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by Laksiri Fernando
( December 3, 2012, Sydney, Sri Lanka
Guardian) November has been an eventful month, not very good omen for the
Rajapaksa regime. First it was their rush for the impeachment against the Chief
Justice, with much resistance emerging from the legal fraternity and the
public. Then came the brutal killing of 27 inmates at the Welikada Prison; a
blatant murder than anything else. The month ended by the military and the
police desperately attacking the students at the University of Jaffna who were
engaged in peaceful activities; revealing to the whole world that the minority
Tamils are still under the military yoke.
The three human rights issues emerged
were (1) the independence of the judiciary, (2) security of the persons under
state custody and (3) the rights of minorities to dissent and protest
peacefully.
Who can now believe that the military
did not indulge in war crimes during the last stages of the war?
Grieving
for the Dead
Maarveerar
(in Tamil) or Mahaviru (in Sinhala) celebrations
have been common events in Sri Lanka for the last three decades or so both in
the South and in the North, commemorating different heroes of the LTTE and the
JVP, however much they were misled ideologically or they misled the others on a
destructive path. Only time and wise policies will sort out these matters, taking
the young away from violent and destructive political causes.
By mere coincidence, both celebrations
fall in the month of November. The JVP celebrated their heroes’ day on the 13th
November in Colombo and in many other places (including Japan!). There were no
army or police interventions. It is true that the LTTE, in contrast, is a
proscribed organization in Sri Lanka and in many other countries. But their
political party, the Peoples’ Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT) was a
registered organization until last year and the name was taken out from the
registered list because of its failure to submit annual reports.
Maarveerar Day is not only about ‘heroes.’
It is also about the dead and the deceased. It is a day of mourning and in the
case of the Tamils in recent times there are thousands and thousands of
innocent civilians who had to ‘sacrifice their lives’ to defeat the LTTE by the
army. They were in fact killed because of inhuman military strategy. The Tamils
cannot be blamed to consider the SL army as the Sinhala army. There is no other
day of mourning left for them to grieve about their loved ones - fathers,
mothers, husbands, wives, sisters and brothers and not to speak of other
relatives or friends.
November is also the month of ‘all
saints and all souls’ for the Christians and it was reported from Jaffna that
the police and army secret services were poking their noses into church
activities and sermons to see whether there were any semblance of moaning for
the dead of the last stages of the war. Many Christian priests were extremely
nervous of this poisoned atmosphere.
Maarveerar day this year, 27 November,
also coincided with the Hindu Tamil celebration of Karthigai Deepam when the
devotees light oil lamps to dispel three impurities of “egoism, selfish action
and delusion.’ Particularly among the young, the ‘sisters supposed to pray for
their brothers’ wellbeing and the brothers in turn promise to safeguard the
sisters in times of trouble.” I am quoting from a reliable website. It is said
that this is what was going on between the Ananda Kumaraswami women’s hostel
and the Balasingham men’s hostel at the Jaffna University possibly also with a
political overtone when the army intervened. There were undoubtedly oil lamps that
were lit. The Lord Shiva is supposed to appear in the form of flame to dispel
evil.
Events
in the Campus
E Saravanapavan, a Member of Parliament (MP)
of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for the Jaffna District has given an
eyewitness report on some of the events of what happened at the Jaffna Campus
on 27 and 28 November (dbsjeyaraj.com, 30 November 2012). There is no denial of
the fact that there were efforts to commemorate the Maarveerar Day in Jaffna
and particularly at the University. As he says, however, “It is customary for people to pay their respect to the
deceased on such days. This salutation offered to their blood brothers,
relations and parents has been mercilessly suppressed by the forces.” He
particularly notes that throughout the previous week the army in civilian
clothes has been operating in the Campus threatening the students against any
activity.
On that particular day of 27th
Tuesday, the army has entered the campus in civilian clothes but equipped with
arms and again threatened the students of any possible lighting of oil lamps. By
the night fall they have cordoned off particularly two hostels and the police
also had arrived. They have locked the boys in the Balasingham hall and
occupied the top floor. No student was allowed to go out. This is partly
reminiscent of what happened in the Welikada Prison on the 9th of
November. The information soon spread and MP Saravanapavan arrived at the
scene.
As he says, “We travelled through Ramanathan Street and approached
Ananda Kumarasamy hostel. We saw several army & police vehicles parked in
front of this hostel in the railway street. .. At that time I noted the army
personnel entering the Boys hostel and threatening the students. Immediately, I
travelled through Brown Street and reached Balasingham hostel. I saw the campus
security there along with two police offices. I got down from my vehicle and
inquired as to what happened. Then they said they were not in a position to do
anything.”
