnage and killings, deaths and injuries and the resolve that we should never return to that horrible past repeating the mistakes from which we should have learnt lessons.

Prior to independence we cannot discount the unfair demands made by a group that had coined its name as Ceylon Tamils only in 1911 and began to demand 50-50 representation with the Sinhalese when they were disproportionately less than the Sinhalese and even less than the Indian Tamils brought by colonials. The formation of ITAK in 1949 seeking a Tamil State culminating in the 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution and the emergence of the LTTE in the same year alongside the clandestine training by India to Sri Lankan Tamil youth cannot be taken in isolation given that calls for self-determination for a Tamil Homeland first emerged in South India. Do our politicians, advisors know this background and keep this awareness in their negotiations and briefings to the international community?

Since independence a series of unfortunate pacts without taking stock of who were making the demands or why, had been ventured into. As such, we cannot ignore the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact (1957) because it first promoted the concept of devolution using the guise of language when in reality Tamil was never an official language and the calls were to reverse the discrimination suffered under over 400 years of colonial rule never to target the Tamils whilst it was agreed to allow reasonable use of Tamil. Then came the Dudley-Chelvanayagam Pact (1965), soon the norm came to be granting political concessions to tantrum demands by minorities simply for electoral and political survival. The agreements did not look into the authenticity of the demands, repercussions or impact on others once signed.

Then entered armed militancy seeking virtually the same demands with the gun that the Tamil politicians sought politically. Therefore, in dealing with Tamil politicians these ground realities cannot be ignored so long as they have not declared that these demands are permanently laid to rest.

The Thimpu Talks of 1985 had the following demands by EPRLF, LTTE, EROS, PLOTE, TELO and TULF. All but the last was rejected by the GOSL but what is relevant to the discussion is that the Tamil parties & LTTE have not budged from placing virtually the same demands worded differently.

· Recognize Tamils of Ceylon as a Nation

· Recognize existence of an identified homeland for the Tamils of Ceylon

· Recognize right of self-determination of the Tamil Nation

· Recognize the right of citizenship and the fundamental rights of all Tamils of Ceylon.

Then came the Indo-Lanka Accord signed under virtual duress in 1987 which many say was drafted in India and sent only for signature. The Accord has historical fallacies and paved way for the 13a and the provincial council system. India failed to disarm LTTE in 120hrs, India promised to protect Sri Lanka’s sovereignty but was giving Rs.50m to LTTE monthly, India assured its territory would not be used for activities prejudicial to Sri Lanka but LTTE was using Tamil Nadu for all its logistics, India assured its Navy would assist Sri Lanka to prevent LTTE activities but LTTE was getting arms, medicines and even supplies from Tamil Nadu, IPKF ended up killing Sinhalese, Tamils & even Muslims and training a civilian army Tamil National Army while preparing EPRLF to take over from LTTE – Dayan Jayatilake was a Minister in the merged NE province EPRLF Govt. IPKF role in ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese & Muslims cannot be ruled out. India has still not repatriated Indian citizens residing in Sri Lanka even after 30 years! Breaches by India of the Accord warrants application of Pacta Sund Servanda.

The Preamble to the Accord is fallacious claiming NE as historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil speaking people. Such fallacious thinking ended up creating unilateral declarations of independence in 1990. Same fallacies cannot be repeated through this new constitution which almost occurred in 2000 using GL-Neelan Regional Councils proposals.

Why are advisors scarring political leaders against removal of the 13a – a sovereign nation has every right to remove any amendments made to its constitution.

The removal of Sri Lankan Army camps is nothing new – Tamil leaders demanded same in 1987 too and echoes what the TNA presently demands.

That the calls to merge NE is because of Trinco Habor is evident when the Accord mentions Port of Trincomalee and Indian High Commissioner Dixit minced no words in demanded Sri Lanka reduce intelligence and training with Pakistan, Israel not allow seaports/airports to be used by foreign powers antagonistic to India, that India be allowed to maintain Trinco Oil Tank Farms – demands made in 1985 by both Minister Chidambaram, Dixit and Natwar Singh in 1986.

The 2002 Cease Fire Agreement is another detrimental agreement giving legitimacy to LTTE’s defacto state, placing LTTE on par with the national army

https://www.onlanka.com/news/agreements-that-betrayed-sri-lanka-2002-ceasefire-agreement.html

The ISGA Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposed by LTTE for the “North East” of Sri Lanka in 2003 goes as another detrimental agreement. ISGA was to cover eight districts of North East - Amparai, Batticoloa, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee and Vavuniya (North East). Sri Lanka was to be Secular but virtually all decision making to fall into the hands of the LTTE though it received Western applause - http://archives.dailynews.lk/2013/04/09/fea02.asp

Then came the other detrimental agreement in 2004 PTOMs Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure which came with an aid carrot of USD3billion.

One has to only take the demands of the LTTE, the other armed militant groups, the ITAK, LTTE Diaspora fronts their websites, the TNA manifestos, the TNA/ITAK resolutions, the Resolutions by the TNA passed after winning the Northern Provincial Elections, the comments by the TNA Chief Minister Wigneswaran to realize that not only their demands have remained the same that their demands are likely to get worse and more frightening the moment any compromise is made as these demands have no basis or validity to be even accepted.

Both the LTTE & Tamil politicians have been surviving promoting a mythical homeland & using their illegal/legal international networks to project the notion of discrimination by Sinhalese to justify their cause but how does that explain the killing of Muslims?

This has aligned with external forces whose objectives can be advanced by using Tamils to justify their interference in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs – both the West & India as well as the UN stand guilty. The war crimes tribunals (sans evidence of war crimes), resolutions based on illegal reports are all cunning methods to use the Tamil card for their own political objectives. This is understood by the fact that LTTE fronts function through offices in foreign countries, their representatives openly meet foreign parliamentarians including UN officials and they even hold events with the Eelam flag next to US national flag and nothing is done against them!

The General Public and politicians especially their advisors must be aware of how illegal interventions and interferences have divided the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, created an independent Kosovo, South Sudan (both in virtual turmoil and economic collapse) and identify the modus operandi used against all of these nations which are identical to methods now being rolled out in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s politicians and advisors have also ignored the historical quest of India to annex Sri Lanka and present Indian objective of economically, politically and socially influencing Sri Lanka using the ‘Tamil’ card while the West on account of Sri Lanka’s geopolitical positioning wishes to use Sri Lanka for its strategic purposes. We have also ignored the other major factor of another historical objective in the territorial expansion competition between Islam and Christianity and its loggerhead with Buddhism.

