We stand guilty. The world claims Sinhalese discriminate Tamils. That they have no say in the affairs of the country. Their grievances are many. The allegations cover the lack of opportunity for Tamils in all spectrum and strata of society at public and private. These allegations are globally propagated and of late a UN official arrived to ascertain the rights to Tamil minority. Please pass on this to the official, a testament to the crime committed by the Sinhalese for discriminating against the Tamils.
In Colombo District Tamils account for 97,690 of the population while Sinhalese are only 79,468 and Muslims are 126,345.
Tamils claim colonization of Tamil areas which has now turned to Buddhisization of Tamil Areas. Visit Wellawatte, Dehiwela, Mt. Lavinia, Kotahena in the Western Province to see how Tamils have increased. Every road in Wellawatte is now turning single storey houses to flats and these are rented to anyone except Sinhalese.
The discrimination by Sinhalese are such that the following examples will reveal very clearly the extent of discrimination that prevails.
Tamils currently holding top portfoliios
§ There are currently 33 Tamil MPs in Parliament
§ Opposition Leader – R. Sambanthan (TNA Leader)
§ PM’s Financial Advisor – R Paskarlingam
§ SL Bar Association – Geoffrey Alagaratnam
§ Governor Central Bank – Indrajit Coomaraswamy / previous Governor Arjuna Mahendran also Tamil had to step down following allegations of insider-trading
§ Constitutional Council – Radhika Coomaraswamy (sister of Indrajit Coomaraswamy)
§ Murugesu Ganeshamoorthy Secretary, Ministry of National Integration & Reconciliation
§ Sri Lanka Press Institute – S. Nadesan (Chairman)
The Constitutional Reforms Committee comprises the following Tamils
§ S.C.C. Elankovan – Consultant to the National NGO Action Front
§ S Wijesandiran – Lecturer in Economics
§ S. Thavarajah former Leader of Opposition NPC
§ N Selvakkumaran – lawyer
Task Force: Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms comprises
· Secretary – Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu – Head of NGO Centre for Policy Alternatives
· Daya Somasundaram
· Shantha Abhimanasingham PC is the President of the Jaffna Bar Association
· Sitralega Maunaguru Professor from the Eastern University
Academics/Scholars
§ Rajini Thiranagama – murdered by LTTE, human rights activist and author of books; head of the Department of Anatomy, University of Jaffna; member of University Teachers for Human Rights
§ Rajan Hoole – Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Jaffna; member of University Teachers for Human Rights
§ Ratnajeevan Hoole – – Professor of Electrical Engineering; appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna but could not take up post due to threats from LTTE
§ Professor Suppiramaniam Vithiananthan – first vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna in 1979.
§ T. Nadaraja – Chancellor of the University of Jaffna; Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ceylon
§ S. Raveendranath – Vice-Chancellor of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka
§ K. Sivathamby – emeritus professor of University of Jaffna; prominent Tamil scholar, sociologist and author of books
§ X. Thaninayagam – scholar, author and historian
§ T. Varagunam – Chancellor of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka
§ Professor Shan Ratnam – Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National University Hospital of Singapore
§ Professor Karthigesu Indrapala – academic, historian, archaeologist, author and former dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna.
§ Professor Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson – academic, historian and author. was a constitutional advisor to President J. R. Jayewardene between 1978 and 1983. Married daughter of SJV Chelvanayagam
§ Professor Kandiah David Arulpragasam first vice-chancellor of Eastern University,
§ Professor Vasanthy Arasaratnam – current vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna.
§ Prof S A Ariadurai – Vice Chancellor Open University
Activists
§ Radhika Coommaraswamy – human rights activist; Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Now member of Constitutional Council
§ Richard de Zoysa – journalist, author, human rights activist and actor; was abducted and murdered
§ Kethesh Loganathan – Deputy Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat of the Government of Sri Lanka; assassinated by LTTE
§ Chelvy Thiyagarajah – feminist and International PEN award winner
§ Neelakandan Tiruchelvam – lawyer, academic, politician and Member of Parliament killed by LTTE suicide bomber in 1999
Politicians
§ Kaarthigesar Ponnambalam Ratnam – academic, politician and Member of Parliament.
§ William Gabriel Rockwood physician and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
§ Late Chellappah Suntharalingam academic, politician, Member of Parliament and government minister.
§ Amirthalingam – former Opposition leader, Member of Parliament and Tamil separatist
§ Hon. M. Sivasithamparam – former Deputy Speaker of Parliament
§ Kanagasabai Ganeshalingam politician. Mayor of Colombo
§ Virasipillai Albert Alegacone lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.
