Jaffna: Tears, blood and terror
Repost This ArticleFew weeks before I went to Jaffna, Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council had visited Jaffna and captured the powerful testimony of one airline passenger saying “the only thing we can do is cryâ€Â.
After my own visit to Jaffna, I wonder whether all I, other people in the rest of the country and the world can do is cry with people of Jaffna. Or whether some even care to cry.
I remember that Jehan finished his article saying that people in Jaffna don’t want to be shut off or be forgotten. But my impression was that the government seemed to be intent on just that – shutting off people in Jaffna from rest of Sri Lanka and the world.
I had spent fair amount of my youth traveling to various countries, including “hot spotsâ€Â, taking hundreds of flights – and been through some arduous visa and immigration procedures. But no procedure was as frustrating as this. I spent 8 hours to reach Jaffna – from the time I reported to the airline office and the time I was finally allowed to be free in Jaffna – the flight was actually 70 minutes. My phone and camera was confiscated in the earliest part of the journey. In what was similar to a “visa on arrival†procedure, I was photographed, and given a special pass to keep with me while I was in Jaffna. Unlike in other countries, I didn’t have to fill a form, but security forces wrote up the information I gave at the several interviews. Coming back, we had 4 bus rides, the last two of which had curtains drawn so that we can’t see the outside, pass through 5 counters in the check in area (the old Railway station) and our bags were checked several times.
The next visible sign of shutting off Jaffna is the restrictions imposed on foreign passport holders from going to Jaffna, to provide essential humanitarian assistance and protection to civilians the government is obliged to provide, but is not providing. I was expecting a good friend to join me in Jaffna the day after I went. She was born in Jaffna, speaks Tamil, but had fled Jaffna with her family due to the war and holds a US passport now. She had subsequently returned with high hopes of working for peace and reconciliation in what she considered as her country – but she couldn’t come – instead, I got a text saying she can’t come due the newly introduced long procedure to get permits to visit Jaffna. As I languished for hours at the first checkpoint approaching the Ratmalana Airport, I met a humanitarian worker who has been working in Jaffna – she had a document from the Ministry of Defense (MOD) specifying she could work in Jaffna, but military personnel were telling her she needed another permit from the MOD! She was not allowed to board the flight. While in Jaffna, I heard that this was the latest of yet another changing procedures to enter / leave Jaffna – and for now, all foreign nationals doing humanitarian and peace work in Jaffna will need to get a permit from the MOD everytime they go to Jaffna – in addition to the work permits allowing them to work in Jaffna issued by the very same MOD. In the present environment of fear that grips Jaffna, it was clear to me that foreign nationals’ presence meant a lot to civilians, and even aid workers in Jaffna. “I’m not sure whether I could go back. I worry for my staff, I had already had staff killed†said one head of an agency who was on the flight back to Colombo with me and worrying whether she would be able to go back.
But these procedures seem to pale when compared to the “Colombo visa processâ€Â, that Jaffna residents have to go through. “It took me few days to get a visa to Italy – but it took me almost a month to get a “visa to†Colombo†a passenger in the flight to Jaffna told me. He also told me he spent much more for photocopies for the “visa†or permit to come to Colombo, than for the documents for the Italian visa. I met one person who had not got his Colombo visa after 3 months and had lost hope of ever getting it!
Several friends in media also told me its difficult to go to Jaffna – at the Ratmalana airport entry point, I met a group of journalists waiting for their permit – when I left them, they were not sure whether they would get their “clearance†– even though they would be “embedded†journalists, who would travel in an air force plane.
Life in Jaffna
All around the town, I saw bombed out buildings, barbed wire and what once would have been residential houses now occupied by the military. One man I met in the plane told me his land and house had been taken over by the military in 1990, and no compensation or alternative land or housing had been provided. He has given up hoop of ever getting it back.
In terms of hearing, nothing can beat the shelling. Whether it was while I was trying to sleep, or while doing the training that took me to Jaffna, or even while playing a friendly cricket match, shelling continued.
Daily, there is a powercut at a specified time. But I also experienced unannounced powercuts, in the night as well as day time. There are mobile phone signals, but the signals are cut off regularly without advance notice – mostly, it was for around an hour or less, but on one day, there was no signal from about 9am to 4pm.
