Defeating Medusa.
May. 19th, 2009 09:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladymirthThose of you who follow the world news know that there's a lot happening in Sri Lanka right now. The terrorist leader Vellupilai Prabhakaran, who has terrorized the nation for the past 26 years with his LTTE guerrilla organization, has reportedly been killed and all the land that has been annexed by them for 20 years been retaken by the Sri Lankan Army. It's purported to be a final end to the years of atrocities and fear that has stunted this country's economic and infrastructural development since the 80s. There are celebrations in the streets, fireworks from all sides and Friday has been declared a national holiday. The Commander in Cheif of the Army, His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksha has been declared the nation's favourite son, and they are carrying poster slogans of him which proclaims him to be "King Mahinda". It's suuposed to be a pretty damn big day for the Singhalese.
For me? Not so much. I'm glad that that monster is dead, and I hope he died painfully. I'm thankful to our boys on the front lines for having unified the entire island for the first time in a quarter of a century.
But despite claims that the LTTE was merely Prabhakran's personality cult, to me, his death is merely the cutting of a head of Medusa - another one will grow back in its place. This country has been riddled with violence and insecurity ever since 1972, first with the JVP revolts and the ensuing political unrest and constantly with religious and ethnic unrest. This entire war was a result of the 1983 riots, which were incited when 13 Singhalese soldiers were killed by the LTTE (which was at the time little more than a gang of thugs hated by their own). Singhalese hot-heads retaliated by hunting down and lynching innocent Tamil civilians by the hundreds while the Singhalese settled in Tamil areas were run out of their homes. Droves of Tamils migrated to other countries as politcal refugees with the enduring image the Singhalese as murderers in their hearts (to this day those Tamils call the Singhalese "Sinha-ban", as in Taliban) and the persecuted Tamils ran into the arms of the LTTE, who promised to protect and avenge them. Overnight, we had ourselves created a monster that would take the lives of hundreds of thousands of our soldiers and civilians in the name of that blood debt.
There are those who see the beginning of Independence on this day. I see a dangerously powerful government headed by a leader who himself is becoming a cult personality. Every single time we've had a political leader that was this powerful, their ego ballooned tosuch a degree that it pressed on their brain cells and they ended up making decisions that screwed the country for the rest of time. I see the voices of caution and much-needed checks and balances becoming weaker and weaker. I foresee the rise of nationalism, and with it rampant fundamentalism and racism taking root amongst our people. I see my people refusing to acknowledge or learn from past mistakes. I see growing hostilities between ourselves and the international community, culminating in devastating trade bans and the refusal of the IMF loan that we so desperately need (btw, fuck you very much, Hillary Clinton). I see war refugees being interned and mistreated, festering more inter-racial hatred until a new wave of terrorists are begot within their ranks. I see pro-LTTE factions rising up and retaliating all over the world. I see terrorist witch-hunts that eventually lead to pogroms against the minorities until rioting once again breaks out and the vicious cycle starts again...
Maybe I'm being as skeptical and jaded as only the young can be. But how can you blame me? My entire generation grew up with this war. We learned to live knowing that each day might be our last. And now, are we supposed to rearrange our mindset and suddenly learn to trust our leaders justbecause they flipped a switch and said, "ding-dong, the witch is dead"? It's a known fact that Prabhakaran's son escaped to Malaysia, not to mention the untold numbers of LTTE sleepers scattered all over the world and in the suburbs of Colombo. How long before they form splinter factions and regroup to avenge their fallen leader? Ten years? Twenty? Just in time to draft our own children into another war?
For me, one of the most horrifying scenes in Greek Literature is the one in Euripides' Women of Troy where Hector's baby son Astyanax is wrenched from his imploring mother Andromache's arms and thrown off the battlements to his death, because the Greeks are afriad the boy will grow up to avenge his father. I've always thanked any gods that were still around that that sort of thing wouldn't happen today - and then I realized that actually, it would, only it would be done quietly and without alerting the press. What guarantee do we have that our politicians would not have quietly disposed of Prabhakaran and his lieutenants children, whether they were full-grown rebels or babies? And yet, wouldn't it be inevitable that these children would grow up with hate in their hearts for their fathers' killers?
Medusa, in the end, could only be defeated and killed by being made to see the reflection of her own horrible face. And until the Sri Lankan people, Tamil, Singhala or Muslim, realize their vengeful, righteous chest-thumping for the evil that it is, peace and prosperity will only ever continue to be a dream for this country.