We should therefore not be a surprised that immediately after helping the present government into power US, UK, EU, India are all promoting a new constitution provisions and clauses of which fit perfectly into their overall plan and give into Tamil demands which fit into their overall plans as a disintegrated and divided Sri Lanka is perfect for their interference. This explains why USAID & EU are even said to be funding the salaries of staff assisting the new constitution!

With this background in our mind let us move forward to imagine the future scenarios.

The new constitution aspires to remove the clause ‘Republic of Sri Lanka as a Unitary State’ and include Sri Lanka alongside colonial word ‘Ceylon’ while also using the Tamil orumiththa nadu meaning ‘United’ and not unitary. This clearly aligns with the separatist (LTTE/Tamil Political) demand. ‘Maximum devolution’ will mean the Centre has no control of even the Local Government authorities which will all be directly under the Provincial control.

Confounding matters further is the formation of a new Constitutional Court which is above the country’s Supreme Court and is to be the sole authority to decide on disputes between the Centre & the Provinces. What is then the role of the Supreme Court?

Centre’s National Policies cannot override statutes enacted by the Provincial Councils which means Centre has no control over the Provinces. Even National projects must first seek permission for land usage from the Province. For this a new National Land Commission is being created to oversee land and water issues. Disputes to be channeled to the Constitutional Court not to the Supreme Court. The Governor appointed by the President is a nominal role unable to dissolve the Province. While the proposals claim to abolish the Executive Presidency by removing the provision for the People to vote for the President and instead the Parliament is to vote for the President.

The proposals speak of a National List giving authority to the Centre but no itemized list of subjects are given – so we do not know who controls National Security, Defence, Immigration, Citizenship, Education & Higher Education, Minerals & Mines, Foreign Trade, Census & Statistics, Posts & Telecommunications, Ports & Harbours, Aviation & Airports, Archaeology & Ancient heritage sites etc. Imagine embroiled in controversies surrounding these important subjects – who would suffer in the end? The People. The other shocking feature is the removal of the Concurrent List that gives detailed list of shared powers between the Centre & Provinces.

There is also provision for two or more provinces to merge though the 2006 Supreme Court verdict declared the merger illegal.

Place all these dangerous scenarios together with the proposal that claims all powers devolved cannot be taken back means that the Centre is ceding powers to the Provinces which it cannot take back. The ruse to camouflage the objections is to claim that if a Province attempts to secede the President by proclamation can assume ‘all or any functions of the administration of the Province & dissolve the Provincial Council’ but the proclamation is subject to the approval by Parliament & after judicial review by the Constitutional Court. What is confusing is that the proposals also advocates to abolish the Executive Presidency but have a President elected by the Parliament instead of the People.

So what good is a Centre if the powers devolved to the Provinces cannot be removed, Centre cannot annul a province, that cannot override statues by a Province, that has to get the permission from the Province to carry out national projects, that cannot directly govern the local authorities, that has no power to stop two or more provinces merging? Why should such a Centre even exist?

In the context of what the TNA and other racist MPs are presently demanding inclusive of the demands being made by Muslim groups and the rising extremism in the East also being ignored, what is the future when ethno-religion ghettos start fighting or expanding territory when resources like water, electricity or spread of disease etc become an issue?

If provinces are to have their own police what will be the outcome if rebel groups emerge and external forces begin arming them? What if one province refuses to recognize the educational qualifications of another and given that we don’t have universities in all 9 provinces what is the future for students who have studied enough to enter university but cannot. What if provinces decide to declare their own laws & rules contradicting and conflicting with other provinces – who is going to suffer thereafter.

What if freedom of movement is also denied – even taking a holiday or going on a pilgrimage will become an issue – Wigneswaran already tells Sinhalese not to come to the North and to remove Buddhist structures while a man of his learning is stooping low to claim King Devanampiyatissa was a Tamil. What if provinces decide to bring in foreign labor but cannot curtail the influx of people living without visas or bringing illegal items – how will provinces control these issues? What if provinces end up in the hands of extremist political parties and leaders and they change statutes that cannot be even challenged by the Centre. And where is this Centre going to be located since it has to be in one of the 9 provinces and how will the laws of that province conflict with the Centre regarding land and other issues. We are coming with more problems than solutions in taking the interim report and recommendations to account which flags dangers to all citizens of their likely frightening future. Let us not be naïve enough to put these dangers aside and think good will result. Our follies have always been not to think of the dangers and repercussions.

Those who have been hiding behind the no new constitution stage performance but subtly promoting the enactment of the 13a cannot explain why or how far one party should compromise or assure that the other party will not demand more than what has been compromised. These advisors mumbling words have led politicians astray without taking ground realities into consideration.

No new constitution can be accepted given the ground realities, the demands by racist Tamil MPs who are part of the constitution making process and the countries that are promoting it. When a small nation like Sri Lanka is broken into fragmented pieces where multiple authorities prevail, we can assume that we are heading for a very frightening future. In taking the demands and the recommendations we can also confidently say that these proposals are not even federal but confederal because all the powers ceded by the Centre cannot be taken back to the Centre which a federal structure allows. Imagine the chaos in 9 mini states!

Look at the recommendations and allow your own imagination to ponder to see the dangers at stake and question why such a small island nation such as ours should be cut into 9 pieces. This new constitution is going to not only divide communities but end up starting lots of mini wars and conflicts and chaos with no central authority to take the responsibility on behalf of all of the citizens.

Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka’s New Constitution is not going to be Unitary or Federal but Confederal

To understand the danger of what those drafting the new constitution is plotting to do, it is important to understand the features that make a Unitary, Federal & Confederal Constitutions. The countries that initially had confederacies abandoned them in view of its weaknesses and impending dangers. Why is Sri Lanka then walking into a future of chaos and instability and to satisfy whose wishes?

Features of a Unitary Form of Government

· All powers centralized in Central Government.

· Local government system prevails where powers are delegated with strict central control/supervision

· Unitary systems does not have list of distribution of powers in the constitution

· Unitary systems are more responsible than federations as Centre is the sole responsible entity for the entire nation

· France, Japan, China, Italy and Britain are unitary states.

Features of a Federal Form of Government

· Dual system – Central Government at one level and State/Province at another.

· Power is distributed between the centre & provinces except for subjects that have common interest which is in the charge of the central government (foreign affairs, defence, currency & coinage, etc)

· One constitution prevails for both Central and Provincial Governments. All laws created by the provinces are subordinate laws and valid within the authority conferred by the constitution. If they go beyond limits the centre can deem it a violation

· Central government can reach direct to the citizens in a State or Province

· Fundamental rights of the citizens of a country is granted by the Central Government not State governments.

