Dear Dayan
You know our generation of ( as school boys) we adored you and your writing and you were a hero But

I am so sorry to see that you have disolved so much into American consumerism that you even see national rights of two nations also as commodeities to traded
and this while you write so dialectical on the Cuban revolution?
you stand as one of the biggest hopes dashed in my political thoughts
S

.
DJ, you still not know of Tamils!
If Sinhalese don't leave them alone, they are going to keep bothering Sinhalese all the time.
Sinhalese sleepless nights to continue.
:-)

This piece of article was written not with the sympathy of the Minority Tamils and their rights but utter frustration from not be able to contain the LTTE leadership by the Western and Indian Sponsored War on terror which infact was a State(s) sponsored Genocide.

Now I see that both prof. Rajiva Wijesundara and Dyan try to stay away from the Genocidal regime. I am certain that one day the whole Rajapaksa Regime will be in Hague facing war crimes.

Tamil federalism never fully existed. Tamil political leaders strived hard but all roots to a federal settlment were foiled due to Sinhala nationalist opposition.Therefore, it is not right to say that Tamil federalism is a failure. To be a success or a failure, it was never established. The federal idea is THE miscarriage of post-48 Sri Lankan political history.
The good Ambassador is affirming that the Tamils of Sri Lanka should accept the status of second-class citizens.
This is an attempt to develop a strong case against Tamil nationalism. A people have the right to express their political views and engage in political activism, and no one can be 'forced' to avoid nationalist or communal feelings after an extremely violent past.

If the Ambassador doesn't want any strong expression of Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka, why can't he turn around and say the same to Sinhala nationalists, namely the Jatika Hela Urumaya, which is Sri Lanka's equivalent of France's Front Nationale, and has a very fascist agenda. One can rightly call it the Sinhala equivalent of the LTTE, as it is a public secret that the JHU has numerous underworld dealings, with an armed 'death' squad,(namely the 'Mahasona'squad) which doesn't leave any space for anti-Sinhala nationalist and moderate voices. If the Ambassador can afford to be as condemning of the JHU as he is with regards to the LTTE, then he will sound a little more credible.

There is no need for any Tamil to be a secondary citizen, and Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka must prevail. There's a lot of unfinished business to be regulated, such as an international war tribunal against crimes of rape committed against Tamil women by the armed forces of the state the good Ambassador proudly represents.

This is the most humiliating pieces of writing I've ever come across. People with ideas of this nature at the top, Sri Lankans Tamils are to face the toughest challenges in the post 2009 era.

Nivan dakithva apagé jananayaka kela!

Dear Dayan

I now realist that I have has illusion about you when i say you as a minister in the EPRLF provincial Government, especially when I have seen you sitting on the "beach bench" all alone when all the "others" were flanked with armed body guards...........oh the days when we were young and looked up to you as a different personality . What a political and ideological transformation you have underwent and the manner in which you have comfortably aligned yourself with "schools of thoughts" which I have (of course wrongfully) perceived , will never attract you...........sad.......

Believe me, Sinhala people are not looking to buy anything from Tamils. Sri Lankans want peace in the country and they will achieve this. Hopefully there want be trading as that would be an insult to the lads and ladies in the forces who made the ultimate sacrifice. Time to trade is long past.

Dear Suren,

If you are same chap who supported mangala's sudu Nelum, Ranil's CFA, the LTTE's ISGA, and CBK's PTOMS, while the Tigers were murdering all Tamil dissidents, then I am glad you no longer like my writing. Che Guevara used to say about people like you "God save me from my friends, I will take care of my enemies myself". You metion my work on Cuba. Please reflect on the absolute hostility of the Cuban state towards the Tamil separatist cause, even when JRJ Jayewardene was President of Sri Lanka. Also kindly reflect on the fact that revolutionary Bolivia under Evo Morales recently crushed a project for "greater autonomy" on the part of certain regions. Try to understand why there were demonstrations of solidarity in favour of the palestinians during the Gaza attack, ranging from Indonesia to venezuela, and several Latin American progressive governments broke relations with israel, but the only demonstrations in favour of Tamil ultranationalism have been from within the tamil community overseas, not by progressives of other nations. If you cannot see that the Tamils must decide on a realistic trade-off with the Sinhalese, you had better remain in exile, and let the Tamil leaders back on the land, on the soil, make the decisons for the people.

Shame on you Dayan as a representative of your motherland in UN and a self claimed marxist theoretician , you sell this kind of Chinthanaya to the oppressed suffering minority. Bush's war on terror favoured your masters' MR brothers. You have now shifted from your Sinhalese existential ideology to triumphalism now after claiming whole of the Island as yours ( your own community's )

You have the adaucity to advocate the idea that even to fully implement the 13th amendment the Tamils have to form a coalition with MR regime and beg. How come it the duty of the Tamils to check the influence of Sinhalese hardliners and to eliminate any just legislation push for all forms of discrimination? As a diplomat in UN's Geneva office What kind of politics is that ? Mahinda already has TMVP, EPDP and TULF leaders on his side. Why can not he implement immediately if he can pass the emergency law, war budget etc etc every year since he came to power. ?

The Sinhalese majority led by prominent leaders got the soverignty from Independnece the British gave. What promises Sinhalese leaders gave to the minorities ? Tamils could not prevent any unjust legislations under unitary state. How many times the constitutions were changed ? How many pacts were signed ? What is the guarantee based on the 61 years of history a coalition with Mahinda will give permanent peace , independnece and freedom to the Tamils under unitary state ? If Mahinda and Chandrika can out perform Ranil, prevent Clintons and Kofi Anan visiting NE after Tsunami what is the guarantee Mahinda brothers will not be out performed by another Sinhalese leader in the future.

It is time India and cochairs bring in UN and make its different departments to impose a permanent solution, even if China, Iran and Pakistan have different political agenda for SL.

This guy is so full of hot air that he is going to burst. If his leaders had recognised that the tamils have a right to equal rights in the island of Ceylon, now the country would have been better off than singapore instead of being at the top of the list of countries that are being accused of genocide.The majority of tamils dont care what their land is called. All we want is to rule ourselves and control our destiny free of dicrimination, and your violent attempts to control us. It does not matter if it is a separate state, a confederation or a federation. Insead of accepting this you thought that in 1983, by black july you could subjugate the tamils. Instead of which they drove a million people out of the country.The vastg majority of these want self determination.After all you havent done a great job even for the sinhalese over the last 61 years. Of course the excuse will be that you have been fighting terrorism. The number of people that openly attended the protests in the various countries and the open display of their support for the LTTE should tell the sinhalese where their sympathies lie. Just like how the IRA were sustained by the irish americans this diaspora will commit forever. Look at the young second genearaation who took part. So the tamils dont have to sell you what you want to buy. We know like the carpet baggers you wont want to accept any thing we would want to have. As you said we will have to move our battle to another dimension. You cant hide your human rights abuses for ever. The tamils even in defeat will turn this like Black July 83, into another thorn in your side.So you are the ones who have to come up with an offer we cant refuse.

To begin with Dayan let me congratulate you on having come all the way. With the Rajapaksa brothers having turned the state into a terrorist organization you have now taken on the LTTEs bargaining position that the Sinhalese must come up with something acceptable as an alternative to a separate state. You may not have noticed it but the closer the Sri Lankan state comes to destroying the LTTE the closer it comes to becoming something like the LTTE itself down to the last detail of pressuring the Sinhala diaspora to cough up funds to prop up its ailing economy by buying its dollar bonds on the pretext that the money is needed to fund the "liberation struggle".

