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Preliminary report on social survey of people's consciousness regarding current conditions in Jaffna.The survey was organized by Dr. Yoshiko Ashiwa, Professor of Anthropology, Hitotsubashi University in Japan, with the collaboration of Dr. N. Shanmugalingam, Chair of the Department of Sociology and Political Science, University of Jaffna and Dr. Jehan Perera, Director of Media and Research, National Peace Council of Sri Lanka. The statistical processing of the survey results was handled by Social Indicator.

This social survey was conducted in August 2003 with the aim of understanding people's consciousness of the past, current and future situation concerning Jaffna. We present below the preliminary summary report of our findings. This survey follows a 2002 survey conducted in Trincomalee, Kamburupitiya and Bandarawela, the summary results of which were published in Sinhala, Tamil and English newspapers. This year our focus is on Jaffna.

We consider it significant to understand what people think and to share this understanding with the people, which is a first step to construct a firm base of a harmonious society. The survey methodology is a combination of statistical and ethnographic research. A total of 307 questionnaires were administered at random within six selected areas in the Jaffna town area. The six areas were selected with a view to maximise the representativeness of the survey respondents in Jaffna.

The areas are: Gurunagar, Pasaitoor and Navanthurai (consisting mainly of Catholic fishermen); Columbuthurai and Ariyalai (mostly lower-middle class and facing problems of high security zones); Chundikuli (middle and upper-middle class with Christian mission school influence); Nallur and Kantharmadam (middle and upper-middle class who are predominantly Hindu); New Mosque (mostly displaced persons from other areas and resettled Muslims); Station and Bazaar (mixed population).

In addition to obtaining responses from the structured questionnaires, the supervisory team undertook interviews with selected local leaders and ordinary people in Jaffna to obtain a contextual understanding of the situation prevailing in the town. These interviews constitute supplementary ethnographic data to help analyse and interpret the statistical results of the survey.

Special conditions of the survey

The special context in which the survey was undertaken needs to be mentioned. Face-to-face interviews based on a questionnaire were conducted by skilled team of students from the Department of Sociology and Political Science, University of Jaffna. However Jaffna is an area that has been traumatized by of many years of war and militarization. Even during the present ceasefire, Jaffna remains a highly militarised and contested arena of political struggle with other constraints.

Therefore, we have to take into account that for some questions, people are constrained in their willingness to express their opinions to outsiders and to student researchers.

As mentioned above the survey was limited to six areas of Jaffna town that were selected to ensure representation of different social and economic groups. As it was not carried out throughout the entire Jaffna area, the results should not be taken to represent the breakdown of views of the larger population inhabiting Jaffna peninsula, especially the agrarian based social groups.

However, we believe that the responses indicate the views and mood of the residents of Jaffna town. In addition, our interpretation of the results reflects an understanding of the social and cultural context, including the research conditions and its possible limitations. This is the advantage of complementary qualitative ethnographic understandings in the conduct of a statistical survey.

Survey topics

A summary account of the attitudes and experiences of the survey respondents is given below while a more detailed and comprehensive report is currently being compiled and will be available later. This summary focused on three topics: social and cultural issues; economic and livelihood needs; and political developments.

1) Social and Cultural Issues

a) Displacement

The traumatic experiences of displacement loomed large in the answers of respondents. Nearly all (97 percent) had been displaced at one time or another, especially in 1995 when practically all had been evacuated from the town with only a few hours notice. The most common figure given for the number of times they had been displaced was three to four and the time spent in displacement was about two years on average.

Only one in five respondents said that their family had remained intact. Over one-fourth of the respondents had lost a relative. Nearly 60 percent said that at least half of their relatives and friends had left Jaffna. This alone indicates the very high human cost of the war to Jaffna residents both mentally and physically. When asked what was the saddest time of their lives, most framed their answers in terms of displacement, and the loss of their homes and breaking up of their families.

This deep sense of loss of home, goods, family, friends, personal history and time by all respondents is significant.

b) Rooted in Jaffna

Despite the difficulties they have undergone, 86 percent of the respondents have no plan to leave Jaffna. Less than 2 percent attributed this rootedness to feeling safe in Jaffna. The majority of 64 percent said it was because their homes were in Jaffna and a further 10 percent said they had no other place to go to. When asked whether they would move away from Jaffna if they had an opportunity, 14 percent would move abroad and 9 percent to some other part of the country. But 75 percent would opt to stay on in Jaffna.

This result indicates that the great majority of people desire to remain in Jaffna regardless of changes in the political situation. This majority of people who did not leave Jaffna in the past, and will not leave in the near future can provide a solid base on which a strong civil society can once again be built.

c) Multiple Identities

The affinity of respondents to Jaffna was also manifested in personal identity. When offered a range of possible identities, and asked to rank their top five choices, the largest number (25 percent) selected Jaffna Tamil identity as their first choice. Other important identities that were given first place ratings in sizeable numbers were Tamil, Sri Lankan Tamil and Sri Lankan in that order. Religious identity was generally weaker, though Christians tended to identify themselves more with their religion than Hindus.

