Part-3 of this series dealt with the North Indian origins of the Sinhalas, which more or less coincides with the prevailing notion among islanders of their “Aryan” ancestry. Let’s explore this belief, shall we? A drama typically unfolds with the Dramatis Personae. Why should we be typical? I’ll tee off with who this post is not about.

• The North Indian immigrants were not the 1st inhabitants of Srilanka. That credit goes to the cave dwelling Balangodas: their remains are at least 34,000 years old.

• The present-day aborigines of Srilanka, the Veddas – or Wanniyala Etto as they call themselves – may have called the island their home from 18,000 BC.

• The Burghers are the descendants of European settlers that married locals. Yet another community in Srilanka has an equally eclectic mix of genes – the Colombo Chetties. Both these groups are neither Sinhala nor Tamil.

This post is not about any of them.

Immigrants Galore

When the new nation was established, many villages were founded as more land became arable. Sinhala kings needed people to perform certain specialized caste based jobs, such as weaving, jaggery making or toddy tapping. Further, they recruited mercenaries for their army. The fledgling nation had occupations that no one could neatly fit into – such as peeling cinnamon trees, native to the island. Migrant groups moved to Srilanka to fit into these niches.

Where did the kings turn to for such skilled & unskilled workers? The Eastern Seaboard of India, the Coromandel Coast, is an easy boat ride away from Srilanka. Why go elsewhere, when you could hire from the 4 Southern states? And that’s exactly what the kings did.

Enter the South Indians

It should be noted here that the Sinhala caste system is closer to the Jati system, than the Sanskrit Varna system. Quiet a few Sinhala castes are composed of South Indians & their descendants, who came over several centuries – sometimes for trade or as the soldiers of the presiding Sinhala, Pandya or Chola kings.

Continued Marriage alliances of Sinhala kings with their South Indian counterparts could only have bolstered migrations further. As late as the 18th century CE, the Sinhala rulers of Kandy preferred to marry women from the Telugu Nayaks ruling Tamil Nadu. This led to an interesting situation: the last rulers of Srilanka were Nayaks from the Balija/Kapu community. Of course, they converted to Buddhism & played an important role in the religious revivals in Srilanka.

In this post, let’s see how 3 important, influential & upwardly mobile communities in Srilanka, known as the voices of strident Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism, can trace their ancestry to South India.

Sinhalisation

Sinhalisation is the slow but sure process of assimilation, of migrant, minority communities into the Sinhala Buddhist fabric. In a sense, this means that a particular language, ethnicity & religion are deemed superior to all others, that other groups relinquish their identity to become more acceptable to the majority.

Salagama, Durava & Karava: these 3 castes were originally accorded a low status. But, they became prosperous during the colonial period. Many of them shed their caste-based jobs & occupied high positions – thus recalibrating themselves only just below the Govigamas, the most dominant caste in Srilanka.

Salagamas

Salagama (AKA Chaliya) is a caste of cinnamon peelers in the Southern coastal areas of Sri Lanka. They were also associated with cinnamon cultivation & in Kandy, with weaving. Noted cricketer Lasith Malinga is a Salagama.

Chaliya or Saliya is a caste of weavers in Northern Kerala & Southern Karnataka. It seems possible that the Sinhala kings sought skilled weavers to setup shop at various periods. Saliyas from Kerala & Karnataka moved in waves. And some of them moved onto cinnamon peeling.

Duravas

Durava or Chanda is a toddy tapping caste, that initially moved to the Southern Coast of Srilanka. Their hereditary role is coconut or palm tree climbing. It is believed that they descended from the Nadars of Tamil Nadu & the Ezhavas of Kerala. Many of them also functioned as mercenaries & soldiers for the Sinhala kings.

Its worth noting that the term “Chanda” is very similar to “Sanar”, another name for the Nadar community in Tamil Nadu. The Duravas take great pains to deny their connections with South India & with toddy tapping, which in their eyes is a demeaning profession.

According to the Durava revisionists, their ancestors took up toddy tapping only because they owned the land themselves. Or, they did it for their Durava brethren that owned large coconut groves. Toddy tappers, them – Oh, sacrilege! They also claim that they are a community devoted to martial arts, which was well connected with the aristocracy. Their role as soldiers for the Sinhala kings probably explains their contacts with the royals.

Karavas – The Negombo Story

Along the Eastern sea-board of India, predominantly in the states of Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh, a community of fisher-folks called “Karayar” live. A long time back, they moved to the South-Western coast of Srilanka.

In due course of time, their caste name morphed to “Karava”. Most of them are either Christians or Buddhists & consider themselves ethnic Sinhalas. Traditionally associated with fishing & boat-building, they also performed the roles of mercenaries to local kings.

Let’s focus on 2 districts in Srilanka: Gampaha & Puttalam, that abuts it. The Tamils – fishermen included – in Puttalam are known as Negombo Tamils. But the fishermen in Gampaha are Sinhala. Interestingly enough, the Karava in Gampaha are bilingual. While they speak Sinhala with the fluency of natives, they also speak an unusual dialect of Tamil – the “Negombo Fishermen’s Tamil”. This dialect is an admixture of Tamil & Colloquial Sinhala.

