Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Summary
Lukas family was worried because he was missing. His family knew that those who grew up in the Forest knew what awaited a child that wandered from a footpath or a sled-path when there was no one with him. Malie, Sofie and Elias searched and called out for Lukas until dark. Everyone was worried as night had fallen and Lukas was only a child. The last time Willem saw him was at the corner of the house when their mother gave him a sweet potato. He stood there eating it. Malie was also worried that the elephants would accidentally kill Lukas as it was dark. Anna and the men were back at midnight. Malie's husband, Martiens, took over and gave the orders while the rest had something to eat. When the fog cleared, everyone started looking for him. However, he was not found. As years when by, a skeleton and was found to be Lukas.
Posted at 10:03 pm
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Draft 6 - Justice
At the southern tip of India, the tropical island of Sri Lanka had charmed travellers for centuries with its beautiful sandy beaches, diverse landscapes and magnificent food. A boy named Jyoti Thottam who was now the age of 63 sat on a rock near his refugee camp recalling the painful moments and victories during the civil war between the Sinhalese and Tamils. He was seeking justice for his fellow friends and was at the age of 23 when it all began.
Jyoti was one of the few Indian Tamils that were brought in by the British to work in tea plantations when Sri Lanka was colonised by them. At that time, Jyoti lived in Colombo, a city where both the Sinhalese and Tamils populated in that area. He was one of the few that were being offered by the British to take key positions in the Government as he was well educated. At that time, the British favoured the Tamils minority more than the Sinhalese majority in terms of jobs and education as the Sinhalese was not well educated and most of them do not know how to speak English.
However, the Sri Lankans were angry with the British as they favoured the Tamils like Jyoti more than them. Soon, conflict rise and Jyoti had to leave his village in order to survive. The British then granted independence to Sri Lanka and soon, Jyoti lost his job and was one of the few that were unemployed. The government key positions had been occupied by the Sri Lankans and the Sri Lanka government soon passed the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948. This act granted citizenship only to those who were either born in Sri Lanka or those whose forefathers were born there and as a result, Jyoti and many other Tamils found themselves stateless. For years, they did not have the basic rights to look for jobs, housing, education and voting. Jyoti then worked at tea plantations opposite his house.
Jyoti was a well known Indian Tamil by all the other Indian Tamils at his village. He was the one that usually gave orders and people always respect and listen to him. However, a few years later in 1950, the Resettlement Policy was introduced. Jyoti who was living peacefully with his villagers and family were forced out of their village to stay in Jaffna and Batticaloa districts. Their village then broke up and was seperated far from each other.
However, it was not over yet. One afternoon in 1956 when Jyoti was watching the news, he suddenly felt like what most of the Tamils would have felt. The government had declared that Sinhala was the country’s official language under the Official Language Act. It would be more difficult for the Tamils to find jobs or be promoted. Jyoti felt injustice and unfairness. As a result, Jyoti led a group of people to go have a peaceful demonstration against the Official Language Act. Ironically, he was not the only one that led a group. Many other Tamils from different regions were leading their own group too. However, they were disrupted by supporters of the Sinhala language. This led to a riot but Jyoti group was not involved in the fighting as he does not want any casualties. Later that night, the news reported that more than a hundred deaths were resulted.
A few years later in 1976, a new political party surface among the Tamils and were called the Tamils United Liberation Front, he was one of the first few that joined instantly to ask for a seperate independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. However, the Sri Lankan government rejected the idea of a seperate and independent Tamil state.
This got the Tamils, including Jyoti, angry and dissatisfied with the government. Some of the Tamil youths, including Jyoti, thus formed a militant group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also known as the Tamil Tigers. This group promotes the use of violence as they belived that that is the only way they themselves can take care of the problems. The Tamil Tigers is considered as a terrorist organisation and besides attacking the Sinhalese; the Tamil Tigers have also attacked Tamil members of police force, Tamil members and supporters of the ruling party, and Tamil politicians. However, during one riot, Jyoti best friend, Prabhakaran died when a group of Sinhalese slashed him with parangs. Jyoti then really felt that the Sinhalese are too much. He then planned for weeks to bomb several crowded places filled with Sinhalese to seek justice for his fellow friends and race whom have died in riots.
The consequences of the conflict were far worse than the civil war itself and it can be a lesson learnt for many. There were high rates of unemployment, little tourism and Sri Lanka’s economy had to be built from scratch. Other countries had tried to help both parties signed a peace agreement and until now, they are still fighting until recently, the fall of the Tamil Tigers are announced. However, this may be far from over yet as the Tamils may make a comeback in Sri Lanka. When will this end?
