Pakistan’s former High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Basheer Wali Mohammed said in Islamabad last week that he had "convincing evidence" that a powerful regional intelligence agency, rather than the Tamil Tigers, was behind the August 2006 bid to assassinate him in Colombo.

Dismissing widespread claims that the LTTE executed the claymore mine attack in Kollupitiya while he was returning after attending Pakistani Independence Day celebrations, he said a two-paged newspaper article written by a person closely linked to this intelligence arm made pointed reference to his Colombo assignment shortly before he took over as the High Commissioner.

The envoy’s comments were a thinly veiled reference to the Indian intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Speaking to a group of visiting Sri Lankan journalists at the prestigious Pakistan Club in Islamabad, he explained that he had traveled extensively in Sri Lanka sans any personal security during the major part of his two years as an envoy.

"I even visited the North, and if the LTTE wanted to kill me, they could have struck at any time", he pointed out. "But apparently, they were disinterested in harming me".

At the time, the LTTE was blamed for the assassination attempt on Wali Mohammed, a professional soldier who later headed Pakistan’s key intelligence bureau.

The LTTE’s alleged motive was Pakistan’s close military cooperation with Sri Lanka, reports suggested.

"At face value, the LTTE was taken as the perpetrator, but subsequently we were able to establish the involvement of this intelligence agency of a neighbouring country", he asserted.

He was strongly behind Sri Lanka’s war with the LTTE.

"It was I who persuaded the President [Mahinda Rajapakse] to crush LTTE terrorism militarily as the government had adequate resources at its disposal", Mr. Mohammed noted. "I am glad the President heeded my advice as terrorism is a global menace".

He pledged continued Pakistani military assistance to fight the scourge of LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka.

He recalled that his daughter who generally drives behind his official Mercedes Benz had a narrow shave because he was taking her to a doctor as she was suffering from a severe tooth ache that day. "Otherwise, she would have also been killed".

He also recounted how President Mahinda Rajapakse personally telephoned him minutes after the blast and even sent his official bullet-proof car for his use.

"I think I have seen so much of fighting in my life as a battle-hardened cavalry soldier that I remained calm when saw this ball of fire", he said. "There were two deadly mines".

"I heard my wife scream that we were under attack and when I looked to the rear I saw the jeep of the soldiers guarding me missing", he recalled. "Everything happened within seconds".

"The devastation I saw transported me back to the time when my armoured vehicle was blown up during the war with India, and I was badly injured", he said, showing a scar on his forehead.

Wali Mohammed, now a provincial Minister, said that he personally paid Rs. 200,000 to each family of the five Lankan soldiers killed in the explosion. "It was out of my pocket as the money was not reimbursed by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry".

Later, the Pakistani government also paid another Rs. 400,000 to 500,000 each to these dependents while one family of a soldier, who had a young son, was given a house as well, the former envoy said.

Describing President Mahinda Rajapakse as a "personal friend", he said that he still maintains a close link which took him back to Sri Lanka as a special guest even after his tenure as a diplomat.

Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, ordered an Indian General to kill LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan in cold blood when the latter attended a meeting under a white flag in September 1987.

In a new book, the then chief of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), Major General (retd.) Harkirat Singh, says he refused to carry out the order as “good soldiers do not shoot an adversary in the back.”

He also says that as the Tigers began disarming in 1987, but India’s intelligence service, RAW, on Rajiv Gandhi’s orders, began arming anti-LTTE militant groups, triggering inter-Tamil violence.

Maj. Gen. (retd) Harkirat Singh published his book ‘Intervention in Sri Lanka: The IPKF experience retold’ (available through Vijitha Yapa Publications) earlier this year.

The book is the commander’s first hand account of the initial induction and operations of the IPKF in Sri Lanka. Maj. Gen. (retd) Harkirat supports his accounts and assessments of the events of two decades ago with reproductions of internal communications between Indian commanders.

He begins his account with his meeting in early August 1987 with the LTTE leadership at which the Tigers agreed to surrender their weapons to the IPKF. On August 4, 1987, Pirapaharan addressed a huge crowd in Jaffna to announce and explain their decision.

Below are extracts from Maj. Gen. (retd) Harkirat’s book:

“The Tigers continued to surrender their weapons till 21 August 1987. At this point of time, RAW, under directions from the Prime Minister’s Office, commenced the rearming of the other militant groups. Evidence regarding the rearming of some defunct militant groups was brought to the notice of all concerned, including the Indian High Commissioner [J. N. Dixit]. I had shown the High Commissioner and his Military Adviser inColombo a videotape on the induction of small arms with Indian markings. The rearming of militant groups other than the LTTE resulted in inter-group killings among the Tamil militants and the surrender of weapons came to a virtual standstill by the end of August 1987.” [p47-48]

“Dixit wanted my assessment of the various militant groups that had become defunct and had now suddenly become active again. I explained that the ENDLF, PLOTE, and TELO had been lying dormant and it was only after the middle of August 1987 that they had re-surfaced with newly acquired arms. … Moreover, the LTTE knew that RAW had an active hand in encouraging these groups.” [p49-50]

“According to Dixit, the ultimate objective of the IPKF was to discredit the LTTE in the eyes of the local Tamil population. In short, the IPKF was expected to playa double game. I realized that these tactics would not work since the Tamils had already understood that their aspirations for Eelam could be met only by the LTTE.”[p48-9]

“[Later] the EPRLF, prior to the withdrawal of the IPKF, was equipped with rifles under orders from Lt. Gen. A.S. Kalkat, it was not realized that the EPRLF cadres had no fighting potential and handing weapons to this group was an ill-advised venture.” [p50]

“In September 1987, a political dialogue between the LLTE and an Indian delegation took place at Palaly and a peaceful solution seemed to be in sight. The creation of the [Interim Administration Council] was to be thrashed out. The date set for the meeting to be held at my headquarters at Palaly and chaired by Dixit, was 16-17 September 1987.” [p57]

“On the night of 14/15 September 1987, I received a telephone call from Dixit, directing me to arrest or shoot Pirabakaran when he came for the meeting. Telling Dixit that I would get back to him I placed a call to the [Overall Forces Commander]. Lt. Gen. Depinder Singh.” [p57]

“Lt. Gen. Depinder Singh directed me to tell Dixit that we, as an orthodox Army, did not shoot people in the back when they were coming for a meeting under the white flag. I then spoke to Dixit in Colombo and conveyed the message emphasizing that I would not obey his directive.” [p57]

“I pointed out that the LTTE supreme had been invited by the IPKF in order to find a solution to the problems in the implementation of the Accord. Dixit replied, ‘He Rajiv Gandhi has given these instructions to me and the Army should not drag its feet, and you as the GOC, IPKF will be responsible for it.’” [p57]

For over two decades, there has been savage conflict in Sri Lanka between a minority group of Tamils who claim traditional rights for land in the north-east and the majority, Sinhalese, government in Colombo.

The conflict has consumed tens of thousands of lives, displaced hundreds of thousands, sown agricultural land with mines, laid waste plantations, and stunted a generation of children.

It could be argued that the only rule of warfare is the respect each side has for the capacity of the other to terrorise: the desire for self-preservation has tended to restrict the number of civilians being bombed.

A soldier from the LTTE medical Wing treating a woman at a hospital in Kilinochchi.

Nevertheless, human rights organisations have reported over 4000 Tamil deaths in recent months. The conduct and cost of the conflict is obscured by suppression of the press on the government side and lack of access of the press to the other.

The Ceasefire Agreement in 2002 between the leaders for Tamil autonomy, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and the government in Colombo, and the effects of the Asian tsunami in 2004 have combined to reduce hostilities and permit greater access to the north-east by foreigners.

In this time of relative peace, I visited the region in January and again in May 2005, delivering antibiotics and then ventilators and surgical equipment to hospitals throughout the island, supplied through the generous response of North Queensland to the tsunami.

Driving north from Colombo to Jaffna, I was struck by the poverty on the Tamil side of the armed border, the lack of facilities in the hospital in Kilinochchi (the administrative centre of the “Tamil” land) and the dilapidation of the tertiary hospital in Jaffna.

