You are a nice guy & a sane chap to talk to. There are a lot of you out there but you will never talk, just like me.

There are these racist/facists elements in both our societies who have always been at the forefront of our politics. Unfortunately it is them who have been shaping our politics for years & sane voices are looked at mockingly. Words like “Peace”, “Ahimsa” etc are not in fashion – are replaced by “kill”, “destroy”. Even religious leaders have become part of this “fashion” cult. Both sides blame the other for the problems & speak to their respective communities saying that they will put this right & justifiy the use of violence. The propaganda machinery is used to show that they have progressed well & without them none of us couldn’t have come this far.

Today we see that we have come far alright but in another direction. We just moved from the best governed state in the commonwealth with tremendous potential to something not far from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We still call our selves as “proud Sri Lankans”.

There’s a feeling of hopelessness now among the moderates. Even other minorities & westerners are saying “Will you two grow up please”. We have been waiting for a solution for so long now – but when will this problem put behind us…….

Tamil as an official since 1988 eh; Are you serious of what you’re saying? Btw did you read what Mano Ganesan had to say about this. It’s a recent post of Tamilweek. I hope he’s not in your list of proscribed persons/ organization.

As for your 50-50… what about it? Where are we today?

And please let’s not dilute the topic by stating that you studied in a Tamil school & I studied in a madrasa. These individuality stuff doesn’t solve the problem though you may think of masking it.

To solve this problem it’s Sri Lankan leaders who have to first and foremost forget their ethnic identities & look at Sri Lanka in the broader sense.

As George Bernard Shaw once put it “You’ll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race”.

Whilst you and I diffuse the situ by asking “What we need to do to the country instead of what the country could do to you”

I hope none of the people you know got hurt in yesterday’s brutal bomb. It’s a shame that things like this happen in our land. More these things happen (which also includes those terrible air strikes, disappearances, etc) the more polarized our societies become: moderate views give way to extremist thoughts leaving you & I to fight each other at an “extremist website”. If we cling to these views further would end up enlisting to do battle at the front.

Knowing the insecurity amongst the majority, I might have sounded offensive in my previous post by bringing in the Tamil Nadu factor. But my friend TN, as we all know, offered safe heaven to the Tamil youth who took to militancy. We never thought that India would involve itself in Sri Lanka in ‘87: but it happened.

Post Rajiv Gandhi India/ TN are beginning to change. While India is becoming a world power, TN is a major contributor towards India’s growth. And the Centre would not want its growth to be curtailed in anyway. The views expressed by almost all TN leaders have changed in recent times: Negotiated settlement is what they all are saying. If the situ in Ceylon is not properly managed and allowed to run riot, the Centre’s “hands off” approach would change to something radical. Karunanidhi has gone on record saying that Tamils in Ceylon should unite to fight the common enemy & that independence movements have been successful in other places. This kind of statements would have meant Hara Kiri or political suicide not so long ago. But then things have changed: there’s this new sense of boldness. We need to watch for what’s happening that could have a bearing on the future of this country.

As for your views on the “56 “Sinhala Only”, I don’t know how to talk to someone like you. If you think that British Injustice to the Sinhala masses could be offset by an act which robs the Tamil of his rights, then I think either you are indifferent to the Tamil’s problem or you are, excuse my French, simply dumb!

The colonization programs in the North & East, every piece of legislation passed to the detriment of Ceylon Tamils, marginalisation in Uni’s/ jobs, the frequent riots that took place & the letting down received though the constant abrogation of pacts (B-C, D-C..) in a “democratic setup” would mean a loss of faith of the Tamil democratic leader in his constituency. The movement for change using violence is justified & the democratic voices begin to fade: moderate politicians who try to talk (again! are looked at as colluding with the enemy). This is the recent political history of Ceylon Tamils. The same is true for the Sinhalese. The rural Sinhala youth took to violence when they sensed that the bourgeois in the Cities were little or not interested in solving their pressing problems. Doesn’t the Sinhala youth have leanings towards the JVP.

The methods used by the tigers are gruesome & hence should be very harshly condemned. But the rationale of Tamil militancy is very real. As long as Tamils are treated by their countrymen like rags (from checkpoints to government departments to public spaces) & denied their equal right to existence, peace in paradise cannot be guaranteed. The Sinhala people said no to the bargain at the elections & now we have this fellow (whose brother-1 addresses Tamils as pariahs & brother-2 tries to cleanse the south of Tamils) who thinks that bombing his country would solve his problems in office. What a pity! Take it away Sinhalese brother..

For the people who don’t heed, I think the only way to solve this problem is to prolong it for some time… lose many lives… go bankrupt… UN moves in… demilitarize… establish UN protectorates.. call in a referandum & award federal or statehood (Either call it south tamil nadu….) why I say it?

A thing to remember is that TN is fast becoming the most properous state in India. It’s the 2nd most industrialised state in India & is starting to exert more pressure on Delhi.

The Indian tamils don’t like the way the tamils are treated in Sri Lanka despite the LTTE’s intransigence. It should be warned that time is not far when TN would be able to twist delhi’s arm to force a solution for the Tamil’s problem.

By then I wonder who would feel the effects of 1956’s “Sinhala Only”.

When you did research on the negombo fisherman & found out about european ancestry, did you see/ read on the malabar coast.

The people of kerala have fair/ clear complexion. Them were the people who were exposed heavily to western/ arab influence. They have more foreign blood than any of the other major south Indian states.

Read the following case in points:

The food like Hoppers/ string hoppers/ pittu – malabar origins

The kolikuttu (banana) originates from Kozhikode (or Calicut); Tamils call it Kappal vazhaippazham (banana’s from the ship)

Vasco da Gama reached calicut – it was subsequently that the portuguese reached our shores.

Islamic schools prevalent in Kerala is Shaafi (Whilst the rest of India it is hanafi – attributed to the overland movement of the islamic empires)

The jews who escaped persecution in the middleEast arrived in Kerala: Cochin jews & Kerala Jews. Many migrated to Israel after its creation.

The Nasrani Christians (from Palestine/ Syria): who trace their origins to the jewish christians (or the early christians) who escaped persecution by sailing to Kerala.

I don’t know Dushy whether I am right here, but human development index of both Sri lanka & Kerala is very similar. Unfortunate side is we & kerala have this similarity in our people (both of us are laid back) & hence it’s reflected in our politics & economy. As a result we both send hordes of people to the gulf