{"id":145389,"date":"2015-06-02T14:51:59","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T09:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=145389"},"modified":"2015-06-09T02:37:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T21:07:51","slug":"sri-lanka-paradise-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sri-lanka-paradise-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka: Paradise Lost?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By S. Chandrasekharan<\/span><\/a> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. S. Chandrasekharan<\/p><\/div>\n

The month of May brings one memories of the brutal war that took place in what was once described as a paradise (Sri Lanka). It was in those final days of the war (May 2009)\u00a0 in the Paradise Isle that one saw horrific tales of prisoners being \u201cstripped, humiliated, tortured\u201d before being\u00a0 executed. It was in the same paradise that in the last days, more than 40 thousand innocent civilians, almost 8 percent of the Tamil population in the north was eliminated! The world is yet to come to terms with this tragedy.<\/p>\n

For Indians too, like me, it was an irony that what started as a benign intervention to prevent a military solution of the ethnic crisis ended up in the Indian security establishment supporting a military solution. In the process, India lost one of its finest and promising leaders in the meaningless assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE.\u00a0 On that day, the LTTE lost whatever chances it had to have an \u201cEelam<\/span><\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

The book –\u00a0Sri Lanka:\u00a0Paradise lost?<\/span><\/a> – is a collection of various articles and reviews of books and films of events in the Sri Lankan context and as said by the author \u201cdedicated to those few Sri Lankans, women and men, who have publicly and persistently stood up for values to make the island a happier place . . . \u201d<\/p>\n

One of the cases cited by the author is Adrian Wijemanne<\/span><\/a> whose dedication was essentially to justice and righteousness and not to any group. The author rightly argues that there were\u00a0many Wijaymannes who were not pro-Tamil but pro humanity. The author ends his article with a telling statement – that there were no pro-Tamil Sinhalese as such but only \u201csome Sinhalese who never forget that every \u201cyou\u201d is also an \u201cI.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Review<\/a>

Rs. 350\/- Author: Charles Sarvan Genre: Politics Publisher: CinnamonTeal Publishing Publication Year: 2015 ISBN: 978-93-84129-76-7<\/p><\/div>\n

Another article by the author, debunks the statements of some of the Sinhalese in the present context after the elimination of the LTTE, that the \u201cTamils are happy now.\u201d He points out that it is for the Tamils, not Sinhalese, to come forward and assert that all is well for the Tamils. This he says is more out of ignorance of some of the Sinhalese and also by those who consciously or unconsciously subscribe to the belief of Sinhalese hegemony.<\/p>\n

In a related article the author discusses the Sinhala psychosis and the growth of the Bodu Bala Sena<\/span><\/a> that sounds the alarm of the imminent and mortal peril of the Sinhalese race.\u00a0 It is here that he makes a telling statement of many writers that Sri Lanka has an overwhelming majority with a minority complex (emphasis mine) \u2013 and with the sense of insecurity and fear the latter breeds.\u00a0 This is also my view that this explains many complexities and the behaviour of the majority community in Sri Lanka on the ethnic question.<\/p>\n

An interesting comparison of the experience of Jews and the Tamils is made in the article \u201cAlienated at home: Jewish & Tamil Experience\u201d, carried earlier by the South Asia Analysis Group.\u00a0 He cites the case of one Duleep Kumar who had many Sinhalese friends and perhaps thought that he was among those fully integrated with the majority community. But he was not to be deceived.\u00a0 In another case a friend of his lamented that the Sinhalese friends when it came to a crunch were either indifferent or succumbed to the prevailing \u201chegemonic ideas.\u201d A similar situation occurred in Germany where the Jews before the World War had considered themselves fully integrated, only to be deceived and let down by the majority community. A fine distinction is made by the author on integration as different from assimilation.\u00a0 To me it looks that most of the ethnic conflicts arise when the majority community would look for assimilation while the minority community would seek integration and yet retain its own cultural and linguistic identity. It is a pity that the \u201cTamils were forced to see themselves not as Sri Lankans who by accident of birth were Tamil but as second class citizens.\u201d (Author)<\/p>\n

Professor Sarvan<\/span><\/a> has not spared the Tigers either for bringing enormous misery to the Tamils by their acts. In the article on \u2018Tragedy: Letter to a friend\u2019 he says that while one could understand \u2018resorting to force\u2019 after exhausting all other means, he cannot excuse the Tigers for the nature of the force used. To quote him: \u201cTheir conduct was politically foolish, a crime against humanity . . .\u00a0 a sin against the gods…. a war that was waged unjustly and unwisely.\u201d What an irony. To quote the author again- \u201c it had brought down upon Tamils the very fate the Tigers predicted and claimed to prevent… their last act of cruelty was against trapped and terrified Tamil civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second part of the book consists mostly of reviews of books on the Sri Lankan situation and also on two documentaries. While one is likely to skip them for being \u201creview of reviews,\u201d I would urge the readers to read them carefully – the reviews are exciting, interesting and intellectually challenging.<\/p>\n

I had not read the book by Paul Moorcraft on \u201cTotal Destruction of the Tigers\u201d which the author has kindly reviewed in this book.\u00a0 All one could say was that this was an ugly war where the Sri Lankan Government and the Army functioned like a steam roller flattening everything before it, a luxury the IPKF could not have indulged in. Places of worship were bombed though earlier the civilians were asked to seek shelter in such places of worship. I would repeat the question- Was it deliberate or accidental? A \u201cGo to hell\u201d attitude was adopted towards internal and international humanitarian concerns. The result was the tragedy at Nandikadal in the final stages of the war. A massacre of this magnitude is neither forgettable nor forgivable.<\/p>\n

Professor Sarvan\u2019s book should be read by all those like me who were involved at some time or other with the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka as well as by scholars, analysts, researchers, students as well as decision makers who in their line of duty grapple with the problem of conflict resolution almost daily.<\/p>\n

The book is not meant for bedside reading- every article, every paragraph and every reference mentioned need to be studied in detail. The price of this book is not too high for a book of this nature and is not one that can be thrown away after one reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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