Northern Tamils celebrate liberation of Pooneryn

Dhaneshi Yatawara Reporting from Jaffna

[email protected]

Returning with their big catch

Fishermen returning from areas close to Pooneryn Pix: Thilak Perera

People celebrating the Pooneryn victory

It was 10.30 in the morning. Yet the environment was getting scorching hot and two and half hours had passed since we landed at Palaly Airport that day.

The quiet Jaffna town was about to get noisy. We stopped our scheduled tour in the town to witness an extraordinary development that was to take place in a few minutes.

Hundreds of men, majority being youth, were waiting at the Wembady junction of the Jaffna town. There was also around two hundred three wheelers, a load of crackers, multi coloured slogans and drums ready to throb. Jaffna rarely experiences such rallies. Hence, this was special.

With the help of a translator I managed to find out the cause for this sudden gathering. It was not a strike or a protest demanding for low fuel prices, salary increases or any of that sort. These people were to celebrate the Pooneryn victory protesting against the injustice caused to them by the LTTE. The Jaffna Three-wheelers Association had organized this march.

The protest started with the loud noise of fire crackers and beatings of drums. People were shouting slogans against the LTTE (as my translator colleague explained to me). The Police did not try to stop the crowd - they only made sure that every one was secure from any possible LTTE threat.

The crowd started to move towards the town through the Hospital Road. The situation was getting hotter with the climate around and we didn’t want to get lost in the crowd. My photographer colleague, myself and our translator hopped into the three wheeler of Giridaran (50) who is a welder by profession.

“I run hires in the three-wheeler to earn some extra money,” he said.

Giridaran was able to speak little bit of Sinhala. Almost all the three-wheelers were carrying slogans written on multi-coloured bristle boards.

One carried a slogan that read if President Mahinda Rajapaksa can let his son join the Security Forces why can’t Prabhakaran instead of educating and bringing his sons up in cosy environments? Another hailed the troops that liberated Pooneryn.

I asked Giridaran what he thinks about the war and quickly answering he said victory seems to be definite. People were raising their voice against the LTTE and its ruthless terrorism.

It is the people of Jaffna who feel more the good effect of liberating Pooneryn by the troops attached to Task Force I also known as 58 Division.

In the aftermath of the closure of Muhamalai entry / exit point with the escalation of LTTE terror attacks the total Jaffna peninsula became isolated. Hence, transportation was an inconvenient and costly matter for these innocent people. In this backdrop opening of the A32 road can do wonders to this part of the island.

“Apita lesiyen Colombo yanna puluwanne, (we can travel to Colombo easily)” was Giridaran’s comment.

Enough is enough. These people need easy access to the Southern parts of the island while rest of the country need to visit the Northern parts of the country. The gap existing between our communities need to be bridged immediately.

Easy accessible roads for transportation is the key path for a sustainable development. The social, cultural and economical development taking place in Jaffna amidst great difficulty will definitely boost that up.

School girls trying to catch up with their missed studies at the new welfare centre

Construction work at the welfare centre

After spending more than one hour in the hustle and bustle of the jostling crowd we headed to Guru Nagar fishing jetty situated West of the Jaffna town. There are three main fishing jettys in Jaffna including Guru Nagar.

Santhiapillai - recovering from shot injuries

The other two are Pasinoor and Colombothurai. With the liberation of Pooneryn these innocent fisher folk can now go fishing to any distance they and their boats are capable of. The available technology with these people only allow them to fish within the Jaffna lagoon. Still, this is highly prosperous as Jaffna lagoon is one of the fishing spots with a rich harvest.

At the end of the day we visited Guru Nagar where a total catch of 800 kg of fish is collected from the sea. The catch includes sea cucumbers, crabs, prawns, cuttle fish and different types of coral and shallow water fish. All the fishermen were busy unloading their catch hoping to reach home before dark. Extending the duration given for fishing seems to be possible with the flushing out of terror threats from Pooneryn.

