“Will Tamil Kudumbimalai be Turned into Sinhala Thoppigala Soon”?
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
It is a rocky mountain with a stony peak and a kind of mini – peak on top! Such an appearance from afar lends itself to differently imagined perceptions.
To the English authorities it looked like aristocratic head gear. So it was Baron’s cap; to the Tamils it was like a tuft of bound hair on one’s head. So it was Kudumbimalai; to the Muslims it was like a hat on one’s head. So they called it Thoppikkal; the Sinhalese also perceived it like the Muslims. So they called it Thoppigala.
I saw it for the first time in 1977 when I was travelling in a vehicle with the late Sam Thambimuthu along a dirt track to Vadamunai.. Sam was a leading lawyer and stalwart of the Federal party and later the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF)in B’caloa. Sam was legal secretary of the TULF then He was married to Kala, daughter of former FP senator Manickam. Sam was later to become EPRLF Parliamentarian for Batticaloa in 1989. Both he and his wife were killed by the LTTE in 1990 as they came out of the Canadian High Commission in Colombo.
A large number of Plantation Tamils had moved to the East after being uprooted from the Up – Country by land reform and communal violence. Various Batticaloa organizations were running rehabilitation and re- settlement reports. I was working as the “Virakesari” staff correspondent for B’caloa then. I used to accompany people like Sam Thambimuthu or Dr. Rajan Chellaiah on trips to these projects in places like Panichankerny, Aayithiyamalai, Karadiyanaaru. Marappaalam, Periyapullumalai etc. It was on such a trip that I saw Baron’s cap.
[Kudumbimalai /Thoppigala - Barons Cap: Pic: Daily News.lk]
The region surrounding Kudumbimalai/Thoppigala was populated sparsely. There were Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese. There were age old settlements called puranagama or puranakamam there. Most of them were centered around natural lakes called “villus”.
These are depressions in the land filled by rain water. Some of the ancient villages were Kallichenai, Oothuchenai, Meerandavillu,Keeraniavillu, Kathavanai, Maha – Eliya etc. I think Kallichenai , Oothuchenai and Meerandavillu were Muslim villages while Maha – Eliya was Sinhala. The others were Tamil.
The different communities were living in great harmony. There was much inter – marriage between Sinhala and Tamil communities. Both communities spoke each others language to some extent.Some Tamil and Sinhalese women married Muslims and converted to Islam but would wear their traditional clothes and jewellery and also maintain links with their kith and kin. Many of the farmers belonged to the dying breed of chena cultivators.
There was a lot of dairy farming in the region. Large herds of cattle would graze in the plains and grassy highlands. They were owned by absentee livestock owners both Muslims and Tamils. Their henchmen lived in the area as eastern “cowboys”.
The Vadamunai scheme was comparatively new. It was first started for Tamils driven away from the Gal Oya Valley in 1956 and 1958. Later Plantation Tamils uprooted in the seventies during Hector Kobbekaduwe’s land reform also came here. In 1977 more Plantation Tamils affected by the August violence were settled here. My trip to Vadamunai with Sam was to see such a settlement coordinated by a dedicated B’caloa youth called “Bobby”.
All these memories are revived as the area is now in the news. Sadly the mountain and region is not having publicity due to its natural diversity or ethnic harmony but because of its so – called strategic importance in military terms. Even as the ethnic escalation escalated this little – known area in the remote Eastern province has acquired an importance exceeding that of its actual relevance.
The Britiish being our colonial masters then the mountain was officially Baron’s Cap even after Independence. Official records would refer to it as Baron’s cap and some as “gap”. But to the people of the area it was Thoppigala, Kudumbimalai or Thoppikkal. There was a large forest around the mountain that was officially declared as a forest reserve. I think the total area was around 350 – 400 sq Kilometres. Almost adjoining it was the Undugala forest reserve.
These areas are called the Kudumbimalai /Thoppigala region. The region was roughly a triangle with Vadamunai, Barons cap and Tharavaikulam being the three outlying points. To the West is the Maduru – Oya basin catchment area;To the South and East is the Maha – Oya – Chenkalladdy road; to the North is the Polonnaruwa road; Further to the North west is Vaahaneri tank.
The Vadamunai – Kudumbimalai – Tharavai region evolved in recent years as a stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This happened in the late eighties and nineties when Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan alias “Col” Karuna was Eastern regional commander of the LTTE.
Among structures set up here was “Meenagam” the military headquarters base’ The political headquarters “Thenagam” was in Karadiyanaaru. Tharavai was the cemetery for tigers fallen in the battlefield. They are known as “Maaveerar thuyilum illam” or “abode of rest for great heroes”..
The region’s remoteness made it virtually inaccessible. With its forests, fields,plains, waterholes, hills and rocks the region provided much cover. Though a number of structures were set up here the LTTE has at no time in the past under Karuna adopted positional warfare to retain territory. During Karuna’s time the tigers always melted away into the forests if and when the security forces invaded. This was the situation when the Indian army entered the region too.
The guerillas never fought back like a conventional army to retain the region under Karuna. They simply fled and returned after the enemy went away. Neither the Indian nor Sri Lankan army remained for long in the region. They did not set up permanent bases but returned to nearby positions.
Interestingly Karuna did not try to hold on to this region even when the split occurred in the LTTE. Everyone expected Karuna to fall back to Kudumbimalai and fight a last ditch stand after the defeats in Verugal – Kathiraveli – Vaakarai at the hands of the mainstream LTTE in April 2004. But he did not.
Even more interesting was the fact that the mainstream LTTE too did not try to maintain a large, permanent presence in the region after the Karuna revolt. For reasons best known to them the tigers shut down the “Meenagam” base and dismantled structures.
Some of the construction material and furniture were given to Tamil peasant families as charity. The LTTE also stopped burials at Tharavai and began using Thandiaddy near Kokkaticholai as their burial grounds. All this shows that the LTTE had been gradually downsizing their reliance on the region.
It was in recent times that the LTTE began to utilise the region more. Once the LTTE began withdrawing from Trincomalee South and then Vaakarai region and then the Paduvaankarai region the bulk of the cadres began re- locating to the Northern mainland of the Wanni. The remaining cadres began moving into the Vadamunai – Kudumbimalai – Tharavai region. There were reasons for this.
One was that recent developments had revived the importance of the “Beirut trail” again. The “Beirut trail” is a loose term refering to adhoc jungle routes followed by cadres travelling to and from the North.
Let it be remembered that there was a time when the LTTE did not control extensive swathes of territory. The LTTE also did not have a well – developed sea tigers wing in the not so distant past.
It was not possible for tiger boats to ferry eastern tigers to the north and vice versa easily. So much of the North – East movement was on foot.
The tigrs used to travel through jungle routes. The journey commenced from the Kudumbimalai jungles to Vaahaneri. Travelling northwards the Veruhal river was crossed. Then they moved through jungles near Kiliveddy, Maavilaaru, Serunuwara, Kinniya , Kadavanaikulam, etc into the Manalaaru /Weli ya region and further towards North. It was an ardous and difficult journey but the tigers used the “Beirut trail” frequently.
As time progressed and the LTTE acquired much sea power and also expanded territorial control the Bbeirut trail” went out of mode. Tigers would get into boats at Vaakarai or Paalsenai or Verugal or Ilakkanthai and land at Mullaitheevu via the sea. Likewise tigers from the North would travel to east also by sea.
But in recent times the LTTE has lost control of the Eastern coast right down to Panichankerny in Batticaloa from Sampoor in Trincomalee. With sea movement becoming restricted the land route of “Beirut trail” was re – activated again. This enhanced the importance of the Kudumbimalai region.
Another reason for the region’s recent importance was the fact that it offers the best possible “cover” for classic gueriila warfare. The Vadamunai – Kudumbimalai – Tharavai region provides natural cover to a great extent. It is possible for small groups of guerillas to move about in the region and conduct occasional forays.
It appears that the LTTE is now transforming itself in the East from positional warfare to gueriila tactics. The LTTE sent its last major batch of guerillas fom the East to North some weeks ago. More than 300 cadres went back with Col. Ramesh.The LTTE also managed to transport most of its military assets too .
Still more than 200 cadres are still left in the region.Ram, Nagesh, Pallavan, Keerthi, Mano master etc are all in the region with small groups of gueriilas. All of them are eastern sons of the soil.
Col. Jeyam a northerner is also in the region. He commands an elite group of special commandos.
The LTTE has also sent most of its new recruits and conscripts back. Married cadres have also been sent back. Most of the women cadrs have gone to the Wanni.
