Who is a Sinhalese or Tamil?

By Gamini Weerakoon

(January 18, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Ever since I read reports that all citizens of this country will be compelled to register themselves in terms of 'ethnicity' there has been a rising rebellion inside me. I have no qualms about declaring my race. In fact I have been called a "Sinhala Pirapaharan" by no less than R. Sampanthan of the TNA at a function during the time I used to blast Pirapaharan and the LTTE in editorials and columns I was writing at that time.

I am still being called a 'Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinist' by my liberal friends, which I find to be quite humorous. But I resent being tagged by race or religion by fiat of the Rajapakse junta.

Registration plates?

I get the feeling of being inanimate like the number plate of my car. My plate has WP (which means Western Province) and the letter P which stands for Petrol. The other letters and figures are supposed to be some kind of secret code by which my address and the place where the vehicle is kept can be identified. The rage inside me is whether some political junta and their cohorts could reduce people of this country through this process of registration to inanimate objects that can be picked and chosen for their purposes?

I am aware of many senior and responsible citizens who do not want to be identified by race for reasons of their own. We are Sri Lankans they say. Why should any government panjandrum be empowered to cow down these people into doing what they do not want to do?

Mahinda Rajapakse is now striking refrains of high statesmanship while claiming military victories. Equality of all people and races, human rights, peace and harmony are his refrains. This is a multi religious, multi racial, multi lingual society; he says, in so many words - words that have not emanated from the lips of Rajapakse, often. It simply isn't logical to affix racist tags on people like those sent to concentration camps, in the age of peace and tranquillity, he envisions.

In the name of security

What causes worry among citizens of all communities are these strict 'security measures' being adopted when this so called 'war' is over. It could be said that the terrorists may resort to urban guerrilla warfare as well as in the villages. If so why they did not do it all the while the conventional war was raging is moot point. On the other hand if such strict security measures are called for the 'war' is by no means over.

It can be pointed out that racial and religious tags have been used down the years albeit for no sensible reason. For example if you meet with a traffic accident the first query of the policeman recording your statement would be: Nama, Gama, Aagama. The first two queries, name and place of residence are certainly called for but why religion? Does one's faith make a traffic offence less or more heinous?

We once told a recording policeman our religion was, 'free thinker.' He glared and asked what the hell that was. He then asked for our parents' religion and then recorded my religion in accordance.

Do Sinhalese exist?

A Tamil businessman, a millionaire and perhaps a billionaire by now related his experience with the police. When asked for his race he said: Sri Lankan. The policeman would have none of that. The businessman's name was Cage (suitably altered by us to avoid identification). The policeman's eyes lit up because it was a Western name. Burgher, no? he asked and recorded accordingly despite protestations of the Tamil businessman.

It is ironic that in these times when learned academics, social scientists and the like are questioning the validity of various ethnic groups the government wants definitive answers about your race. For the past many years there has been the deconstruction of Sri Lankan history and some claimed that the Sinhala race was a myth! The theory was that the Sinhalese were no more than Tamils!

Research on genetics

In this context, our dear friend and Gentleman at Large About Town, Ananda Chittampalam sent us a research paper done on the genetic composition of Sinhalese, Tamils and Veddahs titled Genetic Affinities of Sri Lankan Populations by Kshatriya Gautam Kumar of the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Mehrauli Road, Munrika New Delhi 110067 India.

We could not make much of the genetic research quoted but will reproduce some conclusions reached.

It says: The Bengalis, the Tamils and the Veddhas are considered parental populations for the Sinhalese. The Bengali contribution (genetically for the Sinhalese) is 25. 41 %, the Tamil (India) contribution is 69.86 per cent and the Veddha contribution is only 4.73 %.

For Sri Lankan Tamils, the Sinhalese, the Bengalis and Indian Tamils can be considered ancestral populations. The contribution of the Sinhalese to the Sri Lankan Tamils is 55. 20 %, the Bengali contribution is 28.7 % and the Indian Tamils is 16.63 %.

Mixed marriages

The report adds: 'The results indicate a predominant influence of the Sinhalese (who already have a high contribution from Indian Tamils) and Bengalis to a lesser extent.' This is a subject which can cause 'blood boil' among many people. We through this research could provide a basis for Sri Lanka's ethnic composition and need not be taken as the last word on the subject.

We wonder how people of mixed marriages would record their identities for the benefit of the Defence Ministry. If a Tamil woman with a markedly Tamil name married to a Sinhalese registers herself as a Tamil would she be considered a subversive element? What of children of such mixed marriages? Perhaps it would have been sorted out with the officials of the Department of Census of Statistics and the Elections Department.

But officials of these departments would be quite different to security sleuths looking for subversive elements under the bed.

And what of the increasingly Gay Community? Would they be categorised as males or females?

Bureaucracies have ways of inventing stupidities such as in filling forms. Mark Twain when confronted at an Immigration Desk and asked to mark a form which included a query on his 'Sex' wrote: Anytime! - Sri Lanka Guardian