01:00:03:07

NARRATOR

It's been almost two years since I returned to Sri Lanka. I was born here, but I grew up far away in Australia; and I came back to find out more about this small island.

Back in January 2005, when I first returned, everyone was talking about giant tsunami that  had caused death and destruction along the islands coastlines.

But now the tsunami hardly gets a mention, and the country seems to be edging back to war.

01:00:59:20

NARRATOR

Sri Lanka is torn between contradictions - the beauty of a peaceful community that embraced cultural diversity for centuries... against the savagery of a modern war, that is being waged between the Government and the Tamil Tigers.

The Tamil Tigers - or "the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam" - have waged a guerilla war against the Government since the mid 1970's.

They claim to defend the rights of the Tamil people, who have traditionally lived in the North and East of the island.

The Sinhalese, who are the majority population live mostly in the South.

The people aren't fighting each other - they want to live in peace, but the long war has distanced two ethnic groups from each other.

01:01:47:09

NARRATOR

In 2002, the Government and the Tamil Tigers agreed on a ceasefire - but the distrust remained. Negotiations were slowly collapsing when the tsunami forced everyone to confront a greater threat. There was hope that the tsunami would wash away the suspicion between the two sides and bring about a new era of cooperation and peace.

But it wasn't to be. When the United Nations Secretary General came to inspect the destruction, he was discouraged from traveling to Tamil areas. And then the Tigers and the Government started bickering over the distribution of aid relief. Any hope of reconciliation disappeared fast.

Back then there was a chance to create a lasting peace, but the conflict wasn't given the attention it deserved. And everyone was focused on the devastation caused by the tsunami.

01:02:48:15

NARRATOR

The violence has dramatically increased since the tsunami and a lot of people are been killed.  Nadaraja Raviraj - an outspoken but moderate Tamil politician was shot and killed as he was leaving for work.

I haven't been here for that long - but it seems dangerous to speak critically against the Government and the Security Forces.

01:03:18:04

MANIK

SANDRASAGRA

We are back to a major intelligence crisis and its only wisdom that can get us out of this. And for that, for wisdom, you need teachers. And I am saying, the teaching is there, but they aren't articulating it, nobodies articulating it. But why should they?

01:03:39:15

NARRATOR

Manik Sandrasagra's  views on Sri Lanka and its future are different to most perspectives I've heard.

He left Sri Lanka when he was 21 and spent time in the West promoting music and working in world of entertainment.

01:03:54:14

MANIK

See all the dreams that one had in America, you could implement it here. The microcosm and the macrocosm, Sri Lanka it was possible to do what you only dream of. And my life in America was Woodstock, moving to California, the spirit of America which really brought my back to Sri Lanka - the spirit of America at that time, searching for your roots, searching for your background.

01:04:20:22

NARRATOR

When Manik returned he met up with group of people who exposed him to the traditional perspective, and with them he explored the whole island.

He also produced films and theatre, and became a well-known and controversial personality.

01:04:38:00

MANIK

I don't follow the road their on. I have followed my nose, and that has got me in to a lot of trouble.

01:04:53:03

NARRATOR

Manik had no problem speaking his mind. He expressed his views about foreign-involvment in Sri Lanka and the de-valuing of traditional culture. And he questioned the wisdom of new drug laws that categorized marijuana as a narcotic.

But Manik's ideas and views weren't taken seriously, and Sri Lanka's conservative establishment attacked his personal reputation.

01:05:02:16

MANIK

You know when they criticize me, that was about 20 years ago. Most of them are dead. I am living to see that I was right. Time is a wonderful thing. When you get to my age at 61, and you have been radical for 30 years of your life, and you have stuck only by principle. Nobody paid you to say what you are saying. The principle is right. The dharma is right, it's never wrong. I am saying that the dharma protects those who live by the dharma. They don't need bodyguards.

01:05:45:12

NARRATOR

Manik talks a lot about the dharma, which he describes as the middle path. Many of Sri Lanka's politicians and self-appointed leaders have bodyguards. And there are very few critical voices, like Manik's, that challenge the views and policies of the establishment.

01:06:06:13

NARRATOR

The Government's perspective often dominates the news, and there is a lack of independent voices.

There are journalists who try to do their job. But, if they get too close to the truth, they are silenced. 

It's dangerous to be a good journalist here. And recently Sri Lanka received a poor rating for media freedom.