§ V.S. Kumar Anandan was a Guinness World Records holder Swimming the Palk Strait, from Sri Lanka to India and back [1] in 51 hours, in the year 1971. Standing on 1 leg for 33 hours!
§ Veerasingham Anandasangaree
§ Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam founder ITAK
§ Deniswaran contested under TNA in 2013
§ K. Sayanthan – TNA MP
Diplomats/Public Servants
§ Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar – lawyer and statesmen. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2001 and again from April 2004 until his assassination in August 2005 by LTTE.
§ Yogendra Duraiswamy, SLOS – first batch of Ceylon Overseas Service, 1949
§ Tamara Kunanayakam – Sri Lankan Ambassador to Cuba (2008-2009); Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva
§ Arambamoorthy Thedchana Moorthy – a former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
§ Nadarajah Balasubramaniam – diplomat and civil servant. ambassador to France, high commissioner to Singapore and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations (UN).Chairman of the UN’s Indian Ocean Peace Zone (IOPZ) committee. He was also senior director general of the Foreign Office
§ Chellappah Coomaraswamy – civil servant, diplomat and member of the Senate of Ceylon. appointed to the civil service in 1910. was Police Magistrate in Puttalam in 1913, District Judge and Registrar General. served as the Ceylonese High Commissioner in New Delhi between 1950 and 1955
§ Sir Velupillai Coomaraswamy, CMG, CCS – Ceylonese civil servant and diplomat. He was Government Agent for the Western Province from January 1946 to December 1947 and again from February 1948 to October 1949. He was knighted in the 1952 New Year Honours
§ Sir Arunachalam Mahadeva (son was Deshamanya Baku Mahadeva and son-in-law was Professor T. Nadaraja.) – prominent colonial era legislator and diplomat. He was Minister of Home Affaires[1] of the State Council and Ceylon’s High Commissioner to India
§ Rajendra Coomaraswamy, CCS – former Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific of the UNDP and President of the Colombo Plan Council
§ Alfred Thangarajah Duraiappah – Jaffna Mayor first victim of LTTE
§ Coomarasamy Balasingham civil servant
§ Deshamanya Shivakumaran Pasupati is a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, President’s Counsel, Solicitor General and Attorney General.
§ Samuel Ariaretnam Sabapathy – lawyer and the first Mayor of Jaffna.
§ Lieutenant colonel Sabdharatnajyoti “Thambirajah” Saravanamuttu – lawyer, politician, military officer, cricketer and sports administrator.
Military/Police
§ Major General Dr. Chelliah Thurairaja, USP, SLMC – former Director Army Medical Services and Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps
§ Rear Admiral Rajanathan “Rajan” Kadirgamar – second Ceylonese Captain of the Royal Ceylon Navy from 1960 to 1970 (brother of Lakshman Kadiragamar)
§ Selvanathan Kadirgamar – (brother of both Lakshman and Rajan) a Major in the Ceylon Army
§ Major General Anton M. Muttukumaru, OBE, ED, ADC, CLI first Ceylonese Army officer to serve as Commander of the Ceylon Army. He also served as Ceylon’s High Commissioner to Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ambassador to Egypt
§ Air Vice Marshal Ravi Arunthavanathan – Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Air Force and current Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence
§ Major General Y. Balaretnarajah Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army; Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force; GOC, 1 Division
§ Major General E. George Thevanayagam Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force, Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and later first Director of the National Cadet Corps
§ Viswanather Casipillai was a Crown Proctor and co-founder of the Jaffna Hindu College.
§ Rudra Srichandra Rajasingham – Inspector General of Police and Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia.
§ Thangarajah Edward Anandaraja is a former Sri Lankan Inspector-General of Police and Commissioner, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.
Sportsmen
§ Tambyah Murugaser – former Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket; Sri Lanka team manager
§ Mano Ponniah – former Ceylon cricketer and member of the Cambridge eleven
§ Ignatius Anandappa – late Sri Lankan international cricket umpire
§ Russel Arnold – former Sri Lankan Test cricketer and international commentator
§ Kandiah Thirugnansampandapillai Francis – international Test/ODI umpire
§ S. Illangaratnam – late Sri Lankan cricketer,
§ Pradeep Jayaprakashdaran – cricketer
§ Sridharan Jeganathan – cricketer
§ Vinothen John – cricketer
§ Selliah Ponnadurai – late international cricket umpire
§ Mario Villavarayan – cricketer
§ Mahadevan Sathasivam – cricket batsman
§ Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam – high jumper
§ Muttiah Muralitharan – former Sri Lankan off-spinner
§ Angelo Mathews – current captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team
Actors/Directors/Engineers/Accountants
§ Chandran Rutnam – film producer / director
§ Balu Mahendra – film producer
§ Robin Tampoe
§ Lenin M. Sivam
§ Velupillai Sivayogan engineer contested under TNA in 2013
§ Nadarajah Shanmugarajah was a Ceylon Tamil engineer and general manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board
§ Chelliah Loganathan Tamil banker and the first Ceylonese general manager of the Bank of Ceylon.
