Fighting for Jaffna: The Economic Imperative

This is a small issue that I have been battling in my mind for a long time. This posting is done in order to make the issue clearer to me and IS NOT meant to be in any way an eye opener for the public.

Let’s get the facts clear. Sri Lanka is a small island. Simple enough. We have been dragged into the open economic system since 1977. We all have indulged in the luxuries offered by the open economic system. (Please correct me if I’m wrong) from cell phones to the mars bar chocolates that we mouth wateringly reminisce are the fruits of this wonderful "Kapruka". But what if these magnificent treasures were more affordable. What if we would buy two mobile phones per year (well some of us actually do... not me :( I still use my sisters used Nokia phone) mobile phones and mars bars aside, how many people starve in Sri Lanka?...what if we could go on with life without caring about how much money we have in our wallets and could buy anything we set our minds to. Can’t we agree then that we would be better off with a whole lot of money? To have that much of money you would probably need a good salary... And to provide that salary you would need a good job. A good job would be probably provided by a good company. A good company would only invest in an economically stable country, and that’s where the bubble bursts. But what if Sri Lanka was a economically stable country? How can a country be economically stable? Why isn’t Sri Lanka economically stable? Though we boast that Sri Lanka is a country filled with natural resources the truth is far from that. What natural resources do we have? What resources can we market? What resources can be used to make money? Cutting all the crap what matters is money. What ever the poetic pantheons suggest, money is god.

If you agree to this point read on. If not go to the kitchen make your self a sandwich or think about why you can’t afford to buy a loaf of bread.

We can without argument agree that Sri Lanka needs to be economically stable. Now what we must focus on is why Sri Lanka isn’t. One of the major things that has put Sri Lanka in this volatile state is the ongoing war in the north. This posting is mainly focused on this aspect. Let me ask you a simple question. Why do we wage war? When we take world history wars have been waged upon many reasons. At least they seem to be representing many reasons when in fact there has been one reason and one reason only. What did Alexander want? The so called great king Ashoka? Our own Dutugamunu? Alexander of course conquered land in order to expand his empire. The more it grew the people within his kingdom flourished similarly we can take how Rome grew to become one of the most renown empires of mankind. In these kind of examples we can see that there was a certain upliftment in the society which attained victory. Ashoka is known as a warrior king. It is said that he fought for valor. What ever the stories tell us the fact is that he conquered lands and made his Magadha empire strong in turn uplifted the lifestyle of the magadhians.(isn’t is ironic how this is similar to the Sinhala term "magadi"=havoc.) our own Dutugamunu of course fought to rid the country of "Hadi-demalun"=tamils and bring the country under one flag. He didn’t conquer land. Sri Lanka never gained anything by the so called Vijitha pura satana except for a large death toll in both parties. after the king killed his opponent, Elara, sacrificing thousands of stupid Sinhala soldier who believed in the kings ideals and hated the mere guts of Elara, the king goes on to erect a monument dedicated to Elara declaring him a noble king. armmmm... wacko! Imagine what the soldiers must have thought. They gave up their life for this king and he doesn’t even make an inscription lest make monuments.

The truth behind Elara-Dutugamunu.

No they weren’t gay partners.

When a person wants power they want a banner to take in front of them. Hitler had his "No Jews" slogan. Chandrika had her Rs. 3.50 bread slogan, and Prabhakaran has his eelam dream. Dutugamunu similarly had Sinhala Sri Lanka concept. Where in Tamils remained a minority and Sinhala as the majority should indefinitely rule all of Sri Lanka. Maybe there was more to it than this. Maybe he thought that Sri Lanka would prosper as a single nation. Maybe he thought that all Tamils would thank him for saving them from Elara. Maybe he was molested as a child. Who cares anyway? I don’t. The point is that this battle was nothing more than a political struggle to keep Sri Lanka as a sovereign state for one king. The more land the wealthier the king is. Right? armm.. wrong.(i will be getting to this later on) this same war in various levels have been fought throughout the course of the history in Sri Lanka. This post is not going to go further into the issue as how this battle started or how it ends. In fact I’m not even remotely interested in the battle I’m more interested and way more concerned how much money I have in my wallet.

The conclusion form above is that wars are fought for the sake of a sadistic power-hungry minority. It is nothing but political issues. It never was an ethnic conflict and it will never be one. Just a power struggle and we are the pawns.

The Jaffna issue

Now let’s focus on the ongoing war in the north. What are we fighting for? Not to split Sri Lanka in half. Simple answer.

First let’s think about what would happen if we actually win the war. Even if the USA intervenes the war would go on for another year or more and not less. How many good soldiers would die for this cause? Are you willing to die? Facing the facts no one wants to die. I sure as hell don’t want to die. Are you willing to die when you perfectly well know that most of your comrades are playing on both sides? Are you willing to die for a cause where even at the moment they are trying to discuss and finish then your death would be in vain wouldn’t it? How many soldiers get the valor for the bravery that they show? What would happen to your family? What would you accomplish? Your life is precious than anything else. After all who knows if we will even be reborn? Sacrificing your life so that the majority can have parties, festivals, laugh with their relatives, sleep under fans, and have a cushy life is ridiculous to me. (Call me a nut). Even a single death is an unbearable loss. Your life is too valuable to be expendable. How many soldiers are we willing to sacrifice in order to accomplish a one nation dream? Lets say they voluntarily sacrificed their life. What about the millions that we spend on the war. For one year how much money do we spend on defense? From 1991-2001 the defense cost has risen from 17 million to 99 million. Now we can’t even afford a loaf of bread. How many people will die of starvation? What about the majority who are categorized under extreme poverty? How many of them are we willing to sacrifice? What about the bombs that goes off in and around Colombo? Can you rest your mind whilst your loved ones are out there in the open? What if your mother is caught in the midst of a bomb blast. Try to imagine. Haven’t you experienced that fear? The loss of a loved one? In the battle field or among civilians? I have and I know that feeling.

After one year lets say we won the war. Sri Lanka will have Jaffna. Does Jaffna have a commercial value? Is there oil? Jaffna is nothing but a huge chunk of chalk. Have you ever dreamed of a lush green Jaffna. Well then it is definitely a dream. Not much different than a dessert. It is just land. of course you can build on it. But with what? Where would get the money come from? More tax????? If Jaffna cannot be made a commercial hub what is the use of having Jaffna? We would have to rebuild Jaffna. Even now we are building. That means more tax. Less of the good life that we all wish for.

Now lets go on to the "negative" aspect. Lets say that the GOSL lost the war and prabhakaran won. Sri Lanka would be split into two nations. The norths part "the eelam" south part Sri Lanka. We would have to get a visa to travel to eelam. But at least we could travel. The Tamil people still will live in all areas of the island. Maybe we could pack them all to Jaffna. We wouldn’t have to pay for he army to fight a war. Less expense to the government. Less tax, more money for us. We wouldn’t need to spend our well earned money for the development for a place that we never would likely visit not have visited nor have any interest in. more money saved. More money for us to spend. Better living conditions for us. Damn... This is ridiculous I don’t want to be rich and have a good life lets wage war!... burp!

I think I have elaborated enough on this topic. The rest is up to you to decide. As for me I have made my decision a long time ago. I’m not going to be a pawn. I want to live my life.