Sinhala and Tamil people of Sri Lanka: Where do we go from here?
By Niro Dissanayake
All that was predicted and feared/anticipated depending where you are standing has come to pass. The ‘Dutugemunu Principle’ has peaked and the policy of 60 years has come to fruition. The Sinhalese have come a full circle and stand victorious and united with their writ running from North to South, East to West, as was in the time of the great king 2000 years ago. History has repeated itself in eerie fashion.
King Dutugemunu himself is said to be reborn – albeit in the form of President Mahinda Rajapakse. The mindless sycophants and hangers-on are already proclaiming the ‘Return of the King’ and requesting all parliamentary democratic practices be put asunder and He be the ‘Ruler for the next 25 years’ no less. If this is to be another golden age of Sinhalese Buddhists is yet to be seen.
The would-be ‘Elara’ was defeated yet again, dying in the mangroves. No heroic death fighting 'mano-a-mano' with his chief foe this time. His body was paraded half naked before being cremated and the ashes disposed to the sea. And not even a monument to mark his death, or for passing travellers to get out of their cars and pay their respects. No family to remember him either, as they joined him in death. Now destined to be largely forgotten even in distant lands like the bastard child nobody wants to claim.
An abject failure and embarrassment, whose passing has not been mourned or commemorated, and had to suffer the final insult of having his death denied by his most fervent supporters. The suspicious stench of betrayal hangs heavy in the air among those who followed him unquestioningly before. Was it Pottu? Was it KP? Who betrayed the Tamil cause this time, torments their minds and fuels their bitterness and rage against the Sri Lankan unitary state and the Sinhalese people.
Some Tamils languish in physical prison camps in the north of Sri Lanka. Others languish in mental prisons of their own making, in exile, waving the red flags of an organisation defeated, and now irrelevant and consigned to the dustbin of history.
The rest remain under siege with the Sinhalese on one side, the deep blue sea on the other and hostile or unsympathetic nations surrounding them in all directions or worse with the ‘dreaded Sinhalese Army’ living in their midst’s. How can they sleep? Just like Dutugemunu all those years ago. ‘The tables were turned as planned’ would probably say the king.
Perhaps they are better off overseas as a Diaspora – No, the white ‘natives’ are not as happy as their nice cosseted lives were disrupted due to those inconsiderate newly arrived demonstrators. What is a Tamil to do and where is he to go?
There is hope however. Some Tamils have managed to escape their mental prisons and join others who were already outside whose voices of reasons which were drowned out by the hysterical masses in the past, and are becoming increasingly seen and heard. Will they lead their defeated and humiliated people to recover their lost respect, rights and dignity to live within the country they have been just as long as the Sinhalese?
I certainly hope so for then there will be no more need for the ‘Dutugemunus’ or warped principles and we can all live in peace as Sri Lankans.
But as I said before a few years back, and nothing has changed, the cupboard in indeed still bare and the starkness of the lack of credible Tamil leadership would be soul destroying to one of that race.
What Tamils sorely needed now that the madness has passed was Neelan – instead they have Pilliyan. Or Kethesh – instead they have Karuna. Perhaps Thiranagama – instead they have Devananda - an unholy triumvirate who seek to determine their destiny in the East, the North and a national basis respectively.
Such incredible and mindless self destructiveness is difficult to be believed if one had not lived through it and witnessed with one’s own eyes. Those who supported the wanton killing of the cream of Tamil intellect, and followed willingly or unwillingly a mad man who led them up the garden path to a muddy mangrove, a dusty beach, a crowded camp or a foreign land must have now surely come to their senses?
Or are there those who are considering as an alternative, the ‘transnational leader’ who shares the same initials as a famous brand of nuts. Quite apt perhaps if he considers himself as the next ‘Surya Devan’ considering his current popularity with Interpol, not to mention India for the small matter of an assassination of a popular leader.
And perhaps we Sinhalese could have done with our own Tamil ‘yodhaya’ Kadirgamar right now, with his steadying influence and intellect. Instead we have the midget Boggollagama. Perhaps we got the short end of the stick on second thoughts.
Where do the ancient Sri Lankan Tamil people belonging to this blessed island since time immemorial, go from here?
Perhaps they can form a ‘transnational’ council of respected elders of the likes of Narendran, Jeyaraj, or a Hoole or two who have retained their credibility under trying circumstances and who have found common ground with the Sinhalese and seek to heal wounds and build bridges to establish our common humanity. Surely that must be the way forward?
How much influence can they wield on the Tamil people without returning to their homeland is a question only for their consciences to answer? Can they leave those pitiful people to be led by the earlier mentioned leaders or can they return and positively influence a seemingly as yet unsympathetic government?
