Tuesday 3 June 2008

Peace in Paradise?

It has been twenty-five years since the 'riots' in Sri Lanka that caused tens of thousands of Tamils to flee the country. Since then things have only gotten worse. In 1983 the oppressed were Tamils, hunted and killed and burned alive in their homes and vehicles. In 1986, in and around tea plantations, dominated by Tamils, it was the Sinhalese who were oppressed. There were Tamil casualties too, but those in danger of being killed were the Sinhalese, taking refuge in the homes of Tamils, just the way the Sinhalese provided refuge to their Tamil friends in Colombo in 1983.

If the two groups were looking out for each other, who the hell was responsible for the 'riots'. Who is to say that the war is between Tamils and Sinhalese? Who still supports the bloody 'dispute', which has escalated into a full fledged war in all these years? Will the LTTE ever have a separate state? And if they do who will live there? The millions of Tamils who have migrated since the "riots" to make a life for themselves overseas? Would they want to go back and start tilling the lands and raising crops and teach their children, who now speak anything but Tamil, what type of rice to cultivate?

And if the bloody governments were about protecting the Sinhalese, how do they account for the thousands of soldiers, almost all Sinhalese who have died fighting this futile battle, with no vistory in sight for either side? If the government did wipe out the LTTE would the thousands of Sinhalese who have migrated over the years move back and go about their daily business in Colombo again?

Life as these people had known has changed. But it appears as though the LTTE and the government are in complete denial, in a world that involves no one but them, where the ego previals over all things rational. Or perhaps these insecure individuals who lead both sides are being fed by the power and money hungry nations that mass produce the weapons and spur them on, because without warring countries would the weapon's industry thrive?

So many questions with no answers! Life goes on, people carry on, bomb explosions that kill a dozen people are just events of another day in paradise. Is the situation beyond any hope of peace? Will the fighting continue until the end of my time?