Let the Anchovies Go!

"Tissa came from an upper middle class Colombo Tamil family that belong to upper-caste Jaffna ancestry. He was a born writer. Mathematics was his arch enemy. "
___________________

By Helasingha Bandara

(January 30, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is law in the Northern seas of Britain to release young lobsters of less than 6 inches body length back into the sea. Following the rule it has become customary for fishermen to release any smaller fish caught in their nets for environmental reasons. Besides those who hunt sharks have no use of catching anchovies. Tiger is the most dangerous shark in the sea. While the hunt for the tigers is on, it is a waste of time, energy and resources to keep anchovies netted. Thissainayagam is just an anchovy.

While sitting alone on a stone beside the faculty of Arts of Peradeniya University with a forlorn look on his face, a friend once asked Tissainayagam what the matter was.

“Nothing, but I wonder why I can’t get one while hundreds of ‘............( a five letter plural)’ are around me here” Tissa replied

Such was his humour. He was known to be the most humble, generous and friendly person among his colleagues at the University. He and his colleagues from the English department were called Kaddos. Even Meddos feared Kaddos in certain ways. Tisainayagam was the only one from the elite English department who mingled with the Singhala speaking students from the faculty of Arts. He managed to make friends from the Singhalese medium faculty of Arts despite his very limited Singhalese. Those Fernando, Heraths, Hewages, Chandras, and Priyanthas may still remember Tissainayagam with fond memories for his humility and friendship. Mind you he was not only an English department student but also an old boy of St.Thomas’ college in Colombo. Others who had such backgrounds always stumble upon pavements as they can not keep their noses down. This is incomprehensible to a Westerner. Yet all Sri Lankans understand my meaning. Every morning he kept on going to all shower rooms in the halls of residence shutting all the taps that were left open by other careless fellow students ,consequently getting late for his lectures most of the time. Such was his good upbringing. Tissa was a virtuous man. He was honest, generous, kind and friendly. It made no sense to him when others were cunning, jealous or malicious. Tissa is no terrorist. He cannot be part of any crime.

Tissa came from an upper middle class Colombo Tamil family that belong to upper-caste Jaffna ancestry. He was a born writer. Mathematics was his arch enemy. Somehow he managed to avoid Maths for his first year exams at the University and got through to specialise Political Science and did well to get post graduate qualifications later. While at University Tissa kept on his creative writing alive and he later became some sort of a journalist.

Tissa is a Tamil. Having lived all his life in Colombo surrounded by the majority community he must have felt discriminated against, degraded, humiliated and so on. All those who have experience in being in minority situations would know how it feels like. It is obvious that a man of Tissa’s imaginative power and creativity turns a rebel against injustice. The only weapon that he possessed to battle against this was the pen. He wrote how he felt. Sometimes emotions take the better of us and most journalists tend to exaggerate. He is no exception. He is a Tamil and feels and speaks for them. Who can blame?

The media reported that he voluntarily admitted to taking money from the LTTE to write for them. Man’s personality, his thinking and his behaviour do not justify the claim that he has supported a terrorist organisation .If at all happened he could have taken money without knowing that it was LTTE money that paid his work. He was no criminal. Tissa has never known any weaponry other than the pen. If he has committed any crime that was with the pen. In that sense he is not a tiger but an anchovy. Let him go! He will be an asset to the nation. It will be credible for the government to let him go, particularly at a time when the government is shrouded in accusations of media repression. - Sri Lanka Guardian