By Paul Newman
The eighteen year civil war in Sri Lanka
between the LTTE and the government came to an end in December 2001 with
the LTTE declaring a unilateral ceasefire. A formal ceasefire agreement
was signed in April 2002 paving way for further talks. In 2003 the talks
broke down but the ceasefire stayed.Norway, the facilitator, tried its
best to protect the cease-fire. The mood in the country was against a war
as the people had witnessed a new and fresh life in the form of peace since
2002. There were no suicide bombings or bomb blasts, no checkpoints. There
was freedom of movement, no curfews, no raids in the south and the economy
was growing. The war wary soldiers were too happy to have laid down their
guns.
Though the tsunami caused untold miseries to the lives of many, the active role of some like-minded NGOs helped the people to cope up with the aftermath of this greatest disaster of our times. To a great extent the tsunami brought the entire country together, but the politics of time prevented any formal agreement between the LTTE and the government to share the aid received from various donors.
In 2005 Sri Lanka elected a new President, Mahinda Rajapakse, a hard-liner. As the world opinion was for the resumption of peace talks, both the groups came together once again in February 2006 at Geneva and had planned another round of talks on the 25th and 26th of April 26, 2006.
In the past month there has been a fresh renewal of violence especially in Trincomallee where there is an equal proportion of the three predominant communities of Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims.
The important events leading to violence
07-04-06 Tamil people's Forum chief V. Vigneswarn shot dead
08-04-06 Claymore attack on the army in Muthur, Trincomalee
10-04-06 Claymore attack on the army in Jaffna
11-04-06 Claymore attack in Trincomalee on the navy bus which claimed 11 lives while injuring many others
12-04-06 Claymore attack near Kumurupatti, Trincomalee
12-04-06 Parcel bomb fixed on to a bicycle placed near the public market exploded killing a soldier and 17 civilians and 50 people injured
12-04-06 It was alleged that the Navy had brought truck loads of people to the heart of Trincomalee town to carry out attack against the Tamils. These angry Sinhalese mob armed with clubs attacked shops and vehicles. 50 shops were looted and burned and 15 vehicles damaged.
13-04-06 One Sinhalese youth was killed in Mihindapuram, Trincomalee
14-04-06 Claymore attack on the army in Alice garden, Trincomalee
14-06-06 Nadesapuram, This is a Tamil village near Mihinapuram. 60 houses and the Hindu temple were burnt and 3 people were killed. In Sampalan village 15 Tamil houses were burnt. In Kilikunjumalai and Mangayuthu 65 huts belonging to Tamil people were burnt.
People fear a war has already started and it may be difficult to return to the negotiating table for the warring groups. Ultimately the losers are the innocent civilians, most of whom are yet to recover from the losses and shocks suffered by them as a result of tsunami. Education of the children is also going to be affected as war brings calamity on the young minds who will have no choice but to end their dreams of a meaningful future ahead of them by quitting their studies and running to find new shelters as displacements are the order of the day, when war resumes.(Indiadisasters.org, April 26, 2006)
(The author is working on a PhD on the status of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. This article was written with reports from norhern Sri Lanka)