This is a comment posted on Al Jazeera’s The Stream:
I hear the same old stuff in these comments, which is nothing like the situation within Sri Lanka.
It’s two years since the end of the war. This war went on for 30 years and inhibited everyone’s lives, affecting people in the North and East the worst.
Am I racist or neglecting the plight of Tamils? I really don’t think so. I’m simply calling for unity and equality. I’m asking for us to address the more vital social issues that affect all of us without focusing on race.
I was in Menik Farm as the war ended and developed a contact there. She is out of the camp now and her main concerns are 1) getting a job 2) putting the kids in school. Talk to people down south, the problems are the same.
Throughout Sri Lanka, the government messes with all of us. Poor Sinhalese have a lot in common with poor Tamils and we live in mixed communities, not defined by race. Colombo is majority Tamil speaking.
Reconciliation means finding what we have in common and working together. It does need to begin with acknowledging the people who died and suffered, and I have seen and apologized to victims of the war first hand. We then need to move on, together, to find the issues that unite us and fight for equality.
Sri Lankans are not reliving the war, which is all the media promotes about us. We are living. Together.
“I am Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and Burgher. I am a Buddhist, a Hindu, a follower of Islam and Christianity. I am today, and always, proudly Sri Lankan.”
“There are specific issues that Tamils in Sri Lanka that are specific to Tamil..” Please. When it comes down to it the government and the people at the top will screw you over regardless of your ethnicity. To claim otherwise is to be a racist. Racists on both sides have tried to frame this issue in ethnic terms but I’m with you on this. When it comes down to real one to one human relationships ethnicity is the last thing on my mind and I’m sure this is the case with most people out there.
Great work with the diaspora-respect post (kudos to the younger Sri Lankans in the video as well ) earlier and this one. And no your thesis does not make you a racist. The racists are the ones too myopic and narrow minded to deny the fact that we can transcend our race and ethnicity when we form real, strong human relationships with each other. Bravo sir.
1) I don’t think by talking to one person at Manik Farm you can really generalize that this is what IDPs want. I mean, thats common sense but you seem be use this as your framework for everything. If you talk to my neighbor she’ll tell you her biggest issue is that her child is putting on weight. Does this mean that obesity is a critical issue in Colombo?
2) Even I don’t define myself by race but that’s because I have had the luxury of not being discriminated against because of my race. I have not been denied of economic, political, educational opportunities, basic infrastructure, freedom to not be interrogated by the police among other things because of my race. So people like us, we CAN afford to say we are not defined by race.
3) “It does need to begin with acknowledging the people who died and suffered, and I have seen and apologized to victims of the war first hand.” – Honestly, I can’t believe anyone would have the nerve to say something so foolish.
You cannot deny the issues that the Tamil people in this country face. There are critical issues that only Tamil people, people who have been living in conflict affected areas alone face. Just because they ALSO face the same problems as the rest of the country like unemployment and schooling does not mean we are fighting on an equal battleground.
We need to move forward as country, as Sri Lankans – it’s great that Sangakkara spoke about it, it’s even greater that so many people agree – but how this translate into government action? You can’t expect everyone to be in that mindset under the present system which is far from being inclusive and suppresses space for minority voices most of the time.
Indi, I’m sure you can be far more well informed. Please don’t write things like this that come across as something a 10 year old would write for a school essay on unity in Sri Lanka.
1) That’s my point, her biggest issue is her child. That’s the same for everybody, though not always literally. It’s not an insane generalization to say that all people need a livelihood and love their children. We do.
2) Shouldn’t we extend the luxury of equality to everyone?
3) Why is it foolish? When I met people who were in hospitals, etc I said sorry, as someone from the south, as an ethnic Sinhala, as a human being. Simply acknowledging reality and expressing compassion can mean a lot.
There’s nothing wrong with saying something simply as a ten year old would say. Those children are often right. I asked the kid what race he was and he doesn’t even know, he asked if I wanted to run a race. That’s how it should be. Not that everyone needs to forget their race, but it doesn’t need to define us, or our debate.
While making such a great speech, I find that Sanga’s biggest error, and one i should point out to you since you quote him, is that “Muslim” is not a race. So get it right before we start the thambi revolution!
And just FYI, your apology changes nothing. Your words mean nothing. An apology needs to come from the top to mean anything. And to be honest, we don’t need fact finding missions or war crimes inquiries. We need the leader of the country to come out and say “I’m sorry you had to go through this. I really am. But here’s my hand, take it. Let’s build the country from here on forth.”
1) That’s not the point. Livelihood and love for one’s child is something that can be applied universally. What I’m pointing out here is that you can’t take away critical needs and issues of a certain group of people by freely generalizing. Yes, those issues apply to them also – but in a different context, a different background altogether.
2) Obviously. For that you need a conducive environment where people can. For that you need to experience freedom of movement, to feel that a culture that is not your own is not imposed on you, freedom to express, that a culture of militarization is not taking place, that your family property is not being taken forcibly or denied to you – I could go on. People need to live like how we live in these parts of the country to put it simply.
3) I’m sure it can mean a lot but it stops after you have left the room. That “start” that you make only continues if there is evidence around these people – that people from the south DO care. When their lives continue as it is, with progress being made too slowly or not progressing at all, without people in the south doing anything about it or showing even the remotest interest (and how would they, clearly most don’t even bother to even find out the ground reality) – why would anyone care about some a stranger saying sorry and leaving the room?