Tamil Sri Lankans have to find their own way with healthy debate among their own communities at the end of the day. The time is ripe where they can do this with no fear of repercussions. It is probably not for a ‘Sinhalese Buddhist’ to comment on at this present time as the wounds are somewhat raw and the hurt is fresh and may not be welcomed.
I can however pass comment to my fellow Sinhalese Sri Lankans. The relief is palpable and the joy of the end of the war is worth celebrating as well as acknowledging and paying respect to our heroic armed forces who sacrificed so much. The patriotism is at an all time high. I feel it strongly too. I cannot deny it. However now the heat of the battle has passed it is time for a reality check.
This was no victory. This was just the clearing up of a mess of our own making, electing selfish leaders who thought of themselves rather than the country and all its people, where they set brother against brother for their own selfish goals.
Where is the victory when 18,000 of our brave soldiers came back to their homes in coffins? Where widows, fatherless children and disabled soldiers continue to pay for the mistakes of our past leaders?
Where is the victory when the North and East of the country is in ruins, and the rest of the country not reaching its full potential, with 300,000 fellow Sri Lankans in camps and God knows how many in the rows and rows of graves in the Mahaveer cemeteries.
We the majority have dictated who will lead the country in the past, present and future. We have not done too well in the past in our choices of leadership. Neither did we do well in 1983 in our mindlessness.
I will reserve judgement on the leaders of the present as they deserve a chance to put right the political horse trading of jumbo cabinets, kowtowing to extremist groups of the likes of the JHU and JVP, and putting up with the corrupt, incompetent and uncivilised politicians of the calibre of the Mervin Silva’s of today. We sold our souls to the devils to get rid of a bigger evil. It is now time to reclaim back what is ours.
At present we have a historic responsibility to ensure that the government that we elected by us act in the best interests of all the people, be they in the North, South or West or East.
We must ensure those that lost their homes and livelihoods in this war and are suffering in camps are resettled as a priority. We must ensure that the needs of the widows, the disabled and the orphaned or catered for, as opposed to needless waste by self-aggrandizing politicians more concerned about the next election and not the next meal for our more unfortunate citizenry.
We must hold our politicians accountable to the people from herewith. They have no excuses to hide behind now. The war is over, and the time for unconditional support and blind loyalty to the state is at an end.
We are immensely grateful. But we are not stupid. The government would be best advised not to continue to take the people for fools as they can be unforgiving. Even Winston Churchill suffered defeat after a greater war.
It is time for us to firmly grasp the hands of friendship being extended by our Tamil brothers and sisters with open hearts and clear minds, and time to reassure those who are still reluctant to do so.
As a race our failings may be many, but no one can accuse us of a lack of generosity of spirit, ability to forget and forgive, and loyalty to our friends. These are good traits that will serve us well in this time of reconciliation.
If does appear that history has repeated itself with a final battle with a modern day Dutugemunu and Elara. However may I also remind my Sinhalese brothers and sisters, after this epic battle, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English conquered us because of our disunity? Who can we expect next if we do not come together as Sri Lankans for the future?
I leave you with the words of Dr Narendran's words, which reminded us in a gentle fashion of our responsibilities as a majority race, and who chose not to dwell on our past failings;
‘The Sinhalese on the other hand should learn to treat the minorities, as a people who have been entrusted to their care. The Sinhalese should not view the minorities as enemies, competitors and usurpers. The minorities do not need special favours and dispensations. What they need is to be treated equally and be provided the opportunity to play in a fair game’.
This is the very least we can do. Would you not agree?
16 Comments
Niro,
What a touching article.Introspection at it's best.This kind of thoughts only come at times of defeat .You have shown that even at the peak victory you didn't get intoxicated with it. Hope this article shows up in vernacular media as well.Keep up your good work.God bless you.
.
Are you saying that once Rajapakse's are gone (by the time World Bank or China will take over Srilanka anyway), Tamils have a chance to come back????
:-)
Dear Niro, This is an excellent article with complete information. I'm a young tamil in late twenties, I honestly believe that we Tamil and Sinhalese are blood brothers and sister. Both of our ethnicity are very generous and loving people, I know this because I had lived with both of the community in Srilanka.
However, as you said our leadership selection has been worst in the world specailly among tamils. but also I that would be same for the Sinhalese. I'm really disappointed about our leadership selection as well as our idiotic leaders. I think going forward we should be very careful about our leaders, President M.Rajaphaks has said he will provide a reasonable solution to Tamils, but I haven't really seen much of any action till now.
