Travel Forum / Destinations / Asia / December 2003

I though you are "freedom fighting" in Ceylon.

darette@msn.com (Darette) farts in message

singapore ..??  MY ARSE .. He he he .. :))

what a wonderful farting from Brainless Sinhala Buddhist Chavunist
Thug """ daredevil ""

Hey daredevil Thug!

Read about poverty in SIN Lanka here!

http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/povstat/pov7_ska.pdf

http://ideas.repec.org/p/wop/wobaps/1738.html

dvent of `Buddhist terrorism'
By: G.G Ponnambalam

http://www.tamilcanadian.com/pageview.php?ID=639&SID=113

The Tamils in this island known as Sri Lanka have been at the receiving end
of, firstly, Sinhala terrorism and next, state terrorism. Today the Tamils
have tasted Buddhist terrorism for the first time.

The National Movement against Terrorism (NMAT) and the Sinhala Veera
Vidhanaya (SVV) held a joint demonstration on June 2, 1999 (Wednesday). This
demonstration took the form of a procession starting from the Mahaweli
Centre to Temple Trees and back. At Temple Trees they were to hand over a
memorandum of sorts.

The procession went to an entrance (?)/exit of Temple Trees on Galle Road
not knowing that has been, for years, the backdoor of Temple Trees! So,
naturally, there was none to accept the all-important memorandum.

On the way back to Mahaweli Centre, the procession, headed by Sobitha Thero,
piqued at not having been able to hand over the memorandum to the
authorities, entered the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) headquarters' prem-
ises, pulled down the CWC party flag, burnt it and hoisted, instead, the
flag of either the NMAT or the SVV. All this was done under the leadership
of Sobitha Thero and in the presence of DIG T.N. de Silva and a number of
armed policemen. The procession included many other Buddhist priests. This
incident has surely heralded the advent of Buddhist terrorism.

As everyone knows, the CWC is a workers' organisation exclusively comprising
hill-country Tamils.

It is significant, sinister, surprising and sordid that the national media,
electronic and print, English and vernacular, have chosen to soft-pedal and
play down this incident. The daily newspapers had hardly anything on this
incident. The Sunday newspapers completely sidelined this issue. Some of the
weekend newspapers are usually full of the NMAT, the SVV, the National Joint
Committee, the Sinhala Commission, etc. Why have they all been silent on
this matter when they are always so full of the LTTE and its artocities?

Why this silence?

Have all these people been silent because Sobitha Thero and other members of
the Sangha Ratna are involved? Is it because they recognise the advent of
Buddhist terrorism? Is it the `apey man' syndrome and let us not let down
our side? Is it plain discrimination - if it concerns Tamils, let us bash
them up; if it concerns the Sinhalese, let us keep quiet? Is it simply, that
the Sinhala quarter is shy and want to hang its head in shame? Or is it that
might is right? Where are all the right thinking persons who write to the
papers regularly about the unreasonableness of the Tamils?

Anyway, let the international community, at least who are unaccountably
mesmerised today by some of the things that are done in this island and also
by some personalities in this country, take serious note of this incident if
they are to be taken seriously by us.

A few years ago, the ultra Sinhala nationalists and the upholders of the
Buddhist faith created a din and hullabaloo that Dr. Stanley J. Tambiah
should have written a book about Buddhism Betrayed and should have had on
the cover of the book, a picture of Sobitha Thero flexing his muscles. Has
not the recent incident vindicated Tambiah hundred per cent, both about the
book and about its cover picture? How prophetic Stanley Tambiah has been.
Three hearty cheers for Tambiah!

Sobitha Thero and his band of followers who are Buddhist monks have now
entered the political arena in a big way. From now onwards, such Buddhist
monks cannot expect to be treated with reverence or in any special way. They
must be treated like any ordinary politician who receives brickbats and I,
for one, will look upon them just like that.

Where did law and order go on this occasion? All what was done was under the
very nose of the DIG. Did this DIG act impotent because of what happened to
SSP Pujitha Jayasundera? Facts reveal offences not only under the Penal Come
but also under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

If Kumar Ponnambalam say or does, something there is a public outcry for his
flesh and blood by Buddhist Sinhalese. But if Sobitha Thero they goes
against the law, there is stony silence. One law for Ponnambalam and another
for Sobitha Thero? In the face of such crass discrimination, can the
Sinhalese and Tamils live together?