Elsewhere in Srilanka, the Karavas to the South of Colombo speak only Sinhala, though.

So, with the Karava caste, one can see Sinhalisation – akin to the coalescing of matter after the big bang – in progress, right before our eyes. In due course of time, one can expect the Negombo Tamil dialect to disappear, cutting the umbilical cord forever between the Karava & South India.

The Dance of Ingratiation

For their Sinhalisation to be complete, these 3 communities had to either forge an “Aryan” identity for their group, trace their ancestry to the pre-Indian aborigines of the island or claim royal or high-caste roots. They had to relinquish their “plain” South Indian roots, to ingratiate themselves to the Sinhala majority.

♣♣♣ The Salagamas are keen to establish their upper caste Aryan roots. To strengthen their claims, their surnames use the “Muni” suffix which – surprise, surprise – is the Sinhala word for Brahmins. Or, they go all out & use the family name “Nanedri”: a possible corruption of “Namboodiri”, the most common surname of Kerala Brahmins.

Here are a couple of legends, supposedly historical, to bolster the claims of the Salagamas.

King Bhuvaneka Bahu II ran into a small hitch while crowning his son, Prince Wathimi. The Prince’s mother was rumored to be a Muslim. This incensed the monks & they refused to perform the Coronation. The King flexed his royal muscles & imported Namboodiri Brahmins from Kerala to perform the ceremony. Their descendants mixed with weavers & soldiers from Kerala – and formed the “Salagama” caste.

Alternately, some claim that King Vijayabahu I implored the Saligrama Brahmins to manage his cinnamon plantations.

♣♣♣ Instead of claiming “Pure Aryan” ancestors, Duravas have declared they are the descendants of the elusive Nagas – who are mentioned in legends as one of the original inhabitants of Srilanka.

Some claim that since the word “Durava” has no meaning in Sinhala, it must have originated from “Durai” – which means “Headman” in Tamil. Some colonial records have noted that the Durava were “Palanquin Bearers” from Tamil Nadu & the Malabar coast. How & when Headmen started toting palanquins is left rather vague

♣♣♣ In an attempt to assimilate further with the majority Sinhalas, the Karava have Aryanized their caste name to “Kuru Kulam”. They even claim that the Coromandel Coast is the Anglicized version of Sanskrit “Kuru Mandalam” – Land of the Kurus. This helps them deny their South Indian origins & to claim North Indian Kshatriya roots.

Summing Up

The aim of this post is to question the wisdom of assuming that the Sinhalas are a product of inter-marriage between North Indians & the aborigines of Srilanka. It is ridiculous to assume that batches of people from Orissa, Bengal & Gujarat moved to Srilanka – while those from the much closer 4 Southern states did not. The migration history of Indians to Srilanka – and vice versa – is considerably more complex than that.

What then is the Sinhala identity? Is it correct to assume that they are a mono-ethnic community? If the present day Srilankans have measurable doses of Vedda, North Indian & South Indian blood – what about the ethnic mix of South Indians? Or for that matter, Srilankan Tamils?

It would be interesting to see what a scientific genetic study of these 3 groups would find. After 2500 years of shared history & intermingling, we will find that – there are too many genetic variations within each group. Would we also find that there are little or no appreciable differences between these groups?

That would make the Srilankan ethnic conflict the South Asian equivalent of the Hutu – Tutsi rebellion in Rwanda. What a terrible revelation that would be.

Part-2 of this series outlined the background of the “Sinhala Only” Bill in 1956 & traced its outcome – or debacle, depending on one’s point of view. It was a prelude to the “Policy of Standardization”, implemented in 1970.

This was an excruciatingly difficult topic to write about. I had to look beyond many lies, propaganda & over-simplification. The more I read about it, the more I felt that I was merely scratching the surface of a complex, multi-layered problem.

I’m greatly indebted to Professor K.M. de Silva, former Vice-Chairman of Srilanka’s University Grants Commission (UGC) for his unbiased analysis of the issue. His report helped me make sense of the many disparate nuggets of information that I unearthed in this research.

Background

In the Colonial epoch, most of the modern schools in Srilanka were run by missionaries. They offered free English Medium education – but since these schools were predominantly in urban area like Colombo or the Jaffna peninsula, access to these schools was well nigh impossible for the masses that lived in rural areas.

Huge swathes of the Srilankan population were illiterate, or semi-literate. In villages, Buddhist monks taught the upper strata of the society in local temples – but the curriculum was limited to the Sinhala alphabets & simpler works from  Buddhist literature, such as stories from Buddha’s life. The monks were literate, but even their education was mostly centered on learning Pali scriptures by rote at the Pirivena (Buddhist University).

The Battle for Civil Service Jobs

Even 15 years after independence, the biggest employer remained the government & Civil Service jobs were much sought after. Students vied for a B.A. Degree (Liberal Arts) to get a shot at these jobs. Srilankan Tamils dominated enrollment for B.A. Degrees & ergo, had a strangle-hold on government jobs.