People are being reduced to starvation due huge prices and forcible restrictions on livelihoods. Eggs were being sold at Rs. 24, Rice around Rs. 200, fish around Rs. 700 and potatoes around Rs. 180 per kilo. My pen torch batteries were confiscated and not returned at the security checkpoint in Ratmalana, but pen torch batteries in the peninsular are rare and costs around Rs. 200 in Jaffna. All these, in a context where many fishermen can’t fish due to fishing restrictions of the military, many farmers land has been occupied by the military and shops close down before sunset as the town and streets gets deserted as darkness descends and curfew starts.
Insecurity of civilians
The curfew is now at 9pm (untill early November it had been 7pm) and on two days, as I went around at about 7pm, I didn’t see a single vehicle or cycle on the streets. Several friends told me that they “regretted†they can’t invite me for dinner as curfew starts at 9pm, and in any case, it would not be safe for me to visit them or vice versa after dark. The training was I was doing had to be concluded by 2.30pm, to enable participants to reach home before dark, leaving space for “convoys†that block roads for hours.
But everyone I spoke to said curfew is not for protection of civilians – but for protection of “unidentified groups†that roam the streets of Jaffna abducting and killing people. I got names of seven people who had been killed in the week I was in Jaffna. I remembered a recent report that showed that showed that almost 2 person per day disappeared or was killed in Jaffna in the first 8 months of 2007.
All this is despite the curfew, large number of armed military personnel at every few meters and severe restrictions on freedom of movement of civilians. Part of man roads, including main roads are made off limits to civilians. I saw for myself how a 12 kilometer stretch on the A18 highway between Jaffna and Palali was sealed off and civilians were left stranded for hours – to ensure security for the military convoys. I heard that this was a daily occurrence on the roads around Jaffna.
Fear was evident in all the people I spoke to. Men were scared of “unidentified†groups, including those in motor bikes without number plates, engaged in killings and abductions. They also feared harassment and torture at the hands of the security forces, who demand civilians to provide them with names of LTTE cadres. Mothers, wives and sisters fear for their men. I also heard of girls who had been raped and sexual harassment of young girls at checkpoints, including during the checking that occurs in taking a flight out of Jaffna. Everyday, people surrender themselves to the Human Rights Commission seeking security.
People I spoke to vehemently said they don’t agree with bombs such as the one in Nugegoda that targets civilians. Several told me the government is free to take on the LTTE militarily if they wanted to – but that the Colombo government and military personnel should stop this type of discrimination, harassment and attacks on civilians. I did hear from some people about abuses by the LTTE, but certainly, it was not something many spoke to me about.
Aid workers face numerous problems. At least 16 have been killed and abducted since 2006. In some cases, its clear its due to their work, but in others, it is not clear whether this was due to their their work or organizational affiliation. Even within the peninsular, aid workers need to get permits, often 48 hours in advance, to reach their project sites. On several occasions, the permission had not been forthcoming and they had been turned back. Priests face similar difficulties in reaching their flock to perform religious ceremonies.
Hoping against hope….
Given the suspicion the government, military and even the some members of the public and religious leaders treat Tamil people, particularly those coming from the North and East, as well as the discriminations, harassments and indignities forced upon them in Colombo and rest of the South, I was surprised at the warmth extended to me, a Sinhalese from the South, by Tamil people in Jaffna. I was an invitee, a guest, but even ordinary people who I never met before displayed a warmth and kindness I would not expect from a people under such stress. In the University, a group of students invited me to join them in a friendly cricket match. Unfortunately, before I could bat, the match was abandoned – not due to bad light or rain, but due to intensification of shelling and fear of terrors Jaffna nights bring to young men in particular. As in my visits before, I came away with several gifts – amongst the ones I valued most was a plaque with a peace dove breaking free from a chained cage, with a map of Sri Lanka forming the backdrop.
But the last sense of hope was given by a young soldier who saw this plaque during the course of rigorous checking at the Palaly airport “we hope peace can come and we can go back and stay in our own lands without occupying other peoples lands†was what he told me.
(Apologies for no photos – in the first place, batteries in my camera and flashlight were confiscated and never returned, and the prices of batteries are so high in Jafna, and anyways, I was told taking photos in the streets and markets in Jaffna could prove a risky business)
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A city of forgotten people. Yet, the International Community keep propping up the Government and its death squads by providing moral and financial support. Unless this news report / opinion reaches the front pages of big cities around the world this story too will take cover behind those oppressed people of Jaffna.
