Two Jaffna University students have been abducted and tortured, allegedly by SLA military intelligence, in the last two weeks.

 

Vijayarajah Vijayarooban, a native of Kachchai in Kodikaamam, was abducted on April 13 at a private tuition centre near the A9 road, inside the SLA militarized HSZ in Chavakacheri town, where he was working as a part time teacher.

 

He was allegedly taken by SLA Military Intelligence stationed at Post Office Road in Chavakachchaeri, who were dressed in civil cloths and were driving a white van.

 

Vijayarooban was released on April 16 after severe torture for three days.

 

He was pushed out of a white van at around 11:00 a.m. near the place from which he had been abducted three days earlier.

 

The director of the private tuition centre had been abducted earlier and Vijayaroopan had been performing the duties of the abducted director, according to the family of the missing director, who lodged a separate complaint with the Jaffna office of the SLHRC.

 

Separately, another Arts Faculty student of Jaffna University, abducted in Jaffna city on April 9, was released the next night along a desolate roadside after severe torture.

 

Nagenthiram Rajaluxman, 25, told hospital authorities that he was waylaid outside his home and abducted by SLA military intelligence operatives travelling in a white van and later interrogated and tortured in a military camp before being released.

 

Rajaluxmanm, a resident of Naavalar Veethi, Ariyaalai, is a 3rd year art student of Jaffna University.

 

Another Jaffna University final year student was recently shot and killed in Chavakacheri hospital surroundings.

 

Separately, an appeal has been lodged with Sri Lanka's Attorney General to release Selvarajah Paheerathan, 26, another Jaffna University undergrad, who was arrested by the SLA eight months ago in a cordon and search operation in the premises of the Jaffna University and later handed over to the Jaffna Police.

 

Paheerathan has been detained since October last year under the PTA and has not been charged in courts.

 

● The SLA launched artillery barrage on the villages of Paalamoaddai, Kunchukulam, Navvi, Puliankulam and Semamadu, in the Vavuniya district. No civilian casualties were reported.

 

 

 

● A SLAF Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was reported missing while on a reconnaissance mission over Kokkilai, Mullaitheevu. The UAV made a forced landing between Pulmoaddai and Kokkilai, but the SLAF failed to identify the location.

 

● Relatives of Gopalasamy Kosalan, 20, a fisherman from Swamiyar Veethy in Columbuthurai, Jaffna, who went missing on 13 April after being abducted by four unidentified men on motor cycles, say they saw him detained inside a SLA sentry post on Kandy road in Chundukuli, clad in army fatigues. The SLA's 51-2 brigade headquarters in Jaffna town, however, told the SLHRC that they had not detained any such person.

 

● The SLAF has stepped up bombardment on LTTE territory in Mullaitheevu and Kilinochchi districts. Ilankeswaran Pavusnila, 32, a female civilian, was wounded when SLAF bombers bombed Puthukkudiyiruppu 9th Division.

 

● Gunmen waiting in ambush after penetrating into SLA territory in Welikanda, on the Batticaloa Polonnaruwa border, triggered a claymore mine and killed two SLA troopers and wounded five. A SLA tractor transporting sand to fortify bunkers was damaged in the ambush. The SLA soldiers were returning with sand from Mahaweli River bed to fortify their positions.

 

● Armed men abducted a Tamil youth from his residence, took him to Valaichenai, Batticaloa, and shot him dead. Thangarasa Vinoth, 27, a carpenter by profession, was abducted from his home at in School Road, Peththalai, about 2 km from Valaichenai. Police alleged that the man was a member of the LTTE’s intelligence unit.

 

 

 

 

● Following a fire fight between SLN and Sea Tigers in the lagoons south of the Jaffna Peninsula the previous afternoon, the SLN imposed a fishing ban on fishermen from coastal areas of Pashaiyoor, Gurunagar, and Navanthurai. More than 3000 fishermen are affected by the ban. They were blocked from entering sea at the sentry points along the shores of the littoral villages at the southern shores. The SLN has informed that the ban will be in effect until further notice.

 

● Unidentified persons lobbed three hand grenades on SLA troopers posted near a fuel station at Iratperiyakulam, Vavuniya, killing a SLA trooper, injuring two troopers and a home guard.

 

● A Tamil youth allegedly killed himself taking cyanide after being arrested by the SLA in Mannar. He was identified by his National Identity Card as Vaithilingam Roshan, 27, of Muttur in Trincomalee. SLA soldiers took the youth into custody when he was travelling in a three-wheeler along Vankalai-Nanattan road. Later he was admitted by the SLA to the Mannar general hospital on a report that he had consumed cyanide when being interrogated. He died while undergoing treatment.

 

● Armed men shot dead a Muslim civilian at Poovarasanthivu in Kinniya, Trincomalee. A group of unidentified persons entered the house of Abdul Hassan, 48, a cattle trader, called him out and shot at him, killing him on the spot.

 

● A SLA soldier, S. Samankumara, 29, attached to 51-4 Brigade, shot himself at the Ariyalai FDL. A [perceived threat of imminent attack by the LTTE on targets in Jaffna has prompted SLA command to impose severe restrictions on soldiers visiting their families in the south and extended the stays of many. The suspension of vacation time for SLA soldiers and the resulting psychological impact is said to have resulted in an escalating number of deaths due to suicide among junior officers and soldiers.

 

 

● Four armed men shot dead a woman and a young man in a house at Kovilkudirruppu, Vaharai, Batticaloa. The men, who had come to abduct the young man, had shot dead the two when the victims had argued with them. The victims were identified as Ms. Muthaia Sivamany, 58, and Muthaia Baskaran, 27, a farmer by profession.

 

● Gunmen waylaid and shot dead a Samurthi Development Officer on duty at Urani in Pothuvil, Amparai, while he was riding his motor bike. K. Suthakaran, 27, attached to Pothuvil Regional Secretariat, was originally from Kalmunai, and was married in Komari.

 

● Kalmunai police arrested a Muslim youth who had in his possession a T-56 rifle that had gone missing when a police constable was shot dead at Kalmunai by unidentified persons late last year. M. M. Sarban, 27, of Division 4, Kalmunai, was arrested at his home.

 

● The parents and two younger brothers of Suntharampillai Ravikumar, 28, who was arrested last Friday and is detained at Kankesanthurai Special Police detention camp, sought protection with SLHRC in Jaffna, but the SLHRC took steps to place only the 16 year old brother in protective custody. Their parents and another brother had to return home to Kachai. Ravikumar's parents, farmers by profession, said they were subjected to continuous intimidation and death threats at their home by the SLA troopers following the arrest of their son.

 

● A Batticaloa man, who married and was living in Pokadi, Jaffna, has sought protection with the Jaffna SLHRC, fearing for his life at the hands of the SLA.

 

● Gunmen shot dead a motor mechanic near his house at Arumgathan Kudirrupu in Eravur, Batticaloa, while armed men shot, injured and abducted his brother-in-law at another place in the same village. Kanapathipillai Vasanthakumar, 25, a father of one and a motor mechanic employed at a motor repair shop on Eravur Main street, was shot dead about 50 meters from his house while he was returning from work on bicycle. He fled up to his house with gunshot wounds where he fell dead. His brother-in-law, Amshath, 27, a father of one, was shot injured and abducted. Originally from Kalmunai, he was married to Vasanthakumar's sister and living in Armugathan Kudirruppu.