In the process you have forgotten - and the Rajapaksas like the LTTE never knew - that governing is all about people not territory. To you guys, humanitarian catastrophes simply do not exist - unless it is a hit in the gut taken by your selves. To you guys everything your opponents do is vile and but when you do the same thing it is sublime. Kosovo to you is an artificially created affair - thats all you care about peoples suffering. Pretty soon I will hear you say before the world - just like others of your ilk do - that the gassing of the Jews never happened.

Look at those who have called for a cease-fire. Look at the kind of societies they come from. They are free to criticize themselves and move forward. Compare them with the kind of people who are your allies and the kind of societies they have generated and live in.

It is not the price of co operating with India that has to be paid - that is insignificant in the long term. What matters is the price that will have to be paid for being the first Buddhist regime to commit genocide - and here I am not lamenting the destruction of the LTTE but the destruction of what is left of the Sri Lankan Tamil Community. Your preoccupation with killing Tamils is pathological. Now that your government has declared that the LTTE is arming civilians this is what your armed ferrets are going to do. However not all the MIA are dead, and a child in all its innocence may yet achieve what big brains and big guns fail to do. You make the issue very clear. It is not co existence that you seek. It is the defeat of the Tamils and the destruction not only of what you call their "hard power" but of what you call their "soft power" as well - in short you do not want them to have any power. Slavery Dyan is what you are advocating for the Sri Lankan Tamil community. I am not surprised. This is what lies at the heart of every person who considers himself to be a Sinhala Buddhist - without exception. After all as far as Buddhism is concerned such a moronoic ox cannot exist.

Either you or Mao got the egg wrong. If the national the local the specific is a rock - like the Sinhala Buddhist mind - then a hen that mistakes this cold thing for an egg will be disappointed when it dos not hatch. This is the situation of the international community - they are disappointed that this cold dead thing could only cause genocide rather than hatch into something worthy of humanity. So this cold and heartless thing has to be thrown out if the nest if is to ever hold eggs that can hatch.

The Tamils, they offered federalism, it was rejected. They offered development councils, they were rejected. They accepted provincial councils, they were rejected. Now just what do the Tamils have to sell to the Sinhalese after the Sinhalese have taken away their land and their lives? Can you ever experience the cynicism and cruelty in your words and will you ever understand the absolute heartlessness and total absence of humanity in the position you take? Do people matter to you Dayan? Your track record says no and your position today confirms that perception.

Your project makes my blood run cold. Every Tamil who does not accept your reformist, autonomist, integrationalist mode is going to be branded pro tiger and killed - legitimately suppressed as you put it. The JVP has a better way of putting it - the forced marriage between Sinhalese and Tamils that will leave only a Sinhala race. This is the sort of stuff that you think is going to make the Sri Lankan state regain its moral credibility? I hope I live to see that.

You do not seem to realize that there will not be any Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka to ally themselves with the project of the Rajapaksa brothers. That will leave these royals free to take on the muslims and drive them out before negotiating another repatriation pact with India to get the Indian Tamils out of the country as well. Then and only then will you be contented - or will you?

There is always the possibility of your teaming up with your so called "Aryan" counterparts on the mainland to engage in a spot of ethnic cleansing there as well.

Tamil genocide is being successfully carried out by influence peddling by the Sri Lankan state in other countries, blatant lies and criminal actions. The world was taken for a ride for long, away from the truth. In the process, many Sinhalese have become truthless criminals against Tamils and on Tamil matters.

In 1980's, JR Jeyawardene, a foxy president on Tamil rights, sent his bomber aircrafts to destroy Jaffna Hospital. The patients in the intensive care unit were killed. The flesh and blood of civilians were scattered everywhere. It was criminal and very cruel. Without batting an eyelid, JR told a blatant lie to the world that there were "terrorists" in the hospital.

It ended there. The world refused to investigate the killings and refused to hear the cry of Tamils that it was an act of genocide. It was a great mistake.

JR also bombed Navaly church and many temples and killed refugees there. The cunning "fox" again lied that those killed there were "terrorists".

The criminal president should have been charged for war crime in the Hague. But the world let him loose. The world gave thereby an open licence to any Sri Lankan state to kill Tamils.

Since then, history was repeating for nearly 30 years. The world was still silent. Now, cluster bombs are being dropped and hospitals are being bombed daily. Tigers do not have cluster bombs, yet, they are being blamed to cover up genocide by the state. The state continues to be truthless and dishonest with an ego to kill Tamils to satisfy their blood thirst.

To succeed in deceit and dishonesty, news reporters or monitors are disallowed. Journalists and the media are threatened or killed. But Rajapakse and his military are failing. Evidence, enough of it, is already available on the table, to take the soldiers to war crimes court.

Yesterday, in his "independence celeberation" speech, at a time when the state is carrying out ruthless repression and genocide, Rajapakse did not even mention about the civilians killed in hospital bombings. It was non event for a president!

The occasion though called "independence celeberation", was to propagate and justify brutal oppression of Tamils. Can Tamils ever trust these brutes in one country for their safety, security and peace? Never.

"Stone cold realism"(on both sides) is double edged sword as although some of the realities of the situation do lay the foundations for a prosperous & just peace, other realities undermine that future.

The realities on the plus side are:
- The false aggregation of the different "Tamils" (Jaffna, Vanni, Batticaloa, Muslim, Colombo, Indian plus castes) has been truly laid bare. There was never a true "Tamil" identity so the call for a united North & East never had a solid foundation, let alone the call for separation (except for the post '83 period as mentioned). There is hence, no unified threat to the Sinhala nation
- The Sinhalese have learnt that the cost of chauvanism is extremely high. Better to give than to take.
- A greater proportion of Tamils have learnt that it is preferable to be integrated into the Sri Lankan polity than strive for separation, and that their Tamil identity can be maintained
- There are Tamil politicians who have learnt to work with the govt of the day to get some limited improvements to their constituents

The realities on the minus side, however, are:
- 1000's of Tamils have been "disappeared" or killed in "cross-fire" and their families & dependents may not see enough benefit to prevent them forming the core of a new militancy (see Rajan Hoole's article)
- 1000's of Tamils are in "concentration camps" prevented from returning to their homes in newly declared High Security Zones or where Sinhalese have been "settled" (also in Rajan Hoole's article)
- The diaspora is still supportive of those of stand up to the SL govt & have not been won over through any apology or prosecutions over July'83. They will find a way to make their money count against "Sinhala hegemony"
- The SL military is massive, is still increasing and will want a say in governance and the spoils of power
- In SL laws do not correspond to what actually happens on the ground; hence even if equality & some agreed level of autonomy is enshrined in the law it may never become a reality (eg equal status of Tamil is not implemented even in Jaffna)
- A fair proportion of Vanni civilians must still support the LLTE, otherwise how could the 1500 Tigers left (according to the army) prevent 250000 civilians from fleeing whilst also fighting 50000 soldiers.

I would concede that all the minuses could be overcome & Mr Jayatilleka clearly believes President Rajapakse has the right ideas to do so. I, however, worry that the power conceded to the military & security apparatus in order to win the conventional war has been too great for him (with the best will in the world) to do offer actual changes on the ground.

A good start (in my opinion), and one that would pull the financial rug from under any new militancy, would be to have some kind of inquiry & prosecutions for the 1983 riots...it would not threaten the SLFP govt, would show the world that not only were the Tamil terrorists destroyed but that Sinhalese also did not enjoy impunity.

