From Api wenuwen api to Aba

Saranai: Snapshots of ten years

Photograph courtesy Sri Lanka Guardian

RANDHULA DE SILVA on 12/28/2016

When Sanjana came up with an offer too tempting to pass, I
accepted with the knowledge that rolling out the significant
junctures of the past decade and reflecting them upon the future
was going to be a daunting task because in my short life span
lived so far; it definitely was the most significant decade in too
many diverse ways.
The window seat view

Looking back at the past ten years my memory is vibrantly stuck

on one key incident which took place in 2006 and I think its most
appropriate to unroll the story from that point on. It was the year I
finished school and soon after orchestrated by my mother against
my will to intern at a private organization situated at the Piththala
junction. The most important reminiscence I carry with me of my
internship there was bearing eye witness to the attack on the
most powerful bureaucrat of the Sri Lankan government back
then, the Secretary of Defense Gotabaya Rajapakse on
1st December and missing sharp nail injuries thanks to the shatter
proof window I was sitting by. Theres much debate on who is
responsible for the attack to date.
A country at war
Sri Lanka has been suffering with its ethnic conflict for over 3
decades and during Mahinda Rajapakses (MR) campaign for
presidency there was no pledge to putting an end to the conflict
by means of a bloody and brutal war. However the situation
clearly took a turn in 2006 with Maavilaaru being a key juncture
and the news for the next 3 years was full of heavy fighting, air
strikes, shelling and displacement of people. The humanitarian
disaster in the North was huge. The country was at war, and so
was the conscience of the people of the South. The media with
clear crafted guidance made sure that every person in the south
felt it and supported it. And those to who went against this drill
simply disappeared in white vans. Such persons who disappeared
were automatically labeled traitors and anyone who spoke up and
questioned such disappearances was labeled as NGO puppets or
traitors. I think it was somewhere during this time I subscribed to
Groundviews, one of the very few platforms if not the only that
came out with critical content that really spoke out.
Api wenuwen api

More and more soldiers were recruited to the forces by a very

emotionally driven campaign titled Api Wenuwen Api. Concept of
war heros was drilled into the minds of the people of the south.
They who were making pledges and offerings to Buddhist temples
every evening to protect those heroes that were at war, returned
home to watch news and rejoice over the losses and casualties
caused to the LTTE in the North. Everyones thinking was aligned
involuntarily in one direction, direction of hate, revenge and
sensationalized brutality.
Celebration of a nation
I remember very well the day it all came to an end in 2009. I
walked into the cafeteria of my faculty at the University of
Colombo and I saw a crowd of about 300 people staring into the
tiny 12 inch TV which was playing a 10 second loop of the image
of the dead leader of the LTTE, Prabhakaran. Im not sure how to
describe the feeling I had seeing this. The image was disturbing to
begin with, but what was more unsettling was how everyone
stared into the repetitive loop of a dead mans head for almost an
hour. This image was engraved in every Sri Lankans head that
day never to be erased again. And streets of Colombo took life
with firecrackers and pots of cooking kiribath in celebration of
this victory. The 3 decade long ethnic war came to an end,
leaving behind a scarred country with people who were immune
to violence and craving for intolerance.
Vijayagrahanya
The end of the war was demarcated as the Vijayagrahanya
(supreme victory) and this word echoed in our ears everyday

along with the figure of the president which appeared in larger

than life cutouts across the country. The presidency was soon
converted to be a kingship. Songs of praise were sung for the
savior of the nation. He was no longer H.E the president but
Appachchi (supreme father) or Maha Raja (supreme king) and also
very conveniently as claimed by a historian cum artist on
television, a distant relative of Lord Buddha himself.
War crimes and Conspiracy Theories
Questions on war crimes and human rights violations emerged as
a parallel discussion during this time and strong fear factors were
still maintained by the government and its supporters in media of
threats to national security. There were multifaceted elements of
fear embedded in the minds of the people in the South that peace
shall not prevail. Every question or concern on war crimes or
human rights violations were framed as international
conspiracies which were brewing up to take back the supremacy
of the Sinhala Buddhist nation looked at all Non-Governmental
Organizations with distrust. The country aptly turned its back on
the west and made best friends with the Chinese instead, no
questions asked.
Power and new middle class
Nepotism, corruption and thuggery was completely normalized in
the eyes of the masses with the President making public
statements on persons who were red handed in corruption as ape
kenek (one of us). The legislative, executive and judiciary were
no longer independent of each other but were under the direct
influence of a single hand or rather a single family. Along with
these changing values portrayed by state and injected to its
people with daily doses of patriotism and nationalism, a new

