Random Rantings

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
- Martin Niemöller, German theologian

ABDUCTIONS or should I say “disappearances”…now there’s a scary word if ever there was one, especially in the current Sri Lanka context. Child abductions, youth abductions, businessmen abducted and held for ransom, and of course how could we leave out the ever so “infamous” ‘white van’ abductions! Okay, so why am I talking about such a hackneyed, stale topic (even though admittedly we can never speak enough about it)? Well…because it has a new twist now. Or new, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Someone I know was abducted via a “white van” recently. He wasn’t Tamil (which was unusual, as per the “accepted norm” nowadays of random abductions of Tamil youth). He was asked to give out the addresses of all his Tamil friends, or else, he and his family would be killed. Please note that he was in fact given a choice here. Be it Hobson’s Choice or not, it was a choice nonetheless! (One must not criticize merely for the sake of it, after all!) He was tortured, released and is now keeping a low profile. Now most of his Tamil friends have of course gone “missing!”

But, please keep in mind that all this is always, always being done in the name of ‘NATIONAL SECURITY’! After all, what could be more important? How can such ‘trivialities’ as childhood friendships, loyalty, freedom to associate/befriend anyone we choose to, and basic human decency, ever come in the way of true patriotism??? That would be almost unthinkable – appalling even! It’s insane of me to even imply such treachery!

Okay, I’m sure to some of you this might still be a case of “so what??? This sort of thing’s been happening for so long now, what’s the big deal?” Well, let me share with you what I found to be the “big deal.” Yes, abductions a.k.a. disappearances have been taking place for quite a while now. Yes, it’s always been conducted and implemented harshly without any regard for basic human rights/dignity. Yes, I’ve always thought it to be wrong. Very, very wrong. In this case, I don’t agree that a means can justify the end, because there are so many innocent people still under arrest on “suspicion” of either being, or supporting the LTTE. IF the “suspicion” does in fact pan out, then fine. If not though, that’s a week, month or year/s, in someone’s life that’s lost; that they can never, ever be returned! That’s a lifetime’s worth of perceptions, beliefs and mindsets, destroyed, all in the name of National Security of course! Frankly, I believe that these abduction/detentions/interrogations help garner more support for the LTTE and sometimes even lead to “creating” a cadre, of a youth who may have never even considered the option before!
Why this particular incident got me fired up was this. All this time, ‘they’ abducted Tamil youth on the basis of questioning on suspicion. Now, by taking in youth of other communities and making them “rat” on their friends, is completely destroying whatever little’s left of the unity between the communities! I mean, who in their right minds, with a genuine agenda for a “lasting peace,” would pit one community against the other??? Was the use of ‘right minds’ too much of an overstatement here? Now it’s not just about discriminating and violating basic human rights anymore. It’s about dictating to us whom we should/shouldn’t associate with, it’s about planting seeds of doubt and fear in our minds about our friends, it’s about betraying our friends so as to remain secure ourselves, it’s about having to live each day of your life with the guilt that you helped end someone’s life (either literally or metaphorically) as he now knows it…it’s about tearing us apart without us even realising it! What good is a ‘so called’ end to this war, if we can’t trust each other, or co-exist? What good is having a ‘peace’ that is anything but, peaceful? What good is a friend, if he abandons you when you need him the most?

Of course we’re are a people known to be ‘super resilient.’ Most of us who’ve been born into the war (basically, not known a time of long-term peace) have learnt to get ‘accustomed’ to a lot of things. People falling dead around us, random bombs blowing up, check points, body/bag searches, roads being closes, child recruits and of course abductions! Some might argue that if we aren’t resilient, how would we survive? How would we get about our everyday existence? But, that’s exactly all it is. A mere existence! For 27 years of my life, I’ve existed. I’ve survived. You, me, us all! We’ve played it safe. Bowed our heads and taken whatever was meted out to us. Swallowed our pride and stayed mum, even when every pore of our being thought otherwise.

Ever wonder what it must be like to ‘live’…?