[A Tamil Tiger fighter at a training camp in an undisclosed location deep in Tiger controlled territory, northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, July 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) Yahoo! News]
Reports indicate that the LTTE did not resist military advances fiercely in recent times. They allowed the army to advance and then launched counter attacks. After some time the LTTE suddenly withdrew to positions west of Baron’s cap. Thus the field was clear for the security forces to move forward and raise the flag of conquest.
What is important to note is that the region is not bereft of tigers. Another point is that the LTTE has managed to withdraw in large numbers using the virtually extinct “Beirut trail”. Furthermore the territory is extremely porous and cannot be sealed off. So future exfiltration and infiltration of LTTE cadres cannot be prevented.
Against this backdrop the region does not require a strong, permanent military presence to control it. Such control is not possible. The cost – effective method is to “dominate” the region by conducting frequent patrols, search operations and limited ground offensives.
This is why the Indian Army never established a permanent presence. This is why generals like Lucky Algama or Janaka Perera also refrained from doing so while in the East.
Despite Janaka Perera’s “controversial” record in certain spheres there is no denying that he was the most “intellectual” of Sri Lanka’s top soldiers. As for Algama he proved himself by clearing the East successfully in mid – nineties to conduct safe polls.
It is in this context that the strategic importance of the Kudumbimalai/Thoppigala region is being questioned publicly. Retired Indian general Ashok Metha did so. Military intelligence (retd) Chief Col .Hariharan has done so. Several UNP leaders have done so. All of them are being severely criticised by Govt circles.
The Indian army is being ridiculed as being incapable of capturing Kudumbimalai whereas the Sri Lankan forces are capable. Schoolchildren are being “educated” that the battle for “Thoppigala” was the mother of all battles and the victory at Thoppigala is the single greatest achievement of the armed forces after Dutu Gemunu.
Speaking of Dutu Gemunu his armies marched through this region to engage Elara at Anuradhapura. Several Tamil feudal chiefs from the East joined Dutu Gemunu’s army with their men. Though the “Ellaalan – Thuttakaimunu” battle is depicted as a battle between Sinhala and Tamil races it was not so in actuality.
It was more a power struggle between a young Sinhala Prince and an old Tamil monarch. The armies of both had members from both ethnic groups. History is being repeated now as the eastern Tamil warlords like Karuna, Pillaiyan, Iniyabharaty and Mangalan master etc team up with a Sinhala President to defeat LTTE’s Tamil national leader.
The current victory in Kudumbimalai./ Thoppigala is not to be underestimated. It cannot be pooh – poohed as insignificant. At the same time it cannot be overblown , disproportionately as a great victory either. Also the strategic importance of the region cannot be exaggerated out of proportion simply to project an impression that a magnificient victory has been achieved.
[President Mahinda Rajapakse]
The plans afoot to have a big”tamasha” to celebrate the victory is done with ulterior political motives. An undisguised attempt is being made to create a larger than life, latter day “Dutu Gemunu” image for Mahendra Percival Rajapakse. To what extent these cheap manouevres would succeed remains to be seen. Also one effective counter strike by the LTTE could deflate this overblown “gas” balloon.
There could however be a hidden agenda in the Rajapakse regime’s unseemly interest in consolidating a greater hold on the Kudumbimalai/Thoppigala region. If it was merely from a military angle then a permanent presence is unnecessary. But there could be other reasons.
One pecuniary reason could be the vast timber resources available. It is very possible to chop trees and transport timber from the region using the security force apparatus. Even suggesting such a thing would have been treated as blasphemy in the old days. It’s not so nowadays.
In a land where top security people are “suspected” of running an abduction for ransom racket these things are feasible. Anything is possible in a Country where money was allegedly paid to one’s chief enemy to ensure electoral victory.
The other motive could be dangerously counter – productive in political terms. It has been a fervent dream of certain Sinhala chauvinists to colonise Tamil and Muslim areas with Sinhala settlers. This dream is now becoming a reality under the Rajapakse regime. Recent events in Tribcomalee and Pottuvil denote this growing trend.
Given recent history it is quite probable that a permanent. strong military presence is being set up to facilitate Sinhala colonisation of the Kudumbimalai region. The possibility is not far – fetched in view of what happened more than 20 years ago.
It was in 1983 that the Ven. Kithalagama Seelankara Thero (Dimbulagala thero) organized an illegal, “Colonisation” attempt in the region. The controversial Bikku was implementing a plan devised by people like Gamini Dissanayake, NGP Panditharatne and Herman Malinga Gunaratne.
Around 40,000 Sinhala settlers were taken in Mahaveli Authority vehicles and dropped in the Vadamunai- Kudumbimalai – Tharavaikulam jungles. Finances were provided by the Mahaweli development ministry and Sinhala businessmen.
Armed security was provided by ex – navy personnel. Most of them had been “fired” from the navy for engaging in communal violence against innocent Tamils in Trincomalee during July 1983.
In fairness to President JR Jayewardene he was in the dark about this sordid exercise. When an international outcry led by India and Canada ensued a beleaguered Jayewardene was frantic.
Besides the gentle Tamil Minister KW Devanayagam was uncharacteristically tough on this issue and pressured JR strongly.. The “occupied” lands came under Kalkudah his electorate.
When questioned Dissanayake underplayed the issue saying only around 5,000 settlers had converged on their own volition. Jayewardene sent his trusted nephew Ranil Wickremasinghe by helicopter to ascertain the truth.
Ranil reported back truthfully that 40,000 persons aided by Mahaweli personnel were squatting illegally. This led to a major showdown in cabinet between Wickremasinghe and Dissanayake.
Both Panditaratne and Dissanayake declined to dismantle the project. So JR appointed Kaduwela MP and lawyer Paul Perera as Polonnaruwa district minister and deputed him to handle the issue.
Perera with the assistance of some ex – army officers adopted “unofficial” rough tactics to drive away the illegal squatters. Thus ended that drama.
But now those plans could be revived. What was an adhoc, unofficial attempt then could become a well – planned official exercise under the Rajapakse regime.
The new “Naginahira Navodhaya” scheme for Eastern resurgence could have a few such projects on the agenda. For successful settlement a strong military presemce is essential.
A similiar exercise as done in the Manal aaru/Weli – Oya region could be undertaken in the Kudumbimalai – Thoppigala region.
When the battle for Sampoor commenced this columnist warned of plans to set up a High security zone in Sampoor and Moothoor East. I predicted that the dispersed people would not be allowed to go back to their residences. This has now become a harsh reality.
Likewise the Rajapakse regime could go ahead with such plans for Kudumbimalai unless checked now. If no action is taken by interested parties despite advanced watnings then a re – play of Sampoor is very likely.
If that happens the region South of Trincomalee district could become a “buffer” as in the case of the region north of the same district. Lands in Mullaitheevu, Vavuniya and Trincomalee districts were appropriated and a new region created to interdict Northern and Eastern territorial contiguity. The Tamil inhabitants were driven away in a flagrant exercise of ethnic cleansing.
There “Tamil” Manal aaru became “Sinhala” Weli – Oya. Here”Tamil” Kudumbimalai could become “Sinhala” Thoppigala. The signs are already there. The media are full of references to “Thoppigala”only. The Tamil name “Kudumbimalai” is nowhere to be seen!
DBS Jeyaraj can be contacted on: djeyaraj@federalidea.com
ravi said,
July 14, 2007 @ 11:00 am
நேற்றைய வார்த்தைகள் இன்றைய செயல்கள்
இன்றைய செயல்கள் நாளைய மனப்பான்மைகள்
இன்றய மனப்பான்மைகள் நாளைய குணங்கள்
இன்றய குணங்கள் நாளைய விதி!
Siri said,
July 14, 2007 @ 1:50 am
Is Kudumbimalai transforming into Thopigala because of ltte or will this happen even without the ltte fighting for eelam or any such cause?
please elaborate on this.
R.G said,
July 14, 2007 @ 2:02 am
Oh Mr.Jeyraj
You got this one spot on. Fair, analytical and informative blog.
I visit your site twice daily and the reason is to see such articles that balances current and future of the conflict and the region.
“sinhala colonisation” – One key component of Tamil uprising, if replayed in the east, then, the world got no answers for Tamil Rights and Self Determination. This only shows that, the Co-Chairs, India and the whole world gives no two hoots about Tamil Grievances. They wish the Tamil Quest for Freedom quelled by Armed Might.
subs said,
July 14, 2007 @ 2:16 am
Mr D.B.S
I am agreat fan of yours. Having said that…
The more I read your articles, the more I get confused. In a nutshell, tell me whether LTTE can find solution for tamil people? Are they an asset or a liability to tamil people? What other options we have which we can exercise to find a lasting peace?
