They are you

Sri Lanka is unique in many ways, but one thing I find extremely so is the fact that disasters in this nation take many shapes and forms – they are not limited to the 'natural' kind. Of course we have had our share of floods and tsunamis, and they have been horrendous, to say the least. But added to this, we also have sudden bomb blasts, shootings, kidnappings, and all the other horrific frills that come with the weighty package of Internal Conflict. Thousands of families are rendered fatherless. Thousands of people are driven out of their homes to foreign lands in search of refuge.

This is a disaster, in the true sense of the word, and has persisted for decades. This kind of disaster is equally, if not more, horrendous than the 'natural' kind, because at the heart of these disasters we will find – not undersea earthquakes or movements in the sky – but mere human beings: human beings who have turned against other human beings. How is that even possible? It's like slapping your own reflection in the mirror. But as people standing on the sidelines what can we say our response has been? Have we taken the time to have one, or have we obliviously gone on with our self-centred lives?

Grief is a righteous reaction to death. Did we not grieve when the tsunami struck? Did we not grieve when floodwaters washed away our loved ones? Why not then grieve for the hundreds of lives being spent on this very soil, even now as you read this article? Official sources quote a number in the vicinity of sixty five thousand as the number of lives that have been swallowed up by this conflict over the years. sixty five thousand people! You and I cannot even begin to imagine what that number means. But do we even try to?

People are dying. People who survive, having witnessed death in such close quarters, barely want to stay alive. How can you blame them? It is easy for us, sitting comfortably on our couch on a Sunday afternoon, reading the newspapers, to say the war must be "fought to the death" or that insurrectionists must be "wiped out" because they are unable to "put the past behind them" and not allow their bitter experiences to influence their actions. It is easy to say all this when it isn't our pain we speak of. It is easy to think there is a quick solution to the conflict going on in this nation. But the truth is, the solution is not quick or easy. It is costly. It will cost us all we have – and everything we are. It will mean allowing ourselves to be consumed by the desire to see an end to all of this. It will mean utilising our gifts, talents, interests, abilities and assets to bring this conflict to a close.

In order to be consumed, we must die – a different kind of death. It has been said that unless a seed goes into the ground and dies, it will not sprout into new life. Likewise, we must die to ourselves, if we want to bring new life to this nation. Die to our prejudices, our desires, our selfish ambitions, our struggles for power, our own points of view. We must give our lives.

Let us take a step back and appreciate the situation for what it is. Don't let Colombo distract you with its neon lights and weekend parties. It is only a façade behind which there is a very real disaster raging in all its furious glory. It is a different kind of floodwater, a more powerful, persistent tsunami. Can you not feel it?

"Who are these
That are lost,
asleep, plotting?
Who are these
That must grow and
be liberated?
Who are these that are joy
less and fettered?"
"They are you.
They are everyone.
They are fragments of a
philosophy.
Pieces of abstract art…
…Jewels that need only be
strung together
To form a brilliant
necklace!"