I had lunch with a certain Mr Arunachalam, an Indian Tamil from Madras. The conversation that took place prompted me to write this post.
Sri Lanka is a place for all of us to live in harmony. If anyone, especially the Tamil diaspora thinks that Sri Lanka should be ethnically divided, then, the following is food for though for you. This is also good for those LTTE sympathisers in our country as well as around the world:
Your claim: Sri Lanka is the only place for Tamil Ealam
Fact: Sri Lanka is the ONLY place in the world for the Sinhala race and the Veddahs. Whether you like it or not, they have the right to this land before anyone else. Tamils, on the other hand, have the historical right to Tamil Nadu – and that is where the only Ealam Dreamland should be. Or you may consider Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Germany, England or Australia – they have been pampering you well, haven’t they?
Claim: North and East are the historical Tamil Homeland
Fact: If you think the North and East belonged to the Tamils historically, think twice. Read the history of Sri Lanka – the truth, not the rubbish you teach in Tamil schools in Germany. Visit Anuradhapura and look at the moonstones: Lankan civilisation began in the North (not in the South) and the Buddhists were there before the Tamils. Many places of worship of significant importance for Buddhists still lie in the North and East, including places such as Nagadveepa and Thiriyaya – which is said to have been built containing relics of the lord Buddha.
Only during the Polonnaruwa regime that the cow was removed from the moonstone as a result of the Hindu influence. That’s the first time ever the Cholas set foot in our island – so how dare you claim that the North and East are the “traditional” land of the Tamils?
Claim: Sinhala Buddhists are committing a Genocide in Sri Lanka
(Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.)
Fact: There were Sinhala and Muslim communities living in the North and East – not so long ago. Where are they now? Who has systematically eliminated them, chased them out of their own homes? Who has chopped the heads off the infants, split opened pregnant mothers, stamped their wombs, killed every Sinhala person in sight and torched their villages?
Starting from the Kent Farm and Model Farm, the Tamil extremists have eliminated the Sinhala and Muslim communities from the North (and tried in the East too); they attacked temples and mosques, brutally executing monks, priests and innocent people while they were praying. From Aranthalawa, Dimbulagala and Sri Maha Bodhiya to Kandy, the barbaric LTTE terrorists didn’t even spare a temple or a mosque. It’s the Tamil terrorists committing genocide in Sri Lanka, not anyone else!
Claim: Tamils are discriminated in Sri Lanka
Fact: A person from the majority Sinhalese cannot buy a piece of land in the North (prevented by a pact), but the Tamils can buy land anywhere in the country. Statistically speaking, Tamils are occupying more than their share in universities, in the civil service, the government and even in the private sector. From Sea Street to 4th Cross Street, there are certain trades and industries that “belong” to the Tamils, and no Sinhala or Muslim merchant can penetrate that. A closer look at the transformation of Colombo and its suburbs will make any pea-brain understand who is having a better life and who is being pushed aside from the capital city. From Paskaralingam to Kadirgamar to Muralitharan, there are millions of Tamils who have flourished in this country. It is the Sinhala students who cannot attend the Jaffna University or the Eastern University, while the Tamil students enjoy their rights all over the country, including the Peradeniya University in the heartland of the Sinhala Buddhists. Even in Colombo, a Sinhala student is not admitted to any Tamil school, while all the Sinhala schools accept Tamil students.
From education, to civil service, to businesses and private sector, to land-ownership in Colombo – Tamils are enjoying more than their fair share. How would it be possible if there is so-called discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka?
Claim: Sri Lankan regime has failed to take care of the North and the East
Fact: Jaffna had been almost on par with Colombo at one time, a thriving cosmopolitan – the second capital of Sri Lanka – before the troubles began. There are many provinces and districts that have been forgotten by the ruling parties – North and East aren’t at the top of that list. Uva, for example did not even have a university until 2 or 3 years ago; Moneragala district is the most deprived in the entire country. The governments have always favoured the Tamils – in order to keep their votes, and as a result, they have been enjoying better benefits than the others in Sri Lanka.
Claim: Tamils get hassled and harassed by the security checks
Fact: The Sinhalese, the Muslims, the Burghers – we all get woken up in the wee hours of the morning, during search operations; we all get our bags, baggage and vehicles checked, we all get harassed – that’s the price the innocent people pay for the environment the stupid LTTE has created. Anyone who fails to produce valid identification or reasonable evidence for whereabouts would get into trouble – unless you are a foreigner (they are the privileged ones in paradise). There are Sinhala and Muslim informants on the LTTE payroll too, so everyone is a ‘suspect’ at a checkpoint. We all go through the same hassle, same agony. But then again, you hardly visit Sri Lanka, so what would you know?
Claim: Sinhalese Buddhists are at War with the Tamils
Fact: Nope, we aren’t. If we did, there wouldn’t have been any Tamils living outside LTTE-controlled areas. Majority of the Tamil population is living outside the LTTE grip; living amongst the other ethnicities in harmony. Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is at war with the terrorists, just like some other democracies around the world. Some LTTE propaganda agents substitute GoSL with Sinhalese Buddhists and LTTE with the Tamils, to leverage certain situations in their favour.
