Hello friends,
When I posted Mohan Sekaram’s mail with his permission on this blog little did I realize it would have such impact.
My original intention was simply that of presenting a different refreshing point of view. Needless to say I shared his opinion to a great extent too.
What I thought would be a mere ripple has made quite a splash and acquired a momentum of its own at least on this site.
Many of the responses have quite a lot of substance and well-reasoned arguments though the underlying mood is essentially emotional.
However I love this positive , vibrant emotion as opposed to the passionate intensity displayed by negativists and hate mongers.
What has happened I think is that a lot of like-minded persons found themselves resonating to Mohan’s letter which struck a positive note.
There have been many doubts expressed too and they too are valid but for the moment let us just speak out for what is desirable instead of focusing on why things are not attainable.
As I wrote in response to a commentator expressing misgivings:
“The heart has reasons which reason cannot understand”
These missives and many responses are written in the language of the heart. It resonates with those on the same wavelength.
It is basically personal inter-action but thanks to “WWW” it is in the public domain.
If these mails are being circulated widely so be it. I am happy to see mails of this type rather than those spewing hate and venom all the time.
People of the same mind from different ethnicities have been the silent and silenced majority for long.
It’s refreshing to see the megaphone liberated at least in a tiny sphere from the vociferous minority that monopolised it for long.
Again it is a matter of opinion whether these views are “superficial in content” or not.
Most of these commentators are not learned academics or seasoned analysts. They are simply expressing their feelings.
To me these views are richer in content because of their well-intentioned sincerity.
Now let me post three more responses as part of this blog entry.
Two were sent to me directly and one through a friend. Two are from “Sinhala” Sri Lankans and one from a “Tamil” Sri Lankan.
The first is by Madhura Prematilleke, the second by T. Jeyapalan and the third by Kanchana Ratwatte.
Here they are one after the other - dbsj
1. Madhura Prematilleke
Thank you, Mohan, for this letter of hope and reaching out.
As Mohan addressed his fellow-Tamil Sri Lankans, this response is addressed to my fellow-Sinhalese Sri Lankans.
Dear Fellow-Sinhala Sri Lankans,
I see that many of us are heartened by Mohan’s letter. If you read responses to his letter you will see that many Sri Lankans support his call, while a few disagree. Those who disagree point out that he is glossing over the treatment that Tamils have suffered since before the war, and that any reconciliation should be based on a full admission of guilt etc.
Their criticism is at least partly correct, but they miss what Mohan is trying to do. He is trying to be large-hearted enough to look forward, not backward. He is in fact bending over backwards trying to strike a cord with his Sinhalese brothers.
So what should we Sinhalese do?
Can we be as large-hearted, as forgiving, as Mohan is? Can we lose our suspicions? Let’s try. Here are some suggestions:
1. Let’s admit for a start that Tamil Sri Lankans have many grievances that we as the majority have not adequately responded to. Let’s admit that their problems are not merely those of underdevelopment and economics, but also issues of identity and dignity. Let’’s say to our Tamil brothers and sisters “We are genuinely ready to listen. Tell us your troubles”
2. Let’s take it upon ourselves to persuade our leaders to listen as well. We are the ones best positioned to do so.
3. Let’s reach out to our neighbours. Let’s each one of us invite a Tamil family into our homes and learn about their lives.
4. Let’s learn to speak Tamil. Even a few phrases to start with.
5. Let’s turn our celebrations into acts of reconciliation. Let’s collect food, clothing, medicine, for our fellow Sri Lankans who are now referred to as IDPs. Let’s go the camps in convoys and show them we care. Let’s do as we did during the Tsunami.
6. Let’s invite our Tamil brethren to join us in caring for the thousands of victims of the conflict, North and South-families of dead soldiers, disabled soldiers, victims of suicide bombings and their families, victims of the conflict zones and their families, victims of July 1983, families displaced from their homes by the war, families whose children have been forcibly taken away to be conscripted as child soldiers, as well as the thousands still suffering from the effects of the Tsunami, particularly the Tsunami-orphans.
I hope for positive responses from my fellow-Sinhala Sri Lankans.
Best wishes,
Madhura
2.T.Jeyapalan
The war that sucked the blood slowly from the young and old in SriLanka for the past 28 years, suddenly came to a close with a once and for all bloodbath. TV and internet screened some of the most horrendous pictures that man kind had ever witnessed for a very long time. In every nook and corner people gathered to discuss the news back in their mother land. As war entered the final stages, lots of theories floated on the ‘real situation’. Media speculated their own tales but none of the audience expected the drama to end the way it did.
As some look for new beginnings in life, for some it has been a miserable and painful experience. Some of these deep emotions are often turned in to anger and hatred that brings further destruction to the individual’s wellbeing and further alienates one from the wider world. The SriLankan communities have been through this vicious cycle for the past thirty years.
Have we seen the end of it? Or, are these notions of hatred going to push us further in to a deeper hell?
How do we stop this vicious cycle of spreading hatred and mistrust and bring peace back in to the hearts and minds?
Some of us are seething that the only power that we had has been taken away. Is it true? What power are we talking about?
“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be.” Thomas Jefferson, American 3rd US President.
No one has taken our power away. All God given power of good thoughts, power to understand, the power to serve, the power to forgive & forget, power to love, power to pray and power to smile in humility are all still within us.
There is dire need for something than any other solution. We need to be healed so that we come out this anger and see life from a different perspective.
It is high time the communities took account of where we were 30 years ago and where we are now. We should contemplate and reflect on the path we walked for our so called ‘political salvation’ in SriLanka. Bundles of questions arise in our mind? What do we need now?
As a first step of healing, one should stop fanning the flames of the feeling in the young minds. Today the radio waves are full of songs and messages that would make the young minds restless. We have heard this on the political platforms in Sri Lanka in the 70′s and we now know what the end result is.
Let is not go back. It has been already a treacherous journey.
Instead, let’s go inward and analyse ourselves. Let’s us not blame us and let us not blame others, either. Let’s us accept the present and move towards goodness.
Is peace absence of violence?
“Peace is an expression of love”
When we are healing we can contemplate on all means of solutions from this seat of ‘love and peace’.
What can save the people from further agony? What will bring peace to the people in Sri Lanka? What was missing all these years?
It would then dawn to us that world order shall be maintained based on basic five principles. That is Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanthi (Peace), Prema (Love) & Ahimsa (Non-Violence)
Man should aspire with these noble goals in heart to find solutions to all people in SriLanka. Man would realise that it was his ‘thoughts, words and deeds’ brought this calamity in SriLanka. He can see the reflections of this in the IDP camps today.
People should now muster themselves for the next stage. It is not to fight but to serve; to serve those who lay in pain in the camps. Attending to them with the touch of love will cure the physical wounds and heal our hurt as well.
As a final note, the two communities when convenient should visit the maimed and affected people from both sides of the conflict. This is where I think the real “Truth & Reconciliation” would begin
God bless the world
Jeyapalan
3.Kanchana Ratwatte
Hi Cukoo (Mohan Sekaram)
When the gunfire died down and normalcy returned to the Island after the 1971 insurrection it is reported that a school master at Trinity College had proclaimed at a staff meeting that he was proud of the fact that none of “our boys” were involved in the insurrection. The Principal at the time Mr Lionel Fernando is supposed to have stated that he begged to defer. He had stated that it indicated, that our boys were not sensitive enough, to issues of the time.
As much as I identify myself as a Sri Lankan who is greatly relieved at the end of terrorism I wish to state that a few comments made by fellow Trinitian Cukoo (Mohan Sekaram) are at the most insensitive. I was a few years junior to Mohan at Trinity. Mohan was a college hero during our time with him moving around like a colossus in the Rugby field. The problems of the ordinary Tamils are far removed when it comes to people of his calibre.
We were at Trinity at a time when ethnicity only mattered when we had to fill a Government form. The friends we made at that time from all communities continue to be friends to date. Having said that, in this tranquil environment there were the very isolated incidents which were highlighted beyond proportion. I still remember the fiasco between Saliya Aladeniya (later a highly decorated Captain in the Sri Lanka Army) and Moorthy. This was summarily dismissed by that great sportsman Byron Fernando.
What I referred to as problems encountered by the ordinary Tamil citizens today remain mostly administrative. It is the Tamil Politicians who aspire for legislative power. The lack of Tamil speaking policemen at a police station is the least of the problems for the Dravidian Politician. The lack of forms in Tamil in the Divisional Secretary’s office is the least of the problems for the Dravidian Politician. He needs legislative power to impose taxes to develop the “Tamil homeland”. That is high priority in the agenda of the Dravidian Politician representing the “Tamils”. Nevertheless I believe that devolution has to take place!! No! Now there is no chance in hell for fedaralism!!
Whilst I admit the fact that Velupillai Prabhakaran gave a voice and a place for the Tamils, he never had the vision or the will to consolidate it. He left the better part of the Dravidian population in a situation worst off than they ever were in Independent Ceylon. The issues faced by Tamils producing an identity card with a name in Tamil has been addressed by Cukoo in detail. For the indignities faced by our Tamil friends when travelling in the same vehicle at check points, we can only say sorry. As much as Prabhakaran’s men were armed and you could not help it when they were gunning down people, we had to sit in the car and wait until the check point formalities were over. The soldiers were armed too. The difference is that once the identity was established you continued your journey. That was only a small mercy. We are genuinely sorry.
Cukoo, you have referred to celebrations by the Sinhalese which at times have been unsavoury to some. The lighting of crackers for the New Year is no fun for the neighbours. We learn to live with it. During the period of the Ceasefire Agreement the TNA Members of Parliament who came on National TV and repeated ad nausea how the Sinhalese were pariahs paved the way for a huge wave of Sinhala Nationalism that created the ideal breeding ground for Nationalistic parties. While we have a justifiable ground to heave a huge sigh of relief for eradicating terrorism let us now hold hands to build our nation. Let us not fill our passport form as Sinhala or Tamil. Let us fill it as Sri Lankan.
Quoting from your mail you have stated that one day you want to come back to Sri Lanka and live as an equal citizen. As much as I stated earlier that VP left the Tamils in a position worst off, he also managed to create awareness on the concept of equality. That is why even a rabidly nationalistic party openly promoted that great Trinitian the late L.Kadirgamar PC as a Prime Ministerial candidate. As much as the Tamils would have resented the idea, the Sinhalese were more than accepting the proposition. When I used to tell my Sinhala friends that LK was considered a pariah by a large number of Tamils they refused to accept it. To this day I have not been able to convince them.
In 1997 when the Brits left Hong Kong with an empty coffer the new rulers of Hong Kong invited the Chinese tourists to come in their numbers. 1 million of them visited Hong Kong in the first few months. That is how they managed to keep Hong Kong afloat during that turbulent period. Now it is time for the Sri Lankan diaspora to shed all differences and visit the country. Spend your US $ 500 with relatives and friends. We do not need any funds from other nations to feed our citizens if we do that.
Cukoo, you have opened many eyes that were shut on both sides.We need many more Sekarams to fill the void that has been created. The Sekarams stepping back leaves a lot of room for the others to step in. That is where we went wrong the last time round. Let us make amends.
Let us unite.
Kanchana Ratwatte TCK 1972-1985
Thanks DBS for these postings.
These three responses are superb and deal with the issue from different angles
Very nice to read these three, Two Sinhala and one Tamil
Mr.Madhura , your suggestions are very practical and easy for us all to follow
Mr. Jeyaraj a very big hug and kiss to you for opening this valuable space
It is very interesting to see so many intelligent people
writing to this forum giving so many reconciliatary ideas.
But these are only a hand full of people, mostly living overseas.
How can we get this message to the ordinary person in the streets of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Matara and other remote parts of Sri Lanka. At the moment, the Sinhala people are in very high spirits, while the tamil brothers are
shocked, sad and dumbfounded. The plight of the IDPs
is unbelievable. The ordinary Sinhala people don’t have
computers and internet, and they are unaware of what is happenning in the rest of the world. They read the Sinhala
papers and get their news, and at this stage all the news
are about how well the terrorists were beaten. It is about
time the media( Mainly Sinhala) stop all this victory
news and educate the people to be more tolarent and treat everybody as equals. We should understand that Sinhala and Tamil people have lived in this island for thousands of years.
All what I am trying to say is to get this message to the
ordinary Sri Lankan. May be DBSJ can try, but not
through the internet, because this is only limited to
a few intellectuals. Anyway we got to start somewhere.
Kanchana, Madhura and Jayapalan,
I love you all. Now I begin to see the sun rays down the horizon.
Lets all adopt the moto
“LOVE ALL SERVE ALL.
HELP EVER HURT NEVER”
“Quarrels can never end by more quarrelling. War can never end through further wars. Enmity never ends by returning enmity for enmity. Only by giving up anger, enmity, quarrelling and wars can these evils be stopped. It is through friendliness, forgiving and forgetting that enmity ceases” – Anonymous 5000BC
I am touched
Let us pray for peace
I pray to Jesus for Peace. Let the holy spirit guide the Lankans
Love your neighbour as your self
I like to point out the following to Sinhalese. There are few tamils whom I know never supported LTTE, rather against.
They even not closely looked at the war in Lanka. These same people are now de-moralised, sad and upset after the end of LTTE. These people are saying what are plight of tamils going to be without ltte. You will not get an honest opinion if you ask a tamil in sri lanak. Try and ask the question from a person who lives overseas. Believe me, I know what I am talking about.
It is clear most of the sinhalese are happy that ltte is dead, and the opinion just the opposite for the Tamils.
These three letters are interesting.
When the wise rise from sleep, the vice to go to sleep .
Those who think these messages are harmless & painless should wise up.
These are all excellent, much needed articles. Thanks for posting. I would love to see a day we all think and act like Sri Lankans rather than Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim individuals. With that, we should also forget the Tamil Homeland or Sinhalese homeland concepts (I have not heard the latter but to be fair, I included it here) and totally reject all political parties based on various ethnic tags (Tamil, Sinhala, Muslim..). These items/terms are precursors for trouble and show subtle form of intolerance.
It is heartening to see a positive dialogue of good quality from our fellow countrymen.
Small gestures of goodwill in large numbers is better than a handful of large scale programs. I think we should have an awareness campaign on the amount of destruction the overall conflict brought about and organizing visits from both sides to witness them is a good idea.
With immediate effect we should remove “Race” from the identity of all Sri Lankans – In NIC and government sponsored forms.
Priority should be given to candidates with bilingual ability in government jobs from a set future date.
Unfortunately, Sri Lanka is not on the path of reconciliation yet. I pray the feelings projected in the responses translate to sensible action on the ground.
Whatever you call opportunity or misery, it is how an individual make his/her own judgment, today we are left with an option to live together and the majority of the people in Sri Lankan will follow.
There are plenty of people in Sri Lanka and also aboard with similar view to Mohan
They became a silence majority due to various reasons. My personal experience back at home did not permit me to throw in the towel nor take refuge. Hope was more powerful while contributing whatever possible to heal wounds, hoping to see something better for our next generation seems to have arrived with a tag attached to it.
Do we have the courage (Tamils, Muslims and Singhalese) to take the tag call “Sri Lankan” or let the minority (racist hardliners from all communities) to ruin the given opportunity of our next generation?
We are left with an option; make your own judgment,
I am with Mohan.
Have the Sri Lankan Tamils suffered from “delusion”?
This is what our friend the liberal Trinity College Segaram is saying it appears to me.
It is too bad that years of Sinhala Buddhist discrimination produced a misguided militant movement but to say there was no real cause for the Tamil struggle or that problem is no longer relevant is to live in liberal la la land.
I dont think he said that did he? maybe the “delusion” is elsewhere?……..DBSJ
Kathirkamar doesn’t know tamil. So we cannot accept he is tamil and he understood tamils feelings.
Do all the diaspora youth demonstrating their feelings for fellow Tamils know Tamil?……DBSJ
Future course of Sri Lankan political history shouldn’t be decided on the basis of what is in the Mahavamsa. We are unable to get the true news of what happened in Sri Lanka yesterday in this year 2009 – with all the media and internet.
How to trust Mahavamsa that was written several hundred to few thousand years ago. Specially when it was written with only the Sinhalese Buddhist into consideration.
Recently there have been questions raised about Bible stories, explaining certaing things mentioned in the Bible couldn’t have happened as there is no scientific explanation to it. For example how is it possible for Noah to go all over the world and collect 2 animals of each species, how to maintain them in the Ark (Ship), how is it possible for him to build such a large Ark.
Similar comments can be applied to Mahavamsa stories too.
In any case, no matter what is going to happen in Sri Lanka in the future I am certain of the following.
Sinhalese are of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bengal decent. (But the Bengal ethnicity is not dominant). Sri Lankan Tamils are of Tamil Nadu and Kerala decent.
Ethnically I can’t see much difference between Sri Lankan Tamils and the Singhalese.
So why are we discriminating and killing each other.
Even the 2 larger religions (Bhuddisim and Hinduism) of Sri Lanka came from India.
Kanchana Ratwatta
Even you don’t know about your community and government. Thatswhy you called foreign tamils to visit Srilanka. Before that you have to give full security to tamils who live in Srilanka out side and inside the camp. If they freely move every where without scared, then only foreign tamils will go there. You have to give to the tamil community polutical solution and repect them. Foreign tamils live in democratic country. Why they want to go where is no democretic.
excellent articles very interesting and our leaders of sri lanka must see this and act accordingly.I’m in Colombo and being a Muslim can say to who ever is out side of sri lanka is that the majority sri lankans wants to personally do what MR JAYAPALAN describe.AS ALWAYS DBJS its a privilege to read all your article.we wish that one day you can come and live in sri lanka and with us..
DBS
Where are you now? Are you in india? If you are in Canada Dont you sleep yet?
How to sleep when you are awake Kamal?………….DBSJ
DBSJ,
Lakshman Kadirgamar was not a credible leader even among the many Tamils against the LTTE. Regardless of the diaspora knowledge of the Tamil language, he was a member of parliament and foreign minister in Sri Lanka, where at least on paper Tamil is an official language. How could the GOSL boast about his Tamil identity when he did not know the language or represent SL Tamils in parliament? Lakshman Kadirgamar was definitely a man of many talents and he represented and was adored by many people but he did not represent SL Tamils in parliament.
He is no longer among the living so I do wish to speak ill of him. Not an insult of any kind, just an observation.