Keeping 300,000 people in jail is totally disappointing when he says they are his brothers and sisters. at this time when Tamil people need support from ther Sinhales brothers,they should do all they can. Let's leave out JVP or JHU, they do not have any political ideology, for the bettement of the country. I would like to share my thoughts with you, please provide your contact info, if u can, I'm sending my e-mail to the editor.
There is a small correction. Though I am not a LTTE supporter, and I love united multi cultural Sri Lanka, as a Tamil I would like to share some thoughts. Dutagemumu although hailed as a Sinhalese prince, like Kannusamy (Sri Vickrama Rajasingha) he was not a Sinhalese. He was a young, energetic Naga Prince fought against a frail, old Tamil King. Here VP & MR are of the same age group. Then it was between two individuals, this time SLG with the support of 4 super powers, and many other countries behind the scene against one man.
Then, to avert blood shed and disaster only two were in the battle field, this time all were in the battle field creating havoc with cluster bombs and chemical bombs, massacring more than 50,000 people in the last day itself, modest UN number was more than 20,000. Then, after the death of Elahara country was united because majority in the Dutegemune army were Dravidians. This time not a single Dravidian in the army except Tamil Para military group who were not in the battlefield but were utilized to create panic amongst Tamils. Then, because of Dutegeumunu’s grandeur, country was united but this time because of MR & company it is going to be worst than it was. MR can’t claim full credit for this victory. UNP paved the way by way of Peace talk, set the right stage for a safety net by being good boys to foreign governments, managed to grab Karuna Amman, alas after all these wonderful ground work, fruit was enjoyed by MR with the support of super powers.
The mystery still remains if VP is dead or alive. I don’t believe what SLG said or LTTE said about his demise. Because I am positive that the body they showed as VPs was not his. However, the only reason I believed that he was dead was because of DBSJ article. Also I believe what Anita Prathaap wrote about his death. VP was ever ready to die for a cause, and actually, if he died it was not a problem at all. After all in a war anything could happen so it was not a big deal, what is important to note here is with his death the thirst for Tamil Eelam was not dead, it has become more energized. Hence VP didn’t lose he has left a strong undying legacy, the only way MR could win is to make peace his priority, but I doubt that he has that confidence otherwise another 100,000 army is a luxury that our country can’t afford. Hope MR listens to his strong supporters who backed him in his war against LTTE, and that of good hearted, fair minded Sinhalese. He has been bestowed with a historical opportunity to settle this problem, which no other Sinhalese leaders enjoyed. Let us hope he opens his eyes on his own without wasting any time.
May God Bless this beautiful multicultural Sri Lanka!
We killed each other over the perceived ill treatment on one side and the desire to keep our motherland in one piece on the other side. It is over now at a horrendous cost and fear, suspicion, hatred between Sri Lankan communities. A generation of Sri Lankan youths perished at opposite sides of the battle lines. As majority agrees, we need to look forward.
Would it be possible to have a Truth commission like in South Africa to voice out and record the sufferings of all affected parties, so that we can forgive each other and look forward.
At the same time is it too much to ask to work towards equal rights to individuals not communities. Any citizen of Sri Lanka should have the same rights irrespective of ethnicity, language, religion or other difference. Such differences cannot be totally eliminated from the society, but only can be kept under control. Remember that Sri Lanka was a model which other developing countries tried to follow in good old days.
Despite the picture LTTE supporters try to portray, Sri Lankan situation was much better than other conflicts around the world.
We missed the Asian Tigers wave in 1980-1990s mainly due to the conflict.
We still have time to get on the second, even stronger wave sweeping Asia.
If we can make all Sri Lankans to have a decent living standard and a future to look for, these conflicts will be history.
Can we stop fighting to get the bigger slice of the cake and instead strive to make the cake bigger so that everyone can have a bigger slice.
For the record, I am a Sri Lankan of Sinhala Buddhist origins living in the West.
A commendable article the words of which should get into the minds of all sections of the people - politicians, clergy, academics, ordinary people, etc. etc. - especially the politicians, if they truly love the country. There should be more Niro Dissanayakes who should fearlessly come forward with their honest views and provide a sense of right direction to the people.
The author forgets to mention
After Duttagamini
from wiki
Pancha Dravida 103BC - 89 BC
Gamini's dynasty did not even last 60 years
Shad Dravida - 436AD - 463 AD
Cholas again 985AD to 1120 AD
Pandyas 1212AD - 1215 AD
Kandy Nayakars 1739AD - 1815AD
Anytime a king in south India got powerful, he added Lanka as a snack
Think what will happen in 30 years, when India has a higher GDP than the US
Tamils have a chance to come back????
Aratai ,Come back from where IDP camps?
please stop this nonsense.
lets live together in a one mankind!
