News

News

Jaffna residents fear return to war
By Feizal Samath in Jaffna
Residents in Jaffna have lost faith in southern politicians and are worried that the country could return to war, according to Rev Dr Thomas Savundaranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna.

In this interview with The Sunday Times at his Jaffna residence last week, the Jaffna Bishop discusses a range of issues from donor involvement, the clash between the President and the Prime Minister and the development process.

Could you comment on the state of the peace process?
Unfortunately owing to many reasons the peace process has slowed down. It has come to a standstill due to the political developments in the south. All along there was a difference of opinion between the President and the Prime Minister and from time to time the statements made by the President have not been helpful to this.

It always brought doubts about the genuineness of the southern politicians to bring about a solution to the ethnic problem. In addition to the President taking over three important ministries, the signing of a MoU with the JVP has also brought in a lot of fear in the minds of the people as to whether the peace talks will go the way of the previous ones.

This is the fourth time the attempt is being made for negotiations. People are afraid whether we will go to back to the former situation of war which nobody wants. One of the most reassuring things is that the LTTE has said they would not break the ceasefire - that they will not be the first to break the ceasefire. As much as possible they will stand by the ceasefire. They have also said they would hold peace talks with whatever government which has the authority of the people and stability (in the south).

This is a consoling thought. But we don't see any coming together of the President and the Prime Minister which hurts and discourages us.

What are the benefits of peace to the people of Jaffna?
There is very little benefit to be seen at the grassroots level because the government couldn't do any major development work without having any authority to carry it out. Therefore they were dragging their feet. Only the NGOs have done some work.

The government couldn't do much also because a lot of people have to be resettled which is a problem because of the high security zones. The de-mining programme is also slow and coupled with the lack of funds has also slowed down resettlement of people.

Is resettlement the key to development work?
You need normalcy to develop a place and for that the displaced have to return to their homes. People had hopes that with the A9 being opened they could return to their homes but that hasn't happened because of the High Security Zones. Also more that 60 percent of the houses in the peninsula have been destroyed owing to the high intensity war from 1995 onwards.

For infrastructure and buildings, and the creation of employment to take place there is no central authority to organise and facilitate. Because of this the LTTE thought an interim administration was necessary to accelerate development. This took time, a lot of discussion, and then they made a proposal and forwarded it to the government.

While the government said they would study it, the President and some others rejected it. That was also a disappointment because donor agencies were willing to assist some central authority mechanism. That is stalled and the entire peace process is stalled. The people here were in despair, despondent, wondering whether the majority Sinhalese in the south will ever solve this problem. A lot of doubts have arisen.

So far there have only been three parties in the negotiation process - the government, LTTE and Norway. Isn't it time that for civil society - senior citizens in the north or a citizens' front - to be included in the process and for this group to appeal to southern parties to resume the peace process?
We have the people's representatives in parliament - Tamil MPs. They have appealed on behalf of the people to restart the talks. Other people also on their own have made appeals. I am a member of the Catholic Bishops Conference. We have met both the President and the Prime Minister and urged them to accept each other and stressed that consensus politics is necessary to solve the ethnic problem. We have urged them to forget their party differences and come together as statespersons to work for the welfare of the country.

In meetings with the President and the Prime Minister what has been the response?
They received us politely but since we don't have any political clout our appeals fall on deaf ears. We can only have moral persuasion. (Laughs).
At a meeting with the Prime Minister, we said that somewhere in the peace process, the President should be given a role, be a part of it. On principle he agreed but when it comes to execution, nothing happens.

So you think she should be a part of it?
She is the executive President and also represents a section of the population. We also felt that one of the defects of the MoU was that she was not a party to it. At that time they 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 MoU more clout. These are lost opportunities.

The reply given to us (by the UNF) was that they wanted to involve her but not at the initial stages because in the initial stages a lot of suspicion had to be overcome with the LTTE. So it was felt that at the initial stages it would have been difficult to bring the President into the negotiating process. They wanted to bring her in when the core issues were being discussed and also include her representative in the negotiating team.

It appears there were reasons on this issue for both sides. However the president felt isolated from this important process.

What about pressure exerted by donors on the politicians?
Foreign ambassadors come and meet me. But they say that this is a sovereign country and cannot interfere in domestic politics. That has been their stand.

What about funding pressures?
Well their position has been that even if we try to suspend funding to put pressure on the government to continue the peace process, some other country will continue funding because Sri Lanka is strategically placed in the Indian Ocean and many would like to have some hold on Sri Lanka. Even the efforts of the United States, EU, India and Japan are interpreted on these lines.

And that would also follow with the benefits that would accrue if the peace process works?
That's true.

Any comment on the LTTE taxation of the people?
We are paying double taxation - to the government and the LTTE. It is a burden to the Tamil people. Even though they resent this, the people pay up because they feel the money is necessary to the LTTE to keep up their balance of arms, etc and for the upkeep of their cadres and also assist many LTTE disabled and injured who have lost their limbs, etc. These disabled persons are well looked after by the LTTE. The LTTE says the money is needed for orphanages and to run dispensaries in places where the government does not have such facilities. All this costs money, they say. But the tax is too much.

There are concerns of human rights violations by the LTTE and thus include civil society in the process?
There are many parties who have their own interests. There has to be a single group to be involved in the negotiations. They must be people with a single mind, not with vested interests but speak for the people and their aspirations. The Tamils are so far satisfied that the Tigers have been able to articulate the aspirations of the Tamil people consistently without vacillating.

The Tigers are also aware that the people would like to be part of this process. They have political offices all over the region. The political head in Jaffna meets me occasionally to discuss matters and recently wanted our comments on the interim administration proposal.

What do you think would happen in the next six months? What are the expectations? If you must list some important issues that should take place in the next six months, what would they be?
There shouldn't be any dishonesty. The sincerity of all to solve this ethnic problem to a peaceful conclusion, a lot of give and take, accept the Tamils as people of this country on an equal footing - is essential. You won't find that in the JVP because JVP says this is a Buddhist country and that others are only tolerated.

The President and the Prime Minister should see eye to eye. This is the number one problem in the country and not a party problem. They should not look for political gain. They should be careful in dealing with foreign governments. They should not antagonise anyone. For example the signing of the defence treaty with India is not to our benefit. It will disturb the balance of power between the LTTE and the government. We are also concerned that the instability in the south will affect the whole country.

Hasn't there been humanitarian work done in the north?
Oh yes, we cannot say the government has been doing nothing. For example the roads are being repaired, the A9 is being repaired. Opening the road itself is a great development. We have electricity supplied to many areas and we have telephones. Foreign NGOs have also contributed a lot to building infrastructure; many schools have been repaired and are functioning. Drinking water and sanitation has improved.

That's a positive sign. Restrictions have been lifted and people are able to travel up and down without hindrance. There is no curfew. Still in the peninsula there are about 30,000 troops. The beaches are guarded. Everywhere you see barbwire. It gives an impression that this is an occupied place. There are about 100,000 in welfare camps, many live outside in others' homes.

So while negotiations have stopped, other activities have continued?
Yes, the peace process has continued. It may have slowed down but there are still things happening. It is not a development programme, but efforts to restore normalcy.

Top

Back to News