 

● Armed men in a white van abducted Visuvalingam Mahendran, 27, of Mavadivembu area, a father of two and a labourer, between Mavadivembu and Kommanthurai in Eravur, Batticaloa, according to a complaint lodged with Eravur police.

 

● The parents of two men complained to Eravur police that their sons had gone missing after going to Eravur market last week. Armed men on a motor cycle abducted friends Subramaniam Sasikumar, 18, and Thanikasalam Mathurathurai, 19, of Vipulanandapuram, Mylambaveli, labourers by profession, as they were making their way to purchase goods at Eravur public market.

 

● SLA troopers at a sentry post in Allaipitti, Jaffna, shot dead a fellow trooper who was approaching their sentry post. They claimed they mistook him for a Tiger fighter on a recon mission who failed to respond to their queries. The troopers manning the sentry post were suspicious of the victim advancing towards them and had called for identification. The victim had continued to approach silently and the fellow troopers had opened rapid fire, killing him on the spot.

 

● Five civilians, including a school girl, died when the boat in which they were travelling capsized due to heavy wind in Valaichchenai lagoon near Santhively, Eravur, Batticaloa. The bodies of Ms. Maheswary Rasarathinam, 38, and Mrs. Puspharani Ailesapillai, 42, and school girl Ropathy Ganeshamoorthy, 13, were recovered. The incident happened when the victims, all from Santhively, were travelling in a fishing boat to visit relatives in the village of Thihiliveddai across the lagoon.

 

 

● An unidentified aircraft flew over parts of government-controlled Jaffna just after dusk. The aircraft passed low over Jaffna city centre and parts of Vadaramadchchi North and Valikamam. Sri Lankan troops in some areas doused the lights of their camps as the aircraft approached, fuelling suspicions it was one of those operated by the LTTE. Residents said the aircraft was different to those customarily operated by the SLAF and others said its flight route was one not usually flown by SLAF craft.

 

● Thirteen Tamil fishermen who went fishing in Mannar Sea are missing. Of the 13, eleven are from Vidaththalthivu and two are from Pallimunai. Relatives lodged complaints at Konthaththivu Police in Pallimunai that they went for fishing in the morning as usual but failed to return.

 

● The SLA in Valikamam west, Jaffna, conducted an intensive search, blocking all the roads in the villages of Pandaththarippu, Sillalai, Ilavalai, Vadaliyadaippu, Mareesankoodal, Saanthai and Piranpathai. No-one was allowed to move out of their house and all young men and women from the villages were taken to a public ground and paraded before masked men who identified them by nodding their heads.

 

● The SLA blocked all the key roads in Jaffna, including Palaly road, Kankesanthurai road, Kandy road and Point Pedro road, for nearly two hours and moved heavy military equipments and personnel to its FDLs.

 

● An appeal has been lodged with Sri Lanka's Attorney General to release Selvarajah Paheerathan, 26, an undergrad who was arrested by the SLA eight months ago in a cordon and search operation in the premises of the Jaffna University and later handed over to the Jaffna Police. He has been detained since October last year under the PTA. He has not been charged in courts.

 

● A pedestrian was killed, knocked down by a speeding SLA vehicle along Batticaloa Valiachenai Road at Maavadivaembu, Eravur. S. Kanthalingam, 66, of Uma Mill road, Kommanthurai was killed when a speeding SLA vehicle hit him. In a separate incident, a cyclist identified as Iqbal Sugumar, 28, a father of two, from Vishnukovil road in Kiran, died on the same spot when a motorbike collided with him. Another cyclist, Nagalingam Sureshkumar, 28, was injured.

 

● Four armed men, conversing in Sinhala and Tamil, entered the house of Chandrabose Suthahar, 32, a former editor of a Tamil magazine in Thirunavatkulam, Vavuniya, and shot and killed the father of one.

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse threatened the editor of a leading English daily on April 17, saying the paper’s coverage of actions of the Karuna Group had angered the Army-backed paramilitaries, a media watchdog said.

 

And the British envoy to the island became embroiled in the matter after visiting the journalist the day after the story of the threats broke.

 

Rajapakse, brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, had last Tuesday morning telephoned Ms. Champika Liyanarachchi, editor of the Daily Mirror to say she should not be surprised if the Karuna Group turned its violence against her and if so, she shouldn’t expect government protection, the Free Media Movement (FMM) said.

 

In an article titled ‘Karuna faction running its writ in Pottuvil’ on April 16, the Daily Mirror reported the paramilitary group “is creating havoc in the Muslim-dominated Pottuvil town in Ampara, moving around freely with weapons in government-controlled areas while law enforcement authorities are allegedly turning a blind eye.”

 

The Defence Secretary had told Ms. Liyanarachchi her paper’s story had angered the Karuna faction and, furthermore, was written against the Government, the FMM said.

 

In the eventuality of Karuna Group violence against her, Rajapakse had said Ms. Liyanarachchi should not expect any security from the government to protect her, the FMM said.

 

Sources close to the Daily Mirror said Rajapakse had been explicit.

 

Speaking in English, the incensed Defence Secretary vowed to Ms. Liyanarachchi: “I’ll exterminate you!”

 

He had also attacked another journalist with the Daily Mirror, Uditha Jayasinha, describing her as “a prostitute whose mother has been sleeping with the Tigers.”

 

Citing the article by Ms. Jayasinha titled ‘Mutur IDPs: Battling a man-made tsunami in the guise of war’ the Defence Secretary “had continued his vicious tirade by castigating the reporter and expressing his severe displeasure that the article carried negative remarks on the Sri Lankan Army by displaced people,” the FMM also said.

 

“These statements of the Defence Secretary beggar belief,” the FMM said.

 

“This gross misconduct of a high-placed public official clearly demonstrates the challenges facing free media in Sri Lanka today. … Given the volatile situation in the country, the FMM also fears that this threat sends a chilling message to the media community at large in Sri Lanka.”

 

The FMM noted that on previous occasions as well, government leaders had criticized Daily Mirror over is coverage of the conflict.

 

“It is an open secret that government leaders and close allies are pressurizing independent media to toe its line on war and peace. We see this latest development as a calculated process of coercion by the Government that forces media to abandon its role watch-dog of democracy, and instead adopt the supine role of a lap dog to those in power.”

 

But the country’s President defended his brother, suggesting the journalist had ‘overreacted’.

 

Prior to leaving for Italy, President Mahinda Rajapakse telephoned Ms. Liyanarachchi and suggested she had overreacted to the Defence Secretary’s “expressions of concern for her safety.”

 

The President said that his brother had only wanted to “express his concern for [Ms. Liyanarachchi’s] safety” after her paper published an article on violence by the Karuna Group and suggested the government was complicit.

 

Ironically, Ms. Liyanarachchi was seen by many as having good links with President Rajapakse’s administration and political camp.

 

Amid widespread expectation that President Rajapakse’s then archrival, Ranil Wickremesinghe would win the 2005 Presidential elections, she was the first commentator to emphatically argue the opposite, a media analyst said.