Only the crowds in the corridors and the patients on the floors obscured the filth on the walls and passageways. Nothing obscured the suffering of apparently half-dead people being carried on bare metal stretchers at perilous angles up and down the stairs, buffeted in the surge. I was struck by the whites of their fingers as they clung to the metal.

Nothing prevented the recycling of dengue through unscreened windows from sullage that pooled from broken pipes alongside the wards. One piddling tap leaned vainly against cross-infection in the crowded children’s barn.

Why was this hospital so different to the many I had visited in the Sinhalese areas? I later learned of economic sanctions and underfunding by Colombo.

I volunteered to return to Sri Lanka in September 2005, originally to work as a paediatrician on the east coast, but diverted by my hosting organisation to work in Kilinochchi for a couple of weeks and teach “some students who had missed out because of the war”. I remembered the needs of Kilinochchi and was willing to comply. About three weeks later, I discovered that my students comprised the medical wing of the “terrorist” Tigers!

I met them in a shed whose walls reached halfway to a roof of corrugated iron that creaked in the heat of the sun, then roared with the monsoon rains as the weeks extended to three months, and I swapped tales of sick children for tales of my students’ lives.

We began awkwardly. As I entered, there was a sudden scraping of chairs on the concrete floor and then a silent standing to attention. I was further surprised by how many there were — 32 — and their being perhaps a decade older than I had expected. I introduced myself and asked them to sit. There was more scraping of chairs. Now they were sitting stiffly and silently. “Does anyone speak English?” I asked, and began to try to work out what they knew and what they needed. I had no idea I would grow to love them.

I realised they needed grounding in the old-fashioned approach of taking a history, examining methodically, and making provisional diagnoses and plans of management, though I soon sensed they had had profound experiences in triage and trauma. They had seen a lot of sick children but were thin on theory, so I decided to prolong my stay and start at the beginning.

After about two weeks, we had worked our way to the examination of the respiratory system and it was then that I discovered how close my students had been to the acute end of medicine. I invited a man to remove his shirt and a woman to demonstrate her method of examination and was surprised by the divot out of the man’s shoulder. Asking him what had happened, I noticed a similar deformity in the woman’s forearm. Shrapnel and a bullet, they explained, and everyone began to laugh.

“Well, who hasn’t been shot?” I asked, and, to my astonishment, only about a third raised their hands. “Didn’t you notice our wooden legs?” someone asked and, adding to my foolishness, three were waggled for my inspection, with the class now in uproar. Who are these people? I wondered, and began the journey of discovery.

They comprised the medical wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and were the remainder of an original group of over 70 who had been chosen from the ranks of the infantry because their commanders had concluded they had the potential to become doctors.

The struggle for a Tamil homeland, Tamil Eelam, had entered a violent phase in the late 1980s, and the problem of casualties had originally been solved by taking them in small boats to sympathisers in nearby Tamil Nadu, in India. As the numbers increased and the political situation altered, they were taken to the hospital in Jaffna. But lives and limbs were lost in transportation through jungles or around the coast from distant front lines, and the need for the movement’s own medical wing became obvious.

In time, I asked them all why they had joined the Tigers and learned of the deaths and torturing of family members, of schools bombed, of the bodies of neighbours washing ashore, of mobs rampaging against Tamils and of discrimination in education and language. Each one had a saga and each had joined the Tigers because “they spoke less and did more” to protect their race against what they were all convinced was genocide. They had all been trained as infantry, but none had forgotten the speech by their leader, who had asked them to forego fighting for the greater goal of healing their people.

The course had started in 1992, with some students needing preparation in maths, chemistry and English because they had not finished high school. Others had graduated in biology from university. The course paralleled the curriculum at Jaffna University but had been interrupted by long periods of service in field hospitals, in public health campaigns against cholera and malaria, in the manning of general hospitals, and by the needs of the tsunami, which had wrecked the north-east coast.

The Ceasefire Agreement of 2002 had allowed them to catch up on formal education, but they were lacking a module on paediatrics, when I turned up out of the blue. My 32 students were those who had stayed the course. Others had been unable to resist the call of the armed struggle, some had failed academically, and five had been killed on active duty.

It was obvious they needed tuition that emphasised infectious diseases and malnutrition and it was easy to gather cases for presentation from my rounds in the ward and from outpatients.

The days began with a lecture or two, then moved to cases, and included examination of the newborn and resuscitation. The poverty in the nursery was painful — mothers used old handkerchiefs for nappies.

They had never performed any formal research and were keen to be divided into groups to review perinatal outcomes, nutrition, causes for acute admission, snake bites and emotional effects of the tsunami. We found mothers and children to be wasted and stunted, road accidents to reflect the dangerous driving through the town, snake bites to be handled well, and counselling to be effective for grief. The findings were presented on a special research day, which evolved into an emotional ceremony of graduation.

As the weeks progressed, I learned more of their lives and could not rest until one began to translate short stories he had written about their experiences. We began to meet every night in a small gazebo, sometimes curtained with rain, and went over his stories, line by line, paraphrasing from Tamil and amplifying for a wider audience in English. My mind was fascinated by the stories of medicine, my emotions drawn by their humanity.

I learned of the development of the medical wing from first aid to reconstructive surgery, encompassing the triage of mass casualties, blood transfusions on the front lines, and end-to-end anastomoses of arterial wounds with ketamine anaesthesia by torch light under artillery fire that thudded shrapnel into the coconut-trunk walls of their bunker.

I learned of organisation and secrecy that could construct a hospital overnight in preparation for a battle in the morning . . . and of my students who had worked and worked until the casualties stopped coming — in their uniforms stiff with blood, on legs that could barely stand and under the sustained threat of sudden death.

I could scarcely believe accounts reminiscent of the First World War, and insisted on interviewing all the students mentioned by name, others not mentioned, and particular patients, cross-checking the details. I went to battlefields to see if the layout was as described.

It was. Though overgrown by jungle, the bunkers that had contained the operating theatres were still visible, confirmed by half-buried vials of empty medical containers. Mounds of dirt confirmed former protective walls, and abandoned paraphernalia confirmed the fighting. Bones and shredded uniforms confirmed casualties.

Why they continued to fight still puzzled me, especially as I visited war cemeteries and pondered the carnage in which over 17 000 Tamil young people have died in the past two decades.

Understanding began on the afternoon of 27 November, their equivalent of Anzac Day. My students collected me and, for the first time, I observed them in uniform, making their way through the cemetery, squatting here and there with parents of the dead who had begun to arrive in droves to festoon the graves with garlands and food for their young men and women who “were living on in the spirit of Tamil Eelam”.

There were about 3000 graves and soon the cemetery was pulsating with grief. The burning sun sank beneath a row of palms and I anticipated some kind of communal eruption of emotion as candles were lit on the graves and flickered on distorted faces. But there was nothing. No hymns, no chants, no catharsis. Just a speech on the necessity for more sacrifice. Silently, the crowd shuffled away, leaving the garlands and the candles to the moonless night.

I began to realise what some people are prepared to endure for freedom.

I had a farewell meal with my students before I left and before they were dispersed to look after the population of their Tamil Eelam and the casualties of a war that has escalated. We made speeches, and they presented me with what was clearly a special gift: a Tiger flag (which caused anxiety clearing Customs on the way out).

Private possession of a Tiger flag, I am informed, is not “recklessly supporting a terrorist organisation”, but detectives from the counter-terrorism team of the Australian Federal Police were keen to explore why I stayed in Kilinochchi when I learned the identity of the students. I figured teaching doctors how to resuscitate children was in the interests of the people, whoever controlled them, but wondered if my career had reached a crossroads!

Subsequently, I did not mind going over all our overseas phone calls with the police or explaining why my bank had sent money to England (for a course on radiation biology), but I was a bit unnerved by the attention I received from immigration officials when I recently left for New Guinea.