I am 66years old burgher.My father was an Excise Inspector at Point Pedro. 52 years ago we spent Christmas up there. I enjoyed reading your article. Its hard to believe what hard times people are having in Jaffna. I too pray for Peace and Freedom for all Sri Lankans like when I was young.
Drops make an ocean. The few but courageous witnesses to the Truth give us a ray of hope for the future. I wish all these smaller groups to join hands and grow against the darness that covers the country.
sjemmanuel
Everybody should know that there is war in Sri Lanka and the main culprits are the tigers. Every reason for the claims in this article is based on this fact. Anybody can write anything but fact remains the same. In a war situation, government forces required to put in more controls over visitors and as they may have hidden agenda in their visit. Journalists are no special and needs to be treated with the same regulations. Why don’t you blame LTTE for creating this environment. We support government in wiping out terrorism from our beloved mother country. For those who do not like to see this, request to leave us alone and mine their own business without risking their own life by trying to get into areas where SL forces are wiping out terrorists.
Thanks for your article Ruki.
Thank you Ruki for expressing the sentiments that most of us Tamils feel. I was born in Periyavillan, a small village that the army occupies now. I lived in Athiady, near the Jaffna railway station till 1965. I have been visiting Jaffna every two years since and every year since 1994 by road, road and sea and by air. I was there in September. I have presented the conditions in Jaffna and the North to many persons including Prime Ministers, Presidents, Ministers, Ambassadors and to the civil society in Colombo. All sympathise, protest to the government and then nothing comes of it. Your article is one among many that has been written by visitors from all parts of the world and residents of Jaffna. But no one cares, least of all the international community. At 73, I have given up any hope that the majority of the Sinhala people will ever recognise the rights of the Tamil community. Tamils are paying the price of freedom to govern themselves and not to be treated as second class citizens. Tamils have lost much and suffered too long to appease the Rajapakse brothers, Sinhala leaders in Parliament and the international community that supports the GOSL and pay lip service to human rights..
Dear Chanaka, for each and every crime committed by the GOSL and the people who elected this GOSL, the blame is placed on the LTTE and the tamils. Jaffna was suppossed to have been liberated. well this is the liberation the sinhala gave to tamils. further more this type of security measures taken after liberating shows, that this war is not against LTTE but against the tamils. a systematic ethnic cleansing of tamils is taking place by the sinhala people. Politicians are making money out of this war. 10% commission to president and his brothers out of each and every shell fired in to the homes of tamils. as long as people like you are there, who dose not have a decent political solution in hand there will be war and it is your elected politicians who will be making money out of your blood and sweat. thanks to Chanaka and the liberation of tamils by the GOSL.
A INTERESTING ARTICLE as there was another article recently in groundviews “onions from jaffna” which said onions were dirt cheap in jaffna and that a comment also from a person who said rice was also cheap…
contradictions ?
Thank you Ruki for your excellent article on current situation in Jaffna.It has to published in all sinhala and english newspapers on the front page. Then only people in other part of coutry will get to know the real situation. Thanks again
http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tamilnet.com%2Fart.html%3Fcatid%3D13%26artid%3D23974
Cellular services were suspended sometime back in Jaffna by the SLA.
Today I read in the Tamilnet that telephone users at all Communication Centers have to complete a form issued by SLA before they take foreign calls. Some day soon Tamils in Sri Lanka might have to wear an armband with some symbol to make it easier for the armed forces to identify them like it was done to the Jews in Hitlers Germany. Seems like in Mahindas Sri Lanka its “Open season” on the Tamils
A very interesting article, deserves wider publicity.
Judging by this, it seems we have two states after all.
Chanaka’s comments very unfortunately represent many Sinhalese these days. This is a very bad omen for our country. War casualties, collateral damage, even crimes by criminals is one thing; trying to justify them as right for one or another reason is not pardonable. This group believe they are the true patriots of the country. As a Sinhalese myself, I can clearly say that this group are the ones that cause the largest devatation to our nation. Much more than LTTE. In fact, they and their ideology are the main sources of energy for LTTE. This is the group that make me feel ashamed of being a Sinhalese. This is the ideology that betrayed the civilisation that extracted good values from our main religion over centuries.
