Truth through fiction

The reality of the conflict between the LTTE and Tamil Tigers is chronicled through a compelling new work of fiction

overall pos itive

Ii " BY

I , ANUSHA , MENON ..

Visakesa

"Vissa"

C h a ndra sekaram beamed with pride at the o fficial .launch of his th rillin g new n ovel, Tige1,· D011~ Confes.r Held ar Gleebooks in Sydney on July 27, the launch dare marked the 29th anniversary of Black July, one of the most tragic eve n ts in Sri Lankan histo ry Friends and colleague s o f the well- rounded h uman rights lawyer, p laywrigh t and aud10r, joined together to applaud Viss a for his literary ach ievem ent.

But, the lau nch o f Tigen D011'1 Confess was not the only cause for celebration on the night

Two weeks earlie r, Vi ssa received his Doctor of Phi losophy restamur from the A u stralian Nation al University for success full y c ompleting his thesis titled, Do Tigrr:r confess? A11 interdiscipli11a,y sturfy of confessio11a,y e/Jidence i11 co1mte1·-terro1is1t1 111east1res of Sii Lo11kt1.

V issa's project was a fundamental driving force behi nd the production of his n ovel. or ever yo n e wants to read a thesis, but many would read a work o f fic tion," he said. " Als o fiction shr oud s the truth, so m y book will evade censorship".

Tigers D011~ Co11fes.r is se t in the ea rly 1990s, when the Sri Lanka n govern me n t was at war with the L iberatio n Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Us ing factual, wellresearched data from bis PhD thesis, V issa was able ro construct a gripping fictional narrative revolv ing aroun d the so-called 'co n fessions' of T amil Tigers Spine- tingling scandals a n d illicit love affairs betwee n captivating characters are also wove n into the p lot to create an exciting thriller. J oining Vi ssa to launch his novel were guest speakers Dr Yasmi n Tambiah, \'{triter and Seni or Research Development Officer a t the U nive r sity of Wesce rn Sydney; a n d Dr V icki Semas, a lecn1rer in Law at the Unive rsity of New Soutli Wales.

''Vissa is a p layw rig h t who pushes conventional boundaries," said D r Tambiah.

Whil e she admitted that the novel would have benefitted from ad dition.al eclitin g, h e r evaluation of che book was e nc ouraging and

Dr Tamb ia h commended the book for its ability to provoke compelling q uestions in the min d of the reader, such as w h y a nd how is die enemy constructed a nd exp lained; and, wh at is justice a nd how does one serve i c?

She also praised Vissa for his ability to seam lessly i ntegrate the very subsrnnce of Sri Lankan culmre into the n arrative itself.

Tigers D011 't Co1,fess carl"ies a cast of complicated characters within its pages One su ch character i s Tissa, the Si11gh alese Deputy Chief of the T errorist luvestigation T eam Tissa's str uggle to make difficul t choices a nd gra p p le wich his own moral conscience incites the read er co squeamishly q uestion what they would have do n e if tliey we re p laced in the same position.

Bue it is character Kumaran tha t truly strikes an emotio n al chord within di e reader. This Tamil university student is thrown into p r iso n after bei n g accused of associating w ith the Tigers. The n ovel poigna n tly tracks the tornrre that Kum arau endures be hind b ars and the deepening agony of bis fa mily, particularly hi s Am ma According t o Dr. Tam b iah, Vi ssa 's experience as a l awyer is grea tly reflect ed in tl1e careful deco n struction of Kumaran's confession and d1e coltrtroom scenes d1at surrmmd his case.

Ttwas certainly n o coincidence tl1at the date of Vi ssa's book l aunch coincide d wit h the 29 tli A nn iversa r y of Black J u ly. \Xnien asked why it was so im portant to la Lmch Tigers Don't Confess o n t he sa m e date, Vissa responded s aying, ''Bo th Singhalese and Tamils are in d enial about their share in it and re n d co b lame o n ly che other par ty - the e n emy Black J uly is a good srn r ti n g point for any d iscussion about ju stice and reconciliation because it was not something completely denied b y tl1e Singh alese majority in Sri Laaka."

Guest speaker Dr Vicki Semas gave a br ief overview o f t he history of Black J ul y

Black July refers co a se ries of anti -Tamil riots tliat too k place in Sri Lanka from Jul y 24 co 29 in 1983. The violence was triggered by die murder of chirteen Singhalese soldiers ac tl1e hands of die L'ITE, and around 3 ,000 Tamil civilians were massacred in subsequent pogroms that were s ponsored by the governm ent.

Acco rd ing to Dr Sentas, Black Jul)' was considered "a critical

Visakesa Chandrasekaram rmning po int for spiralling violence and conflict between t he LTIE and tl1e army", and man y T amils Aed Sri Lanka because of it.

Dr Se n tas ackn owledged that t he LTIE also commi tted severe war crimes, name ly u sing civilians as h uma n sh ie lds and killing people w h o tried to escape ch e country.

But the Sri Lankan governm en t is yec co cake responsi bility for t he part it p layed in the ma ssacre.

Dr Sencas also accomited for Vissa's d ecision to create a fiction nove l based on his thesis, which she called "the book b eh ind t he book" She explain ed the dange rs that Tamil and Singhalese people face in Sri Lanka for o p ening up about thei r experiences o f tl1e war. ''By presen ting hi s researc h behind die guise of a fiction n ovel , Vissa's story can be s h ared in a rnan_ner that significan tly evades r isk," said D r Sen cas.

Congramlations ro V issa on completing his PhD and n ovel. Well don e, Vissa!