A reply to Satheesan Kumaaran, Columnist Sri Lanka Guardian website.

(or some one who wrote under his name on 29 January,2011 « Even if humans let forgive criminals, ghosts would not let them free »)

Satheesan Kumaaran, reading your article in the Sri Lanka Guardian Website of the 29 January,2011, it appears that you are not a true Sri Lankan born and bred in Sri Lanka. You are perhaps a second or third generation Tamil of the diaspora. Because, you will not otherwise write about the President of Sri Lanka the way you have written. President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse is after all the elected President of Sri Lanka and some how connected to us as Asians if not as Sri Lankans.

We should be proud of him not only for getting rid of the ruthless terrorists, but for what he has done to develop Sri Lanka since 2005. No President since Independence has done so much to develop the potential of Sri Lanka and its people to make it a significant country respected as much as it is hated for its courage and undiminished vitality to spring forth as a developed country.

Blinded through hatred for unknown reasons, you seem to be bloated with triumph that the President met with what you call a “total flop after the Tamil Diaspora came out to Britain’s streets demanding that the British government arrest them for war crimes.” Instead of being bloated about it you should be ashamed calling your self a Sri Lanka Tamil to have allowed our President to be humiliated by the “ shameless London Tamils” making his visit to London a “flop” as you flippantly say. The Tamil diaspora is foolish not to understand that in UK they are only strangers despite waving their British Passport to be some sort of respected citizens, but there they will remain strangers all their lives.

The President Mahinda Rajapakse did not come back defeated as you say, but he came back matured from the experience, unlike you who gloat over it as if it was your success, having learnt nothing of being a part of a set of ragamuffins taking to foreign streets to bring disrepute to one’s own elders. Yes “own elders” if you have any intelligence to think.

The World is still civilized, though you are trying to make it look less, to arrest a leader of a Sovereign State because a handful of senseless urchins who are perhaps accepted citizens only on paper, cause traffic jams.

What have you learnt from your experiences Satheesan Kumarans from the thirty years of day in and day out of suffering caused to innocent Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka by a notorious band of ruthless blood thirsty terrorists you have come to worship like your “gods”. People who hero worship such demons cannot certainly be doing so with any clothes on.

How dare you call the President Mahinda Rajapakse a criminal when it is your filthy Talaivar who led the Tamil brutes on the path of terrorism killing, massacring, and blasting innocent Tamil and other people and the Tamil intellectual in Sri Lanka. And you and your clan led by the Sri Lanka Guardian dare call those who challenged the “demoniac terrorists” and eliminated them criminals. You are now putting on the “filthy attires left behind by the eliminated terrorists” attempting to “finish”, the unfinished “terrorism”, apparently happy about it like Hindu pilgrims paying penance rolling towards Kataragama.

Whether your kind is in UK , USA or Canada you have not forgotten the rituals of terrorism , and all your lives where ever you will be you will continue to perform the role left for you by the eliminated terrorists, to dance your demoniac Tamil diaspora dance on the foreign streets as manifestations against visiting Sri Lanka Presidents who will continue to be Sinhala Buddhists.

Nothing will continue to be the same for the diaspora Tamils as it had been for the terrorists. You will continue to be like the proverbial dogs barking on as the caravan rolls on. The President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s hands are not dirtied by the bloods of the Tamil people, but the Tamil people in Sri Lanka find that his hands had brought comfort to them and generously handed over to them the courage to face the future with fortitude.

And what a “damned” pack of lies you write Satheesan Kumaaran hoping to put the foreign readers ( if they would read such rubish) against our good President Mahinda Rajapakse, when you say, “Enough Tamil blood has stained the hands of Mahinda Rajapaksa to qualify him as a perpetrator of ethnic cleansing. Well over 30,000 innocent Tamils were massacred in the final stages of the war that ended in May 2009. LTTE political leaders like P. Nadesan were asked to surrender with a white-flag and then were shot and killed upon surrender. Wives of the LTTE leaders who had given testimonies to the partial investigation team appointed by the Sri Lankan State Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) said that they had witnessed that their family members and friends taken away or shot and killed by the Sri Lankan armed forces.”

It is reproduced above to show any one who would care to read this article to understand , that what you have written has no credibility and it is only a website like the Sri Lanka Guardian that would provide space for your nauseating dribbles

The rest of what you had written are cut and paste passages taken from the same things you had been writing ad nauseam in your previous “articles” to the Sri Lanka Guardian Website.

It is simply sickening even to read them let alone replying to them, and it is better left for readers other than the “terrorist demon” worshiping Tamil diaspora, see the apparent falsehood in what he states.

Reading along this long rigmarole of crap which is not interesting either for the dirt it scrounges or for any of its literary quality, it appears that this Satheesan Kumaaran is only a fictitious name invented by the tortured mind of the Editor of the Sri Lanka Guardian website to give its readers the impression of a wide dislike for the President of Sri Lanka. It is long as all articles under this name appearing in the website, and plenty of “ cut and pasted “ passages from previous articles and other anti Sri Lanka writings. All articles under this name are scandalous, insulting, deliberate lies or exaggerations, and meant to drag the name of the President of Sri Lanka in dirty mud of whatever shanty towns in foreign lands.

Instead of trying to reply to this “rot” Satheesan Kumaaran or whoever he is should be reminded that what ever is said and done by the pro-terrorist Sri Lanka Tamils of the diaspora are not of great importance to Sri Lanka or the Tamils living in Sri Lanka, even with their so called Rudrakumaran’s Provisional government set up in UK, USA or Canada.

The Tamils if they would like to contribute positively to the development of Sri Lanka should fall in line with the major political stream of Sri Lanka. It is only those Tamils who had joined with the Sinhala Majority who had made any positive contribution to our motherland-Sri Lanka- for example the late Mr.Lakshman Kadirgamar, Late Mr.Jeyraj Fernandopulle, and Mr. Douglas Devananda, Mr. V.Muralitharan among others. If the Tamils stay outside the mainstream in Sri Lanka they will be a nefarious lot neither helping themselves, their generation of Tamils, nor Sri Lanka .

In Sri Lanka the Sinhala Buddhists have shown that they can fight any evil enemy or invader, be victorious and develop Sri Lanka on their own and be generous to the other communities without forcing them to cooperate with them in the defence of the country and its people. Therefore, Satheesan Kumaaran or whoever writing under that name, take note that it is in your own interest to join hands with the Sinhala and Muslim Communities in Sri Lanka to form a united Sri Lankan Nation, otherwise you will always remain outside, with your hatred and hateful dreams never fulfilled.

You accuse the President of Sri Lanka a kind, generous, and a very religious man for all crimes you imagine he committed without an iota of evidence of any sort. You do not know the Sinhala people, let alone the President and the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The Sinhala people do not treat life lightly. Even the life of an animal is respected. It would not have been a pleasure for the Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Armed forces to shoot to kill the terrorists. But it was a life and death decision that forced our Soldiers to shoot to kill the terrorists, and that was only in the defence of the country and its people. Whatever the outsiders may say in their ignorance, the true desire of the Sri Lanka President and his Government was to rid the country of terrorism and develop it for the greater good of all communities.

It was quite the contrary for the Tamil terrorists. They killed for the pleasure of killing. They killed by blasting claymore bombs, hand grenades, using snipers and pistol gangs, and suicide bombs. They were the criminals though in your mind you have put “the cart before the horse.”

Your complete ignorance of the situation is seen in your accusing the Government Armed Forces, stating that,”….. Well over 30,000 innocent Tamils were massacred in the final stages of the war that ended in May 2009.” On the contrary the Government Forces rescued more than 300,000 Tamil civilians kept as a human shield by your terrorist Thalaivar and his cohorts.

From the way the Tamil political leaders, Tamil intellectuals, the Tamils of the Diaspora and the Tamils of Tamil Nadu are behaving since the end of terrorism in Sri Lanka, it is evident that the Tamils are incapable of helping either themselves or allow others to help, to make Sri Lanka a developed Nation. The Tamils of the diaspora have turned out to be extremely racist with the only ambition of the lives being the defeat of the Sinhala majority in all their progressive projects carried out for the benefit of the Tamils as well as the other Communities.

The President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government since they have come into power have done more to Tamils than to the Sinhala themselves. But the Tamils who ask for devolution of power do not seem to know what they want to do with it.

Bishop Rayappu Joseph’s short sighted solution to “ethnic” problem in Sri Lanka

Bishop Rayappu Joseph and terrorist Thamilselvam

Today the Catholic Church is very much alive and awake in Sri Lanka, there is no one to check their uncalled for political mission in favour of the Tamil Catholic congregation of faithful of the North an East, which makes one wonder whether the objective of the Catholic Church is its own prosperty and power in Sri Lanka rathan the salvation of souls.

As it had always been, the Catholic Church does not take an interest in the country where it has built its Cathedral. Its interest is more for its faithful. Because it is on the congregation of faithful it exists, like a parasite tick on a dog. When the Church smells that there are possibilities of enlarging its congregation of faithful, it goes for their conquest whoever they are, and where ever they are. In the terrorist infested north and east of Si Lanka the Catholic Church flourished.

The South of Sri Lank is not fertile soil for the Catholic Church, because it has to compete with the Buddhist Temple of the majority Sinhala, The Church cannot call those in South our people in the same voice it speaks of “ our people “ of the North, how divided is its interest. The Catholic God loves only those who follows him, and to hell with others.

The latest submission of Bishop Rayappu Joseph of the Catholic Diocese of Mannar is a missive for division rather than unity. Catholicism introduced by the Portuguese Missionaries was to steal away the people of other faiths into its own fold and take their allegiance away from their motherland to the Church and the Colonial Ruler in Portugal and then to Rome. Today 500 years after, the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, blessed in Rome and deified by the appointment of a Cardinal, continues to divide the Country, and separate the Communities for the cause of the congregation of the faithful.

In Sri Lanka the duty of the Catholic Church goes beyond the salvation of souls, to chose for its congregation of the faithful the political path it should follow to ensure the power of the Church.

The Catholic Church was imposed on Sri Lanka by the Portugues conquering forces, through their accompanying Missionaries, to facilitate their task of keeping the colonised people under control and the establishment of the Portuguese colonial rule in Sri Lanka. It was like India imposing on us the 13th Amendment to facilitate the Indian Peace Keeping Force to control terrorism in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

Rayappu Joseph’s submission curiously begins with the same Western pre-occupation with regard to Sri Lanka, of human rights violations and extra judiciary killing.

In his submission the Bishop refers to only to ” our people “ that is the Catholics. 2006 was a time that the terrorism was at its height and what happened to people and property in the North and the East is no secret. The suffering under, terrorism was not restricted to « our people or your people », because all people without exception suffered through terrorism.

The actual perpetrators of the crimes of burning Churches, mosques, or killing bus loads of Buddhist monks cannot for certain be alluded to any one person and the actul killers themselves cannot be found except that the teorrorist were behind those murders and massacres. An act by any one of the terrorists becomes the responsibility of the whole group of terrorists.You cannot accuse the Army as going round killing, people and burning Churches and mosques as the Army is not a terror group, but they were also the likely victims of the terrorists. The Army fought for the country and its population.

The Government Armed Forces defended all the people without exception , which is evident in its remarkable humanitariation evacuation of the innocent Tamil Civilians kept as a human shield by the terrorist. Bringing these Tamil Civilians to safety risking their own lives was a daring act unque in the history of warfare . The terrorists in the face of a count down to death and elimination resorted to ultimate terror, shooting any thing that moved not caring whether it was an escaping civilian or soldiers rescuing the civilians.

Despite all that the Catholic Clergy want to know the truth as to who killed who. Under the circumstances that prevailed can the Catholic Church which is seeking the truth pretend the killers were the Armed Forces and the terroists were “ innocent” bystanders ? What or for whose agenda is the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka acting posing these absurd questions ?

A Cardinal and several Bihops of the Catholic Church have already presented several submissions to the LLRC every one of them calls for a negotiated political solution. And they still want more time now for « our people », having already usurped for themselves, the time allocated to the people of the region to mak their submissions.

Rayappu Joseph states in his submission, « …Although LTTE and other Tamil armed groups have caused much suffering, their actions were prompted by the failure of successive governments to respond favorably to Tamil’s efforts to resolve their problems through peaceful and political means. While acknowledging the part played by LTTE and other armed groups in the suffering of the people, we wish to point out that the state military and their secret agents are feared more by the people and are held responsible for much of their woes. »

The Mannar Bishop’s submission was more a pleading to absolve the terroists of the crimes they have committed , and to put the blame on the previous successive govenments. The Mannar Bishop says the people fear more Military and the Secret Agent of the government.

The LLRC will be examining submissions made to them to sort out lies, exagerations,and misinformation to establish the truth. In that context the Rayappu Joseph’s contenion « …Although establishing the truth is not explicitly mentioned in your mandate. » is an impertinent uncalled for remark belittling the task entrusted to the Commissioners of the LLRC.

Rayappu Joseph among other matters in his submission to LLRC states, « …. It is our belief that this culture of impunity over the years, led to more and more crimes against Tamil civilians during the course of the conflict. Measures such as forgiveness, amnesty are only possible when there is genuine acceptance and repentance of wrongs done and the truth is acknowledged »

This is strange as in Sri Lanka there had been no culture of impunity. These are phrases concocted to mislead situations and discredit the Government. The terrorist had continued their campaign of terror in the North and East . It is not the government that should be held responsible for the crimes committed by the terrorists without leaving incriminating traces of evidence that lead to them, but they signed their crimes from the style and method of their execution. The Government did not commit any crimes against the Tamil Civilians during the conflict that require repentance.

Rayappu Joseph seems to be misinterpreting the situation that existed during the conflict, in favour of the terrorists. This makes one wonder whether it is not the Catholic Church in Rome acting along with the anti Sri Lanka Western Govrnments instigating the Catholic priests in Sri Lanka, after making one of them a Cardinal, to implicate the Government of Sri Lanka for the crimes committed by the terrorist.

If not what other “truth” do the Catholic clergy in Sri Lanka want the government to establish ?