As for you, "King Mahinda"...beware the Ides of March!
For me? Not so much. I'm glad that that monster is dead, and I hope he died painfully. I'm thankful to our boys on the front lines for having unified the entire island for the first time in a quarter of a century.
But despite claims that the LTTE was merely Prabhakran's personality cult, to me, his death is merely the cutting of a head of Medusa - another one will grow back in its place. This country has been riddled with violence and insecurity ever since 1972, first with the JVP revolts and the ensuing political unrest and constantly with religious and ethnic unrest. This entire war was a result of the 1983 riots, which were incited when 13 Singhalese soldiers were killed by the LTTE (which was at the time little more than a gang of thugs hated by their own). Singhalese hot-heads retaliated by hunting down and lynching innocent Tamil civilians by the hundreds while the Singhalese settled in Tamil areas were run out of their homes. Droves of Tamils migrated to other countries as politcal refugees with the enduring image the Singhalese as murderers in their hearts (to this day those Tamils call the Singhalese "Sinha-ban", as in Taliban) and the persecuted Tamils ran into the arms of the LTTE, who promised to protect and avenge them. Overnight, we had ourselves created a monster that would take the lives of hundreds of thousands of our soldiers and civilians in the name of that blood debt.
There are those who see the beginning of Independence on this day. I see a dangerously powerful government headed by a leader who himself is becoming a cult personality. Every single time we've had a political leader that was this powerful, their ego ballooned tosuch a degree that it pressed on their brain cells and they ended up making decisions that screwed the country for the rest of time. I see the voices of caution and much-needed checks and balances becoming weaker and weaker. I foresee the rise of nationalism, and with it rampant fundamentalism and racism taking root amongst our people. I see my people refusing to acknowledge or learn from past mistakes. I see growing hostilities between ourselves and the international community, culminating in devastating trade bans and the refusal of the IMF loan that we so desperately need (btw, fuck you very much, Hillary Clinton). I see war refugees being interned and mistreated, festering more inter-racial hatred until a new wave of terrorists are begot within their ranks. I see pro-LTTE factions rising up and retaliating all over the world. I see terrorist witch-hunts that eventually lead to pogroms against the minorities until rioting once again breaks out and the vicious cycle starts again...
Maybe I'm being as skeptical and jaded as only the young can be. But how can you blame me? My entire generation grew up with this war. We learned to live knowing that each day might be our last. And now, are we supposed to rearrange our mindset and suddenly learn to trust our leaders justbecause they flipped a switch and said, "ding-dong, the witch is dead"? It's a known fact that Prabhakaran's son escaped to Malaysia, not to mention the untold numbers of LTTE sleepers scattered all over the world and in the suburbs of Colombo. How long before they form splinter factions and regroup to avenge their fallen leader? Ten years? Twenty? Just in time to draft our own children into another war?
For me, one of the most horrifying scenes in Greek Literature is the one in Euripides' Women of Troy where Hector's baby son Astyanax is wrenched from his imploring mother Andromache's arms and thrown off the battlements to his death, because the Greeks are afriad the boy will grow up to avenge his father. I've always thanked any gods that were still around that that sort of thing wouldn't happen today - and then I realized that actually, it would, only it would be done quietly and without alerting the press. What guarantee do we have that our politicians would not have quietly disposed of Prabhakaran and his lieutenants children, whether they were full-grown rebels or babies? And yet, wouldn't it be inevitable that these children would grow up with hate in their hearts for their fathers' killers?
Medusa, in the end, could only be defeated and killed by being made to see the reflection of her own horrible face. And until the Sri Lankan people, Tamil, Singhala or Muslim, realize their vengeful, righteous chest-thumping for the evil that it is, peace and prosperity will only ever continue to be a dream for this country.
