‘If the Sinhalese leadership and the Sangha had appraised the reality of the problem, a lot of bloodshed and hatred could have been avoided. The matter would have been resolved peacefully by developing the north-east and keeping the Tamils there, instead of as historical minorities clouding their judgment and start this quite unnecessary war.’
_______________________
by A.J.N. Selvadurai
(July 09, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Tamils are saying that all their problems are because they live in the inhospitable Dry Zone, while the lucky Sinhalese live in the lush Wet Zone. As you know the Dry Zone did not sustain the Tamils. So they were forced to seek greener pastures in the south.
I had to point this out to Chummie Fernando, the taxi driver from Moratuwa, when asked as to why so many Tamils congregate in Wellawatte and why there are so many doctors, lawyers and other professionals in the Tamil community.
I told him that the Tamils were forced to educate themselves so that they could find employment in the south and because of this, through the years they became a better-educated community. It is something that was forced upon them to survive, as the areas they lived in could not sustain them.
He asked about the famous ‘divide and rule’ policy of the British who favoured the Tamils. I said that it is most exaggerated and that the thing to remember is that the Tamils were not only educated but also qualified and tended to be more trilingual, but the Bandaranaike language policy changed that.
Things have changed now and there is a great clamour for learning English. Even the Law College wants to have its final examinations conducted in English. It is also pertinent to mention that 300 million Chinese are learning English so they could one day swarm the EU and migrate all over the world.
"Supposing the Sinhalese lived in the Dry Zone and the Tamils lived in the Wet Zone would the situation have been in the reverse?" asked Chummie Fernando. I was rather taken aback by his question, as I hadn’t thought of it from that point of view. I had to agree that the situation would have been in the reverse, and the Sinhalese would have been forced to educate themselves and forced to move into the Wet Zone, just like the Tamils have done and for which they are suffering now.
If the Sinhalese leadership and the Sangha had appraised the reality of the problem, a lot of bloodshed and hatred could have been avoided. The matter would have been resolved peacefully by developing the north-east and keeping the Tamils there, instead of as historical minorities clouding their judgment and start this quite unnecessary war.
The Turks seem to have now understood the ethnic problem they have with the Kurds and have decided to spend Sterling Pounds 9 billion in developing the infrastructure of their neighbouring Kurdish areas where poverty had led to violence through the ages in the past. If people are happy and have a sense of belonging, they will remain peaceful and easily manageable.
In England — which had the largest empire the world has ever seen — there are now a large number of conscientious objectors, who object to the war in Iran and Afghanistan. In Sri Lanka, sadly there are very few such objectors to the war against the Tamils in the northeast. They seem to hide behind the fact that they are fighting the LTTE and not the Tamils. It’s just a camouflage by the politicians and the generals to continue with the war, as the war gives them perks and the good life they would not be able to enjoy in peacetime!
All that is needed to stop the war, is for the Sinhalese elite to act positively towards peace. If they do nothing, then only evil will triumph. It should begin with the de-politicisation of the Sangha and their return to the temples.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
_______________________
by A.J.N. Selvadurai
(July 09, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Tamils are saying that all their problems are because they live in the inhospitable Dry Zone, while the lucky Sinhalese live in the lush Wet Zone. As you know the Dry Zone did not sustain the Tamils. So they were forced to seek greener pastures in the south.
I had to point this out to Chummie Fernando, the taxi driver from Moratuwa, when asked as to why so many Tamils congregate in Wellawatte and why there are so many doctors, lawyers and other professionals in the Tamil community.
I told him that the Tamils were forced to educate themselves so that they could find employment in the south and because of this, through the years they became a better-educated community. It is something that was forced upon them to survive, as the areas they lived in could not sustain them.
He asked about the famous ‘divide and rule’ policy of the British who favoured the Tamils. I said that it is most exaggerated and that the thing to remember is that the Tamils were not only educated but also qualified and tended to be more trilingual, but the Bandaranaike language policy changed that.
Things have changed now and there is a great clamour for learning English. Even the Law College wants to have its final examinations conducted in English. It is also pertinent to mention that 300 million Chinese are learning English so they could one day swarm the EU and migrate all over the world.
