But it is entirely possible that Tamil migrants to Sri Lanka – whether early or recent, may not have interbred with Veddahs.

I would agree that studies done in Singapore should be disqualified.

It is very unlikely that Tamil was a language of 40-70 thousand years ago. However, their ancestors would have lived then of course though they may have spoken a language that evolved into Tamil or at a later date became Tamil speakers through acculturation, that is, one language of the region became dominant through trade or conquest. I do believe people spoke languages at the time – but in this instance it may have been pre-Dravidian.

Obviously, people in Sri Lanka and South India did not arrive at speaking Tamil independently. The Tamil population of Sri Lanka is FROM India.
The only question on this is what makes a people indigenous. Native-Americans did not always live in the Americas – so perhaps they should not be considered indigenous. Similar applies to the Tamils, Sinhalese, and even Veddahs. Surely the Veddahs were first though.

There are considered to be two routes into India that historically have populated the region – the coastal route out of Africa, and later incursions from the north. Thus the population pressures are generally southward with perhaps some divergent movements into the highlands of India.

The Palk Straight is no obstacle – and at various times may not have been covered with water at all. Tamil migrations apparently began a few scant thousand years ago – and continued into the Common Era.

Tamils anywhere of course, have every right to be concerned with the Tamil situation in Sri Lanka – no one forfeits the right to care.

Please try to understand and come to realize that the pen-name ‘Suren’ that you have chosen to bear itself has Tamil Origin and is a Tamil name. You can not refute it, Can you? It is an absurd stupidity to draw Mahabaratha reference into this discussion – rediculous!

Can you show me where the Tamils or how they embraced this study? Did they have a refrendum saying that they accept it or you like to bull shit alot?

You don’t make any sense. You haven’t provided any source and you are talking like if you are an expert or something on this DNA issue.

One genetic study, from 1995, (see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8543296) shows that the Tamils of Sri Lanka has absolutely no contribution from the Veddhas, while the Sinhalese show some admixture with the Veddhas (4%). The Tamils have embraced this study, because it shows that they share some 55% of the ”gene pool” with the Sinhalese. This study was highly disputed, when it came out, because they used Sinhalese and Tamils who lived in Singapore – a community known to have a lot of intermarraiges between the sri lankans. Maybe if they used people from Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese would have shown lesser Tamil admixture and more Veddah admixture?

Anyway, the Sinhalese do not claim that their sole ancestors were the Indo-european colonisers.

The Sinhala people are mentioned even in the Hindu epic Mahabaratha, which is supposed to be 1000-1500 BC, and some say even older.

Are all dravidians Tamils? Was Tamil an universal language the time you mention 40-70 thousand years ago? It is estimated that people started migrating out of Africa some 60,000 years ago, about the same time we started using our voice. They didn’t speak even a language at that time, but words and sounds. So did all these people talk what became so called Dravidian?

How can everything in the whole of India and south india be Tamil? There is Munda too, an age old language, just like the Elu language of the indigenous ancestors of Sinhalese.

Sri Lanka is an island. It has had its own development.

It is really stupid to assume that Tamil developed into Tamil independantly in both South India and Sri Lanka. Even just at the begining of the Christian era, Tamil was totally different from what it is today, and you are talking of many thousands of years, and we are to believe that the Tamils in Sri Lanka are indigenous??

Living a scant few miles away in the mainland is not going to make an indigenous Tamil population in the island of Lanka. If you think that way, then why not think northwards too? At least that way, there was no ocean to cross.

Do you have any other example where people speaking the exact same language and following the exact same culture and having the exact same customs which originated and got developed somewhere else, are also indeginous to another place, across the ocean?

If the island was inhabited continuously by the present day Tamil population from ancient times, then they would not be speaking Tamil, they would be speaking something related, but not Tamil. Any linguist or anthropologist will tell you this.

If the Tamils of Sri Lanka were indeginous to Sri Lanka, they would have something of their own. Tamils of Sri Lanka has no literature, nor ruins or buildings or any other record to show at all. How can they be indigenous to Sri Lanka? Have they been there for 40-70,000 years, and don’t have anything to show?

No linguist or anthropologist is going to buy the story about Tamil being indigenous to Sri Lanka. Tamil is indigenous and native to India. Not Sri Lanka. Can’t see why some people have problems accepting facts. Indeginous or not, is not a basis for rights of any sort in Sri Lanka. Everybody has equal rights in Sri Lanka, the problem is not rights or discrimination on ethnic basis, but the lack and negligence of the needy.

Tamils in the west should stop interfering with Tamil matters in Sri Lanka. Most of them do not even speak Tamil, and they want a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka? How is it going to be for the Tamils who infact live there? The Tamil culture is quite different to the western culture. Are we going to have to put up with all the foreign Tamils with their foreign and alien languages and culture? We don’t want that.