I suspect that we will actually see a "Palestinianisation" of the Tamil issue; just as Israeli-Arabs enjoy democratic rights & freedoms so will Colomb Tamil. But the Jaffna & Batticoloa Tamils will see the "peace" of occupation just as the Palestinians of the Gaza & West Bank did after the overwhelming victory of the Israelis after 1967. After a generation we will see a new uprising as with the wars & intifadas of the 80's, 90's & 2000's in Palestine.

I would love to hear whether Mr Jayatilleka thinks peace can actually be achieved (ie that both Tamil & Sinhalese politicians can achieve and implement a just peace).

..."Tamil separatist soft power can only be beaten by reform, by political methods. Is the state and are the Sinhalese capable of this shift of mode?..."

You're starting to straighten up your thoughts as a real street smart person. But, it might take many more years to your fellow Sinhalese leaders to understand this reality.

In order to teach these facts in a hard way to your government, UN, India, Japan and other Western countries have to stop giving financial aids and other trade benefits to Sri Lanka.

Dayan,

It is an interesting article but there are series of caveats
Yes, Tamils have been trying to sell a product to your company since 1948 and it was a very cheap product then . Sale people were assaulted, burned alive, properties looted but your company did not do anything. They peacefully protested still the same treatment and worse. Their library, schools were destroyed still company did not do anything. sorry, company was complicit in crime. Finally grandchildren of original sales people decided to sell an expensive product call Eelam, this time violently (killed each other as well and violated the very rights they were fighting for)-simply repeating what your company(SL) taught them. Now you bomb them, disappeared them and their families. In the process the company morally bankrupt, dysfunctional and became criminal.
Now company is expecting the minorities to sell a product call submission or face Genocide.

This is nothing but "old scores are settled and new hatred are forged"
Education does not mean just a degree or knowing the facts. it is a gateway to learn, feel and respect rights of someone different from us
Srilankan tragedy should be approached through human rights, political rights and context of the history not thru telescope of terrorism, until then no winners, only losers.
Unfortunately, good secular governance has been a elusive product in Sri lanka

Hello, All,

The only intelligent realistic response i have read here so far is that of Alex. If the opinions here are anything to go by the Tamil people will have to obtain their confederation, federation or eelam in Canada! I was trying to point to what will be feasible on sri Lankan soil, in the North and east. However, I am not disheartened because I am fairly sure that the overwhelming bulk of the views here are from the Diaspora, while what counts are the views of the Tamil citizens and voters of Sri Lanka -- and their views are far more pragmatic, as are those of the tamil political leaders who operate within the Sri lankan reality, from Sampanthan to Douglas, from Siddharthan to Karuna, from Sangaree to sritharan. They will work something out which is noweher as crazy as the stuff i read here. You know what this discourse reminds me of? The hysterical views about Cuba , of the anti-Castro Miami Cubans! Nobody in Cuba gives a damn about them-- and refer to them as "gusanos" i.e. worms! One final piece of advice before I give up on you lot: if I were a Tamil in the Diaspora, I would choose as my chief representative, guide and cartographer of a political roadmap, the most educated and brilliant mind available to the community, which is clearly that of Prof Ratnajeevan Hoole. You couldn't have a better advocate or be in better hands. But I doubt you will have the collective sanity to do so.

Dayan,
I want prove to your following statement
"Please reflect on the absolute hostility of the Cuban state towards the Tamil separatist cause, even when JRJ Jayewardene was President of Sri Lanka"Do not bring a internationalist to your level and redicule

War criminals are indeed audacious about dictating the parameters under which the Tamil people may live in Sri Lanka. I urge Tamils in Europe to file war crime charges against all those associated with this regime, including the author of this post, in countries like Spain--because judges in Spain have declared universal jurisdiction. Gazans are doing the same to Israeli politicians and soldiers.

I am helping with similar efforts in the U.S., but that effort is confined to being against US citizens and green card holders. It is not practicable for me to help with the whole war crime charges in Spain, but European Tamils should certainly do it.

When the dust settles, Sri Lanka will have to face the economic reality arising from the war spending, and the possibility of another southern insurgency arising. Diaspora Tamils can and should ensure that there can be no majoritarian peace, no "comfortable retirement" for war criminals and no economic progress in Sri Lanka for years to come, as long as justice does not catch up with the current regime and its backers, more so in view of the humanitarian catastrophe visited upon the Tamil people of the Vanni even as I write this.

Anyone who aligns himself with the Rajapaksa regime, even among moderate Tamil leaders, will have to face the music.

Only idiots would compare Sampanthan with Devananda, and only total ignoramuses would think Jeevan Hoole is "the most educated and brilliant mind available to the community."

I say good riddance to idiots.

Hello Mr dayan
Thankyou for your advice to tamil people, most of them much intelligent than you but most of them beleived Mr v.p. because you and your mad leaders. Still you lecturing them how to handle srilanka. I am afraid you can only fool sinhalease of srilanka not international community. How can you justify tamils aspirations decided by sinhalease, which world you are living in. Dont bring cuba and castro here, if you true follower of castro i dont think you support Mr MR RUTHLESS regime. As a sinhala budhist myself not like you i am allways against what sinhala politicians and their ruthlessness against tamils. I challenge you if there is genuine referendum held tommorrow under UN supervision tamils choose separate state for themselves. Which whole world will support.
MR DAYAN IF YOU WERE IN LONDON, TAMIL DIASPORAS MARCH WILL BE AN EYE OPENER FOR YOU.
please dont compare cubans and their exiles, with tamils.
Please forgive my english, hope my one much better than thug gottabaya.

Dear Sri,

As you may known Cuba gives publicity and support to every genuine liberation struggle in the world. Please show me one single word by any Cuban personality or on any occasion hosted by Cuba, or in any Cuban publication, that is even remotely sympathetic to the tamil ultranationalist or separatist cause, over the past decades? Can you please give me the name of any single tamil politician sympathetic to secessionism, let alone the Tigers, who has set foot on cuban soil after the separatist struggle began? Surely you know that JRJ Jayewardene was such a friend of Cuba that he and Fidel disembarked from the official motorcade and walked through the streets of Cuba? Surely you know that every time the West attempts to criticise Sri Lanka in any international forum such as the UN Human Rights Council where i am, the Cubans are in the forefront of vocal defence of sri Lank's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity?

Interestingly enough, Dayan does not comment on the failure of the Sinhala polity to accomodate minority aspirations via a democratic process. His erroneous reasoning rests on the premise that all Tamil politics thus far (since 1948)has been grounded in seperatism. If only Dayan could explain why, between 1948 and 1983 - despite disenfranchisement, colonization, Sinhala-only language act and standardization - not a single Sinhalese was killed for the sake of Tamil "seperatism" - if only Dayan could explain why the "seperatist" Chelva signed numerous pacts in support of the barest minimum unit of devolution for Tamils (some of which are almost identical to the so-called "13th amendment" which Dayan gushes about) - then perhaps the casual observer just might agree with Dayan's premise. However, the reality is that Sinhalese nationalism preceded its Tamil counterpart by a wide margin. I am sure Dayan is familiar enough with Anagarika Dharmapala's lovely "Aryan-race" diatribes, although, sadly, it is unlikely Dayan will ever bother to reference them in any of his pro SLFP polemics.
Finally, Dayan rejects federalism, indeed, six generations of it. He does not offer any solid intellectual argument for it; again, he resorts to the sweeping generalization of associating Tamil rights with seperatism. While I can only guess at Dayan's motivations in this regard, I would point out that federalism is an optimal solution. It is the path that India chose; six generations of Tamil federalists extended their open support to it, however, we can see the opposition to it from the majority community, reflected in other than its educated classes (aka Dayan Jayatillake). For the record, I encourage Dayan to write an extensive piece detailing the reasons for his opposition to federalism. It would, to say the least, be most revealing.

