Reli(e)ving one's memories

“TNA has no secret pact with Fonseka’’

2010-01-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

By Thava Sajitharan

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian K. Thurairetnasingam yesterday refuted the allegation that his party had entered into a “secret pact” with opposition’s common presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka.

The TNA last week extended its support to Gen. Fonseka. Nevertheless, the alliance’s silence over what the retired army chief has offered them as a political solution to the ethnic problem has prompted the government to allege that there is a secret deal. National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa MP who backs incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in the upcoming presidential poll was quoted in a newspaper report yesterday, as saying that Fonseka had agreed to re-merge the north and east and establish autonomy in the region.

In the said news report, Mr. Weerawansa had cited a TV interview in which Mr. Thurairetnasingam had allegedly disclosed that ‘the opposition has agreed to re-merge the Northern and the Eastern Provinces, dismantle the High Security Zone, release the LTTE suspects in detention and grant an autonomous region for the Tamils’.

Asked for a response, Mr. Thurairetnasingam said “some of the politicians in the government are attempting to mislead people and stir up communal hatred in the south” to achieve what he called “petty electoral gains”.

“We have not signed any agreement. We have come to an agreement” he said, referring to their talks with Fonseka.

However, he did not specify whether Gen. Fonseka had proposed anything to solve the Tamil problem politically if and when he is elected president. Observers have noted that Fonseka’s manifesto which was released last week did not mention any political solution to the Tamil problem either.

“The TNA had several rounds of talks with the president and his associates before taking a decision. Under the rule of the present government in the last four years, people have undergone immense hardship and I think there is a need for change”.

Asked if the TNA MPs would actively campaign for Fonseka by taking part in election meetings, Thureiratnasingam said they had not taken a decision in this regard.

We also contacted R. Sambanthan and Mavai Senathiraja - two senior leaders in the TNA - earlier this week to ask about the conditions on which their support to Gen Fonseka was pledged.

Both of them, while remarking that Fonseka’s response was “satisfactory”, declined to comment further.

JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, when contacted, said Wimal Weerawansa’s remarks were “irrelevant”. He was not willing to elaborate either.

(Published in LAKBIMAnEWS January 10, 2009)

Minorities are Kings for a month

2010-01-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

By Thava Sajitharan

As presidential election campaigns gathered momentum last week, voters from minority groups seemed to have entered the equation.

Both candidates -- incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa and his rival Gen. (Rtd) Sarath Fonseka --- who in the past were identified as “hardliners” for their unrelenting stance towards the political aspirations of minority communities --- displayed more love for the latter during the course of their campaigns.

The problems of ethnic minorities dominated both sides’ electoral rhetoric as well.

Whereas President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that he had served the Muslims in the country by way of accommodating 20 ministers from the community in his administration and urged the Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians to be ministers in his future government, Gen Fonseka stated ‘merely declaring that there are no minorities in the country would not suffice’ adding that the latters specific concerns needed to be addressed. Gen Fonseka’s words were quite different from the ones he uttered at a press interview nearly a year ago when he reportedly proclaimed that the country “belonged to the Sinhalese” and that other communities should not demand “undue things under the pretext of being minorities”, observers noted.

The government last week indicated that it would soon release over 700 Tamil detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations while also announcing that it intended to resettle by the end of January, over one hundred thousand conflict-affected Tamil refugees who are at present housed in interim camps in Menik farm, Vavuniya. The government is also planning to enhance power supply facilities in the north as well as set up 58 new post offices in the province, according to government sources.

IDPs - who will they vote for?

'Electoral ploy'

While these latest developments were welcomed and appreciated by members of affected families, critics claimed the ruling regime’s “newfound appetite” to better protect the minority interests was “politically motivated” and part of “an electoral ploy aimed at wooing Tamil voters.”

With regard to Tamil detainees, Deputy Minister of Justice V. Puthirasigamani said “except for those against whom indictments have been filed, we are planning to release all others detained under Emergency Regulations and the PTA”
Puthirasigamani is also a member of the Committee on Prevention of Crime which was established under a presidential directive to handle, among other things, the matters concerning those detained under Emergency Regulations and the PTA --- a “draconian law”, for whose abolishment certain human rights groups have been campaigning over the last several years.

The Committee on Prevention of Crime is headed by Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda and has as its members the Defence Secretary, the IGP, Prisons Commissioner and others.

Many of those detained under Emergency Regulations and the PTA were arrested on suspicion and have been held under detention without trail for a long time, sources pointed out.

According to Minister Puthirasigamani, of all the detainees to be released, 631 persons are in remand while the others are in the custody of the CID, TID or the police.

Asked to comment, leader of the Democratic Peoples Front and Convenor of Civil Monitoring Commission Mano Ganesan MP who backs Gen. Fonseka’s candidacy said he welcomed “without criticism the decision to release those detained under Emergency Regulations and PTA” even though the move appeared to be a “political one”.
The suffering families of the detainees would now be relieved, he noted.

Why were they taken in?

Human Rights lawyer M. A Sumanthiran said “if they didn’t have evidence, these people should not have been taken into custody in the first place. It is a welcome move nevertheless”.

Suresh from Thalawakelle (the source’s actual name has been withheld to protect his identity) whose brother was arrested on suspicion in 2008 and remains detained under emergency regulations said he was pleased to hear the news and was awaiting his sibling’s release.

“My brother was arrested when he returned to the country after working abroad for a few years” he said.

With regard to the resettlement of IDPs in the north, Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Rishad Badhiyudeen said large numbers of displaced people were being resettled in their areas with a view to completing the resettlement process by the end of January.

(Published in LAKBIMAnEWS, January 3, 2009)

That ‘Historic Meeting’ in Zurich...

2009-11-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

By Thava Sajitharan

The joint statement issued by the Tamil and Muslim parties at the conclusion of the three-day conference held in Zurich, Switzerland from November 20 to 22, described the event as a ‘historic meeting’.

That particular phrase was no exaggeration for the conclave was indeed a first of its kind.

In the past, it had never been possible for anyone to muster such a vast number of minority parties including the erstwhile ‘Tiger-proxy’ Tamil National Alliance at a single venue to discuss issues of notable political significance.

The conference titled “the role of the Elected Representatives of Sri Lanka’s Tamil and Muslim Population in a Process of National Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Reform” was attended by, among others, Minister Douglas Devananda of the EPDP, V. Anandasangaree of the TULF and R. Sambanthan of the TNA - leaders of Tamil political parties whose stances and viewpoints starkly differ from that of each other in terms of finding a political solution to the Tamil problem. Eastern Province Chief Minister S. Chandrakanthan also took part.

Unsurprisingly, the unprecedented nature of the conference has given rise to numerous speculations and rumors. While many of those who participated in the conference saw it as a necessary step toward strengthening the political interests of the minorities, there were the skeptics who opined that covert external elements bent on destabilization were behind this move.

Speculations

Some media reports speculated that it was an attempt to rally the minority parties to back the president in his aspiration to retain office for a second term while the controversial Tamilnet website termed the meeting ‘”a drama backed by ‘high-powers”.

According to media reports, the conference was jointly organized by the Tamil Information Centre (TIC), the International Working Group on Sri Lanka (IWG) and the Initiative on Conflict Prevention through Quiet Diplomacy (ICPQD) at the University of Essex. It was hosted by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Asked to comment about any big power being behind the meeting in Zurich, TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran who was also a participant dismissed the allusions, saying “it’s rubbish.”

It is learnt that the organizers had initially included the forthcoming presidential election in the discussion agenda. The idea was abandoned due to opposition from parties such as the TNA.

“We told them that we had not come to discuss the upcoming polls” said Premachandran.

“It’s true that majority of the attendants were either government ministers or government sympathizers. Some of them tried to push their own agendas” said Premachandran.

Suresh Premachandran nevertheless noted that “it is a positive development” as far as minority politics is concerned.

“All the parties agreed to have further talks and it is a good sign”

Among the attendant parties were: All Ceylon Muslim Congress, All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Ceylon Workers Congress, Democratic Peoples Front, Eelam People’s Democratic Party, Eelam People’s Revolutionary Front, Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, Pathmanabha Eelam Peoples’, Revolutionary Liberation Front, People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal , Tamil National Alliance, Tamil United Liberation Front and Up-Country Peoples Front.

Despite the fact that representatives of the above parties consented to sign a joint statement in which they “unanimously expressed a full commitment to a common forum among representatives of all Tamil-speaking peoples,” difference of opinion remained one of the prominent characteristics of the conclave.

Leader of Democratic Peoples Front Mano Ganesan MP said while the likes of Minister Douglas Devananda of the EPDP and Arumugam Thondaman of the CWC insisted on the implementation of 13th amendment as the first step toward finding a political solution, others held that the political package need not be given any specific ‘tags’.

“It was also pointed out that the government had not implemented the 13th amendment even though it was very much part and parcel of the Sri Lankan constitution”
Mano Ganesan whose party has decided to oppose the ruling government at the presidential elections noted that the government was in no mood to talk about a political solution to the minorities.

Minister Devananda and TULF leader V. Anandasangaree were not available for comment.

THE JOINT STATEMENT

The Joint Statement issued at the Zurich conference:

We, the representatives of the political parties of the Tamil-speaking peoples unanimously:
Affirm the historic meeting enabling an exchange of views, and express a full commitment to a common forum among representatives of all Tamil-speaking peoples;
Recognize ‘Tamil-speaking peoples’ comprise three distinct peoples: Tamils, Muslims, and Tamils of Indian origin;
Respect the distinct and separate identities, interests and positions of the parties;
Recognize and affirm the need for unity and consensus among the Tamil-speaking peoples while acknowledging differences with regard to some issues and the paths to pursue them;
Commit to the engagement by all segments of society towards a just and durable political solution through a dignified, respectful and peaceful process;
Agree and commit to continuing our dialogue.
Signatories:
Veerasingham Anandasangaree, Tamil United Liberation Front
Periyasamy Chandrasekaran, Up-Country Peoples Front
Douglas Devananda, Eelam People’s Democratic Party
Abdul Rauff Hakeem, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
Mohamed Hizbullah, All Ceylon Muslim Congress
Mano Ganeshan, Democratic Peoples Front
Kulasekaram Mahenthiran, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation
Sivasubramaniam Nanthakumar, Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
Gagendrakumar Ponnambalam, All Ceylon Tamil Congress
Suresh Premachandran, Eelam People’s Revolutionary Front
R. Sampathan, Tamil National Alliance
Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan, Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal
Mavai S. Senathirajah, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi
Dharmalingam Sithadthan, People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam
Thirunavukarasu Sritharan, Pathmanabha Eelam Peoples’ Revolutionary Liberation Front
Arumugan Thondaman, Ceylon Workers Congress

(LAKBIMAnEWS November 29, 2009)

Allowed to see IDPs in exchange for political support?

2009-11-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

(LAKBIMAnEWS November 22, 2009)

By Thava Sajitharan

Members of the Tamil National Alliance were last week permitted to visit IDP camps in Vavuniya for the first time. TNA MP P. Ariyanenthiran says Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, at a subsequent meeting, told the TNA that all the IDPs would be resettled by January next year. Ariyanenthiran also spoke to us about the meeting being held in Zurich, Switzerland where R. Sambanthan, Douglas Devananda, V. Anandasangaree and other leaders of minority parties are reportedly deliberating the possibility of reaching a common consensus.

Excerpts:

The government has finally allowed the TNA MPs to go to the IDP camps in Menik farm as well as areas in the north where resettlement is taking place... What are your observations about this visit?

Over the last few months, we have persistently requested the government to give us permission to visit the camps in Menik farm. From what I saw, I can say that the expedited resettlement process has considerably reduced problems of congestion in Menik farm. Earlier it was said that people had to wait in long queues to use toilets and were suffering tremendously from communicable diseases. The number of toilets in the camps were said to be inadequate and there were alarming hygeine issues. The situation has now changed.

However, there are other important problems that need to be addressed with immediate effect. People in the camps are provided with rice, sugar, and dhal and wheat flour as relief items. Other supplementary food items need to be bought from shops set up in these camps. With no means of earning an income, many families are struggling to purchase these items. Those who have relations abroad do not face these problems as they receive financial assistance from them.

People being resettled are required to open bank accounts by depositing Rs 600/=. Some people told me that they didn’t have the cash to do this. They are also asked to take photographs for identification and that too costs Rs 60/= per person. Some people were even unable to meet this cost. In certain cases, one member of a family lived in a particular camp while the others were in a different camp. Yet, they are not permitted to visit each other.

I was also told by families housed in these camps that the incidents of family members being taken away for interrogation was still continuing.

Have you taken up the matters that you just described with the government?

Yes, we visited the camps on Monday and we met presidential advisor Basil Rajapaksa in parliament on the very next day. He assured us that these problems will be addressed. He also expressed hope that the government would be able to resettle all the displaced people by January next year.

You also met UN Humanitarian Chief John Holmes who was on a visit to Sri Lanka last week. What did you discuss with him?

John Holmes also said that he was confident that the majority of the displaced people would be resettled by December this year.

Having been so stubborn all this time in their decision to not allow opposition MPs to visit the camps, the government has all of a sudden changed its mind and facilitated your visit... What do you think is the reason?

Well, I think there could be several reasons. One is our persistent request. Pressure from the international community could also have been a factor. Besides, as I said, there were a number of critical issues that the government had to grapple with,with regard to the conditions in which the IDPs were living.

In such a situation, the government would have decided that conditions were not conducive for us to visit the camps.

A major election is said to be round the corner. Was the government attempting to woo TNA MPs to their side by permitting them to visit IDP camps?

One cannot rule out that possibility.

In the event of a presidential election in the near future who will the TNA support?

We as a party have taken the decision that we will wait till nominations are filed. We will then decide whom to support.

Will the TNA support the ruling party?

We have not discussed that matter as yet.

There is said to be a difference of opinion between members of the Tamil National Alliance on this matter... is this true? Is there a split in the party over this issue?

I believe each and every individual is entitled to their own opinion. When we need to take a decision, we will discuss and debate all such opinions.
The ultimate decision will be a unanimous one.

In what appears to be an event of great significance, all the leaders of minority parties including the TNA, TULF, EPDP, CWC, UPF, DPF, PLOTE, TELO, ACRC, SLMC, TMVP, and EPRLF (both Naba and Varatha wings) are attending a conference in Zurich, Switzerland. It is said that R. Sambanthan, Douglas Devananda and V. Anandasangaree went on the same flight. What is going to be discussed at this conference?

The Tamil Information Centre (TRC), an organization based in London has organized this event. The possibility of reaching a common consensus will be discussed at this meeting. The TNA is represented by R. Sambanthan, Mavai Senathiraja and Suresh Premachandran. We have to wait and see what the outcome atthis conference will be. They are returning next Tuesday.

One of the biggest regional powers is speculated to be behind this move... Is it true?

Well, those speculations are there. The very fact that this is a rare occasion gives rise to such speculation. This is all I can say at this moment.

More surprises for government, Mano promises

2009-11-14T22:01:00.000-08:00

By Thava Sajitharan

Democratic Peoples Front leader Mano Ganeshan first wanted to leave the recently formed United National Front (UNF) if they were going to nominate General Sarath Fonseka as the presidential candidate of the UNF. But, later Ganeshan decided to support him.

Excerpts of the interview as follows:

You have reportedly expressed a willingness to support Gen. Sarath Fonseka in the event the latter is placed as the presidential candidate by the United National Alliance (UNA) of which your party is an ally. It would mean that you are supporting the very same person who led the war which you spoke highly critical of a few months ago. What is the rationale behind your stance...?

