DON’T TREAT THE TRANSNATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL EELAM (TGTE) LIGHTLY
Posted on January 25th, 2011
Malin Abeyatunge
The Tamil Diaspora unquestionably and strongly supported the once most brutal terrorist organization in the world LTTE aka Tamil Tigers to achieve ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Tamil EelamƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. They have now changed itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ stripes and formed an entityƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ called the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam USA (TGTE) under the leadership of one V. Rudrakumaran who is an American citizen to fight for a separate enclave in Sri Lanka for the Tamils. According to the mission statement of TGTE in its website their objective is to achieve a separate- Eelam in Sri Lanka in the North and East. Their Mission Statement and the aspirations tantamount to a separatism and carve out a separate state in Sri Lanka. Although the LTTE was defeated militarily, itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s overseas remnants comprised of The Tamil Diaspora has come alive to fight for Eelam by hook or crook. With the defeat of LTTE militarily Where Prabhakaran couldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t achieve by military means, the TGTE is trying to establish Tamil Eelam by other means. According the TGTEƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s mission statement, it undertakes following tasks;
- ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The first task; ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Uniting all Tamil entities and elements who subscribe to the fundamental tenets of Tamil political aspirations proclaimed in the Waddukoddai ResolutionƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ adopted in 1974.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is what the Wadukodai Resolution adopted in May 1974
QuoteƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ And this Convention calls upon the Tamil Nation in general and the Tamil youth in particular to come forward to throw themselves fully into the sacred fight for freedom and to flinch not till the goal of a sovereign state of TAMIL EELAM is reached.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Unquote
Waddukodai ResolutionsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ proclaim the youth to take up arms which LTTE religiously carried out under Prabhakaran. By proclaiming the Waddukodai Resolutions also by so called TGTE, it implies that Tamils should continue to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ take up arms against the legally established Government of Sri Lanka until Eelam is established.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
- The second task:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Regain sovereignty. What sovereignty the mission is talking about?. TheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ sovereignty lies with the People and Government of Sri Lanka and not with a terrorist outfit who illegally occupied a part of the North and East and terrorized whole of Sri Lanka for 30 years. Where in the world a Terrorist outfit has become a sovereign state to talk of sovereignty? ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It also says that working in partnership with Tamil Leadership in Sri Lanka. This is a grey area. The Tamil Diaspora never worked with any Tamil political parties or leaderships but with the LTTE terrorists only. ItƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s the LTTE who killed the Tamil Leadership starting from Alfred Duraiappah to Amirthalingam and Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvam supported by ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ theTamil Diaspora morally and financially. Or do they mean that the TGTE wants to work with any remaining ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ LTTE cells (some LTTE cadres released by the Govt) still operating in Sri Lanka and the TGTE will liaise with them again to wage a war against Sri Lanka Government?
- ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Third Task:;ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Building a political program with the participation of Muslim representatives. Muslims have not forgotten how the LTTE cleansed the Muslims lived Jaffna within 24 hours and the massacre of over hundred Muslims while praying in a mosque in Kattankudy inBatticaloa District
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In every part of the mission statement, they ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ propagate separatism. To continue the Eelam struggle from overseas soil. The TGTE has appointed a cabinet with V. Rudrakumaran as the Prime Minister. Now these cabinet ministers domiciled in the western world are expected to work to achieve for a separate state (separatism) in Sri Lanka. ItƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s time for the Government to wake up. On the pretext of liaising with the Tamil/Sinhalese leadership, they will try to visit Sri Lanka to infiltrate in to their remaining LTTE cells if any, promote various NGOs and INGOS to carry out the TGTE agenda as they did during PrabhakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s time. The Immigration authorities and our HCs and Embassies should notƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ grant any Visa to these so called twenty odd cabinet ministers if they want to visit Sri Lanka to promote its cause. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If the existing laws under Prevention of Terrorism Act and Emergency Laws are inadequate to meet this latest threat of LTTE Eelamists domiciled in overseas, the government should introduceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ further prohibitive laws against Terrorism and Separatism. We cannot be complacent and need more stringent laws with the TGTE operations in Sri Lanka. This will not be difficult as the Government can easily muster two third majority to pass stringent laws to meet this threat.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Let the Sri Lankan Government nip in the bud of this threat and not allow these war mongers to step in to Sri Lankan soil and treat them as a security threat to the nation. Let them carry out their struggle from the countries where they are still being mollycoddled. The Government should not treat the TGTE lightly as they are being backed by the countries in the western world.. The whole gamut of the so-called PM, V Rudrakumaran and his cabinet ministers are in the TGTE website if the SL Government wants to know who and what they are.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Christian dominated western world again accomplished the mission of carving outƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a separate Christian State in the south of Sudan for 5% of the population. They have been liaising with the TGTE very closely in the recent past. The SL GovernmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ should treat the attempts of the TGTE seriously and be vigilant as this may be an attempt to get the Western world to support their Eelam ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ causeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ like South Sudan. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The most recent episodes of canceling PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s address to Oxford Union and thje Australian Tamil Diaspora protesting ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ appointing ex Navy Commander Admital Tisara Samarasinghe as HC to Canberra are obvious signs of working against the present Government who had saved almost 300000 Tamils from the grips of brutal LTTE terrorists. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lastly, the ambassadors and the High Commissioners of the western world has bigger role to play in countering this latest terrorist menace in a different form.
January 25th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Over the past three decades the Tamil Tiger terrorists proved to be the trail blazers in the art of suicide bombings, credit card fraud, illicit entry in to economically strong countries with generous refugee policies and then destroying passports and other identities so they cannot be deported etc etc. These techniques have been gratefully received by other similar criminal groups around the world and their numbers increasing.
The so called TGTE is the latest tool the LTTE is offering the separatist elements in other countries. However, it is the Western Nations that are guilty of allowing this type of harassment of other nations, by not acting against groups operating on their soil, which had participated or sponsored terrorism in other nations.
It is said that eventually Justice will prevail, like what happened to the Nazis and Kmer Rouge and therefore, lets hope that before long the leaders of the TGTE too will be investigated and if found guilty, face similar justice for the sake of a better world.
January 25th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Muslims have separate schools, Moulavis at state expense, Courts etc. while they are 100% TAMIL speakers. Why is that? Even constitution accepts them as a separate RACE. How?
Further Vaddukoddai resolution was brought by TULF and not by LTTE. TULF gaveup Separatism long ago. The leader of the TULF Mr. Ananda Sangaree still alive and active in politics.
TGTE is a proxy of LTTE which is backed by UNP and Catholic Church but Sinhalese are still pretending that they know nothing about catholic church or its public involvement with LTTE. I think the Sinhalese are afraid to demonstrate infront of the Embassy of Vatican due to the backlash from the WEST but they find it easy to attack an ordinary Tamil in Colombo or elsewhere!
But Catholic priest Fr. S.J Emmanuel and his gang created the fiasco at Oxford and suceeded. Now the Catholic Church is headed by a NAZI.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
My sincere thanks to the writer for bringing out some realities.
However if we take the ‘big picture’ I believe that it is not wrong if we make the assumptions that the following forces are operating to dismember Sri Lanka?
A) Forces supporting Centripetal Forces and opposing Centrifugal forces
1. The long term agenda of the western nations is the balkanization of Asia and in our context India. The more efficient exploitation and hegemony over this region depends on balkanization. They do not want to see the rise of rival super powers such as India and China.
2. The declared agenda of the Christian Church and especially the Vatican is the conversion of Asia into Christianity. A Christian’s foremost allegiance is to the Church.
B) Forces Opposing Centripetal forces and supporting Centrifugal forces
1. India is an inherently unstable country that requires constant skirmishes with her neighbors to keep intact the Indian-ness in the Indians lest they fight among each other and lead to the dismemberment of India.
In this scenario it is safe to assume that it is these forces that are in the forefront of promoting the LTTE rump the TGTE albeit for different reasons.