I would very much appreciate if you could write an ariticle on these lines so that your wisdom can be shared with people like me who just read all the stuff and get confused.
leo said,
July 14, 2007 @ 4:44 am
There is just one thing which i do not understand. If tamils living in wellawatta is acceptable what is wrong in sinhalese or muslims living in the east??
thamilachi21 said,
July 14, 2007 @ 5:28 am
testing ,, testing 123 testing ,,,,,testing,,,,,
DBS Anna , roger that??
i see there is 3 purpose for the invasion of kudumpimalai.
1) colonization (always been the case)
2) to strengthen MR’s political career.
(one effective counter strike by the LTTE could deflate this overblown “gas” balloon.) agreed
3)to see what the tigers have built inside the area they controlled . the invasion might help the army to figure out what it would be like in Vanni.
Alex said,
July 14, 2007 @ 7:31 am
Kuddummpi-Mallai victory is not a victory, only it’s a victory for the politician Mahinda Rajapakshe.
If any Sinhalese politician wants a real victory they have to win the HEARTS OF TAMILS.
Kuddummpi-Mallai was an important success for the military, but keeping it would not be easy from a guerrilla group.
And it’s not a severe blow to LTTE terrorism; it’s a blow only to the UNP.
What is the use `capturing bare land & jungle.
May be Kuddummpi-Mallai was the LTTEs main Eastern Headquarters, but how many of LTTE cadres killed or captured by the GOSL military there?
What the percentage of LTTE weapons the GOSL military recovered?..few guns!
In chandrika’s government with Anuratvathai’s leadership GOSL military captured the Jaffna peninsula, what happening there?
Srilanka is a sovereign country & Mahainda Rajapaksha is a president for all citizens of Srilanka. In this what is the definition of capturing the own land?
Then what about the election deal, millions of rupees?
All like Premadasa deal?
DEAL ! OR NODEAL !
janthu said,
July 14, 2007 @ 9:26 am
This is very biases statement, and for a Tamil people are not discriminated as such they can go and live in any part of the Sri Lanka, that option is not open to Sinhala or Muslim. LTTE terrorist do the ethic clearing in all east and north, from Jaffna 90000 Muslims were removed and only 48 hr were granted and they are allowed carry only limited belongings, No body is cry about that. at present more than 50% of the people who used to live in North and east are living in other part of the country free. Is the Singhalese claim that Tamils are coming to our area and try to invade in Kandy or other cities? Why only the Tamil cry about, Simply they dont accept Singhalese have right to live in any place they like, thats the problem.
priyantha said,
July 14, 2007 @ 9:33 am
i have seen that always sl army mention the name kudumbimallkai on situation report and also in other newsapers
thanks
Mohanadas said,
July 14, 2007 @ 9:37 am
A political analyst said that the problem in Sri Lanka is not racism but Neo-Nazism.
Adolf Hitler captured countries because he had his greed satisfied. Finally he lost the countries and his country also to be shamed in the International community.
Sinhalising Tamil names and settling down the Sinhalese to outnumber the others in Tamil areas is the Neo Nazism. Changing names had always been the first step to outnumber Tamils. According to the UN charter it is outright genocide.
Aryan Lanka said,
July 14, 2007 @ 10:40 am
Colonization is good. Its one way to keep the LTTE in check. The optimal solution would be to send the Tamils back to India. These days thats hard. So one is forced to adopt more subtle means, such as colonization. The demographic implications may become meaningful only after a few decades, but its worth the effort.
Susith Ruwanpura said,
July 14, 2007 @ 10:45 am
If you could tour Eastern and Nothern Sri Lanka, you will see that these are the historic settlement of Buddihist, who are mostly Sinhalese. Ever since invasions from European countries, the people came to south and Tamils started migrating to Nothern part from India. The Tamil land concept is simply (I don’t want to use the word here)
Go to Thoppiglala area and have a look at all ruins (now destroyed by tigers who does not have a rule – like Thalaiban did to Bamian )that has tremendous value.
Dushan said,
July 14, 2007 @ 7:12 pm
You people only want tamil , tamil and only tamil.
did you forget that sri lanka is not a tamil pee hole ?
when you write bull crap try to write proper bull crap.
we rightfully call this our country as we fought with our blood and sweat against colonial assholes while you people were used to subjudicate and rule us.
you people who shamelessly wore the ‘ganjiya’ of the para sudhdhas ran around licking their asses while we fought for freedom not only for the singhalese but for your spineless race too.
so what the hell if we call your stupid kudumbimale thoppigala………didnt you maggots change singhalese names to tamil ones ?
you speak of ethinic cleansing by the singhalese did you forget what your ’sun-dog’ and his mass-murderers did to muslims and singhalese alike chasing them away from their homes and murdering them by the hundreds in broad day light !!!
what the freaking hell do you call that………??? or did you sudenly develop amnesia.
you parasites are nothing but a curse upon sri lanka. go back to where you came from and leave us in peace.
if you cant, this is our way of cleaning up our lands of pests……..dont forget you have a country to go to but we dont. that’s the difference and the reason why your stupid pee-lam dream is dragging on.
you know what try redrawing your damned map of pea-lam as it’s shrinking by the day and as we speak !!!
tamil areas my foot……..so can we chase you away from galle, wellawatte, mount lavinia, ambalangoda, kandy, colombo and negombo for example as these are singhalese areas ?
if there was a strong political leadership in our country within a united carcaus……..you and your maggots would have been cleaned up a long time ago…..atleast now we are seeing glimpses of unity and strength in our leadership.
so does that make you scrath in your arse ?
FUCK OFF!!!
Sureshi Senaratne
sureshi@rogers.com
______________________
EDITORS NOTE: Usually we do not publish mails written in abusive language or espousing ethnic supremacism. We have received numerous mails in the past . They were not released.We depart from this practice to post the above mail to focus attention on a deteriorating trend gaining ground in recent times. This is published here only as an example of the rise of chauvinism among a certain category of people in Sri Lanka and abroad. We know that right – thinking people of all ethnicities will condemn these types of mails for both their form and content. We know that this kind of mail will disturb all decent people and also lower the standards of this forum. We fervently hope that the objective in publishing this mail is understood by all..
theeran kathiravan said,
July 14, 2007 @ 11:40 am
புலி இன்னும் பாய்ச்சலுக்கு தயாரில்லை.விரைவில் கிழக்கு எமக்கு வரும்.
hari said,
July 14, 2007 @ 11:52 am
very interesting article mr.jeyaraj.
being a sinhalese grown up in the “deep south “of sri lanka and been living abroad for many years i really respect your views on the conflict.
it seems like you see the big picture and will contribute in building a sri lanka or illangai where all of us could live in peace and harmony.
keep up the good work.
Aru Murugesan said,
July 14, 2007 @ 11:59 am
Tamils live in ‘non Tamil’ areas such as Colombo & Negombo. Why is this such a big issue. As capital and other Tamil areas were negelected, Tamils had to move to Colombo and elsewhere.
The diaspora Sinhalas have done nothing for the country besides posting these silly comments.
All the preassure on LTTE now is due to ‘War on Terror’ and ‘Al Qeida’. Not because the Sinhala governments truly cared about Sinhalas or else did something right. The ruling class are a bunch of thieves who come to politics to get rich.
Jaemkumaren said,
July 14, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
Another well written article by Mr Jeyaraj.
I really appreciate that people change their opinion, but our friends the chingla buddhists unfortunatly not.
What the Tigers did in the East was a very intelligent move. The chinglas used all their millitary assets to go into a region which the Tigers wanted from beginning on to withdraw. (Mr Jeyaraj mentioned it on of his articles last year.)
The Tigers showed from time to time resitance to provoke the chingla army so that they used more ressources and then the Tigers withdrew . The chinglas lost a lot of money to achieve this “millitary victory” as well as bad international opinion where as the Tigers got away with their military assets fully intact.
The chingla goverment has now to show the international community that they are for a multi ethnic country and need to start treating Tamils and Muslims as equal citizens and start to rebuild the East to decrease the existing humetarian crisis. We all of course know that they want do it and it will be a clear proof to the international community that the Tamil speaking population and the chinglas cannot live together. The Tigers have also said to attack chingla economic and millitary targets.
