Today, I was finishing up my final presentation for my History Across Borders class on the legal displacement of Tamils in Sri Lanka when Appa walked into the room. He sat down next to me and said he had a request.
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He asked if I could write something about how it feels like the whole world is united in a fear of the outside. Rights that once felt so insignificant (like the freedom to walk outside) were now clouded in fear for our safety and the safety of others. But this was not new.
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Appa said "this was my reality for most of my young life. And maybe if the world realized that this collective and personal pain, not being able to travel freely and see their loved ones, was our reality for so long, it would be easier for them to understand our pain."
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Appa was six years old the first time he experienced curfew. Going outside your house was completely forbidden and severely punished. He remembers growing up and Appachi walking in front of him to hide him from the military that were picking up young Tamil men off the road.
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He is now 55 years old and practising social distance here, with all of its privileges and difficulties. Appa's story is one that many of our Tamil parents share and I really do hope that one day he will get to tell his.
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