Thousands got killed or went missing in both Sinhala and Tamil insurrections

Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne-2017-12-21

They sat in the baking sun: Sometimes through the cold of the night facing dangers, amid the dust and pollution of the roadside. For approximately twenty years, family members of those who disappeared during and after Sri Lanka's civil war in the South have been protesting continuously at various locations across the country. Now less and less people come. May be parents have died or they are satisfied with compensations. At the same time, the civil war in the North and the same suffering or more, spread into the Tamil homeland too.

In the first case Sinhala youth under the guidance of Sinhala chauvinist political parties attacked everybody who wanted to resolve the Tamil national problem. Of course they did not attack Tamil politicians but went against pro-devolution Sinhala activists including popular politicians such as Vijaya Kumaratunga and Deva Bandara Senaratne. Mass repression followed and over 40,000 - forty thousand – disappeared and families of the disappeared organized protests as described above. There were petitions in support of them, taken to HR commissions in Geneva.

In the mean time Tamil freedom fighters were able to capture power in many parts of the Tamil homeland. Even the Indian Army failed to arrest their progress. They assassinated many Sinhala and Tamil politicians; some who supported Tamil freedom. They had the power to assassinate Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Then with the support of world powers including of course India, Sri Lankan armed forces were able to repress the Tamil insurrection. That was a disaster with many disappearances. Families of the disappeared in the Tamil areas too were organized by the human rights organizations and they claim around 150,000 - hundred and fifty thousand - are missing. The protestors on both sides are seeking answers as to the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones, many of whom were disappeared, during the repressive wars, including after being taken into the custody of the Sri Lankan state authorities in its final stages and immediate aftermaths 1988-1989 and 2008-2009.

In order to obtain those answers, they are calling for the release of information that could provide vital clues. In particular, they want the Sri Lankan Government to release a list, known to have been kept by the authorities, of all those who surrendered or were detained by the security forces during and after the wars.

This demand, along with four others, was issued by Tamil protestors at a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena in June of this year. Apparently it was met by a pledge from the President that he would take immediate action to secure the release of the records.

He has made similar promises to Sinhala protesters too. Meanwhile, the protestors – mostly Tamil mothers – still continue their fight. Organizers have produced a series of info graphics detailing the locations of the protests and the number of days occupied at each. They claim, already the longest running of these will have surpassed the half-year mark. These figures speak to the extraordinary resilience and determination of the families.

The time has come to say, enough is enough. Promises and pledges from the Government of Sri Lanka must now give way to concrete action.

The release of the list of detainees, un-doctored and in full would be a crucial first step in the right direction. It is correct to emphasize that getting distracted by arguments about the numbers that were killed or went missing during or in the immediate aftermath of the end of near three decade wars between the State security forces and both Sinhala and Tamil insurrections could easily distort the truth. In any conflict, while a single death is a tragedy, a large number of deaths are a statistic.

If people allow themselves to lose sight of the tragedy of what happened, reconciliation and the guarantee of future peace will become more elusive. It is necessary to be careful not to allow one to get distracted by arguments about numbers, because figures can too easily get in the way of the truth.