By Shenali Waduge
LankaWeb.com
January 17, 2012
In understanding the nature of Sri Lanka’s conflict it is important to not only understand the nature of the Tamil caste & class system but analyze how intricately absorbed it is into the social, political, economical, religous hierarchy of how Tamils live or rather should live. The “ethnic” tag was introduced simply to sideline the divisions existing between Tamils & showcase a united front locally & internationally. Using “ethnic discrimination” by Sinhalese against Tamils was a perfect theme & perfect reason to start a conflict. The conflict enabled higher caste Tamils to keep a hold on lower caste Tamils by camouflaging the real intention & lower castes had no choice but to accept this homeland utopian vision. This did succeed to a great extent. It is now time for the world to know the truth and falsity of labeling Sri Lanka’s problem as “ethnic”.
It is also time for Tamils to seriously think of their own future vis a vis continuing generations old caste systems or to follow the path of equality amongst the Tamils before accusing the Sinhalese.
1956 Official Language Act
The 1956 Official Language Act making Sinhala the only official language yet allowing reasonable use of Tamil language is often cited as the grounds for the “Ethnic” problem. Yet apart from a few small protests there were no large demonstrations on record to oppose this. Tamils even started to learn Sinhala. We need to remember that English was the language being used however less than 6% of total Tamils in Sri Lanka were actually fluent in English. By 1956 Tamils constituted 50% of the clerical personnel of the railway, postal and customs services, 60% of all doctors, engineers and lawyers, and 40% of other labor forces.
How many would agree that the Eelaam struggle began in 1923 with Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam which evolved towards the 1931 demand for 50:50 representation when in reality the Tamil representation in terms of population was 70:30. The denial of this eventually led to the formation of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi in 1949 (Tamil kingdom Party). The ITAK conveniently changed its name to read Federal Party which today is known as Tamil National Alliance.
It was the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act; not the Official Language Act that Tamils opposed!
Part of SWRD Bandaranaike’s plan was to penetrate into the “low caste” votes of Tamils using division amongst Tamils to garner votes. This similar strategy has been & is still used in present day politics. Thus the Social Diasbilities Act No. 21 was passed in parliament in 1957 giving lower castes the right to attend schools & kovils. Its good for the western world to know that it was a Sinhalese who opened the doors for low caste Tamils to attend schools & kovils – places that were taboo to them by their own Tamil brethren. No sooner the Tamil high castes & high classes realized the dangers of mainstream parties courting the low castes they devised their response. It was to create the best division possible. A rift between the Tamils & Sinhalese which would strike better success than low caste-high caste divisions. Who remembers the satyagrahas, the tarring of Sinhala letters on vehicle registration numbers. All launched by the ITAC & Tamil Congress – both high caste/class political parties.
It is important to note that all these happened a year after making Sinhala the official language. Why did the Tamils not cry foul over the Sinhala Only Act in 1956 but oppose the Social Disabilities Act on 1957 with such venom? It is because Tamils wanted to deprive their own. However, the 1956 Act became a ruse which led to the Bandaranaike Chelvanayagam Pact which had nothing about the language issue but referred to devolving regional power which would enable them to continue ruling over low caste Tamils for eternity. In 1971 an amendment was brought to the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act which naturally did not go well with high caste Tamils & led to large scale protests.
Similarly, when the Government introduced university standardization in 1973 those that opposed were those who were against equitable distribution. Students of all ethnicities from Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy, Galle who had been privy to education opposed opportunities that would be enjoyed by students from Batticaloa, Vanni, Nuwara Eliya, Monaragala & other less developed districts. While the composition of the ethnicities did not change entrance, for Tamils it meant not only the Vellalar caste but lower caste Tamils too would gain university entrance. This was why Tamils opposed the 1973 standardization.
Caste riots amongst Tamils
Why is there no reference to caste riots amongst Tamils – where Vellalars, dhoby’s, barber castes were attacking each other in 1871. How about the Vellalars attacking the Paramba caste in 1923 because according to their caste they had no rights to hire drummers for funerals. In 1931 the Vellalars attacked the Pallar castes also for hiring drummers. The message of the Vellalars was clear – no low castes could hire drummers for funerals! Do Tamils need to be reminded that they did not allow low castes to enter any place that the high castes frequented? Yet when a government directive on “equal seating” emerged violence broke out in 1929 against low caste Tamils sitting on benches as previously they had to sit on the floor! This was how Tamils treated their own!
Continuous petitions were written pleading the Government to cancel the directive. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan went so far as to request the Colonial Office in London to encode caste into legislative enactments.
Struggle for Tamil Eelaam never began with the LTTE
Those ignorant of these facts would give the 1956 Sinhala Only Act as being the reason for the emergence of the LTTE & to its demand for a separate homeland. How false this claim is. Why was the ITAC formed in 1949 which denotes a separate homeland in its name? Why did the Tamils want 50:50 representation? Why did Tamils gather to put forward the Vadukoddai Resolution calling upon Tamils to take up arms? Why did Tamils allow Tamil police officers to be assassinated while these political leaders watched when all non-Tamils were forced to leave by armed groups in the North?