 

And in an interview to the BBC Sinhala service, Laksham Hulugalle, Director General of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), said of Ms Liyanarachchi: “we work closely work with her and I’m sure the Defence Secretary would never have said those things.”

 

“He’s not there to threaten journalists but to protect the country from threats,” Mr. Hulugalle said of Gothabaya Rajapakse.

 

After the story broke in the media, British high commissioner Dominick Chilcott was “invited” to his tightly-guarded office at short notice on April 19, a high commission spokesman told AFP.

 

The summons came after Chilcott visited Liyanarachchi a day after she said she received a death threat from Rajapakse.

 

"They talked about the role of the media," the spokesman said. "The high commissioner and the defence secretary agreed that the confidentiality of the meeting would be preserved."

 

Chilcott's unexpected visit was seen by diplomats as a signal of Britain's deep concern over recent attacks against the freedom of expression in this former British colony.

 

His gesture of support came hours after the Sri Lankan government accused unnamed diplomats of interfering in the island's internal affairs and warned that those meddling would be kicked out.

 

Rajapakse denied issuing a death threat, in remarks posted on the defence ministry web site.

 

"While admitting that he had had a telephone conversation with the said newspaper editor, the defence secretary said that it was just a frank exchange of ideas on two controversial articles published on the said newspaper," the site said.

 

"He further stated that he did not make any threat to the said editor other than openly expressing his views and was surprised how certain media had exaggerated the issue."

 

Media organisations have described Sri Lanka, where the government is fighting a bitter war against the Liberation Tigers, as the most dangerous place on earth for journalists after Iraq.

 

Rights groups say critics of government policy are treated as traitors and enemies of the state.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Tamil journalist in Vavuniya in the latest in a string of attacks against media personnel, a rights group said, bringing to 24 the number of people killed in the past two weeks in the northern town.

 

Meanwhile, the violence in Vavuniya continued unabated, including a 5 hour armed robbery spree that netted the thieves over Rs. 20 million.

 

Subash Chandraboas, 32, editor of the Tamil monthly ‘Nilam’, was gunned down late evening on April 16 at his residence in Thirunavatkulam, Vavuniya, the Free Media Movement (FMM) said. Chandraboas also freelanced for other publications.

 

Four armed men, conversing in Sinhala and Tamil, entered Chandraboas’ house and shot and killed the father of one.

 

The killers then instructed his 7-year-old son, at gunpoint, to go to sleep.

 

The boy waited until the gunmen left the house before seeking the assistance of neighbours to contact his mother, who was out of the house at the time of the shooting.

 

The FMM, which consists of journalists and rights activists, said it was “appalled by this killing.”

 

“Although the reason for killing him is not clear, the FMM fears that this could be another attack on journalists and media personnel working in north and east,” where fighting is raging between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, the statement said.

 

The report on the killing comes after an editor from a national daily said she received a death threat from Sri Lanka's defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, a charge denied by him.

 

Media organisations have described Sri Lanka as the most dangerous place on earth for journalists after Iraq, and rights groups say that critics of government policy are treated as traitors and enemies of the state.

 

Meanwhile, an armed gang went on an uninterrupted five-hour robbery spree in at Bandarikulam in Vavuniya on the night of April 18.

 

The gang robbed cash, jewellery and other valuables from several houses to the tune of Rs. 20 million, reported The Island.

 

The targeted houses belonged to doctors, high ranking government officials and wealthy businessmen, the paper said, adding, “a thorough survey has been done before the robbery and the victims have been predetermined, Police believe.”

 

“The armed raiders first disconnected the telephones, grabbed the mobile phones, tied their victims to trees and made the victims totally incommunicado before helping themselves,” the paper reported.

 

“Before fleeing, the gang had warned the victims that if they inform the police or security forces they would have to face the dire consequences.”

 

Also, at a meeting convened by the Vavuniya District Secretariat on April 18, it was revealed that 24 people have been killed in Vavuniya during the last fortnight

 

The meeting was presided by the District Secretary and participants included Vavuniya District Judge M. Ilancheliyan, heads of security forces and police in the area, politicians, high ranking government officials and religious dignitaries. At the meeting it was decided to form a 20-member citizens committee that would coordinate with the security forces and the civilians.

 

The leader of Sri Lanka’s main opposition party accused the government of responsibility for the country’s worsening human rights record.

 

United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who attended a gathering of the relatives and friends of missing persons, in Colombo on April 9, charged that the ruling United Peoples' Freedom Alliance (UPFA) regime was responsible for the bad reputation of the Sri Lankan state's Human Rights record.

 

"The attitude that, if a war is to be waged, all Tamils should be annihilated prevails in Sri Lanka," Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

 

"All political parties should unite in safeguarding the human rights of all people," he said. "The situation, if allowed to continue, would tarnish the entire image of Sri Lanka."

 

"We hear that persons abducted from Colombo and its suburbs are being held in Polonnaruwa. The United National Party would not hesitate to do what it can to trace the places where the abducted persons are said to be held," Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

 

Eighty-eight people have been either abducted or gone missing since August 2006, the Civil Monitoring Committee (CMC), an ongoing initiative by a few involved politicians to monitor involuntary disappearances, abduction, extra judicial killings and arbitrary arrests and detentions in Sri Lanka, noted at the gathering.

 

"The President of Sri Lanka has chosen to dismiss the present disappearances as not worthy of local and international attention," said a resolution passed by the gathering.

 

“We consider human lives as sacred and that no one, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion, caste, social status etc., deserves to be "disappeared",” the resolution said.

 

“We are particularly pained at the inability or unwillingness of the government to adequately investigate this situation and their rejection of our efforts and those of local and international groups trying to help us.”

 

CMC chairman Sirithunga Jayasooriya, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran, UNP parliamentarians John Amarathunge and Ravi Karunanayakke, CMC convenor and Western People's Front leader and parliamentarian Mano Ganeshan, and others spoke at the confluence attended by hundreds of relatives and friends of persons abducted or missing.

 

 

● Armed men shot dead S. Gajendran, 21, at point blank at his house in Marakarampaarai, Vavuniya.

 

● The whereabouts of the Tamil youth, abducted by unidentified persons in a three-wheeler in Murunkan, are not known. However, Murunkan Police recovered the three-wheeler allegedly used in the abduction of Jesurajan Roshan, 21.

 

● The body of Kanthiah Manonmani alias Mala, 22, of Jeevapuram, Paalaiyadiththoni, who was beaten to death, was found buried at Paalaiyadiththoni, Santhivelin in Eravur, Batticaloa. She had been missing since Saturday, after leaving her house. Relatives looking for her found her partly buried body in shrub land next to a school.

 

● Two students who went swimming in Kaththankudy Sea died and another two were rescued in serious condition. Seven friends who went together swimming confronted dangerous currents, and five of them were rescued by area fishermen close to the Aeththukkal beach.

Subaitheen Barshath, 16, a student of Kaththankudy Central College and Atham Lebbai Riswan, ex student of the College, died.

