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| Saturday, 15 November 2003 |
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Kilinochchi residents yearn for peace KILINOCHCHI, Friday (Reuters) - When Srijeeva returned to the war-scarred northern Sri Lankan town of Kilinochchi last year after 10 years away, there was not much to go back to. "There were no buildings. Everything had been destroyed by the war and there was a horrible smell all around," he said of his arrival on that hot summer day. Srijeeva, a local Tamil who had fled the vicious fighting between the LTTE and Government troops, came home after a Norway-brokered ceasefire. He said he was not ready for what he saw. "Of course my house was blown up. There had been a military bunker on my land and I found human bones here. Everything was rotting in the heat. I can't forget the sight or the smell." Since then, Kilinochchi, the de facto capital of the LTTE, has come a long way. The opening of the main road connecting Sri Lanka's North and South has helped, allowing people free movement and greater access to goods. Shops and restaurants now line the highway, which got its nickname from heavy fighting between the Tigers and Government troops. New buildings are going up, many to house various LTTE offices, and non-governmental organisations are working with civilians maimed by years of war. The town even has electricity during the day, although by night most live in the dark. The LTTE have their political offices in Kilinochchi and armed rebels in battle fatigues can be seen moving around. They have also run a police force, bank and courts for the past decade. A spanking new restaurant offers "Fride prawns" and "Vegetable fride rice" but liquor and cigarettes are out. Another hotel has a well-stocked bar and a huge fountain in memory of Sea Tigers killed in the 20-year war. But while a new town is springing up along the highway, just a mile from the road there is rampant poverty and unease, even fear. Father Amrutnathan Devasahayam, the priest at St. Theresa's Church in Kilinochchi, said people were also worried about the peace process. "There was panic here," he said after President Chandrika Kumaratunga removed three ministers and suspended Parliament last week. Devasahayam said most people in the area were very poor and did not want the fighting to erupt again. "I still live in a tent under the mango tree on my field," said Srijeeva, who earlier lived in Colombo, but now works 14 hours a day at a Kilinochchi restaurant to earn enough to feed his family of four. The lifestyle is the same for most of the tens of thousands who flocked back to Kilinochchi from the nearby jungles where they fled in 1996 as the army wrested control of the town. In 1998, the LTTE launched a massive raid on the Sri Lankan Army garrison to recapture it. "There was nobody here then. Kilinochchi's 65,000 people had run into the jungles. Only the army was here," said Thirunavukkrasu Rasanayagan, the top Sri Lankan government official for Kilinochchi district. He said life was difficult. "Health and education facilities are still a problem. We have only three doctors," he said, adding that Kilinochchi's population had risen sharply to 149,000 since the ceasefire. The Kilinochchi Central College, which has about 1,500 students, is a stark reminder of what war can do to children. The building is a bombed shell with no walls, no windows and no doors, where students grapple with maths and languages. "There were 1,500 landmines in the playing field when we returned," said the principal, Veerakarthy Rajakulasingham. |
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