My party, DPF is a component of UNF. Neither DPF nor the UNF have made any official announcements. Fonseka has just submitted papers for retirement. Has he officially said that he is contesting? We are only looking at all available options. Fonseka would be also an option. Anyway, I as the leader of my party commenced some discussion with Sarath Fonseka. We have discussions with Tamil and Muslim parties. We are discussing with the parties within UNF. I think this is the sign of a functioning party within the democratic radius.

Some of the minority parties are said to be of the view that support could be offered to Gen Fonseka on the condition that he should abolish the executive presidency. Nonetheless, all the Presidents in the past two decades promised to do away with the existing system but none of them did it in reality. Besides, Gen Fonseka in September 2008 reportedly said `I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese’. He also reportedly said that ‘minorities must not demand undue things’. What makes you think that he would act differently or that he would heed to the minority parties?

Minority parties, you mean the Tamil and Muslim parties? More than the Tamil and Muslim parties, today UNP, SLFP (M) and JVP are asking for the abolishment of the Executive Presidency. Until recently minorities thought that the Executive Presidency is advantageous to the minority interests. Today Parliament has been weakened very much and the real government is run from the Presidential palace. There is a new class of ‘President’s men’ who has arrived in this country today. Pathetic are the cabinet Ministers within the Parliament. It is because they are not in the know of the running of the government. Now within the UNF our party and SLMC have also come to the position for abolishment. I think we as minorities can never go to Presidential palace but only to the Parliament. Therefore, we cannot just be idle when our Parliament is slowly becoming a mere talk show assembly. Yes, CBK and the incumbent President agreed for the abolishment but did not adhere to the agreements. We need two third numbers in the Parliament and a friendly President who agrees for abolishment. So we are trying all the available avenues. What is the democratic alternative for us? If all the democratic avenues are unsuccessful then it will be an invitation to revolt. People may take to streets.

Last part of your question refers to Sarath Fonseka’s comments made in 2008. We can never accept that stand. This country belongs to all of us. Let Sarath Fonseka be told. But, these types of comments have been made by many in the major parties. If you ask me, I will tell you that a sizable number of politicians harbor such ideas within themselves. Not only in JHU and NFF but there are such persons in SLFP, UNP and JVP. There are Sinhala politicians while in government had said worst things. Some had gone to the level of eating the Tamil flesh. On other hand there had been Tamil counterparts too. Certain Tamil politicians wanted to swim in the Sinhala blood. It is the pathetic reality of our common motherland. We need to rebuild our common motherland for the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims and Buddhists, Hindus, Islamists and Christians. Please let me tell you loudly that the Common motherland is more important than a common candidate. We have to work through to achieve. If you have an alternative tell me. The pundits who criticize never come out with any successful alternatives.

A few weeks ago, you stated that you had communicated with a representative of Gen. Fonseka. Is it confirmed that he will be nominated by the UNA as their Presidential candidate?

A representative of Fonseka met me in Colombo. I said that some time before.
It has not been countered. So you know it is correct information. It is not only UNF in the scene but also JVP. This is on one hand. And Tamil and Muslim parties on the other hand. Let the announcement for the Presidential elections come. There will be more surprises for the government. I cannot comment further.

How do you interpret the letter sent to the President by Gen. Fonseka. Does it indicate that he would contest the Presidential elections?

Sarath Fonseka has already removed his uniform unofficially. I think it has a political meaning. He means business. Isn’t he? This is my guess.

The TNA has not ruled out the possibility of fielding a Tamil Presidential candidate. In that event who would you support?

A Yes, it is one of the options. Not only the TNA but we as DPF have too pronounced this. President Mahinda, Common Opposition candidate, Common Tamil candidate and boycott are the four options we have. Last time Tamils in the North and East were told to boycott by LTTE. Today it is history. Boycott is the worst. It is against democratic engagement. And also we cannot simply leave it to the people’s private decisions. All Tamil and Muslim parties are to give leadership directions to our peoples.

The government has said that it would allow the opposition Parliamentarians to visit the IDP camps in the future? What is your comment about this new development? Are you planning to visit the IDPs?

Why the sudden announcements after six months? Is it GSP phobia? It is coming after allowing Indian MPs. Yes, we will visit independently. Visiting the camps is just one element of our struggle. We want our people to go home. Their rights to their ancestral land are supreme.

As a human rights campaigner, what are your observations about the resettlement process which is said to have been expedited..?

More than the conditions of the camps, the violation of the rights is my concern. They are being kept there against their will. The barbed wire and military security surrounding the camps are not for the protection against any external invasion. They are to prevent people from going out.

The people should have been given the right to stay with their relatives and friends of their choice long before. In the name of demining and screening, you can’t keep the women, children, sick and aged for months behind barbed wire. Government is expediting the process due to our pressures. Anyway this is what is expected out of a government. They can’t demand credit for this. We legislators have to visit and make our own independent assessment.

We need to know the total numbers of people arrived since May and settled and the numbers that remain. They can’t put them into another transit camp and call it resettlement. The people need to go to their very own villages. Until then this is going be the top priority for us.

(LAKBIMAnEWS, 15.11.2009)

IDPs not shown their homes and brought back!

2009-11-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

By Thava Sajitharan

Governor of the Northern Province Major General G.A. Chandrasiri last week refuted reports that some of the internally displaced people who were moved out of IDP camps in Vavuniya for resettlement had been returned after being shown their homes. Excerpts from the interview:

Resettlement of the IDPs is said to have been expedited. Could you tell us about that?

As per the direction given by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the resettlement of the IDPs is taking place at an accelerated pace. Guidance given to us by the chairman of the special task force for the development and security of the northern province Basil Rajapaksa is, that resettlement of the persons in Menik Farm should take place at a rapid pace and they must return to their respective places.

So far, 35, 000 people from the Jaffna peninsula have gone back to their places and they have already been resettled. Out of the 35 000 persons, around 8,000 have been resettled in Jaffna islands. The rest of them have gone to certain other areas in the peninsula. Divisional secretaries of these areas work out their plans for the resettlement of the IDPs; they send their team to Menik farm to find out which people are from which Grama Sevaka areas. Accordingly, they formulate the resettlement plans and that is how these people are being resettled.

For a day, over 3000 people are moving out from Menik farm to be resettled. Similar procedure is followed in respect of resettlement in other areas such as Mannar. Resettlement is taking place in Manthai West. In Killinochchi, there are about 9 villages where resettlement is taking place. There is resettlement taking place in Thunukkai of Mullaitivu as well. The total number of people to be resettled in these places is more than 42, 000. This will be completed by the end of October. Around 10, 000 people have recently gone from Menik Farm to be resettled in the eastern province. So altogether there are 110, 000 persons who will be resettled by the end of October.

The government assured the international community that 80% of the IDPs would be resettled by December. Do you think it’s achievable?

As the governor of the Northern Province I can only talk about what is being done and how it’s being done. But when you carry out resettlement, there are certain restrictions that one has to cope with. As the president says, you have to bear in mind the security aspect of it. First security and then resettlement and development. You can’t neglect the security aspect. There are so many landmines buried in these areas and they have to be cleared. Then only can people be resettled. In areas where de-mining has been completed, people have been resettled. That is why I said around 110, 000 would have been resettled by the end of October. What it means is, that these areas have been cleared of land mines. For instance, in the giant tank area in Manthai West, the demining is carried out at an accelerated pace. More than ten machines have been brought from other countries for this purpose. There are five organizations engaged in demining. Once these areas are demined, people will be resettled.

It was reported last week that some of the IDPs who were taken purportedly to be resettled in their home places were brought back to the camps after being shown their homes. Is that true? Did such incident occur?

It is a totally fabricated story. No such people were brought back. People are resettled with the support of the government and the government agents have been entrusted with the task of handling this. Each and every person being resettled is registered by them and it is being done with responsibility. I have gone and visited these places.

Aren’t there transit camps where IDPs are kept temporarily?

There aren’t any transit camps. They have to wait for 48 hours at maximum. There are certain procedures to be adopted. And the money has to be given to them. So it takes a little time. People are taken to a school or a similar place located in the vicinity of the place where they are supposed to be resettled. They are sent to their homes after being provided with the required facilities.

What facilities does the government provide to the families being resettled?

First of all, we make sure that areas where they are resettled are mine-free. We have to get the certificate from the UN that the area is habitable. The second concern is their livelihood. Each family is given 25, 000 rupees. Rs. 5,000 is issued directly to the families. The remaining 20, 000 is collected by the Grama Sevaka officer and is banked and kept. UN provides them with Non-Food Relief Items (NFRI). If their houses are damaged, tin sheets are given for them to put up their houses.

Arrangements have been made to look after them for 6 months. Security Forces are working on another programme where they clear the jungle areas and abandoned paddy lands to be given to the people. These things are carried out under the 180-day Vadakkin Vasantham programme. So, people are getting the support and assistance they need.

When is the government planning to reopen the A9 for the public?

This matter does not come under my purview. Of course, I must say that there is so much of work to be done. Each side of the road has to be de-mined. Without doing it, you can’t just allow the people to travel on this road. If they step into either side of the road and get caught in the landmines, it will be a major problem. What the security forces have done now is that, they have put restrictions on either side of the road. Once, the landmines are cleared, I am sure the government will make arrangements to reopen the A9.

Has the government consulted you with regard to conducting the provincial council election in the north..? Is there a possibility of such an election being held in the near future?

No. There is so much of work to be done before the election could be held. Once the people are resettled and relaxed, I am sure the government will hold the election.

The absence of the administrative body - the provincial council: has it affected the development activities taking place in the north?

Not at all. The president has given clear directions as to how development activities should be carried out under the ‘Vadakkin Vasantham’ 180-day project. The chairman of the special task force Basil Rajapaksa who is spearheading this task and the entire government machinery are supporting this effort. So many other commercial institutions are getting involved in the process. I think this is the time when all of us should get together and see that the Northern Province is developed.

The freedom of movement of the IDPs has been a major issue. Six months have lapsed since the end of war. And, don’t you think the government should remove or at least relax the restrictions placed on the freedom of movement of the IDPs?

When you have 110, 000 IDPs resettled, that itself shows the extent to which facilities have been extended to these people. But there are places that need to be de-mined and people would have to remain in the relief villages until that is done. People have been provided with so much of facilities in the relief villages as well.

People inside the IDP camps are searching for their relatives who have gone missing. Some of them are believed to have been detained as LTTE suspects. When would the government release the list of names of such persons?

It is a matter for the security forces to look into. I am sure the security forces will take necessary action in due course

(LAKBIMAnEWS, 01.10.2009)

May be not demining due to mass graves - S Premachandran

2009-09-13T23:41:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

While refuting reports that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is to offer the government support, TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran says their party is willing to cooperate with the government on matters concerning the ethnic problem. He also says speculatively that the government has not begun demining in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu as that might reveal evidences of alleged war crimes. Excerpts:

Was the TNA’s meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week productive? You said you were ready to discuss issues pertaining to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), resettlement of Muslims in the North and a political solution to the Tamil problem. Did the meeting yield the desired results?

Well, we met the President. We explained to him about issues arising from the ground reality with regard to the displaced people. We drew his attention to the monsoon season that is approaching. It is known to everybody that there are over 280, 000 people in the camps and that IDPs in Vavuniya, don’t have adequate facilities. The floors of the IDP tents are not cemented. So, there will be a calamity once the monsoon starts. People won’t be able to sleep or cook or even sit on the floor. The problems will be severe. They also face many hardships - without water and proper sanitary facilities. We urged the president to resettle these people as soon as possible. We also asked him to take out at least half the IDPs from the camps and settle them with their relatives or friends. The camps are heavily congested.
In turn, the government explained at length the difficulties confronted by them in the demining process. They said demining was the main problem. The international community was not giving adequate aid to carry out demining work. They said that despite these challenges, they were doing their best to clear the landmines. Although there are international organizations engaged in the demining work, it is the government that largely contributes toward the process, they said. So, while the international community was blamed for their lack of response, they emphasized that 75% of the demining work has been done by the Sri Lankan army. In essence, what they were trying to say is that it will take time to complete the demining process.
But the point is, according to what we hear, demining is taking place only in Mannar and North of Vavuniya. So far, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has not done any demining work in Kilinochchi or Mullaitivu.

Why do you think the government has left out those areas?

If you ask my personal opinion, I think it’s because of the heavy loss of human lives caused by the intense fighting that took place in those areas. Hundreds and thousands of people were killed and there is so much of criticism from the international community surfacing on this matter. There may be mass graves. It seems that the government wants to ensure that the international community doesn’t unearth any evidence that would testify to alleged war crimes. That may be the reason they are not carrying out demining in those areas.

Didn’t you raise this issue at the meeting with the president in that event?

No. But we pointed out that there are areas where there are no mines and (that) people could be resettled in those places. Actually, we have given them a list specifying the DS divisions and villages where these people could be resettled with immediate effect. We told them that these people kept in IDP camps came from those very same places, and that they know very well the areas where there are mines. So, one ought to consult them in the first place to get a clear idea, but that is not taking place. We see that so far the government has not even demarcated the minefields. Had this taken place, a large number of people could have been resettled in the identified safe areas by now.

Apart from the IDP problem, what else did you discuss at the meeting?

We talked about the people who have disappeared. When people crossed over to the cleared areas during the conflict, they were stopped at the Omanthai checkpoint and children whom the army suspected of having obtained training from the LTTE were separated from their parents. Some parents are writing to us - parliamentarians - saying “Our daughter was taken away by the security forces. We still don’t know where she is”. Many people are missing. So, if the government published the list of LTTE suspects being detained by them - how many of them are at the rehabilitation camps, how many of them are held in detention, then at least the parents will come to know whether their children are alive or not. The govt undertook to publish such a report.

The TNA has repeatedly complained about not being allowed to visit and talk to the IDPs. Was this matter discussed?

Yes, we said the Tamil parliamentarians want to visit the camps. We were elected by them. It is not proper to keep us away from these people. After a hectic discussion, they agreed. They said ‘We will discuss the matter with the Security Council and come back to you.” We were also discussing about university students who are in the camps. There are 480 university students in the IDP camps. Some of them got caught up in the conflict while in their villages during vacations.

So, all in all, yes, it was a friendly meeting. But the outcome is not what we expected. We have to wait and see what steps the government is going to take. The GoSL assured the Government of India and the UN that they would resettle 80% of the IDPs within 180 days. They said “we will do that”. We pointed out that 100 days had already passed. “There is another 80 days and the IDPs would be resettled within the stipulated period”, they said.

We told them, “we are prepared to cooperate with you on matters concerning the IDPs as well as a political solution if you come out with a proper and acceptable agenda’. Sometimes, the Sinhala press is trying to make out that the TNA is supporting the government. It’s not blanket support as such. Of course, we were working with former presidents: J. R. Jayawardane, Premadasa and Chandrika. It should not be a problem with Mahinda Rajapaksa.

There was a time when the TNA openly endorsed the stance of the LTTE that they were the ‘sole representatives’ of the Tamils and the latter fought for a separate state. The TNA stood by this position till the last moment. What are your present views on the notion of a separate state for Tamils?