Rayappu Joseph says, « …It is our earnest appeal that the LLRC will give high priority to establish in public the truth of what has happened in the course of conflict and war. »

Everybody who was hiding when the terrorists were running riot killing every one they wanted to kill, when and where they wanted to kill , using pistol gangs, snipers, grenard lobbers and claymore bombs were holding the people of the North and East to ransom, not coming forward to ask questions , are now up in arms against the Government . The Catholic Priests themselves have already made more than three or four submission to the LLRC against the Government Armed Forces in accusatory terms.

The Bishops and the Clergy of the Catholic Church, unlike Ban Ki Moon, were not outside Sri Lanka during the period of the terrorism to ask the government to now establish the truth of what happend in the course of the conflict and war. The Priests of the Catholic Church were in fact inside the war Zone with the terrorists and they should know better what went on.

Sri Lanka Armed Forces have nothing to hide. Every thing they did was to eliminate terrorism and bring to safety the Tamil Civilians held by the terrorists as a human shield. The Sri Lanka Army was a disciplined Armed Force and they conducted the military operations against the terrorists avoiding damage to Tamil Civilians.

Under a caption « Importance of Political Solution”, the Mannar Bishops- Joseph, Sousai and Croos say that the Tamils having their own identity, culture, language, religion and trditional habitations have to be recognised along with other habitants.

The statement seems to have been made for the outside world to believe that the Tamils are treated differently. But the truth is that the Tamils , Sinhala and Muslims all of them have their own identity, culture , language, religion and traditional habitations, and they are all recognised as Sri Lankans.

There is no different political solution to follow, as the existing political system has no evident defect. The only problem is that the Catholic Church seems to want the Tamils in the North and East treated as a Community apart from the rest of the Communities.

The Constitution does not treat any Community differently . The Constitution is for all Sri Lankans. If there is a notion that the Tamils as a community is treated differently in the Constitution it is because the Tamils would like to stand out of the Sri Lankan National identity. It is an attitude created by the Tamil Political leaders and the religious leaders like, Malcolm Ranjith and Rayappu Joseph and the rest.

That is why the Tamils should give up their narrow communal identity to become full fledged Sri Lankans. This is what the Catholic Church should do, which is to unite the communities into Sri Lankans instead of peddling their bogus Church made political theories of division, disunity, hatred and animosity. Where is th “love” of the Catholic God in all that ?

The Submissions to the LLRC by the Catholic Clergy in Sri Lanka beginning fom Malcolm Ranjith ,Rayappu Joseph to Kingsley Swampillai have gone beyond their vocation for spiritual dispensation to the congregations of faithful- the salvation of souls, to political agitation better left for the politicians.

During the 30 years of war the Terrorists demanded a separate Eelam State, they spread this message in their heroes day speeches and at several negotiations. The Norwegian Solheim, American Rober O Blake, and a host of other Western Diplomats and Minsters continued to demand a political solution to the problelm, and now Rayappu Joseph in his submission to LLRC makes the same demand , « …… While a political solution to the conflict is essential, we would like to highlight several immediate issues that need to be addressed to ensure that we move forward on the path to reconciliation. Without addressing these needs, people affected by the war will not be able to move towards reconciliation and neither will they have any confidence or hope in any reconciliation process initiated at macro level. »

He stresses the suspision that the Government is not objective and will withhold redress to the Tamil people affected by terrorism. Rayappu Joseph makes demands which are unfortunately not in the interest of the ordinary Tamil people , but in the Catholic Church’s proper interest pretending to be the saviors of the Tamil people defending thei interest, inorder to win them over to the Church through heir innocent gratitude .

Rayappu Joseph then comes to a rather vexing issue which had already been treated by Malcolm Ranjith « Demographic changes and colonization ». In Sri Lanka there cannot be colonizations, not any more. Colonization is defined as setting up colonies by developped countries. Rayappu Joseph must have been thinking of his Colonial benefactors of the past who have blessed him with a Bishopry, the result of his forefathers conversion to a foreign religion.

In Sri Lanka with the elimination of terrorists a new chapter has opened, where the past differences have to be changed to find new avenues for promoting unity, peace and a Sri Lankan Nationhood. The whole of Sri Lanka belongs to Sri Lankans. In that dawn of equality of status of all citizens North and East of Sri Lanka cannot stand strictly reserved for one community.

Therefore, more Sinhala and Muslim people should be allowed to settle down in the North and East making these two provinces representative of all Communities, living harmoniously together as it is in the South of Sri Lanka. Rayappu Joseph who repeats Malcolm Ranjith is undoubtedly pronouncing a decision taken by the Catholic Church to keep North and East for the Tamils without changing the existing demography.

If the Catholic Church has come forward to oppose any members from the other communities settling down in the North and East it is a very un-Christian move and a shameless interfernece into the rights of the citizens of Sri Lanka, their freedom to live where ever they want to live. In supporting such a racial view Catholic Church will only be defending today the same objectives for which the terrorists created hell on earth for innocent Tamil Civilians in the North and the East.

The Catholic Church instead of being alarmed of the news as Rayappu Joseph says in his submission that, « …. we are alarmed at reports that there are plans to handover land to large number of people from outside the district……», should be happy that North and East of Sri Lanka is not going to be isolated any more from the rest of the country, but it would instead be a part and parcel of the whole of Sri Lanka.

There is no question of historical habitations of Tamil people in the North and the East, that again is a often made declaration of the terrorists that Rayappu Joseph seems to have burrowed from them, now claiming, perhaps in memory of the terrorist Prabhakaran, to keep the North and East only for the Tamils. There were Sinhala people already residing in the North and East before they were made to leave their homes by th terrorists.

Rayappu Joseph states that, « …..There is suspicion amongst historical inhabitants in the district that these are part of a government plan to bring about demographic changes in terms of ethnic and religious composition of the districts and the Northern Province as a whole. Such efforts in the past have been a key factor that led to the conflict, war and violence…… »

But contrary to Rayappu Joseph’s above contention, a good mixture of communities with different cultures in the North and East will keep those Provinces free from ethnic conflict and would give an opportunity for all communities to live harmoniously together respecting each others culture, religion and language. If there would be conflicts it is the duty of Rayappu Joseph and other religious and political leaders to pacify the people and make them understand the necessity to evolve as a nation togther with other communities.

About the Military presence of the North and East Rayappu Joseph states in his submission that, « Almost 20 months after the end of the war and after more than a year since the resettlement process started, we are disturbed that there is a heavy military presence in Mannar district particularly in recently resettled areas of Manthai West, Madhu and Musali divisions. This is something most Tamil civilians fear and not happy about, due to the many negative experiences they have had in the past. Many activities and decisions that should be attended to by civil authorities are still being handled by the military. »

This is really an area where the Catholic Church if it has any influence over the Tamil people, inform them that they should be ever grateful to the Sri Lanka Armed Forces, as what ever freedom, peace of mind, and thea ability to speak up for their rights they have now, is the result of the immense sacrifice the Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces made on their behalf to redeem the land they occupy from the cruelty of terrorim, where they were not able to move freely, and assure the safety of their children from being kidnapped to swell the terrorist cadres.

