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By Dr.Rajasingham Narendran

Sri Lanka, the land in which I was born and grew-up retains a hold on me that only death can probably do apart. I am sure a majority of the Tamils share these feelings, although they have been forced to disperse around the globe by circumstances beyond their control. I have had the fortune to have lived in different parts of Sri Lanka and travel across her length and width. Opportunities to travel widely and study and work in foreign climes – in the west, orient and middle-east- have not tempted me to seek the citizenship of any other country. There is something about Sri Lanka that makes me comfortable and at ease when I am there. I have not found this comfort anywhere else, despite having had the best of facilities where ever I have lived. The sense of belonging that is associated with this feeling of comfort has not been diluted in any way, by the trauma I have suffered in Sri Lanka connected with the communal/ethnic conflict. I have been classified as an incorrigible fool for not migrating by many a friend! Time may yet prove that I am a fool!

The ease and joy with which I switch from almost exclusively speaking English to speaking Tamil or Sinhalese soon after landing at the Katunayake airport and the tendency to talk only Tamil and finding it very difficult to speak English while in Jaffna, have puzzled me over the years. I used to feel comfortable and relaxed laying my head on my mother’s or my maternal aunt’s lap at least for a few minutes well into my adulthood and feel an almost similar sense of ease and belonging every where in Sri Lanka, whether mingling with the ordinary Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims. The joy of speaking to the ordinary people in Sri Lanka in their simple lingo- whether Sinhalese or Tamil is something I enjoy to this day. The lilt in the Tamil spoken in Batticalao has always been music to my ears.

Subramanya Bharathy, the great Tamil poet, has summed up this affinity for one’s land in the following verses:

“Enthayum Thaayum Mahillndhu Khulaavi – Irrunthathum In Nadey;

Athan Munthayar Aayiram Aandhuhal Vaalnthu-Mudinthathum In Nadey;

Avar Sinthayil Aayiram Ennam Valarnthu-Sirrhanthathum In Nadey;

Ithai Vanthanai Khoori Manathil Iruthi-Vaayura Vaaltheno.—“ (Tamil)

“This is the land in which my mother and father lived, were happy and enjoyed each others company;

This is the land in which our ancestors lived thousands of years and died;

This is the land in which thousands of great thoughts blossomed in our ancestor’s minds;

I should worship these, remember these and praise these. —“(My translation)

The sense of belonging and attachment to land come from such thoughts and associations with the past, and life experiences- where one grew up, where one schooled, where one played, where one worshipped, etc.- and what these mean to a person. This sense of belonging and attachment cannot be ignored, easily destroyed or subordinated. The greater the pressures to do so, the greater would be the reactions to such pressures. Such actions and reactions under score many tragedies in human history. Sri Lanka is paying the price today for ignoring this reality and will continue to so, until sanity is restored to our ruling class and it is made accountable to the people.

I have bravely told my Tamil friends that what is special about Sri Lanka is that even after few days of a communal riot, in which the Tamils have experienced the worst at the hands of some elements among our Sinhala brethren; the ordinary Sinhalese feel comfortable dealing with the Tamils. They will be ready to address a Tamil with respect as ‘Mahathaya or Nona’ (The equivalent in Tamil will be ‘Aiyah and Amma’). Most Tamils feel rather fearful and awkward dealing with the Sinhalese even decades after major communal conflagrations and cannot figure out this aspect of the Sinhala psyche. The lack of deep seated and enduring animus against the Tamils amongst the majority of the Sinhala people should have been the basis on which to resolve the Sinhala-Tamil and majority-minority problems, if the Sinhala ruling class had wanted to reverse the damage done to the nation through their short sighted and self-seeking policies.

A majority of the Sinhalese, as a people, has not done any harm to the Tamils and do not bear any animosity towards them. A particular class of Sinhalese, a dominant but miniscule minority, has been the cause of all the mischief in Sri Lanka. The elements constituting this minority, who are easily identifiable in the political system, are holding the whole country including the Sinhala people in their vicious grip. They are corrupt to the core and have caused unfathomable damage to the country as a whole. The fault of the vast majority of the Sinhalese people, if any, lies in their lack of political maturity, awareness of their democratic rights and far sightedness. President Mahinda Rajapakse is presently providing the leadership for this predatory class and is treading a very dangerous path in a cavalier manner, assisted by his brothers to whom the extremely offensive word ‘Para Demala’ comes easy. This is despite the regular Rajapakse refrain that they have several Tamil ladies (of course also ‘Para Demalas’!) married into their clan. The outcome of the APRC process currently under way and due to conclude soon will clearly demonstrate the President’s bonafides and his ability to tame the rabble rousers he leads.

A majority among the Tamils on the other hand have been the direct victims of this mischief. To the average Tamil the oppressor- aggressor becomes identified as Sinhalese and all the Sinhalese get tarred with the same brush. The Tamils have ceased to interact with the Sinhalese as a people over the past several decades as a result of this alienation. Very few Tamils interact with the Sinhalese socially in their personal day-to- day lives. This estrangement has kept the vast majority of the Sinhalese in the dark about the pathetic plight of most Tamils and the devastation wrought in the north and east, in their name. The majority of the Sinhalese being innocent of any guilt and unaware of the sorry plight of the Tamils cannot understand the Tamil reactions, including the terrorism unleashed by a perverted Tamil militancy. The mischief makers on both sides of the political divide find these circumstances ideal to exploit and thrive on. This darkness of ignorance enveloping a majority of the Tamils and Sinhalese has provided the ideal cover for the power abusers, arch-schemers, bandits, thieves, buccaneers, extortionists, bribe and commission takers, blatant liars and murderers among the ruling class to carry out their evil deeds with impunity. Unfortunately, a very likeable, kind, generous, friendly and hospitable people –the Sinhalese, have been much maligned due to the dastardliness of a few and the lack of awareness among the many.

