Are Indian and Chinese militaries in a tussle to become closer to Sri Lankan military?

Close on the heels of Sri Lanka's army commander's visit to the Indian Military Academy's(IMA) passing out parade General Ma Xiaotian, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) visited Sri Lanka.  This unmistakably indicates that there has been keen interest on the part of two countries to forge close military ties with Sri Lanka. This keen interest can rather be described as a sort of a tussle by the two powers to win over Sri Lanka. This again unmistakably the tussle between the two powers to dominate the Indian Ocean region.

Military ties between China and Sri Lanka were largely confined to the supply of arms, naval crafts and aircrafts by the former during the last four to five decades. The training stints given to Sri Lankan military personnel in the Chinese military academies were not as large as Indian and Pakistani military academies have been offering to SL. However, with the beginning of president Rajapaksha's tenure there has been a marked increase of training stints offered to SL armed forces personnel in the Chinese military academies. So PLA's General's visit obviously indicates that there will be a further increased opportunities to SL military personnel to train in PLA's academies.

Though Military ties between India and Sri Lanka has been historically close the disastrous policies adopted by the Indian governments towards Sri Lanka have made Indian military less friendly to Sri Lankans. They include Indian military's involvement in training LTTE carders in India, aggression by Indian air force and navy violating Sri Lanka's air space and its seas respectively to force JR Jayawardana government to stop successful Vadamarachchi military campaign which saved Prabhakaran to wage the terrorism for further 20 years, sending Indian army (IPKF) to force upon us the so called  'Political Solution' and finally refusal to sell necessary weaponry to the marooned 40,000 troops in the besieged Jaffana peninsula and instead willing to provide vessels to a near impossible evacuation mission.    

On the other hand Chinese government including PLA has been one of the few countries which were steadfastly behind Sri Lanka's successful military campaign against terrorism. Apart from being the biggest arms supplier to Sri Lanka China had been regularly supplying arms without any hindrance though many countries including India refused to do so.

It seems Sri Lankan armed forces and PLA have opened a new chapter in their relationship with the two countries' military ties further strengthened. However, we are yet to see the reaction by the Indian government to this strengthened military ties between China and SL. If India indeed does react it may be overt or covert or may be a combination of both. India's reaction to perceived SL's closeness to the US ie training LTTE cadres in India was of course covert though it became overt later.   

One of the biggest persecutors of Buddhists sheds crocodile tears for Tibet Buddhists to avenge China’s support for Sri Lanka to rid itself from terrorism

LTTE's expression of its solidarity towards the Tibetan Buddhists who are in protest against Chinese establishment can best be described as a yet big ploy by the Eelmists to deceive world community to further its terrorism. During the 30 years of terrorism by the Eelamist in Sri Lanka the persecution and mayhem perpetrated by them against Buddhists may perhaps be second only to the persecution carried out against Buddhists by Muslim invaders in Indian sub continent and East Asian countries and the persecution carried out by the Western colonists in their colonies which were predominantly Buddhists.

The persecutions carried out by the Eelamist in Sri Lanka against Buddhists include the massacring of Buddhist monks in numerous occasions  (eg: killing of 33 Buddhist monks  as young as 10 years in Aranthalawa in 1987) , numerous attacks carried out against Buddhist worshipers in all parts of the country (eg: killing of 146 Buddhist worshipers in Anuradhpura at Sri Maha Bodhi in 1985), the bombing of Dalanda Maligawa, the most sacred place of worship of Buddhists, killings of thousands of Buddhists in several parts of the country, ethnic cleansing of Buddhists from their traditional villages that they lived for thousands of years and the destruction of ancient Buddhists temples and archeological sites in order to erase the sings of Sinhalese Buddhist civilization from the Northern and Eastern parts of the country to claim the bogus "Tamil Homeland". These are just a few examples of attacks carried out against Buddhists.

So one can understand the reason behind the sudden compassion felt by Eelamist for Tibetan Buddhists. At a time Tibetans are protesting against Chinese Establishment Eelmists are shedding crocodile tears for Tibetan Buddhists as China's support to Sri Lanka to rid itself from the Eelam terrorism has always been thorn in the flesh of Eelamists. Unlike the hypocritical Western countries which have been strong supporters of Eelam terrorism China has thrown its weight behind Sri Lanka to free itself from terrorism.

So the LTTE terrorists who are among the biggest persecutors of Buddhists in the world has no moral right whatsoever to talk on behalf of Buddhists irrespective of which part of the world they come from be they from Tibet or any other part of the world.  As I said earlier it is just a big ploy on the part of Eelam terrorists to deceive world community to further their terrorism.   

Carving out of a separate sate in Sudan: A new fodder for Eelamists

Eelamists and their supporters in the West are still licking their wounds after utterly failing the mammoth effort they made to carve out a separate state in Sri Lanka militarily.  But an unfortunate African country Sudan succumbed to the West's and the USA's nasty schemes and became a victim of it. The West's nasty schemes were well supported by the Eelmaists too in this effort though their effort in Sri Lanka never bore fruits. (Rudrakumaran , a prominent LTTE  leader based in USA and an ardent supporter of carving out of Southern Sudan scheme has been invited to the independence ceremony to take place soon ).Highlighting the carving out of a separate state in Sudan has become Eelam propagandists' hot topic as D.B.S. Jeyaraj does in one of his latest posts.

Though the efforts by the Eelamists and the West failed in military means in Sri Lanka they are continued unabated in other means as witnessed by the 'Darusman's Report' and 'Chanel-04 Video'. The sustained will- power of Sri Lankan people ably supported by the correct political leadership prevented what would have been another Southern Sudan in Sri Lanka. Eelam propagandists like Jeyraj's aim is to give another boost to current efforts underway against Sri Lanka. This will catch a renowned vigor in coming days highlighting 'Southern Sudan as an example to win Eelam'.  

Why do Americans keep on losing wars at the same time engaged in mass scale slaughtering of civilians in the soils they invade?

This article in The Telegraph speaks volumes as to why the USA, the most powerful military ever existed in the planet keep on losing wars in the countries that they invade while at the same time indiscriminately slaughtering the incent civilians in the invaded countries. As per this article the US spends £12.5 billion a year on air conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

USA armed forces' reluctance to relinquish the comfortable lifestyles which they enjoy back at home in the invaded soils too while relying on too much in technology, again as measure not to risk their lives and limbs, have cost dearly innocent civilians in the invaded countries. Numerous drone attacks that slaughter civilians in thousands in Afghanistan are case in point.  The particular article in The Telegraph goes on to say that

 'The US military spends about $20 billion (£12.5 billion) a year just to air-condition its bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, a retired senior officer has claimed. The Brigadier General Steve Anderson, who served as chief logistician to General David Petraeus in Iraq, said that the American department of defence (DOD) was shockingly inefficient in its energy use.

"In essence what we're doing is we're air conditioning the desert over there in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places," Brig. Gen. Anderson said. Taking into account raw fuel, transport and security, "DOD will spend about $20 billion annually to air-condition tents and temporary structures,"

he told National Public Radio. Brig. Gen. Anderson explained that the fuel used to power air conditioners in remote bases in Afghanistan is shipped into Pakistan, before being transported by land for more than two weeks. It must cross 800 miles of roads, many little more than "improved goat trails", and areas where insurgents will use roadside bombs to target troops serving the US war effort.