 

 

● A Karuna Group paramilitary cadre was shot dead in Aarumukathan Kudiyiruppu, Eravur, Batticaloa. He had been returning to the Karuna Group office in Chenkaladi after visiting his mother's residence near Kaali temple in Aarumukathan Kudiyiruppu when he was shot dead, 50 meters from his mother's house. A young pedestrian, K Nireshkumar, 17, was also injured in the shooting.

 

● A six month old infant injured two weeks ago during artillery shelling by the SLA towards LTTE controlled Paduvankarai, Batticaloa, succumbed to her injuries. Saththary Thilliampalam was initially admitted to Batticaloa Hospital for treatment of a heart injury, and later transferred to a privately owned medical institution in Colombo for further treatment. Her internally displaced parents, presently residing at the Welfare Centre at Urani, had sought the assistance of the office of the Batticaloa regional office of Church of South India to obtain additional medical treatment.

 

● Armed men called a Tamil youth from his house at Anpuvallipuram, Trincomalee, and shot him.  Sounthararajan Thayalan, 22, who had been working in a biscuit manufacturing company in Mawanella as a driver, was seriously injured. He had gone to his native Anpuvallipuram to celebrate the Tamil / Sinhala New Year with his parents.

 

 

● Five people were shot and killed by a group of Sri Lankan troopers at Kanapathipillai village in Chenkaladi, Eravur, Batticaloa. The soldiers, who had taken cover alongside a road, had opened fire on two men, suspected to be carrying weapons, and killed them. Another three were caught in the fire and died, but the Sri Lankan military in Colombo claimed all 5 victims were civilians and blamed the Tigers for the killings. One of the victims, M. Ratnasingham, 60, succumbed to his injuries at hospital. A female, identified as Ms. Thamilchelvi, was admitted at the hospital. A 3-year-old boy and a 15-year-ld girl were also killed.

 

● Twenty-three people, majority of them Tamils, were taken into custody in cordon and search operations in Trincomalee town and its suburbs by SLA soldiers. The arrested were detained in police stations and interrogated because they allegedly failed to prove their identity.

 

● Armed men in a white van abducted Gopalasamy Kosalan, 20, a fisherman from Kolumbuththurai, Jaffna, relatives complained at the Jaffna SLHRC.

 

 

● Seven Sinhala villagers, including a boy and 6 women, were shot and killed by unknown gunmen at Awaranthalawa, Vavuniya. The Sinhala civilians, who were settled in the village before 1983, had resettled in the village after the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002.

 

● A young married man has been missing from his residence on Potpathi Road, Kudaththanai, Vadamaraadchi, Jaffna, according to a complaint filed by his wife at the Jaffna SLHRC. Selvaraja Mugunthan, alias Suresh, 34, father of one, had left his house on April 3and has not been seen since.

 

● Eravur Police arrested and detained 12 Tamil youths, including a woman, in a cordon and search operation at Division No 5 of Eravur, Batticaloa. A large number of police officers sealed off the entire area and conducted a door to door search for several hours, questioning every individual and scrutinising identity cards.

 

● Nine Tamil civilians were arrested in Iruthayapuram, a Tamil village in Muthur, during a cordon and search operation by security forces. All of the arrested were handed over to Muthur police for further questioning, on suspicion of being members of the LTTE.

 

● SLA and paramilitary cadres forcibly entered a house at Sivapuram in Kanguveli, Muthur south, and shot and killed the owner, Thamotharampillai, 50, a farmer.

 

● Following the ambush of a SLA foot patrol in Sakkotai, Vadamaradchy north, Jaffna, SLA soldiers cordoned off and searched large areas in Valvettiturai and Udupiddy. SLA soldiers in Buffel APCs, and soldiers of SLA's field bike units participated in the search. This followed searches of Sakkottai and Polykandy villages, along northern Vadaramaradchy where the attack took place, the previous afternoon following the attack.

 

● Armed men on motor cycles shot dead a young family man and seriously injured his friend at a house at Saanthai, Chankanai, Jaffna. Thavarasa Moorthy, 24, was on his way home with Manikkam Mathanaraja, 21, a tailor. They were returning from hospital where Moorthy had given blood to his wife who had been operated on after delivering their first child. The killers chased Moorthy and shot him dead at point blank range as he tried to escape into his house while his friend was injured but managed to escape.

 

 

● The LTTE said they recovered eight bodies after repulsing a SLA ground operation that attempted to move towards Paalamoddai, Vavuniya. Three LTTE fighters were also killed.

 

● The SLA was busy deploying military hardware and additional troops towards FDLs in Jaffna. Cell phone link to the peninsula, operated via Palali base, was also cut off. Truck loads of supplies were rushed from Palali military base towards the Northern Front throughout the day.

 

● A group of armed men, alleged to be paramilitary cadres working for the SLA, shot dead three persons and injured two others at Kumankulam in Vavuniya. Chandrakumar Rajakopal, 20, was on his way to buy groceries. Arulappu Ketheeswaran, 48, was shot when he went out to make a telephone call. The third victim was identified as Subramaniam Chandramathy, 68. The attackers had hit a shop owner in the vicinity with gun butts. There have been at least five similar killings where 10 persons have been killed in the villages surrounding Veppankulam military camp. Relatives allege the killers were Tamil speaking paramilitary cadres employed by the SLA. Vavuniya Police had claimed that three LTTE cadres were shot dead in a playground in Kumankulam. The police had further claimed that they had recovered arms from the victims.

 

● Armed persons opened fire on a SLA patrol unit at Sakkottai, Polykandy in Vadamaradchy north. Following the attack, the dead and injured were air lifted to Palay SLA Base hospital twice in a military helicopter. SLA troopers cordoned off and searched Sakkottai, Polykandy villages. The number of SLA troopers dead or injured is suspected to be high.

 

● The bullet ridden body of young married man was discovered by his wife in an abandoned house in a border village in a SLA HSZ in Ampanai, Alaveddy in Valigamam North, Jaffna. Balasubramaniam Sivaganeshan, 31, a father of three and a resident of Sithankerny, Ulavaththai of Vaddukoddai, left for work the previous morning and had not returned. The victim is believed to have been abducted by unidentified men and tortured before being shot dead.

 

● A close friend of Balasubramaniam Sivaganeshan, also a resident of Sithankerny, Vaddukoddai, surrendered himself at the Jaffna SLHRC office seeking protection for his life. He complained that he and the deceased have been receiving death threats in the recent days.

 

● The SLN, engaged in setting up a large guard post at Point Pedro Munai (light house), has ordered 33 resettled families affected by 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, to vacate their new homes. The SLN officials had told the villagers that the Sri Lankan Government would provide alternate accommodation elsewhere. However, the officials at Jaffna District Secretariat were not aware of any initiative for alternate accommodation for the affected families. District Secretariat officials coordinating tsunami resettlement in the peninsula have expressed fear that the move could affect hundreds of resettled families in the area. The fishermen expressed fear that they would be left without any viable alternatives, as thousands of families, already affected by the military HSZs in the peninsula, were not provided any alternative arrangements by the Sri Lankan government.

