Douglas Devananda has shown it is possible to be both Tamil Nationalist and Integrationist
by Dayan Jayatilleka
Douglas Devananda once likened Tamil nationalism to cholesterol, saying just as there is good and bad cholesterol, there is good and bad Tamil nationalism, and just as you need good cholesterol, you need the good Tamil nationalism. Certainly the history of Tamil nationalism shows plenty of examples of "bad cholesterol". Elite Tamil nationalism opposed the abolition of communal suffrage and the introduction of the far more progressive territorial representation, demanding instead a Tamil seat in the Western Province.
Douglas Devananda and Prof. Professor Tissa Vitharana at campaign meeting in Veerasingham Hall, Jaffna, Jan 16-pic: epdp news
This was well before the founding of the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1927, and the formation of the Pan Sinhala Board of Ministers a decade later, let alone any oppressive legislation or actions against Tamils. It resulted in a fissure in the multiethnic Ceylon National Congress.
Then again, though the discriminatory disenfranchisement of the hill country Tamils had indeed taken place, ‘Sinhala Only’ was many years away and the quintessentially secular Ceylonese state as framed by the Soulbury Constitution remained intact when SJV Chelvanayagam demanded a federal system with a merged North-East and Trincomalee "as its capital". This while quasi-federalism, not full federalism, was good enough for 70 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu!
N Sanmugathasan, the outstanding Tamil Leninist-Maoist, had excoriated in his writings and speeches, Tamil federalism for having opposed "every single progressive measure" introduced in the country, which led to a wide gulf between the Sinhala masses and the Tamil nationalists. V Karalasingham of the LSSP had in his famous pamphlet, already warned in 1977, that Tamil nationalism had long identified with Zionist Israel, not national liberation struggles the world over.
Famed Indian Lankanologist Urmila Phadnis of the Jawaharlal Nehru University had debunked the notion that there was ever a legitimate Tamil nationalist claim to the East, noting that neither demography nor the results of the 1977 election bore it out. In her last book, republished posthumously, she had also noted that Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism, unlike ethno-lingual nationalism or sub-nationalism in India, demonstrates a distressing dynamic of what she termed "an autonomist-secessionist continuum". I experienced the validity of her observation with Vardarajaperumal’s Chief Ministership of the North East Provincial Council (NEPC).
All these factors combine to give the lie to a notion of a defensive/reactive Tamil nationalism. This is not to say that Sinhala nationalism was itself defensive/reactive. Rather I would observe that both Tamil and Sinhala nationalism were aggressive towards each other and also defensive/reactive towards each other in a vicious escalating dialectic.
The history of Tamil nationalism has been a history of negativism and – if one may borrow a metaphor from economics—hyper inflation, where rhetorical and programmatic fancy far exceed real political, military or diplomatic output. By contrast, Devananda stays close to reality, close to the ground and the grass roots.
What the scenes from Jaffna during last week’s presidential visit show is that Douglas has clearly effected a split in Jaffna politics and emerged the clear challenger to both the pro-Tiger political tendency as well as the old confrontational and rhetorical Tamil nationalist leadership represented by the TNA; a tendency which almost always allied with the UNP on the occasions that it entered the mainstream.
Devananda’s is a unique synthesis, merging a moderate-reformist Tamil nationalism with a constructive developmentalism and a populist progressivism. He has shown that it is possible to a Tamil nationalist as well as an integrationist; to work hard at the periphery while remaining a reliable partner of the centre.
at Thanangkallappu HSZ
The EPDP leader has built a solid mass base, using a two pronged approach: from bottom up, with incessant mass contact even during the war years, and from top down, using his position as a senior minister to deliver goods and services to the people. Douglas’ use of the mass line, tapping into his own practice as the Jaffna commander and head of the military wing of the EPRLF in the early 1980s, inheriting and reactivating the EPRLF’s old social base, and combining it with his interventions as a partner of the Sri Lankan state under three presidents, Premadasa, Chandrika and Mahinda, has enabled him to accumulate considerable political space and social capital.