If you go through the 2004 election manifesto of the TNA, it didn’t say that the LTTE was the sole representatives of the Tamils. It said TNA would support and encourage a dialogue between the LTTE and the GoSL. We thought there could be a resolution through negotiation. We never supported the LTTE’s war strategy or the government’s war strategy for that matter. Even during the intense war, we were trying our best in parliament and outside to stop the war and to start the negotiations again. On one hand, you can say they fought for a separate state. But there was the Oslo conference where both sides agreed to discuss a federal system. I don’t think the LTTE was solely for a separate state. Had that been the case, all those talks that took place were meaningless. The fact that the LTTE was talking about an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) meant that they were prepared to accept a solution within a united country and discuss matters further. I don’t think the LTTE was all out for a separate state. Of course, they would have viewed it as the final option in the absence of any other alternatives. But they were prepared to compromise.
The TNA is now in the process of formulating a proposal and we will release it very soon. Our proposals will definitely envisage a solution within a united Lanka. We will have to wait and see how the GoSL would respond to it. GoSL doesn’t have any political solution to offer as of now. There was an All Party Representative Committee. They met over 100 times to draft a solution. Very recently the chairman of the committee said they had given the report to the president. Nearly two months have passed since then. So far the president has not made any comments on those proposals. Earlier, the president said he would implement the 13th amendment. Now he says that issue would be discussed only after the presidential election.

How do you read the outcome of the recent local polls in Jaffna and Vavuniya? Some opine that the fact that an overwhelming majority of the Jaffna voters opted to abstain from voting indicates that people in Jaffna have rejected all political parties including the TNA...

If you were there in Vavuniya or Jaffna, you would have noticed that a huge amount of money was pumped in during the election by the ruling party. It was as if a parliament election was being held. Everyday ministers were visiting Jaffna, making promises to people. They had even released some of the IDPs. Despite all these things, we got 8 seats and the ruling party got 9 seats. With the two bonus seats the number increased to 11. One cannot forget that it included the Muslim votes in Puttalam. Otherwise, if you take the Tamil votes alone, while they got 9 seat with all the extravagant campaigning we got 8 seats without spending so much of money.

But then the displaced Muslims in Puttalam are also very much a part of the Jaffna population... aren’t they..?

They are. But they are living in Puttalam for a long time and they are under the clutches of the rehabilitation minister and the government. What the election results show is that the people have not endorsed the government’s position. They have not approved of the abductions, killings and the war. The fact that TNA won the election in Vavuniya and came close to the number of votes obtained by the ruling party shows that people want a negotiated political solution and they have faith in the TNA. I feel that it is in an endorsement of the TNA by the people to take forward the campaign and find an amicable political settlement. Besides, everybody in Jaffna were undergoing a fear psychosis. When we went to campaign, a lady told me “do you know how many sleepless nights we spent? Our doors were rammed and the army came in and took away our children...”

Is the TNA prepared to forge a broader alliance with other minority parties and even the progressive minded Sinhala parties to contest the forthcoming parliamentary election? Is that a possibility?

We are primarily concerned about the North and the East. And TNA is a party belonging to the Tamils. We will definitely welcome other Tamil parties if they want to join us. In fact we want to unite all Tamil parties from the North and East....... We have already started dialogue with some people. We hope, if not everybody, a majority of the minority parties will work with the TNA.

Are you willing to have talks with Mr. Ananthasangaree of the TULF?

We are willing to talk with everybody.

But Mr. Ananthasangaree has been highly critical of the TNA...

It is up to him to decide whether to join hands with the TNA or not. We are prepared to welcome him.

One of the main criticisms leveled against the erstwhile Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka is that it has failed to address the issues of marginalised groups within the Tamil speaking communities. For instance Tamil nationalism has been accused of excluding the voices of the Muslims who, though a distinct ethnic group by their own identity, have lived together with the Tamils for decades. Tamil nationalism has also failed to take notice of caste and gender based issues... what have you got to say? Will the politics of the TNA seek to address these problems in the future?

We have already planned to have discussions with the Muslim groups, initially, the SLMC. We will try our best to come to an understanding with the Muslims so that it will be easier to deal with the Sri Lankan government. As far as other issues are concerned, we are not against them. We are for gender equality and social equity.

(LAKBIMAnEWS 13. 09. 2009)

Govt. stonewalls on plantation strike

2009-09-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

The simmering issue of wage increases concerning upcountry plantation workers – who, according to available statistics, top the poverty level indices - came to the forefront last week with workers, backed by trade unions and political parties, launching a non-cooperation campaign demanding a daily pay of 500/-.

However, the government maintained that it would not intervene unless a full scale strike was launched. The last time when the upcountry workers launched an all-out campaign in December 2006, President Rajapaksa intervened and successfully persuaded union leaders to settle for a wage that fell far below the demands of the workers.

When asked to comment, Plantation Industries Minister, D.M. Jayaratne said “the government would not intervene unless the need to do so arose”

“The daily wage is usually negotiated between the Employers’ Federation and the upcountry trade union representatives concerned. They sign a two- year agreement once they consent to the wage hike”

“It is hoped that both parties would arrive at a decision agreeable to all” said the minister.

The agreement signed in 2007 expired on March 31 this year. According to this agreement, the daily wage of plantation workers is 290 rupees ($US2.47) which is inclusive of a 200-rupee basic wage, a non-variable wage of 20 rupees and an incentive allowance of 70 rupees offered based on attendance. The allowance is only paid if workers turn up for 75 percent of the working days offered by the companies.
The Employer’s federation and three trade unions including the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), which also functions as a political party and is in the ruling coalition, the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union (LJEWU), affiliated to the opposition United National Party (UNP), and the Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre (JPTUC) are signatories to the agreement.

Despite the five rounds of talk held since February 2009 with the trade unions, the Employers Federation has declined to offer the pay hike demanded by the trade unions, citing excessive expenditure incurred during tea production.
The plantation managements are reportedly willing to increase the daily wage by 12.5% (Rs. 21.25/-). However, the offer has been described as being “meagre” and “unacceptable”.

The Federation and unions are scheduled to meet again tomorrow (September 7) for discussions.

CWC dignitary Muthu Sivalingam MP told this newspaper that they would reiterate the demand of 500/- daily pay at tomorrow’s meeting.

The Ceylon National Workers’ Alliance led by S. Sathasivam, the National Union of Workers led by S. Siddambaram and Mano Ganesan’s the Democratic Workers’ Congress are also supporting the ongoing campaign.

While Thondaman’s CWC seemed averse to turning the ongoing campaign into a full scale strike saying such a move would exacerbate the economic difficulties of the plantation community, some other unions were of the opinion that the campaign should be intensified if the plantation managements failed to meet their demands.

According to a report based on the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) conducted by the department of Census and Statistics (DCS), poverty in urban sector is the lowest (6.7 percent) and estate sector is the highest (32.0 percent) while in the rural sector it records 15.7 percent in terms of Head Count Index.
“This means 7 people out of 100 in the urban sector are below the Official Poverty Line (OPL) while 32 people out of 100 in estate sector are below the OPL. This reflects that poverty incidence in the estate sector to be more than 4 times that of the urban sector. While comparing with the rural sector, poverty incidence in the estate sector is more than double that of the rural sector and poverty incidence in urban sector is less than half that of rural Sector” says the report.

District wise, the Nuwara-eliya district which is populated with estate workers topped the list recording 33.8 percent.

The survey which is conducted every 5 years was last held in 2006/2007. Observers say that the situation would have further deteriorated as a result of the steady increase in the cost of living.

(LAKBIMAnEWS 06.09.09 Page 3)

War of words over “chased’’ Verugal settlers

2009-08-30T02:45:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

The government last week reiterated its promise to resettle IDPs in Menik farm “soon”, as fresh controversies shrouded the issue. Having released 600 Hindu and Catholic priests from the camps last week, the authorities were all set to resettle 3, 500 persons in the eastern province yesterday, a newspaper report indicated.

Nonetheless, LAKBIMAnEWS reliably learns that the move has once again been stymied.
Speaking to this newspaper, Vavuniya District Secretary P.S.M. Charles admitted that though they planned to resettle the IDPs yesterday, “there was a delay due to certain issues”.

She did not specify what those issues were.

However, the District Secretary affirmed that the said resettlement plan would materialize in the coming weeks.

She also said that plans were afoot to resettle nearly 40% of the IDPs in the near future.

In the meantime, allegations made by parliamentarian Rauf Hakeem last week that some “75 Muslim families who were ceremonially resettled by the government on August 13 had been chased out” created a furore, raising questions about the viability of resettlement plans.

According to Hakeem, those families were re-settled at a ceremony held in Verugal presided over by Cooperatives Minister Abdul Majeed, the Verugal Pradeshiya Secretary and the Verugal Chief Priest.

The families are living in Selvanagar and Thoppur, it is learnt.
Hakeem’s allegations were refuted by the Governor of the Eastern Province Mohan Wijewickrema, who reportedly said that “the said families who had come to settle without ‘proper approval were living in Selvanagar and Thoppur villages in the Serunuwara and Muthur DS Divisions respectively in the Trincomalee District.

It is not correct to conclude that these families had become destityute without a place to live in, when they were not permitted to settle in Verugal”.

When contacted, Minister Abdul Majeed denied that he “resettled” the families in Verugal.

“What actually transpired was that we visited the place to assess the situation” he told this newspaper.

“There is a procedure to be followed, and the people will soon be resettled” he said.
When asked about the ceremony held on August 13, the minister described it as being “part of’’ his visit to the area.

LAKBIMAnEWS learns that most of the families concerned left Verugal way back in 1985 when the LTTE brought the village under its control. “The people fled the place fearing Tiger atrocities,” sources said.

“They remain displaced to date. Many of them have their land deeds with them,” sources added.

A statement issued by the Governor of the Eastern Province in response to a newspaper report says: “The Muslim families referred to however claim that they have been residing in the said area before they were displaced. This matter is being further investigated by the District Administration, and by a Parliamentary Advisory Committee which has been set up for this purpose”.

The statement adds: “After the liberation of the Eastern Province, approximately over two hundred thousand (200,000) Internally Displaced Persons were resettled in their own lands. There had been few instances of some people trying to illegally encroach in the guise of resettled people.’’
"District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries with the assistance of the Police have taken necessary action to evict such persons whenever such instances came to light. In a Province in which three Major Communities living side by side, land has become a very sensitive issue, and arbitrary resettlement such as the that which has been referred to in Verugal cannot be permitted without satisfying all criteria required for eligibility for resettlement”.

In the meantime, Vavuniya District Secretary P.S.M. Charles said that the officials entrusted with the task of resettlement in Vavuniya were constantly in touch with Government Agents of the respective areas in the north and east to ensure that no anomalies occur in the process.

(LAKBIMAnEWS - 30. 08. 2009)

Release or not release IDPs?: Govt ‘Onna Menna’

2009-08-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

As intermittent rains continued to affect the IDPs held in Menik farm, Cheddikulam causing serious health problems, the government indicated last week it was considering releasing a batch of IDPs who have relatives in Vavuniya whom they can go and stay with, according to NGO sources based in Vavuniya.

“However, much more efforts need to be put in place to alleviate the issues created by flood in the IDP camps” sources said.

Minister of Resettlement Rishard Badhiyudeen held a meeting with humanitarian agencies last week to discuss measures to be taken in regard to the conditions in the IDP camps.

“Some IDPs have been relocated to higher places within the camps so that flooding won’t affect them as severely as it did in the past ten days”, a Vavuniya-based source who visited the camp last week said, requesting anonymity.

“Earlier, the government was said to be thinking of other options such as moving the affected people to schools outside the Menik farm. But now they seem to have decided against it” he said.

“Building up an effective drainage system in Menik farm was one of the focal issues discussed at the meeting with Minister Badhiyudeen” he added.

“We also learn that the government is thinking of allowing the IDPs who have relatives in Vavuniya to go. But no formal announcements have been made in this regard” the source said.

While stating that speedy efforts were afoot to resettle the IDPs under the “directive of President Rajapaksa” and “guidance of Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa”, Minister Badhiyudeen, when contacted by this newspaper, said “conditions have improved in the IDP camps”.

In the meantime, Sri Lankan embassy in the USA, in a statement issued last week said: “the government announced Tuesday that another 15,000 displaced families will soon be returned to their homes in the Jaffna area”.

The media communiqué‚ also claimed that “new figures released by the government of Sri Lanka show that the number of displaced people living in government-run welfare centers has dropped by nearly 50,000 as people continue to return to their homes”.

However, Minister Badhiyudeen said he could not confirm this statement.

Meanwhile, AFP quoted Sri Lanka’s army commander on Thursday as saying that additional numbers of security personnel are to be deployed in the demining efforts in order to expedite the resettlement process.

“The army is boosting operations to demine former rebel-held areas of northern Sri Lanka so that hundreds of thousands of Tamil war refugees can be released from internment camps and return home to the region” said the report quoting army commander Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya.

According to the army commander ‘some 300 soldiers are currently engaged in clearing mines in Mannar district, alongside four non-governmental groups, and another 400 soldiers will be deployed to join them soon’, the report said.

‘An area of about 3,100 square miles (8,000 square kilometers), including Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and parts of Jaffna districts, must be demined before it will be safe enough for the Tamils to return’ said Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya.

“Without demining, I don’t think we can take a chance” Jayasuriya said.

It is also learnt that EPDP leader Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday to discuss the IDP issue.

The minister requested the president to act swiftly to address the problems of the IDPs, it is learnt.

Food supply

The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nation continues to provide essential food items including rice, sugar, dhal and oil to the IDPs, humanitarian agencies said. “However, supplementary items continue to be scarce” an NGO employee said.
“The rain has forced many families who were doing individual cooking to resort to community cooking” he observed.

“It has also become difficult to conserve firewood” he said.

“The issue of damaged latrines and the health problems that ensued are still there” he added.

Updates from the situation report released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on August 21

WASH
WASH agencies are prioritising the completion of all drainage arrangements across Menik Farm as a precondition to moving tents out of the most flood-prone blocks or zones (as explained above).

Camp authorities estimate that approximately 450 toilets in Zone 1, 80 toilets in Zone 3 and 200 toilets in Zone 4 were affected. (Data from the other zones is unavailable at this time). Much of the sewage, which overflowed from the latrines, has drained away at this point but some stagnant pools of contaminated water remain and require drainage. Agencies are in the process of repairing the damaged lids of septic tanks. Furthermore, bunds are being constructed around latrines in some areas to prevent flood water from seeping into the latrines.

Shelter
During the rains, nearly 20,000 people in Zones 2 and 4, were relocated to the Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS) in these zones. Shelter Cluster representatives were on hand to provide quick assistance by reroofing some TLSs and reinforcing the walls in other TLSs with plastic sheeting. The floors of the TLSs were also raised above the flood waters by adding layers of gravel.

Camp dwellers, who were compelled to seek shelter in the TLSs, have now returned to their tents. The floor and walls of many of the affected tents are still drenched. However, the tents are expected to dry out and are, essentially, not uninhabitable.

Food
The inundation in Zone 4 created an emergency requiring speedy intervention by the Food Cluster. The Zone’s food requirements until this point had been met by individual cooking. However, the IDPs stocks of dry rations were drenched. There were neither dry firewood supplies nor dry spaces, uncontaminated by sewage, to engage in cooking. Approximately 3,000 loaves of bread, 5,000 packets of biscuits and quantities of tea and sugar were delivered during the night of 17 August. In collaboration with the Shelter Cluster, around 17 communal kitchens were also renovated during the weekend. Food supply to the less-affected zones was ensured with fewer challenges. The roofs of nearly 100 communal kitchens were reinforced with tarpaulins in Zones 2, 3 and 4 as well. As of 19 August, the Cluster is providing one week’s supply of food for communal cooking.

(LAKBIMAnEWS - 23.08.2009)

IDPs at drowning point

2009-08-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

* LATRINES CLOGGED
* 'ASTOUNDING STATE'

By a Staff Correspondent

Torrential rains in the last three days made life even more miserable and excruciating for the IDPs held in the refugee camps in Menik Farm as pressure mounted internationally on the government to take immediate action regarding the issue.

BOGGED DOWN, UNTIL WHEN?

