Dr. Panagamuwa’s workshop was tucked away down a corridor of the Mannar Hospital in the north west of Sri Lanka. When I arrived, the doctor, dressed in his distinctive green theatre overalls, was rushing around making sure his patients were attended to. One of the patients was Mary, a young Tamil woman whose leg had been amputated following a landmine explosion. I watched Dr. Panagamuwa check over the adjustments he had made to her new artificial limb. He spoke to her in Tamil and when he got stuck with a word or phrase, his young assistant would step in to help communicate. “I didn’t think he was a doctor,” Mary told me afterwards. “He’s not like a normal doctor.” She was in a hurry to catch the last bus home, much easier now with her new leg.

Together with both Tamil and Sinhalese doctors from England, Dr. Panagamuwa started the Meththa Foundation, a charity would focus on using his highly specialised skills. Meththa started small, raising funds through house parties, cricket matches and dinner dances. In July 2009, Dr Panagamuwa visited Mannar and having seen the number of amputees lining the corridors of the hospital he decided to set up his workshop. “War means injuries,” he told me and said that as long as there was a need he would continue to work in Mannar.

Dr. Panagamuwa started off as a surgeon in Sri Lanka, but after the JVP insurrection of 1989 he decided to settle in England with his wife and two children. “When I left Sri Lanka, apart from the new discipline, one of the first things I noticed there was the wastage of perfectly good components.” Because of regulations in England prohibiting their reuse, expensive components had been discarded. “These rules benefitted Sri Lanka,” he told me and managed to adapt them for patients’ needs here.

Dr. Panagamuwa’s workshop was divided into two compartments. In the front portion he attended to the patients and at the back, his team of young technicians worked at noisy machines, drilling holes into new artificial limbs for amputees. One thing that struck me as I watched Dr. Panagamuwa working was that unless patients voluntarily told him how they had lost their limbs, he didn’t probe into the causes. “What does it matter how the patient got injured from a clinical point of view?” he said. “We try to get them to a point where their disability is no longer the central part of their life. We want that to be behind them.” If patients did want to talk about what had happened to them he listened and tried to find out how best he could help get them walking again. “I want to treat them the same way we treat people in England. With the same ethos. Listening to people, being by their side. I tell them, Try this and see. If you don’t like it, we will give you another choice“.

Dr. Panagamuwa understood how his decision to set up a base in Mannar could be perceived by some members of the diaspora. The question why a Sinhalese doctor is working in Mannar? is one he knew was being asked by some not only from the Tamil diaspora, but also the Sinhalese community. Having spent a few days with Dr. Panagamuwa in Mannar and traveling with his team to Pooneryn, the answer was plain: because there was a need. “Some of the younger people are calling me uncle now,” he told me, “and that is the highest tribute that they can pay me”.

Editors note: For an overview of the Longing and Belonging series and trailer, please click Longing and belonging series: Diaspora shorts. Also see The science of planning in Jaffna and From London to Jaffna for the first time.

• Longing and belonging series: Diaspora shorts
• Longing and Belonging series: The science of planning in Jaffna
• Chikenguniya Spreads In Jaffna
• A recent trip to Vavuniya: For the future looks dark and gloomy
• Longing and Belonging series: From London to Jaffna for the first time

This report provides what will be the definitive account of the story of the Northern Muslims following on their expulsion from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990. Faithful throughout to the narrative of the affected, and respectful in its well- nuanced references to earlier writings- Hasbullah, Thiranagama and others- its approach earns the reader’s respect and trust.

Commencing with accounts of pre- existing relations between co –existing Muslim and Tamil communities, the Report tightly states that.

“October 1990 was a water-shed in terms of both Muslim identity and Tamil identity in the North due to the horror of the expulsion. By driving the Muslims out of their homes, the LTTE finally created a mono-ethnic North.”

While the affected people’s  narrative uses terms such as “People from Batticaloa have come” it is clearly orders  from  the top that was responsible for this instance of  “Tamil Turning Terrorist” against Muslims, to use the report’s words. The creation of a mono- ethnic North was the Principal Objective of this exercise, not a consequence alone. The mind- set behind this, preying on civilians, find echo in the spectacle of the LTTEs destruction from behind of the civilian population seeking to escape from the war- zone in the final stages of the war in 2009.

The inaction of the Sri Lankan Army, though physically present in the North at the time of the expulsion, spoken to time and again in the narratives, is rightly seen by the Commission as an off-  shoot of the inaction of the State. The tragic outcome of this was that both Muslim and Tamil while being at that time very much under the domination of the LTTE, failed to see the commonality of their plight. The result was a single failure to come together against a common enemy, the LTTE.

This 230 page Report, vividly and with sympathy captures the experience of an ethnically- determined civilian population forcibly displaced. It recounts these peoples relationships- economic, social, religious and just plain peaceful co- existence wise, with neighbours prior to expulsion; identifies the problems they faced in displacement, how they faced up to them and who helped/hindered or just stood-by. It describes both the broadening of horizons and the acquisition of new skills, as well as the suffering through loss of family and material assets, and the all- pervading sense of uncertainty attendant on displacement.

Valuable insights lie in the section identifying Problems attendant on re- settlement, both problems at individual  level and problems faced as a community. Problems of re- claiming homesteads and farm- lands, problems of re- integration after a 20 year unwanted absence, problems  arising from the “natural increase” in both returning and resident populations in the absence of an attendant incremental development of the North’s resources; all these are amply depicted. As also the fact that all this has to be faced in the midst of Conflicting Perceptions:

Viz :  “We left because we were forced to and have suffered immeasurably in the intervening period.”

Versus  “You were away. You didn’t  have to suffer the depredations of the LTTE and the horrors of war.”

The courage,  determination and enterprise shown by this civilian population forcibly displaced by LTTE dictate its potent evidence of the vitality and cohesion of that community which will make them a power for good where ever they are. If, due to ties of marriage, employment, tenure of ownership, they decide to make their permanent residence in a part of Sri Lanka other than their area of origin, there should be full recognition by all quarters- administrative, judicial, cultural, that this constitutes the exercise of a Right of Citizenship of a Sri Lankan. Should he wish to re- settle in his area of origin, a like recognition of his right as a citizen to do so should undoubtedly be the basis of the provision of services to and assistance to him.

As they narrative eloquently puts it:

“We do not want to live like the displaced again.”

And, even more succinctly:-

“We can’t move backwards.”

Lands that have remained untilled, homesteads that have stood empty, worse still lands or homesteads that have been the refuge of and received the care of others who may well have come there on facing displacement themselves, and in any case themselves number among  the marginalized poor, pose challenges requiring sensitive solution.

At this juncture,  it is pertinent to remember that even the families of slain LTTEers, despite the grandiose words of the LTTE Boss, belong, objectively speaking, to the numbers of the poor and the marginalized.  Ethnically speaking they were Tamils of course- but there was little else to distinguish their circumstances of displacement and destitution from that of the Muslim poor displaced to Puttalam.

Bishop Rayappu Joseph is quoted in the Report as saying:

“The Tamils who stayed behind were displaced over 26 times, lost children to the LTTE, lost family members to death and disappearance, lost limbs etc.”

This is a timely reminder that the bulk of Tamils left in the North during the years of the war belong to the poor and the marginalized and it was they who were the cannon-fodder for the LTTEs grand designs.

The Report’s Recommendations are particularly apposite in this regard. They are:

“When issues faced by Muslim communities are shared by other communities, attempts should be made to articulate such issues on a common platform. Strategic partnerships for activism should be encouraged.”

And:

“Muslim leadership should not be seen to be advocating for Muslim return alone. Especially the Muslim civil society leadership should find ways of working with the Tamil leadership in the respective areas of fostering a culture of collective work and co- existence.”

The solution of problems attendant on re- settlement need to be tackled as a national issue. This needs close consultation and  cooperation between the Government of Sri Lanka, Community and Political leaders at national and regional level, and the affected people. The approach recommended above, however, is signally absent in the New Structures and Procedures which have been put in place for the settlement of property disputes in the North.

The structure and procedures which have been put in place for the settlement of property disputes in the North constitute an instance of the promulgation by administrative regulation displacing age- old laws of property rights and succession rights that have cemented the bonds between citizens-especially in a community with its own customary personal laws. While admittedly solutions are difficult in the face of out- dated laws administered by an over- worked courts system  and area administrative officials who lack the tools for bringing about an equitable solution as required in the circumstances, this instance of the by- passing of  Parliament and attendant public scrutiny, leaves room for suspicion that the objective of this executively  promulgated exercise is the consolidation of the Army’s say in civil matters in the North, and that the enjoyment  of rights be by grace and favour.

The charge of “Creating a Northern Province in the North-Western Province”:There is both poignancy and cause for sorrow in the spectacle of social relations gone sour evidenced by a host community who has gone from so signal  a welcome of such a great multitude of the displaced into their midst to taking the step of petitioning the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (the LLRC) against what they term “The creation of the Northern Province within the North-West Province”.

As the Report clearly describes, the State’s response to the challenge of the delivery of services to the displaced was the provision of a framework of delivery distinct from that serving the Host community. This was a response based on a political imperative, that of keeping the displaced as a distinct constituency from the host community. The end- result of the continuance of this practice over 20 years was a divergence in the quality of services available to persons living in close proximity. The inevitable alienation and resentment felt by the host community was the spring board for action, which took the form of a presentation of a petition to the LLRC by the Trustees of the Puttalam Grand Mosque and the Puttalam Branch of the Jamiyathul  Ulama (Council of Muslim Theologians) as representatives of the host community, in protest against what they saw as the adverse effects of the creation of a Northern Province in the North Western Province. Chapter 8 of the Report on “The Host community’s perspective of the displacement” is essential reading for the greater comprehension of the damage brought about the states  mis-handling of a situation.

Whether it is the adverse effects of ethicized politics in Sri Lanka including political favoritism, or the adverse impact of male chauvinism on the women of the displaced community, the Report is courageously transparent in its examination of the Enemy- Within.

The Position of Women in displacement

A wide- ranging section of the Report deals with intra- familial relations as well as relations with the host community in the context of displacement. The sensitivity and integrity shown in its reliance on the testimony of the women themselves is admirable. As a study that high- lights cultural gradations in Muslim communities within a country and the challenges of adjustments attendant on displacement from one Muslim cultural context to another  Muslim cultural context,  this  Report will undoubtedly evoke interest in all engaged in the comparative study of the intra- action of religion and cultural in  relation to Rights. In fact, one of the Reports most discerning comments  is based on the Commission’s research in this regard.

“While the modern Muslim leadership is in general looking for some rights-based solution to their common problems of displacement, it is not clear to what extent the community will be supportive of such a perspective for addressing problems faced by community women.”

Transitional Justice

That this study has been undertaken in a context of transition in Sri Lanka greatly enhances its value. This is a time when new ways of thinking based on a spirit of inclusiveness are essential both at policy and implementation levels. The creation of a  self- confidant population looking with hope to the future requires this. The aspirations of both Muslim youth returning to the North and the increasing number of Tamil- speaking Sri Lankan youth who are identifying the North as a location of expanding opportunity for the profitable practice of skills acquired in other urban surrounding in the intervening years, can find fulfillment only in such an enabling context. Youth of Tamil- speaking communities in Colombo too, faced with an uncertainty of safe residence in the face of the GOSLs plans for physical transformation of Colombo, are now feeling the need to seek jobs and safe residence elsewhere. They increasingly look to the North.

In the North as elsewhere modern means of production will replace the old, bringing in its wake change in the traditional relationships of status and power. The preparation of returnees to face this with equanimity is a task in hand.

My thanks to the Law and Society Trust and its funders for the vision  shown in initiating this research.

Let us of civil society manifest a like vision and determination to bring to a successful outcome, the process to which this Report has given such a rich inception.

• The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990
• Citizen’s Commission: Expulsion of the Northern Muslims by the LTTE in October 1990
• A Commissioner’s Perspective: Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE
• The Muslim question and resettlement of Muslim IDPs in post-war Sri Lanka: Two comprehensive interviews
• LLRC submission: The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the North by the LTTE in October 1990

In October 1990, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) expelled the entire Muslim population of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Within a period of 2 weeks the LTTE systematically chased out close to 75,000 Muslims residing in the districts of Kilinochchi, Mullaiteewu, Jaffna, Mannar and parts of Vavuniya.

The LTTE expulsion of Muslims has not been adequately integrated into any mainstream historical narrative in Sri Lanka. Most commentators routinely get the date of the expulsion wrong and few give it the status of a highly significant historical event that it warrants. This is unfortunately true of most events involving Sri Lanka’s Muslim community.

The Law and Society Trust (LST) in partnership with the Rural Development Foundation (RDF), the Community Trust Fund (CTF) and the Peoples’ Secretariat (PS) and an advisory group of prominent Muslim civil society actors conducted a two year long truth seeking initiative in the form of a Citizens’ Commission. The objective of this exercise has been to produce authoritative documentation of the expulsion and its consequences that is sanctioned by the community, and to list the community’s grievances through a document endorsed by the Commission consisting of eminent civil society actors. The Commission’s broadly defined terms of reference looked at a) the history of the expulsion, b) two decades of displacement, and c) the resettlement experience.

The Commissioners are eminent persons from civil society who are outside the Northern Muslim Community. The nine commissioners are Dr. Devanesan Nesiah, Dr.M.S.M.Anes, Dr.Catherin Brun, Dr.Gameela Samarasinghe, Dr.E.Santhirasegaram, Dr.Nimalka Fernando, Mr.Javid Yusuf, Ms.Chulani Kodikara and Judge.U.L.Abdul Majeed.

Shreen Saroor Juwairiya Mohideen and Jensila Majeed have assisted the commission process as members of the advisory group.

The commission has been conducting its inquiries since September 2009. Desk research has been done to collect newspaper reporting on the expulsion and scholarly articles that have been written on the event and the northern Muslims’ displacement experience. Commissioners have held 22 sittings in Puttalam, Negambo, Colombo, Mannar, Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya.  Several of the Puttalam sittings were especially designed to elicit the participation of representatives from all five districts in the North, women from the Northern Muslim community, young people from the Northern Muslim community, and representatives from the host community in Puttalam. The commission has also collected 390 testimonies and 13 focus group interviews. These include 26 testimonies from host community members.

The Commission Report is now complete and was launched at the International Center for Ethnic Studies auditorium on the 3^rd of November. The report was very favorably received. The commentators were Manouri Muttetuwegama, Barrister, Attorney-at-Law, former Commissioner of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, Chaired the Commission of Inquiry into Involuntary Removal/ Disappearance of Persons (All Island 1998- 2000) and member of the Commission of Inquiry into Alleged Serious Violations of Human Rights 2007 and Seelan Kadirgamar, former Senior Lecturer in History, University of Jaffna.  Both commentators praised the nature of the initiative and the quality of the report. They also stated that it was an important precedent that highlighted the voices of those who were affected. Kadirgama stated that it was one of the few documentation projects of the kind and hoped it would serve as a precedent for other such projects.

The report is comprehensive and consists of 11 chapters. The report was written in order to give as much prominence as possible to the voices of the northern Muslims who spoke to the commission, and also to give as much social and political background to the particular conditions of the northern Muslim experience. Therefore a section of the report is devoted to capturing the experience of the expulsion and also a sense of northern Muslims everyday lives within the war zone, and in the context of displacement. (Chapter 4, 5 and 9)These chapters mostly contain narratives from the testimonies. These narrative most poignantly capture both the time of war in the north as well as the shock of having to leave their homes with no notice.  The following two quotes are from Chapter 4 of the report- Life in the North During War Time.

My mother was not very interested in associations etc but she was a popular person. She will help a lot for matters related to young girls and others. She would go forward for anything. Once 32 people died as a result of a shell attack, and she bathed all the ‘Janasas’ (all were female ‘Janasas’) alone. All the houses that came under this attack were destroyed. The army was on one side and the LTTE were on the other side and shells attacks were happening here and there. It was my mother who bathed them in a hurry and buried them. It was a very difficult time. They were in the mood to shoot anyone they saw. (p. 47)- The quote is from the testimony of R. Faiza of Moor Street Jaffna

The following quote captures the moment of the expulsion in a different location- this is from Sameena of Puthukudiiruppu on Mannar Island.

We left on the 25^th of October 1990 at 5 pm. The LTTE came to the village and announced through loud speakers that we had to leave immediately by the route they  showed us. About 40 cadres came into our village and came to all our houses and demanded 10,000 rupees or 10 sovereigns  in gold or to give them the house and leave. They came at the time my husband was having lunch. When they asked me where he was I said he was not at home as I was afraid they would take him away so I did not let them come in. Then I heard from the other people that they came and robbed the houses in the night so I removed all my jewellery  and put them in a tin and buried the tin.

They came again later that day and asked for my jewellery.  I told them I don’t have it with me now and told them to take the things from the shop and leave. They said it was there in the morning and how come its not there now? One of them got very angry and shot at the table in the shop and broke all the things. They behaved in a violent manner.  From next door they took all the sacks of paddy they had. Then the mosque leaders gathered and decided that we should all leave together and so we left.

Sameena later stated that they were able to recover the jewellery that they buried when the husband came back to the village in 1996. (p.62)

The other chapters trace the social and political background to the expulsion (Chapter 4) the state’s minimal attention to the issue (Chapter 6) and the northern Muslim in the context of Muslim politics.  Chapter 6 refers to the particular manner in which the northern Muslims featured in the political agenda of the SLMC under Mr. Ashraff, and the many developments both positive and troubling that occurred in Puttalam after Risharth Bathiudeen was made minister of Rehabilitation.

The northern Muslim displacement experience has lasted now for twenty one years.  At the time of the expulsion people thought they would go back in a matter of weeks, months—sometimes two years. No one expected it to last two decades.  I would like to read one quote that speaks to the initial moment of displacement.

A.Kuriza from Muslim College Road, Jaffna provides a narrative that amply illustrates the  pathos of trying to live in a place that was unfamiliar.

We reached Zahira School. Puttalam people were very helpful. We were expecting to return back. We were searching for a house for rent. We got a house for six months. But we said we do not need for that long, we want to rent only for a month. My son found a house which did not have doors, windows or grills. My children started to cry, when they saw the house. Then we did not take that house. My son took us to another house even this was not pleasant to any of us. Everyone started to cry. Then my son was angry that we did not like any of the houses he was showing. He was asking us if you all do not like anything I show what I am going to do. Later we went to a relative’s place in Kalpitiya. They used to come and stay in our place, when we were in Jaffna. We stayed with them for three months. (p. 103)

The fact that they were sent out of their district of displacement into a new province had consequences for them. In some ways they did not have the same restriction and security threats as those displaced in the north. However, they were not considered residents of the places that they lived in and this posed many administrative problems that affected their displacement experience. It affected their ability to vote, access to employment opportunities, and also lead to maintaining the distinction between hosts and displaced and obstructed integration and the increase of tensions between the communities.   Also while some displaced were very enterprising and managed to rebuild their lives many still languish in Puttalam in conditions similar to that which they arrived in to twenty years ago. This is covered in chapter 7.

Chapter 8 is devoted to the Puttalam host community’s perspective on the northern Muslims’ long sojourn in the four DS divisions of Puttalam—Puttalam town Kalpitiya Mundel and Vanathavillu.  The northern Muslims were compelled to over stay their welcome due to no fault of theirs. The Puttalam community has been forced to share their already insufficient resources with a community that suddenly arrived and almost doubled the areas’ population. And these people’ did not go back for twenty years. Chapter 8 looks at the host community’s perspective on the influx.

Almost all the northern Muslims that the commission spoke with referred to their northern homes with great love and sadness – even when they didn’t have plans to return. The report has one chapter –chapter 9 entitled The Loss of a Way of Life that explores this element of pain and nostalgia for a lost time and a place. This chapter also records testimonies about the way of life in the north – festivals, religious gatherings and lifecycle rituals that are no longer practiced.

The vast majority of persons that we spoke to wanted to return. And all northern Muslims that the commission encountered in the north were uniformly happy to be back. They spoke about the sense of freedom and independence that they had regained by returning to their own land (sontha uru) and the fact that they were no longer crippled by their language inabilities.  But they faced huge problems with lack of attention from the government, lack of infrastructure facilities, minimal interest of NGOs, and indifference and sometimes hostility from administrative officials.  Sometimes hostility was experienced from the local Tamil leadership in the north. This was particularly true of Mannar where there are a several conflicts among returning Tamils and Muslims over land. The report attempted to capture the problems of return in the 10^th chapter.

A review of the most important scholarly works dealing with the northern Muslims has also been done.

The expulsion, displacement and return experiences of the northern Muslims are particular and somewhat different from other experiences of protracted displacement. The Commission wanted to capture this difference and draw attention to it.  For instance one of the “problems” of Muslim return is that as one NGO person described it —one foot in the north and one foot in Puttalam. The act of ethnic cleansing by the LTTE compelled the northern Muslims to live outside the north for twenty plus years. This is the reality of their displacement and such feet in different places is a strategy that is necessary for their survival. The literature on displacement refers to this process as trans-local strategies of survival. Those designing programs have to take note of these strategies and not expect the northern Muslims to forget twenty years of living outside the north.

Chapter 11 contains a series of conclusions and recommendations. These are divided into recommendations to the state, the NGO/INGO community and the Muslim leadership.  The northern Muslims need assistance to return,  we have heard that due to lack of transport to school and poor facilities, children are dropping out. Some people who went to the north are returning to Puttalam due to the lack of a house and facilities for fishing and cultivation.  We also know of sections of the population that are not going back and will register as residents of Puttalam and elsewhere. However the situation in Puttalam is fairly tense and much work needs to be done there as well. And this work needs to address the needy of those areas in Puttalam without differentiating between the displaced and the host.

• LLRC submission: The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the North by the LTTE in October 1990
• Citizen’s Commission: Expulsion of the Northern Muslims by the LTTE in October 1990
• The Muslim question and resettlement of Muslim IDPs in post-war Sri Lanka: Two comprehensive interviews
• A Commissioner’s Perspective: Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE
• Some observations on the Final Report of the Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990

Image courtesy Amber

Police attacks on civilians in Komarasankulam (Vavuniya district)

11 men were arrested by the Vavuniya Police in Komarasankulam at 10.30 pm on 20^th August 2011.  The men were severely beaten before arrest and at least two persons were tortured inside the Vavuniya Police Station. Another man was arrested when he visited the police station on 21^st August to recover his vehicle, which had been taken into custody during the incident on the 20^th. Two men who were tortured by the Vavuniya police received treatment at the Vavuniya Hospital. The rest were produced before the Vavuniya Magistrate on 23^rd August and remanded to the Vavuniya Prison.  All 12 men have since been released on bail. The next hearing is scheduled for 12^th October 2011.

Incident in Komarasankulam

At around 9.30 pm on 20^th August, two men wearing shorts and t-shirts and carrying a bag were seen opposite St. Mary’s Church in Komarasankulam. People telephoned the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Sithamparapuram Police Station, said that suspected ‘grease men’ had entered the village and asked for protection. The OIC accused the people of fabricating these stories and  put down the phone.  Around 10 minutes later, a Sergeant from the Sidhambarapuram police, came to the church and inquired into the incident. However by this point, the suspicious men had left the scene.

A short while later, people saw the same two men coming back towards the church on a motorbike with the headlights off.  When the men saw the people gathered on the road, they turned and drove away from the village. A witness states that he and another boy from the village chased the bike up to Kalnatinakulam. They saw the men travelling back towards them on the bike. They stopped and questioned the men who said that they were police officers but did not produce any identification. Since the men claimed to be police, the witness and the other boy left them at Kalnatinakulam and returned to the Church. On the way, they saw a police jeep from Sithamparapuram drive into the Komarasankulam school premises. They returned to the Church and told the people what they had seen.

Around 10-11pm people who had gathered at the Church decided to search for the suspicious men and walked towards the Komarasankulam school premises. They found the motorbike used by the two men on the main road near the school. The bike was registered in the Sabaragamuwa Province, around 200km away from Vavuniya. The people began to search for the two men and found them hiding in a bush near the school grounds. The people demanded to know why the men were in the village and asked for proof that they were police officers. The men continued to insist that they were police officers but refused to produce any identification. While they were arguing, the police jeep drove out of the Komarasankulam school premises up to the crowd. The police Sergeant identified the two men as police officers and asked the people to release the men to his custody. The same Sergeant had visited the church earlier that night. The people refused and demanded that the men produce some identification to prove that they were in fact the police. As the argument continued and the men refused to provide any identification or reason for their presence in the village, the people grew agitated and began to beat the men with sticks. The Sergeant was also injured as he tried to protect the two men.

At this point, the Parish Priest in Komarasankulam, arrived at the scene and tried to stop the people from beating the men. The people refused to hand over the men or to allow the Sergeant to be taken to hospital for treatment. They stood in front of the Police vehicle and prevented the jeep from being moved. They also refused to allow the Sergeant to be taken to hospital by motor bike.

Later on, the OIC and 3 or 4 officers from the Sithamparapuram Police arrived at the scene. The people had surrounded the two men and refused to hand them over to the police, or to allow the police vehicles to be moved. At one point, the police tried to take the men away in a three wheeler, but this vehicle was also registered in the Sabaragamuwa province and the people were suspicious and refused to allow the vehicle to pass.

10 minutes later, around 20 officers from the Madukandha Army Camp arrived at the village and surrounded the people. There were around 150 villagers including women and children gathered at the time. The Army was able to negotiate with the people and the two men were released to Army custody.

Later, about 50-60 policemen from the Vavuniya Police Station arrived at the scene. Although the conflict had largely subsided by this time, the police carried riot gear and were armed with tear gas and batons. People saw the police  making sticks and poles out of branches and trees and many fled the scene. Around 75 men and boys who remained were surrounded by the police and ordered to sit on the floor. No one was allowed to leave the place. The Army moved aside when the police arrived and said that this was a matter to be resolved by the police. The Police were in uniform and civilian clothing and some of those present recognized the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of the Vavuniya Police among them.

Two priests from Vavuniya arrived at the scene at the same time as the police. The Parish Priest tried to negotiate with the police and explain that the conflict had been resolved and therefore, not to take the men to the Police Station. The police pushed the priest and threatened to take the priest also to the Police. Two boys from the village who had been translating for the police tried to help the priest. The Police immediately attacked the two boys, pushed them inside the Police vehicle and severely beat them. As the crowd became agitated, the Police began to beat the people with sticks and poles. According to one witness, when he tried to reach the Parish Priest, the police grabbed his head and pushed him into the jeep. When the priest tried to protect him, the police abused him and warned him not to intervene. One boy, who grabbed the priest’s hand as he was being dragged into the jeep, was beaten and fractured his leg.

Arrests

Many were able to escape when the police began to attack the people, but 11 men, including an 18 year old student, were arrested that night (20^th August). The police pushed the men inside the jeep and around 15 officers stood at the front of the vehicle so the men could not see out of the vehicle. They were driven around for around an hour and severely beaten inside the jeep before being taken to the Vavuniya Police Station at around 1am (21^st August).

At the police station the men were ordered to crawl on their knees for around 30 meters up to the station. The boy whose leg had been broken was also forced to crawl despite his injuries. The men were stripped to their underwear, searched and their personal belongings were taken by the police. The police recorded their details and 10 of them were put into a single overcrowded cell.  Another man whose father was Sinhalese was held separately. Once they were inside the cell they realized that a Catholic brother/seminarian was among the group arrested.

On 21^st August, a three wheeler driver from a neighboring village was arrested when he visited the police station to claim his vehicle which had been taken into police custody during the attack in Komarasankulam the previous night.

Torture

At around 2 am on 21^st August, two officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) came to the cell and called out two persons including the seminarian. The witness states that the officers appeared to be drunk. Both men were pushed in to the interrogation room and fell to the floor. There were five officers, two in police uniform and others in civilian clothing.

One victim states that: “the officers dragged me up and asked ‘will you hit the police’ when I tried to tell them that I did not hit the police, they asked me to shut up. When the officers began to hit me, I tried to shield my face with my hand. The officer ordered me to put my hand down and hit me with his fist, on my forehead, cheeks, chin and my ears. When he hit my ears I felt an electric shock pass through my body. I saw the seminarian being beaten by other officers in the same room. An officer hit me on the head with a baton. When I fell down, they trampled me and continued to beat me. They put me on a table and two officers held my hands and another beat the soles of my feet and my head with a baton. They pushed me on the floor and trampled and kicked my head. They questioned me about a robbery that took place in the village over three years ago. I said that I did not know anything about the robbery. When I tried to stand up, an officer kicked me in the head and I fell backward. Another officer grabbed me and slammed me against the wall. While I was being tortured, another senior officer in uniform entered the room. I thought that he was the OIC and begged him to release me. The officer picked up a baton and hit me on the head.”

According to the other victim, the seminarian, three Police officers hit him with batons on the head, face, ears hands and legs. He was not able to defend himself since all three were hitting him at once. They hit his left ear very badly and his ear drum burst as a result. For about two weeks he was unable to hear from his left ear. He still suffers pain on his face and head and continues to get medical treatment.

According to the first witness, the Police only stopped beating them, when the OIC entered the station and shouted at them to stop beating the prisoners. The OIC was not at the station when they were brought in. He believes that the OIC heard their screams and had seen the other detainees who were also injured from the beating earlier that night. Once the OIC arrived the police took them back to the cell at around 3 am (21^st August).

The seminarian states that they were locked in a small room, which had hardly any room to move about, and the squatting toilet also was inside the cell. They were not given food or water and had to drink from the tap used for the toilet. The detainees were taken to the Vavuniya Hospital at 4 am on 21^st August.

Vavuniya Hospital

At the hospital, the detainees were checked by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO). She told one victim, who had been tortured by the police, that he had no visible injuries and did not need to be admitted for treatment. A Tamil male nurse convinced the JMO that the victim was in pain and may have suffered internal injuries, following which he was admitted for treatment. The seminarian was also admitted for treatment.

The JMO asked the victim how he had acquired the injuries and he told her that he had been tortured by the Vavuniya police. The victim saw the JMO speak to a person who he understood to be the OIC of the Vavuniya Police over the phone and ask him in Sinhalese, what she should state in the medical certificate. The JMO report which was given to the witness on 26^th August states that his injuries were due to an ‘assault by unknown persons’.

At the hospital, the victim had to lie on a bench and was not given any treatment until around 2 pm when he was given a painkiller. At around 4 pm he was given a bed and his feet were fastened by shackles to the bed. The two men who had been beaten by the villagers and the police Sergeant were also being treated in the same ward. The Sinhalese doctors would speak to the police officer and the two men but did not treat or speak to the witness. He was not given food or water until his mother brought him lunch on 22^nd August. He was asked to collect water from a tap outside the ward. Since he could not walk due to his injuries, he borrowed water from another patient to take his tablets.

On 21^st August, three intelligence officers from the Criminal Investigation Department visited the witness and took his statement. They made him sign the final statement, but he is not aware of its contents since the statement was written in Sinhalese, a language he doesn’t read.

A jailor from Vavuniya prison was stationed at the accident ward to monitor those visiting the witness and the seminarian. On 22^nd August, a friend visited the victim in the hospital but when he tried to speak to the victim he was told that the victim was in Police custody and he must obtain permission before speaking to him. A Catholic nun who visited the seminarian in the hospital was allowed to speak to him, but when the seminarian received a phone call, the jailor scolded them and asked the visitors to leave.

The victim was transferred to Ward 1 on 23^rd August. An x-ray was taken of his injuries but he was not given any treatment or checked by the doctors. He believes that the Sinhalese doctors were reluctant to treat him since they believed that he was a criminal who had attacked the police.

The seminarian states that he was admitted to the ENT ward and shackled to the bed. Different jailors were assigned in the ward to monitor his visitors. Some of the jailors tightened the restraints until it was very painful, and also chased away those visiting him and did not allow him to use the phone. Some others were friendlier, inquired what had happened and allowed visitors.

Court Proceedings

On 22^nd August around 150, parents, wives, relatives and friends of the 12 men gathered at the Vavuniya Court, believing that the men would be produced in Court that morning. Only one person was produced in Court as two were in Vavuniya hospital and 9 others had been taken to Anuradhapura prison. Relatives were told by the police, that the men had been taken to the Anuradhapura Remand Prison on 21^st August and could not be brought as there was no transport to bring them to Court in Vavuniya. The Judge gave permission for the seminarian to be released on bail as soon as he was discharged from the hospital.

On 23^rd August, 10 men were produced in the Vavuniya Court. They were represented by about 14 lawyers from the Vavuniya Bar. The police accused the men of beating and injuring a police officer on duty. Lawyers for the men argued that this was not a planned attack against the police and that the men had beaten the ‘grease men’ and the police were injured accidentally. The police objected to the men being released on bail and threatened that if the men were released, the police would not go to Komarasankulam on duty. They also warned that the police would not be responsible if anything should happen to the men once they were released.  Following the objections by the police, the Judge ordered the men to be remanded to the Vavuniya Remand Prison.

The men were produced in Court on 24^th and 25^th August. On the 24^th, the Judge refused bail but the following day he rejected police objections and ordered the men to be released on personal bail. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 12^th October 2011.

Release

The victim had received treatment at the Vavuniya Hospital since 21^st August. On 25^th August he was discharged from hospital and taken to the Vavuniya Remand Prison where he was held in a cell for around 2 hours, until the jailor obtained a Court Order releasing him on bail. The victim was released at around 5 pm on 25^th August and returned home to Komarasankulam. On 26^th August, he received his medical certificate, signed by the JMO, which states that his injuries were caused by “unknown persons”, despite his statement on 21^st August that the injuries were due to torture by the Vavuniya police.

The Catholic Seminarian, who was tortured by the Vavuniya police, was released on bail on 22^nd August. However he continued to receive treatment at the Vavuniya Hospital and was shackled to a hospital bed when a Catholic nun visited him on 23^rd August.

Current Situation

The victim states that he lives in fear of a further attack or arrest by the police.  When the police objected to bail, they warned that they would not be responsible if anything were to happen to the men in the next 21 days. The victim is afraid to stay at home and as of 29^th August, had not returned to work out of fear for his life. He states that he can be easily recognized by the police since he was kept in the same ward as the injured policemen and the suspected grease men. He still suffers from severe pain, headaches and dizziness as a result of his injuries.

List of those arrested on 20^th night (all male)

1. Saranraj, 18 years, student Komarasankulam Maha Vidhyalaya
2. Robington, 21 years, Security Guard, Human Rights Commission
3. Jegetheesan, 25 years, Sales Executive at Browns Company, Vavuniya (Brother of Saranraj)
4. Vimalraj, 28 years, Mason
5. Denniston, 28 years, Barbershop owner
6. Emilraj, 29 years, Demining officer,
7. Gnanaruben, 32 years, Catholic Seminarian (Brother of Vimalraj)
8. Chandralal, 35 years, Demining FSD
9. Pushpaseelan, 38 years, MSF Logistics Assistant
10. Venthakoon, 38 years, Laborer
11. Selvam, 45 years, Mason
12. Local three wheeler driver from neighboring village – arrested the following day.

Army attacks against civilians in Josephvaz Nagar, Thottaveli and Pesalai (Mannar district)

On 22^nd August night, the military attacked around 800 civilians in Josephvaz Nagar, Thottaveli located in the Mannar District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The people had set up a vigilance committee and placed make shift barriers to guard the village against grease devils. The military objected to such measures by the people and following an assault on some vigilantes at around 11.15 pm, where a military jeep was stopped at a barrier, several military jeeps entered the village and hundreds of officers attacked the people with guns and batons. The Parish Priest, Vicar General of the diocese and another priest were also threatened in the attack. At a meeting with the people following the attack, Mannar Commander, Brigadier Maithree Dias threatened to arrest the priests, accused them of instigating the people to attack the military and threatened to shoot any person who attempted to surround a military camp or vehicle in the future.

Vigilance Committee in Thottaveli

On 19^th August, the Parish Priest of Thottaveli informed the Erukulampitty Police that villages were scared about grease devils in the village and were planning to organize vigilance committees to prevent attacks in the village. On 21st August, the Head Quarters Inspector (HQI) of Mannar met the villagers and the Parish Priest in Josephvaz Nagar to discuss the grease devil issue. On both occasions, the Police requested that no violence should be used except in self defense. The Police also requested that if anyone was caught as suspected grease devils by villagers, they should be handed over to the police. The Parish Priest and villagers agreed to the conditions and vigilance committees were set up with police permission to guard the village between 6pm and 6 am each day.

Grease Devil Sightings

On 21^st and 22^nd August, between 6-8pm, two women had each seen a strange man, in different locations (in separate incidents), in Thottaveli, and suspected the person to be a grease devil. In the incident on 22^nd August, the woman saw a grease devil enter her house and shouted for help. The woman was in a state of shock and was not able to speak and explain anything to the others.  The villagers chased the man who was able to get away.

Attack on Civilians in Thottaveli

A witness states that on 22^nd night, he entered JV Nagar at around 11.00 pm, and passed a small makeshift barrier set up by the vigilance committee at the entrance to the village. The barrier was about 1 foot in height and made of logs and stones. On his way to the village, the witness saw a lorry with a tin roof parked opposite the Our Lady of Martyrs Church in Thottaveli, with its headlights switched off. A short while after the witness passed the barrier he saw the same vehicle try to enter the village with around 10 army officers inside. The villagers refused to allow the vehicle to pass and asked the Army officers why they wanted to enter the village at that late hour. The officers said that the entire area was under their control and that no one could stop them from entering the village at any time. They said that there was no need for a vigilance committee and that they would protect the village. The people said that the vigilance committee had been set up with police permission.

While the villagers were arguing, two officers got down from the vehicle and started beating the people near the barrier with guns and batons. Three villagers were injured in the attack. The others ran towards the Church, which is about 300 meters from the barrier, shouting that the army had entered the village and was attacking the people. They rang the Church bell signaling an emergency and around 300-500 people gathered near the Church. The Parish Priest also rushed to the Church on his motor bike and as he was parking his bike the Army vehicle stopped near the Church and the Army officers began to beat the people who had gathered there.

The Parish Priest spoke to the officers and tried to explain that the people had been given permission by the police to set up the vigilance committee. He told them to check with the police HQI about the arrangement and questioned them as to why they had attacked villagers who had not tried to harm the officers or their vehicle. The army insisted that would provide protection to the village and that they could enter the village at any time. The witness saw an Army officer making several phone calls and asking for reinforcement to be sent to the village to control the situation. Fearing that the situation would worsen, the Parish Priest called the Vicar General (VG) a senior Church leader in Mannar diocese (covering Mannar and Vavuniya districts) and then rushed to Erukalampitty Police Station. He hoped that the police would intervene and resolve the dispute between the military and the people. Another Catholic priest who was visiting his home in Josephvaz Nagar Nagar also arrived at the Church around this time.

When the Parish Priest reached the police station, there were only three officers at the station and they refused to come to the village at that time. The police tried to call the HQI Mannar and since he did not answer, the message was conveyed to another police officer. As the Parish Priest was leaving the police station around 15-20 Army officers came towards him in a threatening manner, with iron rods and sticks, shouting abusive words. The Army went away, and an attack was prevented when the Police intervened.

The Vicar General who then came with two more priests met the Parish Priest in front of the police station and they started to go to Josephvaz Nagar. The priests were stopped by Lt. Col. Sujeewa who refused to let them go towards the church. They proceeded after the intervention of the VG.

According to a witness, the Parish Priest returned to the village on his motorcycle at high speed and shouted to the people to leave the place. Behind him, the witness saw another army vehicle being driven at high speed towards the Church. Around 20 officers got down from the vehicle and started beating the people. Women and children were also in the crowd and were attacked. The people including the witness began to run from the scene. As the witness tried to enter his family compound, he was chased by three officers. One man who crossed in front of the witness was beaten on his back by an officer. The witness saw another injured person fall unconscious near the entrance to his compound. As he was trying to open his gate, the witness was beaten with a gun. The officers tried to chase him into the compound and continued to hit him as he tried to close the gate. A few minutes later, three officers entered the compound and ordered the witness to come with them. The witness’s wife and her parents were inside the house and his wife came out and told the officers repeatedly that he is her husband. The army finally left the compound but warned the witness that they knew how to deal with people like him. The witness stayed inside his house and estimates that around 20 Army vehicles entered the village.

At the Church, the Vicar General and the other priests tried to stop the army from beating the people but were unable to stop the violence. The Vicar General was also pushed by an Army officer but was saved by a senior officer who intervened. The officers did not allow the people near the Army vehicle, and several people had told the witness that they saw a masked man dressed in black sitting inside the vehicle. They believed that this was the grease man who had entered the village earlier that night. By this time several people had gathered near the Church and tried to ring the Church bell to signal that the people were being attacked. The people who rang the bell were severely beaten by the Army. The witness’ father, who lives near the church, saw Army officers deliberately damage the Parish Priest’s motorbike that was parked near the Church.  People estimated that there were between 15 – 23 army trucks in the village with hundreds of officers.

Meeting with Brigadier Dias around 1.30 am, 23^rd August

By around 1.30 am on 23^rd August, the violence had subsided and the Mannar area commander, Brigadier Maithree Dias, also came to the spot. He addressed around 300 people who had gathered at the church for safety. The Brigadier scolded them and accused the Catholic priests of instigating villagers to attack the military. He threatened to arrest the priests and shoot anyone that tried to come near a military camp or vehicle. He pointed to iron bars nearby that were being used for the construction of a new church, and accused the people of collecting weapons to attack the Army. He threatened to arrest around 8-10 boys who were preparing for their Advanced Level Examination in August and said that he would prevent them from completing the exam. The HQI of Mannar Police had also arrived at the scene based on a call made by Brigadier Dias. The Brigadier asked the police to arrest the priests, and the police said that they would make the arrest if the military would make a complaint.

Finally Brigadier Dias ordered the people to apologize for attacking the military and for breaching the peace. Several community leaders, who wished to prevent a further attack, stood up and apologized for the actions of the people. The military made video recordings of these statements as proof that the people had attacked the army. At around 2.30 am the people were ordered to leave the Church in single file and return to their homes. At least two people including a school teacher were attacked as they left the Church.

Several people were injured in the attack but were too afraid to visit a hospital for treatment. Several people told the witness that the military beat them with poles wrapped with barbed wire which increased the injuries.

Aftermath of the attack – 23^rd August 2011

On 23^rd August, in the afternoon, a military vehicle came at high speed into the village and parked near the Church. 3-4 officers got down and ran into the Church premises and left several minutes later. The officers went to the house where the Parish Priest was having lunch with another priest. A senior officer entered the house and spoke to the priests and asked about their health and spoke briefly on the previous nights incident. The military went back to the Church before leaving the village. The people believe that this operation was intended to scare or intimidate the villagers. On 23^rd August evening the villagers gathered in several groups in family compounds and set up guards around each compound for their safety.

Attacks on Civilians in Pesalai

A similar incident took place in Pesalai on 21^st August 2011 when a grease devil was seen inside the village by people who had organized to guard the village. When the man was chased by the people, he was seen running into a Navy checkpoint. The people surrounded the checkpoint and asked the military to produce or release the grease man.  Some villagers had claimed they saw the man changing his clothes inside the checkpoint. Over 700-1000 people were gathered near the checkpoint by this time. The military began to attack the people and 10-15 persons were admitted to the Mannar Hospital with serious injuries. Several more did not visit the hospital out of fear. The people asked the police for protection but were refused.