Brig. Gen. Anderson claims billions of dollars could be saved if the US military used simple energy-efficient techniques, such as spraying tents with common insulation foam used in domestic roofs.

 In contrast a Sri Lankan armed forces' soldier defeated the most ruthless terrorist origination in the world, claimed by none other than FBI itself, with perhaps one tenth of facilities and comforts that his counterpart in the US forces' has access to.  SL forces risked their lives and limbs to minimize the civilian casualties not relying on methods that harm the lives of the civilians. And also they faced a foe perhaps 10 times formidable and comprising of 100 times more suicide carders than what the US faces now. Yet SL forces saved 300,000 civilians that terrorists used as a protective shield for their survival. Would the USA have ever undertaken such a feat?

As I pointed out in one of my previous articles the spectacular success achieved by the Sri Lankan armed forces is too much to the USA and the West to digest.  So Sri Lanka has to pay the price for doing what the most formidable military powers that ever existed in the world can't do.  

Yet another reason why the West hates Sri Lanka……..

Apart from feeling guilty for not being able to pay back in the form of an exclusive Tamil state in Sri Lanka for Tamils for they have been the greatest ass lickers of the Whites for generations, the White asses got some other reasons too to punish Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka has scored a magnificent victory against terrorism by completely wiping out them from the face of the earth- a feat that the White West feels terribly envious with Sri Lanka as they have horribly failed in doing so with the greatest military power ever existed in this planet leading the fight with an enormous number of innocent civilians butchered.

  Close on the heels of big triumphalism unleashed at the death of Osama Bin Laden, the latest news is that the US is holding peace talks with the Taliban.  The West led by the US went for an all out war to destroy the Taliban an almost decade ago but the Taliban is still kicking and alive.  Sri Lanka stands out as a towering example of being the only country to defeat terrorism militarily in the contemporary history. Sri Lanka also proved horribly wrong the pundits in the Western Universities in the subject of Conflict Resolution with their hair splitting theories who advocate talking peace with terrorists is the only solution. There is no doubt that Taliban will soon prove them wrong again.  So Sri Lanka has to pay the prize of doing what the mightiest military powers ever existed in the planet can't do!  

Chanel -04 Video is a fake! It’s a recording of gruesome execution of Sri Lankan Army soldiers and Naval ratings taken prisoner by the Tamil Tigers!

Mr. Mahinda Gunasekara in an article in the Sunday Island on 12th June proves with evidences that the Chanel -04 Video which is allegedly claimed to have been "extra-judicial killings in Sri lanka" during the final stages of the war "could well have been a recording of gruesome execution of Sri Lankan Army soldiers and Naval ratings taken prisoner by the Tamil Tigers, which they doctored and presented to the UK TV station in their attempt to frame the Sri Lanka authorities for war crimes committed by them".       

The article quotes an article appeared in Asian Tribune by one of the world's leading experts on digital video systems and former head of Cisco's Global Broadcast and Digital Video Practice division Mr. Siri Hewavitharana who proves with evidences that the video was indeed a fake.

I quote below some paragraphs of the article which shed more light to prove that it was indeed LTTE's handiwork who are the masters in these types of fraudulent crafts.

   

"The presence of another video carrying the same horrific scenes of execution where the voices recorded at the time clearly speak Tamil words has been uncovered, which was shown on the community channel Boston Lanka News Edition of June 14, 2010. The Channel 4 video, on the other hand, where the Sinhalese sounding voices are somewhat less clear and sounding artificial appear to have been dubbed later. We understand that the Sri Lankan authorities have submitted a copy of this other video to the parties concerned for their investigation. The link to the related news edition to access the second video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohI3CSD4neM"

  

"The above news item is further evidence of the Tamil Tigers executing Sri Lankan security forces personnel who were in their custody during the latter stages of the war.Tamil Tigers executed and burnt Sri Lankan soldiers taken as prisoners of war Excavations of the mass grave in Kilinochchi where the bodies of 26 Sri Lankan soldiers executed by the LTTE are believed to have been buried, have now been completed, the police said.

The mass grave is believed to be of 26 soldiers who were taken as prisoners of war by the vanquished terrorist group and kept for years before they were executed when the military forces were approaching the Tiger territory last year.

The police yesterday said some human bones along with powdery residues believed to be of ashes and bullets have been recovered from the grave.

According to four LTTE suspects who were allegedly involved in the killing and are in custody now, the soldiers had been imprisoned at the Victor Base Prison at Vallipuram in Mullaitivu for more than three years.

The LTTE suspects had told the authorities that 8 Army soldiers and 18 naval ratings had been tortured from 2006 in a torture chamber at a location 10 kilometers away from the Mullaitivu highway. When the security forces were approaching, the fleeing Tigers have executed the prisoners of war on 6th January 2009 and burnt their bodies in the mass grave."

Indian thug is back in his usual business to destroy Sri Lanka

As has always been the case Sri Lanka has been taken complete off guard again and taken for a good ride by hypocritical India. It was too late Sri Lanka to learn that India was playing a huge role to punish her through the 'Darusman Report' on 'war crimes' alleged to have been committed by Sri Lankan armed forces at the last stages of the war. India has not only joined hand in hand with the UN, the West and the USA in this endeavor but it has also been major persuader in this campaign. It is clear that India which has been engaged in a mega destabilizing project on Sri Lanka for quite some time after independence is back in the usual business in this time around with steely determination. India's thugary towards Sri Lanka has cost her dearly. Two out of three armed conflicts that destroyed the country was caused by India. It was India who thrust the 13th Amendment, a stepping stone for Tamil racists to divide this country down our throats. Now it is back again in the fray to force us to go for more than 13^th Amendment.

As pointed out in an earlier article there are three major forces hell bent to destroy Sri Lanka's peaceful existence: Eelmists, Muslim fundamentalism cum expansion and India's aggressive interferences in Sri Lanka's internal affairs. These forces' principle target group is Sinhalese and they are working overtime to deny Sinhalese Buddhists their rightful position in this country who can boldly and undisputedly claim that their presence in the country in more than two millennia made significant impact in its culture and society.        

Sri Lanka is the only patch of land that Sinhalese can live in and die. They have no other land to go as Tamils and Muslims do nor do they have brothers and sisters to demonstrate on behalf of them in all over the world at the drop of a hat. The rural Sinhalese foot soldier goes to the battle front with one thing in his mind. If he is defeated the only place left for him is the deep blue sea. So he fights until last drop of blood. In fact there will be no peace in Sri Lanka as long as Sinhalese feel insecure. The more they are being harassed by whoever else be it Tamils or Muslims or India or the West or the USA the greater their will power to fight back to win their precious right to live in their beloved mother land. Sinhalese also do have an equal right to live in anywhere in the country be it in Giranike (Killinochchi) or Mooladoowa (Mulaitheev) or Hunugama (Chunnakam) or Samapura (Sampoor) or Vavnimawa (Vavniya) or Thambalagamuwa (Thampalakamam) or Minipe (Manipai) or Kadurugoda (Kantharodai) or Vanagamua (Vankamam) as not only those areas were originally inhabited by them but they also do have a right to live those areas as Tamils and Muslims enjoy rights to live any other part of the country.     