The Armd Forces should be pemanently based in the North and East, not only to stop any future terrorism to raise its frightful head in the Provinces but also to defend the North and East from any expansionist move by any foreign county or by a forced militay occupation by any powers wanting to station themselves in the North to prevent Chinese, Indian or Russian influence in the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka should establish Army Camps in strategic areas and provide living quarters for the Army personnel with an appropriate housing poject fo married staff. The Police Force should also be similarly well entrenched in these areas with living qaurters for the Single and Married officers.

That is a necessity about which no body, the Church, the Hindu temples or the Interntionl Community should interfere to dictate terms. Many are the Soldiers who had fertilised the soil of both North and East with their blood and they have therefore a right to be a part of the North and East of Sri Lanka, and through them their fmilies and their children have acquired a right to belong to North and East. And that is a greater right than that of those who acclaim a religion strange to the Sri Lankan Soil.

Rayappu Joseph’s submission shows the pre-occupation of the Catholic Church in its inability to make martyrs of the dead terrorist, pointing out to cancellation of religious services to remember and prey for the «c ivilians killed or missing ». In this respect it is pertinent to ask Rayappu Joseph whether the Catholic Church had any special service in their Churches for the Soldiers who died in liberating the people of the North and East from the terrorists, and povided security to their Church in Madhu and for repairing it by the army personnel ?

As far as the Government and the General population is concerned the North and East should continued to be kept in surveillance not to allow any one trying to make any attemp to separate the Tamil people in the North and East from the rest of the population in Sri Lanka. This the Catholic Clergy in the North do not want to understand as they are themelves keen in keeping the North and East an enclve of the Tamil people who will be obedient to their religious demands.

Rayappu Joseph also seems to have a desire to have a presence of the NGOs in the area . The presence of NGOs should be controlled and their activities constantly surveyed as their agendas are quite different from those of the Government of Sri Lanka- which is to unite the communities after the elemination of terrorists, and bury for good the North, South, East and West difference, integrating all into one whole Sri Lanka.

Eventually the Rayappu Joseph comes to the biggest challenge of the Catholic Church- its nightmare the Buddhism. Buddhim is the religion of the Sinhala people of Sri Lanka before the birth of Christ and the advent of Christianity. It is the Buddhism that is the identity of the culture of the people of Sri Lanka. Other religions such as Christianity and Islam are recent religious faiths compared to Buddhism and Hinduism. On the other hand Catholicism and Christianity have their beginning in the Colonialization of our country by the Portuguse, the Dutch and the British and it is a religion foreign to our culture. There had been Buddhist places of worship in the North and the East long before Catholicism was introduced by the foreign conquerors.

Rayappu Joseph states in his submission that, “….Building a Buddhist place of worship (Pansala) in Murunkan Town where there was a Hindu Kovil is something that has caused a lot of concern, particularly as there is no Buddhist population in this area. Erections of Buddhist statues in prominent public places in many new locations in the North have also made our people fearful of Buddhist domination of majority Hindhu, Christian and Islamic areas.”

Rayappu Joseph should understand that, the Buddhist temples and Stupas stand for peace and unity. The Buddhist priests unlike the Catholic Clergy have always called for the unity of the Communities. It is the tolerance of the Buddhists that had allowed the Catholic Church to become so voiferous in speaking for the people of the North and East.

The Hindu Culture of the Tamil people and Budddhism are closely related and it will continue to foster unity between the Sinhala and Tamil pople. The Hindu Kovils have a statue of the Buddha and the Buddhist temples often hav statues of Hindu Gods in their temple premises. Therefore the building new temples and Dagabas in the North and East will bring the two communities together both spiritually in worship, and physically in the participation in each other’s religious ceremonies and festivals.

It is the Catholic Church that will stand strangely outside the religious and culturl back ground of the two communities- the Buddhist Sinhala and Hindu Tamil, as it is every where in Sri Lanka.

Reactions to my article Rahul Gandhi from Indra Gandhi Clan, calls for Justice for Tamils in Sri Lanka while Dalits are being burnt alive in India

My Reply to Cassandra' Comment

Mudali’s comments made me write about the Catholic Church, despite the fact that the article commented on was on Rahul Gandhi’s statement.

What was written about Catholism and the Catholic Church and its political interests do not come either from my absurd and skewed view, nor is the statement that the Catholicism is faith based.

There is evidence for it being a faith based religion in the Bible itself , the book of Job for instance. And again the words ascribed to Jesus Christ , “ blessed are those who have not seen yet believed”.

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev says about faith

“Unless I see I will not believe”. This is how people who demand from us logical, tangible proof of the Christian faith often answer us, the faithful. But there are not and cannot be such proof, for the Christian faith is beyond the grasp of rational thought, being super-rational. Nothing in the Christian faith, be it the existence of God, the resurrection of Christ or other truths, can be proven logically: one can only accept them or reject them on the basis of faith”

http://theinnerkingdom.wordpress.com/2008/12/

Catholic Action is not unknown to Sri Lankans and it was not the ordinary Catholics who were responsible, but the Church.

About remuneration to the Christian priests, I have this extract: “The salary of a Roman Catholic priest depends upon many factors. In the United States, the first major factor is whether the priest is a diocesan (secular) priest or a professed (order) priest. Diocesan priests who live "in the world" and generally are responsible for taking care of parish churches receive a salary from their parish to keep for personal use (savings, retirement, automobile, vacations, charity, etc.). The diocese will set this salary and usually there will be a multiplier or other incentives for years served, the size of the parish, the oversight of a Catholic school, or other factors. In the U.S., priests pay taxes on this salary as everyone else does. (Actually, priests pay more than their share as they have to pay both halves of social security... strangely enough, they are 'employees' with respect to federal and state taxes, but 'self employed' with respect to social security.) “

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_salary_of_a_Catholic_priest#ixzz1AgNu3VgZ

In Sri Lanka I think the majority of the Catholics are Tamils or Sinhalese, and they belonged to Hinduism and Buddhism. There was no animism as far as I know in Sri Lanka when Christianity was introduced to Sri Lanka, I have no evidence of Muslims converted to Catholicism. I have family members who are Catholics, their ancestors were Buddhists.

At the time the Missionaries were converting the people to their faith, those simple people may have found the converters kind and pleasing more than the religion about which thy were only informed by the converting priests or nuns. They may have liked the biblical stories, which were selected and read out to them, as the Bible has stories to satisfy every taste.

Jonathan Kirsch says in his book, “ The Harlot by the side of the Road- Forbidden Tales of the Bible” “…The stories you are about to read are some of the most violent and sexually explicit in all of Western literature. They are tales of human passion in all of its infinite variety: adultery, seduction, incest, rape, mutilation, assassination, torture, sacrifice, and murder. And yet every one of these stories is drawn directly from the pages of the Holy Bible.”
Even today in certain villages poor families are converted giving them gifts and financial aid, by Catholic Missionaries .