Like the iconic S. Thondaman from the hills, he has proved a reliable partner of the democratic leadership at the centre. Above all he remained a people’s politician, never forgetting the Jaffna people and their needs even during the war; waging a consistent anti-fascist (anti-Tiger) political and ideological struggle together with the struggle to safeguard and improve the social, economic and material conditions of the Tamil people.
Devananda is a new kind of Tamil nationalist: a welfarist-populist with a developmental touch, a gradualist-incrementalist (almost a Fabian) in terms of strategy, and a national integrator. I can imagine none better to represent the Tamil people in Cabinet and more importantly as Chief Minister. He will not only secure the best deal possible for the upliftment of the Tamil people, he will implement a Kerala type developmental success in the Northern province as a whole. The old Tamil nationalism talked, just as the TNA talks. The Tigers fought and did nothing else. Douglas Devananda works and delivers. His Tamil politics are constructive and productive.
Presidnet Mahinda Rajapakse and EPDP leader Douglus Devananda at Nallur Kovil-Jan 10-pic: Sudath Silva/ InfoLanka
Meanwhile, Harim Pieris, a former advisor to President Kumaratunga in the days that she had really lost touch with what was what in the country, has written the best piece so far on the strategy of the joint opposition at this Presidential election, with a clear if implicit indication that he thinks the strategy is likely to succeed ("Ranil’s Formula for the General’s success", Daily Mirror Monday Jan 11th 2010).
It’s a good article, a correct piecing together, but to my mind a bad analysis and latent prognosis. I may well be proven wrong and I shan’t go into the why of my demurral until after it is all over, in these crucial closing ten days of a most portentous election.
Speaking strictly as a political scientist I think the ongoing election campaign and national debate entail a basic confusion and conflation of two distinct categories, namely State and Government. This election is one in which we choose the head of state, not just the head of government, and for reasons I have set out earlier I believe that Mahinda Rajapakse makes a better head of state, a better leader for the country, than would his main opponent.
As for our grievances with the government, the administration, these are best settled at the upcoming parliamentary election. I also agree with the arguments of Prof Carlo Fonseka in the Sunday Island of Jan 10th, that even in the worst case scenario (nepotism and corruption) a Mahinda Rajapakse victory would be less risky, less dangerous by far, than a victory for his main opponent.
The election of the main challenger would mean not merely a change of personalities but a change in leadership style which is symbolic and symptomatic of a change in the form and model of state and eventually of the model of governance. These structural changes will not be for the better as they will usher in the most authoritarian rule since that of President Jayewardene and one far more authoritarian, entrenched and potentially coercive than that of President Jayewardene. It may also mean the emergence of a de-facto civilian-military junta, with a power shift at the social level to the NCOs and the rank and file infantry.
Only a future historian can pronounce on whether the successful visit to Jaffna by President Rajapakse and the strong showing by Douglas Devananda on the occasion was a "game changer" and enough of one in an electoral sense, or whether Devananda will prove unsuccessful in converting the support for himself and his party into votes for Mahinda Rajapakse. However, the Duraiappah stadium crowds demonstrate that the game has probably changed within Tamil politics. It also confirmed that had the power elite heeded my advice rather than sacked me for it, it would not have been in as stiff a competition as it is now, for the highest stakes in which winner takes all and loser loses all.
I had argued in my published writing as far back as a year before the war’s end and in the post war months, that the 13th amendment be expeditiously implemented, the psychological collapse of the pro-Tiger forces including the TNA be capitalized upon, the Northern Provincial Council be reactivated and the elections to it, held. The idea evoked a howl of protest from the Sinhala hawks, the chief champion of whom defected to be the head of the coalition for "regime change" while the rest now fulminate against the "regime changers".
If my suggestion had been implemented at the time, the TNA would have still been suffering from the success of the State’s "shock and awe" tactics against the LTTE, and Douglas Devananda would have had a distinct edge in a provincial council election. As Chief Minister pushing his strategy of integrationist developmental – welfarism with social equity and moderate political autonomy, he would have been able to shift an even greater percentage of Tamil opinion than he seems to have done; and he already seems to have done quite a bit.