As for you, "King Mahinda"...beware the Ides of March!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-19 01:40 pm (UTC)Speaking of which, I listened to an interview with a Sri Lankan government official today (I forget his name and the news page isn't updated with it yet), and when asked if he thought the Tamels had any reason to still feel resentment, anything that could cause them to take up arms in the future, he sidestepped the question and focused on how Prabhakaran was not democratically elected and was no true representative of the people. I think he meant that to imply that he was something of a freak accident that wouldn't happen again. Which would have sounded over-simplistic and unrealistic to me even without reading this. =/
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-19 06:35 pm (UTC)The international media and the government are both being pretty simplistic in their own extremes. If you listen to CNN and BBC, you'd probably think that SL was something like Iran, run by a racist, intolerant majority that drives its minorities to arms. (Needless to say, these reports are colored by the Tamil political refugees of the '83 riots, who have been nursing a massive chip on their shoulders for 20 years and still think that the Singhalese go around attacking Tamils at random). If you listen to the government channels, the government is painted as a conquering hero who has single-hadedly brought "peace" and inter-racial harmony to the nation against the obstructions of pro-LTTE sympathisers (which is pretty much the entire rest of the world, if you believe them).
Both these scenarios are pretty much removed from reality. Inter-racial tensions and racism still remain in the country, and it certainly has the potential for disaster. War atrocities have been committed from both sides, and brushed under the carpet. But Tamils in SL are not persecuted and discriminated against anywhere near what the international media says. And it's not just a case of the majority oppressing the minority - it's a case of mutual distrust and jealousy.
One thing that most of the rational Sri Lankans know and the Tamils living abroad have a hard time accepting - the LTTE has never stood for the interests of Tamils as a community, any more than Tamils in SL all support the LTTE. Whatever atrocities have been committed by the LTTE against the Singhalese, it's nowhere near the amount of harrasment they have dealt out to their own people. Tamils living abroad have been extorted from, entire families taken hostage, properties annexed and prepubscent Tamil children kidnapped on their way to school and forced into war training. I think it's safe t say that most SL Tamils hate the LTTE more than the Singhalese can even comprehend.
I actually supported Mahinda Rajapaksha's government, and approved of his no-holds-barred approach to the war, whatever else he's fucked up. The only reason I wanted him in power was because i knew he ws the best chance we had of finishing this once and for all. Unlike his predecessors, he actually delivered on that promise. For that, I respect him. But now that's done, I'd rather the opposition (which I loathe even more) pulled itself together and came back to power, since the UNP is the party halfway capable of handling a capitalist economy, which is pretty much fucked to shit right now.
Anyway, I'll be glad to make more balanced and comprehensive post in the morning, to give you a clearer picture of how it began and what it's like now. Meantime, here are a couple of links:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KE20Df03.html
http://ladymirth.livejournal.com/55141.html
http://ladymirth.livejournal.com/89200.html
http://ladymirth.livejournal.com/46426.html#cutid1
Sorry for the lack of solid information. I'll make it up to you in the morning. =)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-19 10:18 pm (UTC)I won't re-post, and I did take the original post with a grain of salt - you come right out and say that your generation has only ever known this war and that you're probably cynical in your speculation. In general situations don't turn out as dire as we fear they will. You're looking at trends and seeing where inertia would lead them, but you acknowledge that there are mitigating factors that can cause them to alter direction in ways you can't predict.
So if you're worried you did your country or this situation a disservice by writing out your perspective, you didn't, and I hope I didn't make you feel like you have to go out of your way to provide me with accurate info. I appreciate the links and I'll check them out. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-24 02:22 am (UTC)I didn't put up the info post since you said you didn't need it, but I might put one up soon anyway. Right now I'm a bit pre-occupied with my play - today's closing night. =)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-19 06:22 pm (UTC)It's happened every single time - one person acts as the hero and saves the country, the world from a horror, only to turn into a horror themselves later. And weird as it is, that's human nature, isn't it? It seems a million times worse to us because that person is in the public eye and it's generally expected that politicians, leaders, heroes be of superhuman nature.
Maybe it's our own fault for putting people on such a high pedestal. Surely if we didn't make such a big fuss about it all, it wouldn't hit us so hard when things go wrong again?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-24 02:32 am (UTC)One of my friends wrote her column in the paper about this same issue - why we don't need heroes.
And honestly, I have my grave doubts whether our illustrious President and his Generals are the "heroes" they are made out to be. I know for a fact that prominent newpspaper editor Lasanthha Wickramathunge was mysteriously shot dead a week before he was about to do an expose on Army Commander Sarath Fonseka taking bribes and cuts from foreign arms dealers. Of course, that little tid bit didn't even make mainstream news afterwards.
As far as I'm concerned, the real world has no heroes. There all just men and women, and some of them have less humanity than others.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-24 01:47 pm (UTC)The real world has no heroes, you're right. At least, no heroes for the rest of the world - you wanna be a hero, you can only be one for yourself.