Morbidly fascinated

The fascination with death is said to extend far back into human history and throughout time, people have been obsessed with death and all things related to death and afterlife. So, perhaps it was a sign that out of the various attractions in Kandy, we would choose to go see a prison, famous for hangings. Yes, a sign that humans still have a morbid fascination with death.

Attending funerals, I always find myself walking along the paths reading out tomb stones and catch myself thinking, who were these people?  How did they die? Do the relatives visit these graves? But these were the thoughts I kept to myself, I mean how odd is it to admit you read tomb stones and like visiting cemeteries.

But the visit to Kandy made me realize I was not alone in this strange fascination. The crowds at Bogambara prison even managed to shock me, a person who has always been fascinated with death, person who preferred Shakespeare tragedies over comedies.

The long line in front of Bogambara Prison was unexpected and as I recall it circled around the prison. People stood in line for hours to be let in; carrying crying children and infants they even braved the heat and hunger. Once let in they would push and shove trying to be among the first to catch a glimpse inside the notorious prison with prison guards barking out orders about formation and crowding, this time to those who are free but have chosen to visit a prison. 
While we spoke to a prison guard a member of clergy approaches, he taps the guard on the shoulder and asks, “Which way are the gallows?” and the guard replies, “Go straight ahead and you will see it”. This was perhaps the question of the day with people wandering around looking for the line to see the gallows.

Groups of youngsters posing for pictures behind bars, perhaps for their facebook profile pictures, in the same cell where a prisoner had inscribed ‘the value of freedom is only felt once lost’ felt a bit disrespectful. Do they not understand the prisoners in here were not able to walk off like they could? That the emotions they show for a picture was in fact the reality for another human being?
The cells were dark, the toilets anything but modern and clean. The amount of time a death row inmate is let out? A measly 20 minutes a day. Over all the noise a prison guard says, “All Prisoners are human beings,” and I wonder if anyone heard him as instead they ask him more questions regarding death row and the number of people hanged in Bogambara.

Another attraction within the prison was the place the body of Ehelepola Kumarihami was recovered after she was drowned in the Kandy Lake on the orders of Sri Wickrama Rajasinha. While people flocked to see the place I wondered if anyone thought of the pain she suffered by being separated from her husband, having to see her sons brutally executed, and suffering a similar fate herself along with her daughters.

Call me a kill joy, but to me it felt like a place of reverence. A place that needed to be explored, but with respect to those who lived and died within those walls, a place one should walk in silence. They had wronged others while some perhaps may have been wronged. Despite this, those walls echo the pains and sufferings of humans just like us. While it is perfectly fine to be fascinated, have we become numb to the feelings and sufferings of others? It appeared to be so as people laughed and chatted when they met friends, ate and drank food these prisoners would have never received. Given a choice, I would have silently walked, taking time to understand life within those walls and let the silent echoes of those long gone speak to me. Because even though the gates opened and we were allowed to leave, some who walked in never did.

St. Anthony, pray for us!

The island of Kachchatheevu lies 40 nautical miles off main land Sri Lanka. Once supposedly belonging to the Ramanad Kingdom of Ramanathapuram District in the pre Indian independence era, today the Island belongs to Sri Lanka by an agreement struck in 1974. One might say the island is unremarkable. A barren stretch of land covered with thorny shrubs, with little vegetation, Kachchatheevu’s beaches are covered in corals and surrounded by the rough seas of the Palk Strait. The 285 acre island is uninhabitable, with no source of fresh drinking water and the scorching heat. 

Island of Kachchatheevu

However, despite the squalid conditions every year, thousands of pilgrims from India and Sri Lanka flock to the island to worship at the only man made structure on the island. The decrepit shrine built by an Indian Catholic called Srinivasa Padaiyachi, is the site of the annual feast held in honor of St. Anthony. At the shrine dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua the patron saint of seafarers, those who gather, mainly fisher folk, pray for safety and bounty in treacherous seas they encounter daily.

The annual feast was recommenced in 2010 after the end of the long drawn war in the island. According to the Sri Lanka Navy the last time the feast was held before the war was in 1985. This year, as before, the feast was held with the patronage of the Sri Lanka Navy. The Navy provided the pilgrims with food, drinking water, sanitary facilities, security and even electricity to make their stay more comfortable. The Navy this year is said to have provided 150,000 liters of water to the devotees.