Being profoundly Australian, I found it unsettling to be perceived as being on the “other side”! I hear, however, that the Department of Public Prosecutions is not proceeding with my case, which is good news.

The bad news is that it is unlikely I will ever be able to return to Sri Lanka, and the needs of the north-east weigh heavily. Tamil friends assure me that publicity for the situation is the greatest help I could offer Sri Lanka. With that in mind, the collection of short stories I paraphrased will be published in the near future.

Ref: MJA 2007; 187 (11/12): 703-705

Dr. John S Whitehall (FRACP) is Director of Neonatology at the Department of Neonatology, Townsville Hospital, Townsville, Queensland. He can be contacted at John_WhitehallAThealth.qld.gov.au

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's foreign policy based on an aggressive display of nationalism appears to be paying off.

In the two years Rajapakse has been in power, the government has taken on the UN and the West and has rapped multilateral bodies on the knuckles for being soft on the Tamil Tigers.

It has also demonstrated closeness to China and Pakistan regardless of how India, the only neighbour, may view it.

But Colombo has been none the worse for all the boldness, even if it has smacked of adventurism and abrasiveness at times.

There has been consistent and strident international criticism of the way the regime is handling the ethnic crisis, especially the huge humanitarian problem unending fighting has triggered.

But foreign governments and multilateral organisations have been reluctant to translate expressions of displeasure into corrective action.

As an analyst put it, 'The international community has barked, but not bitten.'

Western governments and West-based international organisations had got into the habit of making unsolicited comments on the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, often lecturing to its leaders on good governance, democracy and prudent political management.

Not surprisingly, Sri Lankans find this condescending and annoying.

Under the regime of Rajapakse, the popular trend here is to launch hostile campaigns against foreign governments and international bodies including those affiliated to the UN. At times, cabinet ministers and leading lights in parliament spearhead these campaigns.

Surprisingly, the responses of the affected governments and organisations have been tepid.

There has been no threat of withdrawal from the country by any group. Nor has there been any significant reduction of aid, on which Sri Lanka is so heavily dependent.

Some time ago, Britain and Germany had announced cuts in their aid, citing the continued conflict and slow progress in the peace process. But the amounts were small.

And Japan, the single largest donor, has stated that it will continue to aid Sri Lanka despite the human rights violations, because stoppage of aid will only harm the innocent poor in the country.

Although depending on the US for help to fight the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) globally, Rajapakse recently paid a state visit to Iran, America's enemy. The visit was a success in terms of project aid, as Iran gave Sri Lanka what Rajapakse asked for.

At the Commonwealth summit at Kampala, the Sri Lankan stand on Pakistan's expulsion was at variance with that of the others, including Britain, Canada and Australia whose help too is vital to break the LTTE's global links.

Sri Lanka went out of the way to tout Pakistan's case even at the risk of alienating India. But Colombo was none the worse for all that. It was made part of a group charged with the task of talking to Pakistan.

Rajapakse's highly publicised support to Pakistan at Kampala was an expression of gratitude for helping out Sri Lanka with urgent military aid in 2000 when the LTTE was knocking at the gates of Jaffna and India failed to respond to cries of help.

Sri Lankans never tire of pointing out that it was to India that they had turned first but all that New Delhi offered was help to evacuate the beleaguered Sri Lankan troops.

The president has cleverly made use of both Pakistan and India in his fight against the LTTE.

While the Indians have been made to supply 'defensive' equipment like radars, Pakistan has been involved in the enhancement of the strike capability of the Sri Lankan Air Force. Successful air actions have helped curb the LTTE.

Regardless of possible repercussions for India, Rajapakse had got China to fund a major development project with international strategic implications. Chinese help for a mega international port at Humbantota in the south did set off alarm bells in India but New Delhi did little to prevent the president's lurch towards Beijing.

The success of Sri Lanka's aggressively independent stance was reflected in the outcome of the 6th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that concluded Friday.

To the great embarrassment of Sri Lanka, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, declared that the Colombo government's human rights enforcement machinery was ineffective and urged the setting up of a UN rights monitoring office in the country.

Arbour's call came in the context of the fact that, through 2006 and 2007, 290,000 civilians, mostly Tamils and some Muslims, had been displaced by the war and over 3,500 were killed.

Attacks, extortions, abductions, disappearances and arbitrary detentions were going on, sometimes with state backing and aided by the tough anti-terror law made in December 2006.

The delegations of the US, EU, France, South Korea, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand voiced support for Arbour's call to set up a UN monitoring office in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka seemed to be isolated, but it fought the move tooth and nail -- and succeeded in scuttling it.

Talking the battle into the adversary's territory, its ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Dayan Jayatilleke, said his country did not want to be 'preached' by states whose human rights record was 'far from perfect'.

Sri Lanka would take advice from international bodies only when these had 'transparency of funding' and when their agendas were 'not donor driven', he declared brazenly.

Sri Lankan officials had kept hammering the point that their country could not be asked to observe Queensberry Rules in a war-cum-insurgency situation in which a beleaguered state was battling one of the most ruthless and well-organised insurgent groups in the world.

They accused the UN agencies and international rights organisations of not taking adequate note of the LTTE's rights violations or rapping it hard enough.

To the delight of Sri Lankan delegation and disappointment of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the UN council concluded its deliberations without passing the expected resolution castigating Sri Lanka.

Japan, India and the Philippines had thrown their weight behind Sri Lanka at the council.

Clearly, the LTTE's behaviour since the Norway-sponsored ceasefire agreement in 2002 had helped the Sri Lankan government bolster its case against censure.

The LTTE had scuttled peace talks, provoked the government to take military action, bombed civilians outside the war zone and assassinated political leaders by using suicide bombers.

While Colombo's case at the Human Rights Council may have some merits, the persistent attacks against UN organisations and international NGOs seem to be needlessly confrontational.

But here again, there has been no backlash of any kind from the affected parties.

UNICEF has come in for much flak both in parliament and outside for having, in its offices, 'Ready to Eat' food packets supplied by a French military contractor. It was alleged that the packets were meant for the LTTE's fighting units!

UNICEF explained that such packets were routinely distributed among its offices in conflict areas across the globe as part of a survival kit. But the government remained unconvinced and police sleuths were told to probe the allegation.

International NGOs working in the conflict zone routinely face hostility, both in word and deed.

British High Commissioner Dominic Chilcott appealed to Sri Lankans not to demonise UN organizations, but this fell on deaf ears. At any rate, Chilcott had spoilt his case by saying that the LTTE's demand for an independent 'Eelam' was not 'illegitimate'.

The government not only summoned him for a dressing down but also announced that it would complain to the Foreign Office in London.

Earlier, in August, cabinet minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle called the UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, a 'terrorist who had taken money from the LTTE'. Holmes had said that Sri Lanka was a 'risky' place for aid workers.

When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described Fernandopulle's remark as 'unacceptable and unwarranted', the minister made it plain that he did not 'care a damn.'

The UN's response to this was silence.

P.K. Balachandran can be contacted at [email protected]

A ‘cage’, a ‘narrow prison’ where one can wait for hours just for the army's permission to cross the street, where one can die of hunger if the authorities decide to block supply channels for "reasons of security", and where a culture of violence and oppression is growing more fierce.

The general misery compels the suicide of fathers of families who cannot pay for their children's medicines.

This is Jaffna, a small peninsula to the north of Sri Lanka, a place where civil war has been underway for 24 years, and about which "the world knows nothing, since news does not spread from here even to the rest of the country".

Recounting the dramatic situation of Jaffna is the provincial superior of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) provincial superior in Sri Lanka, Fr S.M. Selvaratnam

AsiaNews interviewed him while he was visiting Colombo. He recounts the dramatic situation of the Tamils in the northern part of the country: the widespread culture of war, the paralysis of education, the impossibility even of crossing the street without the permission of the army, the absence of an authority to guarantee the rights of citizens.

Father, can you review for us the living conditions of the population of Jaffna?

Next year will be the 25th year that this small piece of land has lived with an absurd war between the Tamil Tigers and the government forces. It is too much; the people cannot endure it anymore: too many parents have lost their children, too many children are orphans, too many women widows, too many tears have been shed.