He further says, “At that time I saw a large number of army personnel
running from the hostel towards the entrance with sticks and guns in hand and
proceeded angrily to the Ladies Hostel. Then I too ran in the same direction
and on my way I saw Jaffna HQI Sam Sigora standing there.” The
MP says there were men in motor cycles their faces covered with masks.
If there had been any unlawful or
suspicious activity, it was a matter for the police to handle but not the army.
Apart from the police, there is campus security that could handle any
disturbance and that was apparently not the case. There are no ‘Emergency
Regulations’ operating in the country, at least not by law and therefore any
army intervention in civilian matters is illegal and arbitrary. What is
apparent in particularly Jaffna is undeclared army rule without any law to
govern the army behaviour.
Student
Protests
The following day on the 28th
there had been student protests against the previous day incidents. There were
reports that women undergraduates were threatened with guns and they were
insulted. The students were requesting explanations from the university
authorities. The MP relates the following:
“In fact the students, wearing pieces of
black fabric around their mouths and holding slogans were sitting very peacefully
at the University entrance. They condemned the army for their mean act of
breaking the Girls hostel doors and entering it and demanded an explanation
from the university authorities. Thereafter they proceeded in a peaceful march,
from the Science faculty towards the University entrance, without disturbing
the general traffic.”
It was at this point the riot police had
attacked the student demonstrators on the orders of the Jaffna HQI. MP again
reports that
“Followed by this attack, a large number of army personnel who
were at the scene too started attacking the students with their guns and
kicking with their boots. As a result, 07 students got severely injured and
more than 10 got minor injuries. This includes the girl students and the media
personnel who went to collect news.”
There had been altercations between the
MP and the HQI when the MP tried to intervene on behalf of the arrested
students. At least five were arrested and then released under intervention. It
was during these altercations that the army officer had intervened and the MPs
report says the following.
“At that point, an army officer standing close by insulted me
very badly. I asked the HQI as to how and why army gets involved in a civil
matter that should be dealt by the police and what right army officer has to
question a Member of Parliament like me. Then, the army officer exploded in a
threatening tone that he could show his power and whether to show it to me now.”
Although the MP was not physically
attacked his official vehicle was attacked and all glasses were smashed. Even
thereafter that particular army officer had threatened the MP. There are claims
these days that the ‘Parliament is Supreme’ to mean even the members are also
supreme. Perhaps this is only for the Sinhala ones but not for the Tamil MPs judging
by the behaviour of the army and the police during the above incident. Perhaps
the army is more supreme than even the Parliament or their MPs.
If a behaviour of an army officer was
such during a so-called peace time and three and half years after the end of
the war, one could imagine how they would have behaved during the last stages
of the war.
Attack
on the Uthayan Editor
Another human rights issue that surfaced
during the events was the attack on the Uthayan Editor, T Thevanathan. He had
gone to the scene to cover the story with his camera. This had taken place on
the first day, the 27th and not the second day. As MP Saravanapavan
reports the following was what had happened.
“Then I too ran in the same direction and on my way I saw Jaffna
HQI Sam Sigora standing there. Then I saw an army officer hitting a person’s
face by keeping him standing against a wall of a Hindu temple. Then, I went to
the scene and shouted to stop hitting. When my bodyguard came and said in
Sinhala that I am a Member of Parliament the officer stopped his blows. When
the person who got the blows raised his head, I recognized him as the Editor of
Uthayan newspaper. I understand that he was attacked for taking photographs of
the activities of the army and also the lamps lighted in the Girls hostel.”
No further comment on the attack on the
Uthayan Editor is necessary except to say that perhaps this heralds what to
come again on the freedom of the media not only in the North but also in the
South. The university students in the South have already started protesting
against what happened at the Jaffna University on the 27th and 28th
November. Similar protests are necessary to uphold the media freedom of
the Uthayan Editor, T Thevanathan and in Jaffna in general.
The evolving events are alarming and
perhaps indicate a major political calamity to come soon. It could be in the
form of a ‘quasi-military rule headed by the Executive President’ sans an
independent judiciary and a meek Parliament which could sanction anything of
the ‘military-executive’ claiming to be a ‘supreme legislature.’ What might be
crucial is the unity between the opposition forces in the North and the South.
This is not to speak of unity within all opposition forces and parties which is
so obviously important. I still believe that the move towards a quasi-military
rule is not necessarily the strength but the weakness of the Rajapaksa regime.
It is a weakness emerging from their complicity of war crimes at the last
stages of the war. It is to cover up and to defend that they are leaning on the
military more and more.
There is nothing wrong in adapting what
Martin Niemoller said about how the Nazis spread their tentacles in suffocating
democracy in Germany to suit Sri Lanka today.
They have come against the Judiciary,
They have killed the prisoners in
Welikada,
They have attacked the students in
Jaffna,
They will come against everyone very
soon,
If we don’t stop them united.
 November has been an eventful month, not very good omen ...){kind=link}