(This post is dedicated to the memory of those who suffered during Black July and the torturous events that followed)
Yesterday marked 30 years since the blackest day in our
nations history – we call it Black July. This marked the true beginning in many
ways, of an ethnic conflict that leaves our earth soaked in blood, our families
ravaged and worst of all – our children hopeless.
I am one of those children. When I was born – like thousands
of others – I would grow up never knowing what peace was. Bombs exploding,
people dying, anger and pain were all a part of my day to day life. And I grew
up in urban Colombo which was in many ways a hundred times better than anywhere
else. I was desensitized to violence, in many ways I still am. Images of
Siriya, Iraq etc. that cause the world to avert their eyes – cause the children
of Sri Lanka to shrug and carry on. We’ve seen worse. We’ve survived worse. And
sometimes – that’s something no one understands, we survived against all odds,
so can you blame us for building an arsenal of weapons, like apathy? How else
would we have survived?
But if there is one thing I wish that someone would take
away from this post is this – we are survivors. Our parents stayed and fought.
Others did the same in ways they knew best. Sometimes from here, sometimes from
away – and we survived. And now we need to heal and flourish. But to heal we
must forgive, and this I say to the children of Sri Lanka scattered across the
globe, their souls rooted in this island. The children of my generation, you
were even luckier than I was. You grew up away from the fear and the pain and
the de-sensitizing. And you were blessed for that. But when you call us
apathetic, I disagree. It’s not that we don’t care – it’s just we see the
bigger picture, we’re painting it. We know that we are an imperfect nation, and
the pain may never go away. But we are trying, so please try with us. Try to
see the good, and celebrate that too.
Sri Lankan’s we all need to learn to be. Before we are
Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher. Before we are Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, or
even atheist. The first lesson we need to learn is how to be Sri Lanka – that’s
how we move forward together.
To quote me from earlier this year in 'Being Sri Lankan' - "To me - I have never imagined myself as any less Sri Lankan because I was from a minority That was not how I was raised, and that was not how the people around me saw themselves. But what scares me is that as a nation we spend so much time drawing lines around our communities, that we forget the things that bind us together"
To quote me from earlier this year in 'Being Sri Lankan' - "To me - I have never imagined myself as any less Sri Lankan because I was from a minority That was not how I was raised, and that was not how the people around me saw themselves. But what scares me is that as a nation we spend so much time drawing lines around our communities, that we forget the things that bind us together"
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~ Bugee