Once the balance of power tilted in favor of the Sinhala Buddhists after the “Sinhala Only” Bill, Tamils found it exceedingly difficult to land Civil Service jobs. They turned their attention, hard-work & enviable coaching skills  towards Engineering, Medicine & Science streams. By the mid 1960s, Tamil students were the top-dogs in these streams.

Concurrently, education became free in Srilanka. Enrollment in schools soared & in the early 1960s, literacy rates touched 90%. Many Sinhala students graduated with a B.A. In liberal arts – only to find that neither the government nor the private companies had enough open positions to absorb them. They realized painfully that Liberal Arts degrees had become irrelevant. They turned their sights towards Engineering, Medicine & Science streams – only to find that the Tamils were fairly entrenched in those fields.

Pressure on Universities

In the 1960s, after Sinhala & Tamil medium schools ousted English in the secondary schools, the number of available university seats became woefully inadequate. The universities increased the number of seats very often to accommodate more students. Meanwhile, efforts were on to create new universities for the growing nation. Even 2 Buddhist Pirivenas in Colombo were converted into universities.

But, such expansion was very slow, because of paucity of funds & resources. Many aspiring candidates were bitterly disappointed when they couldn’t secure an admission. University education was, very simply stated, their meal ticket. This resulted in heated competition for the scarce seats in prestigious institutions like the University of Ceylon.

Around the same time, intense political pressure was applied on the selection criteria used by the universities. The Viva-Voce method had already been abandoned & Entrance Exams were the main criteria for admissions. But, this became unmanageable in the late 1960s, because of the sheer number of students passing out of schools. So, they were dispensed with & Srilanka started using the scores from the GCE A/Level (+2 or High School Senior Year) Exams.

But, none of these steps appeased students from backward districts, as most of them failed to qualify for seats. They struggled to compete with the urban elite on pure merit. The universities started feeling the heat – and intense political pressure from the United Front Coalition, which made it an issue during the elections.

Flash Point

After the introduction of the “Sinhala Only Bill” & students were educated in their mother-tongue, universities had to contend with students educated in 3 different languages: Sinhala, Tamil & English. The Burghers & students that attended International Schools had an English Medium education. Only they & the Muslims were permitted to take their exams in English.

Srilankan Tamils who formed at mere 11% of the population occupied 35% of the seats in the Science streams & 45% of the seats in Engineering & Medicine. Such superlative performance led to allegations of general bias & deliberate grade tampering by the Tamil examiners.  Thus, the clamor for seats dyed itself in vulgar ethnic colors & plunged the nation into a sordid communal conflict.

In a Nutshell

At its core, the “Policy of Standardization” started out as a program aimed to help disadvantaged Sinhalas, especially those living in geographically backward areas, that did not have access to quality education during the European rule. It was an Affirmative Action Program. As a side effect, it decreased the number of Tamils enrolling in universities.

This policy made it increasingly difficult for the Tamils to secure a seat in the Scientific & Technical streams. As a result, it aggravated race relations in the country. The Tamil youth in the North-East saw this as a discriminatory policy, aimed at hobbling their high status. This led to their alienation from mainstream Srilanka.

A Word of Caution: It is very easy to trivialize Affirmative Action as an anti-Tamil policy, driven by Sinhala Buddhist Nationalists. In reality, it was much more than that. The entire country was seized with the disease of creating a “Level Playing Field”.

To illustrate, Practical Exams for Science subjects at the GCE/A Level were abolished – catch your breath – because rural schools didn’t have the infrastructure for well-appointed labs. To this day, even schools with labs seldom use them. Students ace exams solely on rote learning & enroll in Medical school without even touching a pipette.

Policy of Standardization

In 1970, Srilanka under the stewardship of the United Front Coalition implemented the “Policy of Standardization”. Its main aim was to increase the number of Sinhalas graduating from universities & to simultaneously deter Tamils from hogging a huge part of the much sought after streams of higher education.

Thus far, entrance to universities was solely based on merit. But, after the introduction of the policy – All the raw marks received by the students were normalized to a uniform scale, so that the the number of students qualifying in each medium was proportional to the number of students taking that exam in that medium. The ostensible reasons for introducing standardization was to level the playing field, to make up for the differences in the facilities, teachers & grading standards that the Sinhalas & Tamils had at their disposal.

Later that year, the qualifying marks were lowered for students from the Sinhala medium.  So, the Tamils had to get a higher score than the Sinhalas to secure an admission to the Professional & Science streams. These steps ensured that more Sinhala students qualified for admission.

But this policy did not change the fortunes of the Tamils much. For e.g., their share of admissions dropped from 35.3% to 33.6% in the 1st year. The actual threat to the Tamils was more symbolic – the rise of the Sinhala bureaucrats & their diplomatic will to swing the system to uplift the majority.

Standardization, RIP

In August 1977, the new United National Party government of Julius Jayawardhene summarily abolished the Standardization of marks. This was a bold move & was seen as a step in the right direction.

But when the exam papers were evaluated, Tamils scored significantly higher than the Sinhalas for the hotly contested professional courses. It was feared with reason that Tamils would once again vastly outnumber the majority in qualifying for these seats. When this news leaked to the Sinhala Nationalist parties,  allegations of rampant favoritism among the Tamil examiners were thrown again & mud-slinging ensued.

