Life in embattled Batticaloa

PK Balachandran

Batticaloa (Eastern Sri Lanka), April 1, 2007

Batticaloa district in 2007 has acquired a reputation which it did not have in the last 25 years of the military conflict in North East Sri Lanka.

This relatively peaceful Eastern Sri Lankan district has become a very dangerous place to visit, making even seasoned journalists wonder if it is safe.

The reason is the change in weaponry and tactics used in the conflict. There is now an overwhelming reliance on long distance fighting with artillery, 'arty' mortars, Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRL) and jet fighter bombers.

And the shelling from the ground and the air is incessant, like it never was ever before.

However, one decided to go. The situation was getting worse and not better. And it was feared that the roads might be closed indefinitely if the government pursued its plan to take over the entire East, on a priority basis, for pressing political reasons. A "now or never" situation had arisen.

After zipping through the lush green landscape of the blissfully peaceful Sinhalese-majority district of Polannaruwa, one entered Batticaloa district.

In a trice, the landscape had changed. The barrenness of Western Batticaloa was as depressing as it was striking. There was no sign of any economic activity for as long as the eye could see.

Heavy militarisation

And soon, the other aspect of the grim reality in Batticaloa presented itself. Signs of war appeared in the form of checkpoints, searching questions by a motley mix of Sri Lankan police commandoes, regular troops and Karuna's men, all armed with T-56 assault rifles, bullet proof vests and huge ammunition pouches.

Karuna, who was one of the ace commanders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) till March 2004, had broken away from LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, and had since been functioning as an adjunct of the Sri Lankan armed forces in Batticaloa and Amparai.

As one went further in, one could hear the sound of shelling by a wide variety of long range area weapons - 81 mm 'arty' mortars, 122 mm artillery and the most dreaded and the noisiest of them all, the Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL).

The towns in Batticalao district like Chengalady and Eravur, looked battle-scarred, with half demolished buildings and shops, pock marked houses, road blocks and diversions.

Steel helmeted and armed men were evident every few yards. Road intersections were manned by callow Tamil youth with deadly weapons.

Clearly, these were recent recruits of the Karuna faction. Some of the gun-toting boys were so small that they were dwarfed by the T-56s they were carrying.

One dreaded the thought of a child soldier pulling the trigger in a fit of excitement. They boys were also small enough to be playful with that instrument of death.

Karuna's presence was ubiquitous, though locals said that the extent of the presence did not match popular support. "Support for him may be about 5 per cent," said a school teacher," who did not wish to be named, for obvious reasons.

"If Karuna had been better than Prabhakaran and helped the Tamil refugees, we would have embraced him. But he is doing precious little," said a Christian priest, involved in relief work.

There was not a town in the government-held areas which was not dotted with Karuna's offices or camps, which significantly, were almost always close to the camps of the government forces.

The TMVP's offices are located in opulent houses, many owned by Tamils who had fled to the West apparently.

"The TMVP has the ability to acquire any property it fancies!" said a resident with a mischievous smile. Locals alleged that houses are commandeered and rents are not paid.

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No going back until peace is restored, refugees say

PK Balachandran

Batticaloa (Eastern Sri Lanka), April 3, 2007

Tamil refugees in Batticaloa district say that they will not go back to their homes unless the shelling stops completely and lasting peace is brought about.

"We'll go back only when peace is restored. We can't go back when shelling is on," affirmed Thangavadivel a farmer from Mutur East in Trincomalee district, who has been living with his family in the Vettukadu camp in the outskirts of Batticaloa town for the past 11 months

This is a tall order, given the fact that the Sri Lankan government is determined to pursue the LTTE, and drive it out of the Eastern districts.

And clearing the East is going to take time, though the powers-that-be in Colombo believe that the entire North and East can be cleared within three years.

Asked what was the problem when the government had said that people would be rehabilitated only after the designated re-settlement area was cleared of the LTTE, and the mines planted by it were removed, Thangavadivel said that fighting could break out at any time even in the "cleared" areas.

Echoing the refugees' fears, a local religious dignitary, who did not wanted to be identified, said: "The Tigers are bound to bounce back. Fighting will go on if there is no move for a political settlement. I see no light at the end of the tunnel."

Change in weaponry and tactics

Informed sources in Batticaloa attributed the refugees' reluctance to go back to their homes to the change in weaponry and tactics of the Sri Lankan forces.

The nature of fighting has undergone a sea change. Earlier, both sides relied essentially on small arms and mortars, with the security forces using choppers also, and occasionally, aircraft.

Now the state uses long range weapons and the Air Force liberally, making these its main strike weapons. Even the LTTE now prefers long range weapons to ground movement and hand to hand fighting.

The refugees have grown up in the midst of war for close to twenty years. But their previous experience in dodging gun fire proved to be useless this time round.

Sarangapani a coolie from Vavunathivu said that earlier, people had time to take shelter in peace zones like schools, temples and churches. The fighting forces by-passed these shelters.

But now, no place is safe. "We don't know when an artillery shell or an aerial bomb will fall in our area. The attacker can't be seen. There is no warning that he is going to come. There is no escape!" he said.

"We fled carrying nothing with us except the clothes we were wearing," he recalled.

Thangavadivel had moved from one place to another four times because shells would catch up with him wherever he tried to settle.

There was no report of any significant killings as a result of the shelling. No refugee mentioned it.

Apparently, the shells fell on places with no people in close proximity. But death due to shelling had been a constant threat, a real, everyday possibility. That is why the people fled.

A woman inmate in Vettukadu said that people who had been taken back to their villages by the government, had found that there were "no people, only the army" there.

Clearly, the refugees do not like the army breathing down their necks.

The places had also been destroyed and looted, other refugees said.

Nirmalai, a music teacher from the Tamil-Muslim town of Mutur had a different problem. She said that she did not want to go back because there would be too many Muslims there.

"Tamils can't trust them," she said. Muslims are seen as being pro-Army.

Leaders fear Sinhala colonisation

The refugees' refusal to entertain the thought of going back, is worrying Tamil leaders who believe that if they do not go back, their places will be taken by non-Tamils, like Sinhalas and Muslims, especially the former, with the help of the state.

A leading Catholic religious figure is telling the refugees to go back, if allowed to. He is reminding them that the ethnic conflict began in the 1950s with "state-aided colonisation" of the Tamil areas of the North-East by the Sinhalas, the majority community in Sri Lanka.

http://www.hindustantimes.in/news/181_1963...01302310000.htm