• Book by Roshanara De Mel and David Blacker launched

Oddamavadi is a town in the Eastern Province that not many of us had heard of until 2021, when it became the country’s first Covid-19 burial ground after Sri Lankan authorities ended its policy of forced cremations. The insistence on cremation for Covid-19 deaths, even after the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations included both cremations and burials, received outrage locally and internationally, as they violated Islamic funeral rites.

It was a year after the outbreak of the pandemic that the first Covid-19 burials took place in Sri Lanka, and now, three years later, the story of Oddamavadi is being told through the written word, photography, and film. ‘Oddamavadi: The Untold Story’ was first released as a film by Aman Ashraff, and on 12 August, the book by Roshanara De Mel and David Blacker was released at Barefoot Gallery Café.

A story not to be forgotten

It was shared at the book launch that ‘Project Oddamavadi’, which comprises the film and the book, began 10 months ago when a group of like-minded individuals got together and set forth on a labour of love to document the injustice faced by the Muslim community. However, it was reiterated that neither the film nor the book was by any means intended to be a solution to the pain and suffering of those affected, but instead, aimed at putting on record their true story so that it would not be repeated in the future. Its existence ensures their story will never be forgotten and will be preserved for the future, the team shared.

Delivering the welcome address, ‘Oddamavadi’ Project Director Aman Ashraff spoke about the 10-month journey that culminated in the book. “We began in September last year. It was just a few like-minded individuals who felt that this dark chapter in our nation’s history had to be recorded for the sake of posterity. We had an inclination, but we never imagined the sheer volume of work and effort that was required. Nor did we ever think it would have so profound an impact on all Sri Lankans.”

The ‘Oddamavadi’ book is published and distributed by Perera Hussein, with co-founder Ameena Hussein addressing the gathering at the launch of the book. “Sometime last year, on a sleepy Saturday afternoon, I received a call from a bright and chirpy Aman Ashraff about a project he had in mind. What he said jolted me awake,” she said.

There were two reasons for this, Hussein explained: “One, because it was on a subject that had affected my community to its core. And two, because I knew immediately that Perera Hussein should be involved.”

Less than a year later, she had a manuscript on her desk. “I first need to thank Aman and his team for having the courage and faith to embark on this daunting project, for how do you document grief? Hurt? Pain? And discrimination?”

Hussein added that ‘Oddamavadi’ will stand as a “testament to one of the dark periods of the many dark periods our country has endured where it failed once again to abide by the basic principle of Buddhism: Maitri, Karuna, Mudita, and Upeksha”.

Documenting injustice

The book that was documenting a period of grief and injustice was written by Roshanara De Mel, a communications specialist by profession and a counsellor by vocation. Her words are accompanied by the photography of David Blacker, an ethnographic and documentary photographer specialising in people, places, and culture.

Sharing how she got involved in the project, De Mel said: “I remember when Aman called me last year. He called me during a time when I was in between projects, and I was actually praying for direction on what projects to take on. When he spoke to me about the project, my immediate reaction was to say ‘no’, not because of anything but because I have never done anything of this magnitude and I felt, ‘am I capable?’ And so, like I told him, I went back and I prayed about it.”

De Mel shared that she also felt guilty, because when Ashraff spoke to her, she didn’t know a lot about the topic, and had to read up and understand what Ashraff was talking about and where Oddamavadi was. “When I saw the pictures, especially of the gravesite – numbers, no names – it really hit me.”

Blacker, on the other hand, was aware of what was happening regarding Covid-19 deaths and Oddamavadi while it was still ongoing. “I had been trying to gain an opportunity to cover this through photography but because of the lockdown and all that, it was really something quite difficult to do. When Aman called me last year, he didn’t have to ask me twice. I was in fact talking over him and asking when we can start.”

Blacker went on to say: “Then he disappeared for a while, as with a lot of these projects, and I forgot about it.” However, Blacker later got another call from Ashraff, saying they would start shooting in a few days and asking if he was free. “Luckily, I was free and that’s how it started.”

For Blacker, this was an opportunity he had been looking for, and so he was more than happy to be involved in it. “It was something I felt needed to be recorded; something that I personally wanted to be part of that I had been trying to be a part of on my own,” he said, adding: “For me, it was more a concern of doing this justice or being able to capture visually all the trauma that victims and their families have gone through.”

Oddamavadi in another light

To many of us, Oddamavadi will be a town linked with Covid-19 burials, but Prof. Kemal I. Deen presented Oddamavadi in a different light, describing it as a sleepy town considered a gateway to the east. Oddamavadi, he said, is famous for its bridge that runs over the Mahaweli River.

“I come from a military family and I used to be there during the conflict in Oddamavadi. For those of you who have forgotten, Oddamavadi was one last bastion of Muslim people who held their ground and were given arms by the military to fight this civil conflict and keep it from coming down to Welikanda, which was a huge area of civil conflict. Oddamavadi was recognised and known by the military people as the place where violence met violence.”

Prof. Deen then spoke about the book, saying it told the story of a group of citizens of Sri Lanka who were terribly affected both emotionally and physically by a ‘one country, one law’ ruling that everybody must be cremated.

And yet, this group of individuals, he said, chose to counter violence with the pen. Prof. Deen added that ‘Oddamavadi’ was a publication of significance, whether for the people affected by the Government’s cremation policy or for historians.

PHOTOS Venura Chandramalitha