Hi Ilaya Seran Senguttuwan,
There are plenty of Tamils who live all over Sri Lanka and no one is decimating them. There are Hindu Kovils all over the country and no one is attacking them.

What is under attack is the LTTE and perhaps the Tamil nationalist mindset. Unfortunately, Tamil civilians are in the midst of it.

This is the same thing that happened when the army cracked down on the JVP and far more Sinhalese civilians have died from those two episodes than the one with the LTTE.

You may not like the politics of Mr Nalin De Silva and Mr Ranawake, but what they say are historically accurate and supported by any academic historian.

The Tamils are the greatest beneficiaries of state aided colonisation, starting from the Tobacco plantations of Jaffna, Mannar Pearl Fishery, Coffee, Tea, Rubber and Cinnamon plantations. It is also accurate to say that an overwhelming majority of Tamils in Sri Lanka today are recent immigrants, with the largest movements taking place after the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505.

Tamils today who claim that they are descended from the time of Elara are like Italians in London trying to claim that they are descended from Julius Ceasar's conquest of Britain.

For your information, among these recent Tamils or more accurate to say, South Indians who came to Sri Lanka, were the ancestors of Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka.

The Sinhalese castes of Karawe ( Karaiyar), Durawe and Salagama are of recent South Indian descent. The JVP represents these castes among the Sinhalese. The war is being fought primarily between Tamils who are not Sinhalised yet, and Tamils who are Sinhalised. Mr Nalin De Silva and Mr Ranawake is also in this group. Any academic historian will confirm what I have stated above.

They say that black Englishmen are more English than the English. I would say the same applies to Sinhalised Tamils. They are more Sinhalese, than the Sinhalese.

I wonder if the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu knows that the Sinhala army is commanded, and to a great extent manned by South Indians who immigrated to Sri Lanka in the recent past.

I find it fascinating, and the best part is, these recently Sinhalised Tamils all think that they are bumiputras who have been around from the earliest of times, just like you Tamils who also think the same.

Earliest of times eh?

"Tamilnadu - Prabhakaran not excluded - to offer resistance against this 'alleged' genocide".............. Not alleged, it is actually happening.

Please do no waste time with remarks from people like Champika Ranawake.

There are some Tamils too like Ranawake. These Tamils say that Tamils are the originals (original song) and Sinhalese were born by mixing with Tamils and Vedhas (like Re-Mix songs).

"What is Sri Lanka now is part of the lost landmass of Lemuria that went under a massive quake of the sea in times long past. There is historical evidence to this." What nonsense is this? Lemuria? I suppose he was referring to the legends about Kumarikandam. We might as well believe that Adam's Bridge was built by a monkey throwing stones from the Himalayan foothills.

As far as I am concerned the Tamils of present day Jaffa are a Dravidian people that came over between the 10th and 13th centuries. The original Chola invaders having mixed with what is now known as the Sinhalese race. This does not make them late comers, who have no claim to Sri Lanka. On the contrary, every citizen Sri Lanka, whether by birth or naturalization, has the same rights as every other citizen.

Prabakaran is a creep paid and nurtured by India for the sole purpose of discrediting the Tamils and Sri Lanka.

Hello Dushy:

The crux of my piece was poet Vairamuthu's observations. As to "Deciminating of Tamils" if you are trying to suggest there are still many to be done with, I agree there is some more work to be done. Right at this point of time, many Tamils are being decimated in the war zone in the guise of "killing terrorists." There will be many who will totally disagree with you about the "historical accuracy" you ordain Nalin de S and Ranawake with in their often distorted version of the Tamil presence here. Incidentally, I have no personal prejudice against either of them. I only question their twists when they do. The PVP-Army point you raise is also debatable. Ranjan Wijeratne got the Army to finish the JVP because the latter (under Wijeweera) lost their bearings and were audacious to presume the Army is about to buckle under them. "The greatest beneficiaries of State- aided Colonisation are Tamils?" Jeez. This is fresh and thick. And whose land they did they encroach upon? This so revolting I shall not waste time discussing this. If Nalin de S and Ranawake say Tamils came here under 500 years from now - who, pray, built the Tiruketheeswaram Temple in Mantotam? According to Sir Paul Peiris - a Sinhalese to boot -
this has been there for well over 4,000 years built and thereafter maintained by Tamil kings. I am with you that the various Sinhala castes you refer to came from india. What more! the entire gammut came from there, brother. Agreed? Your analogy is similar to claiming since Thondaman came to Ceylon at the beginning of the 20th century all Tamils in Sri Lanka came around this time or thereafter. Sarath Fonseka and the Sinhala supremacists I have listed earlier will not like your "historically accurate" claim the Sinhala Army today is commanded by South Indians of the recent past. You are lucky you say you are living abroad. If not the White Vans would have come to pick you up. The truth is as Dr.Thambiah (Harvard U) noted, many of those in the Negombo who go as Sinhalse today were Tamils 200 years ago and vice-versa in the coastal areas. So who is fighting whom? Do be assured I do not think or claim Sri Lanka belongs to the Tamils only because we were here from the earliest times. As for me, I am quiet comfortable with the restoration of Tamil territorial reality disturbed when the Portugese set foot in the North in the 16th century. As to the Italians in London I have visited the UK from 1970 regularly till 2003 and used to stay for weeks there. I have many friends running Restaurants in Mayfair and in Bath as well. I have not met many Italians claiming UK for them because of the Roman presence - crackpots excepted.

By the way, you engaged in an interesting debate where you claimed Bo trees are exclusively Buddhist (the Munneswaram Temple matter). The moment, It was pointed out the Buddha was against tree-worship you went under the radar. How come?

It does not even matter, by blood we are all the same.

The conflict has more to do with mindset and culture.

Elements are afoot in Colombo to make Sri Lanka a Sinhala state. Naturally, the Jaffna Tamils will resist this in order to preserve their own culture.

It is pretty obvious that there is a Chechnya type of solution to the Tamil National Question is underway, as opposed to what is really required is a Kosovo type of solution. Until the Sinhala government becomes satisfied that Chechnya solution is inappropriate and wouldn't work the war is going to go on. The government is also in danger of exhausting itself financially at least very soon. Then maybe the Kosovo solution will dawn.

I keep telling Gen Fonseka, Champika Ranawaka they are our recently Sinhalised cousins they wouldn't listen. They keep trying to prove that they are more Sinhalese than the Sinhalese themselves. How about if I were to tell them that we are the original descendents of Ravana and that most of us are on our last HEAD and cannot afford to lose it?

This war has reached a ridiculous stage. President Rajapaksa may not be able to stop the war even if he wanted to. Over-reaching can be extremely counterproductive.

Dushy,
"For your information, among these recent Tamils or more accurate to say, South Indians who came to Sri Lanka, were the ancestors of Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka."