The new government made a clever move: It stood by its decision to jettison standardization. But for 1977 alone, it also allowed students who would have benefited from standardization, to enroll in universities. This move increased the number of seats, as well as the number of Tamils, Sinhalas & rural students enrolling in the universities. Thus, it made all sections of the society happy.

Machinations of Minister Mathew

Many Sinhala nationalists couldn’t digest the demise of standardization. In 1978, they reignited communal feelings by claiming that the Tamils could only occupy 35%-40% of the university seats consistently by colluding with the examiners that graded the tests. Their mouth-piece was none other than Cyril Mathew, the Cabinet Minister for Industries & Scientific Affairs.

Minister Mathew was a bitter critic of TULF & a rabid nationalist that pushed the interests of Sinhala Buddhists. When the Parliament was in session, he brandished some exam papers from the 1977 Science stream, which the examiner had graded generously. While this did not prove any widespread bias on the part of the examiners, it was enough to reaffirm the opinions of those Sinhalas that thought the worst of Tamils & Tamil examiners.

Such orchestrations were towards achieving a bigger objective: Quotas for various ethnic groups, based on their population %. Interestingly, the Indian Tamils supported this: they felt that they would benefit by proportional quotas. But, the government was steadfast. The Policy of Standardization was dead & they had no plans to resuscitate it. They were not interested in quotas for ethnic groups either.

Summing Up

So, ethnic preferences ceased to play a role  – but something far more insidious took its place. That’s the subject of a later post.

Meanwhile in Tamil Nadu, clarion calls for a separate quota for Tamil Medium students are becoming increasingly vociferous. At least in Srilanka, standardization is buried & lies rotting. Once started, such programs never end in India – Political will is severely lacking & shameless vote bank politics are par for course. Its a good thing we are too benumbed to care.

Here is the next post in this series – Do check it out.

As we saw in Part-1, the earliest Srilankan Tamils moved out of India 2,200 years back.  Why is India  entangled in their affairs now? I was struggling to come up with a germane reason. Tell me, how much longer should we consider these people Indian?

It is amazing that not a single politician or rabble-rousing movie star has asked this pertinent question: Who are the Sinhalas? They couldn’t have spontaneously sprung from ether, right?

Please hop into a time-machine with me, as we travel to the Indian subcontinent, after the early Iron Age. Around 1000 BC, iron age settlements appeared suddenly in Srilanka – roughly 200 years after the Aryans inhabited the Gangetic plains in India. It seems reasonable to assume that people from nearby India introduced it to the island.

I’m about to plunge you into the ice-cold, murky depths of history. But first, let me regale you with a story.

Back to Mahavamsa

I briefly mentioned the Pali chronicle “Mahavamsa” in Part-1. The narrative starts at 6th Century BC with a bang with Prince Vijaya landing near Mannar in Srilanka with 700 followers.

Prince Vijaya’s birth is steeped in legend. The King of Vanga (Bengal) married the Queen of Kalinga (Orissa). In due course of time, the queen gave birth to a daughter, Suppa Devi. When the young princess became a lovely maiden, she was raped by a lion. If that seems outlandish, a more likely explanation could be – she was abducted & raped by a man named Sinha (which means “Lion” in Sanskrit).

The unlikely pair begot a son, Sinha Bahu & a daughter, Sinha Sivali. The 3 of them lived unhappily with the lion, in a cave. The lion kept the mouth of the cave closed, with a huge boulder. One fine day, Sinha Bahu killed his father, the lion & liberated his mother & sister. After their escape, Sinha Bahu married his sister. Pause your protracted groaning, there’s more. Prince Vijaya is the product of their, ah, union.

Vijaya hung out with a rather unsavory coterie. His gang indulged in such evil & violent deeds, that the citizens started clamoring for his head. His father, the King, was forced to exile him to a distant land – but only after shaving half of his head to humiliate him. And thus, Vijaya landed in Srilanka with his band of mischief makers.

His arrival is dated around Gautama Buddha’s death, but that is probably an insertion by the monks, to add divine significance to the arrival of a wayward prince. Srilanka was already populated by terrible Yakkas (Yakshas in Sanskrit, loosely translated, Demons in English). They sent their representative Yakkini Kuveni, a scary female, to finish off the interlopers. Big mistake. Young Kuveni fell head over heels in love with the dashing prince & betrayed her people.

With her help, Vijaya & his followers victoriously slew as many Yakkas as they could find. And the prince became the King of Srilanka. But now, the uncivilized Yakkini Kuveni wasn’t good enough for him. He had his heart set on marrying a fair damsel of royal descent – the comely Pandya princess from Madurai, to be precise. So, he promptly dumped Kuveni – she was simply beneath his station in life.

Vijaya lived happily ever after with his blue-blooded wife. As for the heart-broken Kuveni, she threw herself off a cliff & died. Rape, Incest, Patricide, Exile, Violence, Abandoning, Traitors – not a Moral Science lesson,  but the stuff that legends are made of. And as with all legends, it isn’t entirely a figment of imagination.