On the one hand the international community will look after the humatarian issues. The Tamil disapora will contribute a lot to expose the humatarian wrong doings of the chinglas and on the other hand the Tigers will start a guerrila warfare in the East.
Dear chinglas, what Mr Tamilchelvan said is true: You are in a trap. Let us see how you will come out of this.
ilaya seran senguttuvan said,
July 14, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
The murky picture is becoming clearer everyday. Have no doubts
about it. Thoppigala will be “sSnhalised” and the Army is there just to do this. There is nothing more sweet to most Sinhala ears than to hear hitherto Tamil lands have been taken over and the “Tamil menace” is being weakened.
Aryan Lankan (10) expresses the general views of most Sinhalese although he must do his studies again to ascertain what this “Aryan” claim is all about from a group of
low-castes from South India who came in “wave after wave” in recent centuries – that is Historian Dr Colvin R. de Silva speaking and not me. A friend has shortened the President’s name to Maha Raja.
Blue MR is faithfully carrying out the original dream of the late Green DS to subtly turn the East from a Tamil-majority area to a Sinhala one. Jolly well get your Kamalika Peiris’s, KM de Silva’s and re-write history as well. And after evicting most Easterners from the District in recent months the next obvious step is to hold an “Election” and legitimise the Sinhala take-over.
From the Sinhala perspective this looks like a good plan but the Tamils will resist this ferociously. India may well not share the Sinhala overview here as well – and that is where the crunch will come from now that you have already enraged India by
bifurcating the North-East that both Govts originally and solemnly agreed to in writing signed by heads of both Govts.
This was overturned on a weak and ill convincing legal intervention when the legal chief was pro-govt. His pronouncements in recent times show he is right in the opposite side now and, believe me, if the Tamils were to go to Courts on space that was created in the judgement, the North-East will be merged again.
Sandman said,
July 14, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
The present was has greater relevance to the fact that the LTTE is an entity that could not have a viable existence for long in the absence of war.
In twenty-twenty hindsight that would be what historians would write all about the rise and fall of tamil nationalism.
S.Modaya said,
July 14, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
“Meka ape Rata”
“ape Aagama”
“Ape Jathiya”
t”hopila okkoma kallaththonila”
get the point!
Lanka said,
July 14, 2007 @ 2:21 pm
I hope Thoppigala IS Sinhalised. What is wrong with that? Isn’t Wellawatte predominantly Tamil? Does anybody complain? If breaking the East into two is needed for peace, so be it. The more the races are mixed up the greater the chance for peace. The Tamil people cannot have the East as their ‘Traditional Homeland’ and predominate in Wellawatte etc as well. They cannot have their cake and eat it.
Sinhala state terrorism in SriLanka said,
July 14, 2007 @ 2:25 pm
Piece of advice, please do listen, there is always victory and defeat, success and failure, and wins and losses, even Napoleon and many other kings and queens encountered and experienced both victory as well as defeat. Even in games and sports one party has to loose for the other to win, but please do remember your game is not yet over, it goes on and on until the minority gains its lost rights and lost homeland. You have to face the reality. In victory, don’t be arrogant, and cocky, in defeat, don’t be intimidated, and don’t loose heart. You can learn more in defeat and failures than in victory and success.
It does not matter you Win or Lose, but it does matter how you face the aggressors, and the enemies, and worst of all don’t trust the sinhala politicians-humbug and fake who pretend to be friends.
You stood against the injustices, inequalities, discrimination, Sinhala Terrorism and Racism. You stood for your minority rights; you stood against the cruelties and the Sinhala Buddhists’ lies, deceptions, civilian killings, and denials. You stood and still stand for the least, and stand against the wicked, power-hungry foxes, hyenas, vultures, scavengers, leeches and parasites that suck blood and wear masks, and veils of democratic governments like wolves in sheep’s skins.
Even the almighty US government, when it wanted to invade Iraq needed support of the other countries. But you stood all alone, against the Terrorist, Racist, Corrupted, the Failed and the Rogue Sinhala government of Sri-Lanka. The whole world was against you, not even UN did stand for Truth, Justice, Equality and Peace. All fake, all Lies, all humbug, all vain, you cannot trust any of them.
Even in Defeat, you have to be proud of you, you made history, be vigilant, be prepared, plan well, have Strategy and discretion, and never give up, never get intimidated, be prudent, and wise, and play up, play up and play the game. To achieve your ideal goal, you need dedication, commitment, and sacrifices, be courageous and watchful, be just and fair, no civilian killings, when the time is ripe, you can have your way. May God bless all of you and your good intentions and deed!
Mohammad Fiyaz said,
July 14, 2007 @ 4:42 pm
Very informative.Good job.
Lankan Macha said,
July 14, 2007 @ 4:50 pm
This stupid LTTE has ruined this country, otherwise SRI LANKA would be way better than Singapoore, and like Leo said wat’s wrong with other ethnics living in either EAST or NORTH. Pretty soon those tamils living in canda will ask for a part of it as well.
Srilankanews said,
July 14, 2007 @ 5:54 pm
At the end of lengthy analysis Jeyraj contradict him self by saying Tamil Kudumbimlai become sinhala Toppigala but in the analysis he sais all Sinhala,Tamil,Muslim people lived in harmony in the area
As I see
He knows this raea is strategeically important but he is reluctant to admit it
He knows this area was inhabit by all communities but he wants to say it was tamil area and future sinhala colonization may happen
He knows that LTTE was defeated and fled to north but he wants say that LTTE is still presence and will come back
Likewise he knows the truth and analytically he understand what has happen is chasing terrorist from east and all communities could live in peace once law and order is established.
He seems to scared or reluctant to publicly accept it
Poor Jeyraj
P.Nathan said,
July 14, 2007 @ 6:37 pm
Anuruddha Ratwatte who was promoted to a full general (Four Star or Five Star? ) and rode a horse with his game leg to ‘inspect’ the troops and who said that LTTE was 98% annihilated, could set a precedent now. Gotabaya may be expected to become a full Five Star General – but the army hierarchy may not like this.
siva said,
July 14, 2007 @ 7:54 pm
Please can you explain how sinhalese wellawatta became small Jaffna now? BTW sorrounding area as well. Most of the Tamils are settled in sinhala areas during past 10 or more years. How these sinhalese are reacting to that?
De Silva said,
July 14, 2007 @ 10:38 pm
DBS Jeyaraj is worried about “Kudimbimalai” turning into “Thoppigala”
What about Mada Kalapuwa turning into “Mattakkalappu”?
What about Gantale turning into “Kantalai”?
What about Weligama turning into “Valikaamam”?
What about Oluwila turning turning into “Oluvil”?
What about Hunugama turning into “Chunakkam”?
What about Gokanna turning into “Thirukonamalai”?
What about Nagadeepa turning into “Nainativu”?
So Tamils can change Sinhala place names into Tamil ones but the Sinhalese can’t change Tamil ones into Sinhalese ones?
om_shanthi said,
July 15, 2007 @ 1:05 am
Toppigala is just a piece of Sr Lanka. The whole issue is akin to a fight between two blokes to win over over a clumsy damsel who would go with one of them wining the day. It, as the country itself, doesnot belong to a single racial group. To really win it, Sri Lanka should enjoy long-lasting peace.
Sri Lanka has always been a multi-ethnic society. Mahawamsa says that there lived Devas, Nagas and Rakshas in ancient Sri Lanka. Later, after the colonization of the country by Vijaya, in Dutu Gemunu era, Tamils and Sinhalese lived side by side and Adi-Vasi veddas were cornered into a few jungles. Sri Lanka was invaded by Cholas, Keralites and Tamils so many times over and the so-called land of pure races has perhaps been a melting pot of inter-racial genes. We also can talk about settlers from Arabian countries and Malay peninsula who, most likely, did not bring their women to SL. They married Sinhalese or Tamil women. Later we absorbed European blood too. Thus, Sinhalese and Tamil Chauvinists are equally mad and should be taught a bit of proper history; not just one sided history of racial supremacy. These people are just as mad as followers of Hitler who believed in a pure Aryan race. Are we, living 50 years after WWII happy to be counted in the same lunatic fold?
Before people asking other people to leave the country perhaps, they should take DNA tests to see whether they themselves have a right to stay. It is very likely that some of these patriots are already out of the country and try to disrupt the wafer-thin fabric of racial understanding, if any exists, in far away Sri Lanka.
What now we all have to do is to build bridges between Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims and others, instead of burning them.