· Only the federal government can negotiate treaties with other countries. State & local authorities cannot.

· Under a federal set up unilateral secession is impossible while under confederalism unilateral secession is possible.

Features of a Confederal form of Government

· Union of independent and sovereign States

· formed with an intention to create independent and sovereign States

· In a confederacy the Central Government can only reach upto the Governments of the confederation. The central government cannot directly reach the citizens.

· The states of a confederation retain all the powers of an independent nation ex: right to maintain a military force, print money, and make treaties with other national powers.

· can have their own currency

· can have own military

· can enter trade agreements with external sources

· government of a confederation can withdraw from the Union

· US, Germany were confederal before they adopted federal systems

Sri Lanka’s unitary constitution as established in the 1972 and 1978 constitutions changed in 1987 to a quasi-federal model with the signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord and the 13^th amendment creating 9 provincial councils.

Presently Sri Lanka follows a Quasi-Federal model following the 13a as there is a distribution of powers to the provincial councils though these are under control of the Centre.

A Quasi-Federal constitution has elements of Unitary & Federal features (India’s constitution is one such) However key elements to be noted is that there is single citizenship, a single judicial system where the Supreme Court is the highest court, powers are vested with the Centre, states have only powers that the Centre gives which the Centre can take back, the States do not have separate constitutions and their powers are derived from the Constitution relevant to the entire country, states do not have independent sources of income, and even the administration is under purview of the Centre.

Demands by Tamil parties showcase Confederal features & not Federal

In Federal systems, States/Provinces cannot seek referendums but Confederacies can. In 2008 Sivajilingam sought a referendum at a Pongu Thamizh event in Australia. TNA leaders have made similar demands.

TNA/ITAK uses phrases ‘United Sri Lanka’ ‘co-existence’ ‘collaboration’ which are terms used when US experimented with confederacy. In a confederacy states are bound together based on mutual cooperation. The moment that ceases they can decide to separate from the union.

The Northern Provincial Council demands direct foreign aid and direct diplomatic relations. ITAk leaders constant reference to bogus Tamil province/Sinhala province, demands for mono-language and religious rights are all aligned to confederate secession objectives.

It was because of the quasi-federal system that the Centre was able to annul the merged NE PC and take it under the direct control of the Centre when Varatharaja Perumal declared unilateral declaration of independence while in 2006 the merger of NE was declared illegal. The new constitution is proposing to not only allow two or more provinces to merge but says any powers devolved by the Centre is permanent and cannot be taken back by the Centre. This is virtually giving 9 provinces carte blanche autonomy.

What makes present Constitutional Proposals Confederal

· If as per proposed recommendations powers devolved to the provinces cannot be taken back or revoked

· Why should key elements in the present constitution like the name ‘Republic of Sri Lanka’ and ‘Unitary State’ be changed? Why should colonial words which have no roots in the history of the country like ‘Ceylon’ be inserted as a replacement? When there is a translation for ‘Unitary’ in Tamil why is another word which connotes ‘United’ and ‘Orumiththa nadu’ in Tamil being inserted. United falls into the category of a confederal system!

· If ‘maximum devolution’ is giving control of even the local government authorities to the provincial councils directly instead of the Centre this too is not a federal feature but a confederal feature. In a federal system the Centre should be able to directly reach the citizens not go through a provincial council.

· In a federal system there is only ONE COURT and that is the Supreme Court therefore by introducing a new Constitutional Court which is above the Supreme Court and cannot be challenged by the Supreme Court, this too is not a feature of a federal government

· In both a Unitary and even Federal system the Centre decides national policies and not the states or provincial councils. Therefore, the proposed constitution that says the Centre’s National Policies cannot override statues enacted by the Provincial Councils means that the Centre has no control over the Provinces and what they enact. This is clearly a feature of a Confederal system. It is further proved by the proposal that the Centre has to even seek permission to use land for national projects from the provincial councils and the National Land Commission created to oversee disputes has cases channeled not to the Supreme Court but the new Constitutional Court that the new constitution is proposing to create.

The most shocking feature that completely proves beyond doubt that the proposed new constitution is neither unitary nor federal but confederal is the provision to claim that whatever is devolved to the provinces cannot be taken back, the Governor the nominee of the country’s President cannot dissolve the province and the removal of the concurrent list that has given the list of shared powers between the Centre & the Provinces which also ignoring the 2006 Supreme Court verdict to enable two or more provinces to merge.

The other laughable feature is that the proposals claim to abolish the Executive Presidency by removing the right of the People to vote for a President and enable the Parliament to vote for the President among them!

Why did America abandon its Confederate constitution that bound 13 states?The Central Government was designed to be very very weak (same case being proposed for Sri Lanka) The power to the states to operate independently from the Central Government often conflicted with the nation’s best interest (exactly what would happen to Sri Lanka when provinces begin directly dealing with foreign countries many of whom do not deal unless there is a political advantage to them & the chaos that might result thereafter). Rivalries emerged between the 13 states (same likely to happen in Sri Lanka especially if foreign countries begin funding rebels to attack other provinces in a bid to merge and expand the province!) The Central Government couldn’t collect taxes to fund its activities which greatly impeded national security requirements like maintaining the nation’s defense (a scenario that will certainly arise in Sri Lanka). The 13 states conducted their own foreign policies (same is going to happen in Sri Lanka and imagine the status quo if that happens) The 13 states had their own money systems– there was no common currency which made trade between the states extremely difficult (imagine such a scenario in Sri Lanka – we know LTTE had their own currency & TNA is LTTE’s political agent).

The above reasons were why the US abandoned its confederate constitution and formulated the present one.

Sri Lanka is trying to apply a failed system to a small island whereby creating 9 mini semi-autonomous provinces of which in one province will hold the Centre and questions the conflict that the Centre and Provincial Government may have in time to come!

Given that Sri Lanka is a small island 5 if the 9 provinces have direct access to the coast and they will have both advantage and disadvantage as a result none of which the Centre will have control over thereby further weakening the county’s national security, sovereignty and even territorial integrity.

Clearly by looking at the proposed recommendations of the new constitution it is easy to establish that it is neither unitary nor federal but confederal which immediately should suffice as reason to reject it in toto.

Shenali D Waduge

More devolution or more integration?

