Let’s extend Maithri, loving kindness to Prabakaran

An observation by VW

(April 10, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) In the past we have forgiven the Japanese for war crimes committed; in the Sri lanka, Karuna and Pillayan bringing them into the mainstream of democracy. The families of those 600 police officers blind-folded and shot in the eastern jungles by the LTTE have picked up the pieces and moved on with their lives, not only burying the past but also extending compassion and loving kindness to those who inflicted misery into their lives.

I cannot think of a better date than today to write this piece. It is Bak Poya and I was turning the channels when most of the TV stations were telecasting Dhamma sermons. One sermon was almost ending and the Venerable monk speaking on Karaneeya metha sutra concluded by saying, ‘Let many people hate us, we will love them. Let the whole world hate us, we will extend Maithri’. This was beautiful I thought, particularly at a time the war against the LTTE is coming to an end.

Everyone is wondering what the so called LTTE supremo will do when the people held in his clutches as sheilds will risk the LTTE bullets and run away as the inmates of Sorbibor camp did. The time heals and finds the remedy, they say. Similarly Karma comes back one way or another. Prabakaran is no exception for that time and karma .

Of course there were many facets in our conflict. We have lived to watch the various episodes under different eras which unfold the truth that polity and society of Sri Lanka since independence have created the monsters such as Prabakaran and Wijeweera.

There is no need to differentiate the two races because the circumstances in which the two insurgencies thrived in their respective periods were similar. Poverty, social discrimination, lack of opportunities, abuse of power, practice of caste , you name it, we had all that in our country. And there is no guarantee that Wijeweeras and Prabakarans will not surface in the future.

Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, these so called heroes who emerged to fight injustice and bring prosperity to people also became the worst enemies of the masses whom they were pledged to protect and fight for. Ironically, one sure element that rescued the people was the curse of the kith and kin, relatives, and friends of those who were eliminated by terrorism which gathered as a tornado to wipe out these outfits and that is what we see today with the LTTE.

Prabakaran was clinging onto the demand which no country in the world would advocate. He wanted a country for a mono ethnic community while rest of the Tamils were living peacefully with the Sinhalese elsewhere. No propaganda machine or an NGO could hide that fact.

Prabakaran killed too many people as if he was addicted to taking lives. This prevented him from coming out of his hideout someday to live with people even if his dream of a separate state had come true. Prabakaran saw the danger from his own community after annihilating the Tamils who spoke against him if one remembers the infamous lamp post killings in Jaffna when he started the movement and the annihilation of cadres of other Tamil movements thereafter.

Then he forgot the universal truth. Old age and decay which all of us are subject to. He is no longer strong to command the LTTE. He has been sick and most of his lieutenants are dead and we do not see any more titles being given by Prabakaran to them. If not with a bullet or a cyanide capsule, Prabakaran is also going to die anyway.

He made Sinhalese pay more than the price they should without accepting the fact that 83 July riots were not caused by the average Sinhalese Buddhists. It was orchestrated by the thugs, hooligans, robbers and politically motivated groups. If one asked who saved the Tamils running for cover. NGOs? No, the Sinhalese. I wonder how many Tamils who are flourishing abroad have thanked these Sinhalese who risked their lives to protect them , offered shelter and fed them until they were taken to safe places.

Even if the total blame is to be shouldered by the Sinhalese for the July riots, hasn’t Prabakaran taken the vengeance already several folds over? Or how many more Sinhalese he wants to kill and display his performance to the Diaspora.

Prabakaran went on duel purpose missions through his attacks on civilians. First was the sheer hatred he had towards Sinhalese. Second, he eagerly sought riots to repeat to sustain his operation and develop the military outfit. He went on killing Sinhala villagers, monks, women, children for decades and even used suicide cadres to kill these civilians travelling in busses and gathering in places. He never succeeded because riots were simply a history.

Prabakaran saw this moment of truth coming to him some day. He knew that the government always had the fire power to beat the LTTE. Prabakaran never established a true military outfit to fight the might of the government.

We could see it today when his areas get cleared day by day contrary to the thoughts otherwise. What did he do with all those dollars and sterlings he was collecting for decades? The Tamil Diaspora, should be asking this question from the LTTE collectors and also ask themselves why there is lack of integration into the societies of the countries where they have settled. It’s too late now for those demonstrations instigated by the LTTE supporters.

The momentum was gathering to defeat terrorism in this country. What the country lacked all these years was the right combination and little bit of luck. The morale was always there but without the leadership. It took nearly 30 years for karma to turn the other way so that Prabakaran’s plans to silence the two top leaders in the battle also failed.

The same karma was nourished by the Sinhalese who never got provoked by the massacres after massacres of Innocent civilians. The Maithri that was so extended has paid the dividends. Let’s continue on that path so that there will be no ground for terrorism to flourish in the future.

Let the trial take its course. Prabakaran must live to see the calamities he caused to the people both Sinhalese and Tamils. Let him also answer the Diaspora as to what he did with all the dollars he was extorting from them for decades. Let the judiciary in the country deal with Prabakaran. The judiciary has after all given us enough proof that no one gets away with blood or money in their hands. There is no chance therefore that Prabakaran can be saved from the justice even if he is surrounded by a battery of lawyers.

Let the Sinhalese extend Maithri to Prabakaran and rest of his remaining military men and women. They need to see that Sinhalese practice Buddhism in this country. Buddha turned Angulimala to an Arahath. Who knows , Prabakaran might turn out to be reformed Angulimala while reviewing all his actions inside the jail. Buddha’s words Nahi Verena Verani would then be meaningful from the view point of practicing Buddhists in the country.

The writer VW can be contacted by Email: vw0684@gmail.com

-Sri Lanka Guardian