Life in Yalpanam

Crying silently and craving for peace:

by Shanika Sriyananda reporting from Jaffna

The scorching sun of Jaffna is as hot as ever. The Nallur Kovil majestically stands waiting for more rituals after some years. Clad in colourful sarees women, young and old, carrying flowers walk to the Kovil.

The Kovil bell rings louder than usual. The whole environment invokes a invokes spiritual mood with chanting of mantras by Kovil priests.

Jaffna city that suffered under constant terrorist threat is now breathing fresh air. Life has begun anew and the city has become more colourful with new buildings, that has undergone a new face lift with vibrant colours after so many years. Plastic items, colourful children's and ladies' garments and toys newly received from Colombo filling up the pavements have added more colour to the Jaffna market.

On our mission we have come to the city of Jaffna, which is once a vibrant city in the country, to feel the heart beats of our friends living in the North.

I see schoolchildren - some hurriedly rushing to the bus stand and some cycling, the crowded buses, busy vendors, crying pre-schoolers being forcibly dragged to montessori schools by their parents, farmers tending their herds and many more day-to-day activities in this blooming city of Jaffna from the small square window of the armoured car in which we are travelling.

Can I say the people of Jaffna are living without fear...? No, not completely. Their eyes filled with fear say every thing. Perhaps for them it is a great relief to lead a normal life in the presence of the military.

We stop in front of a grocery shop near the Kovil. "Singala uwathi" (Sinhalese youth) I hear two young men in the shop tell each other. I smile with them but their eyes are still suspicious.

As I stop for a while to talk to them one reaches me hurriedly and the army solider escorting us stops him saying "suicidekda danne nee" (Do not know whether he is a suicide bomber). It reminded me of Col. Nishantha Wanniarachchi's warning about sleeping cadres in Jaffna city when we were on our way to Palai. However our curiosity went unsatisfied. We both smiled at each other at a distance and I hurriedly embarked on my mission.

"Vannakkam", an old lady selling flowers and peanuts, greeting me offers me some flowers. "Esthuthi" (Thank you). She knows that we both worship the same God. She gives me a handful of peanuts too.

I walk around in search of a devotee who can talk to the press about their lives. "Media oh... no we cannot comment", they are still in fear of their lives. I almost 'begged' over a dozen people but the answer was the same.

Finally, Savithri Ravichandran who works at the Department of Psychiatry of the Jaffna Medical Faculty as a Senior Staff Technical Officer agrees to express her feelings about 'life in Jaffna'.

After the scrapping of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the LTTE she says most of them think that Jaffna is once again under terrorist threat. Born and bred in Jaffna and now living near the temple, her family, she says, seeks solace through attending Kovil rituals, that being the only relief they have at the moment.

People of Jaffna who experience constant starvation due to terrorist attacks are used to storing enough food stocks to face such situations. Savithri is not exempted from this practice and this time too she has stocked essential food items as much as she can.

Escalating prices of food is one of her main worries as she has to feed her two grown up girls. "We were in Colombo during school holidays and I brought some food items from there as the prices of those items are high in Jaffna", she says. Savithri and her husband who is also working at the same university took their two daughters to Colombo as they do not have any place to enjoy life with their children in Jaffna.

"No recreational activities for young ones who constantly live under pressure and fear", she says.

Worried about the security in the Jaffna city, she says that she has no peace in mind as robberies and abductions are taking place.

"We do not know who is doing these anti social activities and we try to reach home as soon as we can as we do not know what will take place next moment", Savithri complains but she says the military is doing their best to control the situation.Reluctant to comment further Savithri is worried about the thieves who rob valuable jewellery including 'Thalis'.

A '68-years-old lady who had come to the Kovil with her daughter, who wants to remain anonymous appreciates the military for maintaining law and order in the city. As two of her children are living abroad she lives in fear of unknown gangs who extort ransom from old parents whose children are living abroad.

Refusing to divulge anymore she says that people of Jaffna do not want to die unnecessarily and want to live peacefully. "We are sick of terrorism, bombs and blood. We want peace", says she, a housewife.

A young mother of two sons is standing in the queue, where the army is distributing food parcels near the Kovil. A teacher who declined to mention the name of her school thanked the military for distributing food parcels to the people frequently. "This is a worthy cause.

Some times it is difficult to manage the monthly expenses with our small salary, which is not being increased on par with price hikes. Whether rich or poor most of the people come to get food parcels", she says.

A textile businessman who also wants to be anonymous says doing business in Jaffna is not profitable due to high transport cost. "It is difficult to sell items here. People cannot afford to buy them because of the high prices", he opined.

