Chandrika Kumaratunga berates Sri Lankan government
Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has condemned the current government, saying it has failed to win peace in the country after the war.
She alleged that members of ethnic minorities are leaving the country in response to its policies.
Giving a lecture in Colombo, she said her children had reacted with anguish to a controversial TV documentary on alleged war-time atrocities.
Mrs Kumaratunga ended her second term as president six years ago.
She has always been critical of her successor, Mahinda Rajapaksa, but these remarks are perhaps her strongest yet.
Mrs Kumaratunga said the government was not committed to sharing power with ethnic minorities and warned that if it continued its “winner-takes-all” policy, large numbers of minority people would continue to leave the country – referring to Tamils, Burghers, as well as people of mixed descent.
She said Sri Lanka was now a “terribly divided nation” and that the state was against everyone who opposed it, whatever their ethnic group.
And she said both her adult children, who lived abroad, had telephoned her, one of them sobbing, when the British station Channel 4 broadcast a documentary purporting to show war crimes by both sides in the war.
After it her son said he was ashamed to call himself Sinhalese and Sri Lankan, she said.
The government says the documentary is a fake.
Mrs Kumaratunga’s blame was not all directed at the current government.
She said that Sri Lankans should have the humility to admit they had “failed as a nation”.
And she strongly criticised an act introduced by her own father as prime minister, which elevated the Sinhala language above others: she said it caused ethnic riots and contributed to the war by excluding minorities.
The former president’s remarks came as local elections appeared to confirm the country’s ethnic divisions, with a Tamil party victorious in the north and the president’s party sweeping the board elsewhere.
BBC
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Mrs, Kumarathunga,
I am surprised to see your simpathy on war victims in Sri Lanka and the way you accues President Mahinda Raja Paksa. Remember, You are not an innocent cow, please remind your self about the Eelam war two, that you launched against the LTTE in 1995 and the number of victims. It is funny that you worry about your son, saying that he is shamed to say that he is a Sri Lankan in a foreign country just beacuse of this channel-4 video. Madam, stop joking US. Your only worry is your son not the others.
Mohamed Shareef Asees PhD
Quote “And she strongly criticised an act introduced by her own father as prime minister, which elevated the Sinhala language above others”
My question is if “English” is elevated and compulsory above all other languages in US, UK, Australia etc to get government jobs, mainstream school education, correspondence with government etc etc etc, how come it is wrong to elevate “Sinhalese language” in a country where over 85% of the population is Sinhalese?
As an example, in Australia “English” is the ONLY SUBJECT that is COMPULSORY to learn at school right upto university entry.
Imgine making only “Sinhala” as the compulsory subject in Sri Lanka ! How many white monkeys including Amnesty, HRW, Crisis group etc etc would jump up and down on that issue?
Madam you shuld not say any thing about war or goverment your saying BAILA MR beter than you CBK no one beter than Hon.DS just stay out of sri lanka thats much beter,
ACCODING TO MY UNDERSTANDING THE WAR IS NOT OVER PLEASE THING ABOUT THE HISTORY, THE WIJEYA WHO CAME TO SRI LANKA WAS TO BE A HINDU SO TAMIL PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT WHAT THEY ASK FOR
My Dear Manjula English is the world Language not only a Amaerican Language thus Sinhala is not ….. so the weight should be same for all languges of Sri Lanka
The sinhala Sri Lankan residents in Australia are letting their mother country down by remaining silent in current times.
The Australian Parliament recently passed a unanimous resolution on international war crimes investigations on GOSL.
There is a strong push to boycott the forthcoming cricket tour on the basis of the propoganda of C4 videos.
The Sinhala communities in Australia are quiet on these issues. In and around May 2009, the Tamil communities were in Australia’s capital demonstrating against the culmination of the war.
Australia, as the richest nation in the Asia-Pacific region, has significant clout in shaping diplomatic manouvres that will eventually hit GOSL pretty badly.