Dayan, It is obvious you are playing your own politics!

If the peaceful means of politics that Tamils have strived for nealy twenty years was beaten up resulting in the formation of LTTE and others - do you want us to go back to politics again?

Do you honestly think that your party would negotiate in any way - as evidenced in the recent multi party discussions?

Why not simply ask the Tamils to just accept the fallen crumps and be happy is what you are saying!

Dear Dinesh,

Why should I waste my time and that of the tamils by advocating something that (i) decades of agitation by Tamil politicians failed to achieve (ii) even 70, 000 Indian troops could not squeeze out of the Sri Lankan polity (iii) the ferocious Tigers could not extract from the Sinhalese (iv) opinion polls reveal that less than 5% of the Sinhalese support , i.e. less than 5% of almost 75% of the population support and (v) was not achieved even by the Irish republican struggle of decades?

Dear Dayan
In one sense the Thamils stills hold some respect for you. That is evident by the amount of response you receive every time you write. I think it is purely because of your past. You had the courage to stand out. Not for your personal glory but on conviction and ideology.
But people change. So do their thoughts and ambitions. Thank you for remembering me and again expressing your pathological anger with any program that did not invite you or give you the post and facilities as the present regime.
I am proud of my past efforts from Sudu Neluma to PTOM, not only I; the greater section of Sinhala moderates joined us. If we were wrong your so as the present government in Prof. Vithana to design the solution which either is a comical tragedy or a willful insult. The moderate Sinhalese desire to live with the Thamils, how else CBK who campaigned on a power sharing model would receive 64% of the Sinhala votes. It is sad that our political destiny is often hijacked by villains like Wimal and Champika.
I have spoken and written on the killing of Thamils. I was the first Thamil to write condemning the killing of Neelan T. I remember Prof. Suriyakumaran writing the next day. More than mere political theories we try to ask the question where we went wrong and how we could correct our past and present to reconstruct a common future. This piece of your writing surely indicates that you are not avenging LTTE for EPRLF or lost friends. Your demand that with LTTE the Thamil federal dream also should be erased shows that you have now come to the firm conclusion the Thamils should not have any equal rights but only seek handouts from the Sinhala hegemony. I am simply lost to understand how you as the Vice President of human rights forum reconcile these two dichotomies? Your dream of the socialist south coming to rescue the Thamil rights could witness so well from the available ‘left‘ of the south. Is there anything than mere Vachaala Wimal who believes the Thamils as visitors to Sri Lanka should abide by the extended Mahavamsika Sinhala Buddhist identity? Finally, I am not in exile. There is no reason for me to be. I travelled from Paanama of the Ampara to Vavunia recently. I have friends and relative amongst Sinhalese and members of Sangha who are my teachers. They know I am not spying for CIA or paid by any corrupt government to intellectualize a bloody war. Theorizing and defending a political system that has denied basic human rights of its citizens for the last six decades should not be difficult for you. The Sinhala polity has never accepted the Thamil nation with equality. It rather buys Kfir, cluster bombs and minds like you to continue the war against Thamils. When this Mahawamsika ideology finishes with Thamils they will turn to you the Abauddhyas amongst them, then perhaps you will re-write your friends and enemies thesis.
My homeland Sri Lanka has lost so many valuables including once brilliant revolutionary like you. I am sure millions of pages will not convince you. Because you perhaps have crossed the margins of intellectual and social sanity.

Ridicules! Yes Dayan!Your response to my comments is ridicules!
You elevate Cuba/ Castro to the level of god and argue that Cuba
gives publicity and support to every genuine liberation struggle in the world. Far from it Cuba was selective!
Remember Castro was not a communist before the 1959 Cuban revolution.
His embracing communism, supporting national liberation movements in Africa with Cuban troops, his support of revolution in Latin America were all tactical moves in the face of American blockade.
Cuba being Communist should have been in the Soviet Bloc. But Cuba was a prominent member of the Non Aligned movement and Castro never antagonized any leading nonaligned countries including JRJ’s Sri Lanka again for its own survival instinct!
Now the rest of your article.
I was under the impression that the war was waged by Sri Lankans that included Tamils as a humanitarian exercise to liberate Tamils from the terrorist LTTE clutches. But now it looks as if it was a war waged by the Majority Sinhalese against the minority Tamils as you now claims.
After all LTTE seems to be right!
Two nations within a single Island!
Then There are Tamil Left!, Sinhala left!, Russian Left!…and so on. Why not Goigama left, Vellala left and so on
What kind of Marxism you are talking of? .In the same article you talk about an internationalist Castro and Tamil Left! I am getting confused!

Like this empty government, the writer attempts to suggest it is only the Sinhala side that has tried to balance issues and the Tamil side has remained totally obstinate. The world knows Tamils made "proposals for the Sinhalese to buy" on several occasions -1957, 1966, 1977, at the Thimpu talks and many other. Via
ISGA it was suggested a body comprising GoSL, donors and the LTTE
will supervise matters with foreign auditors. But this was rejected and the money sent in for the rehabilitation of 2/3rd of the country hit by the Tsunami - in the North East - was to a large extent stolen. So proved Lasantha W. Many mutually-signed Pacts were broken beween 1957 and 1977. ISGA was falsely sneered as handing over the North-East to the LTTE. There was sufficient room for GoSL to enter into talks on ISGA and seek
amendments, alterations etc., Nadesan's call to negotiate and
previous calls by the LTTE for talks were all laughed at and dismissed with contempt stating "they want talks now because
they (LTTE) are in a positon of weakness." Yes. The LTTE is weak today and could well be defeated entirely in the coming weeks. But it is not the LTTE that is being killed and maimed. It is the Tamil people - many of whom having their own thoughts on the LTTE for many years. The resolve of the suffering Tamils cannot be wished away
or brought under control by intimidation, threat or the gun. The recent mass slaughter of civilians in the Wanni continuing even at this hour - with the local and international media being deliberately kept out on false premises - is a continuing effort to reduce the Tamil population to minority status in the North East with plans in the near future to colonise the Tamil areas with Sinhala armed forces men who will be given land free
"for services rendered to the Buddhist Sinhala nation." This is the Grand Strategy of the Buddhist Sinhala cabal of the clergy, the armed forces, the polity and the business community. The
remaining Tamil youth from the Wanni recent holocaust cannot forgive the slaughter of their kit and kin. In the Wanni most youth between 15 and 25 are being isolated from their families and killed. Tamil resistance to the thievery of their land, destruction of their culture will continue both here and abroad with greater resolve. It will not merely be guerilla tactics. While the Sinhala state bleeds with self-imposed injury the Tamil nation will gradually regain its
strength to claim her land of the pre-Portugese area. Hilary Clinton, David Miliband, the German govt, the British and Canadian Parliaments are taking very serious note of the genocide here
India is on fire and will explode on the Lankan issue soon. I am afraid even the white-washing jobs of quislings of some learning trying to defend from Geneva and
eslewhere the sinking ship will not last too long. President Rajapakse addressed the people on Feb 04 from Galle Face. But there were no people there except the invitees who were outnumbered by the forces and security staff 3 to 1. That is the charade this Govt is trying to play on the people. It will soon drop like a pack of cards. Good must triumph over evil - sooner than later inthe Lankan contect. However, your suggestion Hoole should be included in a future study is welcome. He is a neutral Tamil but by no means a man who can be seduced by an offer of position and filthy lucre. The Tamil Nation has many such men and women who can yet contribute to a truly united land of the Sinhala and Tamil Nations - if that is in the cards at all of Rajapakse, Fonseka and those scheming Buddhist mullahs who appear to have deserted the teachings of the Buddha long ago and are now in the bandwagon to make money. That, sir, is the conclusion of many decent Sinhalese - some of them 2nd class Sri lankans like you because they happen to be Christian. Do come and join the bandwaggon.