By S. Navaratne

It is curious how obsessed the political class is today on how best to handle the long standing Ceylon Tamil issue. The facts indicate that the Ceylon Tamil population, currently a tad over 11% of the total population in the country, has declined, is declining and will continue to decline as a proportion of the total population.

All the anecdotal evidence suggests that the youth of Jaffna wish to get "the hell out of the country" to white-ruled countries where a critical mass of Ceylon Tamils reside; and that Jaffna youth and their parents do not look for spouses for their children in Jaffna but with those with residence permits in Western countries so to enable them to move to those countries legitimately.

Yet the National Question relating to the Ceylon Tamils with diminishing numbers in the country is considered widely as the over-riding priority to be dealt with in the country.

Still more puzzling and incomprehensible is the attempt to solve the so-called National Question through a rigid, almost unchangeable, Constitution that provides, for practical purposes, almost irreversible devolution of power to all nine provinces of the country.

First, there is no demand, let alone clamour, for such extensive devolution envisaged by the framers of the Constitution from the Sinhala or Muslim or Indian Tamil communities in the country. The Prime Minister`s appointees are trying to ram down, partly by stealth, partly by obfuscation, extensive devolution to the Provinces purely to satisfy the Tamil bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka and abroad and Western countries.

Second, and equally telling, is that more Ceylon Tamils live outside the Northern Province (55% of Ceylon Tamil population). Extensive devolution to the Northern Province would not benefit them directly. Indeed they would be left high and dry under the proposed Constitution to fend for themselves as minorities in the other eight Provinces in the country.

Third, extensive devolution to the Northern Province is a time-bomb. Sooner or later extremists may well take power through the ballot in the Province and demand independence. It will be argued if Catalonia could do so, why not Jaffna?

The Constitution envisaged in the body of Steering Committee Report makes dealing with separatist activities of Tamil leaders in the Northern Province, and elsewhere, extremely difficult for the State and its security apparatus at the Centre to curb and control. Restriction of the powers of the Government and Parliament at the Centre envisaged to deal with separatist activities goes far beyond what prevails elsewhere, particularly India. There is a risk that irresponsible devolution of power and authority to a minority of Ceylon Tamils in the North could lead to unintended consequences destabilizing the country.

Is there an alternative to the grandiose scheme for redesigning the Constitution, largely if not wholly, to fulfill the demands of the Tamil bourgeoisie and their foreign backers as the only way of reconciling the Tamil population to the Sri Lankan State? Is it too late for a U-turn to kick the can of constitutional reforms (except at the fringes) to the long grass?

The alternative is for the Government to deliver the things that are directly under its control to promote reconciliation and integration of the communities instead of proposing a new Constitution that will be mired in politics and divisiveness.

The Prime Minister of all people with his in-depth reading and knowledge of British political history, should recognize that wisdom at this juncture demands the adoption of a Walpolian policy of "letting sleeping dogs lie" when it comes to constitutional changes. The 13th Amendment is functioning. Tweak it by all means from time to time consensually in Parliament to provide incremental authority and powers to Provincial Councils (as well as Districts and Pradeshiya Sabhas) to better manage their own affairs. Leave well alone other Provincial Councils that make no such demands. That is a practical way of asymmetric devolution that the Prime Minister once talked.

If the Prime Minister hauls down his colors on the Constitution there will be no dishonor. The facts have changed relating to the Sri Lankan Tamil problem since 2009. He could insist that he has been guided by the changes in the political reality in the country today.

An alternative approach to the problems faced by the minorities should have fairness and altruism of the majority community towards the minorities at its heart.

What are the measures that could be taken without legislation? Taking account of the fact that the Tamil and Muslim minorities account for 25% of the population, the Government could announce something it should have announced nearly three years ago when it came to office instead of the tortuous route it took in framing a new Constitution.

1. 25% of Cabinet (and other ministerial posts) posts would be reserved for the minorities. Additionally, by convention, 25% of the candidates of national political parties at Parliamentary elections should be from the minorities.

2. For a start 25% of all the categories of the public service recruitment and appointments should be from the brightest and best applicants from the minorities based on merit. That would extend from the grade relating to secretaries to ministries, diplomats, judges, senior army and police officers down the scale right down to the category of unskilled laborers.

Such pro-active measures would lead towards correcting the gross under-representation of the minorities at all levels of the public service (now numbering 1.4 million and rising). Once minority representation in the public services reaches the target of being proportionate to their numbers in the population (say in 5-7 years or so) all public service appointments should be made on merit, albeit bearing in mind proportionality.

3. Planning by the State should take centre stage in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the North and the East. Plans should be developed by local and foreign experts for tackling the major concerns of Tamils in war-torn areas. These would include separate plans for relief and rehabilitation of war widows, full funding of orphans, crop subsidies for cultivation of foodstuffs at remunerative levels, reconstruction of damaged infrastructure (housing, schools, road and rail networks), setting up technical schools and technological institutes, cottage hospitals and English language schools).

The finance required for these separate plans would be substantial. Government should fund a major part of each of the plans. The balance should be sort from Western powers and financial institutions. This is the more productive way for the West to help the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka than the manner they have pursued since the end of the separatist war. So far their actions have fanned animosity between the majority community and the Tamils rather than bringing them closer.

4. English should be made the link language between the communities. Substantial financial inducements should be provided to officers of the higher rungs of the public service who are tri-lingual.

Would an approach such as suggested satisfy the Sri Lankan Tamils and their local and foreign backers? Absolutely not! Doing the right thing to bring communities closer to each other is what matters. If that means calling the bluff of those (local and foreign) who advocate extensive devolution or else predict dire consequences, so be it.

Conceivable Flaws & Drawbacks in

The Interim Report of the Steering Committee

Kanthar Balanathan, Australia

While being silent on the interim report of the steering committee, as a mark of respect the author gives to the members of the committee, it is a time dilated event, and request people of SL come forward to make comments, so that repeated slipups and bungles does not happen in the life of the republic called, SriLanka.

First of all, in the 40s, the UNP was formed. Ie United National Party. එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය. The meaning of race is ජාතියයි. Nation is ජාතිය. National is ජාතික. Nation is built into the words. So, who is uniting with who? Does the party reflect that there are many nations united? Possible fundamental flaw in naming the party. While SWRDB named his party as SLFP. SriLanka Freedom Party. The concept of one nation, one country, is built into the party’s name, SLFP.

SL’s constitution is like cheap third world edition, repeatedly drafted, amended many times. What is the possible cause?

