transcurrents

31 Comments Add your own

• 1. roshann wickremesinge  |  February 27th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

  You are absolutely right. We choose always-wrong type of leaders, some them got nothing in their upper part of body. Mad mahinda bribed LTTE, get into power. If they don’t change their policy. Srilanka heading for disastrous consequences. Unfortunately there are no good leadership among sinhalease.
  Sooner or later international community will accept Tamil Ealam, unless we change our policy.

• 2. Media Watchdog Bob - "woof!"  |  February 27th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

  Retaining power and control over people is different to harvesting of souls. The harvesting of souls is the gathering of new followers. In no direct manner is the retaining of power over existing followers. Her contention to the contrary is the first logical contradiction in Prataps presentation. More factual and logical errors unfortunately follow.

  When was it that the standardization system practiced in the admissions process to universities in Sri Lanka discriminative against tamils? The tamils she speaks of, those from the north and the east, are from districts that are allotted affirmative action slots due to the disparity in resources in schools from rural areas The argument she should have making to press home her point of discrimination is language policy based – the sinhala only policy of 1956 and onwards to a certain point in time -and this is an initial misunderstanding of the facts which she demonstrates. She has continued on to make several poorly analyzed focus points and arguments relating to her contentions.

  When was it that the Sri Lankan Army burnt down villages in the 1950’s or 1960’s when the “protest’ was of a mostly non-violent nature? The burning of villages came to be once the uprising took the nature of an armed conflict. I do not defend these actions, however placing the burning of villages in at a chronological point prior to the taking up of arms by the tamil youth (which followed militarization by socialist elements in the South and the armies strong stance taken against those elements both Sinhala and otherwise) is a misguidance to the extreme for any newcomer to Sri Lanka’s conflict. Pratap speaks as an expert would, but her experience must be seriously called into question along with her journalistic skill and intellectual capacity. She may have done better in B grade Kholiwood productions.

  Her misunderstanding of the issue is far ranging and deep. A further example of this is the manner in which she claims “deals” were thrown out by governments (successors to the deal-making government) as they had no political capital invested in these deals. In FACT the deals were abrogated by the same governments that made them. Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam for example was torn to shreds by bandaranaike himself. She could have made the point stronger for herself, but because of her fundamental and historical misunderstanding of the facts, her representation of those facts have become fraudulent and fallacious. A dangeorus mistake of journalistic hyperbole in the instance of her being accepted as an authority on the matter. Such recognition brings a responsibility for credible conscientious and honest work which she has failed to abide by.

  It’s interesting that she speaks of the fact that the government never wins and the rebels never lose. It is undoubtedly a great victory for the rebels that they have been able to exterminate all possible alternative political (and military) representatives of the tamil people. Nellan Tiruchelvam and Amirthalingam have been victims of the rebels and great trophies on the LTTE mantle piece that sit right below the prize target that was Rahul Gandhi. – the indian prime minister who was killed by the Tigers while attempting to take a more overt (as opposed to covert) role on the part of “big brother” to the North in Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, much to the derision of the LTTE who had benefited immensely through indian polices pre and post gandhi.

  An added misrepresentation on the part of Pratap has been in relation to the building of mistrust. She claims this has been built up over the past 20 years. This has been built up over the past 80 years, and it has not been merely between the sinhalese and the tamils. The rebels who she has glorifyingly hero-worshiped have created grave mistrust amongst the population they hope to represent. Speak to any tamil from the affected regions, or just any tamil, and you would understand the hopeless situation that has grown amongst their people due to the extermination and exodus of effective capable and intellecutal leaders. This departure and marginalization is a product not only of sri lankan state policies, but also the rebel ideology of “sole representative”. It would be the crucifiable folly of any Sri Lankan government to deal with the LTTE as a representative of the Tamil people. If at all, negotiations should take place with the LTTE based on them representing the territory they control militarily. “Peace” talks should take place between the State, admittedly the LTTE AND other voices representing the muslim and more moderate (and extremist) alternate tamil voices. These should ideally be selected through a democratic process, which is unfortunatley not possible due to the existing situations in the North AND in the East to which the LTTE have contributed in no small part.

  Journalists such as Pratap, who have made their careers through deep access and familiarity, and even hero worshiping as is evident from her writings such as ‘island of blood’, with and of armed terrorist groups which often contribute to the growth of the movements for good or bad. They distort facts and push claims that are essentially self serving; with linkages made to these groups the journalist would reap higher benefits (dollars from CNN in this instance) dependent on how much higher profile the conflict would become and how much more newsworthy the story would become.

