Residents of the eastern port town of Trincomalee observed a general shut down in protest over the continuing heightened presence of Sri Lankan troops in the town and the provocative erection of more new Buddhist statues.
Putting forward 8 demands, including the immediate removal of the unlawfully erected Buddha statue in the vicinity of the town’s central bus terminal five months ago and the lifting of the military occupation of the town since then, Tamil civil groups in the east port town called for a general closure in protest.
All government departments, provincial council offices, state and private sector banks, business establishments of Tamils and Muslims and offices of international and national non-governmental organizations, were closed down, as a majority of employees did not report for work. Schools of all media were closed down, as students did not attend classes. State bus services came to a complete halt.
The organizers condemned the ‘shadow war conducted by the Sri Lankan military in collaboration with armed paramilitary groups’ in the Trincomalee region, in which violence has been escalating, though not to the intensity of the Batticaloa region to the south.
The protesters also called for the Sri Lankan government to guarantee the safety of unarmed political cadres of the Liberation Tigers who have withdrawn from government—controlled parts of Trincomalee after several lethal attacks against them by suspected paramilitaries.
The protesters also criticized human rights violations carried out in the region under the cover of the recently reinstated Emergency Regulations.
They appealed for the Sri Lankan government to remove the unlawfully erected Buddha statute in the town centre, which they said is the root cause for the present volatile situation in Trincomalee town.
The latest protests came three days after another new Buddha statue was erected by troops in a Tamil area, this time inside the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 513 brigade camp on the Kankesaturai Road in Chunnakam, Jaffna.
Earlier, SLA soldiers of the Omanthai camp, north of Vavuniya built another controversial Buddha statute in Omanthai Pillaiyar temple premises causing tensions among local residents.
The hartal last week is also the most recent in a series of protests over the rising tensions in the town. Trincomalee became a garrisoned town after the Sri Lankan government inducted over two thousand troops into the area citing the demonstrations as a security threat.
However, that move was most likely an effort to circumvent clauses in the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement aimed at restoring normalcy and preventing the strategic positioning of forces.
Tamil parliamentarians Thursday accused the military of ‘engineering’ violence in the region to justify a heightened presence in the area.
“Para military groups are working in tandem with sections of the military staging attacks and counter attacks and incidents that cause friction. However incidents are also being engineered in order to sustain a state of tension and justify heightened activities of the military,” said Trincomalee parliamentarian R. Sampanthan.
The increased number of Sri Lankan troops is causing rising tensions amongst the town’s non-Sinhala communities. Officials of the Rural Development Societies (RDS) in the Trincomalee town and Gravets Division complained last month that the presence of newy inducted SLA soldiers in large numbers is disrupting normal lives in their areas.
Sri Lankan forces were conducting house-to-house searches in many parts of the district in violation of the ceasefire and local civil society organizations have lodged complaints with the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM).
Compiled from TamilNet and local press reports
Putting forward 8 demands, including the immediate removal of the unlawfully erected Buddha statue in the vicinity of the town’s central bus terminal five months ago and the lifting of the military occupation of the town since then, Tamil civil groups in the east port town called for a general closure in protest.
All government departments, provincial council offices, state and private sector banks, business establishments of Tamils and Muslims and offices of international and national non-governmental organizations, were closed down, as a majority of employees did not report for work. Schools of all media were closed down, as students did not attend classes. State bus services came to a complete halt.
The organizers condemned the ‘shadow war conducted by the Sri Lankan military in collaboration with armed paramilitary groups’ in the Trincomalee region, in which violence has been escalating, though not to the intensity of the Batticaloa region to the south.
The protesters also called for the Sri Lankan government to guarantee the safety of unarmed political cadres of the Liberation Tigers who have withdrawn from government—controlled parts of Trincomalee after several lethal attacks against them by suspected paramilitaries.
The protesters also criticized human rights violations carried out in the region under the cover of the recently reinstated Emergency Regulations.
They appealed for the Sri Lankan government to remove the unlawfully erected Buddha statute in the town centre, which they said is the root cause for the present volatile situation in Trincomalee town.
The latest protests came three days after another new Buddha statue was erected by troops in a Tamil area, this time inside the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 513 brigade camp on the Kankesaturai Road in Chunnakam, Jaffna.
Earlier, SLA soldiers of the Omanthai camp, north of Vavuniya built another controversial Buddha statute in Omanthai Pillaiyar temple premises causing tensions among local residents.
The hartal last week is also the most recent in a series of protests over the rising tensions in the town. Trincomalee became a garrisoned town after the Sri Lankan government inducted over two thousand troops into the area citing the demonstrations as a security threat.
However, that move was most likely an effort to circumvent clauses in the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement aimed at restoring normalcy and preventing the strategic positioning of forces.
Tamil parliamentarians Thursday accused the military of ‘engineering’ violence in the region to justify a heightened presence in the area.
“Para military groups are working in tandem with sections of the military staging attacks and counter attacks and incidents that cause friction. However incidents are also being engineered in order to sustain a state of tension and justify heightened activities of the military,” said Trincomalee parliamentarian R. Sampanthan.
The increased number of Sri Lankan troops is causing rising tensions amongst the town’s non-Sinhala communities. Officials of the Rural Development Societies (RDS) in the Trincomalee town and Gravets Division complained last month that the presence of newy inducted SLA soldiers in large numbers is disrupting normal lives in their areas.
Sri Lankan forces were conducting house-to-house searches in many parts of the district in violation of the ceasefire and local civil society organizations have lodged complaints with the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM).
Compiled from TamilNet and local press reports