SL is driven now to draft another constitution. Is the interim report drafted by ROBOTS, who are being programmed by some superpower? Are these members patriots of the “one nation”, SriLankan Nationals?

It is driving readers to presume that the report is drafted in a frenzy to satisfy some power. With due respect to the committee members and readers, some questions the author wants to raise.

[Quotation from the interim report:

Issues:

The President whilst speaking on the Resolution to set up the Constitutional Assembly stated that whilst people in the south were fearful of the word “federal”, people in the north were fearful of the word “unitary.” A constitution is not a document that people should fear.

The classical definition of the English term “unitary state” has undergone change. In the United Kingdom, it is now possible to Northern Ireland and Scotland to move away from the union. Therefore, the English term “Unitary State” will not be appropriate for Sri Lanka.

The Sinhala term “aekiya raajyaya” best describes an undivided and indivisible country. The Tamil language equivalent of this is “orumiththa Nadu”.

In these circumstances, the following formulation may be considered:

Sri Lanka (Ceylon) is a free, sovereign and independent Republic which is an aekiya rajyaya / orumiththa Nadu, consisting of the institutions of the Centre and of the Provinces which shall exercise power as laid down in the Constitution.

In this Article aekiya rajyaya / orumiththa Nadu means a State which is undivided and indivisible, and in which the power to amend the Constitution, or to repeal and replace the Constitution, shall remain with the Parliament and the People of Sri Lanka as provided in this Constitution]

If we observe, in one place, aekiya raajyaya, is placed in the report, and below, aekiya rajyaya is placed, which is misspelled. Hope in an international court of law this is adequate to be thrown out.

The word Orumiththa Nadu is not the Tamil equivalent of aekiya rajyaya. It could be construed as එක්සත් රටක්, which is “United Country” and NOT “Unitary State”. The question is, which country is uniting with which another country? Does this direct to Tamil politician’s Two Nation theory. The Sinhale politicians are giving the Two Nation theory accepted in a golden tray.

Even the Unitary State is not acceptable as the United Kingdom was a United State consisting of Scotland, Ireland, England, and Wales. Scotland went for a referendum and was defeated. What is the guarantee that the North and East will not go for an irresistible, inevitable referendum? Therefore, the definitions should be redefined and come up with the correct words.

[Article.154A (3)] should be readdressed.

The existing provisions of the Constitution [Article.154A (3)] relating to the possibility of two or more Provinces forming a single unit, should be retained, with the additional requirement that a referendum of the people of each of the Provinces concerned should also be required.

The Constitution should not provide for the merger.

The Constitution recognized the Northern and Eastern Provinces as a single Province.

The above are contradicting.

“No Provincial Council or other authority may declare any part of the territory of Sri Lanka to be a separate State or advocate or take steps towards the secession of any

Province or part thereof, from Sri Lanka.”

The report does not suggest that any Province shall not make any effort to go for a referendum for secession like Catalonia.

The report does not state or identify that the Provincial Councils are not a government, but has been created to perform administrative function. The Chief Minister is not the Chief Executive of the Province.

The words and meaning as follows:

unitary government ஒற்றை அரசாங்கம்

unitary state ஒற்றுமை நிலை/நாடு

One nation ஒரு நாடு

Single government ஒற்றை அரசாங்கம்

One country ஒரு நாடு

Unity ஒற்றுமை

Well, the interim report clearly indicates that the job has been done under direction and not by patriots. It is good not to act like robots when it comes to patriotism and National minded living. The Tamil Diaspora should not have any inputs to this report, as this is purely a patriotic effort to maintain the sovereignty and democracy through a sound constitution.

It will be appropriate if all have some input to this report, that is comments.

“Federalism bad for Ceylon, worse for the Tamils” – G. G. Ponnambalam

H. L. D. Mahindapala

One of the main reasons that exacerbated the North-South relations in the post-independent era has been the total distortion of historical realities by a sizeable segment of our intellectuals who believed that history was a train of events, somewhat like the Yal Devi, that ran up ONLY (emphasis mine) to the North from the South and stopped there without coming down. That is to say, it is the South that sent all the troubles to the North. The fact that Yal Devi also came down and interacted with the South has been ignored or denied. Had these intellectuals been more realistic and objective, recognising the North-South dialectics and emphasising the interplay of North-South forces in escalating the rising tensions, it would have been possible to avoid the longest war in Asia which ran for 33 years – from the declaration of war in the Vadukoddai Resolution (May 14 1976) to its disastrous end in Nandikadal (May 18, 2009).

Our intellectuals had a moral duty to be more responsible and truthful in informing the political class and the public at large. Unfortunately, the discourse was dominated by hired intellectuals hawking a mono-causal theory to blame only one side of a multi-layered narrative in which the two main actors – the North and the South -- were inextricably intermeshed. The nation had to pay dearly for the hypocritical and the mercenary tendencies of our intellectuals who were bought and sold in the NGO market for a fistful of dollars.

Hired intellectuals, lodged mainly in foreign-funded NGOs, led a partisan campaign of denying, twisting or hiding the basic facts. By and large, the arguments were tailored to put the blame on the South with the sole objective of extracting the maximum power for devolution as a first step towards separatism. For instance, the English-educated, Vellalar Jaffna Tamils of the North have been the most privileged community in Sri Lanka. But they managed to persuade the world that they were denied their dignity and basic rights by the Sinhala majority. They also promoted successfully the notion they were the most oppressed victims of the Sinhala majority.

Steering a crafty campaign to demonise the South they hid the fact that they have been the worst oppressors and killers of the Tamils. S. C. Chandrahasan, son of Chelvanayakam, the father of separatism, and V. Ananadasangaree, leader of the TULF, have both condemned Velupillai Prabhakaran as the villain who had killed more Tamils than the others put together. Hiding their history of brutalising the low-caste Tamils has been a carefully cultivated strategy to protect their image as victims of the Sinhala majority. The hidden story of the Tamil Vellalar elite brutalising the hapless low-caste is the darkest chapter in Sri Lankan history.

Apart from hiding the hideous history of the North the hired intellectuals engaged in either distorting the realities and the perspectives, or in redirecting the basic facts away from the truth to glorify the partisan agenda. Take the case of Dr. Jehan Perera, the head of the National Peace Council, who bestowed a doctorate on Anton Balasingham, the LTTE ideologue, knowing very well that he had not earned one from any known university. I met him in a bus in Geneva and when I asked him why he resorted to such deceitful practices he replied that he was merely following the others. When I asked him whether he would jump into well if others jumped he grinned sheepishly. But he promised to drop the fictitious post-graduate doctorate. One expects a moral high priest like him to honour his own words. But he didn’t. He repeated the lie unashamedly. He continued to write articles referring to him as “Dr.” Balasingham. That’s why I called him “Pacha” Perera.