Incessant rain experienced in the latter part of last week has left the IDPs languishing on soggy floors while the sanitary facilities were greatly affected raising alarming concerns about water contamination and hygiene issues, sources based in Vavuniya said.

“The rain has caused the temporary toilet pits dug in the camps to overflow while some pits were completely damaged,” our sources told LAKBIMAnEWS.

Over 260, 000 Internally Displaced Persons who had survived the intense fighting during the final stages of the war are housed in the camps in Menik Farm.

Among the camps most severely affected are zone 3 and zone 4, according to our source.

“The roads have turned muddy and impassable affecting the food supply to the IDPs” sources said.

“Efforts to clear water stagnation were underway, but even as I talk, there is a downpour,” sources said last evening over the phone.

“The worst is yet to come when the monsoon arrives,” sources added.

Asked to describe the scene, some said: “The situation is astounding. It is becoming increasingly unbearable for the IDPs as the latrines are damaged and emitting stench. They are left to languish on soggy floors and are unable to sleep.”

The government which pledged the United Nations and India in May this year that 80% of the IDPs would be resettled in 6 months, recently indicated that the task would take a longer period on the grounds that the “screening process” needed to be completed.

Minister of Resettlement, Rishard Badhiyudeen, when contacted by this newspaper over the phone for a comment, asked us to “call back in 15 minutes”. But the minister remained “un-reachable” since.

However, Badhiyudeen was quoted as telling BBC Sandeshaya that “we have provided the displaced people with bread and we hope to resume cooking from tomorrow”.

It has also been reported that the government is in discussions with the UN on a monsoon contingency plan.

Meanwhile, there were renewed campaigns worldwide urging the government to ease restrictions placed on the freedom of movement of IDPs.

(LAKBIMAnEWS - 16.08.2009 Page 1)

Interview with Dayan Jayatilleka - “theory is grey my friend, while the tree of life grows green forever”

2009-08-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, ex-ambassador of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva opines “an ethnic zero-sum game will be the result” if “there continues to be a political vacuum” as far as finding a political solution to the national question is concerned.

Q: When asked by this newspaper 2 ½ months ago about Sri Lankan government’s efforts to implement a political solution, you said: “which government could be accused of non-implementation a mere ten days after the end of a thirty years war?”. What is your position now?

A: At the very outset let me say that the views I express throughout this interview are strictly my personal ones. The results of the recently concluded municipal elections in Jaffna and urban council elections in Vavuniya clearly show that now is the time for a political solution. If there continues to be a political vacuum, the Tamil progressive moderates such as the EPDP and PLOTE will be weakened and overtaken by the TNA by the time of the parliamentary elections next year. If the TNA sweeps the parliamentary elections while continuing to uphold its stance of rejecting the 13th amendment as insufficient and calling for “internal self determination”, the island will present a picture of clear ethnic division, polarization and deadlock. Colombo will not have a truly constructive Tamil negotiating partner that the Sinhala public and the armed forces can trust. It will be difficult to have Northern Provincial Council elections and devolve power to an NPC dominated by a TNA which rejects the 13th amendment as too little. Conversely, it will be difficult to postpone such an election indefinitely, problematic to dissolve the Council after elections are held, and unwise to abolish the NPC by scrapping the 13th amendment with no alternative acceptable to the Tamils. An ethnic zero-sum game will be the result. Negotiations will be sporadic and unsuccessful. There may be a political process but that will be open-ended, while the existential situation of the Tamil people deteriorates on the ground. This means that the Sri Lankan crisis needlessly becomes intractable once again. The only way to avoid such an impasse with its tragic consequences of a renewed cycle of conflict, this time non-military but worse, civic, is to reduce the alienation of the Tamil people of the North., This can be done by giving the people some degree of local autonomy and representation, while Colombo’s Tamil partners such as the EPDP still remain a viable political option. Now, time is running out and as the election results show, Tamil disaffection is growing rapidly.

Q; Going by the views you expressed in the media, you expected people in Jaffna to endorse the present administration’s stance in the MC election...How do you read the outcomes of polls in Jaffna and Vavuniya..?

A: I certainly did not expect the Jaffna people to endorse the present administration’s stance, and I have never written anything which could even remotely be interpreted to mean that. I did expect that the Jaffna people would opt for Douglas Devananda, and this they did, which is quite significant, though they did not do so quite as clearly as I thought. That was not Douglas’ fault. If he had been allowed to contest under the Veena sign as he was when he was a Minister of an earlier cabinet, he would have secured more votes. If he had caved into pressure and joined the SLFP, he may have lost.

Q: Do you feel that the government has let you down by asking you to return before your term ended?

A: My first term of two years ended May 31, 2009 and an MFA letter in January informed me that I would have to return. However that term was extended until May 31st 2010 in a fax signed by the Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stated that H.E. the President had decided upon such extension. This in turn was reversed by a Ministry fax of July 17th. I do feel the Government could have handled this better especially after the success at the UN HRC Special session. If I were transgressing official policy I could have been directly informed through the usual channels which have been utilized throughout my term for purposes of communicating with me. If I had persisted in such transgression I could have been asked for an explanation. I could have been brought down to Colombo for a consultation or briefing. None of these options were exercised.

Q; In retrospect, how do you see the young Dayan of the 80’s in contrast to the Dayan Jayatilleka, the ex-ambassador of the Sri Lankan state? During the 80’s you vociferously advocated the Leninist views on the State – Lenin held that the function of the State was to moderate class antagonisms enforcing the rule of the oppressor. Having criticized Sri Lanka’s “bourgeois state” in the early 80’s, you later on came to serve the very State whose “bourgeois” character doesn’t seem to have changed over all these years. Isn’t this self-contradictory?

A: More accurately it is the young Dayan of the 1970s and ‘80s, because I was first picked up for questioning by the Intelligence Services Division during the administration of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, when I had just sat my A levels as a student at Aquinas University College Colombo, over my involvement with a revolutionary group called Miti Pahara (Hammer Blow). No I do not think it is self-contradictory, except in a dialectical sense. In the first place, in both incarnations, “the state” and “state power” were central: I opposed the state in the first phase and defended and represented it in the second. There was logic to it. When socialism collapsed the world over, I shifted from the perspective of overthrowing the capitalist state for the purpose of ushering in an alternative and radically more advanced society, to the perspective of reforming the capitalist state and using it as instrument to reform society. Thus I changed from a revolutionary to a reformist; a Communist to a social democrat. My support for President Premadasa and his reform policies reflected and were rooted in this change. There was another factor involved in my change: the nature of the barbaric violence that was unleashed by totalitarian movements such as the LTTE and JVP. I quickly grasped that these movements represented what political philosopher Hannah Arendt called “political evil”, and that the state, however authoritarian and repressive, could be reformed while such Pol Potist or fascist movements had to be crushed. I grasped very rapidly, that when it was choice between the state and such totalitarian movements, it is the state – even the capitalist state -- one must support. This was the choice, known as the “Popular Front”, correctly made in the 1930s and ’40s by Marxists and leftwing intellectuals the world over, when faced with fascism. That was my choice too. Now that the war is over and Prabhakaran destroyed, today I may be on the verge of a third shift; of taking my distance from the state and placing more emphasis on society and the public space. However the underlying consistency of my life is that I have been a rebel with a sense of right and wrong as indicated by my consciousness and conscience, my intellect and spirit. I have also been an internationalist throughout.

Q: The ideological shift you are referring to: doesn’t it evince what the Communists - your former comrades by your own admission – call ‘political opportunism’? Dialectical transformation, it is said, concerns the replacement of the old and reactionary by the rise and strengthening of the new. Instead of striving for the more progressive, you have, in your second incarnation as you call it, sought to defend the existing system which, a Marxist dialectical scrutiny would identify as being democratic in appearance yet dictatorial in essence. How revolutionary or rebellious is that in a dialectical sense?

A: When accused of changing his position held from 1905, Lenin in 1917 quoted Goethe saying that “theory is grey my friend, while the tree of life grows green forever”. He was drawing attention to the fact that theory must reflect and adjust to the changing reality in order to change it still further, while reality does not adjust to theory! The old is not necessarily always more reactionary than the new. Nazi fascism and Pol Potism were new phenomena but these were far more dangerously reactionary than the old systems, which is why Marxists defended bourgeois democracy and its restoration, against fascism. The JVP’s Second Uprising and the LTTE were far more reactionary than what existed and exists, in that these would have led to a totalitarian, slave society. You would not have been able to write and publish as you do, even with the dangers that journalists face these days. Therefore it was quite progressive to rebel for the preservation of existing limited democratic freedoms and space, against these neo-barbarians.

Q; What is the difference between Wilsonian and Leninist right to self-determination, and how much relevance do these concepts have to the different nationalities of Sri Lanka?

A: The Leninist concept preceded by a few years the Wilsonian, but there are strong similarities. Both had an aspect that was strategic, even instrumental, in that they wanted to undermine the old empires by stimulating the revolt of captive nations and nationalities in the rear areas of these empires. I think the Marxist contribution to the understanding of the National question is a rich one, and here I mean the debates within Marxism. No other school of thought has been so conceptually complex and highly evolved.

However the discussion on Sri Lanka has to take into account the differences in time and space. How does the national or nationalities question play out in a context that is not that of imperialism, but an independent state in the global South, that is struggling to protect its own sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity? The Leninist formulation on national self determination is valid today only in the context of foreign, i.e. external occupation. This is not the case with Sri Lanka. Fidel Castro has clearly said that after the Cold war and the fall of the socialist camp, what is most important today is national sovereignty, state sovereignty. Translated this means that any solution to the Sri Lankan national question must be within a single, united country. What has been validated, in my mind, is that stand of the old generation of Ceylonese Marxists who advocated regional autonomy.

Q: You have been positive about India’s role in Sri Lanka and pushing for the implementation of the Indian-engineered 13th amendment. Given the fact that India itself is still grappling with too many issues, (having to deal with a fascist RSS, Kashmir, Gujarat, borders, etc) what gives you the hope that the immediate neighbor could help Lanka a great deal? Don’t you think they should be told to mind their own business?

A: India could have played the role of a spoiler during this war too as in 1987, but did not. This was not only because it wanted to see the end of the Tigers, which it rightly did, but also because it was given to understand on the record and at the highest levels, that a fair political accommodation for the Tamils would ensue, based on the implementation of the 13th amendment. If we regard the 13th amendment as unacceptable in whole or part because it was Indian–engineered, then we should not have promised to implement it, and if we have made international commitments not only to India but also the UN, then we should not fight shy of implementing them. We need to keep India on side because any small state such as ours needs the support and solidarity of its neighbors to ward off pressures from far away; pressures stemming from the Tamil Diaspora. True, we can tell India to mind its own business but then it may tell us to look after ourselves if we are in trouble, now that the Tigers are finished. Given the fact of 70 million Tamils next door in Tamil Nadu and the new trends of Indo-US convergence, US-China rapprochement, Indo-China cooperation and Indo-South African closeness, I am not sure this would serve Sri Lanka’s national and security interests. The Chinese and Indian economic miracles also give us potential engines of growth and prosperity. India is indeed grappling with conflicts at its far periphery, but has proved itself and been globally applauded as a model of the handling of diversity and the transforming of diversity into a source of celebration and strength for sustained takeoff. The Indian model is one of a secular state, despite the overwhelming preponderance of Hindus in its populace; a multiethnic military; and quasi-federal accommodation of its ethnic, regional and linguistic mosaic.

Q: You have been accused of being a RAW agent. “Dayan’s record as a spokesperson for RAW, the lunatic end of Indian foreign policy-makers who have managed to alienate all her neighbors, is well known” says Gamini Seneviratne in a recent newspaper article. What is your response to this allegation?

A: If anyone had an allergy to and a nose for RAW agents it was President Premadasa. I must be the only alleged RAW agent to have been a close and prominent supporter and defender of President Premadasa who restored Sri Lanka’s sovereignty to the full, by sending off the IPKF even at the cost of an open polemic with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi! I was also the only Minister of a Provincial council to have resigned. I quit the North East PC in less than six months, having collected a salary for only a single month, and I did so having written a critical open letter to the Chief Minister, Vardarajaperumal, which appeared in every newspaper in Sri Lanka. This was a full year before the NEPC declared a UDI! As for Gamini Seneviratne I had thought that distraught daddies enter the fray only to protect the fair name of their teenage daughters, not their adult sons who have been evaluated by independent outside observer-commentators as having lost a debate! I was writing in public and getting involved in polemics with those who were much older to me since my teens, and my father Mervyn de Silva would have disdained the thought of intervening, just as I would have been horrified if he had waded in to defend me and sing my praises!

Q: What are your future plans?

A: Initially to return to my substantive post as Senior Lecturer at the University of Colombo. What I would really like to do is to write an analytical book length study on Sri Lanka’s Thirty Year War from a comparative international perspective, and tease out its lessons for governance policy and conflict theory.

(LAKBIMAnEWS - page 6 16.08.2009)

Case behind the fleeing IDPs

2009-08-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

“The powerful did what they wanted and the poor suffered as they must.” These are Professor Noam Chomsky’s recently quoted words with reference to war atrocities. The truth of the matter is starkly manifest in the case of the IDPs in Sri Lanka.

The allegation that some of the Internally Displaced People have been ‘smuggled out’ from the transitional camps in Vavuniya calls into question the stated difficulty faced by the Sri Lankan government in expediting the resettlement process of the IDPs. It has been alleged that some prominent politicos and security personnel have abetted the IDPs in fleeing the camps after having obtained exorbitant sums of money from them, according to media reports.

Racket

This newspaper last week reported that “the IGP has alerted police chiefs in Vavuniya about a racket involving smuggling out IDPs from camps”.

Roughly two weeks ago, the government claimed that it had been left with no alternative but to retain the IDPs in the interim camps for a while because members of the LTTE remained mingled with the refugees in those camps.

Admitting that the freedom of movement of “some of the IDPs” has been restricted, Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe reportedly told the parliament on July 23 “we are not happy to do so nor are we totally inconsiderate of their rights. We are well aware that some cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have infiltrated the ranks of the IDPs and, until and unless those cadres are filtered out, we have no option but to keep them within the welfare centres and relief villages”.

If the allegation of smuggling out IDPs holds any water (the fact that the IGP has alerted the police in Vavuniya suggests it does), it goes on to show that people kept in those camps -- at least some of them -- are desperate to get out. That the area where the IDP camps are located is heavily guarded by armed personnel is not a secret. Thus it goes without saying that any attempt at fleeing the camps entails a deadly risk.

Considering the circumstances, one can think of two possible reasons for these people desperately wanting to flee risking their lives: (1) the conditions in the camps are so painful they can no longer endure them (2) the escapees were closely involved with the LTTE and feared persecution or legal measures.

The first possibility contradicts the lofty rhetoric of the government in regard to the conditions in the IDP camps. Mahinda Samarasinghe, for instance, in his parliamentary address cited above said “I must, at this point, emphasize that the IDP sites are a temporary measure to keep these people in safety and security until a process of sustainable return and resettlement can be ensured. However, this does not mean that we do not provide them with the maximum level of comfort and care that we can afford”. He also stated that “conditions have improved”.

Since only a limited number of chosen persons are allowed access to the IDP camps, it is the responsibility of the government to disprove the first assumption with factual evidence.

Lucrative sums

The second case seems to be the likelier one, as those who fled could allegedly afford to pay lucrative sums to politicos and others. Those who left the camps apparently had the backing of persons who were financially sound.

Either way, it appears that those who could afford to expend the money managed to leave the camps while the poor were left to languish.

If one were to take the second assumption to be true and if those who fled were indeed hardcore LTTE cadres, it too demands the scrutiny of the stated intentions of the government, namely “the filtering out of LTTE members”.

