Spoilers' distortions, exaggerations, inaccuracies plague reconciliation process

Nine years after the end of the armed conflict, Sri Lanka remains embroiled in distorted dialogues that are retarding the healing and nation- building processes the country sorely needs. After the armed conflict was brought to a successful conclusion on May 18, 2009, the Government of the day failed to take the next steps to forge unity and understanding among its citizens.

Even after the advent of a new Government in January 2015, which recognised the importance of reconciliation in the task of nation building and, despite several positive measures towards creating National Unity, we are still struggling with distortions, exaggerations and inaccuracies that create doubts and insecurity in the minds of ordinary people.

And this is not characteristic of one community only. It is equally applicable to both south and north, where each side feeds on such distortions, exaggerations and inaccuracies propounded by the other. While in both cases, mercifully, such action is only by small, yet articulate sections of the ethnic divide, when the media continues in a careless way to allow politicians and other spoilers to distort the truth without challenge, they contribute to the confusion that abounds and finally, by sheer repetition, becomes part of the discussion on the relationship between the various communities.

Take the most recent happenings around the commemoration events of May 18, 2018. There were ceremonies in the North where parents and next- of- kin of those who died in the war, commemorated the loss of their loved ones. Attempts by Tamil political elements to make it a political event, did not succeed with the mainly grieving relatives participating in remembrance of their near and dear, rather than in support of any political goals.

But this did not prevent such political elements from declaring an annual genocide week, in perpetuation of the allegation that the Tamils had been subject to genocide at the hands of the Sri Lanka State.

This allegation of genocide, repeated from time to time, is one of the many inaccuracies and distortions that prevent a healthy discussion of what needs to be done, to address Tamil concerns in governance. Such allegations are also coun- terproductive, because it acts as a disincentive to those who, in the North and South, wish to see an end to injustice.

Genocide, as understood by the average person, is the deliberate killing of a community, with intent to destroy it.

There is no evidence of such a cruel fate befalling the Tamil community, nor has there even been an expression of such intent by even the most communal elements. The tragic events of July 1983 was probably, the most concentrated targeting of the Tamil community in our history, but even that was a far cry from what could be described as genocide.

The four- decade armed conflict was a war between the Sri Lanka Army and the LTTE, and had nothing to do with targeting of Tamils. During the conflict, large sections of the Tamil community did suffer excesses amounting to human rights violations, but none of this could, by any stretch of imagination, be called genocide.

Another inaccuracy that is often repeated to buttress the allegation of targeting of Tamils is, to describe the Sri Lanka Army as a Sinhala Army, which label is given to indicate that it has a pro Sinhala agenda. This labelling is often picked up and repeated by unsuspecting foreign media, giving international observers of Sri Lanka, a wrong impression of the nature of the conflict.

Given the demography of Sri Lanka, it is true that the majority of those in the Army are Sinhalese but, there have been many Tamils such as Rajan Kadirgamar, Anton Muttukumaru and Rudra Rajasingham to name a few, who were heads of the armed forces in the past. During the period of the armed conflict, Tamils joining the armed forces were few and far between, mainly because the LTTE considered any collaboration with the State as traitorous.

A number of Muslims too have served in the armed forces and made significant contributions, as vouched for recently by the Chief of Defence Staff Ravi Wijegunaratne.

Such inaccuracies and distortions are quickly pounced upon by spoilers of Reconciliation and fed to the public in the South, to advance their own political agenda.

The LTTEs military campaign, during the conflict, has diminished and brutalised Tamil society in more ways than one. Tamil culture has been ruined and social degradation has set in. An objective study of the state of Tamil society, before and after the war, may well reveal that the LTTE left Tamil society and the Tamil people worse off, than before the armed conflict began.

It behoves Tamil intellectuals and Tamil civil society to engage with Tamil youth, particularly those in the Universities, and ensure the exuberance of youth and their sense of justice is not exploited by those with political agendas, to take the North down a self destructive path.

Indeed, such a task should not be left only to Tamil thinkers, but all Sri Lankans who value and cherish human rights and justice.