Though this may sound like a miniscule incident it cannot be dismissed lightly because it is symptomatic of the larger pattern of our so-called intellectuals distorting realities to elevate and sanctify Tamil heroes in their version of Sri Lankan history. Jehan Perera not only knew that he was selling lies to the public but he also knew that if he repeated the lies long enough it had the potential to be accepted as the truth down the track. It is mainly this technique of repeating, ad nauseam, the lies of the North that gave them the upper hand in manufacturing a mono-causal theory to paint the South as a hell filled with demons who had victimised the sweet angels of the North.

Victimology has been moulded into a sophisticated pill, wrapped in Western theories to make it easy for the naïve and the gullible to swallow. Over the years victimology has been the most marketable theory to promote federalism / separatism. Our intellectuals have gone along with the theories of victimology mainly because there were no perks, privileges or pecuniary gains in the alternative narrative that challenged the Northern political agenda.

Consider also how they manipulated their arguments with imported theories and distorted facts to justify the Northern agenda. Whenever they were pushed into a tight corner in the debate for devolution they raked up the pro-federalist statement made by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in his salad days in the 1920s. In it he suggested federalism as a means of satisfying aggressive communalistic demands. Taking cover behind this Bandaranaike’s statement has been the common ploy of the federalists / separatists. Practically every partisan activist and theorist campaigning for the North has repeated it. But for obvious reasons they never quoted the diametrically opposite point of view expressed by G. G. Ponnambalam, the acknowledged leader of the Tamils until his junior, S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, displaced him.

Here is the direct quote from the pen of Prof. A. J. Wilson, the leading Tamil political scientist, and son-in-law of the father of Tamil separatism, Chelvanayakam, who, with his intimate knowledge of his father-in-law’s mind, knew the intricate and the inner workings of Northern politics like the back of his hand. He wrote: “Ponnambalam and his ACTC denounced federalism as ‘bad for Ceylon and worse for the Tamils’, and at the general election of 1952 some of his ACTC followers warned that under federalism no trains would run beyond Elephant Pass (the isthmus connecting the Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the island).” (p. 63, S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947 – 1977, A Political Biography, A. Jeyaratnam Wilson, Lake House Bookshop, 1993).

This categorical rejection of federalism by Ponnambalam throws all the arguments for constitutional changes leading to devolution of power into the dustbin. He was, after all, the founder of the demand for a greater share of power to the Tamils. He outlined a disproportionate mathematical formula of claiming 50% share of power for 11% Tamils of the North without carving out ethnic enclaves on the ground which came later with Chelvanayakam’s federalism / separatism.

Ponnambalam rejected this formula of Chelvanayakam and went as far as to say that it was “ ’midsummer madness’ for the Tamils to ask for partition of the country and segregation of different communities….”. (Ibid – p.30). His declared policy was to demand 50% of the seats for the 11% Tamils, disguising it as claim for 25% of the minorities. This too was a fake claim because the Muslims and the Indian Tamil minorities refused to join Ponnambalam’s “50-50” claim. He made it unmistakably clear that his demands were within the unitary state, without ethnic segregation. Though he laid the foundations for mono-ethnic extremism – he created the first communal riots in Navalapitiya in 1939 with his racist attacks on Sinhala history and the people – he was not for division of the country on ethnic lines. As he said, ethnic segregation would be “worse for the Tamils.”

There is a critical difference in Bandaranaike merely suggesting federalism in the 20s and Ponnambalam categorically rejecting federalism in the 50s. Bandaranaike put forward federalism as a possible formula for appeasing what he called “the outrageous” demands of the Tamil communalists of the day. Nor was he speaking as the acknowledged leader of the Sinhalese with substantial authority for federalism to be accepted as the expressed wish of the Sinhalese. He was in the formative stage playing with ideas. And federalism, in his context, was merely a fanciful spark that flew out of the mind of a young returnee from Oxford who had not yet found his feet in Sri Lankan politics.

Ponnambalam’s rejection of federalism for the Tamils comes from a totally different context. His rejection should be taken seriously because, unlike Bandaranaike, he was the acknowledged and established Tamil leader of the time. Besides, he was making a strong political statement in the interests of the Tamil people. It was meant to be a total rejection of Chelvanayakam’s politics of federalism / separatism. And it did have an impact because Chelvanayakam could not sell his idea to the Jaffna people at the time. Ponnambalam was also playing an anti-Chelvanayakam role. To be or not to be for federalism was a key issue in Tamil politics and Ponnambalam coming out against it should be considered as a serious statement of intent. In other words, Ponnambalam was giving political directions to the Tamil community saying that the way forward is neither federalism nor separatism.

Ponnambalam’s rejection of federalism was not a brash statement of an excited political neophyte like Bandaranaike in the 20s. When he rejected federalism in the 50s he was a mature Tamil leader at the peak of his political power. He was also at the peak of his popularity. It was time when Chelvanayakam was still hovering in the shadow of the towering personality of Ponnambalam. His rejection of federalism carries a far greater political weight than Bandaranaike ‘s fanciful flirtation with federalism.

This rejection of federalism by Ponnambalam has been kept out of the debate on devolution of power. The political pundits craftily avoid factoring in Ponnambalam’s rejection of federalism because that would knock the bottom out of their case for federalism / separatism. Ponnambalam’s statement stands out as the voice of the Tamils looking for an alternative way out. He doesn’t fit into the political agenda of the federalists / separatists. He doesn’t help them to doctor the texts to advance the Northern political agenda.

So they resort to the flimsy, flighty statement of Bandaranaike to grab territory, history, supremacy, moral purity, impunity from their crimes against their own people etc. But, of course, Ponnambalam’s weighty statement overrides that of Bandaranaike.

This leads to the final question which needs a decisive answer : if Ponnambalam, a pioneering leader of the Tamils, rejected federalism as “the worse” solution for the Tamils why should the Sinhala leadership re-write constitutions to grant federalism?

