Sri Lanka’s lost generation – growing up in the war years

By Sunil Karunanayake

According to all forecasts Sri Lanka today is at an economic zenith with high growth, increasing investment etc. But in actual fact where do we stand today. We are well aware of the tsunami reconstruction, telecommunication boom, increased agriculture and industrial output which all enhances the capacity of the economy -- whether it’s sustainable or not it’s another issue. We are also aware that the growing current account deficit is mitigated by increasing worker remittances. A tribute to the working class of this country who at great social cost has left their homes to work thousands of miles away perhaps due to lack of suitable opportunities to keep the home fires burning.

This is our economy. Socially from 1983 Sri Lankans of all races increasingly led restricted lives and unknowingly have become prisoners of a never-ending war. Nearly a quarter century is a good part of one’s life. Those who were born during this era have suffered mostly and have existed in a environment of suspense and uncertainty.

The war has taken the lives of many brave men and disabled many others in this quarter century adding misery to many families. The country’s roads, railways, airports, hospitals etc, remain woefully inadequate for the growing demand.

Trauma and frustration for school children
While the situation in the provinces and particularly that of the north and the east could be worse, right here in the heart of the city the sight at a leading girls’ school named after an illustrious lady who brought fame to Sri Lanka tells the story of the lost generation. The girls of all ages alight from their conveyances and walk through the barricaded approaches amidst heavily armed military men at times amidst convoys of armed cars of VIP’s passing the approach to this school. I am no psychologist but could imagine the suspense and frustration that goes through the young minds each time they pass through this war zone to their place of learning. Though one short-term solution is to shift the school or the VIP quarters to an alternate area this is a reflection of a lost generation that’s going through the trauma of the post ‘83 era.

Disruption to education in the eighties
It’s also the student generation of the eighties who suffered most when some groups terrorized and disrupted the education in the schools and the universities in the south taking away the best years of youth from these children. Many of them gave up or left the country or stayed extended years at the universities.

We ourselves having spent a good part of our lives in this lost generation however could recall those easy paced days when there were only a handful of newspapers, no TV and one radio broadcast which is the voice of the government of power. In this environment economic statistics were meant only for those experts at the Central Bank, nostalgically we recall how relaxed the parents were with a majority of the children using the public transport system.

Disruption to sporting events
The potential lost in tourism cannot be quantified. Silently we have allowed our strong competitors like the Maldives to emerge as a stable destination. Asia as a continent is rapidly marching towards economic prosperity, today sports has become an international industry and ever since Kerry Packer liberalized the game of cricket it has been a tremendous success. Sri Lanka was fortunate to host the World Cup in 1996 and become world champs but much of the glory was taken away when some teams refused to come to Sri Lanka due to the war climate. We’ve just heard that the scheduled Rugby Asiad or the Asian Rugby Championship involving some of the most powerful nations like China, India, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia will not come off now as the world rugby hierarchy and the participating teams doesn’t want to come to Sri Lanka at this moment. This is yet another big event that would have attracted quite a number of foreigners and will add to another loss of window of opportunity.

Providing confidence
Sri Lanka being a small island with only one international airport and most of the hotels and sports venues being close to each other, vulnerability is somewhat high and it’s difficult to convince foreign bodies that risk of terrorist attack is low. Former Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his book “Fighting Terrorism” says that history did not end with the collapse of Soviet Communism though the disintegration of the Soviet Union removed the ideological impetus of Communist domination but it also lifted the staying hand that the Kremlin exercised against the ambitions of many local clients and petty dictators. He goes on to say that the great spiritual and political void created by the evaporation of communism has at least partly paved the way for accelerating militancy.

Sri Lanka’s phases of insurrection have advanced from the communist led militancy of the seventies to today’s prolonged war. The government must find ways and means of giving confidence to the “lost generation” that’s crying for a better world order as peaceful citizens to co exist and get on with their lives. This generation has been deprived of bare necessities of life for too long and should not be allowed to wander into the darkness of history.