“The people of Jaffna also suffer many indirect consequences of this life of fear. They have sacrificed their active and rich cultural life by living only to serve the Sri Lanka military. Sports and cultural life in Jaffna is down to the minimum, indeed one could say that it is almost nil. Jaffna used to be a hive of dance and music performances. This has all come to a halt. Even inter-school cricket matches that would stir up the entire town is now subdued and are played quietly inside schools.”_________________________________
by a Special Correspondent in Jaffna
(March 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) “Jaffna people are treated by the Sri Lanka military worse than slaves, in the most humiliating and terrifying style”, said the Jaffna Members of Parliament who are in touch with their electorate people by phone. They said they are unable to even visit their electorate due to death threats against them. These MPs described the conditions facing their people as follows.
Despite no export to outside due to the closure of the A9 highway, fish is very expensive in Jaffna due to the severe restriction on fishing imposed by the Sri Lankan Navy. Fish is the most common daily food of the Jaffna people. The extreme restrictions on fishing have had a double edged effect of increasing the price of fish beyond the means of the majority of the people and severely restricting the livelihood of the fishing families.
The phenomenon of “Convoy time” has become one that pervades the life of the entire people of the peninsula. This is the time when Sri Lanka military vehicles are in transit from one location to another. All passing traffic on a long road will be halted for one to two hours until the convoys have completed their use of the long road. The passage of the military takes precedence over critically ill patients and all other urgent civilian affairs
Although in theory the all night curfew starts at 9.00pm, all activities including public and private bus service ends around 3.30pm in Jaffna and the town goes to sleep. This is a self imposed curfew time by the people due to fear of the military and its paramilitary groups that pervades the life of the people.
Even at home people have no peace. Theft has become epidemic. Armed men arrive at people’s door during curfew hours and demand that the door be opened. There is no question of refusing to open. These intruders will remove anything they wish from the house. People know that this is going on with the full co-operation of the Sri Lanka military. Perhaps it is these same EPDP men, who will arrive with police escort to businesses and offices during the day, expect to be treated like VIPs.
The people of Jaffna also suffer many indirect consequences of this life of fear. They have sacrificed their active and rich cultural life by living only to serve the Sri Lanka military. Sports and cultural life in Jaffna is down to the minimum, indeed one could say that it is almost nil. Jaffna used to be a hive of dance and music performances. This has all come to a halt. Even inter-school cricket matches that would stir up the entire town is now subdued and are played quietly inside schools.
Education of their children, the primary goal of most families is also suffering. One aspect of this is the lack of school text books. These have not been provided for this year. Already a third of the school year is over.
The crowning of this life of fear is the plight of the people who have been injured in assaults by the Sri Lanka military forces. People with their hands and limbs broken due to beating by the Sri Lanka military attend the hospital but are too scared to record the cause of their injury.
Making no complaints it seems is the best system to follow in Jaffna.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
"What goes around comes around". Definitely the brutal ruling of the Singhala chauvanist mahinda rajapaksha's action will soon backfire on him. Wait and see. I strongly believe in " Every action has a reaction" No devil can escape form the sin he or she collects on earth.
How on earth can mahinda rajapaksha treat these innocent, poor civilians of Jaffna so arrogantly that they can't even live their lives with their least aspirations. No human being can behave or treat his own citizens the way this monster presidents does.
If you thing that LTTE are your enemies, why the hell are you illtreating these innocent lives of Jaffna people.
This monster president doesn't even know that "white" depicts peace. How dare are you to wear a white color national dress while destructing peace of all the poeple in Jaffna and Colombo.
" Do unto others as you have others unto you" "Give the devils its due". Do you, the monster rajapaksha really understand these.
If you really do, you would have long becaome a human being.
Atleast try to be a human being in the future. Don't collects sin for you and your family. Don't ever thing you can ever run away from threse sins. Soon you are going to pay back.
