Sri Lanka It's Happening

May 12, 2004

A few years back sri lankans used to eats lots and lots of bombay onions and mysoor dhal, we still eat a lot of dhal and onions, only now it's called red spit lentils and big onions.

Why the change? during the late eighties when the battles with the forces of eelam got out of hand we had a peace deal brokered by india, the indian government then sent a peace keeping force (IPKF) to help maintain peace.

The JVP so it as an invading army and called on the government to get rid of them, the people of the country were called to boycott indian produce. Grocers were killed for selling Mysoor dhal or Bombay onions. Hundreds of tata buses were burned. Cheap indian drugs were abondoned for more costly onces made in europe.

As for dhal and onions, turkey became the major supplier of 'red split lentils' because it does not grow in Sri Lanka, as for onions hundreds of acres of forest lands were enchroached by greedy farmers wanting to make a fast buck on the high price of onions.

To this day we grow most of our onion locally , consumers pay a higher price than what they might pay had it been imported, and more and more land is being encroached on each year.

Posted by raditha at May 12, 2004 1:36 PM