Tell that to Sarath Fonseka. The true fact is that we are descendants of same human kind. Please don't try to pacify the Tamilnadu's wakening. Stick to the present and talk about whats happening on the ground.

hi ya Dushey Ranatunge !

The Tamils became conscious that they were Tamils only after the passage of the 1956 Sinhala only Act by the gallant SW(O)RD Bandaranaike a former PM of Ceylon
which caused the Sinhalese to become conscious that they are Sinhalese.The result was a proliferation of people like Elle Gunawanse Theros,Madihe Pannaseeha Theros,Somawanse Theros,Buddharikitta Theros, Champika Ranawakes ,Nalin de Silvas,Hela Urumayas and others.On the Tamil side there ree the Uma Maheswarans(no more now Prabakarans, Eelavendans, KasiAnanthans, Karunas, Devanandas, Pillayans and others.

Before 1956 the Tamils like the Sinhalayas,Burghers,the Muslims and the Malays regarded themselves as Ceylonese or Lankans.

The presence of Hindu kovils in Sri Lanka do not mean that those who consider themselves true Bhumiputra Sinhalayas do not frequent those kovils. They do so in droves. Mahinda Rajapakse is a good example.To that extent his Chintanna is harmless. Any one getting into a bus or three wheeler plying the high roads and bye ways of Colombo or for that matter, the island at large will not fail to notice a pictorial depiction of a Hindu image of god besides a picture of the Buddha and sometimes of a Christ or Mary displayed prominently in front of the driver with a few wilted flowers in a makeshift vase and the remains of a burnt out handun kuruwa to call it in Sinhala only and santha kutchi in Tamil(reasonable use).

Of course this convergence of the symbols of faith is symbolic of the passengers of various beliefs and faiths who rely on these vehicle for their for day to day work or business.When a coward in the name of his race or religion places a bomb in a vehicle they all die or are badly injured.Their Gods do not save them. That is the reality. Other than that it is of course a pointless and a complete waste of time to delve into the question as to which depiction is an accurate form of God. No one has seen god or the Buddha,Christ or Allah. (If any one attempts a depiction of the last mentioned woe be unto him /her)
I suppose this is what Dushey who may be living in London in the cold is pondering about.He claims to know of an Italian with a Cesarean lineage and attempts to connect up the Motttai Thali to the Mulang-kaal,(...like trying to connect the bald head to the knee-Tamil proverb)in his effort to hark back to some ancient Mahavamsa mythology about Elarla and Dutta Gemunu. If one were to take him seriously and go by his logic and reasoning, then the Americas should have to be handed over to Spain, because it was the Spanish who financed Colombus's expedition.Which means that George Bush and his forebears have to get back to Ireland or wherever in Europe now...

Dushey should contact the people at the British Museum. They may be happy to appoint him to head research on how the Romans came to conquer Britain.He can then continue with his research on how Britain conquered Lanka provided Mahinda Rajapakse,Prabakaran,and Karuna are minded to fund the project than the war.

hi ya Dushey Ranatunge !

The Tamils became conscious that they were Tamils only after the passage of the 1956 Sinhala only Act by the gallant SW(O)RD Bandaranaike a former PM of Ceylon
which caused the Sinhalese to become conscious that they are Sinhalese.The result was a proliferation of people like Elle Gunawanse Theros,Madihe Pannaseeha Theros,Somawanse Theros,Buddharikitta Theros, Champika Ranawakes ,Nalin de Silvas,Hela Urumayas and others.On the Tamil side there ree the Uma Maheswarans(no more now Prabakarans, Eelavendans, KasiAnanthans, Karunas, Devanandas, Pillayans and others.

Before 1956 the Tamils like the Sinhalayas,Burghers,the Muslims and the Malays regarded themselves as Ceylonese or Lankans.

The presence of Hindu kovils in Sri Lanka do not mean that those who consider themselves true Bhumiputra Sinhalayas do not frequent those kovils. They do so in droves. Mahinda Rajapakse is a good example.To that extent his Chintanna is harmless. Any one getting into a bus or three wheeler plying the high roads and bye ways of Colombo or for that matter, the island at large will not fail to notice a pictorial depiction of a Hindu image of god besides a picture of the Buddha and sometimes of a Christ or Mary displayed prominently in front of the driver with a few wilted flowers in a makeshift vase and the remains of a burnt out handun kuruwa to call it in Sinhala only and santha kutchi in Tamil(reasonable use).

Of course this convergence of the symbols of faith is symbolic of the passengers of various beliefs and faiths who rely on these vehicle for their for day to day work or business.When a coward in the name of his race or religion places a bomb in a vehicle they all die or are badly injured.Their Gods do not save them. That is the reality. Other than that it is of course a pointless and a complete waste of time to delve into the question as to which depiction is an accurate form of God. No one has seen god or the Buddha,Christ or Allah. (If any one attempts a depiction of the last mentioned woe be unto him /her)
I suppose this is what Dushey who may be living in London in the cold is pondering about.He claims to know of an Italian with a Cesarean lineage and attempts to connect up the Motttai Thali to the Mulang-kaal,(...like trying to connect the bald head to the knee-Tamil proverb)in his effort to hark back to some ancient Mahavamsa mythology about Elarla and Dutta Gemunu. If one were to take him seriously and go by his logic and reasoning, then the Americas should have to be handed over to Spain, because it was the Spanish who financed Colombus's expedition.Which means that George Bush and his forebears have to get back to Ireland or wherever in Europe now...

Dushey should contact the people at the British Museum. They may be happy to appoint him to head research on how the Romans came to conquer Britain.He can then continue with his research on how Britain conquered Lanka provided Mahinda Rajapakse,Prabakaran,and Karuna are minded to fund the project than the war.

Mr. Ranatunge: "What is under attack is the LTTE and perhaps the Tamil nationalist mindset. Unfortunately, Tamil civilians are in the midst of it."

So you mean the willful, deliberate actions such as abductions and murders of many people, including Prof. Raveendranath, the Eastern University VC, are actions where "[u]nfortunately, Tamil civilians are in the midst of it?"

"This is the same thing that happened when the army cracked down on the JVP and far more Sinhalese civilians have died from those two episodes than the one with the LTTE."

That JVP episode simply showed that SL civil society, dominated by Sinhalese, is wicked and pusillanimous, unwilling to uphold the rule of law or question the murder of innocents in their own ethnic community. The extrajudicial killings, including that of Wijeweera in captivity, without any significant opposition, showed that SL society had lost its basic values. Whatever the rationale advanced for that, to me and many others, it was incontrovertible proof of a deeper malaise in the Sinhalese society, and never again would I want to live with such a society.

Indeed, the anti-JVP campaign of that time, far from justifying the violence against Tamil civilians now, strengthens the Tamil case for autonomy. After all, if the Sinhalese society was willing to tolerate murders of innocent fellow ethnics, how more willing would they be to tolerate killings of other ethnics with whom they have had a historically antagonistic relationship?