Suramya Kariyaperuma
USA
I earnestly regret on the plight of Jaffna community passing through. However, TNA MPs cannot complain the same for Eastern Province anymore. The difference is LTTE is no longer active enough there to make the chaos. The solution for the plight of Jaffna community is, freeing them sooner from the grip of LTTE. Afterwards, all communtiies, Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim will be able to live in peace and harmony in this tiny island. It will be the role of all parts of the community including politicians, intellectuals, common people etc., to develop such a society learning from past mistakes. Anyway, there should be no room for weapons to play a role in that task.
The lankaguardian should stop giving space to these MPs who are only trying to sow the seeds of hatred further as if there isnt enough to go around....
There should be reconciliation between the sinhalese and tamils and that is what lankaguardian must promote. If I see two groups of people in trouble anywhere in the world I would not stir it up further but promote peace and reconcilliation.
The LTTE could have been a strong political force for change and to get more political power for the tamil people but instead they have so far used violence on opponents, recruited thousands of child soldiers in their thousands, all tamil children and made them go to the battle front and die, ruined the northern economy, made sure that northern development not just stalled for two decades but went backwards, destroyed northern infrastructure, made sure the northern tamils are in constant conflict with the other ethnic groups and many more crimes which has quite adversly affected the tamil people themselves. So far from liberating the tamil people they have brought them to ruin.
I feel very sorry for the Jaffna tamils and their plight is totally the fault of the violent LTTE (who have never given up violence for twenty three years) and no one elses.
I am sure given the chance the jaffna tamil people would be eager to take part in elections like in the east and also for a serious discussion to share political power and end this long standing conflict and go back to normalcy.
I am sure they are eargerly awaiting the day that rapid development can take place in the north and they can once again be in direct contact with the rest of the country and interact with the sinhalese, muslims and others once more like in the east and I am sure they want the LTTE menace to end or for the LTTE to give up the gun for good and reform and face elections.
So it's the fault of SL Army & GOSL? LTTE is quite innocent & has nothing to do with our suffering!
Oh GOD where are you? Punish these people who distort the truth before punishing the LTTE.
It is a military government in the north of Sri Lanka. People need visa from the military to go out side Jaffna. I wonder why not SLG send journalists to these areas and let the journalists write down what they see, hear and witness. Not only to the Northern province but to the entire country. I salute Guardian to bring this news. Let the true news reach the masses from north to south so that people can judge what is really going on in Sri Lanka. Who is taking the mass for a ride? Who get rich by this war? Who get killed by this war? Who is fooling whom? Why regional powers and supper powers putting their hands in this dirty conflict even not considering the death and destruction it brings to the country. Kindling the emotions and sentiments of the mass politicians fill their pockets. It is the common man who suffers the most and the Tamils the worst. I in the name of the dead, the wounded, the orphans and the widows from all sides beg the decision makers to stop killing each others, respect each others views, remove emergency rule and let not buy more arms to kill more, but make room for reconciliation, reconstruction, development. Let their be a monument for the dead from all sides and let this monument be a reminder of the ugly pages of the history of Sri Lanka for all from north to south and east to west and take determination not to allow any of these ugly pages to repeat. If I become the president of this beautiful island I'll make this country better than Singapore. Sri Lanka need a political will. A political will that will treat every citizen equally without any form of discrimination. Make changes in the constitution so that there is no place for racial hatred . Even though the four major religions in Sri Lanka have failed to awaken the conscience of the faithful to the ugly conflict that take place around them. Have to open a new chapter in the history of Sri Lanka. There shouldn't be majority, minority conflict, there shouldn't be the question asking who came to Sri Lanka first, Sinhala and Tamil are compulsory subject to be taught in schools, and add a charter of rights to the constitution. No force settlement of citizen in areas to increase racial tensions. Let all the people travel freely in the country. Let them decide where they want to live and not the government. There will be services in all three languages in government departments around the country. Remove all the weapons from any one except the authority. After all accept the fact that mistakes were made in the policy making for decades in favoring one section of the population and honestly correct those mistake by including everyone in creating an environment where no one is less than the other. Look for example like country like Canada, Switzerland and why not neighboring India. Any one can become the president irrespective of his race or religion to do good to the country and lead it to a better future.
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