Did Lakshman Kadirgamar ever say he was representing Tamils in Parliament?……DBSJ
The gvt should stop the Witch hunting of tiger supporters, they will definitively end up harrasing and hurting 99% of tamils in Sri lanka.
Singalese people should understand one thing. The word terrorism can not hide the fact that all LTTE members are tamils and Sri lankan citizens. We can expect tamils not to support LTTE but how can we expect tamils Not to have hearts burnt seeing bloody defeat and massacre of tamil youth who are thier brothers , sisters , counsins. Same as a singhala soldier joint the army to fight for his people , a tamil youth joint the LTTE ( only “army” that allow tamils to fight for freedom) to fight for tamil cause. Those youth did not kill themself expecting to go to heaven to meet the God.
Singalese people can hate LTTE , its methods and its leaders , but they have to respect 1000s of tamil patriotic youth who sacrified thier lifes for thier people.
DBSJ thanks for publicising Mohan Sekarams and other comments. Well done Jyeyaraj,
You have done a great job. Let us take this forward. The Presidents speech yesterday and the other day at the opening of the Parliament was great.
Let us stop talking of Federation or a confederation model.
The TamilNet (TN)news of the other morning, Setting the Clock right, is the most disturbing news ever.
The TN in recent days blames every country and body in this globe, for the dark phase of Tamil History as stated created by TN by the events of the past few weeks except the LTTE(L)
Over the last few years particularly the last few months the TN has systematically mislead the people on behalf of the L about the invincibility of L. In fact it was claimed by several L leaders that they cannot be beaten. The innocent believed and today have ended in shame in Vavuniya camps.
TN is now going on a India bashing campaign. Does any Tamil in Sri Lanka or abroad believe that India can be sidetracked and a solution found for the way forward out of this dark phase of Tamil history.
The Tamils should realise that it is time to accept mistakes of L and then lobby to have India on their side.
While TN goes on a anti India campaign, the Tamil National Alliance leader and associates are in India lobbying for help from India.
Tamils should now get together and decide on the way forward. Is it going to be the TN way of holding the photo of Pirabaharan and L tiger flags or confining them to dustbins and take a new slogan for a demand for devolution of power and life with dignity. For the latter they need the help of the progressive Singhalese and India as well as international recognition.
Dear DBS,
I do not see my posting yesterday here. I believe you do not agree with something I said in it. I wonder what??
garawi
Why do you believe I disagreed with something you said?. What did you say?……..DBSJ
Like Cicil and Chaturanga, Madhura Prematilleke, Kanchana Ratwatte and many others are humble and magnanimous in their words and owning up to their responsibility and put of their hands. I salute all of you and this is the start of the reconciliation process. Reconciliation has several strands, dimension and levels. So, this is a very small step in one of these strand and hope this will trigger other strands and expand to other dimensions.
Having said that I have two concerns about these blogs.
First, from the comments and responses, it seems the participants of the blog are a very elite group, primarily from Colombo/Kandy who happen to know each other, either at school or work and social gatherings in the past. Due to the situation prevailed after 1983, they have lost contact and getting reconciled. I appreciate this and welcome the 1st step. However, what is bothering me most of the “owning up” is about 1983 which is primarily a “Colombo affair”. This was a dreadful event and rightly they apologized. Since, many of them didn’t mention about all the other state sponsored violence, I am questioning whether this is just an elite group which was together before 1983 and that event has put a barrier among them and now, they are trying to raise the curtain. I have no problem with it. But, this can’t bring reconciliation among the communities at large, unless we widen this to take responsibility for all events over the past 30 years ( all sides ). It is well and good for ordinary people, mainly living outside the country, to do this as you can relate to each other; Mohan and others. How about all the thousands of people who suffered over the years. I have to say I haven’t seen any evidence to this yet in this blog. Bloggers, prove me wrong on this.
Second aspect is, reconciliation can only be sustained when people fell that justice has been done for the atrocities committed by all sides. This aspect is not expressed forcefully by the majority in the blog. This concerns me and the atrocities committed against ordinary people will be forgotten in the name of reconciliation by few of us. For LTTE, they have paid the ultimate price. But, on the state side what we see is congratulatory and victory celebrations and no accountability. So, let’s take this to the next step. Let the people in power to “own up” to the responsibility for the events. To start with, let me make a plea to people who have influence with the ruling elite to make this 1st step as Mohan and few of us have taken. So, I call upon Dayan Jayatilleka who writes in these blogs and write in his own capacity also to “own up”.
Every one who visits this blog may not want to post a comment but thats up to you but if you agree I would urge to pass these letter/article and make available to your friends, family even the politicians you know of any.
The situation is critical.
We can’t miss the moment.
Please spread the GOOD NEWS.
Translate them if you can in Tamil and Sinhalese and lets educate the rest.
Lets heal the broken hearts and minds of people.
Guys
Let’s nominate DBSJ for the Nobel Peace Prize 2009!
Shehan,your have a rib -tickling, side – splitting sense of humour……….DBSJ
DBS, You have initiated a great discussion.
The comments are encouraging. My only worry is that how many Sri lankans have access tothe internet to view these articles?
These views should reach the common man. The state & private media that can reach the nooks & corners should encourage similar views to change the mindset of the public be it sinhalese or tamil. The schools should cultivate togetherness. These are little steps that we can take towards permanent peace.
What has 30 years of fighting given us? A Homeland or a tent in Menik farm?????????? How much misery it has brought upon us.
Let’s not hold grudges anymore, Past is Past. Let’s find ways to re build the shattered lives of men women & children who have suffered because of this war.
How many have been maimed for life? How many have lost their loved ones? The government should address these issues without further delay.
” Let’?s say to our Tamil brothers and sisters ?We are genuinely ready to listen. Tell us your troubles?
?Peace is an expression of love?
- Please guys. I like to say few things.
War is not over yet. 13,000 IDPs missing. What are you waiting for? You all want to us to tell you this. Like all south american countries faced this issue before.
We are talking here about how to love each other. There are kids in the IDP camps forgot school for 8-9 months. They loose exams.
DBSJ – do you still beleive that war is over and everything is fine other than a political solution? I would seriously doubt you.
Come on guys.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
You remind me of the line from one LTTE song “Por Innum Oyavillai.Por Innum Oyavillai” (war is not over,war is not over)
I dont know which war you are referring to but I do think conventional war is effectively over.
But I do know the fire in many hearts are yet burning. I hope this fire will be put to constructive rather than destructive use.
Jayasingham: Please elect a different president.
Jayasinghe:Why?
Jayasingham:I thought Pirabaharan was worse enough that once he had his posters and billboards spread all around the streets of LTTE controlled area.
Jayasinghe: You are right. It seems MR has taken over Prabaharan in that department too?
Jayasingham: Please clean up the dictatorship image of Sri Lanka. Colombo looks really ugly and polluted with The Kings billboards.
Jayasinghe: Atleast VP wasn’t greedy that he allowed to put other tigers pictures around but MR is in a different league i seems.
Jayasingham:What about all the valiant hero’s who fought the war for him?
Jayasinghe: U have a point. This is to be possible we must elect a different president who will at least clean up MR billboards.
Jayasingham: What about the IDP?
Jayasinghe: You will get a chance to ask that question, this time it would be Ranil…OR may even Mrs Kumarathinga..
Jayasingham and Jayasinghe: HAHAHA
Its time say Thank you Mr. President for winning the war but No thanks, we need a good leader to bring peace to OUR Sri Lanka.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/06/03/sri-lanka-avoid-postwar-witch-hunt
Please explain when do you want to pressure the relevent parties? 10 years later … and talk again reconcile… Please act, I will join.
Magnificent articles from you DBSJ & Kanchana. I presume these articles should have opened many eyes and enlightened the truth and reality. I whole heartedly agree with a blogger Nishantha who had mentioned these sort of messages should make their way out of the cyber media and reach out to all common men who live in villages and remote areas. Let’s consider this is a rain drop in the ocean and hope the purity of it clenses the heart of those who have sinned in the past.
Bravo gentlemen! ‘an ounce of sincere effort counts more than a gold medal’ let’s forget the differences and march forward to conquer all the evil barriers those were erected to separate our brothers and sisters. More and more eye openers are warmly welcome. Long live mother Lanka.
Thanks DBS for publishing my comments. Do you agree that these positive comments about reconciliation should reach the common man. I don’t see the SL media moving in this direction.
We miss Lasantha, Don’t we?
Seeing the messages here , I feel this is the right way of reconciliation to peace.
The victim of this recently ended war ,victims of July 83 riots etc are getting an opportunity to say few words.
They will have great solace when knowing some one is listening at other side and reciprocate with compassion.
I recall the sayings of Thich Nhat Hanh at this time which is very relevant to the present charged situation in Srilanka.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese ZEN Master. During the war in Vietnam, he worked tirelessly for reconciliation between North and South Vietnam. His lifelong efforts to generate peace moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.
The 82 years old Zen master, who has rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centres, resettled homeless families and for a lifetime advocated tirelessly the principles of non-violence and compassionate action is tirelessly working for peace.
His utter calmness is powerful to absorbs even the most agitated.
If he could be brought to Srilanaka for reconciliation efforts…. I hope. …
Please read what he suggest for reconciliation :
”We should invite those who believe they are victims of discrimination and injustice to speak about it. We should initiate sessions of deep listening and invite deeply spiritual people, who don’t have to be famous, to attend these. We must televise these sessions nationally. I am sure you will see a dramatic drop in the level of violence. A war on terror cannot succeed, because you cannot bomb perceptions. The only solution is dialogue.”
An example of an experiment by his own group of monks at Plum village, south of France, in 2006.
”We asked people to write letters to terrorists and more than 40 letters came in. Some claimed, ‘I am the terrorist because I am also violent and there is suffering in me as well’. We need to get together. When we address suspicion and anger as a collective, when we talk informally about suffering, then we can find answers. If we reduce the violence in us, and change, then we change others around us because then we are connected to them.”
While accepting non violence is not absolute in the present complex world, he suggests how to follow it:
”Non-violence can never be absolute. However, you can make aggressive action less violent. In war, the generals must try and avoid the death of innocents. Even soldiers can show compassion. The first step towards nonviolence is to be calm and compassionate yourself.”
He is pretty clear on wars and conflicts. How can humanity relate with each other when it is divided within confines of national or ethnic or racial identities?
“The conflict or problem, arises when one’s self is set against another’s self. Once we realize that self is made of non-self, then the issue of identity gets settled.
”Man is made of non-me elements. I am made of so many non-me elements my parents, the food I eat, the education I received, animals, vegetables. Take away all the ‘non-me’, and there is no ‘me’ left. Buddhism is made of non-Buddhist elements. A Christian is made of non-Christian elements and a Muslim is made of non-Muslim elements,” said Thay. Once we realise that we are all interconnected, we will begin caring for all other things.
His advice on Tit for Tat or eye for an eye :
” We have a tendency to punish whoever has dared to make us suffer. We seek relief by making the other person suffer. If we see whoever is hurt as a victim, then a neuro pathway will open in our brain and we will forgive the person and reduce his suffering, which in turn will help us to suffer less. ”
I believe Thich Nhat Hanh will be an ideal person for mediating peace in Srilanka. He will have acceptability in Budhist circles as well as in tamil diaspora considering his neutral position and experience in tackling conflicts.
( I forgot to type my identity in the previous post )
Seeing the messages here , I feel this is the right way of reconciliation to peace.
The victim of this recently ended war ,victims of July 83 riots etc are getting an opportunity to say few words.
They will have great solace when knowing some one is listening at other side and reciprocate with compassion.
I recall the sayings of Thich Nhat Hanh at this time which is very relevant to the present charged situation in Srilanka.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese ZEN Master. During the war in Vietnam, he worked tirelessly for reconciliation between North and South Vietnam. His lifelong efforts to generate peace moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.
The 82 years old Zen master, who has rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centres, resettled homeless families and for a lifetime advocated tirelessly the principles of non-violence and compassionate action is tirelessly working for peace.
His utter calmness is powerful to absorbs even the most agitated.
If he could be brought to Srilanaka for reconciliation efforts…. I hope. …
Please read what he suggest for reconciliation :
”We should invite those who believe they are victims of discrimination and injustice to speak about it. We should initiate sessions of deep listening and invite deeply spiritual people, who don’t have to be famous, to attend these. We must televise these sessions nationally. I am sure you will see a dramatic drop in the level of violence. A war on terror cannot succeed, because you cannot bomb perceptions. The only solution is dialogue.”
An example of an experiment by his own group of monks at Plum village, south of France, in 2006.
”We asked people to write letters to terrorists and more than 40 letters came in. Some claimed, ‘I am the terrorist because I am also violent and there is suffering in me as well’. We need to get together. When we address suspicion and anger as a collective, when we talk informally about suffering, then we can find answers. If we reduce the violence in us, and change, then we change others around us because then we are connected to them.”
While accepting non violence is not absolute in the present complex world, he suggests how to follow it:
”Non-violence can never be absolute. However, you can make aggressive action less violent. In war, the generals must try and avoid the death of innocents. Even soldiers can show compassion. The first step towards nonviolence is to be calm and compassionate yourself.”
He is pretty clear on wars and conflicts. How can humanity relate with each other when it is divided within confines of national or ethnic or racial identities?
“The conflict or problem, arises when one’s self is set against another’s self. Once we realize that self is made of non-self, then the issue of identity gets settled.
”Man is made of non-me elements. I am made of so many non-me elements — my parents, the food I eat, the education I received, animals, vegetables. Take away all the ‘non-me’, and there is no ‘me’ left. Buddhism is made of non-Buddhist elements. A Christian is made of non-Christian elements and a Muslim is made of non-Muslim elements,” said Thay. Once we realise that we are all interconnected, we will begin caring for all other things.
His advice on Tit for Tat or eye for an eye :
” We have a tendency to punish whoever has dared to make us suffer. We seek relief by making the other person suffer. If we see whoever is hurt as a victim, then a neuro pathway will open in our brain and we will forgive the person and reduce his suffering, which in turn will help us to suffer less. ”
I believe Thich Nhat Hanh will be an ideal person for mediating peace in Srilanka. He will have acceptability in Budhist circles as well as in tamil diaspora considering his neutral position and experience in tackling conflicts.
Being far away from SL at this time has been hard. I cling on to every word people say. At a time when so much hatred is being thrown by both communities, Mohan’s letter is one of soothing balm.
I am a Sinhalese. My closest friends happen to be Tamils. Currently, I am living abroad and a bunch of us have made a family of our own. They include Sinhala, Tamil, Burgher and even a Goan(Indian). When we get together rarely do we end up not doing the baila and eating pol sambol and bread. We do fight. Not because of our ethnic differences. But because of our human weaknesses. After we fight, we make up. The difference is the experience of our Tamil friend who had a personal grievance with a Sinhala guy. In the argument, the Sinhalese called my friend Para Demala. That hurts and we were embarrassed and angry.
In my mother’s neighbourhood, there was a Muslim family, a Tamil bothal kadey, Sinhala Buddhist family, and my mother, Sinhala Christian. My mother, an elderly lady living alone feels very protected because of the Tamil guys in the bothal kadey. The Muslim lady cares for her like her own mother and so does the Buddhist lady. My mother reciprocates. Each festival celebrated by the 4 communities, goodies are shared. There were no issues because of difference of ethnicity but as I said before if there were issues it is the humanness which comes up even within your own family.
My point here is that, we can start a ripple effect by making a friend from the other community/ies in our day to day lives and spread it around. A one to one is more lasting, more meaningful and easier to spread harmony than trying to do a mass organized affair. By the time the ”gurus” try to figure out what is best – 13th Amendment, 17th Amendment, Devolution of Power, Sharing power from the centre etc etc!!, we the ”commoners”, I have faith, would have resolved communal hatred and distrust which is rampant now and would be a deterrent to applying any political solution. (My personal view is that even if we have 170 Amendments, if there is no honest governance these will end up being just another piece of paper). So, PEACE BEGINS WITH ME AND BEGINS TODAY.
Aylanee
P.S. A thought occurred just now. If each one can get a gift, (according to your gender and age)gift wrap it with a personal note to a person in the camps who are living in fear because they think we’ll turn up and kill them, they might feel less vulnerable. It won’t be mass distribution of handouts but a personalized gift.
GOD BLESS SRI LANKA
I totally endors you sir/madam
”4. sairam“
Kanchana, Madhura and Jayapalan,
I love you all. Now I begin to see the sun rays down the horizon.
Lets all adopt the moto
“LOVE ALL SERVE ALL.
HELP EVER HURT NEVER”
So.,
Dear Sinhalese, Please forgive and forget !
Dear Thamils, Please forgive and forget !
”Forgive-to stop blaming or being angry with someone for something they have done, or not punish them for something-Cambrige online dictionary”
A Sri Lankan
Hello Everybody.
I am Specialist doctor, a Sri Lankan(“Sinhalees”), born and working in Galle, Sri Lanka.
I was following this blog for sometime and is very happy to notice that it is turning into a very interseting dialogue on which our future may be shaped.
First let me start by applogising for the 1983 riots by a so called mob which might have triggered the whole war. I was doing my A/L exam at that time but never witnesed it being from Galle (only very few attacks happened in Galle).
MY DEAR TAMIL BROTHERS AND SISTERS, I AM REALLY SORRY FOR THE LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY AND THE MENTAL AGONY YOU HAD TO UNDERGO DUE TO THAT RIOTS. I NEVER ENJOYED IT BUT UP TO NOW NEVER CONDEM IT PUBLICALLY EITHER.(SHAME ON ME). PLEASE ACCEPT MY APPOLGY.
This may not be enough but probably a starting point for all of us to reconcillate.
Secondly will try to do something for the IDPs. most probably I am leaving next week for a Volunteer health camp (GMOA sponsored) there and try to help our people the way I know best…by looking after their health.
Thirdly will try to make IDPs life better by giving the material help. I already gave some donations to the IDPs in par with my ability.
These may not be enough but doing little things (as writing this in this blog-I have never written anything before but a silent observer !!) might end up with a tremondous power as a million rupee is made up of individual one rupees !
I will finish my comments with a note from Jeyapalan.
“Let is not go back. It has been already a treacherous journey.
Instead, lets go inward and analyse ourselves. Lets us not blame us and let us not blame others, either. Lets us accept the present and move towards goodness.”
