Sri Lanka

"Setubandha means bridge of the ocean. It is the dike of Rama, the son of Dasaratha, which he built from the continent to the castle Lanka."

"Marco Polo... refers to... Setabund Rameshwara."

"From the mountain of gold (Meru) to (Rama's) Bridge."

"“In fact, Ram, or Rãma, was the sovereign of Ayodhya, or Audh, a city in the most ancient times of wonderful extent and magnificence, as may be inferred from the present Lucnow’s having been, according to the Brahmin accounts, only a lodge for one of its gates; that he is celebrated as a conqueror of the highest renown, and the deliverer of nations from tyrants, as well as of his consort Sita, from the giant Ravan, king of Lanca; that he was commander-in-chief of a numerous and intrepid race of those large monkeys, which some of our naturalists have denominated Indian satyrs; that the name of his general was Hanumat, the prince of satyrs; and that, by the wonderful activity of such an army, a bridge of rocks was raised over the sea, a part of which the Hindoos suppose still to remain; and he thinks it is probably that series of rocks, which, by Mussulmen and Portuguese, is mistakenly called Adam’s, for it should be Rama’s, bridge. “Might not,” subjoins Sir William, “this army of satyrs have been only a race of mountaineers, whom Rama, if such a monarch ever existed, had civilized.”"

"Confusing language movements with demographic movements was a childhood disease of Indo-European linguistics before 1945. Especially after Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859), race thinking came to dominate the Humanities. There were warnings from Indo-Europeanists, including the much-maligned Friedrich Max Müller, to maintain the distinction, but the public and many professionals started speaking of “the Aryan race”, not in the vague sense common earlier (race = any group of hereditary belonging, from family to nation and race to humanity, Sanskrit jāti), but in the biological sense. After 1945, this went completely out of fashion in the West, but in India, not encumbered with the guilt about Nazi racism, time has stood still."

"Nothing in the osteometric data shows that relationships existed between the populations of the Oxus Civilization and those of the steppes: these populations are separate, different. This would prove that if there were migrations, they were not significant at that time. Mixtures of steppe and oasis populations do not become significant until the time when corpses disappear through cremation or exposure."

"Unfortunately, genetic studies sometimes draw conclusions about language, which is entirely incorrect. Genetics addresses the history of a population’s formation, including migration to new regions, mixing with other populations, and the processes involved—but nothing beyond that... A similar situation arises in palaeogenetics, where study results indicate that the population of the Indian subcontinent formed from neighboring substrates, yet the conclusions still incorporate the steppe homeland hypothesis. This notion may have delayed a successful resolution of the problem for many decades. It is necessary to establish a framework in which archaeological, palaeogenetic, and linguistic data do not contradict one another, as occurs with the Steppe theory. Since this is primarily a linguistic problem, the starting point should be language."

"Only 5% of the Y chromosomes of the R1a-Z93 subtype that occurs at 100% frequency in the steppe population are present in the Swat Valley population. Therefore, it is assumed that women were incorporated there. But if we assume that this population was responsible for 30% of the Indian population, a possible proportion of steppe genes decreases to 6-7% and the proportion of male chromosomes become infinitesimal... However, with such a low male contribution, even for the population of the Swat Valley, language change is doubtful, so it is an almost unbelievable proposition for India... [A]gainst the background of the lack of archaeological and genetic data on mass migration to the region with a high population density, it is more logical to assume that the ancestors of the North Indians lived somewhere close to South Asia."

"The data provide no support for any model of massive migration and gene flow between the oases of Bactria and the Indus Valley. Rather, patterns of phenetic affinity best conform to a pattern of long-standing, but low-level bidirectional mutual exchange."

"As for the question of biological continuity within the Indus Valley, two discontinuities appear to exist. The first occurs between 6000 and 4500 BC [with another discontinuity] at some point after 800 BC but before 200 BC. In the intervening period, [the data] reveals clear indications of interaction with the West and specifically with the Iranian Plateau."

