P.O.Box 782, Egmore, Chennai 600 008, India.
The Small Arms Survey published by the Graduate Institute of
International Studies in Geneva titled ‘In the Shadow of a Ceasefire- Impacts
Small Arms, Availability and Misuse in Sri Lanka’ says the situation is similar
to that existing currently in Northern Ireland. There are indications that
splits are emerging amongst the LTTE cadres. In the east, cadres are becoming
rapidly criminalized and controlled by budding warlords and the incidence of
kidnapping and extortion has grown significantly since the Ceasefire Agreement
was signed. Often the targets are wealthy Muslim traders, many of whom have
made their fortunes during the conflict by exploiting business opportunities
that emerged with the Tamil traders.
The report also says that the LTTE has proved extremely adept at
trawling the international black market for illegal small arms and light
weapons and even more proficient at moving equipment from distant locales into
the north/east of the island. The report says that the LTTE has also acquired
significant supplies of weapons from stockpiles abandoned by the government
forces. It adds that the LTTE has benefited from massive remittances and
assistance from Tamil sympathizers across the world.
In a recent interview with The Island, terrorism expert, Dr
Rohan Gunaratne also revealed that in reality the LTTE has not abandoned its
historic mission of trying to rebuild its guerilla and terrorism capabilities
and during the past 2 years, LTTE has continued to recruit, train, raise funds,
procure arms and transport them to Ceylon. He also said Thailand remains their
most important transit hub for moving arms and also the home of the head of
procurement and shipping operations, Tharmalingam Shanmugam Kumaran alias
Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP). Gunaratne said that the Indian government is very keen
to apprehend KP whom they suspect played an important role in the logistics
connected with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
A recent report revealed that the LTTE had made an attempt
through the Norwegian facilitators to include KP in their delegation to give
legitimacy to him, a man wanted by both India and Sri Lankan authorities and
the Interpol. It is also ironical that an LTTE delegation is now in South
Africa at the time the Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs is visiting South
Africa and EU countries and the European Union which has allowed KP to operate
accounts in their countries making a big hue and cry about the situation in
Ceylon and talking of human rights. The EU even had the audacity to condemn the
take over of the defence portfolio by the President.
The Small Arms Survey also says the entry points for LTTE
weapons into the north and the east have varied according to the balance of
power and territory. Control of Jaffna means, by and large control of the LTTE
of the entry points across the Jaffna peninsula. The LTTE is also thought to
have developed entry points across the Palk Bay and especially, the lagoon to
the south of the peninsula. The Small Arms Survey also takes a dig at the Non
Governmental Organizations in Ceylon. It says " It is often the case that
local and international NGO’s are adversely affected by continuing levels of
violence and insecurity. However, this is not the case in Sri Lanka. The NGO
community involved in the conflict has suffered little, psychologically or physically.
Most international NGO’s are based in Colombo, an extremely agreeable city
where many NGO workers and their families feel very comfortable”.
An attempt by LTTE's lackeys in the Tamil United Liberation
Front (TULF) to oust their president Veerasingam Anandasangaree through a
no-confidence motion has been thwarted. The fearless Tamil leader, who has
consistently been refusing to play ball with the Tigers, termed the resolution
illegal. Mr. Anandasangaree said that the party General Secretary had summoned
the Central committee meeting chaired by him and had attempted to move a vote
of no confidence. Mr. Anandasangaree had at this point put off the meeting
indefinitely ruling that the Central Committee has no power to move a no
confidence motion. Later the two defendants had taken steps to hold another
meeting without consulting him at Amparai on December 21. The application had sought the court to
order preventing the defendants holding such meeting at Amparai or at any other
place and to prohibit the defendants taking any decision without his written
approval. The Colombo Additional District Judge first issued an enjoining order
preventing the respondents from summoning any meetings of the TULF without the
written permission of the petitioner Mr.Anandasangaree on December 17 last
year. When the application was taken up for second times on that date the court
extended the enjoining order till January 14. When the case was taken up for
further hearing on 13th January the Additional District Judge
extended the enjoining order till January 26 and put off the further inquiry
into the application of Mr.Anandasangaree on that date. The additional District
Judge rejected the application on behalf of Mr.Sambanthan and
Mr.Para-rajasingham seeking the vacation of enjoining order.
