All the members of my family had to experience tragedies due to the war. We had two sons and one daughter. My second son died when an LTTE bomb exploed on a bus travelling from Okkampitiya to Buttala on 16.01.2008. Since this tragic incident, our family could not get over the pain. The siblings of the deceased son could not bear the pain caused by their brother’s death. The elder son became mentally ill. By then he had got married and his wife was pregnant. They lived in my house. He was working as a civil security officer. He got mentally sick due to the unbearable pain. He began to hate his parents and wife. Several people’s assistance was needed to control his hysterical behavior. After some months, his wife gave birth to a child. But he didn’t show any concern for the infant. He hated it. He got into fits and yelled at everybody. We admitted him to the hospital. We had to spend a lot of money for his treatments. Our family was devastated financially. Now, his condition has improved to some extent. He lives with his wife and the child peacefully.
We thought that only Sinhala people suffered like this. We went on a trip to Jaffna. Then we could witness how tragically the Tamils have been affected by the war. We all suffer, due to a problem which was created in history. No community should be discriminated, and everybody should be given the opportunity to live without facing crises like this.
Sincerely,