Budusaranai
Kasthuri
Man’s extremity is God ‘s opportunity .Let us pray unceasinly that God will bring true and lasting reconciliation and peace in the hearts of ordinary Tamils and Sinhalese.
I dont agree for the fact that there are pure Singhala identity or Tamil Identity in Srilankan people.
We all are from Indian origin. The difference is Sinhalees are from north and Tamils are from south. Both Buddhism and Hinduism came from India. Sinhala and Tamil languages are originated from Sanskrit again from India.
So LANGUAGE, RACE and RELIGION of all Sri Lankan Tamils and Singhalees are from India.
Therefore we all are XXXXXXX
jAYA hE
Ome yang malli ome yang Niyamata yanawa
Nalla powuthu Vidaathingo..Iluththu ponga
The ideal solution is like Sri Lankan votes out Mahinda and bring out a new suitable president. English people did that magic by voting Churchil out after a war victory. They all know he (Churchil) is good for war, not for building the country.
Then there are suggestions like (some one already told) all Sinhalese should learn some Tamil and vice versa.
Above all, we must be smart enough NOT TO ALLOW A THIRD COUNTRY like India train certain portion of Sri Lankan to fight the other side. My worst fear is that India may train some idiots so as to de-stabilize Sri Lanka.
For those all to happen, Sinhala brothers/sisters should elect a good government.
Did you invite the Tamils to come explain to you how they feel ? and if they tell you the truth are you able understand that ?
These guys are allowed to dream. They do not know how much the divide is or how wide it is. They are under estimating hurt the Tamils feel.
Reconciliation minister Karuan hime self need be changed to allow from some like Ravi Shanker to comm in.
I think its very very hard to achieve in current climate.
Some Tamil commentators have claimed Lakshman Kadirgamar never represented Tamils and to support the view say he didn’t speak Tamil.I am not able to comment on Mr Kadirgamars proficiency in Tamil or Sinhalese for that matter but he spoke the language of fairness and reasonability.His arrival on the Sri Lankan political scene filled a void that was created by the loss of so many politicians of skill and more importantly integrity in the campaign of terror unleashed by the LTTE.What he did kept the faith of the Sinhalese in Tamils as people who are in fact part of the politcal and cultural fabric of Sri lanka and her right to exist as a self respecting independent nation in the world community.He stood up for Sri Lanka always and when he did people took notice and listened because of the strenghth of character he displayed. Many will recall with pride the incident around Shane Warne not wanting to come to Sri lanka during the Worl Cup preliminaries and Mr Kadirgamars famous retort that cut him down to size which left even the witty Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans at a loss for words and us Sri Lankans proud that someone was there to stand up for us when we were down in the gutters of existence after the LTTE terrorist attacks one after the other directed at ruining our country. These remarks lifted the spirit of our team and the nation as our team went on to fell the giants one after another cheered on by Sinhalese,Tamils Muslims and Burghers et al all around the world.What Mr kadirgamar did kept the faith of the Sinhala Sri Lankans that we could rely on a Tamil Sri Lankan even to the extent of entrusting our country at the worst time of her history to a Tamil Sri lankan ,mind you, in preference to a Sinhalese.He must be treated as one of the greatest ambassador of the Tamil people and a one of the greatest sons of our soil.How we wish he were alive today to see the fruits of his labour we are enjoying and to continue his services to the nation as a uniting force between the communities and a nation builder.Long may his name live in the annals of our history and be remembered as we remember Kings of Dutugemunu and Parakramabahu’s ilk.It would do tamil politicians of modern times well to emulate his strategies if they wish to become a catalyst for the transformation of Sri Lanka from a divided nation to a united nation for the greater good and long term prosperity and happiness of all communities in Sri Lanka. In the true sense of the words he was a man who exalted his own kind by his service to people of other kind .This is a remarkable human trait that very few people possess.
I welcome the genuine notes of olive branches by some sections of the two communities in Sri Lanka. I have not been trusworthy of politicians on both sides to bring peacein Sri Lanka and have had ambivalent feelings towards it. But with the total merciless killings of the Tamils in the latest phase of the war has made me change my mind. I think the divide is too deep to heal. True healing can come only with separation which will lay the foundation to long term peace.
I myself attended Trinity college, in Kandy from 1979 – 1989( with a gap of two years after the 83 riots). Unfortunately the aspects of communalism had already entered the college by then and remain virulantly more so( my friends children study thre now). The days of Trinity which Mohan and others talk about are ‘good old days’ gone by and I dont wish to live in the past. As a boarding school boy I remember standing at the top of the college hill and watch Kandy burn. From then on my third language teacher gave a weekly spelling test. The order of the spelling test was always Demala( Tamil), Kotiya( Tiger) and the rest shall follow. In the late Eighties even in the English class where the Tamil and Sinhla students were taught in mixed groups, we had a teacher who gave us ‘alternative’ views of the Sri Lnakan nation as the rightfull land of the Sinhlas and their prowesses.
If one sees the acheivement board (in the main hall) of the college since its inception, one sees a gradual decline of Tamil names to almost being non existant at present times.Only recentlythe school principals visa was revoked and had to come back to the Uk since some one had made a complaint that he was a Tiger supporter.
Please dont take this as an excercise in listing the points of discrimination at Trinity college. I am using it as a microcosm
of the predicament in Sri Lanka especially since the School has been named a few times in these series of writings.
By the way a friend of mine recently told me that the English teacher’s ( that I wrote about) daughter has eloped with a Tamil man and he has disowned her!! The the Tiger police chief
Mr Nadesan also married a Sinhala girl. I know a few Bandaranayakes and Senannayakes who are also married to Tamils. We seem to always fight and discriminate but cant help falling in love with each other. Dammm
Having read the entire blog I concur that the main contributors have done a great job, and specially DBSJ who presented the issue at hand very eloquently. Good job. It is specially heartening to see former Trinitians like Mohan Sekaram and Kanchana Ratwatte agreeing to disagree. This is the spirit that guided us in our school days when we had Sri Lankans of all ethnicities as class mates. I had the pleasure of studying at St. Anne’s College, Kurunegala and later at St. Peter’s College, Colombp 4. At both these schools, we had a number of students from various ethnic backgrounds but this did not come to play in our day to day lives at all. This was the beauty of the bygone era. True, there were an isolated few racists who still used terrible words such as “Lansiya”, “Para Themala” or “Thambiya”. But these people certainly did not get much recognition and simply disappeared into the woodwork.
Racial harmony, tolerance, camaraderie, fellowship, sympathy, acceptance, rejection are all ingredients that unite people and allow them to live as “One Country, One Nation”. In going forward, Sri Lankans living all over the world should capture the mood and help build a better environment that will help us to lead a more sedate and happy life rather than muddy the waters and make life miserable for themselves and others!
David, if you think this is worthy of publication – be my guest!
I would recommend Obama’s speech in Egypt today as an eye opener to our ruling class, particularly the portion that touched on what is democracy. He took his goodwill to the heart of the Muslim world.
Without the help of the US at least for the major part of the war, Sarath,Gotha and mahinda can not boast about their triumphalism and we will not be discussing about reconcilliation here.
Obama is for change but …………
I will like to further add that this particular listingsseem to be from a elite group of Sri Lankans of Tamil and Sinhala communities getting in touch with each other after an absence and re-living their nostalgic days. Good on you. If one went to one of these elite schoolsin SL( or for that matter in many parts of the world) one lives outside the normal constraints of society. Old boy networks for jobs, contacts, clubs etc. But this does not apply to most of SL society. I nevertheless appreciate this though. But going by Kanchana Ratwatte’s understanding that the problem in SL is ‘largely administrative” goes to show how much they are in touch they are with the masses. Assume many in this particular group they fill their application in english anyway!!
I myself have been given this privilege of Colonial stlyle education with all its positive and negative aspects as a child, but have tried to see beyond it now. Most in SL live outside the safety net of a private school education. If one plays rugby for Trinity or Royal college, then a job in Colobmo is guaranteed for you regardless of TAmil,SInhala, Muslim divide. But even that has crumbled to a large extent now, if one is of Tamil origin.
Guys, I do agree your thoughts and view. First, you guys try to save and help the people in the IDP. How long are they going to be there? do you see yourself staying in the small tent ? I am very dissapointed that you guys talking solutions without care about ppl suffering without proper cloth, medicine, in the IDP. Please ..please think and do something we can do…
I have been reading with much interest the original letters by Mohan and other and the responses to them. It is heartening to see that majority of the comments talk about reconciliation and moving forward. Something that is dear to my heart. There are a minority of extreme posters from both sides of the racial divide. It is indeed heartening to see the so called silent majority speak up. Thanks for DBS for initiating the forum.
Looking at the posts made my fellow Singhala brothers and sisters, one is struck by the tone, most of the posts are not written from a “victors” perspective, saying to our fellow Tamil brothers and sisters that you have to take what we, the victors give you. General Sarath Fonseka’s views notwithstanding, I don’t believe that most Singhalese regard Sri Lanka a place that minorities live at the pleasure of the majority. We may have had that view in the 80’s and before but we have moved beyond that. Pretty much every single Singhalese person that I have talked to understands that the country as a whole paid dearly for July 83. Most Singhalese that I have talked to do understand that the Tamils need to live in dignity, free of fear in Sri Lanka. Just look at the response the IDP camps in the South. The Tamil Diaspora may not want to admit it, but there has been a tremendous response from the Singhalese and other communities in the South to provide for the IDP people. From what I understand, people have collected money, food, and other needed material. In the forefront of these efforts have been the village Buddhist priests, the Diaspora’s favourite Singhala monsters. Yes, people danced and ate kiribath on the streets when the war ended. It is perfectly understandable. They were not celebrating a victory of one race over the other but it was a big sigh of relief. I can relate a story here to show what it was like to be in that situation. I have heard of this story of a lady from Panadura who went to Colombo everyday in the morning by bus accompanying her 25 year old only daughter to her workplace in Colombo. This was much to the daughter’s irritation, who wanted to lead her own life. When someone asked this lady why she did this, the answer was that if there was a suicide bomb in the bus and if her daughter got killed, she wanted to be killed also because she could not bear the thought of living without her daughter. This is the sort of psychosis that these people went through. I am sure that most Tamils can also relate similar stories of having to live through constant fighting, bombing and shelling. I am not trying to justify that one communities experiences are more valid that the other’s. However, we need to move beyond this madness. We can not continue to live like this, when there is no reason to do so.
To my fellow Singhalese, especially those who lives in Sri Lanka, I say to you that you have to make this work. You are the majority here, you are the more powerful, you have to look after these people. Just saying that you have many Tamil friends is not enough. You have to talk to your politicians, your elected representatives, and yes also to your religious leaders that you want to see some changes made. You have to make sure that when an ordinary villager in Jaffna village gets a letter from the government, that letter is not written in Singhala. Or when he or she goes to a government office for some service, that service is provided to him or her in a language that he or she can work with. You have to make sure that when land is given out to poor people under new irrigation schemes, the minorities also get there share. The small things matter and as we saw in that past, small things left unresolved over a period of time will coalesce to big things. Don’t be asilent majority again and make your views heard loud and clear.
To my Tamil brothers and sisters, especially in the Diaspora, I say to you that you too have to leave the mentality of July 83 and move forward. The country that you left then is not the country of today. Two of the biggest concerns that you had at that time is no longer valid. There is no discrimination in education based on ethnicity. You can be educated in any language or medium, in Tamil, in English, yes and even in Singhala if you wished for. There is no concern about not being able to find a job because you are a Tamil, because 90% of the job creation is done by the private sector and if you are qualified you will get a job. One of the biggest complaints that you had in the recent years was the intrusive security checks, those should gradually decrease as with the demise of the LTTE, the need for intrusive security will slowly disappear. I also have few questions to ask you. The Diaspora has talked endlessly about the plight of the IDPs, but what have you really done to help them? There is a massive campaign going on in Sri Lanka to help these people, collecting money, food, and other stuff. Now I live in Toronto, where you are very strong, where you are very wealthy and powerful. Now where are your fundraising efforts to help these people? I don’t see any. You have powerful politicians that support you. Where are they now and why are they silent? You complain that in Sri Lanka Singhalese danced in the streets on May 18th. Have you forgotten your celebrations in Scarborough after major LTTE actions in the last few years? Have you forgotten the fire works? So my Tamil friends, please let’s not stay trapped in the miseries of the past. Each one of us, both Singhalese and Tamil can find monsters from the other side if we wanted to. That is not what we have to do now. We need to find common ground so that we together to create a society that do not put the race and the religion first.
I want to conclude my post with one incident that has stayed in my mind after all these years. On June 2, 1987, LTTE stopped a bus carrying some 40 Buddhist priests on a road at Aranthalawa in Ampara area. They were led into the jungle and in a calculated fit of savagery they were all murdered, shot, hacked and machine gunned. Later, in the Pirivena temple in Aranthalawa, 41 bodies of murdered Buddhist priests were laying side by side before their cremation ceremony. Now fast forward the scene to December 25, 2004. The Pirivena was again full of people. This time they were ordinary Tamil people, nearly 600 of them, who had lost everything in the December 24 Tsunami. The temple was their refuge. The temple priests who once kept their vigil over the slain bodies of the priests were cooking and feeding the Tamil people who had run to them asking for help. Then chief incumbent of the temple was a student of the high priest that was murdered at Aranthalawa, said “I strongly believe that I am honouring my slain teacher in the best possible manner, Nature has given us an opportunity to practice our religion in the most respective manner”. Tears came to my eyes when I read that. So every time I think that we have lost our beloved country, I think of people like this priest at this Viharaya, who when put into a circumstance that was extraordinary instinctively knew what was the right thing to do. Then I know that we have not lost anything that we can not regain. Only all of us have to believe that everything is possible and work for it
Peace to all.
28. New Script Writter
peace has already arrived whether anybody likes it or not. if tamils were allowed to elect a good leader MR’s bill boards would have never gone up.
I think reconcilliation is foremost in the mind of all decent Sri Lankans. Unfortunately we need to recognise that there are very many of the “undecent” variety amongst us as well and they seem to be grabbing the headlines. It is high time that a centrist party seeking to represent all communities, made up of all comunities is formed. We need a voice. We need a tri-lingual leader with impeccable credentials who understands and can apeal to all communities. He may never get elected, but there is a crying need to start a movement to build opinion and drag politics back in to the centre. We need a clean break from the traditional political parites which I believe are irredeemably tainted.
Rajapakse has a unique opportunity to fix whats wrong with this country, but I am very worried that he will sqander this opportunity. All signs so far is that he will. Has he visited the displaced? Has he at least sympathised with them? We only hear of the pride he feels about the vicotry and the never ending string of budhist rituals he is participating in. How can this be so if as he says the words “majority” and “minority” are now obsolete?
But first, before politics we need to address the most pressing issue, which is to resettle the displaced asap. A local Charity/NGO can set up bank accounts for each displaced family and publish details of each family. How many children, if any parents are dead or missing etc. So donors can correspond with the recipients and send money directly to their accounts. There must be at least 1.5 million expats of all communites plus well off Sri Lankans who will be only too willing to unburden themselves of a little cash to put these people back on their feet.
Food and clothing is all well and good in the short term but it is hard cash that gives them the flexibility to use our charity to the best advantage.
Comment 7
Ian
I think you are wrong: because of LTTE’s propaganda and those who have blind faith in them, what will do without them?
Under LTTE, we have lost the freedom of speach, there is no alternative view and no independent media. You need to get a visa to come out of Vanni (age limit increased from 60 to 65). They even forced child recruitment or else the parents are severely punished and tortured.
If Diaspora really cared about civilians, they should have ask first LTTE to release the civilians. For some demonstrators Westminster became a picnic spot. The true meaning for the demonstration’s image was tarnished.
You clearly know what our problem is; some people love LTTE than Tamils.
KARUNA openly said, in the war civilians were killed by army.
But LTTE supporters and some other Diasporas keep talking against Government but not a single comment was made against LTTE even though they kept civilians as human shield and shot those who escaped.
Under LTTE, Tamils were MINORITY within TAMILS
With LTTE life sentence and without LTTE short sentence for Vanni people.
I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be. Thomas Jefferson, American 3rd US President”.
Let us stop talking of Federation or a confederation model.
Probably the best concept for a political solution with meaningful and just power sharing arrangement.
An earnest APPEAL to all those who strive for sustainable peace in Sri Lanka
The lack of engagement and communication, in turn adds to the sense of estrangement. This is not in the interests of either side, particularly the Sri Lankan people who yearn for peace, a just solution to the ethnic conflict and the hope of prosperity at least for their children. Jehan Perera, Executive Director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka.
With the above end in view please spare a part of your valuable time to ABSORB the meaning of the views submitted below.
Too much of time has been wasted in discussing the origins of the problems and the paths taken by various real patriotic and peace-loving persons to solve the problems in the ways they sincerely believed as the best. The problems have grown and evolved and had been twisted by many to suit their way of thinking.
So, it is high-time we start to RETHINK in terms of a solution that would address the ASPIRATIONS ALL THE PEOPLE in the country, not just the aspirations of the Tamils, in a just and meaningful way rather than continue to criticize other people for their faults.
Failures are the pillars of success. We have learned a lot of things through experience. With the experiences gained we will have to work for a change of heart not just a change of mind of all the people in the country.
People who value democracy, equality and equity, needs to pressure the Sri Lankan state to take immediate action towards a meaningful and just power sharing arrangement. That is the only way to ensure security and the dignity of the peoples of Sri Lanka.
If peaceful coexistence through power sharing is not achievable, the only other solution that would be available will be secession Mr. Lionel Bopage, former Secretary of the JVP.
There is a vast difference between the policy and thinking of the ORIGINAL JVP to which Mr.Lionel Bopage belongs and the policy of the present JVP.
A new concept that moves towards a meaningful and just power-sharing arrangement based on true democracy a large number of people participating in the governance of the country based on equality, equity is a great deviation from the usual thinking of the meaning of the word sharing of power is given below for the perusal and comments of concerned people.
Many, who call themselves as moderates and advocating a Unitary State are not willing to consider this NEW concept of the phrase sharing of power that gives a certain degree of power with responsibility to as many as possible including the poor and voiceless silent majority in the country and not excluding the so-called minorities and still maintain the character of a Unitary State
Now, one word, for those who are actually and sincerely interested in fostering a unitary-state by supporting devolution as a means to achieve sustainable peace, please avoid thinking in terms of devolution and instead please try to think in terms of sharing of powers, rights, duties and responsibilities that cannot be taken back at any time by any government or individual by any method.