These guys make excellent coolies, they come to muster on time and are constantly ready and available to do the dirty work for their white masters. That is why they were initially brought for tending tobacco plantations and later for the tea plantations. The colonial masters have taken them all over the world to do their dirty and menial work. This is why they are found all over the world – In most of Africa, Mauritius, Malaysia, Fiji, Singapore etc.
In Sri Lanka’s context all the above mentioned forces exploit the genetic hatred they have for Sinhalese to achieve their goals, although the category A is in opposition to Category B.
The covert support that the TGTE is getting in the Christian West is to achieve these goals and objectives. In their first attempt they lost out with the LTTE on the ground thanks to the Sinhala Buddhists patriots. Now on the first phase of the second attempt, the covert support that the TGTE is getting in the Christian West is to somehow achieve these goal in the long term. Remember they have infinite patience and 20, 30 even 50 years to achieve their objectives is not too far. Overt is support is not too far off – depends on the success of the first phase. Sri Lanka should extremely vigilant to see that the victory over LTTE achieved in 2009 with the blood sweat and tears of a patriotic nation are not compromised.
On the part of India they do not want to see Ealam succeed in Sri Lanka, but they would like to see Sri Lanka kept off balance with a restive North. The recent incidents with fishermen in the Palk Straits is a mini Tonkin Harbor in the making. We must be extremely vigilant for Indian will use the LTTE is South India to keep Sri Lanka unsettled.
India has nothing to fear from Sri Lanka. However all India’s neighbors have everything to fear from India due to their hostile nature arising from their inherent weakness.
Patriots at home and abroad are watching how the rulers in Colombo are performing in the coming months and years. Winning the battle is not enough. The war is not yet over! Immediately It is up to the government to get the ineffectual scum who adorn some of the diplomatic postings replaced with patriots who understand their roles and forces that they are against.
January 26th, 2011 at 4:52 am
An absolutely accurate analysis by “Ratnapala” – thank you.
Lanka should never forget the 3,000 yr old Tamil Dalit factor from Tamil Nadu which is the Root Cause of the problem.
We presume that the Tamil Nadu fishermen are Catholic people as are the Tamil fishermen of North Lanka ?
January 26th, 2011 at 7:10 am
TGTE is not representing the Tamils who live in Srilanka. It is like Pirabakaren`s Vanni Govt.They have
no strong Foundation. There are so many Tamils who want peace in Sri Lanka. They donn`t want seperation . TGTE is body of the Powerwilling Tamils who are responsible for the 30 years of war.
peace willing all Communities in Sri Lanka must work hand in hand to fight against those power thirsty,Bloodthirsty
truthless and Terrorist.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Several of the comments touch upon the external and factional threats which may be valid. However the main responsibity to counter act the forces of Ealam lies with the public especially political and the professional sectors. The poor and rural people have done more than their fare share in defeating terrorism and shouldering the brunt of the economy. It is the duty of the political leadership to build on these sacrifices and motivate everyone to productively contribute to make Sri Lanka strong and stable. The educated profesional sector in post independent Sri Lanka has done very little to improve the stock of the country and embarrasingly depend on the productivity of blue collar workers. Now is the most appropriate time for them to step in and make Sri lanka strong by modernizing the economy so that it can better withstand the external threats like LTGE. Even the people who support such causes may be swayed by such development. The professionals also can organize to challenge the activities of LTGE at international level and limit their influence.
January 27th, 2011 at 2:00 am
Tamil Nadu coastal areas are under the control of the Catholic Church since the Portugeuse rule. They are the main life line to the LTTE in the past.
The “killing of fisherman” stories are the products of the Catholic Church because Sebastian Seeman visited these areas and declared that “Sinhalese cannot sleep peacefully”.
Sri Lankan Sinhala Catholics are keen on spreading their propaganda against Hindus than telling why they support LTTE! Fran Diaz try to fool the readers with his Catholic Church propaganda because DALIT is not an issue in Sri Lanka!
