Tigers’ desperation

The latest news coming from the uncleared areas of the Wanni is that the LTTE is trying to recruit even 70-year-olds to its rapidly depleting cadres.

This has been revealed when the Navy talked to a family which it rescued while fleeing the uncleared areas in a simple dinghy fitted with an outboard motor.

The LTTE has always been trying to recruit young children to its baby brigades and succeeding in most cases as the parents are usually threatened with bodily harm if they do not agree. Indeed, the same family has told the Navy how senior LTTE cadres tried to conscript the younger boys.

But this is the first time that we came across an instance where they had approached even elderly persons. It was known for quite some time that the LTTE has been giving weapons training to selected civilians.

These occurrences show the depths to which the LTTE has sunk in the face of the Security Forces onslaught. Hundreds of its well trained cadres have perished in battles and it is no easy task to replace them overnight.

An acute manpower problem is the LTTE’s worst nightmare and with many families fleeing to cleared areas, its base for recruitment is being adversely affected.

Indeed, there are many harrowing tales of harassment narrated by those who are lucky enough to escape the LTTE’s iron grip. The civilians are not just a source of recruitment, but also a ‘human shield’ for the LTTE, for it knows very well that the Armed Forces would not attack civilian concentrations under their Zero Civilian Casualty Policy.

Besides, the LTTE always mingles with the civilian population to escape detection by the Security Forces and the Police in cleared areas.

Only a complete defeat of the LTTE can emancipate these innocent people from the grip of terrorism and fear. The Forces are marching forward to complete that mission so that both children and elders in the Wanni can lead peaceful lives, freed from the shackles of LTTE terror.

Northern agriculture

The farmers in Jaffna have always been known for their dedication and ingenuity. Therefore it is not surprising that Jaffna farmers are busy sowing paddy with the onset of the North-East monsoon. This year, they will be cultivating 7,000 acres of paddy.

The farmers achieved similar success last year and there is no doubt that they would repeat the performance this year.

Indeed, several decades ago Jaffna was an agricultural paradise that supplied much of the country’s onions and other vegetables. The onset of the open economy with cheap imports and to some extent the conflict interrupted this flow of goods to the South from Jaffna.

Now there are signs that Jaffna’s agricultural revival is in full swing. With Jaffna farmers toiling hard even in the dry months, this should be not a Herculean task.

Vast tracts of agricultural lands in the East are now being used again, after its liberation from the LTTE last year. The Forces have also liberated famous rice growing areas such as the Mannar Rice Bowl, which will return to the picture when complete normality is established.

The Government recently began a programme to re-cultivate abandoned and fallow paddy lands. Jaffna, the East and all liberated areas in the North should be brought under this programme so that we could increase rice production.

The troops are also poised to open a land route to Jaffna apart from the A9, which will also be eventually re-opened. This will facilitate the easy transport of Northern produce to the South, thus providing a lifeline to Northern farmers.

Of course, the Government has been providing ample supplies of food and essential items to the Jaffna peninsula by sea. There is no shortage of food or other commodities in the Jaffna peninsula.

It is thus very important for the Government to develop the cooperatives sector in the North and the East to sell both local produce and the foods sent from the South at reasonable rates to the consumers. That will help develop the economy of these areas emerging out of the conflict.