  Her “20 years in Sri Lanka” have seemingly been spent in vain possibly polishing up her horrible Indian-American mix of accents which remained excruciatingly difficult to listen to over her many years at CNN – such a model media institution in itself (please note sarcasm).

  Pratap represents the media that exaggerates and sensationalizes conflicts for personal gain. The media that picks sides and distorts facts based on their allegiances. Iraq is testament to the role of the media in extrapolating a conflict merely through the repeated use of a term – “civil war” – that transformed an insurgency into actual civil war. One sees this repeatedly based on how a story is exploited by the main stream media continuously. Pratap is a poster child for the same elements she derides.

• 3. R.VEERA  |  February 27th, 2008 at 5:43 pm

  I feel proud any sinhala brain work nicely after anitas speech. I will be really mad to think about this. So i wonder how racist dr dayans reaction?
  again i really dont expect anything new from dayan.

• 4. Dayan  |  February 27th, 2008 at 8:01 pm

  Well done. Bravo.

• 5. SK  |  February 27th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

  Vow….what a speech and an understanding on Ceylon problems. Only a few like her are doing a justified work for solving a problem, others are simply adding fuel to the fire. I appreciate a large for her unbiased speech. Keep it up Madam for peaceful living of brothers and sisters in Ceylon.

• 6. M.Thiru  |  February 27th, 2008 at 9:48 pm

  Very good speech.It reinforces Dr.Imtiyaz’s message about ” symbolic politics”, with few more of her own points as a journalist with broader or global view. One such point is the journalists taking the side of a dishonest and unfair government and promoting its agenda.

  In Srilanka it has been going on for years since 1947, particularly after SWRD broke away from the then national government of DS.

  Another point that has been going on for years is, Political leaders from the south telling one thing when they visit the North and East and do the opposite when they go back to the South. To date, they have failed to educated the majority of the southern masses about the paramount importance of sharing power and maintaining unity and go forward because of the head start they had in South Asia. Majority of the Politicians and their leaders were not honest and sincere about the future of the country. They make promises but never fulfill majority of those promises. Pluralism among Sinhalese worked against the Tamils and other minorities because one Sinhalese party was out bidding the other in the name democracy ( Dr. Imtiyaz’s another pet theory or analysis )

  Even among the Sinhalese owned news paper groups, different language papers within their own groups propagated different messages in English, Sinhalese and Tamil.

  Because of SWRD’s policies, my command English and Sinhalese were very poor when compared to my mother tongue Tamil. As a non Sinhalese government servant I managed to pass the grade three exam and earn all my increments. Wherever possible I used the official language in my work, particulalrly in correspondences. My Sinhalese teacher begged with me to sit for GCE ‘O’ level normal Sinhalese but to please him I agreed to do ” GCE O’level Optional Sinhala ” and got a distinction. I never expected beyond a credit pass. Then only I realised and told my teacher , only way the script marker could have given me so much marks was the essay I wrote with passion & conviction. The essay question I opted for was a speech ( no topic given ) to any of the grass root level societies.
  The topic I chose was ” Jathika Ekamuthukam ” which covered all the above points and more. that was the feeling I had for united Srilanka with parity of status for Tamils and other minorities

  I repeat 1972 constitution was a turning point in my life and made me to see where our Sinhalese leaders were taking the country.

  Any way my honest stand since 1995 is that Sinhalese Tamil political marriage that was consummated in 1948 will not work any more. Sinhala Nation must allow the Tamil Nation to go its own way ( like what Tunku Abdul Rhaman did in SEA ) for the sake of future generations on both side of the divide to prosper as very good neighbours and supporting each other when ever the need arises and also to ward off from external threats.

• 7. Argonot  |  February 28th, 2008 at 3:01 am

  I do not understand why Media Watch Dog Bob 2# has to make a personal attack on Anita Pratab. She was trying to make a point about the causes of Terrorism and she is absolutely right not only in respect of Sri Lanka but world over.
  The rise of Al Quida is due to not understanding the Arab Nationalism and the Palestinian problem by the West and in particular by the Americans.

  The Sri lankans are very sensitive, they take exception to any criticism including highly respected Amenisty International. It will do no harm to take stock of their history since Independence and learn from it.

