Why young people are our best chance for peace

31 July 1983 was a dark day for Sri Lanka: it was the start of the violent riots that took place against the nation’s Tamil population and culminated in a bitter, three-decade conflict. When the war was declared over in May 2009, young people woke up to a nation that was no longer in a state of conflict. And yet, this generation is often forgotten.

I am a member of what I call the “conflict generation”. When I was born, in 1991, the civil conflict that plagued Sri Lanka had already been raging for a decade; two youth-led insurrections had taken place, and the seeds for the division of the Sri Lankan people had taken root and begun to flower. For the next 18 years, normal life for me was displaying my national identity card at security checkpoints, school cancellations due to bomb blasts, the north of the country being out of bounds, and a dozen other factors. So in 2009, adjusting to a nation that now needed us to help it heal and repair was a challenge we didn’t even realize we had been given.

Many people underestimate the role of youth in rebuilding communities after conflict. Often, young people were not even born when the seeds were beginning to be sown; and when they were born it was into a world of gunfire and mistrust. How, they ask, can you help uproot a tree when you are not even aware of the time it began to grow?

Allow me to answer this: the roots of this tree grew long before we arrived; they have not found their way into our souls, as they have yours. We may not understand the pain, anger and mistrust that have led to us grow up with bitter, bloodied childhoods – but this means we are all the more willing and able to forgive. We have not been scarred by the alienation of decades; we are able to reach out and see more similarities than differences in one another’s eyes. And, having grown up in conflict, we know we never want to subject our children to it, the way our parents subjected us.

A few years ago, I met a young boy in the north of Sri Lanka who had lost family members to the brutal war and who, by all accounts, should have been crying out for revenge. Instead, he joined us as part of a group that was working to foster reconciliation and understanding between the divided communities. When I asked him what compelled him to do this, he said: “We know what hate can do, and what loss it can inspire. Our parents chose to turn to hate, and if we continue the cycle it will be our children who suffer.”

It touched my soul: truly young people have suffered, but they are young and green enough to believe in hope, optimism and human nature. Without this belief, trust in conflict situations cannot be rebuilt and the cycle of pain and anger will continue.

Those of us who have grown up in conflict situations: we are the survivors. We have survived with our souls intact. I know this because when I look around my country, and beyond, at members of my generation, they are working selflessly and tirelessly to ensure that no one goes through what we did.

We have the optimism, faith and energy to reach out and repair the frayed and broken bonds. If we don’t, it is our children who will weep. Like our parents who left us a war-torn land, we will leave our children a shell of a nation.

Shaping Davos is a series of live events hosted by the Global Shapers Community from 19 to 24 January. Forty cities around the world will be connected via two-way live-streaming and satellite broadcast technology to discuss 10 topics related to the theme of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2015 in Davos-Klosters. Join the conversation at shapingdavos.org

Author: Sharanya Sekaram is a Research Analyst at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies, and a Global Shaper from the Colombo Hub.

Image: A boy somersaults at the beach during sunset in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 25, 2013. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte