Textures of a Genocide

The news about “propaganda spreading Tamil nationalism in capital” made me watch the film that triggered this news. The film, by Sri Lankan director Someetharan, is titled “Mullaitivu Saga: Exploring Textures of the Genocide”.

Textures of a Genocide

Mullaitivu is geographically located on the northern Sri Lanka: a strip of land between the Nandi sea and Indian Ocean. In the film we see the Mullaitivu of 2009 in contrast with the Mullaitivu that the director saw in 2006 before the “last war” started. Keeping this contrast as a backdrop, it goes into the details of a genocide that happened only a few months back, only a few hundred miles away from me.

It starts with visuals of 2009. Cries, runs, deaths, corpses, helpless faces of children and the grown-ups, cries.. Then we see visuals from Mullaitivu of three years back — of a dance drama (Koothu). It tells the story of a brave woman who fought for justice for herself and her husband. That performance went on all night, and was probably the last such to have taken place there.

What we see today is not that Mullaitivu which had forests, greenery, waterfalls and a largely peaceful people. Of the people present at the performance, we don’t know how many are alive now. Between 2009 January and May alone over 30,000 people died in Mullaitivu, over 3,00,000 were fatally injured and over a hundred thousand still live in the open prisons of the Sri Lankan government.

A child’s body is being taken out from a house that was shattered in the air strikes. The definition of the word genocide and visuals from various genocides are flashed before us. “We should not forget this, we must make sure another one does not happen” — said the then UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, refering to Rwanda. World wars, Vietnam, Palestine, Serbia, East Timor, Kongo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka.. continuing stories of mass killings remind us that we never learn any lesson.

As we get into the details of this one, it gets even more frightening. We realize that even the declared safe zones weren’t very safe. People who took shelter in these “safe” zones tell the stories of the shells that fell on their family and their husband, children and grandmother who got smashed in those attacks. It reveals the ugly face of an “unparalleled humanitarian operation”. Even hospitals, marked with huge red plus signs on their roofs, were targeted. Doctors and patients died in those attacks. Somee also shows us the evidences of banned chemical weapons used in this war.

The war, without any international presence, was called a “War without witnesses”. A lot of international media including Telegraph (UK), Guardian, Independent, Al Jazeera and Channel 4 questioned the human rights violations that happened in Sri Lanka. Official statistics from the UN showed that at least 6500 civilians were killed in Sri Lanka in the three months from January to March 2009. (The Hindu, based in Chennai, still continued to remain the mouthpiece of the Sri Lankan government). European Union appealed for a ceasefire in May 2009. Sri Lanka rejected this appeal. The army chief told NDTV that west was trying to save Prabhakaran.

Later that month, president Rajapakse proudly announced that with the support from their army they have registered victory over terrorism through a humanitarian operation. Thousands of people still live on the remains of a land that resembles a graveyard. Nowhere to go, in the hope that someone will come for their rescue. Neither the United Nations nor the ICRC (International Committee of Red Cross) have come for their rescue yet.

Sri Lankan defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse rules out any investigation regarding human right violations that may have taken place. “Take it from me — there will not be any investigations. There is no need.”

The face of the child who lost her face in the war is the face of all the opressed people worldwide, says the director. We hear Kannagi’s cry for justice. But unlike in the mythical tale, here those who murdered Kovalan do not die of shame. Instead, they block every possibility of justice.

As the end titles roll, one wonders where is the “Tamil nationalism” in this movie. It is commendable that the film keeps away from playing the Tamil Eelam sentiments or justifying the terrorism in any way.

Somee’s camera has a strong visual language. The colourless Mullaitivu of today appears in black and white. It is not the colourful old Mullaitivu where the Kannagi-Kovalan dance drama happened. Praveen Kumar’s editing and the Tamil folk song in the background play a vital role in holding the viewer’s attention. Shaees is credited with the music.

Courtesy: Facebook notes of Sudeep Ben Aadil Almitra

"MULLAITIVU SAGA - exploring the textures of a planned genocide"

"MULLAITIVU SAGA - exploring the textures of a planned genocide"

A video Documentary on last days of srilanakn war

‘Mullaitivu Saga’ an episode of planned massacre of the suppressed people in the name of Final War,
while most of the international human rights machinery remained a silent witness.
Incidentally the injustice is recounted through Mullaitivu Koothu played for the last time
in this very same historic land.