The best political solution to address the problems faced by various sections of the Sri Lankan society – particularly the poor, the politically weak and the minorities who do not carry any political weight – would be to DILUTE the powers of all elected representatives of the people by separating the various powers of the Parliament and by horizontally empowering different sets of peoples representatives elected on different area basis to administer the different sets of the separated powers at different locations.
It has to be devolution HORIZONTALLY where each and every set of representatives would be in the SAME LEVEL as equals and in par and NOT VERTICALLY, where one set of representatives would be above (more powerful than) the other, which is the normal adopted practice when talking of devolution, in this power-hungry world. It is because devolution of power has been evolved vertically, we have all the trouble in this power-hungry world. So, for sustainable peace it should not be the present form of devolution of power but dilution of powers or sharing of powers in such a way that no single person or single set of peoples representatives be superior to another.
This system would help to eradicate injustice, discrimination, bribery and corruption – the four pillars of an evil society and help to establish the Rule of Law and Rule by ALL for sustainable peace, tranquility and prosperity and a pleasant harmonious living with dignity and respect for all the inhabitants in the country. Everyone must have equal powers, rights, duties and responsibilities and most importantly everyone should be deemed equal and treated equally before the law not only on paper but also practically be it the Head of State, The Chief Justice or the voiceless poor of the poorest in the country.
Since all political and other powers flow from the sovereignty of the people, it is proposed herein that these powers be not given to any ONE set of representatives but distributed among different sets of peoples representatives (groups) elected on different area basis (village and villages grouped) to perform the different, defined and distinct functions of one and the same institution – the Parliament like the organs of our body heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes, nose, ear etc. performing different and distinct functions to enable us to sustain normal life.
A detailed version of the concept, which is quite long is available for discussion by interested individuals with an aim to change the hearts not just a change of mind of the citizens of this country who aim to preserve a UNITARY form of Government with every section of people from every part of the country PRACTICALLY PARTICIPATING in the GOVERNANCE OF THE COUNTRY in a meaningful way. In a way it may be termed participatory democracy. In this system the COUNTRY IS NOT DIVIDED but the powers of governance of the Parliament is separated and administered COLLECTIVELY by different sets of peoples representatives.
The system suggested is neither a federal state for which Thanthai Chelva worked hard through non-violent means for nearly thirty years nor the Two State Solution for which the LTTE is fighting through violent means for more than thirty years. It is a combination of both and is between both but still a unitary state.
The solution advocated can be compared to the policy of the EPDP – a partner in the present government – self-governance at Regional Level and collective governance at the National Level. Basically there are some differences between the suggestions above and that of the EPDP. First, the above suggestions are for sharing of power horizontally and EPDPs suggestions are for sharing power vertically. Second, EPDP’s suggestions are for addressing the aspirations of the Tamils while the above suggestions are for addressing the aspirations of the PEOPLE, not just that of the Tamils alone. A careful perusal of the above suggestions in FULL will enlighten the need for such an approach.
Give and Take is the best policy. Rule or control your self and allow everyone to rule themselves.
LIVE AND LET LIVE
IF THERE IS A SINCERE WILL to treat all inhabitants of the county with dignity and as respectful citizens of this country, enjoying equal rights in all respects, then THE ABOVE IS A WAY
The above suggestions are by a voiceless member of the silent majority who wants all voice to be heard.
Two Wolves:
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed”.
Not to put in the same league or downplay it,
This is the same kind of celebrations that (some) football fans do, when their team has won; carrying the coach, running all over the town, flying the team flag, smashing cars, setting fireworks, fathers and mothers crowing about how this would have been not possible if not for their sons in the team. The losers are humiliated, dejected, sad and they wow to come back and beat the shit out of the winners next time.
The coach is being addressed as the king ( As Lord Buddah would say ‘temporarily’ )
Thiaga
Comment #23 samuthra:
Asking the other guy, in this case Dayan Jayatillake, to own up/apologise is a silly way to get a reconcilliation process started. Tell you what, long time ago, after a quarrel in the lovers’ lane of Peradeniya campus, my ex-boyfriend brought me a sticker from a Kandy bookstore: “Let peace begin with me”. Reflect please!
Interpretation of chapter 49: verse13 of the Quran:
O people, We created you from a male and female, and We made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely, the most honorable among you in the sight of God is the most righteous. God is Knowledgeable, Ever-aware.
These are all interesting responses but let me give you a perspective from a younger member of the tamil “diaspora”.
I was born in Colombo but moved abroad because my dad could get a better job abroad.
The first notion I heard of the troubles was when I was told my younger aunts and uncles had to go to college abroad due to some sort of a race based slotting system that did not reward merit.
Besides some very nice trips to Jaffna as a child my more recent trips have been during cease-fires where my only true Sinhala experience were the scared and nervous army men scattered around the peninsula and at the “border crossing” who asked me if I was a tiger and whether I had bombs.
Colombo seemed like a foriegn land set apart from the other world in Jaffna. Sri Lanka in general seemed like two seperate countries – one in which I was somewhat welcome the other in which I was a potential threat.
Everything I have seen recently has made me more polarized and divisive – the LTTE wasn’t perfect but the recent actions of the government are deplorable. As a result I will do everything my power to make sure the SL government is held to task; and realize in my mind the SL government = that other side of Sri Lanka.
It’s great that everyone wants to break down barriers but I think you need to understand the mindset where many of the younger generation are coming from…..
Interpretation of the Quran Chapter 49: Verse13:
O people, We created you from a male and female, and We made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely, the most honorable among you in the sight of God is the most righteous. God is Knowledgeable, Ever-aware.
dbsj, i doubled up my above post by accident, pls delete one. thanks.
Well, I believe I hurt few people with hate in their hearts! New Script Writer, have nice day and a cold bath!
I can see that you people er making a sincere efforts to bring a peace in our country. But words are not enough we have to act soon if we really want to convince tamils who have lost their faith. Practical things like what Madhura Prematilleke come out with are good examples.
I have a sugestion: 13th July is only a month away. if many of the sinhalese are really sorry about what happened to tamils in 1983, why not join tamils all over the world to make it a rememberence day (black july), arrange parades or demontrations and declare that we will fight together against injustice and for equality in the country.
If that happens tamils will be overwhelmed and may be many tamils starting beleive in living sisde by side of sinhalese.
Arul
This will defenitely help both community to come together.
This is a good venue. We all (all singalese and Tamils) should work hard to educate both side on this venue.
When I read Mohan’s letter, my first reaction was, NO it’s not possible. After that, kept repeated Mohan’s thoughts and then realized THIS IS THE ONLY OPTION WE HAVE at the moment TO BRING PEACE IN SRI LANKA.
I would urge with Ms. MATHURA’s Idea. I personally liked it. Collect food, cloths and medicines and reach out to IDP camps. These are the people who need help right now and this action will CHANGE THE CURRENT SITUATION.
This type of actions will make TAMILs think and come
forward along with the do-ers.
I even spoke with few of my friends about Mohan’s letter and they see the outcome right away.
“Lakshman Kadirgamar was not a credible leader even among the many Tamils against the LTTE.”
I agree. Lakshman Kadirgamar did not nothing to help the Tamils in the North or East. While the Sri Lankan Government placed an economic embargo on essential items going to the North/East, Kadirgamar was enjoying his posh existance in Colombo 7. Let us not forget that he died while in the vicinity of his private luxury Olympic size swimming pool!
Several writers and commentators have advocated that we unify under a “Sri Lankan” identity as a way of moving forward. While I am not against this idea in principal, I think it is important to bear in mind that Sinhala and Tamil identities are well-entrenched cultural ones. Rather than seeking to assimilate them under one rubric (the “melting pot” approach), what would be better is to teach each other and our children is that it is best to accept and understand differences, revel in this diversity, and to treat each other as equals. This is more of a “tossed salad” approach and would me more reflective of our varied cultural experiences.
Also, here are some observations for people to ponder.
Judging by the conversations I have been having with Sinhalese friends and family in SL and abroad, there appear to be several trends of thought regarding the recent events.
a) Some folks (probably the overwhelming majority of the Sinhala polity) are jubilant over the ascendency of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and the perceived defeat of the “outsiders” (“para demalas” as they crudely refer to the Tamils). Parallels are being drawn between Mahinda R. and Dutugemunu as well as Diyasena Kumaraya (prince Diyasena). The latter is a mythic figure who, in Sinhala Buddhist folklore, would be born in SL to save the Sinhalese. The myth has largely been marginal to Sinhala consciousness, but was brought to the fore in the late 80′s/early 90′s with Sihala films like “Commado Diyasena”.
b) Some folks are simply utopian. Many on this board may fit this bill. They are mostly glad that the violence is over one way or another. Having lived in fear of their lives for most of their lives, these folks are dreaming of an idyllic SL where Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and everyone else can and will live together in peace and harmony for ever and ever. Some of these folks even support MR for bringing an end to the violence and also in the hope that he will tread a secular path and ensure the historical injustices against the Tamils will be duly addressed. Several people even told me that they believe MR is the only person who is in a position of power to do so, because even the hardline Buddhist clergy will find it difficult to go against him at this juncture. These hopes, I fear, are largely misguided.
3) A minority genuinely fear for the future of SL – and the Tamil people in particular – in a post LTTE environment. While they would see the LTTE as having perpetrated horrendous acts of violence against the Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims, they will still see them as having maintained some kind of “balance of power” vis a vis the SL state, constantly bringing the issues faced by the Tamils to the public’s consciousness.
4) Some folks living in SL are still upset at both the Sinhala and Tamil diaspora for having advocated violence – and funded it – while not having had to face its consequences by having to go through everyday life in SL.
Again some good thoughts from well meaning individuals.There is a news item circulating in print media about some comments made by Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva during an opening ceremony of a judicial campus regarding IDP.Very touching.
I request all well meaning people to do something immediately through civil action. Reach across the ethnic boundary to help these people.
Friend in need is a friend in deed.
Winning the hearts and minds of these long suffering people is not only a godly act also an act of healing and devoloping a sense belonging .
At the moment I am sure they feel lost abandoned and desperate.No matter who they are even if they are ex LTTE give them a hug when and if you visit the camps.Show them you care.This will console many soles and open up many eyes including ex millitants/terrorist what ever you want to call them.
Making every member of the society feel loved is the only way this nation is going come out of this .All the lifes lost from both sides would be in vein if we do not embrace each other and move on .
How about a visit by like minded clergy of all denomination.
If the GOSL is in gingostic mood the clergy can show them it’s ok to be happy for what ever you think the acheivement is and it’s ok to feel the fellow human being’s pain and console them in their hour of need.
Let us get out of this victor and victim mode of thinking .For a moment think that we are all victors and victims at the same time .
I am Tamil lived most of my life in Colombo, except for couple of years after 1977 and 1983 when I was put on train first time and in a ship the second time and sent to Jaffna (?Home land). This was before my teens.
I wondered why when my fellow sinhalese friends who I play with every evening doesn’t have to change schools every 6 yerars while I had to. Then when I had my national ID I compared it my Sinhalese friends theirs was only in Sinhalese while mine was in Sinhalese on top and Tamil at the bottom (?equal rights). Then I started noticing similar symbols of descrimination in every aspect of my life. I can speak very good Sinhalese but my best mates don’t even bother to learn basic Tamil words. In the currency notes Sinhalese is in Big letters and Tamil in small letters. Only 3 languages have to be accomodated in the currency. When I was working my work mates asked me ‘what is your problem why are you asking for seperate country why can’t we live together?’ I told them we are not treated equally and showed the currency note as example. The reply was shocking ‘we are majority therefore we have to remind it to you and our self’.
Then I decided we can’t expect equal respect in this country as long as this attitude prevails.
If honestly my dear Sinhalese friends would like to live together with Tamils will they accept to give equal share not in emmployment, not in education, not in land distribution but atleast in their national flag. When I was a little boy and studied about the national flag I was told Lion with sward depict the sinhalese and the bo tree leaf depict Buddhism while the two strips out side the flag against the sward depict the minorities Tamils and Muslim. I wondered why they didn’t give a place for us inside the flag and went into the history of the national flag and found out it’s history. That is another story of discrimination. If DBSJ would like to write about it or any body else it is up to them.
I am Tamil lived most of my life in Colombo, except for couple of years after 1977 and 1983 when I was put on train first time and in a ship the second time and sent to Jaffna (?Home land). This was before my teens.
I wondered why when my fellow sinhalese friends who I play with every evening doesn’t have to change schools every 6 yerars while I had to. Then when I had my national ID I compared it my Sinhalese friends theirs was only in Sinhalese while mine was in Sinhalese on top and Tamil at the bottom (?equal rights). Then I started noticing similar symbols of descrimination in every aspect of my life. I can speak very good Sinhalese but my best mates don’t even bother to learn basic Tamil words. In the currency notes Sinhalese is in Big letters and Tamil in small letters. Only 3 languages have to be accomodated in the currency. When I was working my work mates asked me ‘what is your problem why are you asking for seperate country why can’t we live together?’ I told them we are not treated equally and showed the currency note as example. The reply was shocking ‘we are majority therefore we have to remind it to you and our self’.
Then I decided we can’t expect equal respect in this country as long as this attitude prevails.
If honestly my dear Sinhalese friends would like to live together with Tamils will they accept to give equal share not in emmployment, not in education, not in land distribution but atleast in their national flag. When I was a little boy and studied about the national flag I was told Lion with sward depict the sinhalese and the bo tree leaf depict Buddhism while the two strips out side the flag against the sward depict the minorities Tamils and Muslims. I wondered why they didn’t give a place for us inside the flag and went into the history of the national flag and found out it’s history. That is another story of discrimination. If DBSJ would like to write about it or any body else it is up to them.
My views:
1. Madhura Prematilleke
4. Lets learn to speak Tamil. Even a few phrases to start with.
5. Lets turn our celebrations into acts of reconciliation. Lets collect food, clothing, medicine, for our fellow Sri Lankans who are now referred to as IDPs. Let’s go the camps in convoys and show them we care. Lets do as we did during the Tsunami.
2. Kanchana Ratwatte:
..I wish to state that a few comments made by fellow Trinitian Cukoo (Mohan Sekaram) are at the most insensitive.
“What I referred to as problems encountered by the ordinary Tamil citizens today remain mostly administrativeNevertheless I believe that devolution has to take place!! No! Now there is no chance in hell for fedaralism!!
Whilst I admit the fact that Velupillai Prabhakaran gave a voice and a place for the Tamils, he never had the vision or the will to consolidate it. He left the better part of the Dravidian population in a situation worst off than they ever were in Independent Ceylon.
I do not see this as reconcile point even though I am not supporting tigers/VP. Also I do not want to discuss who and what.
The issues faced by Tamils producing an identity card with a name in Tamil has been addressed by Cukoo in detail. For the indignities faced by our Tamil friends when travelling in the same vehicle at check points, we can only say sorry.
It is a symbolic issue not the real issue itself.
As much as Prabhakarans men were armed and you could not help it when they were gunning down people, we had to sit in the car and wait until the check point formalities were over. The soldiers were armed too. The difference is that once the identity was established you continued your journey. That was only a small mercy. We are genuinely sorry.
Again I do not want to talk about whom, why and what. We can see thousands of people in jails without trails for years and years. This is no secret. Many of them are travelers like you and me. One of my friend running a travel agent india singapore- got arrested while travelling. He got an extra pass port of a customer. He is there for years, no way to help him.
Most liberal Sinhalese people can think like this. The basic issue is that 95% of them not lived under war area. – Including Mohan I hope. They knew tigers as ‘keeping bombs at busses and trains and most tamils like them’. I lived in Colombo for more than 10 years. I have stopped thousands of times at check points. Even I have taken to police stations 4 occasions (once I had to wait for 2 hours in my car with my family while travelling Puthalam. Because my son had a tiger faced toy), even when I was an employee at John Keells (where many Sinhala friends said sorry to me than). But I do not bother about those.
What bothers me most is, one of my schoolmates who got 8Ds in Olevel got killed in shelling. A student who got 4A’s in A/L got killed when he travelling in his bike. One of my close friend went to Nuweraelia for a trip from north, never returned. St. Johns principal killed by tigers. My uncle’s house destroyed by shelling and my uncle got disabled and still living. List goes on and on…. For each and every Tamil, I feel. Almost 100,000 people most of them Tamils who have relatives and definitely more disabled and mentaly effected….
Even now we are discussing about learning tamil, 13,000 people disappeared. There is no tigers now to give kids to arms by force. But think about the family members. There are kids they see violence, their brothers and sisters disappear.
Disappearance are common practice in many countries after conflicts. But non of those countries got peace, as I know – Africa to South-America- .I am not pointing fingers to the past. It is current..
If we allow those now, we can talk and discuss what is correct and what is wrong and how it should be. But it will be, again, very difficult to achieve peace. As one of the above post says ‘war is not finished’ and I see DBSJ respond it. Only thing is tigers are no more. But that does not mean tamils are in safe hands. Yes, as per southern Sinhalese, no more train-bus bombs (I hope). But that does not mean tamils got everything other then power-share.
Truth is 100,000 more troops are comming. When IDPs return home, they will see SInhalese run shops, post-offices, banks, railway-stations, building contractors and their families living there. It is not freedom of living. I am not saying that Sinhalease and Tamils cannot live together like in Colombo. But doing it forcefully, will never give us peaceful SL. This is the Fact.
If we talk issues ignoring major issues like these will lead to disaster. Most of the tamils almost forgot 1983. But people in Camps do not forget that their kids are out of school for months. They will not forget their kids disappear. People, who wanted to live in peace without tigers, may be loosing family members. This will not bring peace to SL. Today Sarath N Silva (future President Candidate?), talked about ‘conditions of the IDP camps’.
2.T.Jeyapalan:
“People should now muster themselves for the next stage. It is not to fight but to serve; to serve those who lay in pain in the camps. Attending to them with the touch of love will cure the physical wounds and heal our hurt as well”
I welcome your idea. Chances are very very remote. If at least one person who write here willing to go to the IDP camps and listen to the people (please tell the truth). That would be the turning point. Even UNP people cannot go to those camps right now. Soft liberal talks will not bring any real change to the lives of the people. But on the other hand, people who are angry and against government views, will be soften. I am not sure that is what DBSJ wanted to achieve….
