| Pulsara Liyanage
Niromi de Soyza’s book
( September 30, 2012, Colombo,
Sri Lanka Guardian) It is well known that a man named Samuel Clemens wrote as
Mark Twain, those wonderful adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and many
more, in the 19th century. In the 21st, we still refer to the author as Mark
Twain. His assumed name was a term which he had borrowed from navigating on the
Mississippi in his day which in no way reflected adversely on his writing. In
the same we must not let the name Niromi de Soyza fool us that the book Tamil
Tigress is not written by a Tamil, female, who as a teenager was very briefly
in the armed wing of the LTTE in the mid-to-late ‘80’s. If it is the author’s
wish that she be known as Niromi, Niromi, she will be for me. She is authentic.
My introduction to Tamil Tigress
was in the English language press which was mostly negative criticism which
queried, on many accounts, the authenticity of the writer. I am aware that the
book had come under discussion in the Sinhala language media too; especially in
the electronic media. Having missed those discussions, I am not aware of the
content. (This is also a confession that I do not subscribe to Peo-Tv)
The series of articles written by
D.B.S.Jeyaraj (available at dbsjeyaraj.com) on Niromi, From Shenuka to Niromi;
True tale of a Tamil tigress proved that Niromi, whom Mr. Jeyaraj prefers to
call ‘Sharmila" and her tale were real by tracing her families’ history
and collecting information on the author herself through his own excellent
contacts in Jaffna and elsewhere. In order to read Tamil Tigress I had to order
the book on the net and it was posted to me from India. The book now has an
Indian publisher, Mehta Publishing House, but is still not available with Sri
Lankan book-sellers. This is a shame. There is no censorship on the book, yet
our book-sellers are fighting shy of making it available to the local reader.
An alarming self-censorship!
Tamil Tigress is very well
written. The Australian Arts Council was very correct in tagging it as a book
"You Can’t Put Down". Since Mr. Jeyaraj’s articles have answered the
many charges brought against the book and its writer from academics to
journalists, I do not need to discuss any of that. Nor am I competent to
comment either on the use of the Tamil language or the sociology and geography
of Jaffna. Niromi writes of a moment in our own, contemporary history from the
inside, albeit the periphery. I enjoyed reading the book very much. In certain
episodes Tamil Tigress recalled to memory another book written on a very different
revolution by a revolutionary at the time: Omar Cabezas’ Fire from the
Mountain: The Making of a Sandinista. Niromi’s book reminded me of the
different radicalization processes of those of my generation including my own.
As Niromi so simply writes her
story of over two decades and many traumatic experiences later, it is easy to
understand her journey into the LTTE. It was not only romantic idealism of
youth that propelled her voluntarily to join that political organization. She
was also a spirited child and sensitive to the pain of others. The scenes at
hill country railway stations that she describes so well having witnessed them
as a little child, would indeed have been very disturbing to her. From there
she awakens to a realization that she herself is Tamil and others like her
lived in fear among the majority Sinhala people. Along with the awareness of
her ethnic identity her parents decided to relocate her with her paternal
grandmother in Jaffna. The alienation of a middle class, westernized young girl
in conservative Jaffna is also an important factor in her radicalization. The
only place of refuge for her, who loved reading, was the Library. Indeed the
Jaffna Public Library was not only a refuge for one alienated young girl, but
the very heart-beat for the young, the studious, the bright and the
intelligentsia of Jaffna. When this library was burnt down the youth was left
with only anger and frustration. Niromi says it as it was; in just these words.
The incidents of July ’83 are
dealt with in Chapter 3. She writes of the news reaching Jaffna and its effect
there. Niromi’s family and their neighbours did not have bread that day. The
bakery was shut since the family had fled Jaffna. The neighbourhood baker, the
author says, was Sinhalese and all the Sinhalese had left Jaffna. Some of us
met a few of these Sinhala families who were sheltered at D.S.Senanayake
College in Colombo. When we met them there were only a couple of families still
left at the shelter. The others had gone to their former villages where some of
their relatives still lived. The few we met had nowhere to go since their
relatives had left the villages too. According to them, many Sinhalese were
afraid to stay in Jaffna because the Tamils were harmed in Colombo and they
feared retaliations against them. At this point none of the families had been
harmed.Many Tamil people had begged them not to leave saying they will protect
them. But the Army had insisted that they must leave Jaffna for their own
safety and provided them with transport and escort. The author speaks of the
ethnic cleansing committed later by the LTTE which included the Muslim people
as well as the Sinhalese.