January 27th, 2011 at 8:04 am
I am getting into this Debate on Caste, only for the reason that I am hoping Peaceful Solutions will be found for the Problem. The Caste Problem of Tamils of Lanka ought to be addressed by qualified Sociologists. I am not a qualified Sociologist. The qualified Sociologists have largely ignored this topic as they have no easy solutions to the problem. It is also pointless blaming GoSL or the Catholic church for the Caste Issues, though it is true to say that vested interests will use the opportunity for their activities.
No, Mudali, I am not trying to fool anyone ! What you say is true : “DALIT is not an issue in Sri Lanka”, but I say that the “Tamil Caste System” which stems from Tamil Dalit Issues is an Issue in Lanka. See Shenali Waduge’s article of her visit to Jaffna, recently published in the Lankaweb, where Jaffna people complained to her of the Caste Issues there.
Sri Lanka NEVER practiced Untouchability and therefore has no Tamil Dalits – I have stated this many times in these columns. However, Lanka has large numbers of Tamils of Dalit origin/low Caste origin, originating from Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu still has some 95,000 ‘night soil carriers’ employed by the State of Tamil Nadu in TN’s archaic toilet system. These people are of Tamil Dalit origin. These and other Caste bound social problems in Tamil Nadu have/will indirectly affect Lanka, whether we like it or not.
There are SOLUTIONS to the Tamil Caste Problem. Practice Raj Yoga. It is the highest Yoga and sets free the human mind of past conditioning. However, it is a MUST to have a ‘Guru’ or Teacher when practicing this type of Yoga. There is no need for conversion into other religions to practice Raj Yoga, and it is not confined to the Hindu religion.
Here is a write up on Raj Yoga :
Raja Yoga Meditation
As your Consciousness continues to move in your third eye, pastel colors begin to appear in your forehead. Sumptuous, glorious pinks, yellows, whites, blues, indigos, greens, and purples take their turn or play in combination in your forehead. Then, you may think you are seeing fireflies, lightning, or moonlight as your life force becomes more concentrated and more actively prepares you to behold higher consciousness. This process is readying you to experience your true nature as pure consciousness, pure spirit, pure awareness.
And then the light in your forehead blazes brighter than the sun! But, you find it is soothing to look into the awesome light, soothing to behold it. This is the brilliance of your inner light, your essence, revealing itself to you.
Raja yoga, particularly, requires a Teacher because it is easy to strain yourself, and it’s also easy to delude yourself into high level hallucinations rather than actual experiences of your higher Consciousness.
However, the genuine raja yogi lives in bliss, with his, or her, will surrendered to God. A raja yogi realizes the profound truth of the Biblical passage: If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be filled with light.
January 27th, 2011 at 9:44 am
If a Seeker cannot find a Guru, at least try Buddhist Meditation and follow the basic Dhana, Seela & Bhavana.
January 27th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
One of the writers has commented that 100% of “Muslims ate Tamil speakers.” My experience does not support this view. I’ve lived and worked in many parts of SriLanka, some predominantly Muslim and also in a Muslim firm in Colombo. My experience is that, many Muslims knew arabic or a related language and there were also many who did not speak Tamil, but instead spoke Sinhala. Muslims being predominantly traders, learnt any language that helped them to conduct their buisiness.
Also on the caste issue I do think its still an issue in the Northern province as today they are mainly Hindus and caste is practiced to the letter by orthodox Hindus. It was said that the separate state or Federal state idea was promoted originally by the “high” caste Hindus, so that they could maintain their lifestyle instead of succumbing to equal rights to all Tamils under the SL constitution. We know this is why many Dalits renounced Hinduism and embrased buddhism, especially in India. There is also a belief that the so called Dalits in Sri Lanka are really the sinhalese in the North who bacame a minority over the years, with the migration of sinhalese to more fertile lands in central and southern regions of SL.