01:06:33:05

NARRATOR

The whole world is revolving on training people to be somebodies. You know, all these courses, all these competitive sports, all these universities. It's all a race, a race to become somebody. Sri Lankan culture was all about being nobody.

01:06:54:23

NARRATOR

In 1956, an ambitious politician used the race card to get voted in to power. He promised to make Sinhala, the language of the majority the official language of the country.

Majority rules ensured his victory, and the Sinhala Only Act was passed. This meant more Sinhalese people would get Government jobs and Tamil public servants who could not speak Sinhala fluently were forced to resign.

Not everyone agrees that the language issue was the cause of the conflict - but the minority Tamils were discriminated against by the Government, and when that happens, eventually there will be a backlash.

01:07:45:02

NARRATOR

Sunila Abeysekera is a human rights defender and a lot of her work deals with the end-result of ignorant Government policies. And she's been tracking the political activities of Sri Lanka for a long time, including the emergence  of Tamil militancy.

01:08:02:08

SUNILA ABEYSEKERA

Young leaders came in to the Tamil political parties and um and the younger people got restless. They said we've been waiting like 25 years, and so what, do you want to wait another 25? And that's why the youth front of the TULF played such a key role in 1977 and afterwards in really bringing the militancy back in to the Tamil political movement. And then at some point that militancy becomes an armed uprising. So, it's kind of a long history.

01:08:46:02

NARRATOR

Vaupallai Prabhakaran founded the Tamil Tigers in the late 70s. Back then, they were a small group of militants, but over time, they would become one of the most powerful guerrilla armies in the world.

01:09:06:06

NARRATOR

In July 1983, the Tamil Tigers ambushed and killed 13 Government soldiers.

Emotions were stirred in the South, and what followed would become a turning point in Sri Lanka's history.

Gangs of Sinhalese thugs attacked Tamils and destroyed their property. And it's an open secret that certain politicians influenced the violence.

01:09:35:05

SUNILA

I certainly believe the attacks were orchestrated and instigated by people in power at that time. There's no question about it. I also think the bigger blame is that the Government didn't move to stop it.

01:09:51:02

NARRATOR

Chandragupta Amarasinghe was a photo-journalist at the time and despite a media ban, he managed to take a photograph a young Tamil man moments before he was killed.

01:10:07:00

NARRATOR

The vast majority of ordinary Sinhalese had no involvement in the death and destruction, but the July violence is portrayed as race riots. And over the coming months, the support for the militants fighting in the north would increase significantly.

01:10:23:17

MANIK

What happens in Sri Lanka happens in the rest of the world twenty-five, thirty years later. We can teach Mr. Bush about terrorism. We can teach a lot of countries lessons that they are now seeking answers for.

01:10:42:24

NARRATOR

The Tamil Tigers would take on the Government of Sri Lanka and in the bloody battles that followed, thousands of people would die.

The Tigers would also gain an international reputation for carrying out suicide bombings,  and for assassinating prominent politicians including an Indian Prime Minister, and more recently, Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister. Their practice of using child soldiers has been condemned world wide, and their relationship with the Tamil people is complex.

The Tigers killed  many moderate Tamil leaders and wiped out other militant groups who were considered ideological competition.

01:11:49:03

NARRATOR

The conflict has been part of Sanjana Hattotuwa's whole life and the political turmoil in Sri Lanka forced him to go to university in India.

Sanjana describes himself as a peace builder and has his own TV program.

01:12:06:21

SANJANA

HATTOTUWA

So someone who was born in Sri Lanka, I think you feel for the country, and the inability of the country to just get itself out of violence.

01:12:17:14

SUNILA

ABEYSEKARA

We miss a generation. One generation, one entire generation of political leaders who would have been creative and would have been brave, are dead.

01:12:32:01

NARRATOR

The disappearances and killings of young men and women in the south of the country is another dark chapter in Sri Lanka's modern history.

While the Tamil militants were becoming active in the North, a Marxist-based People's Liberation movement called the JVP formed in the South. They advocated principles of socialism and equality, and attracted thousands of young people,  including Sunila,  to their movement.

01:12:59:24

SUNILA

It was a very amazing moment for me. I was just an average middle class girl going to a very safe middle class school, and I was really impressed. I mean, I read about politics. My father was a very political man, we had a lot of books in the house. He strongly believed in socialism and so forth, but to see it actually happening in front of your eyes, in your own country - that was amazing. And then 71 happened, and it was very profoundly shocking.