"In reading the genetics literature on South Asia, it is very clear that many of the studies actually start out with some assumptions that are clearly problematic, if not in some cases completely untenable. Perhaps the single most serious problem concerns the assumption, which many studies actually start with as a basic premise, that the Indo-Aryan invasions are a well-established (pre)historical reality. The studies confirm such invasions in large part because they actually assume them to begin with."

"[The ancient Harappans] are not markedly different in their skeletal biology from the present-day inhabitants of Northwestern India and Pakistan... Of the Aryans, we must defer to literary and linguistic scholars in whose province lies the determination of the arrival and nature of the linguistic phenomenon we call the Aryans. . . . But archaeological evidence of Aryan-speaking peoples is questionable and the skeletal evidence is nil."

"In short, there is no evidence of demographic disruptions in the northwestern sector of the subcontinent during and immediately after the decline of the Harappan culture... All prehistoric human remains recovered thus far from the Indian subcontinent are phenotypically identifiable as ancient South Asians... How could one recognize an Aryan, living or dead, when the biological criteria for Aryanness are non-existent?"

"For me and for Toomas Kivisild, South Asia is logically the ultimate origin of M17 and his ancestors; and sure enough we find the highest rates and greatest diversity of the M17 line in Pakistan, India, and eastern Iran, and low rates in the Caucasus. M17 is not only more diverse in South Asia than in Central Asia, but diversity characterizes its presence in isolated tribal groups in the south, thus undermining any theory of M17 as a marker of a ‘male Aryan invasion’ of India. One average estimate for the origin of this line in India is as much as 51,000 years. All this suggests that M17 could have found his way initially from India or Pakistan, through Kashmir, then via Central Asia and Russia, before finally coming into Europe."

"So, in the migration scenario females with steppe-related ancestry move down across the [Indus] by the end of the bronze age and this leads to the formulation of the “patriarchal-steppe-warrior-chariot” bronze age hymns somehow in iron age India? And Iranians ... somehow manage to compose the Avesta before the Iranians migrate to western Iran and somehow the Medes and Persians separate around 1000 BCE. Also, by some miracle, the Mitanni reached West Asia around 1760 BCE. This is simply impossible."

"The anthropologists who have recently described the skeletons from Harappa remark that there, as at Lothal, the population would appear, on the available evidence, to have remained more or less stable to the present day."

"Genetic variation in contemporary South Asian populations follows a northwest to southeast decreasing cline of shared West Eurasian ancestry."

"Overall percentages [of steppe ancestry] are generally very low, and in South Asia also too late for a plausible first arrival of Indic languages here (let alone Indo-Iranic as a whole). But however small and late, and however implausible that they replaced all languages from Iran right across to northern India, that is what has to be claimed for these weak signals, for the Steppe hypothesis to be right."

"[T]he present-day linguistic affinities of different Indian populations per se are perhaps among the most ambiguous and even potentially controversial lines of evidence in the reconstruction of prehistoric demographic processes in India."

"Most genetic studies are built on unstated, unproven (and often unwitting) assumptions: not only that migration is the supreme mechanism to account for the spread of genes and languages, but also that, in India’s case, the said genes could only have spread unidirectionally. The studies then proceed to marshal evidence to ‘prove’ the assumption, in a classic case of circularity."

"South Asia has indeed been at the crossroads for much of modern human prehistory."

"Every day for the last 30 years people were dying... so we have stopped it, we will take our time and we will investigate into 30 years of war,"

"My country has been influenced by the core Buddhist values of non-violence, loving kindness, compassion, equanimity and mindfulness. With this sense of direction, our Government has committed itself "Towards a new Sri Lanka", guided by a vision of peace, where every Sri Lankan citizen may live with dignity and self-respect, in freedom and without fear, free of want, and where every child may enjoy childhood and grow up with hope and expectation."

"One of the central messages of Ramayana lore is that Rama refused to take possession of Lanka: after liberating his wife Sita, he left the Lankans to their own devices and handed over the throne to Ravana’s brother who was the only member of Ravana’s family to survive. This is not a peripheral detail but a highly significant application of the Hindu theory of sovereignty: all nations and communities, even conquered states, should be given their autonomy and the freedom to maintain their own mores and traditions (svadharma)."