  Whether her analysis is right or wrong is up to the readers to conclude. All the facts are there and you cannot white wash them,the Anti Tamil riots started in 1957 it is a great pity that no politician could see the writing on the wall !! and nib it at the bud.

  By the way Anita Pratab has a lovely accent and I am sure she is far more prettier tham Media Watch dog Bob.I detect a sense of jealousy in Media Watch Dog.

• 8. KTR  |  February 28th, 2008 at 7:16 am

  Media WatchDOG sounds like one of the so called media man from an asian tabloid. He was spliting hare and frying papadas from plain water.

  Anita has studied the conflict indepth and as a neutral observer than any Indian or Srilankan Journalist. She has more knowledge than any so called political pundits who write (or scrible) in the commnet areas under unknown names.

  Educated and informed audiance don’t expect MICRO-DETAIL of what media watch dog has mentioned. They only expect the crux of the facts.

  Well done Anita, I know you have some close connection to Eric and you too have worked tirelessly to bring some hope to the island but all in vain now.

• 9. Subra S.Massey  |  February 28th, 2008 at 7:18 am

  The problem with Today’s Sri Lanka is same as Sri Lanka is the 1950s and 1960s. They think by controlling events in Sri Lanka they can control the events in the world.
  Sri Lanka is like frog in a well. Sri Lanka is a frog in the Indian ocean! Think about it. We are pounding with the internet all over the world, what can they do about it?
  So it is a matter of time before everthing just collapses and it will be the burden of the International community to take over the country and rebulid it. We have already begun the work. A media is called the third and watchful government. It has to be free to exist.

  You cannot teach an inferior person a superior idea.
  It is an evolutionary process.

• 10. KTR  |  February 28th, 2008 at 7:26 am

  Here is the credit for Anita for her work on “Island of blood”

  Editorial Reviews

  From Publishers Weekly
  It takes a while to get to the heart of the engrossing stories in this account by leading Indian journalist Pratap. Once there, the reader is forced to wade through Pratap’s lofty self-assessments and accounts of praise she has earned during her impressive career. Still, Pratap’s captivating stories overcome these weaknesses and leave the reader with a powerful human understanding of some of South Asia’s most gruesome tragedies. Blending her professional experiences, historical events and personal anecdotes, Pratap devotes much of the book to her coverage of the Sri Lankan conflict. One of the few journalists to cultivate a relationship with the legendary Tamil leader Pirabhakaran, Pratap brings to life this extraordinary man and his motivations. In the process, she aptly covers both the journalist’s struggles to report in conflict-ridden areas and the social and human costs of the violence. Unlike her discussion of the Sri Lankan war, however, Pratap’s account of events in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India is focused on specific incidents and offers little historical context. As a result, the unfamiliar reader’s understanding may be confined to Pratap’s experiences. Yet she vividly portrays the human suffering in these troubled regions, raises important political and social questions and keeps the reader engaged through entertaining anecdotes as well as personal reflections. The result is a finely balanced memoir of Pratap’s extraordinary personal and professional experiences and addresses the political and human dimensions of some of South Asia’s gravest conflicts and tragedies.
  Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

• 11. Eric Nirmalan  |  February 28th, 2008 at 8:54 am

  Anita Pratap is barking for her paymasters. She talks of discrimination in education and jobs, which she knows sweet nothings of.

  My friends and I could get into the University from St Michael’s Batticaloa only becuase of the standardisation that allowed disadvantaged schools that are outside urban centres, such as in Trinco, Vavuniya, Batti to compete with Colombo and Jaffna. Else, it would still be a free run for Jaffna and Colombo. None of us could not afford to move to schooling in Jaffna.

  Also, I do not know of burning down of the villages by police or the army she talks of at that time. I am aware of the such activities on the JVP in the south at the time. Has she got a word of symapthy for the tens of thousands of innocent lives lost ?

  She is preaching from the pulpit to her fellow journalists not to take sides in a conflict, whilst basing her arguments on recently unloaded garbage.

  She speaks of an unwinnable war and wants to reinforce it thorugh the ‘power of the media’. Give way to terrorism, and where do democratically elected people stand ?

  What power does a democratically elected Parliament have in vetting backroom deals done by their party leaders to boost the survival options of a government in power ? Today, we complain of the MP buying spree of MR using backroom deals and offers of portfolios. Then in a far more grave manner, where does the B-C or the D-C pact stand ? Neither of these have a value as they were not ratified by the democratically elected Parliament.

