On getting lost among winners and losers
When
the LTTE was militarily crushed, there was visible anguish among certain
sections of the Colombo elite. There was horror expressed by some over
something they chose to call ‘triumphalism’. What most of the nation and
especially the Sinhala Buddhist majority took as a decisive victory over
terrorism and therefore an overwhelming cause for celebration on account
of the freedom of movement and freedom from fear, some took as
untrammeled joy over what they thought was a defeat of the Tamil
community.
Well, Tamil chauvinism did take a huge hit admittedly and as a
citizen, a Sinhalese and a Buddhist who had had to take many hits from
that particularly virulent political project, I was not ready to lament
this. On the other hand, although not given to flag-waving and
anthem-singing, I must say that I was pleased that the shadow of the
LTTE was gone. I did enjoy the sunshine and I still do in fact.
Anti-Sinhala elements
Some Sinhalese and Buddhists I am sure read ‘victory’ in
Sinhala-Tamil terms, but only rabidly anti-Buddhist and anti-Sinhala
elements would extrapolate such sentiment to encompass the entire
Sinhala Buddhist community. This is why I was not surprised when Sunila
Abeysekera spoke in somber terms about what she thinks is persistent
sentiments along these Sinhala-Tamil lines in relation to winners and
losers. There is a way in which people end up fervently believing their
own propaganda.
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Arundathi
Roy |
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Sunila
Abeysekera |
The characterization of winner and loser that Sunila and her ilk are
supposedly perturbed about is hardly the preserve of one social
category, although they would like to think it is so and indeed that it
has some statistically or otherwise significant truth-value. The notion
that the Sinhalese won and the Tamils lost, however, is a lie that is
part generated by a particular understanding of the conflict.
Security Forces
True, the Security Forces were overwhelmingly made up of Sinhalese
while the LTTE was almost 100 percent Tamil. On the other hand, the
Security Forces represented the State and such the entire citizenry. The
notion that there is some kind of Sinhala Buddhist State in place in Sri
Lanka is a lie that certain anti-Sinhalese and anti-Buddhist elements
have propagated. It has no basis in reality. Indeed it can be argued
that the State has been more anti-Sinhala and anti-Buddhist than
anything else over the last 60 years. The truth is that things are not
black and white.
The notion that the Sinhalese won can be traced to a pernicious
defining-game that Sunila and others built their careers on. They spent
decades and lives defending Eelamism, marketing shamelessly the
attendant lies about history, traditional homelands and grievances to
the point that anomalies that legitimated protest were lost in the
whines and - or hurrahs. They won political currency, international
stature and quite a few bucks by defending and legitimizing the LTTE.
They conferred parity of status to the LTTE vis-a-vis the Government of
Sri Lanka.
International community
They drew from a well-crafted lexicon for this and one which was as
greedily picked up by mischievous and disingenuous sections of the thug
elements of the international community and their media lackeys such as
the BBC. That’s how we got ‘de-facto state’, ‘de-facto capital’,
‘Kilinochchi says’ (as opposed to ‘Colombo says’), ‘border villagers’
(presuming division) etc. They never used the word ‘terrorist’.
And they never once objected to the LTTE’s claim that it was the
sole-representative of the Tamil community. Indeed, they fed and fed off
this claim.
Since conflating ‘Tamil’ and ‘LTTE’ constituted their bread and
butter for a long, long time, it is natural then for Sunila and her pals
to think that the Tamils had ‘lost’. Small wonder that ill-informed,
self-appointed gods and goddesses of all things big and small like
Arundathi Roy, who deliberately feign inability to distinguish rebel
from terrorist, and who get their kicks from putting signature to some
‘cause’ or other, should call for a boycott of a literary festival.
In April 2009, Roy said the war was not on terror, but was a racist
war on Tamils. Today, almost two years later, she won’t find many people
lamenting Prabhakaran’s demise. Not even Sunila would dare open her
mouth in any forum, local or foreign, to say she is upset that the LTTE
is not around. Indeed, if pressed, she would say it is a good thing,
although she would not openly acknowledge that this ‘good thing’ was
delivered to nation and citizenry by those she loved to hate for years
and years and still hates even today.
It is time these people got real and acknowledged that they are the
most vociferous definers of winners and losers in Sinhala-Tamil terms
because they just cannot distinguish Tamil from Tiger.
Religious faiths
The vast majority of Sri Lankans of all communities, all religious
faiths, all parts of the country and all political parties figured this
out a long, long time ago.
The Tamil community did not perish in the Nandikadal Lagoon. The LTTE
did. Tamil Nationalism did not die with Prabhakaran, it was merely
unburdened of its terrorist headache.
Sunila’s mischievous word play is not and should not be read as a
product of nostalgia. She is doing what she has been doing for years.
Singing for her supper. Keeping Eelamism alive.
One should not grudge her this, for this is all she’s done and all
she knows to do. Arundathi Roy can be dismissed as a naive for-hire pen
for terrorists disguised as rebels. Not Sunila Abeysekera. One feels
sorry for Roy. Sorry, Roy.
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