Kabir during the filming of her documentary on post-independence Project 72

Kabir conducting an interview with a war widow in the north for her book ‘Voices of Peace’

• Researcher and author Sarah Kabir on the great divide in SL, despite the war ending 14 years ago

May 2009, was when the civil war that ravaged Sri Lanka for nearly 30 years ended. It has been 14 years. Looking back, what has changed? Were the root causes addressed? Have we embarked on peacebuilding and reconciliation? 

Researcher and author Sarah Kabir was on Kaleidoscope this week, delving into some complex cultural contexts that have made the great divide in this country even wider. In her book ‘Voices of Peace’ and in her research work, she has had discussions with war victims, military personnel, rebel groups, refugees, public and private organisations and non-Governmental organisations and right now, she is working on a documentary project on post-Independence Sri Lanka titled Project 72.

The following are excerpts from the discussion:

It has been 14 years since the civil war in Sri Lanka ended. What narratives have not changed since then?

The obvious one is the victors’ narrative. In May, this year (2023), we saw the flamboyance in the celebrations of the end to the war. It is still very much a one-sided polarised celebration. Of the narratives that have been sustained for the last 14 years, it is this idea that ‘we’ve won’, without an acknowledgement that this war was fought among Sri Lankans, citizens of this country. There wasn’t a real victory. We must empathise with the parties in the war, not celebrate a one-sided win.

Which of these narratives needs to change?

When one compares the victory celebrations and the Mullivaikkal remembrance and memorials held in the country, we realise how polarising the situation is. All it would take is a simple two minute silence; maybe switch off all the lights at a particular time and light a lamp, uniting every Sri Lankan to perform a memorial of their own. 

Commemorate people we’ve lost in the war, or just think about the war or about how happy we all are that the war has ended, but have a commemoration that’s not about a one-sided win. It’s such a simple thing to do.

You would think that after a 30-year war, a country would veer towards racial harmony. Why has Sri Lanka not done this?

One is the serious lack of base-level education and a simple understanding of the country’s history since independence. What were the root causes of the conflict? If we are able to understand that, we would be able to move towards the right way of reconciling these issues. 

The second is the country’s politics, where the war is used as a tool whenever a party needs to rouse nationalism and majoritarian sentiments. The best way to move forward is to educate ourselves about the root causes of this conflict. Understanding the root causes would allow us to actually focus on non-recurrence. 

What do you think are the major obstacles standing in the way of reconciliation in today’s context?

The lack of understanding of why Sri Lankans met each other on a battlefront, of why some Tamils felt the need to take up weapons, and why a particular Sri Lankan community was pushed to feel that they had no way out except to take up arms, not having this understanding is an obstacle to reconciliation. 

As much as I say that politics can be blamed for the war, we the citizens can take much of that blame as well. When we ask for the right thing, politicians will respond in that way. When we look at the Rajapaksa dynasty, we notice they were pretty responsive to what the people wanted, the majoritarian narrative. So, the people got what they wanted. If we want to see a change, it needs to start with us. 

Looking at the continuous uprisings that we see, is Sri Lanka actually ready to tackle racial harmony?

With last year’s aragalaya (the public movement to overthrow the former Government led by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa), people thought a positive change was nigh, but I’m pessimistic about that, because I’ve seen how things recur in this country.

From last year (2022) to last month (June), you would think that certain issues were laid to rest, but, there is suddenly a rise in those sentiments with figures like Dan Priyasad being in the news. You hear the same Rajapaksa narrative being slowly fanned. The whole issue with pastor Jerome Fernando is also an indicator. For some reason, I feel like the incidents that happened last month are signals that something is brewing again.

We can have these temporary moments where everyone holds hands and feeds each other during Ramadan and Easter, but that’s on the surface. We saw this last year, but that didn’t mean that we had addressed any of the root causes as to why we are this way. 

There is some hope that the younger generation cannot be easily subverted by majoritarian narratives. We also see people pushing against the “supremacy” of monks in the country. But, then again, it’s very easy to fan the flames of racial tension among the general public. So, I would take the positivity with a grain of salt, because I don’t think that we’ve done the hard work. 

Do you see a generational difference in how Sri Lankans perceive racial disharmony?

The older generations who have gone through this violence seem to be more open to racial harmony. This observation comes from talking to cadres who were in it for 30 years and those who were cadres for a year or so. The person who was in the war for 30 years won’t even want to entertain the idea of a war or a struggle, whereas the younger person is still tormented, still angry and has those aggressions. 