Folloing is an extract from an article on conversion: “Similarly the Catholic church also never gave up on conversion. This church has separate departments for the subject of conversion. Such as the ?Sacred Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples". Evangelisation means ?to convert?. There is also the Catholic objective of ?Consecration Mundi" or the conversion of the whole world. »

http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1058908729

Regarding King Devanmpiyatissa, Venerabl Mahinda was the son of his Friend King Asoka, and the King listened to the discourses of Venerable Mahinda was pleased with the teachings and accept the Teachings of the Buddha. There was no pressure for the King to accept Buddhism. When the Royalty accepted Buddhism the laity too accepted it, as it happened in China and Korea. There was no pressure on the people to accept the faith of the King. There was no conversion in Buddhism. The teaching is there for any one to come and see and experience the truth of it before accepting it.

The Dalits in India were not converted to Buddhism but they accepted Buddhism.

“After meeting with the Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Hammalawa Saddhatissa ,Ambedkar organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in Nagpur on October 14, 1956. Accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion. He then proceeded to convert an estimated 500,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him. Taking the 22 Vows, Ambedkar and his supporters explicitly condemned and rejected Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. He then traveled to Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit

Yes, it does not matter that the fore father of the present day Catholics were converted to Catholicism , but I wish that they were not converted, as they were the heirs to Buddhism a far greater religious philosophy than Catholicism.

Buddhism is a pragmatic philosophy which can be tested for its validity. It begins from what is seen and known such as the suffering, to unseen and unknown- the Nibbana. Where as Christianity begins from an unseen , unknown God to an unseen, unknown paradise.




• • cassandra Says:

January 8th, 2011 at 1:29 am

Sri Rohana has done well to remind MSMudali that this article is not about Catholics but Rahul Gandhi. Unfortunately, the writer of the article himself let the discussion get away from the topic when he sought to answer MSMudali’s comments of 29th December, which said in part,“Charles Perera talk about “maturity”. Does he has any? He evade or hide why UNP and Catholic Church support LTTE terrorists”.

It was also unfortunate that after telling Mudali how his comments are sometimes “absurd” (and that is true) Charles responded in no more sensible fashion, presenting his own skewed view of Catholics and the Catholic Church, with such statements as “The Catholicism as a religion is faith based. Therefore it has to have faithfuls. If there are no faithfuls the Catholicism falls apart like a pack of cards.” Really!

And then on 3rd January, we had Charles providing yet another response – this time to Jimmy. And his statements this time were just as ill informed. For instance, he said such things as “I do not speak of the Catholics, but the Catholism and the Catholic Church” and “ Fr. Emmanual , Cardinals and Bishops like him are only paid servants of the Catholic Church. They have to do their job as any other paid workers”. From where Charles got these ideas, I simply don’t know. He also went on to say, “Of course the Catholic people are innocent” adding, “Their forefathers were either Hindus or Buddhists, but they were duped by the Missionaries, and they were converted by tempting them with jobs, education, a foreign dress and all sorts of privileges”
As far as I am able to work out, “Catholic people” include “Fr. Emmanual, Cardinals and Bishops”. So, is Charles saying they are both ‘guilty’ and ‘innocent’ at the same time?
And how can he be sure the forefathers of today’s Sri Lankan Catholics were “either Hindus or Budddhists”? Could not some of them have been Muslims or Animists or plain atheists?
And is it not possible that some, at least, of them converted to Christianity because they genuinely found the new faith more appealing, just as King Devanampiyatissa did when he embraced Buddhism when Mahinda brought the new religion to the island? Today, many Westerners are turning to Buddhism in the same way.
If, as Charles states, the forefathers of today’s Sri Lankan Catholics converted to their new faith because of various inducements, how can we be certain that some of those who converted to Buddhism when it was first brought to the island, were not similarly lured? Consider, for instance, those in the service of the King. Under what pressures might they have been to adopt the new faith?
To me, all this is, however, only of academic interest. Does it really matter if some of the forefathers of present day Sri Lankan Catholics converted to their new religion for the sake of expediency just as some of their own forefathers may have embraced a new religion 2,000 years before? I don’t think it does.
In writing the above, I have been conscious I was not addressing the real topic of the article but the author has himself seen fit to stray from it and some of his statements warrant a response.
Now, to the real topic of the article. The old saying that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones applies very aptly in this instance. Charles is absolutely right in saying Rahul Gandhi has no right to be moralizing about the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka when conditions in India for those like the Dalits are worse. (Incidentally, I believe many Dalits have been converting to Buddhism because it allows them to escape the ‘caste trap’ in which they are caught under Hinduism.) Rahul Gandhi should first concern himself with the problems in his own backyard before worrying about what is happening in Sri Lanka. Indira and Rajiv Gandhi were no friends of Sri Lanka. It seems this Gandhi is no different.
It would be too much to expect Indian politicians to not meddle in the affairs of Sri Lanka. And we can be sure that the Congress Party will not hesitate to exploit the issue of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, just as shamelessly as the Tamil Nadu based political parties have been doing, if there are votes to be gained by it. Politicians, as we well know, can stoop to almost anything. And, that of course happens on both sides of the Palk Straits.
• Terry Says:
January 8th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Cassandra
I commend you for the comment above.
It’s a common trait of Lankans to attack the writer and not deal with the content or go off in a tangent totally unrelated to the topic. (some i fear are tantamount to sheer racism through ignorance)
Relating to your final para.
Rahul is,was and will play to the TN galleries. Good luck to him. Yes, i agree Rahul should be dealing with affairs closer to home and not meddling with Lankan affairs. He is a Politician! They are strange creatures, and you dont have to look far from home to gather the irrational behaviour.
However, India will, call it meddle, influence, conspire or whatever word you wish to say because thats the way it was and it will how ever much we bash our keyboards. China , does it the subtle way, India does it the big mouth way.
Only recently the Tourism Ministry revealed the number of Tourist arriving in SL. Majority of those numbers were from India.
India has flooded SL with cheap plastics, paints,drugs, leather and rubber no other country wanted. More recently we have heard of Egg, Chicken, Onion and Coconut drops.
Let’s face it- blame India,the West, Tamil Diasporas, INGO, NGO and all and sundry (Catholic Church for Mudalli) for our insecurity and mistakes.
When will we ever learn?