I can even write to tell everyone that I learned Sinhala and willing to teach Sinhala to tamils to reconcile. But may be after 10 years, if peace exist, not now. See the Black man Obama was standing behind the burning issues to get support. He didn’t talk about history or talkable issues to get Republican votes. Colombo is not SL. Tamils in Colombo are not the only tamils in SL. Even when I lived in Colombo, I agreed with my Sinhalease manager on Tamils issue – for survival. If I opened my mouth to talk reality, I would have been simply labelled. Please do not think that I am posting negative views. What I am saying is reality, a way how we can reconcile. For. e.g if we ask tamils is IDP camps to write here, they will laugh at our liberal views. As I said again and again, we have to stand for the real issues people (either side) face right now. First thing to do is, at least we have to start discuss about those serious issues. Otherwise, discussing 1983 right now and learning tamil / tamil songs will be nice to here and write. But no substance. I feel it is not time to enjoy writing.
I am dead sure if we start discussing real issues, many of them will quite writing. Because many of them here, do not want to see the reality. Playing on the safe side will not lead to reconcile or solutions.
Will he ever come back…………….?
Awar varuvara………….?
now in London subject has changed to “Vote for Janani Jananayagam”
Can anyone tell me, if she wins today EU election, when she will goto Brussels and pick up the EELAM for tamil diaspora who suffer without LTTE?
The minister says the doctors must be produced in court every month while investigations proceed pending possible charges.
He said the investigation could last up to a year, but there might be extensions to that.
Separately, Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary, Palitha Kohona, has been speaking of the government-run camps where more than 250,000 Tamils from the war zone are detained.
He said everyone there had to be carefully screened, adding that it was “quite likely” that even many elderly people were “with the LTTE, at least mentally”.
i JUST READ THE ABOVE IN A BBC REPORT. IS RECONCILIATION POSSIBLE WITH EDUCATED PEOPLE IN POWER HAVE THIS MIND SET ??
DISHEARTENED
Mr. Jeyaraj, Congratulations for the successful, meaningful discussion you initiated.
However much we speak here regarding reconcilliation, most of us are not living in sri lanka right now. since we are outside the country, due to our interest to know what is going on in our country, we go through news about sri lanka in various sri lankan and international media and web sites. so we have a wider picture about the whole scenario. but those living in sri lanka have limited information. almost all the sinhalese media are governed by gov directly or indirectly. i have no idea about tamil media. however, right now everyone are mislead. so our initiative will be successful only if we are able to reach those living in sri lanka. for those people who have access to internet, a facebook group will be a good idea. but how about those living in siyambalaanduwa? Gentlemen, please discuss about that too.
Jayasingham: Hi Jay
Jayasinghe: Hi Jay
Jayasingham and Jayasinghe: HAHAHA
Jayasingham: AFP says “SLanka seizes ship with supplies for war-hit civilians”
Jayasinghe:I thought,”SL Navy seize LTTE cargo vessel off Colombo” according to Ministry of Defence website?
Jayasingham and Jayasinghe: HAHAHA
Jayasingham: What about the IDP’s then?
Jayasinghe: Well the Navy thinks they are all members of LTTE so what we do..
Jayasingham: Ranil says,
“Terrorism has been eliminated now. Democracy must be strengthened to build national unity. There is a new terrorism now. Letters are sent to the businessmen asking for ransoms in millions of rupees. They must be protected. We can go forward as a democratic society if the rule of law is granted.
Jayasinghe:He is a traitor..Lets reconcile!
Jayasingham: G.L Peris says,
“Today the intellectuals and experts worldwide agree that terms such as federalism, unitary and united have no clear definition and are indistinct at best,”s he was quoted as saying.
Jayasinghe: He used to be a traitor..Lets reconcile!
Jayasingham:Brad Adams (Asia director for Human Right Watch) says, “The last thing Sri Lankans need right now is a witch hunt. The country desperately needs healing. The government should make clear to everyone, especially Tamils, that it will respect their rights.
Jayasinghe:He is got a point.Lets reconcile!
Jayasingham: “A group of doctors who worked in Sri Lanka’s rebel-held war zone are being held on suspicion of collaborating with Tamil rebels, the government says.The doctors could be in detention for a year or more before being tried.” – BBC
Jayasinghe: What? It can’t be right? Lets reconcile!
Jayasingham: Navi Pillay (U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights) said, “I believe that accountability is a prerequisite for the attainment of justice and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans and, thus, a foundation for lasting peace”
Jayasinghe: She is right, I am all for the lasting peace Jay.
Jayasingham: I am all for the lasting peace too Jay.
Jayasinghe: What do you like? a beer a coffee?
Jayasingham: Beer would be fine thanks.
Jayasinghe: I hate these billboards Jay..
Jayasingham:Me too…Lets get rid of them Jay
Jayasingham and Jayasinghe: HAHAHA
Reply to Kavi # 68
////
I am dead sure if we start discussing real issues, many of them will quite writing. Because many of them here, do not want to see the reality. Playing on the safe side will not lead to reconcile or solutions.
you hit the nail right on the head. Congrats
this is what im been trying to tell people in the previous two threads as well. Unless people “really” are willing to see things as they are and start questioning certain views they hold sacrosanct, true reconciliation would be but a dream
buildings cannot be built on shakey foundation…lets work towards laying an adamantine foundation rather than sweeping pertinent issues under the carpet.
The history of the ethnic struggle in Sri Lanka especially the brutal way Sinhala leadership handled the situation, systematically removing the rights of Tamils polarizing the Tamil community, preventing them to coexist with the Sinhalese as the children of the same mother (as Mahinda claimed), made many of us to conclude that separation is the only option. But Mohan’s letter posted by DBS in his blog seems to be an eye opener to many of us pessimists, making us to see a faint light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel. I am personally and pleasantly surprised about the positive comments from many Sinhalese people.
We Sri Lankan Tamils have a peculiar problem. Most of us are very hard working people. We work hard individually but collectively we have a tendency to pull in different directions. Our disunity at the community level is the main cause for our failure to achieve positive results in peace efforts as well as in the prosecution of war. In Toronto, for example, there are many groups apparently pursuing the same goals but at loggerheads with each other at every level. Four people will join together to form a society and after a few months two out of the four will separate and form another rival society. We have to change our attitudes to have any success in solving the ethnic crisis
It is not good to criticize peolple for presenting new ideas unless you have something better. First of all, we have to stop isolating ourselves as Colombo Tamils, Eastern Tamils and Jaffna Tamils. Please stop criticizing Mohan by saying that he is pursuing the interest of Colombo Tamils. Mohan did not claim that he is a Colombo Tamil. He only said that he is a proud Tamil. That is more than enough. Please let us all support him to start a new movement towards achieving lasting peace.
Thanks DBS for posting his letter.
Siva Ganeshalingam
There seems to be one too many with simillar blog names.
Although Mohan Segaram has written his letter whole heartedly and with good will, he is obviously not accustomed to current problems which were discussed by many in this forum by both sides. He obviously hails from upper middle class and might not be known to real hardships. To some extend his letter is biased too. For example when he chronicled the events he started off with that the death of 13 soldiers sparked the organized riot in 1983, kind of giving an impression to an outside reader that it was a retaliation act. Mohan Segaram clearly targeted moderate educated readers, but he failed to think or to mention the burnt down of Jaffna Tamil library in 81 and the organized stampede at the World Tamil Research Conference held in Jaffna in 74 which killed many people. At that time I was 10 years old and I will never forget that my uncle came to our house from that incident mid-night sobbing uncontrollably telling that his favorite A/L Maths teacher Sigmaringham master from his school was killed. When that incident happened, they ware all spell bound and peacefully listening to the closing of the ceremony speech by Professor Naina Marikar, a well known Tamil scholar. What a splendid era we lived in! A Muslim Professor glorifying the language of Tamil!
What I am trying to say here is that the problem in Srilanka is not between moderate Sinhalese and Tamil. As far as I know, we, moderate Sinhalese or Tamil, never hate each other. It is the hard liners, monks, opportunists, and extremists from both sides cause problems. I don?t even want to blame the so called ?thugs?. They are the marginalized, disadvantaged oppressed people exploited by those politicians and extremists. There was nothing to loot at the Jaffna Library or at the World Tamil conference for thugs. Even in Vanni, the people held up by the LTTE were the most disadvantaged people. It is ridiculous suggesting that this reaching out between moderate people living comfortably in overseas will solve the problem.
The other most, silly childish comparison Mohan Segaram made was ?Hat collection for Celebration?. Isn?t Sri Lanka a Democratic Country? Isn?t it our right to decide what we want to do? No one can force any body to give money for ?Celebrations?. First of all there is nothing to celebrate after the loss of so many civilians from both sides. It was very embarrassing to watch Mahinda Rajapakse addressing the nation grinning from ear to ear giving victory speech without mentioning the demise and suffering of civilians. He should have at least mentioned that it was inevitable. I also heard that he mentioned something in the lines of Buddhist dharma, now we Sri lankan people have to work together. I haven?t actually watched it. So I don?t know if it is true or not. SL govt. should have created a somber mood after the ?victory? instead of distributing kiribath. So anyway Mr. Segaram, here we are dealing with a typical arrogant fanatic as a prime minister of SL who is after the votes of exploited people along with his two brothers in the military.
This is a true incident that my friend?s parents in Colombo accounted for after the ?victory?. My friend?s father is 82 years old and they were given the Sri Lankan flag to put out side of their apartment. Being an old man he couldn?t climb and put it on the roof or up some where instead he pasted it outside the front door. The police came and demanded that he had to put it up. Pasting it on the door is not enough. I know these are isolated incidents but we cannot deny the fact that we live in fear, and obviously live in more fear after the demise of VP. Again in a ?Democratic? country no one can force them to do so.
Comparison of Aborigines, blacks and SL problems is ridiculous. Obviously Mohan Sekaram played enough Rugby but not read enough History. You don?t need to read much, but just have to read the symbolic reference of Indian and Sri Lankan Flags. The meaning of the wheel at the centre of Indian Flag and the Lion on Sri Lankan flag. We had been doomed from the start, I mean since independence in 1948. If anyone has a hope that SL govt. is going to be fair to everyone, then the SL govt. should be elected and come to power with the promise of an inauguration of New Flag! It is not too late. Canada had its Flag changed only in 1965 replacing the Union flag to the current flag identifying the equality of all its citizens. Let see what we can come up with for a new SL Flag.
Hey! This is a good idea. Authoritatively looking Tiger (Not that blaring, ugly looking LTTE flag tiger) gazing romantically in the eyes of a proud Lion. No. We should ideally have a placid looking Elephant in our flag if we persist on having a four legged friend on our national Flag. Neither lion nor tiger lives in Sri lankan jungle, but we do have elephants in our country. Besides God Ganesha has elephant face and Lord Buddha?s tooth is carried on the back of Elephants during festivals and elephants are always important part in Buddhist festivals. If anyone complains it has too much religious symbolism, well, these interesting looking elephants are our best national treasure. Perhaps we should all stop fighting with each other and turn our energy into conserving these national treasures.
Now readers might think I am biased and trying to create more problems instead of solving them. I vehemently opposed LTTE specially its stance on child soldiers and suicide bombing. But I also equally recognize these LTTE?s actions are not anyway worse than the clandestine activities of some Sinhala chavunistic people and some Buddhist monks in the past. Yes. I explicitly said Buddhist Monks. Whenever religion mixes with politics there is always problems. See what is happening in other parts of the world. Christianity came from Judaism, Islam originated form Christianity, still they all fight with each other for nothing. Giving power to religious fanatics and military in state affairs is deadly. Well, now we have got Rajapakse bothers in SL military. There is a distinct possibility of military coop in SL just like what had happened in Pakistan, Vietnam, Burma etc.
I live in Canada and whenever westerners mention that the SL problems are between Hindu Tamils and Buddhist Sinhalese, sort of highlighting that it is between two religions, I always try to explain that it is not between two religions, but between T and S (although I don?t mention this I was temped to tell them there were enough Christian/catholic tigers in LTTE). So during the peak of last month trouble one chap again grilled me that ?If it is not between religions, then what is it. You all look similar, genetically also no different, cultural differences are so thin, so is it between inferior and superior castes? I know Indian sub continent people are class and caste conscious.? I was dumbfounded and startled by his accusations and his awareness. This obnoxious arrogant class/caste consciousness without any real achievement to be pride of is a real disgrace for all of us. It is equally true for both S & T.
I worked in S?pore for a couple of years and I first handedly noticed that the discrimination between North and South Indians is far much worse than the discrimination between Chinese and Indians in general. Tamils used to boast that if we had achieved Eelam we would make Jaffna like S?pore. For that you would have to have a flare of communism and practical vision not caste/class perception! Besides all Indian subcontinent countries are rotten by corruption in the name of Democracy. I also wonder often what would have been if Tamils were majority. No different, we would have had the same problems. Because we are genetically same material as my western colleague pointed out.
DBSJ, you wrote that VP liked Chinese cuisine. I wished VP had the vision, strategy and practical knack of Chinese as well. Ten months after that deadly earth quake in Sichuan, boom?couples who lost their only child to earthquake have been having their next only child babies. Indeed they are very ?Practical? people! I read an article in Transcurrent about the impact of LTTE and its demise on Indian politics and I couldn?t help but laugh my head off when I read the last sentence of the comments made by a Tamil Nadu guy. I copy the whole of his comments below. Enjoy!
India lost the diplomatic and strategic game in its backyard to the Chinese.
Chinese think in centuries and millennia. The Indian glory years are over since the demise of visionary leaders such as nehru, MGR, Indira.
Current lot only think of themselves and how to win the next by-election let alone the next general election. They are no match to their Chinese counterparts.
China can stand up to the western nations when its economic / defence or political interests are threatened.
On the other hand India will be raped at both ends by China and the West.
For the Sri Lankan Tamils, no hope, it’s over. The Singhala chauvinistic forces have won and will eliminate entire generation to perpetuate theravada Buddhism there.
No self respecting nation should support SL in this quest. Why would they?
Sri lanka has nothing to offer to outsiders. It sold out to the Chinese to win the war. Now they will skin it alive.
You know the Chinese they do not waste anything. Dead or alive they will put it to good use.
During Tamil Diaspora protests in Toronto in May, there was a small article in the McLean weekly magazine and the editor was comparing what would have been the response of politicians and state officers if the protests were held either by Hamas Palestinians or by Israel Jews. And the editor concluded that allowing these LTTE demonstrations didn?t necessarily show the democratic fairness of the Canadian Government, but it only shows the political weakness of SL. I also expected politically savvy weekly McLean magazine in Canada to cover more of our problems. But no, only two articles of two pages long were published so far. This shows our stance on world affairs.
Okay enough rumbling. What should we really do? We all should respect each other and show compassion and help each other. In Toronto alone there are 200,000 Tamils live. The silver lining out of this whole war is lots of our people are scattered all over the world. We are hardworking people and we reasonably enjoy economic prospects in these displaced countries. Charity starts from home. Each of us (including Sinhalese) should make an effort to personally reach those unfortunate people (including Sinhalese, I am sure lots of them are also affected) and help them establish again. Although it is said easily, it is hard to implement. We should form organizations to reach these people and personally get to know them and help them without relying on Govt. organizations. See what happened to Tsunami funds in the hands of corrupted people. If you have children, you should make an extra effort to reach a kid of similar age and teach your kids the hardships of other unfortunates. In the end it will benefit more to us and our kids than the people on receiving end. I don?t need to emphasize enough on this. The only problem is we should have honest people to do this, like the way Bill Gates scrutinizing every scent of the charity money by employing honest people.
Let us see what we can achieve realistically. Moderate S and T comfortably living in overseas sending each other reconciliation letters and saying ?Sorry Machchan? can be easily achieved. No Problem!
Flag?. We better hurry, before the lion is replaced with Chinese Dragon!
Tamil Diaspora or I should say Sri lankan Diaspora including Sinhalese constructively involving in the development of war tone areas and personally supporting the unfortunate people?How are we going to pass the hurdles impose by Rajapakse Brothers!
I am sending this to DBSJ on the 20th anniversary day of Tiananmen Square massacre. So my dear friends do not start analyzing and arguing the pros and cons of corrupted communism or corrupted democracy or to that matter Indian or Chinese culture. I am just being sarcastic!
DBSJ, I’m glad you gave a forum for these article and point of view. Every POV have the right to be aired.
But I’m disappointed in your endorsement of these ideas as they only apply to the Colombo/Kandy rugby playing, well connected Tamils, who are totally out of touch with the poor average Tamil or Sinhalese.
]
[May be you belong to that class
These elite Tamils/Sinhalese were having a non stop party before 1983, and it got disrupted and they are keen to restart their old days. I don’t blame them. But to think this is a way forward as a solution for the broader problem is very shallow and empty.
@Mohan: The Tamil/Sinhala problems did not start in 1983 or when LTTE was born, and even though the LTTE is finished for all serious purpose, those problems are only multiplied many folds.
I do not want to flame any party or do I want to see death and destruction to continue in Sri Lanka. But by all means they are not over. I’m glad the LTTE is finished, but till the SL state Terrorism is also finished we won’t find a lasting solution.
I witnessed those back in the 70s long before the LTTE was around, and by all accounts it’s still continuing. We can’t shove these under the carpet and pretend every thing is alright.
I’m sorry to say that most of the discussion on this thread will sound like fairy tale for majority of the ordinary Tamils. Given the history of race relations, we can’t just move forward based on sentiments and good will.
Sri Lanka needs structural change and major devolution of power before any long term peace can blossom. Any Sri Lankan who want’s to see a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka will push for these changes ASAP.
Responses like yours have been aired before and answered……………DBSJ
Dear Kavi,
The real issue of the injured man in the IDP camp is “pain”. Firstly the pain from the wounds and then the years of attrition from both sides. Both communities should lobby for access to the camps. I never talked about 1983 or Tamil songs. I reiterate, all solutions should arrive from Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-Violence. You will note there is a spiritual aspect. Thank you
There are things that tamils also should initiate as well as sinhalese. Most of my tamil friends are still backward for the dialogue. They were not interested before due to the overestimated hopes on LTTE; Now they seem pretty embarassed or disappointed to have tasted the reality.