Meeting with Brigadier Dias on 24^th August

On 24^th August, a meeting was held at a Church in Pesalai (Mannar District). Brg. Dias, the Navy Commander for Mannar, the Divisional Secretary for Mannar and parish priests of Pesalai and Thottaveli (Josephvaz Nagar) participated with many people from both villages.

Brig Dias repeatedly threatened the people and said that the Army will shoot people if they caused trouble or tried to surround an Army camp or vehicle. He accused the priests of instigating people to violence. The Divisional Secretary asked the Parish Priest at Josephvaz Nagar Nagar to speak and he gave his account of the violence on 22^nd night. When he did so, Brigadier Dias threatened the priest and said that “I will talk and deal with you later”.

Following the attack on 22^nd August, there is an increased military and police presence in Josephvaz Nagar. The HQI and Army have visited the Parish Priest and taken down his personal details and contact numbers and inquired about the other Churches and villages that he goes to conduct religious services.

• JAFFNA: BRUTAL ASSAULT OF CIVILIANS IN NAVANTHURAI
• Fr. Jim Brown and Mr. Vimalathas: Five years after disappearance, where are they and what has happened to the investigation?
• Christmas 2008 in Sri Lanka
• Celebrating war victory and banning commemoration of dead civilians: this is “home grown & indigenous” reconciliation and freedom in Sri Lanka?
• Civilian cost of a humanitarian operation: miseries of liberated peoples of Musali and Naanatan divisions in Mannar waiting to go home

Groundviews is pleased to announce the launch of two archives covering media reports on and submissions to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). The archives are now live here.

At the time of the launch, there are over 220 media reports and over 100 English submissions to the LLRC featured on the site.

The archives respond to a numerous requests we got for a single-window access to this content. The content included in the archives are generated by a trusted source outside the country by going through information on the web, including the LLRC’s official website. New submissions and media reports, once sent to Groundviews, are uploaded to the archive and curated by us.

Hosting this content on Google Docs makes it a cinch for readers to search for and access the submissions and reports online, print them, download them as PDFs or subscribe to updates via RSS feeds.

• LLRC: Interim report to Government
• LLRC: Testimony by Ferial Ashraff
• Launch of Groundviews 2.0: New features, enhanced readability, comprehensive search
• Recommendations for ICT and Research Supported Enhancement of the Effectiveness of the LLRC
• A slumbering LLRC: The image of reconciliation in Sri Lanka?

The map above identifies the main flood-affected regions, sites where relief and rescue operations have been conducted, areas prone to landslides and specific locations that are at risk.  Please click on the link below the map to view it on a larger screen. You may click on individual markers for detailed information and zoom in to view the location of specific shelter camps located in the east. Please note that this map is updated as soon as the Editors of Groundviews receive detailed information and reports from the ground.

After our last updated post on 12 January 2011, a Daily Mirror SMS update at 12:50PM reported that there were 21 deaths and over 1,000,000 people affected as a result of the floods and bad weather that continues to devastate these regions. The Eastern Province is the worst affected with over 860,000 flood victims according to the latest figures released by the Disaster Management Centre. There have been widespread reports that it has become increasingly difficult to access specific areas due to submerged or damaged roads and the prevailing weather conditions in the North Central Province and the Eastern Province. The Director General of Disaster Management Centre stated the following in a news report published by the Daily Mirror,

Batticaloa District is worst hit by the floods with 533,000 people belonging to 30,264 families have been displaced. He said eight deaths have been reported from the district and 225 displaced camps have been set up in the district.

He said the district is experiencing a rainfall of 113mm/day continuously (Emphasis ours.) Yesterday it had been 200mm. Major General Hettiarachchi said two air force helicopters had been deployed to distribute relief and to rescue the affected people but they could not be taken off the ground due to bad weather yesterday as well.

More than 200 tanks have been extensively damaged while nearly 20,000 acres of paddy land were also destroyed.

Overall 996,757 people have been affected by the floods with 1727 houses have been fully destroyed while 12,151 have been partly destroyed. Total numbers of deaths stood at 18 while 49 were injured as at yesterday afternoon. Some 52, 391 families who have been displaced have been housed in 502 camps.

The Daily Mirror notes that Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has informed “officials about the necessity to repair the submerged roads as early as possible as it has hampered the relief supply to flooded areas in the country.”

We now face a real threat of severe food shortages due to the complete destruction of over 130,000 acres of paddy field. Agriculture Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardhana stated the following to the Daily Mirror,

“There is no doubt that we need an advanced strategy to face the food crisis that is inevitable. We can have a better picture only after the flood waters have fully receded. Therefore, we cannot say what kind of response we have to the crisis right now. What I can assure is that the government is going to face this with resolve and people must be prepared to it.”

Over a quarter of Sri Lanka is currently under water and 40 per cent of cultivated areas are submerged according to the Minister of Agriculture.

Update at 14:26PM: The death toll is now at 23.

Update on 15/01/11 at 4:13PM via JNW SMS update: “Total 1,053,718 persons affected by floods. 3744 houses fully damaged and 19,534 partially damaged. 37 deaths with 18 in Batticaloa – DMC – JNW.”

###

HOW TO HELP

The Editors of Groundviews appeal to all our readers to assist in any way possible and to spread the word. For more information on how to help the victims of flood-affected areas, please visit our previous post here.

• Google map on flood-affected areas in Sri Lanka – February 2011
• On Flooding and Disaster Management
• UPDATE: Situation report on flood-affected areas and a call for assistance
• First images: The flooding in Menik Camp and the increasingly dire situation for IDPs
• Abandoned War Displaced People From Border Villages

Ada Dernana notes the following in a news story published today,

Director General of the DMC, Major General Gamini Hettiarachchi speaking at the media conference said that 11,338 homes had been partially damaged while 1,609 homes had been fully damaged. He added that around 200 tanks had also been damaged in the floods.

Meanwhile, P.B. Samarasinghe, Director General of the Meteorological Department said that rains are expected for the next three days while this was the heaviest rains that the country had witnessed in over thirty years. (Emphasis ours.)

R.M.S. Bandara of the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) said that landslide warnings had been issued in 10 Districts including Matale, Badulla and Kandy where besides the heavy rains, poorly planned constructions on sloped areas had also contributed greatly to the reported landslides.

According to sources on the ground, the SL Army, Air Force and Navy are working hard to deliver food items to flood victims. The World Vision office in Batticaloa and the Red Cross are assisting as well in the relief effort. There is an urgent need for assistance to those victims who are sheltered in schools. With reports that weather conditions could actually worsen over the next few days, it is of utmost necessity that as much relief is delivered as soon as possible to those affected.

At present, there are 295 families at shelters in Chetipalayam and another 156 families Theththatheevu. There are a further four shelter camps in Kaluthwalai with 200 families in Kaluthawalai Mahavidyala, 114 families in Ramakrishna Vidyala, 112 families in Vipulananda and 48 families in Pugalidam.

The relief items required include milk powder for children, sanitary napkins, other basic food items and clothes.

The office of Chief Minister Chandrakanthan released an official SOS call for immediate assistance. The letter highlights the ground situation in the Eastern Province,

600,000 (Batticaloa 232,571, Ampara 317,270, Trincomalee 57,020) people have already left their homes and are residing in safer places. Most of the houses have been submerged and people have lost their belongs (sic.) More than 5000 people have lost their housing utensils and clothes. Considering the plight of the flood victims, please give a helping hand by providing donations and assistance in whatever way.

A Daily Mirror update today noted that other areas are at risk of flooding due to heavy rainfall,

The Ariyamancheni-Neelapola area is facing the threat of floods as several leaks have been detected in the bunts along the Mahaweli River in the Ariyamancheni area. Troops, police and irrigation officers are also engaged in packing sand bags to minimize the damage.

A total of 125 families in Ariyamancheni have been moved to the Lingapuram Tamil College while 121 families in the Sirimangala area have also been moved to the Somadevi Vidyalaya.

Several leaks have also been detected in the stream from Mavilaru to Kalaru and the army is packing sand bags at the moment, the Serunuwara Divisional Secretary Chandana Piyadasa said.

An Ada Derana news update confirmed that President Rajapaksa had to postpone his flood assessment visit and was grounded due to bad weather. A BBC news update notes the following,

Those displaced by the floods have squeezed into 800 camps that have sprung up in school premises, many of which are surrounded by water.

The air force has helped evacuate people and drop food supplies to some cut-off communities.

The government has made an emergency appeal for ordinary people’s help in sending dry rations, mattresses and bottled water.

Clean water and food supplies have been sent by official and international agencies to the worst-hit areas.

But the deputy disaster management minister Duleep Wijesekara said some places, such as Mutur, have been difficult to reach.

Around 200,000 people have been displaced.

HOW TO HELP

The Editors of Groundviews appeal to all our readers to assist in any way possible and to spread the word. The following is a list of organisations and numbers that you can contact to assist the flood victims. This list will be updated as soon as we receive word of other agencies and collection centres.

STITCH – Youth Movement

Please contact:

Dehiwala – Call Prabu on 0774 377477 for details

Moratuwa – Call Prathibha on 0779 851851 for details

Colpetty – call Sabrina on 0777 751718 for details

Wellawatte – Call Divya on 0714 289869 for details

If you would like to volunteer for STITCH, please email them at ivolunteer@stitchmovement.com

SARVODAYA

Please contact Mr. Saman Algoda, the Executive Director (0774394577, saman@sarvodaya.org) or Mr. Chamindha Rajakaruna, Director-Programmes (0777710205,chamindha@sarvodaya.org), or call the general lines on 2655255 or 2647159.

Federation of Youth Club (COLLECTION CENTRE)

86, High Level Road

Maharagama

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Update 8:57PM: “24 hour relief operation is in place by deploying tri-forces to ensure continuous supply of basic needs for the flood affected – Info Dept- JNW.”

This page will be updated as soon as we get more information.

Update 9:37PM: SMS’s from Chanuka Wattegama in Batticaloa we received throughout the day today, reproduced here verbatim.

• “rain continues, Flood levels increased. Relief distribution poor n disorganised. Mess. 4tos @ sarvodaya.org”
• “situation is worse. Raind since morn. Relief can’t reach ppl. Supply routes blocked.”
• “Heavy rains @ batty. Water level rapidly increase. Eravur town may be under water in few hrs at this level cutting off Batti from mainland. Expect worse”

Update 12:50PM, 13th of January 2011: “21 deaths reported, over 1 million people affected due to bad weather.” Daily Mirror SMS update.

• UPDATE: Google Map on Flood-affected areas in Sri Lanka
• On Flooding and Disaster Management
• Google map on flood-affected areas in Sri Lanka – February 2011
• Breaking News: IDPs in Zone 3 and 4 in Menik Camp affected by flooding
• Messages by people in Manampitiya and Dimbulagala on flood relief

The photo is self-explanatory, and shows a commissioner of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) falling asleep during the Commission’s recent sittings in Mannar. A reader of Groundviews provided a translation of the Tamil article,

Have you ever seen a Commission like this?
Yesterday, the LLRC travelled to Mannar. Women who had lost their husbands and children and the families of those who had disappeared gathered in large numbers at the venue to make representations to the LLRC. The people were in tears as they narrated their problems and concerns to the Commission. They made representations to the LLRC in the belief the Commission would address their concerns. But…Do you see what is happening…

The person who should be recording the representations is asleep. Do you see he is sleeping as if he is exhausted after engaging in hard work? Will these people ever understand/know the difficulties faced by the Tamils. Sinhalese are not even willing to listen to the people who approached the Presidential Commission in the belief they would obtain relief. The other members of the Commission are not prepared to wake the sleeping Commissioner for fear of disturbing his slumber.

The Sinhalese have no respect for the Tamils. This illustrates the sad plight of the Tamils who believe in the government only to be repeatedly let down/cheated.

Just as the symbolic violence of the outrageously wasteful and meaningless production of a mega-size milk rice (kiri bath) to celebrate the President’s second term in office went unacknowledged by the majority in the South, the optics of a commissioner sleeping on the job extends well beyond professional negligence.

What this suggests to those who came to give testimony to the commission is a prima facie dismissal and disrespect of their concerns, the complete opposite of the raison d’être of the LLRC. Travel and the pace of work may well push the commissioners – who are by no means sprightly and have had to listen to hundreds of hours of testimony – to the brink of physical exhaustion. This argues for a process of rotation, or other processual ways commissioners can keep up with the hundreds of Tamil people who see the LLRC, warts and all, as a platform to air their grievances by choosing to appear in front of it. To fall asleep during testimony is simply not an option.

As with this article in Tamil, the sentiments aroused by the optics of a sleeping commissioner run deeply against any reconciliation. Played out in local and international media, these images risk appropriation by more extremist elements in the Tamil diaspora as well, which only goes to make the work of the LLRC, the government and civil society on post-war reconciliation that much more difficult.

• LLRC: Testimony by Ferial Ashraff
• Archive of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) submissions and media reports
• Translation of Tamil newspaper reports on the Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission hearings held in Killinochchi and Mullaitivu
• Did the Sri Lankan Army use cluster bombs and phosphorus bombs against civilians?
• Recommendations for ICT and Research Supported Enhancement of the Effectiveness of the LLRC

Northern Muslims in Post Conflict Sri Lanka

• The entire Muslim community of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province – numbering approximately  75,000 persons, were expelled by the LTTE in a systematic and organized manner during a two week period in October 1990.
• Northern Muslims were 5% of the Population of the Province and hailed from the five districts  of  Jaffna Mannar Kilinochchi Mulaitiwu and Vavuniya
• Today, many of them remain displaced in dire conditions in areas outside the war zone.  A 2006 UNHCR survey claims that there are 63,145 individuals living in 141 separate settlements in Puttalam district alone.
• October this year marks twenty years since the expulsion.  And over one year since the war ended.  Today the Northern Muslims are anticipating return after twenty years in displacement and the time that has passed  since the expulsion has created conditions that are unique to the Northern Muslim experience.
• Given that the LTTE is no longer a factor there is a real possibility of return without the threat of a repeated expulsion.
• The possibility of resuming farming and fishing and moving out of a life of poverty in Puttalam and elsewhere seems an actual possibility for many.
• Many are hoping for assistance to resettle and start livelihood activities and to rebuild Muslim communities in the North

Muslim Concerns Today

However, the government seems to understand displacement as limited to those who were displaced from the Vanni during the most recent engagement between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces. In fact his Excellency the President announced to the UN General Assembly that nearly 90% of displaced people have returned. This number does not include the Northern Muslims.

The Old Case Load

• Being far down on the list of priorities of the powers that be is not a new experience for the Northern Muslims.
• At the moment of their expulsion the reaction from the state, the NGO community or the International community was minimal.  And Northern Muslims depended on the Muslim host community of Puttalam for emergency assistance.
• The overwhelming response of goodwill and cash after the tsunami and again in the aftermath of the LTTE’s defeat has only highlighted the fact that the Northern Muslims have always been and continues to be a low priority case load for the government, the humanitarian aid agencies and the International Community.
• The lack of acknowledgement of their experience as well as their aspirations is causing great distress to the Northern Muslim community.