ISS

My dear Suren,

If you think I wasn't offered any post by CBK's government you must ask CBK, or better still, Dr Sarath Amunugama who , as soon as CBK re-took the portfolios in late 2004, phoned me to ask whether I was at home that afternoon because they were dispatching a letter appointing me the Media Advisor to the President as well as Chairman of one and Director of more than one state media institution. I politely declined and told him not to bother sending the letters. Mr Bradman Weerakoon and Susil siriwardena will confirm that President Premadasa wanted me to come to parliament on the National List and take a portfolio- which I refused. I was in my early 30s at the time. He then wanted me to be in the presdential Secretariat, which I also declined. The record also shows that I was the youngest Provincial Minister under the Indo-Lanka Accord and the only one to resign his portfolio! So, when I support or criticise a particular programme or stand it is not for lack of a job or job offer, unlike some people I can think of! The programmes you were associated with or supported in a minor way - Sudu Nelum/NIPU, ISGA, CFA, PTOMS were programmes of appeasing the fascist Tigers, which also resulted in a strong Southern backlash, in the form of a reinvigorated JVP and JHU, which are currently blocking devolution. As for federalism, even CBK couldn't implement it, or something less ( union of regions packages ), so why bother to talk about it?

Dear Seyan, Canaga, MThiru and Crazyoldmansl,

The Tamil ultranationalists have lost both the war and the NE merger; Russia and THE UK are blocking your cause being taken up at the Security Council; Delhi is simply allowing fringe Tamil groups to yell in Chennai; the Tamil Diaspora demonstrates the world over with no tangible result while three countries in Latin America broke DPL relations with Israel over the Gaza crisis.... and you think it is the Sinhalese who have to come up with an offer going beyond the 13th amendment? On which planet do you guys live?

To Tamil Diaspora, You are the very same people who are responsible for the missery of SL tamils. Now you know what is happening in SL with your hard earn money. Where have you been when LTTE was in a killing (genocide) of other communities, specially the poor unarmed people. Now you stay back and enjoy the rest. It will be done in a matter of few days. Don't point finger on others.

Dayan, you admit that federalism did not pan out in Sri Lanka... however, you conveniently avoid any explanation for that, except for indirectly admitting that the majority of Sinhalese are opposed to it. This is actually the only possible explanation -the intransigence of the majority community. Suffice it to say, however, that had the federal model been implemented during at the time of Independance, the ethnic conflict would not nearly have reached the brutal crescendo of the past 30 odd years. I am also sure, that at an intellectual level, you can easily percieve other variations of this plague. Failure to share power with the minorities is one step below the so-called Executive Presidency. I am no constitutional expert; however, it seems logical to presume that the Central Government is strengthened for lack of power-sharing. Whether it be not
sharing power with the judiciary (now we see that even the Supreme Court is powerless), or depriving citizens of their basic rights via the PTA (a Minister can overrule any verdict pertaining to the latter). Basically, power-sharing with the minorities would have been a good exercise in ensuring an adequate balance of power. Instead, as I have outlined here, the Center simply grew and grew... finally culminating with the Executive Presidency, which is a law unto itself. And this, I need not remind you, is against the very spirit of a secular democracy. Then again, given your Marxist tendencies, a dictatorship is perhaps the mode of governance that you prefer.

Dayan J is a typical stray dog that barks for whoever gives him a bone.
This is a typical way Sri Lankan governments handle ethnic issue. They will ask someone to speak, and if there is a cry against it, they will say it is him "personal comments". But the truth is it is the governments' (or the ruler's) thoughts which are promoted through those people.
If someone denies that, I have a question for them: How can a government allow such comments from a high ranking officer and remain in that position? All should join together to remove Dayan J from his current position as permanent representative of UN.

Dr. Jayathilake,

I am soory to say you are not fit to be our Ambassador to Geneva. Your racist views make all Sinhalese uneasy. World would think everyone in Sri Lanka same like you. Above all, a diplomat cannot have perosonal openion and official openion on any issue until he holds the post. You made Israel angry. What are you doing? If a carrier diplomat does the same thing Presdient Rajapakse would not hesitate to recall him within 24 hours. Yet, you are allowed make more damages to Sri Lanka.

Sunil

Che was Atheist Dayan, he would not have said " God saved him from his friends" another Lankan liar

This guy is becoming defensive by comparing exiles of Cuba with Tamil diaspora, it is like comparing Oranges with apples. Cuba ranked 48 among nations based on UNDP index SL ranked 98 after 61 yrs later. You have no in depth knowledge about Cuba nor about Tamil in SL

Dear Dinesh,

You will then have to explain why states which do not share my Marxist tendencies are allergic to federalism -- Turkey, Britain, the Philippines...

Dayan's problem is he is convinced he has a monopoly of all opinions and everyone else with a different view is not only wrong but ticked off with a verbal lashing. The entire world counsels GoSL to go for a political settlement. The adamant Sinhala electorate
is taken for a ride by the Buddhist hierarchy, the racial twins JHU/JVP (both wings) and the growing Buddhist Sinhala chauvinistic extreme that cannot see beyond its nose. It was the same with regard to the Plantation Tamils from 1948 until sense dawned on them in 1987.So it was with regard to the recognition of Tamil as a national language that opened the flood-gates of national disunity and disaster. The Sinhalese had to give in here also to reason as well – at last. On both issues it is the majority extremist fringe that was responsible for all the havoc, destruction and bloodshed that followed. It is in such times that men and women of learning must come out to educate this power hungry cabal to think of the future of the country. This should not be too difficult because a large number of true Buddhists in the country have seen through the tricks of both the political buddhist priesthood and the JVP. Wimal Weerawans has been bitten by the capitalist bug as was
Mahinda Wijesekera - once front-liner JVPer and now top capitalist. As to the JHU men they are on sansaara in the reverse direction. They are moving from the
spiritual and selfless world to the materialistic world of money and power.
This is DJ's challenge without diversion to Cuba's Castro, Ramsci and other nonsense.

ISS

Dear Dayan:

You will have to show me an example where the British Prime Minister ignored the orders of the Supreme Court and got away with it. Or an example of where the PM assumed his position by bribing an enemy his country was at war with. Or where the PM appointed his dim-wit brother (who can barely speak English) to the post of Defense Secretary, another brother to the Ministry of Ports, and a third brother to Finance. And his buddy, known for pyramid scams, to be the head of the Central Bank.

The best example that I can give you of why federalism works is the USA, which became a superpower less than 100 yrs after its birth. You may refer to the "Federalist Papers" to see the impact of such on the Constitution of that nation. No doubt you will counter with "USSR"... well, guess what, the USSR is no more. It was built on shaky foundations, and went to the dustbin, along with the Communist ideals it happily upheld. No nation on Earth today, except perhaps North Korea, is truly "communist" in the full sense of the word; even China has embraced the free market to some extent. Communism may have had limited glory while the USSR was around; alas, it is now a joke best relegated to the history books.

On a final note, federalism conforms extremely well to the ideals embodied by democracy; can you give me a single example of where it has actually failed? I think not.

