Suicide Bombers of Sri Lanka -Part Four

“Sri Lanka has been subject to political repression and chronic military vio¬lence for over 20 years. The rise of Tamil militancy and the phenomena of suicide bombers can be understood from the ecological context as an inter¬action of pull-and-push factors.”
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by Daya Somasundaram

Collective Trauma

(June 14, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) Due to decades of war and the consequent destruction of social institutions, structures and processes, society faces a collective trauma or what was called ‘Loss of Communality’ by Kai Erikson (Somasundaram, 2007). The Tamil community had learned to be silent, non-involved and stay in the back¬ground.They have developed a ‘deep suspicion and mistrust.’ People have learned to simply attend to their immediate needs and survive to the next day. Any involvement or participation carried considerable risk, particularly at the frequent changes in those in power. At these shifts in power, recrimina¬tions, false accusations, revenge and so on was very common. Those with leadership qualities, those willing to challenge and argue, the intellectuals, the dissenters and those with social motivation have been weeded out. They have either been intimidated into leaving, killed or made to fall silent. Grad¬ually people have been made very passive and submissive. These qualities have become part of the socialisation process, where children are now gradu¬ally taught to keep quiet, not to question or challenge, to accept the situa¬tion, as too-forward behaviour carries considerable risk. Thus, living and growing up in the ‘repressive ecology’ (Baykai et al., 2004), joining the mili¬tants and volunteering for suicide missions become a way out.

Collective events and consequences may have more significance in collec¬tivistic communities than in individualistic societies. This broader, holistic perspective becomes paramount in non-Western, ‘collectivist’ cultures which have traditionally been family and community oriented, the individual tend¬ing to become submerged in the wider concerns (Hofstede, 2005). In collec¬tivist societies, the individual becomes embedded within the family and community so much so that traumatic events are experienced through the larger unit and the impact will also manifest at that level. The family and community are part of the self, their identity and consciousness. The demar¬cation or boundary between the individual self and the outside becomes blurred. For example, Tamil families, due to close and strong bonds and cohesiveness in nuclear and extended families, tend to function and respond to external threat or trauma as a unit rather than as individual members. They share the experience and perceive the event in a particular way. During times of traumatic experiences, the family will come together with solidarity to face the threat as a unit and provide mutual support and protection. In time, the family will act to define and interpret the traumatic event, give it structure and assign a common meaning, as well as evolve strategies to cope with the stress. Thus, it may be more appropriate to talk in terms of family dynamics rather than of individual personalities. Similarly, in Tamil commu¬nities, the village and its people, way of life and environment provided organic roots, a sustaining support system, nourishing environment and net¬work of relationships. The village traditions, structures and institutions were the foundations and framework for their daily life. In Tamil tradition, a per¬son’s identity was defined to a large extent by their village or uur of origin (Daniel, 1984). Their uur more or less placed the person in a particular socio¬cultural matrix. Durkheim’s altruistic form of suicide or self-sacrifice (thatko-dai) to the greater cause of the threatened community would be better understood from a collectivistic perspective. Suicidal terror arouses feelings of aversion and horror in individualistic societies and may not be possible in individuals who value self-interest. Typically, suicide bombers are analysed in terms of individual psychopathology or as arising from ‘hate.’ The pattern of thinking and experiencing the world are radically different in individualistic, independent societies compared to collectivistic, interdependent communi¬ties (Nisbett, 2003). Altruistic suicide in the form described here may only be seen in the context of collectivistic societies (Riaz Hassan, pers. comm.).

Alternate Behaviour

At a generalised meso-level, it is said that suicide rates are remarkably con¬stant for each society, but show a marked fall during war (Durkheim, 1951). War is said to increase social cohesion against a common enemy and this gives meaning to life. However, the drop in suicide rates may be due to war providing an alternate channel for suicidal behaviour (Burvill, 1980) or an opportunity to externalise aggression (Lyons, 1979). Suicide rates in Jaffna have shown the same trend during the war (see Figure 1) with a marked fall during periods of intense fighting (Somasundaram and Rajadurai 1995; Somasundaram, 2009).

