The administration of President Mahinda Rajapakse has moved to stamp its authority in the Eastern province through the implementation of a stringent military administration.
The militarization is compounded by the increasing activities of paramilitary groups working with the government.
In recent days, the Sri Lankan government announced several initiatives for the Eastern province, including plans to disarm paramilitaries, conduct elections and fast track development activities in the eastern districts.
The government has also sought foreign aid citing its development plans for the province.
But the militarization of the east will also continue.
“Both the Army and the Police will be involved at the grassroots level in all projects and programmes,” the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
“One of them is to head Committees tasked with development work.”
Last week, the Eastern military commander called for close monitoring and control of the activities on non-government organizations (NGOs).
Commander Major General Parakrama Pannipitiya issued a circular to security chiefs and civil administrators ordering them not to allow any NGO to start projects "according to their will" in the region.
“Rural development of areas liberated by the forces after the humanitarian operations, where there is a civil population must be done under the supervision of the Police stationed in the area as well as the Armed Forces,” the statement read.
“As the initial step, village level Committees must be established in each village for its development, and the membership of these Committees must be chosen from among the villagers. It will be mandatory to include in these Committees a member of the Armed Forces/STF, a Police officer, and Grama Niladhari serving in the respective village.” the statement continued.
According to the circular, the president of the committee would be a member of the Police or Security Forces and all committee meeting minutes would be sent to the military head quarters.
“Since the liberation of eastern province it is the responsibility of military and police to provide security to the resettled people,” Sri Lankan military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told the BBC World Service’s Sinhala language Sandeshaya program.
“Now we have a proper supervision on NGO projects and they have to get the approval from the district secretariat to operate in the area and the local area commander must be acknowledged about the project” he added.
Some NGOs questioned the circular.
“Out of five ministers for Nation Building, two work for the development in the east. Why do we need special committees?” the Executive Director of the Human Rights Consortium and director of Eastern Development, Authority Jeevan Thyagarajah, asked in an interview with Sandeshaya.
“Is there going to be a civil administration in the east or a military administration? People are already suspicious about government plans,” he queried.
Whilst some humanitarian agencies are concerned with the military interference some, like US military medics, have already started working under the plans announced by the military.
A US Marines team is now in the east to carry out a fact-finding mission in preparation for an upcoming visit by high level US military medics as part of a humanitarian assistance programme, the Daily Mirror reported.
“A high-level medical team will be here in September for one week to conduct a series of medical assistance programmes for the eastern people, especially in the newly captured areas,” a senior defence official told the Daily Mirror.
This assistance is to be given to eastern people in consultation with the Army, Navy and the Air Force, the paper quoted him as saying.
“Medical camps would be set up in several areas including Sampur and Vakarai,” the official said.
A visiting four-member medical team from the US Marines led by a Colonel is now in Trincomalee monitoring the area to set up medical camps and find out other requirements for the scheduled programme, the official said.
In addition to military intervention in development and humanitarian operations, paramilitary activities too have intensified in the eastern province, fuelled by speculation of polls.
The government is planning to conduct local government elections in the east later this year, analysts note, pointing to a bill to conduct local government elections in East passed in the Sri Lankan Parliament on July 19.
This has created tension between two paramilitary groups that operate along side the Sri Lankan Army, reports said, as the Karuna Group, headed by former LTTE Eastern Commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (alias Karuna), pits itself against the Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP), another paramilitary group, headed by Minister Douglas Devanada, for power in the east.
The turf war between the two groups surfaced when armed Karuna Group cadres attacked an EPDP camp in Chenkaladi, Batticalo.
A Karuna Group cadre was killed in the gunfight, which lasted for an hour and only ceased when the local police intervened. Both groups were warned to refrain from further violence.
However, hours later the Karuna Group issued notices banning the EPDP from operating in Batticaloa.
But Mr. Devananda dismissed the Karuna Group threat and said his party was going ahead with plans to contest the local elections.
The Karna Group is also considered to have assisted the military in capturing the East by providing valuable intelligence, ground knowledge and taking part in offensives, Colombo press reports said.
The group is also suspected to behind a series of intimidations and abductions against the local population.
Following the announcement by the government that the east was “free of the LTTE”, international governments, opposition parties and civic groups have begun to pressure the government to disarm the paramilitary groups, especially the Karuna Group.
Even the pro-war Wimal Weeranwansa, the parliamentary group leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said he felt there is no longer a role to play by an armed Tamil group and is calling for the disarmament of Karuna Group.
Mr. Weerawansa said the paramilitary forces had to take up arms because of the LTTE and if they continued to operate in the East even after the Tigers were no longer in existence, it would create other problems.
“We call on the government do dismantle these groups gradually because we understand that such a process cannot be done overnight,” he said.
However, in an interview with the BBC Tamil service Karuna refused to disarm.
The paramilitary group leader said LTTE intelligence personnel were still operating in the east of the island, even though it had been taken by government forces.
“If we disarm now, it will be dangerous for us. We want to carry arms for self-protection," he told the BBC.
In the interview Karuna contradicted himself by first rejecting claims that his forces and government troops have co-operated in the fight against the Tigers and then saying his fighters had taken part in the battle for the former LTTE eastern stronghold of Thopigalla, which the army captured last week.
Commenting on the disarmament of Karuna Group, Douglas Devanada Mister for Social Services told a website “all leaders, including Karuna, are given security by the armed forces of Sri Lanka. Karuna is being secured in his residence as well as wherever he moves by the Security Forces of Sri Lanka. All his offices are provided security by the Sri Lankan police.”
“What else does he wants?” he further queried.
Analysts note that comments by Karuna and Devananda shows the close ties between the military and Karuna Group and do not anticipate a move by the military in the near future to disarm the group.
On the contrary, they expect the militarization to continue as the government sees it as the easiest way to control the territory – by ruling it as enemy ground.