Tamils, with or without aboriginal heritage, have been on Sri Lanka for a very long time – they live, after all, a scant few miles away on the mainland. The Sinhalese or ancestral Indo-European groups likely crossed into an already inhabited island – perhaps inhabited by both aboriginal and Tamil – so this is certainly their homeland – if not their original homeland, but so what. It certainly makes sense that migrating Indo-European speakers would have arrived after an already regionalized Dravidian population (Tamils).

None of this is germane to the current political situation. What matters is that both people (and a significant Muslim Population) live in Sri Lanka today. The government of that nation needs to function as a government of ALL Sri Lankans. If not, Tamils are entitled to self-rule.

Let me take it further for you.

The Hindu chronicle of Ramayanam points out that the ruler of the island is Ravanan. He is undoubtedly a worshiper of Siva according to the chronicle. Worshiping of Siva is Saivasam which is a sect of the Hindu religion. The Tamils in the southern state of India and the Tamils on the island are Saivasam overwhelmingly and have enough temples all over including the islan.

Saivite temples of Sri Lanka
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2003/01/10/stories/2003011001480800.htm

The Portuguese when they took over the Tamil kingdom looted and destroyed many of the Temples. Out of the 5 oldest temples built all over the island two of them are still standing even though it is not in great shape.

It only tells me one thing. Buddhism arrived after and the Sinhalese identity emerged after as well. The revival of Saiva Tamil Kings (Chola Empire or Pandyian empire) to push the people to the south in turn making them create a new identity with separate religion, separate language. I am sure the Tamil kings would have tried to force the Saivasm on to the people who were practicing Buddhism and there would have been resistance which would have made the Tamil kings to push them southward.

Mr. Dudley Senanayake and Mr. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam met on the 24-3-1965 and discussed matters relating to some problems over which the Tamil-speaking people were concerned, and Mr. Senanayake agreed that action on the following lines would be taken by him to ensure a stable government:
(1) Action will be taken early under the Tamil Language Special Provisions Act to make provision of the Tamil Language of Administration and of Record in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Mr. Senanayake explained that it was the policy of his party that a Tamil-speaking person should be entitled to transact business in Tamil throughout the island.

(2) Mr. Senanayake stated that it was the policy of his party to amend the Languages of Courts Act to provide for legal proceedings in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to be conducted and recorded in Tamil.

(3) Action will be taken to establish District Councils in Ceylon vested with powers over subjects to be mutually agreed upon between two leaders. It was agreed, however, that the government should have power under the law to give directions to such councils under the national interest.

(4) The Land Development Ordinance will be amended to provide that citizens of Ceylon be entitled to the allotment of land under the Ordinance.

Mr. Senanayake further agreed that in the granting of land under colonization schemes the following priorities be observed in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

(a) Land in the Northern and Eastern provinces should in the first instance be granted to landless persons in the district.

(b) Secondly, to Tamil-speaking persons resident in the northern and eastern provinces.

(c) Thirdly, to other citizens in Ceylon, preference being given to Tamil citizens in the rest of the island.

signed, Dudley Senanayake 24.3.65

signed, S.J.V. Chelvanayakam 24.3.65

Bandaranaike – Chelvanayagam Pact, 1957

Part A

Representatives of the Federal Party have had a series of discussions with the Prime Minister in an effort to resolve the differences of opinion that had been growing and creating tension.

At an early stage of these conversations it became evident that it was not possible for the Prime Minister to accede to some of the demands of the Federal Party.

The Prime Minister stated that, from the point of view of the government, he was not in a position to discuss the setting up of a Federal Constitution, or regional autonomy, or take any step that would abrogate the Official Language Act.

The question then arose whether it was possible to explore the possibility of an adjustment without the Federal Party abandoning or surrendering any of its fundamental principles or objectives.

At this stage, the Prime Minister suggested an examination of the Government’s draft Regional Councils Bill to see whether provision could be made under it to meet, reasonably, some of the matters in this regard which the Federal Party had in view.

The Agreements so reached are embodied in a separate document.

Regarding the language issue, the Federal Party reiterated its stand for parity, but in view of the position of the Prime Minister in this matter they came to an agreement by way of adjustment. They pointed out that it was important for them that there should be a recognition of Tamil as a national language, and that the administrative work of the Northern and Eastern Provinces should be done in Tamil.

The Prime Minister stated that as mentioned by him earlier it was not possible for him to take any steps that would abrogate the Official Language Act.

