Psychology of Para Demala

by Dushy Ranetunge in London

(November 14, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The phrase "Para Demala" received much publicity in the Sri Lankan press in the recent past with various interpretations publicised subsequently. It was argued that the word "Demala" historically had not referred to a particular race or ethnicity but to refer to "outsiders", "aliens" or even "invaders".

But what cannot be denied is the psychology behind the use of the phrase "para Demala" as being derogatory.

This may have psychological historical conditioning which goes far beyond what most people realise, opening a chapter into understanding a hitherto unpublicised interpretation in Sri Lanka.
The word "Dravida" which is perhaps the origin of the word demala, and even Tamil has been given a different interpretation by some. They argue that "Dravida" does not refer to a race or ethnicity, but is a derogatory word used by Sanskrit speakers to refer to non-Sanskrit speakers, similar to the psychology of some English speakers towards non-English speakers.

They break up the word "dravida" into "dra" and "Vid".

Vid in Sanskrit refers to "knowledge" and is linked to the words "Vedas" or "Vedic", similar to the Sinhalese "Vidya".

"Dra" in Sanskrit means "lacking in".

http://students.washington.edu/prem/mw/d.html which has a Sanskrit English dictionary interprets "Dra 2" as "to be in need or poor".

So "dravida" is interpreted as being a derogatory word used during early periods by Sanskrit speakers to refer to non-Sanskrit speakers as being "without knowledge" or "poor in knowledge".

If this theory is accepted then the psychology behind the use of the word "Para Demala" has historic interpretations that go far beyond our present understanding.

There are also racial implications to this.

Dravidian and indeed Tamil speaking people are ethnically not the same. Sanskrit and indeed Sinhala speaking people are too ethnically not the same. The same could be said of the English speaking peoples.

Both the Tamil and Sinhala speaking peoples could trace their origins to the ancient tribes such as the Naga's who used to inhabit this region.

The above position has support from DNA testing. Studies of the distribution of alleles on the Y chromosome, microsatellite DNA, and mitochondrial DNA in India have cast overwhelming doubt for a biological Dravidian "race" distinct from non-Dravidians in the Indian subcontinent.

Since there is no racial divide, the foundations of the present schism in Sri Lanka seem to be no different to the prejudicial psychology of some English speakers towards non-English speakers, Dra-Vid, poor in knowledge. - Sri Lanka Guardian