final draft

Love
“I am a useless person,” Sulia expressed with thousand of regret as he continued; “I had failed to protect her.” He sobbed again. Sulia, a Sinhalese, a retired senior police officer was undergoing an interview by the Sri Lanka Live News, recapping the days under the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). He remembered how he lost his wife, house and property...

Some time ago; he had a happy family, a lovely wife and two children. They had no worry for basic necessities. Sulia had a stable job as a police officer. At that time, being a police officer was an easy job; they hardly had any cases to solve as the place they lived in was safe, but good things will never last.

Sri Lanka was a lovely island where beautiful beach was, also they had great amount of fresh delicious seafood. It was also known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean’. Sri Lanka was once under the colony of the British. British colonial rule favoured the Tamil minority in terms of jobs and education. After being independent, a new government was being set up, it consisted mainly the Sinhalese. They introduced policies that only favoured their own race. The Tamils, who held the higher privilege during the British rule faced discrimination.

The first policy only granted citizenship to those who were born in Sri Lanka or those whose fathers and grandfathers were born here. Many Indian Tamil found themselves stateless. Sulia was then a teenage. This policy did not interrupt his life. He lived with no worry throughout his childhood.

The second policy also did not disturb Sulia in anyway. He had an easy admission into university. The university was no longer based on merit like it used o be. Instead, Tamil students had to score higher marks than Sinhalese students in order to enter the same university course. A fixed number of places were also reserved for Sinhalese.

Sulia met his wife during his school days. Dugar was an Indian; she had to work extra hard to get into the same university as Sulia. In addition, she was a girl. Ladies back then were not encourage to study. She took part time jobs. She worked in a tea plantation to earn her school fee. They married once they graduated. Their marriage was a hard one. Sulia’s parents did not agree to their marriage. They disapprove the couple to stay with them, and insisted they move out of the village.

Despite the bitter life, they bit their lips hard and live through. They were blessed with two lovely children.

Their blissful life could not carry on further, as the LTTE was formed to fight again the bias policies, everything started to change drastically. The lovely beach was turned into a blood field where innocent civilians are killed. The sea was no longer crystal blue however it was filled with a deep red colour. People hardly any food to eat.
The Indians were convinced by the LTTE to fight against the Sinhalese for their rights. This group encouraged violent against the unfairness. LTTE called in all male to fight, despite the age groups. Many Indians fled to other countries. As the recruitment was low, LTTE decided to take in Indian women. Dugar was an unlucky one. She was ordered by the LTTE to fight for their kind.

The Indian soldier ordered with loud tone. “Leave with me, now or never!” He pointed the gun at Dugar. Sulia had already took Jeya and her sister into hiding, afraid that the LTTE might catch their only child.

Dugar held her fist tight. She whispered loudly, “I’ll leave!”

This sentence sunk deep down Sulia’s heart. Dugar left and never came home. Everyone knew the outcome however Sulia assured himself that his wife would come home. He did not move his house despite it being destroyed many times. He continued to wait for her return...