St. Anthony - Patron Saint of Seafarers

While the Vicar General of Jaffna Justin Gnanapragasam presided over the final mass held on March 16, thousands of pilgrims gathered around the shrine to pray to the deity they braved the rough seas to get a glimpse of. Also attending were Sri Lanka Army Commander Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, Sri Lanka Navy Commander Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage, various other senior officers of the armed forces, and a large number of clergy from India as well as Sri Lanka.

“This is a place of brotherhood, and a meeting place of worshippers,” Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage said at the feast, adding that the armed forces had put immense effort to facilitate the event. “Over 5,300 people from both countries have come together in a sense of brotherhood to pray,” he said. Adding to this Northern Naval Commander Rear Admiral DMS Dissanayake said the event creates a bond between the people of both countries and should be carried on for future generations. “The event has grown a lot since it started with the number of pilgrims increasing every year,” he said.

Likewise fisher folk from both countries had gathered on the island, putting aside their various differences. While the groups have had various issues between them in the recent past due to the constant battles regarding maritime boundaries it was heartening to see them pray to one deity, standing shoulder to shoulder. “We have no problem with or anger towards Sri Lankan fishermen,” said a fisherman from Rameshwaram.

Devotees

But what makes this shrine special? What is it that makes the people take the long and difficult journey here in thousands? It is no easy pilgrimage. While the seas are rough, the journey through the sea in trawlers can be dangerous. Once they arrive the conditions are no better. Amid the sweltering heat, they erect their camps under trees and in thorny foliage.

Father James, a parish priest from Rameshwaram who had led a group of pilgrims, said 500 more people accompanied the group on their journey than last year. “We come here as Catholics have a special devotion to St. Anthony and his miracles are well known,” he said when asked why people make this difficult journey, amid various hardships to the island. “It is also the season of lent, and it is time for pilgrimages,” he added.

Sister Helen from Rameshwaram concurred with Father James’s statement saying she has a firm belief in the powers and miracles of St. Anthony through personal experience. “That is why I visit this shrine,” she explained. Makeshift stalls come up on the island during the feast, selling various goods such as food, clothing, accessories, toys and unexpectedly even tattoo parlors!  Interestingly the visiting media personnel were told there is a huge demand for Sri Lankan made Rani branded sandalwood soap from Indian pilgrims.

Toy seller PR Liyanage had traveled all the way from Kandy. “Business is good, and I have made a reasonable profit by selling 3D puzzles,” he said. According to him this is his second visit to the island for trade. Chrison from Rameshwaram had arrived at the island for worship as well as for trade. “I brought Shalwar material to sell,” he said before running off to tend to his stall as pilgrims were returning to shop before they embarked on their journey back home.

However the amount of polythene strewn around was a disconcerting sight. The disposal bins provided appeared to be insufficient resulting in polythene and other non-degradable items being discarded all around the island. However the Northern Naval Commander Rear Admiral DMS Dissanayake assured the Navy will thoroughly clean the island. “The Navy and the Neduntheevu Provincial Council will do an extensive clean up of the island at the end of the festivities,” he reassured.

Another concerning factor was the amount of thefts reported, which we from the media were able to experience firsthand as a journalist’s recorder was snatched while she was speaking to the people attending the feast. A policeman stationed in the island said theft has been in fact a huge problem during the time. “A lady whose gold chain was snatched last year even made an inquiry today regarding it,” he said adding that a large number of such thefts are reported each year. If so then it is questionable why security was not beefed up to prevent such events from recurring. However it is commendable that the Sri Lanka Navy was able to retrieve the stolen recorder during their cleanup efforts, which had been tossed away by the thief.

God does not see caste, creed or religion of a person; he accepts and heeds all who flock to him. As said in the bible ‘Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.’ (John 6:37)

In our multi cultural society it is not uncommon to see those of other religions visiting religious places of various beliefs and Kachchatheevu is no different. St. Anthony’s feast on Kachchatheevu is proof enough that people from all walks of life can co-exist. Peace prevailed for two days among feuding sides leaving us with hope that an answer for the issues between the fisher folk is possible. Balasubramaniam from Chavakachcheri is a Hindu by birth. However he had made the long journey to Kachchatheevu along with his family to, as he said ‘see the Christian deity’ he had heard so much about.

“We may believe in different deities and belong to different religions but I strongly believe we all go to the same place after death,” he says with wisdom perhaps that has come with age. “Our prayers go to the same God, so I have come here with much devotion just as a Christian,” he said. It leaves one wondering if a war would have been fought in this beautiful country if everyone had been wise as Balasubramaniam.