OTHER COMMENTS



• Fran Diaz Says:
December 29th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Many thanks Mr Charles Perera for this article.
I would like to add that Mahatma Gandhi (Mahatma means Great Soul) is not a blood relation of the ruling Gandhi Family of India.
The other Great Souls of India who uplifted the Dalits of India are :
(1) Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, affectionately known as Babasaheb, was one of the most illustrious sons of India. He appeared on the Indian socio-political scene in early 1920s and remained in the forefront of all social, economic, political and religious efforts for upliftment of the lowest stratum of the Indian society known as Untouchables. Babasaheb was a great scholar who made outstanding contributions as an economist, sociologist, legal luminary, educationalist, journalist, Parliamentarian and above all, as a social reformer and champion of human rights. Babasaheb organised, united and inspired the Untouchables in
India to effectively use political means towards their goal of social equality. In his wisdom, Dr Ambedkar converted to Buddhism. He was main writer of the Indian Constitution which affords protection for Dalits under the Law. Thousands of his Dalit admirers converted to Buddhism too.
(2) Dr Narendra Jadhav (current Director of the Reserve Bank of India) is also one such person. His father broke away from his Dalit bondage by going to the big city of Bombay. He managed to educate some of his children there, and was a follower of Dr Ambedkar, and he too converted to Buddhism. Dr Narendra Jadhav is an exceptional person and is currently serving his country in the field of economics. He wrote the book “Untouchables” so that people could read about the Dalits of India. This book is written with great empathy & sympathy.
(3) The Buddha said, 2,500 yrs ago, in the Vassala Suthra that a “person is high born or low born only through his or her actions, and not by birth”, thus showing the right path of Liberation for Dalits of India. There were many Arahats of Dalit origin during the Buddha’s time.
Yes, Rahul Gandhi would do well emulate these Great Persons mentioned here if he wants to earn the lasting admiration from any sector of Indian society, without trying for the cheap ‘Divide & Rule’ tactics of the British.
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• M.S.MUdali Says:
December 29th, 2010 at 9:49 am
In 1983 Tamils were burnt by Sinhala racist mobs. Did any action taken by the state? No…. But in India in any case they take action against the suspects. At least a FIR (First Information Report) is filed. In Sri Lanka not a single criminal was brought to justice. So, better stop barking at Indian system or Indian politicians.
Rahul is not Namal. Namal is now joking that he will be elected from Jaffna. Rahul is the General Secretary of the INC which is the ruling party of India.
Rahul showed the guts to stay with poor people and shared the life of dalits for a day at least.
Charles Perera talk about “maturity”. Does he has any? He evade or hide why UNP and Catholic Church support LTTE terrorists. Are you morons telling here that UNP and Catholic church backed LTTE on behalf of India?
Now DALIT problem of India is a subject for the people who still support Sinhala
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De Costa Says:
December 29th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Mudali,
Welcome back. I knew this is your pet subject.
We should condemn all forms of violence. Sinhala thugs are no match to Indian thugs on Dalits.
Chrales is a peace loving person who wrote similar thing for a decade now.
You have matured a bit – your language is much better than initial “Expez buzz” language of India.
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Kit Athul Says:
December 30th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Aravinda’s comments are intriguing, and I have to believe it as well as all the readers. But I have few questions for Aravind. (Thanks for waking up from a deep dream of sleep)
1. Assumptions: AravindIs is not a Tamil Nadu Tamil or a Sri Lankan Tamil. He is an Indian because he has only one name.
2. Jawaharl Lal’s name only mentioned once. Who was Jawaharlal’s wife? How and when did she die?
This is what I know about the so called “Mahathma Gandhi”. He was an attorney in South Africa and represented many Africans successfully in the South African courts of law. So he was allowed to visit African Town ships without permits. He had craving for young South African girls of the age between 14 and 18. Not only his client gave him cash but also provided the girls of his choice. Why Gandhi ran away from South Africa was because he got an African Chieftain’s daughter pregnant. African chief asked Gandhi to get rid of his wife and get married to his 16 year old daughter. Gandhi refused the offer and gave enough money to her father to keep it quiet, which he did. Then told his wife that there was an urgent need for his services in India and got on to a ship next day. After that Gandhi told his best friend, a Muslim, to travel with his wife to India on board another ship few months later. Both of them had a good time on board the ship. By the time they arrived in India Gandhi’s wife was pregnant. And that was the only child, a boy, Gandhi had.
Now why did Gandhi select Jawaharlal Nehru against a Gugarati (I cannot remember his name)? To be the first Prime Minister? Because this so called “Mahathma Gandhi” had a relationship with Jawaharlal’s sister Vijalakshmi (Who was a POT smoker). The story is that Gandhi had a back problem and Vijajalkshmi gave massages to him.
Believe it or not Gandhi wanted to annex Northern and Eastern Provinces to Tamil Nadu and call it Greater Tamil Nadu. He also wanted Trincomalee Harbor for India.
M.S. Mudali, whenever Charles Perera writes about Sinhala you come out with some hilarious analogy and attempt to ridicule Charles. This is not gullible for the average Sinhala. What I get from the e-mails floating about is that; you are not even a Jaffna Tamil. You are from Negambo, a Catholic; you are a woman now living in Canada you are in your late 60s to close to 70 years.
Sie.Kathieravealu, this is not an Election gimmick as you state. India has nothing to do with the resettlement of Tamils. Indians want to confuse the average Sri Lankan, Rahul wants to shift the attention from repairing of houses to building of new houses where by blame is shifted to Sri Lanka government.
Mjaya, please understand who won the war? Yes racist part has to there to win a war, but it is no laughing matter may be for you and M.S. Mudali, but look at the poor Tamil who is putting together all he lost for the last 30 years, yet Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi do not want them succeed.
• Charles Says:
January 1st, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Mr.MUdali
Problem with you is, you ask a question and when an answer is given you do not take the trouble to read it. But comes back again to ask the same question accusing ” he evades and hides “. I answered you question which you keep on asking else where? I give it below for easy reference and you have my answer.
However we in this website are happy that you come into make your comments even if they are at times quite absurd and tinged with racism. That is how I think Tamils should interact with the Sinhala, without name calling sitting on the other side of the fence.
Here is my comment for you:
I will tell you why the Catholic Church helped LTTE.
The Catholicism as a religion is faith based. Therefore it has to have faithfuls. If there are no faithfuls the Catholicism falls apart like a pack of cards.
The Catholic Church has no love for a country or nation as such, but it has “divine” love for the faithfuls in a country and the faithfuls among the Nation of people.
Faith according to the Catholic church is to accept without question , not to be like Thomas de Apostle. It is said in the Bible “ blessed be those who believe without seeing”
That is why the Catholic Church is more active among the poor. They give gifts of money food and clothes to the poor, and say those are the gifts of divine love, trust in him- the God, and you will get more. They found fertile ground of possible converts in the North and among the poor people suffering under terrorism.
Suffering and poverty make it easy for the Church to sow the seeds of faith. The Catholic Church was also active with the fisher folk in the East and the South. They were people whose lives were uncertain battling with the seas for their catch of fish for existence, they will willingly kneel down to pray to God to make them the miracle of good catch of fish.
With Sri Lanka, poor and divided between the LTTE in the North , and the poor people in the South living in fear of terrorism, the Catholic church could have had a field day with increasing numbers of converts to its faith. That is what the Catholic Church want a weakend Sinhala Buddhist Community in a divided country
UNP is another story. UNP wants to have political power and to have it they will sign an MoU even with the Satan himself. Their love for the country is to the extent the UNP “Capitalist class “, could squeeze the poor masses to increase their financial benefits, for their luxury living conditions, and social status.
Integration is not what you seem to understand of it. Changing names is for personal identity. But social integration is different. Integration is defined as the action of incorporating a racial or religious group into a community or the act of combining into an integral whole.
The Tamils Mr.Mudali is a minority of 12 or 13 percent of the population in Sri Lanka. It is the Tamils who have to make an effort to “integrate”. If they show their good intention to “work together with the Sinhala as compatriots” without being arrogant and aggressive the Sinhala will have no problem accepting them with their arms wide open.
I do not want to make this any longer. Therefore, please drop using the word “racists” in your comments when speaking of the Sinhala and also please do not refer to each other as “guys”. It does not seem a decent way to address people.
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• Terry Says:
January 2nd, 2011 at 5:48 am
Charles
You mentioned the Unethical conversions of the Religious kind.
I guess SL politicians must have learnt a few tricks from these unprincipled characters.
Unethical conversions of the Political kind.
Having hood winked the masses to get elected from one party, jump ship for the “divine” love of perks, Ministerial positions and power without any regard for their political beliefs and faithful voters.
Not sure who is worse
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• jimmy Says:
January 2nd, 2011 at 5:53 pm
I do not agree with Mudali brother and Charles brother
You can not say Catholism support violence. I am not a cathlic . Your statements will hurt people who are Catholics
There are thousands and thousands of Sinhala and Tamlil catholics in Srilanka who only want peace. I am sure There will be ministers, MPS , Officials, soldiers in Lanka who are Catholics
Just to comment on a religion does not make you guys superior
Mudali
Piraba and LTTE were violent . Most of LTTE were Hindus
Does that mean Hinduism support violence? . How do you feel if any one tells you that . I am sure you will be hurt if you are a Hindu right
Charles
During 1980s JVP was a very violent organization . So many innocent people from South were killed
Most of the JVP folks are Budhists
Does it mean Budhisim support violence?
A famous poet said
“He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool , shun him”
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• Lorenzo Says:
January 2nd, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Jimmy,
But what Charles S Perera says are facts.
Rahul Gandhi did call for Justice for Tamils in Sri Lanka and Dalits are being burnt alive in India.
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• jimmy Says:
January 2nd, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Lorenzo
You mistook it
I am not at all commenting on the topic.
I am only commenting on what Mudali and Charles say about Catholisim . I am sure Charles might have made an honest mistake replying to Mudali about Catholisim
How can you say Catholisim supported Terrorists . That statment from Mudali Iyer is wrong and Charles Mathaya agreed with Mudali on this
They both are wrong
Charles Says:
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:15 am
Jimmy,
I do not speak of the Catholics, but the Catholism and the Catholic Church. Fr. Emmanual , Cardinals and Bishops like him are only paid servants of the Catholic Church. They have to do their job as any other paid workers. See how the our Cardinal is being tempted giving him responsibilities and perhaps hopes of being the next Pope if he could help to break the communities in Sri Lanka and weeken Sinhala Buddhist leadership.
Of course the Catholic people are innocent. Their forefathers were either Hindus or Buddhists, but they were duped by the Missionaries, and they were converted by tempting them with jobs, education, a foreign dress and all sorts of privileges.
The Catholic action against which Great Sinhala Buddhists like Mettananda, or even Olcott stood against was not the ordinary Catholics, but the Catholic Church. The ordinary Catholics who go to Church may not even, know the political implication of the Catholic Church
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A Reply to Sumanthiran of the Tamil Ntional Alliance