This type of writing is not at all helpful to reconcile and form a cordial atmosphere in Sri Lanka.This creates additional hatred towards each other community.
There are enough Sinhalese people helping the reffugees irrespective of their nationality.Except politicians, which are very few compared to the overall population,all sinhalese , tamils, muslims did not have any problem living together in Sri lanka in the past and at present as well.
Therfore I believe, now we have eradicated terrorisum , even the media should take good initiative to support the trust building and reconciliation to be materilised.We must publish whatever is helpful for trust building not to create hatred.
Writers can fabricate anything ,but the publishers or the chief editers should follow the media ethics and try to publish what is good for the society, not just anything nicely written.
That should be the duty of media.
I think the the dastardly actions of the Mahinda regime clearly demonstrate that MR is no Duttugemunu at all!
Duttugemunu is said to have honoured Ellalan after the latter fell in battle.
(Besides Duttgemunu was a Pandyan Tamil, and so in keeping with his culture he honoured his fellow Tamil the Chola Ellalan. Those days there were no Sinhalas to speak of!)
I was taught that Elara was in fact, a good king. To compare the despicable Pol Pot character, Prabhakaran to him is great disservice to a good king.
Firstly,war is not something to celebrate,it is a blood
bath on both sides and especially in situations like
ours where we have a huge task of building bridges among communities affected by the conflict.Healing
wounds effectively, will be made more difficult by this
celebration.Heat of the battle has passed but the dust
has not yet settled.The human cost of the war is yet to be revealed including how the war was carried out.
Those who wanted an alternative way out,are asking these question and waiting for official response and
only after some kind of positive signals from the govt
one can little safely say,well things are moving in the right direction.All communities want things to move in the right direction as it was before the escalation of bitter experiences,but it is not easy.
Sinhala,Tamil and Muslims all have lots of talents and potential to offer to their land and they have done that in the past.But the vicious circle of destructive elements succeeded in destroying all that was achieved.Can anybody say that these elements have now disappeared from the country? These elemets have lost
power? The solution to this, is in the hands of ordinary people.Respect humanity foremost,look at people as humans first before looking at his colour,creed or race and be strict on that and leaders
will have to follw you.
Where Do we go from here????
Well I don't know about Tamils but we Sinhalese are not going anywhere. If Tamils want to continue to be STATELESS REFUGEES then the Attitude held by most of the people who write their Tamil Nationalist and Separatist Ideology here is going to be a Guaranteed way to Achieve such a status.
Tamils should Stop Whining, Get a Grip, accept Reality and embrace the NATIONAL IDENTITY. Failure to do so will just continue to yield DISASTROUS Consequences for them.
Reasonable sounding letter. 'Tamil Srilankans' in Tamil Sri Lanka is still called 'Ilankai' and in Sinhalese it is called 'Sri Lanka' there is no letter in Tamil language for 'Sri'(That's why SJVC started protest against marking of 'Sri'on vehicle number plates, that is history now.). How are the People in this island going to unite? Can you find a common name in Sinhalese and Tamil for this island?
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Very good comments by Sakthi.
:-)
The Sri Lankan Connection
The ethnic issues in Sri Lanka could have been easily resolved through dialogue between the affected people and there representatives but it was not.
Conflict is big time business and a number of players (politicians, businessmen, underworld thugs, government officials including some memebers of the police, customs, and armed forces form cartels to make the BIG Buck.
Has anyone ever wondered why politicians need thugs and underworld gangsters to help them to intimidate officials and the general public during elections...??????
When one attends an interview for a government job or a promotion , why is a politicians reccomendation letter neccessary..?????? I thought people are appointed based on there qualifications and performances and not on the influences of politicians.......
How come the Sri Lankan Police can not crack down on the underworld mafia that operates openly on the streets of colombo...?????
How come the politicians are capable of unleashing terror on the general public and the courts and the law enforcing authorities are turning a blind eye on these cases.
How come politicians are able to tell to which company or contractor the government contracts and tenders worth millions and billions of rupees should go even if there are other proven contractors who could get the job done better.
If one thinks carefully they could figure out how these players depend on each other to plunder the country.
Politicians sow the seeds of violence and hatred and the thugs unleash the violence and fear among the people. The law enforcement officers turn a blind eye and the businessmen finance the campaigns of these politicians....the government officials white wash the corrupt deals.
for the greed of a handful of people the rest of the country has to suffer and live in fear.
The only solution to this is that every village should form comitees and preassure groups to preassurise law enforcement authorities to take action against the underworld thugs thus depriving the corrupted politicos of criminal support during elections.
Then the public could preassurise the bribery commission to stamp down on the corrupted officials.
With time the society would heal it self.