A Future with Hope?

By Shanie
Couretsy: The Island

Somewhere in these unending wastes
of delirium is a lost child,
speaking of Long Ago
in the language of wounds.
Tomorrow, perhaps,
he will come to himself in Heaven,
But here Grief turns her silence,
neither in this direction,
nor in that, nor for any reason.
And her coldness now
is on the earth forever.

(January 02, Colombo, Sri Lnaka Guardian) It is said that in the little Portuguese town of Sagres, located in the southwesternmost part of the European continent, there is an old lighthouse that looks out into the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. In the old days, the people believed there was no land west of that point. So they placed huge boulders on the side of the cliff and wrote letters on it that could be read from passing ships. The letters spelt out Ne Plus Ultra - No More Beyond. When some years later news was received of Columbus' successful discovery of land beyond the Atlantic Ocean, the people of Sagres quickly removed the boulders that carried the letters 'Ne' so the boulders now spelt out the words Plus Ultra – More Beyond!

With accusations and counter-accusations flying around with abandon and with scarce regard for caution in the current Presidential Election campaign, there certainly is more beyond. The war against the LTTE ended more than seven months ago. The Government claimed that the war was won with zero civilian casualties and that it took great care to adhere to international humanitarian laws and human rights protocol. Independent journalists and all non-governmental agencies had been barred from entering the war zones. There were no independent means of verification of these claims – or so the Government and many others thought. Many opined that the truth will never emerge. But almost as soon as the war ended, stories by eye witnesses and even video evidence began to filter out. We now have to tear out the words Ne and retain only Plus Ultra. There is More Beyond. The eye witness accounts reported by the University Teachers for Human Rights and by journalist D B S Jeyaraj cannot be wished away. Neither can the video evidence. The eye witness accounts could only have come from civilians or security force personnel or even LTTE cadres – anyone with a conscience. They can only be challenged if there is a credible inquiry by independent investigators. This may not be the time for such an investigation but it needs to be held sooner or later if Sri Lanka is to regain its stature among the international comity of nations.

Tens of thousands have died during this war, among them civilians, security force personnel and LTTE cadres. Many more have been injured or disabled. They and their families continue to suffer trauma and loss. Time may bring some sort of healing but death and permanent disability cannot be undone. It is this sense of loss that W H Auden referred to in his For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratario written in 1945 soon after the end of the second world war, quoted at the beginning of this column. Many families of those who died will claim that the loss of their loved ones were avoidable. If they believe or know that they were killed in cold blood, it brings a chill that will be with them for ever. It is the same emotion that lives with those whose loved ones were killed in cold blood by the different actors in the war over the years – killed purely because of their ethnicity. Now that the war is over and when the heat of the election battles are also over, we owe it the dead and the bereaved to conduct an independent investigation, on the lines of a truth and reconciliation commission. The objective should be for all of us to come to terms with ourselves and ensure that such incidents will not ever happen again.

Whose Betrayal?

Another accusation that is being used with gay abandon is that of a betrayal. Thomas Ehrich is an American clergyman and writer. He has written that not only man-made disasters and acts of terrorism, but even natural disasters like the tsunami, the fifth anniversary of which we observed last week, reveal underlying disarray: failed systems, corruption and incompetence, squandered resources with the cumulative impact falling hardest on the poor. It is this that signals betrayal by forces that mean us ill. Trust is broken, confidence is lost and our sense of a greater good is gone. What Ehrich wrote about the betrayal following Hurricane Katrina in the US is true of the Tsunami fall-out here: 'official (and political) incompetence, callousness and skewed priorities. Justice issues emerge , as the clean-up reveals inequitable distribution of concern and activity, not to mention goods and services. Systems that were supposed to work for all end up working for only a few. The dismay and doubt caused by such betrayal do not dissipate once the crisis passes. They fester and make people uncooperative and unwilling to sacrifice for a common good. The common good doesn't work for me, so why should I sacrifice for it?'

Five years after the tsunami, there are still several victims in the East and North who have yet to be provided housing and rehabilitation, while even non-victims have received housing in other districts. Questions have been raised about billions of rupees reportedly unaccounted for. Corruption has gradually been on the increase over the years and seems to have reached unprecedented levels now. This is the greatest betrayal of the country.

Ehrich continues: "Once we name the betrayal, we need to deal with the consequences. This will take us directly into the political realm, for failed social systems are generally a consequence of inept and/or corrupt leadership. In a sense, an electorate that pays scant attention to politics, especially at the nuts-and-bolts level , gets what it deserves. If we don't demand better from our leaders, why are we surprised when they let us down? Even if we didn't make the cruel and self-serving decisions that caused our suffering, we allowed the stage to be set.

Consequences require diligent follow-through. The politicians who betray their office must be held accountable on Election Day. We cannot just shrug it off and resume our normal pursuits. Betrayal changes things.

Most of us will experience betrayal in some form or another. It will hurt us. It will diminish us. We can overcome the sting of it if we are thoughtful, engaged and committed. The aftermath of life's storms can be better days if we allow better days to occur."

Tamils and the Election

The Tamils (and the Muslims) seem to be receiving some gratuitous advice from persons with their own political agendas. At one stage, political agendas of that time demanded that the LTTE be absolved of the killing of Rajani Thiranagama; now a different political agenda advices the Tamils to turn away from the negative nationalist politics that they are alleged to have followed in the past. The political crisis that has divided the Tamil and the Sinhala communities politically has been caused by insensitive political leadership from both communities. Leaders, including the present leader, who had the opportunity to bring about peace, reconciliation and a just solution to the national question, have failed us and the country. Extreme nationalists from both communities have been calling the shots and liberal politicians and intellectuals have unfortunately been intimidated into silence.

It is, therefore, a welcome development for some concerned Tamil professionals to come forward to provide an apolitical leadership to their community. Devanesan Nesiah, the former civil servant, C. V. Wigneswaran, a former Supreme Court Judge, Kumar David and Rajan Phillips, both academics, have urged that the Tamils participate fully in the forthcoming Presidential Election. This is exactly the kind of able leadership that professionals can offer their communities. All four are men of integrity and known for their liberal and enlightened views. Wigneswaran was among those nominated to the Constitutional Council by consensus between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, and well regarded for his independent judgements from the Supreme Court. Nesiah, David and Philips are intellectuals well known to newspaper readers for their liberal and thoughtful analysis of developments in the country. They have rightly urged that the Tamils should neither boycott the Election nor deliberately spoil their ballot. They have also urged that at least their second preference vote, if not the first, should be for one of the two main contenders. This column believes that this is the right advice not only to the Tamils but to all citizens of the country. We have to thoughtfully make our choice and make it count – is it to be 'business as usual' or 'a time for change'?