January 28th, 2011 at 3:04 am
Are these people telling Buddhists dont have CASTE issues. Buddhist castes created the Asgiriya or Malwatte and other Nikayas. So, dont cry.
Jaffna Catholic bishops are always claim they are from HIGH Vellaala Caste. That is why they add PILLAI with their name.
How many Muslims talk Arabic? They are all TAMIL speakers. Go to a Muslim school and see the books or listen the language there! All the Muslims are not traders. Only a fraction of them are traders like Sinhalese and Tamils.
DALITS are Sinhalese? hahaha.. What else in the store against HINDUS?
Read the bride/groom column in any Colombo papers. Then you will know how the Sinhalese follow the caste system!
January 28th, 2011 at 4:11 am
Dear Readers,
We all must have one aim. Peacefull and wealthy life for all citizen from North to South. We must find
our enimies who live with us. When any one insist his personal,Family,Relations,cast, or Language
to achive political power, without considering the poor people and development of our Country are Dangerous for all
of us. TGET is a poison not only for Sri Lankan Tamils or Sri Lanka but also to the whole World. They have many faces. They never considered about difficulties of others or will never consider about Tamils or Singhalese.
TGET activities are only in high incoming Western Countries. Not in South India.
TGET is misguiding the poor South Indien Tamils through some paid workers like Seeman, Nedumaren, Vaikoo
and others for TGET propaganda in Western Countries. TGET(LTTE) investers (Mafia) have contacts with high Level peoples in India. TGTE enjoy the money from LTTE. The Money from lives & Blood of our Solders and innocent Sinhalese and Tamils.
We all must work together to defeat the mafia TGET and save Srilanka and the rest of the World.
January 28th, 2011 at 6:38 am
The term DALIT means that a certain group of people are destined for certain work with lowly status, forever. This means that they, their children for generations to come, will do the same “lowly” tasks assigned to them. There was no escape whilst living in that society. This system tied to the Hindu religion through the Laws of Manu has existed in India for over 3,000 yrs.
In Tamil Nadu, the ‘night soil carriers’ are all Tamil Dalits. Even today TN govt employs around 95,000 of them.
In regard to the various tasks assigned, here is a scholarly interpretation as to how Dalit is defined :
“In the context of traditional Hindu society, Dalit status has often been historically associated with occupations regarded as ritually impure, such as any involving leatherwork, butchering, or removal of rubbish, animal carcasses, and waste. Dalits work as manual labourers cleaning streets, latrines, and sewers. Engaging in these activities was considered to be polluting to the individual, and this pollution was considered contagious. As a result, Dalits were commonly segregated, and banned from full participation in Hindu social life. For example, they could not enter a temple nor a school, and were required to stay outside the village. Elaborate precautions were sometimes observed to prevent incidental contact between Dalits and other castes. Discrimination against Dalits still exists in rural areas in the private sphere, in everyday matters such as access to eating places, schools, temples and water sources. It has largely disappeared in urban areas and in the public sphere. Some Dalits have successfully integrated into urban Indian society, where caste origins are less obvious and less important in public life. In rural India, however, caste origins are more readily apparent and Dalits often remain excluded from local religious life, though some qualitative evidence suggests that its severity is fast diminishing.
In India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, Dalits have revolutionized politics and have elected a popular Dalit chief minister named Mayawati.
Dalits and similar groups are also found in Nepal and Bangladesh. In addition, the Burakumin of Japan, Al-Akhdam of Yemen, Baekjeong of Korea and Midgan of Somalia are similar in status to Dalits”.
By these definitions, there never were Dalits in Sri Lanka, Tamil or Sinhala. Even the Northern Sinhala people were servants or sort of slaves to the others of the North, not Dalits. There are NO Dalits in Sri Lanka. “Untouchability” was NEVER practiced in Sri Lanka.