• 12. islander  |  February 28th, 2008 at 11:56 am

  I think this is a very poor speech for someone who claims to be in journalism for 20 years… She has a very narrow point of view of this very complex situation… and I find her speech very bias and one-sided.. as for something a TRUE journalist should never commit… Isn’t she doing the same thing that she claims others do ?????

  Fact that everyone should know, both parties are responsible for this issue… not just the singhalese or its government…

  I think she should do more fact finding and research on the area… also her speech is more of a fantasy/flowery than realistic one…

• 13. Dingiri  |  February 28th, 2008 at 12:32 pm

  “Tamils have to get much higher marks to get into University”

  Nothing can be further from the truth

  Visit the University Grants Commisions website and check out the cut off marks for Tamil Majority districts of Jaffna, Batticaloa, Nuwara Eliya, Mullaitivu, Killinochchi, Mannar, and Vavuniya. Then compare them with the Sinhalese majority districts of Colombo, Kandy Galle, Matara etc. and make up your own minds whether Tamils are indeed discriminated against when it comes to University admissions.

  You’ll find that the entry criteria for all Tamil districts are invariably lower than those for Colombo, Kandy and the entirely Sinhalese district of Matara. So, if anything Tamils are receiving preferantial treatment viz University entry, but I dont see any Sinhalese complaining!

  The cut off marks for the current year for Medicine and Engineering are as follows.

  Medicine Engineering
  Colombo 2.0357 2.0020
  Kandy 1.9484 1.8848
  Galle 1.9919 1.9265
  Matara 2.0053 2.0308

  Now for the Tamil districts..
  Jaffna 1.8824 1.9080
  Batticaloa 1.5650 0.9404
  Nuwara Eliya 1.4042 1.0517
  Mannar 1.4460 0.7154

  Funny how the Jaffna Tamils object to a little bit of affirmative acction so their Batticaloa Tamil and Indian Tamil brothers too can get a University education.

• 14. Devinda Fernando  |  February 28th, 2008 at 12:45 pm

  Anita Pratab is Prabhakaran’s personal Stenographer. Nothing she says has any credibility to it as it is simply Prabhakaran speaking through a female voice.

• 15. Thilee  |  February 28th, 2008 at 1:20 pm

  Great!
  A good analysis and better article for everyone.
  I hope Dayan Jayatilake will read this.

• 16. R.VEERA  |  February 28th, 2008 at 4:36 pm

  Hi dingiri and devinda Fernando, I really sorry for you. Dingiri learn from history, do not defend sinhala madness towards Tamils. You trying show recent statistics, which absolutely irrelevant present day scenario. Tamils are going through immense suffering at the hands of sinhala Buddhist fascist force. Specially dingiri, you should know Tamils ready to fight merit basis we don’t need any preferences. Because of your mad sinhala rulers we Tamils also suffering.

  Mr devinda Fernando, please stop your nonsense, this site is Tamil intellectual site, and you can put your arguments intelligenly.

• 17. Selva  |  February 28th, 2008 at 7:17 pm

  It looks like that she knows less than 40% of the real course of freedom fighting . LTTE are the people to be blambed for this because they are the people who talk about the discreminated standerdization with the medias.

  Standerdization came in 1969 but Federal Party started asking separate homeland since 1956 and they won the mandate for that on the same year. The main reasons the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party) was telling is exactly the same reason what Mr.S.L. Seneviratne was writting in his article in tihs web” Blindness of Sinhala Demagogues and Tamil Liberators”. In that he writes there are people in some villages in Negombo who speak Tamil at night and Sinhalese in bright day light.

  This is what exactly the Tamil leaders S.J.V.Chelvanayaham and A. Amirthalingam was telling when they started the Federal party. ” Look at Negombo when the Tamil villages were sorrounded by Sinhalese, because of fear the Tamils started speaking Sinhalese and studying in Sinhalese and S.W.R.D.Bandaranayake has given them the status of ‘Low Country Sinhalese’ and the same think is going to happen in the East soon because of planned Sinhalese colonises”.

  Two more things happened between 1948 and 1956, one removing the Citizenship of the Upcountry Tamils and introducing the Sinhala only language policy. Just after removing the Citizen only the Chelvanayaham group brokeaway from Tamil Congress and started the Federal party. Because of Shihala only official language the salary increment to the Tamil government servents were freezed until they pass the Sinhala language and majority of them were unable to pass the exam and until they retire they worked with the basic salary only. Those are the important reasons why we wanted to go separate. After 1983 nobody wanted to join a government job and work with the Sinhalese or even they did’t prefer to enter the Universities and study with the Sinhalease students.

