4th January 1998

Trincomalee: winds of unchange?

By Sanaka Samarasinha in Trinco

The more things change, the more they stay the same goes the old adage. How true those words ring in Trincomalee these days. It's almost as if the district has entered into a time warp in the past decade. A forgotten Siberia where life goes on for most of its people with hardly any progress to speak of. Sure, some of the names have changed, and on occasion where the names have remained unchanged the functions may have changed. For instance, what was once Tiger Hill is now Lion Hill, and what was once a massive refugee camp called Clappenburg is now a mid-sized army camp called Clappenburg. But the actors are essentially the same, the roles they play continue unchanged and communal tension in the district remains high.

Trinco in 1988 was a powder keg waiting to explode. By 1990 the much-anticipated explosion occurred.

The general consensus here is that it's only a matter of time before it happens all over again. "We are sitting on a volcano," says Rev. Zoysa, head of a Catholic NGO in town.

Perhaps this is a slightly melodramatic description of the situation in the area, but underlying communal tension is clearly apparent in Trinco, and on occasion surfaces in the form of direct confrontation.

The new market

Such was the case when Periyapodi Sooriyamoorthy, chairman of the Urban Council tried to open a new market in town recently.

He had planned to hold a religious ceremony at the new market on September 14 when the police requested him to postpone the ceremony because they had received information that some persons were planning to stage a demonstration close to the new complex. Sooriyamoorthy went ahead with the planned religious ceremony on the 13th night.

The following day, 50 to 60 mostly Sinhalese vendors from the existing market banded together and arrived at the new market.

Sooriyamoorthy alleges that the police brought the demonstrators to the new market. An allegation that the police deny.

Be that as it may, this incident is a clear example of a dangerous trend in Trinco of the security forces being dragged in to arbitrate in matters in which they should not be involved.

As one military source said, "We are here to keep the peace and maintain security, not to get involved in civilian issues like this." But the new complex which cost Rs. 48 lakhs in public funds remains closed by police order.

The controversy around the new market has been around for a while. It is essentially an economic issue, but as in everything in Trinco it has developed communal overtones, with the Tamil community accusing the security forces of siding with the Sinhalese.

A vast majority of vendors at the present market are Sinhalese. No doubt if the new market is opened they will lose some customers.

Fishing troubles

The fishing community in Trinco have their own problems. Once again an essentially economic problem is being projected as an ethnic issue. Some Sinhalese line fishermen destroyed fishing nets belonging to Tamils in Pallathotam - a fishing community on the Nilaveli Road - claiming that they were placing the nets close in an area that is reserved for line fishing. The Tamil fishermen complained to police who told them that they were not supposed to use nets in the area for security reasons. The Pallathotam community continued to use their nets and the vandalism continued as well. About three weeks ago, two Sinhalese fishermen were abducted three miles from the Uppuveli coast by suspected LTTE cadre. Thambipillai Saunderarajah, a fisherman from Pallathotam says that soon thereafter the vandalism ceased. And so the Tamil fishermen in Pallathotam view this abduction as the LTTE coming to their rescue.

Even in the Pallathotam controversy the military has once again been dragged in to settle the differences between the two communities because the Fisheries Corporation amongst other government bodies have done nothing to solve the issue.

Perhaps the reason the security forces are becoming embroiled in these issues is because the civilian administration is caught up in bureaucratic red tape and there is no political leadership to speak of. For instance, Gamini Fonseka, the Governor of the North East Province has only visited Trinco twice in the past 10 months.

Political Parties

Talking of political vacuums, the Tamil political parties seem to remain a non-entity in these parts, unable to garner popular support, or in some places, even respect. At one time they were known as thugs with guns. Now they seem to be making a concerted effort to change that image. Still, as a senior member of one of these parties admitted "People just use us when they need us, but they don't support us. Not yet anyway."

EPDP, PLOTE, and TELO are all here, albeit as a token presence. The EPDP seems to be the most involved with the town folk. Illangakoon, the office manager sits behind a large desk with four telephones and a picture of Mother Theresa and Douglas Devananda lying side by side. A well-used cane hangs on one wall, and a Sri Lanka Navy calendar hangs on another. There are always two or three people outside its office looking for help with getting birth certificates, identity cards etc.

Not all its involvement though is geared toward pushing the government bureaucracy. Two months ago, soldiers in Trinco shot two civilians, killing one and injuring the other. The EPDP mobilised the people in the area in protest, blocking the road with barricades, burning tyres and shouting slogans. The security forces are apparently unhappy about how the EPDP took advantage of the incident, and a senior officer says the message was delivered in no uncertain terms.

There is some cooperation too however, between these parties and the military in Trinco. In town, they pass on information on LTTE infiltration to the army. "We can do that because these are our people, and we know them better than the army," says one former militant turned politician.

(More next week....)

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