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Politics of
eastern violence Representatives
of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
(SLMC), and other Muslim leaders have conducted separate talks while
the Head of the Monitoring Mission, Major General Trond Furhovde,
was on a visit to the eastern province last week. General Furhovde
visited the eastern province only after he had received an assurance
from LTTE's Political Wing Secretary, Thamil Chelvam that there
was no recurrence of the violent clashes reported in the east recently. General Furhovde
and his team held discussions with police and army officials on
Tuesday in Batticaloa. The following day they held talks with Karuna
and Karikalan of the LTTE in Kokadicholai. Later in the day they
met officers of the Army, Navy and Police in Trincomalee. On Thursday
they met Muslim leaders and then visited Sampoor with LTTE leaders. The visit was
mainly to establish communications between the two warring parties
to enable them to resolve disputes through discussions. "It is
of paramount importance for direct contact especially when there
is unrest between the two communities. It would go a long way in
enhancing mutual understanding. Everybody says that they want to
keep the peace process alive," Torkelesson said. One of the
main complaints from the Muslim parties has been the extortion of
money by the LTTE. The other allegation is the abduction of children
by the LTTE. "Some
of the main complaints we have received in the east is extortion
by the LTTE, and this issue was raised at a meeting where both the
LTTE and security forces representatives were present," Torkelesson
said. The LTTE political
Wing representative Pulidevan gave an assurance that he would discuss
the matter with Thamil Chelvan. The head of
the delegation also raised the issue of child recruitment and abduction
when he met the LTTE area leader Karuna. "General
Furhovde had told Karuna that the recruitment and abduction of children
should be stopped forthwith," Torkelesson said. "Karuna
said that the LTTE leadership has complied with a UN regulation
in this regard. However, in Batticaloa and Ampara, complaints by
the public on child recruitment and abduction are still being received.
Despite assurances by the LTTE leadership this has been the most
repeated complaint," he said. There has been an increase in
child recruitment during the last four weeks in these areas, he
said. He added that
during the past few days there has been a series of meetings with
the SLMC, other Muslim leaders and TNA members in connection with
the situation in the east. However, fears
persist that violence would erupt again and ruin the peace process. Last Sunday
Minister M.H. Mohamed led a delegation to the east while over the
weekend the Muslim Congress led by Minister Rauf Hakeem met in Colombo.
On Wednesday Muslim parties having formed a common front met in
Parliament. The meeting
was followed with a meeting between the TNA and SLMC. SLMC and TNA
MPs have decided to adopt a common stand to safeguard minority interests
when discussing issues such as electoral reforms. But their views
differed on this issue. (See separate interviews). SLMC and TNA
MPs have decided to adopt a common stand when discussing electoral
reforms with a view to safeguarding the interests of the minority
communities, SLMC sources said. They had arrived
at this decision on Thursday night during discussions at the Stanmore
Crescent residence of SLMC leader and Minister Rauf Hakeem. The
discussions lasted two and a half hours. MPs of both
parties also decided that steps should be taken to ensure that there
would be no recurrence of the incidents that took place in the eastern
province recently. TNA MPs R.
Sampandan, Chandran Neru, Joseph Pararajasingham, M. Senathirajah,
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and Shiva Shakthi Ananda and several other
members participated at the discussions at which SLMC MPs other
than Eastern Province MPs A.L.M. Athaullah, M. Abdul Cader and Richard
Badurdeen attended. The monitoring
mission this week officially confirmed that they had so far received
380 complaints, from both the LTTE and the government. However, they alleged that attempts are being made to prevent the public from lodging complaints. "In some areas the people are even afraid to be seen with members of the monitoring mission. This could affect our work because we might not get the correct picture." Torkelesson said. Mohamed explains
why he stepped in Are the
Muslim leaders now working together to restore normalcy in the East? The Muslim
MPs committee started about four months ago decided to meet LTTE
leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. However SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem
claimed that Mr. Prabhakaran in a letter had invited only his party
for talks. Then the LTTE and the SLMC signed a Memorandum of Understanding
and the committee knew little or nothing of it. But after the violence
in the East we have again decided to work as a team to protect the
interests of Muslims. The SLMC
is staking a claim as the spokesperson for Muslims in the East?
