Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
VICTIMS
OF ETHNIC WAR
Most of us Sri Lankans
have our own reasons as to the reasons why the Rajapaksa regime collapsed. Mine
is as an Elder. Elders are never wrong.
The question arises as
to who an Elder is? As per my classification, an Elder is a Service provider
who takes no money or status benefits for work done. An elder need not be old
by age. Whoever qualifies as per the above definition is an Elder.
Seniors have higher
benefits than juniors. Any wrongs against seniors are relative. Wrongs against
an Elder is exponential.
Immediate past
President of Sri Lanka was a senior. Not so the current president who carries
the position of UNP leader. To Tamils in North, this is a compensation for being
denied the right to vote in the 2005 Presidential elections. Voting confirms
our acceptance of the position. When someone comes through a party, we vote for
the party also. In the case of 2005 Presidential elections, the votes blocked
became exponential in value, due to UNP being a Political elder.
When we feel more free
to self-self govern, the government of that period is our Elder. To most
Northern Tamils, this is UNP, at National level.
One who protests
violently, damages the position that the person holds. This in turn damages the structure
we have inherited from our elders.
The perpetrators of
last year’s damage to leadership positions are now facing court. The media also
seems to examine its role. An example is:
Behind the Lens:
The Sri Lanka presidential palace, overrun https://apimagesblog.com/blog/2023/1/17/behind-the-lens-the-sri-lanka-presidential-palace-overrun
Their pictures helped
us form our own opinions as to the causes. One who is in pain would not
celebrate victory but would express relief. That would have confirmed the
validity of their protests. As per the above report:
‘The
mood was festive and they were celebrating throwing the president and prime
minister from their residence and offices.’
Those
who celebrated were violent because they violated the leadership positions in
our governance structure. A
true protestor would mourn such damage to the position.
Reporter
Jayawardene states:
‘My family did not
have cooking gas for months, and we did our entire cooking with the help of a
rice cooker.
I think readers
should know about the determination and the difficulty involved in reporting
this story amid all kinds of economic sufferings. For me, this is the
difference between this story and other stories I had covered before. You are
part of the suffering community and still you cover what others do. Despite
being a newsperson, I, too, had to go through hardships finding essentials.
Sometimes people reacted roughly when I was taking photos at queues for gas and
kerosene. I attempted to overcome the helpless feelings and tried to understand
their despair by fitting in to their shoes.’
Let us take the example of
suffering given by Jayawardene:
‘My family did not
have cooking gas for months, and we did our entire cooking with the help of a
rice cooker.’
Most in our area resorted to
firewood. We ourselves bought an induction cooker. These challenges were less
painful than wartime challenges to life itself.
Reporter MAQBOOL
shares as follows:
‘To hire a car, it was very difficult. We paid five
times more, and still there was no guarantee you would get a taxi. The drivers
would tell us, “If we manage to get gas, we will come. Otherwise no.” At times
we had to walk or if we were lucky, we might get a three-wheeler. Thankfully
the hotel I was staying at was quite central, but walking with your heavy
equipment through swarms of people was quite stressful.’
Everyday life for those in war zones of Sri Lanka
was worse. Most had to cycle to work everyday. This was reality for most of the
30 years of war.
Victims of war who are now
getting on with life are the real elders of Sri Lanka. They are in all
communities. When they are honoured, good social order is guaranteed.
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