 

● Masked armed men opened fire with a T56 rifle, killing a trader and seriously injuring a youth, at the trader's house in Eravur, Batticaloa. The trader was identified as A. K. Aslam, 28, a father of two and a resident of Kudiyirrupu in Eravur. The wounded was identified as Jahnkir, 18. The masked killers disconnected the electricity supply to Aslam's house and entered the house where they locked up the rest of the family in a room before opening fire on the victims.

 

● Armed men forcibly entered a house and shot dead a family man, seriously injuring his wife, at Aathimoddai, Samballthivu, Trincomalee. The victim was identified as M. Srikantha, 48, a father of two, and a resident of Aathimoddai, in Sambalthivu.

 

● Armed men opened fire on a SLA sentry post in Thiriyai, Trincomalee, injuring two troopers. The SLA cordoned off and searched the area immediately after the attack but no one was arrested.

 

● Armed men shot dead Sithamparapillai Muraleetharan, 27, a family man, in Pandiruppu, Kalmunai, Amparai.

 

● The Education Ministry Secretary of the de-merged East Provincial Council (EPC), L. S. C. Siriwardene, who was a former Government Agent of Amparai district, was arrested in his office in Orr's Hill, Trincomalee town, by a team of Bribery and Corruption Commission officials when he was allegedly accepting a bribe. Commission officials arrested Mr. Siriwardene on a complaint that he had demanded fifty thousand rupees for appointing a volunteer teacher on permanent basis as teacher-assistant. Mr. Siriwardene earlier served as the Secretary of the Health Services Ministry of the merged North East Provincial Council (NEPC) till it was de-merged three months ago on an order by the Supreme Court.

 

● The UNP parliamentarian for Kurunagala district, Johnston Fernando, who had criticized Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, complained to the Police and to the Speaker of parliament that he received death threats over the telephone. One anonymous caller had threatened Mr. Fernando that he would face the same fate as the sacked UPFA minister Sripathi Sooriyarachi.

 

 

● Two Tamil youths from Jaffna, arrested and detained in Colombo on suspicion that they were members of the LTTE, were released on the instruction of the Colombo Chief Magistrate. Fort Police took them into custody on April 2 when they were walking along a road. The Police submitted a report to court that the youths, identified as Gunaratnam Rajkamal, 20, and Poopalasingham Gajendran, 22, of Jaffna, were not involved in LTTE activities and were staying in Colombo to go to Saudi Arabia for employment.

 

● An Arts Faculty student of Jaffna University, abducted in Jaffna city Monday, was released the next night along a desolate roadside after severe torture. The abductors, travelling in a white van, had released Nagenthiram Rajaluxman, 25. He told hospital authorities that he was waylaid outside his home and abducted by the SLA military intelligence (MI) section and later interrogated and tortured in a military camp before release. Mr. Rajaluxmanm, a resident of Naavalar Veethi, Ariyaalai, is a 3rd year art student of Jaffna University.

 

● Persons, believed to be SLA soldiers, abducted a family man riding in motor bike from in front of Skanthavarothaya College, Chunnakam in Valikamam North, Jaffna. His wife lodged a complaint with the Jaffna office of the SLHRC saying relatives had witnessed her husband being taken away by SLA soldiers. She visited all SLA camps in the region in search of her husband, Pathinathan Christie Gnanaroopan, 25, a father of one, but she was not successful in locating him.

 

● The SLA and police took away 6 Tamils in a search in 4th, 5th and 6th Unit areas in Pavatkulam in Vavuniya, in which all males in the areas were transported to Varikuttiyoor junction on Poovarasankulam-Chettikulam road, where they were produced before a person whose face and head were hooded. The hooded person identified five local males and one internally displaced person by nodding his head and the SLA and police took the six civilians to Vavuniya. T. Venugopal, 21, Ganeshan Uthayan, 26, and Packiyarasa Puvi, 26, are being detained at Vavuniya police station for further interrogation.

 

● Two ambulances from Kilinochchi district hospital, carrying 11 patients in need of urgent medical transportation to Vavuniya hospital, were forced to return to Kilinochchi as the ambulances were not allowed to proceed beyond Omanthai SLA checkpost due to the closure of the entry point. Exchange of artillery fire following Sri Lankan troops attempt to move into LTTE territory had caused the closure of Omanthai gateway. The patients denied access to treatment included Vinijia Sarojini, 41, Rajendran Kantharuby, 34, Vinayagamoorthy Vasanthy, 46, Kunaratnam Rajeswary, 58, in one ambulance, and Maheswary's baby, Thinninayakam Annalaxmy, 76, Mohanaraj Kavithas, 6, Selvananthan Sinthuja, 21, Nagalingam Sarojini, 35 and Paramalingam Sinthija, 10, in the other ambulance.

 

● Unidentified persons abducted Kuttan Piraruban, a fifteen year-old student and a member of a resettled family, in Thiriyai, a traditional Tamil village in Trincomalee. He had been studying in Thiriyai Tamil Maha Vidiyalayam in Year 9. Unidentified persons had entered his house and took him away forcibly, according to a complaint filed with the police and SLMM.

 

● Thirty passengers were killed and 41 injured when a passenger bus collided with a container lorry at Induruwa, Galle. The bus had been heading to Colombo from Udugama along A 2 while the container which was carrying beer was heading from Colombo to Galle.

 

● Thalaimannar police arrested a man following a complaint by parents of a missing person that he had been murdered by fellow fishermen. Earlier, Nelson Tharcius was reported disappeared on April 5 when the SLN fired at the boat he was travelling on with two others. The suspect, identified as Wimal, had told Police he, along with Nelson Tharcius and Rajan, transported refugees to Tamil Nadu from Pesalai on April 5 and the SLN had fired at the boat when they were returning to Pesalai. Nelson Tharcius died due to gunshot injuries and they threw his body into the sea, according to Wimal’s statement. However Tharcius’ parents told the Police that he did not die due to Navy firing, but was killed by his fellow fishermen, Wimal and Rajan. The police later recovered a sharp knife buried in a sandbank in Talaimannar Sea and are now taking steps to arrest Rajan.

 

 

● A diplomatic van belonging to the Indian High Commission, on it's way to receive a diplomat from the International Airport in Colombo, was hijacked and the driver of the vehicle, Mr. S. Vishvanathan, was abducted by two attackers Seeduwa, southeast of Katunayake Airport. The driver, badly beaten by the attackers, lost his two teeth and was released early the next morning. The vehicle which left Colombo around 11:00 p.m., had been chased by a car from Peliyagoda and obstructed near Dandugama bridge. The attackers in the car bound Mr. Vishvanathan, and took him away in their car. The van was driven away by one of the men. In 2005, Indian Deputy High Commissioner A. Manikkam's Jeep was robbed at gun point at Abeypussa rest house. The vehicle was never recovered.

 

● A ten year old girl in Mankumaban, an islet off the coast of Jaffna, was raped by two SLN soldiers. The girl had just gone outside her home to play when she was grabbed by the Navy soldiers and raped. When her parents attempted to leave the islet and go to Jaffna, they were threatened and prevented from leaving Mankumban by the SLN.