Apart from the psychological factors, there are concrete difficulties with carrying on daily life and meeting its necessities. Food and medicine can arrive only by boat or by helicopter, because the land routes have been blocked for over a year.

Everything is under the control of the military, so that when they decide to interrupt supplies, perhaps for reasons of "security", the people die of hunger.

But even when food is available the prices are so high, because of the costs of transportation that many cannot afford to buy it. The only means of subsistence would be farming and fishing, but both of these have been halted: kerosene is impossible to find, and fisherman cannot go out to sea, because the navy maintains that this is too dangerous. One can grow a little rice, but only for domestic consumption.

It is also difficult to travel from Jaffna toward the south: the passenger ships do not guarantee regular service, while flights are reserved far in advance and cost too much (125 euro for Colombo).

The people live in terror, because - and I am not exaggerating - anyone can come into your home and kill you, or shoot you while you are out on the street. Every 10 metres there is a soldier with a pistol aimed at you. Just to cross the street you may have to wait three or four hours for permission from the military.

Does the average citizen have the opportunity to obtain justice?

There is no such possibility, because there is no reliable authority that can be approached. If one of my relatives is killed and I go to claim the body, I am required to state that the person was a member of the Tigers, which means that his killing was justified. The authorities maintain, a priori, that the Tamils of Jaffna are all members of the Tigers.

But the government and the military do not know that many of us are opposed to the Tigers and their actions. Moreover, there are so many groups involved in fighting in the area, that you never know who might be responsible for a homicide: the navy, the police, the army, the Tigers, or the so-called paramilitary groups. It could be said that here is no order, no law here. We know that recently a grand tribunal has been opened, but we ask ourselves why . . . even the lawyers are afraid, and refuse to work.

Doesn't anyone appeal to the security forces in the area?

It is very sad to admit this, but there is a real problem of communication. The Tamils of Jaffna are unable to speak with the Sri Lankan soldiers, who - for the most part uneducated young men from the villages - do not speak English or Tamil. Most of the military personnel have a very harsh attitude, but among them are also very humane, good persons who are likewise incapable of explaining the reason why we are at war.

This fact becomes even more dramatic if one considers that our daily life depends on the army: it can be said that one cannot move in Jaffna without a long string of permissions from the military authorities. And now they have introduced the so-called "military identity card", which practically makes useless the national identity card that we all possess. The army issues this card only after the citizen has provided a photo of his family, a photo of himself, and all of the information requested, down to the smallest details. But if, in order to comply with regulations, a citizen must possess a military identification card, then one is no longer under a civil government, but under a military government.

What can the Church do to alleviate the sufferings of these people? Are there any elements within civil society in Jaffna, any spokesman for the needs of Tamils?

Very few people know anything about what is happening in Jaffna. There is no freedom of expression, and even the priests, who were once the only ones who dared to speak out against oppression, have been silenced. The disappearance of Fr Jim Brown more than a year ago intimidated and frightened them. So the voice of the inhabitants of Jaffna has been silenced, both within the peninsula and in the rest of the country and in the world.

What hope is there for a better future?

The people have no more hope. A culture of war has become rooted in Jaffna, and an entire generation has been born and raised amid the bombs. Education has been paralysed; young people are unable to go to school. The culture is destroyed. Economic difficulties destroy entire families.

There are fathers who go to buy medicine for their sick children or wife, discover that it is too expensive, and don't even return home, because in desperation they would rather kill themselves.

No one trusts any of the politicians anymore: for Jaffna, it makes no difference who runs the government, they all behave in the same way. There is widespread pessimism; we have seen too many ambassadors and presidents come here from outside without changing anything.

The Sri Lankan government is building up to large scale war in the north of the island and has stepped up operations with the stated aim capturing Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) administered Vanni by August next year.

Earlier this month, the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander Lt. Gen Sarth Fonseka addressing his high ranking officers in the Army Headquarters declared that he would wipe out the LTTE by August next year. He requested the officers’ fullest commitment towards this goal.

Skirmishes along the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) have intensified in the past month with the SLA trying to breach LTTE defences on a daily basis.

The attacks are on three fronts around Vanni: through Muhamaalai- Nagarkovil FDL in the Jaffna peninsula in the north, Mannar in the southwest and Manalaaru in the southeast.

The southern FDL running on either side of Omanthai, dividing the Sri Lankan government controlled territory and the LTTE administered Vanni which lies north of Vavuniya, links Mannar and Manalaaru.

Some of these incursions have resulted in severe casualties on the Sri Lankan side.

On Saturday 22 December, LTTE thwarted a major SLA offensive towards Uyilangkulam in Mannaar. Backed with heavy artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher fire, the SLA troops attempted to enter LTTE controlled area on two fronts, but were defeated after 12 hours of fierce resistance in which 17 SLA troopers were killed and 54 wounded.

Previously on Tuesday 11 December, the LTTE beat back another major two-pronged offensive by the Sri Lankan forces in the Mannar region killing at least 20 soldiers and injuring more than 75.

LTTE military spokesperson, Mr Ilanthirayan said SLA began retreating in two fronts in Adampan and Paalaikkuzhi after three hours of fierce resistance by the LTTE.

He further added that at 6:00 p.m. the SLA was pushed back to its original FDL position and the LTTE recovered arms and ammunition from the battle field including Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers, assault rifles and explosives.

With daily skirmishes and no real progress from the military onslaught, the Sri Lankan defence establishment has been twisting casualty numbers, inflating LTTE casualties.

According to Sri Lankan defence ministry 371 LTTE fighters have been killed in battle since December 1, at a rate of 15 fighters a day, whilst only a tiny handful of government troops were reported killed in battle in the same period.

Commenting on the current situation, Indian military analyst and former IPKF intellgence head R. Hariharan said: "They have nibbled into LTTE territory. But persisting along the failed axis will not yield results."

Speaking to Sunday Leader newspaper Hariharan stated that the Vanni is a difficult terrain for the Sri Lankan army and LTTE would be able to retaliate easily against any attack.

"They (Tigers) always bounce back in the Vanni which is a difficult terrain due to trees that grow up to 60 ft. This makes air support difficult and operations, time consuming.”

According to Hariharan, the LTTE will hold out without difficulty unless the SLA launches a huge offensive.

Echoing other analysts’ opinion that the daily offensives by the SLA is to keep the LTTE forces from building up for a major offensive against the Sri Lankan military, Hariharan said: “the Sri Lankan army is lulling the LTTE into a routine of skirmishes almost daily and [would] break in suddenly without giving (the Tigers) time to build.”

But the battles would be bloody and long, he warned. The Tigers and the security forces maintain a three tier defence line along the FDL, and breaking through the heavily mined line from either side is not going to be an easy task.

However, the government of hard-line president Mahinda Rajapkase believes in a military solution to the ethnic conflict and has been whipping up popular support for its war and building its military capacity through intense recruitment and arms purchasing.

A survey conducted by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) this month through interviews with 1,600 Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Indian origin Tamils in eight of the nine provinces in November revealed that 87.3 percent of Sinhalese - the majority community - were 'satisfied' with the way the government was waging the war.

The Sri Lanka Army has recently raised a new division, the 59th Division, to bolster its strength, bringing the number of such units to thirteen. According to government media the new division has already been inducted into service are providing back up the troops in the Wanni FDLs from Mannar to Kokkuthuduvai, an area that has seen intense fighting in the past few weeks.

On Friday 14 December, the Sri Lankan parliament approved the 2008 budget which has allocated vast amounts of money for military expenditure with resounding majority.

Parliament voted 114 to 67 in favour of the budget, which has allocated 166.44 billion rupees (1.51 billion dollars), raising the country's defence spending to just under a fifth of total government expenditure.

Sri Lanka met with Indian and Russian delegations last week on possible arms purchases including air defence weaponry as clashes with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) escalate.

