In his response to my letter, “Can we all call ourselves Sri Lankans?” (Sunday Times, June 10, 2012), Mr. Cecil Dharmasena labels me as someone toeing the line of the Tamil Diaspora and that of Channel 4. My understanding of the word “diaspora” is the dispersal of a people with a common origin. The word is usually used in reference to the Jewish people. (I am absolutely in the dark with respect to the Channel 4 charge.)
About 150 years ago, the British started bringing Tamils from South India to what was then known as Ceylon to work on the plantations. Their children and grandchildren were born on our soil, which made them Sri Lankans. Unfortunately, they were not granted citizenship, and attempts were made to send them back to India where their parents came from.
The second and third generations were not Indian citizens, and even after granting them franchise, we removed the franchise during the 1952 elections.
According to a UN resolution, a person is a citizen of the country in which he or she is born. This resolution is honoured only in the US. Green Card holders are a quite different issue. These are people who have come to the US to work and live.
They must wait five years to become naturalised citizens.
The important point is that anyone born in the US immediately becomes a US citizen by birth, even if the parents are illegal immigrants. These people are not naturalised citizens. My grandchildren became US citizens the day they were born, free to enjoy all the rights enjoyed by all Americans, although their parents were not US citizens but university staff employed in the US. There are 11 million illegal immigrants in the US, but their children are US citizens.
In Sri Lanka, there are three kinds of citizens, or “jaathiya”. Birth certificates name parents as Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim or Malay. During the war, Army officers regularly checked houses and householders. When they came to my house and looked at my ID, they would say, “Mahatmayaage jaathiya Sinhala” (you are Sinhalese), and I said no – I was Sri Lankan. They thanked me and made a note in their documents.
We know that the laboratory examinations for GCE Advanced Level science students were scrapped and multiple choice questions were introduced. This was to prevent Tamil examiners from favouring Tamil students. And then university entrance quotas were introduced. I am familiar with all this because I was an examiner until recently. I have also chaired many panels to select research officers for scientific bodies, such as NARA. The selection panel chooses candidates according to set quotas.
I have worked under the university system, here and abroad, for 40 years. I have always taught my students in Sri Lanka to think of themselves as Sri Lankans, not as Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Malay, and so on.
Mr. Dharmasena has completely ignored my main argument – that we should be able to produce a Tamil or Muslim President or Prime Minister if we all considered ourselves “Sri Lankans.”
In the greatest democracy on earth, a black person became President because the White, Black, Brown and Yellow citizens there are all Americans.
We Sri Lankan citizens are not ready to accept that notion. Therefore, in all fairness, can all of us call overselves “Sri Lankan”?
Professor J. Jinadasa,
Massachusetts, US
For environment’s sake, pump sand from the sea to replace river sand
River sand, which is needed in the construction industry, has become a precious commodity because of the acute shortage of the essential building material. Excessive mining for river sand has led to serious environmental problems. It has come to a point where the state is compelled to enforce restrictions.
However, an ever-increasing demand has led to illicit sand mining. Sand resources are being ruthlessly exploited. River banks, beaches, sandy soils in reservations, and the sand dunes that protect land from the sea are all being steadily mined and depleted, causing extensive damage to the environment. River banks are collapsing, sea erosion is on the increase, and the risks of flooding are rising.
Sand resources are limited. Supply cannot meet demand. If illicit mining is stopped, the construction industry will grind to a halt. The environment has to be protected and at the same time sand must be found to meet the demand. Radical new thinking is required if the problem is to be solved.
At present, we do not have a readily available alternative to sand. From a geological point of view, the only places that can conceivably yield inexhaustible quantities of sand with minimal environmental impact are the world’s vast and uninhabited expanses of desert and the ocean bed.
In the matter of sand mining in Sri Lanka, there are two aspects to consider: a.) cost and b.) livelihood. Thousands mine rivers, in the traditional manual way, for a living.
Many countries pump sand from the ocean bed to reclaim land or elevate land levels to build new roads and railways. Singapore and Hong Kong have extended their land area by pumping sand from the sea bed. Land areas around sea ports are expanded this way to set up warehouses and container yards.
Sri Lanka too, I believe, has used this same method to fill marshy terrain crossed by the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway. Sand pumped from the sea and exposed to rain becomes desalinated and suitable for masonry.
Another possibility is to pump sand into rivers. If sea sand is pumped in at a point 10 to 15 kilometres upstream and allowed to be washed downstream, this sand could be mined, using traditional methods. This would ensure continued employment for traditional miners. Environmental damage will be minimal, as fauna and flora in all rivers up to about 15 kilometres from the sea are adapted to salinity. Tidal effects regularly send seawater upstream, except in times when rivers are in spate.
Pumping sand from the sea will no doubt be a costly business. But the benefits will outweigh the destruction caused to the environment.
I hope the Minister of Environment will give this suggestion the consideration it deserves. If a feasibility study finds merit in this suggestion, many private engineering firms will definitely show interest.
Edward Gunawardena Battaramulla
Congratulations, Sunday Times
Each Sunday morn, I hug my good friend
and go over him closely, beginning to end.
The bright weekly that gives us so much pleasure
is nothing short of a national treasure.