After discussion, it was agreed that the proposed legislation should contain recognition of Tamil as the language of a national minority of Ceylon, and that the four points mentioned by the Prime Minister should include provision that, without infringing on the position of the Official language as such, the language of the administration of the Northern and Eastern Provinces be Tamil, and that any necessary provision be made for the non-Tamil speaking minorities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Regarding the question of Ceylon citizenship for people of Indian descent and the revision of the Citizenship Act, the representatives of the Federal Party put forward their views to the Primo Minister and pressed for an early settlement. The Prime Minister indicated that the problem would receive early consideration. In view of these conclusions the Federal Party stated that they were withdrawing their proposed satyagraha.

Part B

1. Regional areas to be defined in the Bill itself by embodying them in a schedule thereto.

2. That the Northern Province is to form one regional area whilst the Eastern Province is to be divided into two or more regional areas.

3. Provision is to be made in the Bill to enable two or more regions to amalgamate even beyond provincial limit; and for one region to divide itself subject to ratification by Parliament. Further provision is to be made in the Bill for two or more regions to collaborate for specific purposes of common interests.

4. Provision is to be made for direct election of regional councillors. Provision is to be made for a delimitation commission or commissions for carving out electorates. The question of M.P.s representing districts falling within regional areas to be eligible to function as chairmen is to be considered. The question of Government Agents being regional commissioners is to be considered. The question of supervisory functions over larger towns, strategic towns and municipalities is to be looked into.

5. Parliament is to delegate powers and to specify them in the Act. It was agreed that regional councils should have powers over specified subjects including agriculture, co-operatives, lands and land development, colonization, education, health, industries and fisheries, housing and social services, electricity, water schemes and roads. Requisite definition of powers will be made in the Bill.

6. It was agreed that in the matter of colonization schemes the powers of the regional councils shall include the power to select allottees to whom lands within their area of authority shall be alienated and also power to select personnel to be employed for work on such schemes. The position regarding the area at present administered by the Gal Oya Board in this matter requires consideration.

7. The powers in regard to the regional council vested in the Minister of Local Government in the draft Bill to be revised with a view to vesting control in Parliament wherever necessary.

8. The Central Government will provide block grants to the regional councils. The principles on which the grants will be computed will be gone into. The regional councils shall have powers of taxation and borrowing.

You can’t blame everything on the Sinhalese. You have to see what the Tamils were asking too. Was it fair to try to keep things as they were under the British? After all it was the Sinhala masses who work and pay for the fun, and go hungry, while the Tamils demanded such unfair things.

As for the library fire and loss of literature:
There’s no point fooling yourself and the world. It is a known fact that the Sri Lankan Tamils don’t have any literature.

As for the Vaipava Malai: How dare you people say such lies? Some Sinhalese who do not know the Tamil literature, will even agree with you. But Vaipava Malai was written only in the mid 18th century. Anyway Vaipava Malai was translated in the late 19th centuray by Brito. all Tamils know that the original Vaipava Malai was never in the library.

Rasanayagam, wrote in 1926 that the original Vaipava Malai was not to be found to verify the translated version. As ususal the original is most probably just forgotten in some British colonisers home. Read the book Ancient Jaffna.

Read this at Google books and tell me what it says:
http://tinyurl.com/yldfeko

Rasanayagam wrote in 1926:
“Today, except the Kailaya Malai which has been printed and a few manuscript copies of the Vaiya Padal the other works are very rare and hardly procurable. It is lucky that the Vaipava Malai was printed several years ago and translated into English by late Mr. C. Brito, for at the present day it is impossible to procure any of the older manuscripts for the purpose of testing the correctness of the printed version “.

He goes on to say that the Tamil people don’t have our own literature and have to rely on the Sinhalese works and other countries works:
“In order to reconstruct the history of Jaffna from its earliest times, it becomes necessary to examine critically our ancient traditions in the light of contemporary documents, and in the absence of any local literature and inscriptions, to search for further information in the literature and chronicles of other countries. In this respect Mahavansa is most usefull. It is a court chronicle containing the annals of the Ceylon kings, and its writers who most probably regarded the Tamils as a horde of cruel marauders pass over both them and their efforts in silence, except when they made themselves too unpleasent to go unnoticed. ”

Not only Rasanayagam, other historians like Pathmanathan, also states this in their works. It is a known fact that the Sri Lankan Tamils don’t have any literature. There’s no point to lie. Rasanayagam even blames the Sinhalese for not writing about Jaffna and the Tamils. Maybe they didn’t write much about Jaffna and the Tamils because there was nothing much to write about?

So, don’t tell lies and poison the Tamil people’s minds against our Sinhala bretheren. You want to live in the west? Do it, but let us live peacefully with the Sinhalese. You will never do well, and the Tamil people will be a cursed people, if people like you try to ignore what is just and fair totally, and push an ethnic agenda, based on a bunch of lies, like what you do.

