groundviews » An Eye for an Eye, a Bomb for a Bomb

An Eye for an Eye, a Bomb for a Bomb

May 27, 2008 at 6:00 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict | by The Under Dog

A bomb on a train in Dehiwela killed 9 civilians, including a pregnant woman. The Sri Lankan government blames the LTTE; they deny it. Three days earlier, a claymore attack on van deep in LTTE territory killed 16 civilians, including 5 children. The LTTE blames the Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lankan army; they deny it. In February, a bomb on a bus in Dambulla killed 20, while a bomb at the Colombo Fort railway station killed 12, including 8 children from the baseball team at D.S. Senanayake College and a 12-year-old girl. The LTTE was blamed for both attacks; they denied it. A few days earlier, a claymore mine attack on a bus in the LTTE-controlled area of Madhu killed 20 children. The LTTE blamed the Sri Lankan army; they denied it. And on and on it goes.

Life in Sri Lanka seems to follow the Old Testament of the Bible: “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

We can add: “bomb for bomb.”

It has been this way for some time. It started with the Sinhala Only Act of 1956, a blatantly racist piece of legislation passed by the Sri Lankan Freedom Party, which made Sinhala the sole official language of Sri Lanka. Tamil politicians protested peacefully that it was unfair; they were ignored and ridiculed. The racism fermented by the act exploded in anti-Tamil riots in 1958. By the 1970s, pissed off young Tamils in the North armed themselves and formed militant groups. In May 1981, Tamil militants killed two Sinhalese policemen. The response was swift: that night, policemen and goons from the then ruling United National Party burnt the Jaffna Public Library, destroying a priceless collection of books and documents. In July 1983, the LTTE ambushed and killed15 Sinhalese army soldiers in Jaffna; the response was a massive nationwide anti-Tamil riot that killed over 1000 Tamil civilians. Tamils fled Sri Lanka en masse, creating a Diaspora that willingly (at first) funded the Tamil militancy. The LTTE, a little known group in the 70s grew in to a brutally efficient beast that breathed hatred and bombs.

It’s been 25 years since the race riots of 1983, and it’s been a tit for tat game of them killing us and us killing them. A part of that game has been played on the battlefield with conventional forces, but innocent civilians are often caught in the crossfire. Bullets and artillery can’t tell combatant from non-combatant. And bombs, smart as they are today, are not that smart-the occasional ‘surgical strike’ by our air force does kill civilians too.

So how do we find our way out of this mess? Some politicians speak of military victories, others of political settlements. But it really comes down to us, the ones who vote for them. For it wasn’t Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who passed the Sinhala Only Act-it was the people who voted for his communal brand of politics. The fact is that those who fight this war now are too young to remember 1983, let alone 1956. Who started what doesn’t matter any more. We just remember the last bomb, and most of us want to give it back to them in kind.

The government tells us that these acts of terror should strengthen our resolve to fight harder, to defeat and vanquish the LTTE forever. In the aftermath of our terrorist acts against them, the LTTE tells the people of the North that their only hope is to fight until they achieve Eelam. Both sides say the same thing: fight to the end, fight to win. Will this really solve anything?

Perhaps we should try something different. Perhaps it’s time to think about the words of a man that many in this island claim to follow, but few bother to understand:

“Victory breeds hatred. The defeated live in pain. Happily the peaceful live, giving up victory and defeat.”

Verse 201, The Dhammapada, uttered by the Buddha

Some links for those with strong stomachs:

29^th January: Attack on bus carrying children in LTTE-controlled Madhu

2nd February: Dambulla bus bomb blast

3rd February: Colombo Fort Station bomb blast

23rd May: 16 civilians killed in blast in N Sri Lanka

26^th May: Dehiwala train blast kills eight

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Ekcol said,

May 29, 2008 @ 12:29 pm

Under Dog
“The LTTE, a little known group in the 70s grew in to a brutally efficient beast that breathed hatred and bombs.” How would you describe the fifty years of State Terror?
The Ceylon and Sri Lanka governments since 1948 gave birth to the LTTE. True, the Tamils both in and outside the Island nurtured them because Tamils wanted to regain their sovereignty so that they can once again govern themselves and protect themselves from Sri Lanka aggression.