If there are loopholes in the security structure that provides for the escape of “the wealthier and the more powerful” among the IDPs, what’s the point in keeping the innocent and less fortunate in the name of “national security”?

In raising this question, it is not suggested that all those kept in the camps - both the culpable and the innocent - ought to be or deserve to be held there for a long period of time. On the contrary, the government should be urged to take all possible measures without any delay to speed up the screening process as well as the resettlement.

(LAKBIMAnEWS page 11, 09.08.2009)

Jaffna voting insignificant

2009-08-09T02:10:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

People in Jaffna responded to yesterday’s local polls with mild enthusiasm as the voter turnout from the area recorded a moderate 20%. Around 100, 000 voters in the Jaffna municipal area were eligible to vote in the mini polls. Twenty percent voter turnout meant that only around 20, 000 people opted to exercise their right to franchise in an election that was viewed as a significant step toward restoring democracy in the formerly violence-ridden region.

Speaking to this newspaper, Additional Commissioner of Elections, W.P. Sumanasiri said the provincial polls in the Sabaragamuwa province saw 50 - 55% voter turnout while the mini polls in Jaffna and Vavuniya recorded 20% and 50% respectively.

The voting process was observed to be smooth both in Sabaragamuwa and in the north with no major incidents of violence being reported, according to Sumanasiri.

Meanwhile, The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said yesterday an incident of assault was reported at 7:30am close to Polling Station No. 1, at the V/Muslim Maha Vidyalaya, Pattanichichipuliyankul-am. A.L.M Munawfar, candidate for the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress reported that he had been assaulted after returning from the polling station having cast his vote, according to the CMEV statement. A.L.M Munawfar reported that he was confronted by Minister of Resettlement Rishard Badurdeen who questioned Munawfar as to what he was doing in the area and had subsequently slapped him. A.L.M Munawfar stated that he received no injuries. CMEV contacted Rishard Badurdeen regarding the incident, and Badurdeen denied any involvement and said that even his supporters were not involved in the incident.

CMEV also reported that in a separate incident an ITAK supporter was assaulted by a group of men. “S.H.M Nasir, the driver of Mohammed Aleem Jamaldeen (preferential candidate No. 02) of the ITAK/TNA, was transporting relations of the candidate by van bearing registration Plate No. 252-1167. The gang proceeded to damage the vehicle. The gang responsible for the attack is alleged to be associated with Minister Rishard Badurdeen, leader of the ACMC,” the statement said.

Nasir identified one of the gang members as being M.Mujahir who is an associate of the Minister, according to the CMEV. The gang travelling in a white pick-up truck stopped the vehicle and assaulted the driver. Witnesses said they did not see the number plate. Nasir has subsequently reported the incident to the Puttalam Police (CIB 0290/57) and informed the CMEV that estimated damage amounting to Rs 75,000/ was caused to the vehicle. Puttalam police and T.M.W Jayasundera, Police Sergeant, confirmed to the CMEV that they had received a complaint of that nature and further investigations are underway.

Meanwhile, when contacted by LAKBIMAnEWS, the ruling SLFP’s mayoral candidate in Jaffna Kailasapillai Theventhiran denied the UNP’s allegation that several thousands IDPs in the interim camps were taken to Jaffna to vote for the ruling party. “No such thing happened as far as I know” he said.

While admitting that he had learnt that “some people had arrived from Vavuniya last week”, he did not specify whether they were IDPs or not.

(LAKBIMAnEWS front page lead 09. 08. 2009)

Noam Chomsky: Lankan conflict did not concern UN, Great Powers

2009-08-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

Slamming the United Nations for its indifference toward less powerful countries, world renowned intellectual Professor Noam Chomsky who recently made reference to the Sri Lankan conflict at a UN general assembly told this newspaper last week that “unless some issue is of concern to the great powers, particularly the US, it rarely gets anywhere, despite the lofty rhetoric that resounds in those chambers (of the UN)”. Professor Noam Chomsky was responding to a query this newspaper made via email.

Voted “the most important public intellectual in the world today" in a 2005 magazine poll and described by the New York Times as “a global phenomenon” and “perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet” Professor Chomsky recently said that “Western powers just didn't have enough interest” in bringing the Sri Lankan conflict to an end although something "could have been done".

Chomsky was one of the panelists that debated the “Responsibility to Protect” concept at the United Nation’s General Assembly held on July 23 where he reportedly argued that “early warning mechanisms were practically useless without a proactive press corps, especially in the West”.

With regard to the R2P concept, a UN report quoted Noam Chomsky as saying “from early American colonialists to Nazi strategy to the “Japanese invasion of Manchuria”, there were cases of provocation or intervention that had all come to the same end: the powerful did what they wanted and the poor suffered as they must”.

In his response to this newspaper’s query, Professor Chomsky said: “I'm glad to know that the comment had at least some resonance. There was none at the UN that I could see. That's unfortunately not unusual”

While stating he is disinclined to offer an opinion as regards a political solution suitable to Sri Lanka without studying the issue in detail, he said: “my general sense would be to favor a federalist approach with limited autonomy, but I haven't really thought through the implications”.

“And on the human and civil rights issues (of Sri Lanka), the conclusions are too clear even to debate” he said.

(LAKBIMAnEWS (Page 1) - 02. 08. 2009)

Related links:
Inner City Report - At UN, Chomsky Calls Sri Lanka A Rwanda-like "Atrocity," IMF and Oil Explanations

UN debate on R2P (1)

UN debate on R2P (1)

Jaffna polls: fear atmosphere say TULF, TNA - EPDP denies

2009-08-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

No major incidents of violence relating to the upcoming local polls have been reported from Jaffna so far. However, oppositional parties claim that there is an atmosphere of fear and people have distanced themselves from election activities.

“Jaffna was liberated from the LTTE in 1998 but a group has since been allowed to usurp its (LTTE’s) place” remarked V. Anandasangaree, mayoral aspirant and leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), on the situation in Jaffna.

Speaking from the peninsula, Mr. Anandasangaree observed: “People have kept aloof from attending election meetings because they fear there is this armed group that can do harm to them”.

“If not for this reason, I wouldn’t have had to contest this election” said the TULF leader.

“I did not intend to contest this election. But the circumstances left me with no other options because I found that all those who had earlier agreed to be TULF’s candidates were unwilling to contest later on.”

He alleged that “the government is all out to help one group financially.”
Anandasangaree, nonetheless, admitted that none of their electoral activities in Jaffna had been obstructed by anybody.

Anandasangaree also affirmed that the purported members of the TULF in Vavuniya who had endorsed the EPDP and offered support to them had nothing to do with the TULF.

TNA’s main candidate said people “including our relatives and friends” are scared to open their mouths.

“People are threatened by the government” he said.

Despite allegations from the opposition, hopes of securing a landslide victory at the local polls are running high among the members of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) – the main ally in the ruling SLFP coalition.

Dismissal

Dismissing the allegations leveled against his party with disdain, EPDP’s chief candidate, Kailasapillai Theventhiran (54) described the opposition parties’ criticisms as “false propaganda that lacked substance”.

“We need not engage in any unnecessary extraordinary acts when victory is at our doorstep,” he said.

The EPDP mayoral candidate who was coincidentally born on the same day (26. 11. 1954) as LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran, said he was committed to serve a “constructive cause” in his political career.

“The process has been smooth and extremely peaceful. Our leader has strictly instructed us to stick to a non-violent stance,” Theventhiran noted.

Theventhiran, who has worked as a school teacher and the district coordinator of EPDP leader Douglas Devananda’s ministry, said the opposition parties are spreading malicious rumours in an attempt to “evoke sympathy”.

“There has been no report of violence,” he pointed out.

“You might take my views as being politically motivated. But you can speak to the public and find out.”

Public mood

The outcomes of an opinion poll conducted by the Centre for Policy Alternatives among “880 randomly selected voters in all 23 wards in the Jaffna municipal council” reveals that nearly 80% of those who answered the survey questions have not participated in “political meetings and discussions” in connection to the upcoming elections while 83% of them have said that they intend to cast their vote in the polls.

These observations are available in a report released by the think tank with regard to the survey titled “Views from Jaffna – Social Indicator Survey,” last week.
When asked, “If the election was to be held today, which party would you vote for”, 23.8% have had answered in favour of the SLFP/EPDP while the TNA and the TULF had been favoured by 7.3% and 1% respectively.

(LAKBIMAnEWS - 02. 08. 2009)

The issue of climate change: Interview with Nobel Peace Prize sharing scientist from Sri Lanka Professor Mohan Munasinghe

2009-07-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

Professor Mohan Munasinghe, the Vice Chair of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the first Sri Lankan to share a Nobel Peace Prize. He shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with other scientists at the IPCC and former US vice president and environmental activist Al Gore. “We have to be very firm that dealing with climate change does not mean that we stop all emissions in developing countries or reduce it sharply in the developing countries. It will block our development” says the professor in an interview given to LAKBIMAnEWS in October 2007. The interview is reproduced here for the purpose of archiving.

You are the first Sri Lankan to share a Nobel Peace Prize. How does it feel to be the vice-chair of a Nobel prize-winning panel?

I think it’s a very nice feeling to share a Nobel Peace Prize. We have several distinguished colleagues with us and Mr.Al Gore as well. I am delighted to bring some honour to Sri Lanka.

Can you tell us about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in terms of its works as well as your role in the panel and what the Nobel Prize means for the panel?

The IPCC was formed more than twenty years ago by the United Nations to study the problem of climate change scientifically. And these are top level scientists in the world. I have been associated all twenty years. The IPCC has produced four reports in 1990, 1995, 2001 and 2007. I have participated in all four. I have gradually risen up in the ranks. And now I am in the number 2 as vice chairman. And I must reiterate that we all shared the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a great pride for us.

In terms of what the Nobel Prize means, there are three things. One is issue of recognition. I want to make it clear that people in the IPCC are not paid. I have contributed to the work of this panel free of charge for many years. So have others. It is really dedication. It is service to the humanity. That is part of the reason why the Nobel Prize committee has recognized this dedication. There are many scientists working in other places who are very well paid. There is nothing wrong with that. But I think it is also good to recognize those who work for the good of humanity without remuneration. So recognition, particularly for my distinguished colleagues is a very big thing.

The second thing is what I call credibility. As you know there have been a few sceptics who have said: ‘what is this climate change?’ ‘These are all nonsense’ and so on. I must say that 99% of the global scientific community are on the side of the IPCC and believe our stuff. But sometimes sceptics get a lot of publicity in the press. Now the awarding of Nobel Prize very clearly establishes our credibility. The scientific committee has said that this group of experts are right; they have done a great thing for world peace and security and so on.

The third point is future oriented. The recognition from the Nobel Prize will give us more clout to convince world leaders, the public and the media that this problem is very serious and urgent; that we should take some action.
And, we never have done our work in the hope of this recognition.

In fact, before the announcement for the Nobel Peace Prize was made on Friday, nobody knew – not even the chairman. He called me and said: ‘Mohan, I am stunned’. I asked him if he knew about it before. He said: ‘I didn’t even know we were being considered. But I am extremely happy’. He immediately congratulated all our colleagues. It is not only the top people who deserved it. It was meant for everybody. This is, in a nutshell our story and we, as scientists, approach this with deep humility. We have done the work for the love of science and also for the cause of the humanity. It is nice to be rewarded. It’s a very pleasant feeling. But, it was not with that intension that we approached it. And personally, I hope to be able to contribute to the work of the IPCC in the future as well. As I said the IPCC will have more major impact in the future and be able to advice and guide world leaders in dealing with this very important question of climate change.

And more importantly, one of the key findings of the IPCC is that the climate change affects the developing countries very badly. So I have been particularly influential in the IPCC in linking climate change with development. So we are not studying climate change purely as a scientific curiosity. I have been saying: let us look at the impact on the poor people and poor countries like Sri Lanka.

That emphasis I think is very crucial in my personal journey. I will continue to make the case that when we solve the problem of climate change, we also simultaneously solve the problem of sustainable development; i.e. dealing with issues like poverty. That is my own personal view which is reflected in the IPCC report. IPCC report says the best way to solve the climate change problem is to also make development more sustainable. I have written a book on it. It is very well cited and quoted in the IPCC report.

Can you briefly explain the phenomena known as ‘global warming’ and greenhouse emission and their repercussions?

Certainly. Since the Industrial revolution, there have been a lot of activities, particularly energy use, which have caused increase in the emission of Carbon dioxide (CO2) and Methane and Nitrous Oxide which are also called greenhouse gases. But mainly CO2. Now, carbon dioxide is like a blanket. As you know, when you wrap yourself in a blanket, it traps the heat and your body gets warmer. Same thing is happening to the globe with the thicker amount of layer CO2. It’s very small at the moment. Through scientific analysis, we can detect it. And one of the consequences of the emission of CO2 and global warming is what we call climate change. So, warming is only one aspect.

Our expectation is that, in the next hundred years, the temperature will go up by around 3° C which is 5° or 6° F. And it is quite large. The sea level will go up by about 0.4 metres which is well over a foot. There will be drastic change in precipitation. This means the dry areas are going to get drier. So you will have more deserts. Unfortunately, wet areas will get more rains. So you have more floods and other problems. Then there is a problem of extreme events. There will be more cyclones, hurricanes etc. Almost any human activity will be affected. So, all six billion people on the planet will be affected in some way or the other. I am sad to say that the developing countries which are round the tropical belt will be the most affected. The poorest people in all countries will be hit hardest. The poor farmers will not be able to grow crops. People will suffer from disease and so on.

The other aspect is one of fairness. If you look at the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere today, more than 80% of it has been put out there by the rich countries. But unfortunately the victims of the problem are the developing countries. So there is an element of unfairness. And this is, to some extent, recognized in the Kyoto protocol which is now 10 years old and the climate convention which is 15 years old.

So the Kyoto protocol very clearly says that if you want to reduce future emissions, then the industrial countries – the rich countries – will have to take the first steps. Unfortunately, some countries like the US have pulled out of it. Others have not done that mush. So there is no reduction in gases. Actually it is going up.

The other side of the coin in the climate negotiations is that in the developing countries we are saying ‘you reduce future emission of Carbon Dioxide’ which is called ‘mitigation’. But what about the CO2 that is already up there? That is going to cause some global warming in the future. So how do we, who are the poor, protect ourselves? So that is done through a process called ‘adaptation’. Developing countries should be more concerned about ‘adaptation’. And the rich countries will first deal with mitigation.

Can you elaborate a bit more on the concept of ‘adaptation’?

When there is some shock, what do you do to withstand? Climate is going to push us hard. If the sea level goes up, you can’t keep it back. You have to build a wall, perhaps. Or you have to retreat inland. If we can plan the adaptation ahead of time, then we can do much better.

How vulnerable is Sri Lanka in terms of climate change? You were quoted in a news report as saying that ''A major part of Jaffna and other northern areas (of Sri Lanka) will be submerged when the sea-level rises. So people are fighting and dying over areas that may soon not be there,''….

Actually that is the least of our problems. That was a very minor comment which that particular journalist made into a headline. But let me tell you the really serious consequences. The serious issues are related to agriculture and water resources. In my institute named ‘MIND’, we do researches. One of the findings in our research is that, in Sri Lanka the dry zone will be very badly affected. So that means people from Anuradhapura and the Vanni and so on, particularly the farmers, will be hit hardest due to the rise in temperature and reduction in rainfall. Maybe, some families will migrate; because they can’t survive.

What it means for the wet zone is a different story. For the hill country, the temperature rise maybe in fact a little beneficial. But there will be more rain which can cause more earth slip and flood. As far as the effect on the economy is concerned, the rice production will drop. But, production of tea and rubber will go up a little bit.

