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No hanky- panky with Tiger treasury

By Chris Kamalendran
The financial division of the LTTE is one of the most powerful arms of the rebel group as it not only draws in a huge revenue but also monitors every trade transaction within the LTTE-controlled area.

Consisting of several departments, the financial division derives its strength of stability largely from what the rebels call their 'Customs' department, which is responsible for collection of taxes at entry points.

Travelling a short distance along the A-9 road from Omanthai, one cannot miss the LTTE "Customs" office. Neither can anyone enter the Tiger territory without going through the 'Customs' procedures at this point.

Lorry loads of goods are unloaded here and lorry drivers are required to fill a declaration form. All goods taken for commercial purposes are unloaded and an LTTE Customs officer imposes a duty after assessing them.

"Irrespective of the values the drivers or traders give in the declaration forms, we make our own assessment and impose a duty," senior LTTE member in charge of the office said. More than 50 young men and women clad in white shirts and black pants or skirts are seated behind their desks on a makeshift platform, which had been once used to unload goods for checking purposes. Their task is to make the necessary calculations and impose the tax on the trader.

They run through the declaration form where the trader of the driver states the quantity of goods, the weight, the discount he had obtained in the South when he purchased the goods, the VAT tax paid and other details. "All these factors are taken into account when we imposed the duty," the rebels' Customs officer said.

"The law here is imposed very strictly. We do not allow people to under value their goods and pay a fine and get away. We confiscate the goods. A few weeks ago, a trader transporting chocolates valued at Rs. 300,000 had declared the value as Rs. 175,000. The trader was deprived of the stock and had to return empty handed," he said.

It is not only the goods, but also the vehicle that brought the goods are seized if the LTTE Customs detects any foul play.

"If the value is under declared or items are taken without declaring them, we confiscate not only the goods but also the lorry if the driver owns the vehicle. We do not want to give the impression that a person could get away by paying a fine at this point after being detected for under valuing the goods or undeclaring the goods. We want to send a clear warning to all traders that they face the risk of losing their goods if they try to cheat," the LTTE Customs officer said. At the entry point, the LTTE handles more than 180 lorries a day and earns millions of rupees as revenue. The LTTE tax structure is largely a two-tiered system. Consumer items are taxed ten per cent of the value while non-essentials are taxed 25 per cent.

Another unit that is equally strong within the LTTE financial division is the Tamileelam Bank.

Situated almost opposite the two state banks -- People's Bank and Bank of Ceylon -- the "Bank of Tamileelam" draws more customers than the two state banks do. This is largely because the customers place more faith in the "Eelam" bank. Another reason is that the LTTE encourages the people to go to its bank.

"We have most of the services any other bank could offer. We have fixed deposits, current accounts, savings accounts and encash foreign currency," said the Tamileelam Bank Manager S. Ravindran , an economics graduate of the Jaffna University. The bank also offers agriculture and housing loans and is involved in pawning business.

The manager and the staff are paid employees of the LTTE with the manager drawing a salary of Rs. 13,000. Salaries of other staff members range from Rs. 7000 to Rs. 10,000 inclusive of overtime.

Fixed deposits are taken at rates ranging from 13 to 16%. The interest rate for a 24-month fixed deposit is 16%, 12 months is 15% and six months is 13%.

As in any other bank, monthly statements are posted to customers. The bank also issues chequebooks to its current account holders.

In addition to the "Customs" and the "Bank", the LTTE also has other agencies to collect taxes. For instance, a tax centre at the market places imposes tax on the vendors.

With the LTTE facing a cash crunch in the wake of Western nations declaring it a terrorist organization and restricting its fund raising abroad, the rebels appear to be determined to fill its coffers through their "Customs" and the "Tamileelam Bank".

The LTTE defends its action saying the taxes are imposed to collect money to maintain the organisation and look after tens of thousands of its cadres.

Taxes add burden to the people as they cause a price hike. The people of the north pay more for every item they buy - about 10-25 per cent more than the price in the rest of the country. Naturally, some people are not so happy about the rebel tax system.

Sikhs too react angrily to 'In the name of Buddha'

From Neville de Silva in London
The Sikh community here is studying the reaction to the controversial film "In the name of Buddha" which also insults the Sikhs while offending Buddhists everywhere.
The Sikh community here, a powerful minority, had been alerted to the incriminating nature of the film following extensive reports on it by this newspaper.

The film produced by a Tamil of Sri Lankan origin and an Indian Keralite, falsely accuses Sri Lankan Buddhists of pursuing the war against Tamils by fanning the flames of violence.

The Indian Peace Keeping Force is also accused of anti-Tamil conduct, but it is the Sikh soldiers in the IPKF who are identified as murderers, rapists and looters. These soldiers wear the turban, the distinctive headgear of the Sikh community.

Amarjitsingh Padda, a committee member of the Sikh Gurdvara, a Sikh Temple here said that he had alerted the temple committee to this film.

"I have also informed the Guru Gobalsingh Study Centre, a big Sikh temple at Southhall and another Sikh organisation called the Sikh Agenda," he told The Sunday Times.

Mr. Padda has also brought the offending film to the notice of a Sikh monthly titled Sikh Bulletin, published in the United States.

Sikhs in other countries such as Australia will also be brought into the picture, the Sunday Times understands.

It might be recalled that Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. A major reason was Indira Gandhi's orders to storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar, perhaps the holiest of places to the Sikhs around the world.

"We dont want to be called rapists and murderers as the film does, a Sikh student Kripal Singh said." The authors of the film must accept responsibility for their wild accusations".

Meanwhile Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Britain, Faisz Mustapha is due to call on his colleagues from Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia when he returns from Colombo where he has been for the past three weeks apparently in connection with the peace talks.

Other High Commission officials are said to have already brought to the notice of Britain's department of culture and Britains' Board of Film Classification that the film not only paints a false picture but insults the adherents of a world religion.

 


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