Actions speak louder than words. Clearly the government has failed in that. Without everyone blaming the government, why don’t they get together and do something? Take Trail Sri Lanka – they are showing that the people from the rest of the country care. Look at the few charities doing up the schools in conflict affected areas, sponsoring children, donating libraries – there are people showing that they care. They are not going up there and saying sorry. They are doing things. Its all very symbolic, they are small gestures by the larger scale of things but its a start.
But that’s just not enough. That’s looking at present needs and what is needed at this point to move on. What about freedom, land rights, representation, language issues, power sharing, missing persons, people in custody, draconian laws – all things that the government is looking the other way? Till all this is accepted has vital issues that need to be addressed, you will have a significant amount of people who will find it tremendously hard to think as “Sri Lankans”.
Iromi,
At least indi is articulating an approach that has some chance of success at improving people’s lives and prospects. Anyone can just self-righteously list down a bunch a problems and think they’ve rendered some marvellous service. What are your ideas?
If there’s anything the Arab Spring taught me, it’s that you don’t need to wait or ask for change from the top. Just change. Real power comes from the bottom. Whether implicit or explict, the top depends on our consent.
We don’t need to wait for a hand from Mahinda or anybody at the top, just take the hand you can reach. If you want a statement, I’ll give it directly to you
Here’s my hand, take it. Let’s build the country from here on forth.
Iromi, do you know when I said sorry? When I was up there delivering medical relief. Did it stop after I left the room? No. I went back for months, until I wrote something in the Leader and became a bit of a liability.
I still call and I still contribute to rehabilitation work. I completely agree that we need to start with action.
So let’s start. If we wait for the government or we wait for all these issues to be sorted out, we’ll never get going. Let’s just do it. Framing this as an issue of equality instead of an issue of race is, I think, a good place to begin. Do I want equality? Yeah. Does a guy in Matara want equality? Yeah. Does someone in Kili want equality? Yeah, why not. Let’s go.
Some of us started even before the war ended. I don’t need to list things and say we should do x, y and z. We have been doing it.
That’s why I say its dangerous to be so uninformed and make sweeping statements. It’s precisely why those involved in governance, policy AND humanitarian work for years find fault with people like you Indi when you trivialize, generalize or simplify people’s issues. Equality is great, but it doesn’t happen when people’s rights are denied or suppressed, or when their problems are blatantly ignored by the government.
That’s what started this mess in the first place. Surely you are better than that.
Action of the people also needs to extend to governance and policies of the government. The public needs to be more vocal about issues that don’t directly affect them also – such as the issues that affect the minorities of this country.
dude, IMHO the ‘people involved in governance, policy AND humanitarian work for years’ have been messing it up for years. I think it’s about time things got simplified.
So, we’re agreed. Equality is great.
problems are always better than solutions…provides job security for the sector in question.
Equality jilmart?
“And just FYI, your apology changes nothing. Your words mean nothing.”
Absolute rubbish. If that’s a case *your* life means nothing and you should commit suicide, no?
I don’t see a great disconnect between Indi and Guru here. There look at the issue from slightly different angles but definitely on the same hemisphere. Perhaps they are different stages of working out what can be done to solve the issues and where to start. Let me explain why i say so;
Since they were forced to start their discussion by asking “how should the problem be solved” they found plenty of points to disagree on – leading to bitter arguments even among others who identified with one camp of thought more than the other.
If the discussion was initiated by asking “What is(are) the problem(s)?” they would have encountered fewer disagreements and would have agree on most.
However, I am sure they will both agree fully that a) Sri Lanka is in a bad shape at present and b) and easily agree that they would both like to see
1. All Sri Lankans living with equal dignity and have equitable access to opportunity
2. People of all races and religions cooperating and working together.
3. The national identity of the country being inclusive and broad, accommodating and enriched by the diversity of culture, language and faith.
4. All Sri Lankans having genuine reason to feel proud to call themselves “Sri Lankan”
Given that we are where we are, how can we aspire to this ideal of what Sri Lanka ought to be?
We will have disagreements and debates about the modality and strategy – the path we need to take – and indeed there is I am sure more than one way to get there. Indeed, each individual and community needs the opportunity, freedom and encouragement to choose the path that most suits them.
So let’s turn this discussion on its head – if we agree on the end result, lest start there and work our way backwards shall we?
I can agree with that
The only way to move past race is to raise the standard of living. And the way to do this is by creating a vibrant middle-class, e.g. create a balance between very rich and very poor. Otherwise you are going to be stuck on these micro issues., which in my opinion, the rich seem to be fond of exploiting. Not that you can avoid them (micro issues) totally, it’s just that when you have a particular group of living in tin shacks with meager prospects for employment (which is what Guru was saying), it’s difficult to focus on the aggregate. Gurupuran is “correct” when he says to start the micro-level and build up to the aggregate; it just makes more sense. Indi seems to be more focused on the finished product, which is not wrong by any means, you just need to divide the task up into sufficiently small pieces.
*a particular group of people living in tin shacks
*start at the micro-level
Yes, Heshan
Indi seems to be more focused on the finished product, which is not wrong by any means, you just need to divide the task up into sufficiently small pieces.
Dear Heshan
Impressed with your superior debating l skills. .
I’ve seen you are putting right – all government sycophants again, again and again. Hats to you !! Way to go !!
If you consider racism, bigotry and religious intolerance “superior debating skills” then yes, Heshan should be commended.
All in a day’s work. Although it is only a matter of time before they group together and find ways to ban/censor.