This line of argument obviously wouldn't support the LTTE's position; moreover Tamil civil society has not been forceful in opposing LTTE’s killings of dissident politicians and others, but it supports the Tamil case for autonomy in general.

"You may not like the politics of Mr Nalin De Silva and Mr Ranawake, but what they say are historically accurate and supported by any academic historian."

Historically accurate? Any academic historian? Have you ever read K. Indrapala?
I guess people can't help showing their true colors from time to time.

Tamil kings ruled the North East(NE) when western colonisation commenced in the island. The last Kandyan king was a Tamil and the surrender document to the British was signed in Tamil. When Marco Polo visited the island he found a Tamil king named Sandanam ruling the entire island. Therefore, Tamils have a right on the entire island. Such historical truth is never imparted to the present Sinhalese.

Champika Ranawaka, a JHU member and a cabinet minister in the government of Sri Lanka(GOSL), said in an interview a few days ago, that Sri Lanka(SL) belongs to the Sinhalese and the others must live out of compassion of the Sinhalese. Existing ethnic "master-slave" culture and state policy of it became confirmed with his statement. May be, soon another cabinet minister may admit Tamil genocide too.

Consciously expressing his ethnic arrogance, Ranawaka also said that in Sri Lankan democracy, the Sinhalese are a majority and would decide what rights to grant to the Tamils.

Democracy is about equality, freedom, justice and human rights for all. It is not about majority and minority ethnicity or religion.

Those from gutters, receiving gutter education, in schools like Nalanda and Ananda, in gutter language, can only talk gutter politics. Probably, Ranawaka was taught unscientific Sinhala mythology as history and was made to believe that Vijaya mated with a female lion to produce his forefathers ! Many UPFA and JVP men in the parliament are "gutter men" leading the country to gutters.

One thing is clear, and that is, the Sinhalese intent from 1956 was to educate their children with such anti Tamil untruth with the intent to commit the crime of Tamil genocide.

In Darfur and Sarajevo, forced ethnic evictions were named as acts of genocide. Ethnic Tamil inhabitants who lived for many centuries in Kantalai, Amparai, Welioya, Padawiya, Medawachchiya, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and other places were forcefully evicted by the state to be colonised by Sinhalese from the South.

Mass ethnic evictions by any state is internationally recognised as a genocidal act.

Genocide is an intention to exterminate, either partly or fully, a people of either an ethnic or religious group. The present war in the NE is a genocidal war. The intention was sown through education, ethnic evictions and anti Tamil violence over a period of years.

"war on terrorism" and "war to liberate NE" are camoflagues to dupe the world and distort from the reality of the present genocidal war. "war on Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq are not being carried out with genocidal acts as seen in SL.

Presently, Sinhalese mothers are crying for their dead and maimed sons who served in the army. Time may soon be coming, when Sinhalese mothers would cry for their handcuffed and jailed sons, who are now serving in the army committing genocide and those in the GOSL who ordered or incited this crime against humanity.

Genocide of Jews was also a reason for the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Tamil genocide would also be a reason to create an independent state of Tamil Eelam.

Hi ilaya seran senguttuvan,

I did not go under radar because of your comment about Bo trees. I simply did not respond, because it is quite obvious that different buddhist countries have different traditions, Buddhism does not have the degree of uniformity as Christianity for example, as Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophy. Japanese and Chinese buddhists do lots of things that Buddha would not have supported.

I agree that Buddha is supposed to have recommended that people don't worship trees, the sun and rocks, but people do and Buddhism does not ban it. Although we are Buddhists I used to travel with my parents to Kataragama 3 times a year and light hundreds of little coconut oil lamps rights around Murugans kovil 3 times a year. But I doubt if many Hindu's have similar interactions with Buddhist temples.

I do not agree that Tamils are being decimated in the War zone under the guise of terrorist killing. The Key officer directing airforce action is a classmate of mine and he is not a racist of any hue. I have known him from childhood and at no time have I had reason to believe that there is any racist agenda in the airforce to decimate Tamils. We also have common Tamil and Muslim friends and it would be a serious loss of face if it were to be true. Further from his general discussions I realise that they take great precautions to avoid Tamil civilian casualties. He is a married man with children and his conditioning is from multicultural Colombo and as such I have not heard even an irresponsible comment for me to suspect that there is any anti-Tamil agenda.

There may have been civilian casualties, but these are not deliberate.

I will try to address the other points that you have raised.

There is no evidence about any 4000 year old temples in Sri Lanka. This is religious myth, not based on any hard evidence.

Sinhalese people are not from South India. They are evolved from the indigenous Veddha and other tribes on the island. This is supported by DNA testing.

The hindu temples you mention may have been built by these early tribes who would have been Jains or early forms of Hinduism, but certainly not what you regard as Hinduism today. There was no Sinhala or Tamil ethnic identity awareness at this period.

To the above situation we have the introduction of the external influences of Buddhism and Sinhala royal/kingdom identity and all these together the gradual evolution of a Sinhala identity (around the 12th century) and further evolution of a Sinhala ethno- linguistic identity in the last 200 years.

Even when Margha invaded Sri Lanka, there was no Tamil identity as we know it today. Margha was a Kalinga and his army had mixture of Keralas and Cholas. Aryachakravarthi kings of Jaffna were not Tamils, but displacements because of the Islamic expansion in India.

Tamil was a commercial language during the arrival of the Portuguese, used by moors as well.

During the Mahavamsa/Anuradhapura period,there was no Tamil/Sinhala ethnic identity. There was a Sinhala royal/kingdom identity and below it various tribes, with a lot of mention of Naga, all united under Buddhism. These are the ancestors of the Sinhalese.

What I meant by the JVP example was that when the army cracked down on the JVP, large numbers of Sinhalese civilians were also killed. It has been estimated at over a 100,000. So, I would say that the army has killed more Sinhalese than Tamils in quelling Sinhala and Tamil terrorists. I am sorry that I was not very clear on this. So you cannot categorise the deaths of Tamil civilians as racism.

I am not bothered about White vans. In a democracy citizens must participate. If we fail to participate we leave the field, to racists and biggots.

Many Sinhalese were chased away from their lands to facilitate Coffee, tea, Rubber and Cinnamon plantations. The previous Kandyan territories had the greatest number of landless Sinhalese in the country because of this displacement and it this pressure that the state was trying to address in settling Sinhalese in the North and the East, to be accused of state aided colonisation by those who were the greatest beneficiaries of state aided colonisation.

This problem could be settled very easily if we remove nationalism and territorial designs from the equation. In Colombo, Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims live without any problem, because they have no territorial designs or nationalism.

Nationalism and "land = ethnic identity" results in conflict and death.

Dushy Ranatunge,

I suppose next you are going to bring peace to whole the world by pointing out that the ancestors of the human race are probably all from Africa.