Those who may commit suicide during normal times may die from other causes during war. Neeleman (2002) described the phenomena of ‘contextual effect modification’ within the context of war modifying the expected suicide risk by opening up other ways of dying. Thus, the drop in suicide rates could instead be due to war providing an alternate channel for suicidal behaviour (Burvill, 1980) or an opportunity to externalise aggression (Lyons, 1979). This psychodynamic explanation describes suicide similar to depression as a form of aggression turned inwards towards the self, whereas war provides an outlet for the aggression to be turned outwards towards a common enemy (Lyons, 1979). Burvill (1980) hypothesised that war may provide an alternate opportunity for suicidal behaviour, but rejected it based on the figures from Australia. However, some support for the view that participation in war can function as an alternative to suicide comes from clinical observations during the war here. Adolescents in a mental state caused by intense frustration or interpersonal conflict that made them think of suicide and would have led to suicidal attempts in normal times often said that they would rather join the militants and die in combat where at least their lives would have been honoured on posters (a common method of commemorating dead combatants here). The director of a counselling centre in Jaffna in a seminar for medical officers described the current social ethos as one where adolescents or youth faced with severe family conflict or environmental stress will at times threaten or carry out two possible alternatives — one is suicide and the other, is joining the militants (Anandarajah, pers. comm.). The ‘cult of martyrdom’ and sacrificial devotion have become increasingly attractive to frustrated and rebellious youth in the modern world resulting in ‘suicide terrorism’ (Roberts, 2007).Whereas suicide is common among the elderly elsewhere in the world (Durkheim,1951), a study of suicide in Jaffna showed highest risk in the 25–34 age group (Ganesvaran et al., 1984). The authors conclude that this phenomenon may be related to ethnic violence and revolt among the youth. Dissanayake and De Silva (1974) found a similar high risk for suicide and attempted suicide among the youth (aged 15–34 years) for Sri Lanka as a whole and attributed it to unemployment and unrest among the youth as manifested in the 1971 JVP insurgency. It is noteworthy that the suicide rate for Sri Lanka as a whole was the highest in the world, as it was in Jaffna before the war (Ganeswaran et al., 1984). Attempted suicide in Jaffna is also high among the youth and commonly follows stress (Ganesvaran & Rajarajeswaran, 1989). Our study (Somasun¬daram and Rajadurai, 1995) shows that the drop in the suicide rate with war is more marked for males (by 300%) than females (by 180%), and is more marked for the 15–24 age group (from 62.4 to 25.4 per 100,000) than for the 25–34 age group. Males in the adolescent 15–24 age group are an overwhelm-ing majority among those joining the militants. This also is the age group which had the highest suicide rate before the war started.

However, if we look at the Mavirar statistics for Jaffna (Natali, 2008) and assume that one-third would be deaths by suicide, the numbers far exceed those that would be expected from the alternate hypothesis. Thus, we would have to look at additional factors discussed above for the large numbers joining the mil¬itancy and dying as Mavirar. Of these, a select number would be the Black Tigers from 1987 onwards.

Conclusion

Sri Lanka has been subject to political repression and chronic military vio¬lence for over 20 years. The rise of Tamil militancy and the phenomena of suicide bombers can be understood from the ecological context as an inter¬action of pull-and-push factors. By understanding the myriad of causes that motivate youth towards militancy and self-sacrifice, it should be possible to address the basic needs and issues involved so that we have a more equitable, just and peaceful society and world.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the illuminating discussions with Michael Roberts, Riaz Hassan, Sambasivamooorthy Sivayokan, Kulanthai Shanmugal¬ingam, Rajan Hoole and a host of others which have clarified this sensitive subject.

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Concluded.

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