I would like to obtain your views on the work of your Nobel Prize co-recipient and former USA vice president Al Gore. The British high court has ruled that his film ‘An Inconvenient truth’ must not be shown to the school students as it is politically one sided. Mr.Al Gore has been accused by many critics of alarmism. It is also alleged that by advocating that developing countries too be made part of the efforts to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, the US is trying to hinder the efforts of the less powerful countries to industrialise… your comments?

I have high regard for Mr.Al Gore. His courageous efforts in disseminating information about the climate change are commendable. Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the IPCC for its findings on the climate change and to Mr. Al Gore for disseminating the knowledge. He played the role of the disseminator. The information in his films or documents may not be as scientifically accurate as the reports of the IPCC are.

You mentioned the element of unfairness in this issue… What is the implication of this problem for the developing countries?

As I said the rich countries got rich by polluting the atmospheric carbon dioxide. More than 80% is brought by them. Then the question is, isn’t it not fair for the developing countries to say, we also like to become rich; and we have a certain right to emit carbon dioxide.

I am of the view that countries have a right to develop – particularly the poor countries. We have to be very firm that dealing with climate change does not mean that we stop all emissions in developing countries or reduce it sharply in the developing countries. It will block our development.

Interview with Minister Douglas Devananda: No compromise on political solution NOW

2009-07-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

By Thava Sajitharan

Eelam People’s Democratic Party leader Minister Douglas Devananda, who is in Jaffna campaigning for party candidates contesting the upcoming local polls, spoke to LAKBIMAnEWS over the phone last week on matters concerning the local council elections as well as the invitation extended to him to join the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Excerpts:

It has been reported that you were asked to join the SLFP and you responded by saying 'only after a political solution to the Tamil problem was implemented, that such a request could be considered'. Minority political parties being absorbed into major national parties; is that a healthy trend? Do you think the need for identity politics has ceased as far as the Tamils are concerned?

You are hurling the question at me while knowing the answer yourself. Why did we have a war? The war was waged to secure a political solution to the ethnic conflict. So, one cannot say that the conflict ended with the end of war. In my response, as you said, I stated that we could think about such a move once a political solution had been arrived at and the confidence of the Tamils won by the Sinhala political parties in the south.

I did not enter politics just for the sake of it. It was the milieu in which the Tamil people were living that forced me into the armed struggle. And it was the milieu that made me enter the democratic mainstream in the second phase of the struggle. Today the violence has been brought to an end. The causes of the violence have been gotten rid of.

The next step should be to introduce a political solution. I have long been maintaining that it should be ‘13th amendment plus’. Once it is implemented and our people begin to have faith in the southern parties, we can then consider the invitation. We are in politics to serve the people. Self-interest has no role to play.

Also, this is not the first time I have been asked to join the SLFP. The president has extended me the invitation on previous occasions too. I gave him the same response.

In the case of the eastern province, the government aligned with the TMVP and contested the provincial election together. However, disputes are now reportedly cropping up between the Eastern Chief Minister and the central government. Now, given the fact that you are deemed a formidable political force in the North, isn’t it correct to say that the government is trying to thwart the occurrence of such a dilemma in the Northern Province by incorporating you into the SLFP?

I’d prefer to eschew commenting on this issue. I want to first prove myself and then answer this question through my deeds and not words. I am acting with confidence. We wanted to endow the Tamil people with a bright future. That was not possible through non-violent means in the initial stages. Sometimes, we use medicine to cure an illness. When it doesn’t yield the expected results, then we resort to other means such as performing surgery. Now we are again reverting to treating the decease through medicine. Do you get my point?

Ok, let me borrow your metaphor: in your opinion, has the illness passed the crucial stage? Has it reached a stage where it could be cured completely?

The one who is suffering from the illness would always want to cure it. She or he ought to have that confidence. If one needed to control cholesterol, for instance, one ought to control oneself in the first place.

Earlier the government said that the political solution to the problem could be talked about once the war was over. Now, the president is maintaining that a political solution is possible only after the next presidential election is held. Isn’t there an end to this dillydallying?

The president may have expressed that opinion. My stance is that it should be implemented at present. The first phase of the process would consist of the full implementation of the 13th amendment. The complete solution may be implemented after the presidential election.

What prevents the government from implementing the 13th amendment in full with immediate effect?

The president has said that the provincial council poll ought to be held in the north. But there are problems. A vast number of people from the Vanni are in IDP camps.

They have to be resettled. The government is prepared to have the polls once the resettlement is done. My request for the government is that an interim council should be established until such time.

It is feared that there would be an expansive militarization in the north and east and that such a measure would dilute the geographical ethnic equilibrium of the regions. Are these fears reasonable? What have you got to say as a Tamil minister in the government?

I haven’t heard of such thing and I don’t believe that such a situation would arise.

What is the situation regarding the IDPs? How is the resettlement process going on?

The process has been expedited. And the results would soon be manifest. Discussions are going on. We are planning to let people such as those from other districts, elderly persons, children, pregnant mothers, government servants leave the camps and this would speed up the decongestion process.

You head a special task force entrusted with the task of developing the north. Yet another task force headed by Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa was formed recently... what is the difference between the two committees?

Well, I am told that the committee headed by me is expected to handle political affairs while the other will deal with the technical part...

It is learnt that you have been engaged in active election campaigning in Jaffna and Vavuniya over the last few weeks. How is it like?

The environment has become conducive to hold a democratic election in Jaffna after a long time. I think this is the first time such an opportunity has arisen since 1977. This healthy situation ought to be preserved and enhanced.

Today, PLOTE supporters have torn asunder one of the cutouts that we put up. They have also berated people in the neighborhood. On hearing this news, I told my comrades that we should take a complete non-violent stance and adhere to the principle: “ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also”. Others may instigate violence and attempt to stir us up. But we should not allow ourselves to lose our temperament, I told my comrades.

Because of this non-violent stance of ours, the Vanni district members of the Tamil United Liberation Front have now publicly endorsed us and offered open support. In addition, independent group 1 and group 2 have also announced their support at today’s (Friday) press briefing to the EPDP candidates contesting on the SLFP ticket.

Contrary to your claims, it has been alleged that oppositional parties such as the TNA are not allowed to carry out their campaigns independently and that your party poses a threat to them... What is your response?

It is a lie. Having foreseen their inevitable defeat in the upcoming polls, they are making these allegations up to conceal the humiliation they would have to suffer. For instance, one Remidias, who is supposed to be the mayoral candidate of the TNA gave an interview to the BBC some time ago where he alleged that armed groups were running amok in Jaffna and forcibly confiscating the polling cards from the public. BBC contacted us to obtain our version. At the time of his statement, the government printers had not released the polling cards. When that was the reality, how could they say that the polling cards were seized from the people?

But Mr. Anandasangaree has also both openly and indirectly accused your men on many occasions of being responsible for unbridled violence in Jaffna... what’s your take?

What I would say is that these allegations are baseless as well as malicious. That is why I cited the above example. As I told you earlier, the whole of the TULF members in Vavuniya summoned a public assembly and endorsed our candidates today. What does this show? Now Anandasangaree might come out and say that there is money scam behind this pledge of support or that these people were intimidated. Do you understand my point? I adhere to what I preach and I preach what I adhere to. My desire is that we should have a free and fair election.

(LAKBIMAnEWS, 26.07.2009)

Political solution? Intent is clear

2009-07-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

The way the government has handled the post-war situation since May 2009, makes the intentions of the administration very clear in terms of the political future it envisages for the country. In his rhetoric, President Rajapaksa has repeatedly assured that none -- no ethnic or religious group -- is to be left behind in the process of rejuvenating and rebuilding the nation “newly freed from the clutches of terrorism”.

Nonetheless, one who reads the subtext of the narrative over the last two months, would discern that the government’s mood is to remain inert in regard to addressing the minority problem politically, while evidently seeking to adopt increased military measures to administer the northern and eastern territory of the country which consists largely of Tamils as well as Muslims -- much to the dismay of the two communities.

Of course, finding a political solution isn’t the acutest of problems we are confronted with at this juncture. The war has left a large number of the population - nearly 300, 000 people - homeless, inflicting on them enormous suffering and placing them in a precarious predicament. Alleviation of their plight should undoubtedly be given the foremost priority.

Political discourse

However, the force of the systematic formulation of the post-war atmosphere is such that it has hardly left any adequate room for a constructive political discourse that would lead us to a stable point where harmony and peaceful coexistence among different communities could be rediscovered.

Three particular events that took place during the course of last few weeks could be cited as examples that best illustrate the government’s mindset as far as solving the national question is concerned:

* President Rajapaksa’s recent interview with The Hindu newspaper in which he stated that offering a political solution is possible only after the next presidential election.
* Invitation extended to Minister Douglas Devananda, leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party to join the ruling SLFP
* The termination of contract of Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at Geneva - an articulate scholar and an advocate of the 13th amendment to the constitution as a political solution.

Of all three, the first is the most explicit act that shows the stark absence of enthusiasm and commitment on the part of the government to end the conflict politically.

A close examination of the apparently innocuous invitation extended to Minister Devananda to join the SLFP would reveal that it is yet another attempt by the government to further consolidate and concentrate political power at a central point.

Eastern experience

The government learnt a ‘lesson’ from the experience in the East. It contested the eastern provincial council election in 2008 in alliance with the Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulihal (TMVP) and allowed its leader S. Chandrakanthan to become the chief minister only to find the latter defying the government, and unwilling to abide by the strictures it imposed on the provincial administration.

Constitutional experts have pointed out that the 13th amendment which governs the power allocation to the provincial councils is so structured that the movement of power would be always centripetal -- moving toward the centre from the periphery. The executive power is vested with the governor of the province whose appointment is at the sole discretion of the president. In effect, these arrangements meant that the elected chief minister and his associates would be left with no option but to function as mere puppets of those ruling at the centre. Yet, in Chandrakanthan’s case, he has made his discontent heard in the public sphere as well as the media. And it has been a cause for concern for the government.

Provincial poll

When and if the IDPs are resettled in due course in the Northern Province, the government would then have to conduct the provincial polls there too. In asking Devananda who on earlier occasions has expressed willingness to renounce his parliamentary seat in order to become the chief of the provincial administration, to join the SLFP, the ruling party has sought to ‘rectify’ the ‘mistake’ it made in the eastern province. A chief minister who is a SLFP member, as opposed to the leader of a Tamil political party, would dance to the tune of the centre with more accuracy, precision and perfection.

It is speculated that Dayan Jayatilleka’s removal from the ambassador post had to do with his espousal of the 13th amendment. If there is any truth in this speculation, then the chances of any structural reforms being introduced into the existing system are bleaker than many would have thought.

The point that needs to be considered here is that a system that seeks to reduce democracy to one party dominance can no longer be democratic. It is by recognizing the diversity and pluralist nature of a nation that one can build up unity. If there is anything to learn from the defeat of the LTTE, it is precisely that. We can of course, never let anyone downplay the importance of unity or reinforce notions of fragmentation and secession. For there to be progress and development, there ought to be unity.

And that is what necessitates the political assurance from the majority to the minority. Such an assurance has to be offered with a sense of solidarity and brotherhood recognizing the other’s rights to self-dignity and autonomy.

‘Elitist Tamils’

There are those who argue that it is the “elitist Tamils” that clamour for power sharing and not the “ordinary people”. A caution needs to be made in this regard that it is the elitist stratum of the dominant side of the ethnic divide with similar interests that comes up with this spurious claim. To insinuate that the ordinary masses are incapable of ruling themselves amounts to an inexcusable affront. If there is political ignorance among the ordinary people, it is the plunderers who deprived them of due education that are to be blamed; not those who were plundered. As Bertolt Brecht, the renowned German poet and playwright said, it is “those who steal rice from the table” and “lead the country off a cliff” that “call ruling too difficult for ordinary people”.

The fact that Tamils as a community are said to be incapable of defining their political aspirations goes on to show the extent to which the space for democratic discourse has been shrunken by the fascist atrocities of the LTTE. And the biggest challenge facing the Tamils and the Muslims is to find how they can ensure that none else replaces the LTTE in the future and encroaches upon the ‘spaces’ they are entitled to - both in the abstract and the concrete sense of the word.

(LAKBIMAnEWS 26. 07. 2009)

Devananda to discuss Dayan’s dismissal with president

2009-07-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

Emphasizes full implementation of 13th amendment

By Thava Sajitharan

Eelam People’s Democratic Party leader Minister Douglas Devananda said last week that he was planning to discuss with President Mahinda Rajapaksa the recall of Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative at the UN in Geneva whose continuous advocacy of the 13th amendment as a political solution to the ethnic conflict is speculated to have cost his diplomatic post. Minister Devananda made these remarks on Friday in a telephone interview with this newspaper from Jaffna where he is engaged in electioneering for the upcoming local polls.

Dayan Jayatilleka’s contract was abruptly terminated by the government and the diplomat who received wide acclaim for the role he played in securing a diplomatic victory at the UNHRC’s special session on Sri Lanka held in May in Geneva, was asked to return to Sri Lanka on August 20.

Douglas Devananda - the only Tamil minister from the north in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cabinet - came out strongly in support of the full implementation of the 13th amendment in the interview last week while some media reports suggested that the President had dissuaded the members of his coalition from making favorable remarks about the 13th amendment.

Asked about President Rajapaksa’s recent remark that a solution to the country’s protracted ethnic discord could be introduced only after the next presidential election is held, Minister Devananda said “ my stance is that it should be implemented at present. The first phase of the process would consist of the full implementation of the 13th amendment. The complete solution may be implemented after the presidential election”. In response to the SLFP’s invitation for him to join the party, he reiterated that such an option could be considered only after a solution was offered to the Tamils.

With regard to Dayan Jayatilleka’s dismissal from his diplomatic post, the Minister said “I am not aware of the reasons behind this decision. However, I am going to talk to the President about this when I meet him”.

Dayan Jayatilleka, an eminent scholar and a former academic teacher has expressed support to Minister Devananda on many occasions in the past. Most recently after being sacked Dayan opined that “the sole Tamil Minister in the Cabinet, Douglas Devananda should be co-chair of the Task Force set up for the IDPs and the North”.

(Unabridged version of the page 1 news story published in LAKBIMAnEWS - 26. 07. 2009)

The Sorrow of Children Having Lost Their Streets

2009-07-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

Sithanthan is a noted poet in the Tamil literary sphere. Below is one of his poems translated into English.

Children are no longer seen on our streets
Armored trucks are speeding up
Crushing the dreams of our children

After armed men, their faces
Masked with black cloth
Began to wander about,
Our children lost their streets

Our mothers seeking
To feed their children
Cajoled them they'd be taken
Away by armed men
Should they refuse to eat: After that,
Our streets lost their children

Arms have begun to devour
The magic of our children's universe
The gram seller walks idly about
The streets, wailing. Ice cream vans
Do not tarry at our streets
Street dogs stray freely without fear
There is no one to run after
The landmasters and get into them.

Streets having lost children
Cease to be streets
The smoke of armored vehicles
Glom on to trees like gloom

Kites flail from lampposts
Torn in the wind
Leaves fall off like the twittering
Of sparrows on tree branches
The misery of streets
Having lost children
Oozes in the songs of the old man
Selling balloons and masks

Hot wind absorbs the sighs
Exhaled by the boy confined
Inside his hut under the shade of a tree,
Looking at the chariot he has made
Out of unripe coconuts
His rusty bicycle wheel and its guide stick

Emptiness with wings sheared
Is seated on the swings

The tracks of armed men
Abound in the streets
Where the footprints
Of children are lost

Amidst the noise of speeding armored trucks
Is heard the sobbing sound of a mother
Her child sacrificed to another armored truck…

-Siththaanthan
08.08.2008 night 9.49

(Translated from Tamil by Thava Sajitharan)

Forty years since the first moon landing yet it don’t make sense…

2009-07-21T04:57:00.000-07:00

Forty years ago, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, two US astronauts, became the first human beings to land on the Moon.

