The reality of living in a “Separate Stateâ€Â
Repost This ArticleMany Sri Lankans spent a peaceful Sunday at home. A typical lazy Sri Lankan Sunday spent lounging after a sumptuous lunch and browsing through the newspapers in a vain attempt to delay the oncoming week. I was one such Sri Lankan.
Going out was too much of a hassle with all the security concerns. The detailed recounting of the recent twin bomb blasts checked all enthusiasm of having a rocking Sunday.
You can imagine my surprise on calling a friend and having her quietly ask me how come there was no action taken to stop the mass arrests. What arrests? I had browsed through all the usual Sunday newspapers and even stayed home the previous night and caught the news bulletin, but there was no word of any arrests. And surely if something worth knowing about was going on I’d have got a news alert on my mobile phone?
I hurriedly covered my shame at being caught out of the “news†and told her that what was happening was shameful and that I’d speak to someone about it and get back to her.
I’m recording this down now many hours later, hoping she will read this somewhere (if I manage to publish it at all) and not hold it against me that I never called her back.
The truth is that many other Sri Lankans didn’t have such a peaceful weekend. On the contrary, they had an eventful weekend spent trying to obtain a meeting with the police officers of the various stations in Colombo to prove that their relatives were wrongfully being taken in under suspicion of terrorism.
Unfortunately all the crying and pleading fell on deaf years as the police made arrangements to transfer almost 100 of the 132 people taken in under suspicion to Boosa.
Fearing the worst, the parents of those captured flocked to the police station in a vain attempt to prevent the dreaded transfer to Boosa.
But the police managed to affect the transfer by taking the captives through the rear entrance and transporting them in two buses under escort of four armoured vehicles.
According to police sources, they were acting on the instruction of their seniors, when they rounded up Tamil speaking Sri Lankans all over the island and took them to Boosa.
Distraught parents arranged for buses to take them to Temple Trees to plead with HE the President on behalf of their loved ones, only to be told that they should not trouble themselves as HE was busy and would not be able to meet with them.
I can understand the security concerns given the last week’s tragic incidents. But surely when parents turn up at police stations with all manner of proof to show that they are indeed legitimate residents of the area through birth certificates, school certificates and all manner of documentation, they can be allowed to meet with the relevant authorities?
Afterall past experience tells me that captured terrorists have ready their cyanide capsules and will not hesitate to use it if captured. Or maybe sending people to pose as family members and forging proof of legitimacy to plead their release is a new and cunning terrorist plot.
It is Monday already and I’ve only managed to see one paragraph on the action that is planned by a concerned authority against what is called “indiscriminate arrestsâ€Â. Very neat and vague. I haven’t spoken to any of my contacts in the civil society but it is apparent that other than them, no one else knows what happened and what has been done (or not) to remedy this shameful situation. The rest of us continue in ignorance after the popular adage that ignorance is bliss.
I was able to get the details only off Asian Tribune and an Australian online news portal that already around 1500 people have been arrested. Apparently the police and other authorities are not commenting on the situation, but it is understood that almost 400 people are being sent to the Boosa Detention Centre with a further 38 being held in the Kalutura prisons under emergency law. Many others are also held in various police stations, but families are unable to obtain any details of their loved ones.
I wonder that the news publications I read, carried all manner of stories, but failed to have even one line in some obscure corner of their publication which let the general public know what was happening around them.
I have often posed the question of “varying news†and “no news†to many media persons and I am faced with their unarguable response that the matter is too politically sensitive to talk about and they don’t want to court danger.
But I wonder then, what then is news reporting? Isn’t it just simply and truthfully reporting facts as they are? I can imagine that news stories may be the journalists’ interpretation of events. But surely we Sri Lankans have the right to read some good old truths? We do enjoy Carl Muller’s portrayal of society with all its dark and incestuous plots? Somewhat unpleasant to be discussed in public but true nevertheless? Sure we have the right to know what happens in our backyards?
I wonder at the comfortable ignorance the majority of us enjoy being in. We don’t want to be perceived as “not in the in†so we have cable TV, maybe an internet connection or maybe even a subscription to receive news alerts so that we have access to news from all over the world. But we don’t seem too perturbed by the fact that maybe something is happening right under our noses. We don’t mind that we may be the last ones to know. Some of us even don’t mind never knowing at all.
After my news alerts facility became a paid one, I thought I’d not think too much about the cost (in addition to all the other levies etc on my phone bill) and keep it as it would be useful to be in the loop. But as a paying customer I feel slightly let down that I was not informed and instead was made to look like a fool when my friend asked me if I had not heard. I’m seriously considering unsubscribing and I’m miffed that I didn’t save the details of how one should go about doing so.
