Jaffna play slates 'philosophy of submission'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 March 2001, 17:11 GMT]
"The philosophy of compromise and submission is being forced upon us. The spectre of fear surrounds us, preventing us from speaking about the suffering in our land. We are frozen by fear. As a consequence, we have buried many things deep in our heart. .

We are compelled to wear different masks imposed on us by the outsider and are compelled from moment to moment to change our personalities" said Mr. T. Thevananth, reading out the proclamation of the play Uyir Visai (Life Force) that was staged at the Kailasapthy Hall in the Jaffna University Sunday. Jaffna University students who organised the performance said that the proceeds from the play will go for the education of the children whose parents were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in 1996-97 and were reported missing

Uyir Visai was staged at 10.30 a.m. in the morning and 3.30 p.m. in the afternoon Sunday. The play depicted death and human suffering in Jaffna in the context of the Sri Lanka army's activities in the northern peninsula.

"Let us live! Uyir Visai loudly calls on those who destroyed our lives" "We want our land", said the play's proclamation.

The play is a continuation and development of the theme of Akkinip Perumoochchu (The Sigh of fire), directed by Thevananth and staged eleven times in many parts of Jaffna.

Akkinip Perumoochchu was written and produced from the experiences the Jaffna University students involved in the play had gathered from the families of the Tamil men and women who were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in the peninsula in 96-97 and were reported missing since then, believed to have been murdered by the military and buried in Chemmani.

Letters sent by the SLA to the kith and kin of the missing, claiming ignorance or assuring investigation were projected in the background during the performance of Akkinip Perumoochchu.

The play is not merely entertainment but a continuing catalyst and clarion call for action, the student producers told Tamilnet.

A scene from play.