Published in July 2010, a year after the end of the war in the Daily News of Sri Lanka, this column may give the reader an opportunity to assess where we are now in the required collective effort to move towards establishing real peace in our midst .....
No matter how hard it is for some to understand the
jubilation of the people who ‘celebrated’ the victory over the LTTE, it must be
understood that it was a deep sense of
relief and an expression of gratitude of many that formed the post victory
euphoria. We need to sieve the dust of such jubilation to understand that
perhaps there is not a single Sri Lankan, be from the North, South, East, West or
the Centre, whose very life would not
have been affected by the terrorising that took its toll for nearly three
decades. During those years, sometime someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister,
mother or father was a victim of terror and the scars that were left behind on
all sides are many. We also know that the causes that created and allowed the
monster of using terror as a method to resolve issues, go even beyond the three
decades of the LTTE’s unleashing of that terror. Our reflections and actions
hereafter must indeed capture the causes for such and as was resolved by the President,
we as sons and daughters of Mother Sri Lanka must take on assertive action to
ensure that we never repeat those mistakes again.
What is positive about the outcomes we saw on the
streets and at events organised by the State is that it gave an outlet for
those affected to erase those scars and heal the wounds. In addition to fulfilling
the deep-seated cultural trait of ‘kela guna salakeema’ meaning demonstration
of gratitude; it gave an opportunity for us to have moments of reflection to
understand and resolve that we must not see such pain and suffering ever again.
It also gave us, as Sri Lankans the opportunity to understand what clear strategy,
focus, dedication and hard work can achieve.
Now it is time that we put the celebrations behind us
and direct energies and effort to rebuild unity working towards establishing a
solid base for ensuring lasting peace. Here a good beginning is made by several
in shouldering the responsibility of healing the wounds of those displaced by
the conflict now placed in temporary shelters. Looking after the immediate, medium
and long term needs of the displaced is indeed a priority need. Reconciliation
and rebuilding of our nation must begin with expressions of compassion, loving
kindness, understanding and equanimity on those who were willing or unwilling
victims of the events that unfolded.
The
United Nations and the international community have offered us help and support
in looking after the needs of the displaced. While this is very welcome, the challenge
before every right thinking Sri Lankan now should be to become a part of the
solution. Many responded to the calls
for providing the immediate needs and we saw those expressions of care and
concern from people from all walks of life.
There was the instance of a mother who brought with her, her lifetime
savings and handed it over to the President in support of the rebuilding effort
at a public ceremony. This taken as a symbolic gesture of the need for
involvement of each and every one of us, becomes a strong and powerful message.
With
nearly 300,000 displaced the enormity of the challenge of caring for their
basic needs is huge. The wounded, the disabled, the elderly, children and women
consist of most needy. Already, we hear of people from various government
organisations, the defence forces and NGOs working beyond their usual calls of
duty at the camps supported by volunteer medical and other personnel. This is in
addition to the support we have got from coalitions of international NGOs in
the setting up and operation of the camps. Local foundations and volunteer
groups have contributed to the effort. We must salute them all and understand and
appreciate the enormity of the task before them. There is so much more to be done. At no time
can we make this the responsibility of the international community and steer
away from ownership of the issues at hand. All Sri Lankans have an enormous challenge
and are duty bound now, to demonstrate that we as a nation can rise above all
our petty divides to help each other, in even the most telling circumstances.
This is a resolve that will hold us in good stead as we move into the process
of building trust and gaining confidence of even the most extremist segments of
the divide of the past.
The
reality is that a good part of the present generation of Sri Lankans have grown
within an environment where terror, uncertainty, insecurity, trauma, fear and
loss of opportunities were lining their horizon as dark clouds. Polarization of
the major portion of the Tamil Diaspora is another issue. It is important that
we make a concerted effort to create visions of hope for them as well of what
is possible beyond that horizon. With the youth we must share tales of ‘the
good old days’ when the people to people interaction in our Motherland was at
its best. With the Diaspora as well as all
other Sri Lankans, we must attempt to involve each and everyone, beginning with
the moderates, extending gradually to the non-believers. This we can do by
involving and empowering them in the process of rebuilding. Here there are also opportunities for us to
use the power of Info-communications to reach out to them.
Uturu
Mithuru is one such initiative that has produced and posted on the Facebook on
the Internet, a most moving creative work in the video format in Sinhala, Tamil
and English. It is reminiscing on the good old days of the Yal Devi, the
Colombo-Jaffna railway link which was always a symbolic representation of the
age old ties between the South and the North. Found at the web link www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izh0lX9-FOc , what it demonstrates to me is the
power of good, solid story-telling in communicating a strong emotive message to
our youth using the medium of creative film making on the Internet. I am not
naïve to think that sharing stories of the ‘good old days’ and/or undertaking
creative pursuits to communicate them will be the only way forward for us in
the reconciliation process. The emphasis
I place is on the need to be positive and constructive when we build hope in
the hearts and minds of our youth of all races, not only in Sri Lanka
There are also examples of other efforts such as the Theertha
International Artists Collective where Tamil and Sinhalese artists were brought together to
share their inspirations and insights. They have held exhibitions questioning
the narrowly defined notions of what it means to be 'Sri Lankan’. The Abhina Academy of Performing Arts initiated by well-known
actress Anoja Weerasinghe is another example of using theatre workshops as an
aid for overcoming trauma while rebuilding confidence and trust. There will be many other similar initiatives
we can draw from and these are but a few used to demonstrate the power of such
efforts in meeting the challenges before us.
This
is a time, when each Sri Lankan entity be it a school, business (big or small),
welfare organisation, political party, a temple, church, kovil, mosque,
musicians, performing and visual artists, sports men and women, NGOs or every
individual citizen is called on to participate in the process of assisting
those affected through a “Host” programme. Each entity can undertake to provide
a material and /or service need, identified by those involved in caring for the
displaced and /or the resettlement process. The contribution must be on the
basis of affordability and ability and no effort must be considered more
important than the other. Such an effort the columnist believes will enable Sri Lanka
The
same programme perhaps can be extended to the Sri Lankan Diaspora and other
‘Friends of Sri Lanka’ as well, making them active and empowered participants
in the process of reconciliation and rebuilding.
We
have won the battle against terror. Now the war to establish lasting peace has
begun. Let us all believe in our ability to win that war and be party to that
effort throughout its process.
An independent international media Development initiative - www.internews.lk
Efforts at Rebuilding Unity (Rotary Sri Lanka) – www.unitingsrilanka.com
United Nations Media Release on visit of Secretary General – www.un.lk/media_centre/press_releases.php
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