The Jaffna Tamil identity was most commonly given as the first or second most important identity, and more rarely as the fourth or fifth. This means that for the holder of Jaffna Tamil identity, it should be first or second, and never a lower priority. However, in the case of Sri Lankan identity, although the percentage for each ranking is relatively small, it always ranged between 11 or 15 percent, in all top five choice categories.

d) Attitude towards Sinhalese and Muslims

Of the respondents 46 percent felt that the Sinhalese were people who had harmed them, while 30 percent disagreed with this assessment. However, significantly 50 percent said that the Sinhalese people have suffered like them, and more respondents, 83 percent, agreed with the statement that Sinhalese have suffered, but less than them. Also, closer to half the respondents (47 percent) said that the Sinhalese were people whom they could live with, as against the somewhat smaller number (37 percent) of people who said that they did not wish to live with the Sinhalese people.

Among the age cohort of 31 to 40 year-olds, a majority of 55 percent said they could not live together with the Sinhalese. This is understandable because this is the group that experienced war throughout their entire youth. However, among the age cohort of 21 to 30 year-olds, 58 percent agreed that they can live with Sinhalese people. They were the most exposed to the suffering of direct harassment as a result of the war due to their youth. It is a positive sign that of this age cohort, which is the major driving generation with which to construct a harmonious society, more than half had an idea of living with Sinhalese.

There was also considerable optimism among the respondents about the attitude of Sinhalese people towards the peace process. About 69 percent of respondents felt that most of the Sinhalese supported the peace process, while only 22 percent felt they would support a new war. Likewise only 39 percent felt that the Sinhalese people wished to deny the Tamil people their rights. This is in contrast to their opinion of the Sinhalese political leadership, where the dominant sentiment was that the Sinhalese leadership did not wish to share power with the Tamils.

With regard to respondents' attitudes towards Muslims, a majority of 57 percent said they could live with the Muslims while a minority of 28 percent said they did not wish to live with them.

Also, even with the severe experiences of destruction by bombing and shelling, and disconnection from the South, 37 percent of survey respondents still have close friends who belong to different ethnic groups; among them, 44 percent have Sinhalese close friend(s), 23 percent have Muslim close friend(s) and 19 percent have friends from both ethnic groups. Interestingly, one out of six can speak some Sinhala, but 90 percent consider English the most important language to learn.

2. Economic and developmental issues

a) General Conditions

After the ceasefire and the restoration of transportation opportunities to Jaffna there is an appearance of revival in the town. Three-fourths of those surveyed confirmed that general living conditions have improved. The areas of most significant improvement were identified as the availability of consumer goods and such basic infrastructure as communication, electricity and public transport with over 70 percent concurring in this view. However, deterioration was identified in the cost of living (50 percent) and in cultural norms and ethics (63 percent).

b) Rehabilitation Programmes

With regard to rehabilitation work in Jaffna, more than two-thirds of respondents felt that government programmes had commenced but were very slow. There was greater satisfaction with the appropriateness of development programmes carried out by international NGOs as compared with their local counterparts. This may be due to the greater resources of international NGOs to promote activities that have an impact and are more sustainable.

Regarding the rehabilitation programme by international and local NGOs, the issue of High Security Zones would be necessarily involved in this response as they prevent a considerable proportion of people from returning to their homes.

More than half the respondents (61 percent) believed that the Tokyo donors conference would help the north east, but over a third (36 percent) said it would not. Many doubted that the government would permit the funds raised to actually come to the north east.

c) Cultural Activities

Communication facilities show the highest percentage (77 percent) of improvement. Among possible items of improvement, the largest number of respondents (77 percent) chose communication facilities and preferred newspapers for information on domestic issues, radio for international issues, and TV for amusement. However the newspaper is still the top source of information in general among the three media. A large number of respondents (70 percent) watch video, mostly Indian Tamil movies. They especially like to watch love and family stories. This is not only due to the link to mass culture in India, but also to the poor reception and lack of original Tamil programmes in Sri Lankan TV.

Nearly 80 percent of respondents think that religious activities have improved. Close to half the respondents have made a pilgrimage since the ceasefire, and expect to visit many other places including Kataragama, Madhu, and religious sites in South India, etc.

This also indicates the availability of public transportation due to the opening of the A9 highway. Although even during the war, major religious festivals, such as those as at Nallur Kovil, were performed with little discontinuity, the number of performances and the number of community-based festivals at night with a festive mood have increased. However, 39 percent think cultural norms and ethics are getting worse, and 23 percent think that they are very bad. We observed the same kind of comments from elementary school teachers that students are not as obedient as they were before.

3. Political issues

a) Ceasefire Agreement

There was virtual unanimity among survey respondents in support of the ceasefire, with 98 percent condoning it. A significant majority of over 60 percent also believed that the ceasefire would continue until a lasting political settlement was reached. However, it is important to note that a substantial proportion of 40 percent were pessimistic and believed that the war would start again soon.

b) Sustaining Peace

At the time of the survey, the peace talks had been stalled for over three months due to the LTTE's insistence on having an interim administration and the government's failure to propose one that satisfied the LTTE.

To be continued

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