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*The LTTE must also show a desire to return to the table.
*This fear, that if one side wins the other loses, must be addressed.
*It’s possible for us to reach a consensus, where everybody’s rights are protected.
*It’s not enough to hear the official stances of political parties or, the SLMM and the international community.

Bishop of Colombo, Rev Duleep De Chickera was, earlier this week, in Jaffna, to look into the affected communities in the peninsula and the islands. He expresses his concerns for the people and the need for greater accountability and for the Government and the LTTE to move back to the negotiating table.

Q: You were in Jaffna three days back and visited the affected Kayts islands, where 12 civilians were killed. What are your concerns?

A: I am very concerned. Any killing or massacre of people must be condemned, must concern religious leaders. These situations add to the fear. There is a great deal of panic right now. The surviving members of the families live in fear because the intention of the killing is still very vague. In addition to that, the whole village has received an order that they should vacate the village. There is now, a fairly large-scale mobility of the people out of the island. Some of them have been housed on the peninsula and others are trying to make it through into the Wanni. This is really adding to the fear and intimidation and making the ground situation so much more complex. It’s a very, very worrying development. The impact of the massacre on the immediate members of the family and what it is doing to the life of these very poor and powerless community, is very sad.

Q: Are you satisfied with what is being done by the Government in this regard. They have promised an investigation into it.

A: I don’t know the details of the investigation. I only know that an investigation is being conducted. My only request is that it is done swiftly and be as impartial as possible. Those giving evidence are protected and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Q: You spoke of the need to protect those giving evidence. Is there fear among the people against giving evidence?

A: I am assuming that surviving members of the family, where there was indiscriminate killing of its members, obviously live in fear and there are anticipatory repercussions, if their evidence leads to the arrests of the perpetrators.

Q: How affected are the normal lives of the people in Jaffna itself?

A: Up to the time that I was there, the schools and offices were not functioning. Banks were only open for one hour. Transport was at a standstill. There were very few people on the streets and by early afternoon the streets were deserted. When I left on Monday, the A/L students were being permitted to sit the exam that started that day. I think it was a ‘hartal’ that was being called.

Q: Were their immediate needs such as consumer goods, being met?

A: I didn’t get the feeling that there was a shortage of food. However, people did speak of an inability to get petrol or diesel and I did see long queues for kerosene though.

Q: There are concerns of a serious human rights situation breaking out?

A: The individual cases have to be investigated and that is a process. What one notices is the fear and a sense of intimidation and of whom can be trusted. The fear to speak and take independent decisions and judgments, in itself can be a violation of a human rights situation. But beyond that, where a particular families’ or groups rights are violated, we must have a mechanism to investigate them.

Q: There have also been concerns regarding extra-judicial killings?

A: Yes, these are very worrying and the only way the Government can clear the forces is, if a speedy investigation is carried out and the findings made public. Till then, the finger can be pointed but I guess a person is innocent till proven guilty. That principle of law must be made available. Certainly, there have been indications that the security forces may have been involved in some of these killings. It helps, both the morale of the forces and the credibility of the Government, if the investigations are carried out quickly and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Q: How well would you say the Government was meeting the situation of the displaced that has built up in the North and the East?

A: I know that the GA and the AGA showed a lot of interest on this situation. They had made provisions for the displaced and they were coordinating even the movement of people from the island to the mainland. To that extent, the Government was fulfilling its obligations. But there is a point at which the people would like to exercise their freedom and might opt not to stay in a camp for the displaced. That seems to be a situation that even the Government cannot control.

Q: How do attacks at INGOs such as this week’s, affect this whole process, in your opinion?

A: That must be condemned by all peace loving people. I know some of the people in this organization and they do admirable work. They courageously stand for victims of violence and those vulnerable in threatening situations. The authorities must do everything to clear certain assumptions about who did it. The groups who are working for peace are seen as a threat by those with a different agenda.

Q: What are the prospects for peace in this backdrop? Do you see the talks starting again?

A: My hope is the real aspiration of the people of a wide cross section of the country. The ones who suffer directly and indirectly, all cherish this hope for a sustainable peace. And when a crisis becomes worse, the longing for peace becomes even more. But that longing is not enough. Different sections of society have a role to play. I think it is the responsibility of the government forces to view all Sri Lankans as their responsibility. I have often suggested a people-friendly approach towards security, where neither can or should, suffer. This doesn’t mean you relax or reduce security measures. The Government has a responsibility to keep pushing towards a return to the table. I think the time has come to address the core issues.

