Tigers and Bears oh my..

Tamil Tigers

My heritage stems like a twisted tree root spread wide and far beneath the ground, my father is from New York mixed with Native American and my Mother comes from a little Island called Sri Lanka or Ceylon (as the British named it), this little island long has been a jewel colonalists would love to wear as a crown (infact the Queens crown jewels are mainly found native in Sri Lanka)... I had the pleasure to travel throughout this glorious island on my own small pilgrimage when i was 19, its vastly diverse terrain mystified me and the people generoisty warmed my heart.
But truth be told though the beauty of the island pleased me asthetically there were bold parental/goverment/public health warnings clearly stamped over my true goal, to reach the birth place of my mother, and herein lies the problem. Trincomalee a small naval town in the north east has been at war for a long time, infact the whole North (predominately Tamil) is pretty much a no go area. an area where the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan goverment have been at war with fierce bloody violence.

The conflict between Sri Lanka's government forces and armed Tamil rebels has raged for nearly 60 years. Thousands have died and many more have been made homeless by the fighting,

Since Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948, the Tamil minority has felt increasingly marginalised and politically disenfranchised. In that very year, Solomon Bandaranayake, the country's first prime minister, made Sinhala, which is spoken by the majority of Sri Lankans, the official language.

After 1948, the Tamils also became the targets of numerous riots that swept through the island nation. Believing that these riots were instigated by the Sinhalese authorities, Tamils began calling for an independent state and for an organisation to protect their rights.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was one of the many groups that came into existence to fight for Tamil rights.Formed in 1975 with its base in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, the group vowed to form a separate state called Tamil Eelam.

Sri Lankan Goverment soldiers

The death toll is estimated at 70,000 people since it began. 250,000 people have been

displaced within the country since the conflict began. Though, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger fighters have announced that they are ready to comply with international calls for a ceasefire, but they would not lay down their arms, according to the AFP news agency.

But the offer has been rejected by the government, according to the Sri Lankan military.

The journey I took was definitely and experiance, 12 hours on a cramped bus 40 odd people hanging onto a 23 bus, sweating and excited i sat only watching the dense dusty undergrowth pass me by, only small breaks in the terrain revealed the expertly dug in Goverment heavy gun turrets. The constant on and off the bus for security checks towards the latter end of my journey let me know i must be close to the border between the green and red zone...


A temple near where my mother was born

By the time i reached Trinco (my Mothers birth place, a place i know she longs to see again) my eyes were red from silent tears, the towns were desolate, bullet ridden walls and families of 10 plus living in unicef tents. The naval base where she was born long abandoned and the people restless and paranoid. I knew i was in danger and it broke my heart to see how desperate the people were in need of aid.



I learnt many lessons on that journey, the richness of my heritage and the true nature of human suffering the classic, " mans own inhumanity to man "...this like so many other stories from around the world is the sad reality of the state this world is now in.

Is there a happy ending in sight for the people of Sri Lanka or even the world community in this time of Depression and Recession..

You tell me.

I know one thing though...i'm still holding the flag in hope of change.

AGENT B