The Citizen’s Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province

Given that the expulsion remains inadequately integrated into the history of the Sri Lankan conflict, and Northern Muslims feel that the state has not adequately acknowledged Northern Muslims experience of Ethnic cleansing at the hands of the LTTE a Citizen’s Commission has been formulated to investigate the history of the expulsion, the displacement experience and the experiences of return.

Northern Muslims want the state to formulate a presidential commission of inquiry into the expulsion and it is hoped that the findings and recommendations of the commission as well as submissions such as this will persuade the state to formulate such a commission to ascertain and address the needs of the Northern Muslims.

This submission is based on the findings of the Citizen’s Commission

The Displacement Experience of the Northern Muslims is different from Most other displacement experiences in the country.  And the specificity can be understood as follows:

• A large Tamil speaking population located into an area where the administrative language is Sinhala
• Over 50,000 people suddenly moved to a poor marginal,  under-resourced district, and left there for twenty years with only minimal state assistance in the form of dry rations for the poorest segments of the community.
• No hope of integration into the host community due to
  • Maintaining identity of displacement to access rations
  • Maintaining residence in the North and thereby losing all possibilities of accessing state services in Puttalam District and state jobs that come under the provincial administration of the North central province.
• They have long been a  captive community
• Due to inability to access government jobs other than through patronage.
• Difficult to engage with administration due to language difference
• Dependent on rations due to lack of livelihood options

Host Community Issues

• No significant violent incidents BUT there are tensions
• Very unhappily sharing limited resources
• Labour able to work for less money due to rations.
• Infringing on local university entrance quota
• Assistance only to IDPs not for local poor
• IDPs considered enterprising and better off. While locals are lagging behind

The Experience of Return

The Northern Muslims are returning spontaneously. Given that there is no plan or policy for their return it is somewhat ad hoc and they are facing numerous problems.

1. Many places that they are returning to are secondary forests and require clearing . Example Rasoolputhuveli , Periyamadu,  (In Mannar district all places other than Mannar Island have to be cleared.)
2. There are problems of snakes and wild elephants – Periya Madu, Marichchikatti, Kondachchi, Palakuli, Musali.
3. They have received assistance in some places to build a shack -Kondachchi and Periyamadu. Roofing sheets promised by government.
4. The shelter is inadequate and many are leaving families behind and are therefore accused of returning only for livelihood activities and not to resettle and that is somehow considered a low priority for assistance.
5. There is no public transport to many of these areas. Marichchikatti and Kondachchi are examples
6. There are also problems of infrastructure – no roads, Marichikatti Kondachchi Silawaturai, health care facilities and sanitation- Kakeyankulam.(MAdu Division)  (Schools are functioning in Periyamadu, Musali and Mannar theevu, not enough facilities for all those returning.
7. People are selling what little they may have accumulated in the past twenty years to return to the North since they feel that livelihood opportunities in the North are better than in Puttalam. But many are suffering due to difficulties in starting up in a place that no longer welcomes them.  Fishermen in Silawatura are an example.
8. Those moving to the North are compelled to discontinue rations in Puttalam in order to access them in the North.  However, there are long delays in providing rations to these people in the North in both Jaffna and Mannar.
9. The following problems have been identified with regards to land.
   1. Identification of boundaries remains a problem
   2. Documentation regarding ownership is sometimes lost.
   3. Most have permit land
   4. Permit land has changed hands during the conflict
   5. Some have been coerced into selling their lands by the LTTE, other militant groups and their proxies.
   6. Some have sold their land for very low prices due to economic difficulties and because the war did not seem like it was ending. They now feel cheated and want some redress.
   7. Tenants have lost their rented premises.
   8. Some land and houses are occupied by others.
   9. Most houses are fully or partially destroyed.
   10. There is also the problem of the returning landless. Due to natural increase the Northern Muslim population is three to four times larger than at the time of the expulsion and how can the increased population be accommodated?

Why have you come?

As stated earlier the ground situation is such that Muslims do not always feel welcome in the North.

1. The Tamil community leaders and government officials have generally welcomed the return of Muslims when talking to commissioners. However on the ground people feel that the administration is conducted by people who do not know the Muslims and are not sympathetic to their return. After all the North has been a mono ethnic place for twenty years. And integration may take longer than many of the Muslims anticipated.  Some speak of how when they return some Tamil neighbours ask them why did you come?
2. The states own stepmotherly treatment of old IDPs is reinforcing the sentiment on the ground. The lack of assistance from the state is only exacerbating Muslims feeling of marginality and the local Tamil community’s own sense of entitlement to ask the Muslims – why did you come? The state must be seen to assist accomodate and facilitate Muslim return in order to ensure that the ethnic cleansing that occured in 1990 is over turned.
3. The extreme militarisation of many of the areas – especially in Mannar makes the returnees uneasy. Many have mentioned that they fear for the safety of their daughters due to harrassment by soldiers. Soldiers following the movement of young women with their mobile phone cameras for instance have been mentioned. (At the same time it must be mentioned that in Kilinochchi, especially in the Nachchikuda area, people said that it was with the assistance of the military that they were able to resettle and start even the minimal livelihood activities that they were engaged in. )

The Question of Integration

There is also a significant section of the community that is not willing to return.

Those who did not have much in the North but have been able to improve themselves while in displacement and now own property and businesses are not willing to return.

Those who have married into the host community and have access to livelihood activities in Puttalam are not interested in return.

Some communities that have been displaced into places closer to Colombo with access to job opportunities do not want to go back.

Then women who have been abandoned by their husbands and have been compelled to raise their children on their own barely eke out a living in Puttalam and are not able to conceive of the cost of return.

Even in instances where they have land in the North they cannot think of moving back due to the nature of the environment there.  Clearing the land for cultivation and conducting cultivation requires the ability to live in tents in elephant and snake infested jungle and the women with children say that they cannot do it on their own.

Many poor women say that they have some ways of making ends meet in Puttalam and cannot anticipate a move.

Young people whose parents were from particular places with particular cultures of communal living do not want to return to those ways of life.  Example erukulampitya and Jaffna Those who have gone back were a little taken aback by the very small and crowded spaces of Jaffna for instance, and are unwilling to think about life there.

There are many more who are not clear about the comparative of advantages of staying and going. They have been in Puttalam and elsewhere for twenty years and have formed connections and ties and have material possessions about which they have to make difficult decisions. Some are wanting to wait and see.  One school master in the Kalpitiya region told us that it took him twenty years to get to the point in life in Puttalam that he now enjoys. He eels that if he goes back it will take him another twenty years to build up in the North. If the situation in the North improves many may move. For instance, they would like their children to take advantage of the low cut off mark for university entrance in certain sections of the Northern Province, they want to benefit from the development activities that have been planned.

It must be noted, however, that all of those who do not want to go back, or have not yet decided whether to stay or go also want the acknowledgement of their losses and want compensation.

New Developments that are of Concern

The following activities of the state are distressing the Northern Muslims and many feel that their predicament is not adequately appreciated by those making the rules.

1. The latest circulars on voter registration have stated that there will be no more cluster polling in Puttalam and that they will have to vote in the North if they are registered there and if they want to vote in Puttalam they would have to register as voters of the Puttalam district.
2. There will be a census in 2011
3. The new local authorities bill aims to create wards in keeping with population numbers.  Currently, the Jaffna Municipal Council for instance, has representatives from the displaced community. And they are assisting in the return and resettlement of people. They fear that they may no longer be able to have representation if the bill is passed and implementation done speedily. What would then happen to Northern Muslims’ return? They would not have the meager representation that they currently have.
4. The lack of information, lack of discussion about their options and the consequences of choosing this or that option is distressing many northern Muslims and they feel thta the state is not interested in their plight.

In summary then the Northern Muslims feel marginalised by the fact that the state has no policy on protracted displacement, no public acknoweldgement of the old IDPS and their needs,

No cash grants for resettlement assistance, no commitment to assist with housing, no provision to address damage to property due to twenty years of neglect due to no fault of their own,  no provision to address damage to social networks due to the conflict and the expulsion, no assistance with livelihoods, no plans for compensation. The northern Muslims are also distressed by the fact that they maybe absent from the government’s development plans for the North. They fear that they census and the local authorities bill may marginalise them by not taking into account the virtual limbo in which many of them currently live.

Recomendations
From the information that has so far been gathered by the commission and presented in this submission the commission recomends the following.

Have a uniform state policy on protracted displacement and a durable solution. This may be resettlement or integration with dignity into the host community.

1. Provide the finances needed to implement such a policy on a durable solution.
2. Provide clear information to Northern Muslims on such a policy and the means by which they can access assistance.
3. On the ground
   1. Inform local officials to assist and accomodate Northern Muslim return.
   2. Formulate assistance package for protracted displacement.
   3. Provide livelihood assistance.
   4. Plan a return process in stages.
   5. Provide housing assistance.
4. Appoint a land commission with an adeuqate mandate to address land issues.
5. Plan a compensation or reparations package in keeping with international standards.

The Citizens’ Commission also recomends that the LLRC visit Puttalam to observe the conditions in which a majority of Northern Muslims continue to live and to provide the community with an opportunity of addressing the commission directly.

• The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990
• The Muslim question and resettlement of Muslim IDPs in post-war Sri Lanka: Two comprehensive interviews
• Citizen’s Commission: Expulsion of the Northern Muslims by the LTTE in October 1990
• Where do they go from here?
• A Commissioner’s Perspective: Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE

What does reconciliation mean for an 18 -year -old, middle class lad from Mannar? What does absence of war mean to a person who has had firsthand experience of discrimination, shelling, killing, heavy checking  and pass systems? Is there a difference between War and No War?

My personal understanding of reconciliation is, at the core, a fundamental transformation which turns hatred into love. From an 18 year old perspective reconciliation bears little or no relevance to the prevailing political situation, to the existing holes in our constitution or to the level of commitment  to implement the 13^th and 17^th Amendments. Personally for me, if a fellow Sinhalese citizen can accept me as a “Sri Lankan Tamil human being” who is entitled to enjoy every right and privilege he/she enjoys, and most importantly forgives me for the role I’ve played directly or indirectly to the conflict, and asks for forgiveness for his/her role either direct or indirect, that is reconciliation. It is also my understanding that the process of reconciliation begins with me, not anyone else.

Even though a positive constitutional reform or the implementation of the 13^th and 17^th amendments would without doubt contribute to peace and reconciliation on a national scale my belief is that these short comings should not deter anyone from actively seeking reconciliation with others from  different ethnic backgrounds.

The importance of appreciating diversity, celebrating our differences, and valuing others

On the third day of “Future Leaders Conference-2010”, Colombo Chargers, the group I was part of, decided to fast as an expression of solidarity with our fellow Muslim team mates who are celebrating the Holy month of Ramadan. It is important to note that it was an entirely student initiative. It  proves that there is willingness and potential among the present generation of youth to embrace other cultures and celebrate their uniqueness.

Here are some questions addressed to different speakers  during the Q&A time of the conference , which would support my argument.

“How can Tamils claim to be citizens of Sri Lanka, when the general feeling/mindset is that constitution deprives Tamils from becoming head of state?”

“Durable political solution or economy and infrastructure development, which is the  priority?”

I was honestly surprised and also moved by the reality that these types of questions were coming from Sinhalese students, and I consider them to be reflections of the younger generation’s feelings toward Tamils. There were many other equally bold questions that were relevant to the country’s current state of affairs, which also shows that the youth of this country are aware of present political context.

During the art project time and sports time one positive characteristic which prevalent was willingness to listen, valuing others’ ideas. Throughout the two hours we spent on it, despite the language barrier, we were able to communicate effectively and incorporate everyone’s ideas and  together create a magnificent piece of art that spoke for itself.

When I got back home and shared some the above feelings with my father, he  was surprised. But, he also noted “our country’s system is so corrupt all this idealism will soon wane out”. I realized that there was an element of truth to what he said which led me to realize the significance of preserving, conserving, and cultivating these values and feelings.

The role of Sri Lanka Unites in my life

Sri Lanka Unites has added meaning to my life by inspiring me to work courageously in the present and also hope for the future.

The more I got involved, the more I became aware that reconciliation is indeed possible and Sri Lanka does have a future to hope for. The more I became involved the more I was aware of the role I can play with my capabilities in making reconciliation a possibility. The more I got involved the more I was able to discover my potential and also my weaknesses.

This April our school’s Sri Lanka Unites Club organized a three -day residential conference for 40 potential student leaders drawn from around Mannar. The conference helped us to raise awareness on wide ranging topics. Significantly it enabled us to take the message of reconciliation to the grassroots level. With perseverance we managed to convince the Danish Refugee Council to fund us. We also managed to rope in several key figures in Mannar to speak on topics like Leadership, Self management, Sexuality, Child Rights, Importance of Documentation etc. The whole exercise demanded a lot patience and hard work. The days that preceding the conference were learning curve to all of the team. The most valuable lesson of all was the value of Commitment.

The last day’s theme was peace and reconciliation. We contacted Prashan De Visser, President -Sri Lanka Unites (Prashan Anna) and asked him whether he could help us out with the last day’s sessions. Mind you, two days before the final day of the conference Prashan anna was doing Election coverage for the Presidential elections, for 24 hours nonstop, and was doing some other serious business the day before. Without any reluctance, he agreed to come. Commitment. A wrong turn at the Dambulla Junction by the driver with Prashan Anna asleep at the back took him and the two others to Valaichenai, even after that they drove back and made it for the noon session. Commitment. With nobody to run the morning session, we called Christyraja Kirubakaran, Assist- Vice President (Christy anna), who was at that time doing his Sarvodaya work. He dropped everything and immediately arrived (he lives and works in Mannar). Commitment.

Together Prashan & Christy Anna made the final day the best. The commitment they exhibited made all our efforts pale in comparison.

Because of Sri Lanka Unites I’ve learned to see not the differences but the similarities between me and a fellow citizen from a different ethnic background. The time I spent with the Sinhalese taught me that except the language and religion the Tamils and the Sinhalese have almost everything in common. The same type of interests, likes and dislikes. The more I became aware of this the more the fact that Sri Lanka is a divide nation became a mystery to me.

So why are we divided? What is that mysterious factor that is keeping us away?

To be honest I do not have exact answers to these questions. But I seriously intend to find them. This is the search for truth that Sri Lanka Unites has catalyzed within me. Sri Lanka Unites has indeed started the Truth and Reconciliation process within me.