Division of Sri Lanka for ethnic-autonomy ruled-out – What then are the ‘genuine concerns of the Tamils’

Leaders of a country must have pluck to categorically say what can and what will not be accommodated under whatever terminology it is dressed in. Thus, Sri Lanka’s leaders must say and all others must be made to understand that Sri Lanka will not be divided to be given ethnic self-autonomy under any form. Having said that, given that many claim that only the Tamils have grievances it is now opportune to list these out instead of simply saying they have grievances which are not being addressed. For too long we have wasted years compromising over unjustifiable demands and propaganda that has made everyone believe that the Sinhalese are to be faulted for all ills. None have yet explained why calls for a Tamil state came during colonial rule & before 1956 Sinhala Only Act which even affected Sinhalese & Burgherswhile calls to take up arms came well before 1983 riots. It should clearly establish that plenty of lies and propaganda has been at play which is why it is important that we stick to facts and demand proper answers without promoting more lies and propaganda.

To understand that a lot of mischief and a lot of mischief makers have been involved in this so-called ‘ethnic problem’ a quote from Prof. A J Wilson is important.

"A second tactic is to destabilize the internal political situation. Political murders, acts of sabotage, and inflammatory and provocative speeches are the established forms and these have been tried. The Sinhalese masses and their lower-level ethnic leadership are needled by such acts and urge their rank and file to take retaliatory action. Nothing is more satisfying to Tamil militants” (p 301 Sri Lanka and its future: Sinhalese versus Tamils).

Its chilling to think how low these Tamil leaders will stoop to which is why it is important to keep these ground realities in any negotiations with them.

1. The demands by Tamil leaders started well before independence & rooted in the disappointed that 76m world Tamils do not have a State to call their own. Blame the British not the Sinhalese!

2. Armed militancy & Tamil political aspirations are inter linked.

3. Tami caste riots have numbered more than the claimed riots by Sinhalese against Tamils (at least 6 such Tamil caste riots before 1956) not to mention Tamil high caste going against the Social Disabilities Act of 1957 opposing the right of Tamil low castes to enter school and study! Tamil leaders even wanted caste included to the constitution

4. India’s role using Tamil card to leverage its own geopolitical aspirations

5. West’s role using Tamil minority card to leverage its geopolitical neocon agendas.

The divide & rule legacy

The divide and rule policies of the 3 European Christian occupiers created the menace of communal division that we suffer from today. The superiority complex in the minorities derived from purposely establishing missionary schools in minority areas, giving English missionary education to Tamils and installing them in British controlled government sector. TIME magazine of 5 August 1966 indicates the creation of an ‘administrative overclass’

Prof. S Arasaratnam says there were over 10,000 Tamil public servants in the British administration. “You Sinhalese govern but it is we Tamils who rule” (K C Nithyanada) In other words it mean that Tamils have the ability to rule whoever governs the country. How right he is.

Yet there are scholars from Prof. A J Wilson to Prof. S Arasaratnam accept that Sinhala Buddhism arose and developed as an anti-Western and anti-Colonial force and not against Tamils. So why is it that Christian Sinhalese and many others always want to blame the Sinhala Buddhists!

Tamils were included as Malabars in the 1824 Census under Governor Sir Edward Barnes, where Malabars were 195,697 and total island population was 851,940. In 1835 under Governor Horton the total island population was placed at 1,241,825. In 1857 under Governor Emmerson Tenet the total population was 1,697,975. This figure excluded the Europeans, their families and the Malays. 1881 Census showed a population 2,759,738.

The Census of 1901 was taken under the superintendence of Mr. P. Arunachalam & the population showed a substantial increase 3,565,954. The census of 1911 was 4,106,350 an increase of 71% to 1871 census. It was only during the 1911 Census that 2 categories of Tamils emerged separated by Ponnambalam Arunachalam. Those born in Ceylon were to be called Ceylon Tamils & Tamils born in India were to be called Indian Tamils

It was Governor Manner who began encouraging ‘communal representation’ promoting minority & majority politics.

The facts – Tamil Language

Before Portuguese, Dutch, British invaded and ruled parts or all of Sri Lanka – Tamil language was NEVER the official language in Sri Lanka.

After Portuguese, Dutch, British rule – the Tamil language was NEVER an official language in Sri Lanka or even language of administration. Where then is the grievance that Tamils can use that the Tamil language was discriminated? Wheras, Sinhala language was used by rulers before foreign invasions. Sinhala language lost its official status following foreign occupation.

The facts – Sinhala Language & Buddhism

The Official Language Act no 33 of 1956 declared Sinhala language ‘shall be the one official language of Ceylon.’ But the ACT was to come into effect only on 1 January 1964. It was abrogated and never fully implemented while reasonable use of the Tamil Language was also enacted in 1958. Contrary to the promotion being made that it was purposely targeting Tamils, the Act forced Sinhalese who had been studying in English to learn Sinhala too and the Burghers had to learn Sinhalese as well. Therefore, it is a fallacious assumption that the Sinhala Only Act was meant to target only Tamils.

While everyone loves to snub SWRD for bringing the Sinhala Only, it would come as a shock to UNPers to know that JR Jayawardena in 1944 brought a motion to the State Council that Sinhala should be made the only official language.!

The 1815 Kandyan Convention key clause included the commitment by the British to retain the foremost place to Buddhism – no such commitment was made by British to any other faith. The Kandyan Convention was signed between the Sinhale rulers & the British. Had there been a separate Tamil kingdom as is promoted the British should have signed a separate agreement with them which they did not!

The facts on Tamil separatist demands

Demands for a Tamil Nation, Tamil state came about well BEFORE the 1956 supposed official language act.

In 1923 Ceylon Tamil League was formed by Ponnambalam Arunachalam.

Politics of caste was prominent over politics of race. Racial representation was begun by the British, who appointed representatives to the Legislative council, based on race and restricted to the ""highest" castes. The Sinhalese were further split into Low-country and Kandyan, an existing division which was exploited to weaken their power.

In 1927 when the Donoughmore Commission was about to offer Universal Franchise giving everyone a right to vote irrespective of caste, the Tamils were first to oppose because they realized that they would lose their dominant position. GG Ponnambalam began a campaign against Universal Franchise & the Sinhalese. It was during a Nawalapitiya meeting when he was attacking the Sinhalese that the first Sinhala-Tamil riots broke out in 1939. This led to SWRD forming the Sinhala Maha Sabha adopting the Sinhala national dress that led to the temperance movement. The takeaway from this is to highlight that it was Tamil action that resulted in Sinhala reaction.

G G Ponnambalam demanded 50-50 representation when Sinhalese were 75% of population and minorities were 15%. This culminated in the formation of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress in 1944. What is not mentioned often is that when GGPonnambalam demanded the absurd 50-50 the Sinhala Board of Ministers offered a ratio of 57 to 43 which was refused and many Tamil leaders believe that had that been accepted the 1949 ITAK demanding a separate Tamil state or Vaddukoddai Resolution may not have resulted. The same is said of the offer by Chandrika to Prabakaran to reign for 10 years without election!

