From: muttiah@stable.ecn.purdue.edu (Ranjan S Muttiah)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.sri-lanka
Subject: Re: Closing SCSL
Date: 4 Sep 92 17:54:37 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network

In article <5460@arccs1.fed.FRB.GOV> m1pkd00@fed.frb.gov (Prasad K. Dharmasena) writes:
						     ^^^
>
>sri@stan.xx.swin.oz.au (SRITHARAN K) writes:
>
>> Why there is not much articles now a days? Or else AUS side is onot
>> reciving?
> [...]
>A typical complain goes something like "everyone is bickering about the 
>civil war in SL and people don't want to talk about anything else, so we 
>are not interested."  In the past, I have initiated numerous *other*
>topics of discussion.  The usual number of follow-ups is about three
>or so.  If my topics are not your cup of tea/coffee/passion fruit, then
>start "your own thang," for crying out loud.  Sheeeez!

Ok, fine.  Let's discuss your article then :-).  Well here, let's see;
You work for the Feds.  Yaaaeeeeeekkksss!! Run for cover :-)
[Picture me shuffling all my tax and other paper work into my drawer :-].

I must say that this apathetic behaviour mainly by the middle and upper 
classes (as pointed out by McGovern in his book called only man is vile) 
is a fundamental problem affecting the SL civil war: the rich go to ice 
parlors while the poor have live shoot outs.

Later,
Ranjan
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's something (diatribe ?) I wrote a while back but didn't have the time 
or the energy to follow up on.

In article X wrote:
[...]
>In article Y wrote:
>[...]
> To summarize:  Statistics on tamils and sinhalese who have been in and out
>                of work.

Statistics in human affairs unfortunately betrays a lot.  Statistics could be
used in agricultural plots to predict yields, and rainfall forecasting.  But,
in human affairs it doesn't convey too much;  How much is a human life worth ?
A real number on some chart ?

To get the ball rolling again, I suggest we move a little away from
masquerading with pieces of statistical charts; remember, if you belong on 
some politician's statistical chart, then that's exactly what you'll end up 
being: a statistic.  I wonder whether Mr. X would tell us when he 
would feel there's been discrimination ?  Under what circumstances would he
think a violent campaign against authority is justified ?  My concept pretty 
much falls along the lines of what has been experienced here in the U.S over 
the last couple of centuries through the interaction of the various races.  
Call it falling for the propaganda if you wish.  I can't think of a place 
that has ` been "traumatized" by race/religion/you know what I mean factors
more than has the US: it's all there; genocide of native inhabitants, civil 
war, race riots, and in the end "preventative action".  I doubt the last part
of that list has worked completely, but it is a start nonetheless.  I'm not 
quoting it as a model to be followed but as a model to be studied.

India too has been a "melting pot" of sorts but has been under the thralls of 
outside forces to have been denied the free interactions of peoples until the 
last half century or so.  We have already seen the recent developments there 
about lifting quotas and what not for university entrances for "lower" castes.
I sadly note that I'm more brain washed by European and American history than 
Indian history to go too far back to make any historical race/cultural 
statement about India on this issue.  I'm really saddened by this fact.  
Through the last couple of years, I've been trying hard to learn about Indian
history as is possible (mainly through the interaction with other fellow 
Indian graduate students);  a symptom of the influence Europe has had on my 
way of thinking down there:-(.  Regardless, I think we'll begin to witness 
more of these "discrimination" oriented issues being discussed openly and 
more often around the world to have enough food for thought in our life times.

The Brown vs. the board of education set the stage for the US govt. to 
intervene in the form of forced integration.  Was that right ?  Well, by 
definition a govt.  is supposed to uphold the law of the land.  What is the 
law of the land ?  If everyone has agreed beforehand what the set of rules 
governing different human and other conditions are to be, should that mean 
that I should be punished just because I (as an individual) broke it ?  What 
happens if the set of rules were agreed upon before I was born ? Nobody asked
me anything!  What should I as an individual do, now that I don't like it 
(after being born:-) ?  Well if enough people feel the same way, then that 
would mean that the "law" has to be changed.  Witness the political awakening
that hit europe after the french revolution (ever wonder why there was no 
revolution against nobility in England as was the case in France, not now:- 
but then, circa 1783 ?)  I doubt there would be enough people clambering to 
make murder legal, for example.  It's not a "natural" human thing to do.  
Most of the time these changes are demanded by changes quite literally to 
the "land."

Singling out any citizen of a country based on race/color of skin/religion/
you know what I mean, for special treatment in my book would constitute 
discrimination.  Violations of the human rights declarations signed by a govt.
in 1947 would also constitute discrimination (they call it violations of human
rights, but someone must be abusing you because they like some particular 
attribute of yours :-( ).  So reading all these statistics doesn't make much 
sense unless it's interpreted in the light of fundamental principles agreed 
upon by all parties taking issue.  The idea that everywhere one sees that the 
"statistical numbers" should be isotropic to reflect the overall statistic of 
race composition sounds too much like big brotherism (not the "kindler 
gentler" variety :-)), and find it totally repugnant.  I, for one, don't 
want some half-baked bureaucrat telling me what I can and can't do!  If I 
were selfish enough, I'd probably leave the place :-).