SRI LANKA: Peace Dividend Hard to Come by in War-torn Region

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Feb 1 2004 (IPS) - Visitors driving through Sri Lanka’s war-battered northern region are struck by lush vegetable fields ready for harvest, rows of coconut trees whose tops have been sliced off by constant bombing – and miles of unused land.

At a technical centre and farmhouse run by Tamil Tiger rebels, a large solar panel provides power for at least 20 computers and a few fans while boxes of fresh, juicy mangoes picked from trees in the compound are ready for market, but its activity appears far from representative of the realities elsewhere in the area.

"There is still no development or industry. Most people have to depend on some kind of agriculture for a living," laments S Paramanathan, president of the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) in Jaffna, considered the capital of the northern part of Sri Lanka where most minority Tamils live.

Two years into a ceasefire and peace negotiations between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as the rebels are formally called, have not yet brought the promised peace dividend to the region.

Now, the threat of renewed war or at least the uncertainty of the peace process, triggered by the suspension of peace talks since April and a dispute between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, has added more hopelessness and fear among many.

"People are afraid whether we will go to the former situation of war, which nobody wants again,” says Thomas Savundaranayagam, the Catholic bishop of Jaffna. ”One of the most reassuring things however is that the LTTE has said they will not be the first to break the ceasefire.”

The rebels suspended peace talks in April, complaining of the lack of an interim administration in the north-east to speed up development. The crisis was exacerbated by Kumaratunga’s takeover of three ministries, including defence, in November while Wickremesinghe was away on an overseas trip.

The prime minister has refused to resume peace talks unless he is handed back the defence portfolio.

The two head rival political parties but are running the government together in an uneasy arrangement. For its part, the LTTE has said it is prepared to negotiate with any party or government that has the support of the south, dominated by the majority Sinhalese.

The Jaffna bishop, whose church holds influence in the north, said the clash between Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe has raised doubts about the sincerity of southern politicians in solving the ethnic conflict.

The war which has resulted in the deaths of close to 64,000 people since 1983 and the loss of billions of rupees worth of property and infrastructure.

Savundaranayagam believes the negotiations could have been smoother if the ruling party had invited Kumaratunga’s party to be part of the negotiating team, instead of keeping her out and prompting her to keep sniping at the peace process.

"à They (Wickremesinghe’s United National Party) should have included her in the signing process and if this happened none of these problems would have arisen. It (her endorsement) would have given the memorandum of understanding (on the peace talks and ceasefire) more clout. These are lost opportunities," the bishop said.

A new pact this month between Kumaratunga’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the Marxist People’s Liberation Front (JVP), a former revolutionary group that favours crushing the LTTE before any peace talks, has also raised fears about whether the peace talks will be abandoned.

The two-party alliance, formed this month, wants to oust Wickremesinghe’s ruling United National Party.

The political crisis has stalled whatever little development work was underway in the war-ravaged areas, the only positive sight being workers continuing repairs to wide stretches of the rugged A9 highway that links the north and south of the country.

"The opening of the A9 is a very positive sign in the peace process and has resulted in many people from the north and the south visiting each other, and essential goods reaching the north," said Savundaranayagam.

The lack of development is also largely due to the slow resettlement of those displaced by the ethnic conflict, as well as the lack of livelihoods.

There are still some 100,000 displaced people living either in refugee camps or the homes of relatives or friends. CHA’s Paramanathan says there are 80,000 unemployed among Jaffna’s 500,000 population, and another 110,000 underemployed.

Tamils’ return to their homes is hindered by two reasons. First, many of those displaced had lived in so-called high security zones (HSZs) occupied by government forces that do not want to give up the areas. Second, those areas are heavily mined.

Walikamam, one of most productive areas in Jaffna district that residents call ‘golden soil’, comes under a high-security zone. Only a few hectares have been released by the army for resettlement in an area that covers one-third of the Jaffna peninsula.

"We have repeatedly advocated a gradual phasing out of the army from HSZs but that hasn’t taken place. People are losing confidence in the southern leadership," added I Bernard, a well-known Catholic priest who works on peace and rights issues.

S P Thamilchelvan, political head of the LTTE, warns that the situation is critical because of the delay in restarting peace talks. "We want to brief the international community about the crisis and tell them that the people’s patience has reached its maximum level of tolerance," he told IPS at a school ground in the rebel-held town of Killinochchi.

In Killinochchi and immediate suburbs, not a single armed rebel cadre can be seen other than many unarmed male and female members of the rebel police force in smart blue uniforms.

This contrasts with the town of Jaffna, where rows of barbed wire and dozens of bunkers with armed soldiers in addition to a constant flow of soldiers in trucks gives every indication of a town in conflict – or preparing for one.

"Everywhere you see barbed wire. It gives an impression that this is an occupied place," said Bishop Savundaranayagam.

At the Jaffna General Hospital, Daya Somasunderam, one of Sri Lanka’s most respected psychiatrists, says that despite a two-year lull in the violence many are still seeking treatment for trauma and mental illness.

Expatriates too are seeking treatment from the shock of seeing their homes devastated by 18 years of fighting.

Many of Somasunderam’s trainers or counsellors became involved in the healing process after undergoing some trauma themselves. "It is easier to understand another’s pain when you have gone through it yourself," he mused.