Sen said,
July 15, 2007 @ 2:19 am
Relating to Comment 10, Aryan Lanka, and 15, Dushan, have they forgotten that the so called Sinhalese came from India as well, and Vijaya is son of a Sinahabahu and Sihavalle (Brother and Sister on incest) and who have killed their father and produced that so called criminal Vijaya, even his father on incest could not tolerate him and have to put on a boat to kick him and his friends out of his country. Do these people know the whole history of this country? – Aryan Lankas clan should be put in a jail for the patricide and incest of their original forefathers. Without Tamils interbreeding and having some pious Tamils kings ruling this mob, Sinhalese society as a whole would have become a pariah society. BTW, who fought for this countrys independence????? Brittan (East India Company) just left as they were forced to leave India, so this piece of land was not so much importance for them. This shows the lack of understanding in History by many (mostly Sinhalese) they only know a limited version of their countrys history. This is the curse for this country, as many dont know the past in the true form. So there is no way of reconciling, as many would unsympathetic towards Tamils suffering. .I guess this is true for even the president MR, What a pity. For commenter 11, does Buddha was Sinhalese? And if he travels in India and Tamil Nadu, seeing Buddhist monuments, I will not be surprised that stupid person will say, Sinhalese (mostly Buddhists) were the original inhabitants of India too- what a stupidity we are seeing on these peoples comments.
However, there are many educated Sinhalese who understand the past and the problems the Tamils are facing. If Ellan hasnt decided to have an individual dual with Duta gemunu, the mighty army of the Ellan might have annihilated Duta gemunu. That is the mistake Elllan made in order to save the army from dying. History is past, but we need to learn from them.
George Fernando said,
July 15, 2007 @ 4:21 am
Sri Lanka’s majority is Sinhalam people and they can live where ever they like in this little island. Sinhala language is spoken only in Sri Lanka in the world and that means Srilanka is the homeland for Sinhalam speakin people. Saying this all Sri Lankans have the right to live where ever they like in this beautiful island.
As we see today only about a million people live in the North and that is less 5% of the total population. The majority of Tamil speaking people in North are now living in the Southern Parts of the country. Soon Wellawata will become “Kanncanan accukkattu”. So who are these jokers who are talking about a Tamil Land.
Hey mate, Tamil Land is bit further North to Jaffna and 60 million tamil speaking people live there. So incase incase any body is talking about the Traditional Tamil Home Land please take a boat or swim to Tamilnadu. Otherwise Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Mauritus Australia, Canada, USA and many other countries will all become Tamil homelands. Good Luck.
ilaya seran senguttuvan said,
July 15, 2007 @ 5:43 am
Giving due consideration to your Editor’s Note one must recognise there are all sorts of creeps and jerks around us. The dissenting feelings expressed by Dushan (26) could have been done by a Sinhalese in dignified language and with some modicum of decorum. But Dushan/Sureshi Senaratne (man or woman?) is clearly a gutter-snipe of low breeding and full of racial venom who cannot argue his/her case rationally.
Sri Lanka is not a land of the sinhalese only tho one admits they are in the majority. Buddhism is a religion they have borrowed from India (many of them forget that and think the founder is from Kelaniya) and which now claim as the main protectors. Buddhism lost its relevancy in India after King Asoka enabled the Moghuls to have their way. Buddhism is now the religion of the Dalits/Harijans there. The Parasuddha jangiya was worn by the Sinhalese with ease when they readily changed their names to please the ruling Europeans of the day. Don’t forget even the best Buddhist Sinhala families had Christian first names until recently. The quintessential Sinhala Buddhist family of the Bandaranaike’s are but Tamil Neelaperumal Pandarams (temple assistants) from Tamilnadu, who came here 200 years ago.
JRJ has admitted he has Tamil Muslim blood from South India of recent vintage. Ranil Wickramasinghe’s family have changed religion from Catholic to Protestant and then to Buddhist within the last 200 years. That is your Sinhala pedigree. I agree there could well be a curse of Lanka but that is not brought in by the Tamils. Look at what you are doing to this good religion you have borrowed from India. Today your pious Buddhist MP’s of the JHU, who came out to save the Sinhala race from the heathens, are accused of black-marketing their Car permits
to racketeers.
The highest men in the government and the forces are said to have transferred billions of rupees off extortion and abduction rackets (of Tamils) to secret bank accounts in the Bahamas. Just because the Tamils are much smaller in number you cannot either eliminate them or kill them all in different ways that has been tried out so far in the past 3 decades. India and the rest of the world will not allow that, as you well know. It is upto the Sinhala majority to decide and formulate the methodology so that Sinhalese, Tamils. Muslims and others can live in this “our country”
I suggest work your frenzy to this desirable goal.
P.Nathan said,
July 15, 2007 @ 8:00 am
The contribution from Dushan (26) – is typical of the die-hard sinhalas who think that they are tha ’superior race’.
Kurudan 1 said,
July 15, 2007 @ 9:04 am
During the ‘last peace process’, some ‘ Tamil moderates’ from west were very critical of VP over his ‘inflexibility’ when it comes to ‘ Tamil Eelam’. They pressured VP to ‘compromise’ . Here is a very good example, why not ‘compromise’ on Thopigala. Tamils should give up the ‘kudumpimalai’ to our sinhala brothers. It is all about sharing what we have, and every one will be happy.
Arvinth, Trichy said,
July 15, 2007 @ 9:57 am
Here in this writer/ journalist’s article his argument is different the people writing comments here argue something.
This is your Eelam Tamils & Srilanka Sinhalese problem; see the big picture you both are ruing your country; now the world is moving fast, you people going back to Stone Age.
Start to love each others; get the good things from others; live with solidarity; put the unnecessary arguments other side & put healthy arguments in a prosperous way.
Put an end for the HUMAN KILLING RACE; arms race; start to develop your country.
Do you know how many millions you both Eelam Tamil Tigers & Srilanka Sinhalese governments spending in military hardware to kill humans & to destroy your country?
Put an end for the HUMAN KILLING RACE; arms race; start to develop your country.
- Arvinth
ravir said,
July 15, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
Migration of Tamil People to Colombo etc are NOT politically motivated. They migrate due to their own professional skill, economical strength and security situation in their own land.
Fuether Colombo is only capital all people. Dear my Sinhala friend, Use some brain on making comments.
On the other hand Sinhala colonization in Tamil area happens in the area of Tamils,after killing/ clearing the Tamils from their villages by shelling, killing with knives etc, then take Sinhala criminals/ or poorest Sinhala people and then provide them all supply on free to convert them Sinhala on governement sponsored program to eliminate Tamils here on long term.
Totally fool persons must understand these basic facts, before making comments. It is NOT your mistake, but many Sinhala media spread these mad concepts among Singala mass to eliminate Tamils from Ceylon.
segaran said,
July 15, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
Hi,
Thank you for your detailed and thought provoking article. Shame about the racist rantings from Sureshi Senaratne.
It’s interesting to note that most Tamils blame the Sri Lanka Government and it’s corrupt politicians for the problems in the country. They also blame the SLA for all the abductions, torture and killings that our kith & kin are undergoing. They never ever blame the Sinhala people as a whole.
Invariably, the illiterate rantings from the likes of Sureshi are almost always racists, incapable of intellectual thought and devoid of any liberal democratic ideals.
Oh well. We all have to meet our maker some day, and face his judgement.
Regards
Seggy T Segaran
dingiri said,
July 15, 2007 @ 5:43 pm
If Dushan needs an outlet to spew his venomous rubbish can I suggest http://www.lankanewspapers.com? It is the forum of choice for the truly ugly and downright malevolent views on the ethnic issue.
On the issue of Sinhala Colonisation.. you mention this was a sparsely populated area prior to being adopted by the LTTE. That there were a few Puranagamas (meaning ancient villages in Sinhala) and a few scattered muslim and Tamil villages. You also tell us of your involvement in schemes to settle Indian Tamil Plantation workers there. Why then is it wrong for a landless Sinhalese to settle in Kudumbimalai?
Sinhala Settlement in the East in principle is not incorrect as long as they are not displacing any Tamils or Moslems. The Eastern Province has the largest proportion of uninhabited forest land in the country. Does it does it necessarily follow that all this forest land be demarcated exclusively for the Tamils? The presence of Sinhala puranagamas (ancient villages) and 2nd century bc archaeological remains from the Ruhuna period should surely give the Sinhalese too some claim to this land?
The limited land in the country should be shared in equal proportion (ethnic) among the Tamil, Sinhala and Moslem. As long as land settlement is undertaken with this principle in mind I dont believe there should be a problem.
