In post-war history, one checkpoint even achieved the status of an icon. Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol, not only of a divided Berlin, but also of the world torn apart by the ideological and geo-political struggles of the Cold War.
I faintly remember the roadblocks of my Malaysian childhood.
They seemed to mark off the so-called “Black Areas” where fighters of the banned Communist Party operated, from the vast supposedly threat-free “White Areas” under the control of the Federal government.
These days, I associate roadblocks with policemen within city and suburban limits monitoring drunken Friday night drivers as well as conducting ‘routine’ checks.
While pedestrians do not have to suffer roadblocks, I remember at least one instance of being dragged by the scruff of my neck by a policeman in the Jalan Pudu area.
I was manhandled before I was asked for identification. When I showed him my IC, he let me go without even an apology for his uncivil behaviour.
Of course, this does not compare to being in a war zone.
And I have not been to many.
And in 2000, I visited Sri Lanka on a trip to observe how groups tasked to monitor parliamentary elections perform.
On the flight from Bangkok to Colombo, I was told by a member of our small team that rumour had that it a large number of suicide bombers had come into the city.
The fear I felt was rather abstract and was easily soothed by the complimentary beers on flight.
It was only when I walked the streets of coastal Colombo that I began to understand how fear and checkpoints come together.
The checkpoint dynamic was explained to me.
The principal actors in this drama are the government soldiers standing guard, armed militants and innocent by-standers in between.
As he looks at the anonymous faces queuing in front of him, the soldier asks, do I pull the trigger before the armed militant sets off his or her bomb?
For the armed militant wanting to get through the checkpoint unnoticed, his question is, do I set the bomb off before I am discovered?
For the rest, the tension in the air is thick.
After a week on official duty I set off to write an article on the conflict, drawing up a list of possible story ideas.
One was the rescue of child soldiers recruited forcibly by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).
This charge of having child combatants is a real blemish on the LTTE movement.
But the Sri Lanka conflict is not so simple, and without real good and bad guys.
My story idea was soon overtaken by the horrific murder of the children, apparently by Sinhala locals, in the vicinity of a minimum-security prison where they were being held for rehabilitation. Undeniably, the murders fit a long-standing pattern of anti-Tamil violence, for which the LTTE is just one of many responses.
While I am no expert on Sri Lanka, I published on my return an article on the conflict in a local newspaper, titled “To Slave Island With Love”, a reference to a historical district of Colombo where Javanese slaves were brought.
It was later re-printed in a Sri Lankan newspaper without permission, perhaps for its pro-peace orientation. In a pointed reference to Malaysians who support the LTTE, I pleaded for those in the international community to support the peace movement instead of fuelling the war.
Today the Sri Lankan conflict is hitting another crisis point and I hope the international community acts fast.
● Sharaad Kuttan loves walking barefoot in the sand. On beaches we’re all pedestrians.
No comments:
Post a Comment