The fighting, the killing and the suspicion goes on at the ground level, but the Government must now say that it is ready to address devolution. At least state it in principle. The degree of devolution is something that the different sides will need a little time to work. The Government might want a Select Committee to deal with the degree of devolution it is prepared to and the LTTE must also be given the opportunity to think in terms of what kind of devolution they’ll be ready for. The LTTE must also show a desire to return to the table. Sometimes, trivialities get in the way. And both sets of leaders must rise above them.

Similarly, civil society has a role to play. We need a process of coordination that brings the good deeds of these groups together. Without pressure from the people, even leaders are helpless. Leaders take their cues from the people. This fear, that if one side wins, the other loses, must be addressed. I think it’s possible for us to reach a consensus, where everybody’s rights are protected, if handled professionally. It’s head and heart and a lot of courage and humility, that can make the difference.

Q: Do you see those qualities in President Rajapaksa, to address this issue?

A: I think every leader struggles with this. And I have confidence that if the people are able to express their views, the leadership will pick it up.

Q: You met the President yesterday, how did the discussions progress?

A: It was very rewarding. We discussed a number of important national issues. I hope the peace process will benefit.

Q: There are criticisms against certain elements within his government, for pushing him away from peace. How do you view this situation?

A: A lot of it comes out of historical prejudices and this has to be addressed. Why is it that some groups are considered extreme or, behave in an extreme way? That has to be addressed. There is a saying that the truth lies at the extreme which is still applicable. It’s in listening to the extremes and responding to their fears that I think is the way forward. You don’t have to ignore the people at the extremes. A peace process of a country must draw all groups of the country. If you isolate or ignore any groups, you are in trouble. The responsibility of leadership understands the timing for bringing these groups in. Parallel dialog is absolutely essential. The Muslims feel their issues are ignored. I am also very concerned about the independent Tamil voices. Either, they are being suppressed or, given the connotation of being pro LTTE or, informants of the government. That’s not the real picture. Our leaders must find a way of hearing them. It’s not enough to hear the official stances of political parties or, the SLMM and the international community.

Q: So, has this voice completely died down?

A: There was a time it was there but the culture of fear and intimidation is gradually suppressing that. We need to find a way to bring it back.

Q: There are criticisms against the CFA. How do you view these?

A: By and large, it brought a cessation of hostilities and for that we must be grateful. That is the pre-requisite for discussions. I believe, that, while there are hostilities, discussions can run parallel. That is the case today. So, we need not wait for an immediate cessation of killings, which we long for, we need not wait for that to stop, to begin the next round of talks. In fact, the next round of talks can have repercussions on the hostilities at ground level.

Q: How do you see the fears of a return to war?

A: Different segments of society have to read and understand what is happening. They have to be careful about stereotyping people and be mindful of the need in people for a sustainable peace. They are likely to define it differently but recognizing it is important. [Source: DailyMirror]

Women from Sri Lanka gave a first-hand account of strife in the north-east region of their country during a visit to Northern Ireland this week organised by INCORE, the University of Ulster’s Magee-based peace and conflict research centre.

With the area’s three-year ceasefire looking increasingly fragile, the trip provided an opportunity for women political and cultural activists to spell out their views on the region’s history of conflict – and to learn from the experience of people involved in trying to cement peace efforts here.

INCORE –underscoring its commitment to promoting knowledge and understanding of international conflict – has organised a series of visits to Northern Ireland from Sri Lanka by people of differing political outlooks.

The delegation included a Sri Lankan MP from Jaffna, Ms. Pathmini Sithamparanathan, who reflects the aspirations of her Tamil constituents in north-east Sri Lanka.

“We came to Northern Ireland to try and learn and to take encouragement from the successes of your peace process,” said Ms Sithamparanathan, “and we are especially glad to have the opportunity to tell our side of the story of Sri Lanka.”

Accompanying the MP are three activists from the Theatre Action Group in Jaffna, who work with traumatised communities and “help them tell their stories through drama”, according to Ms. Subajini Thurairajah of the Group.

The delegation are spending a week in Northern Ireland, holding meetings, seminars and informal discussions with politicians, civil society and academics. They are meeting representatives of the Democratic Unionist Party, Sinn Fein, and other political parties. Further meetings will be held with businesspeople, civil servants and trade unionists who have joined INCORE study visits to Sri Lanka over the past few years.