Dear Dayan,

So, like Piraphakaran you seem to believe that might is right. It seems to be the position of this government as well, and that to me is a great pity..

No one supports a fascist machine like the LTTE or a megalomaniac like Piraphakaran. Do you think that Tamils have no clue as to what life would be like under the LTTE? Even those who may have had no idea have now got a taste of it from Mahinda. Revolutionary Fervor no doubt!. . . and to hell with Human Rights?

What I do not like is the way this issue is being tackled. It is something to be discussed and sorted out. So I say yes and you say no! Then do we compromise or reach for arms and try to destroy each other? Better still does one of us grab the arms and insist that the other say yes and not resort to grabbing arms as well?

Let me tell you Dayan, you are part of this bloodshed, you picked up arms yourself - or at least played the part very well - some say you had ulterior motives in doing that little drama, but let those stories rest. You continue to be one of the hard core advocates of this war and you do not seem to care what it costs in terms of the lives of the young men and women being sent out to fight and die. It seems as though you absolutely do not care a damn for the non combatants killed, the fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, even infants. How you can order your pilots to go in and bomb targets that are going to involve civilian deaths and how your pilots can go about sowing death and destruction in this way is difficult to understand from a human point of view. Do these deaths really not affect you in any way? Do you sleep easy at night? I suppose you are a vegetarian. It would be hard to sit down to a steak after having bombed human beings into mincemeat would'nt it? Oh yes, and next time the wine is red remember the blood you spilled, and let soak into this beautiful island. This has become the favoured drink of this horrible female deity you have created - your Mother Lanka. Where is the Vikalpa of your Kandayama?

But Dayan, there is more to come, much more, and you seem to be an important element of the cause. Who is Lasantha!? Who is he? He is just one man? So many people are being killed. Words that will never be forgotten. Lasantha in his death showed the world what a thousand of us cannot show the world through our lives - that Sri Lanka is slowly being throttled by a creeping fascism that is instilling a rule of fear. Do you want to be feared Dayan? Are you also one of these people who love to be feared and fear to be loved? This fear of love, of being loved and of loving others, this lack of compassion and this inability to care for others is growing amidst the people of this island like a vicious virus - taking over our hearts and minds. It makes us cynical, manipulative, scheming, hypocritical, authoritarian, chauvinist and corrupt. Is this what your hero Eernesto Guevara stood for? Is this the kind of culture he worked to build? Wake up Dayan. I do not know how but you seem to me to have ended up on the wrong side.

Yes Dayan. I think it is the Sinhalese who have to come up with something that the Tamils are willing to buy. It may be more or it may be less than the 13th amendment or any other benchmark you wish to employ. The point is that it must come from the Sinhalese MAJORITY. It is this Sinhalese majority whom you and your government represent like no other government has ever represented before - that must say to the Tamils " Ok we are done with fighting. We should never have gone this way in the first place. You are entitled to everything that we are entitled to. There shall be no more privileges for one or the other, all shall be treated as one" and having said that - unlike on previous occasions - they must deliver what they promise and they must deliver it not grudgingly as though they were being compelled to do it, but joyfully as one who bestows upon his or her beloved the choicest of gifts, knowing they are one. Cutting off diplomatic relationships has nothing to do with it Dayan, this is not a numbers game. Its all about love for ones fellow human beings and a desire to see that they are as happy and as comfortable as and that they enjoy all the privileges that one has oneself - that is what it is Dayan, it is a mindset - there has to be a change of mindset.

Dayan I live on Earth on which my feet are firmly planted. The LTTE can be crushed and those who do not know better may even say that it has already been crushed. Most Tamils who can attend to the task of addressing the issues underlying this war are no longer in the island. Those who are left - with a few exceptions - are simply not equipped to take on this task. Those few who are will soon be murdered just as Lasantha was. Now tell me who are these Tamils left who will be able to come up with something that the Sinhalese can afford to buy? I told you before that this is a cruel question to put to them and I hope you get the point.

It must be nice and comfy out there at the UN. I daresay you have greatly advanced your cause. But your cause Dayan has soaked the island in blood. Are you happy at your handiwork?

Now tell me are you and is the Sinhalese nation ready to behave in a different way? In a non violent way? In a democratic way? In a way that respects and guarantees human rights so that no person in the island will hold back his voice because of fear of its rulers, or of being beaten and tortured by the police, or the armed forces, or the body guards of their political leaders, or by the children of their political leaders or by their political leaders themselves? Are you willing to change?

If not you may have won the battle, but in doing so you have launched a war against the movement for peace, democracy and human rights. Its you Dayan who are out in the cold - the cold that comes to those who are willing to kill in order to exert power. The cold that comes to those who love to be feared and fear to be loved.

May the Radiance of the Triple Gem shine on the path to Respect and Compassion for all beings, so that you may, if you choose, wend your way towards them.

Sivanesan,

Che was quoting Frederick Wilhelm II of Prussia. I thought the quite was so well known any educated reader would not need a clarification.

Dear ISS,
Yeah yeah, but with all of that, they are winning aren't they?

Dear Sunil Herath,

My views on Israel are those of my appointing authority, the decision maker on sri Lankan foreign policy according to our Constitution and the long time president of the Palestinian Solidarity Committee of Sri Lanka, i.e. His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapakse. Do you know that in 1991 when the UN General assembly voted to repeal the 1975 Resolution that Zionism was Racism, Sri Lanka as one of 25 countries that voted against?

Dear Anonymous,

Try. If you succeed the pro-Tiger lobby will decorate you...!

>

You call it a fascist machine, but those who know best will easily assure you that the police, law courts, banks, etc. created under the de-facto Tamil State ran far more efficiently and smoothly than those of their Southern counterpart. As for the "megalomaniac"... thus far, he has stuck to his tasks and responsibilities; neither bribes nor military pressure has drove him off. The man is a military genius in every sense of the word; in another setting he is the equivalent of the founder of a highly successful start-up or corporation.

>

Why did we not see a mass exodus of civilians from the North to the South, during the times when the LTTE controlled Jaffna and then later other Northern/Eastern territories?

>

Yes, those Sinhalese intellectuals who left the island (colleagues of none other than Dayan J.) can now see once and for all that they have zero incentive to return to the island. No doubt they, like the Tamils of yore, have reached the conclusion that the failed state will take on new manifestations of failure; the corruption, nepotism, mismanagement, and in general, total lack of opportunities for those seeking career advancement will reach their zenith, further reinforced by the power-hungry dynasties which are here to roost for decades to come. If you thought 3 Bandaranaikes were bad, remember that at least 2 of them were educated; the villains to come shall hail straight from the gutter and the gutter alone.

Dinesh the test is not efficiency. I daresay Hitler's gas chambers ran very efficiently. In fact it would seem that his entire extermination program was run very efficiently.

The test is the space for Dissent and the space for Innovation and experimentation, the space to be right and the space to be wrong and the respect of ones human rights whatever one chooses and this means no summary justice and the respect of the Human Rights of those who have broken your Laws or are suspected of having done so.