Sinhalese have survived more than 2500 years withstanding so many perils such as huge invasions from the South India and the West alike who were hell bent to wipe out them from the face of the earth. They will continue to fight however mightier their advisory might be. When Sinhalese are pushed to the wall, as it is going to happen again, they have fought back ferociously and preserved their race, their motherland and the religion.   

‘Triumphalism’ Vs Celebrations

When Sri Lankan people came to the street to cheer the hard-fought victory achieved by our valiant security forces against megalomaniacal mass murderer terrorist leader Prabhakaran, it was termed as 'triumphalism' by local NGO Peace Muladlali dollar Kakas and LTTE supportive INGOs. But when the flags waving USA citizens who came to the streets shouting their country's name aftermath of Bin laden's killing is simply termed as 'celebrations'. This hypocrisy on the part of ant-Sri Lankan, LTTE supportive hordes is well described by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka in his article appearing in today's Island (04^th March 2011). I below quote the particular part in his brilliant article. The article titled 'Osama Bin Laden and Sri Lanka's WMD moment' highlights the hypocrisy of the Darusman's report. 

"One joins the USA in its celebratory sentiments and President Obama in his ringing reassertions about Bin Laden, but these are as valid or even more so, with regard to Sri Lanka and the Tigers. How come its 'celebration' in the USA when people spontaneously shout the name of their country and express pride in its armed forces and wave flags outside the White House and 'triumphalism' when it happens in Sri Lanka? It is fine when people gather outside Ground Zero and praise the death of Bin laden as justice served for the victims of the Twin Towers, but it is bad form when Sri Lankans, who have been victims of large scale terror and murders of their leaders, express relief and happiness at the death of the man and the destruction of the militia that plagued a generation? Is it that it is fine when it is the citizens of the North who do it but terrible when it is those of the global, ex-colonial South? Or is it that the sentiments of the people of certain communities can be 'hurt' by expressions of relief, congratulations and triumph, but not those of certain others? Why should Sri Lanka play by these hypocritical hegemonic rules?

To pre-empt any sly assertion that the killing of Osama did not entail civilian casualties, we must recall that it was preceded and is still accompanied by a protracted conventional war in Afghanistan, which spills over into neighbouring Pakistan, and has entailed quite significant civilian casualties -- not even the most surgical tactic, Predator drone strikes, are devoid of them when the terrorist leaders are embedded among their kinfolk and tribes.

Analysts and contemporary historians must not forget that the core of the civilians who were with the Tigers were those who had chosen to leave Jaffna with them in 1996 after it had been liberated by the Sri Lankan armed forces in Operation Riviresa, and most Tamils had stayed behind or moved precisely from Tiger control to army controlled areas." 

Three biggest threats faced by Sri Lanka for its peaceful existence

Undoubtedly the threat posed by the Eelmists to dissembler Sri Lanka based on a mythical homeland remains largely intact despite its armed attempt being comprehensively defeated.   This attempt will go on as long as Sri Lankan government fails to defeat Eelamists abroad and here. This will be certainly a huge uphill task as far as the Sri Lankan government is concerned as the Eelimsts are being lavishly supported by the West, the USA and a host of powerful NGOs supportive to the Eelamists and their cohorts here.

Apart from the threat by the Eelamists the very existence of Sri Lanka is in great peril posed by other far more greater threats though they may have not come to the greater attention of people yet. The threat posed by the Muslim expansion in Sri Lanka has already created a huge threat with an ever increasing population explosion. This will certainly make a great demographic imbalance in Sri Lanka soon, setting in motion a host of unimaginable scale of negative implications for Sri Lanka's peaceful co-existence.   The ever increasing attacks against the Buddhist temples and attempts being made to grab such places in the Eastern part of the country by Muslims is a clear indication of this disturbing trend which is just one example of ever increasing Islam fundamentalism in Sri Lanka directed against Buddhism. And also harassments against poor Sinhalese in the Province by way of land grabbing with the support of Muslim politicians and the government servants have been on the increase.       

The hostile attitude by India towards Sri Lanka and its aggressive interferences in Sri Lanka's internal affairs has increasingly been becoming a major threat to Sri Lanka's sovereignty. India is directly responsible for the eruption and the prolongation of three out of two civil wars after independence. There have been many such blatant violations of Sri Lanka's sovereignty on the part of India which will continue to happen unabated in the future too. Fate befallen on Nepal and Bhutan which have become almost satellite states of India is case in point for Sri Lanka too.  

Sri Lanka's peaceful existence will largely be decided by these three threats with their ever growing implications looming around with each passing day.

Beware Sri Lanka government! Indian Tamils can be sneaked into the country along with Sri Lankan refugee Tamils to bloat the Tamil population in the North and East.

Though the Elelmists were military defeated their campaign is fully intact. It is being waged in many fronts and in many forms. Covert and overt operations are well underway to achieve this goal.   The massive disinformation campaign which is underway tarnishing the image of Sri Lanka with the help of paid politicians, INGOs and media of the Western countries is one way of doing it.  Also part of it is the rigorous well oiled camping of showing to the world the mythical 'Tamil homeland' with fantasized false history.

A part of this exercise is to present an exclusive and bloated Tamil population in the North East region which has been carried out successfully covertly and overtly.  Though unknown to many covert campaigns to present bloated Tamil presence in the region has been going on for several decades even well before the start of the war. One of those successful attempts was the settling of illegal Indian immigrants in Giranike (Kilinochchi) and Mooladoova (Mullaittivu) districts, who were on their way to India under the Srima- Shastri Accord. This whole operation was carried out by Norway through Redd Barna, a Norwegian NGO in 1960s.

Same can be repeated in a different way.  The Tamil civilians who are expected to return to the island from Tamil Nadu refugee camps can well be used for achieving this goal. Indian Tamils can be sneaked into the country along with Sri Lankan Tamils to present a bloated Tamil presence in the region. This attempt can well be supported by the Eelam supportive politicians and the government servants as there have been many instances where they have done so previously. For instance an excessive number of houses built by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) for LTTE's mahaveer families in Trincomalee remains unoccupied with the intervention of a top Tamil government servant, apparently to give shelter to an increased number of Tamils. It is reported that homeless families in the area are not allowed to occupy these houses.           

Attempt to make NE as an exclusive Tamil entity has been fairly successful through mass scale ethnic cleansing campaigns carried out against Sinhalese and Muslims. These massacres of Sinhalese and Muslims and razing their villages to the ground forcing them to flee to other parts of the country contributed to reduce drastically the non-Tamil communities' presence in the region.