 

● A triangular area covering East Ariyaalai, Naavatkuzhi and Kaeratheevu in Jaffna was targeted by LTTE artillery guns when exchange of artillery fire was reported along the FDLs in Jaffna. The SLA suffered heavy casualties in artillery shelling by the Tigers. Although local SLA command put the casualty figures at 6 wounded, 3 military ambulances were seen transporting wounded troopers after imposing an unusual block halting all civilian traffic along Jaffna - Palaali Road for more than an hour.

 

● Four armed men in military fatigue, riding in a white van, forcibly abducted a young labourer at gun point from his residence in Koyyaththoaddam, Jaffna. The father of Rajendram Uthayakumar, 24, in his testimony to the SLHRC in Jaffna, said he was prepared to identify the perpetrators if an identity parade is held and alleged that the perpetrators were SLA soldiers.

 

● In Vavuniya, one SLA soldier was killed and three others wounded near Omanthai entry - exit point during an exchange of artillery fire between the SLA and LTTE.

 

● Gnanaseelan Ravi, 24, a carpenter by profession from Crusoe Road in Chundukuli, Jaffna, has been missing since he left for work to Jaffna town on his motor cycle.

 

● Rajenthiram Uthayakumar, 26, from Navatkuli housing scheme, was abducted, according to a complaint lodged with the Jaffna SLHRC

 

● The annual celebrations at the historic Panrithalaichi Amman Temple in Manthuvil, Thenmaradchy, Jaffna, was disrupted when SLA soldiers conducted a cordon and search operation. Thousands of devotees who thronged the area were prevented from proceeding towards the temple. "Pangunithingal" festival is conducted each year after the cultivation is over and when the agricultural crops are at their peak production. The feast draws around twenty five thousand devotees from areas throughout the peninsula. The public bring in their farm produce to the temple and cook meals in the premises where many of them stay overnight. In a pre dawn operation, thousands of SLA troops searched Madduvil, Chavakachcheri, Sarasalai, Kangampuliyady Junction and desolate shrub lands in Kapoothu areas, preventing devotees from proceeding towards the temple.

 

Some of the weapons recovered by the LTTE following the Sri Lankan soldiers hasty retreat.

The LTTE said they repulsed a fresh ground operation by the SLA that attempted to move towards Paalamoddai, northwest of Vavuniya, on April 11.

 

SLA troopers on retreat left behind dead soldiers, arms and ammunition, including a Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher and 15 automatic guns, according to the military spokesman of the Tigers, Irasiah Ilanthirayan.

 

Eight bodies of SLA troopers were located by the Tigers who were clearing the area after the SLA retreat.

 

Three LTTE fighters were killed when Tigers forces confronted the SLA, Mr. Ilanthiryan said.

 

The LTTE liaison officer for NGOs, Mr. Thiyagarajah, handed over the bodies of seven SLA troopers to the ICRC on April 12.

 

Only seven were returned as one of the eight bodies recovered was in a decomposed state.

 

ICRC Kilinochchi Official Katja Loren accepted the bodies from Mr. Thiyagarajah.

 

Vavuniya ICRC Protection Officer, Paulin Kabayiza, was also present during the handing over of the bodies.

 

The SLA had launched the operation after intensifying MBRL and artillery barrage on Vavuniya Mannar border villages between Mullikkulam and Valayankaddu.

 

Tiger commandos carried out a pre-dawn counter-operation and successfully thwarted the SLA troop movement, Mr. Ilanthiryan said.

 

Sri Lanka Army backed paramilitaries are running amok in government controlled Muslim village of Pottuvil, terrorizing residents and extorting money, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

 

Gunmen from the Karuna Group are roaming freely with weapons, threatening and extorting money from people in Pottuvil, a predominantly Muslim village in Ampara, the paper said.

 

“They go around with weapons on motorbikes and are said to be threatening people on the streets. They have also extorted money from people,” a resident has told the Daily Mirror.

 

“All this is happening while the police and the STF stand around doing nothing,” the resident said, referring to the Special Task Force (STF), the elite counter-insurgency arm of the police.

 

According to the Peace Secretariat for Muslims (PSM), a peace coordinating body formed by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the National Unity Alliance, the country’s two main Muslim parties, the matter had already brought up with the international community as a matter of urgency.

 

“We have already brought the Pottuvil crisis to the attention of the co-chairs and are awaiting speedy action,” a PSM spokesman said.

 

“Maintaining law and order is the duty of the police, and in special cases the Army too has a role to play. But in Pottuvil the police including the STF and the Army have become mere by-standers while the Karuna group is running the writ through the town” said a PSM spokesman.

 

The Karuna Group is an anti-LTTE paramilitary group set up by a renegade LTTE commander, Karuna, who defected to the Sri Lankan military after his six-week rebellion was crushed in an LTTE offensive in early 2004.

 

It is officially known by its political party name - Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP).

 

Reporters who are able to visit the districts of the eastern province say gunmen and child soldiers of the Karuna Group are brazenly wandering about Sri Lankan government controlled areas in plain sight of the security forces.

 

But when the Daily Mirror contacted the Karuna Group, spokesman Azad Maulana denied their cadres were roaming the town with weapons in government controlled area.

 

The paper said that some Muslim youth in Pottuvil are threatening to take up arms for self-protection if Karuna Group cadres are not brought under control.

 

Meanwhile, the Karuna group, which is accused by international human rights agencies for forcibly recruiting children with the assistance of the Sri Lankan security forces, was this week accused of paying off parents in an attempt to reduce the number of complaints.

 

Human rights agencies said the paramilitary group was paying up to Sri Lanka Rupees 6000 per month to parents of children it forcibly recruits to ensure their compliance and not report the abduction to human right organizations.

 

The sum is a considerable amount for many people in the impoverished eastern districts.

 

According to UNICEF, there were 45 reported cases of Karuna child abductions in three months – 10 in December, 24 in January, and 11 in February. Among these were three children abducted by Karuna cadre from camps for internally displaced persons in Batticaloa district.

 

The actual number is likely to be far higher because many parents are afraid to report cases or have been paid off, human rights groups say.

 

Despite promises to investigate abductions of children by the pro-government Karuna group, Sri Lankan authorities have taken no effective action and abductions continue, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said last month.

 

“The Karuna group is doing the government’s dirty work,” Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW said. “It’s time for authorities in Colombo to stop this group from using children in its forces.”

 

In a wider attempt to stamp its authority in the eastern province the Karuna Group is demanding people to bring their concerns to their offices instead of the police.

 

The Karuna Group has also written to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the eastern districts to register with them.

 

In a letter sent to international and local humanitarian agencies the paramilitaries demanded that the recipients complete and returns a detailed questionnaire by April 31.

 

In a pointed threat, they also warned that if the recipient did not comply it “would not be responsible for their safety.”

 

The letter which was written in broken English posed questions such as – “Are you trying to help LTTE?’, ‘Are you try to show, you are the man of humanitarian?’, ‘Are you try to help separate this country?’, ‘Are you want to be a LTTE hero?’, ‘Are tried to help LTTE propaganda?”

 

It was signed by the “Intelligent (sic) unit, Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Party.”

 

 

The de-merger of the northeastern province by a Sri Lanka Supreme court order has posed a fresh threat to the minority Muslims in the east.

 

Muslims in general fear the sudden spurt of state aided colonisation in the predominant Muslim areas in the east. They fear that this turn of event might change their life overnight.

