Winning hearts and minds in Jaffna

by Jehan Perera

(June 01, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) One year after the end of the war, Jaffna gives the impression of being a bustling town and on the mend in the new post-war era. The shops are open till late at night and people can move about freely if they wish, although residents said that practices from the days of war die hard, and so the people prefer to retire to their homes with the fall of dusk.

The hotels are full, many with pilgrims from the rest of the country, and new hotels are sprouting through the conversion of bigger houses, and the rates are higher than comparable facilities elsewhere in the country. But a continuing massive presence of soldiers and massive war time destruction are a reminder that the wounds of war have to be healed.

There has also been an increase in violent activities reported, including burglaries and kidnappings. These appear to be more in the nature of criminal activities, even if there is politics behind it. The Jaffna Bar Association recently boycotted the courts for about a fortnight in protest at political interference in which a Magistrate investigating a child’s murder had been threatened. The irony is that the people of Jaffna should feel vulnerable in their personal security at the same time as their city continues to be with a very heavy military presence. Large numbers of soldiers are to be seen either on guard duty or doing some work of their own. Shortly before the Vesak holidays when I visited Jaffna, I saw soldiers putting up Vesak decorations.

The government gave headline news prominence to the Vesak celebrations that took place in Jaffna on Buddhism’s most important religious festival. Nearly 200,000 people in the Jaffna district and from outside are reported to have visited the special Vesak Zone organised by the Sri Lanka Army in and around the Jaffna Library, the Fort and the Duraiappah Stadium. In addition all battalions of the Sri Lanka Army deployed in the Jaffna district organised lantern exhibitions and dansalas with free food and drink being provided and many other Vesak celebrations in their areas.

There is no question that the visual imagery of Jaffna at peace enjoying the Vesak festivities would have been powerful. They confirm the dramatic changes that have taken place in the course of the past year to the general population in the country. The tens of thousands of Buddhist pilgrims in Jaffna during the period would also have enjoyed a memorable Vesak festival. On the other hand, nearly all of the regular residents of Jaffna are non-Buddhist. Many of them would have relatives amongst the displaced population eking out a living in barely supplied resettlement areas, or remain in welfare centres. Deep in their hearts would be an awareness of disjuncture may not wish to articulate.

DISCOURAGING ACTION

My visit to Jaffna was for the purpose of taking part in a multi religious programme to ascertain the need and scope for humanitarian relief by civil society organizations. However, only about a half of the religious dignitaries who had promised to attend the programme actually came for the discussion. It seemed to be case of the religious leaders feeling that it was safer to stay away and keep a low profile. They seemed to be apprehensive that the government was discouraging the getting together of groups to make their own demands or express their grievances. Some of the religious leaders had also been involved in the campaign to mark May 17 as a Day of Mourning. This same period was going to be celebrated by the government as a period of triumph until the bad weather conditions in the country persuaded the government to postpone its celebrations.

The choice of May 17 as the date set for mourning was seen as a hostile act by the government. The date was chosen by the largest group of elected representatives of the Tamil people of the North and East, the TNA, together with civil society leaders. This was the date on which the LTTE was defeated and its leadership eliminated. It made the government and military see the event as being pro-LTTE. As a result the organizers were told by military personnel who contacted them that there would be consequences if they went ahead with organizing the event. Those who did attend the event in places of religious worship were filmed by the military which made them feel vulnerable to future problems.

The possibility that the military can be utilized for repressive purposes is ever present in the minds of the people in Jaffna. With the war only ending a little over a year ago, the memories of the harsh conditions that existed during war time are still fresh in the minds of the people. People are fearful that what happened till so recently can happen again if the situation deteriorates. Those who feel that they are marked for whatever reason are especially worried, as they cannot be sure from what level and from which agency the threat may come.

The heavy presence of the military in Jaffna and indeed throughout the North would probably be a reassuring sight to those who are visitors from the South. They would see the armed forces as those who protected them from the terrorism of the LTTE. The presence of soldiers in large numbers may not jar on those who live outside the North. On the other hand, to people who live in the North, their experience of the military was different. They were a suspect population amongst whom the LTTE used to both recruit from and hide amongst. It is natural that their threat perception would be significantly different. There would be a desire on their part to see the troops return to barracks rather than be a part and parcel of their everyday life.

POLITICAL TASK

While I was at my hotel I saw soldiers coming in to have discussions with the Hotel Manager. On one occasion it was to book a room for some relatives who were visiting Jaffna. On another occasion it was to solicit support to light up a section of the street with Vesak decorations. There seemed to be a tacit understanding about how much had to be paid and what needed to be done. The close involvement of the military in the life of the civilian population is not to be seen outside of the North and East where the military continues to play a role in governance.

The fact that the military is engaged in civilian type activities, may be a result of the government’s desire to utilize the excess manpower for constructive purposes now that the war is ended. The government may also be hoping that the military will be able to win the hearts and minds of the general population by the good works they are engaging in. However, winning hearts and minds is not the task of military leaders, but of political and civil society leaders. The military is part of the coercive apparatus of the state. This is why the military is kept away from the civilian population in times of peace in democratic societies. Their first duty is to protect the interests of the state. The possibility of a conflict between the interests of a state and that of a section of the people is increased in situations of unresolved ethnic conflict.

The effort taken and resources expended during the Vesak festival shows the government and military’s effort to win the hearts and minds of the people of Jaffna. But in a democracy there needs to be freedom from rule by the military. Keeping the military in large numbers in the North may be the government’s way of ensuring security and a recognition that only a year has passed since the end of the war. But the cost of this type of security is alienation of the Tamil people. Although the transport and economic situation in Jaffna has improved, and the Vesak celebrations were impressive, this will most likely be insufficient to win the hearts and minds of the people of that war-ravaged area. A restoration of normalcy to such people will only come in the reduction of the numbers of soldiers on the streets and the non-interference of the military in daily governance.

A political solution that gives more decision making power to the people of Jaffna is the pre-requisite to winning their hearts and minds. A colleague who had spoken to a military officer told me that the military officer had said that the problem was that the people of Jaffna felt themselves to be a defeated people. This is why they chose to have a day of mourning that coincided with the day that the LTTE lost the war. Ironically, the soldiers who live amongst the people of the North may be closer to the pulse of the people than the ruling politicians in Colombo. The military can only make a correct assessment. It is the duty of the political leadership to take the necessary political steps to find and implement the solution.