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Supreme wish is sustainable peace

Kuliyapitiya group correspondent - H. M. A. Abeysinghe

Our supreme wish is the sustainable peace. That could not be achieved either through ceasefire or cessation of hostilities or memorandums of understandings, but only through understanding that would lead to the cessation of suspicion, the Tamil elders in Jaffna peninsula told us when we visited there recently.

I had the privilege to be a member of Sanasa team that visited Jaffna district under Sanasa inter-district youth exchange program as a Sanasa activist.

We had the privilege of speaking to Tamil youths and elders in Jaffna peninsula during the visit.

The life in Jaffna is normal, the people are able to move about in the town without any checking, that is a relief to them. Before the cessation of hostilities ordinary citizens were checked by the army at every other place. The army personnel are confined to their bunkers now. But they go about in the town armed with fire-arms. All the shops, filling stations, liquor bars and the Government offices are functioning smoothly. The renovation of the burnt Jaffna Public Library is almost over. That would be opened shortly.

The scars of the war are found in the town and in the suburban towns. The most affected area is the Jaffna Fort. The Jaffna Town Hall and St. Peter's Church were demolished.

The cultivators in the Jaffna district are doing their job without paying any heed to the war. The entire Jaffna peninsula outside the town is cultivated with tobacco, chillies, red onions, potatoes and vegetables. The market for their products are found in the South. As the products are to be transported to the South either by the sea or by air, the cost was high. So they have no market. They hope for a better market when lorries come to Jaffna after the opening of A-9 road.

All the Commercial Banks in the island have their branches in the towns of Jaffna peninsula. A Tamil youth told us that at least one member of their families are employed abroad. They send money to their families in the district through those banks. According to him the foreign exchange equivalent of several million rupees comes to Jaffna each month.

They honour Velupillai Prabhakaran as the leader who did not betray the course of action of the Tamil community. They do not oppose the Eelam concept, but they prefer to live in a united Sri Lanka. Their stand on Eelam is somewhat complicated.

Their grievance is that they are treated as second class citizens. When pointed out that Tamils in the south live in harmony with Sinhalese they categorically state that they are discriminated.

Majority Tamils in the Jaffna Peninsula prefer to live in harmony with Sinhalese. "Prior to 1980 we all lived in harmony, due to the faults of the Sinhalese and Tamil extremists we are separated now. This is the tragedy of the history of Jaffna," they say.

"Our wish, our hope and our ambition is a united and peaceful Sri Lanka where we could live in any part of the country in harmony. So that we could go to Katharagama and Munneshwaram freely. Sinhalese Buddhists would be able to go to Nagadeepa and Catholics could go to Madhu. To achieve all those targets a sustainable peace is necessary. We all should be committed and dedicated for peace."

The Tamils in the Jaffna peninsula are of the opinion that there should be a fair dialogue, good understanding, commitment and dedication of either party and cessation of suspicions to achieve that most expected end - the sustainable peace.

Those who spoke to us did not like to disclose their identities. 

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