I urge the Sinhala community in Australia to rise from their petty-mindedness and be forceful as their comrades are in the US and EU.
Over to you Manjula.
Ishan,
It is not clear what you are trying to say. Please elobarate more what is your bottom line.
Mohamed Shareef Asees PhD
Asses,
Language is universal; it is a medium of communications.
The more languages one knows, the more one can reach out to people of the World.
If a person or a country sticks to one language, communications will be confined to one community.
This phenomenon is known as “frog in the well”.
Manjula is advocating the “Sinhala Only Policy” which was perpetrated on the country by a “short sighted” political leader for short term political gain. The politician did have a few moments of glory following his policy initiative.
But in the longer term, Sri Lanka, which in the past boasted of a high level of literacy, has been reduced to none other than a World leading supplier of housemaids and menial workers to middle and lower class Arabs.
It is time we grow out of this malaise and begin living in the World and not confine our lives to the emerald isle.
Agree with Julian. There are many Cabinet Ministers gloating about the millions of US dollars sent to Sri Lanka by its citizens earned by cleaning toilets in Arab countries!
Where is the patriotism?
Guru,
Not only cleaning toilets but our men and women walk the streets in these Arab countries earning spare time dollars selling their bodies to Arabs, Indians and Pakistanis and the likes!!!!
dear ishan!
I think your need to know about history of sri lanka more than what your talking about, I don’t know if your in qatar or sri lanka or any where in the world, any how if you want to know about history of sri lanka for your better knowledge i can help you with that, if your ready to talk my request pls come on my skype on Saturday in sri Lankan time after 9am(mangala1972)at the movement am in Doha and what your saying and what your have in your mind i can smell very well my friend for all your hope i can give good answer,
1. Just put this in your mind prince vijya came from arrya colane not from thamilnadu colane
2. Befor prince vijaya come to sir lanka there was a civilization it’s been discovered recently
Place called kaduru goda
Dear Mangala
Wht do u mean by smell im not a Tamil im a muslim but in this country Sinhala people hv dived the nation in to three as u know Muslim, sINHALA and Tamil at present the current Government doest like Muslims even though they are still begging from Arab Countries even you,we are not permitted to build a big Mosque in Cities (Only one existable) but i would like say if u have little knowlegde on History dont talk bulshit Refer to Article who published,,,,, i hv attached one read this abd visit “Vijaya came much later infolanka”
However, this is not to deny that people from North India, speaking Indo Aryan languages came to Sri Lanka about three thousand years ago. The excavations done by Dr. Shiran Deraniyagala in Anuradhapura reveal that Aryan language speaking people had come to Sri Lanka around ninth century BC. The Vijaya story or the theory (all theories are stories or narrations in the terminology of western post modernists) as recorded in the Mahavansa and Deepavansa mentions a date much later than the date estimated by Dr. Deraniyagala. However, the Vijaya story could be seen as an amalgamation of a number of stories. Mahavansa refers to Vijaya having embarked from an eastern port in Vanga going round India to the west coast before arriving in Sri Lanka. This could be interpreted to say that not only Aryan language speaking from Vanga but even people from areas such as present day Maharashtra and Gujarat had migrated to Sri Lanka from time to time over a period of more than five hundred years.
am not talking bushtit am telling your the truth what your saying wrong my friend there no connection prince vijaya and Tamil to have part of sri lanka ,
is country that every one can live and the second thing that your saying Muslim cant build big mosque that’s wrong go visit place call nikawatavan in dumbulla its about 10 km from dambulla if you ask any taxi driver they will bring your there.
yes your right asis she is thinking about her son,
Mr mangal actually u talk bulshit we a not allowed build a mosque in the town area or in the suberb where is alredy exiting one, so we are fighting to get permission to build a mosque in our area we are fighting more than five yrs permission was not given so they ask us to buid as a study centre so we hvae to register the name of a study center what shame dont lead us to go for foor examples you r just mearly saying whithout understanding u r talking according to ur knowledeg any how u better contact those people as mentionde the name DR …..