Had the Presidential elections been held against such a backdrop, but at the same time that is now being held, the TNA factor and the Tamil nationalist vote would have counted less than it does now, as Harim Pieris’ reconstruction of the opposition strategy reveals.
None of this means that the President will lose; what it does mean is that he could have won comfortably, and this margin could significantly affect the dynamics of a possible second term.
While the citizens have two elections at which to vote, the Tamil people have three: the presidential, parliamentary and provincial council.
Of course it will take these triple elections that the Tamil people now have the opportunity to vote in freedom at, to decide on two large questions, namely whether Devananda’s project has permanently altered the face of Tamil politics and whether his equation with President Rajapakse has laid the foundation of unity between centre and periphery, North and South, Sinhala and Tamil, the cornerstones of which were the Indo-Lanka accord and the 13th amendment.
31 Comments
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If Tamils (in North) are going to vote for Mahinda, it's because they prefer Mahinda over Sarath and not because of Douglas.
Douglas (or his hooligans living in military camps) has done enough killings in north that he is seen as worse than a terrorist.
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I agree with you that Mahinda will win because he is of Sinhala race unlike Fonseka's and Fernando's.
:-)
Sorry for the break the power went out..... So you got thrown out of your big UN position in the Geneva because of a few words that MR did't like. Since then you've got sidelined and and now just a member on the Presidents "Overseas delegation". Are you trying to regain your prominence with his re-election? If you still think MR is the great man to develop our country, I think with all your wisdom you are going the wrong way. I respect your deep views of equality, unity, good government and development for our country. But we need people that think beyond their near future. Our people are are happy with what Mahinda, Gota and Sarath did from 2005 to May 2009. But since then our Govt has not done anything to improve our situation. Reports say our Prez's family has been making it rich and him not caring about his job. Hence we support change. SF may be a devil, but we don't mind trying a new devil instead ofgiving the good old devil another 6 years!!!!
Sorry to disappoint you DJ. But the Tamils will vote according to their conscience. You were reeled back in from your
Hello Prof.
Are you trying to say that it is possible to run with the rabbits and also hunt with the hounds?
Douglas Devananda works and delivers it?
Oh yeah, do you know the identity of the assassins of Raviraj and Maheswaran?
Cheers,
Siva
Devanandan is well known for the white van syndrome and the rule of the gun. Some of his people were implicated in the killing of Taraki the investigation into which seems to have been hushed up. Hence the use of such tactics and armed groups destroys any credibilty of being a just and democratic leader of the Tamil people.
Such people derive their anti democratic power from Rajapakse. Hence it is not possible to separate the electoral process into three different elections as the Presidential Election will certainly determine the outcome of the rest. The massive misuse of executive powers and taxpayers money precludes any notion of a free and fair elections. Hence we must get it right at the Mother of Elections if democracy and human rights are to be upheld in Sri Lanka.
The core of this piece is
(1)to convince the reader Mahinda Rajapakse has done enough good work for the people to return him again
(2) promote Douglas Devananda both as Chief Minister of the North and leader of the Tamils there. In the process Dayan also discredits the validity of Tamil struggle here and quotes Indian political scientist Urmila Phadnis in support.
Beginning from the calling of the Presidential Elections earlier than due - by overestimating his popularity countrywide; which he is said to be privately regretting – MR commits blunder after blunder and is on a rapacious journey to misappropriate State funds to finance his faltering re-election campaign.
The people have begun to realise every million allowed to be pilfered will have to be paid back by them and this is creating much unhappiness...
The country being run by a troika of brothers and a family tree extending to nearly 400 grabbing everything in sight is further infuriating the public.
And,of late also some close supporters of his as well. Allowing that notorious attack dog to run riot convinces many close to Temple Trees the disgraceful delinquent has access to much damaging data on the ruling clique and therefore he cannot be done without. Blackmail - in other words. This is losing rather than gaining friends for the Rajapakses....
The price of daily essential foodstuffs hitting the roof is now pinching the stomachs of even ardent supporters of the government...The JHU cracking up and joining the General is believed to be bad omen and can be followed by many other defections in the coming week... There is much room to think Mahinda has started trailing already...