In fact, in the 19th Century & early 20th Century, during the times of British & Dutch colonisation of Lanka, Tamil Dalits hundreds of thousands escaped from South India to Lanka to shed off their caste and for better economic conditions. It was believed that Crossing Sea Water in itself shed caste. If they returned to South India, caste was re-imposed on them. Therefore, they hardly ever returned, unless forced to do so. See book “Images of Sri Lanka through American Eyes” (Ed. H.A.I. Goonetilleke). This collection of essays written by foreigners in Sri Lanka is very revealing of the prevailing social structures here among the Tamil population during that period. To this day, Tamils of Dalit origin will escape from Tamil Nadu, given any chance to do so.
However, there are Tamil people of Dalit origin in Sri Lanka. But, Tamil people have embraced other religions, Buddhism, Christianity, Catholicism and Islam and escaped the Hindu ‘Dalit net’. But, the mental nuances imposed through centuries of mental conditioning remain. That is why it is important to introduce Meditation to our society in general to undo the damage done through centuries of negative mental conditioning. That seems to be the only safe way to remove negative mental conditioning. Or else the negative mental aspects in some people will keep on ending in perpetual war. While we can’t have a perfect society, at least we can mitigate some negative aspects.
That is why Sri Lanka has to be extra careful not to have Tamil enclaves in Lanka or allow illegal migrants in to Lanka. The strictest laws have to be imposed on Naturalisation & Immigration.
Another matter, tourist arrivals here have to be monitored carefully – do all these tourists return to their homelands ?
January 28th, 2011 at 7:55 am
Dear Franz Diaz,
Dalit are not in SriLanka. But there is Lowcast and Highcast system in Jaffna. This System is behind the
war between Srilankan forces and LTTE. Low cast system was founded under Type of work. Like Hair Cutters,
Fishermann, tree Claimbers etc. So called Highcast Tamils want to be leaders in Education, Economic ,
Administration and in Politics. After Independence of Sri Lanka situation was changed. You can see the families of
Tamil Politicians are from so called High Cast. without Political leadership and Places in Administration sector
they have no chance to keep cast system among Tamils.
Keep cast System is not possible under one Sri Lanka. Because they try to seperate the Land.
If they are interested in Tamil Community what about Estate Tamils who also speak Tamil Language?
So called High cast Tamil Powerwilling sector misused the Tamils in North and East .
Now most of the Tamil community understand their mistake and want peace with all community within Tamils and with Sinhales. TGTE misguide the Tamil community in Foreign Countries now . Young tamil generation
under the LTTE &TGTE Propaganda is try to keep Tamils away from SriLanka and the coutry where they live.
TGTE make Tamils Landless people in Overseas. But Organisers behind TGTE and LTTE are keeping investing their
money in Overseas.
January 28th, 2011 at 8:46 am
In my previous comments I should have said that some scholars believe the sinhalese who remained in the North to end up as a minority were eventually reduced to the level of untouchables and I should not have referred to them as Dalits. I agree that SOME sinhalese families whether Buddhist or Christian do consider caste when it comes to arranged marriages. However both buddhism and christianity discourage caste systems and ensures equal rights irrespective of caste, unlike in orthodox hinduism.
As for Muslims in Sri Lanka, according to the history of their origin, they are mainly SriLankan Moors of Arab descent and includes relatively smaller numbers of Indian Muslims and Malays. The Moors in the East coast use Tamil as their primary language and in the West coast use Sinhala and English. They are categorised as an ethnic group based on their common faith and not language, as they are multilingual and lack linguistic cohesion. They are not 100% Tamil speaking and have a choice on which language to use as their primary language.
Anyway why should we split hairs based on religion, language etc when the call of the hour is reconstruction of our multi-ethnic SriLanka and reconciliation between astranged communities during the three decades of LTTE mayhem.
January 28th, 2011 at 10:42 am
Sooriya:
Better go to a Muslim school anywhere in Sri lanka and ask them why they learn in Tamil. 99% of the Sri lankan Muslims came from Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Arab connection is there but not in Sri Lanka but in Kerala. Those people are known as MAPPILA Muslims. The same Mappilas arrived to Sri lanka as well. Tamil Nadu Muslims are converted Hindus. But the majority Muslims speak TAMIL.