Camera Research direction S.SOMEETHARAN
Associate Directors N.MURUGAN / P.KAMALAKANNAN / ARAVIND. M
Editor B.PRAVINKUMAR
Music G. SHAYEEZ
Sound design NETAJI RANGANATHAN
Production Director ARAVIND.M
Produced by LEMURIA PICTURES
Email: someeth13@gmail.com / Mobile: 0091 9841380544

S. Someetharan is an audio visual journalist; working on different issues for the past 8 years. He started his career as a radio anchor in Colombo. In 2002 he moved to Tamil daily newspaper "Thinakural", Jaffna edition, reporting from Jaffna. He later joined to the English weekly ‘North-Eastern Herald’ in 2003 and served in its editorial board, working on social, cultural, political, and environmental issues across the island nation Later on as a freelance journalist he has penned several significant articles in the same areas for various publications. He has contributed his expertise in producing documentaries for the British Broadcasting Corporation in Sri Lanka. In 2004 he moved to Chennai, India and joined the Loyola College to further his studies in visual media. 'Burning Memories', his earlier film on the burning of Jaffna Library, set off waves among historical documentary films in South Asia, which documented the war scarred life of the library and the socio-political violence connected with it.

www.burningmemories.org



BACKGROUND

The Sri Lankan Civil war began officially in the mid 1983, with the Anti-tamil riots which left more than 3000 tamil civilians dead, but the discrimination, killings and oppression of Tamils and suppression of their political and socioeconomic rights have a long history which dates back to the time when the nation-state of Sri Lanka was created.
The last phase of the civil war saw the most intense massacres of Tamil civilians in the islands history, around 40,000 civilians got killed in a period of 5 months. The largest propotions of the dead civilians were killed in the beaches and lagoon lands of the Mullaitivu, due to the massive and intense bombardment from the Sri Lankan armed forces. This is a documentary which sheds light over the massive destruction of human lives and the environment caused by the last war. The documentary approaches the last phase in a way which scrutinize the genocidal character of the military offensive, which the Government termed "The Largest Humanitarian Rescue Mission In The World".

The documentary starts with the Kannaki kottu at the exact place in Mullaitivu where the government in May 2009, announced victory and the end of the civil war. Tens of thousand of civilians are left dead, and hundred thousands more wounded, battered and on their way to army run internment camps, the most basic form of justice, the acknowledgement of human loss, is neglected and rejected to the Tamils of Vanni and Mullaitivu. Kannaki is the epic heroine who fights for justice, who challenges the mighty king for his role in the execution of her husband. Kannaki is considered as the main deity of this land and has a significant role in the cultural practices of its people. In the epic, justice is achieved by Kannaki for the crime committed against her husband and her, but for the people of Mullaitivu, justice is rejected and blocked.

Through the documentary we will see that justice for the ones who got killed, who lost loved ones, who got injured and lost limbs in Mullaitivu, has been silenced and thus rejected. The epic justice of Kannaki which the people of this historic land have celebrated and cherished over centuries is unreachable for them when it is needed at its most. The documentary uses the kottu to contrast with the faith of the Mullaitivu people. In both circumstances a monstrous crime is committed against the powerless and the powerless challenge the powerful. Symbolized by Kannaki in the epic, the powerless attain justice over the powerful which are represented by the king and his court. In parallel, the people of Mullethivu fall victim to the seemingly endless and tenacious capacity of the Sri Lankan government to silence and block any form of justice from ever reaching them.

Justice for them can only be achieved through an externally and internationally monitored war crime investigation which will bring the individuals responsible for war crimes to trial. If found guilty a recognition of the crimes against these people will be acknowledged and the perpetuators will rightly be jailed. This is the only way of ensuring a basic feeling of security among the victims of the last offensive and to prevent such acts of inhumanity from happening again. A feel of security and justice grounded in that their pain and loss has been recognized and adequate justice provided with the powerful perpetuators punished.
Still the tens of thousands of tormented and restless souls lingers around Mullaitivu, awaiting their justice. Hundred thousands of civilians who escaped the war zone in the end, the ones who are incarnated in military run internment camps, the internally displaced and the inadequately resettled ones who struggles to revive their livelihood, are also awaiting justice.