Though the LTTE was a guerilla force it had to abide by the rigid Tamil caste system thus the links to high caste political parties. Prabakaran & his main stooges may have all been low caste & low castes in terms of numbers may be more than the high caste Tamils but the caste system is such that low caste Tamils will hardly revolt – they are born to accept & never challenge the caste they are born into. That caste differences were very much prevalent is clear in the manner low caste Tamils of the East were used for high risk operations including Karuna who was deprived “promotion” for being low caste which resulted in his ultimate defection & which helped liberate the East eventually from the LTTE. Tamils who cry “discrimination” may like to recall how in the refugee camps during 1983 the high castes refused to share common toilet facilities with the low castes & a lot of problems arose inside the very camps housing only Tamils!
The TNA
Who are they? They are a group of Jaffna centric vellalar caste Tamils who do not represent Tamils. They merely represent their caste & aspire to regain supremacy for their caste. They should in essence be banned for their vision & mission in entirety is to continue a political struggle for a Tamil Homeland. It is a party that needs to be banned in Sri Lanka for political parties are not meant to divide the nation. If the TNA does not represent the Tamil people accept representing the continuous of the Vellalar caste rigid traditions it is time the Government stop playing footsie with such a political party.
Essentially what we must all know is that the Vellalars will never allow lower castes to challenge their status quo in marriage (even political marriage for convenience is regarded taboo). The Jaffna vellalars think themselves the elite while the Eastern Tamils and upcountry Tamils are looked down upon lower than the low castes Tamils of Jaffna.
So the decision or rather solution for the future of Tamils lies within themselves. Do they continue the age old caste differences or do they put caste, class & regional differences aside. Can the West explain how devolution is likely to provide an answer to these bitter sentiments that exist where Tamils do not want their own to sit with them at dinner, to drink from a teacup belonging to a low caste or to ever into a marriage all because of the caste factor? Obviously the West does not understand or know the complexity of the caste factor amongst Tamils.
It may be just 2 years since the elimination of the LTTE. It is too soon for the low caste Tamils to realize they are in a better position now to decide how they should live politically. They will soon realize that they are not bound to galvanize behind political parties like the TNA that pretends to fight for their cause but is only the custodian of the Vellalar traditions. All that the TNA attempts to do politically has nothing to do with the betterment of the Tamil people and all to do with keeping the low castes from straying elsewhere politically especially tying up with southern political parties.
What is really important to Tamils
In so far as what is important for the Tamils, it is obvious they need to identify how far they are willing to let go of generations old caste & class barriers. For in defending the caste system they are unlikely to protect either the Tamils or the Tamil culture. The dangers of this arises from large numbers of younger Tamils seeking foreign pastures who are enveloping foreign culture not wanting to be tied to age old traditions that prevails & with time they are unlikely to chant separate homeland either. So Tamils are likely to loose the obvious which is the homeland as well as loose out on protecting its culture simply because they paid scant attention to its protection. The present day calls is for learned Tamils to start protecting the Tamil culture rather than going behind separate homeland themes meant only to hide their caste differences.
Tamils must look back critically at the past 30 years. Did the conflict have adverse effects on the Tamil elite/high class and the high castes? No. Who actually suffered then? It was the low castes who have been suffering all along and the irony is that the paid low caste stooge Prabakaran was a puppet in the hands of the Tamil vellalars who used him to deprive his own. Prabakaran cared not to raise his own caste except to glorify himself. Prabakaran cared not to uplift the lives of the other low castes sharing what he earned from LTTE Inc, then these Tamils are never likely to find a savior any time soon unless they begin to change among themselves.
The Indian factor
Just as political parties used caste difference to gain political mileage, religious groups used caste to entice low caste Tamils who were poor to follow Christianity/Catholism. Similarly, low caste Tamils became a tool for foreign interferences and India & its intelligence agencies too followed this strategy.
India is no stranger to caste differences. There are 166million untouchables in India. India’s Untouchables are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense. 20% that is 11m Dalits live in Tamil Nadu & more than 50% live below the poverty line. Neither the AIADMK nor DMK have done anything to change the lives or livelihoods of the Dalits and it is no different in other States of India.
So for India using low castes of Sri Lanka would be nothing new. Part of the plan to economically develop the North with Indian assistance is certainly aimed at uplifting the technical & educational know-how of Tamils in order to incorporate them into India’s larger plan for the region. It is good for Sri Lanka to be more alert about what countries give post-conflict for the giving factor is more often camouflaged by what they plan to take ultimately!
Hiding behind facades that the Sinhalese are discriminating the Tamils, promoting these lies, distorting facts, paying western media to carry the wrong message is in reality doing damage to one’s own people. People who had been marginalized through the colonial periods, throughout post independence and even while the LTTE prevailed is the real story of the Tamil low castes who had to endure 30 years of suffering. Is this the destiny of the low caste Tamil people? Is it only the vellalars that must thrive in Sri Lanka? This is the question that needs to be answered first by Tamils & next by the West.
LankaWeb.com
January 17, 2012
In understanding the nature of Sri Lanka’s conflict it is important to not only understand the nature of the Tamil caste & class system but analyze how intricately absorbed it is into the social, political, economical, religous hierarchy of how Tamils live or rather should live. The “ethnic” tag was introduced simply to sideline the divisions existing between Tamils & showcase a united front locally & internationally. Using “ethnic discrimination” by Sinhalese against Tamils was a perfect theme & perfect reason to start a conflict. The conflict enabled higher caste Tamils to keep a hold on lower caste Tamils by camouflaging the real intention & lower castes had no choice but to accept this homeland utopian vision. This did succeed to a great extent. It is now time for the world to know the truth and falsity of labeling Sri Lanka’s problem as “ethnic”.
