Para Paheer - The Power of Good People: Surviving Sri Lankas civil war

THE POWER

OF

GOOD PEOPLE

SURVIVING

SRI LANKAS CIVIL WAR

Praise for The Power of Good People

I read a book about two islands, about the sea, about love and voyage, and about the will to survive pitched against brute human cruelty, Natures fury, and indifference. I began to read with trepidation at the weight of the subject, and finished at a single sitting with the images of this storm-tossed Odyssey firmly fixed in my heart. Caught between the pincers of war forged in the logic of tit-for-tat brutality, there is only one direction if one is to escape the inevitable final clamp.

Gordon Weiss, UN official, author of The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers

An uplifting collaboration that reveals how random acts of kindness can turn a story of trauma, torture and tragedy into one of hope.

Michael Gordon, award-winning journalist and former political editor of The Age

Amid the polemics of the political debate about asylum in this country, it is too easy to forget that, at the very heart of this issue, lies not some political theory, some abstraction, but people. This issue is not about boats to be stopped nor borders to be protected, it is not about illegals jumping queues nor national security. It is about people. People like Para.

Ben Doherty, immigration correspondent, The Guardian, former South Asia correspondent, The Sydney Morning Herald

One of the most touching elements in this extraordinary story is Paras chance friendship with an Australian grandmother who takes him into her family. This book is a collaboration between them and a powerful example of how people can really connect across cultures, class, age and gender to do good where politicians and bureaucracies have failed.

I highly recommend it.

Frances Harrison, author of Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lankas hidden war

Para Paheers lived experience combines conflict, suffering, courage, tragedy, compassion, and hope. It depicts events that are predatory and abominable, even as it celebrates the humane and good. It must be read, precisely because it is heart-wrenching; because the discomfort it elicits may goad us to abandon apathy, embrace sympathy, and thereby discover our common humanity.

Professor Neil DeVotta, Department of Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest University

This is a deeply personal and moving story of human resilience, patience, compassion and gratitude. May it move others to empathy and provide insight into the desperate circumstances which force a person to flee their home and become a refugee. Accounts like these are so important in changing Australias inhumane immigration policies.

Senator Richard Di Natale, Leader of the Australian Greens

THE POWER

OF

GOOD PEOPLE

SURVIVING

SRI LANKAS CIVIL WAR

A refugees remarkable journey, and those who made it possible

PARA PAHEER WITH ALISON CORKE

Published by Wild Dingo Press

Melbourne, Australia

www.wilddingopress.com.au

First published by Wild Dingo Press 2017

Text copyright Para Paheer & Alison Corke

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission of the copyright owners and the publisher of this book.

Cover design: Greg Jorss

Cover photo: Steve Hardie

Editor: Jackey Coyle

Typesetting: Midland Typesetters, Australia

Print in Australia by Ligare

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publications Data

Para, Paheer, author.

The power of good people : surviving Sri Lankas civil war / Paheer Para with Alison Corke.

ISBN: 9780648066323 (paperback)

ISBN: 9780648066347 (e-book)

Subjects: Pararasasingam, Paheertharan, 1978

Civil warSri Lanka.

War victimsSri Lanka.

RefugeesSri LankaPersonal narratives.

Sri LankaHistoryCivil War, 1983-2009Personal narratives.

Other Creators/Contributors: Corke, Alison, author.

Paheertharan Pararasasingam (Para Paheer)

Following arrest, imprisonment and torture because of his student activism, Para escaped from Sri Lanka. He later fled from India with thirty-nine others, on a tiny fishing boat that sank in the Indian Ocean. In an extraordinarily brave rescue by a gas tanker, LNG Pioneer, twenty-seven asylum seekers were saved and taken to Christmas Island Detention Centre where they remained for nearly two years.

A friendship developed after Para started corresponding with Alison Corke, which later enabled his release into the community. In 2017, Para became a proud Australian citizen. Separated from his wife and son for eight years, Para hopes to be reunited soon.

Alison Corke

Alison Corke is a freelance writer, living in Apollo Bay, Victoria.

The plight of refugees and the increasing demonisation of innocent asylum seekers led Ali to join Rural Australians for Refugees and later to establish the Apollo Bay branch.

In 2009, Ali heard that a tiny fishing boat carrying asylum seekers had sunk in the Indian Ocean. Extremely affected by the human tragedy of this event, Ali had no idea that soon she would become penfriends with Para, one of the refugees from that boat. On his release from detention in 2011, Para was invited to live with the Corke family.

Ali and her family believe that we all have a responsibility to care for each others children.

Disclaimer

This is a true story of a young man caught up in a civil war spanning nearly three decades. Every care has been taken to verify names, dates and details throughout this book, but since much is reliant on memory, some unintentional errors may have occurred. Most real names have been replaced with substitute names to protect people remaining in Sri Lanka who may be in danger of recrimination. However, their actions and speech are accurately recorded.

The Publisher assumes no legal liability or responsibility for inaccuracies; they do however welcome any information that will redress them.

We dedicate this book to people everywhere who have been affected by war, and to those good people who are helping them to find a peaceful place in this world.

D uring Sri Lankas Civil War, many thousands of people were killed; whole families perished in aerial bombing raids and other attacks, and tens of thousands of people were displaced. Even now thousands of Tamils are prevented from returning to their lands and rebuilding their homes and lives in the northern and eastern parts of the island.

People who were arrested during and at the end of the war are still missing. Families are left wondering what happened to their loved ones. Many women were forced into being the sole breadwinner, because their husbands were killed or disappeared during and after the war. Their children struggle to survive. Orphanages were established to care for destitute children. Without their grown children to care for them, elderly people face difficult and uncertain futures.

Profits from the sale of this book will be donated to orphanages and charities nominated by and known to Para Paheer.

Thank you for your support.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Time for Para and Ali to say Nanri

Writing The Power of Good People has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to thank those people who kept Para safe. And now we are able to thank more good people who have made it possible to share our stories with you.