Defence officials from India and Russia held separate talks with Sri Lankan authorities on improving systems used against the low-flying Czech-built Zlin Z-143 operated by the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan military is seeking to upgrade its fleet of Mi-35 helicopter gunships and talks with the Russian delegation focused on buying a "major consignment" of Russian-made weapons.

According to Sri Lankan newspapers, the military delegation from Russia offered to help Sri Lanka by exporting a variety of military hardware through its state-owned trading arm, Rosboronoexport.

The nine-member Russian delegation led by Mr. Glushchenko Vasiliy Andreevich, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.

The delegation also included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the General Prosecutor's Office and of the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Narcotic Traffic Control.

According to an official statement released during the visit, Sri Lanka and Russia have decided to join hands in fighting international terrorism, drug trafficking and other forms of organised crime.

The two sides were working on finalising a bilateral treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters during two days of bilateral negotiations and substantial progress has been made on the draft text of a mutual legal assistance treaty, and the two sides have agreed to meet again soon with a view to finalising the outstanding issues, the statement further stated.

India which has provided a radar system to Sri Lanka's military held talks on upgrading the equipment and improving the air defence capability of government forces.

Sri Lanka has been trying to upgrade its weapons and air defences since Tamil Tiger earlier this year began flying light aircraft smuggled into the country in pieces to be later re-assembled

Over 30,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka have been displaced by flash floods following incessant rains in eastern Sri Lanka earlier this week.

The hardest hit have been thousands of Tamil people who had earlier been displaced by Sri Lankan military offensives and the Muslim community.

The eastern districts of Batticaloa and Amparai, a largely flat agricultural area which was hard hit by the 2004 tsunami, has taken the brunt of the north-east monsoon shower.

8,300 families from Chengkaladi, Kiraan in Batticaloa district and Aalayadiveampu area in Ampaarai district were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in schools, after rising floods due to the persisting down pour of monsoon rains threatened to engulf their homes, Batticaloa Additional Government Agent K. Mahesan said.

Hundreds of families from Chengkaladi area have been located at Chengkaladi Maha Viththiyaalayam where they are being provided with food and other essentials.

In Trincomalee district, people who were already internally displaced due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensives and, before that the December 2004 tsunami, and lodged in temporary shelters, are undergoing severe hardships caused by rain and floods.

Temporary structures located at Killiveddy and Iruthayapuram in Moothoor division sheltering displaced Tamil families have been inundated with flood water due to heavy rain with gale force winds in Trincomalee district since Sunday. Families are now living with great difficulties under leaking roofs without enough food and other essential needs, local sources said.

Some of the important roads connecting the east with the rest of the country have also been damaged along with around 400 acres of paddy fields by flood waters up to two feet deep.

Meteorological Department has warned that more rain is expected for another few days in the north and east due to a depression in the Indian Ocean.

As Army-backed paramilitaries run amok terrorizing the Tamil and Muslim communities of the east, the Sri Lankan government is arming tens of thousands of Sinhalese, reports said this week.

The Sri Lankan government is stepping up the militarization and Sinhala colonisation of the eastern districts of Batticaloa and Amparai with the arming and settling of tens of thousands of civilian militia in the region, reports said.

Sri Lankan Media Minister Lakshman Yapa speaking at a cabinet press briefing on 20 December announced that 250,000 civil defense personnel have been recruited for the security of the Eastern Province in addition to the three armed forces, police and home guards.

According to Lanka-e-News, the Government provides salaries, firearms and ammunition to these personnel who work attached to temples and village offices etc.

These militia men who are referred to as a Civil Defense Personnel is entitled to Rs. 13,000 salary ($130), a mobile phone and Rs. 300,000 loan to build a house.

At present almost all the Buddhist temples in the Eastern Province are being used for military purposes. Each Buddhist temple in the region is provided with a four wheel drive jeeps, communication equipment and 40 armed personnel of Civil Defense Force.

With a total population of 1.5 million, one in six persons in the Eastern Province is a Sinhalese militia person from the Civil Defense Force.

Lanka-e-News further reported no one is allowed to photograph these areas that are under strict control of Army.

Just as the government militarized the east with armed Sinhalese militia, the government backed paramilitary group, Tamil Eelam Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), too was accused of forcibly arming abducted civilians, further militarising the east.

According to one leading Sri Lankan newspaper, the TMVP is "running riot in the Eastern Province, especially in Batticaloa, turning the entire district into a virtual hell hole for the civilians living there."
The Nation paper quoted sources as saying that the situation in the east at present is far worse before the province was 'liberated' from the LTTE by the government.

"The situation has become extremely severe that even civilians who are harassed by the Pillaiyan gang have now stopped complaining to the police, as law enforcement officers also turn a blind eye to the growing phenomenon, the paper said.

Sources from the province charged that Pillayan cadres wear half masks and enter houses at night to take away valuables and warn the victims if they utter a word, they will have to face the consequences.
The Pillayan problem has also affected the Muslims in the province, with sources claiming that Pillayan is now encroaching into the lands that belong to Muslim civilians by force and is settling his supporters in those lands.

In its weekly report, covering the period 10 December to 16 De-cember, the international monitors of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said that on December 11 two men (ages 19 and 20) and one boy (age 17) were abducted, reportedly by the TMVP, in Thirukovil, in Amparai.
"The SLMM received information that they were given guns and forced to patrol the area on motorbikes," the mission said.

It also stated that, on the same day, another 18-year-old man was abducted in Thandiady in Amparai. "It was reported that the perpetrator was the TMVP, and the man was forced to do armed street patrolling," SLMM said.

According to the SLMM report at least 18 persons were abductions during first week of December alone by the Pillayan group.

SLMM Spokesman Pia Hansson told The Nation newspaper, "We have noticed a large number of killings and abductions in the east and we are concerned about this trend."

According to the Nation, grave atrocities, including murder, abductions, extortion and land grabbing continue unabated in the east, with civilians living in Batticaloa having to bear the major brunt. Also, the activities of Pillayan and his cadres have now even begun to spread to Amparai.

Pillayan, who has now been nicknamed 'Billa' (child snatcher), took over the TMVP leadership after overthrowing its founder, renegade LTTE leader Karuna Amman, who is now in British custody.
However, Pillayan's rhetoric to put an end to all atrocities committed before his time, now appears to be an utter farce, with reports emanating from the eastern districts disclosing that Pillayan's activities are as bad as Karuna's, if not even worse," sources from the east, who spoke on condition of anonymity claimed, reported the Nation.

Having closed the land route to Jaffna, the Sri Lankan government is using Tamil civilians traveling to and from the northern peninsula as human shields on ships transporting military personnel and material to and fro Jaffna, the Liberation Tigers warned this week.

The full text of the statement by LTTE Spokesperson for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs follows:
The Geneva II talks in October 2006, between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka, broke down because the Government of Sri Lanka refused to open the A9 route to allow Jaffna civilians land access to the rest of the island and the world.

Prior to the permanent closure of this A9 route, it served as a life line to the people of Jaffna as well as Vanni. Seriously ill medical cases from Vanni were taken in ambulances to the Jaffna hospital. Every day ambulances plied seven to eight times a day, carrying around six patients in each trip. This is necessitated by the poor medical resources in Vanni. Even the Jaffna hospital resources are very poor in comparison to what is available in the south of island. Many very seriously ill patients were taken to Colombo for treatment through the A9 route.

Presently the Jaffna civilians have no land route even to seek emergency medical treatment. The only option available to them is the "passenger" operated by the Sri Lanka Navy. It is a well known truth that each time this "civilian passenger" ship plies to and from Jaffna and Trincomalee, invariably the Sri Lankan military personal traveling in the ship is many times more than the number of civilians in the ship.
It is also well known to the Jaffna population the difficulties one must go through to first obtain a pass from the military to travel and then obtain a seat in the ship. Reports of the Sri Lanka military demanding every civilian wishing to get a seat in the ship to give the military a name of an LTTE supporter in Jaffna have surfaced many times.