• 18. Dingiri  |  February 29th, 2008 at 5:48 am

  R. Veera.

  When mistruths are parroted by “analysts” without proper investigation there is a need to correct them. The current basis for University entrance has been in effect for 30 years. Way before the war started.

  The previous basis standardisation based on ethnicity lasted only a few years before being rectified in favour of some thing fairer.

  You must understand the background for Standardisation on ethnic basis in the early 1970s. It was found that Tamils who make up 12% of the population made up some 78% of all undergraduates in the Medicine and Engirneering faculties. Some politicians felt that students writing for their exams in Tamil were being marked up by Tamil examiners because when the sole medium was English this figure was only 40%. I dont know if there was any truth to this allegation but it would certainly cause problems even here in England if they suddenly found that Pakistani Moslems suddenly made up 78% of Oxford and Cambridge after offering Islam and Urdu for their A’ levels. Standardisation based on ethnicity was an ill advised “fix” to try and redress this imbalance. What they should have done was to have reverted to English, but that was not possible due to the Sinhala Nationalists.

  The Sinhalese have felt that Jaffna Tamils particularly always needed to be dominant in order not to feel discriminated against. Equality was never good enough for them. Hence the demands for disproportionate parliamentry representation, and disproportionate land rights.

• 19. Dingiri  |  February 29th, 2008 at 6:04 am

  R. Veera,

  “Dingiri learn from history, do not defend sinhala madness towards Tamils.”

  I dont think I have ever defended Sinhala madness towards Tamils in these pages or anywhere else. I have attacked every article where I have smelt anything close to it. See my exchanges with neo-con Dayan Jayatilleke and that idiot Buddhist priest at the New York Vihara.

  Demonise the Sinhalese for the pogroms of July 83, 77, and before. Demonise them for their inability to see beyond “Unitaryness” when there is no unity. Demonise them for waging war without offering a fair compromise. However when you lie to the world about how Tamils are constitutionally discriminated I feel I need to point out the truth.

• 20. Dingiri  |  February 29th, 2008 at 6:10 am

  “Specially dingiri, you should know Tamils ready to fight merit basis we don’t need any preferences”

  Tell that to a Batticaloa Tamil or Mannar Tamil who entered University with 60% of the marks required of a Matara Sinhalese.

• 21. Devinda Fernando  |  February 29th, 2008 at 9:36 am

  *** Mr devinda Fernando, please stop your nonsense, this site is Tamil intellectual site, and you can put your arguments intelligenly. ***
  Then what are you doing here? You know nothing of Sri Lankan History, you can’t put together a coherent sentence, you are nothing more than a Nodding Parrot of Eelam Talking Points. If you want a proper debate then debate me, puts some facts up, use some logic, argue a case. Otherwise shut up because you are a waste of space here.
  and learn to spell properly too.

• 22. Jay P  |  February 29th, 2008 at 1:36 pm

  Gentleman, We are spliting hare again for nothing. We are keep going to “Chicken or egg” which comes first story.

  What Miss Pradap was telling that “discrimination started long time ago “BUT STANDADIZATION has MADE THE YOUTHS TO TAKE UP THE ARMS. IT WAS THE TIPPING POINT”

  In SL history, First notable violence by the Bhudist in this LAND of INJUSTICE was carried out not in 1956 but in 1914 when the Bhudist Clergy in Kandy instigated the Bhudist-Muslim Ethnic cleansing which took the lives of nearly 140+ muslims.

  Had the leaders (any responsible one if they had) step into stop this chavonism, there wouldn’t be 1956, 1958 and so on.

  Had India stopped the violence on Sikhs after Mrs.Gandhi’s assasination, there would’t be any Barber Mosque distruction and there won’t be any Kujarathi train massacre.

  This where the R2P situation comes.

  SRILANKA IS IN R2P SITUATION.

• 23. Jack Ranasinghe  |  February 29th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

  Dingiri… remember Dr Hoole, the Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University who was appointed by Mahinda Rajapakse and opposed by the LTTE. He eventually left Sri Lannka and went back to live in the USA and is not a LTTE supporter by any stretch of the imagination.

