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The sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu, which was taken away to Thevanpiddy in April was brought back to the Mannar Bishop’s House on Tuesday across the Omanthai entry / exit point, Colombo Tamil daily Thinakkural reported today.

As war is spreading in the surrounding areas and people in Thevanpiddy also face displacement, the sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu was brought back to the Mannar Bishop’s House.

[Our Lady of Madhu, file pic]

Renovations of the Madhu church now underway are expected to be completed during the first week of next month, at a cost of Rs. 1.5 million, and the sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu will be installed in the near future, according Thinakkural.

Sri Lanka Army entered Madhu area after a lapse of nearly ten years on April 25 this year.

Amidst tight restrictions by the Government of Sri Lanka on access to Vanni and coverage by media personnel, the tragedy that has unfolded in Vanni region largely remains untold to the out side world, the Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said in a statement today.

Fleeing Internally Displaced Persons live in open spaces in Vanni

Full Text of the statement:

IDPs unseen

The latest estimate of the number of IDPs inside Vanni is around 110,000 and 35,000 of them are preschool and school children. People moving with their possessions in carts and tractor-trailers on the roads are a common sight in Vanni.

The rain is multiplying the woes of the IDPs

Indeed several schools have displaced too. Schools that are not displaced must now intake the displacing children and teachers. The chaos and workload has forced the even the schools that are not displaced to halt their end of term examinations.

With the Sri Lankan Government artificially creating severe shortages in Vanni there are long delays in providing even the very basics like food to the displaced people. To bring the IDPs under a decent roof could take several months. Even INGOs are struggling with shortages in their efforts to assist the IDPs as a result of restrictions imposed by the Sri Lanka Government.

As if to multiply the woes of the IDPs, Kilinochchi has already seen several days of rain since the latest wave of displacement to Kilinochchi began. The problems faced by the IDPs must be seen to be believed.

Yet, the woes of the IDPs remain mostly unseen due to the imposition of fuel restrictions because local media personnel in Vanni are also suffering the same fuel shortage faced by everyone else.

Neither are the international media present in Vanni to cover the disaster.

Even though intentions of the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are not known to them, the United National Party welcomes it. This is due to UNP is against loss of lives and property.

UNP General Secretary and Kandy district parliamentarian Tissa Attanayake made these remarks at a media briefing held at the Office of the leader of Opposition today, according to a report published in Tamil daily Virakesari.

He added that UNP has continued to express its stand over and over again, on war related destruction. The UNP is firm on its belief that war cannot bring peace, according to the General Secretary of UNP.

The unilateral declaration may be aimed towards winning the good will of SAARC leaders. However, it’s the LTTE and Mahinda Rajapakse government who are amidst war in this environment, Tissa Attanayake MP said.

[Tissa Attanayake MP]

The 15th SAARC summit is to be held in Sri Lanka from July 27 to August 3 under the theme ‘Partnership for our people’ and according to the vision ‘Towards a South Asian Union’.

The LTTE statement declaring the ceasefire said,

“We are always keen to develop friendship with the countries of the world and our neighbouring countries in our region. We are sincere in our efforts to create the external conditions in order to build these friendships. We wish to express the good will and trust of the Tamil people.

As a sign of this goodwill, our movement is glad to inform that it will observe a unilateral ceasefire that is devoid of military actions during the period of the SAARC conference from 26th July to 4th August and give our cooperation for the success of the conference”.

Minister Nimal Siripala Silva, a negotiator for Government of Sri Lanka at the previously held peace talks told parliament on Tuesday evening that the “Government was not ready to accept any ceasefire that would supply oxygen to the LTTE”.

Government won’t enter a ceasefire when LTTE is militarily weak, Sri Lanka Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was quoted as saying to the media.

About 10,000 persons depending on day labour work in Colombo business district face job losses, due to SAARC security measures, reports Tamil daily Thinakkural, published from Colombo.

Thinakkural report further says:

Day labourers fully rely on these jobs for daily survival of their families.