July ’83 changed life for all of
us: same as for Niromi. The book briefly deals with the attack on the Tamil
prisoners at Welikada. I remember the murder of Dr. Rajasingham who was in
prison having been the head of the Gandhiyam Movement in Vavuniya. Douglas
Devananda who was also in prison at the time was able to save the lives of
several by preventing the door of their cell being broken down. But Dr.
Rajasingham had attempted to reason out with the attackers in Sinhala. The
ambush of a convoy of 13 soldiers in close proximity to the Jaffna University
was the spark that lit the fires in Colombo. It was also found that the bodies
of the soldiers had been mutilated.
One step in the
"humanising" of the war was the exchange of bodies after battle
between the Army and the LTTE. I remember the photograph that was published in an
English language news paper at the time of Capt. Jayantha Kotelawela and Kittu
of the LTTE shaking hands after handing over the bodies to each side. Niromi
mistakenly mentions it as a prisoner exchange. It was not so. Seeing the
photograph I was proud of Jayantha doing the right thing since he was a
childhood friend. The book mentions ‘the unusual friendship’ between Jayantha
and Kittu. The author awards it to a mutual admiration of each other. There was
a sort of a ‘friendship’ between Raheem and Jayantha as well. I never had the
opportunity to talk to Jayantha about these.
I find the writer in her
innocence being extremely truthful about an organization once rated as the
world’s deadliest. She is truthful about the wanton violence of the LTTE
against those of their own organization and ethnicity, members of other Tamil
movements as well as unarmed civilians. In fact the major part of the Tamil
Tigress is a damning critique of the LTTE and the policies of its leadership.
In several sections of the book the writer describes the encounters of the
youthful militants with the ordinary Tamil people of the North. In one instance
the people gave these hungry militants some food because they felt sorry for
their children but insisted they leave the village, sometimes even chased them
out.
Why did a young and spirited girl
who was westernized and from the middle class join with the LTTE? That was
because the LTTE was seen as the most ‘successful’ of the movements. Success
was measured in terms of ‘operations’ against the enemy, Sri Lanka Army. The
arguments among the girls in the author’s class at the Convent on the
popularity of the groups each preferred, give the reasons for their admiration.
Yet another reason was that these passionate young people did not have knowledge
of politics nor did they think it was important to also be armed with
knowledge. This was the tragedy in the South as well as the North. It must not
be forgotten that there were young people who joined the less ‘successful’
Left/Marxist movements in the North. Many of these youth have been assassinated
by the LTTE. I wish the few individuals who survive will write their stories
too. For those will be an example and an inspiration for generations to come on
how not to succumb to the ‘attraction’ of the moment.
Every one of us also has a
version of the author’s Uncle Ratnam who initiates us into the socio-political
realization of ethnicity which is a recreation of the ethnic polarization into
the next generation.
The adolescent attraction between
the author and Roshan weaves a redeeming feature throughout the book amidst all
of the negative human characteristics the tale lays bare.
Only a person who has actually
been in a movement will be able to relate the realities of life in the
‘underground’ or in battle. It is such descriptions in the Tamil Tigress that
reminded me of Fire from the Mountain; the several days one had to endure
without the luxury of a bath or the lack of fresh underwear, etc. Somehow these
are more difficult to bear for a middle class kid than the shortage of food or
water.
Tamil Tigress is a book that must
be read in Sri Lanka. It is also a book that needs to be translated into
Sinhala and Tamil.
The organisers of the Galle
Literary Festival should invite the author of the Tamil Tigress for their
festival next year.
Thank you Niromi for that
beautiful tale. Hope to see you in Galle!
 It is well known that a man named...){kind=link}