So the government should be mindful of the fact that what we see as massive campaigns in the West against Sri Lanka is just a tip of ice berg. There are many invisible sinister campaigns and attempts being waged to achieve the Eelam by hook or by crook   

Kudlip Nayar’s latest antiques on Sri Lanka: a reflection of India’s big brotherly attitude and pieces picked up from LTTE’s propagandists

Kuldip Nayar, a former Indian High Commissioner to the UK and whose articles regularly appear in The Island newspaper has written his latest article on Sri Lanka. His subject of discussion is about Sri Lanka government's alleged lack of commitment to treat Tamils as 'equal citizens'. While going through the article one would immediately be struck with the idea that this writer too is afflicted with the same disease that his Western counterparts are afflicted with: totally ill informed distorted outbursts against Sri Lanka. As it is well known these rants are mostly based on the pieces of hatred against Sri Lanka spread by LTTE propagandists.  Added to the woes is the fact that the article is mixed with what his fellow countrymen have been good at against Sri Lanka for many years: preaching of India's big brotherly attitude as pointed out in my last post.  

He says that 'still 300,000 Tamils are languishing in camps or living in the open although the war ended more than a year ago'. Has he deliberately added one more zero to the figure that he quoted? Perhaps he might have taken the figure from an LTTE propaganda piece.

Had he made a little effort to follow things here in Sri Lanka not depending totally on LTTE's propaganda pieces he would have realized that no decision has yet been taken by the government to go ahead with the proposal made to the Cabinet to sing the national anthem in Sinhala. But he has come to in his own  conclusions on this too saying : 'But he (the president)  has discontinued the singing of National Anthem in Tamil'

He betrays in his article his country's big brotherly attitude but with some woefully wrong facts. He says that It is the Trincomalee harbor that is being built with the Chinese help. He has mixed it up with the Hambanthota harbor which India claims of being China's growing presence in Sri Lanka for which India has taken measures by setting up an Assistant High Commission in the area to spy on Chinese.  But he seems to have been unaware of the fact that Sri Lanka first approached India to build the harbor. It was after India's refusal only Sri Lanka approached China.   

He goes on to say that trainings given by Pakistan to Sri Lankan military personnel go against the India's interests. Another glaring example of our big brother's throwing her weight around in the region.       Training Sri Lankan army officers by the Pakistan military is not a new phenomenon. It was started no sooner than Sri Lankan government decided in mid sixties to stop costly training stints for military officers in Sandhurst and other military collages in the UK. Sooner Sri Lankan officer corps started getting trainings both in Pakistan and Indian military collages which continues to happen to date.   And it is the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Pakistan which was instrumental in training our commandoes at the initial stages. After all they were not trained to launch attacks against India as the writer seems attempting to say. They were trained to fight against the terrorism created by none other than India.  Besides, what is wrong in getting military trainings from a country which helped us when it was needed the most while our big brother turned his back towards us when we were indeed in need during the war?            

It is too exaggeration to say that Tamils in Sri Lanka totally rejected LTTE's head Prabakaran. If there were any belonging to such category they may have been tiny percentage among the vast majority. 

It seems Kudlip Naiyar has woken up from a deep slumber. He has blissfully forgotten the atrocities committed by the LTTE during the last three decades against the civilians, the vast majority of them being the Sinhalese. He has also failed to acknowledge the atrocities carried out by the Indian army during its stay in Sri Lanka: if named a few of them one would not forget the glaring examples such as raping of Tamil women in large numbers, civilian massacres, lootings, driving away Sinhalese from their original villages with the collaboration of the 'Tamil National Army' etc.

He goes on to say   'A federal structure is what is needed in Sri Lanka' . This is clear sign of India's habit of Imposing things on Sri Lanka which goes on unabated. The so called 'solution' thrust down our throats by Rajeev Gandhi has done more harm to the country than it has benefited us even resulting in JVP armed insurgency.   

Besides, most of what the writer says is what India thinks about Sri Lanka. It is merely an outburst of an Indian harboring usual big brotherly attitude towards Sri Lanka which set in motion most of the troubles faced by Sri Lankans during the last three decades including two out of three armed insurgencies that erupted after independence. 

He has gone on in lengths to preach Sri Lankan president about treating citizens equally, about second class citizens, about discriminations etc, etc but blissfully turned a blind eye to the second class treatment meted out to the people in Jammu and Kashmir at his own home.   

He concludes his articles in the following warning which is a clear cut sign of India's big brotherly treatment towards Sri Lanka. It speaks volumes what India is up to with regard to Sri Lanka  

 'But if Colombo continues to encourage China and Pakistan, India would have to do something to safeguard its interests'

India’s big brotherly attitude towards Sri Lanka continuous……..

India that contributed to the two out of three armed insurgencies that erupted in Sri Lanka after the independence continues unabated her big brotherly attitude towards Sri Lanka which has been quite detrimental to Sri Lanka's well being and caused unimaginable proportion of destruction to her people.

A recent big brotherly statement made by Rahul Gandhi, the son and the grandson of the infamous lethal combination of mother and son or the 'cow and calf' as put by late president Premadasa that spelled domed to Sri Lanka proves it again. Seemingly he doesn't have an iota of idea about the magnificent effort taken by the Sri Lankan government in taking caring the war displaced. Otherwise how on earth does he make statement to the effect that Sri Lanka government was 'not doing enough' for the Tamils? Worst! He goes on to say that he would 'ensure they get justice'. This speaks volumes the big brotherly attitude harbored by Indians towards Sri Lanka.  How an outsider to our country, an Indian could force us and interfere in our affaires to 'ensure' that someone' gets justice'.

India which did not want to give us the much needed arms to fight the war that created by herself now wants to give us some weapons as per this latest news. This is one of the series of ridicules moves which is aimed at forcing us to prevent we are getting closer to China. Lately there have been many consorted attempts covertly and overtly by India to prevent China from getting closer to us. Case in point has been the setting up India's assistance high commissions in Hambanthota and Jaffna.  People of Hambanthota will get no benefits at all from an assistance high commission of India. It is a blatant attempt to do espionage on Chinese working in Hambanthota harbor. Sri Lanka, a sovereign nation enjoys full freedom to be friendly with any nation in the world. This arm twisting attitude of India has cost us a lot. Fresh in our memories are the armed twisting attitude by India when Sri Lanka was attempting to restart the diplomatic relations with Israel in mid 80s while India started fully fledged diplomatic relations with Israel in a few years later. We were desperately seeking the diplomatic relations with Israel to fight a war created by India.  We are also fresh in our memories how our big brother forced and intimated to prevent us from getting high tech radars from China when LTTE's bombing from the air was looming while India gave us the low-tech ones.    

It was India that pumped the life blood to the LTTE terrorists by training them in their soil and making it a safe haven for its leader and other rank and file.  It was India who thrust the 13^th amendment down our throats and sent her army here purportedly to disarm the LTTE. This instigated a bloodbath here which resulted in 60,000 deaths of youth with unimaginable destruction caused to the country as Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna used this to revolt against the government. The 13^th amendment which was imposed on us does harm to the country than doing any good. It is still India who continues to thrust the 13^th amendment down our throats.

