Irrational world
When I was in
the sixth standard at Ananda College, I used to believe that Sri Lanka
belonged to the Sinhala people. My parents lived in Matugama, a
predominantly Sinhala area.The Mahawamsa and its associated Sinhala
mythologies were then, very real to me.
I extrapolated
my little world and assumed that the island of Lanka was full of
Sinhala people from Point Pedro to Devundara. I also thought that all
the other national and religious groups were here only on short visits
or for work and that their lands were situated far away across the sea.
I am sure that
many of my classmates thought the same about Sri Lanka. This must have
been the thinking in the minds of all the little boys in the sixth
standard at Ananda. I understand that General Sarath Fonseka was also
at Ananda, perhaps a decade after. Hence I won’t be surprised if the
mindset of the general in his early days was also like mine.
Irrational world
Fortunately for
me, I was a student of Kotagama Wachiswera Thero who pulled us out of
the irrational world of mythology and bigoted thinking. Then there was
Thanabalasingham who widened our thinking by introducing us to the
treasures of Western literature. Of course, there were others who
guided us into rational thinking and to the natural law of conditional
thinking.
I am sure that
a Tamil boy of the same age living in Jaffna, studying at Hindu College
and worshipping Thirukkural, must have gone through the same thought
process.
In general all
of them matured to become decent men who served this country according
to their social class orientation. It was the same with the Muslims and
the Christians.
I am yet to
meet a Dravidian fanatic who claims that Sri Lanka belongs to the
Dravidians, the descendants of the mythical Ravana. Of course there is
the claim for Eelam, the Tamil homeland.
However, even
the most extreme map leaves a fair amount for the Sinhalese. In any
case, the claim to Eelam will become a reality only if internal self
determination is denied to them totally.
Unfortunately
General Sarath, an old Anandian had not got the opportunity to mature
out of his sixth standard mindset. Perhaps I am wrong and he was
inducted into this immaturity by the Mahinda Chinthanaya.
If so, it means this is the thinking of the ruling elite and General Sarath has only been honest by saying so in public. In that case no one can say he is not a straight forward man!
We could laugh
it off really, if this was a joke made in a private conversation. But
apparently General Sarath has said this in public - in Canada. In a
sense his statement is a slap in the face of the government that is
trying hard to cover up its Sinhala chauvinism.
Even Mahinda’s
friend Manmohan Singh will not be able to contain the pseudo Dravidian
revolutionaries in South India. Though they claim to be students of
Periar, neither Karunanidhi nor Jayalalitha is going to accept the
heritage of Ravana and drop the Aryan tradition of Rama. Nevertheless
they both will have to resist the new avatar of Aryan Rama in the form
of General Sarath.
On the other
hand, the world over, not only socialists but also consistent democrats
will have to rise up against this new Aryan Sinhala general. Even Obama
may not be happy with this guy’s hegemonistic thinking.