Posted at 9:29 pm
Draft 5
At the southern tip of India, the tropical island of Sri Lanka has charmed travellers for centuries with its beautiful sandy beaches, diverse lanscapes and magnificent food. A boy named Jyoti Thottam who was now the age of 63 sat on a rock near his refugee camp recalling the painful moments and victories during the civil war bewteen the Sinhalese and Tamils. He was seeking injustice for his fellow friends and was at the age of 23 when the civil war began.
Jyoti was one of the few Indian Tamils that were brought in by the British to work in tea plantations when Sri Lanka was colonised by them. At that time, Jyoti lived in Colombo, a city where both the Sinhalese and Tamils populated in that area. He was one of the few that were being offered by the British to take key positions in the Government as he was well educated. At that time, the British favoured the Tamils minority more than the Sinhalese majority in terms of jobs and education as the Sinhalese was not well educated and most of them do not know how to speak English.
However, the Sri Lankans were angry with the British as they favoured the Tamils like Jyoti more than them. Soon, conflict rise and Jyoti had to leave his village in order to survive. The British then granted independence to Sri Lanka and soon, Jyoti lost his job and was one of the few that were unemployed. The government key positions had been occupied by the Sri Lankans and the Sri Lanka government soon passed the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948. This act granted citizenship only to those who were either born in Sri Lanka or those whose forefathers were born there and as a result, many Indian Tamils like Jyoti found themselves stateless. For years, they did not have the basic rights to look for jobs, housing, education and voting. Jyoti then worked at tea plantations opposite his house.
Jyoti was a well known Indian Tamil by all the other Indian Tamils at his village. He was the one that usually gave orders and people always respect and listen to him. However, 2 years later in 1950, the Resettlement Policy was introduced. Jyoti who was living peacefully with his villagers and family were forced out of their village to stay in Jaffna and Batticaloa districts. Their village then broke up and was seperated far from each other.
However, it was not over yet. One afternoon in 1956 when Jyoti was watching the news, he suddenly felt like what most of the Tamils would have felt. The government had declared that Sinhala was the country’s official language under the Official Language Act. It would be more difficult for the Tamils to find jobs or be promoted. Jyoti felt injustice and unfairness. As a result, Jyoti led a group of people to go have a peaceful demonstration against the Official Language Act. Ironically, he was not the only one that led a group. Many other Tamils from different regions were leading their own group too. However, they were disrupted by supporters of the Sinhala language. This led to a riot but Jyoti group was not involved in the fighting as he does not want any casualties. Later that night, the news reported that there were more than a hundred death were resulted.
A few years when by and when the Tamils hatred was about to subside, the government suddenly introduced the new university admission criteria in 1972. Tamil students had to score higher marks than the Sinhalese students to enter the same courses in universities. A fixed number of places in university were also reserved for the Sinhalese. This really got the Tamils worked up, especially Jyoti, when he saw his neighbours child who has studied very hard to get a course in university. Jyoti then wanted to seek justice and years later, when a new political party called the Tamils United Liberation Front emerged in 1976, he was one of the first few that joined instantly to ask for a seperate independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. However, the Sri Lankan government rejected the idea of a seperate and independent Tamil state.
This got the Tamils, including Jyoti, angry and dissatisfied with the government. Some of the Tamil youths, including Jyoti, thus formed a militant group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also known as the Tamil Tigers. This group promotes the use of violence as they belived that that is the only way they themselves can take care of the problems. The Tamil Tigers is considered as a terrorist organisation and besides attacking the Sinhalese; the Tamil Tigers have also attacked Tamil members of police force, Tamil members and supporters of the ruling party, and Tamil politicians. However, during one riot, Jyoti best friend, Prabhakaran died when a group of Sinhalese slashed him with parangs. Jyoti then really felt that the Sinhalese are too much. He then planned for weeks to bomb several crowded places filled with Sinhalese to seek justice for his fellow friends and race whom have died in riots.
The consequences of the conflict were far worse than the civil war and that itself can be a lesson learnt for many. There were high rates of unemployment, little tourism and Sri Lanka’s economy had to be built from scratch. Other countries had tried to help both parties signed a peace agreement and until now, they are still fighting until recently, the fall of the Tamil Tigers are announced. However, this may be far from over yet as the Tamils may make a comeback in Sri Lanka. When will this end?
Posted at 6:57 pm