Among our Asian friends closer to our home It is Pakistan and another our long standing friend China that steadfastly stood by us right throughout the period of fighting the terrorists. This support has been both in the forms of material and moral support. The support was extended to us on numerous occasions when it was badly needed. Case in point was as recently as year 2000 when Jaffna was about to fall with 40,000 troops marooned. The then President Chandrika sought India's support to provide with required armaments to save Jaffna. India categorically refused it and instead promised to send ships to evacuate the beleaguered troops. Then again it was Pakistan helped us with provision of much needed MBRLs which eventually helped army to save Jaffna.

It was after Rajeeve Gandhi, an architecture who spelled doom to Sri Lanka was blown into pieces by the LTTE, India changed a little bit her stance. And also it was many years later only India was willing to provide us 'non-lethal' weapons to fight the terrorists.

It is the story of 'let your ass get kicked as long as our ass is safe and we will kick your ass if you try to save your ass'

“The East Asian race has kicked the white race’s ass while the South Asian’s have traditionally licked the white race’s ass”

How true!I saw the below quoted comment posted in response to an article written comparing military strengths of China and India. The author of the comment explains why the US is interested in strengthening India's military. The comment tells it in nutshell: the mentality of the most of the South Asian countries who were the former colonies of the West. They have for long been the 'yes' men to the West. This is very much true as far as Sri Lanka is concerned.

This mentality, especially among 'Kalu Suddas' in Sri Lanka, has cost us dearly. Until president Rajapaksha came into power our political elite licked the asses of the West and in turn what we got was 30 years of war which was being fuelled by them with their hypocritical actions. The West's hypocrisy has been well exemplified on numerous occasions, the most recent instance being the treatment meted out to the SL's president when he made a visit to the UK. The president was humiliated as he got balls not to lick the West's asses.

Following is the said comment.       

"The reason why the western world, in particular the neo-conservative factions are hyping up and siding with India while trying to put China down is because of a historical fear the white (caucasian) race has of the yellow (oriental) race. Throughout history, from the Huns who humiliated the mighty Romans, to the Mongols under Ghengis Khan and his grandsons to the Japanese at Pearl Harbour to the Vietnamese in the Vietnam war, the East Asian race has kicked the white race's ass while the South Asian's have traditionally licked the white race's ass. Therefore the western fear of China's rise as a superpower that could challenge the western world's global dominance.

The west courts India not because India has any true superpower potential but because Indians are sycophants and willing lackeys to the white race, is conviniently located right next door to China and more that willing to take orders from the whites."

It is again the lackeys of the Sudda's in Sri Lanka who shout from the roof tops against percent Sri Lankan government's foreign policy in tilting towards true friends like China rather than licking the asses of the White.

“The Sri Lanka of today is much bolder and far more confident, far less likely to be dictated to and far more attuned to her own rhythms and priorities”.

A serialized review by Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda on a paper by Ashok Mehta –'Sri Lanka's Ethnic Conflict: How Eelam War IV was Won' appeared in Sunday Island on 31st October, 07^th November and 14^th November 2010.

What struck me most was the following concluding paragraphs by the reviewer. It sums up what ticks inside the head of the present government. All the adversaries to the present regime who try to force things on her should first understand this reality.

"The whole episode only serves to underlines a basic reality. The solution that everybody else desires may not be desirable for Sri Lanka; it may not even be workable, and ultimately, it is Sri Lanka which will have to pay the price. This is something which India and the outside world have yet to understand. Only then, can there be a permanent resolution.

In this context, it is important to point out that the Sri Lanka of today is no longer the country that it was before the last Eelam War. As Sri Lanka has changed, so have her politics and so, has her idea of her place in the world. Despite the immense pressure which has been applied by the United Nations, the western powers and India, Sri Lanka continues to go her own way. After having defied all the odds and come through the very worst, it is unlikely that this administration will give way on anything less. To force it to do so would only exaggerate, increase tensions and shore up trouble for the future.

The Sri Lanka of today is much bolder and far more confident, far less likely to be dictated to and far more attuned to her own rhythms and priorities. It is a story which all those dealing with Sri Lanka should try to understand, for it is the reality which they will encounter."

Prof: Rohan Gunaratne talks about the truth behind the ‘Political Settlement for Tamils’ and the so called human rights abuses allegedly to have been committed by the SL armed forces

As was highlighted by many a times in my posts and also as has been a quite common knowledge to many, the demand for a 'political settlement for Tamils' being shouted from the roof tops based on a bogus 'Tamil Homeland' or the mythical Tamil history in Sri Lanka is just a creation of a bunch of Jaffna Tamil Vellala elites who made use of this fantasy to achieve their political goals at the expense of misguided poor Tamil youth. 

In a recent interview to Daily Mirror Prof. Rohan Gunaratne , Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore puts it in one of the best ways one could do it as thus:

 'This political settlement is not created by the ordinary Tamils in the NE but those highly politicized and radicalised Tamils in Colombo, doing the cocktail circuit, lobbying the embassies, or Tamil politicians'.

 He goes on to say

'But this is not a priority for the people. I think the idea of political settlement is created by a small percentage in Colombo not representative of the real needs of the Tamil people as a whole. Govt can ensure that these Tamils can live peacefully in the NE or wherever they want to live in the country, have access to education and livelihoods. Gvt. must focus of economic growth. '

With regard to human rights abuses alleged to have been committed by the SL security forces…..

"Every conflict zone in the world whether it is Afganistan, Kashmir or Iraq has produced civilian injuries and fatalities. No conflict zone can a government fight without violence. Civilians are those who most inevitably die in a conflict. You can't fight terrorism without civilian deaths. The entire strategy of the terrorist is to hide behind the civilians and attack. If you look at civilian deaths, then in Iraq 100,000 have died, in Afganistan several tens of thousands more. But in Sri Lanka the number is very modest in comparison, yet, why did the UN appoint a Committee of Inquiry. It is because there was very significant pressure on him by countries that have been lobbied by LTTE and its friends."  

The number of civilians alleged to have been killed is just an exaggeration by the LTTE and picked up by the interested parties   

Because in the final stages of the war the LTTE activated its machinery overseas and this couldn't be countered by the government through its missions overseas. These missions didn't give priority to this. This has been a traditional failure of the governments.  So LTTE gave a figure of 7,000 civilian deaths in its websites, which was picked up by the UN, media and human rights organizations. The strategy of the government should've been to issue a white paper on what happened in the No Fire Zone during this time, it can still be done today. Then the government must inform the UN and other governments commenting on SL without burying its head in the ground. Say what is right and what wrong. They must be pro active and responsive. Then the government must raise the question why these organizations are singling out Sri Lanka by reacting to LTTE propaganda. They can ask why they are concerned about civilian deaths if there is no principle of equality when dealing with more deaths in Iraq or Afghanistan and why they don't have Commissions of Inquiry on these other conflicts as well. 

I think the government is not doing this because they feel singled out. Simply singling out a country is bad. I believe the Opposition instead of carrying out its traditional role of confrontational politics should have the wisdom to tell the government that they will work with it. Defeating the LTTE was the biggest challenge Sri Lanka faced in the last three decades and when it comes to matters of foreign policy there must be a bi-partisan opposition. That is an intelligent opposition. SL must maintain a relationship with the West or the security threat to the country will increase. Otherwise the LTTE will reorganize.