You know that you’re read, oh far and wide,
and that people call you the nation’s pride.
Your news is balanced, your facts are true,
What would the country do without you?
Born with the Rotary printing machine,
you’re hi-tech because you kept up with the scene.
For Twenty-Five years you’ve dished out the news
in generous servings of facts and frank views.
You are cherished all over, in hot and cold climes –
Congratulations, dear Sunday Times!
Edward Wijeratne,
Kandy
I know now we are one
Who are you?
I travelled all night to find an answer.
Who are you?
Who am I to you?
I looked in your eyes and you looked at mine.
I smiled with you and you smiled in return.
We had no language in common, but we soon became friends;
I understand now that we are one.
I live in the luxuries of the West -
A roof over my head with a family that I love.
But you; you have lost all that you once called your own.
You are still hurting because of the monsters of fire that once overruled you.
You and I have been made to think that we are enemies!
We have been separated over the years because we spoke different languages.
But I never realized that I was hurting you and you were hurting me....
I never realized that we share the same blood.
I never realized that you are my brother or sister and that we belong to the same family.
Forgive me Appa, Amma, Akka, Anna,Thambi, Thangachchi;
For all the years of pain that I gave you.
I will never know or understand what it is like,
But today I choose to make a difference.
Today, I choose to come to you not with hate but with love.
Today, I choose to come to you not with war but with peace.
We have been separated far too long and now it’s time to unite.
We are one nation, divided only by the barriers created by man and not God.
Yes, I am a Sinhalese and you are a Tamil, but I know now that we are one!
Okaym
For environment’s sake, pump sand from the sea to replace river sand
River sand, which is needed in the construction industry, has become a precious commodity because of the acute shortage of the essential building material. Excessive mining for river sand has led to serious environmental problems. It has come to a point where the state is compelled to enforce restrictions.
However, an ever-increasing demand has led to illicit sand mining. Sand resources are being ruthlessly exploited. River banks, beaches, sandy soils in reservations, and the sand dunes that protect land from the sea are all being steadily mined and depleted, causing extensive damage to the environment. River banks are collapsing, sea erosion is on the increase, and the risks of flooding are rising.
Sand resources are limited. Supply cannot meet demand. If illicit mining is stopped, the construction industry will grind to a halt. The environment has to be protected and at the same time sand must be found to meet the demand. Radical new thinking is required if the problem is to be solved.
At present, we do not have a readily available alternative to sand. From a geological point of view, the only places that can conceivably yield inexhaustible quantities of sand with minimal environmental impact are the world’s vast and uninhabited expanses of desert and the ocean bed.
In the matter of sand mining in Sri Lanka, there are two aspects to consider: a.) cost and b.) livelihood. Thousands mine rivers, in the traditional manual way, for a living.
Many countries pump sand from the ocean bed to reclaim land or elevate land levels to build new roads and railways. Singapore and Hong Kong have extended their land area by pumping sand from the sea bed. Land areas around sea ports are expanded this way to set up warehouses and container yards.
Sri Lanka too, I believe, has used this same method to fill marshy terrain crossed by the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway. Sand pumped from the sea and exposed to rain becomes desalinated and suitable for masonry.
Another possibility is to pump sand into rivers. If sea sand is pumped in at a point 10 to 15 kilometres upstream and allowed to be washed downstream, this sand could be mined, using traditional methods. This would ensure continued employment for traditional miners. Environmental damage will be minimal, as fauna and flora in all rivers up to about 15 kilometres from the sea are adapted to salinity. Tidal effects regularly send seawater upstream, except in times when rivers are in spate.
Pumping sand from the sea will no doubt be a costly business. But the benefits will outweigh the destruction caused to the environment.
I hope the Minister of Environment will give this suggestion the consideration it deserves. If a feasibility study finds merit in this suggestion, many private engineering firms will definitely show interest.
Edward Gunawardena Battaramulla
Why are senior citizens left out of insurance schemes?
It was heartening to read Manel Abeysekera’s plea on behalf of senior citizens – “Elders in dire need of Health Insurance Scheme” (Sunday Times, May 27, 2012). The article should be a wake-up call to all insurance companies, State and Private.
A few insurance companies did have a scheme for seniors, but this was only for those between 60 and 70 years. For reasons known only to the insurance companies, all such schemes were discontinued, despite the fact that these companies make huge profits every year.
My husband and I were victims of one such scheme, after having contributed to it for three years. The scheme was discontinued without any warning.
It is a shame that this “Paradise Isle” and “future Wonder of Asia” does not know how to treat its elderly citizens, especially in matters relating to health and medical welfare.
Don’t the authorities know, or do they deliberately choose not to know, that we senior citizens in our working years made a sizeable contribution towards the well-being of the country?
We are not asking for anything FREE.
What we need is an affordable medical scheme for elders, with no age limits.
This is something the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation should introduce, and surely other companies should follow.
When it comes to insuring a vehicle, old or new, there are no set limits. How come humans are treated differently? Why are we being treated like discarded coins?
I hope the Minister of Social Services and his officials, and all those who own and run insurance companies, will read this letter and take action.
N. S. Dias,
Wattala
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