Who told you that HINDUS dont discourage caste system? There is no orthodox Hinduism in Sri Lanka. Hindu priests were shot and killed by LTTE and no HINDU agitated anything.
Lorenzo:
You just vomitting the Catholic propaganda originated from Kerala. It is unfit to Sri Lankan society.
January 28th, 2011 at 10:49 am
sorry.. correct it as Fran Diaz.
Fran Diaz:
Can you tell why Sinhalese run from Sri lanka to Australia or USA or UK? Any DALIT problem in Sri Lanka or ecconomic problem? Even Rajapases and Fonsekas are with GREEN cards.
You try to fool the people by blaming HINDU religion instead of economic problems of a society.
January 28th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Agree with Thurai and Mudali that we need more economic development. That is the biggest problem.
Tamils of Jaffna, Batticaloa, Colombo and Nuwara Eliya are all DALITS. Non-Dalits in Tamil Nadu never leave their ancestoral homes no matter what. It is consifered a disgrace. Only the landless Dalits opted to leave Tamil Nadu.
Among Dalits they devised a strong caste system in SL. They could do it because real high caste people of Tamil Nadu was not in SL to boss them. The Brahmin caste in SL is much weaker than in Tamil Nadu.
There were non-Dalit Tamils in SL as long as the SInhalese were. They became Sinhalese. They had no problem integrating.
Its only the Dalit Tamils who cannot integrate and make up the Tamil population today.
e.g. GG Ponnambalam, SJV Chelvanayagam, A Amirthalingam, R Sampanthan
V Prabakaran was also a Dalit but with Kerala connections.
Muslims are now learning Sinhala at a very fast pace. In the east Muslims demand the government to teach their children Sinhala because learning Tamil has no future.
The important thing is not to create further divisions. We must understand the Dalit mentality and work hard to integrate them into the Sinhala community. Just what the non-Dalit Tamils in the past did.
January 28th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
OH OH OH
why are we talking about caste / dalit / race issues
wow wow wow
we are better than that
we need to go forward not backwards
There are so many many issues people need to work hard for
we need to help the poor man in South or west or North or east who want a better future want a future for their children
Tamils should love Srilanka and be patriotic
Sinhalese should work hard for peace and respect Tamils , their cultcure and embrace them
There is a great opportunity now What Tamils need today are great men like Lional fernando ( Former GA of jaffna) I was a child but remember in 80s the funeral for his mom in jaffna
There were black flags every where
show compassion , love , show you care not in words but in actions
I pray things will change
Tamils and Sinhalese should work hard towards that
January 28th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Thank you, Lorenzo, for writing down facts.
Mudali: You seem very offended with me for pointing out the truth. I am sorry, I did not mean to offend you. I am just looking for a lasting solution by defining the root causes of the Tamil problem. Please do not take offense. I was never a party to the Dalit problem, nor do I approve of the Caste system wherever it is found. I am merely pointing out facts. The solutions can be found only after the facts are presented. Otherwise, we will be very foolishly trying to just fiddle around the actual problem. I hope and pray that people of all ethnic & religious groups in Lanka become strong and happy. It is painful to watch Hindu people being converted for the wrong reasons.
Mudali: would you rather face the problem and let others face it too and solve it, or would you rather have the pain following us all for hundreds of years more ? We will be long gone, but the children of today will convert (the very thing you don’t want), just to get away from the emotional mess of it all and bring some peace into their lives.
For the same reasons of social inequity, I have pointed out that the ‘live in servant’ should become the ‘live out and come in for work’ person in our homes. The word ‘servant’ was done away in the West about one hundred years ago. That is one reason, among others, why the west was considered progressive in the eyes of those who are down trodden in their own land. Modern conveniences have to come to every Lankan home for emancipation of the ‘live in servant’.
I am practical enough to know these things will never happen overnight. But let’s all work towards it through the upgrading of the Economy & better Education. We seem to be stuck in the systems set up by the West – are we bold and courageous enough to set up our own systems for the happiness of all our people ?