Douglas can never be leader of the Jaffna Tamils for more reasons than one. The educated and upper-echelon Tamils have no place for him in their agenda. The violence he unleashed from the time of CBK's Government has put paid to the role he played as a militant in his earlier years in the late 70s/early 80s and this has lost for him his support base among ordinary Tamils.
His amassing illicit wealth since has lost for him the support of even his own Theevu-Tamils. What more, it is known he has lost influence with the government in recent times where Karuna was almost given the role to lead Jaffna for the Rajapakse government. The loss of his Veena symbol to contest the PC Elections has destroyed whatever residue faith his Jaffna voters had in him.
The final nail was cast a few days ago when the army – reportedly on the advise of VIPs in the government – refused permission to Devananda to proceed to various points in Then/ Vadamaratchi areas when he took over 300 IDPs to be settled in their villages.
It is said this is a deliberate slap in the face of the man and a result of some conspiracy between VIPs and militant Tamil leaders within the government. The failure of the President to announce the dismantling of the HSZ in his recent visit to Jaffna - widely announced and expected - has further reduced DD's image. Douglas, for all intents and purposes, is a political has-been and will have his future behind him soon - say these sources...
As to whether the validity the Tamil struggle is lost and the Phadnis example, one might say for every Urmila Phadnis there could well be ten equally outstanding Indian political scientists who will swear by the inevitability of granting Tamil devolution - albeit within an undivided Sri Lanka. What more, every head of the Indian government since 1987 have advised GoSL - headed by different heads of State here - that there is no other alternative but to allow Tamils to take care of their affairs.
What goes as high intellects In India can be as unpredictable as the eccentric Subramaniam Swamy whose latest volte face is that Sri Lankan Tamils should now back Mahinda Rajapakse. Only a few months ago the crank was asking India and the world to arrest Rajapakse as a War Criminal.
ISS
Tamil Nationalist and Integrationist?
You make me laught, Mr, Political Scientist.
Opportunist, is the best description!
Tamil elites who opposed the abolition of communal suffrage were not Tamil nationalists rather they were caste concious and did not want the people from the oppresed caste to gain any voting rights. This was done to maintain caste system intact. Remeber the Sinhala leaders who were inprisoned for the communal violance against Muslims were represented in the courts by none other than Ponnambalam Ramanathan.
Thondaman's politics will not work for Sri Lanakan Tamils. Thondaman represented a nation which needed to build middle class but Sri Lanakan Tamils already have a middle class. Sinhala leaders exploited and diverted the poor Sinhala masses anger and frustartion against the Sinhala elites by creating communal tensions.
I do not need to repudiate DJ's claim of Devananda being Tamil nationalist and integrationist. There is amble evidence to suggest that he is not.
To be a Tamil nationalist and integrationist they need to work with Sinhala progressives who accepts Tamils as a nations and their self determination then we have a starting point for discussion and reconcilation. From the presidential candidates people like Vickramabahu Karunaratne and Srithunga Jayasuria comes to mind . Whether we Tamils live within united Sri Lanaka or go our own way is our choice not Sinhala nations demand.
Dear Angelo,
If you lived in Sri Lanka you would know that I am quite "prominent" with or without Mahinda Rajapakse, and there is nothing to " regain" in that department. if you are wondering whether there is a post I am after or have accepeted, let me tell you that I needn't even be here in Colombo. As you will see next month, I shall be taking up a senior scholarly slot at a think tank of an internationally well-reputed university. I have deferred reporting for duty until the elections are done.
I hesitate for a moment. Should I respond to your self pity or to your opportune twist of national history. Either will be a waste of time. Hailing an outcast, espousing a doctrine of vendetta, disguised in a cloak of national integration, is high wire escapism.
Siva,
Every successful regional politiocian anywhere in the world has to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. If they do one and not the other, they either get thrown out by the centre ( as the leftwing Kerala state govt of Namboodiripad was by Nehru in 1957) or fail to represbnt the people at the periphery.