It is also time for Tamils to seriously think of their own future vis a vis continuing generations old caste systems or to follow the path of equality amongst the Tamils before accusing the Sinhalese.
1956 Official Language Act
The 1956 Official Language Act making Sinhala the only official language yet allowing reasonable use of Tamil language is often cited as the grounds for the “Ethnic” problem. Yet apart from a few small protests there were no large demonstrations on record to oppose this. Tamils even started to learn Sinhala. We need to remember that English was the language being used however less than 6% of total Tamils in Sri Lanka were actually fluent in English. By 1956 Tamils constituted 50% of the clerical personnel of the railway, postal and customs services, 60% of all doctors, engineers and lawyers, and 40% of other labor forces.
How many would agree that the Eelaam struggle began in 1923 with Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam which evolved towards the 1931 demand for 50:50 representation when in reality the Tamil representation in terms of population was 70:30. The denial of this eventually led to the formation of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi in 1949 (Tamil kingdom Party). The ITAK conveniently changed its name to read Federal Party which today is known as Tamil National Alliance.
It was the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act; not the Official Language Act that Tamils opposed!
Part of SWRD Bandaranaike’s plan was to penetrate into the “low caste” votes of Tamils using division amongst Tamils to garner votes. This similar strategy has been & is still used in present day politics. Thus the Social Diasbilities Act No. 21 was passed in parliament in 1957 giving lower castes the right to attend schools & kovils. Its good for the western world to know that it was a Sinhalese who opened the doors for low caste Tamils to attend schools & kovils – places that were taboo to them by their own Tamil brethren. No sooner the Tamil high castes & high classes realized the dangers of mainstream parties courting the low castes they devised their response. It was to create the best division possible. A rift between the Tamils & Sinhalese which would strike better success than low caste-high caste divisions. Who remembers the satyagrahas, the tarring of Sinhala letters on vehicle registration numbers. All launched by the ITAC & Tamil Congress – both high caste/class political parties.
It is important to note that all these happened a year after making Sinhala the official language. Why did the Tamils not cry foul over the Sinhala Only Act in 1956 but oppose the Social Disabilities Act on 1957 with such venom? It is because Tamils wanted to deprive their own. However, the 1956 Act became a ruse which led to the Bandaranaike Chelvanayagam Pact which had nothing about the language issue but referred to devolving regional power which would enable them to continue ruling over low caste Tamils for eternity. In 1971 an amendment was brought to the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act which naturally did not go well with high caste Tamils & led to large scale protests.
Similarly, when the Government introduced university standardization in 1973 those that opposed were those who were against equitable distribution. Students of all ethnicities from Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy, Galle who had been privy to education opposed opportunities that would be enjoyed by students from Batticaloa, Vanni, Nuwara Eliya, Monaragala & other less developed districts. While the composition of the ethnicities did not change entrance, for Tamils it meant not only the Vellalar caste but lower caste Tamils too would gain university entrance. This was why Tamils opposed the 1973 standardization.
Caste riots amongst Tamils
Why is there no reference to caste riots amongst Tamils – where Vellalars, dhoby’s, barber castes were attacking each other in 1871. How about the Vellalars attacking the Paramba caste in 1923 because according to their caste they had no rights to hire drummers for funerals. In 1931 the Vellalars attacked the Pallar castes also for hiring drummers. The message of the Vellalars was clear – no low castes could hire drummers for funerals! Do Tamils need to be reminded that they did not allow low castes to enter any place that the high castes frequented? Yet when a government directive on “equal seating” emerged violence broke out in 1929 against low caste Tamils sitting on benches as previously they had to sit on the floor! This was how Tamils treated their own!
Continuous petitions were written pleading the Government to cancel the directive. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan went so far as to request the Colonial Office in London to encode caste into legislative enactments.
Struggle for Tamil Eelaam never began with the LTTE
Those ignorant of these facts would give the 1956 Sinhala Only Act as being the reason for the emergence of the LTTE & to its demand for a separate homeland. How false this claim is. Why was the ITAC formed in 1949 which denotes a separate homeland in its name? Why did the Tamils want 50:50 representation? Why did Tamils gather to put forward the Vadukoddai Resolution calling upon Tamils to take up arms? Why did Tamils allow Tamil police officers to be assassinated while these political leaders watched when all non-Tamils were forced to leave by armed groups in the North?
Though the LTTE was a guerilla force it had to abide by the rigid Tamil caste system thus the links to high caste political parties. Prabakaran & his main stooges may have all been low caste & low castes in terms of numbers may be more than the high caste Tamils but the caste system is such that low caste Tamils will hardly revolt – they are born to accept & never challenge the caste they are born into. That caste differences were very much prevalent is clear in the manner low caste Tamils of the East were used for high risk operations including Karuna who was deprived “promotion” for being low caste which resulted in his ultimate defection & which helped liberate the East eventually from the LTTE. Tamils who cry “discrimination” may like to recall how in the refugee camps during 1983 the high castes refused to share common toilet facilities with the low castes & a lot of problems arose inside the very camps housing only Tamils!
The TNA
Who are they? They are a group of Jaffna centric vellalar caste Tamils who do not represent Tamils. They merely represent their caste & aspire to regain supremacy for their caste. They should in essence be banned for their vision & mission in entirety is to continue a political struggle for a Tamil Homeland. It is a party that needs to be banned in Sri Lanka for political parties are not meant to divide the nation. If the TNA does not represent the Tamil people accept representing the continuous of the Vellalar caste rigid traditions it is time the Government stop playing footsie with such a political party.
