LTTE has defied stereotypes in more ways than one. Former child soldier, refugee and now author, Shobhasakthi recreates this unique world in Gorilla, who as a local thug runs wild over his son and narrator, Rocky Raj. He responds to Suman Tarafdar over email. Extracts:
The story of Rocky, and yours, is of many childhoods lost. What kind of an impact will that have for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka as a whole generation of young people are lost to the more usual pursuits of life?
Unlike in my time or in the time of Rocky, there is no way for a liberation fighter to get out of the Movement now. The Tigers have changed the design of their organisation in such a way that the child who joins or who is made to join the LTTE cannot leave it until he or she dies. Today there are only three outcomes possible for a young fighter. One, he will die on the war field; or, if he protests within the organisation, he will be killed by the Movement itself. If he escapes these two fates, then he will gradually move up the leadership ladder within the organisation. Our children are becoming graves, nameless corpses, and future lieutenant colonels. There is no sign in the near future for the Tamils in Sri Lanka that they might be able to live a life devoid of oppression.
For neither the Sri Lankan government nor the Tigers seek a peaceful resolution: the war has granted both groups uncontrollable power over the population.
How easy was it to pen the story, given that many parts run almost parallel to your life?
I wanted to build a political dialogue about the war in the novel that would transcend my own personal experiences. At the same time, I was careful not to fall into the category of dry political propaganda that would deny the reader the pleasure of reading a text. Therefore, it was not easy writing this novel.
The book was originally published a few years back. Have there been any major shifts in the nature of the battle between the Tamils and the Sri Lankan forces since then?
The biggest development is the massive losses suffered by the Tigers at the hands of the Lankan armed forces. In the 1990’s, about 70% of the land in the Tamil regions had been captured by the Tigers. But today, only Vanni remains in their control. Most of the North, including Jaffna and the entire East has been recovered by the government forces.
How does it feel to be forced to stay elsewhere from one’s homeland, as refugees, on margins of society? What should be the role of western nations or even countries like India ?
India and the western nations ought to take moral responsibility for the human death toll in Sri Lanka today. These governments have taken turns in repeatedly selling arms to both the Lankan government and the Tigers. There are many small nations who have become sites where these superpowers can test out their capabilities. Sri Lanka is one of them. It is now a neo-colony. The public service infrastructure and land has been sold off to the multinational corporations. If there were not a state of ongoing war in Sri Lanka, they would not be able to exploit the resources of Sri Lanka without opposition.
Do you think both sides will get exhausted without reaching a situation that satisfies either?
The peace talks between the government and the Tigers have now fallen through. The government and the Tigers are caught in the jaws of a political trap, built by their unthinking support and development of a nationalism that now looks to swallow them both. The next stage for the Lankan government is to drag on the peace talks with controlled periods of ceasefire. As long as the fate of the people lies not only in the hands of the racist Lankan government and the Fascist Tigers, but also in extreme Tamil nationalists and capitalist powers, I can only repeat what the now deceased, Tamil leader, SJV Chelvanayagam said: “Only God can save the Tamil people.”
Has literature been an outlet for you?
I cannot claim, “I am outside of social institutions and political parties, and free as an artist.” The very same organisations that I believed would liberate the people have in turn presented the people with a life of oppression and pain. I will continue to raise my voice against authoritarianism in my literary work. I deeply believe that literature is a tool of social liberation….
yes GOD can