The 'Sinhala' Tamil distinction is cultural.
One culture believes in burning down libraries, the other believes in the value of education and libraries.

If we play along with your simplistic "all came out of Africa" take on the matter then it must be said that it is Sarath Fonseka's loss that he lost his ancestral culture.

Hello Dushy:

I think the Bo tree question can be treated as settled between us. I won't dispute you that Buddhism is not a religion (I believe it is more Codes of Conduct - excellent ones at that. The problem is here most Buddhists think everything Buddhist is Sinhala, which
is crazy) Be careful here. Our JHU Mullahs and Rasputins will aim their gun at you because to them Buddhism has now become a business (Car permits, TV Station licences etc). Pls don't think I am running down this good religion. I am a frequent guest at those scholarly talks of the Servants of the Buddha on Saturdays at Bambalapitiya where the attendance and lectures are by pious, learned and charming Sinhala Buddhists - a pide to any decent society.

While I admire your friendship with your airforce friend, surely you know when a bomb is released your friend can never guarantee it will kill/harm only LTTErs. Bullets and bombs do not discriminate. Sadly the very large number of those killed by these bombs are innocent civilians. From figures provided of the LTTE strength of the last 3 years by Gen Sarath Fonseka these almost-daily raining of bombs has not touched too many LTTE cadres - as the figures go. You are well read to know the Americans with their unparalelled air fire-power in their hands during the Vietnam war, percentage wise, caused less civilian deaths, housing and other infra-structure (temples, churches) there than what our forces have done here.

As to the antiquity of Thiruketeeswaram Temple and the presence of Tamils thousands of years ago
research will tell you when the 3rd Sangam of Tamil poets and scholars was held in the 4th century B.C. Tamil Saivite poets Appar and Sambandar played prominent roles. The 1st and 2nd Sangams were held earlier where poets and scholars from various parts of South India (what is now Lanka included) took place. And, friend, it was in the Tamil Language proceedings were held. If you still want to dispute it, go right ahead. The Tamil language of yore will go on.

Despite the chutzpah and a somewhat poorly veiled supercilious and tendentious approach, I think you are a reasonable and literate man to debate with. In many of my learned Sinhala friends - and I am so pleased the list is long and the relationship warm and sincere - I cannot help but notice they nurse an untold/unsaid factor of not being in a position to claim to be Indian (look at the Indian names they give their children unconsciously), somewhat abashed to claim too much proximity to Kuveni's lot and indeed a wish to be distanced from the Veddah. As to Champika Ranawake history tells us Adolf Hitler (the Austrian) Malayasia's Mahathir (the Keralite-Indian) or even our own late KMP Rajaratne (of Indian Konar origin)and Cyril Mathew (the low caste Keralite)
tried to hide their origins by attempts at over-playing their role in their acquired theatres of
action by theatrics of ultra-nationalism. Ranawake,
it is widely believed, was born of Catholic parents
and was in a Seminary in the Matara District in his childhood. We have all heard of some people in earlier years "trying to be more English than
the Englishmen themselves" This tribe will never die.They will surface now and then - here and there.
But they eventually will be found out and treated
somewhat unkindly, though many might say deservingly, by history.

This is with reference to ilaya seran senguttuvan | October 24, 2008 10:17 AM

The Tamil Sangams are regarded as legendary. The poets Appar and Sambandar are from the 7th century. Please refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangam#cite_note-4

We would all like to believe that the race we belong to is of vast antiquity, dating back millions of years, and that our language is the original language of the universe, having originated on the planets in the belt of Orian. But, it is simply not true.

It is sad and ironic how Ilaya Seran Senguttuwan cannot see the similarities between the two views Tamil Poet Shri Vairamuthu's and Champika Ranawaka's. Each trying to claim they have a greater right to Sri Lanka based on a perceived notion of who came first.

The fighting will only end when both parties recognise that their claim is no greater than the others and try to devide the land up between them.

Sam Thambipillai wrote...Quote.. "Tamil kings ruled the North East(NE) when western colonisation commenced in the island."

You mean Tamil kings ruled Jaffna (and not much more) when the Western colonisation commenced. Trincomalee and Batticaloa were incontravertibly under the Sinhalese kingdoms. They were captured from the Sinhalese kingdoms and they were also recaptured from the Portugese by the Sinhalese Kings before losing them again to the Dutch. When Robert Knox landed in Trinco he was taken to Kandy where the Sinhala King reigned. When the Dutch first landed in Batticaloa they were conducted to Kandy - the court of Rajasinha II. Even the Vanni was under the Vannia/r chiefs who occupied the grey area between Tamil, Sinhalese and Vedda but paid alegiance to the Sinhala king. There is nowhere in Marco Polos diaries which say a Tamil king ruled the whole of the country. But when Ibn Batuta arrived a powerful Tamil king reigned in Jaffna whose kingdom extended to the Mannar Pearl fisheries. Later the Sinhalese king Parakramabahu the VI ruled over the entire country. So the boundary has been yo-yoing a bit at the the least you must admit?

Also, Lemuria belongs to mythology much like the Ramayana, Mahabaratha, the Vijaya Myth and Harry Potter. There is nothing Scientific about it. However even in mythology it is supposed to be somewhere in the Pacific and nowhere near India or Sri Lanka. This is really clutching at straws.. Also the oldest archaeological relics (apart from the stone age caves in the Balangoda area) are from Pomparippuwa and Rambukkana of a pre Sanscritic Megalythic peoples who buried their dead in Dolmans and Cysts. These are from around 600 BC and are contemporary with similar artifacts in South India. How then did the Tiruketheeswaram Temple in Mantota/m? (Mannar) get to be dated to 2000 BC! (Certainly not by PEP Deraniyagala). There isnt a single structure of that vintage in the entire Indian subcontinant east of the Mohenjodaro and Harappa sites that can be dated to 2000BC! Wherever did you learn your history from. Please read the universally accepted schollars Romilar Thaper and John Kaey on the pre history of Inda(available on Amazon) And not two-bit supremacists with an agenda. And you complain about Sinhalese supremacism and its Vijaya myth?! Where is the epigraphic evidence or the archaeological evidence for this? Its pure supremacist conjecture.

If a South Indian prince was annointed King of Kandy due to the absence of an heir to the dead king does that mean Kandian land belongs to the Jaffna Tamils? I beg to differ.

You say "Tamils have a right on the entire island. " and I could not agree more. But do you believe Sinhalese have a right to the entire island too? Obviously not.

If you believe Tamils and Sinhalese have an equal right to the land there could be an eventual resolution/partition based on parity. But the Eelamist land claim/grab is to reserve 2.4 acres land per capita for the Tamils and yield just 0.6 acres land per capita for the Sinhalese. A bit like the 50-50 representaion in Parliament that was demanded some years ago. And what chance is there of that ever happening? For the Tamil Supremacist, unless he has a disproportionate share of power, or a disproportionate share of the land it is GENOCIDE.