 

The de-merger has aggravated the state sponsored colonisation and Muslims in particular are getting prepared for a showdown.

 

The Sri Lankan government is actively engaged in grabbing every inch of unutilised lands in the Ampara District and some adjoining areas to ensure occupation of Sinhalese from the South.

 

The Muslims who have already been clamouring for a Muslim majority district in the Ampara District that comprises Pottuvil, Sammanthurai and Kalmunai are now disillusioned.

 

Some Muslim traders based in the east said Muslims who never resorted to carrying arms might be compelled to do so, like the Tamil Tigers, if the government failed to understand their sentiments.

 

“We are a very patient lot. But if we are provoked, we can react violently,” they warned.

 

The Nation learns that state aided colonisation is fast progressing in Pottuvil, Deegavapi, Norachcholai and Akkraipattu and this has irked Muslims who have been at the receiving end from the brutality of the LTTE and the armed forces.

 

The colonisation according to them is on a steady process and they charge that if the local politicians failed to address this issue or take it up with the President, they will start agitations.

 

The recent Supreme Courty court order to de-merge the north and east has apparently blocked every opportunity that was available for the Muslims to push for a separate Muslim District through peace negotiations.

 

Muslim political parties that were looking for an opportunity to place this issue before the government and the LTTE during the peace talks and receive a positive answer from both, now say they lost that chance due to the court order.

 

The SLMC continues to insist that the Muslims too must be considered a main stakeholder of the peace talks and The Nation understands the party’s goal is to place before both the government and the LTTE its proposal for the creation of a separate Muslim district.

 

“We foresaw that this was going to happen,” says the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, part of the ruling coalition.

 

“Colonisation is not new in Sri Lanka. Even in some of the Tamil dominated areas there has been colonisation. But if this time the matter is left unheeded, it will end in disaster.”

 

“We will take the matter up with the President soon. In every letter we exchanged with the President prior to joining [his government], we made very clear that there should not be any state colonisation.”

 

Meanwhile some of the Muslim traders pointed out that it is only the Muslims in Sri Lanka who do not have any authority over any particularly demarcated area. “This country has 24 districts and six out of them are administered by the Tamils. How about Muslims? Nothing,” they observed.

 

They argued that they too should deserve at least one district to reflect on their sentiments and to practice their own traditions.

 

“How is our future generation going to recognise the ethnic or religious identity when we do not have a single district? It is essential that we too enjoy control over a particular land so that we could preserve our own culture and traditions. Certainly we are not demanding for a separate state as such. This must be understood by the government,” Muslim traders said on the condition of anonymity.

 

They further pointed out that their request was a reasonable one given the current trend to devolve powers to the peripheries.

 

Meanwhile they also supported National Heritage Minister Anura Bandaranaike’s statement made last week in Parliament that the north and east should be merged again.

 

“We actually did not like the merger of the north and east. But we thought the de-merger would take place at a different forum- preferably at the peace talks. But this sudden court decision to de-merge north and east has really upset all of us,” traders pointed out.

Batticaloa district in 2007 has acquired a reputation which it did not have in the last 25 years of the military conflict in North East Sri Lanka.

 

This relatively peaceful Eastern Sri Lankan district has become a very dangerous place to visit, making even seasoned journalists wonder if it is safe.

 

The reason is the change in weaponry and tactics used in the conflict. There is now an overwhelming reliance on long distance fighting with artillery, 'arty' mortars, Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRL) and jet fighter bombers.

 

And the shelling from the ground and the air is incessant, like it never was ever before.

 

However, one decided to go. The situation was getting worse and not better. And it was feared that the roads might be closed indefinitely if the government pursued its plan to take over the entire East, on a priority basis, for pressing political reasons. A "now or never" situation had arisen.

 

After zipping through the lush green landscape of the blissfully peaceful Sinhalese-majority district of Polannaruwa, one entered Batticaloa district.

 

In a trice, the landscape had changed. The barrenness of Western Batticaloa was as depressing as it was striking. There was no sign of any economic activity for as long as the eye could see.

 

And soon, the other aspect of the grim reality in Batticaloa presented itself. Signs of war appeared in the form of checkpoints, searching questions by a motley mix of Sri Lankan police commandoes, regular troops and Karuna's men, all armed with T-56 assault rifles, bullet proof vests and huge ammunition pouches.

 

Karuna, who was one of the ace commanders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) till March 2004, had broken away from LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, and had since been functioning as an adjunct of the Sri Lankan armed forces in Batticaloa and Amparai.

 

As one went further in, one could hear the sound of shelling by a wide variety of long range area weapons - 81 mm 'arty' mortars, 122 mm artillery and the most dreaded and the noisiest of them all, the Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL).    

 

The towns in Batticalao district like Chengalady and Eravur, looked battle-scarred, with half demolished buildings and shops, pock marked houses, road blocks and diversions.

 

Steel helmeted and armed men were evident every few yards. Road intersections were manned by callow Tamil youth with deadly weapons.

 

Clearly, these were recent recruits of the Karuna faction. Some of the gun-toting boys were so small that they were dwarfed by the T-56s they were carrying.

 

One dreaded the thought of a child soldier pulling the trigger in a fit of excitement. The boys were also small enough to be playful with that instrument of death.

 

Karuna's presence was ubiquitous, though locals said that the extent of the presence did not match popular support. "Support for him may be about 5 per cent," said a school teacher," who did not wish to be named, for obvious reasons.

 

"If Karuna had … helped the Tamil refugees, we would have embraced him. But he is doing precious little," said a Christian priest, involved in relief work.

 

There was not a town in the government-held areas which was not dotted with Karuna's offices or camps, which significantly, were almost always close to the camps of the government forces.

 

The TMVP's offices are located in opulent houses, many owned by Tamils who had fled to the West apparently.

 

"The TMVP has the ability to acquire any property it fancies!" said a resident with a mischievous smile. Locals alleged that houses are commandeered and rents are not paid.

Tamil refugees in Batticaloa district say that they will not go back to their homes unless the shelling stops completely and lasting peace is brought about.

 

"We'll go back only when peace is restored. We can't go back when shelling is on," affirmed Thangavadivel a farmer from Mutur East in Trincomalee district, who has been living with his family in the Vettukadu camp in the outskirts of Batticaloa town for the past 11 months.

 

This is a tall order, given the fact that the Sri Lankan government is determined to pursue the LTTE, and drive it out of the Eastern districts.

 

And clearing the East is going to take time, though the powers-that-be in Colombo believe that the entire North and East can be cleared within three years.

 

Asked what the problem was when the government had said that people would be rehabilitated only after the designated re-settlement area was cleared of the LTTE, and the mines planted by it were removed, Thangavadivel said that fighting could break out at any time even in the "cleared" areas.

 

Echoing the refugees' fears, a local religious dignitary, who did not want to be identified, said: "The Tigers are bound to bounce back. Fighting will go on if there is no move for a political settlement. I see no light at the end of the tunnel."    

 

Informed sources in Batticaloa attributed the refugees' reluctance to go back to their homes to the change in weaponry and tactics of the Sri Lankan forces.