Historically, Tamil leaders have failed to reach out for the hearts and minds of the majority of the Sinhala people, and convince them of the injustice done to the Tamils in post-independent Sri Lanka, by elements amongst them. The Sinhala ruling class consisting of sections of the politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, media, police, armed forces, judiciary and Buddhist monks, have exploited these circumstances to create a permanent state of turmoil in the country, which has benefited them immensely at the expense of the ordinary people. The money invested in the project to degrade the Tamils and make them a subordinate people over the decades could have made Sri Lanka, a paradise for all her people! This Sinhala ruling class, when convenient has even joined hands with elements of the Tamil political class including an organization such as the LTTE to keep the pot boiling. The agreement reached between Mahinda Rajapakse and Prabaharan, and the vast sums of money paid to the LTTE, to prevent the Tamils voting in the last presidential election is the most sinister example of this criminal collaboration.

It will be obvious to any one who has lived amongst the Sinhalese and Tamils that the latter are more introverted, conservative, defensive and clannish compared to the Sinhalese. The Sinhalese on the other hand are extroverted, aggressive, radical and progressive. The Tamil behaviour is in response to events of the distant and recent past. The introduction of Buddhism and development of the Sinhala language, and their rapid advance through conversions, assimilation and absorption over most parts of the Island over centuries, had forced the ‘Hindu Tamils’ yet loyal to their language, religion and culture to retreat into enclaves and erect their defenses against further intrusions. The events of recent years have forced the Tamils to also come out fighting to defend their ramparts. Most Tamils who have known no other place in Sri Lanka, other than their villages and towns in the north and east, have a sense of belonging to only these areas and not the larger Sri Lanka. The post-independence crusade against the Tamils has reinforced this parochial outlook. Even in the days of the so-called

‘Money Order’ economy, Tamil men who ventured into the South rarely brought their families with them. Their family and social life was rooted in the north and east, and the men were in the south to only earn. The Tamil Diaspora to a very large extent represents this outlook. Despite being scattered around the globe, they yet view the north and east of Sri Lanka as their land, to which they have a deep attachment. Sri Lankan Tamils have also been in the fore-front in contrast to Tamils from India, in establishing symbols of their culture- temples, restaurants, schools, television and radio stations, newspapers, web sites etc., in the countries where they have been forced seek domicile. The average Sri Lankan Tamil is not only strongly bonded to his ancestral land, but also bonded to his ethno-cultural identity.

The progressiveness of the Sinhalese has been demonstrated by their willingness to adopt and adapt several cultural practices that are clearly of Tamil origin. The Tamils on the other hand have refused to accept even what is good among the Sinhalese, in their day to day lives. My maternal grand mother who was the first in my family to migrate to Colombo from Jaffna in the early 1900s had told me that ‘Low Country’ Sinhala ladies were not wearing the sari at that time , but were attired in the ‘Cloth and Jacket’ varying in sophistication in accordance with their social status. The sari was adopted very quickly as standard attire by most Sinhalese ladies. Similarly, Bharatha Natyam, which was pioneered by Padmini Dahanayake among the Sinhalese in the 1950s and performed to Tamil music (Nattuvangam) is being widely learnt and performed by Sinhalese to Sinhala music. I notice the black ‘Pottu’ placed on the foreheads of Tamil babies- a practice to ward off the effects of evil eye amongst the Tamils- appearing with increasing frequency on the foreheads of Sinhala babies. Sinhala- Buddhists are visiting Hindu temples in larger numbers, although they worship in a manner different to that of the Tamils. Sinhala-Buddhist politicians have no hesitation in visiting Hindu temples in India and seeking the blessings of Hindu religious figures. ‘Thosai and Vadai’ have become a part of the Sinhala diet. In a decade are two, I am sure most Sinhalese will look askance if told that these were cultural practices originally of the Tamils.

However, in contrast, the Tamils have not similarly taken to anything specifically identified as Sinhala, including their food. It will be hardly surprising to find a Tamil worshipping at a Buddhist Vihara (This despite Lord Buddha being accepted as a saint by Tamil-Hindus) or learning Kandyan dancing. My grand mother had also told me that those Tamils who had ‘Migrated’ from the north to the south were considered to have demeaned themselves and were disparagingly referred to as ‘Paan Thinniyal (Bread eaters)’ by their contemporaries in the north! In the immediate post-independence years the Tamils began to move into the south in larger numbers seeking education and employment opportunities. They had just begun to think of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) as their country! Unfortunately, they were proven wrong by the sinister machinations of the Sinhala ruling class. The heavy Tamil presence in Colombo and some other southern towns at present is only the result of the unlivable conditions in the north and east and not a whole hearted and desired choice.

Several Sinhalese intellectuals, who also happen to be rational human beings, are now acknowledging a Tamil presence in the island as long as, if not, longer than the Sinhalese. Common origins and heavy intermingling have been recognized as very likely historical realities. Tamils and Sinhalese are distant cousins, if not siblings. Sri Lanka is our home and our land, even though we may have preferred areas of residence. We have, along with the Muslims and other minority groups inherited this bountiful and beautiful land, as our common heritage. Let us at least accept these basic realities and learn to live with each other, respecting each others right to existence, livelihood, opportunities, identity, land and share of political power. If all of us do well, our country will do well. Together, we can make Sri Lanka, a heaven on earth and hound those who have betrayed us from their positions of power. It is for us to decide whether Sri Lanka is to continue as a blighted land or one that is blessed, as she deserves to be. The Sinhala people have to make their choice ‘FIRST’ as the majority community, between what Sri Lanka is to be- a blessed or blighted nation. The ball is in their court at this point in our history.