Indeed, innumerable violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention is taking place as a result of the closure of A9 route and the cutting off of the 500,000 civilians in Jaffna from the rest of the world. Denial of humanitarian access to the children is also a violation that comes under the monitoring of Resolution 1612 of the Security Council. Transporting military personnel using civilians, especially the ill, is also a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

More than 700 medical staff in Vanni, including doctors, nurses, technical staff, midwives and minor staff from K'ilinochchi and Mullaiththeevu districts, staged a protest on December 6 against targeted claymore attacks by the Sri Lanka Army commandos against ambulances and humanitarian vehicles.

Several schoolchildren were killed on Nov 27 in an attack on an ambulance.

The protesters had brought the ambulance which was damaged in a recent Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) attack at Mudkompan.

Protests were staged at Ki'linochchi General hospital, at the office of the Regional Director of Health Services, Akkarayan Hospital, Muzhangkaavil hospital, Tharmapuram Hospital and Mullaiththeevu Hospital.

The protesters demanded their security guaranteed from DPU attacks.

Vehicles belonging to Road Development Authority, Agricultural Department, Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society, North-East Irrigated Agriculture Project (NEIAP), humanitarian organisations engaged in serving the needs of displaced people and the vehicles of private firms engaged in development work (contractors) have also been targeted by the DPU Claymore attacks during the past 24 months.

Civilians fleeing from air and artillery attacks from the SLA in bicycles, tractors and motorbikes have also become victims of the DPU Claymore attacks.

On Nov 27 seven school girls, three male volunteers and the driver of a Hiace van, engaged in rural first aid service, were killed on the spot at Iyangkea'ni on Kokkaavil - Thu'nukkaay Road in a Claymore attack carried out by an SLA DPU unit.

On Nov 27 an ambulance that belongs to Muzhangkaavil hospital, engaged on medical service to the displaced civilians from Poonakari living in Mudkompan area, was targeted by a SLA DPU Claymore attack at Mudkompan. The driver of the ambulance, Thavaseelan, 29, was seriously wounded.

On Sep 26, Rev. Fr. Nicholaspillai Packiyaranjith, 40, the Mannaar district coordinator of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) was killed when SLA DPU attackers launched a Claymore attack on his Hiace vehicle, at Kalvi'laan on Maangku'lam - Ve'l'laangku'lam road. The JRS vehicle was bringing in baby milk and essential humanitarian supplies for displaced children.

In August 2006, a DPU attack on the ambulance of Nedungkea'ni claimed the lives of the doctor of Nedungkea'ni hospital, his wife, two nurses and the driver of the ambulance. On 25 November, the driver of the ambulance of Muzhangkaavil hospital was seriously wounded in a Claymore attack at Mudkompan in Poonakari (Pooneryn).

In June 2006 four health officials of Tamileelam Health Service Mobile Medical Service, including a nurse and the driver of the vehicle, were wounded at Akkarayaan, 20 km from Ki'linochchi when an SLA DPU team exploded a Claymore mine.

In the year 1998, Joubert Gnanamuttu an engineer by profession (a slightly built, soft spoken and self effacing gentleman who had lived for more than twenty nine years in Colombo and who spoke with a slight stammer), was travelling in the bus to Borella when it was stopped at an Army check-point at Stanley Wijesundera Mawatha. Asked to show his identity, he produced his national identity card and a driving licence as well as a student identity card issued to him by the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies.

Despite this proof of identification, he was asked to show a 'police registration form' to which request, Gnanamuttu replied that he did not have one and was not aware that the law required him to possess one. This sufficed for him to be rudely abused and detained while the rest of the passengers were allowed to proceed on their way. Gnamuttu was then taken to the Cinnamon Gardens police station where all his belongings, including his money, were taken from him and thence to the Bambalapitiya police station to be photographed. In a bizarre scenario thereafter, Gnanamuttu had been 'misplaced' by the police officer escorting the party of detainees, resulting in this mild mannered man having to, (since all his money and identification documents were at the Cinnamon Gardens Police Station), walk back by himself all the way from Bambalapitiya to the Cinnamon Gardens Police Station, whereupon he was greeted with consternation by the police officers and immediately detained. He was then produced before the Magistrate's Court, Hulftsdorp on a "B" Report which stated that he was suspected of "terrorist activities."

A further shock then awaited him in the form of a lawyer who had informed Gnanamuttu that his identity card was in his possession and therefore that he had to appear for him for which fees would need to be paid. Gnanamuttu had refused stating that he had no money whereupon the lawyer had turned hostile. Gnanamuttu was then brought before the magistrate, allowed to sign a personal bond and asked to appear in court on a later date a week hence on which subsequent date, he was discharged.

This Kafkan scenario was not conceived as a figment of my imagination but instead is an incident that was brought before the Supreme Court shortly thereafter, fully probed into and decided in favour of this unfortunate man who had undergone public humiliation and personal trauma, all due to the fact that he was Tamil, coupled with perhaps the fact that he stammered when he spoke. In 1999, the Supreme Court, examining this incident, declared a violation of the right to be free from unlawful arrest and detention declaring, in the judgment of Shiranee A. Bandaranayake J (with the then Chief Justice G.P.S. de Silva and Wijetunge J agreeing) that 'If the purpose at the security check-point was to ascertain the identity of the person travelling in that bus, these documents in my view, were more than sufficient."

Eight years later, the impact of this judgment appears to have been minimal. Ironically, V.I.S. Rodrigo, the petitioner in whose favour the Court decided this week and who had undergone a similar harrowing experience, this time at the Polhengoda checkpoint and at the hands of a female sub-inspector, had also been arrested and detained because (in the words of the respondent police officer as disclosed to court) "he had stammered and appeared to be excited." One is constrained to question whether there is, therefore some highly confidential and secretive directive or departmental order nestling in the desks of the police stations that define stammering as a justifiable ground on which arrests may be made? Perhaps this is a moot question that the Inspector General of Police may be called upon by the public to answer.

In this week's judgment, Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva (with Shiranee Tillekewardene and Balapatabendi JJ agreeing) passed severe strictures on the arrest and later detention of V.I.S. Rodrigo by the Officer in Charge of the Traffic Branch of the Kirulapona police station purportedly on the suspicion that his driving licence was forged. The Court referred to a 'vicious scheme' of the police as well as the 'abuse of power, rampant dishonesty and corruption and also misuse of the process of law that take place at 'check points' that have sprouted up."

In the Gnanamuttu case, the Registrar of the Supreme Court was directed to send a copy of the judgment to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for appropriate action but to all intents and purposes, nothing was done. In the judgment relating to the complaint brought by V.I.S. Rodrigo, the non-implementation of previous orders by Court, particularly regarding another recent instance where a person who was transporting furniture for personal use was wrongfully arrested, detained and tortured because he refused to give a bribe that was demanded, was specifically adverted to. It is in the context of this non -implementation that the Court, this week, issued directions in terms of Article 126(4) of the Constitution ordering the dismantling of permanent 'checkpoints' and proper regulation of the total prohibition of parking vehicles on principal roads. Further, IGP and Secretary, Defence was directed to ensure that minimum inconvenience be caused to the public as a result of movements of politicians on these roads.

It is unfortunate that judicial intervention is required in order to drive home the thinking that while interests of national security may be paramount, ordinary citizens of any ethnicity cannot be harassed and threatened by law enforcement officers who besmirch the good name of the entire service in so doing.

This rule applies not only to behaviour on the roads but also to all other procedures that are being put into place in the name of national security. What befell V.I.S. Rodrigo, (which is surely a plight common to many other roadusers), demonstrates that arbitrary police abuse is not limited to members of one particular ethnicity alone. But there is no doubt that it is citizens of this ethnicity who bear the very brunt of such attacks. The manner in which the mass arrests of Tamils took place early this week, ostensibly as a security measure is another instance of highhanded, insensitive and overtly discriminatory action. Each and every action of this nature only alienates the ordinary Tamil community, many of whom do not support the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

In many instances, none of these measures have a rational justification besides possessing racist undertones. Why, for example, are civilians in Jaffna required to have a special identification card issued by the Army in which moreover, it is required to be stated as to what the political opinion of the applicant is? Where is the rational justification between this requirement and national security? Why should passengers, when traveling on the bus be separated by ethnicity and one lot of passengers detained without proper checking of their identification but solely because they are Tamil? Such occurrences make me ashamed to say that I am Sri Lankan and that I live in a country where such incidents are commonplace. These are issues that we should be putting to the Government of Sri Lanka sans any particular political persuasion and as citizens of Sri Lanka, not as Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others.

