Rohini Mohan

Another war you probably didn’t know about

The Seasons of Trouble: Life Amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka’s Civil War by Rohini Mohan (Verso, $26.95).

Didn’t know Sri Lanka was a mess as the result of a civil war that last nearly 30 years and only “ended” in 2009? You’re not alone.

In The Seasons of Trouble: Life Amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka’s Civil War, Al-Jazeera America journalist Rohini Mohan follows the lives of three people, all members of the Tamil community, who are trying to rebuild their lives following the defeat of the Tamil Tigers by government forces.

The survivors are shattered, but sturdy; they are also faced with a government that is determined to “dilute” the Tamil threat by dispersing and disempowering the community, so that they will never again face demands for an independent state. It is certainly a cultural genocide, and there are indications that the government’s actions may rise to the level of a literal genocide as well.

Mohan’s journalistic chops are top-notch, which makes this a well-researched and well-written, work on a topic about which we haven’t heard nearly enough in the West.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com… (meer)