Ethnic Harmony is still Illusive even after the Thirty Years War in Sri Lanka

Ethnic Harmony is still Illusive even after the Thirty Years War in Sri Lanka

(a review of the film of “Oba Nathuwa Oba Ekka” by Prasanna Withanage)

Reviewed by M.M.Nirmal Chathuranga B.Sc. Business Administration (Sp.)University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

During the 1970s a number of armed Tamil groups emerged in the North and parts of Eastern Sri Lanka. The main reason was after the independence from British rule, increasingly assertive Sinhala Nationalists, angered of what they saw as British favoritism towards minority Tamils, it began to cause the ethnic division.  The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was established under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran as a ruthless and highly effective fighting force. Until the finish of only thirty years’ war in the former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha’s regime  on 18^th June 2009 the death toll was estimated to be about 70000. According to Anon. (2015) the final phase, when the government and rebels battled it out as thousands of civilians were hemmed in to a tiny strip of land on the north-eastern coast, has been the subject of most scrutiny.  Estimates range from 20000-75000 killed in the final assault, but a government estimate put the figure at about 9000.

According to the most of Sinhalese and rulers the war was finished. Now it has come the spring to Sri Lanka. But actually is it? It has emerged lots of social, political, economic and human development issues in post war Sri Lanka. Still the rulers are struggling to acquire the ownership of the war victory, but the all Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people are facing to the post war difficulties.

The film of Oba nathuwa oba ekka by Prasanna Withanage emphasizes and reveal that how deep/serious these difficulties are. What are their mindsets? What are their attitudes regarding the war and victory. How they see and what are their perceptions. According to the film there are two main nationalities, Sinhala and Tamil (Jaffna upper class Tamil and Indian Tamil). Selvi is a young woman who belongs to the Jaffna upper class and during the war period she had been hidden by their parents in Nuwara-Eliya area among the Indian Tamils(estate Tamils). Selvi has lost all her valuable things such her parents, brothers and residence. But now the war is over. Everyone say that the prosperity has risen. But does Selvi has achieved prosperity after the war. Actually it is not. In a particular dialog of the film Prasanna Withanage clearly emphasizes that.

Sarathsiri – I saw fire in your eyes and lips.

Selvi – Is that how you see me? No wonder you did not see the fire burning inside me.

Actually she was burning. She has nothing in this world beside her. She mortgaged her all valuable things to live. But she never solicited. When she came to Sarathsiri’s pawning shop to mortgage her chanting ornament Sarathsiri return her it back with Rs. 1000. Then Selvi says, “ I do not need anybody’s sympathy”. Really she do not like to have the sympathy, especially from Sinhalese. From her words and behavior compared with Lakshmi and other Indian Tamils, there is something different. She is decent and backward. Not talking too much. But there are lots of things in the mind. At a time she says that she hate the Sri Lankan Army and Sinhalese. That is her perception. When one community of the country is eating milk rice and playing Raban (Drum), another community is in sad and hating that party, then how it becomes a victory of whole country, it is a victory of a just one party. According to my perception the war should be finished, not only from Sri Lanka, but also from the entire universe. But that finish should bring the prosperity to all the parties. All should be happy.

Selvi accuse to the Army and Sinhalese. There were fair reasons for her. It is a enough reason that the reason to resignation of Sarathsiri from the Army. He had shown that some army soldiers are raping a Tamil girl. These kinds of illegal actions had done by both LTTE and Army. Even the government finish the battle of weapons, still they are not finished the battle of human psyche. Even after the war there are lots of psychological problems there. In a study from the North of Sri Lanka, Somasundaram and Sivayokan (2013) note the existence of complex mental health and psychosocial problems at the individual, family and community levels in the post-war context. These include domestic violence, self-harm and suicides, child abuse, and individual and collective trauma. They particularly note the increase in the number of suicides and self-harm reported in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Selvi starts to love Sarathsiri, in one way she is helpless, one way she has been proposed to an old merchant another way she got the mercy of Sarathsiri, she had not another option beside giving her word to Sarathsiri. On the other hand, Sarathsiri had a guilty feeling in his mind. He wanted to make up his mind. That may be the reason that he wanted to marry Selvi. After their marriage registration, when they come home what is telecasting on tv? It is the live programme of the war victory, march of the Army. Can Selvi bearup that? But she look that very silently and unshakably, but she was burning. She did not know that Sarathsiri was an Army soldier. But later she knows that from Sarathsiri’s friend. She makes more confuse. Sarathsiri is her husband, but he belongs to the party who are hated by her. Mentally she becomes more weaken. But he loves her. He tries to sell all his properties and hardly earned things or her happiness. Selvi cannot tolerate. She entangled between love and hate. Tamil women value the fealty; she is fear with her mindset, her attitude about Army soldiers that she will be unable to be a better wife to her husband. That is why she decides to leave from her life.

The film mainly focuses the mental situation of a Tamil girl who was highly punished by the war. Their minds are still struggling. Some researchers have identified psychological problems in the post war context.  A study too identified complex psychosocial problems that adolescent boys and girls faced in the post-war context. Some of those problems were cyclical, spanning generations, such as early marriage and domestic violence, while others were more symptomatic of deeper individual and collective impacts of war such as the silence around war and post-war trauma and suffering, attempted suicides and family breakdown (Emmanuel, etal., 2015). Sri Lankan government has mainly focused on infrastructure development and investments in war conducted areas. Investment in tourism in the area near Kadalkiramam was rapid after the end of the war. The government-run Sunday paper reported an influential minister laid the foundation stone for a resort and spa on 22 June 2010, and returned to declare the hotel open less than a year later on the 30 May 2011. By 2011, there were new ‘carpeted’ roads to make the journey from Colombo to Batticaloa easy and quick, and new telecommunication facilities and water lines were also put in place for the tourist zone. 650 million rupees was invested in the area, and tourism targets included developing 1,000 rooms at three stars or higher in the 150 acre tourist zone. The newspaper report mentioned in passing that the existing fishing community was ‘somewhat displaced’ but had a ‘special area provided for them’ (Sunday Observer 2011).

 But the prioritization should be given to the mental, psychological development, attitudes change and reconstruction of fraternity more than the physical resource development. As per my opinion, winning a War is not only winning a one party by defeating another party. It should be a victory of all and should be developed the social, cultural, political, Economic and psychological background of the people. After a war every government ant NGO’s should implement that kinds of programs. Sri Lanka is still not late to implement such a plan for the National rest and to prevent another civil war in future.

Reference List
Anonymous. (2015). Q&A: Post-war Sri Lanka.

Emmanuel, S., Wettasinghe, A., Samuels, F., Thambaiah, A., and Rajendran, I. (2015). Failing Adolescents: Social Control, Political Economy & Human Development in post-war Sri Lanka.

    

       Somasundaram, D and Sivayokan, S. (2013). Rebuilding Community Resilience in a Post-war 

       Context: Developing Insight and Recommendations – A Qualitative Study in Northern Sri Lanka.

     

          Sunday Observer (2011). Over 1000 star class rooms in Pasikudah; Tourism in East: Poised to Take Off. June 16 2011.