Anandasangaree had been under fire ever since he chose to move
away from the pro-LTTE line and refused to be remote-controlled by the Tigers.
Early in 2003, he declared that the Tigers weren't the sole representatives of
the Ceylon Tamils. He also questioned the practice of diplomats interacting
with the LTTE leadership, ignoring the parliamentary parties. He had contended
that when some anti-Tiger groups were also represented in parliament, it would
be wrong to confine the dialogue to the Tigers. But his rivals pointed out that
the December 2001 manifesto of the Tamil National Alliance _ a loose
conglomeration of four Tamil parties, including TULF _ had declared that the
LTTE was the sole representative of Tamils and hence any solution to the ethnic
tangle could be found only through a dialogue with them. A pro-Tiger Website
Tamilcanadian.com denounced him in virulent terms. It proclaimed, “We know that
people like you and Douglas are ready to sell the self-respect and rights of
the Tamil people to the international forces who are working against the
interests of the Tamil people and peace process. Tamils have one and only one
representative, and that is Prabhakaran.'' Even after such widespread
criticism, he wouldn't back down. A flurry of meetings between the LTTE
leadership and the other leaders of the TULF in the Vanni jungles followed, all
obviously aimed at clipping his wings.
A large group of Muslims have fled their homes after four
elderly Muslims were killed, , south of Manirasakulam. Initial reports said only three persons were
hacked to death. However, truce monitoring mission sources said that four
civilians were killed by unidentified persons.
The attack, the latest in a series on the Muslims in the area,
was definitely carried out by LTTE cadres, security sources said. An
authoritative SLMC source said that the killings took place about six kms away
from an LTTE camp set up in May this year in violation of a cease-fire
agreement between the government and the LTTE. He is convinced the LTTE was
responsible for this attack as well as several others carried out in the
district over the past few days. A senior security official said that the
latest attack was definitely linked to simmering land disputes between Tamils
and Muslims.
The Janata Party president, Dr.Subramanian Swamy, has suggested
that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, adopt a
comprehensive approach on fighting naxalism by taking into consideration the
links of the People's War (PW) with other terrorist organisations in the
country. Dr. Swamy, who met Mr. Naidu
urged him to prevail upon the NDA Government at the Centre to take a clear-cut
stand on terrorism whether it was perpetrated by the LTTE, ULFA or Islamic
organisations. The NDA had constituents such as the MDMK, PMK and the DMK,
which were all sympathisers of the LTTE.
The LTTE, he said, had a presence in Visakhapatnam and
Srikakulam. In fact, the Tigers were training the PW cadres in Bastar area of
Chhattisgarh bordering Andhra Pradesh. He had offered to furnish details about
the operations of the different terrorist organisations and their links with
one another. Earlier, addressing a
press conference, Dr. Swamy denounced the tendency of parties such as the
Congress and the TRS to "legitimise" naxalism by describing it as a
socio-economic problem. He said violence by anyone must be countered squarely
and its perpetrators routed.
He asserted that he was not trying to justify encounters in
which police killed innocents. But, the naxalites had weapons and police would
be justified in retaliating with weapons in what was clearly a battle. Dr.
Swamy also questioned the "studied silence" of the AICC president,
Sonia Gandhi, on the LTTE violence and her "failure" to demand the
extradition of V. Prabakaran. Dr. Swamy said he was planning to revive the
Janata Party in Andhra Pradesh as he had done earlier in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka
and Kerala.
LTTE had grabbed at least seven Indian fishing boats with 32 fishermen
on board, officials monitoring the island’s ceasefire said, insisting that
those captured should be freed. The fishing boats were taken by the LTTE near
Mannar in the Palk Strait that separates the countries, said Agnes Bragadottir,
spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. “Deputy head of Mission Hagrup
Haukland has strongly advised them to release them”, she said. This is an extremely dangerous situation.
