Sinhalese elites openly threatened genocide against Tamils weeks after anti-Tamil riots
Evidence
Thus, cabinet minister Gamini Dissanayake, in a speech to Tamil estate workers on September 5, 1983—only a month after the most infamous anti-Tamil riots—said: … Who attacked you? Sinhalese. Who protected you? Sinhalese. It is we who can attack and protect you. They are bringing an army from India. It will take 14 hours to come from India. In 14 minutes, the blood of every Tamil in the country can be sacrificed to the land by us. It is not written on anyone’s forehead that he is an Indian or a Jaffna Tamil, a Batticaloa Tamil or upcountry Tamil, Hindu Tamil or Christian Tamil. All are Tamils. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 187
Categorization
- QUESTION: The ‘born with forehead label’ rhetoric erases Tamil sub-identities while the rest of the ideology insists on rigid Sinhala-Tamil distinction — worth chasing the ideological tension between homogenizing Tamils and differentiating them.
- XREF: connects to: Some Sinhalese nationalist writers publicly endorse genocide against Tamils; Nationalists pursue war to deliberately displace Tamils and boost Sinhalese dominance — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 278; Sinhalese politicians frame both protection and violence toward Tamils as majority prerogative — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 187 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Some Sinhalese nationalist writers publicly endorse genocide against Tamils
#corroborates(0.85) - Sinhalese politicians frame both protection and violence toward Tamils as majority prerogative
#corroborates(0.75) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 187 - Nationalists pursue war to deliberately displace Tamils and boost Sinhalese dominance
#corroborates(0.72) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 278 - Sinhalese nationalists wage war to displace Tamils and Sinhalize the northeast
#corroborates(0.72) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 278