But the beauty is, there are thousands of other students all over the country who are trying with courage to find answers to similar questions. The beauty is, there are thousands of other young boys and girls who have hope for a brighter future. The beauty is, every one of them is working in their own unique ways to make that Future a possibility. All because of Sri Lanka Unites.

The Sri Lanka Unites Attitude

Sri Lanka Unites is a celebration of democracy. One organization that seriously practices it. Every man gets his say, the students get a say on things ranging from picking speakers, games to play, the dates etc. Whenever we step up to do anything we know that we have the full backing of the executive committee. Sri Lanka Unites is a living example of democracy from which the whole country can learn.

Most of the students, if not all, realize that reconciliation is not achieved through holding hands or shouting “Sri Lanka Unites”; these are merely symbolic expressions of feelings hard to express. Everyone accepts that this is just the beginning of the whole process and that we have a long way to go. In fact, we are also aware of the steps we have to take to move forward. Throughout the conference every speaker emphasized the importance of building a dialogue, a dialogue that enables one to build relationships and ultimately help us to reconcile and resolve the conflict. Building such dialogue depends deeply on effective or efficient communication. Steps were taken to equip the students with tools like Facebook so that there is enough interaction between SLU members throughout the post-conference period.  Schools that had internet access but did not have Facebook groups got the opportunity to create Facebook groups, while efforts are in place to provide internet access to schools lacking internet.

If anyone has any doubts over the depth of the friendships that have been formed I hope this piece of experience would shed some light on the depth of the friendships that have been created, and that they continue to grow.

Last June I was in Colombo for a competition. It was a very brief stay, and I did not tell any of my SLU friends that I was in Colombo. A friend of mine got the wind of my arrival and was thoroughly disappointed with my actions. I’m in Colombo now and all of my friends are hosting me tomorrow.  Not a single day passes without someone from SLU contacting me via Facebook or whatever media.

It is noteworthy, that Sri Lanka Unites remains ever conscious of the diversity Sri Lanka has and takes every possible step to embrace all cultures. Let it be a student from Ladies College- Colombo, a student from Zahira College- Ampara, a student from St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna or Sangamitha Balika Vidyalaya Galle, it make no difference. Everyone is at home. For me it’s one of the most admirable achievements of Sri Lanka Unites.

But being humans, Sri Lanka Unites always remains open to accept the fact Sri Lanka Unites is vulnerable to making mistakes. We are also aware of the fact that the margin of error in this field is very thin indeed. We always welcome productive discussions, which ultimately lead us to the truth, with any genuinely concerned.

The saddest part about Sri Lanka is, and in my opinion the actual reason for the country’s state, only a very few make it beyond the stage of discussing things to doing things. Sri Lanka Unites is an exemplary organization to all armchair critics. Sri Lanka Unites is a results oriented, action based organization which does not believe in “sitting there and doing nothing”. The fact remains that Sri Lanka Unites has not survived an year but has thrived, adding meaning to many a soul.

The importance of the missing “justice” factor in Truth and Reconciliation process

History clearly shows that Justice is one of the most significant elements for reconciliation. South Africa and Northern Ireland took the bull by the horns. Both countries were sincere and brutally honest about all the injustices, and elements that fueled the conflict. For Sri Lanka, too, the fact remains true that unless we get real harsh and tackle the very foundations of the conflict with brutal honesty reconciliation on a national scale will remain a far away dream.

Even though my knowledge on these topics is very limited, I am very much aware that in Northern Ireland the people who catalyzed reconciliation went as far as bringing people concerned and facilitated discussions that were real harsh, such as “Why do I hate you?”.

With Sri Lanka Unites being a youth movement and vast majority of its members being school students (under 18), doubts remain whether we are mature enough to handle these questions with absolute honesty. But at some point in the future it will happen, as it should. But enough steps are taken to ensure the foundations are laid, and everyone is aware of it. Bringing down Simbarashe Mabasha, a South African who has loads of ground experience on issues related to peace and reconciliation, is an indicator and a step in the right direction.

Simba stressed that unless there is proper dialogue, reconciliation will never be a possibility. He said “Whites, with whom I was friends with for ten years, still became my enemies. They still became Whites, and I still became a Black”

Five days in comparison with ten years is nothing.

But it is highly encouraging to see that there is general willingness among the members to understand more about others, to put him/her inside the other ethnicities moccasins.

“We will not let the hatred of the past, control our present and destroy our future” is one of the fundamental principles on which Sri Lanka Unites is built. Every member makes it their conviction to remain true to it. Let us all remain true to it.

The search for the truth is more important than its possession, let us all begin that journey, the quest to find the truth, for truth alone is the way.

“If hatred can harm, love can heal. The time is now”

The author is a member of Sri Lanka Unites, St. Xavier’s Boys’ College, Mannar and a participant at the Future Leaders Conference 2009 and 2010

• Sri Lanka Unites: Our vision and work
• A critique of Sri Lanka Unites: Freedom has NOT made itself known
• A turn for the worse? Undergraduate protests and unrest in Sri Lanka
• A narrow escape and a great tragedy
• Blast Outside Eastern University Batticaloa

Currently, Muslim villages in Mannar are completely decimated, with almost no trace of the once robust and lively dwellings. Where once tall buildings stood and people mingled, trees have grown, and elephants and snakes have made their dwellings. As in the case of the men we met, the onus of restoring their lives is on those returning, even though restoring translates to transforming a jungle into a village. Assistance from the government is meager and slow in delivery. Institutions move at a slow pace and are handicapped in resources and efficiency. Therefore, severing links with Puttalam, the area  that embraced the Northern Muslims when they were ‘orphaned’ has to be postponed.  Sometimes, people have to earn in Puttalam to support agricultural work in Mannar, and until the ‘men’ of the families build suitable structures that are comfortable and secure for living, the women have to remain in Puttalam.  In this regard, the opening of the road connecting Puttalam and Mannar, has been a great support to the Northern Muslims.

However the opening of the road has become a controversial issue. Prior to the war, access to this road was restricted to private vehicles, and was commonly used by residents of Musali and Mannar as it significantly reduced travel time between Mannar- Musali and Puttalam.  The direct road shrinks the distance from Puttalam to Mannar from 210 km to 143km, from Puttalam to Musali from 185km to 100km and from Puttalam to Marichchukaddi from 235km to 77km.  Moreover  expelled Northern Muslims from other districts  also  benefit from this road, as it also connects to the Jaffna Road. Citing the need to preserve the Wilpattu National park, through which this road passes, wild life enthusiasts argue against the opening of the road. While conservation of wild life is an important consideration, the welfare of a marginalized group of people who have suffered immensely for over two decades needs immediate attention. As stated above, the road would greatly reduce the inconvenience the returning Northern Muslims would have to undergo when travelling to and from Mannar and adjacent areas.  In the context of the potential harm to the wild life of the national park, the commission appointed to probe into the expulsion of the Northern Muslims recommends a mechanism where access is granted by special permission to residents of adjacent areas for private vehicles only. Additionally, they suggest that access could be granted on a limited basis and that too at a cost, which would further restrict the use of the road. If entry to the road is barred, the people from Musali (an area immediately North of Wilpattu National Park) especially would have to travel North to Medawachiya and then travel back South to their area (Daily Mirror 25.06.2010).

The Northern Muslims were expelled with barely 48 hours notice in Mannar and just a couple of hours notice in Jaffna. They arrived in Puttalam with at most, a shopping bag full of possessions. Along with the psychological trauma of being expelled, they had to endure much hardship during their time in Puttalam. Two decades later, some of them are happy with what they have accomplished in spite of the suffering they underwent as displaced people; their hardwork and efforts have yielded material assets for themselves, as well as intangibles such as hope for a better future for their children through good education. However, for some, home is still in the North. Therefore, whatever may be their material possessions in Puttalam, they are still longing to return and resettle in their original places. The lack of assistance, both financial and non-material, is a significant barrier. Having invested their money in assets in Puttalam, they do not have cash to spend on starting life a new in the North. Building a second or third house during their life-time, is not an option for them, although housing remains an essential requirement. Therefore aid from the government or other organizations is a great need at present.

For some others, home is still the North, yet, the attachment, at this point, is only emotional. The assets they have acquired, and the lifestyle they have adapted in Puttalam, are too much to abandon. The thought of starting life from ground zero in a place where war has razed all signs of human habitation is enough to eliminate the option of returning. Poor quality of schools and availability of teachers, the severe scarcity of water and the dearth of economic opportunities add to their decision to stay back. Furthermore, some evicted Muslims are wary of their Tamil neighbours whose supposed representatives evicted them, in an act of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and assert that they do not want to make themselves vulnerable, and ‘at risk’ of being hurt again. Social dynamics that play an important role in a society have been severely disturbed and shattered. Trusted neighbours and friends who formed the community are no more. Even if people resettle in the presence of suitable infrastructure, the absence of a community that they could trust, make people wonder if resettling is a wise decision.

The twenty years that have lapsed since the expulsion has changed the landscapes in many different ways. For the displaced and the officials concerned, solving land issues is a major challenge. At the height of the war when there were no signs of peace, and life in the camps was cruel, some of the Northern Muslims sold their land, for much needed cash with the hope of a better life. Since the war is history now, those who sold their land are landless, and realize that the prices at which they sold their land are way below the actual value. However, they are unable to reverse the transactions and reclaim their land or obtain a better price for their assets already sold. They feel, therefore, that they sold their land under duress, and are entitled to compensation. In the last two decades, the population has expanded and as a result, a shortage of land in the North is inevitable, and this creates a road block for ‘return’. A filtering process of some form is necessary to determine who returns and who stays back. The people also request that the government distribute land to enable them to make an easier transition to the North.

Some who own land in the North find it difficult to claim it because of the lack of deeds and because physical boundaries and landmarks have erased or blurred over time. Due to the adversities faced during the expulsion, the journey from the North and life in displacement, some have no documents to prove ownership. Some that had permits and the promise of deeds at the time of the expulsion are unsure of their status. In some cases, authorities abuse their power and manipulate ownership and boundaries of land according to  personal interests thereby giving rise to conflicts among the communities. Many Northern Muslims felt that other than in exceptional instances, many local level representatives of government authorities were unsympathetic to their aspiration to return.

Although the practice of giving dowry was not common to Muslims of all Northern districts, as a consequence of the expulsion and the blending of various groups, it has become a popular practice. This increases the need to solve problems related to boundaries and ownership of land, as marriages are dependant on dowry. Some are adamant to resolve the resettlement process, not for their own return, but to have clear ownership of land, so that they can offer the land as dowry and arrange a marriage for their  daughters.

Due to security reasons, the state has claimed land in various parts of the North and demarcated ‘high security zones’. Some of this land is private land, and some of it is state property with important public institutions within its boundaries. For example, in Silavatura, the hospital, school and Pradeshiya Sabha building are trapped in the high security zone barring access to civilians.

The state policy for return and resettlement is not clear, it varies from district to district, and provides no structured framework within which all institutions and people can act. Government officials of some districts have been instructed to give land to those displaced in the recent years, neglecting groups such as the Northern Muslims who were displaced much before that. The expelled people sometimes compare themselves to those affected by the Tsunami.  They feel that their suffering was of a similar magnitude, yet, the compensation and assistance was much less. In the last twenty years only two housing projects have been put in place by the state for the displaced; the mid 1990s initiatives under Minister M.H.M Ashraff and the current World Bank housing project. Communication lines between the state and displaced civilians are also very weak. In some instances, the people are unaware of the status of their original land in the North (whether or not it is demined and if it is ready for habitation). The lack of assistance from the government for resettlement is one of the biggest complaints the people have. Rations, which is the only form of stable assistance they have had from the government, since expulsion, has also come to indicate the ‘status’ of the people. There are currently many problems associated with return and the access to rations. Those who are interested in returning have been informed that the first step is to discontinue rations in Puttalam.  After they cut off access to rations in Puttalam, accessing rations in the North has become a huge problem. Some who followed these instructions complain that it has been a year since, and they are yet to receive any form of alternative assistance  in their hometown in the North.

Living with disappointment, hurt, betrayal, sadness and despair, the end of the war ignited a spark in the hearts of the displaced Northern Muslims and offered them a light of hope. Yet, the flame is faint and quivering. The people who fill themselves with the grandiose plans and miraculous transformation of lives that   politicians spew generously on podiums become frustrated when the corresponding institutions stay mute. In the presence of inaction on the part of authorities, the people  take it upon themselves as the men I spoke of in the first paragraph did, and utilize the remnants of energy, hope, and resources that are left after twenty years of suffering.

Words of hope are not sufficient for people who have grown old, and have lost their childhood/youth in war and displacement. Action is needed, and it is needed now. Pointing the arrow of the compass towards the North, and claiming that it is ready for resettlement is not sufficient. The three phases of the expelled Northern Muslims’ lives need to be reconciled; the first phase of life in the North, where they belonged, followed by the life they were forced to adapt, and the new that is yet to come, either in their original place of birth, or elsewhere where they can set down roots for their futures and the generations yet to be born need to have smoother and more comfortable transitions.  Caught between the old and the new, with no comfort from either, their present is insensitive. The war is over, but where do they go from here?

Anushka Fernando is a researcher for the Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990.

• Old Mannar Road and IDPs Access
• LLRC submission: The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the North by the LTTE in October 1990
• The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990
• Citizen’s Commission: Expulsion of the Northern Muslims by the LTTE in October 1990
• The Muslim question and resettlement of Muslim IDPs in post-war Sri Lanka: Two comprehensive interviews

the analysis identified three different graveyards, counting a total of 1,346 likely graves. The satellite images can neither reveal if these graves contain civilians or Tamil Tiger fighters,..

In the circumstances, it is likely that more and more graves would be discovered, if free access to the area is available to the people and the security forces do not  take any steps to obliterate the graves.

That is however only with regard to the graves alleged to be those of  the victims of the last  war in the Vanni.  There could be many more such mass graves in other parts where the war was fought.  Many may not know that during the period from  1^st January, 1988 onwards, which period the former Commissions of Inquiry into Disappearances of Persons  appointed in 1994,  had been mandated to conduct inquiries,  evidence with regard to a  large number of  mass graves in several parts of  the country came to light.  These are graves of suspected Sinhala militant youth, who had chosen to rebel against the government of that time.  I use the word ‘suspected’  because it was the finding of the said  Commissions that  most of those who had disappeared were  youth or other persons who had been staunch supporters of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, who were suspected by the then government, to be members of the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna.   It is therefore no wonder  President Rajapakse who was then, just a Member of Parliament,  was in the fore front of the agitation of the parents and guardians of the disappeared youth in the Southern Province,  to call for a full investigation into these incidents and the culprits  brought to book !  It is estimated that nearly 60,000 Sinhala youth had disappeared during the relevant period.  Hardly any of them were found. It is likely that many of their bodies are still in the several mass graves  in respect of which evidence was made available to the Commissions of Inquiry.   Let us see what one of the Reports of a Disappearances Commission has to say on these mass graves  –

The phenomenon of mass graves is a macabre pointer to the clandestine nature of the counter-insurgency operations carried out in this period. Their very existence and the recoveries from them bear vivid witness to a complete disregard of the constitutionally guaranteed safe-guard of the physical security of persons in detention.