The Chief Minister, of Tamil Nadu Ms.Jayalalithaa, has urged the
Indian and Sri Lankan Governments to consider taking up joint naval exercise to
eliminate “unauthorised” naval operations in the international waters by the
Sea Tigers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In a letter to the Prime
Minister, a copy of which was released to the media, Ms.Jayalalithaa said the
recent abduction of 32 Ramanathapuram fishermen by the LTTE only showed that
the organisation was seeking to assume the mantle of legitimacy, claiming to
have naval control of the international waters off the coast of Mannar. “The
abduction placed the entire matter in a totally different perspective,
involving not only the fragile security of the East Coast of Tamil Nadu but
also the security of the Indian nation itself, considering the overtly
terrorist stance of the LTTE that has had such an explosive impact on the
internal security of India in the recent past”.
She was constrained to observe that such an outrageous incident
by a terrorist organisation should not be met with a lukewarm and meek response
by the Indian Government, treating it as yet another routine incident of Indian
fishermen allegedly crossing the international boundary line during the course
of their daily fishing activity. The incident was an affront to the country’s
sovereignty, she said. Given the serious national security concerns (both
external and internal), which an incident of this kind involved, the Government
of India should make a clear statement to the LTTE that it should not provoke
India by such “renegade acts of illegal capture of innocent fishermen”. It
would even be appropriate for the Indian Government to take up with the island
Government the question of embarking upon joint exercises to eliminate such
unauthorised naval operations in the international waters by the Sea Tigers.
The Indian Ocean, in which Indian fishermen have traditionally
eked out their livelihood, should not become the breeding ground of naval
forces of terrorist groups which kidnap innocent fishermen and hold them to
ransom”. The Chief Minister wanted the Prime Minister to give serious thought
to her views in the context of internal and external security, which must be
the only consideration of the country’s policy. The Indian Government must make
a clear statement that it would not in any way tolerate future incidents of
this kind.
Mangayarkarasi Amirthalingam, widow of slain TULF leader
Appapillai Amirthalingam in her observations on the reported pandemoniam at the
no-confidence motion meeting of the TULF against its leader V. Anandasangaree,
claimed that it was unfortunate that a section of the members of her late
husband’s party wanted to bring the party under the jackboot of the Tiger rebel
outfit that killed her husband, a founder member of the party. Mrs.
Amirthalingam has told the ‘Asian Tribune’ that it was the TULF, the
independent and moderate Tamil party, that represented the aspirations of the
Tamils in Ceylon and all over the world.
She had made these observations to ‘Asia Tribune’ from her
residence located outside London. Leading a low profile life after the
assassination of her husband, Mrs. Amirthalingam was in Ceylon last August to
be present at the 76th birthday celebrations of Mr. Amirthalingam, organised by
Mr. Anandasangaree at the Saraswathy Hall, Colombo. Addressing this meeting,
Mrs. Amirthalingam had publicly accused the LTTE leader Prabhakaran for the
murder of her husband. She had also alleged that Mavai Senadhirajah, who
succeeded her late husband as Member of Parliament, had tried to destroy the
Tamil Arasu Kadchchi (Federal Party) being treacherous to Mr. Amirthalingam who
nursed him into politics. Anandasangaree had celebrated Amirthalingam’s
Remembrance Day publicly against the orders and threats of the LTTE. The
incumbent TULF leader Anandasangaree has bravely defied pressure from the LTTE
to surrender the rights of his party to justify the LTTE claim internationally
that Tigers represented the Tamils in Ceylon. The ‘Asian Tribune’ report dated
December 01, 2003 stated that TULF Vice-President Joseph Pararajasingham, R.
Sampanthan and N. Raviraj (all Members of Parliament) who now oppose
Anandasangaree had been introduced into TULF politics by the late A.
