My blood's been boiling for some time now, and reading a recent comment posted on killromeoproject's blog just iced the cake. I am SICK TO DEATH of the pompous asses who call themselves 'sons of the soil' and float around shooting their mouths off about fucking 'patriotism' in this country, when all they seem to demonstrate is mental instability, racism and a blatant disregard of human rights.
Ok dramaqueen... chill, baby...calm down... breeeeeathe... phooo phoooooo... woosah....
Lemme begin from the starting point of my angst.
All my life, I have made a conscious effort to stay out of anything to do with politics, simply because I'm of the firm belief that it is, quite frankly, the root of 95% of this world's problems, and Sri Lanka has ALWAYS been ruled by a group of unmitigated fuckwits, despite which party they belong to. I have neither read nor given a shit about the political whatnot of this country (since half of it is brainwashed or fictitious crap spewed by state media anyway) because I always thought that my life didn't need to be affected by parliamentary antics.
However, my self-inflicted ignorance hasn't stopped me from being perfectly aware of how OTHER people in this country ARE affected by the political mafia, so much so that now, after years of watching this country crumble bit by bit, I have no option BUT to speak my piece on all this nonsense.
I've always been annoyed at the way governance happens, and had my share of bitchfits with the occassional public issue, but my annoyance reached it's peak a couple of evenings ago when a colleague related a shocking story to me at office. Let me share-
She's an Indian lady, who is married to a Sri Lankan Tamil who just happens to have been born in Jaffna, but has lived and worked all his life in Colombo and India. The evening before the CFA was officially abrogated, she and the hubby were stopped at a checkpoint on their way home from work. When the checkpoint officers had seen his ID card that had Jaffna put down as his hometown, the two were asked to get down from their vehicle, and had been harrassed for about 20 minutes. They had called her husband a 'kotiya' (tiger) and called her the 'kotiya's indian whore' (she'd shown them her passport). Then they had told her to wait till 'tomorrow' (end of CFA), that they'd get 'jacked'. She had then been bodysearched in front of her husband, who was being verbally threatened to not move. The sanitary napkin in her handbag had been taken out and displayed to all the male officers there before being torn, to check if she was 'hiding a weapon'. They'd taken down my colleague's home address, her husband's work address, and sent the two off with menacing warnings and threats. The couple had immediately gone to a Police Station and lodged a complaint, to which they received sarcasm, accusations and nothing else. For the last two days, both of them have lived in abject fear of something happening to each other, and she can't come out of her shock. She says she has NEVER been treated this way and never realized that they COULD treat people this way. She is truly disgusted with Sri Lanka, and is now making plans to go back to India with her husband, for the sake of peace and security.
My only reaction to this incident was "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?", after which, I was totally and utterly speechless. Can our forces who are supposed to protect the innocent be allowed to TREAT people this way? WHO gives them the authority to harrass folk like that? Why is there no mechanism for the intolerance of this putrid behaviour?? There are countless stories of people being violated both emotionally and physically for having done nothing except being born Tamil. I've heard pseudo-sympathetic listeners to these stories say things like "unfortunately you're a Tamil". WHAT'S so unfortunate about being a Tamil? WHY should a person feel that his or her race is UNFORTUNATE? Where the hell do we get off by saying things like that? Imagine for even a second that YOU were treated like that, that YOU were told that it was unfortunate to be born a Sinhalese!
Ever since I heard my colleague's story, I've been raging. Raging at the damn idiotic attitude that this country seems to have adopted... raging that mothers don't seem to be teaching their kids that race is not a determining factor of character... raging that we have rulers with the brains of fleas to actually fuel this horrible culture of thinking... and raging that no matter what anyone with sense does, things will not change. I am truly alarmed and severely pissed off at the lack of intelligence our so-called 'patriots' are displaying... this is NOT a Sinhala-Tamil war... this is an LTTE-GoSL issue, and the faster people recognize that, the better for everyone else in this country.
You 'patriots' on BOTH sides of the fence deserve a slap. You think this war will be over just because the Govt nukes the Peninsula? You think that one party winning will stop the other from being persecuted by attitudes and racist behaviour? You think people will stop hating each other when either we or they win the war, and will accept that they are 'unfortunate' by birth? And do you think that winning a stupid political war is worth the thousands... nay, MILLIONS of innocent lives that have been destroyed by it?
You're such a bunch of dumbasses. A spineless, uneducated bunch of disillusioned dumbasses.
'RACE' is something that society has created. Borders are created by society, and is only psychological. Land is still just land, whether it's split up or whole. It shouldn't matter if we have a seperate state or not, as long as people can live their lives in peace and security. Like you were going to picnic in the North anyway. WHAT are you fighting for? WHAT are you a patriot of?
