Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2015 2:25 AM
To: Chandre Dharmawardana; Hgoonatilake
Subject: Proposed bridge across Palk Straits: Adverse impact on bio-diversity and ethnic identity.
To: Chandre Dharmawardana; Hgoonatilake
Subject: Proposed bridge across Palk Straits: Adverse impact on bio-diversity and ethnic identity.
: Adverse impact on bio-diversity and ethnic identity
August 5, 2015,
7:44 pm (Island ndewspaper, 6th August 2015)
In a previous
comment I discussed the economic and sovereignty issues that may arise if the
Indians revive a 2002 proposal for a land bridge over the Palk straits.
Surprisingly, many
Northern nationalists think that the opposition to the land bridge is a matter
of ‘Sinhala chauvinism’.
In fact, the
entity most threatened by the bridge is the "Illankai-Thamil"
culture. The distinctive flora and fauna of the island, evolved since the last
glaciation are equally threatened.
The robustness of
eco- systems and communities is strengthened by their bio-diversity and
complexity. Hence all tendencies to mono-cultures and bio-uniformity should be
resisted.
Bio-diversity
Legend has it that
the Island was connected to India by Rama's bridge. Geological evidence and
temperature records validate such beliefs and even date when the sea was low
enough to link the mainland to the Island.
However, the sea
level rose with the end of the cold spells. This provided a sanctuary for
biological and cultural evolution distinct from those in the mainland. An
impressive bio-diversity is seen in the SriLankan ecosystem.
Any
ethno-botanical list of Lankan plants (e. g. the author's dh-web.org/place.names/bot2sinhala.html)
indicate Lankan species by name-endings like Ceylanica, or Zeylanica (though
not always endemic to Lanka).
The richness of
the rain forests of Sri Lanka is well-known. We only wake up if foreign
entrepreneurs attempt to exploit the native plants.
Holiday bungalows in nature reserves are more important to the
elites, than preserving bio-diversity.
The early work of
Philips (1935) on Lankan mammals has been handsomely updated by Asoka Yapa and
Ratnavira in their monumental ‘The mammals of Sri Lanka’ (2013).
The 50 km
separation of India has given the Island 126 species of mammals, and no other
island of comparable size is as diverse, with 1/5 of this diversity endemic to
Lanka! Since local politicians cross easily from side to side we have over 15
species of bats. According to folklore, the bat has crossed between beasts and
birds at will.
The bio-diversity
of the Lankan mammals is not the only surprise. A stunning 2002 report in the
journal Science, by Meegaskumbura et al was noted by the science writer
Elizabeth Pennisi.
She wrote:
"While other herpetologists have been scrambling to understand why
amphibians are declining worldwide, one research team has been cataloging more
than 100 new species, all from one postage stamp of a rain forest in Sri Lanka.
The discovery of
this biodiversity hot spot ... increases the number of known frog species on
the island fivefold"!
Given a land
bridge, the unique heritage of insects, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammal
will decline against competing species, just as where international barriers
have been opened up for free-markets, refugee movements or military campaigns.
The un-quarantined
arrival of the IKPF with its cooks, goats, dogs, soldiers and military vehicles
brought invasive species that have become permanent pests in the North.
Ethnic and
cultural diversity.
The Sinhala
language is a unique evolution from the mid-Prakrit of ancient India. However,
in spite of Geiger, Paranavithana and others, some (like Pandith W.
F.Gunawardena) claimed a Dravidian origin for Sinhala.
Modern linguists
like James Gair had to convince the skeptics that Sinhala had evolved from its
Prakrit beginnings within the protective shores of the island.
The Tamil Prakrit
that arrived in the Island, probably via Tamil Buddhists, morphed with later
invasive Tamil forms and developed its own "Illankai-Thamil"
characteristics that Tamil scholars have tried to document.
The late Prof.
Kailasapathy was the President of the Jaffna campus in the mid seventies when I
was the President of Vidyodya campus. He gave me an impressive amount of reading
material well beyond easy assimilation.
Professor
Sivathamby was the head of the Tamil department at the Vidyodaya University at
the time, and he claimed that even the Eastern Tamils, originating from a
"Mukkuva" tradition, hadtheir own distinct characteristics that were
locally "threatened".
My response was
that the biggest threat to any Lankan Tamil culture was Bollywood.
Today the social
media and the internet add a new dimension. A road bridge will make them more
potent as described below.
The ratio of Tamil
speakers to Sinhala speakers in the Island is of the order of 1: 4 ( including
Muslims and estate Tamils).
The ratio of
Lankan Tamils to South-Indian Tamils is of the order of 1:300.
This strong
quasi-monoculture of Tamil Nadu will be unleashed on the Northern peninsula,
given a land bridge.
Wealthy Indian
businessmen will control the peninsular financial, religious, and media
operations.
The cinemas will
be run by Bollywood bigwigs. The Lankan Tamils, controlled for over a century by
the "Colombo-7 Tamils",
will be controlled
by the tycoons of Chennai or Kochin. The LTTE learnt this at first hand and
turned against India.
Tamil and Sinhala
have co-existed for many centuries. Most Sinhalese or Tamils tracing their
genealogies would find total intermixing and that only cultural differences
distinguish them. Common "Tamil" names like
"Balasingham"have Sinhala origins, while many "Sinhala"
names are etymologically Tamil. The Sinhala origin of many
"Tamil"place-names in Ceylon is treated in a 1965 Ph. D thesis by
Karthigesu Indrapala (see also: dh-web.org/place.names/).
The Hinduism of
Jaffna relates to the early monistic form of the "Saiva Siddhanatha"
due to saint Thirumular.
In contrast,
Tamil-Nadu Saivism ispluralistic and follows Aghorasiva who rejected the
"monism" of Thirumular.
Given a land
bridge, the more profitable northern Kovils will pass into Indian
hands. The Saivism offered will becomethe Saiva Siddhanatha of Aghorasiva.
To conclude, while
Sinhala and Tamil cultures co-exist within Lanka,
any free access to
the tycoons of Tamil Nadu will erode the identity of Lankan-Tamil and Sinhalese
Cultures.
The latter, used
to centuries of such interactions may survive the challenge of a
land bridge, while Lankan Tamil culture will be stifled by the embrace of Tamil
Nadu.
Chandre
Dharmawardana,
Canada
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