Linguistic Evidence

Before we get any further, we should understand this: Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language, which means it is an Indic language based on Sanskrit. Ancient Buddhist canons are written in Pali, an archaic language that is not spoken. Spoken Sinhala is a watered down version of Pali, with many loan words from Tamil & Portuguese.

What is the origin of Pali then? Let’s weave through the tangled web of centuries & arrive at the dawn of Buddhism & Jainism. Sanskrit was the language of the Priests & its purity was guarded jealously. Most of the people spoke a vernacular based on Sanskrit – they called it “Prakrit”. Such a lowly language was deemed unfit for Kings & Priests, of course.

India being a large country, there were 3 main regional dialects of Prakrit – Maharashtri (South West), Sauraseni (West) & Magadhi (East). And beyond the confines of India, in Afghanistan, a 4th dialect, Gandhari, was spoken. If there were 4 main dialects, what is “Standard Prakrit”? Scholars opine that it was Ardha Magadhi, the language used by Emperor Ashoka in all his edicts & the language used by many Jain & Buddhist canons.

Modern Indic languages trace their ancestry to 1 of these Prakrits. Thus, Bengali & Oriya to name a few, rose from Magadhi. Hindi, Gujarati & Punjabi evolved from Sauraseni. Why do we need to know all this? Because, Pali is very similar to Ardha Magadhi. Similar or same. This is not surprising, since Ardha Magadhi was the language of choice for Buddhist monks in India.

If the legend of Vijaya is true, the ancestors of modern Sinhalas came from Bengal & Orissa. So, we can expect Sinhala to be a daughter of Magadhi. Interestingly enough, this is only partly correct. A close analysis of Sinhala is disconcerting: For it has 2 substratum Prakrits: Eastern. And Western.

Interpreting the Evidence

The received wisdom in Srilanka is that, the Sinhalas are the descendants of settlers from North India, notably Orissa & Bengal. In that sense, their conflict with the Srilankan Tamils mirrors the 20th century tussle between  North Indians &  South Indians.

According to Mahavamsa, Sinha Bahu – the father of Prince Vijaya – established a city called “Sinhapura” in Kalinga. There is a strong likelihood that this city was in fact located – not in Orissa – but in North West Punjab, near Upper Indus, plumb in the middle of the ancient Gandhara territory. Yet another Sinhapura is in Kathiawar in Gujarat.

Historic proofs show that Indo-Aryan speaking Kambojas moved from their lands in the Upper Indus to modern Gujarat. They then migrated to Srilanka by sea. Prince Vijaya’s legend may be true, but only if we assume he moved from  Western India. As if to muddy the water some more, scholars think that Sinhapura may be a city in Kalinga.

Nevertheless, Indo-Aryans from Gujarat moved to Srilanka in a wave. Since the Sinhala royalty married the scions of the Kalinga kingdom on a regular basis, people migrated aplenty from Orissa. This accounts for the the Eastern & Western substrates in Sinhala.

Incidentally, Sinhala is written in the Brahmi script. The influence of the Kadamba script, from which Kannada & Telugu scripts were derived, is also discernible. Oriya, on the other hand, is based on the closely related Kalinga script.

But, is that the complete picture? How accurate is the received wisdom of the Sinhalas? Is the ethnic strife in Srilanka, a rehash of the age-old Aryan – Dravidian conflict? That is the subject of another post.

Summing Up

While Mahavamsa may include legends, it seems fairly certain that Indo-Aryans migrated to Srilanka during the Iron Age. Srilanka was already inhabited by – shall we say aborigines, to keep things simple? The migrants mixed with the locals. Mannar & Anuradhapura were part of a busy trade route, so many waves of immigrants, primarily from India, would have made Srilanka their home.

The Sinhala royal family preferred to marry the scions of the Kalingas & the Pandyas. This would have bolstered bi-lateral trade. People move en masse for trade & religion, not necessarily during invasions. Such movement of people is usually in both directions – as in, Srilankans would have moved to India in waves too, over the centuries.

Sinhalas are an Indo-Aryan speaking people, that use an Indian script, follow Buddhism – an Indian religion, embrace the insidious caste system & live in a land that is 15 miles from India’s Eastern seaboard. Their ancestors moved from India in waves over several centuries, to colonize Srilanka. And I haven’t even started talking about their art forms, food & attire. If Srilankan Tamils are “People of Indian Origin” – What do you call Sinhalas then, chopped liver?

My aim is not to spread Pan-Indian Nationalism & erase Srilanka’s national pride. For, it is an unusual culture. An Indo-Aryan speaking country, right next to the threatening bulk of Dravidian speaking South India. A Buddhist country, situated right next to a vast & vociferous Hindu country. Amidst it all, they’ve developed & fostered a unique identity all their own.

I’m merely asking Indians to shed their paranoia & think about our neighbors the Sinhalas, with whom we share our heritage. Perhaps then, we’ll start seeing them for what they are – a nation ravaged by civil war & terrorism, whose citizens simply want to lead a normal life.

Check out my next post on the Real History of Srilanka – I’ll post it after a few days.

In my previous post, I had touched upon the origin of Srilankan Tamils. In this serving, I’ll outline some of the reasons behind the simmering ethnic strife. But, first I’d like to lay some lies & disinformation to rest.