Claim: Some Sinhala Extremist Parties are spreading Sinhala-only ideologies
Fact: Yes, there are extremist elements such as Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU trans. National Sinhala Heritage) – which came to being to counter the extremists such as the LTTE under a political mandate. Tamil extremism is over 50 years old in Sri Lanka while JHU isn’t even 10 years old. JHU, being an extremist, has almost zero influence on the average civil society. Tamils, on the other hand, have “erased” Sinhala from their areas (only Tamil and English exist on the sign boards from the North – out of sight, out of mind?) while the rest of the country treats Tamil as one of the official languages.
Now, who is being extreme and who is breeding extremism in this country?
Claim: Sri Lankan Government has no option but to negotiate with the LTTE
Fact: Sri Lankan Government did not negotiate with the Sinhala Buddhist uprisings in the early 70’s and the late 80’s. The Sinhala terrorists were captured, tortured and killed – and their heads decorated the roadside fences. Their burning bodies were seen in almost every street corner every morning, and over 50,000 youth are still missing to date. That was the Sinhala Buddhist government taking care of the Sinhala Buddhist youth who terrorised the country. The government does NOT have to negotiate with terrorists. The Sri Lankan governments have been too nice, and tolerant, to the Tamil terrorists all these years.
Claim: The international community has a right to involve in the Sri Lankan situation
Fact: The international community has already banned the LTTE – a terror outfit and its sister-concerns. Not even India can ecourage terrorism or division anymore; they too have Mumbai and Kashmir on their agenda. Sadly, it is only a few misguided Tamil businessmen and individuals who support the LTTE around the world trying to lobby a voice for lost cause – they hardly quantify or qualify as the “international community.” BBC and the gullible British elements don’t qualify either. You too will soon see the truth and realise that the Ealam dream was nothing but a painful nightmare.
Claim: LTTE is the only and true voice of the Tamil people
Fact: LTTE does not represent the true Tamils of this country. If they did, why would they eliminate EPRLF, EPDP, EROS and TULF? Weren’t they representing Tamils too? Why would they kill any Tamil voice that was against the LTTE agenda – no matter how big or small the person was? From innocent villagers who were labelled as “traitors” to great statesmen like Lakshaman Kadirgamar, LTTE has killed thousands of its own kith and kin that they were “supposedly” protecting. In fact, the LTTE has killed more innocent Tamils than the number of LTTE militants killed by the Sri Lankan Security Forces. LTTE is not the true voice or the protector of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. It’s just the opposite.
Claim: LTTE is protecting the civilians in their area, if they get out, they would be killed by the Sri Lankan Security Forces. (Also according to LTTE and the BBC)
Fact: Almost all the Tamils in Sri Lanka – except for the ones who are trapped in the current War Zone – live outside the LTTE influence. How come they are not killed? If over 90% of the Tamils are living outside the LTTE held areas, in harmony with the rest of the Sri Lankans, protected and freely, what are they talking about? They would be killed by the military advance if they DON’T leave the LTTE-held areas soon enough.
Claim: Sri Lanka failed to recognise the demands of the Tamils and never offered a political solution
Fact: Sri Lanka did, but sadly the Tamils didn’t recognise the power they had in their hands. The country switched from a 225-seater parliament that represented an MP per electorate to the Provincial Council System to satisfy the demands of the Tamils. This may not have been perfect, but it was a very good beginning. North and East were combined and offered in a silver platter to the terrorist leader twice, but he refused to enter the political stream. LTTE rejected democracy and took up arms, not once, not twice, but many a times. Every “Cease-Fire” ended in LTTE regrouping, re-arming and murdering hundreds of Sinhalese – the Tamil Diaspora that has never set foot in the island should use their brains to understand why the LTTE were NOT acting for the benefit of the ordinary Tamils.
Sri Lanka would have been better off without the high-maintenance Provincial Council System – with a leaner, meaner, accountable and more responsible Parliament. Today we have a white elephant – created for the Tamils, but fed by the rest of the Sri Lankans.
We were a resourceful nation in South Asia, ahead of Singapore on the development curve, once upon a time. Thanks to the idiotic ideologies and stupidities of LTTE, the whole country has gone back in time – in to the stone ages. The roads are still the same width as it were 30 years ago, the currency has depreciated from Rs 16.00 to a US Dollar in 1978 to almost Rs 114.00 to a US Dollar today – a whopping 712% in just 30 years! The country is filled with the maimed and the war-victims – a huge burden on the welfare system for the next few generations to come. Emotional scars would take another zillion years to heal; and I could write another million ways the war has crippled our Paradise.
Most of all, the LTTE cleverly bumped-off all the brains in the political system – leaving the country in the hands of a bunch of imbeciles. We will win the war and restore peace and stability, but we cannot gain the time we lost. We cannot turn back the clock. The world has moved on, leaving us far behind.
In simple, the LTTE morons have shat on the pile of gold that is Sri Lanka. It is going to take a few heavy monsoons to wash away the crap and the stench, and its going to be a hell of a long time before we begin to shine again.