What I understood is most tamils who really went through the bitter battle related experience are quite sensible in talking about a reconciliation. Some actually went thro, or took part in LTTE were very smart and resourceful when come to talk about reconciliation/peace/war or anything.
But, those who were just fans and waited for the final outcome at others expense were really disgusting to talk about peace/war any human feeling as they were like always in the up beat for VP and the gang having done nothing for their struggle, but to celebrate the hard time victories achieved by LTTE in those days.
Interesting thing is this trend goes SAME & IDENTICAL with sinhalese too. Those who never had the bitter taste/experience of what went in SL always used to talk in triumphalist mood adding ‘no sense’.
I have skipped reading lengthy posts?.sorry this is a busy world.
I don’t think that the ordinary Sinhalese (living in Sri Lanka) will agree for any compromise with Tamils anymore.
Presently, there is no Tamil leadership, and people like TNA are working with India, than building trust with Sinhala people.
The truth is Sinhalese don’t trust Tamil leadership or India.
Why do you want to comment on a lengthy post you claim to have not read?…………DBSJ
Dear Sri Lankan,
”
Dear Sinhalese, Please forgive and forget !
Dear Thamils, Please forgive and forget !
Forgive-to stop blaming or being angry with someone for something they have done, or not punish them for something-Cambrige online dictionary
”
Correct. On the other hand, if both forgive-forget, will things chnage automatically?
We have to stand up act on issues otherwise we may need to say “forgive-forget” many times again and again.
#68. Kavi
I completely agree with you.
Please let me share few more, just so that I can bring awareness (hopefully) to those who never understood the physiological effect of war and why some of you need to be more serious about the problem…
I was born in the same year as the was started.
My father told me several times how he managed to escape after the 1983 riots, hiding in the bush for up to 3 days and then how he got send back on a ship to Jaffna wearing only a sarong. Unfortunately he didn’t have any Sinhala friends to protect him, not even the Indian origin Tamil lady neighbor who lived in the same hood were in interested. She feared for her life trying save a JAFFNA TAMIL. My father was a good teacher but at the of that day he felt broken.
I am glad my Father made it safe but i can’t comprehent the losses of those who weren’t so luck enough.
I’ve seen the scary part of the IPKF in the North. They don’t even knock on your door when they want to search your house. Where is the respect of our women and children?
I’ve seen & heard of what the militant groups used to do to each other? My mother hardly let me walk out on the street, fearing and protecting me from seeing cut off heads and hands of people. Why they let this happen?
We have hardly had any electricity and I don’t remember catching a train, Yarl Thevi. Never watched a cricket game. When we played cricket on the street or backyard got interrupted when a bomber strikes. We ran to save our souls, we were only kids for God sake. We we not part of the LTTE. What were we supposed to do after school then?
When I hear the sound of a helicopter and i remember i used run to take cover like a soldier. I was only a kid.
I watched the bombers go over my head while peddling on a bicycle to school, not knowing when they will strike. There were times when we had to take cover under the treas, on the ground wearing our white school uniform. We feared for our lives. How many times did we miss school?
I have had enough of the ear piercing sound of artillery shells that i had trouble sleeping for long time.Second to God, the bunkers were the only protection. Neither the Government nor the LTTE had any respect to our lives.
I heard of how St Peters Church at Navali got bombed by SL army killing over 40 people. I also remember when the tigers shot down a BOKKARA plane (believed to have involved in that Church killing). These topic are what we chat about in school and every where we gather.
Most of my childhood drawings illustrated how a Tamil youth shooting down a plane or carrying an AK 47 riffle ready to shoot the army. My mind was all consumed by whats around me that i had little control at that age.
We were internally displaced more than 6 times already in a country where we were born.
I learned of my friend’s death by an Army shell striking on a narrow road where people were trying to flee, who were actually on the move…we escaped just passing the same spot by a mere few mins.
After SL army took control of Jaffna we were told to “Do so” by the army when they stopped us to check along the streets. I was stopped and verbally abused for running my bicycle fast around a centry-point…
When we lived in Colombo for bit over a year, I always scared our land owner’s son who seems had no respect for Tamil people. The worst thing is that you can’t speak against them for the fear of being labeled…
I left the country.
Recently when I went back to SL for a short visit, i feared White Van abductions so i that had to watch my back all the time while dealing with the routine checking.
Recently, i learned the death of one of my friend’s mother , killed in Wanni along with thousands of of people. I wonder who will care for them if we don’t?
The list goes on but i’ve only mentioned few that affected me and my age group and others..I know I am not only one.
There are stories profoundly deeper than mine so I wouldn’t compare.
My friends
I wouldn’t have mentioned any of these here if i wasn’t hurt by the ill treatment and ruthless act of the government and the LTTE in the past.
I am willing to forgive and forget but please DON’T deny justice to those suffered tremendously and sacrificed everything at the hand of evil doers for they have blood in their hand.
Forgiving is the hardest thing but what is far more important is that to see justice is served (for Tamils and Sinhalese) in which we can begin our reconciliation process which will act as a strong platform to bring back the ever lasting peace to Sri Lanka.
I just heard Obama’s speech in Cairo. Wow, if only every country had a leader of his calibre, what a great world we would have.
Mohan has written with good intention. I appreciate that. But he has absolutely underestimated the magnitude of the issues.
The real problem of our country is the Singhala chauvinism and hegemony. As Ulysses pointed out either Tamils and Singhalese are either equal or not equal. There are no 90% equal or 60% equality. If a Tamil raises his voice against the Singhala chauvinism or start defending the right of Tamil he or she would be branded as terrorist. Majority of the Singhlese expect the Tamils to accept their supremacy. This is not possible in a democratic country. We Tamils has equal stake as Singhalese has. We too have profound history.
I do believe LTTE and GOSL committed war crimes and both parties carried out gross violation of HR. One side LTTE had been punished. What about the other side? They are praised as Duddugamunus and Nanthamitras. Tell me how an affected minority ( being a victim of war crimes and living in IDP camps) would trust the GOSL and the Singhalese who support the GOSL?
Yes Let?s reconcile.
We shall start correcting from the constitution first. Shall we remove the special status given to Buddhism? How many of you, Singhala brothers and sisters, would support?
Please think are you ready for the true reconciliation. let our hearts talk .
(EDITED)
Dear All
I hope & pray that we Srilankans can start rebuilding our country and live peacefully hereafter.
My biggest concerns at the moment are about the IDPs and 13,000 tamil youths who have disappeared from the IDP camps in the past couple of months. While some Sinhalese have good intention and good hart majority dont demonstrate this at the moment. SL Army has won the war and during the conduct of the war they were told that all tamil men are for the sea and all tamil girls are for the soldiers. Unfortunately now that the war is over SL Army is busy killing and raping innocent tamils. This is how they celebrate. If the SL Gvt and good hart Sinhalese are serious about peace all the IDPs including former LTTE carders should be protected. SL Gvt has the legal right to take legal action against those who were involved in any serious crime however simply killing another 25,000 tamil youth will not help the reconciliation.
Can I please ask my fellow Sinhalese to do everything possible to protect the IDPs and show that you are interested in the wellbeing of the tamils. If people who conducted the war to continue killing tamils there is little point discussing about reconciliation and in my view it is a complete waste of time.
I would recommend Obama’s speech in Egypt today as an eye opener to our ruling class, particularly the portion that touched on what is democracy. He took his goodwill to the heart of the Muslim world.
Without the help of the US at least for the major part of the war, Sarath,Gotha and mahinda can not boast about their triumphalism and we will not be discussing about reconcilliation here.
Obama is for change but ..in Srilanka ……….
There are number of figures (and culprits) talked about for the war dead in Eelam wars and 88-89 JVP war. Once things clear for me is, most of victims were killed by Sri Lankan military and government death squads.
95% of the Tamil civilians were killed by SL military. God only knows what the real figure is, possibly 70,000 minimum including 20,000 during the last few months.
During the JVP war, in the name of JVP, 40,000 innocent Sinhalese youth were killed by SL military and government death squads.
This indicates, tamil and sinhala civilians killed by SL military account to 70% of the victims in Eelam and JVP wars.
95% of the ltte were killed by SL military, possibly 20,000 – 30,000 in all.
Of course the next highest group is SL military themselves 20,000 – 30,000, killed by ltte.
Sinhalese civilians killed by ltte is much smaller figure, possibly 1000 – 2000 however these attacks are the ones much talked about. Sinhalese civilians killed by JVP is probably a smaller figure too. How does this make ltte and jvp better terrorist than Sri Lankan military.
Also, if SL military is capable of killing their own brethren (from the deep southern Sri Lanka), how do we expect them to show mercy to Tamils civilians.
M Rajapaske should at least prosecute those who killed the innocent civilians from the South in 1988-89. Not to mention he is from the south and the party who organised these killing is the opposition party to Rajapakse.
I also wonder why there were 3 major rebellions ( inlcluding 1971 by JVP) in Sri Lanka with so many deaths. Sri Lanka with moderate population of 20 million and just few ethnic groups why there have been too many wars and deaths ? Is Sri Lanka’s political system terribly wrong or is it the communities don’t have any tolerance to each other ? Next war could be between Bhuddist Sinhalese and Christian Sinhalese or it could be between Bhuddist Sinhalese and Muslims.
hello anna,
please pass the message…..from Puthinam.com
Madhura Prematilleke and T.Jeyapalan thank you so much for your letters. These letters are very genuine and heartfelt and set the correct tone for moving forward.
But Kanchana Ratwatte, the tone of your letter has an undercurrent of tension that made me somewhat uneasy. Please stop using labels such as “Dravidian” and “Pariah”. This kind of social tagging has no relevance to this discussion. Can we us just stick only to the labels of Singhalese and Tamils for now?
The term Dravidian is kind of alien to the Sri Lankan Tamil psyche. If this sense of dravidianness is so important, we would see it reflected in the names of their political parties.
The Tamil politicians of old did a lot of good to unite us all at the beginning.
The first mayor of Jaffna, Cathiravelu Ponnampalam, once took all the tom-tom beaters in Jaffna to a crematorium (sudalai) and demanded them to ceremoniously burn all of their drums (parai) and take an oath that they will never beat those drums again. This is so that they will not be called the “pariahs” and looked down upon as a caste.
From that day forward, they moved on with dignity into different professions.
Now, shame on us, the modern day pariahs that we are, for keep beating this word aloud all the way into the English dictionary to symbolically denote inferiority.
I am also seeing the term Para Demala being used anecdotally a few times in the comments.
So let us stop using this word in writing and speech, and if we must, we should probably use the word outcasts instead.
Thanks DBS for taking this dialogue forward.
Some one had commented how we can take this message to the layman in the streets of Jaffna, colombo and Matara etc.. and also to the Sri lankan Politicians ( I would like not to discrimainate them now by saying Tamil and Sinhalese politicians any longer as parties based on racism were the main problem for this division as Wimal weerasinghe pointed out recently)
After all it is these people who will determine the future courses of actions not us living oveseas.
I am sure DBSJ has some strategies to take this message to ordinary Sri lankans such as publishing in Sri Lankan News papers which will eye open most of the Sri Lankans to my thinking who have been over celebrating the vicotry against terrorism.
I saw some pictures of children in the Manik farm this moring who have attended a Musical show hosted by Sri Lankan Films stars. The Chidren seems to be very happy despite the agony they have gone through during last few months or the lack of food or clothing as many claim. Their innocent smiles tells us some thing very strong for us to learn ” It is not us in overseas who lived with the fear and terror but these these children. They have alreday forgotten the past and smile with a hope for the future They don;t care you are a tamil or sinhalese .. yet why can’t we?? “
Please check this out.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(South_Africa)
Today 5th June is Pon. Sivakumaran’s memorial day.
DBS anna, is it true that you were also a member of the Thamil Maanavar Peravai in your school days?
Would like to read your thoughts on the history of TMP and the Tamil youth initial steps towards militancy..
May be you want to setup an archives’ link with all your writings in your blogspot for people like me.
Thanks
Good to see several people like ‘ New Script Writer’ to comeout with their personal stories. This is what ‘Truth and Reconcilliation’ is all about.
Read more about the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(South_Africa)
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Anyone who felt that he or she was a victim of its violence was invited to come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution.
The TRC, the first of the nineteen held internationally to stage public hearings, was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. Despite some flaws, it is generally (although not universally) thought to have been successful.
Speak out(Type it out!) – You shall be heard (read!).
DBSJ good on you for setting-up this ‘Cyber healing’ blog…
There are many Mohan Segarams are in the Tamil community. Unfortunately they just keep to themselves or just don’t have time to express their thoughts. Though you, Mr. Jeyaraj is not always on the right side of issues, (thanks to beauty of democracy & freedom of expression) but we know that you have currage to take on the high and mighty. May your site be a stage to perform all who wants to promote peace and harmony among all communities, especially the Tamil diaspora, through out the world.
Count me in please.
For all
We can easily say forget and forgive. Please understand about the people in the camp. Singaleese if they want to live with tamils, they have to give pressure to the government leave the people in the camp. same time give pressure to the government free access to international NGO make them feel safe. If you are really worried about this please do it first. Then we can think about other thinks.
Thanks to DBSJ for initiating and providing a forum for open minded discussion on current/past events in SL. Thanks to Mohan for lighting the candle. Thanks to all the posters. Every one who lived and who are living in Sri Lanka have so many bottled up stories/emotions on the current/past events. It shows how deep the scars are on the people from SL.
I do agree with several posters specially “Kanchana Ratwatte” and “DeePee” comparing the current state of affairs to the letter from Mohan. Mohan’s letter was a humble start to his friends. It is more like Rodney King( an African American affected by Los Angles racial riots) told the citizen of LA “ Can we all get along?”. The message was simple and innocent but it triggered snowball affect on racial discussions.
SL has 3 classes of people, class 1) People who live in the North who not know the emotions and struggle of the Sinhalese. class 2) People who live in the middle of SL a mixture of variety of ethnicity and class 3) the people who live in the South who do not know the emotions and struggle of the Tamils. Most of the posters in this thread seem to fall into class 2, where they have lived among Sinhalese and Tamils. The people in class 2 have for generations have enjoyed and tolerated each others company. The class 2 have lots of educated elites (speaks more than 1 language). Some of the Class 2 people, for their own personal advancement instigated and poisoned the minds of people from Class 1 and 3. Class 1 and Class 3 took up arms and fought while class 2 comfortably migrated to other countries and remote controlled the war efforts. The current SL government is mostly comprises of class 3 people while previous SL governments were mixture of people from class 2 and 3, but the core ruling team came from class 2.
For the good or bad the conventional war has come to end at the expense of huge human cost. There are lots and lots of horror stories. For all practical purpose the class 3 won the war and now class 3 has the responsibility to provide a respectable and honorable solution to class 1 to win the peace. This will take time and effort. Class 3 will provide a solution that is agreeable to all the Sangas( or peedas or peedam) and will keep the solution carrot hanging for a while to maximize the foreign aid.
The current SL government is set to rule the country for a long time, the opposition is in shambles. MR and brothers will rule SL like the old dynasties (ex. Gandhi’s, Bandaranaike…) for a long time in SL. I know lot of SL people living inside outside don’t like them( including me), but those are the ground realties!!
Very interesting and very pertinent analysis. Simple and superb……………..DBSJ
Excellent articles. And I went through the blog posts as well; found very interesting comments too.
You can see the glass as either half full or half empty. It is true for the topic of reconciliation; you can look at it positively or negatively. It depends on your mindset.
The past is gone, people. You cannot go back and change the things that had happened. What you can do is to create the present in such a way that the future will be bright.
For the pessimistic creatures, please give the optimistics a chance. There is a great possibility of a bright future if we go forward as one nation, not as an ethnic group.
Dear DBSJ,
Did you get my mail “SOLIDARITY EFFORT”? What you think about that? Are you in?
Regards
Saliya
Saliya, In principle “YES”But Have to see how it evolves before committing firmly……….DBSJ
Thank you Mohan and all the others for all the nice vibes and words. And thank you DBSJ for having the guts to publish all this.
However I would like to point out a few facts that people oversease might not be aware of due to the lack of pubilicity.
The people in the south have been collecting food rashions, clothing to the IDPs in the camps. On several occations the Popular teledrama actors and actroses were present at certain collection points to promote more donations near Dalada maligawa premises in Kandy . ALmost all the school in Kandy from all the clases collected dry rations and other stuff to be sent to the IDP’s. This I know the sinhalese were collecting for there Tamil brothers and sisters displaced by the war. Even on TV all I saw was the sinhalese collecting perhaps they could not or did not film any tamil organisations collectin funds!
Any way this so called Diaspora have they sent even a single penny or a cent to the IDP’s so far??? All they did was fuel the tigers with money to buy more wepons of distruction. LEts way that was in the past. If they are so carering for the Tamils in SL instead, of creating may-hem and havoc in major city’s and bullshitting about genocide why cant they direct there funds for the benifit of the IDPs??? That is my question. I guess many of you will have this question in mind. Only hope that diapora will have some sence to change there attitude in the future. Do you think any of those dispora who shout will bother to even go back to SL??? How come its only the Dispora who have gone as refugees shouting out and making the end of war an issue. How come its not an issue to the Tamils in SL??? Is it because the Diaspora is worried they will loose their refugee status???
DBSJ RESPONDS:
Yes it is certainly correct that a lot of effort is being done in the South by Sinhala and Muslim people to help the suffering Tamil IDP”s in the North. This aspect is not much known among the Diaspora.
At the same time a large number of Tamils in Sri Lanka are also engaged in helping the IDP”s to the best of their ability. Individually, in groups or through organizational efforts.
Likewise many from the Tamil diaspora are also quietly helping in whichever way they can. I dont know about the prominent “diaspra demonstrators” who exploit this crisis to embarass the Colombo govt or score propaganda points.
But I can certainly vouch for quiet, genuine help being done. I also know that some are planning and organizing to render permanent on – going help in the future.
Let us also remember that most of these IDP’s have friends and relatives in Sri Lanka and abroad and that wherever possible people are helping out on a personal basis.
For obvious reasons most Tamils do not want to publicise the help due to fear of unwanted problems from different directions
Besides many people who help others (This goes for all ethnicities) sincerely do not like to trumpet it out aloud because they do not seek publicity. (there is a Tamil saying that the left hand must not know what the right hand donates)
It must also be noted that several racketeers and con artists have got into the act and much of money and goods raised with great fanfare may probably line the pockets of dubious characters.