They perform manual duties in loading and or unloading - carrying on their head and shoulders and by way of pulling carts loaded with merchandise for distribution.

They will not be able perform their tasks when the SAARC is in session in Colombo.

The workers distribute items throughout Colombo area and work on transporting goods to and from other parts of the country, on any given day in the main business hub of the city, Pettah.

Daily paid labourers, known as “Nattammais” in Tamil [pic:HA]

The security measures in place for the SAARC will not permit anyone without “passes” to the declared high security zone that includes the centre of business activity in Colombo, Fort and Pettah.

Due to these special high security measures, all business activity – in Fort and Pettah are expected to come to a standstill, when SAARC is in session later this month in Sri Lanka.

Government won’t enter a ceasefire when LTTE is militarily weak, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was quoted as saying to media in Sri Lanka.

Minister Nimal Siripala Silva, a negotiator for Government of Sri Lanka at the previously held peace talks told parliament on Tuesday evening that the “Government was not ready to accept any ceasefire that would supply oxygen to the LTTE”.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Tuesday announced that the movement would observe unilateral ceasefire during the period of SAARC conference from 26th July to 04 August, giving cooperation for the success of the conference. Conveying goodwill and trust of the Tamil people, the LTTE Political Wing, in a press statement issued from Vanni said it wished for the success of the SAARC conference, extending the movement’s support to the “countries of our region, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives.”

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed their dismay at reports of assault and harassment of three media personnel by government officials in Colombo on July 18. The IFJ further stated that they are alarmed at reports that hundreds of police personnel at the scene did not intervene or were unable to stop the assaults.

“Now is the time for the subcommittee to demonstrate the Sri Lankan Government’s genuine commitment to support and protect Sri Lanka’s independent media, by investigating all attacks on media immediately and bringing the perpetrators to account,” the IFJ Asia-Pacific said.

On July 18th, The Daily Mirror’s - Journalist Yohan Perera was assaulted by persons said to be Sri Lanka Urban Development Authority officials, as he covered residents protesting demolition of homes in preparation for the SAARC summit.

Addressing a press conference on July 21st the Police Spokesman said that they are waiting for the victim to identify the assailants to record statements.

Full text of statement by IFJ:

Call for Investigation as Sri Lanka Government Officials Assault Journalists

The Intern ational Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is alarmed at reports of assault and harassment of three media personnel by government officials in Colombo on July 18.

The incident marks the eighth attack on independent media since the five main journalists’ organisations in Sri Lanka welcomed moves by the Government in late June to set up a Cabinet subcommittee to investigate media rights violations. The subcommittee, however, has not investigated any of the recent cases of intimidation or attacks on media personnel.

According to the Free Media Movement (FMM), an IFJ affiliate, officials from the Urban Development Authority reportedly assaulted Daily Mirror journalist Yohan Perera and photographer Pradeep Dilrukshana. Perera was hospitalised with injuries from the attack.

Television journalist Dushantha Manoj from Sirasa TV was also reportedly harassed by the officials.

The media personnel were reporting on the alleged illegal demolition of hundreds of homes in Colombo for the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting to be held in Colombo on August 2 and 3.

The IFJ is further dismayed at reports that hundreds of police personnel at the scene did not intervene or were unable to stop the assaults.

“We see this incident as a sign of the absolute intolerance towards independent coverage of critical issues related to democratic governance,” the FMM said.

The IFJ joined the FMM on July 18 in calling on the Government to ensure the subcommittee investigated immediately and transparently on the continuing intimidation and harassment of journalists and the independent media in Sri Lanka .

“Now is the time for the subcommittee to demonstrate the Sri Lankan Government’s genuine commitment to support and protect Sri Lanka ’s independent media, by investigating all attacks on media immediately and bringing the perpetrators to account,” the IFJ Asia -Pacific said.

“Only by encouraging a safe environment where journalists no longer fear for their lives will Sri Lanka be able to boast an independent media profession that is representative of real democracy.”