This Commission listed twelve mass graves about which evidence had been placed before it.  Let us see some of the information available about these graves.

One may recall that during the Presidential Elections of 1994,  President Chandrika Bandaranaike who was  then one of the candidates at the elections, went around  speaking about these graves in relation to the disappearances of persons which was a widespread occurrence during those days.  She was present at the time the mass grave at Sooriyakanda was  exhumed, in an unconventional manner, with much publicity.  It was alleged that the bodies of  the abducted school children from the Embilipitiya High School were buried there. It was said that over 300 bodies had been buried at this site. The government of the time conducted a forensic analysis  but the investigations were said to be unsatisfactory.

The mass graves  in Hokandara, Dikwella and Angkumbura had been located in pits carved out by bomb explosions.  Some of these graves such as the ones at Wilpita, Akuressa, and others had been located near Army Camps.  Others were in public places like highways, as in the case of Hokandara, in public schools as in Essella or a government farm as in Walpita.

The mass graves  at Hokandara, Essella, Wavulkelle, Walpita Farm and Ankumbura   had also been disinterred on a judicial order.   It was in evidence that  the people of the area knew the existence of these graves  even though  they are not known nationally. Yet they had not been acknowledged by the authorities.  When some members of the public had made attempts to report on their existence to the Police at that time, the  complaints had not been recorded.   The disturbing piece of evidence in this regard was that some of the graves  had been kept open for a period of time as in the case of the  Hokandara Mass Grave.  The Judicial Medical Officer who visited the mass grave at Vavulkelle had noted  that  he saw the fire blazing with logs and tyres which had been used to burn the bodies.  There was evidence placed before the Commission indicating  that a pile of burning bodies had been displayed at the junction near the Walpita Farm mass grave. It was the same with respect to the mass grave at Essella  where bullet ridden bodies of several young men and women  had been found lying  lined up  in a drain near the  home of an army officer who had suffered attack by the subversives of the time.

It is interesting to note that  several of these mass graves such as the  one at Kotawakella,  Yakkalumulla,  Dickwella,  Deniyaya and Akuressa  are in the Southern Province, which is the  area from which the present day rulers of Sri Lanka hail !

The Report of the Commission referring to these mass graves stated that  -

The phenomenon of Mass Graves bears a significant correlation to the massive number of disappearances that have taken place in the period under review, independent of any identification of a corpse disinterred to a particular person who has disappeared,…

The Commission appointed to inquire  into disappearances of persons in the North and Eastern Province  do not mention specifically of any mass graves. The security situation at that time in these Province was a deterrent to witnesses complaining or coming forward with evidence against security forces.    However  the report of that Commission speaks of mass killings at the Eastern University, at Sathurukondan  and other places.  A few years later, following a bomb explosion that killed a few army personnel  at Kokaddicholai, almost all the villagers of Kokkaddicholai  were killed and dumped into the pit created by the bomb.

This article will be incomplete if no mention is made of the mass graves found  at Jaffna in Chemmani  at  the Duraiappah  Stadium, in the not too distant past.

In July, 1998 a former army corporal who was charged for the rape and murder of a school girl while he was on duty at the Chemmani check point, told a High Court Judge that he knew about a mass grave where about 400 bodies of Tamils were buried. He said that the bodies of those killed by the army were brought to Chemmani, along with people who were to be executed and then buried there.

A mass grave was found  1999 by municipal labourers at  the Jaffna Stadium grounds while they were doing  three excavations.   On the first occasion  8 skeletons, on the next 16 and on the third  25 skeletons  were found. It was suspected  that those skeletons were those of  Tamils killed  and buried en masse  during the occupation of the Northern Province by the Indian Peace Keeping Force in 1987.

It is not intended to go into the details of all these mass graves at this juncture as it  is considered sufficient  just to refer to them for the purposes  of the theme of this article. One also needs to remember that in the late 1995 bodies of  17 Tamils living in and around Colombo who had been abducted, were found floating in the Bolgoda Lake, the Alawwa oya and the Diyawanna Oya.  Following CID investigations  into these cases, 21 Special Task Force  police officers were arrested along with three civilians  and produced before the Chief Magistrate in Colombo  and remanded in 1996.   But due to reasons better known to the authorities, all but three of  these police officers were released subsequently. The three who were indicted before the High Court were also released later  and the proceedings  against them were suspended.

It should be noted that the mandates of the Commissions on Disappearances  did not permit them to investigate into these mass graves that came to their knowledge.  So they made the information about them available in their Reports and recommended that the government should investigate into them and bring those responsible to book.  That recommendation was never implemented. Consequently the perpetrators became emboldened. Many of them still continue in service with impunity and  they could very well be the ones responsible or at least for having played a part  in the creation  of the mass graves that are being discovered now.

It is significant to note that the graves  the Disappearances Commissions mentioned were those of  Sinhala youth who were suspected to be militants,  while the evidence of graves that are just coming up are  probably those of suspected Tamil militants from the Vanni.  If the perpetrators of the killings of Sinhala youth could have dealt with members of their own community so brutally, how they would have treated  the suspected Tamil militants  could easily imagined.   The recent history of Sri Lanka has so much evidence of mass graves that one need not be surprised when  more and more graves are discovered in the future.  Would Sri Lanka ever acknowledge such brutal incidents of mass graves  and related killings and  provide  solace to the to the grieving family members of  the victims by way of transitional justice?

[Editors note: M.C.M. Iqbal was secretary to two of Sri Lanka’s “truth commissions”, presidential inquiry panels into the 30,000 or more forced disappearances that took place in the late 1980s and early ’90s in the south, during a dirty war that many believe has yet to run its course. As the South China Morning Post noted in late-2009, Mr. Iqbal knows more than most about the skeletons that are locked away in the government’s closet – enough, he says, for him to no longer be safe in his home country.

We also strongly encourage you to read Still waiting for justice in Sri Lanka and The latest Commission of Inquiry in Sri Lanka: Another Exercise in Deception by the author, published earlier this year, anchored to failed Commissions of Inquiry in Sri Lanka.]

• Disappearances of Persons in Sri Lanka
• Still waiting for justice in Sri Lanka
• The latest Commission of Inquiry in Sri Lanka: Another Exercise in Deception
• THE LLRC AND COMPLAINTS OF DISAPPEARANCES OF PERSONS
• At Your Service

We find the word condolences stunning in its insufficiency for past and future.

We evacuated our homes in the light; we vanished from our homes in the dark; we walked away from our families, toward the weapons, and wished that we could turn around. Our bodies entered the earth in places we cannot now identify, and so we are everywhere, blown to dust. By both dying in and surviving this place, we will live here long after your condolences become a ghost in your throat.

We joined others’ battles, willingly and unwillingly; we walked forward on paths not our own when the paths we would have chosen were closed to us. We were incidental; we were vital; we were enemies; we were friends; we were disputed; we were uncounted. In a small country, we felt far away from you. In a small world, we felt far away from you. We were your people and not your people.

We could not wait for you to remember us.

We perished and survived and were less and also more for it. Some of us had little money and little food; we had children. We lost our children willingly and unwillingly. They were torn from our hands; we fought to keep them with us; we pushed them away from us to save them; we held them close in the hope that we might take their bullets and thereby die before them.

Some of us did, but some of us lived, and so the memory of this will outlast even the children we fought to save.

In the rush to escape this bloodletting, which has been its own kind of war, our ears fell to the ground, and so we cannot now hear your condolences. To survive, we had to shut our eyes, with which we would have seen what was in yours. We closed our mouths against hunger and anger; we knew and did not know our families, friends, fellows, and leaders, who hunted us, ran with us, and died with us.

We faced ourselves from all sides. Some of us lived. We are still here. We regret to inform you that your condolences cannot be accepted at this time.

• Two testimonies from families released from Menik Camp
• July: Life after 25 years
• What must it be like to live behind these Kovil gates?
• We are nobody’s children…
• “We are not willing to go back to our village, till a permanent solution for the Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka”

“The Law& Society Trust (LST) together with the Community Trust Fund (CTF), the People’s Secretariat (PS) and the Rural Development Foundation (RDF) has setup a Citizen’s Commission to investigate they expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990”. This initiative is a result of the untiring efforts of the Northern Muslim leadership and a few civil society activists coordinated by Dr. Farzana Haniffa. The Terms of Reference of the Commission, of which I am a Member, goes on to set out the objective as “to produce authoritative documentation of expulsion and its consequence”, including in its coverage “the history of the expulsion, the experience of two decades of displacement and expectations, and in some cases the experience of resettlement”.

The largest numbers of those victims were from Mannar district of which I had, much earlier, been Government Agent for 3 years (mid 1965-mid 1968) I have happy memories of close interaction with many families there, both Tamil and Muslim. Inter-ethnic relations in Mannar were a model to the rest of the island. I have visited the district many times in 70s and 80s, and each time I found that inter-ethnic relations continued to be good. There was nothing on the ground to explain why the Northern Muslims were selected by the LTTE for eviction. The distraught evicted persons who I visited in Colombo soon afterwards kept asking it of me and I had no answer. Clearly the reasons were rooted elsewhere. Did the LTTE pick on the Northern Muslims because they were the most vulnerable with no record of ever resisting Tamil leadership?

Immediately after my service in Mannar I served 3 years as GA Batticaloa (mid 1968 – early 1971) and, much later, 3 years as GA Jaffna, then including Kilinochchi (mid 1981- mid 1984). Batticaloa and Jaffna districts also had large Muslim population and there too inter-ethnic relations were very satisfactory. The diversity was salient, e. g. Kattankudy, the largest Muslims town in the island, has very distinctive cultural and economic features sustained over many decades. It was much later that Tamil Muslim conflict in the East was promoted by outsiders who used Muslim home guards, as well as by the LTTE who sought to secure the subjugation of the Muslim population through a series of massacres. Despite these disruptions, most of the Tamil and Muslim populations of the North and East have, by and large, continued to live together in peace. Whenever I go back I feel as comfortable and as welcome in Muslim towns and villages in the North and East as when I was the Government Agent there decades earlier.

All this does not mean that there is no difficulty in reversing ethnic cleansing after a lapse of 20 years. That reversal should have been effected long ago. After a community departs from a locality, their properties progressively degenerate. Further, over the years, others move in to fill the vacant spaces created in the educational, social, economic and political life of that locality. At the other end, the displaced populations get settled in to their new locations with new neighbours, new schools, new economic and social activities, etc. New relationships get established superseding, in due course the old. The younger generation may have no ties at all binding them to the earlier location. With every passing year, reversal of ethnic cleansing becomes more difficult. Without focussed intervention, very few may go back. The appointment of this Commission is very welcome, though long over due.

The task of reversing ethnic cleansing is difficult but necessary. As I see it, the main task of this Commission is to push for and facilitate the resettlement of displaced Muslims back in the locations from which they were evicted. The displaced population needs to be motivated and helped to return. The conditions, facilities and inducements must therefore be attractive and the obstacles to return must be minimized. Particular attention needs to be paid to promote acceptance of the return on the part of the local communities among whom the returnees will resettle.

It will help to place each particular displacement and the return of the displaced in as broad a context as possible. Every act of ethnic cleansing is unique, and so too the related circumstances. If the issue is seen as a zero sum game between the two communities immediately involved, mobilizing comprehensive support for reversal of ethnic cleansing may pose some difficulties. On the other hand if ethnic cleansing is viewed in a broad context as affecting those of all communities, Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, and that policies to counter and reverse ethnic cleansing will bring joint gains to all victims, it would be easier to secure comprehensive backing for such policies. A balance needs to be struck between highlighting the special features of each case and the common features of all ethnic cleansing. The principles on which the remedies to all acts of ethnic cleansing are based should be independent of the ethnicity of the perpetrators and of the victims.

To permit any act of ethnic cleansing to stand would amount to withholding justice from the victims, to rewarding the perpetrators, to encouraging such acts in the future and, above all, to perpetuating a national crime and humiliation. On the other hand, no family or individual can be compelled to return to an inhospitable environment. The focus therefore should be on promoting voluntary return. This requires designing and executing the programmes in close interaction with and the participation of both the displaced communities and local community into which they are to return.  The remedies must be seen by all concerned as a step towards the restoration of the honour, not only of the victims and the perpetrators, but also of those who stood by and let the eviction occur. This Commission could play a lead role in spreading this message in relation to all acts of ethnic cleansing throughout our island.

• The Muslim question and resettlement of Muslim IDPs in post-war Sri Lanka: Two comprehensive interviews
• LLRC submission: The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the North by the LTTE in October 1990
• The Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990
• TMVP in same dustbin as LTTE in the past?
• A Commissioner’s Perspective: Citizens’ Commission on the Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE

All elections are important and these will be no exception. It is worth reminding that we are still in a post-war situation and far from the post-conflict one we ought to be in. What this requires is the prioritization of peace, reconciliation and unity and the firm commitment to ensure that the causes of ethnic conflict are not reproduced and sustained.  This means at least the rights of the IDPs as the litmus test for all else, a political settlement of the conflict and a reversal of the culture of impunity in respect of human rights along with facing up to the questions of whether there can be unity without reconciliation and reconciliation without accountability.  This is not all.  There are serious questions to be considered on the economic front with regard to employment and indebtedness – the real consequences of the fate of GSP Plus and the IMF loan – and most importantly in light of recent demonstrations, the ability of the system of education to meet the requirements of the economy.  And given Angulana, what happened to Nipuna Ratnayake and the Bambalapitiya drowning, the overarching issues of the Rule of Law, the supremacy of Constitution and the intentional violation of the Seventeenth Amendment.

Constitutional reform, at least in terms of the abolition or reform of the executive presidency will be on the agenda, as a consequence not so much of the requirements of governance but the emerging imperatives of regime survival and stability.  There is the danger that on this score, what is in store is the abolition of the form and title of the executive presidency with the transfer of its substantive powers to an “executive prime minister”.   The electoral system too, could be up for debate with the virtues of the ‘first-past –the post’ system and constituency MPs being eulogized to discredit proportional representation.