A point needing strong emphasis is the lamentable conduct of the State. If the state provides greater access and removes the constraints it has imposed ,a great deal of assistance could be provided to these IDP”s quickly and adequately
The conditions prevailing and restrictions enforced are indeed a crime against humanity. No amount of bluffing can erase the fact that the humanitarian needs of IDP’s are being sacrificed at the altar of national security
I have seen a few TV clips about Sinhala people helping out. While I dont dispute the underlying sincerity in these efforts and am thankful for their concern I must say that there seems to be an attempt to do project an impression by vested interests (for political propaganda) of how good the Sinhalese are in helping even the “enemy”.
But I emphasise that the help coming from the Sinhala people is genuine and humane. I appreciate those greatly.Only certain sections are trying to score politically and that is what I am implying.
There is also the sad fact that thousands of civilians were killed and injured in the fighting and that Lakhs of IDP’s are held in camps under abysmal conditions
Hi DBS,
Me too have same thought of “Comment 98” about class analysis. I am in class 2. I also think most of the comments from class 2. Within class 2 tamils or sinhales, healing and reconciliation is possible. I also have good friends in sinhales. But with class 1 and 3 it is very difficult. More hard work to do it.
All the class 1 people currently living under military pressure and most of them in intermittent camps. People in intermittent camps struggling for their basic needs. When the people in class 1 feel the freedom and equal rights, then only they can think about the integration and developing the country together.
But I have doubt about class 3 people, what extent and how genuine, they are willing to respect the class 1 people and provide the solution to integrate with class 1 people. All depend on government commitment. I don’t see any positive development. Govt saying tamils are their own people, but in Sri Lanka reality is totally different. Personally I don’t believe MR will lead the country together with tamils. Just talking. Most of the tamils don’t belive MR.
Anyway, people in class 2 can initiate the reconciliation and move forward. Challenge is, bring together the class 1 and 3 people. Hope and pray for that.
Encouraging and uplifting to read all the positive comments, in general. However, few of them stand out and these comments challenge all of us to rise to the enormous task. As I previously stated, in my initial message, this is the beginning of reconciliation process. The reconciliation process has several strands and levels/stages. Need maintain and move forward the process and make real progress in arriving at peace, we need move one step at a time and turn words into actions. I agree with Kavi ( #68) and few others, what we have posted with humble and nice words are the easy things. Kavi and couple of others have asked some very difficult questions. I know in these difficult areas we will have significant differences of opinion. So, by taking this 1st step, in this journey is not enough. Our actions in the coming months are critical and keeping the momentum and sprit of reconciliation.
As mentioned in my previous posting and articulated much better by “Natives#98”, it is easy to reconcile within the 2nd category, much harder to bring 1st and 3nd groups together. This is the reason, I suggested that people how have influence within the ruling class and with powers has to “own up” to responsibly to the events. I singled out Dayan ( Goweri, here is my response to your comment) who is belong to the 2nd group, but is close to the power centre. Unless, they take responsibility, all our nice words have no meaning. While continuing this dialog, we should act now which would show that reconciliation is not just words but have teeth.
There are number of suggestions already. One poster suggested which I support, lets commemorate the July 1983 event together to show, not only to 1st and 3rd group of people, but most importantly to the people in power that, we, as Sri Lanka, are concerned, profoundly sorry for what happened.
We collectively have to support the IDPs ( recent and past). Many have commented that they are collecting material or volunteering ( at least one medical person from Galle) to go and help at the camps. These are very noble intentions and we all are indented to these soles. However, most important thing, we collectively can do is to lobby to get these people out of the camp and resettle quickly. These people are resilient, proud, self sufficient and close kit community based people. Staying in the camp and looking for hand outs and services are not normal to them and they feel their pride and self esteem is challenged by staying in the camps. So, I asked by Sinhala bloggers to join us in lobbying the Govt. to free these people from the camps. Presently, We, Tamils, have no say with administrators, So, as Kavi said this is a hard challenge to our follow Sinhala bloggers to take concrete action.
Thirdly, The Govt, is refusing to have a any inquest about what happened to several significant events over the years and in particular the past months events. Tamils can’t understand why the Sinhala people are silent and haven’t supportan inquest. I understand those were exceptional circumstances and the consequences of any inquest. But, the medical doctors who were in war zone doing a heroic job is being interrogated and put in custody and may be behind bars for years. Similarly, many journalists and activists ( Tamils and Sinhalese) are harassed and intimidated and physically harmed and no one has questioned them. For Tamils, how can we reconcile when these things are not addressed. This one sided behaviour of the state is the root cause of the problem.
To build trust and reconcile, we need some tangible action from all of us
I have some information to moderate Tamils & Sinhalease. If you look very closely, you will realize that the Tamil Homeland concept is driven by a group of greedy Tamil elites more than ordinary Tamils. The ordinary poor Tamils play the subservient role of trooper, suicide bomber and child soldier while the elite Tamils live in luxury abroad and perpetuate the hatred. It is time for ordinary Tamils to rise against elite Tamils.
I started writing a long comment about the tamil discriminations and the worries of the Sinhala population, then I realised, there is no point.
We can all write what we want and claim that we want to reconcile and form a paradise in Sri Lanka. Simple truth is, even though we pretend like we have evolved, we are basic, greedy animals. We kill our neigbours, dance on their graves. We try to justify our current actions by resorting to fictitious religious sagas and past grievances. We havent learnt anything despite hundreds of thousands of years of existence.
Same events are being repeated all over the world. Sure there are millions of decent human beings, but we are being stampeded by those with vested interests and agendas. The common decent man is voiceless and powerless or he/she becomes corrupt with one whiff of authority. We are led by fear and greed. Just pick up a newspaper.
The UN is a complete fallacy and will go down in history as a failed organisation. The west dictates their so call moral codes on others. In the East, China is building an unholy empire. Smallers countries, scurry to form alliances and pursue the subjugation of their populace. Look back in history, this is what happened 100 or a thousand years ago. Instead of kindgoms, we have democracies now.
This is my personal pessimistic opinion. We havent evolved enough, perhaps we never will. But we have to hope. Perhaps one day! Currently there is no hope and reconciliation.
Thank God!! And when I was beginning to think that people just saw the world in B&W and Mohan Sekaram comes along and prompts hundreds of people to affirm that they truly want peace…
That one email was enough to make me feel that SL has hope to grow into a truly democratic nation with people being able to look at each other as human beings and NOT judge them according to race and religion…
Hi DBS,
Thanks for commenting about my humor. Actually this is helping me to be happy and have no malice toward anyone!
On a more serious note, I think people are using this forum to openely air matters that have been bottled up and in the process trying to understand each other – which i guess is what has been lacking for 30+ years.
Just to get everyone laughing again, DBS, would you mind publishing this joke? It is hilarious! Even if you don’t, I will understand
“A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of the dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Broni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the shepherd… “If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?” The shepherd looked at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looked at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answered “sure”.
The yuppie parked his car, whipped out his IBM ThinkPad and connected it to a cell phone, then he surfed to a NASA page on the internet where he called up a GPS satellite navigation system, scanned the area, and then opened up a database and an Excel spreadsheet with complex formulas. He sent an email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, received a response. Finally, he prints out a 130-page report on his miniaturized printer then turns to the shepherd and says, “You have exactly 1586 sheep. “That is correct; take one of the sheep.” said the shepherd. He watches the young man select one of the animals and bundle it into his car.
Then the shepherd says: “If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my animal?”, “OK, why not.” answered the young man. “Clearly, you are a consultant.” said the shepherd. “That’s correct.” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?” “No guessing required.” answers the shepherd. “You turned up here although nobody called you. You want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked, and you don’t know crap about my business…… Now give me back my dog.”
Hope everyone have a good laugh!!!
#76 Comments by Deepea
I am Future Ilanka Communist Party (FICP) Leader.
I couln’t have agreed with you more.
Beautifully written with the touch of worldly affairs with a dry sense of humour. Almost like a newspaper article.
But very very lengthly with very poor inotations. I almost skip reading it until the last para captured my attention.
As Deepea suggested I can see the future of SL either with
1) Truly elected democratic party with our new four legged friend on our national flag.
2) My party (FICP), I haven’t decided the flag yet, but I gurantee you, it is not Chinese dragon.
I would reiterate Deepea’s lengthly article with this.
Why Chinese won more than 100 medals in the 2008 Olmpics and India won less than a few although both countries have same poverty and same population.
1) No calss / caste division
2) No religious infleunce in state affairs
3) No place for Snobbish rugby players unless they could withstand the TORCHERING practice at International level.
Jeyaraj, Could you please help me get in touch with Deepea fellow. I also live in Canada so I can make use of him to establish a ground for my future political aspirations.
Why don’t you start a new Blog along with these lines to mark the 20th anniversary of Tianeman Square massaccre and add Deepea’s and my comments. So I can see my future with your readers comments.
I am recently laid off and I am also contemplating the idea of opening a new chain lines of “Barackobama Broccoli Soup” outlets. Broccoli is very good for your health Machcan.
Did you watch Obama’s speech in Cairo. Sensational!!
Do you know anybody with oratory skills like Obama within Srilankans? I found Deepea for ideas. I can make use of you for writing speeches. Machchan I will pay you handsomly. I already have lots of corrupted communism money spilling from my pockets. I am not good at ideas, or writing or speech, but very good at wheeling and dealing! KP is nowhere near to me!
Help me Machchan. Should I open chain soup outlets and become RICH or should I become FICP leader and HELP my country and also become RICH.
Congratulations DBSJ, you seem to be succeeding in the task that Norwegians failed miserably.The difference is you have approached your endeavour with sincerity of purpose.You have opened the gates of good will and we can see love flowing through albeit grudgingly yet.Let’s hope it will pave the way for direct dialogue between our undeservedly estranged communities which by and by will hopefully form the bedrock for peace,lasting ,durable peace based on mutual trust and respect for one another and not tactical one- upmanship .”Blessed are the peace makers for they inherit not only this earth but the heavens whilst they still inhabit this earth.”
Hello Natives,
That’s a very good point. Need a small clarification. The entire class 2 did not migrate. Only a few, and the rest stayed on and carried on regardless.
Even the future lies in how Class 2 can convince Class 1 & 3 to live in harmony. Politicians fron class 3 will only think of their survival, which means pleasing the
Sorry….
….. masses. The solution will not automatically come from Class 3. Class 2 must find leverage to twist the arm of Class 3.
People of the caliber of late Lasantha is not good enough. He was one sided to a fault and concentrated mostly on slinging mud and political milage than sticking to a cause.
DBSJ’s forum and the like is the way to go. At least for mortals like me. How we can make this public is the issue.
Question for Praba #66
Do you know of any other country that prints its currency notes, passports, IDs in all the scripts/languages of its minorities as in Sri Lanka? I am sure India, Malaysia and Singapore do not. And there large Tamil minorities in all those countries. I think if you want to only see discrimination you can find it anywhere.
#98 Native
excellent post!
Kumaran #90
There is a nuanced difference in the meaning of the Term “Paraiah” in Tamil and Sinhalese.
In Tamil it means low cast. But in Sinhalese it is a derogatory word for “Foreign”.
e.g.
Para Sudda = Derogatory word for Foreign White man
Para Desha = Foreign Nation. (Not derogatory)
Para Poshitha = Parasitic foreign body. (in zoology)
To call someone a “paraiah” has the same effect as “you bastard!” in English. No worse.
Very noble thoughts have been expressed on these pages by Messrs Mohan Segaram, Madhura Prematilleke, T. Jeyapalan and Kanchana Ratwatte. Ensuring that these ideas percolate down to the masses wont be easy, but its a job that has to be done.
Ragavan #84,
I know very few Budhists who want this “Special place for Buddhism” ensrined in the constitution. In fact, I find it very annoying when I see politicians indulging in buddhist rituals 24/7 rather than getting on with their jobs. However the trouble is that it is the #3 group that makes up the majority of the electorate. And the politicians know it.
We are in the same situation as Pakistan. General Zia introduced Islamic law to win popularity. However the more enlightened leaders like Musharaf who followed him could not revoke it because the Mullahs will brand him as being anti-Islamic. There is very little difference between the buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka, the Mullahs in Pakistan and the Shiv Sena fundementalists in Maharashtra. They will not relinquish the power they already have. Perhaps the answer is to raise the profile of Hinduism in the country and build Kovils all over the place.
Comment no 83. rajiv
Please wait and see what actions Obama has. He currently has a good speech writer, and makes nice speeches. The world needs actions from Obama. So, lets wait and see. At least to me, Obama has a good PR campaign, too little practical work. He has already gone back on the Gitmo trials which he stopper as soon as he was sworn in.
Well-done to Mohan, Madhura, Kanchana and everyone who has contributed their thoughts here. You have all raised very pertinent points that go for receonciliation and the urgent need to move-on as a unified nation of many cultures/religions/races that live in peace and harmony. Learning all over again, to live as Lankans who cherish their rich diversity and ability to live in harmony and with mutual respect for one another, can be facilitated by the numerous good suggestions found here. Madhura has made some very practical and practicable ones, as much as, many others.
Churchill is quoted as having said that ‘Do not open a quarrel between the present and the past; If you do, you can be sure that you’ve lost the future.’
This should be borne in mind when we work towards moving to a socio-political order that can ensure that the events of the last several decades will not be repeated.
Mohan displayed the humility of true Lankans and admitted that it was wrong in taking an armed path to resolving political issues. As another Lankan, I also say that all others are equally wrong for having let things slide to a point where it left room for a few youth to reject the conventional political path and opt for an armed struggle. AS some of the comments above show, the responsibility lies with the politicians of both sides for this.
The essence of all the noble religious faiths that guide all Lankans uphold ahimsa, love, compassion and kindness and, if we truly make these our guiding principles, we can surely help move on, and make right the inter-racial relationships, in the future.
Thank you to all who have expressed good and noble sentiments here, as well as the heartfelt wrongs they and their kith and kin have suffered. May the love and compassion and forgiveness generated in the hearts of those who are ready to forgive and move on, be a balm on those who still hurt.
Let us all hope we will have righteous leaders on all sides who will give good, wise and proper leadership and the rule of just laws for all.
May all beings be safe and well
With much mettha
Panduka
Learn from the past, more importantly face the future. We all have different views and ideas about the past leaders and the eras we passed. Those who lived during such eras have experienced the changes and those who were born later framed their opinion through reading various write-ups or from the elders how they perceived the events at that time. The majorities who lived under the latter part of the British regime and were young during the Independence most are now dead and those living are in the very old stage. Those born after Independence are our generation popularly known as 56 children (Panas haye daruwo). It is to this generation that our President belongs.
How we looked at the future when we were young was different to our parents and rightly so how our children look towards the future is different to ours. Similarly how we assessed the events during our parents era was different to theirs and how our children will asses the events in the past two generation are different to the way we assessed and our parents assessed.
Situations demands solutions, what was right yesterday not necessarily are right today. It is great to discuss the past, but since we can no longer change, it will be only an argument. We need solutions to todays issues it may look wrong in another ten years time, arent we going to implement them now? We should, no matter how it looks in another decade or two. Thats how history was and is written. Those with courage took those hard decisions and today we are proud of a man in our generation did not leave the terrorist issue to continue to the next generation when the baton is passed.
Whilst we talk about the symbolic changes that could be done, all Sri Lankans living in the motherland and the Diaspora should do the little we could. Is it going cost any one a fortune to help in education a Rana viru child or a child in the IDP CAMPS? Is it going to cost a fortune for ten or twenty Sri lankan middle class families to get-together and support a IDP family for a defined period till they stand on their feet. What better way to do than doing yourself to your own. What better way to show these cocktail jokers who come here talking about human rights, than the people will. Whilst we ask questions from the leaders, dont we have a duty by our own? Winning hearts and minds of our own people rest in the minds of our own.
Dear Kavi
Do you think forgiving and forgetting is that simple?
We are no where close to solve our problems by other means.
Sri Lankan
Dear Kavi and others,
We shouldnt think that forgiving and forgeting is that simple. It is a noble mental status. Once we DO forgive, perhaps things are forgetable. Otherwise, we are no where close to solve our so called problems, because both parties have claims, historic demands/rejections, losers, winners, culprits and saints….. at various time points. It is an UNFORGETABLE history. Forgive and forget it.
Thnkx for ur comments.
Sri Lankan
While I most certainly commend the attitude of reconciliation, attitudes have to match with reality, and from the actions of the current regime in Sri-Lanka, the attitude of reconciliation seems to be a very distant reality, if not a dream. Consider the following news item in the BBC:
Sri Lanka Doctors to be Tried
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8083505.stm
Take a look at the exceprts and some of the statements being made by those who are ruling the country of Sri-Lanka right now:
“During the final phase of the war, the group of doctors treated wounded and ill patients admitted to the makeshift health posts in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)-held zone encircled by government forces.
Two of them were senior local health directors and the United States has said they “helped save many lives” while the UN called them “heroic”. ”
“Mr Bogollagama said the issue was whether the pair had been looking after civilians or whether they had been used by the rebels “for other purposes”.
“What is the heroic act the doctors have done in terms of supporting the Tamil Tigers agenda?” he asked.”
“”I don’t know what the investigations would reveal but maybe they were even part of that whole conspiracy to put forward this notion that government forces were shelling and targeting hospitals and indiscriminately targeting civilians as a result of the shelling,” he said.
The government says not a single civilian died as a result of its final offensive, despite international allegations to the contrary.”
“Separately, Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary, Palitha Kohona, has been speaking of the government-run camps where more than 250,000 Tamils from the war zone are detained.
He said everyone there had to be carefully screened, adding that it was “quite likely” that even many elderly people were “with the LTTE, at least mentally”. ”
With statements such as the above, I don’t see any form of reconciliation in the near future. Moreover, Sri-Lanka is starting to look like China or North Korea. The Sinhalese who value freedom and democracy will be next in line to receive the brunt of the current regime and its draconian policies. Forget about peace between Tamils and Sinhalese. Under the current regime, both are going to be dealt with brutally if they don’t toe the government line on virtually anything.
Dear JeyJeyapalan – you wrote:
“Dear Kavi,
The real issue of the injured man in the IDP camp is pain. Firstly the pain from the wounds and then the years of attrition from both sides. Both communities should lobby for access to the camps. I never talked about 1983 or Tamil songs. I reiterate, all solutions should arrive from Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-Violence. You will note there is a spiritual aspect. Thank you”
Thank you for your reply. I have not mention you that you wrote about 1983/tamil songs. Sorry if my writing meant like that.