"I had a choice at this summit to stay away and allow President Rajapaksa to set the agenda he wanted or to go and shape the agenda by advancing our interests with our Commonwealth partners. I chose to go, to stand up for our values and do all I could to advance them. That was, I believe, the right decision for the Commonwealth, Sri Lanka and for Britain."

"Sri Lanka’s biggest threat in 2006 was from Pakistan. In 2010 Sri Lanka’s main rivals were India. This year Sri Lanka possesses a fine team and has been practicing hard. Not having enough time to train has been the main draw back. We hope to give a strong challenge at the SAG"

"Indigenous Sri Lankan culture received multifaceted influences from foreign cultures, mainly due to international cultural routes passing in the vicinity of the island. Their influences spread into hinterland through water and land routes, and were adsorbed by societies, transforming Sri Lankan Culture into a multifaceted heterogeneous culture with rich tangible and intangible elements."

"Transcontinental cultures began to penetrate into the island during proto-historic period itself, and reached its climax during the period of consolidation of Sri Lankan culture in Early Christian Period. Main source of facilitator was the Silk Road on the Sea, which enabled trade between Far East and the west."

"A second wave of cultural contamination was visible during early medieval period, utilising hinterland routes as well as sea routes of India and Sri Lanka. Infiltration of Chola and Pallava cultures, along with Hindu Art and Architecture was one of the most prominent outcomes of this process."

"Muslim travellers who made pilgrimages to a sacred mountain in central hills of Sri Lanka spread the message and encouraged subsequent invading Europeans to settle down in Maritime Provinces and spread their cultures across the island. Final result was a multiethnic, multi-religious Sri Lankan society."

"The first major legendary reference to Sri Lanka is found in the great Indian epic, the Ramayana (Sacred Lake of the Deeds of Rama), which was written around 500 B.C. It refers to a conquest of Lanka in 3000 B.C. by Rama, to liberate his abducted wife, Sita, from Ravana, the demon god of Lanka. It is believed that this poetic account is an indicator of the early southward expansion of Brahmanic civilization. Many place names in Sri Lanka, very especially in and around Sri Lankan cities such as Galle, and Nuvara Eliya have close resemblance and relationship with this legendary.Islamic folklore maintains that Adam and Eve were offered refuge on the island as solace for their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Asian poets called it the "pearl upon the brow of India.""

"Sri Lankan chronicles refer to many Royal Missions between India and Sri Lanka during proto-historic period, and include the introduction of Buddhism, transferring of the Branch of Sri Maha Bodhi Tree sapling from India; and the bringing of Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha to the island."

"The extremists in the south and the north have caused the loss of thousands of young lives ... We must ensure reconciliation and harmony so that we will never go back to war. I believe now, through our past bitter experiences, we must prepare ourselves for future challenges,"

"Sri Lanka will have to ‘swim upstream’ as the external global environment becomes more hostile and funds flow out of developing countries and China’s economy becomes unstable"

"The potential for tourism in Sri Lanka is huge. International arrivals are multiplying year after year, and with all parts of this beautiful island now open to tourists, the country offers incredible opportunities. We look forward to playing a major role in the country's bright future."

"Colombo Fashion Week is the premier fashion event in Sri Lanka and has been instrumental in bringing Sri Lankan design and talent to the forefront of the world fashion stage. It's a great opportunity for Sri Lankan designers, especially the new comers, to showcase alongside international designers... Sri Lanka is a country that's gifted with many resources that could be utilised in the fashion sector...traditional crafts of Sri Lanka is another area that needs to be revived and has potential of being linked with contemporary fashion."

"This is not a multireligious country. This is a Sinhalese country."

"Sri Lanka’s new government has begun to address some of the country’s chronic human rights problems, but much remains to be done. The pervasive culture of fear is largely gone and positive measures have been adopted, but the previous government’s disastrous restructuring of independent state institutions needs to be fully dismantled."