What are these organisations - the National Movement Against Terrorism and
the National Joint Committee? To call themselves `national', can these
organisations point out to one Tamil or Moor or Burgher in these
organisations? Can they say that these organisations are `national' in that
they are nationwide? If not, why this dishonesty? Would it not be more
honest to call these organisations simply the Sinhala Movement Against
Terrorism and the Sinhala Joint Committee?

`Tamil Terrorism'

Actually, it will be more appropriate to call the NMAT the Sinhala Movement
Against Terrorism because in its "National Plan of Action Against Terrorism
which they put out six months ago, they refer to `Tamil terrorism' in its
very first line. All this while, vociferous Sinhalese would refer to `Tiger
terrorism'. But now, `Tamil terrorism'.

Many Tamils have discussed the NMAT and SVV with me in the very recent past
with special reference to what these two organisations, in particular, stand
for. I have told them thank God for such organisations because it is such
organisations that justify the necessity for the separate state of Tamil
Eelam.

The foolish NMAT, while time and again referring to `Tamil Terrorism', also
says that there is a "need to distinguish between the Tamil community and
the Tamil Tiger movement". What muddle-headness!

Let me put the record straight, here and now. The Tamils have long since
ceased to look upon themselves either as a `community' or as a `minority'.
They Tamils of the north and east are a ` nation' and that must be
understood finally and by all and sundry.

I was amused to read the assertion in NMAT's high-faluting national plan
where it meekly says "the fact that the Sinhalese as whole are not a racist
community have (sic) been amply proved since 1983" and proceeds to mention
events which have not provoked the Sinhalese.

Racist before 1983?

This proves a number of points. Firstly, that the Sinhalese were racists
before 1983. Secondly, for the new brand of Sinhalese nationalists, the
history of this island starts only at 1983 because it is only after that
date that they have been on their best behaviour, and thirdly, if the
Sinhalese have remained good boys after 1983 it has been due to the fact
that the LTTE have also come to Colombo. Remember Black Friday (Tiger
Friday) in late July 1983, when the whole of Colombo was running
helter-skelter?

What is equally amusing is that the NMAT also refers to "innocent Tamils".
No Tamil is going to be taken in by these crocodile tears. What is this SVV
that was formed only a couple of months ago? One of the positions of this
organisation is that this blessed island is Sinhala land and Buddhist
country! Naturally there is a fight to rescue Tamil Eelam before it, too, is
dragged into the moire.

All these various Sinhalese organisations take the position that there is no
Tamil problem but only a terrorist problem and that once terrorism is wiped
out by military action everything is tickety-boo and nothing further needs
be done. So it was hilarious to me to see the representatives of these
Sinhalese organisations accepting some draft proposals for either a new
constitution or for amendment of the present constitution prepared by the
Sinhala Commission.

More than a new constitution or other amendments to the present constitution
is the need to have the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, which makes it
an offence to espouse separation, repealed immediately. This draconian piece
of unheard-of legislation was passed in 1983 when no Tamil member of
Parliament was present either during its debate or at voting time. It was
made law when one party had a five-sixths majority of members in parliament.

After it came on to the statute book, there was an outcry from all sections
of the Tamils that it must be removed. There is no country in the world that
has any legislation such as this. The Sixth Amendment violates basic
fundamental and human rights. It violates the freedoms of speech,
association, assembly and expression.

Sixth amendment

A provision such as the Sixth Amendment will not prevent the break-up of a
country if that country has to break up. There is no sanctity in seeing that
a country does not break up. Massive countries have broken up during the
past decade. The order of the day is for countries to break up. There is no
sanctity in clinging on to one another if we Sinhalese and Tamils cannot
live together. People live together only on the basis of equality. Master
and slave never could live together.

It is my position that if the Tamils are to live with self-respect and
dignity, they can do so only in the separate state of Tamil Eelam. This is
my fervent opinion and I must be allowed to freely express my opinion
without the threat of imprisonment. For one's physical body can be subject
to imprisonment, but one's mind cannot be tampered with. Only a third grade
and barbaric country would want to muzzle an individual's free expression of
his belief.

(G. G. Ponnambalam is the General Secretary, All-Ceylon Tamil Congress)
Courtesy :Sunday Leader - June 20th,1999.