Amirthalingam. Anandasangaree has time and again refused to toe the LTTE line.
Raviraj who succeeded Mrs. Sarojini Yogeswaran as Jaffna Mayor after the latter
was killed by the LTTE refused to go to Jaffna to participate in Municipal
Council meetings due to LTTE threats, the Asian Tribune reported.
Many Ceylon Tamils in the Island and abroad are grateful to
leaders like Anandasangaree and several others who in the face of threats to
their lives by LTTE, have bravely stood up to the ideals of democracy and
freedom and have not cowed down to the dictates of the fascist LTTE. They have
held aloft the banner of freedom and justice for the Tamil people of Ceylon,
the struggle for which was led by respected Tamils leaders such as Chelvanayakam
and Naganathan who were in the forefront of democratic and non-violent
struggles to win back the fundamental rights of the Tamil people of Ceylon.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga has directed the defence
authorities and the IGP to take immediate steps to bring the situation in
Trincomalee District back to normalcy, according to a press release issued by
the Presidential Secretariat. Police have also been instructed to investigate
into recent incidents in the area. This is in addition to the investigations
being carried out by the SLMM on these incidents. The President’s Office also
rejected in toto "several print media reports alleging the presence of a
so-called ‘third force’ behind these incidents." Apparently neither the
President’s Office nor any other responsible source has attributed the
prevailing tension to any such third force, said Janadasa Peiris, Director
General (Media) of the Presidential Secretariat. He also said that it was regrettable
that sections of the media continued to express news and views on such baseless
reports.
More than 6,000 Tamils of Indian origin registered themselves as
Sri Lankan citizens as part of a 10-day programme to enable them to gain
citizenship. Supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), the Ceylon Workers Congress registration scheme overcomes a critical
and long-running problem for an estimated 300,000 Tamils brought to Ceylon since the 1820s to work on plantations
opened up by the British. In October 2003, parliament passed legislation that
allowed these "stateless" people, along with their children, to
receive Ceylon citizenship. The campaign will cover both those persons who
applied for an Indian passport under the so-called Sirimavo-Shastri Pact in
1964 but who never left Ceylon as well as people who have lived their entire
life without a passport or any other identification document. The 10-day
registration programme puts the new legislation into effect. UNHCR
Representative Neill Wright welcomed the Government’s initiative that provides
Tamils of Indian origin with the legal protections that come with citizenship.
"Persons without citizenship are denied some of the most basic rights and
entitlements: they cannot open a bank account, own property or work for the
government; they cannot obtain an identity card, a birth certificate, a
marriage certificate or a passport; if they leave the country they cannot
return. For almost 200 years, this has been the predicament of a great many
Tamils of Indian origin living in Sri Lanka. The new legislation corrects this
injustice." The 10-day registration programme, enables people to register
for citizenship at Ceylon Workers Congress offices in more than 50 locations
across the country. More than 300 volunteers have given their time to support
the scheme.
Former Indian Foreign Secretary M.K Rasgotra has warned the LTTE
and its leader Velupillai Prabhakran not to provoke India by capturing Indian
fishermen in Sri Lankan waters. Rasagotra said, "Emergence of a third
Navy, Sea Tigers, will not be accepted by India. There are only two Navies, Sri
Lankan and Indian. The Sri Lankan government should do joint naval exercises
with the Indian navy and eliminate unauthorized naval operations. India is
concerned over Prabhakaran capturing Indian seamen. We ask them to avoid
provocation of this kind".
The former Foreign Secretary said this in the presence of the
Indian High Commissioner to Colombo, Nirupam Sen and the Chairman of the
Banda-raniake Center for International Studies, (BCIS) and former Foreign
Minister and MP, Lakshman Kadiragamar. Delivering the keynote address at the
inauguration of the first Sri Lanka – India Strategic Dialogue, organized by
the BCIS in Colombo, Rasgotra said that the governments of Sri Lanka and India
should develop the Trincomalee port together.
