R Chandrasoma

It is a widespread belief entrenched both among political leaders and civil analysts that that the insurrectionist instincts in the North are matched by equally obnoxious attitudes of racial exclusiveness in the South. Indeed, it is openly stated by the Southern Political Leadership – that includes such luminaries as Ranil Wickramasinghe and Chandrika Kumaranatunga – that violence and confrontational politics in the North will not abate until and unless the Sinhala Majority abandon their claim to autochthonal status – that they have rights and privileges in virtue of the historical fact they not only the original inhabitants of the Nation-State of Sri Lanka but also the creators of a culture and a civilization that made this land unique among the ancient nations of the world. The Tamils made episodic forays into ancient Sri Lanka and were either assimilated or driven out – the advent of the White Colonialist made the invading Tamils a parasitic presence that has distorted the true ethnic composition of Sri Lanka – the Land of the Sinhala People.

Let us re-examine the ‘symmetry issue’ in the light of of this indubitable historical record. Surely the Sinhala People have claims and privileges that cannot be matched by those  who arrived later as cultural intruders – the claim of symmetry in the political expression of the right to life can be granted, but the culture and character of this Island Nation cannot be ‘divided’ or ‘balanced’ on the basis of the numerical strength. militancy or political clout of intemperate minorities. Indeed, the latter is the sure way to reduce this historic nation to global insignificance, That some of our political leaders and learned analysts of the ‘Sinhala Kalu-Suddha’ kind are ‘batting’ for the Principle of Political Equivalence should not occasion surprise as our insular status and the battering we have received from invading aliens have made our leaders better at finding fault  than in cherishing our uniqueness.

It is in the light of these historical facts that we must make sense of the current fears about the possible  rise to power of a powerful leader such as Gotabaya R  in Sri Lanka. The fear is atavistic rather than political – the fear that the Sinhala Nation will be proud again after the recent abnegation and shameful humbling before an international caucus determined to reduce to insignificance one of the oldest civilizations in the World.