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Sowing the seeds of humanity

The pervasive influence of the "culture of death" and violence which remains to be exorcised from this country is continually manifesting itself, among other institutions, in what are popularly described as our "citadels of learning" - this time in Jaffna University. In what seems to have been a particularly sadistic orgy of violence, an undergraduate has been "ragged" until he fell senseless. The barbarity which was unleashed on this undergraduate by some of his seniors, included sexual violence and harassment.

Outrages of this kind, which are by no means a rarity in our universities, wherever they may be, remind us of the vast distance which remains to be traversed on the road to a culture of tolerance, mutual acceptance and humanity. While brutality has been a perennial feature of some human societies, in Sri Lanka this phenomenon burgeoned into almost unmanageable proportions over the 20-year North-East war which has now been brought to a halt on the basis of the GoSL-LTTE ceasefire accord.

Most Lankans are today breathing a deep sigh of relief over the cessation of bloodshed and violence but there is no gainsaying the fact that the war has left behind sections of the public which have been completely dehumanized by violence. This has facilitated the deep entrenchment of a "culture of death" in this country.

This culture of inhumanity manifests itself in a plethora of barbarisms, crimes, personality disorders and socially-maladjusted behaviour patterns. The crime round-up in any newspaper, for instance, provides the chilling litany - mass murders, gang-warfare, rape, rags, abductions, beatings, robberies, cheating etc, the almost daily diet now of the newspaper reader.

While all this may be nothing new, the seemingly deeply-entrenched and widespread nature of these deformities shouldn't be made an excuse for postponing action on eradicating them. This is a task for the entirety of society and not for the State and its agencies alone. In fact, it is an undertaking which ought to be promoted by all sections which wish this country well, including those who claime to support the peace process.

We must begin somewhere in the process of rehumanising Lankan society and the healing of minds and spirits is as important as laying down the ground rules for power-sharing and implementing them.

In the case of Jaffna University undergraduates, we note with concern that some of them have been accused of unleashing violence on a Jaffna-based newspaper editor. If the democratic process is to take root in all parts of the country every woman's and man's freedom of expression and other fundamental rights need to be respected. This is what democracy is all about. Violation of these rights only helps perpetuate a culture of intolerance and violence. When these rights are violated flagrantly, we may have only the formal structures of democracy and not its essential Kernal.

While all those responsible for inhuman violence in all its forms need to be brought to justice through the institution of an efficient law and order machinery, the building blocks of a culture of tolerance needs to be laid in all parts of the country. Particulary, these building blocks need to be laid in our homes, educational institutions and universities - the nurseries of the future citizen.

In fact, we do not see how the peace process could be strengthened if a culture of tolerance and humanity is not fostered in these prime institutions of society. There is no question of one section of society palming these responsibilities off on others on the excuse that they are not their legitimate concern. As we said before, every responsible segment of society needs to consider these tasks their main responsibility. Engagement with society cannot be avoided by them in a spirit of lassitude and indifference.

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