The former Indian foreign Secretary also said " We have
made blunders, but, Sri Lanka has forgiven us. Today both Sri Lanka and India
have become victims of terrorism. We hope the Sri Lankan peace process would
succeed, the result be positive but, will not take too long. India has
reiterated its firm commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Sri Lanka." He added, " We are watching the situation, the LTTE’s
response to the government’s proposal. But, the LTTE’s response is not
reasonable." Rasgotra also said
"India is not indifferent, but, watchful. It all depends on what the
people of Sri Lanka want from India."
Member of Parliament and former Sri Lankan Foreign Minister
Lakshman Kadirgamar said that Sri Lankan government must erect a monument in
honour of the soldiers of the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) who died in
Ceylon during the IPKF operations in the country. Speaking at the closing
session of the First Sri Lanka-India dialogue organised by the Bandaranaike
Center for International Studies, in Colombo. Kadirgamar said, “We owe them
immense debt of gratitude. We owe them for what they did and what they tried to
do”.
Kadirgamar said that an Indian reporter had asked him the
question during his first visit to India as the Foreign Minister of the Peoples
Alliance Government and he regretted very much that nothing had been done to
honour the IPKF. Kadirgamar also said whatever views people would have even
many years later, we should remember that over thousand soldiers sacrificed
their lives in Ceylon’s soil and it must be recognised.
Mr.S.D.Muni a former member of India’s National Security Council
and professor, School of International Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University,
addressing the first Sri Lanka India strategic Dialogue conducted by the
Bandaranaike Centre for International studies (BCIS), said that the peace
process in Ceylon had allowed the LTTE to consolidate itself, pick up arms and
kill democratic politicians. He said “Sri Lanka in fact has been witnessing
only peace process. The situation has helped the LTTE to make significant
political as well as military - tactical gains. Expectations are that the LTTE
will continue to desist from breaking peace as long as it can gain political
mileage out of the rivalry between the President and the Prime Minister. But
the possibility of the LTTE changing the course in the event of either the
formation of a truly national Government or further sharpening of political knives
in Colombo exists”. Speaking further Prof.Muni said”. There are no takers for
the LTTE proposals. The Sri Lankan Government says that it is not what they
expected. The PA and the JVP has rejected it and the LTTE has been out of talks
for months”. Prof.Muni also added that India has always even in the worst of
times never expected separation as the solution for the problems of the people
of Ceylon. He also pointed out that the political stability in the Island is
vital for Indian own interest and also the aspiration of the people of Ceylon.
Speaking of Defence cooperation between the two countries former
commander in Chief of Indian Navy’s Eastern Naval Command and an IPKF vetaran,
Vice Admiral P.S.Das said only the Sri Lankan Navy could detain the Indian
Fishermen and not others. He said this in reference to the LTTE capturing
Indian fishermen. Vice Admiral Das said “ Five hundred people and a dozen boats
cannot be considered a Navy. Sea Tigers, LTTE they are terrorists. Not a navy.
Why give them credit”. He warned “But they have capabilities and there is a
threat” Vice Admiral Das pointed out that Indian maritime reconnaissance assets
have also been used to carry out searches in large ocean areas suspected to be
carrying arms for the LTTE and vessels located have thereafter, been
intercepted and neutralised by the Sri Lankan Navy. The former IPKF veteran
called for increased cooperation between the Indian and Sri Lankan navies.
K.Valayudam, Badulla district MP and General Secretary, Lanka
Jathika Estate Workers Union alleged the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) of
misleading the estate workers by distributing bogus application forms with the
connivance of United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) to obtain Sri
Lanka citizenship. He told media that the Government has passed a bill in
parliament to grant citizenship to 165,000 people who are of Indian origin and
their descendents. They were to be repatriated under the Sirima- Shasthri Pact
signed in the sixties. But due to the unsettled conditions in the country since
1983 this was postponed.