Journalists/broadcasters
(some names of Tamil journalists have been omitted in view of allegations of links to LTTE and separatist ideology)
§ S. P. Mylvaganam – first Tamil announcer of the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon
§ K. S. Raja – Radio Ceylon announcer
§ Claude Selveratnam – Radio Ceylon announcer
§ Kailayar Sellanainar Sivakumaran – broadcaster and Journalist in English and Tamil
§ Aiyathurai Varnakulasingham Kulasingham lawyer, politician, journalist and editor of the Ceylon Daily News and Hindu Organ.
§ Taraki Sivaram – journalist, military analyst editor of TamilNet news website, author of books
§ Late Kalasuri Ratnadurai Sivagurunathan journalist, lawyer, academic and editor of Thinakaran.
§ Kanagasabapathy Kailasapathy journalist and academic. First president of the Jaffna Campus of the University of Sri Lanka.
§ DBS Jeyraj – writer, had his legs broken by LTTE
§ Claude Selveratnam was a popular radio announcer of Radio Ceylon
Lawyers/Judges
§ Aiyathurai Gnanathasan lawyer, President’s Counsel and Additional Solicitor General.
§ Deshamanya Justice Pathmanathan Ramanathan (1 September 1932 – 7 December 2006) lawyer and judge. a High Court judge, Court of Appeal judge, provincial governor, university chancellor and a judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
§ Deshamanya Suppiah Sharvananda (also spelt Suppiah Sarvananda) was the 37th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and the firstGovernor of the Western Province.
§ H. D. Thambiah – Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice of the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice of Sri Lanka
§ H. W. Thambiah – Justice of the Supreme Court
§ Hon. Justice V. Manicavasagar – Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Chancellor of the University of Jaffna and Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon
§ Justice Herbert Dharmarajah Thambiah – lawyer and judge. 39th Chief Justice of SL
§ Justice Tellipalai Wanarajah Rajaratnam (21 December 1920 – 15 January 1994 lawyer, judge and politician.Commissioner of Assize, Supreme Court judge and Member of Parliament.
§ Justice Vincent Thambinayagam Thamotheram – lawyer, judge and writer, crown counsel, Commissioner of Assize and Supreme Court judge
§ K. Sripavan – 44th Chief justice, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
§ Kanaganayagam Kanag-Isvaran lawyer and President’s Counsel
§ Kandapper Chinniah Kamalasabayson – , Solicitor General of Sri Lanka and Attorney General of Sri Lanka.
§ Robert Rajanayagam Selvadurai lawyer and civil servant.
§ S. Selliah – Justice of the Court of Appeal, Judge of the High Court, Magistrate
§ Samuel J.C.Kadirgamar Sr, JP, UM a Proctor (father of Lakshman Kadiragamar), President of the Colombo Proctor’s Association and the founder President of the Law Society of Ceylon
§ V. Casipillai – Crown Proctor, President of the Jaffna Hindu Board, co-founder of Jaffna Hindu College, founder of Parvathy Maha Vidyalayam and other educational institutions
§ Justice Sundaram Sriskandarajah – lawyer and judge.
§ Justice Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Vigneswaran –lawyer, judge and politician. a judge of the District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Current Chief Minister of Northern Province.
Business People
Conglomerates – Tamils holding key positions at Capital Maharaja
§ Rudrani Balasubramaniam
§ Pradeep Maharaja
§ Sashi Rajamahendran
§ Mohan Bharara
§ Chinnaiyah Kananathan
§ Kirubha Kumarakulasingham
§ Shanthi Bhagirathan
Cargills Ceylon – key Tamils
§ Louis R. Page – Chairman
§ Valentine Ranjitkumar Page – CEO
Sri Lankan Tamil billionaires
§ Ms.I.R.Rajaiyah – (Renuka Holdings)
§ Mr.Ken Balendra- (Brandix)
§ Mr.J.M.S.Brito – (Balangoda Plantations)
§ Mr.G.Sathasivam – (Wattawala Plantations , Zesta Tea)
§ Mr.Romesh – (Euro Nippon Group)
Note: Out of the top 20 Sri Lankan Billionaires of the Stock Market 8 are Tamil.
srilankaopinion 