The silent horror of the war in Sri Lanka
by Arundhati Roy
The
horror that is unfolding in Sri Lanka becomes possible because of the silence
that surrounds it. There is almost no reporting in the mainstream Indian media —
or indeed in the international press — about what is happening there. Why this
should be so is a matter of serious concern. From the little information that is
filtering through it looks as though the Sri Lankan government is using the
propaganda of the ‘war on terror’ as a fig leaf to dismantle any semblance of
democracy in the country, and commit unspeakable crimes against the Tamil
people. Working on the principle that every Tamil is a terrorist unless he or
she can prove otherwise, civilian areas, hospitals and shelters are being bombed
and turned into a war zone. Reliable estimates put the number of civilians
trapped at over 200,000. The Sri Lankan Army is advancing, armed with tanks and
aircraft.
Meanwhile, there are official reports that several ‘‘welfare villages’’ have
been established to house displaced Tamils in Vavuniya and Mannar districts.
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph (Feb 14, 2009), these villages
‘‘will be compulsory holding centres for all civilians fleeing the fighting’’.
Is this a euphemism for concentration camps? The former foreign minister of Sri
Lanka, Mangala Samaraveera, told The Daily Telegraph:
‘‘A few months ago the government started registering all Tamils in Colombo on
the grounds that they could be a security threat, but this could be exploited
for other purposes like the Nazis in the 1930s. They’re basically going to label
the whole civilian Tamil population as potential terrorists.’’
Given its stated objective of ‘‘wiping out’’ the LTTE, this malevolent collapse
of civilians and ‘‘terrorists’’ does seem to signal that the government of Sri
Lanka is on the verge of committing what could end up being genocide. According
to a UN estimate several thousand people have already been killed. Thousands
more are critically wounded. The few eyewitness reports that have come out are
descriptions of a nightmare from hell. What we are witnessing, or should we say,
what is happening in Sri Lanka and is being so effectively hidden from public
scrutiny, is a brazen, openly racist war. The impunity with which the Sri Lankan
government is being able to commit these crimes actually unveils the deeply
ingrained racist prejudice, which is precisely what led to the marginalization
and alienation of the Tamils of Sri Lanka in the first place. That racism has a
long history, of social ostracisation, economic blockades, pogroms and torture.
The brutal nature of the decades-long civil war, which started as a peaceful,
non-violent protest, has its roots in this.
Why the silence? In another interview Mangala Samaraveera says, ‘‘A free media
is virtually non-existent in Sri Lanka today.’’
Samaraveera goes on to talk about death squads and ‘white van abductions’, which
have made society ‘‘freeze with fear’’. Voices of dissent, including those of
several journalists, have been abducted and assassinated. The International
Federation of Journalists accuses the government of Sri Lanka of using a
combination of anti-terrorism laws, disappearances and assassinations to silence
journalists.
There are disturbing but unconfirmed reports that the Indian government is
lending material and logistical support to the Sri Lankan government in these
crimes against humanity. If this is true, it is outrageous. What of the
governments of other countries? Pakistan? China? What are they doing to help, or
harm the situation?
In Tamil Nadu the war in Sri Lanka has fuelled passions that have led to more
than 10 people immolating themselves. The public anger and anguish, much of it
genuine, some of it obviously cynical political manipulation, has become an
election issue.
It
is extraordinary that this concern has not travelled to the rest of India. Why
is there silence here? There are no ‘white van abductions’ — at least not on
this issue. Given the scale of what is happening in Sri Lanka, the silence is
inexcusable. More so because of the Indian government’s long history of
irresponsible dabbling in the conflict, first taking one side and then the
other. Several of us including myself, who should have spoken out much earlier,
have not done so, simply because of a lack of information about the war. So
while the killing continues, while tens of thousands of people are being
barricaded into concentration camps, while more than 200,000 face starvation,
and a genocide waits to happen, there is dead silence from this great country.
It’s a colossal humanitarian tragedy. The world must step in. Now. Before it’s
too late.
courtesy: Times of India - |