A lot has changed since my last article “War and Websites”. Prabakaran has been declared dead. Celebration in the Sinhalese areas, tears in the Tamil areas. The Indian and Sri Lankan Governments have put out a statement that the Tamil people will not be held for three years in the welfare camps. They have now made it 6 months. The international community’s unfailing efforts (dangling the carrot of the much needed Loan) have resulted in a sea change in the Sri Lankan Governement attitude in terms of transparency in the welfare Centers. The UN General Sectary Ban Ki Moon has been allowed to visit the Welfare camps. Selected members of the world Media have now been granted access to the Welfare camps, and the footage that we see is appalling.

The interesting thing is that I was in the heart of the Sinhalese area when Prabakaran was declared dead. I watched it on T.V with a host of Sinhalese waiters who kindly translate what was being said on the Government’s Rupavahini (TV) channel. When the confirmation of his death was received, the celebrations began. I was on the streets, walking along with them, taking it all in, and I felt elated watching their joy. The ladies were cooking kiribath (milk rice, made on auspicious occasions) the children were waving flags, hundreds of people took to the streets in the matter of an hour, and the roads were choked with vans and bikes with men and women waving the gloriously yellow flag of Sri Lanka. Trucks with army personnel were stopped and the civilians hugged their brave men in arms. Effigies of Prabakaran were being burnt at various spots, and thousands gather to watch this spectacle. Fire crackers were being thrown on the road and I had to beg them to pause so I could walk past without jumping out of my skin. Many families accost me and fed me a mouthful of Kiribat as I made my way albeit gingerly at times since I was terrified of the fire crackers and rockets that seem to whiz out of every corner. Ever so often a flag would brush over me as it was waved and carried by. Many processions of village people, women dressed in white, children with white flowers in their hands, men waving flags took to the streets, auto’s and vans blaring Prabaharan is Dead, Mahinda is King whizzed by, stopped constantly by the crackers, processions, and celebration traffic.
What touched me the most and gave me reason to feel this sense of elation I felt as I walked among the road that day, was that these were Sinhalese Villagers, poor people with no agenda, wearing their feelings on their sleeves. Every single person I spoke to said to me “The War is over, we are so happy”. It was not about the fact that the Tamils were defeated; it was to them Prabaharan who was dead and the LTTE terrorist who were vanquished. They were celebrating the fact that now there would be peace in Sri Lanka!!! I thought to myself, I am witnessing history. Then I thought to myself, what it must be like in the Tamil areas. Are they happy? Are they sad? Are they in just too much pain to care?

Standing on the second floor terrace of a dilapidated building, tired from walking for hours taking in the celebrations from village to village, I called a few very trustworthy sources in Vauvuniya, and I asked them “Are they celebrating there too? I was told that it was a more muted expression of happiness. I deciphered from this that perhaps the Tamils are happy the war is over, but they are not sure if that warrants celebration. For them the future still remains murky. Then again how many of the “quarter of a million” in the Welfare camps are even in a position to celebrate?

The situation in the camps is gut wrenchingly sad. The people have been held hostage by the LTTE for months, held at gun point, forced to stay inside the war zone, with very little access to medicines, food and water. Caught in the cross fire between the army and the LTTE, a few thousand civilians have been critically wounded. They are now out of the grip of the LTTE and they are looking toward their Government for food, shelter and Medical aid. The wonderful thing is that the Sinhalese people have shown great generosity in collecting and sending food and aid. But it is a time for the Sri Lankan Government and its President to embrace the Tamils as fellow Sri Lankans and show that they are a benevolent Government by immediately and effectively providing emergency aid. Here’s hoping……

Poongkothai Chandrahasan