“Today we are even able to go beyond Ariyalai which we could not previously due to terrorist threats,” Edman Kumar (37), father of four kids, told us. He and his mates were extremely happy about their big catch.

For Edman Kumar and his colleagues fishing was the occupation they were taught from generation to generation. In Jaffna fishing can be one of the promising industries bringing in wealth to the people. Their catches are bought by people all over the Jaffna District and with the A32 road opened up these delicacies will even easily reach Colombo and the Southern part of the country.

The day we visited Guru Nagar 1217 fishermen had gone to the sea in the morning and not even a half returned in the afternoon. All returned only late in the afternoon. Now they are free to carry out their livelihood to collect their meagre earnings.

Santhiapillai (40) had a different story to tell us. He was still recovering from a bad experience. On September 26 Santhiapillai went fishing as usual with his colleagues. To get a better catch they rowed a bit closer to the Pooneryn area. That was when the LTTE started shooting at them. Santhiapillai received gun shot injuries slightly below his chin and shoulders.

The Army took him immediately for treatment and later he was sent to Colombo for further treatment. Still he cannot speak properly or eat solid food. He told me all his grievances through gestures with the help of one of his colleagues.

Like Santhiapillai, many fishermen were harassed and tortured by the LTTE. Now they are free. Free from all the threats. You can smell a freshness of freedom in the salty air of Guru Nagar jetty today.

A safe haven

The most sensitive issue in the on oing battle is the LTTE using approximately 200,000 people shielding their gun positions. “Those who can find an escape route are now coming to Jaffna. Their primary target is to save their lives and we, with the assistance of the Army will definitely assure their health and safety,” Jaffna District Secretary (GA) K. Ganesh told us.

“According to Government regulations, we can provide food and the basic necessities only up to three days. But with the special support from the Government we are still continuing the welfare work,” Assistant Project Director S. Sudarshan told us when we visited the people who escaped from the LTTE clutches to Jaffna. Sudarshan is working at the District Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Secretariat which operates under the GA.

Sambevi longs to get back to school. Tears fill her eyes even when she remembers her school days.“I loved learning English,” she said in the little she knew hiding behind her mother. She was in year six at the Vishvamadu Maha Vidyalaya when her family which had to leave their home as LTTE violence increased.

Sambevi’ s mother, Selvarani (55), was a primary school teacher in the same school with sixteen years service. They left Vishwamadu on October 26 and reached Mandathivu on 27 and eventually reached Kayts the following evening. Through the Police this family reached this welfare centre.

“Most of the families I know want to escape from the LTTE,” Mayuran (23) told us. Mayuran escaped simply with the hope of continuing his university education. He entered the Jaffna University in 2005 and after 11 August 2006 with the closure of Muhamalai Entry exit point Mayuran was unable to reach Jaffna since he was with his parents during the holidays in his home town Paranthan. The GA has listened to his grievances and is now in the process of re-entering Mayuran back to the University system.

Most of these people reach the Kilali coastal line which is guarded by the 53 Division led by Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne. One boat reached the shores while intense fighting was going on in the Forward Defence lines. The Army somehow diverted them further away from the battlefield to safety. The Ministry of Resettlement is providing the basic necessities of these innocent people who reach the cleared areas seeking safety. Almost 100 people were in the welfare camp by last Friday, out of which eight children are under five years of age and people continue to reach safety in small pockets.

“With all these difficulties these people come to our areas to save their lives. However difficult it would be we must protect these people,” Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General G.A. Chandrasiri told us explaining the assistance the Army is extending to take care of these people. Temporary shelters, toilets and sanitary facilities are under construction with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Army.

It was again reported last Friday that over 10,000 people marched the streets of Jaffna for about three hours delighted by the recent liberation of Pooneryn. People are overwhelmed with the opening of the land route to Jaffna peninsula after 20 years.

Indeed, a new window has opened for them.