  He relates his own experience of ’standarisation’ and ethnic relations:
  (www.federalidea.com)

  You can read the article by Ambassador Goonetilleke on the Tamil Homeland Myth. (www.federalidea.com)

  The bottom line is that the national situation will only get worse if Sri Lankans (Sinhgala speaking and Tamil speaking) continue to bury their heads in the sand. Wishing it will go away will not make it go away and killing Rajapakse or Prabhakaran will not change anything other than to rachet up the level of violence to come.

• 24. Oru Manithan  |  March 1st, 2008 at 9:57 am

  well put Anita.hats off to you.if all the journalist were of your caiber then the world would be a better place.The rest of you who debate some points of the speech and fail to see the whole context,i must say that to you ignorance is truely bliss.,

• 25. V Siva  |  March 1st, 2008 at 6:09 pm

  The Sri lankan government continues to commit war crimes against the Tamils and It’s time for the International Community to despatch War Crimes Investogators to Sri Lanka.

  Apartheid Sinhala regime is an occupying regime and time is coming for the Tamils to get independence.

• 26. V Siva  |  March 1st, 2008 at 6:21 pm

  Everyone should know that the Eelam Tamils never lived under the Apartheid Sinhala regime. Tamils had their own Kingdom before the colonial rule.

  Even the last King of Kandy was an Indian and not a Sinhalese. Politics is changing and state terrorism will come to an end. The theme of Sen. Barack Obama, the next US President, “Change” is supported by the young voters. It is possible that a powerful leader may emerge from South India like the King Chola to destroy Sinhala chuvinism and occupation of Eelam.

• 27. Haha  |  March 6th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

  I have scaned through the comments, many sinhala makkal asking when did the SL army burn tamil villages?
  Do they really want a list?

  I can’t avoid thinking about the Neo Nazists, who are currently stating ” Autswitz Lies..”
  Heil Rajapakse!

• 28. Sen  |  March 8th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

  I am an Indian Tamil. I feel that Problems are on both side.

  But it is definitely originated from Colombo.

  From an Indian stand point , i think that India should not have sent IPKF. India should not have given arms to Tamil fighters in the 1980’s. It added to the whole mess.

  Infact india should have forced colombo to solve the problem peacefully and helped Tamils to get their rights.

  Now what the LTTE and SL Govt should realize is that war is not a solution. Especially an able leader from SL govt should emerge and solve the problem.

  I ask all my friends here to think about the future. And what can you do for changing the country to peaceful.

  If you start critising , you can do that indefinitely.

  WAR IS NOT A SOLUTION TO SRILANKA PROBLEM.

  All the best .

• 29. raj  |  March 14th, 2008 at 11:27 am

  Reply to ignorant Bob (#2):

  “When was it that the standardization system practiced in the admissions process to universities in Sri Lanka discriminative against Tamils?”

  In 1972 from ( from 1970 ) when my good friend from Nalanda ( very good Colombo school ) could enter college with 4S ( ordinary passes ) while my fellow students from Jaffna could not even see the color of a college that year.

  Unfortunately Bob like people are like an ostrich. Either they do not want to face reality or they want to live their lives in lies.

• 30. raj  |  March 21st, 2008 at 7:10 am

  Dingiri Dingiri Dingiri (#13) I will give you that ie your current stats are correct. I am not going to verify that though I have my doubts. The point is, Dingiri Dingiri Dingiri when the system was introduced two things happened. One is the marks were standardized. A Tamil had to get a higher marks for a given grade than the Sinhalese. Then at the time of admission kids from good schools in Colombo could get in with lower grades. I am not sure if both happened simultaneously or one after the other.

  And for the Tamils from other places than Jaffna it did not happen to the scale you would imagine at least at that time.

  Dingiri Dingiri Dingiri you admit 120 students to engineering in Peradenia and then tell them since you are Tamils only 60 can be in Peradenia and the rest in Katubedde. And the ones who originally got Katubedde had to go to Science. And the science guys had to go home and join a rebellion.

  Dingiri Dingiri Dingiri we are only trying to trace the origins of the problem.

• 31. upul  |  March 22nd, 2008 at 5:06 am

  I read all these comments carefully.sad to say most of these people do not know actually what is happening in Srilanka. 18% of entire population are tamils in Srilanka.Dear friends, you know more than 12% of tamils are living in colombo and southern part of the country with sinhalaes and muslims peacefuly. What is the discrimination you are talkiing about.

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