The Theatre Action Group was particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of a two-hour workshop with the acclaimed Tinderbox Theatre Company on Friday (May 26). “I am certain that there is much we can learn and teach each other, both as drama professionals and ordinary people,” said Ms. Thurairajah.

INCORE Director Professor Gillian Robinson led a seminar on the role of women in peace building and afterwards said: “Meetings such as these are of huge importance to understanding our own problems as much as the difficulties faced in distant places. The threats that seem to be arising to the peace process in Sri Lanka could happen to any similar process in any country. At times such as these faced in Sri Lanka at the moment, it is crucial that we listen when we can and offer what help we can deliver. Even if the best we can manage for now is words of encouragement, it is the least we can do.”

For further information, please contact:

Press Office, Department of Public Affairs
Tel: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk

[University of Ulster Press Release]

Related: 
- “No matter how much we scrape this pot, an empty pot
cannot deliver any “peace” rice from it” – Pathmini
Sithamparanathan MP, TNA Parliamentarian

- Healing and awareness through theatre

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi received Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s Special Envoy Arumugam Thondaman in Chennai on Thursday.

The Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) chief called on the veteran Indian Tamil leader and personally conveyed to him President Rajapakse’s felicitations on becoming the southern Indian state’s chief minister for the fifth time early this month.

Earlier, on the day the 83-year-old Karunanidhi was sworn in, Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai Sumith Nakandala had delivered to him a special message of congratulations from the President.

Thondaman, who has known Karunanidhi for many years, had a one-to-one meeting with him. “Their meeting was positive. They had a cordial discussion on the current situation in Sri Lanka,” Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Romesh Jayasinghe told The Island today.

Jayasinghe and Nakandala met Karunanidhi alongwith Thodaman after the one-to-one meeting. Earlier, they met Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary LK Tripathi separately and informed him about the Sri Lankan government’s just-taken decision to open two relief centers—one each in Trincomalee and Mannar districts—to provide assistance to Tamil families in distress.

Together with Tripathi, the diplomats briefed Karunanidhi about the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to provide help and physical security to affected Tamil families in a bid to discourage them from seeking refuge in Tamil Nadu.

Most of the nearly two thousand Sri Lankan Tamils who fled to neighbouring Tamil Nadu since January this year in the wake of violence are mostly from these two districts.

The Government Agents (GAs) of the two districts will run these relief centers with assistance from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). They are due to become operational any day now.

The CWC leader flew back to Colombo on Thursday night.

Incidentally, Karunanidhi’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and three other parties that are his allies in Tamil Nadu support Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the centre. Dr Singh respects him as a senior ally. As such, Karunanidhi wields considerable influence over the prime minister.

Political analysts here have welcomed President Rajapakse’s initiative and efforts to keep cordial relations with Karunanidhi. Dr Singh will naturally take Karunanidhi’s opinions into consideration on India’s policies towards Sri Lanka. [Source: Island]

By Jude Nirmal Pereira

Why was the film ‘Da Vinci Code’ banned? Whose idea was it? The book is freely available and has been for some time and now the film based on the book is banned! This decision does not do the Church or Christianity any good. Not even the US, which commences all State occasions with a prayer, and have the motto “In God we trust” has thought it necessary to ban the film and here is Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country, the film is banned.

In this day and age of a scientific revolution it is in the interest of Christianity itself to debunk the myths and separate facts from fiction. In the West, many thinkers have exposed myths of centuries; for example the claim to Immaculate Conception was questioned for centuries in the West and our own Fr. Tissa Balasuriya was almost de-frocked and excommunicated for writing about it. The claim of a creator God who created the World in seven days and Adam and Eve have proved too much of an embarrassment and is now never mentioned as it has been scientifically proved that the earth itself is millions of years old and the universe even older. Many other such spurious claims which have been debunked have now been set aside.

The Catholic Church in particular has, over the centuries, had a problem with countering myths. The Renaissance, the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution caused havoc in the Church. It should not be forgotten that the Church had Bruno burned at the stake but his compatriot Corpenicus, who was very much a part of the Church, escaped that fate for the fact that his writings which contradicted the Bible were only ‘discovered’ after his death.