Personaly, I believe partition is preferable to the current war. It may not be genocide but there is no reason for people to die when there is an obvious way out. But a settlement can only happen on a basis of parity and equal entitlement. The notion that 35% of the country should belong exclusively to 12% Tamil's can only be attributed to your greed getting the better of you.

The day you say "We only want our fair share and nothing more" I am prepared to join you holding a placard saying "Sri Lanka get out of Tamil Eelam".

Also, an attempt to show that the Air Force bombing is causing more casualties than US bombings of Vietnam!

Well, here are the widely available figures for Vietnam..

In Vietnam, the US used hundreds of strategic bombers i.e. B-52 as big as a jumbo jets, each carying hundreds of bombs to saturation bomb Hanoi. In seven years they dropped more bombs in tonnage than both the Alies and Axis did in the World War II. Just imagine that?! An estimated 3-4million Vietnamese died in these raids in a population of 13 million.

Are you really saying that the SL Airforce with its 3 or 4 small tactical bombers (carrying no more than 4 bombs each) are causing more civilian deaths? I hear allegations of carpet bombing and then wonder however it is achieved dropping 4 bombs at a time. If a small tactical bomber cannot drop its bombs on its target there is absolutely no military advantage in using them. Sure some of them must be going a stray but if it is completely indiscriminate as it is alleged what are the odds of one going through Thamil Selvam's bunker door?

Again, I'm not saying the offensive should go on. My advice to the Rajapakses is to offer Tamils Parity. A Tamil eelam state with no interference from the South. However only for a proportionate portion of the land. If they refuse and keep insisting on their NE Eelam empire where the Sinhalese are left with next to nothing well, then its war it mus be.

Prasad...Thank you for your intervention. The world knows the Tamil language, culture and history stretches to many millenia. What I am trying to establish is that
these are much older than the mischievous claims by
contemporary Sinhala supremacists here Tamils came here only 400 years ago while others claim they came here only when the Moghuls chased them from India - being just a few. Others like Dingiri have come in with
dignified comments suggesting some of these claims are buried in the mists of legend and so forth. I am in no way suggesting the present Sri Lanka belonged in its entirety to Tamils. No. My point is Tamils have been here as early as or even prior to others
here and are not alien to the island. But all that is past. What of the present and the future? I wish all these critics will be told what Basil Rajapakse told
Pranab Mukerjee and Company in Delhi last Sunday. And that is, conditions will this time around definitely be created for Tamils and Sinhalese to live in the island in unity, peace and in safety. That is what I want. I seek no division of the country - never have. As Delhi was assured, the Eastern province is being developed to enable the Tamils and Muslims to run their areas by themselves and that Colombo will provide all the resources for infra-structure development so that the people in the area will find
remunerative employment, farming and trading opportunities, State employment etc as prior to the
1956 period. It is said the Northern Province will
be subject to similar development in due time. If all this happens who wants separation? What was lacking so far was the absence of will and objectivity to address these crucial issues and then we harvested rivers of blood, a steady flow of coffins all over and destruction of the country's meagre resources. One hopes wisdom has come to our leaders at last and that the plough will yield to the sword soon.

Obvious correction in my above piece. Pls read as
"sword will yield to the plough" Tku

Even American ready for a change but look at this educated proud sinhalabudha mother lankan!!.

I refer to the column by Ilaya Seran Senguttuvan -"When did Tamils come to Sri Lanka"

As a amateur history buff of Tamil Nadu I would like point out that from about 4th century upto the 12th century AD there was mass movement of Tamil speaking people into Sri Lanka due to the frequent invasions to control the island by successive ancient Tamil Kingdom of Cholas.The sudden death of the Cholas in the 13th century on account of the Muslim invasions from Delhi put a full stop to wars between Chola Tamils and the Sinhala speaking kingdoms mostly based in Anuradhapura.

If one where to read the ancient history of Sri Lanka it would appear obvious that the island was almost uninhabited (with the sole exception of savages of negroid origin) until the Vijayas of Bengal commenced mass migration into the island this advent kick started the process of taming the negroid savages and bringing them into the main stream of civlised society.Buddhism played a dominent part so much so that the ancient Vijaya Hindu kingdoms of the island were greatly influenced and embraced it around the 3nd century BC and with them their subjects too.

The question I wish to pose to all is- when did the Sinhalas come to Sri Lanka ?
Best wishes
Narayanswamy

Its always the Sinhalese who are suffering but do remember that its the Sinhalese who has been in power in Sri Lanka since the British left. It is the same Sinhalese who started the discriminatory process against the Tamils and basically gave birth to the LTTE.

in my point of view ill tell how tamils came here,and its simple.first of all let me expalin how sinhalese were born.As all may know there were people in sri lanka for a long time. eg: balangoda manawaya & etc..But sinhalese were not Born in those days.Sinhalese were born after Pandukabaya.( ofcourse afer vijaya came to Lanka ).those days there were some groups living in sri lanka.

Mahawamsa mentions those groups as Yaksha,dewa,naga,wyada, may be etc also. anyhow Pandukabaya did unite all these ethnic groups together.so no more Yaksha,dewa, or indian immigrants as it is a New National..so-called Sinhala.

i also belive that tere were one or more Tamils( most probebly Dravida people) in this country.But can any one show that there was a Tamil Kingdom here? atleast their monuments? may be we can find debris,but for that one or to debris see how many sinhala monuments there are!!

It says Tamils were brought here by British era and Dutch era,for their business such as Tea,Tabeco.

Prof.Nalin de silva shows tht their History not runs more than 200 years.

if there were tamils for long time, their language should change with time.But it says Language difference between Indian tamils and these tamils is not more than 200 years.

