Sri Lanka: After Such Bloodbaths What else is Hiding

Tracing the record of thousands of our missing countrymen is the very primitive and essential step for justice. That is the fundamental responsibility of anyone who breathes the air and steps the soil of this nation. It is indeed the first step of the preventive mechanism of future repression, mayhem, and bloodbath against our people.

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa

(September 1, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is much ado about the establishment of the office of missing persons (OMP) in Sri Lanka. No one can refuse such remarkable step if they understand the pain of love for our missing countrymen and women. Statistics of the enforced disappearances are not important to highlight here as our tiny beautiful country marked the world record by disappearing her own countrymen.

Life in this form is one-time chance, death is the inevitable consequence for anyone who is born. The record of one’s death is the primary respect one could render to the lost one. Tears of all relatives of missing people are indeed flowing due to this invaluable action by the authority.

But, unfortunately, like many other countries, the rulers who are allergic to common principles, in Sri Lanka also, some of those politicians and their shadow driving forces felt the threats in such noble action. Rajapaksa’s disagreement on such effort is understandable and nothing of a surprise.

But, some of the critiques in Colombo have even gone far to alarm their “readers” on the Sri Lankan version of “Kafkaesque” by analysing the OMP and other initiatives by the ruling alliance. Those are nothing more than the form of intellectual vagary which aims to hide the agony of the public suffering more than four decades since 1971. They can misguide and mislead the people, and spark the deadly elements of extremism.

An interesting fact is that most of such examples popping up through those critics are not only distorted versions of facts, but also the positions were taken instantly and instinctively to hide the cruelty against unarmed civilian.

Now they are suggesting the declaration of national amnesty for all who have had any kind of involvement and start a new beginning. Then, they assume, the old bugs will not be able to facilitate the nation to lumber. The country will have a new beginning, their hypocritical dreams linked up with empty words. What a cruel, swinish, relentless, raucous, and virulent suggestion against our own missing countrymen as the part of state repression.

The victory is not only the pathway of celebration but also to take the greater degree of responsibility for those who were victimised.

If those critiques have read the works of Franz Kafka and if those critiques do not want to distort what he attempted to argue cannot take the “Kafkaesque” to describe the present situation but perhaps if they own at least a single cell of honesty, integrity, and veracity of themselves it is time to take one step backward to apply the “Kafkaesque” with the previous administration reigned by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the person who never demonstrated belief in common principles of the system.

What has happened immediately after defeating the Tamil Tigers has witnessed the Sri Lankan version of “Kafkaesque”. It went as much as to fulfill the arrogant, pretentious, and pompous desire of the ruler by booting out the Chief Justice of the country. What else is required to understand the gravity of ironical politics?

Tracing the record of thousands of our missing countrymen is the very primitive and essential step for justice. That is the fundamental responsibility of anyone who breathes the air and steps the soil of this nation. It is indeed the first step of the preventive mechanism of future repression, mayhem, and bloodbath against our people.

The idea of establishing the OMP may have political implications or affiliations in the global political rhetoric but the authority must be accountable for the crimes against its own people.

After such bloodbaths, at least since 1971, what else are you trying to hide in the name of patriotism, territorial integrity, sovereignty, and unitary? If you hide more, nothing will happen but the loosely played game will speed up.

Let us take the foresighted words of Lu Xun, on whom I’m writing a book in Sinhala. While condemning the state crackdown on the student in early 1930s, in Peking (Beijing), Lu Xun, the father of the modern Chinese literature, wrote, “lies written in ink cannot disguise facts written in blood.”

Be generous; We gotta deal with this.

Let’s stand for our people whose life has been made worth nothing more than an empty coffin. Let’s find justice and make this island as the paradise of truth, justice, peace, and freedom. Then our own people will be proud to be the part of the nation and the entire world will respect us. The nation will flourish while destructive extreme elements dismantle.

Foremost, step one could take is avoiding the cheap behaviour of compromising principles with decorated lies which assails the moral power of common sense.

Will there be people who will have the conscience to contribute to the country by changing themselves first? That is the need of the moment.