However I agree with you that the politicians you mention most probably promoted Sinhala settlement with no other motive than to undermine Tamils. The Tamils know this and hence their ire.
Rather than try to colonise the few remaining tracts of Jungle and claiming them as one community’s “traditional homeland” I feel we should demarcate these areas as Natural Reserves to preserve whats left of our formerly extensive forrests. Just look at the picture. Is Kudumbimalai/Thoppigala not worthy of being made a World Heritage site?
Kannan Saravanan said,
July 15, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
Dear D.B.S. Jeyaraj,
It’s absolutely true that an undisguised attempts are underway to create a “Dutu Gemunu” image for moron M.P.Rajapakse. These cheap manouevres would succeed to the extent of one effective counter strike by the LTTE.
May The Almighty Bless the Tamils!
Dr.Kathir Jeya said,
July 15, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
Thanks to DBJ for his article. The author of this email likes to share a personal experience with all the readers of this column.
I, with a foreign friend of mine, was travelling to Trincomalee areas to assess the damages of the Tsunami and rehabilitation program in the month of August of 2005.
It was about 7:00 pm at the Colombo and Trinco Junction in Trinco. We were stopped by a group of soldiers at the gun points.
It was a Ceasefire Time. My foreign friend was shocked at the behavior of the soldiers.
The army wanted us all to get out of the vehilce and intimidated us and used very harsh words.
At the end of the conversation, one of the leading army men said, THERE IS ONLY ‘SINHALA RATTA’ here. Then they let us go.
My visiting friend who took lot of interest to assist the tsunami victims said that he was so disturbed by the attitude of the soldiers and the way RACISM is expressed by the government troops.
DO WE HAVE only ‘SINHALA RATTA’ IN SRI LANKA?
Dr. Jeya
True Patriot said,
July 16, 2007 @ 3:50 am
Regardless of the professional English in this article, I can say DBS has turned into the role of “Taraki” by purposely exagerating terrorist outfits and chauvinist Tamil extremism.
I dont want to waste time.
H. R. Advocate said,
July 16, 2007 @ 10:05 am
How do we know who it ‘belongs’ to? We only know that the area is being used for terrorism and related activities. It is crucial that any government claiming legitimacy ensure the area is never used for illegal purposes.
The area can be settled with a mixture of all communities, but it seems rather remote, and it is doubtful anyone will want to live in these places.
Perhaps the best alternative is to let the area be a protected park.
k. arvind said,
July 16, 2007 @ 10:30 am
A future arrangement or settlement, if you like, of the Lankan problem is possible with decent Sinhalese like Dingiri (38)
His question why Sinhalese should not be settled in the Purna areas in the environs is a reasonable one and needs to be answered. Dingiri, for a population of 20 million shrinking land of about 25,000 sq miles is insufficient and will be a source of friction in the future as well. The land-to-man ratio has been shrinking for sometime now and is more pronounced in the urban areas.
The most rational philosophy of land allocation in this very contentious issue so far has been the one that Dr Colvin R de Silva came out with viz: wherever there is vacant land, in the allotment process consideration should be given to (1) the landless of the area (2) in the event there are no claimants under(1) then the landless in the District (3) Only in the event of absence of applicants under categories 1 & 2 should it be allowed on the National scale. But let us remember, in a situation such as we have since 1940s no reasonable administrator should permit land allotment in a manner where the demographic pattern of the area is manipulated. If this done, as it has continuous been with ulterior motives and at State expense to settle Sinhalese in Tamil areas where there is a cry by the Tamils for land, then you are asking for trouble.
The Kudumbimalai/Thoppigala area is a natural forest reserve.
In disturbing it, you are only endangering the environment and of course, the population structure of the area not to mention the rain-making process. I concede there is land hunger among the Sinhalese and they certainly have a right to live wherever they want in the island. But this demand should be balanced with ground realities.
I don’t have to tell you there are vast tracts of land in Uva-Wellasa, the Hambantota, Moneragala and other Districts outside the North-East where even if Tamils from the North East lay legitimate claim, this should go to the Sinhalese landless – on the manner prescribed above. It is,my friend Dingiri, a spirit of give-and-take among the Sinhalese and Tamils that will enable us to regain our lost racial tranquility and unity.
zulu said,
July 16, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
To the English it wasBaron?s cap;
to the Tamils it was Kudumbimalai;
to the Muslims it was Thoppikkal;
the Sinhalese it is Thoppigala.
DBS Jeyaraj will agree first it was Thoppigala, then came all the other names.
What’s foremost important, English, Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalas all welcome in Thoppigala under one flag.
They can call this piece of rock any name they want
EDITORS NOTE:Where has DBS Jeyaraj agreed that it was Thoppigala first and then came all other names.? Does Zulu know the origin of the Sinhala word ‘thoppi’ (its in Tamil too) and when it entered Sinhala vocabulary? If Zulu know the answers such comments would not be made. The Tamil word Kudumi is of ancient vintage.
Thamilan said,
July 16, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
LTTE has a goal and it’s Tamil Eelam which will give all the rights denied by the Sinhalese policies to the Tamils in their homeland. The Buddhist monks and some Sinhalese argue that they were on the Island before everyone which is bullshit. Those claims is not even worth arguing about because the history is already there and was already proven but, the monk’s just keep on brushing of the facts and are embracing the fantasy novel “Mahavamsa” as their true historical record.
Everyone including the Sri Lankan government are ignoring the root cause and thinking that LTTE is the absolute cause to the whole problem. By defeating LTTE you will only create even more formidable force of another generation of LTTE.
It is way too late for a unitary Sri Lanka because the damage is already done. What guarantees that past will not repeat even if Sri Lanka remained unitary? What guarantees our peoples safety at the hands of the majority Sinhalese? What about the injustice done to us, are we to forget and forgive? What about the year of suffering, economic loses, humiliation and discrimination?
The solution is Tamil Eelam. I speak for myself and my generation especially my friends, that Tamil Eelam will be achieved at any cost, if LTTE does not achieve it through negotiation or militarily we will begin the military path where they have ended. Oppressors always called the oppressed “terriorists, outlaw, rebels, criminals and so on”. If I am to pick up the armed struggle (there will be no negotiations) I will proudly assume these titles as long as the people that I am fighting for shows affection towards me.
Thamilan said,
July 16, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
For those who claim Sri Lanka to be an exclusive Sinhalese State, keep on dreaming!!! Sinhalese are mixed of Bengali, Tamil and the Original Natives of the Island the Vedas.
If the Sinhalese language is stripped of the Tamil words there would be no Sinhalese language. Tamil embraced Buddhism long before Sinhalese and it’s a fact that you can see in Tamil Nadu (Chola empire promoted and built massive pagodas that are still evident even thought most are ruined). Tamils are eyesight away from Lanka; however it is not the same case for the Bengalis (Vijaya and his 700 followers) who are from far distance. When Vijaya arrived the Pandians already had the Gulf of Mannar as a priced possession due to the Pearl Fishery. The Tamils are known as the seafaring race and they are the only empires in India who went out of territorial India to claim land especially by sea. This is an undeniable fact even acknowledged by the first Prime Minister of India in one of his writing. Tamils were on the Island long before the Bengalis, Sinhalese are a breed of Tamil, Bengali and the Vedas. Vedas who have the right to claim the ownership of the Island in fact worshippers of Murugan (Tamil God) and this is a proven fact as well.
The Sinhalese are welcome to live in Lanka; if they are willing to govern justifiably then they shall be allowed to form government in the coming future. If they still insist that they hold the majority and they should hold the power then they can pack their bag and head to their fatherland (Bangladesh or Bengal State in India).
Ellara made a mistake by giving Dutengamu a one on one battle . Rajaraja and Rajagendra Chola made the mistake by stopping after they pushed the Sinhalese to the further south . LTTE made a mistake by claiming only the recently Tamil dominated areas (they should have claimed the entire Island as it rightfully belongs to the Tamils more then the Sinhalese and labeled the Sinhalese as foreigners and then should have granted special rights to the Vedas over the Tamils).
ravir said,
July 16, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
Majority of Sinhaleese are fair to respect equal rights of tamils. But who mostly voices under this forum are minority, Sinhala terrorists. they should be sidelined first to bring ethnic harmonic in Ceylon. Otherwise, nobody cannot stop Ceylon becomes SriLanka Ealam. pls understand Tamils had their own government before 1852. Tamil should teach good lesson to these extrmist. One day world will turn towards justice.