Balasubramaniam

© 2014 Maneshka Borham

Volunteering to uplift Sri Lanka

In one’s life time a person is sure to be a volunteer for a good cause at some juncture. Today in Sri Lanka volunteerism appears to be thriving and promotes goodness and improves the quality of human life. Volunteering is also renowned for skill development and socialization in a person. Volunteerism can happen in any shape or form. Perhaps even though one might not think of it, one of the most famous volunteerism efforts according to program officer of the United Nations Volunteers program Natal Donnnaloia is the website Wikipedia.

“The many volunteers who upload information shows how much volunteerism is connected to our lives,” he said speaking at the launch of the National Volunteering Secretariat (NVS). The NVS is set to be a one stop facility for volunteerism in Sri Lanka, and will facilitate networking between all volunteer bodies with the aim of contributing to Sri Lanka’s growth and development.

Volunteering can have many benefits according to Donnnaloia. “It can develop leadership skills in a volunteer, give better job prospects as well as give a sense of ownership,” he said adding that these advantages were found in a survey done among 13,000 youth. However, volunteerism as its own set of challenges such as misperceptions about volunteerism. “One such misperception is it can only occur when it’s organized,” he said. Dispelling the idea that volunteerism can only be done through an organized agency he said acts of volunteerism can be undertaken by small groups of youth as well as lone individuals.

“Thousands of people in Sri Lanka volunteer to uplift society such as after the tsunami, not because they are organized but because they have the urge to help,” he added. “There is also a misconception that one has to be wealthy to volunteer, but this is not true as people can volunteer through small gestures and acts of kindness,” he said. “One can even volunteer by forwarding a simple SMS and distributing a community service message,” said Donnnaloia. Volunteerism can set the pace of development and its nature according to him.
Country Director of the United Nations Development Program, Razina Bilgrami is of the opinion that volunteers should be provided with necessary support required. “We need to recognize the contributions made by volunteers for peace and development of a country,” she adds.

Country Director of the United Nations Development Program, Razina Bilgrami 

Pic by Rukshan Abeywansha (The Nation)

While Sri Lanka has a long history according to Senior Lecturer of Sociology to the University of Colombo Dr. MTM Mahees Sri Lanka has a similarly long history in volunteerism from its earlier human settlement stages. “It develops social responsibility,” he says. However he noted there is a lack of professional volunteerism in Sri Lanka and that there is a need of it to increase.

With busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering are enormous to our selves, to the family, and to the community. Helping others kindles happiness, as many studies have demonstrated. When researchers at the London School of Economics examined the relationship between volunteering and measures of happiness in a large group of American adults, they found the more people volunteered, the happier they were, according to a study in Social Science and Medicine. One can volunteer with the UNV by contacting them by visiting their website www.unvlk.org/volunteerism and make a huge impact on the society we live in.

See moreat:http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/26649-volunteering-to-uplift-sri-lanka.html#sthash.lscD1oPp.dpuf

Facebook conundrum

Facebook is a social media site used by persons of all ages. From urban areas to villages wherever internet is available it is impossible to find a person who does not have a Facebook account. However it has become a topic of much debate in Sri Lanka recently as the site has been linked to the deaths of a number of youth deaths in the country. The issue has deteriorated so much so that Sri Lanka police has even established a special unit to handle incidents related to Facebook. According to Police Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana the unit will handle incidents related to Facebook and take action if a crime has been committed. It is said that crimes committed due to social media in the country have recorded an increase within the past few months.

Issues

Facebook came in to being in 2004. Founded by Mark Zuckerberg it soon became a very popular online social networking site among many eventually overtaking sites such as Myspace and Hi5. The site has become a part of our day to day lives. We are constantly on Facebook even at home, work and even on the go. We put our whole lives on display publicly and share every detail from lunch to holidays with our Facebook friends. However despite its popularity Facebook has faced many issues the more serious being linked to many deaths of youth for various reasons.

Currently Neknomination is all the rage across the world and has caused many deaths. While the term maybe alien to us Neknomination is a drinking game. The British tabloid newspaper Metro has reported that at least five deaths in the United Kingdom and Ireland are believed to be caused by the drinking game. Facebook has been accused of promoting the online drinking craze linked to the deaths of two young men in Ireland and Politicians in Ireland have since demanded the social networking site acts fast to halt the game and its promotion.

Youths have also committed suicide due to bullying incidents on Facebook. Lewis Thelwall a 19-year-old from England was targeted by young women bullies on Facebook hanged himself after months of torment. False rumors about him were put out on Facebook, and the coroner attached to the case warned users of social networking sites to ‘think of the consequences’.

