[Reader-list] Arundhati Roy on Sri Lanka

[Paul D. Miller]

I just thought I'd pass this on.
Paul


The Silence Surrounding Sri Lanka
By Arundhati Roy
Boston Globe
March 31, 2009
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/03/31/the_silence_surrounding_sri_lanka/

NEW DELHI
THE HORROR that is unfolding in Sri Lanka becomes
possible because of the silence that surrounds it. There
is almost no reporting in the international press - or
in the mainstream media in India, where I live - about
what is happening. From the little information that is
filtering through, it looks as though the Sri Lankan
government is using the propaganda of "the war on
terror" as a fig leaf to dismantle any semblance of
democracy in the country and commit unspeakable crimes
against the Tamil people.

The government is working on the principle that every
Tamil is a terrorist unless he or she can prove
otherwise, and civilian areas, hospitals, and shelters
are being bombed and turned into a war zone. Reliable
estimates put the number of civilians trapped at over
200,000. The Sri Lankan army is advancing, armed with
tanks and aircraft.

Meanwhile, there are reports that several "welfare
villages" have been established to house displaced
Tamils in the Vavuniya and Mannar districts. The Daily
Telegraph in London reports that these villages "will be
compulsory holding centers for all civilians fleeing the
fighting." Is this a euphemism for concentration camps?

Mangala Samaraweera, a former foreign minister of Sri
Lanka, told The Daily Telegraph: "A few months ago the
government started registering all Tamils in Colombo on
the grounds that they could be a security threat, but
this could be exploited for other purposes like the
Nazis in the 1930s. They're basically going to label the
whole civilian Tamil population as potential
terrorists."

Given the government's stated objective of "wiping out"
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan, this malevolent
collapse of civilians and "terrorists" does seem to
signal that the government is on the verge of committing
what could end up being genocide. According to a United
Nations estimate, several thousand people have already
been killed. Thousands more are critically wounded.

What we are witnessing - or, rather, what is happening
in Sri Lanka and is being so effectively hidden from
public scrutiny - is a brazen, openly racist war. The
impunity with which the Sri Lankan government is able to
commit these crimes unveils the deeply ingrained racist
prejudice that is precisely what led to the
marginalization and alienation of the Tamils of Sri
Lanka in the first place. That racism has a long
history, involving social ostracization, economic
blockades, pogroms, and torture. The brutal nature of
the decades-long civil war, which started as a peaceful,
nonviolent protest, has its roots here.

Why the silence? In another interview, Mangala
Samaraweera said, "A free media is virtually nonexistent
in Sri Lanka today." He described death squads and
"white van abductions," which have made society "freeze
with fear." Voices of dissent have been abducted and
assassinated. The International Federation of
Journalists accuses the government of Sri Lanka of using
a combination of anti-terrorism laws, disappearances,
and assassinations to silence journalists.

There are unconfirmed reports that the Indian government
is lending material and logistical support to the Sri
Lankan government. If this is true, it is outrageous.
What about the governments of other countries? Pakistan?
China? What are they doing to help or harm the
situation?

In Tamil Nadu, India, the war in Sri Lanka has fueled
passions that have led to more than 10 people immolating
themselves. The public anger and anguish - much of it
genuine, but some of it obviously cynical political
manipulation - has become an election issue.

It is extraordinary that this concern has not traveled
to the rest of India. Why is there silence?

Given the scale of what is happening in Sri Lanka, the
silence is inexcusable. More so because of the Indian
government's long history of irresponsible dabbling in
the conflict, first taking one side and then the other.
Several of us who should have spoken out much earlier,
have not done so, simply because of a lack of
information about the war.

So while the killing continues, while tens of thousands
of people are being barricaded into concentration camps,
while more than 200,000 face starvation, and a genocide
waits to happen, there is dead silence from this great
country. It's a colossal humanitarian tragedy. The world
must step in. Now. Before it's too late.

Arundhati Roy is a novelist based in New Delhi. She is
author of "The God of Small Things," and a forthcoming
book of essays, "Field Notes on Democracy."