The SL govts since 1956 began brutalising the Tamils who had no recourse to law, and since 1972 could not appeal to the Privy Council. The 1977 genocide of Tamils caused the LTTE to strike back. The government and the Sinhala thugs struck back with the 1983 Genocide. The LTTE struck back. Then the SL govt began systematic subjugation of Tamils. The LTTE would not let that happen.

Now you see the results of two communities conducting the war of sovereignties. Until people in Sri Lanka accept that there are two sovereign communities exist in the Island, the violent conflict of sovereignties will go on. For every Tamil killed, the sequence of events show that the LTTE will reciprocate. Tamils will not turn the other cheek to an oppressor who is bent on genocide.

Seara Kumar said,

May 30, 2008 @ 8:30 am

Excellent article with true passion for a way out of this mess.
The mind set on both sides need to change.
As Gandhi said ” eye for an eye makes a whole world blind”
In my opinion a true federal system would be the best solution where both communities of the conflict become winners.

nandasena said,

May 31, 2008 @ 7:58 am

Fairly reasonable article. Most sinhalese start the history of the Tamil struggle from the time convenient for them. ie to show that the Govt. treated the Tamils equaly , but the Tamils wanted a seperate state. No mention about the several pogroms against the Tamils!! They also mention that the Tamils are living “happily” in Colombo and other areas. They forget to mention the hardships and degrading treatment the Tamils receive at the hands of the security forces in Colombo and other areas!! They are living in Colombo because they cannot live in the Tamil areas due to the ill treatment of the STATE SPONSORED paramilitaries. Some of them are their because they are driven out of their house by the Security forces in the name of establishing high security zones.

You mention that the ” The LTTE, a little known group in the 70s grew in to a brutally efficient beast that breathed hatred and bombs” But fail to mention the brutality of the govt. against the Tamils. The state sponsored abductions, arrests of innocent people, inprisonment of Tamils without charges for ages, torture, extra judicial kllings etc.etc. DELIBERATE aerial bombardment of schools, churches and villages knowing very well that they are civilian areas. Not bringing to trial the security forces responsible for mass graves, rapes, torture etc. In fact these officers were given promotions or sent as ambassadors.

During the CFA, the GOVT. refused to consider the ISGA suggested by the LTTE. Now they are propping up the ARMED TMVP in the east despite their proven record of abductions, killings, torture. It is not a secret how they won the election. (It is not free and fair by any standards) Of course it is anybodys guess that the TMVP will be thrown out once the GOVT.’s agenda of genocide against the Tamils is carried out through the TMVP!!

How can the Tamils trust any government. Even the supreme court in Sri Lanka sways according to the whims and fancies of the ruling party!!

sarath Fernando said,

June 6, 2008 @ 6:30 pm

The most rational way to stop the war and have a settlemnt is to make the war unnecessary. All rational mined people whether they are sinhala, Tamil or Muslim will agree that allowing people in various regions and of various cultural backgrounds to rule themselves and to plan thier owm economy and development process would not be and need not be against the interests of any other group.

Even if you look at other groups in the country such as plantation workers in hill country, the fisher people in the Northern or in the southern and Western coast or the farmers in Monaragala, Anuradhapura or any where else would do better if they are given the oppotunity to decide and plan for themselves, rather than their being under planning by Central governments that are only planning to plunder people and their nature’s resources.

So, the majority community , the Sinhala must begin a campaign to pressurinze both sides in war to stop their “eye for an eye” approach and to grant this right to all communities to plan, decide and govern themselves which would make this war “unnecessary”. No group can sustain a war unless they can justify it “as necessary”

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