Burghers & Racism -2

TheEditor DailyNews LakeHouse Colombo
Dear Sir,

Raceless Burghers & racism -2


From the above captioned letter (CDN 22 Oct) I wonder if Mr J B Muller really
means that burghers have no race because later in his letter he makes mention that the burghersare the least racially conscious people on this island. .

I have no expert knowledge on subjects like “Who are the Burghers ?” etc. But there are authorative sources found in many of the seventy volumes of the Journals of the Dutch Burgher Union that have been published since 1908. In particular, for anyone interested, Volume 62 ( 1985) edited by Mrs G Young has a fine informative article by the late Justice Percy Colin-Thome and Volume 70 (2005), which I edited , contains three interesting essays reproduced from earlier issues of the Journal..

Mr JB Muller does not subscribe to the view held by Ms Van Schagen (CDN 5 Oct) and by me (CDN 12 Oct) when reference was made to the fighting among burghers themselves and the speaking derogatorarily of fellow burghers. Mr Muller has his view, but all I will say is that more often than not in the higher echelons of burgher groupings rifts,splits, rancor, jealousies and all that goes to cause in-fighting have occured especiallyin recent times. Pecuniary considerations are invariably the root cause. If Mr Muller has been as long as Ms Van Schargen and I have in or on the periphery of some of these groupings, be they family or society, he may very well agree with us.

Yours faithfully


E H Ohlmus

42A, Kospattadeniya Road
Hendala
Wattala
24.10.07

Tel; 2931776