Dylan said,
July 16, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
Sri lanka armed forces represents 99.99% (Army,Navy Air force and Police ) are sinhalas
All Srilanka administrative personals are 95% are sinhalas
4/5 of Law makers are sinhalas
72% of the srilankan population are sinhalas
What do you expect from this people???????????
but the true is only 200 years ALL lanaka ruled ruled by sihala king (200/2500)
Please note the point lanaka’s last king also TAMIL.
bandara said,
July 17, 2007 @ 12:02 am
well said comment editor..
there are such worst creatures in our society like the DUSHAN labelled dirty sureshi. WE FEEL SHAMED OF THAT.
zulu said,
July 17, 2007 @ 9:32 am
Quote,”EDITORS NOTE:Where has DBS Jeyaraj agreed that it was Thoppigala first and then came all other names.? Does Zulu know the origin of the Sinhala word ?thoppi? (its in Tamil too) and when it entered Sinhala vocabulary? If Zulu know the answers such comments would not be made. The Tamil word Kudumi is of ancient vintage.”
Reply:
zulu said,” DBS Jeyaraj WILL agree first it was Thoppigala, then came all the other names.”
A language may be older than another, but the time the words in that language may be used at a different time.
Kudumi is from ancient vintage but people in SL called this rock Thoppigala before the english, tamil and muslim call it in their own language.
Tamil language is an ancient language. No doubt about it. It should have its due place.
The issue here is this rock and its where abouts.
What?s foremost important, English, Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalas all welcome in Thoppigala under one flag.
They can call this piece of rock any name they want
Sellam in UK said,
July 17, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
Dear Mr.Jeyaraj,
I have read many of your articles.
In your introduction about the Baron’s cap/Thoppigala/Kudumbimalai, people of all three races have lived in peace and harmony and there were intermarriages among them.
Then your title ‘Will Tamil Kudumbimalai be truned into Sinhala Thoppigala soon’ is being turned into a racial division.
Why?
Don’t you think it is silly?
siri said,
July 18, 2007 @ 12:36 am
DBS may loose his credentials sometimes by trying to uphold just the tamils’ cause by showing his love for it.
However, the fact that the tamils are the weaker party in lanka (as the minority), thus need to be looked after than the sinhalas, in this unbalanced equation, may help him to justify his approach. (hopefully not just because tamil is his own race)
Suntheram Kanapathy said,
July 18, 2007 @ 1:02 am
In the war, the loosers have toaccept the terms/conditions of the winners. LTTE, who claims to be the sole-representatives of Tamils, lost the war. So the winners, can make it a Sinhala land, if they choose to. Whats the cry for? If the SL Forces capture Vanni, then that area should be turned into Vannigama too.
suthan said,
July 18, 2007 @ 7:05 am
Hai DBS Jeyaraj sir. best artical
**********************************
Kudumbimalai ok
Thoppikal Ok
but
Thopikala ?
Dylan said,
July 18, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
Six months ago Sri Lanka Military leader said ‘only 300 LTTE left in thopigala we will defeat LTTE in 2 weeks’ now They have reached kudimpimalai. The truth here is 20,000 SL Full equiped ARMY and Air force in the east defeat only 300 LTTE for the six months period.
Please note the point without tamils support any body cant hold these noth and east region.
GIVE 30% TAKE 70 %
KM said,
July 18, 2007 @ 11:23 pm
To the English authorities it looked like aristocratic head gear. So it was Barons cap; to the Tamils it was like a tuft of bound hair on ones head. So it was Kudumbimalai; to the Muslims it was like a hat on ones head. So they called it Thoppikkal; the Sinhalese also perceived it like the Muslims. So they called it Thoppigala
check above statement?
Muslims called Toppikal. because of that sinhalese called Toppigala?
IS ABOVE STATEMENT CORRECT? or it should be other way around?
think before write my friend?cos i like your articles you gave us lot of information on the war? but these kind of statement will eventually downgraded the quality of your articles
thanks
kM
anitraa said,
July 19, 2007 @ 2:09 am
What role does Murali have in this larger plan of the Srilankan government ? We will have to wait to see the sucess of TMVP because of this victory.It is also a fact that Eastern tamils are happy with Muralis Leadership.The support he is able to get and the way he has established himself in the east subscribes to this fact.Toppigalas victory wil go in with the eastern tamils as the victory for Murali.They see Murali as a saviour for them against the northen tamils.And how he will react to sighal settlements will be iintersting reaction to watch
Sanj said,
July 20, 2007 @ 1:29 am
I can see some interesting conflicts of opinions! Good to have different opinions, but not to have bad feelings after reading!
Just think about how you pleased when somebody agrees with you and what an agony when somebody is criticising your opinion!
What is the most present movement for you when you are angry
or when you are happy
or when you are neutral!
I can enjoy most when I am neutral, is that same with you! I dont like to feel angry. Often happiness is not long lasting hence, it is also uncomfortable!
Especially, why are you punishing your mind yourself allowing to come those evil thoughts into you?
My dear friends, life is short, very short comparing with the universe- It would have been better (or worse-I dont know) if all of us can live until the worlds end. Ideally until universes ends. But CAN YOU!
Why we cant think that the life is short; and important thing is to have peace in the mind
Why we are fighting for a boundaries, land like ever changing and temporary things, even can we keep our own body without getting old!
Only thing we can keep is that our mind-even it is hard, very hard! But practicing it is worth!
Just think differently, make a some difference within and it will make a big difference to the world!
Do not spread your anger, hatred, jealous to other people as it is contagious! Refrain from them and it will save at least one persons life.
Have a peaceful in mind!
Naga said,
July 20, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
What a paradox! The celebrations of recapture or capture of Kudumbimalai with childish show of jets flying at low altitude only helped to bring down the image of MR even among the elite Sinhalese. The turn out of people in this event indicated this. 90 percent of govt. officials took leave and stayed home anticipating trouble. Streets were deserted. The important point MR made was that his forces captured a ‘part of Eelam Territory’ as opposed to driving out terrorists from a part of a sovereign country!! This event will be recorded in history.
The whole drama was staged to cover, albeit for the time being, the sins of his family and the resultant economic turmoil from the poor masses. We would see very soon the whole thing backfiring with interest.
Take a look at the double standards in his trail….
He came into being the President making deals with LTTE.
He sent out container loads of booze from his Prime Minister’s residence during the election campaign and he now talks about “halt to alcohol!!”
He voved to eliminate corruption. Now he plays the role of mafia chief.
Politics, they say, is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhare, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedy!
Naga said,
July 21, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
You did right to publish the uncensored version of Mr.Suresh’s letter. Let people see what the typical Sinahala chauvinist think and react. They even consider nay, ostracise the Christians of Sinhala origin as untouchables or enemies of the land. The truth, however, is that these micreants are a small group of hallucinators. Well the saying goes that “it takes only a drop of poison to spoil a pot of milk” .Suresh’s allusions as regards to some names of places only goes to suggest that he is not a person who reads or ivestigates history and he goes by hearsay of some imaginative chauvinists.
Besides I have personally come across a handful of them and most of them had some problems with their genetic pool – and this may have triggered off this kind of pervasiveness.
Eric Nirmalan said,
July 22, 2007 @ 6:52 am
I follow your stories with great interest. In this article you have expressed serious concerns about the possible Sinhalisation of the the claimed Tamil Homealand. As a leading journalist you have to take care not to indoctrinate young Tamils, whip up, create racial hatred and lead them to their destruction like the legendary Pied Piper.
Let’s be truthful of the history of this island nation, and of our own beloved Tamil nation. Our Tamil nation , which always had its geographical limits in history. According to Illngovadivel who authored Silaaappdigaram (circa Ptolomy) the ‘Tamil land was bounded by the sea on the east and the west, Kumari (Cape Comorin) on the south and the Tirupathi hills on the north.’ It does not refer to Ilankai as a part of the Tamil nation. So, sadly there was no Tamil nation in the present day Sri Lanka, at anytime.
You also speak of a ‘LTTE’s Tamil national leader’. That is a lot of parroting of the LTTE propaganda
which has brutalised and savaged several generations of our youth living in Sri Lanka.
Let’s also look a bit more of the earliest settlement of Yalpanam which Portugease Father Queroz (circa 1560) a much respected historian elaborates. He says ‘Jaffnapatnam was uncultivated and belonged to the Sinhalese kings. Although it had many forested areas the chief occupation of the inhabitants was hunting and fishing.’ He also goes to say how the Sinhalese king Parakramabahu of Cota had settled a Panikkar of Thulunar who was a highly skilled warrior as the chief of Yalpanam.