In Florida a Facebook page was discovered which had been created with the sole intent of bullying students in the area. While the creator of the page was anonymous it had graphically exposed local teens, naming them, showing their pictures and posting extremely crude comments.

Sri Lanka has recently faced its own issues with Facebook. Recently a school girl committed suicide as she was severely reprimanded by her school’s principal regarding a picture of her which was posted on the popular site by a third party. A few days later another youth followed suit. The 19-year-old girl from Mannagoda in Elpitiya, had committed suicide by hanging herself. According to the Police they believe that she had resorted to suicide over an incident where she had used a fake image as her own profile picture on her Facebook page. The girl had committed suicide when the youth, whom she had had a six-month long online affair with, had arrived at her residence.

Cyber crimes have increased tenfold recently according to the CEO of Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team/Coordination Center (Sri Lanka CERT|CC) Lal Dias. He revealed while CERT CC receives over 2,000 complaints annually, “Most of these complaints appear to be related to social media,” he said speaking to The Nation.

Following these incidents Minister of Cultural Affairs and Arts, TB Ekanayake is reported to have said that Facebook mafia should be controlled. The Minister had made the comments at a ceremony held in Galgamuwa recently. However The Socialist Youth Union (SYU), a youth organization affiliated to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) had opined that the social media network, Facebook, should not be held responsible for the recent suicides and should not be banned.

National Organizer of the SYU and former parliamentarian, Bimal Ratnayake had said that young girls and boys have committed suicide due to illicit love affairs long before Facebook came into existence. The former parliamentarian had made the comments at a media conference held recently. He said that Sri Lanka has recorded the second largest number of suicides among young women, which is therefore a social problem the country needs to address, rather than a problem to do with Facebook.

According to the Country Manager of Microsoft, Imran Vilcassim, 75 percent of internet browsing in Sri Lanka is attributed to Facebook. Despite isolated incidents, a majority of Sri Lankans appear to use Social Media in an appropriate manner. So can we blame these deaths on Facebook? Or is it a much larger issue to do with problems such as Facebook addiction and mental health of our youth?

Sumithrayo is an organization which has done much for the mental health of our society. According to Director of Sumithrayo Sri Lanka, Surangi Gunawardena the organization is also using Facebook as a tool to promote themselves as it can have wider reach. “Relationship and family issues are the true causes of suicide, even if not for Facebook a person could commit suicide over a love letter,” she said.  

She added that there have been many copycat suicides and puts it down to unethical reporting by media. She strongly advised against reporting such deaths in detail.  “Media reports mention gory details of such deaths, they should refrain from doing so,” she said. According to her it is difficult to reach out to schools as the schools do not approve of them educating students on sex as it’s still a taboo topic in society. Sumithrayo will soon be getting a toll free number and persons can call this number to seek help.

Last year alone 1,200 complaints with regard to fake accounts on Facebook were registered with SLCERT|CC while another 30 were complaints pertaining to cyber crimes that were registered with the police. Speaking to The Nation Spokesperson for SLCERT|CC, Roshan Chandraguptha said, complaints made were mostly pertaining to fake Facebook accounts, and unauthorized usage of photographs and other information.

Ban

With such various incidents being linked to Facebook use in Sri Lanka, the site has faced a serious backlash in the country with calls for its ban and controls placed for its use. The site has been blocked intermittently in several countries including the People’s Republic of China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Syria and Bangladesh citing various reasons with some suggesting that Sri Lanka should follow suit.

According to the World Organization for Preventing Suicides, 80,000 youth are reported to have attempted suicide in Sri Lanka annually while 400,000 have considered it, Ratnayake had pointed out. Organizations have to be set up with trained personnel to deal with social issues while Facebook itself could be used to overcome these issues, according to Ratnayake. He had added that Facebook will not be a problem if used wisely.

Yesterday President Mahinda Rajapaksa dispelled all rumors with regards to banning of Facebook in the country. The President tweeted that the government is attempting to promote safe use of social media and will not ban it. Mass Media and Information Minister of Sri Lanka Keheliya Rambukwella had said that while social media networks like Facebook has its value, a strategy is needed to address its adverse impact, especially on youth.

FB root of all evil?

Facebook can have many advantages if used properly. To many it’s a method of finding long lost friends, keeping in touch with loved ones abroad and even finding new friends. But is being on the site worth all the issues that come with it and will it ever be safe enough to use? Banning a site that has rooted itself in society is clearly not the answer to the issues. The crisis goes far beyond the simple issue of Facebook use. As society develops and internet becomes widely available, educating youth on how to correctly use such sites as well as the internet is in fact the need of the hour.