The Ceylon Tamil Congress alleged before the Soulbury Commission that between 1931 and 1943, out of a total expenditure of about eleven and a half million rupees on major irrigation works, the Northern and Eastern Provinces (where the Tamils are most numerous) received a little more than two million rupees or about nineteen per cent of the total. Exactly similar to the lies present day Tamil leaders promote.

1935 Hansard (column 3045) shows Ponnambalam Arunachalam claiming to be a proud Dravidian rejecting Ceylonese concept that embraced all ethnic groups (ref Dr. Jane Russell, Communal Politics under the Donoughmore Constitution). Nothing to be surprised GG Ponnambalam says ‘We are not Ceylonese we are Dravidians’. Ok fine, but then why ask a homeland in Sri Lanka!

The racism of GG Ponnambalam included opposition to universal franchise, demanding 50-50 representation, upholding caste system making visits to London to include caste system in the constitution! Promoting notion that Tamils ruled Sinhalese and Vijaya was a Tamil and King Parakramabahu was Tamil. No different to Wignesaran claiming King Devanampiyatissa was a Tamil. Ponnambalam refused to accept Tamils as a minority on account of his Dravida allegiance. Racism was fashionable in Europe in 1930s and GG imported it to Sri Lanka to replace casteism. It was because D S Senanayake craftily managed to get GG to the UNP camp that Chelvanayagam went on to form ITAK in 1949 –Arasu meaning League of Tamil Federations (the present confederal demands aligns perfectly with this objective)

E. M. V. Naganathan (born in Madras & ITAK’S Secretary & President in 1966) claimed he was a descendant of the Cholas. It may be opportune to make a list of all the obnoxious claims by these Tamil leaders over the years!

A separate Tamil identity was promoted by the ITAK and they began to invent grievances which was meant to purposely provoke the majority.

We seem to have also conveniently forgotten that ITAK in fact did seek a separate Tamil autonomous state in 1973. To strengthen this in 1975 ITAK joined hands with TULF and culminated in the 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution. Noteworthy too is the assassination of SLFP Tamil Mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiappah in 1975.

TULF contested the 1977 General Elections on the separatist ticket. Registered voters were 6,667,589 and TULF won 421,488 with 18 seats (Tamil population was roughly 1.1m). TULF formed an alliance with the Indian-backed paramilitary groups, Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF), Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), to contest the 15 February 1989 election. But it secured only 188,593 votes! At the 1994 General elections too TULF won only 132,461 votes. The vote patterns do not show Tamil general public to be aligning with the racism of their leaders!

What we have is the continuous of what GGPonnambalam began claiming that Tamils ruled Sinhalese & Sinhalese were offshoot of the Tamils none of which he or any other could prove!

This is how GG Ponnambalam scored at elections he contested.

1947 General Elections. Registered voters - 3,048,145 / 14,324 votes(46% voter turnout)

1952 General Elections. Registered voters - 2,990,912 / 12,726 votesfrom Jaffna (71% voter turnout)

1965 General Elections. Registered voters - 4,710,887 / 9,350 votes from Jaffna

Even S. J. V. Chelvanayakam contesting Kankasanthurai received only 12,126 votes

Even TNA in 2001 received only 348,164 but ended up getting 15 seats! While in 2004 TNA received 633,654 though the European Election Monitors in their report established LTTE and TNA as one and the same.

In 2010 TNA obtained 233,190 but got 14 seats (14million registered voters)

In 2015 TNA obtained 515,963 and got 16 seats (15million registered voters).

And there are supposed to be 2.2million Tamils in Sri Lanka.

What is noteworthy is that far from these racist Tamil leaders being accepted by the Tamil people the results at elections shows clearly that the Tamil people have rejected them. This is also evident when taking the election results of the TNA. So, why are Sinhala leaders and supposedly smart political analysts trying to promote Tamil racist politicians whom the general public resents and rejects. Why are we even accommodating the demands of these racist leaders?

What is important to this discussion is that it is the Tamils that on their own sought to separate without any solid reasons for doing so and create the fictitious and mythical background for doing so. One or two incidents surely does not warrant any minority group to be seeking separation while reserving the rights to remain & live in all parts of the island!

These actions are crucial to understanding the root causes of the issue and why these aspects need to be dealt with first. There is no better time than now to stop the compromising based on lies and myths and to ask these leaders to lay down the exact grievances they have without continuing to live in a cuckoo land.

What is clear is that the quest for a separate Tamil state first initiated in Tamil Nadu was passed on to Sri Lanka well before independence and 1956 Language Act and its link to militancy emerged with the 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution again before 1983 riots. No constitution can be allowed to incorporate any of these separatist demands under whatever nomenclatures it is promoted. Advisors cannot bring Euro-Centric international terminologies that they have coined for their benefit and plug them to Sri Lanka’s scenario. We need to be realistic and practical. Sri Lanka is a small island. India is 48 times larger than us. Whose bright idea is it to bring federal solutions befitting countries the size of India to Sri Lanka? To even consider this as a compromise replacing unitary with federal is ridiculous. These compromises will bring further chaos and therefore what needs to be asked is to completely thrown out all of the past solutions and compromises and to start afresh by coming out with what the Tamils are suffer that other communities do not. Without this basic and fundamental questions answered we are going nowhere. In terms of a viable solution what needs to be said is that we don’t need political solutions (these are to benefit politicians only) we need administrative solutions that directly affect and will solve 90% of the problems the general public faces on a daily basis)

Some memorable excerpts

‘Take the Sinhalese nation. I have served the race all my life. In my twenty-eighth year I entered the Legislative Council and never once have I thought myself to be a member of the Tamil community only — I supported the Sinhalese interests and every other interest and treated every subject with the same sympathy and desire to do the best for all communities. I knew through and through the men and women of the Sinhalese community of all classes. They have all the characteristics of a great people. They are decidedly considerate and peaceful.’

Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan (Tamil Leader)

"The Ceylon Tamils had no written document on the lines of the Mahavamsa to authenticate their singular and separate historical authority in Sri Lanka, a fact which Ceylon Tamil communalists found very irksome". Jane Russel

Shenali D Waduge

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Article 7

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Discrimination in Sri Lanka – The reality

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Care needed to foolproof devolution

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Time to identify our enemies

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