Essentially what we must all know is that the Vellalars will never allow lower castes to challenge their status quo in marriage (even political marriage for convenience is regarded taboo). The Jaffna vellalars think themselves the elite while the Eastern Tamils and upcountry Tamils are looked down upon lower than the low castes Tamils of Jaffna.
So the decision or rather solution for the future of Tamils lies within themselves. Do they continue the age old caste differences or do they put caste, class & regional differences aside. Can the West explain how devolution is likely to provide an answer to these bitter sentiments that exist where Tamils do not want their own to sit with them at dinner, to drink from a teacup belonging to a low caste or to ever into a marriage all because of the caste factor? Obviously the West does not understand or know the complexity of the caste factor amongst Tamils.
It may be just 2 years since the elimination of the LTTE. It is too soon for the low caste Tamils to realize they are in a better position now to decide how they should live politically. They will soon realize that they are not bound to galvanize behind political parties like the TNA that pretends to fight for their cause but is only the custodian of the Vellalar traditions. All that the TNA attempts to do politically has nothing to do with the betterment of the Tamil people and all to do with keeping the low castes from straying elsewhere politically especially tying up with southern political parties.
What is really important to Tamils
In so far as what is important for the Tamils, it is obvious they need to identify how far they are willing to let go of generations old caste & class barriers. For in defending the caste system they are unlikely to protect either the Tamils or the Tamil culture. The dangers of this arises from large numbers of younger Tamils seeking foreign pastures who are enveloping foreign culture not wanting to be tied to age old traditions that prevails & with time they are unlikely to chant separate homeland either. So Tamils are likely to loose the obvious which is the homeland as well as loose out on protecting its culture simply because they paid scant attention to its protection. The present day calls is for learned Tamils to start protecting the Tamil culture rather than going behind separate homeland themes meant only to hide their caste differences.
Tamils must look back critically at the past 30 years. Did the conflict have adverse effects on the Tamil elite/high class and the high castes? No. Who actually suffered then? It was the low castes who have been suffering all along and the irony is that the paid low caste stooge Prabakaran was a puppet in the hands of the Tamil vellalars who used him to deprive his own. Prabakaran cared not to raise his own caste except to glorify himself. Prabakaran cared not to uplift the lives of the other low castes sharing what he earned from LTTE Inc, then these Tamils are never likely to find a savior any time soon unless they begin to change among themselves.
The Indian factor
Just as political parties used caste difference to gain political mileage, religious groups used caste to entice low caste Tamils who were poor to follow Christianity/Catholism. Similarly, low caste Tamils became a tool for foreign interferences and India & its intelligence agencies too followed this strategy.
India is no stranger to caste differences. There are 166million untouchables in India. India’s Untouchables are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense. 20% that is 11m Dalits live in Tamil Nadu & more than 50% live below the poverty line. Neither the AIADMK nor DMK have done anything to change the lives or livelihoods of the Dalits and it is no different in other States of India.
So for India using low castes of Sri Lanka would be nothing new. Part of the plan to economically develop the North with Indian assistance is certainly aimed at uplifting the technical & educational know-how of Tamils in order to incorporate them into India’s larger plan for the region. It is good for Sri Lanka to be more alert about what countries give post-conflict for the giving factor is more often camouflaged by what they plan to take ultimately!
Hiding behind facades that the Sinhalese are discriminating the Tamils, promoting these lies, distorting facts, paying western media to carry the wrong message is in reality doing damage to one’s own people. People who had been marginalized through the colonial periods, throughout post independence and even while the LTTE prevailed is the real story of the Tamil low castes who had to endure 30 years of suffering. Is this the destiny of the low caste Tamil people? Is it only the vellalars that must thrive in Sri Lanka? This is the question that needs to be answered first by Tamils & next by the West.
15 comments:
My Comment at LankaWeb.com
.......
Well done, Shenali … you nailed Tamil Casteism to the cross as the root cause of the Racist Tamil struggle for Eelam!
Your words of warning,
“Part of the plan to economically develop the North with Indian assistance is certainly aimed at uplifting the technical & educational know-how of Tamils in order to incorporate them into India’s larger plan for the region. It is good for Sri Lanka to be more alert about what countries give post-conflict for the giving factor is more often camouflaged by what they plan to take ultimately!”
ECHO previous warnings to the GOSL by many Sri Lankan Patriots to CEASE & DESIST giving India carte-blanche to gradually incorporate the North and East into Tamil Nadu to please Indian Tamils in the foolish belief that placating Indian Tamils will secure India’s security at the expense of our Sri Lankan Motherland!
Given the Enduring Tamil Racism in Tamil Nadu, it will only encourage secession of Tamil Nadu from India, as it did when the Tamil Terrorists that India trained and introduced into Sri Lanka to secure their national agenda, turned against Indian national interests.
These foolish Indians will NEVER LEARN that a friendly united non-communal Sri Lanka, guarding their southern border, is their best defence against the growth of secessionist movements in the Dravidian Sates of Southern India.
Ananda-USA
SriLankaDefenceForum
Sri Lanka's Upper Kothmale hydropower project ready to start test runs
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 17, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Upper Kothmale hydropower project which is now nearing completion will start the test runs of the turbines by the end of this month, Sri Lanka Electricity Board sources said.
Release of water to the 13-kilometer tunnel of the project took place today under the auspicious of Minister of Power and Energy Champika Ranawaka.