The situation in the South too, is not very different. As an example, if one analyses the statements of Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne and the responses to his statements, one can observe the disease of distortion, exaggeration and inaccuracies is not confined to the North, but is equally widespread in the South.

The relevant extracts of the report of the Media Conference presided over by Dr Rajitha Senaratne, held on May 18, 2018 and reported in the Daily Mirror of the following day, makes this very clear.

The relevant extract of the dialogue between the Cabinet Media Spokesman and the media is as follows:

Journalist: Does the Government permit to hold Maveerar Day on May 18 and 19 in the North-East?

Minister Senaratne: The Government permits only to commemorate civilians, who became war victims, by their families and relatives.

Journalist: That insinuates that civilians died during the conflict.

Minister Senaratne: Yes, of course. Civilians of both sides died in the war.

Journalist: But the Sri Lankan Government maintains there were no civilian casualties at the final phase of the war.

Minister Senaratne: That is the most unrealistic comment on the civil war in Sri Lanka. Can any right-thinking person say there were zero casualties at the humanitarian operation?

Journalist: Are you saying that armed forces deliberately targeted civilians at the humanitarian operation?

Minister Senaratne: Not at all! What I am saying is that, it is impossible to prevent collateral damage in any armed conflict. We became a laughing stock when we said there were zero casualties at the final stage of the war. This claim of Zero Casualties seriously affected the credibility of Sri Lanka. Whether it was a war waged by Dharmasoka or Alexander the Great, preventing collateral damage is impossible. That is the nature of war. We cannot blame any side for civilian casualties, but the war itself.

Journalist: Should our armed forces take responsibility for civilian casualties, if any.

Minister Senaratne: Absolutely not. Don’t forget that it was a separatist war waged against a democratically elected Government. The LTTE terror campaign also challenged the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country. Therefore, our armed forces did not have any other option but to crush the terror campaign using its full might. In that endeavour, they never targeted civilians, but militants. Therefore, no one can blame our armed forces. Did the US and the EU kill only IS and other Middle East terrorists in Syria, Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan, when they bombed those countries?

Journalist: Does the Government commemorate war heroes this year?

Minister Senaratne: Yes, at the Parliament grounds on Saturday.

Journalist: Does the Army prevent any ceremonies to commemorate dead LTTE cadres?

Minister Senaratne: Commemorating dead terrorists is against the law of the land. But there is no problem in commemorating dead civilians.”

It is very clear from the above that Dr. Rajitha Senaratne makes the following points:

1. The Government does not permit the commemoration of dead LTTE cadres, as it is against the law of the land

2. Only the commemoration of dead civilians who died during the conflict, is allowed

3. The Army did not target civilians and any civilians who died was as a result of collateral damage.

Despite the clear position articulated by Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, the Joint Opposition and other hardline Southern groups have raised a hue and cry claiming, the Government is accepting that the Army targeted civilians and is allowing the commemoration of the LTTE. Various protests have been orchestrated on the basis of these distortions, and some sections of the media are posing questions to various politicians, based on such distortions.

This is only one of the many distortions that litter the Reconciliation debate. Another is that, there is a Ranaviru Dadayama (or targeting of war heroes) in the name of Reconciliation. In fact, probably less than 50 armed forces personnel have been taken into custody after extensive investigations, and whether they are guilty of the offences they are being investigated for, will be known at the end of a trial, if they are eventually indicted.

Despite the comparatively small number of armed forces personnel taken into custody, the slo g an, "Ranaviru Dadayama" is repeatedly used to suggest that all armed forces personnel are being hounded.

Another distortion that is repeated on public platforms is that, the Government is arresting members of the Buddhist clergy in large numbers. Again, it is unlikely that even 50 such members of the clergy have been brought before the courts and this too, has been after extensive investigations. One such action against a member of the clergy has nothing to do with the Government, and is a ' Contempt of Court' action initiated by the Judiciary, relating to an incident in the Homagama District Courts. The Government has created a positive environment for Reconciliation, but its failure to effectively counter the political campaign and media barrage of the spoilers in the North and South, has created challenges for itself, as well as for the healing process.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)