I was going to write just another one of those useless random posts today because, if not for any other reason, I haven't written anything for some time now. But at the last moment I thought I'd actually write something useful instead of showering you with my posts with such dry humor. This is not exactly something I wrote either; rather it is a very appropriate and timely article written by one of our fellow Sinhala bloggers who calls himself 'Pitastharaya-2'.
This is the link to the original article, and I urge all of you guys and girls to head over there and take a couple of minutes to read it. And spread the word as much as possible - put it as a FB status, Tweet it or even do the same I'm doing here. I'm sure you'll agree it's a worthy cause.
For you people out there who doesn't read Sinhala, I'll try to loosely translate it, just the gist of it. And I'll try to keep it as short as possible so as to not destroy it's meaning and show my ineptness at translating.
Please spread the word!
This is the link to the original article, and I urge all of you guys and girls to head over there and take a couple of minutes to read it. And spread the word as much as possible - put it as a FB status, Tweet it or even do the same I'm doing here. I'm sure you'll agree it's a worthy cause.
For you people out there who doesn't read Sinhala, I'll try to loosely translate it, just the gist of it. And I'll try to keep it as short as possible so as to not destroy it's meaning and show my ineptness at translating.
Behavior of many thousands of visitors from South to the North of late, particularly to Jaffna, has been very concerning and painful to the Tamils who are living there. For example the wells in Kovil areas are considered to be sacred by the Tamils, hence they do not use them for acts such as washing or bathing. However, most of the Sinhalese are not aware of this, hence they've been doing these thing of late. Also, if you walk in front of a Kovil you are expected to walk in such a way so that your right hand side will always be facing the Kovil. This too is something most of the Sinhalese are not aware of - despite it being a custom in Buddhist Temples - this and have been violating. Also, some of the military officials in those areas have been asking favors from the Tamil residents of these areas whether they could provide accommodation for few days for the said officials' relatives / friends who will visit North.Personally I didn't know many of these things either, and I do believe that if those people who travel there were aware, they would have been more considerate of the feelings of the Tamils too. So, the best we can do is to spread awareness and cause less heartache to those people as well as do something really meaningful to the unity between the two races. These might seem insignificant, but in truth these small things are what lead to bigger conflicts. If we could get so outraged because some random artist had a Buddha statue in one of his music videos, Tamils over there certainly have a right to get outraged too. It's only lucky they haven't - at least not yet. So let's be a little considerate people.
Please spread the word!
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The least of the things that happen in the north. Far worse things have been happening since the close of end of so called war.
ReplyDeleteAtleast some take the time to point out and accept that something wrong is happening and wanting to correct.
May be a little thing, but better doing it that not doing it I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWell I kinda knew they were swarming the northern area but didn't know of this kinda plight.. and it's my first time hearing about some of these customs too.
ReplyDeleteI think blogs can reach only a few, so it's up to the officials, Tamil or Sinhalese, to put up huge signs *the billboard size* saying how people should behave in the North! *sadly, even that might not work, when it comes to the egoistical masses*
A timely topic Sach. Thanks for sharing.
What's even more worrying is that there have been a spate of murders, kidnappings and rapes that have taken place in the last few months in Jaffna and Vavuniya. These could possibly be carried out by gangs from the South or former rebels from the North itself, but it's up to the authorities to make sure that the public is protected from such acts, especially they have been directly suffering and traumatized from the war for such a long time...
ReplyDeletepeople are just sooo self centered at times...didn't know about all these things that are happening over in Paradise...lets hope that some people will at least see the light and inform the doers of the wrongs they are committing...
ReplyDeleteI don’t this is insignificant at all - like you said it is the little things that grow big. But the fact remains that we are growing bigger and bigger as an inconsiderate nation, day by day. Just look at our behaviour on the road, for example.
ReplyDeleteYeah Wij, I think we're a long way away from being well behaved people, but we gotta start somewhere.
ReplyDelete