Srilankan Presidency and Disinformation

Any armed struggle uses a variety of tools to incite the masses & hi-jack them emotionally. Circulating malicious rumors is their stock in trade to get rabid supporters. Disinformation that denigrates the government would be propagated, to decrease hope & increase paranoia. Recently, this lie was stuffed down the throats of the gullible by LTTE supporters:

According to the constitution of Srilanka, only a Sinhala Buddhist can assume office as the President.

I was appalled by the number of intelligent people that bought this, hook, line & sinker. The best way to slay a rumor is to go directly to the source. I reviewed Chapter VII of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Srilanka, which lays down the laws governing the President of the country. There are NO clauses that mention Buddhism or Sinhala as a prerequisite for assuming office. Neither religion nor ethnicity is mentioned in any of the relevant clauses.

Buddhism is the State Religion of Srilanka & all the presidents thus far have been adherents of that faith. That’s not the same as claiming non-Buddhists cannot aspire to be presidents. I’ll be glad to eat my hat if someone can direct me to an article in the Constitution of Srilanka that contradicts my understanding.

Now, let’s go back to a point in history where all the rancor started.

Divide & Rule Policy

While we must agree that the British did not initiate cruel inquisitions like the Portuguese, they still caused Srilanka irreparable harm with their handiwork – the “Divide & Rule” policy. They created a subaltern elite, comprised of Burghers, Srilankan Tamils and the upper caste Sinhalas. Yes Virginia, there’s a caste system in Srilanka

Burghers are Srilankans with European blood. The British were especially partial to Burghers that professed loyalty to the Anglican Church. The land-owning Sinhala Govigama community & its Tamil equivalent – the Vellalas – were amongst the anointed. The British meted out preferential treatment to these 3 communities. They occupied most of the Civil Service jobs, received an excellent English language education & in general, enjoyed a position of power & privilege.

Divide & Rule is a very useful policy. It promoted people that were willing to kowtow to the British. It ensured that very little power was vested in the locals – and even then, it was concentrated to a handful of “elite”. In the end, it fostered resentment & animosity in the locals towards the chosen few. In any case, it ensured that the Srilankans were fragmented & couldn’t band together against the rulers. Slam Dunk for the British.

Setting the Stage

Srilanka became independent via non-violent means in 1948. For the 1st few years, both Sinhala & Tamil languages were treated equally. But this uneasy peace was short-lived. Tamils were a mere 15% of the population, but they were economically & socially far ahead than most of the Sinhalas. A disproportionate number of Tamils enrolled in medical and engineering schools, practically guaranteeing them lucrative careers.

Consider this. In 1948, Tamils occupied 31% of the university seats. In 1956, 60% of Technical & Professional jobs – Doctors, Engineers and University Professors – were held by Srilankan Tamils. In the same year, they also occupied 30% of the top bureaucratic positions & 50% of clerical jobs in Civil Services.

This caused resentment among the majority Sinhalas & resulted in soaring Sinhala Nationalism. There was a strong feeling that the balance of power & position had to shift in favor of the Sinhalas. Many good English language schools were in the Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula. English language fluency was seen as a ticket for growth for the Srilankan Tamils & the Sinhala elite – and a stumbling block for progress for the non-English speaking Sinhala majority, most of whom were poor.

Sinhala Only Bill

Unemployment among the Sinhala youth & their hankering for prosperity exerted tremendous political pressure in post-independent Srilanka. As a crowning event, in 1956, the “Sinhala Only” Bill was passed. This made Sinhala, the language spoken by 74% of the population, the National language.

The horrified Tamil community was jolted into action. Tamil leader Chelvanayagam & his Federal Party colleagues staged a Satyagraha protest in the Galle Face Green in Colombo, demanding parity status for Tamil. Their protest was broken up brutally & violently by hooligans. While the peaceful agitators lay bruised, writhing in agony,  the Srilankan government watched, a mute spectator to the deplorable event. This provided the spark that ignited an inferno 2 years later, in 1958, as a gory communal riot between Sinhalas and Tamils, with each side marauding & retaliating. The Black July attack in 1983 was the pinnacle of this pissing contest.

Once Srilanka’s official language became Sinhala, the bottom fell out of the English Language. In one fell swoop, Tamils lost their head-start on Sinhalas. And for the 1st time, they faced stiff competition in the job market. In the meantime, many Sinhala Medium schools were started through-out the country to educate the masses. English was relegated to 2nd language status in schools.

Due to a groundswell of pressure from the still influential Srilankan Tamil community, the “Sinhala Only” Bill was amended in 1958 to “Sinhala Only, Tamil Also”. But, for the next 10 years, most of the government forms and services were only in Sinhala. This made life exceedingly difficult for the Tamils.

Once Sinhala became the defacto official language, Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike ordered the Tamils in Civil Service jobs to prove their proficiency in that language. They better clear the stage-wise test over a period of 3 years, or else! What else – the Damocles sword of dismissal hung over the heads of Srilankan Tamils. Unable to clear the tests, many had their increments suspended. Some were forced to quit their jobs & make way for Sinhalas.