January 29th, 2011 at 2:15 am
Dear Lorenzo,
Please care what Jimmy says. We must forget the caste / dalit / race issues.
We must consider ourself as SRILANKANS. There is cast systme in all Races. That was past. We must enter into a modern world. I say agian Cast system within the Tamil community is the recent for the seperate Tamileelam.
If any one love and respect people, he will never see Black or white, Tamil or Sinhalese or cast.
Only power thirsty and truthless peoples try to divide the community and cheat.
January 29th, 2011 at 6:45 am
Thurai,
Sure. Tamils of today must integrate into the Sinhala society as they did in the past and as they do in Canada, UK, USA, Australia, etc. These countries don’t tolerate any Tamil seperate existence. Any other BS will lead to eventual war.
January 29th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Lorenzo:
You are not telling any truth but spread false propaganda of your nasty criminal Church.
Lorenzo indirectly tells the Tamils must get converted as per his Catholic propaganda from Vatican through Kerala.
Is this idiot tell us Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe who was the last King of Sri lanka and came from Madurai, Tamil Nadu was too a DALIT?
Lorenzo represent the moronic Catholic criminal church and nothing to do with Sri Lanka or unity of the Sri lankans. He cries like a stoned dog after the failure of the Catholic Church in carving out Sri lanka with the LTTE.
Now the Parangiyas try to “define” who and who is who and who. What a joke? Those who became Catholics under Portugeuse are the DALITS and no others!
Catholic NAZIS think it is easy to wipeout Buddhism by converting Hindus to Catholic religion.
January 29th, 2011 at 9:10 pm
Time and again I have noted on this website, how it takes just one irrelevant response to derail a discussion and take it away from the actual topic of an article. So it has happened, very early in the piece, with this article as well.
From that point onwards much of the discussion has been on everything but the actual topic of the article. Only four sets of comments – out of a total of 23 have actually addressed the topic of the article. The rest has been a mini debate among the respondents, principally on the caste system among the Tamils and Sinhalese.
This is most disappointing. Readers should try to stick to the topic and be on their guard not to allow themselves to be side tracked. ‘Don’t treat the Transnational Government of Tamil Eeelam (TGTE) lightly’ the writer has counselled. And for the most part, the respondents to his article have seemingly paid scant regard to his plea.
Malin Abeyatunge has written about a serious subject and it warrants serious consideration.
One reason for the failure of the LTTE was its flawed leadership and the autocratic role of its ill educated leader. This new lot is different. Those behind the TGTE are mostly well educated, some of them are professionals, are well resourced and well organised. The LTTE was constrained in its efforts by operating outside the law. The TGTE is not similarly handicapped. It will stay within the law, and whereas Prabhakaran knew only the language of the gun, the TGTE will employ more subtle and smoother methods. The Tamil Diaspora are well entrenched in the societies where they live, they are active and articulate and have political clout. With many Western countries becoming multicultural, ethnic groups have acquired an influence often out of proportion to their numbers. In marginal seats, these groups can make all the difference between one party winning or losing an election and can therefore have quite a say.
We can be sure that the TGTE will engage the best possible legal counsel and seek support for their cause in international law. Let’s not forget how some were trying to find a precedent in the creation of Kosova, to support the case for a Tamil Homeland.
There is a lot that needs to be done. Among these, one very important thing is for Sri Lanka to improve its relations with the Western world. After all, where do most of the Tamil Diaspora live? Not in the Ukraine or China or Myanmar. They are scattered across Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and Western Europe. If Sri Lanka is to effectively counter the efforts of the TGTE it needs to have sympathetic and friendly ears in such places like London, Washington, Ottawa and Canberra.
As the writer points out, the threat from the TGTE is not to be taken lightly. The threat is real– very real, and rather than dissipating its energies on vague ‘perceived enemies’ the country should pay urgent attention to an ‘enemy’ who has openly shown its hand.