No ethnic problem in Sri Lanka – Prof. Channa Jayasumana tells UNHRC

Professor Channa Jayasumana says that the mythical history created by racists in Sri Lanka has led to violation of human right in all Sri Lankans.

“The Tamil Vellalar leaders aspired to be the leaders of the country under the auspices of the British. In 1931 the British introduced universal franchise and the Vellalar leaders found that they could not become the leaders of Sri Lanka.”

“Then they wanted to become the rulers of the Northern and Eastern Province. This was the beginning of the separatist movement,” the Sri Lankan academic said, addressing the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday (18).

Thus the Tamil separatist movement sprang up not because of any injustice to the Tamil speaking people but due to the fact that the Vellalar Tamils could not become leaders of the entire country, said Prof. Jayasumana, Executive Committee member of the World Patriotic Lankan Forum.

He stated that in 2009 the entire Tamil racist movement was defeated and there is nothing to talk further as the military solution given in Nandikadal is nothing but a political solution.

“Studying genuine history shows there is no ethnic problem in Sri Lanka.”

Full speech made by Prof Channa Jayasumana as follows.

Mr. President,

The mythical history created by racists in Sri Lanka has led to violation of human right in all Sri Lankans. Scholars including Prof. Karthugesu Indrapala has pointed out that there were no permanent Tamil settlements in Sri Lanka before 13thcentury. When the Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka the Sinhalese people were the majority in the Jaffna Peninsula as well in the rest of Sri Lanka. The Dutch who occupied the coastal areas of the country around 1650 brought the Vellalar Tamils from present Tamil Nadu for their tobacco plantation in Jaffna.
 
The English who occupied the country in 1815 gave preferences to the Vellalar Tamils. In 1833 when the Legislative Assembly was established, the British Governor appointed one Sinhala and one Tamil speaking person to represent the communities without any semblance to democracy ignoring that the Sinhalese constituted 75% of the population with a history of more than two thousand years and Tamil speaking people who constituted around 10% of the population with a history not going back to more than two hundred years.
 
The Tamil Vellalar leaders aspired to be the leaders of the country under the auspices of the British. In 1931 the British introduced universal franchise and the Vellalar leaders found that they could not become the leaders of Sri Lanka. Then they wanted to become the rulers of the Northern and Eastern Province. This was the beginning of the separatist movement. Thus the Tamil separatist movement sprang up not because of any injustice to the Tamil speaking people but due to the fact that the Vellalar Tamils could not become leaders of the entire country. In 2009 the entire Tamil racist movement was defeated and there is nothing to talk further as the military solution given in Nandikadal is nothing but a political solution. Studying genuine history shows there is no ethnic problem in Sri Lanka.
 
Thank you.