The historic event is still cherished as one of the greatest feats of humanity. Yet, the present moment appears to be very opportune for the human members of the planet earth to ask themselves whether all their scientific achievements have adequately been used to serve constructive purposes.

Citing the biological observation that "the average life expectancy of a species is about 100,000 years", Professor Noam Chomsky, in his book dealing with America’s foreign policy, titled “Hegemony or Survival - America's Quest for Global Dominance” says: "We are entering a period of human history that may provide an answer to the question of whether it is better to be smart than stupid. The most hopeful prospect is that the question will not be answered: if it receives a definite answer, that answer can only be that humans were a kind of "biological error," using their allotted 100,000 years to destroy themselves and, in the process, much else”.

We live in a world where belligerence is the predominant feature of those who rule us - the people. And it is apt to close this post this time with the lyrics of Willie Dixon who exposes the futility of scientific achievements sans peace:

You have made great planes to span the sky
You gave sight to the blind with another man's eyes
You even made submarines, they submerge for weeks
But it don't make sense you can't make peace

You take one man's heart and make another one live
You even go to the moon and come back thrilled
Why you can crush any country in a matter of weeks
But it don't make sense you can't make peace

You know it don't make sense- you can't make peace (3x)

When you can't make peace....
You can make a transfusion that will save a life
You can change the darkness into broad daylight
You make the deaf man hear and the dumb man speak
But it don't make sense you can't make peace

You know it don't make sense- you can't make peace (3x)

The thirteenth amendment and Pillayan’s qualms ( plus The Wall Street Journal’s interview)

2009-07-20T02:18:00.000-07:00

The Rajapaksa administration’s stance with regard to offering a political solution to the country’s national question remains shrouded in a fog of ambivalence.

Nevertheless, the assurance made by the Sri Lankan government to its Indian counterpart as well as the UN chief Ban Ki-Moon in the immediate aftermath of the war victory that the 13th amendment to the Constitution engendered by the Indo-Lanka pact of 1987 would be fully implemented as the first step towards politically addressing the problem has provided much fodder for heated debates.

As a case in point, one could look at the experience of the eastern provincial council elected in 2008 and led by guerilla fighter-turned-chief minister Pillayan to study how the provisions of the 13th amendment concerning the provincial councils upon which devolved powers were ostensibly bestowed, have been used/abused.

It has been pointed out that the 13th amendment is so structured that “the powers given by the center with the right hand can at any moment be taken away with the left hand”, to borrow a widely-used, almost clichetic, phrase quoted so often by constitutional experts in connection to the issue.

Under the 13th amendment, the executive power of the province is vested with the governor whose appointment is at the sole discretion of the president. This, it has been said, effectively controls the elected members of the provincial council from exercising their authority they are said to be entitled to.

There have already been reports of the ministers of the eastern provincial council including the chief minister having qualms over what is termed the “excessive interference” of the governor into the PC affairs. The ministers have decided to lodge their complaint with the president expressing their dissatisfaction, according to media reports.

And this is not the first time that S. Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, the eastern chief minister, is grumbling over not being vested with adequate powers. In the below interview which he gave to the Wall Street Journal, in January this year, Pillayan expressed displeasure over not being allowed to “serve his people” the way he wants. The interview was translated from Tamil by this writer for the WSJ.

Transcript: Sri Lanka's Pillayan
'A Just Struggle was Turned Into a Terrorist One.'

Wall Street Journal's Peter Wonacott interviewed Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan, a former Tamil Tiger child soldier who goes by Pillayan, on Jan. 18, 2009. Pillayan is no longer a rebel -- now he's the government-backed, democratically-elected chief minister of the eastern province of Sri Lanka. Below is an edited transcript, translated from Tamil by Thava Sajitharan.

* * *
The Wall Street Journal: Can you tell us why and when you joined the Tamil Tigers?

Pillayan: I joined in 1991. The Tamil Tigers launched what is known as the Eelam war II. Violence erupted in many parts of the country and a large number of people were killed. As a result, Tamil youth increasingly began to join the Tigers. The organization recruited a formidable number of members from the East during that period. I was one of them. Two of my classmates were killed in the conflict at that time.

WSJ: What was life like as a Tamil Tiger?

Pillayan: I joined the outfit when I was very young. In the first six months, I was given military training. Then I was attached to the political wing of the Tigers. I was stationed in Batticaloa.

WSJ: What is a political wing? What are its activities?

Pillayan: The Tigers have several units such as political wing, military wing, intelligence wing, financial wing, et cetera. There were several duties assigned to the political wing. One task was to study the history and educate the public about it. The duties also included carrying out propaganda and recruiting members.

WSJ: During these years, did you have any doubts about what you were doing?

Pillayan: We didn't have doubts. Not only me, the entire Tamil community had faith in the Tigers.

The history of the Tamil struggle in this country is long. The democratic struggles staged by Tamils at the earlier stages of the post-independence era were suppressed by those who ruled the country at that time. There were non-violent protests. After these efforts were subdued, Tamils took to arms.

WSJ: In 1997, the U.S. declared the Tamil Tigers a terrorist organization. You were with them at that time. Did you believe it was a terrorist organization? Did you see things then that you now believe were wrong?

Pillayan: If you see the issue at stake from a historical perspective, you will understand that at the beginning, Tamils launched the military struggle with the view of winning their rights. But during the course of that struggle, leadership tussles began to crop up. That led to internecine conflicts. As a result, the voice of the Tamils fragmented. The Tigers started killing all [their] opponents. At the same time the world's perception toward terrorism began to change. It also became apparent that the Tiger leader (Velupillai Prabhakaran) was a self-centered person seeking revenge for his personal grievances… A just struggle was turned into a terrorist one.

WSJ: What did you think of Mr. Prabhakaran at that time?

Pillayan: When I was with the Tamil Tigers, he was a good leader. In terms of discipline, he is one of the best leaders that the Tamil community has had. I and so many others were impressed by him at that time. But because of his excessive passion for the Tamils -- you can even call it 'frenzy' -- and his lack of foresightedness, the community was weakened and the struggle branded as a terrorist one.

His nature was such that all he was eager to do was to attack those who came to attack him. He never had a thought as to how it would affect the community; how it would damage the organization.

WSJ: How big was the organization in the 1990s?

Pillayan: Approximately, there were 25,000 members in the organization.

WSJ: Now they reportedly have only 1, 600 in the Northeast, is that right?

Pillayan: Could be. A large number of carders have been killed.

WSJ: Why did you come out of the Tigers?

Pillayan: It was not a personal decision. Divisions began to emerge within the organization based on whether a member was from Jaffna or Batticaloa. During the cease-fire period, there were disputes within the organization concerning the administrative process. At the same time there were personal differences between Prabakharan and Col. Karuna Amman who was in charge of us in the East. So we broke away in 2004.

WSJ: What was the problem between Mr. Prabakharan and Col. Karuna?

Pillayan: What the Vanni leadership said was that Karuna Amman lacked discipline. We at that time saw Karuna Amman as our leader. And there were these simmering internal disputes. That caused the split.

WSJ: There was obviously a lot of anger about how the government was treating the Tamils. How did you plan to continue fighting for Tamil rights apart from the Tamil Tigers? What was the plan?

Pillayan: We joined the movement with the view of achieving liberation for our people who were living in misery. We reached a point where we realized that those rights we were fighting for could not be achieved militarily.

The world was changing rapidly. By then the Tigers had been branded as a terrorist outfit. And we thought the government would no longer be able to continue deceiving the international community and deny the Tamils their due rights. It was with this hope that we split up. We believed we could build ourselves up into a strong political force.

We broke away during the ceasefire period. The Tigers had a plan to drag the war out. After the split, the Tigers started killing members of our faction. That necessitated retaliatory action from our side. And there were frequent attacks. The government made good use of it and launched assaults against the Tigers.

WSJ: Who is the leader of your political party?

Pillayan: It's a complicated issue. As I said, after the split, the Tigers started attacking us and we were left to fight against them at the frontiers of our region. Then the East was liberated (by the government). When we registered the TMVP (Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal) as a political party, Karuna Amman was not in the country. Therefore we had to name someone else as the leader of the party. In March 2008, we contested the local polls in Batticaloa and registered a landslide victory. Subsequently we captured the Provincial Councils. Afterwards, Karuna Amman returned to the country.

WSJ: Did you believe the Tigers were coming after you?

Pillayan: They attempted to destroy all of us completely. That is why we were compelled to fight back.

WSJ: You had the elections and you became chief minister… Was there any negotiation with Col. Karuna as to whether he will be chief minister or not?

Pillayan: As I stated earlier, when we registered our party, we mentioned Mr. Kumaraswamy Nanthagopan as the president since Karuna Amman was not present in the country. Had he (Karuna) been in the country at that time, he would have officially been declared the leader. He could have even become the chief minister. But that was not to be. I was in charge of the leadership. We contested the provincial elections in alliance with the ruling party (at the center) and won.

Under the Sri Lankan constitution, Karuna Amman could not be appointed as the chief minister (as he was not elected by the people).

WSJ: How do you divide your duties and responsibilities? It sounds like you have an official leader and an unofficial leader….

Pillayan: Well, it has become a dilemma. I had respect for Amman (Karuna). I even considered offering my chief minister post to him. Yet, the laws did not provide for such an appointment. Moreover, even our supporters were not in favor of such a move. 'Why should somebody who is dishonest and not elected by the people be given the position?' they asked.

WSJ: Is Karuna playing a supportive role now in parliament or is he playing a negative role?

Pillayan: It's problematic. Even though we honored him (by getting a parliamentary seat for him), he is refusing to honor us in turn. He has gone to the extent of criticizing our provincial council.

WSJ: Do you think the central government is trying to resolve the conflict between you and Col. Karuna or is it exploiting the conflict to weaken the provincial council?

Pillayan: Definitely, this has created a favorable situation for the central government. On one hand, the government doesn't want to give powers to the provincial council. On the other, it is trying to keep the TMVP under its thumb by influencing Karuna. The central government is trying to create problems in the region.

WSJ: What are your priorities to develop this part of the country and what are the obstacles?

Pillayan: I am of the view that law and order and development of the region should be brought under the purview of the provincial council. Only then can we carry out the development activities the way we want to. We should have the power to collect taxes from our people and expend that money for their betterment.

Even though seven months have elapsed since the Eastern Provincial Council began to operate, the laws to enable the implementation of these things have not been introduced as yet.

WSJ: Can you be specific? What would you like to do that you can't do now?

Pillayan: There are several difficulties. We can't collect taxes. We can't even employ the people that we want to. There is a need to appoint 50 teachers to schools in remote villages. We are unable to do it.

WSJ: Do you also want police power?

Pillayan: Definitely.

WSJ: The central government says they have an independent police commission that appoints the police. So what is the problem?

Pillayan: The power is in the hands of central government. The government thinks if they gave that power to us, then all other provinces will also start asking for it.

WSJ: Do you have the power to attract foreign investment Or does the central government control that too?

Pillayan: There are obstacles in obtaining foreign investments, too. The central government allocates to us only the funds that are given specifically for the purpose of developing North and East by foreign governments. It does not share other foreign funds with us.

WSJ: What has the U.S. contributed to the development of the Eastern Province?

Pillayan: They have contributed quite a lot. They have helped us develop our economy as well as the educational sector. The U.S. army commander of the Pacific region is keenly interested in the development of the region. He visited the backward areas of the East recently. We are encouraged by the help of the international community.

But the provincial council ought to be strengthened by means of devolving more power. That is vital to sustain the development in the long run and make it viable.

WSJ: With all these problems, do you think the provincial council is a good model to apply to the north?

Pillayan: The government will go for a similar model in the North too. There is no other option. Once the ongoing war is over, the government will hold provincial elections there. Nonetheless, the North is different from the East. Even if they destroyed the Tamil Tiger leadership, it will take a long time for the central government to win the hearts of the people there because they have long been subject to repression. The government will need to strive hard.

WSJ: Are you optimistic about provincial councils or is the structure flawed?

Pillayan: We have accepted the provincial council structure. But we need to be vested with due powers so as to fulfill the needs of the people.

WSJ: Because you don't have police powers, do you still need your own paramilitary forces to protect you?

Pillayan: Few of our members are still armed. We will hand over those weapons once the war is brought to an end. We are in the process of rehabilitating our armed cadres. We established a political party because we realized that we weren't going to accomplish anything from a military fight. There is no need for us to remain armed. When we get the necessary political powers, the weapons in our possession will disappear.

Courtesy: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123333480794533919.html

(This article was later reproduced in LAKBIMAnEWS)

For further reading on the 13th amendment: Himal Southasian
Groundview
Federal idea
Transcurrent

Dayan Jayatilleka and the priest in heaven

2009-07-18T04:09:00.000-07:00

Commentary:

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at Geneva, has reportedly been asked by the Sri Lankan government to relinquish his post effective from August 20. The news broke yesterday and the foreign ministry has confirmed it.

Dayan was largely credited for playing a crucial role in thwarting the attempt by the western bloc to pass a resolution calling for investigations into the Sri Lankan government’s alleged war crimes at the UNHRC’s special session on Sri Lanka held in Geneva in May.

It is believed that the government’s decision to discontinue Dayan’s services as the ambassador in Geneva has to do with his espousal of the 13th amendment as a political solution to the national question. (If that is the case, the question then arises as to whether the government is not genuinely committed even to fully implementing the 13th amendment as it pledged India recently)

While I have often found myself not inclined to accepting Dayan’s articulations as regards Sri Lanka’s ethnic estrangement, very few will contend the fact that he is an engaging writer and an articulate thinker. From a diplomatic point of view, it would be imprudent for the Sri Lankan government - especially at a time when it is confronted with serious allegations of human rights violations in the international arena - to shrug off such an articulate scholar as Dayan who has defended it so tremendously in the past.

A story:

(It is up to the readers to decide whether the issue discussed above has any connection to the story narrated below. It is from an email sent by a friend of mine)

A Priest dies and is awaiting his turn in line at the Heaven's Gates. Ahead of him is a guy, fashionably dressed, in dark sun glasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket and jeans.

God asks him: Please tell me who are you, so that I may know whether to admit you into the kingdom of Heaven or not?

The guy replies: I am Cooray, Private Bus driver from Sri Lanka!

God consults his ledger, smiles and says to Cooray: Please take this silken robe & gold scarf and enter the Kingdom of Heaven ...

Now it is the priest's turn. He stands erect and speaks out in a booming voice: I am Pope's Assistant so & so, Head Priest of the so & so Church for the last 40 years.

God consults his ledger & says to the Priest: Please take this cotton robe & enter the Kingdom of Heaven...

'Just a minute,' says the agonized Priest. 'How is it that a foul mouthed, rash Driver is given a Silken robe and a Golden scarf and me, a Priest, who's spent his whole life preaching your Name and goodness has to make do with a Cotton robe?'

'Results my friend, results,' shrugs God.