There is a crying need for a national debate on the future of the country and the issues on which the next presidential and general elections are to be fought.  The challenges ahead are far too serious to treat these elections merely as opportunities to register electoral approval, appreciation, admiration and gratitude for the defeat of the LTTE.  There has to be a tomorrow and a time when the war is truly behind us.  We need a plan to move towards that time and in order to design one, as many of us as willing and able must be part of that process.  An agenda for change and reform is critically needed and it will not come from the politicians who are trapped in fighting yesterday’s battles.

The island wide debate, discussion or conversation on change and reform is a vital and integral part of this.  Where however, through or on what medium or channel or site can it be conducted?

The obvious answer is the mainstream print and electronic media.  For a variety of reasons, very real and crucial constraints ranging from official displeasure, threat and sanction to self censorship, ideological disposition, market demands and problems of professionalism, the robust exchange of ideas called for will not happen here and not beyond the efforts of a persistent few, as required.  Moreover, since it is an exchange of ideas – a discussion, debate or conversation- that is called for, many voices need to he heard.  This is not about letters to the editor, about comment and observation alone but about participation and engagement with passion and conviction about the Sri Lanka of the future, we desire and deserve.

Citizens’ journalism and given its record as a forum for quality debate, Groundviews is ideally positioned to make a major contribution to this exercise in national rejuvenation and renaissance.  Is it not possible in the lead up to the elections that citizens use Groundviews to canvass their ideas for constitutional reform, governance, human rights and the economy and whatever else they see as constituting essential elements of an agenda for change and reform? The exchange could, but need not be time bound. As in the nature of a conversation it should be ongoing and active.

This would be a convincing demonstration of the strength and value of citizens’ journalism and its substantial utility in empowerment for peace, governance and human rights – An enabling facility for a functioning democracy.

• Abolition or reform of Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka?
• In conversation with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
• In conversation with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
• 1,000 posts on Groundviews: Bearing witness, shaping peace
• Strange proposals and broken promises: Constitutional reform in Sri Lanka

I also heard of a plea by a Tamil family detained at Menik Far. The appeal was sent to the Bishop of Mannar. I’m not sure why the appeal was not made to the Government and security forces, who are the ones holding these peoples captive. Maybe because they have more faith in the Bishop than the government!

So far, I have not heard anything indicating that these families will be allowed to go the Madhu Shrine for the celebrations planned this week. But I still hope some arrangement will be made.

Our Lady of Madhu, Sinhalese or Tamil?
Madhu Shrine has always struck me as a venue that manifested peace and harmony amongst Sinhalese and Tamil Catholics, and perhaps even non Catholics. I have visited Madhu Shrine several times. As a young boy as far back as 1982 and as a more conscious adult a few years ago. I have vivid memories of services in both languages, including prayers, hymns and preaching. Sinhalese and Tamil, from the North and South, we had always prayed at the feet of Our Lady of Madhu together and even lived together, in the middle of the jungle with basic facilities, for several days.

I don’t think Our Lady of Madhu was ever seen as mother of Tamils or Sinhalese, or of Northerners or Southerners. She was simply mother to all who went to her in prayer and devotion.

But sadly, this time around, it appears that Our Lady of Madhu will not have the opportunity to have with her, a large number of Tamils from the North, as they remain detained by the Government, without any charges, simply because they happened to be Tamil, and they lived in the areas previously controlled by the LTTE.

A time for celebration or mourning?
It is difficult to imagine any mother celebrating her birthday, anniversary or any other occasion, or that of a child, while another child has died, is sick, injured or facing any other kind of misfortune.

It is difficult for me to imagine Our Lady of Madhu rejoicing at the celebration of her feast this August, when some of her children, mainly Tamils, are mourning their dead relatives, have lost their hands and legs, and are imprisoned in inhumane conditions without any charges for months and years..

In addition to being a sacred shrine for Tamil and Catholics alike, Our Lady of Madhu had played a special role in sheltering and caring for Tamil people affected by the war, be they Christian or Hindus. I have heard from UN and other international relief agencies that Madhu Shrine was one of the best run welfare centres during Sri Lanka’s almost three decade long war. The Madhu refuge was referred to as “Open Relief Centre” in the past, but today, close to Madhu are large camps that are are closed and sealed with barbed wire and access in and out is at the discretion of the Government and security forces, even for family members, media, aid workers, parliamentarians. Amongst those Tamils who want to go to Madhu, but will not be allowed, will be those who had sought refuge in the Madhu Shrine in the past and those from Madhu village and surrounding parishes of the Madhu Shrine.

Comments and questions posed to me last week by friends in the Mannar diocese, including priests and religious, made me recall the warning by the prophets such as Isaiah, Amos and Micah in the Old Testament in the Bible, that prayer, worship, offerings and festivals are unacceptable and meaningless to God “when hands are covered in blood” and what God demands is to help the oppressed and ensure justice. (Ref., Is 1:11-17, Amos 5:21-24, Micah 6:6-8) Jesus teaches us in no uncertain terms that Christians will be judged on how they treat the poor and oppressed “whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me” (Mathew 25:35-45).

“How can we celebrate the Madhu feast? When so many of our people have been killed, injured, maimed, and forced to live in inhumane conditions, held captive against their will without any charges, and not allowed to go back to their families, villages, including those around Madhu shrine? When 6 Tamil Catholic priests continue to be detained, without any charges, perhaps for the crime of opting to stay back and serve their flock at the height of the war, in extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances?”

I couldn’t find an answer to these and other questions my friends raised, and I still search for answers. I could understand their pain and hurt. Particularly as I know the long held frustration and sadness of Northern Christians and Church leaders that Sinhalese Christians in the South, including Church leaders, often failed to raise their voices against injustices and suffering of Tamils, especially in the last few months of the war in 2009. And not easy to forget is the relative inaction and silence of Southern Sinhalese Catholics as Tamil priests and church workers in the North were killed, disappeared, injured, detained without charges and even churches providing refuge to people escaping violence were attacked.

Hand of friendship from the diocese of Mannar
But a part of me also was also telling that the Madhu feast could still be a stepping stone along a long road to rebuild relationships and reconcile Sinhalese and Tamils, at least Catholics.

Last week, I was in Arippu parish (all of them were displaced on 1st Sept 2007 and were allowed to go back after 21 months in June 2009) in the Mannar diocese. I was touched when I heard that the Parish Priest and several parishioners had gone to Madhu to do shramadana, to clean up the Shrine area in preparations for the feast, even when their own houses, livelihoods and properties are in disarray, destroyed or looted and there is hardly any assistance to help them rebuild their lives.

I saw that the whole diocese of Mannar is involved in caring for tens of thousands of orphaned children, elderly, disabled, seriously injured men, women and children and separated families. Injured people are being hosted and being cared for in the Bishop’s House, parishes, hospitals and other institutions. The Mannar diocese is also involved in feeding and providing assistance tens of thousands of people now being detained in camps. Most of the people I talked to, including the Bishop, priests, religious seemed to have relatives killed, injured or detained. Despite all these, the diocese is doing their best to welcome all pilgrims, including Sinhalese from the South, to their diocese and the Madhu Shrine.

These hands of friendship that the Tamil Catholics in the Diocese of Mannar is extending towards all that want to come to Madhu this August, despite the pain they continue to bear and the overwhelming burdens they face, gave me hope that Madhu feast could still be significant step towards reconciliation.

Towards a meaningful Madhu feast
However, there will also have to be meaningful steps taken by others who are attached to Our Lady of Madhu, especially Sinhalese Catholics in the South.

The jubilations of flag raising, eating kiribath, paying homage to the military etc., was visibly absent in the diocese of Mannar and what I saw instead was grief, sadness and pain everywhere. As Sinhalese Catholics from the South go to our Our Lady of Madhu, I believe it is essential to be sensitive to this reality. Glorifying the war and those who caused untold suffering will not towards reconciliation.

I’m aware that many people, Catholics as well as people of other faiths, have been collecting material aid for those now held captive in camps, and there have been many who have volunteered to serve those held captive in camps, those in hospitals and other locations. However, while such charity and generosity is much needed and appreciated, most of the people now held captive are not beggars, but rather, those who had lived dignified lives as farmers, fisherfolk, government servants, teachers etc. Many have friends and relatives willing to take care of them, in whose houses they will feel at home, and be comfortable, both mentally and physically.

Therefore, to me, the most meaningful way to celebrate the Madhu feast would be to at least now, raise our voices to free the Tamil civilians, who are so close, yet so far from the Madhu Shrine. So far because they are detained behind barbed wire and not allowed to go the few kilometers. And perhaps to raise our voices to find the truth of what happened in the last few months of the war and ensure justice, without letting the Madhu feast be used to hide the immense suffering and pains people in the North had to undergo and are still undergoing.

Will Sinhalese Catholics be content to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Madhu on their own, or are we ready to try to do our utmost to ensure that our Tamil brothers and sisters now held captive are set free, and will be able to join us to celebrate the Madhu feast as children of Our Lady of Madhu?

• Madhu Shrine: the struggle to preserve the sanctity of a sacred shrine and humanitarian space
• Violating the Madhu Sancuary – Some brief thoughts
• A narrow escape and a great tragedy
• The cost of liberation…
• From the tiger’s den to an open prison

First they said that they would allow us to go to our village with in a month. Then they said after 06 months. Finally they said that they would resettle us when The Defense Ministry would give an order only they would allow us to go. We still remain IDPs unable to go back to our villages.

Since we engage in fishing at Achankullam Nannattan, we temporarily settled down there. On 22.04.08 our sons Mr. Rongalin age 20 & Mr.Sutherson Peries age 22, went to Nannattan to take photo graphs for navy identity cards around 3.30 pm.

While they were returning from Nanattan to Achankullam at 5.30 pm, unidentified men, who came in a motor cycle shot them with a pistol at Karrunkamurrippu which is located between Achankullam & Nanattan. An army sentry point is just one km from this place.              

My son Mr. Rongalin was the bread winner of my (Mr. Justin’s) family. As I am a paralyzed patient I could not do any work. My family faced untold hardship. There are no words to express my untold hardship.

Mr.Sutherson Peries was the only son in Mr. Susaiappu’s family who has 03 daughters, who are yet to be married.. And the family was dependant on his earnings. We lost their properties & wealth when we were displaced. We can bear the loss of property and other materialistic things, but how are we to bear the loss of these two children. This never ending war is plucking so many youngsters and leaving the older generation in despair and worthless. When will this suffering end?

Narrated by two displaced fathers from Arrippu Mannar, Musali IDPS

• BATTICALOA CONSORTIUM OF HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES FACILITATING TO THE BATTICOLA IDPS
• Abandoned War Displaced People From Border Villages
• A veteran internally displaced person (IDP)
• Homeless in one’s homeland
• The cost of liberation…

She was adamant that she will not give her other daughter to join the LTTE and thought it was best to flee Kalliyaddy with her 25 year old daughter. During the last six months in Kalliyaddy it had been at a risk that she was able to hide her daughter and to avoid enlistment. Since the LTTE too was forcing more people to join, she thought fit to escape to government controlled area. There was no direct land route to Kalliyaddi from Mannar, except Uiylenkullam entry point which has been closed since September last year. She, along with her daughter trekked through the jungle in the night to reach Viddalthivu at dawn amidst great risk and difficulties.  

At dawn they walked along the shallow seas until they were met by a fishing boat who agreed to take them to Mannar after listening to their plight. On arrival they registered themselves at the Grama Niladhari in Sinnakarishal. On registration they wished to come and live with me and her daughter who are residents for a very long period in Mannar. This was the sole reason for her to escape from Kalliyaddy. However, security officials (Navy) in  Puthukuddippu Mannar opposed to them staying with her daughter and made it mandatory to move into a IDP camp specially set up for people escaping from the LTTE controlled areas. I made so many representation to the officials of her old and feeble age where she needs medical care and peace of mind and the need to house them with her own daughter. My plea fell on deaf ears. An officer categorically stated that my mother in law and her daughter could be black tigers and they should be kept under watch in this IDP camp.

How on earth can they label my old mother in law a black tiger? Is it fair to look at all such people as having links with the LTTE? What is our plight? Even during her last stages in life if she cannot live with her daughter with the simple comfort we could provide, what is the use of us. What is the future for my sister-in-law? They came from a difficult area to get some solace but are now in a worse situation where she is worrying over her daughter and her health is deteriorating day by day in conditions which are not good for living – this is when she has a better place to live. The recent rains have caused havoc and living in the IDP camp is even terrible now.

Unless they get pass from the police they can not go out. My wife & I wanted to bring them to our home as my mother – in – law is a diabetic patient. We reported about this to all organizations and the Mannar GA. My wife goes to Kallimottai Murunkane very day from Karishal to look after her mother. Therefore I have to stay and look after my children with out going for work. Why do we have to face these calamities when we could lead a decent life?    

Name: Mr. Ponnambalam (name changed upon request)
Address: Sinnakarshial

• From the tiger’s den to an open prison
• Closer Look At Operation To Capture Thoppigala
• War IDPs
• Forgotten IDPs from the North
• Sri Lankan refugees in India: “Are we the ones to bear this shame, are they the sacrifice”

Ruki Fernando of the Law and Society Trust speaks about the present situation in Mannar, Sri Lanka.

Click here for the video in Sinhala and here for more videos from Vikalpa Video.

For more articles by Ruki on the embattled North and East of Sri Lanka, click here.

• Present situation in Jaffna: A video interview in English and Sinhala
• Current situation in Jaffna, Sri Lanka: A resident speaks out
• Interview with Mano Ganeshan on abductions of Tamils in Colombo
• Prof. Rohan Samarajiva on whether the LTTE is really finished and the war over in Sri Lanka
• Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratna on whether the LTTE is really finished and the war over in Sri Lanka

I am the eldest son in my family and I returned to Mannar after my marriage. After one year I told my parents to come down to Sri Lanka since a ceasefire agreement was signed between LTTE and the government. They returned to Mannar after 12 years from India.

As soon as he was abducted I informed the ICRC, FCE, Citizen Committees and CHA. My abducted brother is the youngest in our family. He neither knows nor has any connection with any militant group.

Yet he was abducted.

We searched all over but we could not find him. In early March I suddenly got an anonymous call. The person one who spoke to me over the phone did not tell me his name or address. He just said, “Your brother is in the Colombo National Hospital”.

The following day we went to the hospital where we found my brother, lying on a bed. He was senseless and restless. We could see that he had gone through a lot of pain.

The doctors advised us to not ask him anything until he fully recovers.

That may be a long wait.

• The abduction, assault, arrest and defamation of the Sudar Oli Editor: Questions for the Sri Lankan Government
• Another abduction in Colombo
• My life and my choices in a country at war: A personal reflection
• War IDPs
• Longing and Belonging series: Returning lives, rebuilding limbs