I can’t help wondering if indeed Sri Lanka is two different countries, or maybe even two different planets, let alone two different states. I wonder where all those who clamour to preserve their motherland as a unitary state and preserve it’s sovereignty know that there very efforts may be creating a divide that all the well-intentioned rhetoric in the world will never be able to put together.
Sri Lankan special military and police squads are continuing to arrest Tamils across Sri Lanka, particularly in capital Colombo and in the districts in south, by conducting cordon and search operation. Tamil parliamentarians in Colombo on Sunday told media that the number of detainees has risen to 1,500 over the last 48 hours.
This wholesale arrest of Tamils have caused serious anger among the minority community, forcing them to take to street. Sources said over 350 have been arrested in Colombo, of whom 51 are females and they are now detained at Boosa detention camp.
Read more here Sri Lanka: Arrest of Tamils continues, detention camps overcrowded, detainees rises to 1,500
Probably the first news service to cover this was, again, TamilNet, where I saw this on Saturday (posted 01 December 2007, 12:25 GMT). But of course that’s only accessible by proxy server because it’s still blocked in this country. The pieces coming together?
The arrests on Friday were reported in the Sunday Times and the Nation on the front page. Have not heard anything of arrests on the weekend.
The problem, we, in Sri Lanka have to face all of the time is the “after the event” panic syndrome that runs through the administration and security authorities, which is then, usually, forgotten after a lapse of time.
There seems to be no properly managed professional pre-emptive control mechanisms in place to be able to detect and arrest would be suicide bombers or those involved in terrorist activities. The authorities do not seem to possess the kind of resources to be able to do this in an effective manner.
Some may choose to claim that he vigilance of these personnel may have saved some lives by their ability to detect and arrest some individuals. However this isn’t enough, no doubt.
The hassling of innocent civilians after the event has become a norm noiw and I doubt it wll ever fade away even after this ethnic conflict has been resolved, if it ever will, that is?
We are all lost in a totally distasteful state of hate and animosity towards one another that we might as well be cut up into smaller states for each of the communities and groups to live by ourslves with our own.
What a ghastly shame for humanity in this age and time!
todays Daily Mirror has a story that 500 were arrested.
There is and always have been two sides to the story. Certain elements of the so called “civil” society with their own political agenda’s would continue to paint it which ever they want.
No doubt there are two sides to every story. My problem here is that most times there is no story. I’m also not worried about anyone’s political agenda or the lack of it. My worry is that most of us don’t seem to be able to have any agendas, including the agenda of being able to just move about freely in our own country. In fact the wrongs against us are hidden away like dirty secrets as if we are the wrong doers. I just want to know why I have to bow my head and take it and be safe and what not. If this equals having an agenda then so be it.
Well fernandopulle mentioned 1000 people detained under suspicion today (not 500) in parliament from over the weekend, so the story is still not clear to us, and very few have reported the figures. He then went on to talk about the reasons why they did so. But I agree that it is sad that such stories are not jumped on by the media, and that that needs to change.
You mention the sms news alerts, and your disappointment with the lack of updates on the arrests. Well, do you know that Reuters news agency which was initially the news provider to dialog withdrew from their contract after refusing to abide by the official parameters that restricted the dissemination of certain news items. Since then, Derana has been appointed as the news provider.
Kaladay: is it really ‘after the event’? Mobilizing that many security personnel that quickly can’t be easy. In addition, information I’ve heard is that those being sent to Boosa specifically carry NICs that indicate they originate from Vavuniya or the Wanni.
If it’s true, that means there’s a large-scale screening process going on, with set objectives already defined. (And if that’s the case, maybe those from Jaffna, who are now living in the south, are next?)
Without detailed media reports it’s difficult to know if that information on the screening of detainees is entirely accurate. But whatever the case, it does seem like quite a coordinated, planned process.
Perhaps the plans have existed for a while, but the bombings were the event that allowed them to be put in motion? It may not be as random or reactive as we think. It would be interesting to have investigative coverage on how these decisions have been taken and implemented. However I’m sure that kind of coverage would be deemed to violate national security, and so won’t make the media in that form.
Most coverage will probably involve reporting the statements of political figures, such as Fernandopulle, or Mano Ganeshan. That will give journalists some coverage in the face of ongoing threats against the media, because they’ll only be reporting what high-profile leaders say, which means the journalist him- or herself won’t be so much of a potential individual target.
