Glad you enjoyed the article. There are a few organizations that continue to spread understanding, promote debate and encourage greater communication amongst people and communities. Groundviews is one of them. Young Asia Television is another. I am sure there are more. But doing this comes at a price – I know many journalists and writers who express any kind of dissent now fear for their own safety. Their reputations are slandered, their organizations are threatened, their lives are endangered. It’s not right, it’s not fair, but that is the environment we live in today. So, that being the case, it’s no wonder that people/organizations are reluctant to gear their material towards bringing out different perspectives and promoting greater understanding. Self censorship has unfortunately become a tool of survival.

P. Subasi:

Thanks for your comment, but I have to disagree. I *have* thought of the other side of the fence. I’ve said in my article that it’s not only the Sinhala people that need to change. It is everyone in this country, regardless of what ethnicity they belong to. I also said that the incident with my friend and the policeman could have been a one-off, but probably wasn’t – which, I think, is the truth. Still, I didn’t say it was the case with each and every officer. I admire the men and women who have fought for this country, and for what they think is right. But ‘getting angry and crossing boundaries’ is not an excuse for harming innocent people and spreading racial hatred. I certainly do not endorse it. Nor should you. Also, you give the impression that Tamils=LTTE sympathizers=LTTE. I think it’s much more complex than that. It is precisely these prejudices that we must recognize in ourselves and look to change. It is not only that I want to protect my friend – which I do – but also that I think we should all want to protect each other from the harm that could come from letting hatred and suspicion continue unchecked amongst all our communities.

Nalaka:

Thanks very much for this comment. I have replied you in full via email so I won’t say much more here. But thank you – you have encouraged me a lot with what you have said.

Shamin:

Very well put. I always get checked at airports as well, for what they call “random” checks. It’s pretty clear that the checks are anything but random. It’s a difficult line to draw – between what is necessary and what is discriminatory and hurtful. I don’t have the answer to your question, I’m afraid. But I’m glad that you brought it up.

Perhaps not as eloquently, but I too hinted at this in a blog post written in the very week that our prolonged war ended: Us and Them: Sri Lanka’s first landmine on the road to peace…
http://movingimages.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/us-and-them-sri-lankas-first-landmine-on-the-road-to-peace/

I returned to this theme in an essay published on GV in January this year, just before the Presidential Election, on the 250th day of our Peace: http://www.groundviews.org/2010/01/22/26-january-2010-%E2%80%98open-moment%E2%80%99-closed-minds/

This is indeed our big challenge, and little bridges built and sustained by people like you will be one way to overcome this.

PS: Please keep writing from the heart. I hope you will never allow academese to creep into your future writing and make it crusty like so much else that we get to read on Groundviews and elsewhere…

What about a social marketing campaign through TV and media in all three langauges? Depicting exacly these kinds of vigenettes of everyday life where our own sisters’ and brothers’ rights or feelings are being violated and showing that there can be another way, a better way…that we are all human beings who have a sense of dignity and want to be respected. Inspirational stories, humorous stories that people can relate to and will be touched.

Orgnizations such as Groundviews, Sri Lanka First and others could spearhead this? The private sector could support this? If any of these organizations start fund-raising for such an effort, many of us will gladly contribute.