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Confusing
signals coming out of Batticaloa
When compared to most of the other provinces in the country where voting was brisk earlier on election day, in the Batticaloa district consisting of three electorates, the voting moved at a slow pace in the early hours of Friday. By noon only some 30 per cent of the voters had turned up probably uncertain as to what would happen in the aftermath of the TNA candidate's killing on Tuesday still fresh in their minds. Many of them were wondering whether they should turn up to vote or remain at home. They had other reasons too to be concerned as, a few days ago, Karuna had ordered all Jaffna Tamils and those from the northern region to move out of the eastern province. Accordingly doctors, businessmen, teachers, university students were among those who moved out from the east. Soon after the killing of Rajan Sathiyamoorthy posters had sprung up against LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran while loudspeaker-mounted vehicles moved around the town announcing that LTTE's northern command was to blame for the killing and reiterated the stand taken by Karuna that Tamils in the eastern province are not prepared to be dominated by the Jaffna Tamils. The LTTE acted promptly to condemn the killing of Mr. Sathiyamoorthy and blamed some other unidentified group for the killing and reacted angrily to Karuna's vacate order. The political secretariat of the LTTE on Wednesday issued a statement appealing to the people who had been living for generations in the districts of Batticaloa and Amparai not to leave their habitats and thereby succumb to the threats and the pressure applied directly by the Karuna group or under the name of any other organization. "We appeal to everybody to reject any statement issued by Karuna as that of an individual and his statements are not official releases of the LTTE. The LTTE has declared that all actions of the Karuna group, such as extortion, plunder and acts of forcibly taking over properties, as unlawful and anti-national activities. Hence we request the Tamils of Batticaloa and Amparai not to follow instructions issued by an individual named Karuna, any more", the LTTE said in the statement. They have appealed to Tamils living in Amparai and Batticaloa to ensure the safety and address the concern of their neighbours who have been threatened by an individual of a group to leave their homes and to encourage them to stay back, the statement said. According to reports many of them fearing for their lives decided to leave and while some of them sought refuge with friends and relations some others had left for Colombo. With the tension building up in the area, voting on election day was in danger of taking second place. But when the pro-Karuna group learnt that the voter turnout was low, they soon began to alert the civilians and telling them it was important they cast their vote, warning them that not having a proper Tamil representative from the east could have serious consequences for them. With these thoughts at the back of their minds voters were soon flocking to the polling booths after noon and this eventually led to a massive turnout of 84 percent, an increase of 20 percent when compared to the 64 percent who voted at the last parliamentary elections. This high turnout has helped the Tamil alliance to return four members to parliament instead of the three members they had earlier and as a result further strengthening the TNA. But with the counting of the preferential votes in progress the stage is being set for two members from the pro-Karuna group to be elected to Parliament and as such leaving the whole issue between the Prabhakaran-Karuna factions open for more uncertainty and confusion in the already troubled eastern province. |
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