u must understant im not talking about tamil but Hindus then u can understand for example we r not arabs but arbs and we the same in religion as muslim
wijaya not be a tamil but …. read the articl well i hope it is better to stop this conversation it is because the argument shuold be taken plce with those who konws the Sri Lanka history such as Dr. Deraniyagala,Dr. Shiran Deraniyagala and i heard the there was aProf who argue that the tamil have a right to ask for wht they demad and he challnege the Sri Lankan and ask for open debate but nobody came forwad the Prof also a buddists and i hv heard the from one my MBA holder frnd who is also buddist and i wll give deatails abut that prf
It’s not just only for Muslim its for all if going to build mosque or temple each corner in the city its not applicable And how u have taken chance to build place for
you so Howe come there is no permissions i know very well those Dr. not only Tamil any one can ask because still we have freedom to speech or express our opinon, when some one holding PhD , MA or MBA they know every thing its up to u if u want stop.
Ishan,
It seems that I have created some problemes between you and Mangala. Actually, what I ment from my cooment is that what do you mean by the conflict is not over in Sri Lanka? Are you talking about the armed conflict? In fact, the armed conflict that was started in 1983 between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE was over in May 2009. Currently, there is no counter armed attack between the Sri Lankan government or the so called LTTE.
Mohamed Shareef Asees PhD
Guru,
While I agree that the Sinhalese living in Australia should organize demonstrations in retaliation of the Ch4 videos I don’t think it will make much of difference because that seems more like the the singhalese against the tamils. How ever I think the SLGO should get their act together and prove that the footage aired in the west is a hoax. If the LTTE can make such inroads why can’t the SLGO go to where ever it takes to get their point across. Its about time all of the so called experts working for the SLGO who are being paid by the tax payers money get off their arse and do some real work that helps the country and the tax payers.I like to know what is holding them back from showing the original video if there is one.It is so bad that if you go to Youtube and type Srilanka the first clip on the list is ‘killing fields of Srilanka’. The longer it takes to prove that the ch4 clip is fake the more damage will be done.
Ishan, your argument is that because English is the world language (propergated through the world by force by British invadors), “all languages” must be equal in Sri lanka. What a stupid argument? If english is world language how come arabic, japanese, german and tamil also can be equal in Sri Lanka. If your argument is about english, I can understand, but I cannot understand your logic about “all languages”, specially tamil language being equal when tamil is NOT a world language.
Julian and guru,
your argument about slaving to english to develop is proved wrong by Germans, French, Japanese, Chinese and Koreans. It is not the language but the ability or determination to work hard is what is required to develop. Few of our poor people are cleaning toilets because guys like you ripped them off through generations and licked white asses. Learn the lesson from those countries I listed above, they don’t speak english as much as even Sri lankans do.
laxman right not only they will put More clip until they get there target we should know that as well our leaders in the country. see what they dune to Sudan ICC announce war crime for president basheer then every one open there mouth and say should arrest him then what happen west mafia and US mafia asked basheer do u want to war crime or divide the Sudan to tow so what happen now its become tow land and nor more war crime, US and WEST start contraction and others business in new born country that’s why i call them there are Mafia. Next one where? Don’t west your time manju for those persons he doesn’t know what he is talking.
Guys Please stop making nasty comments about our people who are cleaning toilets or doing what ever they do in the middle east. It is better they clean toilets than stay broke in S/lanka and commit crimes. These people do send foreign currency to S/lanka so they are doing the country good. You guys who talk shit about those hard working people are still in the stone age. Those days are gone my friends. If you had a walawwa title before it is not worth two cents now so forget about who is doing what and lets focus on the crisis of the infamous ch4 video.
mnagala
You are correct thus the Sri lankan Government has taken step to Cutt off all Bo Trees in Sri LANKA CITIES AND SUBURS this law named as “Mangala Law”
If you are unable to reason out better to be keeping quite