A different 'Battle of the North'

YALDEVI DAYS: Following the commitments made by the Government delegation and the LTTE in Geneva to uphold the Ceasefire Agreement, Jaffna is getting ready for another tussle known as the `Battle of the North,'-the centenary cricket encounter on 9th, 10th and 11th, March between St John's College, Jaffna and Jaffna Central College - foremost Christian institutions which not only produced eminent personalities in the field of education but also sportsmen of the calibre of Nagalingam Edirweerasingam, the winner of the Asian Gold in high jump for Sri Lanka in a bygone era.

Edirweerasingam being a Centralite, a large number of sportsmen produced by Jaffna St. John's and Jaffna Central had excelled even in the Armed Forces and Police during the good old `Yaldevi' days in the country.

As now the majestic Jaffna railway station remains dilapidated with the scars of two decades of war and also with no trace of the tracks of the locomotives which were running between Colombo Fort and Kankesanthurai in the Northern tip, the question remains who will bring back the pleasantries of the railway days between the North and the South again?

The entire North and East were on the brink of war until the talks on CFA in Geneva last month. Old Boys associations of St. John's and Central, both locally as well as abroad, had worked out elaborate plans to celebrate the centenary of the 'Battle of the North'. But those plans had to be shelved due to the threat of war in the North and East.

However both leading colleges, whatever the shortcomings in celebrating the centenary are determined to go ahead with the `big match' at the Jaffna Central College grounds where the match is played annually.

The Jaffna Central ground which is situated in the picturesque backdrop of the Jaffna Public library, the tall Victoria clock tower and the old Dutch fort, remains a breeding field of sports activities in the Jaffna Peninsula.

Not only the Jaffna schools even schools from outstations and teams from abroad came for friendly matches and have played at the Jaffna Central grounds as it is situated in the heart of Jaffna.

It was about thirty years ago that Thomian and later Sri Lankan batting sensation, Duleep Mendis, played at the Jaffna Central grounds representing a Colombo schools team and got out for the first ball, bowled by Bawasingh of Kokuvil Hindu College who was the opening bowler for the Jaffna schools team.

It was in the early eighties when Tamil militancy was in its early stages Major General Lyle Balthazaar who had succeeded General Cyril Ranatunge as the Jaffna Commander, at his first meeting with the press at the Gurunagar army detachment in Jaffna, remembered his younger days as a captain participating on behalf of the Army at the Jaffna public athletic meet. He went on to say that the record created by him in shot putt remained unbroken in Jaffna.

So now with the senseless war devastating the links enjoyed by the people in various parts of the island, the CFA remains the only hope to get rid of the war completely in the island and to settle the differences politically.

The talks in Geneva were remarkable in many ways as they were a breakthrough with regard to President Mahinda Rajapakse's first step towards dealing with the LTTE.

On the other hand, the LTTE had also responded positively towards stabilising the CFA and agreeing for future talks. So it would be extremely idiotic to have an autopsy on the Geneva talks and to keep on arguing on what was amended and what was not.

It was important to note that the CFA had stopped an all out war for the past four years and had paved way for some sort of hope in finding a solution to the North - East politically.

The people in the North and East feel that they could live peacefully instead of running into the trenches to take cover from firings from the artillery and the aerial bombings.

The civilians in the South say that they could move freely without the fear of suicide cadres and vehicles packed with explosives destroying lives and properties in the South.

As the world praises President Mahinda Rajapakse for his bold and sincere initiatives in establishing peace in the country it is important at this juncture to strengthen his hands in reaching an overall solution to the grave ethnic crisis.

It was when the British first laid the railway tracks in the hill country to generate the tea industry, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan insisted on establishing a railway to the North.

But some of his colleagues at that time laughed at him saying that the railway to the North was somewhat like, laying rails to the moon.

However, at present with no trace of trains running to Jaffna, bridging North-South relations itself remains a task somewhat like laying a path way to moon.