This is absurd and immature! It shouldn't MATTER what fucking RACE people belong to, because at the end of the day, we all eat, sleep, feel, bleed the same way. And when we die, we are buried in the same fucking ground, and rot the same fucking way. SO get over yourselves, and off that damn pedestal. BOTH of you- Tamil AND Sinhala 'Patriots'!
My stance? I don't have a race. I'm called a Sinhalese but I don't care. I never put it down on the forms I fill, because I don't think it should ever matter to anyone. I am a living, breathing person just like my colleague, and any injustice done to her is an injustice done to me as a human being.
This war was created by political agendas bourne of racial issues, and is fought by political agendas bourne of greed. It will NEVER end if the rest of civil society doesn't STOP with the damn racial charade. Get this into your thick skulls, oh 'patriots'.... you are no better than your Tamil neighbour. You are all just bitching over the years of racial slander and attitudes you have recieved from the other party. Isn't it about time we STOPPED?
If you think I'm talking out of MY arse, then go to this link.... there's facts there that should open your goddamn eyes.
http://www.groundviews.org/2008/01/17/what-liberation/
Oh yeah... one more thing... you may have noticed that I've framed the word Patriot in colons... that's because you're not one... you just think you are, but have absolutely no idea what the word even means.
How unfortunate for you.
17 comments:
What an awful story!! I'm really sorry for treatment your friend was subjected to... I can only shudderingly wonder how many more have stories like that to tell.
The whole race thing annoys me too, especially when asked to put it in forms. I put "human" down a couple of times before being asked to change it for "statistical reasons! Oh well...
The demeaning ridicule people are subjected to at checkpoints, depending on their race/place of birth is outrageous!Many Tamils are treated as synonymous with terrorists and their excuse is that it's better to be safe than sorry. But, it doesn't give them the right to unreasonably harass people for cheap, racist entertainment. Well said!
Patriotism is a not a virtue. It's a religion practiced by them people who can't think for themselves. So you can leave out the quotes.
agreed!
The only reason all Tamils are treated as terrorists is because all terrorists are Tamils and many Tamils support those terrorists. It's an easy choice having to pick between having suspicious Tamils cavity searched at every checkpoint and letting the bastards go about freely and bomb our people.
justmal - Firstly, there is nothing 'suspicious' about my colleague or her husband.
Secondly, you seem to have a very warped, narrow idea of who a terrorist is, if you're going to limit it to the Tamil people alone. There are more than enough incidents of the Sinhala people inflicting terror on innocent people senselessly. Why then, don't we call the Sinhalese terrorists too? You speak only from what the censored media tells you, when in reality, there's a shitload of violations happening by our very own Government. They are ALL terrorists, in one form or another.
Please... this blame game of which race is the bad guy and which is the good guy has gone on for long enough. Do not generalize who or what a terrorist is. You wouldn't be singing this same song if you were the one who'd been bodysearched and insulted.
As it is evident from my name I am a Muslim, having lived in the US I had my phone line tapped and various un marked police cars parked outside my residence after 9/11. On a flight to Japan the plane was stopped whilst I was escorted out for a last minute check, this was an inbound flight to the US. My country of birth, Sri Lanka and My country of Residence was immaterial because I had 'Mohamed' somewhere in my name. I would really think this issue is much broader than just politics and Sri Lanka or Tamils. Every country has racially profiled people in order to combat terrorism. Moderate societies tolerated this during World War 2 as many Nazi German officers managed to escape and merge into other European societies. German people and people of German origin were subject to intense scrutiny in order to apprehend war criminals.
We must also consider that the police officers involved were 'bad apples'. It's crucial to make note of the badge number of the offending officer to make a valid police report.
a number of points regarding this post:
a) 'this is NOT a Sinhala-Tamil war... this is an LTTE-GoSL issue'
WRONG. It is a LTTE -v- the law abiding/peace loving people of Sri Lanka issue.
b) the story you convey is a very sad one, but to try make it appear as if this were an event exclusive to the Sri Lankan Tamil experience is beyond misguided. As Hilal eluded to, there are countless like cases from around the world.
c)"If you think I'm talking out of MY arse, then go to this link.... there's facts there that should open your goddamn eyes.
http://www.groundviews.org/2008/01/17/what-liberation/"
'groundviews' is not even close to being a valid academic source. It's content is questionable to the extreme and has absolutely no journalistic integrity. I'm not here to give you a lecture on referencing, but if you are going to try present 'facts' to your readership, maybe you should actually cite legitimate sources.
As far as I'm concerned, a terrorist is someone who might harm me, my family, friends or other Sinhalese. If all Tamils have to get evicted from Colombo to keep us safe, so be it.
Why the fuck should we worry about the Tamils when the fucking bastards dance on the streets whenever the LTTE kills Sinhalese children. I would be subjected to more than bodysearches and insults if the Tamils get their hands on me. Just look at what they did in Buttala.
mick - Of course the issue is not exclusive to the sinhala and tamil people...I never said that. I only quoted one incident that happened in this country, and the objective of my opinion was to point out the stupidity in the sheer concept of racism on a whole.