"Supposing the Sinhalese lived in the Dry Zone and the Tamils lived in the Wet Zone would the situation have been in the reverse?" asked Chummie Fernando. I was rather taken aback by his question, as I hadn’t thought of it from that point of view. I had to agree that the situation would have been in the reverse, and the Sinhalese would have been forced to educate themselves and forced to move into the Wet Zone, just like the Tamils have done and for which they are suffering now.
If the Sinhalese leadership and the Sangha had appraised the reality of the problem, a lot of bloodshed and hatred could have been avoided. The matter would have been resolved peacefully by developing the north-east and keeping the Tamils there, instead of as historical minorities clouding their judgment and start this quite unnecessary war.
The Turks seem to have now understood the ethnic problem they have with the Kurds and have decided to spend Sterling Pounds 9 billion in developing the infrastructure of their neighbouring Kurdish areas where poverty had led to violence through the ages in the past. If people are happy and have a sense of belonging, they will remain peaceful and easily manageable.
In England — which had the largest empire the world has ever seen — there are now a large number of conscientious objectors, who object to the war in Iran and Afghanistan. In Sri Lanka, sadly there are very few such objectors to the war against the Tamils in the northeast. They seem to hide behind the fact that they are fighting the LTTE and not the Tamils. It’s just a camouflage by the politicians and the generals to continue with the war, as the war gives them perks and the good life they would not be able to enjoy in peacetime!
All that is needed to stop the war, is for the Sinhalese elite to act positively towards peace. If they do nothing, then only evil will triumph. It should begin with the de-politicisation of the Sangha and their return to the temples.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
I agree with some statements made by this gentleman but he is also putting the blame on Sinhalese Buddhists for the whole problem. Probably he is not aware of the past truth how and when all these things started.
If Buddhist monks stayed in the temples as he suggests, there would not be Buddhism in Sri Lanka by now as it happened in many countries in the world. It is a well known fact that the Christian church has been trying to convert Buddhists into various forms of Christianity over the last many many years. Also quietly the Muslims are doing the same. Buddhist monks have the responsibility to protect the Buddhism as much as they have the right to protect the people. So he should ask all these Christian groups to mind their own business and preach Jesus said not the rich churches in US wants and then ask the Islamics to respect other religions especially Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Probably this gentleman is a Christian who likes to keep the monks in the temple so they can carry out the conversions with no problem like the priests. He must ask some Christian priests also to stay in their church first.
Everyone is going back to Bandaranaike's Sinhala only to blame but no one wants to talk about 15 years prior to that how Chelvanayagam started racism and divide the nation by demanding 50-50.
So, please condemn Chelva also for starting this whole issue as it was under British when he did that and Sinhalese had no power in Sri Lanka.
This is wrong conclusion and if not for the terrorist guns, there could have been more Sinhalese in Vanni too.
Remember earlier Sinhalese in areas like Anuradapura, sent their children for schooling in Jaffna.
On the other hand, there are many harsh areas where Sinhalese live.
As usual, writer in vein trying to put the blame on Sinhala Buddhists.
its so sad we never see balance opinion from those people. I wonder this guy has ever been to Hambantota which is located in downsouth. Has he been to Monaragal? Does he assume that sinhalese have taken everything and live very lavish life in south. I think this is the main problem. Most of these people dont know the reality.
I have walked more than a mile a day, just to get a pot of water when the dry season arrive in Hambanthota. Since the gentleman argues, he was forced to be educated, I have to believe he is not ignorant there are other dry zones in Sri Lanka and Sinhalese also live in such areas. Therefore I have to assume the write selfishly ignored in that fact to get his way.
If the gentleman honestly seeks the answer to above title, I refer him to the national archive regarding treatment Sinhalese and Tamils received by the British. If he is too busy for all that, then read the lovely book written by the excellent American writer ‘Leonard Woolf’, call ‘The Village in the Jungle’. Even though it is not very accurate like archived papers, you can get decent answer to your question.
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