Corpernicus posed a fundamental threat to the entire Christian framework of cosmology, theology and morality. The great cosmological structure, Heaven, Hell and Purgatory were blown to smithereens by Astronomy. Next came Galileo and his telescope and his theory of the earth revolving round the sun. Then it could no longer be the fixed centre of God’s creation. It was Galileo who discovered the craters on the moon and the sun spots, and this was in 1609! The eyes of Galileo were de-gorged and the church banned teachings and writings upholding the motion of the earth. The history of the Christian religion is the history of suppression of scientific findings.

The march of reason and the modern mind has created a huge crisis for the Church. Churches in Europe are empty that priests have to be brought from Africa and nuns from Asia. It is indeed time for another Reformation. The teachings of Jesus could be of huge benefit to man, but they must be shorn of myths and superstitions and the religion should not be based on blind faith, which is a weak base in this day and age of scientific inquiry.

If Dan Brown has de-coded what one of the greatest men of all time ( Da Vinci was undoubtedly the most gifted and multi-talented, versatile human being who has lived on this planet) has painted, and if he is indeed right, so what of it? Jesus was only human. It would have been natural for him to have warmed up to a woman and had a child. That does not, in any manner, diminish the value of his teachings. It only adds value.

I am myself a person who follows his teachings and I seek to practise his teachings. Banning the film will not stop people from reading the book which has sold more copies than any other, except the Bible.The Catholic Church and the Protestants closed ranks against the march of science for many centuries but they could not stop the inquiring mind which is on a voyage of discovery. The local Catholic and Protestant Churches have also closed ranks to have a film which is being shown in the Christian West, including Italy, the US, Germany and the UK, banned in this country. The teachings of Jesus can survive without myths and mumbo-jumbo.

Please Bishops, this is the 21st Century that we are living in, not the middle ages. You are violating my right to see the film. What rights have you to do that? Is it not your own sense of insecurity and inability to face the march of reason that makes you inflict this violation on us? - Jude Nirmal Pereira, Wattala [Source:DailyMirror]

Bishop Duleep warns of possible humanitarian catastrophe after visiting north and east

A highly respected religious prelate warned yesterday that the northeast was on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and called for an immediate return to the next round of peace talks at which the principle of devolution should be addressed.Colombo’s Anglican Bishop the Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera after a vist to the North and Trincomalee said, contrary to what anti-peace forces imagined, the desire and drive for peace grew when conflict increased and he proposed several immediate steps if these aspirations were to be consolidated;

Bishop Duleep said, “I have just returned from one of my regular pastoral visits to the North. I made a similar visit to Trincomalee three weeks ago.

The situation in these areas is tense and dangerously volatile; various groups are engaged in a struggle for ideological, political and geographical space which invariably spills into the routine lives of civilians. Streets are deserted after 2 p.m. and the people live in fear of each other.

“Tamil civilians in particular are helpless and fear all sides. They fear being suspected as LTTE sympathizers or as military informants. They fear the struggle for power between the LTTE and other armed Tamil groups most of whom for very obvious reasons often happen to be either relations, neighbours or associates. They fear for their adolescent children who may be conscripted by the LTTE or arrested by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.

The civilians in these areas have no one to turn to. Subtle intimidate and whisper campaigns encompass all. Independent Tamil voices are reluctant to speak for fear of being caricatured as ‘the enemy’.I suspect that it was this prevailing culture that prevented Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole from assuming duties as the Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University. Contrary to some elements or public opinion, his being a Christian had little to do with this resistance. He had much to offer academically and wanted very much to serve the University and the people of Jaffna. He should have been given a chance to prove himself.

In Trincomalee and in Jaffna the presence of an almost entirely non Tamil security Force providing security, though inevitable in the circumstances, creates a worrying polarization. The difficulty that the Forces face is to convey that their presence is meant to provide security for all civilians as well as for the State apparatus and machinery. This is much more difficult in Jaffna, where all civilians are Tamils (there is now a very small Muslim community as well) and all Sri Lankan Armed Forces are non-Tamil. In Trincomalee rightly or wrongly the Tamil civilians have a perception that the Forces are friendlier with the Sinhala population than with the Tamil population.

Much of this, no doubt, has to do with the cultural cum communication gap. Previous communal prejudices and, the dynamic between authority and powerlessness emerge to further widen and intensify this gap when there is a return to violence. The Sinhala soldiers in Jaffna appear apprehensive and ironically vulnerable. When on duty on the roads, they stand at intervals sometimes of 300 to 400 metres in a clearly non-friendly atmosphere. At times their posture of crouching beside walls or standing behind trees, no doubt a requirement from a military perspective, adds to this atmosphere of a presence that distances. The Tamil civilians on the other hand seem to distance themselves from the soldiers possibly due to resentment of their presence or fear of being misunderstood.

