Sinhalese mustn’t fear Indians: Sri Lanka FM

Sri Lankans, particularly the majority Sinhala community, should not get “paranoid” over unfounded fears of Indians “swarming” their country whenever a bilateral trade agreement is proposed, foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Monday.

Addressing the India-Sri Lanka society, Mr Samaraweera was critical of the majority Sinhala community for raising unfounded fears over the Indian influence in Sri Lanka.

He said misguided Sinhalese Buddhists who wear their ethnicity and religion on their sleeve and who claim blood relationship to a lion (the Mahavamsa) as related in the mythical history of the Sinhala people, are the ones who fear India the most.

“It is true that most races have founding myths recounting the origins of their races, but these myths are designed to inspire and are not meant to be taken literally. Yet the neo-fascists of today’s political climate are claiming blood relationship to an Indian lion (there had never been lions in Sri Lanka),” he said. “These neo-fascists seem to see an Indian under every bush and live in eternal fear of Indians swarming into Sri Lanka.”

“Whenever a bridge over the Palk Straits to connect our two nations is proposed, they get into a paranoid frenzy that all of India is waiting to drive over that bridge and make Sri Lanka their home, when trade agreements are discussed they see swarms of Indian doctors and barbers coming across to flood the Sri Lankan market,” the foreign minister said.

“Now they claim that their IT specialists are all waiting to come and take the jobs of Sri Lankan engineers. This is when Indian IT engineers are some of the most sought after in the developing world,” he added.

He was responding to the opposition raised by nationalist groups to the proposed economic and technological cooperation agreement between Sri Lanka and India.

He added that India needs to be vigilant to the needs, hopes and aspirations of ordinary Lankans.