The Tamil National Alliance was launched by the terrorist Prabhakaran to have a group of Parliamentarians to be his spokesmen in the Parliament. While Prabhakaran continued his terrorism to set up his dream- Tamil Homeland in a merged North and East , he wanted his TNA Parliamentarians to be his complementary “companions in arms” to defend his activities in the Parliament, and to mislead the International Community by propagating that terrorism is only a fight for freedom and for a territorial separation of Sri Lanka to set up a separate Eelam State.

With the elimination of terrorism, the TNA is apparently on their own or still under contract to the pro - terrorist Tamil expatriate community to be their voice in the Parliament in Sri Lanka and outside. However the TNA still remains the voice of “ Prabhakran” the Thalaivar. Now without calling for a separate Eelam State, TNA MPs are nevertheless pushing the same idea interposing a demand for a “ meaningful devolution of power” not forgetting the merger of the North and East by implementing the 13 th Amendment to the Constitution.

M.A.Sumanthiran of the TNA has expressed the willingness of the TNA to work with the government to solve key issues affecting the Tamils in a long interview with the The Nation, adding that the TNA stands for “ meaningful devolution of power “, and constitutional reforms within a united country under a federal structure.

If M.A.Sumanthiran is still a part of Parbhakaran’s dream of the Tamil Homeland, it is best he wakes up now to the reality of the present situation and think of more constructive ways of using his political wisdom, if he has any.

Firstly, M.A.Sumanthiran the TNA Parliamentarian has to be reminded that he is now not in a position to dictate terms to the government as to what it should do. Terrorism is over and the post terrorist Sri Lanka has to rethink how to integrate the different Communities in to a Sri Lankan Nationhood.

That cannot be done the way Sumanthiran proposes it. His way of thinking is still coloured by his allegiance to the memory of the terrorists, the creators of the TNA his sun God the Thalaivar of yester year -Prabhakaran. Sumanthiran with his “meaningful devolution of political power theory” pointing to the merger of the

North and East as required under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, and the proposal of a Federal Constitution all hark back to Prabhakaran’s Homeland dream. The TNA is now in the process of trying to dupe the Sinhala “modayas” to accept politically, which Prabhakaran failed to achieve through terror.

Sumanthiran cannot get any where with his lopsided political theories as neither the President of Sri Lanka nor the Sinhala people have fallen from the last rain, as a well known saying goes. Sumanthiran speaks of the APRC and the decision taken by the Commission and adds that merger of North and the East was part of the 13th amendment stressing that the merger should remain in an improved version of the 13th amendment, or if the current format of the 13th Amendment is implemented in full.

Today it is most advisable that the APRC and what ever decisions taken there should be shelved along with the 13th Amendment, and whatever communiqué Sumanthiran says the President issued after his visit to India. Sumanthiran should put into his little head that it is not the merger of the North and East that will solve the problems of the Tamil people, but it is the willingness of the Tamils to merge their narrow Tamil nationalism into the larger mainstream Sri Lankan political system along with the Sinhala , Muslim, and the other communities to be absorbed into a larger Sri Lankan nationhood, that will solve their problems. Otherwise the Tamils will always stand apart and will continue to nurture the Sinhala Tamil conflict.

Sumanthiran in his interview speaks of the visit of a delegation of TNA MPs to meet the Indian political leaders consulted by the President of Sri Lank, and requested that India who started the 13th Amendment to the Constitution should intervene to see the successful implementation of it. But Sumanthiran does not seem to know that, India has no right to intervene in the implementation or not of the 13th Amendment. The government with its two third majority has no problem in withdrawing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which remains as an eye sore to every patriotic Sri Lankan.

India’s interest in the Amendment is solely to the extent how much it would help to win the confidence of the Tamilnadu Tamils to sustain the Indian Unity, and has no interest beyond that whether it is to assist Sri Lanka, or for the wellbeing of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. That interest of India to do any thing to assure the support of Tamilnadu, becomes more evident with Karunanidhi building “strong bridges” with Kerala State. Would it end up as a merger of the two States ?

Sumanthiran and his TNA colleagues should put that pseudo interest of India in Sri Lanka Tamils into its correct perspective , and understand that it is futile to bring India to intervene in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka. They should instead find a workable solution for the Tamil problem- if there is one, in consultation with the President of Sri Lanka and the Sinhala and Muslim communities.

India’s intervention inside the air space of Sri Lanka in 1987 was in contravention of the International Law and India has no right to continue with the Amendment to the Constitution it forced on Sri Lanka following their illegal intervention to help the terrorists under siege by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.