How do you see it? The SLMC won
most of the seats in the east and may have some basis for such a
claim. But LTTE area
leader Karikalan told me when I met him recently the LTTE would
listen to the view of all Muslim leaders. What was
Mr. Karikalan's reaction to the demand to stop violence, extortion
and kidnapping? He told us
that he was surprised at what happened and he gave us the impression
that the LTTE is not party to these unfortunate incidents. I do
not know how far this is true. We now believe
the LTTE-SLMC deal needs to be reviewed and strengthened. For that
purpose we have held talks with the Prime Minister and also the
Norwegian facilitators. Mr. Karikalan
told us there should be more communication between the Muslims and
Tamils. I suggested
that we should set up village committees comprising representatives
of the government, the LTTE, the Tamil and Muslim communities, religious
leaders and others. Is the
SLMC putting pressure on the government to achieve certain ends? Did you think it was necessary to break the dominance of Mr. Hakeem ? We only want
a joint effort. So we are together irrespective of parties. So we
will work as a team and that would be better than working individually. Why did
you get directly involved in the Eastern issue? I felt that as a senior politician I should play a more important role in resolving the issue. I had no other motive and no political ambition. People accept me as a leader but I don't want a title behind my name. Steps to normalcy
TNA clears LTTE,
hopeful of talks soon TNA frontliner
and TULF General Secretary R. Sampanthan in an interview said they
were generally satisfied in the way in which both the government
and the LTTE were handling the situation and moving towards a consolidation
of the peace process. Excerpts from the interview: How do you
asses the situation in the East after the violence there? Are you
satisfied with the way the government is handling the situation
there? Muslim MPs
are asking for more state security but Tamil MPs are silent. We will fully
support such moves. The Muslims
are asking that security forces should not be withdrawn. Some have
also asked that Muslims be armed. How do you read those demands? No comment on
those demands. All the people need equal protection. Has the
LTTE given any assurance to the TNA that it will abide by laws and
provisions of the ceasefire agreement? We believe the
LTTE has played no part in the violence in Valaichchenai or Mutur.
Some anti social elements were responsible. Unfortunately some Tamils
and Muslims were drawn in. We believe
the LTTE has extended full cooperation to restore normalcy. LTTE
leaders have addressed joint meetings with security personnel, religious
leaders and lay persons. They requested the people to remain calm
and get back to normal life. Despite being provoked by incidents
such as the attack on the LTTE Mutur office the LTTE has not retaliated. All extremists
should be dealt with. Any armed group that was involved in the violence
should be disarmed. We have talked
to the LTTE about such complaints, and we have received assurances
that no one below 18 will be recruited. We shall continue to monitor
this situation. After a terrible
20-year war we cannot expect normalcy overnight. Those who seek
such perfect normalcy overnight are those who are trying to disrupt
the peace process. We need to
be realistic. The transition from war to peace would be difficult
and we need to deal with disputes as they come up. But isn't
the LTTE also delaying the restoration of normalcy? What about the
delay in the full re-opening of the A9 highway? I don't think
the LTTE in principle is against the full re-opening. The government,
the LTTE and the SLMM are trying to resolve disputes on this and
we hope they would work it out soon. Generally the
situation is much better and improving. Guarantees must
come from govt. says SLMC The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress says it is not the LTTE but the government that should guarantee the security and equal rights of the Muslims in the north-east. SLMC deputy leader A. Uthumalebbe, warned that if any further violence was unleashed on the Muslims the SLMC might have to reconsider its position in the government. Excerpts from the interview: The SLMC
is saying that the LTTE is violating assurances given in the MoU.
How confident are you that any new deal won't also be violated? We are discouraged
by the violations but we believe we could continue the dialogue. How is
the situation now in the East? Not yet satisfactory.Even
recently boys from Eravur were reportedly assaulted after a football
match. The LTTE claims it is not responsible for the violence. The
LTTE also claims it is the sole representative of the people. In
that event the LTTE must come forward and stop any violence by other
groups, otherwise there would be little purpose in having talks
with the LTTE. We will continue the dialogue with the LTTE but we
are asking the government to guarantee the right of the Muslims.
The LTTE itself is seeking to obtain its rights from the government.
So the LTTE cannot assure Muslim rights. The government needs to
do it. If the government
gives the LTTE full control over an interim administration, things
might get worse for the Muslims. The government must ensure our
rights. Now the
Muslim MPs are working together. Do you feel this joint group could
achieve better results than the SLMC ? Our position
is that we are the spokespeople for the Muslim community. When we
met Mr. Prabhakaran he agreed that the SLMC would be the voice of
the whole Muslim community. But I read another quoting an LTTE area
leader as saying the SLMC is not the sole representative of the
Muslim community. So we have
now started talking to the UNP MPs and other Muslim leaders. But
Mr. Prabhakaran has yet not changed his stand that the SLMC is the
voice of the Muslims. Anyway this is not the time to create a problem
as to who is the spokesman. The priority is the security and interests
of the Muslim community. Anyone is welcome to join us in achieving
this goal. What exactly
do you want the Prime Minister to do in this regard? Every one of
the 160 shops destroyed in at Valaichchenai should be rebuilt and
compensation paid. The government should ensure full protection
for our people and prevent further violence. We will support the
direct talks between the government and the LTTE but we need assurances
about the rights of our people. If further violence breaks out we may have to leave the government. |
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