A war brings out many memories and stories. There are tales of horror and carnage, of young children being forcibily recruited or new houses being razed to the ground. There are also tales of dark humour. A man is tired of losing his bicycle every time there is an evacuation, decides to slather his cycle with grease and leave it in a well. He is pleased and surprised to discover it right there when he returns many years later. Such tales make the crux of Samanth Subramanian’s This Divided Island , chronicling the stories of ordinary people impacted by the conflict that afflicted Sri Lanka for almost 23 years.
“I read extensively about Sri Lanka, before embarking on the book,” says the journalist and author, who was in town for the launch. “I read for almost a year and moved to Sri Lanka for a year in 2011. I did my research and my reporting in this period, meeting people across the country, talking to them and learning more about the way in which the war impacted their lives. I wanted to bring in the historical angle — the conflict between the Tamils and the Sinhalese over the island they call home.”
Explaining that he did not want the book to be an endless chapters chronicling the war, the Delhi-based author says: “I made an effort to find how the war impacted them. I wanted the writing to be fluid. The chapters flit between the past and the present. It is a literary way of writing; similar to American narrative journalism. I wanted it to appeal to people who have seen and experienced the war firsthand.” Admitting that it took time to find people who would fit the basic narrative, Samanth said more characters made their appearance as the chapter went along.
Working on the book made Samanth chance upon issues that he never knew existed, including the conflict between the Muslims and the Tamil tigers. “I learnt about the violence of the Tigers in Batticaloa after talking to people who witnessed it firsthand. I also learnt much more about life in North-Eastern Sri Lanka as the war drew to a close in 2009. Another story that I remember is the tale of Raghavan and Nirmala, who started off as one of the first rebels and now lead a quiet life in suburban London. A tale about vintage cars in Jaffna is also one I enjoyed a lot. I wanted to bring out all facets of the war. ”
About what does the future hold for Sri Lanka, Samanth is circumspect “I am not a policy guy and not very qualified to talk about the ‘what next’ for Sri Lanka. I think that the Lankan government must punish anyone who was involved in human rights violations.”
He adds, “It is easier said than done. There are limits to what the international bodies can do. I am not even very sure about what the Indian policy on Sri Lanka should be. The Indian government has made a mess of the policy, trying to please both the sides. Decisions were made on the spur of the moment. That cannot happen anymore.”
Ask him if his perception of the war in Sri Lanka changed after the book and Samanth says: “I went to Sri Lanka and tried to be impartial. I was not a supporter of either side. I came away knowing that it was not right to take sides in this war. I also learnt about the brutality of both sides.”
Does he think he missed out any elements in the book? “I think I could have written more about India’s role in the conflict, but chose not to. I refer to in passing. I thought it would be self-centred if I wrote an India-centric narrative. Topics such as the IPKF and the Tamil diaspora spread across the planet call for separate books.”
India is very different from Sri Lanka and the diversity has ensured that we have not seen a full blown civil war. “A civil conflict happens when there are two communities fighting for power. Our institutions are stronger. India has a fairly free press and relatively strong organisations. That makes all the difference.”
