• ‘Oddamavadi’ producer Aman Ashraff on why he chose to tell this story 

In August is the International Day for Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief and, whether we like it or not, Sri Lanka, with all its tropical paradise feel, has fallen quite heavily into that hole. The Covid pandemic brought with it some of those times when Sri Lanka conducted the forced cremation of Muslims – a practice which is a direct contradiction to Islamic beliefs and traditions. That period was a study in discrimination, bad judgement, and uninformed decision-making. 

A few weeks ago, the stark reality of that black period in our history was taken by the horns when Aman Ashraff released ‘Oddamavadi’ – a powerful reminder of the importance of religious freedom and equal treatment under the law as well as how Sri Lankan citizens suffered silently while their constitutional rights were violated. The film is currently being screened at various cinemas around the country.

Ashraff was featured on ‘Kaleidoscope’ this week for insights into why he chose to tell this story.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

‘Oddamavadi’ is a powerful film, but, you say that this is not a Muslim story. Why?

I think that I’m a bit disenchanted with this whole ‘oh, you’re a Muslim; oh, you’re a Tamil; you’re a Christian’ thing. We are Sri Lankans and we do have issues in this country and this is just one of the many issues that we face. It’s time that we start acknowledging them as Sri Lankan issues and not really ethnic oriented ones. It’s only if you approach the problem in that way that we will be able to bring about a holistic solution. That is why all of us involved in the project felt very strongly that this is a Sri Lankan issue and that the story must be highlighted for it to never be repeated.

The Muslims in this country have faced numerous chapters of discrimination and strife, despite being citizens. Why did you want to highlight this particular incident?

I don’t think that I’m incorrect when I say this, that Muslim rights have not previously been trodden upon to the extent that they were in this particular instance, with the forced cremations. The right of burial or the right to observe one’s own religious beliefs is a fundamental right in this country as enshrined in the Constitution and for that to have been violated without proven evidence as it were, meant, to us, that this needed to be documented. This is because we Sri Lankans have this wonderful ability to forget things very swiftly. Recording it for posterity will enable us to learn from this horrific chapter in our history and ensure that it never happens again to anybody.

Do you think that the incidence of forced cremation was done in ignorance, or was it just plain discrimination?

When it began, as a Muslim, it was just shocking to hear these things. You would, of course, presume that someone has, maybe, got it wrong. In the course of producing this film, and speaking to the victims and hearing their stories firsthand along with the unbelievable narratives about how the system really went out of its way to discriminate against Muslims, I have to say that it was outright discrimination. For what reason, I don’t know. I’d like to think that things like this are beyond politics and that the rights of people should be held at a higher standard. 

While working on the film, did you find any reason for Sri Lanka to have such ingrained and almost inherent discrimination in ourselves, given that we are a country that thrives on the rhetoric that we are multicultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, et al.?

We have both seen discrimination happening in society. However, it all boils down to how issues are perceived. If you perceive your neighbour’s challenges as a Sinhalese issue as opposed to thinking ‘my neighbour has a problem’ or you perceive a work colleague’s challenge as a Tamil issue as opposed to thinking ‘hey, my friend at work has got a problem’, we are always going to be drawing lines in the sand. We have come a long way, but, we need to start changing our mindset. We need to start thinking as Sri Lankans. We need to start acting in that national sense. It doesn’t matter if someone else doesn’t do it. At least, if one of us can do it, we will probably inspire someone to think in the same way and hopefully the dominoes will fall in order.

What has been some of the most surprising feedback that you’ve received for the film and what has been the most difficult to digest?

Some of the more entertaining pieces of feedback have been along the lines of ‘you should have featured more non-Muslim personalities and made it more diverse’. I say ‘no’ to this as this is an issue that really affected a specific community in particular. If there are individuals who are part of the problem or part of the solution and they come from diverse backgrounds, that’s absolutely fine. But, merely to feature people for effect isn’t the way to go about doing things. At the end of the day, if something has to be said and if the narrative demands that all the players happen to be of a certain ethnicity, so be it. I don't think that we or anyone else should do something just for effect, to pretend that we are all a happy-clappy kind of family, which is not the case when you face discrimination of this nature.

You very boldly named individuals in the medical fraternity who instigated the forced cremation rule. What made you do that?

This was something that the medical professionals who we featured felt very strongly about, because they were very disturbed by it. They said that the code of ethics of medical practitioners had been violated by the conduct of a few specific individuals. You can always predict that governments and politicians will act in a certain way – in their own interest – but, medical professionals are held to a far higher standard because they have this code that they must adhere to. It was for this reason that they needed to be held accountable for their actions and the reason that we elected to name them.

Decisions like these are never made in isolation. Why haven’t you taken the President of the Government at that time to task? 

We generally make this mistake of presuming audiences to be unintelligent. Maybe they were 35 years ago, but, audiences today with access to social media and information at large are very intelligent. We don’t need to be spoon-feeding them. We don’t really need to name, shame, and mudsling, because that’s the political culture of this country. We need to evolve from this. In the film, the focus was on the people who were more responsible as professionals and to hold them accountable. As for governments and politicians, the people will decide. 

When you were gathering information for this film, what story stood out for you the most?

It was the story about the infant child who was cremated in just 21 days. I remember that we went to interview that family and we had to interview the father and the grandfather because the mother was understandably distraught. What she said was, ‘I don't think that I can control my emotions in front of the camera and I don’t want to’ and we respected that. There was another case in Kandy, which is also featured in the film; the cremation of a mother. It was her husband and son that we interviewed. The son must have been in his mid-30s. The interview was being done three years after the incident, but, as he recollected everything, he just completely broke down. That was a really emotional moment.

Looking back at ‘Oddamavadi’ and also that period during Covid, what lessons have you learnt?

The lessons that I learnt in my childhood have proven to be, upon reflection, invaluable. I went to a multicultural school; my classmates were of all ethnic denominations, and, by just spending time together, we learnt about each other’s culture and religious beliefs. And today, we’ve been friends for nearly 40 years and those bonds are still the same. We understand each other perfectly. When I look back at what we went through in ‘Oddamavadi’, it’s amazing how empty and devoid that relationship or rather the knowledge of each other’s beliefs and background is. Very simply, we all need to endeavour to build a bond, ensuring that we all care and respect one another. It’s not a case of going and studying about it; all it takes is a little conversation with a friend or someone you know. If we can truly endeavour to learn about each other better, to understand each other better, we can ensure that such repetitions never take place again for anyone in Sri Lanka.

When you got the idea for the film, what sort of resources came together?

I have been in integrated communications for close to 26 years and what was most gratifying was that the people I went to – all senior professionals in the industry – said: ‘We want to work on this’. It wasn't so much for commercial reasons; they were unanimous that this is something that we need to tell a story about, because this was wrong. The world needed to know that this inhumanity took place. Almost all of these professionals were of different backgrounds. One person even decided to do it pro-bono because he felt compelled in his belief that the story must be told. That is the blessing that I have had, to have worked throughout my career with professionals who are not just the best in what they do but they’re also great human beings; I can’t ask for a better team than that.

Whether we like it or not, Sri Lankans have an ingrained psyche about there being minorities and there being a majority. Now you, as a minority person, do you have hope for Sri Lanka?

Believe it or not, I do. I was a refugee when I came to Colombo. I was refused admission into schools because of that refugee status. I lost my father due to political upheavals in the country and I still have hope. So, what’s your excuse?

(The writer is the host, director, and co-producer of the weekly digital programme ‘Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo’ which can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She has over three decades of experience in print, electronic, and social media)