Suppressing LTTE is one thing. Yes they are a group of terrorosts. But, imagine this situation. Go and tell a Tamil parent who’s school age daughter has been sexually assaulted and killed by security personnel or their associate groups that “this is just another incident in a war situation and the fault of this eventually falls on LTTE; you must accept Sri Lanka as your mother country and become a loyal citizen of this land” while your own daughter goes to one of the best regional high schools in a foreign country. Your words would not recieve much respect. The ultimate stratagy of resolving this conflict is to make Tamils believe that Sri Lanka is their mother landnd, not part of that.
For them to feel any loyalty to Sri lanka, they must feel protected and privileged in their mother land, If these crimes by ‘the defenders’ in the country happens in a mass scale, what is the hope of converting Tamils to ‘Sri lankans’ again? What are we going to win by suppressing LTTE?
Those of us who are honest know well that The Sinhalese’ paranoia and hatred towards the foreign organisations and forreigners who know these parts of our country are because these are the ones that bring the news of injustice and cruelty to some afflicted people.
Thank you Ruki for posting this.
well said chanaka,
very good article, timely written to understand humane sfferings
I will salute for your article slbud
your article excellent, I suppose this is first article I have red after a longer period of time, you are a true patriotic Sri lankan and deserve to live under our
national flag, but I am sorry to say we can,t change the mentality of the majority
of our country, which has been spoiled by few lunatic politicians.
The International Community could have broken the backbone of the strong will of the Sinhala genocidal government long ago, by punitive economic sanctions against Rajapakse government, and imposing a travel ban on all the cabinet ministers and the military personnel.
But the USA, India, China, Russia, Pakistan and the EU were not in favour of either economic sanctions against Sri Lankan rebel government or travel ban of cabinet ministers because they desired to sell military hardware to the genocidal regime of Rajapakse and earn blood money.
The UN has strictures on selling “blood diamonds”. Why are there no similar strictures against the earning of “blood money” by supplying military hardware to genocidal regimes? Is that to rpomote genocide all over the world?
[Edited out - please address the issue instead of personal invective. Please read the site guidelines].
I don’t know why Sinhalese fail to realize, who is the real culprits for the situation in lanka and eelam. It was Sinhalese who created the LTTE by their words and deeds. It was Sinhalese who 1958, 1977 and 1983 who killed, raped and destroy Tamils properties systematically with the help of government. There are hundreds of other smaller riots, that only people who suffered knew this. I am writing about this because of my personal experience. When Tamils realized only language Sinhalese understands “violence“, they created the LTTE .Even the Tamils who lived in Colombo for generations know why the riots in Sinhalese area disappeared significantly. I hope [edited out] will go and do some research and find out why Tamils are so bitter against the Sinhalese. [Edited out - meaning of sentence confusing with misinterpretation leading discussions away from the issue at hand]
Lets not forget the suffering faced by the Sinhalese people in this country. Suffering is not relative. We can’t compare suffering of people in Rwanda to people in Jaffna and think it must be worse. In the same way we cant think of suffering of people in Jaffna to people in the south and think its worse (though thats a harder one to get one’s head around)
If you listen to what extremist Sinhalese like the JVP (or the group who was supposed to be pro-LTTE and arrested recently) say, they talk about extreme poverty faced by Sinhala people in the South. They talk about how some people go on one meal a day with the same despair that Ruki does.
The arrested Sinhala youth (who’s interview is available on the net http://defence.lk/videos/20070208_01.wmv) talks about the extreme poverty he faced in his life which pushed him to take up arms.
Lets throw that into the mix to get an even sadder situation in this country.
I think if we pay more attention to the JVP, JHU it will shed more light on how what they say is relevant and how their policies are trying to address those problems.
sure, sinhales are facing poverty which is delibretly created by the people who they select to govern them, unlike jaffana which is occupied by the GOSL against the will of tamil people. If they are not under the occupation , still face poverty, then the blame will fall into people who govern them, which is most likley LTTE.
Funny fact – Sinhalese are not “facing poverty”. Sri Lanka has the highest per capita income in South Asia and is now a middle income country. This may break your heart but it’s the “self-governed” Northern Tamils who are behind in terms of both income and quality of life. Sinhalese have done well.