The tunnel, the longest tunnel of a hydropower reservoir in Sri Lanka, takes water to the generators from the 65-acre reservoir that has a capacity of 800,000 cubic meters.
Water flowing from the Kothmale Oya, a branch of the Mahaweli River, is used for power generation in Upper Kothmale.
The project located in the Nuwara Eliya district is to be declared open on 27th March at a special ceremony presided by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The US$ 450 million project that was constructed with the assistance Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will add 150 MW of electricity to the national power grid.
When completed the run of river hydropower project with an installed capacity of 150MW consisting of two 75MW units, will produce 409GWh per year.
The project is implemented by the Ceylon Electricity Board under the supervision of the Ministry of Power and Energy.
Irrespective of creating a Senate to exercise oversight on the House of Representatives, the GOSL SHOULD NOT DEVOLVE Police & Land Powers to Racist Separatists who supported Terrorism for 30 years.
Such DEVOLUTION, weakening the Central Government and Permanently Embedding Communal Bases in the Governance of the Country, would be a RECIPE FOR THE DESTRUCTION of Sri Lan ka.
Instead, the Goal should be to wipe out Communal Divisions in the country, and advance towards ONE Sri Lankan Nation of ONE Sri Lankan People sharing ONE Sri Lankan Destiny.
NEVER let Racist Separatists DIVIDE THe COUNTRY again through the Front Door of War, or the Back Door of Constitutional Amendments and Gradual Incorporation of the North & East into Tamil Nadu!
WAKE UP GOSL to India's Subtle Moves to culturally assimilate the North & East into Tamil Nadu under the cloak of "Rehabilitiation Assistance"!
Awadiwanna!
..................
Sri Lanka government to establish a Senate under 13th plus amendment to devolve power
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 19, Colombo: The government of Sri Lanka plans to establish an advisory body to the legislature to formulate reforms to devolve power to the ethnic minorities, mainly to the Tamils and urged the country's major Tamil political party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to support the process.
Addressing a media briefing on Thursday the Government Spokesman and Minister of Media & Information Keheliya Rambukwella said the government expects to establish a Senate representing minority groups and academics as a "viable link between the Central government and the provinces."
Explaining the government's initiative, the Minister said the 13th Amendment to the Constitution is already a part of the Constitution since 1987, and the establishment of the Senate, which will act as an advisory body to the legislature, is what meant by the 13+ or 13 and beyond.
Visiting Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Tuesday said President Mahinda Rajapaksa had informed him that a solution which goes beyond the 13th Amendment would be considered as the political solution.
"The President assured me that he stands by his commitment to pursuing the 13th Amendment plus approach," Krishna said after his meeting with President Rajapaksa Tuesday.
The 13th plus approach has been communicated to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during President Mahinda Rajapaksa's state visit to India, the Minister observed.
The Sri Lankan government however, denies that it is under pressure from India to devolve powers according to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The Minister told the media that the government wants to arrive at a consensus on a political solution with all parties represented in the parliament and appointed the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for that purpose.
"It (PSC) is where we can arrive at a solution on this issue. That is why the government insists the TNA to nominate their representatives to the PSC," the Minister said.
The PSC is expected to recommend constitutional measures that need to address the grievances of the minorities and provide solutions for all people and suggest steps to enhance the unity of people in the country.
He explained that any other consensus reached outside the PSC would have to be brought to the parliament for its approval.
Sri Lanka government to establish a Senate under 13th plus amendment to devolve power
.....continued.....
The Tamil alliance has earlier said that the party would not participate in the PSC as it would be another "time-buying tactic" of the government. The party is yet to name its representatives to the PSC.
"If the TNA wants a solution they should come in within the PSC," Rambukwella noted.
Referring to the issue of giving land and police powers to the provinces under the 13th Amendment, the Minister said the government has concerns granting full powers but it is prepared to discuss the extent of these powers to be devolved.
He pointed out that although the President has the executive powers to take unilateral decisions in this regard, he prefers a solution through consensus of all political parties and the PSC would serve that purpose.
RED ALERT!
Yet another clear indication that the Eelamists are attempting REVIVE TERRORISM in Sri Lanka.
INCREASE Defense Forces in the North & East instead of REDUCING their presence.
Implement ETHNIC INTEGRATION & SETTLEMENT of non-Tamils in the North & East and make EELAM IMPOSSIBLE!
.............
Sri Lanka Navy arrests LTTE Sea Tiger trying to enter the country
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 22, Thalaimannar: Sri Lanka Navy arrested two people attempting to enter the island illegally under cover from the northwestern coast yesterday, the Navy reported today.
The two ethnic Tamils have been dropped off by a hired Indian boat at the 9th Sand Bank off the coast of Thalaimannar and were swimming to the 8th Sand Bank when the naval personnel attached to the North-western Naval Command spotted them and arrested.
Preliminary investigations reveal that one of the pair is a 26-year-old resident in Muttur who has undergone LTTE Sea Tiger training in 2005 and fled to India in 2006.
The other, a 44-year-old man from Mannar was a fisherman who has fled to India in 2007.
Both were handed over to Thalaimannar Police for further investigations, the Navy said.
ALL FOREIGN MISSIONARIES, not only those violating their VISAS, should be EXPELLED!
Sri Lanka's religious freedom does not extend to HEAVILY FUNDED FOREIGN MISSIONARIES preaching INTOLERANT DOGMA and EXPLOITING POVERTY to convert people to their religions.