Terrorism is intolerable wherever it may occur and is abhorrent to civilized people.
All humans (the 5th Ape) descended from the one mother in Africa. So, we are all cross-bred products. It also means that we are all very distant relatives of one another. Depending on the proximity to the equator, pursued sexual partner and continental drift, their appearance changed or evolved to survive. Therefore the multitude of skin-pallor and appearance of present day Homo-sapiens. This creates a stronger gene-pool.
Religion was man-made irrespective of which, to create society (probably due to lawlessness, greed, bullying, rape etc in that era) which we believe separates us from animals. All wars are caused through human greed or religion. If we can be honest with ourselves, then we know that every human subconsciously or overtly believe that they are superior to other humans, be they of immediate vicinity or from a geographically different origin. Hence the need to denigrate others albeit for their religious beliefs, there ethnic background or socio-economic standing.
From the earliest time humans worshipped anything that they couldn’t comprehend. All religions created a mythical “Heaven” and “Hell” initially as a deterrent to wrongdoing thereby paving the path to an organized and peaceful ‘civilized’ existence. Some enterprising individuals saw it as a good way of making a living whilst continuing to create good society and promote altruism. Hence the existence of Kovils, Churches, Temples and Mosques and their respective Swamis, Priests, Monks and Imams.
In the last century, man has developed in leaps and bounds along with mental skills. Super factories, vehicles, commercial flights, submarines, supertankers, high-rise buildings, massive bridges and under-sea tunnels that connect land masses and even visited other heavenly bodies in the solar-system to mention but a few of human achievements.
However mentally, when it comes to a point of crisis humans turn to divine powers in the hope of salvation. The reasons behind this are complex but basically they want to be forgiven or saved from their multitude of “sins”. The “sins” are committed due to “greed” or religious beliefs. The latter in particular is “brain-washed” into our thoughts through consistent, systematic education (Sunday school etc) of whichever religion one’s parents believed in from early childhood. This becomes a thought process that is second nature working in both, at a conscious and sub-conscious level in one’s mind.
Although this is essentially how civilization works, surely the thinking man can work out that there is no God guiding, rewarding or punishing them. It is entirely up to each and every individual to be thoughtful of his environment and its’ sustenance requirements (hence “do unto others as …”) if we are to maintain an organized society. If there was a God how can he create such social reprobates as terrorists, murderers, rapists etc. etc.? If God is so great why do some individuals behead their captives in his name? I do not for a moment believe that this could be explained away by a simplistic “God moves in mysterious ways”. If we have good fortune to thank God, we should also hold this same God responsible for all the bad fortune as well.
Unfortunately there are very few thinking people in this world. So the need for divine intervention continues to be part of human life along with the multitude of religious beliefs and the friction it causes, all in the name of creating a ‘civilized society’. Therein lies the conundrum.
Now for my point: The sooner the humans begin using their intellect and stop believing in the intangible religious myth, the sooner the world becomes peaceful. For after all, we are no better than the yeast inside a new bottle of grape-juice before it becomes champagne. Put simply we continue on our merry way without a thought for others whilst using the world’s natural resources until we ultimately annihilate the very environment that gives us sustenance(the yeast continue to use the limited oxygen in the bottle to convert sugars into alcohol giving off carbon dioxide as a by-product which ultimately kills the yeast).

Sorry, I missed the conclusion when I sent this article earlier.

My advice to those who read articles on history written by people such as Dr. Nalin De Silva and believe what he says as the gospel truth.

Let me first say a few words about Dr. Nalin De Silva. He is a Math/Physics Professor who has FAILED to excel in his chosen fields, but succeeded in CHEAP polemics. After obtaining the PhD what matters is not only the brains but peer recognition which is more important when you are at that level but unfortunately he NEVER had it. Being a Math Professor at the Kelaniya University, not only the academics but even the students do not like this rude/arrogant old man. In university circle, he is known as 'Prof. Nalin the Pissa'.

As one of the founding members of Vasudeva's and Wickramabahu's Trotskyite NSSP, Nalin De Silva was one of the first Sinhala-Buddhist to endorse the right of Tamils for self determination in early 1980. Later he has taken a hundred and eighty degree turn by joining hands with Gunadasa Amerasekara and started writing utter rubbish about something he calls 'Jathika Chintahnaya'. This has made him very FAMOUS among Sinhala-Buddhist RACISTS, the recognition he always wanted but never got from university circle.

I read one of his articles in the Island (utter nonsense) where he claims that western truth in particular is not relevant to us (and fogs it up with irrelevant allusions to quantum science and relativity), and claims that the only point of view applicable in SriLanka is the Sinhala-Buddhsit point of view.

Since he is good at speculating and creating stories and is able to write glamorized articles, he managed to convince a few confused and misguided individuals and made them his faithful followers who believe that he is an expert analyst/scholar.

Dr. Nalin De Silva’s arguments are mostly based on the findings/writings of old (obsolete) historians. Most of those theories are not valid any more due to the latest scientific discoveries in the fields of archaeological, epigraphical and anthropological research made till now. He never comes up with any solid evidence to prove what he says but simply quotes another author whose credibility is in question (either a racist like him without any *verifiable data* or some biased researchers with hypothetical assumptions/interpretations or un-authoritative/officially un-published, half baked historical work of some researchers completely neglecting the controversial nature of their research.). The ancient stone inscriptions and even the Mahavamsa do not support his views.

For example, Dr. Nalin De Silva still comments on the thesis that the PhD student Mr. K. Indrapala wrote in 1965. After 30 years of research as a senior Archeologist/Historian Prof. K. Indrapala say he does not even have a copy of his dissertation (1965) which is completely out of date.

If people want to know the history of Sri Lanka after all the scientific discoveries in the fields of archaeological, epigraphical and anthropological research made till now, they have to read what is written by those who are qualified in the field of history/archeology and not Math/physics.

For example, people such as Prof. Leslie Gunawardane, (professor in history and a former Vice Chancellor of University of Peradeniya), Dr. K Indrapala (former professor in history, University of Jaffna) and many other qualified historians have written articles and books on the history of Sri Lanka based on the latest findings.

What credibility does bogus pseudo-historians like Dr. Nalin De Silva who still rely on articles written by early (obsolete) historians have in commenting on the history of Sri Lanka? These pseudo-historians can only come up with hypotheses, assumptions and analogies and not the facts/truth. Twisting, turning, manipulating, and coming up with big fat conspiracy theories have become their hallmark.

Dr. Nalin De Silva says there were no Tamils in Sri Lanka before the 12th Century AD. The Mahavamsa very clearly says that there were Tamils (Damilas) in Sri Lanka during the early historic period not as traders but the rulers. Even Dutugemunu had to conquer not just one Tamil king but 32 Tamil Chieftains around the Anuradhapura principality alone. How could there be 32 Tamil chieftains in the area of Anuradhapura alone, if there were no Tamils or Tamil settlements? Even the very early Brami stone inscriptions found mentions the term Damilas (Tamils) during the ancient period.

On the other hand, what evidence does he have to prove that Devanampiya Tissa or even DutuGemunu was a Sinhala? None of the stone inscriptions or Pali chronicles says they were Sinhalese. When the Buddhist missionary monk Mahinda came to Sri Lanka via Tamil Nadu, he spoke to the prince Tissa and his people in Deepa Basa (language of the Island). If the language of the island was Sihala/Hela/Elu then why didn’t the author of Mahavamsa say so? The term Sihala/Hela appeared for the first time only in the 5th Century AD Pali chronicles and we know the reason why the Mahavihara monks created it. DevanampiyaTissa and DutuGemunu were from the Tissa dynasty which is a combination of Pandu (Pandyans) and Naga. Both Pandus and Nagas are migrants from India, especially Tamil Nadu. Nagas have a separate history in India.

Dr. Nalin De Silva speaks as if he had witnessed the Dutch bringing Vellalar to Jaffna. Vellalar is a caste of agricultural land owners. If the Dutch brought the Vellalar and created a new caste then I am sure the Dutch must have kept a record. What historical evidence does he have to prove his claim?