What does JM means by “self governed” Northern Tamils? Northern Tamils are restricted in fishing, farming, livestock rearing, even doing labouring jobs by the “OCCUPIED FORCES”. By closing the A9, they are unable to market their produce. With curfews and the security forces occupying their houses and farm lands they are unable to persue their traditional occupation of fishing and farming. Even their livestock are being stolen by the “occupied forces” and eaten.
Have they been allowed to “SELF GOVERN” in the true sense, they would have been the envy of the people in the rest of the country. May be JM is not aware of the contribution of the Tamils to the economy of Sri Lanka before the “occupied forces” came into being.
Similarly, Nandasena, the Sinhalese have to deal with terrorist attacks, assassination of political leaders, tourist travel warnings, Tamil plantation trade unions, a massive defence expenditure, pressure from Tamil Nadu and all that. Sri Lanka would be hostile to a self-governed, independent Tamileelam, so it is unlikely that there would be any trade via A9 anyway. So it as much a level playing field as it ever could or would be. Yet the Sinhalese have prevailed, and the Tamils have run themselves into the ground.
I donot intend to compare the sufferings of the people in Jaffna and other places affeted by war and killings of civilians. Thank you for this report which helps us to undertand the plight of such people at least to some degree. Looking for solutions i feel it is important to recognize that all people, where ever they are or to what ethnic community they belong should be given the right to self government. Governments today, whether they are elected or not donot represent the interests of the people. They are just tools in the hands of greedy powers, national and international, who are making use of the “authority” that they have accuired to suppress and plunder all people and all nature’s resources. The worst of terrorists are supported by such powers, as long as such terror agrees with this process of plunder.
Therefore all people, the tamils in Jaffna, the muslims, the plantation workers, the fisher people, whose right to the sea and the beaches are being taken away in the name of rebuilding after Tsunami, the peasants in the country, the people all over the country who are now suffering impossible cost of living are all being suppressed and victimised for the purpose of this plunder and destruction by a few. So, the solution is in the recongnition that all these people should have their own self government, instead of agreeing to be under any form of centralised government. Can we all being to fight for such self rule, to be free of suppression and plunder by the “illegitimate powers” that claim to be legal governments. I say this as a person who was born a Sinhala and have lived in the Sinhala areas all my life- not by choise.
We know that both sides pretend that they are protecting the innocent members of the community and that is the only reason for their involvement.
However, out of the two opposites we have, who cares for at least a minimum level of wellbeing of the community in Jaffna and other parts of North East? LTTE at least a self interest in this – they need the community, otherwise they are a noboby. This Government on the other hand has already shown that they wouldn’t mind wiping out this community. Perhaps it has stopped even pretending!
BEFORE it does anything in the area this community lives in (the land belongs to the community!) – the Government has to declare what they have in mind for the future of this community. It has no right to rule that part of the world if it does not take any responsibility for the wellbeing of the community living there. It is otherwise a straight OCCUPATION!
If Chanaka and people with similar mentality believe this is their country (and not the Tamils’), please say so to the international community so that they get to know that there is no democracy in OUR country. Let’s stop pretending..
People like Chanaka need to know that they can’t eat the cake and have it as well. Just, for a moment, put yourselves in the Tamils’ place and THINK! I don’t know if you are a believer in Buddhism and rebirth – what is the guarantee you won’t be born as a Tamil? I am sorry for being a little personal here – but couldn’t help feeling frustrated at the lack of understanding..
The Tamils are still ready to live like brothers – so do many Sinhala friends..
“People like Chanaka need to know that they can’t eat the cake and have it as well.”
Well, I think that people like you also should learn that lesson, I don’t think it’s fair to recommend that to only on side. For example, the LTTE is claiming 60% of the coastline and 30% of the land area for 12.6% of the population. Does that sound fair to you? It is a demografically unjust demand, but it is a Tamil nationalist claim that continues to be put forward. The proponents want to enjoy all the rights in the rest of the country, and yet have an exclusive preserve for Tamils. Now that is wanting to have the cake and eat it too, don’t you think? It’s rather like the 50:50 proposal.
Please note that today Tamils can live anwhere they want to in Sri Lanka, but non-Tamils are barred from areas of their own country. I would like to put the some question to you: I don’t know if you are a believer in HInduism and rebirth – what is the guarantee you won’t be born as a Sinhalese?
Lack of understanding isn’t just a problem the Sinhalese have, it is quite prevalent among the Tamil community as well.