"Sri Lanka is so jam-packed with alluring outdoorsy activities that visitors often high-tail it out of the capital a day or two after arriving, choosing instead to spend their vacation days lounging on a southern beach, whale-watching off the coast or leopard-spotting in a national park... Ceylon tea may be famous, but in the 1860s Sri Lanka (Ceylon, until it changed its name in 1972) was the world’s biggest coffee producer. It was only after blight struck that the British converted their acreage to tea."

"… he (Ambassador Rapp) listened to eyewitness accounts about serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those that occurred at the end of the war. In that context the government of the United States encourages the government of Sri Lanka to seek the truth through independent and credible investigations, and where relevant, have prosecutions."

"Less than seven percent of Sri Lanka’s population now lives in poverty, but there is still a lot of work to be done for the country to eradicate it completely and secure long-term economic prosperity"

"As illustrated on the attached map from Hofstra University, the island nation of Sri Lanka is astride the main maritime trade routes of the Indian Ocean, with fast-growing economic and strategic significance as that area of the world experiences rapid growth. China is making major inroads already in Sri Lanka, but our distinguished visitors wish to make sure that relations with the United States are improved even more strongly."

"The fact is about this country that there is a chance of success because the war is over, the terrorism has finished, the fighting is done. Now what's needed is generosity and magnanimity from the Sri Lankan government to bring the country together. And I think coming here, listening to these people, hearing these arguments, helps to draw attention to their plight. I think the spotlight has been shone on Sri Lanka and people can see the good and the bad."

"We should be less concerned about adding years to life, and more about adding life to years. I have been very fortunate to have witnessed some of humanity's greatest achievements during the 20th century that is nearing its end. Yet we must admit that it has also been the most savage century in the history of our kind. If I can have one more wish, I want to see lasting and meaningful peace achieved in Sri Lanka as early as possible. But I am aware that peace cannot just be wished; it involves hard work, courage and persistence. As we welcome 2001, let us harness our collective energies to create a culture of peace and a land of prosperity."

"This new research provides an important platform of evidence and analysis to strengthen our partnership with the government to help design policies aimed at improving job opportunities for the poor and other disadvantaged segments of the population, while promoting sustainable growth. The findings of the reports also reinforce the need [for] further measures aimed at improving the government’s effectiveness, transparency, accountability and establishing strong institutions so all Sri Lankans can take part in the country’s increasing prosperity."

"We have been a country where people just came in and went out. And that was a very, very healthy way of running our tourism. So this is new to Sri Lanka. So we are anxious to see how it works."

"“Warm, friendly people.” The hackneyed phrase flows easily from the travel writer’s pen when describing Sri Lanka. So, too, does ‘tropical paradise’ and, I must confess, those were words I used when I visited the country first in 1980."

"King Devanampiyatissa sent his nephew Arittha on the important mission of bringing Theri Sangamitta to Sri Lanka to establish the Bhikkuni Sasana and along with her the Maha Bodhi Sapling."

"Sri Lanka is in the early part of a rebuilding phase, so don’t expect any quick fixes. I am very aware what a huge challenge it is. A lot of hard work needs to be done. It’s very important that this team building is done on a very solid foundation, so patience is required. I know there is an abundance of talent within the system, but it is about identifying those who have got the mental toughness to go on and become consistent players and match-winners at international level. It’s quite a long process which is required. A lot of hard work, not just for me but all involved, particularly Jerome [Jerome Jayaratne, Sri Lanka Cricket's head of coaching] who has been involved in Sri Lanka cricket for a long time, knows the players so well and has a wealth of knowledge technically and tactically. It’s important to have his input, and also to have the selectors and the board all working together to ensure the long-term process can take place so that we can take Sri Lanka back to the top of the international stage"

"I am very aware what a huge challenge it is. I think Sri Lanka cricket finds itself in a very early stage of a very important rebuilding phase. A lot of hard work needs to be done. I think it is very important that this rebuilding phase is done on an extremely solid foundation. So patience is important."