I have no idea about groundviews itself. I only know that the particular article I linked is something that's not new news to me, so I personally know there is truth in it.
justmal- again, the TAMILS did not bomb the bus in Buttala... the LTTE did. There are plenty of TAMILS who didn't dance on the street.
I can't stop you from joining the local KKK bandwagon, and that's really sad. I can only hope that you'll see the bigger picture with maturity someday.
terrorist
noun
a person who uses terrorism in the pursuit of political aims.
terrorism
noun
the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.
justmal - go back to school!!!
Shehal take a gander at justmal's blog..may explain his/her moronic behaviour.
As a Sri Lankan Tamil, I found the following bit from justmal a bit.. shall we say.. interesting.
"..Why the fuck should we worry about the Tamils when the fucking bastards dance on the streets whenever the LTTE kills Sinhalese children.." Now I would like to know where justmal has seen, or heard of, these dancing Tamils? I know almost every ethnic group in the world has it's own share of misguided people (or 'Patriots' as they call themselves) and we Tamils are no exception. I even know a few Tamil 'Patriots'. But I have never heard of any Tamils dancing when they hear about the deaths of Sinhalese children. And I don't think even the most misguided Sinhalese (Not even justmal! :)) would dance on the street when they hear about the deaths of Tamil children. I don't think we in Sri Lanka have degenerated to that level yet. Please correct me if I am wrong!
Tamil Guy,
I try to remain non-partial to the best of my abilities but if you go on Facebook or Youtube you will witness countless teenagers of Tamil origin residing in Canada and Australia who cheer each suicide blast and every singhalese death.
When impressionable youth like justmal read such things it incites more racial hatred towards the Tamils. This is the work of LTTE propoganda, as a responsible Tamil you should do everything in your power to eliminate such mentality within Tamil youth. It's documented in the West that Tamil culture, movies etc all have no ratings and they all glorify violence with continuous fight scenes... Education puts an end to ignorance but not always..so we must play our part as the new generation of Sri Lankans.
hilal,
First of all thanks for sharing your views. Interesting points! Let's look at them one by one,
a)
First, about Tamil youth celebrating suicide blasts. I know this happens and I know this is very very sad. They are celebrating attacks on the military. You must have seen quite a lot of Sinhala teenagers cheering about successful military attacks on Tamil tigers. 'Patriots' on each side celebrate because they feel it is a simple "good guy vs bad guy" fight and they are on the good side. So they celebrate when the "badies" die! This happens on both sides of the ethnic divide. I have even seen Sinhala people lighting crackers to celebrate the deaths of President Premadasa and JVP leader Rohana Wijayaweera.
Now I will never try to justify this behavior. But this is a bit different from what justmal was talking about I think. I thought he was talking about civilian deaths (he used the word 'children') such as the deaths of school children in recent bombs in Colombo. I don't think any Tamil person danced on the streets when they heard about the deaths of innocent civilians.
"impressionable youth like ustmal" exist on both sides hilal, And once the initial seeds of hatred are sown, "justmal"s on each side would celebrate each time the other guy receives a blow. But I just don't think they have reached the point of celebrating civilian deaths yet. But sadly it might be just a matter of time before some of us (both Tamils and Sinhalese) reach that point if things continue this way.
b)
But I think celebrating the deaths of others - whether they are soldiers , civilians or political leaders - is only a symptom of problems that are much deeper. The question is, where does all that hatred come from? Which brings us to the other important point you have raised. here is my answer to that! Click on the link below!
These violant Tamil bastards!
'groundviews' is not even close to being a valid academic source.
Who said it was? I can't see any reference on the site that claims it is "academic"! Doh!
"It's content is questionable to the extreme and has absolutely no journalistic integrity."
That's a bit rich coming from an anonymous monicker and without any examples of what you mean. I suppose that you offer more compelling narratives of Sri Lanka? If so, why don't you write in without displays of blathering inanity?
"I'm not here to give you a lecture on referencing, but if you are going to try present 'facts' to your readership, maybe you should actually cite legitimate sources."
Like yourself perhaps, the soi disant critic of that which is published on Groundviews. Perhaps you would like to reference the academic journals, websites, blogs or other media where you have expounded your theories of conflict and peace in Sri Lanka?
powerful post. and an even more powerful debate. a lot has been exchanged and i think setting aside everything that's been said , it's a good sign to see atleast some level of dialogue taking place somewhere apart from the pseudo talk show programmes on TV these days. my personal stand is that the conflict as it stands is not abt tamil vs sinhala but LTTE vs Government and innocent masses are the collateral in the whole game. and in this process a lot of effort is been put by both parties to make this seem or feel like a Tamil vs sinhala issue.
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