Walking through the scorching streets of post-war Jaffna on the day that the Sinhala and Tamil New Year dawned, it didn’t seem different to any other day. Shops were open, people were getting about their business and crackers were few and far between. Either the people of Jaffna are not feeling that “jubilant” as yet or they would rather celebrate in the privacy of their own homes. The only public New Year celebration seemed to be the one organized by the state media at the Jaffna Fort.
“This is yet another year where we just have to hope, knowing very well that there is nothing much to hope for,” says a youth expressing concern about the military being involved in civil activities such as building houses for the resettlement of the internally-displaced people and dengue eradication.
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| The only public New Year celebration seemed to be the one organized by the state media at the Jaffna Fort. |
Voicing hope for a significant reduction in the military presence in the north, this young resident of Jaffna wonders whether Tamil travellers would be able to go freely to places like Hambantota as the three million people who have visited the north since the opening of the A9. “They come in busloads, occupy any vacant land they can find, do their cooking, sleep, sightsee and go back home. I just wonder if Tamil travellers would be able to travel as freely.”
The people in the north have hopes and dreams much like all others around the country. They long for peace, steady jobs, schooling for their children, a roof over their heads……..but above all, they long for freedom--freedom to return to their homes, freedom to reap the harvests of their land, freedom to travel and move around and freedom to live a “normal” life once more.
Will this New Year see the fulfilment of their aspirations?
“I want to forget about the past and start a new chapter. I wish to live in peace without any problems and regain normalcy to my life,” says father of three, Cyril Soundararaja (57), who works as a caretaker.
Gnanasekaran Jeya (30), a daily wage-earner and mother of four, hopes that peace will prevail and their lives will improve. “My main priority is to ensure that all my children receive a good education and do well. I have lived in poverty most of my life, so, I want my children to break that cycle somehow and lead a prosperous life.”
“I would like to see a more united Sri Lanka and equality for all people. We have lived so long in segregation - us in the north and the Sinhalese in the south, it’s time we came together. I hope we can overcome caste differences. Our people also face many economic problems with the high cost of living and not having steady incomes,” said N. Kunarajah (31) who has returned to Jaffna after completing his Master’s degree in Social Work.
Retired Postmaster and Christian lay preacher, T.A. Arulnayagam (70) speaks of the past years and how the New Year wasn’t celebrated on a large scale because things were just going from bad to worse. Now that some sense of normalcy and peace has been achieved, the New Year should be celebrated on a grander scale.
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| Paratharubana |
Kunarajah |
Arulnayagam |
K. Tharshini |
C.
Soundararaja |
“Having said that though, almost one in five families from the north is still living in camps. How can we possibly celebrate when our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters or children are still suffering in camps?
My sincere hope is that they are released soon, so that they too have reason to truly celebrate the New Year like the rest of us. Having visited the camps recently, I met so many IDPs who were just clinging on to their tokens and counting the days to be released. As the New Year dawns, we must make sure that these people are not forgotten,” he said.
“Things should remain calm and quiet and we should be able to celebrate the New Year without any problems. We should be able to move freely and do anything we want to. Having spent most of the last few years absorbed in my studies, I’m only now mingling with society at large. I would like to help people affected by the war to heal the wounds and gradually regain normalcy. I know there were many human rights violations during the war, but now that the war has ended, so should the violations. We should be able to go back to living our normal lives,” says math graduate G. Paratharubana (29).
Having recently completed her A/Ls, Amirthalingam Kema (22) says her family doesn’t celebrate the New Year anyway. She would feel like celebrating only if her entire family was happy. “I’m sure it’s the case anywhere in Sri Lanka. I just don’t think it’s right for us to celebrate if our neighbour is suffering. The war only came to a close last year, so it will take some time before we can be expected to celebrate the New Year on a grand scale. We should all be able to live happily and in peace,” she adds.
“Everyone should live in peace irrespective of caste, creed or ethnicity and we should all be treated equally. We should never have to experience war again, and we should all be able to enjoy our rights. People in camps must be allowed to return to their homes, youth should be given employment opportunities, we should have freedom of movement and a chance to improve the quality of our lives,” said Kanapathipillai Tharshini (29), a university student.
Explaining that they were unable to celebrate the New Year over the past years because of the war, mother of one, Anuraj Yasotha (26) says even though it’s over, they find it impossible to enjoy the New Year because her brother-in-law is still in a camp.
“In 1948 only the Sinhalese received their independence. The Tamil grievances were never addressed,” points out B. Sureshkumar (32), a BCA graduate delving into history to explain that during the time of the kings in the 16th century, both the Tamils and the Sinhalese were content and lived in peace with each other. They practised their respective religions, cultures and rituals and acknowledged the reality that they were two types of people living in one country.
As a result of colonization, a lot of our culture was compromised and many of our traditions have been forgotten. So many years of war, so many people have died, but we have still not got any relief. I have little hope that things will change for the better for us, he said.
While the people of the north hope that at least this New Year will see some change in their lives, their cry for freedom supersedes all else. Can we as a nation, forget past grievances, let go of our prejudices and feel for our fellow citizens?
Then only will Sri Lanka truly start the ‘New’ Year. |
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