Christmas in A Traumatized Nation

Basil Fernando

TV stations in Sri Lanka shows pictures worse than nightmares. The sight of these is very much worse than horror stories. In a few days in Sri Lanka one may see several heads of suicide bombers rest on roof top of buildings or being taken down by the soldiers. Some time the head is separated from the neck lying like a sculpture. Other time the face is so disfigured and even too difficult to look at. Every child seen these pictures been repeated shown.

The bodies of civilians killed by accident and blood strained bodies lying to be taken to the mortuaries is a familiar sight. Close ups of bomb blasts are sometimes re-cast, like for example the bomb blast at presidential election rally killing many persons and causing permanent loss of one of the eyes of the president of the country. The picture of the rich, well known lawyer, who in recent times become a supporter of LTTE, is shown, his neck with blood frozen from two pistol shot injuries, a body kept for inquest proceedings.

Only curfews stop movements. Otherwise, every one goes about treating everything as normal. Nothing shows the abnormal state of the mind of Sri Lankan people, than this seeming indifference to great tragedies happening close to them.

Still the greater horror is elsewhere and not shown in the TV. It is in the North and East. Where a brutal war has become a routine way of life. Military people, particularly the young and also LTTE fighter die here in big numbers daily.

Still the radio sings soft love songs and TV shows Western dances. Hinudi Romantic films with Sinhala sub-titles are played all the time.

No one lament the carnage any longer. Conversations are chillingly normal.

This can happen only in a traumatised nation, though no one admits trauma.