The recent massacre of a family in Delgoda gripped the attention of the media recently. Reports today indicate that several houses of those suspected to be behind the massacre were torched by the local community. I link this senseless violence and brutality to society that is no longer moved by these events.

Sensationalism aside, do we really care? The Delgoda incident, the numbers of those killed in the battlefield, criminals shot by the Police, those abducted and murdered by persons unknown - we seem to be drawn to the events themselves, but are unable to see the clear erosion of a larger humanity.

All this, I argue, at a time when religious fervour is at unprecedented heights.

This is a sombre reflection, that I toiled on for hours this morning - because it is difficult to really capture the loss of a humane, civil society and what it is today - a traumatised society where we are all aggressors, and all of us victims. This violence - senseless and overwhelming - needs to stop.

But I end my article with no real answer as to how we can do this.

Read my full article, in Sinhala, here.

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