Restricted freedom is much better than Bell's so-called freedom

It is indeed hilarious, if not childish and rather unbecoming of a journalist like Mr. Stewart Bell of Canada's "National Post" to misinterpret realities in the Jaffna peninsula after his recent sojourn there. My son in Ontario sent a copy and hence prompted me to write this piece. It serves unfortunately to the advantage of the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit, Tamil Tigers, whom we called "our boys" until recently. His headline for the report "There is no freedom in Jaffna", that has been subsequently reproduced in some local media, itself (my query from Colombo confirmed) is utterly misleading since the report has not at all addressed the core issues that have actually restricted the movement of us, Jaffna people to a certain degree.

Firstly I don't think either tri-service personnel or the government have any interest whatsoever to place impositions on Jaffna Tamil people or services, meant for the public. My present-day living in Jaffna since good olden days and times with personalities like Messrs Chelvanayagam, Thiruchelvam, Duraiappah, etc is certainly in stark contrast to what the yesteryear was. We had bread bakeries in town run by Sinhalese businessmen, so were Muslim business centers with Tamil speaking Muslim brethren as in any other major cities in the country. How warmly did we receive our Colombo guests on Yal Devi and Uththra Devi when those long trains magnificently reached Yalpanam station? Watching how concrete and metal rails and debris of the Jaffna station have now been used by our own liberators for "liberation", I still don't think I would be alive to see the same trains snarling back to the Yalpanam and KKS stations as before.

What did then really happen with our megalomaniac Prabhakaran Thambi ? You still continue to be the stumbling block and not the solution as Tamils anticipated. You created fear psychosis and lawlessness in the entire country, not only in the north and east but also among the Tamil Diaspora.

That sense of insecurity, coupled with ethnic cleansing (mind you, Velu pushed eastern Tamils also out of Jaffna), brought the entire peninsula under the writ of Velu until Jaffna was re-captured in 1995. Then onwards, our liberators both physically and psychologically started to frighten Jaffna people in a subtle manner, while simultaneously forcing Tamil youth to take arms. The under-privileged fell prey but the sons of elite families managed to creep into Colombo and take wings. This was the reality. So, Mr Stewart Bell, an alien from another Tiger hub in the western hemisphere was made to write "Jaffna was a 100% occupation". Mr. Bell's inability to distinguish between "occupation" and "restoration of democratic rule and law and order" is highly regrettable and begs explanation. There was no foreign force to occupy Jaffna as you mentioned.

Denial of Tiger violence should not necessarily mean our areas be absent of armed forces and the Police, law enforcement wings.

Worst of all is how he has boldly gone on record saying "There is absolutely no security. All the TNA members of parliament from Jaffna have been threatened.... the Government uses paramilitary groups to carry out these threats" . If that had been the case, how would he fly to Jaffna? How would TNA parliamentarian from Jaffna appeared for a civil court case, just a couple of days ago?

My humble experience is otherwise; Jaffna became flooded with security measures thanks to our armed "boys". In my opinion, a legitimate government is expected to maintain all its services intact fighting against saboteurs. Jaffna is also part of Sri Lanka, though it has distinctive cultural, religious and social ethos of the highest standards.Whether it is in Sri Lanka, Iraq or Afghanistan, a local population, affected by an internal insurrection of the LTTE nature is always naturally under constant surveillance and suspicion. Unfortunately our Canadian friend has failed to realise this aspect of the scenario. I have no malice towards anyone, be it Canadian or service personnel. But how servicemen for that matter have in the past 13 years conducted affairs in the Jaffna peninsula without a single rape case itself (mind you, remember what happened in Vietnam, Philippines, Iraq, etc) was a significant phenomenon.

On the other hand the writer has forgotten or not deliberately explained the circumstances that led to the closure of the A-9 road. It was our "liberators" using the cease-fire who misused the 'freedom' enjoyed by the public and went on upsetting the apple cart in Jaffna. A passenger bus was used to assault against servicemen on Muhamalai Forward Lines. Provocation was the theme. What was their next motive? Fear infusion; they saw our own people abandoning them en masse, losing support for them and their so-called "freedom struggle" getting derailed day and night. So, who prompted the closure of the A-9 road, the link between the north and south? Isn't it the reason for all this mess. Did the writer make any mention of those undemocratic developments?My own youngest son lost his higher educational opportunity after our "liberators" took away majority of boys from his class before 1995 for weapon training. Finally I had to spend a fortune to send him out of Sri Lanka to save his life. But now I see a silver lining, in the dark cloud, though a foreigner like Mr Bell as failed to fathom the extent of healthy infrastructure now in place with essentials at comparative low price, businessmen doing well, administration in full swing and schools functioning well in the peninsula. The curfew hours in a way serve a disguised blessing as the movement of armed "liberators" or burglars has been curtailed. Not only us, the public but also those roadblocks guarding men would have definitely preferred to have a night life like how we enjoyed in our youth in the good olden days watching latest Tamil movies late at night. My own visits to kovils in Jaffna prove that we, Hindus and their religious places are better protected by the armed services than by the bullets of our "liberators". I also appeal to western journalists, most of who seem well brainwashed by lucrative "liberators" residing overseas before they fly here, not to fall prey and write hosannas in favour of terror, but project the perpetrators in their correct perspective because your pen would also that way help flourish terrorism, no matter whether it is in Canada or elsewhere.

It is also worth noting and serves an eye-opener what our own Tamils in "Uthayam" Australia wrote just two weeks ago. I quote; "Prabhakaran has also ceased to the solution. Instead he has become the problem. No solution can be worked out as long as he is in command. He has become the messenger of death and not hope. The time has come for the Tamil people to decide whether they've had enough deaths or do they want more?" (unquote) This applies not only to Tamils in Wanni but also to us in Jaffna. Let everybody including Mr Bell has strength and courage to call spade a spade and help salvage us from the bitter "liberation".

By a distraught senior citizen in Jaffna town.