You can’t equate the Sinhala people with the regimes there, it is like equating the American people with Bush and Cheney’s regime.

Just tell the truth. You can fool the foreigners, but you are not going to fool people like me, who know our history.

The above distortion and lie is just one out of all the thousands of lies, and was made by a Tamil politician, trying to capitalize on the tragedy of the library fire. Then it became a ‘truth’.

What we need is a good journalist to go down to Sri Lanka and study the story and history and publish all the lies Tamil fanatics have been telling, so that the Tamil people too will know what the truth is.

I guess the burning of the Jaffna library and destroying other historical structures of the Tamils on the island has really helped the Sinhalese government of Sri Lanka to assert that the island belongs to the Sinhalese. Its called cultural genocide.

“For decades the political establishment in Colombo has promoted the chauvinist view that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist and Sinhalese country in which Tamils and other minorities must take second place. The deliberate stirring up of communal sentiment by successive governments led to the imposition of discriminatory measures against Tamils, anti-Tamil pogroms and in 1983 to the ongoing war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam…….
……
parallels in Sri Lanka to the Taliban’s cultural vandalism—notably to the destruction of the Jaffna Library in 1981. It is only now, two decades after the library was burnt to the ground, that a replacement building is finally being built in the centre of Jaffna town, 400km north of Colombo. Construction has begun and, according to the engineers in charge, the building should be completed by December.
Nothing, however, can be done about the thousands of priceless Tamil books, manuscripts and ola [dried palm] leaf documents that went up in flames in 1981. Jaffna has been an important Tamil cultural centre for centuries. Some books such as Yalpanam Vaipavama —a history of Jaffna—were literally irreplaceable, as the library contained the only existing copy.
The library, which was inaugurated in 1841 and then moved to a more majestic building in 1950, had one of the finest collections in South Asia and was known throughout the world. It was popular among intellectuals, teachers and students—both Sinhalese and Tamil—and was used extensively by ordinary working people. Its destruction, two years before the outbreak of the country’s civil war, was an outrage aimed against the cultural heritage of the country’s Tamil minority and deliberately calculated to inflame communal sentiment.
A group of racist thugs, instigated by the United National Party (UNP) government, carried out the arson. Eyewitnesses at the time reported that uniformed police accompanied by the gang, brought from the south of the island. They arrived by truck in the dead of the night of May 31, 1981 and set fire to the library buildings.
The fire provoked widespread anger in Jaffna setting off three days of mayhem. Four Tamils were taken from their homes by police and killed. Sinhalese thugs also set fire to the head office of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) in Jaffna and then looted about 100 Tamil-owned houses and shops before setting them ablaze as well.”

Source: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/may2001/sri-m30.shtml

==>> So, this is the land you say you had your Tamil homeland? LOL. What a revealing statement.

All of Tamil fanatic’s history in Sri lanka is just a made up story. Wake up, and see. There’s no point chasing this Tamil homeland story. We have to learn to live with the Sinhalese. It is their land. Their history is rock solid, verified and documented through other countries history too. Their very existence nullifies all Tamil claims to a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka.

Did you really write this nonsense?

There are some give aways in this text which seems to be either written by a Tamil fanatic or copied from such a person. It is not Kottai. It is Kotte. LOL.

”Sri Lanka’s first aborigines with continuous lineage are the Tamil people. ” ==> No way. India and Sri lanka were populated by the 1st and second waves of people from Africa, way before the Dravidians came. You describe the route the Dravidians took, in your article itself.

The aborigines of sri Lanka are the Veddahs. Not Tamils. Tamils share no ancestory with the Veddahs at all. Veddahs were all settled in Sri lanka long before any Dravidians showed up.

What is a homeland? The one like the Jewish homeland?

Tamils never had a homeland in Sri Lanka. The Tamil homeland is Tamilakam, present day Tamil Nadu. Tamil language, culture, customs everything originated in Tamilakam, not in Sri Lanka. Read some Tamil history, without listening to Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka, who will tell all sorts lies.

The history these Tamil fanatics say is all just constructed to suit their sepearatist agenda. There’s no proof of any of this in Sri lankan or Indian history.

The Sinhalese people are the admixture of the Hele people, Veddahs and the people who brought the Prakrit language to Sri Lanka. The Sinhala language is a mixture of the Hele language also called Elu and the Prakrit language, of the North Indian colonisers. The Veddahs still speak a dialect of this language greatly influeced by the Sinhala language too. Their racial memory is that they are partly descendent from Prince Vijaya. They have been the protectors of the Sinhala royalty all through out the South Indian / Tamil raids and later the European colonisers. The British butchered these people in the thousands for their support to the Sinhalese. Tamils share no ancestary with the Veddhas.

See http://www. vedda.org