It is true that the Dutch brought slaves from South India and sold them to the Vellalar as laborers to grow Tobacco in their fields but those people lived in Jaffna until recently as low castes.
At the same time the Dutch also brought tens of thousands of slaves from South India to the South of Ceylon (Colombo, Galle and the entire South West). One of the main sources of income the Dutch had at that time was Cinnamon.

According to the Dutch writer Markus Vink, Let me quote straight from his report:
Quote: In 1694, the city of Colombo alone had a slave population of 1,761. See Knaap, 'Europeans, Mestizos and Slaves,' p. 88. In 1661, 10,000 slaves had been put to work by the company and by private individuals on the lands in southwestern Ceylon, including 2,000 company slaves. Unquote.

The Sinhala population from Colombo to Galle along the entire South West increased when these people assimilated with the Sinhalese? Ten thousand in 1694 must have multiplied into many hundred thousand. Today they are Sinhala Buddhists/Catholics who are claiming the ancient Sri Lankan civilization as their own heritage. These Sinhalised Tamils pretend as if they are more Sinhala than the Sinhalese. Not only people such as Dr. Nalin De Silva and Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka but even people like Don Niculas Gunawardhana AKA Hikkaduwa Sri Sumangala and Don David Hewavitarana AKA Anagarika Dharmapala belongs to this group of Sinhalese.

Let me also mention that, based on the writings of Markus Vink, Prof.Sinnappah Arasaratnam has written an article about the slaves settled in Jaffna to work in the Tobacco fields owned by the Vellalars.

Dr. Nalin De Silva also says that even AriyaChakravartis have used Sinhala as their official language because they have used Sinhala to sign an agreement with Portuguese.

First of all who can prove that the AriyaChakravartis used Sinhala to sign an agreement with Portuguese? Is this document preserved anywhere or has any 17th centaury Portuguese writer mentioned it anywhere?

Suppose we say, yes the AriyaChakravartis used Sinhala to sign an agreement. Is that an evidence to say AriyaChakravartis have used Sinhala as their official language?

In the 1815 Kandyan Convention, the leading Kandyan Lords or Dissawas who are believed to be the top Sinhala aristocrats (Pilimatalawe Senior, Pilimatalawe Junior, Ehelepola, Ratwatte, and a few others) signed their names in the Tamil Language.
There is no reason why these Kandyan Lords should learn to speak and write Tamil or rather sign an important treaty concerning the country and religion in the Tamil Language?

If we argue in similar manner like Dr. Nalin De Silva, we can also say that the mother tongue of these Kandyan Lords was Tamil or we can say that the Tamil Language was also an official Language of the Kandyan Kingdom.

Dr. Nalin De Silva says the Languages in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna are very similar and therefore the Tamils have come very recently.

The Tamil literature (Music/dance/drama) is very closely linked to the rich Tamil culture and due to the close proximity between Jaffna and Tamil Nadu; there is no reason why the Tamils of Jaffna have to create another language or culture when everything is freely available. The neighboring states of Tamil Nadu adopted a slightly different language/culture because they also had influence from other neighbor states. Similarly, the Sri Lankan Tamil has a few words that the Tamils across the Palk Strait cannot understand.

Dr. Nalin De Silva is not an etymologist or a linguist and neither is he a Tamil scholar who has done research to find the similarities and differences between the Tamil language in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna. What credibility does he have to comment about the Tamil language?

There are enough of well qualified and renowned Historians/Archeologists/Anthropologists/ Etymologists out there but have any of them come up with any issues/comments or written any controversial articles on history like Dr. Nalin De Silva?

We know why nobody likes to interfere or comment about Dr. Mervyn De Silva. Similarly, the controversial articles on history written by bogus Pseudo-historians such as Math/Physics Prof. Nalin De Silva can be dissected and nullified but mostly it goes unchallenged because nobody likes to lose their dignity by engaging in CHEAP polemics especially with nasty, arrogant and sarcastic people like Dr. Nalin De Silva.

The danger with people like Prof. Nalin de Silva is what he speaks/writes is very dangerous to the society. He is brainwashing younger generation and creating racists. The young Sinhala-Buddhist Ultra-Nationalists/Racists like Champika Ranawaka and Wimal Weerawansa are the by-products of Prof. Nalin de Silva’s CHEAP polemics. He has already created a young Sinhala-Buddhist Racist society. It was racists like him in the Tamil society who created the LTTE. His course of action is detrimental to the future of our country and should be stopped at any cost.

Sinhala-Buddhist Pseudo-Historians by Thevanambiya Theesan

My advice to those who read articles on history written by people such as Dr. Nalin De Silva and believe what he says as the gospel truth.

Let me first say a few words about Dr. Nalin De Silva. He is a Math/Physics Professor who has FAILED to excel in his chosen fields, but succeeded in CHEAP polemics. After obtaining the PhD what matters is not only the brains but peer recognition which is more important when you are at that level but unfortunately he NEVER had it. Being a Math Professor at the Kelaniya University, not only the academics but even the students do not like this rude/arrogant old man. In university circle, he is known as `Prof. Nalin the Pissa`.

As one of the founding members of Vasudeva`s and Wickramabahu`s Trotskyite NSSP, Nalin De Silva was one of the first Sinhala-Buddhist to endorse the right of Tamils for self determination in early 1980. Later he has taken a hundred and eighty degree turn by joining hands with Gunadasa Amerasekara and started writing utter rubbish about something he calls `Jathika Chintahnaya`. This has made him very FAMOUS among Sinhala-Buddhist RACISTS, the recognition he always wanted but never got from university circle.

I read one of his articles in the Island (utter nonsense) where he claims that western truth in particular is not relevant to us (and fogs it up with irrelevant allusions to quantum science and relativity), and claims that the only point of view applicable in SriLanka is the Sinhala-Buddhsit point of view.

Since he is good at speculating and creating his-stories (pseudo-history) from thin air and is able to write glamorized articles, he managed to convince a few confused and misguided individuals (mostly Sinhala-Buddhist youth) and made them his faithful followers who believe that he is an expert analyst/scholar.

Dr. Nalin De Silva s arguments are mostly based on the findings/writings of old (obsolete) historians. Most of those theories are not valid any more due to the latest scientific discoveries in the fields of archaeological, epigraphical and anthropological research made till now. He never comes up with any solid evidence to prove what he says but simply quotes another author whose credibility is in question (either a racist like him without any *verifiable data* or some biased researchers with hypothetical assumptions/interpretations or un-authoritative/officially un-published, half baked historical work of some researchers completely neglecting the controversial nature of their research.). The ancient stone inscriptions and even the Mahavamsa do not support his views.

For example, Dr. Nalin De Silva still comments on the thesis that the PhD student Mr. K. Indrapala wrote in 1965. After 30 years of research as a senior Archeologist/Historian Prof. K. Indrapala say he does not even have a copy of his dissertation (1965) which is completely out of date.