As it was a busy day for Thangamma, who gave me a handful of peanuts, she says she missed the morning rituals at the Kovil. In her 70s Thangamma too wants peace as she saw the fall of Jaffna, the blood stained Jaffna and the Jaffna which is now struggling to rise.

'Andawane engaluku wendum samadanam' (Oh God we want peace) she whose two sons were abducted by the LTTE some years ago still mourns and hopes for their return.

"We do not want the LTTE. We are scared of the war. We are ordinary people. We have to look after and live for the future of our children", says Chandradasan' (name changed) whose two daughters are still schooling.

He says most of the Jaffna people attend the kovils regularly, as they do not have any other hope of getting peace. They feel that the God will listen to them and help them to live in a peaceful Jaffna soon.

Apart from crying for peace, people of Jaffna are burdened with the high cost of living which is now beyond their financial limits. No road link to exists Jaffna after the closure of the A9 road, making the entire Jaffna Peninsula dependent on sea and air transportation.

According to Government Agent K. Ganesh every item including food and other items are 20 to 40 percent more costlier, than in Colombo. He attributed the difference in prices to the transportation cost which is over US $ 70 per metric tonne. "This needs to be subsidised as large numbers of people are suffering due to high prices of almost all the goods including food items", he says.

The 56-year-old former cricket coach who also declined to give his name still believes that sports can strengthen the bondage between the two communities. "We are suffering a lot. No one is in a good mood and we want peace now. But only the God can give us peace.

We are believing in God", he says. Though peace is there to some extent, people in Jaffna cannot sleep peacefully as lots of thieves are robbing their houses. He says that the main mistake that occurred in the history is the poor connection between the South and the North. He says that they tried to link the two parts through cricket when teams from Jaffna were taken to Colombo and Dambulla for tournaments.

"They had opportunities to move with Sinhala boys. We do not have a problem between the people. Sinhalese and Tamils never had a problem. The problem is always in the minds of politicians. Ordinary Tamils and Sinhalese do not want separate countries to live. We lived together for centuries and can live for more centuries", he says blaming the politicians for creating terrorism and war.

The youth who tried to talk to me is still looking at me. With the permission of the military I spoke to him. Greeting me shyly he says "Hello" and tells me that for the first time in his life he is talking to a Sinhalese youth other than the military.

In his 20's he says he lives in fear of abduction by the LTTE and the youth always feel more secure in the presence of the military. "I do not want to see people fighting and dying", he says.

He says he is feeling more secure as he will be issued with a special identity card from the military. Soon, it is time to say good bye to him. I greet him and we both make a wish for peace.

Major General L. B. R. Mark, 51 Division Commander says that security have been tightened after the CFA abrogation and several steps have been taken to bring the robbers to book. He says that unlike earlier times the people of Jaffna want the military to be in Jaffna to protect them from the terrorists.

He says that the military knows that there are LTTE cadres mingling with the people in Jaffna city and suburbs but they are not strong enough to carry out massive attacks.

"These people give us information about sleeping LTTE cadres and they want to lead peaceful lives now. More or less the people of Jaffna want their children to be educated and they want them to continue with their studies overcoming all difficulties.

So they want peace", Maj. Gen. Mark says. According to him the chances of the LTTE terrorists infiltrating the city are minimal as the military is maintaining tight security Now people are more friendly with the military and we distribute food parcels, and hold medical clinics and sports events for them", he adds.

He says that in the LTTE controlled areas parents force their underage children to get married in fear of the LTTE abducting these children under 14-years-of age. "But when the LTTE find that the girl is pregnant she will be given pills or assigned rigorous work to abort the foetus.

This is the sad situation prevailing in the LTTE controlled areas. Now we are getting request from the people to come and save them and their children from the LTTE, which is suffering from a huge man power problem at the moment", Maj. Gen. Mark says adding that there are more underage girls in the LTTE forward defence lines fighting with the military now.

The Military while giving maximum security to the Jaffna peninsula is now engaging in humanitarian assistance by going hungry once a week and distributing their rations among the people of Jaffna. Brig. Ruwan Kulatunge, Town Sector Jaffna Commander says that despite heavy threats of the LTTE the military started Army Welfare shops where food and other essential items are distributed. "Ignoring LTTE's threats people come to these shops.

The military is engaging in lots of activities to help people. When there is a request from a school for something we provide the facilities, paid out of our budget he adds.Yes. I can say people of Yalpanam (Jaffna) are living with 'less fear' but crying silently and clamouring for peace, to live in an united Sri Lanka.

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