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| Hasith Sanjaya from Kegalle |
He is Tamil and comes from Jaffna in North; and he is a
Kegalle lad from the town nestled between the central highlands and western
southern plains and Sinhalese to the core. His uncle was allegedly shot by the
Sinhalese Army; and his father has been part of the naval force that fought the
LTTE. They could not have been any farther apart from each other. Yet theirs is
a friendship that could make for an interesting movie and is the harbinger of
the sustainable peace in the island country of Sri Lanka after three decades of
bloody war.
It was in 2010 that they first meet each other there was a
huge barrier of hate between them perpetuated by decades of violence where
communities knew no other emotions towards each other. Also the language
barrier was not of much help. For Sanjay from Kegalle it was for the first time
to meet a Tamil in person and shake hands with him. For Thilak as well this was
the first opportunity to meet a Sinhalese person of his age. Before this,
Thilak’s heart was filled only with negative emotions conditioned by the years
of conflict.
“In my village every home has lost at least a member as LTTE
had made it compulsory to join the organization. My mother had lost her brother
so she was angry,” said Thilak, he is from Kondavil. “My father was in Navy and
one of his arms were damaged during the final war against LTTE. But still he
always made a point to tell me that not all Tamils are bad,” said Sanjay in
Sinhalese with an innocence peculiar to his age.
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| Thilak Lakshaya from Jaffna |
So the chance meeting during the second edition of the
Future Leaders’ Conference (FLC) did not make them fast friends immediately.
Rather when Sanjay went home after the conference and started talking on phone,
which considering the language barrier was a herculean task. Later Sanjay
visited Thilak family in Jaffna and his mom went to the extent of writing a
letter in Tamil. “Sanjay’s mother did not know Tamil, but still she wrote a
letter to me in Tamil and calls me on my Birthday,” Thilak said underlining how
easy it is to be friend with someone. “My father never believed in
reconciliation but once he visited Sanjay’s home their opinions have also
changed,” added Thilak. Sanjay chipped in, “My family has visited them in
Jaffna and now we are family friends. Our siblings also get along like house on
fire.” It is the first time for Sanjay’s family in Jaffna – that has been one
of the main theaters during the war. “Till I was five years old I lived in
Trincomalee and only saw the sufferings of my own people, but it was during the
FLC that I came across the stories about the loss suffered by people pitted
against us,” added Sanjay.
Now both of them are ready to strengthen their friendship
more by working on their language skills. “I can understand and speak a bit of
English. So we do not express freely because of the language barrier and we are
only managing. But now I intend to brush up my English,” Sanjay said, as Thilak
smiled back.
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