'While you preached, people SLEPT; but when he drove, people PRAYED'

A poem

2009-07-16T02:00:00.000-07:00

The first line of my poem
Dropped down
From the beams
Caste by the last night moon

Else,
It wouldn't have been possible for me
To speak the splendour of your eyes

Then I took up your feet
Descending from the sky
On my chest
And died in the melody
Rising from the small bells of your ankle-jewel
Defeating the pride pouring from a tuneful flute

And the rest of the poem
Melted and disappeared away

- Thava Sajitharan

(2006 – translation of a poem originally written in Tamil)

Petty politics and people's plight

2009-07-15T04:12:00.000-07:00

The upcountry political parties are purportedly in the process of ‘renegotiating’ the wages of the plantation workers with the employers’ federation. Though the two year agreement signed in January 2007 concerning the worker’s pay expired several months ago, the wages are yet to be revised. The discussions between the political parties and the employer’s federation have not yielded any fruit as yet. The parties are said to be demanding a daily pay of 500/= for the workers and the plantation managements are not in favour of offering this increment. This is a significant issue that has been overlooked in the context of the war victory in Sri Lanka.

Reproduced below is a piece I wrote under a pseudonym in 2007 in connection to the said problem.

It was published in the August 12, 2007 issue of LAKBIMAnEWS:

The Ceylon Workers Congress’ brouhaha last week, owing to an alleged insult directed against its senior member and Parliamentarian Muthusivalingham by the Presidential advisor Basil Rajapaksa, had very little to do with the prolonging plight of the estate workers who elected the party to parliament.

Those who have in the past demonstrated through their words and deeds that they do possess some sort of ‘self-dignity’ could, of course, have shown such a reaction - but not the CWC. Over the last few decades, the Ceylon Workers’ Congress has hardly wavered from its stand that it would back the ruling government no matter what its policies are. The reason attached to such a stance is that that is the only way by which the upcountry people could be served better. To what extent it is realistic still remains questionable.

And naturally, the most recent hearsay that they are going to join the government again should offer no surprise. If we examine carefully what the CWC has managed to do over the last few years for ‘its people’ by always being with the government, the outcome one gets is less than satisfactory.

Take for instance what happened last December. When the plantation workers launched a massive strike throughout the upcountry demanding a daily wage of Rs300 in December 2006, Thondaman’s Ceylon Workers Congress took the side of the plantation managements. It was a betrayal on its part. The spontaneous nature of the strike was said to be unprecedented as it was not organized by any particular trade union. The workers knew that they were not going to get anything unless they themselves led the agitation. Ultimately the hapless workers were compelled by Thondaman’s party to compromise with their demand and give up the campaign. The CWC, which along with three other unions signed the two year collective agreement with the employers’ federation, settled for a wage that fell far short of the workers’ demand.

Under the agreement, the basic daily pay was increased by just 35 rupees from 135 to 170 rupees. An additional daily “variable allowance” was increased by 30 rupees to 90 rupees. Even though the increment of this particular allowance looks considerable, it is dependent on the attendance of workers and fluctuations in prices. Most tea estate workers, particularly women, who consist of the majority of the workforce, do not receive the full allowance as they are unable to meet the requirement of 75 percent attendance. When interviewed by this writer some time ago, estate workers deplored that they scarcely ever got this allowance. To boost up production, an additional payment of 9 rupees for every kilogram over the quota of 18 kilograms was included.

With the high rocketing cost of living, a daily wage of around Rs200/= will do nothing to better the livelihood of a worker whose only way of earning money is to sell her labour power. How would she educate her children with such an income? What answer does the CWC have to those workers? Isn’t an ‘insult’ too flimsy an excuse for the party to leave the government which it joined with the ‘sole intension of serving their people’?

However, it is by no means my intention to say that the malicious mindset displayed in the alleged slur of the presidential advisor does not deserve to be reprimanded strongly. It is said that during a heated argument, Basil Rajapaksa called Muthusivalingam ‘para---’ – a term which is considered derogatory and racist. Nevertheless, Tamil National Alliance’s Batticaloa district parliamentarian P. Ariyanethiran made a noteworthy remark last week which offers an alternative perspective in this regard. The MP is reported to have described the Paraiyar community as prestigious ancestors of the Tamil social formation.

The Tamilnet website quoted Ariyanethiran as saying “‘Para ---- might have offended the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), but "Paraiyar, a prestigious ancestors of the Tamil social formation, would definitely laugh at this stupid choice of words”. No doubt, the Paraiyar community has remained an oppressed caste for long among the Tamils. And, Ariyanenthiran’s remarks are indeed commendable.

Elaborating on the issue, he had said: “The social ideas of Brahminism, which made Paraiyar 'untouchables' and the colonial English which endorsed it a derogatory term in their dictionaries, are obsolete and revolting today”.

“We live in a world where people take pride in their cultural identities.” “The oppressed are now boldly prepared to meet the eyes of the oppressors”

In my view, it is important that Presidential Advisor’s alleged slur on the former minister not be interpreted as one directed against a Tamil by a Sinhalese. If it was indeed made, it is an authoritarian insult. There are oppressed people among all communities – Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. And the estate workers are an oppressed layer of the working class. The political drama staged by actors with vested interests does not concern the workers.

Having shared these thoughts, it seems appropriate to close this column this week with a quote from Bertolt Brecht, a German writer, poet and playwright:

Those who steal rice from the table
Teach us to thank our lucky stars
Those to whom all blessings flow
Demand sacrifice.
Those who eat their fill speak
to the hungry
of great times to come
Those who lead the country off a cliff
Call ruling too difficult
for ordinary people.

Life in Menik farm

2009-07-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

Thava Sajitharan reporting from Menik Farm, Vavuniya

The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Menik Farm camps say although they are relieved to have been sheltered in these transitional villages after managing to flee the intense fighting, they are dismayed over not being allowed to visit their relatives outside the camps. Some of them have relatives who are willing to host them, but they are not allowed to go due to ‘security concerns’.

As one travels from Madavachi towards Cheddikulam, the sparsely populated area abruptly expands into massive human settlements housing over 260, 000 IDPs - standing possibly as one of the final yet deep scars of Sri Lanka’s decades long war.

Faced with daunting challenges in managing and resettling the IDPs, the government is admittedly striving towards improving the situation in all these camps. This firsthand-account of the IDPs is based on a brief ‘supervised’ visit the writer, along with a foreign journalist paid to Zone o and Zone 4, last week.

For the IDPs housed in the ‘Kathirgamar Relief Village’ (Zone 0) of Menik Farm, the government has provided many facilities fundamentally needed for human life except the one most desired by people living there - the freedom of movement.

In contrast, in Zone 4, where those who came to the cleared areas during the final stages of the war in May are kept, their conditions are dismal. As has been pointed out earlier by many others, conditions in Menik Farm vary from camp to camp.

Many people housed in Zone 4 are suffering from a variety of communicable diseases. Children and elderly persons have been identified as the most vulnerable groups. The doctors tasked with treating these people say that children were dehydrated when they came from the battle areas. Among the most prevalent diseases are chickenpox, hepatitis and typhoid. There is a makeshift hospital where patients are being treated. The officials say that there are also the peripheral health centers attending to patients.

Some are suffering from trauma and nightmares. Selvi* (25), says she had to run over hundreds of dead bodies while clinging on to her one-year-old child to reach safety.

“We were staying inside an open bunker for eight days.”

“The firing was so intense that we had no option but to leave,” she says.

Her husband served as a salaried “policeman” with the LTTE. He surrendered to the government when he crossed over to the cleared area. Selvi, however, does not know her husband’s whereabouts. The security forces who detained her husband, did not issue any paper document either, she says.

There are numerous similar stories. The military suspects that many of the families in the Zone 4, have had close links with the LTTE because “they remained (with the LTTE) till the last moment.”

The failure on the part of the government to issue official notices with regard to the detainees to their family members has been a cause for serious concern.

Sivalakshmi*, a 46-year-old mother of three, who crossed over to the government controlled area on February 16 this year, and now lives in the Kathirgamar village, complains she could not even attend the funeral of her 12-yea-old niece who died in Puthumathalan, while attempting to escape gun fire. One of her two daughters is living in another camp with her husband and children and Sivalakshmi is not allowed to meet them either.

With tears rolling down her fragile shrunken cheeks, she said that she and her husband had to abandon the little boutique they ran in Murukandi, and now live separately in different camps.

Scarcity

“What sin did we commit to deserve this fate? What hope do we have now?” she weeps.
She admits that many of their needs are met in the camp. “Our needs have been attended to by the authorities. We have been provided with rations and other things, but there are some lapses like a dearth of toilets ... and we have to stand in long queues. Sometimes there is no water.”

Arrangements have been made for the relatives of the IDPs living outside the camps to visit them, but under certain conditions. “We are allowed to talk to relatives but standing behind barbed fences,” Sivalakshmi states.

Another person said they were getting rice, dhal and sugar on a regular basis but vegetables and complementary items such as salt were scarce.

The situation in Menik Farm betrays a jumble of an avowed commitment by the government to look after the IDPs on one hand and the anxiety to weed out perceived security threats - the possible presence of LTTE elements in the camps - on the other.

Major General G. A. Chandrasiri, the Competent Authority for IDPs, while assuring that he and others are working hard to “address the issue to the best of our abilities,” does not mince words when it comes to security.

“We do not neglect the security aspect” he notes firmly.

“About 10,000 LTTE cadres have already surrendered,” the General said. According to him, the ex-cadres will be sent to rehabilitation centers after initial investigations are carried out.

In the Kathirgamar village, the government, with the help of humanitarian agencies has set up schools, pre schools, banks, post offices, vocational training centers etc. Despite the shortcomings, the efforts to improve the living conditions of the IDPs are evident.

During the visit, we were shown a host of new “emergency shelters” that were put up in Marudha-madu with the help of UNHCR. Emergency shelters are an interim arrangement where those living in tents and thus suffering from unbearable heat, are to be transferred to. In the next phase, people would be moved from these emergency shelters to what are called the “semi permanent huts”.

Future plans

According to the General, the government is expediting the decongestion process. Six schools in the Vavuniya District that housed the IDPs have already been cleared to resume educational activities. While speeding up the demining process to facilitate resettlement, the government is also planning to set up the “manageable zones”. Three such zones are to be constructed and each would shelter 5000 IDPs.

*Pseudonyms have been used to preserve the identity of the IDPs.

(Published in the July 12, 2009 issue of LAKBIMAnEWS)

You may be reminded of me

2009-07-12T00:49:00.000-07:00

You may be reminded of me

From any of those words hurled against you

Among the images surrounding you

Even the slightest shift in the air

May spur the sense of a microbe in you

To look for my presence

You may grow frightened

The howling notes of my remaining life

Shuddering as a rat reduced to the edge

Of death carried away by the cat of time

May spark fierce arousal in your city streets

You may take my silence as cruel derision

Of you, failing to make sense of it

It is possible too that you suffer

From a hallucination, thinking my voice is heard

In the final groans of squashed tiny legged insects

You, fatally furious over only hearing

my voice, know not that words have not

Their own meaning, images not their own nature

There exists no one known to be 'you' or 'I'

(2008)

- Thava Sajitharan

God of horror

2009-07-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

O! god of horror!
Hard to believe, immeasurable it is --
The love you have for us.

You love to hate us
Don't you?

And the power behind you
To cause destruction
Indeed lies beyond description,
Turning all our horoscopes
into 'horror' scopes.

Dividing us into parts
Once you made us fire at each other
And got enough for your hunger.

Now...
Thinking about the annihilation you caused,
All that comes to my mind
Are the words meaning nothing.

Raising an ugly tongue you came,
In the form of a tsunami',
You devoured the children of our mother

Using the ink of tears
On our scarred sky
Let me write the end of your fate -
The end of your mad love.

- Thava Sajitharan

(This poem was written in January 2005 in the wake of the tsunami catastrophe that claimed the lives of thousands of people from the coastal areas of Sri Lanka in 2004. It was later published in 'Polity' - the monthly magazine of the Social Scientists Association, Colombo)

Fisher folk's hopes for the future

2009-07-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

The pass system and fishing time still a hassle

By Thava Sajitharan in Trincomalee

Standing on the shores with the support of his crutches, Ananda (50) gazes at the dazzling sea waves. It looks as though he is deploring the fact that he is no longer able to go out to the sea and do what he had known best - fishing. It was fishing that provided for his family.

However, Ananda’s life saw the idiomatic ‘sea change’ on that fateful day in 2000, when he was caught in the crossfire between the LTTE and the Sri Lanka naval forces resulting in losing one leg. Now he is dependent, unable to go fishing.

Ananda shares the optimism like many others in Trincomalee, that the end of war would bring about economic betterment in their lives where fishery has been the lifeblood of the area for years. Though a fisherman no more, Ananda is happy about the recent developments that the fishing industry of the district has witnessed.

“My son, for instance, works at the ice factory which supplies ice blocks for preservation of fish” he says. “If the fishing industry thrives it means our family income would also rise.”

For the fishermen living in the coastal areas of the north and east, their trade was blood, sweat and tears all these years. Besides great toil, their lives were at stake because of intense fighting in the sea.

With the end of war and the government’s decision to relax the restrictions placed on fishermen, Trincomalee’s fishing industry is gradually livening up. However, fishermen complain that certain procedural stumbling blocks are still in place impeding their productivity.

According to an assessment carried out in 2008 by the Department of Fisheries, there are 16, 420 fishing families comprising 92, 100 persons in the Trincomalee District. Among them, 23, 700 are fishermen while several others are indirectly involved in the industry.

Time period

The navy recently extended the time period allowed for fishing in the sea. Earlier, fishermen in the coastal areas were allowed to fish between 6am and 5pm. With the relaxation being brought in, the fishermen can now go to sea between 5am and 6pm.

Anbalakan (25), who began fishing at the age of 12, admits that there has been an increase in the amount of fish they catch after the fishing restrictions were eased.

“Yes, we are catching more fish these days. Yet, it would be better if we are allowed to go to the sea anytime” says he.

Acknowledging Anbalakan’s opinion, Dinesh (34), a wholesale fish seller at the Trincomalee market asserts, “The sales have gone up considerably. There was a time when only those who were rich could afford to buy fish. But now the prices have already come down and are likely to decrease further”

The Trincomalee fish market is busier than before. A number of vehicles about to transport fish to various parts of the country are seen parked outside the market. The vendors say that some of those fish are for export purpose.

Irfan (35), another fisherman, says that despite the relaxation in restrictions, there are some problems that need to be addressed.

Pass system

“No one is allowed to leave or return to the shores between 6pm and 5am. All activities are strictly prohibited during that time by the navy. In the night, while at sea, if somebody in the boat falls sick, special arrangements need to be made to get permission from the navy to return shores” he said.

Another hassle he says is the “pass system”, which in the opinion of many fishermen serves as a disincentive preventing many of those who abandoned fishing due to the war, from returning to work.

During the escalation of conflict, many fishermen shifted to other areas in the South to carry out their work, notes Irfan.

“But they are willing to come back. However, if you want to fish, you have to obtain a pass which is a complex and lengthy procedure. This discourages people.”

Great potential

To secure this special permit, one needs to get the approval and authorization from the police, divisional secretariat, Grama Nilathari and few others, say the fishermen.

Major General T. T. R De Silva, the Government Agent of the Trincomalee District, agrees that there is great potential in the district for the fishing industry to flourish.

“Sri Lanka’s territorial waters include a vast area gifted with enormous aquatic resources in the eastern direction. So there is a great potential for the fishing industry,” he says.

When asked to comment on why such a complex procedure had been maintained even after the defeat of the LTTE, a naval officer said, the environment was still not conducive for them to remove all the restrictions.

Nevertheless, it has been pointed out that enhanced facilities and freedom for the fishing industry could boost the economy of an island-nation like Sri Lanka where, according to the Department of Fisheries, fish account for 55% of the total animal protein intake of the entire population.

(Published in the July 5, 2009 issue of LAKBIMAnEWS)