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