Sri Lankan state's reconciliatory measures

CHRISTIE Fernando-Chilaw special correspondent

On one of my several visits to London some years ago, a Tamil friend of mine took me to the residence of a hardcore Tamil relation in London. My friend agreed to preserve my anonymity. I was ushered in.

But, I was appallingly taken back as I sat down.

Lo and behold! To my unmitigated trepidation, I was gazing at a large-sized picture of former LTTE rebel leader V.P. displayed under glass-cover on the table, right before me.

Bustling Jaffna town

I was perplexed and confused. There were pictures of other Tamil heroes hung on the wall in the house. They had regarded him as a 'hero.'

Infrastructure facilities

Desperate attempts to perpetuate the memories of Tiger-heroes in the Jaffna peninsula were forever effaced and obliterated by the Army, when hundreds of suavely erected tombstones in their 'honour' were flattened and razed to the ground. Now, none of those memory-lanes remain to be seen - a grim reminder of unbridled terror unleashed in the past - the horror and bitter memories as tributes and mementoes etched in memory were expunged for eternity - and they are not seen anymore.

But, as traitors who betrayed the country, do they have any right whatsoever to be revered? They deserve no respect and honour.

But this government on the other hand, in its reconciliation efforts to rebuild the North shattered by the rebels, has copiously provided electricity, water and other infrastructure facilities. The roads have been macadamised and modernised. The LTTE had siphoned large sums of money for their nefarious activities. They should now provide money to reshape the North and help the secluded Tamil families, friends and their kith and kin. They are in dire straits and so beckon their assistance. Sri Lanka as a predominantly Buddhist country is imbued with love and compassion for the displaced ones and especially the former combatants. No government will ever show mercy, forgiveness and empathy towards its enemies.

The government has demonstrated this as a glowing example to be emulated by other countries. It's persevering efforts to rehabilitate and procure jobs for unemployed rebels is commendable indeed!

It is related in history that Pharaoh, the foregone ruler of Egypt had one day discovered that after all, Moses was not an Egyptian who lived in his palace but was the son of a Hebrew woman who had therefore no claim whatsoever to be called his own son. In a fury, he said to Moses, "You have betrayed Egypt." The Pharaoh finally banished him from Egypt.

He said, "Let the name of Moses be stricken from every book and tablet; stricken from every pylon and obelisk of Egypt. Let the name of Moses be unheard and unspoken, erased from the memory of man, for all time."

British citizenship

The same fate befell the terrorists who once fought the Army to exterminate this nation.

In warfare, there are no victors. The losers have no say, once they are conquered. The Army vanquished them. Clemency for them was not considered, even when they surrendered - because they had no choice whatsoever.

It is preposterous to note that the rebels sacrificed their own people as a holocaust - when as innocent civilians they were compelled to fight as combatants. In the conflict, they mercilessly cut and chopped blameless citizens to smithereens, in cold blood.

So can they be remembered as warriors or heroes to say the least? The large numbers of people, who are now domiciled in UK and have been granted British citizenship, are enjoying their rights and privileges.

They get fringe benefits. In several other countries too, I learnt, they are well settled and thriving well. They sport Limousine cars, believe me, in Switzerland! So too Tamils living in Canada and other European countries! They even exercised their right to protest at rallies publicly.

Surely, as citizens of a country, they naturally enjoy that inalienable privilege.

We know that Sri Lankans too who went in search of greener pastures have earned a mint of money and have come and built palatial houses in Sri Lanka; and they are the people who buy large properties and buildings. You can see the elegantly built houses in these urban areas too.

This government with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the helm is striving to restructure Jaffna. He has spearheaded his overall plan of work to treat everyone impartially.

In respect of the havoc and ruin caused in the North, it was done by none other than the Tiger terrorists themselves and not by the Army! The luscious trees - including large mango trees had disappeared. The Jaffna mangoes we relished in vintage times in those happy and untroubled days of the by-gone era, prior to the conflict, had vanished - the forest-cover that was there in profusion, is not seen now.

Ex-Tamil combatants

I remember the magnificent trees that were there on the way to Jaffna when we went on pilgrimage to Madhu in the 1950s and before. They are all gone - it is isolated now.

Who cut them? I had toured Jaffna and its outskirts many times before the conflict.

Why can't the affluent Tamils living abroad now come forward and build houses on their own territory? Their wishes and aspirations to live as independent people in the North have been granted generously by this government. The government is using all its resources and energies to remodel and reconstruct their territories. The ex-Tamil combatants have been rehabilitated; they are now amicably and peacefully settled down and eking out lives in a worthy manner. The Tamils who had migrated, can now return, in the evening of their lives to sojourn peacefully in their own land in the North they lived before!

Some of them have all the money to live in the far-flung villages as before.

Sri Lanka is a free, civilised and cultured country. What prevents some from returning to their Motherland is the lack of firm commitment, love and resolve.