middle class emerged through into the power structures. They

were the closest to those in power, holding important decisions or
making the most profitable business deals.
Beautified and distressed Colombo
It was during this time where all walls came down in Colombo.
Once a scruffy, dodgy and disorganized city now put in proper
order and glammed up by the Urban Development Authority
which was taken under the Ministry of Defense. Heroes of war no
longer held guns but mamoties and worked on redoing colonial
buildings, parks and paving the city. One couldnt help but notice
that most roads were paved many times over, with different
stones each time. Colombo transformed to be an attractive city
with the slum settlements and small box boutique vendors
uprooted from their inhabitations and many new add ons like
shopping complexes, fancy cafes and jogging tracks coming into
place. People now shopped, dined out, jogged and cycled day and
night. At the outset, it all looked great. A clean city and happy
people. But the moment a jogger stepped out of track to feel the
grass, a whistle would blow from some corner as a warning to
keep off the grass. The moment a couple talked or walked holding
hands in a park theyd be warned or chased out for indecent
behavior. One layer down there was this lurking feeling of being
watched and being heard. There was military presence not only in
the North but also here in the South. It felt as if every move of our
lives was being monitored by invisible surveillance cameras in
every nook and corner and no one dared to ask questions or make
criticisms. In the meantime the media never carried a single
story or draw a single cartoon of the Secretary of Defense, no one
dared.
Patriot or traitor

Another significant and noteworthy change was the film industry

along with other forms of art which took shape to felicitate and
celebrate the sacred kingship and promote war and the victory
obtained. There was a clear guideline which made you a patriot or
a traitor of the country and that was your outspoken undying
loyalty to the king. The emergence of the concept of Sinhala
Buddhist nationalism was clearly visible during this time and
acted as a filler of space to the lives of the majority of the country
who was bored without all the action brought about by war.
Aba Saranai
There was also this hype created around Sri Lanka being a Sinhala
Buddhist nation and the role of the Tamil people being the other
in the eyes of the Sinhalese was relocated over to the Muslims. It
was as if the majority of the country could not count its existence
as important without an enemy on the other side. Formation of
many cult extremist groups took place that was fighting to craft a
stronger identity for the Sinhala Buddhists, as if it was
nonexistent or was inadequate. Buddhist priests were no longer
heard quoting the Dhammapada and speaking of meththa but
were rebelling against the minorities fighting for the lost rights of
the Sinhalese Buddhists. A new cult of Buddhism emerged which
took over the news, the roads and the people, demonstrating
violence, aggression and intolerance in complete contrast to
buddhas teachings.
It was during this time in 2014 with anti-Muslim riots taking up in
South of Sri Lanka incited by Bodu Bala Sena the new fighters for
the sustenance of the Sinhalese Buddhists as they claimed
themselves to be, nudged the free thinking anti racists to wake up
and speak up against such acts of vandalism.

Common hope and good governance

With such a vibrant canvas in the background, the change that
took place on 8th January 2015 was clearly unforeseen. Things
were crafted in a way where the country was set on a journey of
having one king and maybe an heir to the throne after many
years ideally from the same family. The concept of a common
candidate shook the country with surprise and brought together
very many likeminded individuals who wanted to see change and
oppression stopped. After the longest time the Sri Lankan civil
society was not in fear or vulnerable to act, advocate and lobby
for a better tomorrow. Journalists who couldnt return to the
country were working tirelessly through news blogs delivering
uncensored information. Social media tools like facebook and
twitter took a new form of life.
During the height of such activity leading to the election, I
remember MR cynically stating how can facebook win an
election? and the impossible happened. Sri Lanka outvoted the
king and elected a President again. A statement made by the
people of the country which was loud and clear, that they had
enough and wanted to live free of fear, oppression and corruption.
However, the good governance regime even after 365 days after
its existence failed to catch up and live up to its own
expectations and of the people who voted them in. Its now clear
to see that re-enforcing boundaries on many things which were
breached by the previous regime is easier said than done.
Especially when you create a mammoth cabinet out of the same
people who were fan faring the wrong doings and mal practices
before, all for the sake of protecting a party.
Digital Liberation