Valayudam alleged that CWC has committed this underhand act on
their own with the assistance of UNHCR officials where the latter has spent
around Rs. 150,000 on printing and distribution of these bogus forms without
the approval of the Government. At the bottom of these forms the names of CWC
and UNHCR are printed to give the impression that it is they who are
responsible for obtaining the citizenship to estate workers, Velayudam pointed
out. He condemned this act of the CWC as a manoeuvre to obtain votes of estate
Tamils posing as their only saviour. UNHCR should have been more alert as a UN
arm in dealing with such people as this kind of deal will tarnish their image.
This is something that has to be implemented by the Government and not a single
union. Even the President has said it’s wrong to have the name of any union on
these forms. President’s office has made an announcement to the effect that the
earlier issued form is invalid, Velayudam said. Velaydam observed that it is
our duty to help these less privileged people irrespective of caste, creed or
nationality. No one should take undue political advantage and added that those
who claimed to be the saviours of the estate workers in the past are gradually
losing their foothold. All those who are granted citizenship will receive a 20
perch block of land and a loan of Rs.100,000 repayable in 15 years and an
outright grant of Rs. 56,000. Among the other facilities that has been planned
for them are playgrounds, community centres and crematoriums. Already a
crematorium has been built in Pussellawa, said Raja Seneviratne, President of
LJEWU. Government has already started issuing a form in all three languages to
the estate workers who are eligible for Sri Lanka citizenship and the bogus
form distributed to them will become invalid, he said. Asked what will happen
to those who have already filled the forms and handed over to the other parties
he said, “They will have to fill the correct form for the purpose” as the
Government will not accept any private forms.
Under the leadership of the National Steering Committee for Mine
Action (NSCMA), UNDP, and UNICEF have worked together to produce a new Mine
Action media campaign entitled ‘Your Safety, Mine Action, Our Future’. The
campaign comprises of a series of thirteen short (five minute) documentaries
and six (30 second) public service announcements that aim to explain the risks
and the different aspects of humanitarian mine action activities that the
public should be aware of. The thirteen programmes aim to create an
understanding of the issues surrounding landmines and encourage responsible and
safe behaviour among people in high-risk areas. They include an overview of
humanitarian mine action work, the concept and importance of mine risk
education, the various aspects of mine clearance, the challenges faced by
internally displaced people returning to their homes, the assistance given to
survivors of landmine injury, the impact of landmines on children, the
information net work that supports mine clearance and advocacy and stockpile
destruction.
The question of Sri Lankan citizenship rights to the people of
Indian origin and estate Tamils in particular have been resolved by an Act of
Parliament with the consensus and support of all political parties in
Parliament. This was a matter that should be appreciated by all those
beneficiaries said A. P. Kanapathipillai, a senior attorney-at-law, and a human
rights activist addressing a seminar organised by Lawyers for Human Rights held
at Nuwara Eliya.
Mr. Kanapathipillai, who traced the history of the Ceylon
Citizenship Acts, pushed through the parliament by the late D. S. Senanayake
and others with the support of certain Tamil leaders said that the legislations
deprived the Indian origin Tamils their citizenship rights in Ceylon. He said
that when such moves were mooted even in the State Council before
independence, it was the late Dr. S. A.
Wickremasinghe who strongly voiced against such impending moves by Sinhala
chauvinists.
It may be recalled that when the legislations to deny the Indian
origin Tamils of Ceylon their citizenship rights were presented in the
Parliament soon after
Independence, it was
Mr.S.J.V.Chelvanayakam who along with the Trotskyite and Communist parties
stood up and opposed the legislation against the disenfranchisement of Indian
origin Tamils in Ceylon. He rightly perceived this move as an attack directed
at the entire Tamil population in Ceylon.
Readers can now access Eelam Update on the OfERR website at www.oferr.org to download the monthly Eelam
Update soon after it is released. Eelam Update will reach you much faster
through the website than through hard copies sent through postal mail. You can
also access the latest information regarding the Ceylon Tamil Refugees in Tamil
Nadu India through the same website.
Proteg@eth.net
ProTEG, P.O.Box 782,
Egmore, Chennai - 600 008. India.