I am sure that DJ knows very well about the motto of Douglas Devananda’s EPDP: “Coalition Government at the centre, self rule at the state and merged North & East”. The second principle in the motto was flagrantly violated in the recent Jaffna Municipal Council election where EPDP was bundled into an alliance with UPFA and contested under the betel symbol. Third principle was shot down by the Supreme Court by demerging North & East and the current policy of MR is not to allow such merger any more. Majority of Tamils know that Douglas is a lame duck in MR’s administration.
DJ’s concluding statement “Douglas’ equation with President Rajapakse has laid the foundation of unity between centre and periphery, North and South, Sinhala and Tamil, the cornerstones of which were the Indo-Lanka accord and the 13th amendment“ is an empty wish in desperation because MR has already said that he will propose his own political solution with an upper senate, the details of which are known to him only. It is a forgone conclusion that a “Home Grown” solution sans 13th Amendment (discarding the Indian constitutional solution to the ethnic issue) is what the Tamil minority will receive if MR is given the mandate for a second term.
Now DJ may have to clarify with what face Douglas will be able to convince Northern Tamils to vote for MR in the presidential election. I do not think that there will be much enthusiasm among the Northern Tamil voters to vote in this presidential election and all those who vote will do it on the merit of which candidate is likely to fulfill their political aspirations.
I also humbly refute DJ’s assertion that loss of minority votes does not mean that the President will lose in this election. With UNP vote bank intact, JVP propaganda in the South to chip in some votes and the patriotic block is divided, the majority Sinhalese votes would be split, to a worst scenario, 50 – 50. As the first election to be conducted island wide after 39 years the minority votes will be likely to decide the winner in this presidential election.
Douglas who has been with the government beenjejected once in the JMc and east PC election for he had done nothing for tamils but has been enjoying the perks by being with government.therefore thre is no chance for his in north and east
yes positive n. is good.if you do not love your race,you cannot love any other race.but if you believe your race is superior to others it is very harmful.if you think s.l. belongs to the sinhalese like fonseka then it is harmful.national socialism(jvp) IS ALSO HARMFUL:RANJIT DE MEL BERLIN
Dog Devanandha ,
Is a thug and murderer without any principle and have white vans and keeping Jaffna Tamils in an open prison and scoundering as much money as he can get and doing a dog's work for his master Mahinda R.
You wait and see the moment SF wins the election he will immediately change side and do the same thing to his new master.
I think He may have even bought Dyan Jeyathilaka with this blood money.That is the reson he is scribbling/vomiting these type of garbage.
Hi Dayan Jeyathilaka,
"Elite Tamil nationalism opposed the abolition of communal suffrage and the introduction of the far more progressive territorial representation, demanding instead a Tamil seat in the Western Province.
This was well before the founding of the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1927, and the formation of the Pan Sinhala Board of Ministers a decade later, let alone any oppressive legislation or actions against Tamils. It resulted in a fissure in the multiethnic Ceylon National Congress"
You are trying to distort the history of Srilanka and trying to diseminate lies Just like you Master and Rulers. In the past you ignored the past history of Srilanka up to 1980s to justify Your illegal war and war crimes, and now started to diseminate lies of history.
"One of the territorial seats was the city of Colombo, and Arunachalam) on the basis of the assurances the Sinhala leaders had given the Jaffna Association, asked for that seat. given by him as the president of the Ceylon National Association and that he was not bound by it as the president of the Ceylon National Congress. H.C.Pereira The Congress turned down the request and nominated Peiris.
Arunachalam reminded Peiris of the pledge he himself had given. Peiris replied that the pledge was argued, "It may be that for political reasons, individual members with perfectly honest intentions, with the idea of maintaining unity, have entered into certain compromises and bargains with individuals of the North; the Congress knows nothing of all this."
“Condom” culture Of Sinhala Buddhist polity started to show their colours for the first time to my knowledge.
Arunachalam was intensely distressed over this betrayal. He told the Times of Ceylon on 14 December 1921 that only those who had been in the inner councils of the reform movement could know the difficulty with which all communities were brought together on a common platform; the ceaseless toil and tact that were needed to remove ancient prejudices and jealousies, to harmonise dissensions and to create the indispensable basis for mutual trust and cooperation.
