Fire Accident At Kilinochchi Market: The Destruction Of The Economical Hub Of The Tamils In Postwar Sri Lanka
By Parani Krisnarajani –February 13, 2017
Parani Krisnarajani
The sight of the smoke that billowed in the sky because of the recent fire mishap destroying the Kilinochchi public market reminded me of the smoke that emanated in the high sky of Mullivaikkal on the fateful day of 18th May, 2009.
The debacle we faced in Mullivaikkaal symbolizes our defeat, a defeat that was thrust on us by the gory hands of genocide. Kilinochchi public market serves as a token for the micro economical activities of the Tamils, who slowly were salvaging themselves from the ugly tentacles of genocide.
It served to resurrect them slowly from the debacle they faced and probably wage a long but just struggle for their freedom.
The attitude of few to view the fire at Kilinochchi public market as “yet-another-fire mishap” and probably regular news is something sad to hear. We need to travel to the sorrowful days of Mullivaikkaal to understand this better.
The massacre of Mullivaikkaal has created a deep scar in the hearts and minds of Eezham Tamils both individually and as a community. To many, this scar seems more political. But the truth is rather different. It has ramifications that run deep, into the social, cultural, psychological, economical, and livelihood aspects of the Eezham Tamils. How these ramifications have come into play, both individually and as a community, have to be subject to a series of analysis.
Our immediate need is to identify these ramifications and to save ourselves from its ill-effects. Our basic need is to come out of the ill-effects of these ramifications before we strengthen ourselves politically. This is the truth and it is not beyond comprehension.
As I keep maintaining for long, we Tamils were defeated not just militarily and politically. Our homeland, our unique ethnicity, our socio-cultural heritage based on our language, our collective psyche, our economy and our livelihood were all destroyed and destructed.
This is not something ordinary. One of my research analyses says that our generation that has survived this massive onslaught will have to experience the impact of this destruction for a minimum of three more generations. This is the exact reason why we quipped that beyond politics, we may have to pay a heavy price for our mere survival wherever we live in this world.
The destruction of socio-cultural heritage, collective psyche, economy and livelihood of a race evolving from its homeland, its ethnicity and its linguistic affiliations, constitutes the destruction of its polity. So rather than fighting among ourselves as to what our next political move would be, prudence has it that we concentrate rather on resurrecting our socio-cultural heritage, collective psyche, economy and livelihood for restoring our political identity.
It is at this juncture, in the post Mullivaikkaal era, that the basic livelihood aspect and the economy of the Tamils gain an ideological shape.
Politics, Economics and Culture are deeply tied together. A research of mine that takes into account these deep ties has found a disastrous consequence that awaits the Eezham Tamils post Mullivaikkaal massacre. I tagged the economy and cultural aspects with the current world order to arrive at such a conclusion. They truly remind me that bad days are ahead, a catastrophe awaiting us.
Economics is not a solitary philosophy. It is a concept that is multifaceted and diverse. Finance is one such facet inside economics. This single facet truly depicts the challenges that Tamils face in the aftermath of Mullivaaikkaal massacre. A tacit understanding of these implications can point to the importance of the burning of Kilinochchi market.
