Opinion:

The true story of people in Kepapilavu

by Shenali WADUGE

I wish to respond to a recent newspaper article on the people of Kepapilavu written under a pseudonym, having visited Mullaitivu as well as spoken to the people of Kepapilavu last month.

Can someone please say how worse can life be for people who were living for 30 years in cadjan huts under LTTE rule, engulfed in an immeasurable number of fears, now given 40 perches of land for each family, six months of dry rations, 12 roofing sheets per family, eight cement bags, non-food relief items that include mosquito nets, plastic mats and kitchen sets.... even coconut scrapers and a total shelter grant of Rs 25,000 and eventually a brick house that is 550 sq.ft with two bedrooms, a living room, bathroom and kitchen?

Can that writer say why no one demanded the LTTE to leave the Tamil civilians alone? Did that writer and others demand that the LTTE should not demand Tamils to sacrifice a child to the LTTE, to turn into killers?

Can the writer explain what kind of democracy prevailed in 30 years of LTTE rule? In comparison, what does that writer and the likes find so grotesque in the freedom experienced by the people in the North, now compared to how the people lived under LTTE rule? Is the writer implying that Tamil people lived wonderfully under the LTTE, far better than now?

However, last month when I visited these areas, there were certainly no screams of anguish except children gleefully cycling on the 100 bikes gifted to them and mothers happily taking home utensils gifted to them – the scenario was nothing that this article attempts to convey and a group of 25 visitors from overseas donating goodies to these people would vouch for this as well.

It is just as well that this writer mentions “ethnic conflict” because - the close to 300,000 people that the Sri Lankan military helped rescue were all crying out for food and medical assistance back in May 2009.

Now, if their “saviour”, the LTTE, had been looking after “their people” from the USD 300 million annual profits, can that writer please explain why these people were living in cadjan huts for 30 years - why not a single road was made, not a single school was built except for LTTE training camps disguised as “orphanages” in the middle of the Mullaitivu jungles and a swimming-pool that was 86ft long, 36ft wide and 22ft deep, floodlit, with six changing rooms and that too in the thick jungles - if that writer has not seen those pictures!

Mullaitivu is a district with an area of 2,516.9 sq.km - its strategic interest to a sovereign nation is nothing any government should need to excuse for or explain why it would place military installations to secure that security interest.

The 165 families newly housed in the Kepapilavu model village remains in the corner of Kepapilavu, bordering Seeniyamottai.

There is nothing that hampers any of their daily requirements in terms of schools, health facilities or livelihood - everything is within range.

So, what is this fuss, except to use that as an excuse to create an issue, internationalise it and to demand the Security Forces to move out of this strategic location! We now know the drill.

International cry

The current wave of negative media coverage portraying the “woes” of civilians echoes the same strategy used in attempting to remove the Mullikulam naval camp with an all out international cry, led by the TNA, over the plight of 81 non-Hindu families.

The game plan was clear - use the media to create pressures to remove Sri Lanka's Security bases from coastal areas. For whose advantage would this be? Your guess is as good as mine!

Having spoken to numerous people who were conversant in Sinhala, there was nothing to remotely convey the feeling of displeasure with the military when the question was directly posed as to how satisfied the people are with the military.

In my presence, a request for a sewing machine was immediately attended to, and that does not show signs of a military “intimidating” civilian life - it showed a new bond and how people were not afraid to make a request!

Far more than the bonding between the older generation was the manner in which the children were moving with the Armed Forces. The communication factor has helped to a great extent, and with a growing number of military personnel conversing in Tamil, it is ideal for the children too to learn Sinhala.

This is indeed good news for the future, especially when attempts are afoot to draw youth back into an armed struggle by the very forces that created Sri Lanka's terror, helped by their local stooge, the TNA. Thankfully, the people of Kepapilavu have realised the lies of the political party and the TNA has failed to make inroads into the area or amongst the people of this model village.

Yet, with these calls to remove Sri Lanka's military from the coastal belts, it is time Sri Lankan authorities realise who their enemies are.

If it's the denial of rights that the writer is referring to, he or she may like to explain what rights the Tamil people had under LTTE rule – abducting children as young as 10 years, denying children their fundamental rights to education, encouraging religious conversions, subjecting Tamil people to passes issued by the LTTE's Transport Monitoring Division (TMD), restricting the movement of Tamil people, forceful payments to LTTE checkpoints, unpaid labour, using Tamils as human shields, confiscating Tamil assets, assassinating over 250 Tamil learned men - can that writer please explain what “dignity” the LTTE gave the Tamil people to promote the idea that the lives of these Tamils were far better under LTTE rule?

Inalienable right

Keeping to the theme of rights, the writer quotes the Constitution of Sri Lanka: “Any citizen of Sri Lanka has the inalienable right to acquire land in any part of the country, in accordance with its laws and regulations, and reside in any area of his/her choice without any restrictions or limitations imposed in any manner whatsoever”.

With the Sinhalese in third place in terms of population in Colombo, it shows how well the Tamils and Muslims have used this “inalienable” right and prompts the Sinhalese to use these same rights to purchase property and land in the North and the East of Sri Lanka to work and live there. It's the perfect way to move forward with reconciliation.

As for threats - what threats do Tamils face in the present that are exclusive to them? They are all travelling throughout the country without fear, they visit their relatives without having to pay the LTTE at checkpoints or hand over their jewellery, they purchase property and land without fear and the only issue that has resurfaced, which the LTTE kept in check, was the Tamil caste issue. With the caste factor resurfacing, we again see a host of conflicts all associated with the caste factor and it is nothing that the Sinhalese, the military or the Government can be blamed for. It is something the Tamil people need to sort out amongst themselves.

The Government's manner of resettling and developing the North and the East is nothing that deserves humiliation and fabrications. Visiting these areas, once the haunts of the LTTE, it is not hard to feel angered with the LTTE for letting their own people down for 30 odd years on the pretext of being their saviour. People need to visit these areas to see for themselves how the LTTE had fooled the Tamil people and the lies that the LTTE supporters contributed towards as well.

Courtesy: defence.lk