The fear that gripped the Tamil community in Colombo had only just begun to wane after a decline in the number of abductions when the indiscriminate arrests of over 2000 Tamils following the twin bombs in the city and a suburb, shook them to the core.

The cordon and search operations carried out last week in the city and the suburbs came as a surprise not only to the Tamils, but to people of other ethnicities as well.

The Tamils in the capital faced similar problems when bomb explosions were a part and parcel of Colombo life a few years ago.

The Tamils were therefore to heave a sigh of relief when the Ceasefire Agreement was signed five years back.

And a return now to the days of horror where an average Tamil would spend time at police stations to get themselves registered for police reports, has caused a despondency never before seen.

Last week's roundups and indiscriminate arrests have created fear not only among those who were arrested and packed off to the Boossa camp in Galle, but also every Tamil citizen who had come from the north east.

While several human rights activists raised concern over the arrests and detention of Tamils, the government claimed it was not targeting any particular community and the operations were merely for the protection of all citizens.

Panic sticken

However, these actions by the government purportedly to safeguard the city of Colombo and its people has only resulted in a large number of panic stricken Tamil parents and relatives from the north and upcountry rushing to Colombo to search for their loved ones and make sure they were safe.

M. Gnanapragasam was one of those anxious parents who had to come to Colombo from Mannar when he heard that his son was taken into custody.

The 57 year-old father from Murunkan, Mannar was waiting for his son, Anthony Lonson Gnanapragasam (22) who had come to Sri Lanka from Malaysia.

"He has been there for the last six months and had arrived in Sri Lanka the previous day," Gnanapragasam said.

He added that his son had arrived with two other friends and the police had arrested two of them. "His friend who was not arrested phoned us as soon as this happened," he said.

Anthony Gnanapragasam was arrested when he was on his way to Gunasinghapura bus terminal to board a bus to Mannar to visit his family.

Gnanapragasam told The Sunday Leader his son possessed all the necessary documentation that a Tamil is required to possess in case the police checked him.

"He had his national ID and his passport. I don't know why he was arrested," the father said.

His search for the whereabouts of his son was also futile, as he could not be traced anywhere.

Meanwhile religious workers were trying to help put families back together. Robina Paulin, is a Sister at the Holy Cross Church, Mannar. She, together with another person from the church had rushed to the Boossa camp, scoured the premises at the Welikada prison, and other likely areas, to no avail.

"We could not locate Anthony anywhere. However, we are continuing to look for him," she told The Sunday Leader.

Parents' worry

Says Gnanapragasam, "My main worry is that we will be unable to find him though we know he has been arrested by the security forces. All I want to know is whether he is doing alright. I will do anything to get him out when I know where he is," Gnanapragasam added.

Gnanapragasam is not alone. His story unfortunately resonates among hundreds of other Tamils now in a desperate search for their kith and kin.

Certainly this issue brings into sharp focus the veracity of the government's claims as to the numbers arrested.

Chief Government Whip, Minister Fernandopulle said in parliament on Tuesday that 2184 persons were arrested and 1800 were released.

However on the same day at a press briefing, the Minister was to change his calculations and state that more than 2500 were arrested and around 2300 had been released.

"We don't know how many have been arrested and whether my son has been taken anywhere else," Gnanapragasam said.

Government contradicts

Convener, Civil Monitoring Commission, (CMC), Mano Ganesan told The Sunday Leader that government statistics on the number of persons arrested were contradictory.

"The figures given by Minister Fernandopulle in parliament were different from what he said at the press briefing on the same day. Likewise, the Human Rights Ministry has a different number and the police have a different number," he said.

He said the parents whose children were arrested were feeling helpless as many people had gone missing during the arrest.

Seventeen Tamils from the upcountry were released last Thursday reducing the number in custody to 185.

Minister Fernandopulle last week also said that 100 of the 185 were under detention orders and that some of them had connections with the LTTE.

Gnanapragasam told The Sunday Leader his son had been in Malaysia for six months and had been working in a shop. "He was never involved in any illegal activities," he said.

Gnanapragasam also said that his anxiety about his son was similar to that of a parent whose son was abducted. "I don't know where he is," he said.

Abductions?

The fact that Anthony Gnanapragasam could not be located anywhere has also led to widespread speculation that some of the Tamils had been abducted during the roundups.

"I have my doubts. I think that certain people used this opportunity to abduct some people. The government has paved the way for them to do this," said Ganesan.

Ganesan called upon the police to release the names of those who were arrested, detained and those released.

"The government has said that some of those arrested have been detained, and others discharged. This information is only in numbers. We call upon the police to immediately release the names and other details of those who have been arrested, discharged and still detained to avoid confusion among the family members."

While Gnanapra-gasam was worried about his son's whereabouts, Selvam Leelawathi was in a better position as she had met her son, Selvam Thushara in Boossa.

He was taken by the security forces from a lodge in Kotahena where he had stayed with his mother for the last one and a half years.

"We are from Ariyalai, Jaffna. I came here with my son to send him abroad. He had all the necessary documents, including the police report. I don't know why he was arrested," she said.

She added that she was relieved to see her son in Boossa.

"But I prefer that he is with me. I want to know that he is alright. I don't care whether he goes abroad or not. He has respiratory problems at nights. I want to be near him," she said.

Recalling past horror

In June this year Tamils from the north and upcountry were targeted when over 300 were evicted from lodges in and around Colombo and unceremoniously packed into buses and deported to the north. However, they were eventually brought back to Colombo following severe opposition from human rights activists.

The government has continuously stated that Tamils were never a target.

However, the Tamils who have been living in Colombo for many years have started to panic following the latest action taken by the government, purportedly on security grounds.

Meanwhile, some of the upcountry Tamils who were arrested last week were released on Thursday. Politicians representing the upcountry had gone to Boossa and secured the release of these youths.

Vocational Training Deputy Minister, P. Radhakrishnan told The Sunday Leader that there are still several upcountry youth in detention.

"I'm not sure of the exact number released. However, there are some more under detention," he said.

Court appeal

The CWC had also complained to the Supreme Court against last week's mass arrest of Tamil persons.

The CWC in its petition to courts had stated that the arrests had taken place in an irresponsible manner, causing great inconvenience and humiliation.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) also filed a petition at the Supreme Court on December 4 over what they claim to be arbitrary arrests and detention of persons on grounds of ethnicity.

The CPA said that the government specifically targeted the Tamil community in an unlawful manner and did not keep the Human Rights Commission informed of the arrests, let alone the families of most taken into custody.

In a statement to The Sunday Leader, the CPA charged, "The camp that these people were sent to was overcrowded and ill equipped which has led to cruel and inhumane treatment. By sending so many people to a place like this, this is not the first time that Tamil people have been persecuted in this manner," referring to the eviction of Tamils in June.

The CPA added that the mass arrests were a violation of human rights, and that they have received reports from organisations monitoring the situation at Boossa, and from people who have been released from the camp, that the conditions were poor to say the least.

The CPA went on to say that despite the international community, human rights groups and the media outcry over the arrests, it is now up to the Supreme Court to look into the matter.

The sudden roundups and search cordons have not only affected the Tamils who had arrived recently from the north or the hill country, but also those who have been living in Colombo for many years.

These actions in the name of security measures have only resulted in the movements of Tamils being restricted.

Sordid conditions

The government established the Boossa detention camp 1971 to house suspects arrested following the first insurrection by the JVP.