SL forces never deliberately killed the civilians because its aim was to eliminate the terrorists not the civilians

"The Sri Lankan forces never killed civilians deliberately but in counter intelligence civilian deaths take place. Because, the intention of the government was to vanquish LTTE and not kill civilians, where 9,000 of the 11,000 LTTE cadres in government detention were those who surrendered.  SL ensured that every operational order had zero civilian casualties as a priority. From my research the total number of civilian deaths is 1,400 and LTTE 10,000. It is important to distinguish between an illegal combatant and a civilian. "

It is indeed a must read article.

The cat is out of the bag! Navanethem Pillay is to do the final touches to Ban Ki- moon’s grand design against Sri Lanka!

Today's The Island's editorial tells the story in style. The cat is out of the bag! Ban Ki- moon has revealed that the expert panel appointed to 'investigate the "war crimes" allegedly committed by the SL security forces at the final stages of the war' is under Navanethem Pillay's Office. One should not be a rocket scientist to fathom what Moon is up to. 

·      Navnthan Pillai has been a staunchest opponent of Sri Lanka harboring a strong hatred against her present government that defeated the terrorism and fascism. She did her best from Geneva to save the Prabhakaran and his cohorts at the final stages of war.  She has virtually become the mouthpiece of the anti Sri Lankan-Tamil Diaspora. Her outbursts against Sri Lanka are well known. So expecting a fair judgment for Sri Lanka from any committee or panel even having a distanced connection with her is a mere day dream, leave along if it is under her.

·      The other panel members' anti Sri Lankan stance is well known. Their track record with regard to Sri Lanka is well described by the Island's editor as follows.

(1)    Marzuki Darusman: Marzuki Darusman was part of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) involved in a presidential commission that probed some alleged violations of human rights in Sri Lanka. These eminent persons had a row with the government and left in a huff. Darusman is, therefore, prejudiced against this country.

(2)    Steven R. Ratner: Steven R. Ratner is of a similar mindset. He, in a book co-authored with Jason S. Abrams, Accountability for Human rights: Atrocities in International Law-Beyond the Nuremberg Legacy, advocates that the ban on apartheid be invoked in relation to some countries including Sri Lanka, which he refers to by innuendo.

(3)    Yasmin Sooka: Yasmin Sooka, a former Truth Commission member, is the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) in South Africa. Her outfit is heavily dependent on EU funds for survival. The EU has allocated a whopping 25 million Euros for one of its programmes. She is, therefore, beholden to the EU, which is leading a war crimes campaign against Sri Lanka from the front.

And also

(4)    Richard Bennett, the person who has been handpicked as the head of the staff of the expert panel is a trusted lieutenant of Pillay. He had been the Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal until his latest appointment

 

·    So it is very much clear that 'appointment of the panel' is just a Trojan horse to give a legal status to a 'report' which will come out soon. The 'report' has apparently been already prepared with the support of anti-Sri Lankan forces: LTTE supportive Western nations and Anti-Sri Lanka Tamil Diaspora etc.

The most ridiculous part of the whole story has been that not only this grand plot against Sri Lanka's main architect's impartiality which is before a big question mark but also his integrity too as was widely reported in the media yesterday.

The beginning of a new era in Sri Lanka’s foreign relations

This article by Mr. K. Godage with the above headline appearing in today's island sees the bright future ahead for us in the sphere of foreign relations with the appointment of Prof. G.L. Peiris as our new Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The article highlights with the appointment of Prof. G.L Peiris as the Minister of Foreign Affairs we will be able to get rid of one of the blight that our Foreign Services afflicted with for a long period of time. Our new foreign minister will be not subjected to 'constituency responsibilities'.Our past foreign ministers who came to parliament as elected members accommodated his supporters, cronies, stooges and family members in the Foreign Service with devastating effect to the country. As a result of it jokers and clowns filled with our foreign missions and other important positions in the service. The unimaginable damage caused by this foolish act is a history now. 

As he is an outspoken person and a good communicator plus a very sound academic background with a thorough understanding about Sri Lanka's affaires Prof. Peiris would be able to get rid of the negative picture that the world harbors about us due to disinformation campaign carried out by the Eelamists and their supportive I/NGO's. As highlighted by me in my previous post, due to our past foreign ministers' abysmal failure to highlight the world the true picture prevailing in Sri Lanka we have cost a lot. The so called perceived and now non-existence discrimination of Tamils, the bogus Tamil history in Sri Lanka, the imaginative 'home land' and demand for a 'political solution' are all just a Trojan horse to deny other communities to live in the North and East of country.  

The writer also points out the most important role the new foreign minister is expected to play with the backdrop of China becoming a super-power with her growing influence in the region. The maintenance of our friendship with her and other powers such as Russia and Iran who helped us immensely in our difficult times should never be overlooked. And also he highlights the importance of continuing the confidence and trust we have painstakingly cultivated with India. We would be able to reap immense benefits if we play the cards skillfully in the backdrop of the emergence of Asia as a new economic power with our strategic positioning in the continent. Maintaining healthy relationship with the West is also important but we should never succumb to their intimidations as we would have still been fighting the war had we given into them in the recent past.   

As known to many who are familiar with foreign relation subject in Sri Lanka Mr. K. Godage, the writer of the article is one most distinguished, respected and senior diplomats that Sri Lanka ever produced. He is an authority on the subject and also a prolific writer. He did yeomen and exemplary service to our country during times when she was sailing in troubled waters.

Robert O Blake’s dual role

This is a translated version of an article by Keerthi Warnakulasooriya, appeared in today's Divaina (16^th April.2010)  

"LTTE can never be defeated"- Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia

The unprecedented victory secured by the present government in the last election has left the US's government machinery in a state of shock. This is further proved with the US military Academy's decision to discontinue the training opportunities provided to the SL's armed forces owning to the disinformation campaign carried out by Blake against Sri Lanka over alleged war crimes. Blake never thought that the LTTE would ever be defeated. He has now started telling us what present government should do in the wake of the magnificent victory it secured. Issuing a statement after the election victory of the government Blake says that "It's a particularly important opportunity now to make progress on these important issues of reconciliation, power-sharing and accountability".  

Development of the country was the most prominent component of the government's manifesto for this election. However, Blake says what the government should do is that the implementation of the US's agenda in Sri Lanka. He goes on to say that Tamils were subjected to the Human Rights violations in the past few years.  However, it is the LTTE murderers who violated the human rights of the people of this country during the past 25 years. Blake was keeping mum when the country's national security, politics, whether the leaders of the democratically elected should live or not was decided by Prabhakaran while hiding in a bunker from 250 kms from Colombo. 