So in reality, the battle for the “Official Language” status was a battle for economic prosperity, for gainful employment. The law’s resounding impact was very visible by the 70s: Most of the Civil Service employees were Sinhalas by then. The Tamils had either quit or were not hired.

The law was repealed in 1987. Now, Chapter IV of the Srilankan Constitution gives parity to both Sinhala and Tamil. Both are official and national languages.

Summing Up

It is inconceivable to me that a minority living in a country half the size of Tamil Nadu will not take the effort to learn the language of the over-whelming majority. With all due respect, it seems parochial & idiotic.

I find the narrow-mindedness of the Srilankan Tamil leaders deplorable. Srilanka was their nation! Why didn’t they take the unemployment problem of the Sinhala youth to their hearts? They did not try to improve the lot of their Sinhala brethren. They could have been the leaders of Srilanka. Instead, they were content to lead a mere 15% of the population, the Tamils.

I’ve realized over the years that we cannot be happier than those around us. Sooner or later, they’ll pull us down.  The Tamils were pleased when they were well placed – granted, through their hard-work; And started whimpering when they were no longer the top dogs, when they were relatively worse off than before. I find their callousness unpardonable. If the Tamils had played their cards right, if they had attempted to help the Sinhalas, if they had been empathetic, things wouldn’t have come to such a sorry pass.

As for the bungling Srilankan government, their objective may be laudable, but their execution stunk. They could not resist playing into the hands of the zealots who painted the program in ugly communal colors. Nor could they control the sordid ethnic clashes that erupted.

Even though English is a 2nd language, English language proficiency is very low in Srilanka – around 10% of its population, mostly the urban elite that enroll in International Schools. Painful awareness that most Srilankans are ill-prepared to compete with India in IT, BPO & KPO sectors, primarily because of their inadequate English skills – is sinking in.

Many Sinhalas are threatened by the mere presence of 60 million Tamils, a spitting distance across the pond in India.  This insecurity will only deepen if our politicians scream for an end to Srilanka’s “unjust” war against LTTE. Indian politicians will do well to remember that.

What are the other fundamental problems that exacerbated the ethnic strife & converted it to a crisis? All that & more in my next post.

Updates: This post has been featured in the History Carnival at Varnam.org & in Desi Pundit. Thanks, JK.

I promised to write a follow-up to my previous post. But the situation in Srilanka got my goat, so I’m taking a detour this week.

If you are not hiding under a rock, you would be grimacing at the goings-on in Srilanka – and the attendant clown acts in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with politicians and movie actors falling over each other in their zeal to support the LTTE. If all they wanted to do was to solve the humanitarian crisis in Srilanka, hats off to them. But, that’s not their goal. Most of them want a separate Eelam for Tamils.

Holy Canoli, I thought. If Pakistani actors staged a hunger strike for the cause of Kashmir – How would that make us feel? We may choose to carve out a piece of Kashmir & throw it out for the separatist dogs, but that’s our decision & nobody else’s. We may grin & bear mediation efforts from United Nations or from neutral countries like Norway. But, we would not tolerate random foreigners poking their ugly noses in our internal affairs.

So, what makes these politicos & film actors think they can dictate terms to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Srilanka, a sovereign nation? I hope that discerning people all over India are able to see beyond the race card.

The timing of these hunger strikes is what is galling to me. Srilanka is a nose-hair away from squashing LTTE, a terror organization. LTTE cadres are holed up like rats in the dense jungles of Wanni – where the tropical canopy limits visibility for air-raids by the Lankan Airforce. Many ethnic Tamils are held against their will in Kilinochi by the LTTE, so that they can act as a human shield when the Srilankan forces break the barriers. LTTE, the protectors of Tamils? They don’t give a rat’s ass to Tamils. All they want is a separate Eelam to rule.

LTTE = Face of Srilankan Tamils?

First of all – Who made LTTE the sole torch-bearers of Srilankan Tamils? Moderate parties like TULF (currently led by Ananda Sangaree) want an autonomous Tamil state, but they don’t believe in an armed struggle. TELO and EPRLF (parts of which have now merged with LTTE) are the other groups that focus on guerrilla warfare or militancy.

LTTE does not bear rivals kindly. Their snipers brutally assassinated TULF leader Appapillai Amirthalingam, who wanted a negotiated settlement instead of a civil war.  The cold-blooded murder of respected academic, TULF leader & peacemaker Neelan Thiruchelvan is sadder still. He was working on a relief package with the then Srilankan President Ms Kumaratunga when he was assassinated by LTTE.

As for TELO & EPRLF – LTTE hit-men killed TELO leader Sri Sabarathinam in 1986, over a squabble. EPRLF leader Padmanabha and his deputies were killed in a gruesome manner, in broad daylight in Chennai by LTTE in 1990 – because his party contested in the Srilankan general elections for the North Eastern province. LTTE has admitted that it doesn’t believe in democracy. It never will. Anarchy & Oppression are their Gods.

LTTE & Friends

You are judged by the friends you keep. LTTE has close ties with ULFA, a much-feared and banned terror outfit in Assam, that targets Hindi-speaking Indians from Bihar. Mass graves have been discovered in old ULFA camp sites. They don’t mind killing children if that will get their voices “heard”.  Such lovely people are friends with LTTE. Hell, LTTE organizes training camps for ULFA. What’s a little cooperation between friends?

