|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 12 October 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Tiger cops learn Sinhala by FRANCES BULATHSINGHALA
LTTE Police Chief Nadesan is a former constable of the Sri Lanka Police with a southern police background of ten years. The head of the LTTE Judicial administration Pararajasingham is a former member of Parliament for the Tamil political party EROS and socialist theories run strong in his conversations. The LTTE Judiciary and police are seemingly in an impeccable state. The temptation for that added money in the form of bribes does not arise and policemen are satisfied with the salary paid to them which is in accordance of their family structure. They are paid Rs. 3,000 for a child. If one has only one child, whatever rank one bears has no significance and the highest ranker would be getting a lower salary if he has only one child compared to his subordinates who have more children. "We are all equal and we are with the people. We take pride in the fact that we are totally committed to the rights of women", says Nadesan, pointing out that out of the five death sentences meted out, four had been for rape charges. Nadesan who had served as a constable in the Maharagama police and who subsequently married a Sinhalese, who was also a police constable in the South insists on conducting the entire interview in Sinhalese. With speaking flawless and fluent Sinhalese which happens to have won the envy of his close friend, Pararajasingham, the LTTE Legal Administrative Head who also chooses Sinhala as his interview language medium and speaks in Sinhala despite occasional lapses when he switches on to English.
"Now that we have got the Sri Lanka Telecom phone lines, I have established my contacts with all my friends", says a smiling Nadesan clad in the tiger striped uniform that all senior police and military members are attired in and is frank about revealing how he was motivated to leave the Sri Lanka police force twenty years ago to begin the formation of the Tamil Eelam police. "I never fitted into the structure of a normal policeman. I was heavily involved in Marxist politics and as this is not the usual lifestyle of a policeman, I had continuous problems with police authorities. But my decision to leave and to join in the formation of the Tamil Eelam Police was largely influenced by the riots in 1983 July when Tamils suffered at the hands of sections of the Sinhalese. Yet, despite the barriers of the twenty-year-old war divide I maintain contacts with all the Sinhalese friends I had in the South," says Nadesan wiping out any hint at resentment he may have against the Sinhalese. If anyone is and was tempted to think that the north-east conflict was one which was battled by the Sinhalese and the Tamils then Nadesan's vehement explanations promptly annihilate such thoughts. According to Nadesan over three hundred young men and women pass out per year from the LTTE police academy which he points out focuses heavily on aspects of human rights. 'We had a war. War means killing and being killed. Yet in an atmosphere of peace it is important that we train those in the military and police on aspects of the rights of others and how they should conduct their job humanely. This has been a main goal of the LTTE for the past one and a half years and we have also focused strongly on the language factor and have made the teaching of Sinhalese to all LTTE police cadres compulsory', says Nadesan. According to the LTTE Police chief the need of the moment is discussions between the LTTE police and the Sri Lanka Police to come to a practical solution how to handle the high number of road accidents which occur in the North which involve those in the South. There have been many instances where the vehicle is destroyed beyond repair and the owner faces a dilemma where he cannot claim insurance because the South does not recognise the LTTE police. While negotiations between the LTTE and the Government takes place at a larger level we hope that we can find solutions to these issues which is at the grass roots level and involve ordinary persons from both sides of the country, says Nadesan.
As for those from the South who have to face charges with regard to accidents and other offences, the LTTE Police Chief says that with the communication gap bridged with the installation of telephones, there is now no problem to communicate with the South in case of a police matter. Where the Judiciary is concerned, the Head of the Judicial Administration, Pararajasingham points out that the LTTE law is a "people's law" which he claims has a strong resemblance to the court structure of the United Kingdom. "We cater to the people. It is forbidden for lawyers to charge more than Rs. 500 as lawyers fee. Our lawyers are young. We had to develop our own legal framework which is aligned with the Tamil Thesavalamai law says Pararajasingham referring to the Tamil community law. The LTTE's courts do not hesitate to give life imprisonment to those having rape charges against them. Where the Tamil Eelam Judiciary is concerned over one hundred lawyers pass out of the LTTE law academy and the LTTE courts which have functioned from the year 1990 boasts of a Chief Magistrate, Oppalan who has barely ten years experience in law including the law student span. The LTTE legal adviser and judicial administrative head, Parajasingham, who is in his mid years and an Economics graduate from the Colombo University and a former Tamil political member meanwhile points out that the LTTE does what it could, to improve its legal structure. We have enacted the Penal code for the enforcement of the Criminal Law. This differs from its Sri Lankan counterpart in the matters of definition, punishment and enforcement. We have enacted the law of evidence, Criminal Procedure Act and the Civil Procedure Act in order to facilitate the smooth functioning of our judicial system, says Pararajasingham. Asked about anticipated changes in the implementation of an interim administration, he points out that the divide has been too long for unity overnight. First it has to be understood that there has been unrest, war and division for a long time. It is not possible to expect drastic changes in the LTTE within just over a year, says Pararajasingham. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
