Prevention of Terrorism Act v. Patriot Act

I’m living in a country at war with terror. A country that has just introduced restrictive new laws to search and detain anyone suspected of terrorist activities.

I’m not talking about the U.S.
But somehow coming from the U.S. has skewed my perspective on Sri Lanka.

When I hear the word terror I am skeptical. I think of nebulous enemies used to justify unrelated foreign policy adventures. But here there really is an army of rebel troops intent on forming its own independent state. And they control large swathes of the country—including areas less than an hour from my house.

The Tamil Tigers invented and refined the art of suicide bombing. They tried to kill the president’s brother just the other day. But they are exceedingly disciplined in their choice of targets. Civilians are almost never targeted. Sure civilians are often hurt in the crossfire. But the Tigers aim pretty much all their attacks at the Sri Lankan government and military.

As an American I think it can be really hard to visualize what it means to have a war inside your country. Our wars usually happen in someone else’s distant lands. I feel like I am thinking of the neighboring district like it was somewhere on another continent. I cannot imagine the war coming to me. And it seems unreal and abstract to think that gross human rights violations are taking place just a couple hours away. Just days after I arrived here, the Tigers allegedly killed 5 soldiers with a mine. So soldiers at a nearby checkpoint allegedly walked into a school and shot 5 students dead at close range.

Almost daily I get security warnings text messaged to me on my phone saying things like: “Ampara, 6 Ltte cadres killed in retaliatory fire when STF tries to recover 3 tractors”. Sometimes the warnings suggest caution or avoiding certain areas. But to me it still seems a bit abstract.

I feel safe. And I feel guilty that I feel safe. I can continue living my life. --Listening to the BBC on the internet. Visiting other NGO workers who have parties in their homes where they eat Western delights like cheese or Pringles. Even playing with my neighbor’s children seems like an unfair indulgence. Just a few miles away someone else’s child is getting abducted into military service—either by the Tamil Tigers or by government supported rebels who broke off from the Tigers—the Karuna group.

This is similar to the guilt I felt when I lived in the US and read about the tragedies in the world. I hated feeling like there was nothing I could do and it wasn’t fair that I could forget about tragedy just because it was far away and I was privileged to be somewhere safe. I thought coming here I would be able to do more. But here, I still feel helpless in the face of injustice. I am still privileged. And the guilt is almost more so because I’m not that far away. I could get on a bus and go to the sites of conflict. But then what would I do?

Being here that is the question I wrestle with daily. What can I do to contribute to a culture of peace and communal understanding? Is there anything I can do? Being part of the world of INGOs has not inspired confidence. Despite their excellent intentions, many organizations here seem to do nearly as much harm as good. Especially since the tsunami, they have created a culture of dependency and expectation and torn at the fabric of Sri Lankan culture and its ability to heal itself. I’d like to hope that I’m doing something to empower Sri Lankans --so they can encourage dialogue between communities. But it will be a long time before I’ll be able to throw off my feeling of privilege and guilt – and my very American way of imagining war and conflict.