The above news nugget is credited to the Director General of Police from Tripura (an Indian state). The DGP of Tripura – Not an Average Joe from the streets, who may have an ax to grind against LTTE’s “Tamil Cause”. It gets even better.  LTTE & ULFA supply arms to Naxalites/Maoists, who have consolidated their presence in 22 Indian states.

Who are these Srilankan Tamils?

Human beings have lived in Srilanka for 34,000 years. Condensing the rich history of such an ancient land is fraught with the dangers of over-simplification, so I’ll tread cautiously. There are 2 kinds of Tamils in Sri Lanka – The Jaffna (Yazhpanam) Tamils & the Indian Tamils.

Tamils moved to Srilanka in one of the numerous, tiresome battles waged between the Cholas/Pandyas & Sinhalas. The very 1st recorded battle was in 205 BC between the Pandya (Chola in some sources) king Elara & the Sinhala king Dutta Gamanu, where he soundly whupped the Tamil king’s ass. In the course of the next 14 or 15 centuries, dame fortune sometimes favored the Tamil kings & sometimes the Sinhala Kings. From the 7th Century AD onwards, the Sinhalas got a dance partner – Persian Pallavas that ruled South India gleefully extended their support to Srilanka. Till the reign of Raja Raja Chola & his son Rajendra Chola in the 10th century AD, that is. Fearsome warriors, they kicked the butt of everybody in South East Asia, colonized any territory that they clapped their eyes on.

For the most part, the Tamils that moved to the Jaffna peninsula during these battles are the Srilankan Tamils.

Srilanka, like India, was under the British rule. In their inimitable style, the British usurped the lands of the peasants in Kandy and planted coffee, tea & rubber. To work these fields, they imported indentured laborers from South India. These laborers were amongst the poorest of the poor. Their working & living conditions in Kandy were squalid & unbearable. These are the Indian Tamils.

The uppity Srilankan Tamils showed their disdain for the “inferior” Indian Tamils openly. Historically, the 2 groups did not mix with each other. The Black July riots in 1983 changed everything, of course. Because the rioting Sinhala mobs didn’t care if someone was a Srilankan or an Indian Tamil.

Divisive Politics of G.G.Ponnambalam

Much of what we know about the early history of Srilanka is from the Pali chronicle “Mahavamsa”,  created by the Buddhist monk Nagasena in the 5th century AD. It narrates the history of Lanka from the 6th century BC. This early part of the epic, which starts before the reign of King Ashoka, is difficult to substantiate. So, we can make an educated guess that at least a part of it is legend. Needless to say, Srilankans revere the “Mahavamsa” &  are understandably proud of it.

In the 1930s, the leader of the Srilankan Tamils was G.G.Ponnambalam. The very 1st communal riots between Sinhalas & Tamils happened in Navalapitiya in 1939, thanks to his ceaseless efforts: He rejected his Srilankan identity & called himself a proud Dravidian. He then proceeded to attack the “Mahavamsa”. Imagine what Indians would do if some jackass heckled the “Ramayana” or the “Mahabharata”.

Srilanka became independent in 1948. As a fallout of the “Ceylon Citizenship Act” of 1948, the Indian Tamils were disenfranchised. Which means, all of them were stripped off their Srilankan citizenship & they had nowhere to go. Venerable Srilankan Tamil leaders like Chelvanayagam & Thondaman expressed their shock & fought to get this act repealed. So, the “Indian and Pakistani Residents Act” of 1949 came about as an addendum. Accordingly, about 40% of the Indian Tamils got their Srilankan citizenship back. The rest were repatriated to India – packed off to Jawaharlal Nehru, to be precise.

The charming G.G.Ponnambalam voted to pass this act. It is interesting to see the Srilankan Tamils do back-flips to find excuses for this egregious & embarrassing behavior.  Truth be told, many of the Srilankan Tamils disliked the Indian Tamils, thought of them as “mobs” & did not want them to get voting rights. They were not sorry to see them go.

Why would I help the Srilankan Tamils, when they behaved abominably towards the Indian plantation workers? Oh, I see – now that they need India, they want us to forget the past.

Summing Up

What President Rajapakse cannot afford to do now is stop. In this last-ditch fight between the Lion (Srilanka, with its “Lion Flag”) & the Tiger (LTTE), I’m rooting for the Lion. That doesn’t mean I’m insensitive to the plight of the innocent civilians caught in the Wanni forest. Neither am I denying the atrocities committed by the Sinhala majority on the Tamil minority.

In our zeal to upbraid the Sinhalas, none of us should forget how rotten & human excrement-like LTTE is. After all, they killed Rajiv Gandhi, an Indian leader in Indian soil. Imagine what they must be doing to Srilanka. I’ll NEVER forgive LTTE & neither should you. I’m a Tamil. If opposing LTTE makes me a traitor to the Tamil cause, so be it. I simply will not condone terrorism. That will make me a traitor to the human cause.

Since the truth will help us take an informed stance, I’ll publish some more unvarnished nuggets in my next post.