However that also means that the majority of media coverage will automatically be politicised, and that the public will rely on statements from one or two independent high-profile figures, like Ganeshan, to hear any criticism of the process. As a consequence, independent, unpoliticised investigation and coverage of what is a major human rights issue is unlikely to take place on a significant scale.
Do others also see the dynamic of security measures and media coverage in this way? I’d be interested to hear different views and analysis on this.
We are NOT living under normal circumstances. This is a country at war.
In such situation DO NOT EXPECT TO HAVE ALL CIVIL LIBERTIES.
This is not main street Amsterdam on a Sunday afternoon. This is Nugegoda, Sri Lanka where a bomb exploded killing 20 civilians including school children.
What do you expect?
(Kadalay: apologies for the typing mistake in spelling your name in my previous post.)
i agree with NUSA..
obviously this is could hae been controlled better if the security forces started screening people coming in from wanni atpoint of crossing itself……….
ideally, that would be better with a regular checking possible when they come to colombo.
also , the people who come to colombohas a civic duty to go and register with the police as this is not a normal time – wonder if ever there was any proactiveness in that way from these people?
rmk, It is very interesting to hear your views. This is exactly what I’m trying to understand. We have many brave and righteous people in Sri Lanka. And we also have many people who go on strike at the drop of a hat. But I haven’t seen one single person (I’m talking about the general public at large and not the activists and politicians etc) go out and say enough. Enough of this. Enough of keeping me in the dark and playing your games. Enough of playing with my life.
Probably registering would be a good idea. However there is no convenient manner of doing so. The people who are required to register are those whose mother tongue is Tamil. But there is no facility to register either in English or Tamil. No one is able to communicate with these people when they do go to Police stations.
Also doesn’t the whole registering business kind of infer that they are aliens? ie. from a different state?
When a bomb blasts in Colombo, everything goes “ballistic”. More than reasonable number of Tamils are always arrested and locked up in prison cells because the armed forces see in every Tamil a “Tiger” and infact a “big Tiger” after any blast!
The arrests are not with the serious intent for investigation, but as an act of “collective punishment” on all Tamils, for seeking an Independent Tamil Eelam.
Anti Tamil Violence since 1958 were instigated by politicians in the South, just because the Tamils of the North East were asking for their legitimate right to rule themselves. At that time Sinhala civilans caused murder, arson, destruction of property and displacements.
Now the same aspects of murder, arson, destruction of property and displacements of civilians are being done by the paid soldiers of the state. They have taken over anti Tamil Violence from the Sinhala civilians.
Further, anti Tamil violence was intermittent but now it is continuous under the military. It is a daily occurence.
United Sri Lanka is a myth or a pipe dream. With anti Tamil violence daily by the state, an independent sovereign state for the Tamils proves inevitable. It is Tamil Eelam that can restore the dignity and self respect of Tamils.
See my post on Sunday titled ‘Stonic silence over arrest of Tamils’ http://guruchetra.blogspot.com/2007/12/stonic-silence-over-arrest-of-tamils.html
I commented on the silence that the English media maintained over the arrests here on my blog in a post on Sunday
http://guruchetra.blogspot.com/2007/12/stonic-silence-over-arrest-of-tamils.html
Since 1994, I traveled more than thirty times between the two States – Sri Lanka and North of Thamil Eelam up to November 2007. The borders changed back and forth between Thandikulam and Puliyankulam and the “No Person’s Land” increased and decreased. During the Ceasefire, the border customs and immigration were like between two friendly states.
Between 1947 and 1982 I travelled between two Virtual States – The land of the Tamils and Ceylon. No customs and no immigration. I say virtual two states, because when you travel by train or by bus, from Colombo, after Anuradhapuram there are no Sinhala passengers. The Tamils who were more or less silent and docile, become loud and animated with their discussions in Tamil. The reverse is true when traveling to Colombo from Jaffna.
This phenomenon was a common topic and amusement among us schoolboys who observe such behaviour of Tamils. What is happening is that the virtual had become a reality due to the racism of successive GOSL and subsequent armed resistance by the Tamils.
When and how will it all end is anyones guess. But if one believes that the Tamils will bow down to tyranny they need to review the history of the last 50 years.
As long as the GOSL bombs LTTE areas where tamil civilians also reside, there will probably be ‘NOLIMIT’ to bombs being set off by the LTTE in colombo and other areas!
In the aftermath of these bombs…very soon the GOSL might open up concentration camps and fill them up with innocent tamils like Hitler did to the jews.
Does anybody know how successful these measures are? As mentioned earlier, the decision to implement these measures was probably made in the heat of the moment. Is there a viable alternative to these methods?