 

The nature of fighting has undergone a sea [of] change. Earlier, both sides relied essentially on small arms and mortars, with the security forces using choppers also, and occasionally, aircraft.

 

Now the state uses long range weapons and the Air Force liberally, making these its main strike weapons. Even the LTTE now prefers long range weapons to ground movement and hand to hand fighting.

 

The refugees have grown up in the midst of war for close to twenty years. But their previous experience in dodging gun fire proved to be useless this time round.

 

Sarangapani a coolie from Vavunathivu said that earlier, people had time to take shelter in peace zones like schools, temples and churches. The fighting forces by-passed these shelters.

 

But now, no place is safe. "We don't know when an artillery shell or an aerial bomb will fall in our area. The attacker can't be seen. There is no warning that he is going to come. There is no escape!" he said.

 

"We fled carrying nothing with us except the clothes we were wearing," he recalled.

 

Thangavadivel had moved from one place to another four times because shells would catch up with him wherever he tried to settle.

 

There was no report of any significant killings as a result of the shelling. No refugee mentioned it. 

 

Apparently, the shells fell on places with no people in close proximity. But death due to shelling had been a constant threat, a real, everyday possibility. That is why the people fled.    

 

A woman inmate in Vettukadu said that people who had been taken back to their villages by the government, had found that there were "no people, only the army" there.

 

Clearly, the refugees do not like the army breathing down their necks.

 

The places had also been destroyed and looted, other refugees said.

 

Nirmalai, a music teacher from the Tamil-Muslim town of Mutur had a different problem. She said that she did not want to go back because there would be too many Muslims there.

 

"Tamils can't trust them," she said. Muslims are seen as being pro-Army.      

 

The refugees' refusal to entertain the thought of going back, is worrying Tamil leaders who believe that if they do not go back, their places will be taken by non-Tamils, like Sinhalas and Muslims, especially the former, with the help of the state.

 

Asserting that Monday’s airstrike on Katunayake “indicates a quantum leap in the LTTE’s technological base,” Professor Kumar David, an engineering specialist, argues that “the LTTE’s aviation technology is far behind that of the Sri Lanka Air force..that it has taken the first step is quite telling.”

 

In a op-ed in The Island, he cautions Colombo that the human capital gathered against massive odds by the LTTE renders a military solution unviable. Meanwhile, a columnist in the Tamil Guardian points out the LTTE acquired the know-how and materials for an air force in the harshest international climate for armed movements.

 

"In a modern knowledge-based world the true measure of progress is the sophistication of human resources capital; technology is not things, not machines, gadgets and electronics, rather technology is the knowledge and ability inside people’s heads," Prof. David wrote.

 

He points to the vast array of different human skills, beyond simply flying a light aircraft that need to be acquired and brought together to accomplish recent airstrike on Katunayake.

 

"It is not just a matter of smuggling in a light aircraft kit or two and assembling them in the jungle. They have to be test flown; they have to take-off and land; be maintained and serviced, the bomb bays loaded and the frame structurally balanced,” he says.

 

“To fly from some god-forsaken part of the Vanni over Katunayake, drop a payload and get back safely in the dead of night needs some minimal avionics and navigational tools and the ability to use them.”

 

“But most important of all it needs the flight crews, the engineering personnel and the ground crews to carry out the operation.”

 

“Make no mistake about it, if every LTTE aircraft, runway and hanger is destroyed but the skilled personnel remain, then the battle has only just begun," he warns.

 

Prof. David, Dean of Hong Kong’s largest and best known engineering school. pointed out that his analysis is based on forty years of engineering experience.

 

Meanwhile, an op-ed in the Tamil Guardian says the crucial message that the LTTE has sent Colombo with its heavily publicised airstrike Monday is “not only is the LTTE now able to conduct such raids; it has been able to acquire this ability despite the pointed efforts of the Sri Lanka government and its allies to prevent it.”

 

“There is nothing inevitable about the emergence of the ‘Air Tigers.’ In fact there is every reason for such an endeavour to be nigh impossible now,” Suren Manoharan wrote.

 

“Indeed, the post 9/11 era, with its attendant global anti-terrorism drives, has arguable been the most difficult period in which the LTTE has had to develop any of its military capabilities.”

 

Asked for the United States’ reaction to the LTTE airstrike on the military airbase at Katunayake last Monday, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert O’ Blake said: “The LTTE’s successful deployment of an offensive air capability is a matter of great concern.”

 

Asked by Sri Lanka’s state-owned Daily News if the LTTE attack changed the US view about the conflict, he said: “We do not believe there can be a military solution to this conflict. Rather, both sides should cease hostilities so talks can take place on a negotiated settlement.”

 

Asked if the US has changed its travel advice to Americans as a result of this attack, Mr. Blake said: “There has been no substantive change in our advice. The U.S. Embassy does not perceive a specific threat to our citizens.”

 

The unruffled US reaction to the LTTE mirrored that of India, whose Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon, when asked about the LTTE attack said: "We are very concerned at the escalation of violence in Sri Lanka in the last few weeks. The incident is one part of the violent incidents that we have seen.”

 

"To pick on an individual incident of violence will not help solve the root cause of the problem," he said.

Sri Lanka’s worsening human rights record and hardline militaristic approach to the ethnic question has not deterred international donors from continuing to fund the Sinhala-dominated state.

 

In March 2007 the Japanese government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) awarded a total of US$ 620 million to Sri Lanka.

 

And whilst some donor countries like Germany and the United Kingdom have linked aid to improved human rights and de-escalation of violence, no significant reduction in fund flow has been noted.

 

The ADB approved a US$ 300 million loan towards expansion of Colombo port which it considers to be a key trans-shipment hub in South Asia while the Japanese government provided its largest yen loan package to Sri Lanka - US$ 320 million - under its Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan scheme.

 

This is the 38^th loan package Japan has extended to the Sri Lanka. Japan is the single largest donor to Sri Lanka in terms of the total amount of assistance since 1986, and Sri Lanka is one of the largest recipients of per head assistance from Japan in the world.

 

The loaned funds is to be spent on infrastructure projects identified by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapkse’s election manifesto and is aimed at building infrastructure.

 

According to the ADB, Colombo port which is now capable of handling 3.3 million containers would be able to handle 5.7 million containers following the expansion.

 

Prodyut Dutt, a senior transport specialist with ADB's South Asia Department, said: "In recent years, Colombo Port has lost market share in trans-shipment because it does not have the operating capacity or depth required to berth the latest generation container ships."

Recent military offensives against the Tamil Tigers by the Sri Lankan government in defiance of the 2002 ceasefire agreement has increased risk violence spreading to the south and according to ADB the expansion plan incorporates stepped up security measures.

 

Sri Lanka whilst borrowing heavily has significantly increased its defense budget for 2007 to US $1.4 Billion. An increase of 46% over the previous year and 23% of Sri Lankan state’s total income.

 

On April 2, a coalition of about 200 Sri Lankan civil society groups called South Asian nations to cut defense spending and increase funding for socio economic development to curb poverty in one of the world’s poorest regions.

 

“We realize that the lavish spending on weapons by poor South Asian countries is one of the major causes of rampant poverty in the region,” Arjun Karki, a coordinator of the coalition, told a news conference.