Blake was keeping a blind eye on the human rights of the people who were exploded by Bus Bombs. What did Blake who cries for Human Rights do when a majority of people of this country was taken hostage for last twenty years?   Recently two reporters of the Reuters were killed by a US air attack. The US soldiers who fired upon the people from the helicopter considered the civilians and Reuter's reporters as bastards. The spokesperson of president Obama simply said that the incident was "tragic". Pakistan military has started a large scale military operation against Al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists. 73 people including children and women died recently in a village in Kaibar area by an attack. But Blake is silent. Interfering directly into our internal affairs he claims that hardline Sinhalese nationalist parties took a severe beating in these elections. However, Blake has blissfully forgotten the fact that two Sinhala and Tamil politicians who were maintaining a close relationship with the US's State Department and NGOs were also severely defeated.                  

 Blake who talks about Sinhala nationalists never talks about the TNA which contested asking a mandate from the people to divide the country or hardline Tamil nationalist party ITAK of Gajendra Kumar Ponnambalam. At the same time a Tamil politician who worked according to the US's Sate Departments agenda has also been defeated.

So it is clear that on whose behalf that Blake tries to make his voice heard. US's State Department did not focus her attention on earlier governments as they were meekly heeding to her demands.

However, the president, the present government and the Secretary to the Defense did not bow down to the US's cries. That's the single most problem that the State Department and Robert Blake is now trying to grapple with. Blake and the US State Department had high hopes that the President would be defeated in the presidential election. Several statements were issued to the effect that human rights and media freedom were being violated in the country. The necessary dessert was provided to them by the Fee Media business network here. An ex rebel belonging to this Free Media business network was caught red handed by an anti LTTE Tamil orgnisation while he was talking to LTTE agents in the Human Rights Head Quarters in Geneva.       

Robert Blake is asking us to share power with Tamils. Has the US shared the power with Red-Indians? Blake and the State Department who cry foul about our media freedom says that deaths of Reuter's reporters are simply "tragic" and goes on to say that the telescopic camera of the reporters were mistakenly identified as a rocket launcher. Isn't this a ridicules statement?  

Does Blake have any right to interfere in Sri Lanka's National security and political affairs in the backdrop of these revelations of US's war crimes?

Sri Lankan voters did not cast their votes as per the whims and fancies of representatives of Robert Blake or NGOs. In this backdrop what right does he has to ask us to share power with Tamils? People of this country outrightly rejected the US's agenda and division of this country. The oppositions had promised that if it won, even the High Security Zones (HSZ) and army camps would be removed from north. But the people of this country did not allow it happen. Under these circumstances Robert Blake has come forward to guide us to shape up our future. It is now revealed that how the imposition of the US's agenda by setting up a US army base ended up with devastative effect in Kirgizstan, a former Soviet Republic

Therefore, the people of this country did not vote in the election to impose the US's agendas in our country. The US who planned to rescue the LTTE murders had sent here a plane with a group of military advisers. The objective of this plan was to rescue the LTTE murders. This secret plan did not come to public knowledge until a few hours after Vanni LTTE leaders were killed. This proves the dire need of the US State Department to rescue the LTTE. And also it should not be forgotten the US had told that the LTTE should be handed over to a third party. It is now clear that Robert Blake and the State Department have come forward again to advise us to implement their old agenda.             

Yet another reason why the Sinhala Civilization vanished from North and East of Sri Lanka….

Assimilation by Sinhalese with Tamils has also been one of the main reasons for vanishing the Sinhala civilization from the North and Eastern parts of the country. Due to the mass scale migration of Sinhalese to the southern parts of the country, Sinhalese population became a tiny minority in the areas which were the original place of living of Sinhalese before settling of a majority of Tamils by colonial powers starting from Portuguese in the North and East.    

There are innumerable evidences of existence of a flourishing Sinhalese civilization in NE from time immemorial. They include vast number of Buddhist places of worship, their ruins and other monuments, large number of inscriptions, tanks and irrigation works, the original Sinhala place names (now Tamilinized) and the evidences from the chronicles. Apart from all these evidences the accounts by civil servants of the colonial governments who ruled Sri Lanka provide a wealth of evidences too. 

As an article appeared in the Island paper on 02^nd May 2009 written by professor Prof. Shantha  K. Hennayake of the University of Peradeniya points out assimilation by Sinhalese to Tamils have been one of the major reasons for depopulation of Sinhalese from NE. This disqualifies the popular belief that it was the Tamils who have been acculturated into the Sinhalese society     

The article also includes lamentation by Mr Lushington, an Assistant Government Agent of the British colonial government over the vanishing Sinhala civilization from the North and east.

Some parts of the article are quoted as below

"It is clear the process of depopulation of the Sinhalese in sparsly populated Dry Zone had started even before the advent of the British and continued well into the early years of the 20th century. This was followed by the simultaneous infiltration of Tamils and Muslims from their populous pockets located along the eastern coast and also from Jaffna in the case of the former.

One of the most significant, yet hardly investigated or discussed facts about the changes in the ethnic population in the sparsely populated periphery is not one of spatial but sociological. It is a striking feature to observe, contrary to the popular and cultivated view held by both the Sinhalese and Tamils, that Tamils have been acculturated into the Sinhalese society, that the Sinhalese peasants who remained behind in the isolated rural villages in the Dry Zone periphery were in fact increasingly getting assimilated into the Tamil community. Then Assistant Government Agent Mr Lushington lucidly elaborated this process in his 1898 Administration Report:

'This part of the District (Kaddukulam West) is inhabited by Sinhalese villagers of Kandyan descent forming an outlying community which is, I fear rapidly dying out or becoming effaced.

This District is most interesting, being dotted over by numerous village tanks, some of which are restored and others abandoned„ The villagers retain many of the primitive customs of the Kandyans, but they are rapidly becoming 'Tamilized', which is a great pity. They inter- marry with Tamils and many of them speak Tamil as well as they speak Sinhalese. Even the Government School Master is Tamil and only that language is taught in the only school and unfortunately in some cases lands in Sinhalese villages have been bought out by the Tamils, who now own all the paddy lands of some villages. The Sinhalese have given up their patronymics and adopted the Tamil custom of perfexing father's name instead of the usual patronymic and even the names of the villages are assuming a Tamil dress.

This perhaps not to be wondered at when the interpreters of the court and the Kachcheri, the petition drawers and all through whom the villagers have access to Government officers, can speak nothing but Tamil.'

This is also the self admission by the British rulers that they were using the Tamils over the Sinhalese in government positions in these areas.

It can be safely argued that this process of assimilation was not limited only to the villages that came to the attention of the AGA in 1898. This process perhaps had been happening all along the interior and maritime areas of the north and east. At the same time, it can be confidently argued that this process might have started several centuries prior to Lushington's observations and no doubt that it continued even after that. Although we lack documentary evidence for the earlier period, even as late as 1911, Denham (1912) observed: "The Sinhalese villagers of Kaddukulam Pattu appears to be decreasing in number or to become merged in the Tamil population."

Thus one can identify three mutually related processes happening in the sparsely populated Dry Zone periphery, which includes most of the present Eastern Province and southern Districts of the present Northern Province.

1. Economic Processes:

The Tamils and the Muslims who were concentrated in the economic centres of the Northern and especially the Eastern Province and to the same extent in Colombo have bought both the developed and undeveloped lands in the interior parts of the periphery, especially in the Eastern Province. Some of these lands were earlier in the possession of the Sinhalese.