D.S.Senanayake had consistently opposed granting of voting rights to seven lakh Indian immigrant labourers brought to Ceylon by the British from the beginning of the nineteenth century to work first in the coffee plantations and later in the tea and rubber plantations He had stated his opposition as early as 1926, when he said at the second reading of the Bill relating to Indian labour that they were robbing bread and land from the indigenous people.
Tamils Hate Douglas so much because he's against SEGREGATION of ETHNICITIES... Tamils hate him because he's a rival Military force to their BELOVED TERROR-FREEDOM FIGHTERS (the Erstwhile LTTE) .
When the LTTE Killed and engaged in Thuggery it was all for their SO-CALLED FREEDOM STRUGGLE and therefore JUSTIFIED in the SYCOPHANTIC LITTLE MINDS of the Tamil Diaspora. But when Douglas does it, he's a Tamil Traitor and Low Life.
This is Also True of Karuna and Pillayan in the EAST... when they wore the LTTE Uniforms and Killed Sinhalese and Muslims and Tamil Dissidents in the Name of EELAM... they were called HEROS and MARTYRs ... it was ok for the Tamils to accept... now they chose a different path and they are labelled as THUGS and TRAITORS.
Dear Dyan, by using Do(u)g Devananda , you and MR are of the view that you can stuff the ballet boxes with illegal votes and win the elcetion but wait and see what is comming on your way.
The International Crisis Group’s latest briefing on Sri Lanka 11 January 2010 also observed. “No matter which of the two main Sinhalese candidates wins Sri Lanka’s 26 January Presidential election, the international community must take steps to ensure he addresses the marginalisation of Tamils and other minorities in the interest of peace and stability”.
Donald Steinberg, Crisis Group’s Deputy President for Policy said: “The victory over the LTTE will remain fragile unless Sinhalese-dominated political parties make strong moves towards a more inclusive and democratic state. Donor governments and international financial institutions should strengthen voices for reform by collectively pressing for democratisation and demilitarisation throughout Sri Lanka, but especially in the north and east”.
Dublin war-crimes tribunal, conducted by Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) based in Milan, which held hearings on Thursday and Friday on war-crime charges on Sri Lanka from eye-witnesses and other material evidence, in the preliminary findings issued Saturday said, Sri Lanka Government is "guilty of War-Crimes" and "guilty of Crimes Against Humanity." The tribunal also concluded that the charge of Genocide requires further investigations. Eye witnesses included several escapees from the final week of Sri Lanka offensive in the Mullaitivu "No Fire Zone" where more than 20,000 Tamil civilians were allegedly slaughtered by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) training heavy weapons on them.
The c4 video- Iam sure youe aware of it.
What Lalith Weerathunga has confirmed you president has used heavy artiliary on civilians even after promising the UN not to use them.
Watch the space There are more to come out.
Already lot of rats are leaving the sinking ship.Why aer you waiting?
Hello Brilliant Sinhala brain Dayan,
Which country you can claim asylum in future?
I think Iran is the best country for you.
It is rather comedic that the GOSL defeated the LTTE on the basis that it was an illegal armed group while simultaneously nurturing an illegal militia without purpose in the north. You cannot paste baseless praise on the blood stains of this militant turned thug-politican. Your academic skills are being put to waste these days as a mouth piece of an ultimately failing government. Better hope Mahinda appreciates your efforts this time around. Good luck in your unceasing efforts for a new governmental position.
Politicians are not the only group failed the people of SL, " Intellectuals" too.
Douglas Devananda has shown it is possible to be both Tamil Nationalist, Integrationist and a Criminal all at the same time !!!
Dayan Jayatilleke in which country are you living?? Ask Douglas how much it costs to free a Tamil detainee abducted by the white van gang.
I have been to SL recently. Only Douglas's private buses are permitted on A9 and he charges Rs2000. The SLTB charges Rs400. Other private bus operators are prepared to operate on A9 with fares similar to that of SLTB but they are not permitted.
Douglas is looting the innocent civilians in the same way the LTTE extracted extortion from poor civilians on A9.
Also, decent civilians know the people who were assassinated by this man.
