A Message from the Tamil Diaspora to Sri Lanka’.

An open letter written by  me, a Sri Lankan, who lives abroad, to  fellow citizens in Srilanka  

My best regards to all citizens of Srilanka who are scattered across the country and living mentally divided.

Have we ever wondered why Sri Lanka, once upon a time described as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” and the “rice bowl of South Asia” is today considered the “a curse in  the Indian Ocean” and “the misery of South Asia?”.Let’s think.

Does anyone care if we are going backwards without even a drop of progress after 72 years of independence .We are in a democratic frame work, so we must take responsibility for this setback .Where did we go wrong? We made the wrong choice in every election. Are we going to make the same mistake in this 2020 general election? It is time to decide.

Let’s look back at history first. Tamils ​​were in high government positions in Sri Lanka at the time of independence in 1948, because many Tamils ​​excelled in education during the British period. On the contrary, majority of the Sinhala Buddhist we’re  not be able to study in English medium as they were not ready to be converted  to Christianity following the vehement opposition by the Buddhist  monks .Moreover British regime also thought that having a minority executive leadership was conducive to their colonial supremacy. This created a situation where political leaders after the time of independence were Sinhalese but Civil service top positions were held by minority Tamils. This caused serious grievance among Sinhalese.

In this situation, due to the dissatisfaction in the UNP, SWRD Bandaranaike left the party and started a new political party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. In order to come to the power in the quickest and easiest way, he used the prevailing grievance among the Sinhala masses. In his radical election manifesto he mentioned  “Within 24 hours of  assuming his duties as prime minister, he will legislate and implement the “Sinhala ONLY ACT “which declares that Sinhala is the only official language. So all civil servantsMUST learn Sinhala or resign the Government Job. Tamil-speaking people were furiouswhen they realised they can no longer get a government postwithout learning Sinhala. But the Sinhalese people were appeased. However, being a great scholar and academic his consciousness worked  against his decision which he forecasted to be a disaster in long term. Therefore Mr. Bandaranaike signed an agreement with Selva, who established himself as the leader of the Tamils ​​at that time. However It is was torn down by Mr.SWRD after the opposition by  his political rival JR Jeyawardena ,the people and monks. Since then, every attempt to solve the Issue will be opposed by their political opposition and monks.

The Tamil parties initially split into the Federal party and Tamil Congress and engaged in rival politics too. Later, when  they were united, they committed the greatest betrayal not only to the Tamil nation but to the whole country. They took advantage of the frustrations of the Tamil youth regarding the lack of opportunities for higher studies .to seek the destruction of political opponents to prevent the National Parties from entering into their strong hold in the North and East provinces. We all know the 30-year-long armed conflict and its dire consequences.

Tamil youth in the North took up arms in desperation without higher education opportunities, deprived by systematic discriminations, such as standardization. Whereas in the South, Sinhala youth took arms as the result of lack of job opportunities .

So ethnic issue can’t be the real reason for taking up arms. So what is the real reason?

This racism and sectarianism does not take place in developed countries as it does in poorer countries. For example in Switzerland there are 3 main languages, French, Italian and German, who all live in harmony. There are 3 ethnic groups in Malaysia and Singapore as well. Singapore is smaller in size than Srilanka and younger sovereign compared to Srilanka. It is a pity that in the last 72 years mother lankacould not produce a single statesman like Mahadhir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew .

One thing that can be learned from these three examples is that if a nation has the economic resources it needs to share generously with all its citizens, there will be no conflict between its citizens.

How can Sri Lanka augment its economic resources?

Can we progress  like Malaysia and Singapore. Definitely.

The software industry is the most lucrative sector in the world today but Sri Lanka has not yet realised its potential.  In the past, when I was studying in Srilanka, students from Jaffna district and students from Matara district would get high marks in Mathematics and Physics at GCE Advanced Level every year. It is essential for this field. If we can teach English to make them fluent then we can make Jaffna and Matara another Bengalore and Hydrabad .India can help us to develop this sector. Similarly there is high quality silica in Vallipuram-Amban area in North and Ekala in Western Province .Why can’t we bring a semi-conductor/electronics  industry to these places with the help of China.

Many valuable  cosmetics can be made from marine plants, including rare algae found in the Mannar sea. Similarly, cactus, which we normally neglect, is used to make many products such as expensive cosmetics and soft drinks. There is also a huge demand for Sri Lankan handicrafts and Garments abroad. The tourism industry can be further modernized. Let’s keep growing through these avenues. We need to come to the belief that we can. We do not need foreign intervention in politics. We need investment in our country.

But to do all that, it is important to attract private direct investment, especially foreign direct investment, to Sri Lanka. It requires transparent and corrupt-free government departments  operating without political interference with less red tape. It requires a change in the constitution so that the four pillars of democracy, the legislature,executive ,the judiciary, and  media operate in complete independence. A few centuries ago, Egypt’s economy was ahead of Britain. Later,Britain has strengthened its pillars of democracy and created a prosperous environment many times better than Egypt .This is the general situation in all developed countries;

So all the leaders who have represented all communities since the days of independence are responsible for the destruction of the past. We cannot blame only a few. Some people alone cannot be held responsible. Because of the pressure exerted on the leaders not only at home but also from abroad.We as citizens must remain united. otherwise the super powers will interfere through their agents in our country for their geopolitical interest at the cost of our peace , prosperity and progress.

Let us forget the mistakes of the past and think only about the future. We will elect the young energetic leader who can unite the diverse communitiesas the prime minister for the happy start of the new Sri Lanka .We have so far chosen the Attorneys-at-law which produced little to no results soThis time we will elect those in fields such as economics, management  and social science and transform the county as the Miracle of  South Asia that everyone dreams of .You have the power for that change .Let’s move towards that new dawn on August 5th at 7am.

Best regards from your yours Son, brother, friend who says goodbye to you with confidence

– Supen TAMU