“TRUST THEM OR NOT”
How do you know that three-wheel fellow is not a Tamil Terrorist? We have all reasons to suspect every single tamil living around us for our safety. Remember the former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Rupawahini Wasantha Raja? He is a Tamil Terrorist. The terrorists who represent LTTE in Oslo were practicing, registered lawyers here in Sri Lanka. If your boss is a tamil or your company is belongs to a tamil, you will not know whether the guy is a terrorist or not. You will not know whether he contribute part of his salary/profits to Tamil Terrorist network or not.. You will not know whether he is a spy or not..
If I were you, I will not take that taxi again.I would rather walk or jammed in to one of our buses or hop around to find a Sri Lankan taxi. It’s fully worth the trouble.
In my sleep deprived state, my initial reaction was to flame the man. Who the fuck was he to call all of us all terrorists, I thought. Common sense, thankfully, took over and in the next half an hour, I wrote the following in response.
Dear Janapathi,
I am Tamil, not a terrorist.
I make a substantial salary for someone of my age, not a cent of which goes to the LTTE. When the A9 was opened, I didn’t travel to Jaffna to see my relatives because I refuse to allow a cent of my money going towards their ‘cause’ – it is not “our” cause.
I believe in harmony across all cultures, religions, castes,
I weep every time brainwashed sheep (martyrs apparently) from the North go around blowing themselves up in the midst of large crowds. I wept when I saw pictures of those who were murdered last week.
I weep when a man, unable to support his family, joins the military and doesn't live to see his sacrifice rewarded. I weep every time a fellow Tamil comes to me and glorifies the acts of a psychotic barbarian; apparently he is ‘our leader' and is fighting for 'our rights'. I weep every time they call him and his band of maniacs 'the sole representative of the Tamil people'.
I weep every time I see comments like yours, but I weep more because I don't blame you – it is only natural to feel threatened and my initial anger at your comments is now replaced by empathy.
I weep because every time I feel empathetic to such comments, I am accused of turning my back on my own people. I weep every time a Tamil says such things, he is branded a traitor. I weep because such ‘traitors’ of greater substance than myself, such as the late great Lakshman Kadhirgamar, are murdered.
I see a soldier's face change when he finds that the young lad in front of him is a Tamil. I weep as I hear his silent thought, 'What if he is one of *them*?"
I weep because I am a Tamil. Not a terrorist. Like me there are others, Tamils not terrorists, who weep at the state of things in this country.
But I look around and I see the proverbial silver lining and I smile.
I smile because my two best friends – as Sinhalese and Buddhist as you can get – treat me like brothers they never had; not a potential terrorist.
I smile because it was a Sinhalese employee at my family’s establishment who willingly donated blood when my grandmother was gravely ill. I smile because we didn’t even ask him. I smile because my family’s establishment has employed people from all backgrounds, including Sinhalese from the south. I smile because they will be the first to tell you that we are Tamils. Not terrorists.
I smile because the love of my life – Sinhalese and Buddhist again – and I will prove people like you wrong. I smile because she was more offended by your comments than I am.
I smile because in us, and others like us, I see the very personification of Gandhi’s profound statement: “We must be the change we wish to see.”
That we are. That we will be.
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