Sri Lankan religious leaders who honor and respect each other should be the ONLY people allowed to preach religion in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka for Sri Lankans ... not FOREIGN HEAD HUNTERS!
..............
Sri Lanka orders 161 foreign Islamic clerics out
January 22, 2012
AFP
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka has ordered a group of 161 foreign Islamic clerics to leave the country, for flouting visa regulations by preaching to pockets of Muslims around the country, an official said Sunday.
Controller of Immigration and Emigration Chulananda Perera said the clerics, who were mostly Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Maldivian and Arab, had travelled into the country on tourist visas.
"We have ordered them to leave the country by January 31. They have violated immigration laws. A tourist visa is to have a holiday or visit friends and family and not to preach Islam," Perera told AFP.
He said the group, which belongs to the Tabligh Jamat group, arrived in Sri Lanka last month in small batches.
Perera said he acted on several complaints by the Muslim community, that the clerics were not preaching the moderate Islam practiced on the Buddhist-dominated island.
"Foreign clerics wishing to preach Islam in Sri Lanka, must first apply for permission through the religious affairs authorities," Perera said.
In January, Sri Lanka launched an online-visa application system, scrapping the one-month visa on arrival for foreigners, except Maldivians and Singaporeans.
Indeed, The Tiger Nominated Agents party the TNA remains the political party out in front, as the Eelamists in TAMIL NADU and in the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora work hand in glove with them, sending messages and funds, holding meetings and conferences abroad, creating bases in nearby countries, recovering and stock piling arms, and orchestrating robberies in Sri Lanka, and sending LTTE fighters by air and by sea to organize renewed terrorism.
It will FAIL, but we patriots must be ALERT and make them PAY A FAR HEAVIER PRICE than the SUN GOD and his MINIONS did along the banks of the Nanthikandal Lagoon!
Let us take our gloves off and stop trying to REHABILITATE these UNREPENTANT RACIST MURDERERS; it is SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE .. they will NEVER LEARN!
...............
Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary warns of LTTE elements working behind political parties
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 21, Colombo: Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says that even after the end of the war, LTTE elements were still trying to act from behind some political parties.
Rajapaksa has said that the government could not be held responsible for the persons who go missing due to terrorist activities.
The Defence Secretary has made these comments at a ceremony held in Matale to honor 2,217 war heroes from the Matale District who had sacrificed their lives in the war.
Families of the war heroes were handed a special medal for their service rendered to the country.
Speaking at the event, Rajapaksa has also noted that some foreign organizations supported and pushed for the agendas of terrorist organizations.
Next Time they resort to terrorism ... the REHABILITATION will be SUDDEN & PERMANENT!
We Promise.
............
Sri Lanka warns ex-Tamil rebels against revolting
NewKerala.com
Colombo, Jan 21: Sri Lanka has warned former Tamil Tiger rebels not to engage with any group which may be attempting to overthrow the government.
The warning came after a splinter group of a Marxist political party in Sri Lanka claimed it has established contacts with some former rebels who were rehabilitated by the government and released into society, Xinhua reported.
If any former rebels, rehabilitated and released into society, were found to be having links with groups looking at creating an unstable situation in the country, they will be arrested, said the military official in charge of the programme to rehabilitate former rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Major-General Chandana Rajaguru, however, said that so far they have not come across or received information regarding such activities.
He said former rebels are free to engage in politics but they cannot look to overthrow the government through violent means.
A spokesman for a breakaway faction of the People's Liberation Front, a Marxist political party, said they have obtained the support of several former rebels to overthrow the government.
Thousands of former rebels have been released back into society after undergoing rehabilitation following the end of a 30-year war in May 2009 between the military and the LTTE. (IANS)
Indeed, India, which TRAINED and IMPLANTED Tamil Terrorists in Sri Lanka, and INVADED Sri Lanka to divide the country to please its Tamil Nadu citizens, should BUTT OUT from trying to force "Political Solutions" in Sri Lanka.
Instead, India should focus on uplifting its own poverty stricken, illiterate citizens tormented by terrorists by night and by caste discrimination by day.
BUTT OUT of Sri Lanka's Internal Matters, India!
India has NO USEFUL IMPARTIAL ADVICE to offer Sri Lanka.
..........
India needs to change approach towards Sri Lanka, Sinhala nationalist party says
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 22, Colombo: A coalition partner of Sri Lanka's governing United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) says India needs to change its approach towards Lanka and not try to exploit the country's vulnerable position with the international community.
The JHU notes that India is trying to force Sri Lanka to implement a solution that goes beyond the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
Deputy General Secretary of the JHU and Western Provincial Council Minister Udaya Gammanpila says that no country regardless of its strength could force Sri Lanka to implement any law.
Gammanpila has told the media that India should have learnt a bitter lesson with its experience in trying to force Sri Lanka to implement the 13th Amendment through the Indo-Lanka Accord.
He has explained that India should pay attention to what happened to the 13th Amendment, where it could not be fully implemented even after 1,118 Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives and thousands more suffered injuries.
He has noted that India has been unable to get the 13th Amendment implemented even after 25 years.
According to Gammanpila, India needed to change its approach towards Sri Lanka and stop forcing the government to implement the 13th Amendment or go beyond it.
He has observed that the solution to the ethnic issue should be home grown and the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) would provide the best opportunity for it.
Therefore, Gammanpila has said that India should ask the major Tamil party , Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to nominate its members to the PSC if it was genuinely interested in finding a political solution.