I visited the Allaipiddy island and saw for myself the tension that prevailed after the gruesome massacre of civilians, eight of whom belonged to one family.

Surviving members of this family witnessed the killing and are likely to be able to identify the killers.

The movement of civilians from this island following a threatening order presumably by a group adds to the misery of this people and to the complex nature of human suffering. In such instances the people have little desire to move and it is only a speedy investigation into the massacre and deliberate measures of dialogue and trust building between the people and the Sri Lanka Armed Forces that will somewhat stem the fear and panic and dislocation of an already previously displaced people.

In these circumstances I was disturbed to discover that reputed INGOs who we thought were here to protect the most vulnerable seem unable to do what most thought they were here to do. It appears that either their mandate or their interpretation of this mandate prevents them from taking options when necessary to protect the afflicted and the frightened. An apparent policy that seeks concurrence from ‘both sides’ in the discharge of their mandate is hopelessly inadequate and requires review. In today’s context of a subtle and deepening conflict, that also tends to be unreasonably trivial at times, such concurrence could remain illusive thus neutralizing the role of such INGOs.

The exception to this stance is the presence of a small INGO – the Non Violence Peace Force. The policy of this small team of foreign and local peace workers is to visibly stand by victims of violence, and needs commendation.

It is for this reason that the attack by an armed group on their office in Muttur must be condemned. This act has been done by forces that see their presence as a threat. Consequently, all peace loving people must do all they can to appreciate and endorse such vulnerable groups whose mandate is to stand with the vulnerable, and whose only weapon is their moral strength to be able to do so.

Contrary to what anti-peace forces imagine, the desire and drive for peace grows when conflict increases. In the context of where we stand today, the following requires attention if these aspirations are to be consolidated;

I. The speedy investigation of atrocities and action against the perpetrators. Such action mostly can counter fear and build trust,

2. A prompt return to normalcy. E.g the functioning of schools, work places, public transport, etc must be ensured.

3. A more people friendly approach in the provision of security within the realistic parameters of the ground situation.

4. A clear demonstration by the Government of Sri Lanka that the three armed services and the police and the STF are its only authentic representatives for purposes of ensuring security and maintaining law and order.

5. Opportunities need to be provided for Independent Tamils to voice grievances, express concerns and offer solutions. For this a continuing dialogue with the authorities is necessary. Thankfully there are still some outstanding persons in authority who are sensitive to this need. The present Governor of the North and Fast is one such person and his presence and thoughtful initiatives need commendation.

6. An immediate return to the next round of peace talks at which the principle of devolution should be addressed.” [Source: Daily Mirror]

By Uthayam Australia correspondent

Technically there is a cease fire agreement (CFA) between the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE. But a low intensity war (LIW) is more of a reality. It is not just that the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE are involved in this LIW, renegade Tamil groups (non LTTE) are also engaged in their own LIW against the LTTE with the backing of the Sri Lankan army. The situation has led to communal polarisation in the country with extremists from both sides calling the shots. This is the essence of the report “When Indignation is Past and the Dust Settles – Reckoning Incompatible Agendas” prepared by the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) Sri Lanka UTHR (J). The report released on 15th May documents in detail the recent developments in Sri Lanka and pinpoints the tragic but true development that the peace process in the troubled nation lies in shambles.

The report makes it crystal clear that the ugly developments in Trincomalee which came to be seen more as a counter to LTTE’s provocations actually exposed the government’s failure to do its duty – maintain law and order. The report says: “The Government’s initial lukewarm response to the recent communal violence in Trincomalee, failed to take to task officials of the security forces who failed in their duty. The Government remained silent as both the LTTE and vigilante elements of the State killed and stirred up communal tensions in rural Trincomalee that caused large scale displacement. Then for questionable reasons on 25th April, after the suicide attack in Colombo, it sanctioned aerial and missile attacks that were bound to kill Tamil civilians in the Sampoor area across the bay from Trincomalee. Aerial bombardment and killing of soft targets in the Tamil community as the means of responding to the LTTE’s terror is a sign of impotency on the part of the State, and indicates an inability on the part of its strategists to come up with creative political and military options.”

