The Sad Case Of Tuan H.L.D. Mahindapalan

By Izeth Hussain –October 28, 2015 

Izeth Hussain

In his latest lengthy diatribe against me, replete as it is with hysteria, HLDMstates in his title that I was getting “hysterical”. He was referring to my rejoinder to his earlier lengthy diatribe, a rejoinder consisting of just a few lines n which I made a few points pointedly. The term “hysterical” seems to me singularly inappropriate for that rejoinder. He seems to be unable to get anything right when he targets me, such is the intensity of his ethnolunacy.

I must explain the title to my present rejoinder. Some years ago a friend told me that HLDM’s father was a Malay who worked in the Fire Brigade, who as a Muslim had sent his son to Zahira College for his education. All that was mentioned in passing and without any denigratory intent, and I must emphasize that I have no such intent either in using the term “Malay”. My point is simply that his incomplete Sinhalese identity could lead through a process of over-compensation to ultra-Sinhalese racism. However he denies his Malay paternity but at the same time he glories in the honorific Tuan. I shall therefore henceforth call him Tuan. As for Mahindapalan, we are told that his wife is Tamil, and that too could surely make him ultra-Sinhala.

H. L. D. Mahindapala

I have suspected that the Tuan’s demented hatred and rage against me could be explained by a schizophrenic split in his ethnic identity. But if indeed he has no Malay paternity, the explanation has to be sought elsewhere. However, before attempting that explanation, I must clear up his confusion about the core argument in the article that has provoked his outbursts. The core argument concerns sovereignty, about which I proffered two points. The first is that there has been a steady erosion of state sovereignty since 1945. Anyone who doubts that has to be regarded as an ignoramus on international relations. I will give examples to show that erosion. Idi Amin of Uganda was overthrown through the intervention of Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and like-minded African leaders. No one protested against that. Later Emperor Bokassa of the Central African Empire was overthrown through French intervention and no one protested either. Recently a coup in Burkina Fasso was reversed through the African leaders acting in unison, and by the same process several earlier coups were also reversed, so that today the majority of African countries have democratic governments. It is a fact that the principle of state sovereignty established by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 is no longer sacrosanct.

Read More