It is also will be of interest for our youth to take a look at the very detailed map of the Dutch cartographer, Isaak Tirion circa 1750. Jaffnapatnam is confined to peninsular Jaffna. All the land south of the Jaffna Lagoon to the east, is the Land of the Beddas (veddahs) and to the west is the land of the Vanniyars. History also tell that in later years in 1600+ at each opportunity the Vanniyars got they joined the Sinhalese to raid Yalpanam.
So this is the history our young Tamils need to be made aware of and the not racist indoctrination of the ‘Surya Thevan’ that has caused this massive tragedy to us. We need to to live peacefully with our Sinhlese and Muslim brethren in Sri Lanka.
The first official treaty recognsed under international law is the Treaty signed by the Sinhalese king and the Dutch in 1766. This allowed the Dutch the control of one Sinhalese ‘gawwa’ (4 miles) from the sea from south of Yalpanam around the island in areas not occupied by the Ductch at the tiem. The Sinhalese king also made a claim from the Dutch for the return of Kottiyarama and Tampalagamuwa at the that time.
Minister Dewanayagam as a young lawyer in Battcaloa later stated at a public meeting that the ‘there were hardly any Tamils in Batticaloa when he first started his practice in the 1930s.’
In fact there was no term as the Jaffna Tamils in the early part of 1900. Our ancesters were called Malabars by the Portugese, Dutch and the early British and by varous other terms, until we became predominantly Tamil and Briish came to understand the differences with the recruitment of our brethren for the coffee plantations . Both our own writers Kathiresu, circa 1905 and Mudaliar Rasanayagam uses the term ‘Jaffnese’. The term Jaffna Tamils developed only once settlements started in the east so as to distinguish our high caste Tamils from the mixed people of Battcaloa, and that term came into much later in the 20 th century. There were no Northern or Eastern Tamils mentioned till even much later. The Jaffnese in large numbers were confined to the Jaffna peninsular until the railways opened for our ancestors to come to Colombo in 1906 onwards. Else the movement of people by sea or land was very limited.
Once Tamil youth are encorage to read factual history of the 1901 census is seen that 88% of the population was concentrated on the Jaffa peninsular and only 12% lived in todays Mullativu, Kilinochchi districts of the Northern Province. As per J.P Lewis (Manual of the Wanni Districts of Ceylon) the long serving Governement Agent of the Wanni, immigration and settlement of the areas from people from Jaffna and India was government sposored and the Mullativu Hospital was called the ‘Immigration’ Hospital. The areas were abandoned by the Sinhalese who withdrew to the hinterland in the face of foreign invasions.
I feel our young Tamils have to be encouraged to read these narratives to know the true history of Sri Lanka rather than the leading them down the garden path of rhetoric, arraogance and racism.
Please read, Mudaliar Rasanayam himself in Ancient Jaffna, where he quotes the ‘Yalapana Vaipa Malar P 33′ and speaks of the Sinhalese living in villages of Yalapanam at the time of our King Sankili. He says ‘After the massacre of the Christians, Sankili’s insane fury longed for more victims and he fell upon the Buddhists of Jaffna who were all Sinhalese. He expelled them beyond the limits of the country and destroyed their various places of worship. M ost of them betook themselves to the Vannis and the Kandyan territories’. This is as per Y.P.M.
I wish young Tamils read and absorb these historical texts and other information rather than listening to unfounded racists literature that has caused such tragedy to our generation.
Journalists and othe leaders of the community have a duty to educate our youngsters. It was Sir Pannambalm Ramanathan who rejected universal franchise for all Ceylonese in the 1920s, and sowed the seeds of racism in Ilankai. However the Sinhalese due to their own petty caste issues did not think so. They elected a Tamil to take their seat in the State Council.
That was racial harmony at that time for ‘one Ceylon’. Lets build that underatsanding rapport once again.
John said,
July 23, 2007 @ 1:31 am
I am suprised to see so many comments from the Sinhalese posters about Tamils living in ‘their’ areas.
I would imagine these are educated people (as they at least own a PC and are able to type in English), thus why can these people not see the difference between Tamils or anyone else for that matter, moving to other areas to work. Versus the Government, which is supposed to be for ALL people, using military force to vacate an area of its population and then under guise of ’secuirty’ chaning the ethnic makeup to suite the majority race.
These two things are night and day, one is the voluntary movement of citzens the other is state sponsered ethnic cleansing.
Anonymous said,
July 23, 2007 @ 5:38 am
Tamils attitude that ‘Tamils can live anywhere and Sinhalese should not come to North -East’ will continue to torment them and as long as the war goes on they will only loose their so-called homeland, not gain it.
This does not mean that Sinhalese have been totally innocent and flawless. Post independent Sinhalese leaders have been doing every dirty thing they can imagine to retain their power. Innocent people belonging to all ethnicities were at the receiving end. What needs is a strong non-racist democratic civil moment which overlook any possible discriminations of race, religion, caste or creed.
Otherwise it will be too late when the Ealamists realize that their struggle has created a much more conducive environment for their opponents to play freely in their “Ealam”.
Only positive from the war for the Tamils is the chance they got to fly to greener pastures in the developed world.
Thamilan said,
July 23, 2007 @ 8:54 am
Eric,
You say there is King Sangili and then you say that Sinhalese Kingdom had control of the entire land?
Eric, first of all you are not Tamil and don’t pretend hoping that we will buy your BS.
It seems that you believe the historical crap written by the Europeans whom had no knowledge of the island. What ever written by Europeans was done by them for divide and conquer which was successful because of morans like you. There were Sinhalese in Jaffna but they were there for trade.
Why did the Europeans got foot hold of Lanka because of anomosity between Kotte and Kandy. Who took up arms and lost against the Europeans, it was Jaffna Kingdom then soon the Sinhalese Kingdoms followed.
Your argument about Shilappadikaram:
READ IT.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilappadikaram
Then read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manimekhalai
Eric, seems that you did not check the authenticity of what ever you read. You just believe in what ever you read and forget to check the facts given with actual history.
Thiran said,
July 23, 2007 @ 2:04 pm
Hi Eric Nirmalan,
Can you please start your own Blog too? You seem to be a great source of truth.
What you have mentioned are precious information that should be known by all the people around the world.
This LTTE propaganda has created so much hatred, Tamils believe that all what LTTE tell is the truth.
What we need is the pre LTTE, pre-British harmony existed in the country that will make every ethnicity important peoples of the land.
peace said,
September 20, 2007 @ 9:40 am
Sinhalese are from India to tamils are from India and were Dravindins. Even though Tamil is older than the Sinhalese language, Tamil people in general should not think they were the oldest and long living in Sri Lanka. Same goes to the Sinhalese people. Theres a lot of prophecies on who came first and who came last.
The only truth and logical explanation could be people from Kannada and the king Vijay sailed to Lanka to the south. See King Vijay got married to Queen Quvani ( Quvani is a Tamil name) and the king’s people got married to the people who lived in Quvani’s Kingdom. The first people who lived in Sri Lanka are Vedas who are aboriginals some think they were Tamils well the name it self Quvani is a Tamil name therefore there is a possibility that the first people are Tamils. Say If Sinhalese were the first people what religion did they practice how did there ancetors who are mixed with the aboriginals have Tamil names. remember Sihalese is language is similar to tamil and kannada. see in Kannada There are Buddists people there. Some people think Sinhalese are mix with Vanga (Bangaladesh) people who speak pali. Remember Pali is from Brahmi Kannada is from Brahmi. Tamil language has no background as in has no ancestoral background were is from.
I could keep going on this with propheceis, we gotta stop fighting learn to love each other, I know it is impossible for some, but this birth Sinhala next birth Tamil. We all believe in Karma.
Tamil people and Sinhala people gotta stop being stubborn, ignorant and hating. Love God and live in love.
Peace Lover said,
October 7, 2007 @ 10:41 am
May God Help for Peace for all people!!
indrajith said,
December 13, 2007 @ 7:10 am
even though u u seem to talk truthfully,we all are sceptical about ngo backed humanitarian stunts,so take care you have only told half the truth,other half dedicated to undermining sinhalese kings and our victories over tamil invaders past 2000 years
eelam 4 life said,
February 4, 2008 @ 10:16 am
well
i want to ask every one a question?
y can’t the goverment let the ltte control the areas which is nominated by tamils than let srilankan aqrmy who rape women and use tham as prostuties .
Mahi Roda said,
March 20, 2008 @ 1:44 pm
The kings hat and queens legs became Thoppigala.
Thoppiya and gala