01:13:31:00

NARRATOR

The JVP Marxists tried to take over the Government by force but the young revolutionaries were disorganized and the security forces crushed the movement. Thousands were killed and tens of thousands were put in to re-habilitation camps.

Support groups were formed to monitor their human rights and assist their families.

01:13:53:18

SUNILA

I became part of that process, and in that process, I got to know the JVPers, because first I helped their families and then I got to know some of the young men. By that time, I was crazily convinced that this was the way to go forward.

01:14:15:07

NARRATOR

But after a few years, Sunila began to disagree with some of the policies the JVP were adopting.

01:14:21:02

SUNILA

My alienation with the JVP already took place in 1981. Um - I was expelled.

01:14:30:10

NARRATOR

The JVP became less interested in equality. The leadership had political ambitions and began to cater to the majority Sinhalese, knowing that their support was adequate to win power through the ballot.

01:14:43:23

SUNILA

We had questions about that. You know, about revolutionary politics, and revolutionary politics of equality that was being pushed on to the side by this analysis, and by... because the analysis would immediately translate in to programmatic action. And that's then the downslide, according to me, downslide, to 1987 and the creation of the patriotic peoples movement. And by that time, I was on their death list. So, it's like a curious transition to make.

01:15:19:12

NARRATOR

The JVP didn't get voted in to power and a few years later, they began a campaign that would cripple the country and terrorise the people. Their strategy was to kill anyone connected to the Government and those who opposed their ideology. Many of Sunila's friends and colleagues were murdered by the JVP.

01:15:38:16

SUNILA

It's such like a weird reason. Why are they dead and why am I alive. It's okay you know - you like for a reason. Then the reason is to constantly put that politics of anti-racism back on the agenda. Every time something happens and people try to push it away, you say no. If these people were alive, they would have done it. And so, you do it, you do it for your self. Certainly I do it for myself, but I also do it for all those people who would have done it, if they were alive.

01:16:10:17

NARRATOR

When the JVP started attacking the families of the armed forces, the military struck back hard, wiping out most of its leadership. Security forces and vigilante groups went on a rampage, targeting anyone who was suspected of being JVP sympathizer. In the crackdown, thousands of innocent young people were also killed.

01:16:36:16

NARRATOR

Photographer Stephen Champion documented what was happening in Sri Lanka during that time.

01:16:58:08

NARRATOR

The memory of the JVP crackdown by the security forces is still very strong. A whole generation was wiped out in the name of preventing terrorism. Human rights groups put the number of  disappeared at 40,000 people. And despite numerous Government commissions of inquiry, no real justice has ever been delivered.

And now the disappearances and abductions have recommenced  in Sri Lanka.

01:17:28:06

SUNILA

For us the most bizarre thing is that all these abductions take place in Government controlled territory in areas that have a lot of security or the presence of security forces and the police. They take place in broad daylight. The white van phenomenon is back in our vocabulary. It had disappeared since the 1990s. And nobody knows. I mean - doesn't it seem totally bizarre. We are living in a country where anyone in broad daylight can come and take away another person, and nobody sees and nobody knows. Nobody can do anything to stop it.

01:18:08:08

NARRATOR

The families of those who have been recently abducted are trying to attract attention. But if the past is anything to go by, there is little reason to be optimistic.

01:18:26:02

SANJANA

I am not a shame to admit that. A lot, most, significant proportion of what I have innovated, inspired, engineered hasn't lived up to the expectations I though it would. So, I deal with failures of my own innovations more than the success. For me that's hugely educational.

01:18:52:00

NARRATOR

Sanjana's latest projects enable citizen journalists to publish their stories on the internet and distribute radio programs for re-broadcast.

01:19:01:16

MANIK

This is an information society, of billions of bits of information. How many died, how many voted, how many didn't vote. I mean it's all bullshit. Finally you need a wisdom society to get to the core problem.

Once you understand the core problem -  loca, daisha, accusa, damulla - which the Buddha described. Very simple - one statement describes the whole interactive picture. Greed, hatred and delusion.

So, the whole interactive story arises from greed, hatred and delusion, and on  both sides. Eliminate that, and the problem is over. We don't need borders after that.