2. Spatial Demographic Processes;

More and more Tamils from the Jaffna peninsula and other concentrations in the Eastern Province moved into the interior areas that had been traditionally owned and occupied by the Sinhalese.

3. Sociological Processes:

The Sinhalese living in the isolated settlements or those that came to be located among the Tamil settlements were increasingly getting assimilated into the Tamil culture or being 'Tamilized '.

What comes out of this discussion of the facts, i.e. that there were Sinhalese settlements dotted over most parts including the farthest corners of the present Eastern Province and certain parts of the southern Districts of the present Northern Province; that almost all of the area of the present Eastern Province and some parts of the Mannar, Vavunia and Mullaitivu Districts came under the political authority of the Kandyan Kingdom during the greater part of its existence; is that these areas do not qualify to become a "historical homeland' of any one ethnic group and certainly not the Tamils in terms of historical facts. It has been an ethnically heterogenous region ever since the Sinhalese began to drift south-westward. The social and economic processes during the last few centuries witnessed a large increase of Tamils and simultaneous decline of the Sinhalese in certain parts of this region. This evidence is in direct contrast to the Tamil ethonationalist argument that it was the Sinhalese who were forcibly brought into this area. By the end of the first quarter of the 20th century a clear and a new ethnic distribution pattern had emerged."

So the responsibility of the present government should be to take all initiatives to resettle the Sinhalese at least in an around the places where the ruins of Buddhist worship places exist. The huge mandate given by the people in the recently concluded presidential election underscores the fact that this country cannot be divided based on a bogus Homeland theory introduced by power hungry Jaffna Tamil Elite spearheaded by Tamils from Malaysia and Singapore. But the disturbing fact is that Tamil racists have deliberately settled Tamils in and around most of these places with the support of Eelam supportive government servants and I/NGOs in order to ensure the furtherance of the bogus Tamil Homeland theory.

Kadurugoda (Kantarodai) Buddhist Temple in Jaffna

Among the Buddhist places in Yapa Patuna (Jaffna) Kadurugoda Viharaya or Kantarodai holds an important place in Sri Lanka's history. This temple is located on the Hunugama (Chunnakam) - Minipe (Manipai) road about 02 KMs from Hunugama.

The first archaeological excavation on the site was reported to have been done by Paul. E. Pieris in 1917 and 1919. He found remains of a shrine room, several Buddha images, coins, about 60 small and large stupas (pagodas), pieces of pinnacles of stupas, pieces of stone with imprints of the Buddha's foot and tiles from the site. A head and a headless body of a Buddha image are also among the many artifacts found.

According to the historical chronicles Nagadeepa is the place where Buddha made his second visit to Sri Lanka. The famous sermon he preached to Chulodhara and Mahodhara over their dispute was made at this Kadurugoda area. The exact place where Buddha made his sermon is called Rajyathana Chithya (Stupa) located in Kadurugoda. The place became a venerated place among people after the Buddha's visit and subsequently a Bo-tree was planted. (Rajayathanan is the Pali word for Bo-tree)

H.W .Codrington in his book 'Coins and Currency in Ceylon' (1924) has mentioned that number of coins found in the vicinity of the Kadurogoda Viharaya while Mudliyar C. R. Rasanayagam in his book 'Ancient Jaffna' (1926) mentions that there were ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple in Kadhurogoda.

The archeological excavation site in Kadurugoda was known among the local people as "Kayangana". This is the Tamilinzed version of the Sinhala word Gayangana. This may be the old name used by Sinhalese as Buddha came to Sri Lanka from Gaya Rata.

A piece of a Black-Red pot with letters belonging to the pre-historic period was found in Kadurugoda area. Similar pieces of Black-Red pots with letters were found from Gedige area in Anuradhapura too.  Both pieces found in Kadurugoda and Gedige had old Sinhala Brhami letters with Sinhala names. References to this temple are also found in the Nam Potha written in Kandiyan Period.

Ven. S. Dhammika, an erudite Australian Buddhist monk who has written many books on Buddhist places in Asia mentions about Kadurugoda ruins in his book 'Sacred Island' as follows

" In the early 20th century there were still numerous Buddhist remains in the Jaffna Peninsular but these now have nearly all disappeared due to neglect, pilfering or deliberate destruction due to political reasons. One place where extensive Buddhist ruins can still be seen is at Kantarodai a little to north of Jaffna. On the side of a grove of lovely palm trees is a collection of stupas and mounds, the remains of ancient buildings. There are now 20 complete stupas but judging by the numerous pinnacles in the Jaffna Museum which were picked up in the area there were once many more. The largest stupa is about 23 feet in diameter and the smallest about 6 feet. The base of each stupa is made of coral stone molded into four bands and the domes are made of coral rubble coated with plaster fashioned to look like blocks of stone.

The hamakas and spires are made of stone, sometimes a single piece sometimes of two pieces with the pinnacle fitting into a hole in the hamika. Archeological investigations done at Kantarodai in 1966-7 found that the site was inhabited from about the 2nd century BCE to about the 13th century CE. When P.E. Pieris came here in 1917 he found several Buddha images. He also noted that locals were regularly removing stones from the site to use for building purposes".  

And also an existence of an institution that belonged to the Abhayagiri Sect in Anuradhapura era in Yapa Patuna (Jaffana) confirms with the finding of a part of an inscription found in Kadurugoda area. Prof. Sirimal Ranawella confirms that it belonged to King IV Dappula (10th Century) period.

More ruins of Buddhist temples from Yapa Patuna (Jaffna)

 

Ruins of Buddhist temples have been found in Hunugama (Chunnakam), Kodiyawatta (Koddiyathottam), Malalagama (Mallakam), Mahiyapiti (Mahiyappitti), Puralali (Palalai) and Uduwila (Uduwil) too. Ruins belonging to Dagabas (Pagodas) have been found in Delft Island (Develdoova) as well.

Ven. S. Dhammika says "At Chunnakam there was the extensive ruins of a stupa and monastery and several large Buddha images but these have all disappeared now".

Kytes (Urathota) Islands also give important evidences: the Sinhala word Urathota is referred in Tamil as Uratturai in Naiyantheeve inscription of Parakramabahu the Great. References are found about Urathota in ancient chronicles such as Pujawaliya, Rajawaliya and Nikaya Sangrahaya. Chulawamsa, a Pali chronicle refers this as Sookarathiththa.  

These evidences prove the existence of Sinhalese Buddhist civilization in the entire northern region and also that the people lived in Yapa Patuna (Jaffna) were not a group of immigrants but the descendents of the Sinhalese from the pre-historic era. 

Books referred: 

1. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch) 
2. Paranavithana,Senerat Inscriptions of Ceylon. 
3. Epigraphiya Zeylanica 
4. Spolia-Zeylanica 
5. Godakumbura, G.C-Kantarodai- Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch) 
6. Codrington, H.W-Colombo 1924-Coins and Currency in Ceylon. 
7. Mudliyar C. R. Rasanayagam, Ancient Jaffna 
8. Ancient Ceylon-The journal of the Archeological Dept.