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| Friday, 8 February 2002 |
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Freedom for the Tamils, means freedom for the Sinhalese by Aditha Dissanayake "She sings Sinhala songs, but has a pottu on her forehead, Has she flown with her heart to the burnt out palmyra grove?" The song pierces through the sound of traffic in front of the Fort Railway station at nine in the morning. There is a drummer, an organist and a solitary figure behind a microphone. But the music is catching, and in spite of the fear of being late for work, people linger around the band, tapping their toes to the music, and ignoring the beat of their wrist watches. Yet, this is no musical band providing entertainment. The moment the song ends a young man takes the microphone and begins a long narrative. "Peace cannot be achieved by holding discussions inside air-conditioned rooms, peace has to come from the people. We believe unless we grant freedom to our Tamil brethren, we, the Sinhalese will also never be free". They call themselves the Sadu Janarawa Group. The members hanging around the makeshift stage seem mostly to be in their forties, fifties and sixties. Jayatilake Bandara, who insists he is neither the president nor the leader, (we don't have such a person in our group, this is a team effort) but speaking on behalf of the others, says "we are sceptical about the peace moves taken by the government and the LTTE. But we believe a political solution should be found for the ethnic strife. We are against all racist groups who are trying to stop the peace process. Members of the Sadu Janarawa will be in front of the Fort Railway station from the morning of the 7th to the 8th, February 2002, expressing their views on living in solidarity with the Tamil brethren. Throughout the day, there will be more music, a street drama, a meeting, and movies, screened during the night. The speech of the youngman ends. Bandara leaves me to begin his song again. "Sinhala Sindu Kiyana, nalale thilaka thiyana Kirilli..." "The sinhalese do not deserve freedom if it is denied to the Tamils" reads a slogan on a banner behind him -words which should etch firmly on the minds of the crowd who linger around the group, ignoring for a moment, the red-line at the office. |
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