Srilanka, Jan. 31 -- Dr. Rohan Edrisingha in his illuminating essay 'Federalism: myths and realities' makes the following observation - " It is significant to note that long before Tamil political leaders advocated federalism, the young S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in the mid 1920's and the Kandyan Sinhalese representatives before the Donoughmore Commission in the late 1920's were advocates of a federal Sri Lanka.

The Kandyan Sinhalese proposed a federal Ceylon with three provinces including a province for the North-East. In fact it is possible to argue that it was the Kandyan Sinhalese and not the Ceylon Tamils who were not only the champions of a federal Ceylon but also the merger of the North and the East. The Kandyan Sinhalese in fact view...