"Reputation of the university in trouble"
Douglas Devananda has to explain the following to the Tamils and to the rest of the world:
1) How did he amass this wealth. In around 1990, he wrote an anti-Indian letter to Premadasa who immediately invited Douglas to join him. At that time Douglas was facing criminal charges for murder of a lawyer and abduction of a child. He jumped bail and arrived in Srilanka in a pair of slippers with only a kit bag of clothes. From that time he was on the pay role of the successive governments of Premadasa, Chandika and Rajapakse. How can a person who did not have a cent at that time be an owner of this wealth.
2) Finger has been pointed at him for the murders of Ramesh (editor of Thinakural), Taraki, Nimalarajan ( BBC correspondent ), Raviraj, Maheswaran, Ravindranathan (VC of Batticaloa univ) and host of others. His organisation is implicated in the white van abduction and disappearence of Tamils which are done with collboration of the Srilanka Govt. and its armed forces.
Dayan, please stop telling the Tamils, that they should betray thier race and commit atrocities on them to the pleasure of the racist Srilanka Govt. and in the process amass wealth. What we need now is reconciliation, where atrocities that are being committed even today, be stopped, the Sinhala terrorists whether it be Mahinda, Sarath Fonseka or others brought to book, the Srilanka armed forces which are entirely Sinhala,whom the Tamils consider as Terrorists be withdrawn from the Traditional Tamil homelands, and Tamils being allowed to live as first class citizens in thier Traditional Homeland of the merged north-eastern provinces without any interference from the Sinhalese dominated Government. If this is not done in the near future, it will be inevitable for the birth of Ealam, as Tamils say enough is enough. Tamils do not have military power, but now they have the superior moral power which will bring them victory.
Hello Prof.Dayan,
Your point is invalid,we are living in 2010 and not in 1957.Please come up with something better.
Any way, why did the USA deny entry visa to your buddy Dougls?Any idea?Did you ever try to find out?
I am pleased to note that you have decided to desert your beloved VETERLAND,I suppose you were able to read the writing on the wall.Any nightmares Prof?
Cheers,
Siva.
Douglas is a true leader of the Tamils in Srilanka.The mere fact that there are so many comments here trying to portray him as a villain proves his credentials.
Under repeated assasinations attempts Douglas continued to work towards the liberation.of the poor Tamil people in the North, who did not have the money or the influence to escape from Praba's homeland.
I am sure, the good karma that he has done for the poor Tamils will negate any bad karma during his days as an Armed cadre.
He is the best candidate for the Chief Minister's job in the North if he wishes to take it.
The title a man or an organisation gets in Srilanka depends on the mood of the government and its people.
It depends on the glasses one wears.
In 1989 JVP was labelled as terrorists and LTTE became fighters. LTTE fought courageously against IPKF with the support of Premadasa regime,when Dayan was a strong supporter of late Premadasa!
At the same time JVP fought with similar courage against SL army and para military handled by UNP regime.
It did not take long for the LTTE to become terrorists in our Sinhala eyes and JVP became patriots as well.
We called EPDP terrorist when they carry arms against us and they became a political party when they used their arms against LTTE and Tamils.
SF was a war hero and patriot till the war ended and became a traitor within 24 hrs in the eyes of SLFP supporters.
Dear Devinda, It is not a problem of Tamils only. It is a problem with all of us as Srilankans. This is called short sightedness. A chronic disease in our political and social culture!
Dayan,
Is it much different from "Horage ammagen pena aseema"? (Asking who the thief is, from his mother). You don't represent the Tamils but the Sinhalese. I know you are an utterly qualified man in this subject but would you consider yourself NEUTRAL enough to come to such a conclusion in a sensitive matter.
Your definition of Douglas is akin to our government's definition of a traitor (Sarath Fonseka) or a Patriot (Col Karuna et al). Douglas is a controversial figure for the Tamils. The Sinhalese can look through your glassess but I wonder whether the Tamils can?
Hi anjaya Bandara Dissanayake
as Srilankans. This is called short sightedness. A chronic disease in our political and social culture!
What we can do for this disease as We all are same mother's children.
God bless my mother lanka!!!