If people want to know the history of Sri Lanka after all the scientific discoveries in the fields of archaeological, epigraphical and anthropological research made till now, they have to read what is written by those who are qualified in the field of history/archeology and not Math/physics.

For example, people such as Prof. Leslie Gunawardane, (professor in history and a former Vice Chancellor of University of Peradeniya), Dr. K Indrapala (former professor in history, University of Jaffna) and many other qualified historians have written articles and books on the history of Sri Lanka based on the latest findings.

What credibility does bogus pseudo-historians like Dr. Nalin De Silva who still rely on articles written by early (obsolete) historians have in commenting on the history of Sri Lanka? These pseudo-historians can only come up with hypotheses, assumptions and analogies and not the facts/truth. Twisting, turning, manipulating, and coming up with big fat conspiracy theories have become their hallmark.

Dr. Nalin De Silva says there were no Tamils in Sri Lanka before the 12th Century AD. The Mahavamsa very clearly says that there were Tamils (Damilas) in Sri Lanka during the early historic period not as traders but the rulers. Even Dutugemunu had to conquer not just one Tamil king but 32 Tamil Chieftains around the Anuradhapura principality alone. How could there be 32 Tamil chieftains in the area of Anuradhapura alone, if there were no Tamils or Tamil settlements? Even the very early Brami stone inscriptions found mentions the term Damilas (Tamils) during the ancient period.

On the other hand, what evidence does he have to prove that Devanampiya Tissa or even DutuGemunu was a Sinhala? None of the stone inscriptions or Pali chronicles says they were Sinhalese. When the Buddhist missionary monk Mahinda came to Sri Lanka via Tamil Nadu, he spoke to the prince Tissa and his people in Deepa Basa (language of the Island). If the language of the island was Sihala/Hela/Elu then why didn t the author of Mahavamsa say so? The term Sihala/Hela appeared for the first time only in the 5th Century AD Pali chronicles and we know the reason why the Mahavihara monks created it. DevanampiyaTissa and DutuGemunu were from the Tissa dynasty which is a combination of Pandu (Pandyans) and Naga. Both Pandus and Nagas are migrants from India, especially Tamil Nadu. Nagas have a separate history in India.

Dr. Nalin De Silva speaks as if he had witnessed the Dutch bringing Vellalar to Jaffna. Vellalar is a caste of agricultural land owners. If the Dutch brought the Vellalar and created a new caste then I am sure the Dutch must have kept a record. What historical evidence does he have to prove his claim?

It is true that the Dutch brought slaves from South India and sold them to the Vellalar as laborers to grow Tobacco in their fields but those people lived in Jaffna until recently as low castes.
At the same time the Dutch also brought tens of thousands of slaves from South India to the South of Ceylon (Colombo, Galle and the entire South West). One of the main sources of income the Dutch had at that time was Cinnamon.

According to the Dutch writer Markus Vink, Let me quote straight from his report:
Quote: In 1694, the city of Colombo alone had a slave population of 1,761. See Knaap, `Europeans, Mestizos and Slaves,` p. 88. In 1661, 10,000 slaves had been put to work by the company and by private individuals on the lands in southwestern Ceylon, including 2,000 company slaves. Unquote.

The Sinhala population from Colombo to Galle along the entire South West increased when these people assimilated with the Sinhalese? Ten thousand in 1694 must have multiplied into many hundred thousand. Today they are Sinhala Buddhists/Catholics who are claiming the ancient Sri Lankan civilization as their own heritage. These Sinhalised Tamils pretend as if they are more Sinhala than the Sinhalese. Not only people such as Dr. Nalin De Silva and Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka but even people like Don Niculas Gunawardhana AKA Hikkaduwa Sri Sumangala and Don David Hewavitarana AKA Anagarika Dharmapala belongs to this group of Sinhalese.

Let me also mention that, based on the writings of Markus Vink, Prof.Sinnappah Arasaratnam has written an article about the slaves settled in Jaffna to work in the Tobacco fields owned by the Vellalars.

Dr. Nalin De Silva also says that even AriyaChakravartis have used Sinhala as their official language because they have used Sinhala to sign an agreement with Portuguese.

First of all who can prove that the AriyaChakravartis used Sinhala to sign an agreement with Portuguese? Is this document preserved anywhere or has any 17th centaury Portuguese writer mentioned it anywhere?

Suppose we say, yes the AriyaChakravartis used Sinhala to sign an agreement. Is that an evidence to say AriyaChakravartis have used Sinhala as their official language?

In the 1815 Kandyan Convention, the leading Kandyan Lords or Dissawas who are believed to be the top Sinhala aristocrats (Pilimatalawe Senior, Pilimatalawe Junior, Ehelepola, Ratwatte, and a few others) signed their names in the Tamil Language.
There is no reason why these Kandyan Lords should learn to speak and write Tamil or rather sign an important treaty concerning the country and religion in the Tamil Language?

If we argue in similar manner like Dr. Nalin De Silva, we can also say that the mother tongue of these Kandyan Lords was Tamil or we can say that the Tamil Language was also an official Language of the Kandyan Kingdom.

Dr. Nalin De Silva says the Languages in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna are very similar and therefore the Tamils have come very recently.

The Tamil literature (Music/dance/drama) is very closely linked to the rich Tamil culture and due to the close proximity between Jaffna and Tamil Nadu there is no reason why the Tamils of Jaffna have to create another language or culture when everything is freely available. The neighboring states of Tamil Nadu adopted a slightly different language/culture because they also had influence from other neighbor states. Similarly, the Sri Lankan Tamil has a few words that the Tamils across the Palk Strait cannot understand.

Dr. Nalin De Silva is not an etymologist or a linguist and neither is he a Tamil scholar who has done research to find the similarities and differences between the Tamil language in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna. What credibility does he have to comment about the Tamil language?

There are enough of well qualified and renowned Historians/Archeologists/Anthropologists/ Etymologists out there but have any of them come up with any issues/comments or written any controversial articles on history like Dr. Nalin De Silva?

We know why nobody likes to interfere or comment about Dr. Mervyn De Silva. Similarly, the controversial articles on history written by bogus Pseudo-historians such as Math/Physics Prof. Nalin De Silva can be dissected and nullified but mostly it goes unchallenged because nobody likes to lose their dignity by engaging in CHEAP polemics especially with nasty, arrogant and sarcastic people like Dr. Nalin De Silva.

The danger with people like Prof. Nalin de Silva is what he speaks/writes is very dangerous to the society. He is brainwashing younger generation and creating racists. The young Sinhala-Buddhist Ultra-Nationalists/Racists like Champika Ranawaka and Wimal Weerawansa are the by-products of Prof. Nalin de Silva s CHEAP polemics. He has already created a young Sinhala-Buddhist Racist society. His course of action is detrimental to the future of the country and should be STOPPED at any cost.