Why does Sri Lanka, labelled as being inhabited by Murderous Demons by Eelamists, LEAD THE WORLD in eye donations?
Is it because of the Buddhist Principles of the great majority of our citizens?
Then, perhaps, is this DEMONIZATION FALSE TAMIL EELAMIST PROPAGANDA?
The FACTS & STATISTICS of the society that has taken root in Sri Lanka since independence SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES!
There are NONE SO BLIND as those WHO REFUSE TO SEE!
..........
Sri Lanka one of world's largest cornea donors
StraintsTimes.com
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - At 10.25am (12.55pm Singapore time), a dark brown eye was removed from a man whose lids had closed for the last time. Five hours later, the orb was staring up at the ceiling from a stainless steel tray in an operating room with two blind patients - both waiting to give it a second life.
Mr S.P.D. Siriwardana, 63, remained still under a white sheet as the surgeon delicately replaced the cornea that had gone bad in his right eye following a cataract surgery. Across the room, patient Mr A.K. Premathilake, 32, waited for the sclera, the white of the eye, to provide precious stem cells and restore some vision after acid scalded his sight away on the job.
'The eye from this dead person was transplanted to my son,' said Mr A.K. Admon Singho, who guided Mr Premathilake through the hall after the surgery. 'He's dead, but he's still alive. His eye can still see the world.' This gift of sight is so common here, it's become an unwritten symbol of pride and culture for Sri Lanka, an island of about 20 million people located off the southern coast of India. Despite recently emerging from a quarter century of civil war, the country is among the world's largest cornea providers.
It donates about 3,000 corneas a year and has provided tissue to 57 countries over nearly a half century, with Pakistan receiving the biggest share, according to the nonprofit Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society. The organisation began promoting eye donation decades ago, but has since faced allegations of mismanagement and poor quality standards.
The GOSL SHOULD NOT SEPARATELY MEET WITH THE TNA to discuss ANYTHING!
Devolution of Power to Racist Separatists that would Ultimately Lead to Division of the Nation and Loss of Sovereignty over the North & East to Tamil Nadu in India are are of URGENT CONCERN to ALL PEOPLE and POLITICAL PARTIES of Sri Lanka.
Our SONS & DAUGTERS sacrificed their lives to DEFEAT these TERRORIST SEPARATISTS ... do not BETRAY them and the Motherland they died for!
Accordingly,
1. TERMINATE PERMANENTLY all separate discussions with thye TNA.
2. ASK the TNA to ATTEND PSC Deliberations ... if they don't attend ... that will be their own FUNERAL.
THE PSC won't ACCEDE to their SEPARATIST DEMANDS ... but if they do not attend they will not get ANYTHING!
Power should not be devolved to any community on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, language, caste, sex or wealth.
Not in Sri Lanka where all citizens expect to enjoy equal rights and access to ALL of their country without regard to their race, religion, language, caste, sex or ethnicity.
ONE Nation of ONE People sharing ONE Destiny is our GOAL.
In the Meantime, PROSECUTE TNA Leaders for their TREASONOUS Activities over the last 30 years, CONVICT and PUNISH the Guilty in PRISON at HARD LABOR.
UNPUNISHED TREASON
BEGETS MORE TREASON!
.............
Govt -TNA talks at dead end!
TheNation.lk
January 22, 2012
Talks between the government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) seem at a dead end with both parties unwilling to compromise.
The two groups were scheduled to hold discussions last week but the talks did not commence as planned. Minister and member of the government delegation, Nimal Siripala de Silva said the government would hold talks with the TNA once the latter submits the names of representatives to the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC). “There is nothing happening. We will talk to them (TNA) when they submit their names to the PSC,” de Silva stressed.
However, TNA’s Suresh Premachandran said the party would not go to the PSC unless a concrete agreement was reached between both parties during the discussions. “There is no point of going to the PSC without arriving at a concrete agreement on devolution. We think the PSC is anyway a time buying measure on the part of the government,” he pointed out.
The TNA and the government have been involved in talks since January last year. Talks hit a roadblock after the discussions on August 4 when the TNA requested the government’s response to its demands. Talks recommenced the following month after a meeting between its Parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan and President Mahinda Rajapaksa on September 2.
My Comment at LankaWeb:.com
..........
Charles,
Agree with you completely.
The 13th Amendment should be completely deleted from Sri Lanka's constitution together with the division of the country into large administrative Provinces. Provinces are too large; they pose a threat to thestability of the national government and erect barriers to national development. Furthermore, they are an additional layer of tax-supported administrative bureaucracies that impose additional burdens on citizens. As in the past, Sri Lanka should trevert to Districts as the largest administrative units, under direct control of the central government and its various Ministries. Instead of employing additional Provincial Councilors, empower Members of the National Parliament to develop their constituencies; at present they are without any useful function and are mere tax-supported parasites.
The 13th Amendment was imposed on Sri Lanka by India after India had INVADED Sri Lanka to dictate division of the country into two parts, in favor of the Tamil Terrorists it trained and implanted in Sri Lanka. International agreements aggressively imposed by the force of arms are ILLEGAL under International Law, and are usually abrogated after the invaders are expelled. One example is the occupation of the Sudetenland by Nazi Germany subsequent to the "Munich" agreement. That agreement was abrogated and Czechoslovakia was reconstituted after the defeat of the axis powers in WWII. Let us abrogate the 13th Amendment imposed by the invader, and create a constitution more suited to preserving Sri Lanka as an independent sovereign nation in the future.
