The Far Reaches of Systematic Genocide

Written By: Athithan Kurukulasi​ngam

When one thinks about genocide, they look at the very root of the word. Genocide consists of the systematic eradication of a group within a region. Oftentimes, the group is the noticeable minority and face hardships far beyond the reaches of our comfortable way of life here in the west. There is a problem however, when you look at genocide in its most singular form, many of the other atrocities that are committed goes unnoticed. Within Sri Lanka, the Sri-Lankan Government would like the world to believe that the ‘war’ is over and that sense of normalcy is returning to the “nation”. However, it must be emphasized that this is far from the truth. It only takes a brief glance to notice the serious cases of genocide that are still taking place within this so called nation.

In late August of 2013, in the Kilinochchi villages of Tamil Eelam, Tamil women were faced with coercive and underhanded tactics by Sinhalese doctors for ‘voluntary’ population control. At the outset, the terminology must be clarified. For purposes of this piece, the term “birth control,” also known as “family planning” and “planned parenthood” will be used in sync and refers to the voluntary planning and action by individuals to have the number of children they want, when and if they want them. In contrast “population control” is used to reiterate the belief that for the betterment of society in light of overpopulation, individuals should reduce the number of children they have (Robert, 1973). The women of the Kilinochchi villages were approached by hospital staff and volunteers and were informed that any woman with a child under the age of five should come to the hospital the following day to weigh their children and to receive a vaccination. Many of these women put their faith in the hands of an authority figure out of good faith. It must be noted that these women felt that they would get the best service from these big doctors from the city. Once there the problems started to arise. “Upon arrival at the hospital, the doctors and nurses used coercive language and manipulated medical information to convince the women to take Progestogen-only sub dermal implants (POSDIs), a long-term hormonal birth control inserted under the skin of a woman’s upper arm” (Social Architects, 2013).