January 02, 2006
Sri Lanka Cracks DownNews
This weekend, almost one thousand people were rounded up in Colombo by Sri Lankan police officers and military personnel, during a massive security operation. After being questioned, hundreds were let go:
By the end of the day, only 53 remained in custody; the police said 5 were members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam guerrilla group. The rest, charged with minor crimes, were released on bail.
…The house-to-house sweep on Saturday was carried out primarily in the Tamil enclaves of Colombo by about 2,400 police officers, backed by 2,000 soldiers, sailors and air force personnel. “The operation was aimed at preventing future L.T.T.E. attacks and to ensure the security of Colombo,” said Pujith Jayasundere, deputy inspector general of the police. He said the police were also looking for organized crime figures.[nyt]Even when the authorities are polite and professional, memories of sadder times are summoned:
…the police were cordial and explained why they were there. “But it did bring back memories of the frequent searches we were compelled to go through before the cease-fire,” Mr. Joseph said. “I guess we may have to go through more of these in the coming days.”
…”It was a little inconvenience, but it is our duty to cooperate, especially under the present security situation,” said Sonali Silva, an ethnic Sinhalese and also a resident of Wellawatte.[nyt]
The nation’s current events are worrisome (from the BBC):
The recent wave of violence is the worst since the February 2002 ceasefire, which was called after a two-decade conflict had claimed more than 64,000 lives.
On Sunday, Joseph Pararajasingam, a Tamil MP representing a party with close links with the Tamil Tigers, was shot dead in the eastern city of Batticaloa while celebrating a Christmas Mass.
On Tuesday, international peace monitors overseeing the truce said they were “very concerned about the future of the ceasefire agreement”.
anna on January 2, 2006 02:53 AM in News · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
It is indeed sad state of affairs that events happens in predicatble cycles in Lanka. It is easy to debate who started the mess in Lanka, till the cows come home.
Govt. of Lanka faces a ruthless enemy whose victims include any number of presidents , prime ministers and leaders. The enemy in question has repeatedly used cease fire to regroup and rearm, infact created the present day style of terrorism. In this context the door to door search by the Lankan army seems to be a token measure rather than serious effort to stop the upcoming tsunami of violence.
Desikan
PS: Can anybody tell me what happened to half a million plantation tamils who were to repatriated to India as per Shastri Bhandarnaike Pact. These tamils have been disowned by the Lankan Govt. and hated like a pest by Jaff Tamisl.
Context is important, to wit:
It's remarkably easy to cooperate when you're not the ethnic group targetted for arrest. An analysis of both sides would be appropriate in this case, as the SL Gov has done the same (try page 138) (replace terrorism with your word of choice, depending on what your perspective of the conflict is and your perspective on mass arrests of ethnic minorities is). From TamilNet so caveat lector, but this is the last I've heard
Great post. Thanks.
375,000 Indian Tamils had been repatriated to India under the Sirimavo Shastri Pact. About 1.1 million remain in Sri Lanka, many having fled to the North and intermarrying with the indigenous Tamils. So the Jaffna folks do not necessarily "hate" them as alleged by Ramadesikan in the comments section.