This short conversation somehow stuck in my mind for years. My Sri Lankan friend from college asked me.
“Do you support LTTE?”
I wanted to divert the conversation and simply said “I am not sure.”
But he Persisted “Do you support LTTE actions such as bombings and killings?”
I said “I think Both sides' actions are not justifiable, and it looks wrong to me. Maybe they can sit down and sort everything out easily.”
He was puzzled by my answer but continued with his lunch but after a while his expression said “You don’t know anything. Don’t talk nonsense”
I had both Tamil and Sinhalese friends just to be safe I gave a neutral answer without thinking too much. I knew about the conflict through tamil movies, political leaders, and newspaper articles. So to me Sri Lanka is always divided into two. Samanth starts where everything started, brings me on this journey around the island, adds a bit of adventure, takes a brief pause to summarise history, makes you laugh and cry throughout showing us the division. Finally, the journey ends at Puthukkudiyiruppu War Museum. From then on I started pondering about the definitions of war and peace but anyhow accepted that Sri Lankan division is not just two. The most difficult part of writing about conflict is staying neutral. As a Journalist Samanth has done justice to his profession on every page.
A must read for anyone who wants a neutral view about conflict in Sri Lanka