In your efficient state will I be able to say what I want? Will I be able to speak and work in English? What about Sinhalese and Tamil? Will I be able to smoke, drink and get drunk, dance, wear my shortest miniskirt and party all night, will I be able to declare that there is no god? Will there be nightclubs? Will I be able to eat Beef and Pork and anything else I may choose to? What will be the situation of gays and lesbians? How will sex workers be treated? Will fashion shows be allowed? Will the sale and advertising of lingerie be allowed? Can I celebrate Valentines day? Will I be jailed for holding hands in public? Will it be possible to advertise cigarettes, liquor and condoms? Will there be health insurance and social security? What about the sale of sex toys? Can I leave the country without leaving a relative as hostage? Will I be able to visit and leave without having to pay taxes? Will I be able to wear my hair long, tattoo and pierce my body, wear metal chains and play heavy metal music? Will I be able to divorce, call you a fat old fool, marry anyone I wish to, think, write, publish and preach anything I want and insult the lion or the tiger? What about land, can I buy and own it? Will you print money, return to the gold standard or set up a monetary board? Will I be able to say no to your vision? Will I be able to burn your sacred flags and ridicule and laugh at your gods? or will the white vans come after me? Will assassins kill me as I drive to work? Will you send the tax man after me to twist my arm? Will you file false cases of murder against me? Will you threaten and intimidate me? How will you treat your friends and how will you treat your enemies? How will you treat minorities? How will you treat children? How will you treat women?

As for genius it is a neutral thing. It can be used to bring happiness, and enlightenment into the world, or it can be used to create more suffering and servitude than there already is.

As far as I can see, right now, there is no difference between the Rajapaksa Regime and Piraphakarans LTTE. The sooner we rid ourselves of them both the better for us all.

Rather than justify and support one or the other we would be better off building an alternative - a long road to walk I admit, but the only humane one I can see right now. How do we begin?

Dear Dinesh,

Er.....Yugoslavia, or should I say the former Yugoslavia? The USA is not ethnofederal, i.e. the units are not carved out on any ethnic or linguistic basis.

Military genius? This guy has been in business since 1972 or 1976, and in over three decades he was unable to liberate his homeland. He could not even hold Jaffna. by contrast, in less time Mao liberated the world's most populous nation and the Vietnamese beat the Japanese, the French, the US, the Khmer Rouge and fought off a Chinese intervention! The Hezbollah beat the Israeli army twice, the last time in 2006. Prabhakaran was tactically brilliant, strategically unimpressive; a dramatic terrorist.

Dear Crazyold mansl,
Obviously you haven't read my full page denunciatory piece on Lasantha, called The Murder of An Editor.

Dear Dayan,

No I have not read that piece. However I did read “Those who killed Lasantha were cowardly Barbarians”. It would seem from that article - which airs your personal views - that you are aware of the nature of the project that you are aiding and abetting.

In that article you say that " If there are those who think that people should be killed because of what they express and then go onto to actually order the killing; if our institutions cannot apprehend and punish the killers and therefore they enjoy impunity; if there are those who actually justify the murder of an unarmed man however bad or wrong his views; then something very nasty and dangerous is happening to us."

You go on to ask," What kind of society is emerging? What would we have lost while engaging in the necessary war against the separatist terrorist enemy?", and you go on to say that " The upper middle class of Colombo have isolated themselves by not supporting the war effort, and therefore allowing itself to be seen or portrayed as unpatriotic."

When supporting a war is made a necessary measure of patriotism then it is time indeed to ask " What kind of society is emerging?". It would seem then that the upper middle class of Colombo has correctly understood that what is being generated in the name of destroying the LTTE is something far worse than the LTTE ever was and ever can be - a fascist state that lays claim to legitimacy through a legal and electoral process that it subverts towards its own ends - and you Dayan seem to have positioned yourself at the center of this swastika. Is this where you really want to be?

In ensuring that the nature and thinking of your government is not criticized unfairly and is defended successfully against exposure and in fact is given some sort of legitimacy however dubious, you accept responsibility for its continuing development towards its objectives. Is this what you want to be remembered for?

Its your life and I recognize your right to do with it what you wish to. You may think that by positioning yourself where you have you may be able to influence the flow of events and guide them in a more creative direction. The situation is precarious - and I give you the benefit of doubt. Lets see what role you finally end up playing in the dark drama that is unfolding around us and in which we are all players in one way or another.

Dear Crazyoldmansl,

Its very simple. I am a student and teacher of Political Science. As such it is very difficult to see myself at the centre of a swastika when a competitive multiparty system is, right now, in the middle of an election campaign. And in case you want to pooh-pooh that, may I refer you to President Barack Obama's message on Sri Lanka's Independence day where he speaks of our shared values of democracy and pluralism. To return to Swastikas, may I also refer you to the statement in The New Terrorism ( 1999) by Prof Walter Laqueur, Editor of the Penguin/Pelican Readers Guide to Fascism, that "in terms of its ruthlessness and fanaticism, the only parallel I can find for the Tamil Tigers is the European fascist movement of the 1920s and 30s". If you think that is an isolated quote I give you Pulitzer Prize winner John F Burns of the New York Times who called Prabhakaran "the Pol Pot of South Asia", and most recently , Barbara Crossette who wrote in The Nation (Jan 6) that the LTTE is "the most lethal and totalitarian movement in contemporary Asia".So you see, Crazyold man, I am on the side that, for all its dangerous downside, is fighting against the Swastika, which is the symbol most suited to the LTTE. Where are you located in relation to the Swastika?

Dear Dayan,

No. I have no intention of Pooh - Pooh ing anything anyone says. The situation is far too serious to afford the luxury of ignoring or brushing aside anyones contribution.

Obama's message notwithstanding it seems to me that very few of us are genuine in our professed commitments, whether it be to the religions we claim to follow, the ideologies we hold or the values we say we espouse. I do not think many Sri Lankans share the kind of values of democracy and pluralism that the USA is constituted upon. It seems to me that the majority of Sri Lankans consider life in the USA and other western democracies to be degenerate and morally corrupt and they would lay their lives on the line to prevent any such democracy and pluralism to emerge and become the dominant ethos of Sri Lanka, even while clamoring for the economic fruits of such alleged degeneracy.

Fortunately for the Sri Lankan Tamil Community the LTTE does not have the structures of a state or international recognition as an organization. The Sri Lankan State on the other hand does. I do not expect to wake up tomorrow morning to hear Mahinda declaring Sri Lanka a Fascist state. What I do expect is an increasing authoritarianism that progressively disregards due democratic and legal process and begins to seep into our culture and into our personal lives as well. Along with this I expect a progressive subversion and marginalization of all political parties that do not tow the Majoritarian line, culminating in their physical attack and annihilation once weakened sufficiently. The same will happen to all organizations and movements that have the attention of and are able to influence significant numbers of people, and do not tow the majoritarian line. You seem to say that you are prepared to go along with this because defeating the LTTE is the greater need of the moment - and in this you only echo the words of the Tamil diaspora which when confrinted with the nature of the LTTE has always maintained that the autocratic nature of the LTTE must be excused because it has to defeat the Sri Lankan State.

This is already happening and you help justify this process. The center of the Swastica - its heart - is where this justification happens. It may not be geographically located and can constitute a loose network of individuals working synergistically not necessarily based on deliberate intention or a common program.

You ask me where I stand in relation to the Swastika. I confess I do not know other than the fact that I feel an intense revulsion towards any kind of coerciveness, intimidation and violence and I do want the freedom to CONVERT as many people as I can to a commitment to resolve contradictions through dialogue rather than through force of arms, and to seek while respecting human rights to fulfill their aspirations through means that cause no physical harm to others and to their environment. I am afraid that the anti conversion bill being considered by parliament is going to deny me this freedom. Perhaps I am part of the center of the reverse of the swastika that the Nazis adopted. It seems to have symbolized the opposite of what they achieved. Perhaps the Nazis - like all of us - set out with all good intentions to bring "plurality, prosperity, and long life" that the Swastika symbolized in the East. So it is not for me to judge where I stand. Such judgement is best left to those who reap the fruit of what I sow and what I safeguard and help grow. If the actions that I recommend soak the land in blood and fill the air with the cries of the wounded and dying and the wails of those who have lost their loved ones, strike fear into the hearts of all, and fill the minds of the living with sorrow as yours seem to me to contribute towards doing. . .we may end up as unlikely brothers in arms and help put the world in dire straits. I doubt I will contribute to such abomination though, preferring as I do persuasion and conversion to confrontation, conflict and destruction.

