Srilanka

Jaffna Under Siege

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse recently announced in Delhi that his government intended to buy food and other groceries in Tamil Nadu and transport it to Jaffna.

He pointed out that this was the easiest and fastest way to get essential commodities to the peninsula. Better late than never.

If the plan is put into action in the near future it will bring much-needed relief to inhabitants of the northern tip of the island, who have been coping with an even more difficult situation than usual since August.

"Since August"is a recurring theme in conversations with residents of Jaffna, who experienced relative peace in the years since 2002, when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government of Sri Lanka agreed to a ceasefire.

On August 11, a major offensive by LTTE provoked retaliation by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and led to the closure of the A9 highway northwards from Muhamalai.

The consequent siege of Jaffna has left civilians feeling like drums beaten at both ends, as one of them put it.

Approximately 37,000 people living near the SLA's high security zones and artillery points have fled their homes, fearful of being caught in the crossfire of the daily — now sporadic — shelling between warring sides.

They have joined the ranks of "internally displaced people" in Jaffna, the geographically isolated part of northern Sri Lanka which, unlike neighbouring areas, is under government control.

About 8,000 of the latest additions to the sizeable population dislocated by the 20-year war are, at present, living in temporary camps. The rest have sought refuge with relatives and friends.

The blocking of A9, the only land route connecting the peninsula with the mainland and the lifeline for the northern district, has more or less trapped people within the embattled area.

Travel and transport by sea and air have also been affected by the renewed conflict. According to residents, the period since August is the worst they have faced in two decades of war.

This is the first time they have had to deal with such scarcity of food, fuel and other essentials. It is not that there is no food at all.

Limited rations are distributed through cooperative stores, but quantities are minimal and inadequate. With staples like rice, flour, sugar, milk powder and lentils supplied in one shop and other basic food items like onions, chillies and oil dispensed through another, people are forced to spend long hours in queues for meagre provisions.

Various items become unavailable from time to time: Last week, both sugar and milk powder (including infant food) were in short supply.

Prices of the few commodities available in the open market, including vegetables, have tripled or even quadrupled since August, placing them out of the reach of most citizens.

Fresh outbreak of hostilities and related developments have resulted in widespread unemployment. The prohibition of fishing in the name of security has rendered a large number of people without any source of income.


Shortage of building materials has meant no work for a wide range of workers, including masons and carpenters. With shops dealing in a variety of goods unable to replenish supplies, many have downed shutters, throwing another category of people out of work.

Thanks to the fuel shortage, auto drivers and others in the transport sector have limited scope to earn a living.

Local journalists quote labour department estimates suggesting that 2,000 persons employed by the small private
sector operating in the peninsula have lost their jobs.

Schools, which were closed for two months, were recently reopened to enable children to prepare for their exams. But the situation in University of Jaffna is surreal.

The institution has not been officially closed, but it is functioning without students and has, therefore, suspended all teaching activities.

A third of the student body comes from outside the peninsula. After trouble began in August, the university had to house and feed the marooned youngsters for two months before they were sent home with the cooperation of the armed forces.

Despite the heavy presence of the army, and curfew from dusk to dawn, killings and disappearances continue. Apart from daylight murders, such as the shooting of a gram sevakar in his office by armed men on a motorcycle on Thursday, there are the infamous white vans with no number plates or other identifying marks, carrying masked, armed men who take individuals away from their homes at night.

Many are later found dead, many others are not seen again. According to residents, the situation has worsened since August and there is little families can do to trace missing relatives, let alone secure justice for murdered ones.

Even the local human rights commission appears unable to do much beyond documenting the shadowy crimes. Jaffna residents cope with the difficult situation with varying levels of resilience, fear, anxiety, resignation and resentment.

They are obviously paying a heavy price for deviation from the thorny path towards peace and escalation of war-mongering and violence on both sides.

In his Heroes Day speech on November 27, LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran said there was "no other option (other than) an independent state for the people of Tamil Eelam".

This has left people in Jaffna feeling more vulnerable than ever: What would the Rajapakse government's response be?

The writer is a journalist who visited Sri Lanka recently.


The Times of India