Even amongst the population in Colombo, the older generation who have seen the horrors of the war, don’t want it repeated. The younger generations are easier to manipulate, it’s easy to get them angry and frustrated and get them to want to protect their community from a looming threat. 

However, I entertain the hope that youth are prompting a change, although I remain sceptical because the youth have zero knowledge about how we got to where we have. Without that knowledge, I don’t think that we have the right attitude when it comes to propagating racial harmony. 

The obvious issue is politics, and to an extent, race-based politics. How can we get away from this type of politics? 

This emerges from the will of the citizenry. While everyone thinks that political will has to change first, for political will to come, people must make the right demands. We need to understand that the majoritarian narratives are only taking us backwards. It benefits no one. We can only be propelled upwards if we are propelled upwards together. 

Everyone talks about the Sinhala Only Act in the ‘1950s, blaming then Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike for it. He tried to rectify it by bringing in the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam (Founder and Leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi and the Tamil United Liberation Front, S.J.V. Chelvanayagam) Pact, but it was the citizens who went against it, even though it would have solved the issues. With the citizens’ backlash, he ended up tearing it and that was one of the triggers for the conflict. That’s why I believe that we can’t always point fingers at others, there are already a few fingers pointing back at us. 

What has the response been to your book, ‘Voices of Peace’, published five years ago, from those who were actively engaged in the war at that time?

I visited these people earlier last year during the aragalaya, and was very surprised to hear their thoughts. For them, the perspective was, ‘We suffered so much, but did any of you ever care? Now, we’re supposed to care about the aragalaya?’ 

They say that neither the people nor the media bothered when they suffered through three decades. They almost feel like it’s karmic after they were made to suffer. That’s the sentiment I got. 

You stated that the voices of those in the frontlines are the voices that are not heard. Fourteen years later, are these voices heard today?

I don’t think so. Rarely do we listen to those voices. We hear from the top brass of the military but rarely from the ordinary soldier who had no choice but to participate in the war and lost his legs in the process. We also listen very little, if at all, to any former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadre. 

I thought that having seen examples from countries like Germany, the situation would get better, at least a decade after the war. But, 14 years later, it is almost too late.

From what I am seeing, what we are missing is truth and reconciliation. Do we have enough will to do that?

Because of international pressure and the outcomes of the economic crisis, we might have no choice, even if we don’t have the will. Truth and reconciliation should have been something that we realised was necessary, instead of a top-down approach where someone is pushing an agenda. Either way, there’s no delaying it anymore. 

However, while a commission can be established, listening and accountability are imperative. It’s not that people must be dragged to courts but that people have to hear each other out. Until people acknowledge they’ve wronged each other and have forgiven each other, we cannot move on. 

When I speak with people in the north, they tell me that an acknowledgement of the pain that they went through is all they want. Until we have that understanding and acknowledgement, reconciliation is difficult. 

Reconciliation is a painful process on both sides. Even if it has been 14 years, are we ready for it?

It’s hard to say. The civil society is always pushing for mechanisms to facilitate reconciliation, but we aren’t thinking from the other perspective of the war.

Think of a soldier who is being held accountable for crimes he committed, when he returns to the village, his family will be angry at him and his sister won’t be able to marry someone because her brother is a war criminal. These are human stories that we need to consider. 

But, every truth and reconciliation commission can work differently. We don’t need to export a model, we can create our own by understanding what the communities in the conflict really want. 

We have taken this victor’s narrative and only played in favour of the victor. We need to think about the victims as well if we are to move forward. 

Do you see Sri Lanka moving forward in any way with reconciliation?

With reconciliation? Not yet. This economic crisis is just a symptom of bigger problems in this country. Three years ago, it was the anti-Muslim sentiment and terrorism. Before that, it was the war. We will constantly face challenges like this unless we truly reconcile.

It’s not just the ethnic conflict that everyone seems to be talking about, it’s the insurrections from the ‘1970s and ‘1980s and the discriminatory policies that have been affecting minorities since we gained independence. These are the things that we need to rectify and reconcile.

While the economic crisis needs to be solved, we also need to understand that it is a symptom of much bigger foundational issues which have to be addressed.

(The writer is the host, director, and co-producer of the weekly digital programme ‘Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo’ which can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She has over three decades of experience in print, electronic, and social media)