Found In Ceylon

Danger in Sri Lanka?

Today was a pretty cool day in America. For the first time ever, a black man (or perhaps more accurately, a non-white man) won a state election. Now it’s starting to feel like we’re in the 21st century, guys.

But today also brings sad news. Sri Lanka’s government–specifically, its prime minister and cabinet–voted to withdraw from its 2002 cease-fire agreement with the LTTE. Then again, if you followed the political climate in Sri Lanka at all while I was there, you’d know that there hasn’t really been a cease-fire for years. In recent months, fighting and bombings have intensified. At the same time, they have remained confined to Colombo, the country’s biggest city, and the conflict zones in the north and the east.

I don’t think many people realize that I stayed for nine months in a country that has been racked by civil war for nearly a quarter-century. It’s easy to assume from that statement alone that I encountered killings and bombings on a first-person basis…when I really didn’t. Not once.

Except for one week where my sister Liz and I traveled around, I stayed almost exclusively in the south of Sri Lanka. That includes Matara, Galle, Kataragama, Hikkaduwa, Akuressa, Unawatuna. It’s the safest zone in the country. The second safest would be in the central highlands like Kandy, Adam’s Peak, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Sigiriya–those places where Liz and I went.

Not once did I seriously fear for my life or thought I was entering a mortally dangerous territory.

That’s not to say it was all roses and honey while I was there. Less than a month after I arrived in Matara for the first time, the LTTE executed a stunning attack on Galle’s naval port, killing one soldier. While the battle itself was considerably one-sided (these were grenade-throwing rebels in powerboats going up against military battleships and destroyers), its intent was psychological, and it worked. The first LTTE attack in the South in recent memory terrified everybody across the region. The principal had to give a short speech to the students, many from Galle, to calm them down and quell rumors. Hotel bookings fell briefly but dramatically in the southern beach towns. Thankfully, the Galle attack was the only one nearby.

What else happened? There were a few bombings of military trucks at or near bases, mostly in Anuradhapura and Colombo. A big LTTE convoy boat was shelled and sunk about 100 miles off the coast of Matara by vigilant government forces. A few parliamentarians were assassinated; the President’s brother (also the Defense Minister) narrowly escaped a bomb attack in Colombo. International diplomats were killed in Batticaloa

All attacks have been confined to military or political targets–with one exception. I think it was in March when a suicide bomber blew up a southbound Colombo-Matara bus full of ordinary people. That bus is the most commonly traveled line in the southwest–I’ve ridden that route many, many times to get to Galle, Unawatuna, Hikkaduwa, or Colombo. Nerissa asked that I avoid riding on buses for a few weeks following that bombing near Aluthgama, so that was a little dicey.

And then there’s, of course, the nighttime LTTE air raid on the military base whose same runway is also used by Sri Lanka’s international airport north of Colombo. The attack was notable because it represented the first time worldwide that a terrorist group had successfully acquired air power. It was stunning and caught the government forces by surprise. For weeks after that, the runway was closed at night, forcing the airlines to shuffle their schedules to daytime-only flights. It only reopened for night departures and arrivals a week before I left Sri Lanka. It had an impact even in Matara; Ginette, Fiona, and I were trying to get school team uniforms made, but the supply of our preferred fabric quickly dried up due to fewer airplanes bringing in imports from other countries. I did wonder about the remote possibility that the airport could be closed all the time; if so, I would have been stranded in Sri Lanka.

And since then, as I said, the violence has increased, and now the cease-fire has been officially voided. Still, I wouldn’t be deterred from a return trip to Sri Lanka. I get daily news updates via Google and from what I’ve read, I would feel safe going back tomorrow if I could. It’s all a matter of knowing where you’re headed and what you’re doing. Stick to the south, the beaches, and the tourist attractions central highlands, and you’ll be fine. It’s more sensible to be afraid of getting into a vehicle crash on the busy roads–a typical feature of South Asia–than being blown up by a LTTE suicide bomber.

I know my friends back in Sri Lanka are fine–Matara and the south are safe. I’m just sad and disappointed that an ethnic conflict that has taken 70,000 lives shows no sign of slowing down; it, in fact, seems to be accelerating. Is it too audacious to hope for peace in Sri Lanka someday?

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