Leaving the political disheartenings aside, dramatic as it may

sound the air around us became easier to breathe and words
spoken felt lighter with this conversion. People became more
outspoken and critical of what took place around them. There was
clear change in the interactions on social media and people were
not afraid anymore to speak their minds and even the silent
majority who were shying away during the height of intense
digital activism leading to 8th January were now rebels on
facebook.
No longer did an ordinary person just log into find a timeline full of
photographs of someones family, cat or dog but instead logged
into a platform full of content. Outburst of pages, groups and
blogs creating discussions, memes and posts on topics of culture,
religion and everything else they pleased. Public debates were
alive and kicking online and everyone who was not involved was
simply insignificant and nonexistent. People who were once afraid
to even mention names of those in power werent afraid anymore
to create and share content that directly criticized them and even
criticized the wrong doings of the new government. Protests like
occupy the square which was digitally lobbied and physically
executed and critical memes and posts coming out questioning
acts of the current President and Prime Minister are good
examples of how people werent scared to question the
authorities anymore. The change in the liberty any ordinary
person took to think, speak and act was clear.
This shift also gave rise to the extremist groups reflecting strong
nationalist sentiments to widespread their arrogance. Behind real
people operating on honest intensions were also groups who were
planted in by different agendas whose job was to create content,
hype trends, troll and attack all alternative ideologies. There were
many instances of personally targeted social media attacks on

activists and liberal thinkers who promoted cohesion and

questioned extremism. Comments coming out of the nationalist
extremists on such posts were full of absolute hate and even filth.
This digital war is still active and unlike two years ago every
random citizen is deeply involved in fighting their corner to
support which ever ideology they stand for.
Best and the worst
A clear merger of classes in the field of arts and culture also
became evident after 2015. Many collaborative events stemmed
out and came alive in full force which consisted and catered to
cross cutting segments of the society. The best and most
significant thing is that this was all a natural phenomenon which
emerged out of all parts of communities and was not artificially
triggered by any of the organizations that were mandated to do it.
While such organizations both state driven and nongovernmental still went on doing their workshops and activities
around cohesion and diversity, and the youth went ahead and set
their own trail ablaze in form of meet ups and gigs which grew to
be massive points of merger and collaboration for all sorts of
diverse groups. This unification is a historical one. Bridging the
gap between different class, racial and language structures of the
small but deviated society of Sri Lanka taking form naturally is a
critical change in going forward.
At the current day we are left with two main challenges. Breaking
away from the trends of corruption and absolute power executed
during the major part of the last decade and steering the country
towards systematic change. This of course is easier said than
done especially with the previous regime having demonstrated in
a grand waltz of how it was possible to get away with anything, a
path now aptly followed by some in power. The next and most
important challenge is clear to see on social media on a daily

basis via the clash between the extreme nationalists and liberal
thinkers. The strongly emerging nationalist sentiment is not only a
trend in Sri Lanka but also clearly reflected across the world
through Brexit and Trumps victory as President of the United
States of America. Pulling the plug of agenda driven extremist
trends in Sri Lanka and steering the conscience of the masses to a
middle ground where people are tolerant and empathetic towards
the other is going to be a long and tiring walk. This is an
overwhelmingly complex task than it needs to be with many
invisible and intangible political and power driven dynamics being
at play, tilted towards extremism.
Sri Lankas weakness always used by and for the favor of those in
power has been its diversity and hybridity. Even after being at
war for 3 decades and experiencing the futile devastation it
caused, it still remains exposed, sensitive and vulnerable to the
channels of hate and chauvinism. Sri Lankans are driven to
protect an invisible and non existent purity of whichever race,
religion, group in society they belong to and this bubble of illusory
pristinity needs to break in order for us to achieve anything in
future.
Posted by Thavam