01:19:55:16

NARRATOR

In the north of the island, in the town of Killinochchi, the Tamil Tigers have established their de-facto capital. Though it's still part of Sri Lanka - the process of traveling there is like entering another country, with checkpoints on both sides of the border.

Killinochchi is a functioning town administered by the Tigers. There appears to be a sense of normality, but it is difficult to tell how much freedom people really have.

01:20:54:03

NARRATOR

Every year, the Tigers remember their dead and thousands come to mourn their lost friends and relatives.

01:21:55:16

NARRATOR

Jagath Weerasinghe is a visual artist. His recent work is critical of the monks who have formed a political party.

01:22:03:19

JAGATH

WEERASINGHE

All these paintings of yellow  snakes going to microphones - it's all about these Buddhist monks getting  in to politics. Because I am a Sinhalese and a Buddhist of which I am very proud, and I feel like I've been betrayed by the yellow robe becoming the colour of a political party.

01:22:22:24

NARRATOR

The monks are quite militant and contradict the peaceful image of Buddhism. They consider Sri Lanka to be the homeland of the Sinhalese.

There are other groups and political parties that oppose any kind of power sharing and negotiations with the Tamil Tigers. These groups also oppose the international community's involvement in Sri Lanka's peace process.

01:22:54:12

MANIK

In a big country, it will take your lifetime to find out any thing. Where as in this scale and size, you'll find all the evils of the whole planet here in one place, and you'll find all the wonders of the whole planet also in one place.

01:23:13:19

NARRATOR

I traveled as much as I could... and I have to agree Manik, all the wonders and all the evils can be found on this small island.

01:23:33:17

MANIK

Change is all that we have. The only reality on the planet earth is change. And the Buddha came, Christ came, the Great Prophet came. Nothing have they altered.  The world keeps going - changing, changing, changing. The sun rises, the sun sets. The moon rises, the moon sets. It's a circle that keeps going round and round and round. And it's all a question of perspective.

Either you see it as a sorry-go-round or you see it as a merry-go-round. If you have been taught well, you'll see it as a merry-go-round. If you have been taught badly, you'll see it as a sorry-go-round. Then you take guns and shoot the guy who's having a merry-go-round. 

01:24:18:14

NARRATOR

The war has returned to Sri Lanka. The Government initiated a major military offensive against the Tamil Tigers, after claiming the rebel group provoked the fighting.

01:24:30:22

SANJANA

You can't have defensive offensives. It's oxymoronic, it's moronic. It's a bizarre time we are living in so I think the first step is to stop the hypocrisy. If you are serious about peace, then get with the business of making peace. You can't be shelling communities and at the same time say that you are acting in the name of national security given that they are also citizens and they are also part of whatever national security you want to talk about.

01:25:00:02

NARRATOR

There's very little talking going on between the two sides and tens of thousands of people leaving their homes, heading for bigger  towns where refugee camps have been established. Their future is unknown - it's impossible to say when they will be able to return to their homes and experience real peace.

01:25:35:07

NARRATOR

Sri Lanka is a confusing place to live in - it's like a never ending story of war and no war. It can also be a violent and depressing place to live in, but at the same time, there's something very special and very addictive about this small island.

I think it'll take a long time before Sri Lanka becomes a peaceful place where everyone is treated equally...

01:25:57:07

MANIK

Everyone is the same. There are no great people and small people. Everybody has to eat, drink and go to the toilet by themselves. I can't pee for you and you can't pee for me. I can't eat for you and you can't eat for me. So, in the overall sense, everybody is equal and then the trash-around stops, trying to become somebody.

01:26:20:12

SUNILA

It's a generational problem. I do not believe we will have any space for any moderate voices for a while now. And how to teach young people its possible to be moderate, that in itself is an issue. Because if you don't see it around you, if you see politics and politicians as being the people who take extreme  and violent positions then that's the only way you know how to do politics. That's what you think politics is, right.

01:26:49:23

SANJANA

We are all bloody. None of us can escape that. And I think the realization of that needs to be the one inspiration for the rest of the world that if you don't address the root causes of conflict, all of us are victims, all of us have a responsibility to ensure that there's peace, and all of us need to work towards that. So, it's not just the realm of the government or the rebel forces. All of us needs to work towards peace.

01:27:28:02

CREDITS ROLL