Furthermore, a recent article entitled Govt -TNA talks at dead end! reports on the "impasse" between the GOSL and the TNA. The TNA as we all know, is striving to win by subterfuge through POLITICAL PRESSURE what it failed to win through Murderous War as the political arm of thye late unlamented Sun God.
Contrary to TNA's demands for one-on-one talks with the GOSL that would yield a backroom agreement for a de-facto Eelam, before they pretend to "participate" in the PSC, the GOSL SHOULD NOT SEPARATELY MEET WITH THE TNA to discuss ANYTHING!
Devolution of Power to Racist Separatists that would ultimately lead to Division of the Nation and Loss of Sovereignty over the North & East to be incorporated into Tamil Nadu are of URGENT CONCERN to ALL PEOPLE and POLITICAL PARTIES of Sri Lanka. The proper place for that discussion is in the PSC with representatives of the entire nation providing their input.
Our SONS & DAUGHTERS sacrificed their lives to DEFEAT these TERRORIST SEPARATISTS to preserve a united Sri Lanka, not to create a RACIST EELAM through backroom parleys under foreign pressure.
Accordingly, the GOSL should
1. TERMINATE PERMANENTLY all separate discussions with the TNA.
2. ASK the TNA to ATTEND PSC deliberations and provide their input at their option.
3. If they don't attend, the PSC should proceed with their deliberations, and the GOSL should implement their recommendations subject to approval in a NATIONWIDE REFERENDUM.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com
.......continued.....
THE PSC most likely won't ACCEDE to their SEPARATIST DEMANDS ... but if they do not attend they will not get ANYTHING! This is an opportunity to for them to contribute to the growth of a non-communal Sri Lanka in which power will not be devolved to any community on the basis of ethnicity, religion, language, caste, sex or wealth.
In Sri Lanka ALL citizens expect to enjoy equal rights and have access to ALL of their country without regard to their race, religion, language, caste, sex or wealth. ONE Nation of ONE People sharing ONE Destiny is our GOAL. If thye TNA does not understand and accept that, that is their funeral, but the GOSL should not ignore the wishes of the vast majority of Sri Lankans.
In the Meantime, the TNA Leaders should be INVESTIGATED and PROSECUTED for their TREASONOUS Activities over the last 30 years. Those GUILTY of TREASON should be CONVICTED and PUNISHED at HARDLABOR in PRISON for TREASON UNPUNISHED, BEGETS MORE TREASON ... as we see every day.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com
..........
Other Chief Ministers of Provinces say police and land powers are not necessary to the Provinces effectively; only access to land is necessary and the Provinces already enjoy adequate power.
But, the Tiger Nominated Agents of the TNA are wailing that Sri Lanka is “not honoring” promises made to India.
In which part of the world is the VICTIM required to keep promises made to an ATTACKER holding a knife to one’s throat? Why is the ATTACKER not being castigated for its CRIMES?
The LUDICROUS NATURE of India’s position is that India has NEVER APOLOGIZED for training and implanting Tamil terrorists in Sri Lanka and then INVADING Sri Lanka to enforce its partition in favor of those Tamil Terrorists. While India KNOWS it committed a grievous crime against sovereign Sri Lanka … initiating a war that ultimately killed 150,000 Sri Lankan citizens … India PRESUMES to have the moral standing to lecture Sri Lanka about devolution of power to former separatists on the basis of ETHNICITY. I don’t see India swallowing its own medicine and DEVOLVING POWER to Muslims in Kashmir! Do you? Different Strokes for Diofferent Folks … it seems.
The need to PLACATE racist leaders in Tamil Nadu in return for their political support at the Centre will ALWAYS GUIDE India’s actions … it is about time we Sri Lankans understood that. The latest ploy India is using to placate communal Tamil Nadu politicians is using “Rehabilitation Assistance” to support Tamil Aspirations and Economy of the North & East into the Tamil Nadu society and markets. When that is completed, they expect to achieve a de-facto Eelam with political union to be imposed later.
We Sri Lankans should understand these moves and ERECT BARRIERS to the slow alienation of our Northern & Eastern Provinces under India’s duplicitous hand.
The only COMPLETE & FULL solution to these moves is to settle people of other communities in large numbers in the North & East and drive Sri Lanka through a GOSL supported Policy of ETHNIC INTEGRATION towards a homogeneous demography.
Then, the very basis of an EELAM as a Tamils-Only State will be FRUSTRATED & DEMOLISHED. The icing on the cake will be that ALL people of Sri Lanka can then enjoy the cartloads of highly focused “Rehabilitation Assistance” provided by in the North & East for consumption by Tamils only! Instead of further segregation of communities that India wants to promote, we will divert Indian money to promote further integration of Sri Lankan communities !
Chief ministers express mixed sentiments on “13 plus”
DailyMirror.lk
January 23, 2012
…….
“Shan Wijeyalal Silva, the chief minister of the Southern Provincial Council, said yesterday that powers should not be devolved to appease a single community. He said that it should be done to meet the aspirations of all communities. He said that the chief ministers could provide an effective service to the people with the existing powers.
Besides, said Mr. Wijelal, the provincial councils were able to provide an effective service even without land and police powers. He said that all that was needed were sufficient funds for the provincial councils.”
…..
“Bertie Premalal Dissanayake, the chief minister of the North Central Province, also expressed similar sentiments and said the provincial councils enjoyed a fair amount of power already. He said his provincial council had access to land within his province. He therefore said there was no need for more powers.”
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