Apart from being notorious for the detention of suspects in the second insurrection of the JVP, in 1987, many Tamil youths were arrested in the north east and sent to Boossa. Despite rumours of the detention camp being used as a torture chamber to interrogate Tamil civilians, none of these rumours have been substantiated according to UNP MP, John Amaratunge. Speaking to The Sunday Leader the former interior minister said, "There has been talk of torture, but no one can be sure at the moment."

Amaratunge added that the camp has been used many times in the past as a detention centre following mass arrests. However, he stated that human rights of the detainees are violated due to the poor facilities at the camp.

Reports have emerged that detainees are led out at gun point and spend six minutes in the latrines with no option other than defecating and urinating into a gutter deep inside the camp which overflows.

Officials remain tight lipped

Chief Government Whip, Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle stated at a media briefing last week that the cordon and search operations carried out by the security forces did not target any particular community.

Minister Fernandopulle stated that the he cannot divulge what measures will be carried out in the future.

"How can we tell? These operations are carried out suddenly," he told reporters last week.

The government however has stated that the Tamils were never a target when carrying out search operations. Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Military Spokesperson Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said that there were Sinhalese and Muslims among those arrested but government officials remained tight lipped when questioned about the treatment of those taken in.

The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Dominick Chilcott, said Monday that President Mahinda Rajapakse must make an offer acceptable to moderate Tamils because the LTTE would not accept a negotiated solution within a united Sri Lanka.

Mr. Chilcott accepted, however, that the President had to be able to “sell the solution” to the majority Sinhalese. The international community has no plans to intervene in Sri Lanka to exercise the responsibility to protect, he further said.

Mr. Chilcott was speaking at the Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture, his final public appearance before his posting as number two in the British mission in Washington early next year.

He said Sri Lanka’s conflict had “made waves in UK” such as the arrival of more asylum seekers and law and order problems, including Tamil gangs and extortion by the LTTE.

“I don’t believe the aim of the government’s devolution offer should be to put something on the table that will engage the attention of the LTTE,” he said.

“We shall continue to take steps against the LTTE in the UK, to prevent public demonstrations of support for the LTTE and to disrupt fund-raising.”

“We shall continue to fund our modest peace-building strategy projects in cooperation with the Sri Lankan authorities to help address the underlying causes of the conflict,” he said.

“We shall work with our partners in the international community to maintain our constructive engagement with Sri Lanka, despite all the frustrations.”

Below are extracts from Mr. Chilcott’s speech in Colombo:

Internal events in Sri Lanka affect Britain. The conflict here makes waves in the UK. For example, as the conflict worsens, we get more asylum seekers from Sri Lanka. It becomes more difficult to manage the movement of people between our countries. More Sri Lankans try to get into the UK illegally. The numbers of those overstaying their visa also increases.

We suffer other law and order problems associated with the conflict in Sri Lanka. LTTE fundraisers extort money from Tamil business people. There are Tamil gangs fighting one another on the streets of London. British politicians, particularly those in constituencies with large South Asian populations, become concerned about human rights violations, the creation of new refugees and the overall suffering of the people caught up in the conflict. They debate the issues in Parliament and demand action from the British government. South Asian affairs have become very much part of British political life.

So for those reasons, as well as others, Britain has a direct interest in the end of the conflict here and the establishment of a fair and lasting peace.

But how Sri Lanka’s conflict affects Britain is only one example of how humanity is becoming more inter-related and more inter-dependent.

Last month, Britain’s new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, identified six new global forces, unique to our generation, which showed humankind’s growing interdependence. These six forces were: violence and instability in fragile states; the spread of terrorism and the risk that terrorists could acquire destructive weapons; global flows of capital and global sourcing of goods and services; climate change; global pandemics such as Avian flu; and world-wide migration.

In case any reassurance is needed, let me say immediately that the international community has no plans to intervene in Sri Lanka to exercise the responsibility to protect. The government here is quite capable of carrying out that responsibility for itself.

We should see fewer attempts to demonise UN agencies, NGOs and their staff on the basis of wholly unsubstantiated allegations. For example, the government should make clear it does not support the JVP’s campaign against UNICEF.

Similarly there should be no further equating support for human rights and the rule of law with support for the LTTE.

This is a particularly ironic position, in any case, as the LTTE show no understanding of human rights norms and they rule by fear and terror. Being critical of the government’s record on human rights does not mean you support the LTTE. For the record, let me say again, the British government, which outlawed the LTTE in 2001, unreservedly condemns the LTTE’s terrorist activities.

If this calmer and more rational atmosphere is achieved, it should be possible for the parliamentary committee, the APRC, to produce its final report on devolution.

In the end, of course, what matters is what the President is prepared to endorse. After all, he has got to sell any new arrangements to the South. And, just as importantly, for the proposal to be credible, he has to ensure that it appeals to moderate Tamil opinion.

I say moderate Tamil opinion because I don’t believe the aim of the government’s devolution offer should be to put something on the table that will engage the attention of the LTTE.

Prabhakaran, the LTTE leader, dismissed the idea of negotiations with the government in his 2006 Heroes’ Day speech when he said the LTTE was "not prepared to place (its) trust in the impossible and walk along the same old futile path".

In the present circumstances, I see little prospect of the LTTE responding to anything from the government that did not offer them separation. It would be nice to be proved wrong on that but I don’t expect to be.

I have serious doubts as to whether the LTTE leadership would be sincere about reaching a negotiated settlement that reinforces democratic values within a united Sri Lanka. They have never accepted that anyone else should be able to speak for the Tamil people, a fundamentally anti-democratic position.

But unless and until they embrace democratic, non-violent methods, they will exclude themselves from any future peace process.

This year, Prabhakaran’s Heroes’ Day speech was critical of the international community for not putting more pressure on the government over its share of responsibility for the suffering of the Tamil people in the conflict.

It is not a baseless charge.

But Prabhakaran conveniently ignored the international community’s wish to see movement from the LTTE on the key issues of democratisation and the pursuit of political goals through non-violent means.

Let me be clear. I am not saying that the political aspiration for Eelam is illegitimate, any more than I would argue that the Scottish National Party’s goal of an independent Scotland is illegitimate. Similarly, I see nothing illegitimate in some crackpot demanding that Yorkshire or some other English county should become an independent state.

What is crucial, however, is what methods are used by the SNP or the LTTE to achieve their goals. And the LTTE’s methods are simply unacceptable.

It follows from the fact that I believe the government offer on devolution should be addressed to moderate Tamils that I don’t believe that a future peace process should be based on talks exclusively between the government and the LTTE.

Obviously, such bilateral talks are probably necessary to arrange a cease-fire. But the political process needs to be more inclusive and also more demanding of the participants.

The government has the right to take steps to defend itself against the threat posed by the LTTE. It is not realistic to expect that an organisation like the LTTE could co-exist peacefully alongside or within a democratic society. That situation is inherently unstable. The LTTE has to change its ways.

If there has to be a fight, and given the LTTE’s attitude to democracy and peace negotiations it is hard to see how one is avoidable, then it should be fought in a manner that minimises the suffering of civilians.

I cannot tell whether the government armed forces are capable of defeating the LTTE on the battlefield. But Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and plenty of other conflicts tell us that winning the peace is more difficult than winning the war.

Without resolving the underlying issues, even if the LTTE are badly beaten in the Wanni, the conflict will continue in a different guise. The social and political issues, which caused the alienation of so many Tamils in the first place, cannot be left unresolved if there is to be a lasting peace.

The British government would like to continue to help the Sri Lankan government find the way forward to peace and development.

We shall continue to take steps against the LTTE in the UK, to prevent public demonstrations of support for the LTTE and to disrupt fund-raising.

We shall encourage the government to come forward with a suitable proposal on devolution and to that end share our experience of devolution in Britain with people here.

We shall promote the safeguarding of human rights and the rule of law as key elements to finding a solution, not as problems to be by-passed.

We shall continue to fund our modest peace-building strategy projects in cooperation with the Sri Lankan authorities to help address the underlying causes of the conflict.

We shall work with our partners in the international community to maintain our constructive engagement with Sri Lanka, despite all the frustrations. It is important that the EU and the Commonwealth should have sensible policies towards Sri Lanka.