Sumanthiran speaks of immediate “concern of our people.” –obviously referring to the people in the North and East who had voted for them. Nevertheless, Sumanthiran should not forget that the people of North and East are “our people as well “, even if they did not vote to the political parties representing the President.

The Sinhala people sacrificed many of their children for the sake of these people in the North and East, who were under the iron boots of terrorism for a considerable period of time. And those people had a strange way of showing their gratitude for that great deliverance. Despite that the Sinhala and other communities also have an interest, as communities sharing mother Lanka in the welfare of “our people” in the North and East.

Speaking on the demerger of the North and East Sumanthiran argues that the ruling of the Supreme Court was, that the modality of the merger of the two provinces was flawed , therefore the Supreme Court was not against the merger itself. Here Sumathiran’s argument is in itself flawed.

The merger was brought about to facilitate the Indian Peace Keeping Force to keep the two provinces as one to enable it to control the two provinces, keeping in check the terrorists from attacking the IPKF and go into hiding in another province.

The two provinces should have been automatically demerged immediately after the Indian Peace Keeping Force left . There is no reason what- so- ever to merge the two provinces now just to please the TNA which is only promoting the “ terrorist dream”.

Sumanthiran says that the President Mahinda Rajapake had said that he would go beyond the 13th Amendment in implementing it. If it is to go beyond the 13th Amendment it should be to eliminate the advancement of communal disunity by stopping the Tamil politicians dividing the country having political parties with communal identity.

If there are no political parties separately for the Tamils and Muslims there want be any ethnic problem. The question of ethnic problem arises from the fact that there are separate Political parties for Tamils and Muslims. If the Tamils and the Muslims would fall inline with the mainstream political system, most of the problems the Tamils highlighted now by the TNA and other Tamil political parties will dissolve.

For 19 years the North and East remained merged because of the terrorism. Sumanthiran has forgotten that the election of the TNA MPs was questioned . The ballot boxes were stuffed with false ballot papers by terrorist goons. The Election Commissioner had considered declaring it null and void but allowed it as the conditions were uncertain because of terrorism for a second election.

On the 9 February 2009 in an article in Asia Tribune, entitled Ban the TNA, it was stated , “Anandasangaree urges Sri Lanka Government to ban the Tamil National Alliance for being a proxy party of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and advocating on behalf of the terrorist organization, even after it has been banned in Sri Lanka. ‘’

There you are M.A Sumanthiran your boast about representing the Tamils in North and East is contested by none other than a veteran Tamil Politician Anandasangaree. So how can you impose your will on the government with regard to merging of the North and East again to please the TNA which is in actual fact the old terrorist LTTE under a new label.

The Tamil politicians have no monopoly to decide on what form the political map of Sri Lanka should take. The Sinhala people have every right to take a decision whether the Tamils like it or not as they are the ones who have made the greatest sacrifice to defend the North and East and make it a safe place for every one to live. It is also the Sinhala people who had maintained the unitary state of Sri Lank from the beginning of historical times.

The Tamils cannot be like the vulture who come to take over the carcass after the big cats have captured their prey. Of course the North and East is no body’s prey. TNA now says that all Tamil Parties and Muslim Parties want the merger of the North and East. The TNA dictating terms now were with the terrorists trying to divide the country and they never asked the Tamil people in the North and the East then as to what they wanted.

The TNA continuing its present politics will only separate further the Tamil people from the Sinhala , the Tamil people in the North and the East who voted for the TNA had been mislead. There is only one decision that has to be taken by the Tamil people and that is to bury their old misgivings about the Sinhala people and join them to form a larger Sri Lankan Nation. If the Tamils were to stand out side the Sinhala and the main stream Sri Lankan politics they would have nothing but the wrath of the Sinhala people who had given so much to unite the communities and keep the country undivided and as a whole.

If M.A.Sumanthiran has an intelligent mind he will understand, that calling for the rights of the Tamil people, and demanding devolution of political power to the Tamil people, are nothing other than efforts to concentrate political power in the hands of the Tamil politicians. It is not for the welfare of the majority of the Tamils.

If Sumnthiran is really working for the welfare of the Tamils, he should demand the Tamil people to integrate with the Sinhala and other communities to build a greater nation of Sri Lankans.

Sumanthiram should also call upon the Tamils of the Diaspora to give up their divisive politics and integrate in to the mainstream politics without insisting on narrow communal rights.

TNA’s inability solve the problem of the Tamil people despite getting their votes is evident from their trying to be a part of Tamilnadu, which is also the result of the TNA’s “ up bringing ” in the cradle of terrorism. TNA MPs have to give that up if they have to have any political credence with the Government of Sri Lanka or the Sinhala people.

TNA Parliamentarian Mavi Senathi Raja had recently said that they are proposing to have talks with Rahul Gandhi with regard to his comments about the peril of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. And spoke of being happy with the statement of Rahul Gandhi, and wants to speak to the Central Government with regard to the Sri Lanka Tamils. This is going too far. TNA should know whether they are Si Lankans or Indians . TNA seems to be keeping one leg in India and the Other in Sri Lanka. It only shows TNA’s political immaturity.

This attitude of TNA is totally condemned by the Sinhala people. TNA should work with the Sri Lanka Government and the people of Sri Lanka . It is necessary for the Tamils of Sri Lanka to be Sri Lankans and not mere Tamils in Sri Lanka.

If TNA continues this sharing views with India and continually consult India about the affairs of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, they will never settle the problems of Tamils in Sri Lanka. It was this sort of double dealings that ended up in numerous riots in Sri Lanka, and resulted in many deaths in 1983 .


G.G.Ponnambalam calling for fifty fifty or equal rights with the Sinhala majority, and Chelvanayagam opposing the Sinhala only Bill and asking for autonomy for their region through a Federal system of Government, were divisive politics practiced by the Tamils despite their being just a 13 per cent of the population, which distanced the Tamils from the mainstream Sinhala people.

The Sinhala people were angered by these unreasonable demands of the Tamil political leaders. Anger is an emotion that blinds people. The harbored anger when it breaks out as vengeance sees no reason. These were the causes that lead to riots in which many were killed in 1983. The Tamils brought about these calamities on themselves.

If the Tamils of the TNA continue with their separatist politics, they will be responsible for any future “perils” and unfortunate repetition of what happened then to the Tamil people. Therefore the TNA should go about cautiously without making unrealistic demands , and change their political tactic to work together with the Sinhala people as Sri Lankans and not as Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Sinhala people are quite capable of looking after not only themselves, but also the Tamils , Muslims and all the rest even without the help of the rest of the communities. They are quite capable also of defending their country on their own, but it would be far better if the Tamils fall in line with the Sinhala to build Sri Lanka for every one of us whether we are Communally, Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim.

TNA should therefore disengage from any alliance with TamilNadu politicians and identify themselves as Sri Lankans. And change the political name of their party Tamil National Alliance to some thing like Sri Lankan Patriotic Alliance or join the SLFP or the UNP to show their complete acceptance of Sri Lankan Nationality with distinct patriotism to Sri Lanka as their one and only motherland.