Dear Crazyold mansl,
I just read your earlier entry, that of Feb 10th. That's so easy to answer: what happened to the Vikapal of the kandayama? well, of the 23 of us indicted on 14 counts under the PTA and the Emergency, some were killed by the JVP , the others by the Tigers. K Padhmanabha, m friend and founde-leader of the EPRL was murdered while unamed with 10 of his central committee members in madras in 1990 by the Tigers, who , the next year, murdered rajiv gandhi. I am advocating nothing with regard to the Tigers that I did not with regard to the JVP after they killed Daya Pathirana. I believe in the armed elimination of fascist/Pol Potist forces when they are carrying out an armed campaign. As for being out in the cold, I am happy to be out there in the company of Abraham Lincoln who fought against the separation of his country, and unleashed Generals Grant and Sherman - the latter, whose march through Georgia to the sea, would entitle the sri Lankan army commander for an ICRC award. As for aerial bombing, how do you think the Russians defeated the chechens? they made extensive use of Sukhoi 24s and 25ground attack aicraft, and Grozhny was almost reduced to rubble. And finally, as for Che Guevara, he spent many months in la Haban fortress , passing the death sentence on counter-revolutionary terrorists like the Tigers, thousands of whom were executed by firing sqauds, and he fought in the Congo against separatist forces who had killed Patrice Lumumba. PS: Nope, I am not a vegetarian.

If I might be permitted to post a question to the distinguished and evidently eloquent author of the above article, as a teacher and student of political science what are your thoughts on pursuing a state/security centric, realist policy as elucidated by Morgenthau, Waltz etc. for nations such as SL that are struggling with festering conflicts that threatened their very existance and soverignity? From my observations it seems that every SL president from JRJ to MR has had to inevitably conform to a realist line to some degree, no matter how considerable their liberal pedigree was due to the pervasive effects of the conflict.

Dear Dayan,

Thanks for the note on what happened to the Kandayama. My interest is in what happened to the Vikalpa. Right now it seems to be "All those who are not for us are terrorists". So I guess you are for the us referred to and since, unlike you, I do not advocate violence I shall be classified as a terrorist and done to death.

As you can see when people resort to arms however noble their intentions may be, they become responsible for the carnage that their decisions lead to. I see you are comfortable with those you have listed and the suffering they have caused. The best of them seem to have had the "unification of their country" or the building of some kind of "greater political collective" as one of their major goals. Lincoln alone perhaps went to war to destroy slavery as an institution. To parallel that initiative you would have to go to war against the Sri Lankan State in order to ensure equal rights for the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Your position is clear when you say that "I believe in the armed elimination of fascist/Pol Potist forces when they are carrying out an armed campaign." You are going to kill anyone who takes up arms against you - with no regard to the reasons for such a militant uprising.

The danger with this Dayan is that as your war against them goes on, the circle of intended targets widens as well, until you end up having to establish camps in which you can concentrate those you see as innocent while you go after those you deem guilty. It is this development that can be described as " You start with the terrorists, then you go for the Tamils, then the Muslims, then the Christians, then the Burghers, then the Malays, then the Rodiyas, then the Veddhas then the Communists and then the whatever else until you have your ethnically and religiously pure state which can belong totally to you and you alone without having to grudgingly extend any share however menial to any minority",. The innocent of course are always suspect because they are the soil from which the guilty have arisen and such subversive soil cannot be tolerated for too long - especially when troublemakers arise from within from time to time. That is when the efficient disposal mechanisms begin to be set up. Last time it was soap, hair-wigs, leather and many other industries that operated with human bodies as raw material. This time the commodities produced may be more in line with what we saw in "The Matrix". No room here of course for Vegetarians.

With camps being set up for the IDPs so that they can be held in concentration and demarcated from the rest of the populations, the creeping fascism grows stronger and becomes more easy to perceive. This is a small island and events are likely to flow fast. The appearance of disposal mechanisms cannot be too far away in the future.

Al this would not have been necessary if we knew how to talk over the issues we faced and learned the art of give and take. But that would deny you the thrill of fighting - fighting fascism or whatever else is available to fight with. The fight against fascism is just beginning. There is still time for you to get on the right side. I know you have never been one to fail to make the right move at the right time.

Mr Dayan, You are wrong on both Cuban revolution and Congo conflict, Che executed only battista armed thugs and reactionaries who inflicted human sufferings on innocent people of Cuba. In Congo he fought against American puppet Sese seko Mobuto who was installed as American puppet after CIA assassination of Lumumba with poisoned toothpaste. Che didn't fight against separatists. Katanga region was creation of western imperialism, It was not created by Congolese. You are fabricating new history for many parts of world, I hope you don't comment on world history again, better stick with Rasapakse brothers for false propaganda.

Dear Sivanesan,

One thing that isn't smart is to attempt to debate me on Che Guevara.

Here's a quote from his UN General assembly speech in New York, Dec 11th 1964. It will also indicate to you why we are not permitting any UN role, and correct in that stand - because we know that it will wind up helping the separatist, as in Congo and Kosovo.

"And that is why those who used the name of the United Nations to commit the murder of Lumumba are today, in the name of the defence of the white race, murdering thousands of Congolese. How can we forget the betrayal of the hope that Patrice Lumumba placed in the United Nations? How can we forget the machinations and manoeuvres that followed in the wake of the occupation of that country by United Nations troops, under whose auspices the assassins of this great African patriot acted with impunity? How can we forget, distinguished delegates, that the one who flouted the authority of the UN in the Congo — and not exactly for patriotic reasons, but rather by virtue of conflicts between imperialists — was Moise Tshombe, who initiated the secession of Katanga with Belgian support? And how can one justify, how can one explain, that at the end of all the United Nations activities there, Tshombe, dislodged from Katanga, should return as lord and master of the Congo? Who can deny the sad role that the imperialists compelled the United Nations to play?
To sum up: dramatic mobilizations were carried out to avoid the secession of Katanga, but today Tshombe is in power, the wealth of the Congo is in imperialist hands — and the expenses have to be paid by the honourable nations."

Dear Crazyoldmansl,

I have never come upon a more singularly apposite web pen name than yours. Who says I think that he or she who is not with us is against us, and should be destroyed? Sivaram was buried under the Tiger flag but I condemned his murder as i did Lasantha's. I have always held that even if they support an armed enemy, an unarmed or disarmed man or woman must never be killed. So either you are unable to read and understand English, which I rather doubt, or you are perfidious.

As for fascist/pol Potist movements I meant precisely those, not any and all armed movements. I don't care what the causes were, if an armed movement is fascist or Pol potist ( the ultraleft variant of fascism) it must be militarily destroyed. The US bombing of Cambodia caused the emergence of the Khmer Rouge but that did not detain Vietnam's Communists from overthrowing them. The unfair treaty of Versailles as well as the Great depression were causative factors of fascism's triumph but that was irrelevant to the Allies, including the USSR. Now I did not say that with reference to ALL armed uprisings or movements. The Sandinistas are different from Sendero Luminoso, the EPRLF from the LTTE, the JVP of 1971 from the JVP of 1989.