The Jaffna Library as a Symbol of Spiritual and Intellectual Reconciliation

Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam. Ph.D.

Much discussion has taken place about the Jaffna Library since its destruction and rebuilding.  As a school boy at Jaffna Central from 1943 to 1954 I spent many Saturdays, Sundays and school holidays in the Jaffna Library when it was housed in the upper floor of a building next to the Town Hall building.  

Jaffna Central, St Peter's church, the court houses, the Subramaniam Park, the Town Hall, the Jaffna Library and the Clock Tower are important landmarks in the history of Jaffna that were destroyed during the war in that quadrangle of learning, judiciary and governance.  The burning of the library was a deliberate destruction aimed to hurt the collective consciousness of the Tamils as a people. It was an act of desecration and was condemned by many people from all communities in Sri Lanka and internationally. Hence reconstruction of the library takes on a special significance.   

The rebuilding of the Jaffna library should therefore not have been an act of restoration of the building and its inventories, but should have been an act of reconstructing the relationship and the life of the people with dignity and concern for the value the Tamil culture puts on learning and the preservation of its history and culture.  As such the rush for the reopening of the thoughtlessly restored shell of the library building was to gain credit by  those politicians in power at all levels.  Repairing the scars, whitewashing the smoke residue and stocking the spiritless shell of the building with furniture and books without any recognition and memorial of the destruction condones and covers up the actions that were perpetrated on the cultural psyche of the Tamils.  Such wounds cannot be healed with brick, mortar, wood and printed paper.  The very act of covering up the physical and intellectual damage seems to be an attempt to eliminate any memory of the destruction and to banish the horrific event to the deep recess of the mind. 

Such reconstruction without the memory and recognition of the spiritual dimensions of the destruction denies the Sinhala people, whose representatives burnt the library, an opportunity to express their atonement and desire for reconciliation.  Such actions also deny the Tamil people a chance to forgive and reconcile a seminal cause of the war. 

The concept of reconciliation of the destruction of the intellectual, cultural and spiritual symbol of a people is best illustrated by the reconstruction and reconciliation that is encompassed in the Coventry Cathedral that was destroyed by German bombs and the new Coventry Cathedral that was built next to the old one.  I would like to refer to the websites given below for those who cannot experience the Coventry Cathedral phenomena in person.  I have copied some of the pictures and expressions, which illustrate the motifs and its relationship to reconciliation below as an example for further study and reflection. 

http://www.know-britain.com/churches/coventry_cathedral_1.html

http://www.know-britain.com/images/coventry_cathedral_altar_1.jpg

COVENTRY CATHEDRAL

"On the night of 14 November 1940, the city of Coventry was devastated by bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe. The Cathedral burned with the city, having been hit by several incendiary devices. The decision to rebuild the cathedral was taken the morning after its destruction. Rebuilding would not be an act of defiance, but rather a sign of faith, trust and hope for the future of the world." 

Death and Resurrection

"…Like nearby Birmingham, the importance of Coventry as an armaments center made it a priority target during the Second World War. It was the air raid on Coventry on the night of the 14th November 1940 that destroyed the medieval Cathedral of the city and 568 of its citizens. The code name for that raid what was "Operation Moonlight Sonata", a romantic name (after Beethoven's piano sonata) for a ghastly reality. The empty shell of the old Cathedral, still standing adjacent to the glory of the new, is a stark reminder of that event." 

Coventry Cathedral: A Spiritual and an Architectural Experience

"As the visitor steps out of the remains of the former Cathedral into the new he feels a mysterious combination of sorrow and joy, a conflicting sense of defeat and triumph. He effectively and profoundly experiences that spiritual reality that lies at the heart of Christianity - death and resurrection. This is the power of Coventry Cathedral. 

The sheer impact of the different styles, the perpendicular style of the old building dating from medieval times and the modern controversial style of Sir Basil Spence, is an architectural experience in itself that should not be missed. 

As the visitor approaches the Cathedral he is immediately struck by the contrast of old and new.  On the left the shell of the former Cathedral and on the right the impressively modern building with its zigzag effect and imposing bronze statue of the archangel Michael triumphing over Satan." 

"This enormous bronze statue, St Michael Subduing the Devil by Sir Jacob Epstein, weighs four tons and the figure of Michael is approximately 6 meters tall. It constitutes a powerful symbol of the triumphant resurrection of the Cathedral despite the powers of evil and destruction. It is so impressive as to induce the visitor to enter the new building immediately but it is advisable to resist this temptation and enter the ruins of the former Cathedral first to make the most of the visit and resulting spiritual experience." 

COVENTRY CATHEDRAL: An Experience of Reconciliation

"Benches are available for the visitors who are thus able savoir in comfort and serenity the atmosphere conducive to a meditative and prayerful frame of mind. It is the spiritual experience so unusual and anything one would normally expect from a tourist visit that causes the visitor, even the casual visitor, to remain pleasantly surprised. He remains surrounded by signs of past destruction and suffering yet feels the serenity and joy of forgiveness and a total absence of anything that smacks of resentment. The prayerful attitude is uninfluenced by the bus loads of tourist that flock here from all nations. As the tourist makes his way around the ruins he comes across another reminder of forgiveness, the statue of reconciliation." 

The statue is by Josefina de Vasconcellos who made it at the age of 90. It was donated to the Cathedral by Richard Branson on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II (1995). A replica of this statue was donated by the people of Coventry to the peace garden of Hiroshima. 

 "Altar of reconciliation", "Statue of reconciliation", "Litany of reconciliation" the word, and more importantly, the reality of reconciliation "reverberates" throughout these ruins." 

Jaffna Library Reconstruction as a reconciliation symbol of death, destruction and resurrection. 

The Chandrika and the Wickremasinghe governments have not understood the symbolism of the destruction of the Jaffna Library deeply enough to recognize the need for that symbolic destructive act to be appropriately memorialized and reconciled. The Jaffna Municipal Councilors who rushed to reopen the library also did not feel the pulse of the Tamil people well enough to understand the significance of the destruction and the need for an in-depth reconciliation.  Each in their wisdom wanted to cover up, add a feather to their cap and move on little realizing that beneath that scar is a festering wound which has not healed. 

It is not too late for the Wickremasinghe government and the leaders of the Tamil struggle to attempt to rethink, redesign and create a space and monument for reflection of the intellectual and spiritual dimensions similar to that of the Canterbury Cathedral.