Dear New Script Writter :
“When I hear the sound of a helicopter and I remember I used run to take cover like a soldier. I was only a kid.”
Recently I went with my kids to watch an air-show here. I asked one my friend’s family. My friend’s wife is not wanted to watch the air-show as she still remembers the old events and could not control herself when she watch war planes in action. I don’t even believe this, but that is reality.
Most of your points remands me the ‘old’ days: My parents are teachers too. Navali incident was few KMs away from my ‘then’ home. I remember tigers killed 6 Telo members during mid 80′s near to our area. We have moved out of my home many times to stay with relatives to save us from shelling. Even I remember we ran to bunkers during my A/L exam at school.
“Forgiving is the hardest thing but what is far more important is that to see justice is served (for Tamils and Sinhalese) in which we can begin our reconciliation process which will act as a strong platform to bring back the ever lasting peace to Sri Lanka”
I am not sure justice will be a reality. Since tigers are gone, part of the justice is given (even though the lives don’t come back). But the I don’t beleive reconcile will come true with justice. Could be a dream.
What we can do is, at least save people from further damage. Sinhalease have a major say in that right now and I know many of them willing to do this. I am ready work with them, if they have any action plans.
So, as a proactive initiative, I would like to propose a doable action.
Kids in the camps do not have enough nutrition food and kids lost and continue to loose education. Why don’t we all get together to discuss how to overcome this situatuion. I am ready to go there and serve the kids if a chance is given. Save The Children is serving in the IDP but they do not have enough access and resources. We can get ready as a task force.
1. Arrange possible collection items and make sure they reach the children.
2. Prepare a list if anybody willing to go there and try to get the access for them.
3. Collect names and organizations that support this first step and continue from there.
If someone have different idea, please pass it here. Hope DBSJ and others have ability to organize or initiate.
Dear DBSJ
It is so interesting to analysis everything online and print media for years and years.
But innocent people are suffering. because some want a cause to live.
Everybody is playing with innocent lives
comment no.117: Plain and Simple
Given the state of the world today I’d rather have Obama than anyone else as the leader of the most powerful nation.
Who would you prefer?
There is a saying in Tamil small child harvest wont come to home but my concern is LTTE has proved this with the massive destruction to the Tamils property and life.
# 116 Dingiri
I understand where you are coming from. But I don’t know why you classify me as a Hindu. I am not a Hindu.
FYI I am a Tamil practice Zen Buddhism.
The issues here is Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka, the Mullahs in Pakistan and the Shiv Sena fundementalists in Maharashtra are the dangerous substance for peace. As you said the #3 is an absolute example for Sinhala Buddist chavanism. This spoil the peace in the country as make the races and religious people believe that the have been dominated.
Any way thank for accepting the reality.
I agree with the idea of reconciliation. Urgent need of the hour is IDPs.
I read a open letter of anandasangaree to president about identity cards for kids in IDP camps. Are they trying to mark them for life? Sad indeed.
The report of an infant trying to suckle on its dead mother in the IDP camp broke me.
Urgent need of the hour is the FAIR TREATMENT OF THE IDPs. Freedom. Dignity. health care.
I gave to MSF UK for their Sri Lanka appeal. Any on who want to help please give generously. Please also publisice any geniune initittive to help the IDPs (Local) want to give more. Lets rebuild our nation.
This is an opinion from a neutral outsider. It is not only thought provoking, it is very much relevant as well.
Sri Lanka : Ten Myths
By Satya Sagar
http://www.countercurrents.org/sagar040609.htm
# 116 Dingiri
Please understand though more than 85% of the Indians are Hinduism has the lengthy history Indian constitution doesn’t provide dominance for Hinduism.
Please understand though more than 85% of the Indians are Hinduism has the lengthy history Indian constitution doesn’t provide dominance for Hinduism.
I Srilanka the Buddhism has a history of 2300 years. Though I don’t like to go into conspiracy historical research I would like to you to ask the following question
Which religion was being practiced in Srilanka (then Serendip or Nagatheepa) before Buddhism was acknowledged? Both of us are Buddhist though from different branches therefore we shouldn’t have any complex in accepting the truth.
I would like to see the religion is kept at the bay when it comes to politic.
Thanks
Ragavan
All we are asking please please give peace a chance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-NRriHlLUk
Where there is hope, there is faith;
Where there is faith, there is love;
Where there is love, there is peace;
Where there is peace, there is God;
Where there is God, there is no need.
Thanks Mohan, DBS & all those who believe in peace for our motherland.
Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow in his footsteps.
And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues – translated from the Bhagavad-Gita
Dear Readers,
Natives (poster #98) had defined the categories of Sri Lankan very well in a way which is easily understood.
According to Natives, there are 3 classes of people in Sri Lanka whom are as follows:
1. People who live in the North who not know the emotions and struggle of the Sinhalese.
2) People who live in the middle of SL a mixture of variety of ethnicity and class
3) The people who live in the South who do not know the emotions and struggle of the Tamils
He further went on to say that “most of the posters in this thread seem to fall into class 2, where they have lived among Sinhalese and Tamils.” ========end
I wish to further categorise some of the concerns according to the classes set out by Natives. By doing these, I hope there will be further understanding on what are the issues holding back reconciliation from the various classes.
It is to the best of my mind, the concerns may be as below:
Class 1
1. Difficulty in trusting the Government whom they believe had seriously failed them in the past (1983 riot and many other events in between and the worst fuelled by the way the war was handled and matters concerning IDP’s most recently)
2. Difficulty associated in forgetting the horrible past of being victims of war and atrocities committed upon them, their families and friends which is a fact that could not be easily erased from their memories
3. Assurance that such (horrible) events will not resurface in the future. One of the means of payback is by way of punishing the perpetrators in the world court and so on,
4. Having a strong urge to recognise their culture and language as being equal and the acceptance of the rest of the population on such matters.
Their solution for peace: Tamil Eelam is the only solution to their problems and the perception that the Singhalese will treat them unfairly if they were to settle for anything lesser than that.
Their mindset towards reconciliation: Reconciliation seems to be too far away (or impossible) if these concerns are not met.
Class 2
1. physically, mentally and emotionally effected from being caught directly or indirectly in the violence perpetrated by LTTE and the Government
2. Trauma of having to live in fear for their lives and that of their loved ones day to day. Or in the case in some of the Diaspora, the frustration of having to leave the country due to the violence from both conflicting parties. Seems to be so relieved when the battle (in the battlefield) came to an end.
Their solution for peace: Government should recognise equality as means of achieving a long lasting peace.
Their mindset towards reconciliation: Reconciliation should take place immediately. Saying sorry and accepting each others past mistakes will be an encouraging start. They are frustrated as to why some people are still hogging on the past and turning down all opportunities to reconcile.
Class 3
1. Their notion of Sri Lanka belonging to the Singhalese. Their insecurity as to the fact that Sri Lanka is the only country where Singhalese culture, language and religion as being preserved. And thus explains their strong urge to retain and maintain their culture, religion and language by all means.
2. Off the mindset that they are the Majority and thus the minorities have to live at their mercy if they want to be part of Sri Lanka. They feel there is nothing wrong in the present constitution and do not understand the reason as to what the Tamil community are so unhappy about.
3. Frustrated by the war and violence against them and lost of many loved ones due to LTTE for this many years so much so in their mindset Tamil = LTTE.
Their solution for peace: Sri Lanka is one country; there is no room for Separation. Either you accept it or you leave.
Their mindset towards reconciliation: If you agree to these terms, then we will reconcile, no problem.
People like Ulysses, Kavi (whom I believe are thinking in line with class 1) and many others have brought up many valid points which are the marking stones towards the reconciliation. Hope, those whom openly accepted the views of Mohan Sekaram and friends (class 2) also take the time to understand the substance put forward by the others in order to be more proactive in achieving reconciliation. I am sure we all understand that reconciliation does not happen overnight. Understanding each others grievances and looking at the past mistakes (positively viewing it for the sole purpose of devising a peace plan and not for fuelling further tension) will certainly help to bridge the gap.
I admire the way Ulysses had well explained and emphasised in his many posts on:
“buildings cannot be built on shakey foundation…lets work towards laying an adamantine foundation rather than sweeping pertinent issues under the carpet.” ======end
Very well said Ulysses. Ground realities.
As such we may assume since the class 2 have initiated the peace process thus I believe they are in better position to influence class 3 that it is time for them to address the concerns of class 1 and vice versa.
However, whatever the mindsets are of the 3 classes of people and many peace loving Non Sri Lankan (including myself), to a certain extent, we could unanimously agree to one thing, the humanitarian crisis of the IDP’s are the utmost concern and number 1 priority at the present, crucial situation.
Can we not start seeing a common ground here (at least in the case of the majority)?
As an Independent observer (A Malaysian), I had put forward my opinion based on information I had gathered from reading the many posters’ experiences and their mindsets, some from the Tamil Diaspora (Tamil Diaspora mainly whom I listened via Tamil radio stations via internet) by talking to several of my friends of Sri Lankan origin, from external websites relating to Sri Lankan issues and so on.
So please forgive me if I had made some wrong assumptions and if had in any way undermined your grievances or concerns. My sole intention is to just join a helping hand towards a humanitarian and peace process in Sri Lanka. My opinion maybe worthless but nevertheless I am putting it forward as being from an unbiased perspective.
I quite agree with
112. dingiri | June 5th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Question for Praba #66
Do you know of any other country that prints its currency notes, passports, IDs in all the scripts/languages of its minorities as in Sri Lanka? I am sure India, Malaysia and Singapore do not. And there large Tamil minorities in all those countries. I think if you want to only see discrimination you can find it anywhere
Well said dingiri. It is only in SL you will see all the names in stations, busses etc in all 3 languages. But why is this not appriciated??? I know so many tamil students gain entry to the government university system with the same rights as the other SL’s. Many students who are selected to the MEdical faculty in jaffna deliberately opt to do dentistry at Peradeniya but this is not stopped as they are also given equal priviladges.
I also very strongly agree with 104. Kumar | June 5th, 2009 at 5:41 am
I have some information to moderate Tamils & Sinhalease. If you look very closely, you will realize that the Tamil Homeland concept is driven by a group of greedy Tamil elites more than ordinary Tamils. The ordinary poor Tamils play the subservient role of trooper, suicide bomber and child soldier while the elite Tamils live in luxury abroad and perpetuate the hatred. It is time for ordinary Tamils to rise against elite Tamils.
WHat Kumar points out is very very true. Its all those diaspora who are enjoying refugee status in other western countries who are afraid that they will loose their status. God help them!
I forgot to thank DBS for very good write – up
#135. tinky
A history well before LTTE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1UnhPq8Pio&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArqcfDhHg9o&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvG5mPaTTj4&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdg8AgweIgI&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgVQtCiMHz4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1EabzDfvIo&NR=1
I feel good when I read your blog full of people from both communities wanting to have peace and reconciliation. I am not at all surprised by that, because I know there are very many kind and loving people in both communities. I have worked with them, lived with them, ate and drank with them. Unfortunately, for a long, long time they have been silenced by the noise of the guns and bombs around them.
Well, the noise of the guns and bombs are gone now, hopefully for good. It is now quiet, dead quiet. In fact, it is as quiet as a crematorium. Mayana amaithy, they say in Tamil. In all this dead silence, there is one sound, a distance sound, the constant sound of the IDPs. They are crying for food, water, shelter and freedom.
There is another sound. We also hear the silent sound of the civilians who died in the sandy beaches of Mullaiteevu. They are not crying for water, food, shelter or freedom. They are crying out for justice.
They want to know if there were war crimes committed by the Tigers and by the GOSL. They want justice. Not revenge, only justice.
Should we ignore these sounds? Should we strive for peace when that sound, that continuous noise is still humming in the background?
When they get their answers, when they get justice, then everyone can truly say sorry and mean it. It is only when that happens, there will be silence. Real silence. Then, there will be peace. Real peace.
Until that happens, there will be that sound of wailing and weeping in the background.
JMPillai
unfortunately the message sent by the actions of the GOSL since the war is not very encouraging.
I invite all free thinking Tamil diaspora and Sinhala diaspora to unite as Sri Lankan diaspora. This combined diaspora should work with the objective of promoting peace and unity in Sri Lanka.
Tamil diaspora is seen as pro LTTE and Sinhala diaspora is seen as nationalistic.
Nissanka said “……How can we get this message to the ordinary person in the streets of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Matara and other remote parts of Sri Lanka. At the moment, the Sinhala people are in very high spirits, while the tamil brothers are shocked, sad and dumbfounded. The plight of the IDPs is unbelievable…”
What GOSL might consider doing is to ask every Sinhala family (since they are the majority) to ‘adopt’ a Tamil family that lives close by. By this I mean that they should befriend them even if they are not in need. They should ‘watch out’ for them rather like a godparent. The Tamil family should reciprocate. By this means each will discover the kindness and compassion to be found in the other. We were born Human long before we ‘became’ Sinhala and Tamil.
The nicest thing I saw today was in the Sunday Island on-line newspaper; the photo of The Yal Devi train steaming into the Thandikulam Railway Station in Jaffna!
My whole family had been in Jaffna by invitation from our Tamil uncles, but I didn’t have the luck to be there as I was abroad studying.
Now, I can visit Jaffna and my Tamil uncles!
Really, I don’t care what happened to Velupillai Prabakaran, the country is unite again!
I see that most of the Tamil people domiciled in Western countries are afraid to come to Sri Lanka and see for themselves.
1) They are afraid to find out that they might have been duped by the LTTE,
2) They are afraid to meet the IDPs and tell them that they had funded Prabakaran,
3) They are afraid that they might find happy, smiling children playing without a single worry in those IDP camps
4) They are worried that their “refugee” applications might be refused and they would be deported,
5) They simply want to make trouble to Sri Lanka, because that is what they want by hook or by crook
If we are to heal and unite the country we need to do the following:
Change flag. No lion. No Sword.
Remove the ‘special place for’ any particular religion. It sends the wrong message that any particlular ethnic group is superior to any other (as we SL people are strongly religiously polarised).
Make English the offical language. Make the teaching of English complusory. Train more teachers to teach English.
Remove, ‘race’ from all govenment forms. Make the concept of ‘race’ illegal in all walks of life. Make ‘Sri Lankan’ the unified term of identity that we all proudly carry.
Educate the people on the arbitary nature of the racial differences. Conduct a government initiated programme on the genetic make up of the people of SL. This will show that, genetically, we are a mixture of the same groups of people who migrated to the subcontinent thousands of years ago, albeit mixed with some European genes in relatively recent times. Scientists can do this accurately now. That the divisions and differences are more to do with language in the regions in which we lived.
With such a plan we might become one nation within one or two generations. Otherwise, we will continue to propagate the prejudices that are handed down from generation to generation, for many many more centuries to come.
Ariya
“2) They are afraid to meet the IDPs and tell them that they had funded Prabakaran
4) They are worried that their “refugee” applications might be refused and they would be deported,”
Even Ranil W cannot go to the IDP camps. Hon. Ariya thinks they are freed.
Go back 60 years so that the plum positions can be offered to the diaspora Tamils as they were taken by their predecessors before 1956?
@98. Natives !
The class division analysis is looks impressive. I think class divisions should be based on ecconomy level. Upper class- lead and direct. Lower class act (either as a tiger carder or SLA fighter). Middle class slide as and when they want. I do not beleive that only Colombo based people share common ideas. If that is true, we could have peace long ago. I was a middle class when I worked in colombo, I did not oppose my sinhala boss’s idea, because my priority was secure job, than tamils political righs.
SWRD Bandaranayaka, who cannot speak few sinhala words made sinhala only rule. This shows, how politicians used an issue to their benifit. 2 sides are there on this issue. Both have their own ecconomical class divisions. G.L. Pieris, Wickramabahu Karunaratna, Nalin De Silva are Colombo based (class 2) people but differ in opinion.
Economic class division exist as it is, and opinion differ based on the information they get and how their livelihood is affected on this issue. A Sinhala businessman in Colombo and Matara will mostly share common opinion as well as a Sinhala fisherman in Colombo and a Sinhala fisherman in Marara will share mostly same opinion. In the same way a tamil businessman in Colombo and a tamil Business man in Jaffna will mostly have common ideas.
People mostly writing here are middle class (as per the related country there are in now). Many of the people try find a middle way to write here because of the headding of this article. I feel, your class 2 or the middle class is not ready to reconcile that easy.
Every moment is an opportunity to be next best person we can be. The many turmoils referred to have been opportunities to either move to a greater knowledge of the truth or to embroil ourselves further in that which has not served humankind well over the centuries.
These are decisions we have all made by either choosing to do nothing or otherwise.
Lessons may be learned now or learned at a later stage. Again, these decisions are ours to make now, and I am extremely heartened by responses such as Cuckoo’s. This is a truly magnificent response that will at the very least start some healthy debate and provide a line in the sand from which we can all move forward if we so choose to do so.
Nothing of any real worth is ever gained through violence and or hatred and resentment. Any such gains are only very temporary at best. History has shown this and deep down, we all know this.
What we need to understand and focus on is that we all live on the one planet. This planet has more than sufficient resources to cover the basic needs of all its inhabitants if only we learnt to share. If only we recognise that all people are one and bring richness and diversity to life through their ethnicities and cultures. What one person experiences, we all do. We no longer live in isolation.
Some of us understand this, while others are beginning to and the momentum is now shifting. Let’s make this world ( and not just Sri Lanka) a place where we can all live in peace and with love for our fellow inhabitants.
Don’t wait for others to show the way. This is the time for each one of us to make an impact by the way we interact, the way we think, the way we conduct ourselves and the way we live. It is time to show this through simply being so.
One could argue that we may not have come to this point of view at this moment in time, had not the events of the past occurred to act as a catalyst. As such, let’s not waste what has happened, let’s learn from it and actively move on.
The choices are there to be made… which choice will you make?
Your choice will determine your future and what you experience. It potentially determines the futures of others. Make it the very best one you can, knowing that this is just the next step in this amazing journey of life.
Let the past serve only to remind us of what not to do! It is over and nothing else of true value can be gained by dwelling in it! The future is ours to create and we only have now to do it in.