Community art on peace, from the Colombo Biennale
A few people are saying I lost a debate with Guru. I wasn’t debating. From the beginning I was trying to reframe the debate – to go from debating racial grievances to working on common solutions. And I think we’re getting there. We all deserve equality – Tamil, Sinhala, Muslim, Burgher, whatever. What I was trying to say that this is not about Sinhalese vs. Tamil, it’s about our rights as Sri Lankans. And I think that’s stuck.
I don’t think the Tamil people are asking for anything special. They’re asking for basic human rights. That’s something all Sri Lankans deserve, especially the working poor. We may have our issues as individuals or groups, but the solution lies in something important to all of us – equality. The right to government service in our own language. The right to equal opportunity for our children. The right to an economic future, a fair shot at education, a decent livelihood.
These issues affect all of us. Some more and some less, but who’s counting? Let’s just get together and get out.
This debate is happening on Facebook, it’s happening on Al Jazeera, it’s happening on Groundviews, and it’s happening here. For the first time, I feel like it’s productive. We’re talking about equality, we’re talking about moving forward, and we’re talking about it together.
No I don’t think you lost the debate but two factors dampened your message. The most obvious was that your line dropped and Guru had the last word. Second your message seemed a bit wishy washy. For an example Guru pointed out some valid points. He said that the current Sri Lankan identity does not include Tamils and that the rights of Tamil IDPs are still being curtailed. I think you may partially agree with these points, but instead of negating them or down playing them by saying that there are other problems as well, if you said that these were issues that Sri Lankans of all races need to solve then I feel you message would have been more powerful.
Fair enough. I hope you understand, that was my intention. It’s difficult to communicate in one minute bursts.
I got exactly what you were trying to do, unfortunately that analogy you used at the beginning was quite peculiar.
I am more curious how you found the experience. I found that when during my own camera appearance that I was always itching for more time to speak. How’d you feel?
“A few people are saying I lost a debate with Guru. I wasn’t debating.”
Funny.
It really does not matter the perceived notion of if you lost or won or Guru for that matter. There are many positive vibes all over in there, even if it is hard to notice at first glance. I hope these dialogs continue to be and continue to reduce the tension.