Reacting to the LTTE suicide bomb that injured the Sri Lankan army commander and other incidents earlier, the report Says: “For the LTTE it has long been a matter of provocation after provocation, targeting security personnel with landmines or killing Sinhalese, purely with the intention of plunging Sri Lanka into communal violence — the only way they see of attaining their agenda of Tamil Eelam. This has long been clear to those who know the LTTE intimately, despite the elitist rhetoric about the LTTE alone helping the Tamils to hold their heads high.”

On the other hand the report also makes it clear that “For a Government to occupy the moral high ground, its actions must be guided by accepted principles of common justice. When these principles are treated with patent cynicism, obvious to all but itself, the high ground it occupies would be more akin to a dunghill.”

The report makes lays bare the view that LTTE rivals are equally responsible (like the LTTE) in using the tactics of eliminating rivals to push their political agenda. It says:

“ Having looked at other possibilities and considering the unconvincing manner in which police investigations have proceeded, UTHR(J) joined other observers in concluding that it was one or more of these killer groups used in counter-insurgency that killed three leading Tamil political figures – Joseph Pararajasingham (24th December 2005), V. Vigneswaran (7th April 2006) and S.R. Senthilnathan (26th April 2006). In essence, the killer groups adopted the same tactic so long used by the LTTE: elimination of Tamils of prominence and ability who voiced unwelcome political opinions.”

Under the heading “The Violence in Trincomalee: 12th April onwards” the report details acts of violence that engulfed the area. There are many incidents detailed but here is one example of what one Tamil youth saw: “A Tamil youth searching for a loved one tried to get to his father in his shop on Central Road when the violence was at its height. He first tried climbing over walls of houses to avoid the road. While on a wall, a navy man fired at him and missed him. Having no choice, he hurried along Central Road at the height of the violence. Though well known in the market area, no one recognized him. Thinking about it later, he concluded that the thugs attacking Tamils (many of whom were carrying plastic cans of petrol along with weapons for their pyrotechnics) must have been outsiders,. He witnessed acts of brutality:

He saw a navy man who caught a man by the collar and handed him over to a sword-wielding thug telling him, ‘This is a Tamil, chop him’. This and what happened next he said he could never forget.

He also saw a Tamil woman sprawled on the road whose eyes were moving – a victim of the market bomb needing medical care. On seeing her, a navy aimed a blow at her with his gun butt, hitting her on the right side of her head. He later learnt that this woman had been known as Killi Acca.

Near the market, he said he saw two civilian bodies with another of what appeared to him a navy man – all victims of the original blast. At one point a member of the mob gave him a chase. He ran and escaped.

The UTHR (J) report tries to cover the spiral of violence thus making it evident that both the LTTE and the Sri Lanka government ‘s agendas compliment each other.

“It is extremely difficult to chronicle all the incidents or place them in an order. One gets to hear some of them quite by accident. Tit for tat is largely meaningless as an explanation. The Tigers have a clear agenda and indeed, they have reportedly recruited hundreds of Tamil youths in the District, who are too young or too angry to see the futility of it all. They cannot see that the Tigers have nothing to offer in return for all the Trinco youths they had got slaughtered as fighters and traitors.

Government policy on the other hand by default or otherwise is being determined by extremists controlling the defence ministry. The events, though so far on a smaller scale, sadly read like the dark days of 1985 when the Army as a matter of policy went for the Tamils in Trincomalee. That was soon after Sinhalese home guard units were created. Their historical unchanging role has never been to protect Sinhalese against attack, but to go under army protection to the nearest Tamil village after an attack and massacre those too weak or infirm to run away. Whether directed by soldiers or home guards, the weapons that are killing Tamils are government-owned weapons and that gives a message the people grasp instinctively: that the Government has little intention of being the government of the Tamils as well”, the report says.

The violence ridden situation is so bad that the report wants international intervention to control the drift towards further senseless extremism. “Unless there is an international initiative to bring about radical change, we cannot arrest the malignant drift. It suits the Tigers very well. The Government, a prisoner of its own lies and ineptitude, would go on believing in more and more impunity as the way forward and the results would add to this conviction. The shelling of Mutur following on the violence in Trincomalee is an example of how the logic of accelerating division and widening of diametrically opposed interpretation works”, the report says.

Subsequent chapters speak for themselves. There are graphic details of acts of violence from both sides. Reading the report is no happy event. It is despair and helplessness. For how long the extremists of all hues whether on this or that side will continue with the violence. Is their light at the end of the dark tunnel? Will violence solve the issues facing Sri Lanka?