Re-awakening Jaffna

There had been a heavy influx of visitors to Jaffna this year according to an official web of the Government. This included not only New Year revellers and general holidaymakers but also the trade and business community. It was also reported that the beneficiaries of this heavy influx to the North were not merely the businessmen and traders of Jaffna but also the ordinary dwellers who made handsome profits by renting out their abodes to visitors.

The school vacation also saw many parents opting for holidaying in Jaffna and it is certain that this will reach a peak during the Sinhala New Year festival in April as in the previous year. Today buses ply to Jaffna both from Colombo and the provinces with bus operators even clashing among themselves for route permits to operate their buses to the North.

All this indicates the sea change that is sweeping across the Jaffna peninsula following the end to the war. The Jaffna of old is certainly returning to assert itself. Slowly but steadily it is awakening from the long years of slumber and inactivity to become integrated to the national mainstream. This augurs well for the future and in the nation-building task.

There are also reports of rebuilding and reconstruction going on at a frantic pace. Damaged roads and other infrastructure are being relaid. Hotels and Inns are coming up almost overnight to cater to the massive demand of both local and foreign tourists. The ferry services that were part and parcel of the Northern landscape too are being resumed while new business establishments, commercial enterprises, banks etc are being set up at a rapid pace as if to catch up with the lost years.

Who could have imagined such a turn around given the long drawn out nature of the conflict that cut off the North from the rest of the country for 30 long years. The North was a no go zone to the people of the South. Instead of people travelling to and fro it was the military trucks and armoured vehicles that roared on the broken dusty terrain.

However, today Jaffna and the North in general is not only emerging from the ashes fast but is also contributing to the national economy in no small measure.

Not only that, this ever increasing influx of visitors from the South is also helping build bridges between the estranged communities accelerating the process of national reconciliation. One must not forget that an entire generation from both sides have had no personal contact and this regular inflow from the South no doubt will help create fresh awareness among them contributing to developing an understanding and a fresh bonding all of which is certain to expedite the healing process.

Ideally we should hark back to the days of the past when Jaffna hospitality was a by word among people of the South. That was the era when a journey to Jaffna by the Yal Devi was a much looked forward to excursion. People of the South were well received by their Northern brethren in their traditional style. Not only that both sides imbibed from their respective customs which also catalysed national unity.

The Government should play a more pro-active role in promoting similar contact by enhancing the facilities and attractions in the North to draw in more visitors from the South. There should also be more people to people contact sponsored by the state to promote understanding and camaraderie.

There is a need to replicate development in the South in the North as well if the people of the North are to be convinced that they are being treated equally. This should not be economic development alone but also in other spheres of activity. A proposal made some time ago to build an international cricket stadium in the North should be pursued with in all earnest. What is important is to ensure that the Northerner does not feel alienated. It is such discriminatory policies in the past that gave rise to separatism.

The private sector too could do much to help redevelop the North not just in a material sense but also through other means by implementing projects to captivate the minds of the youth. Today these private firms sponsor various sports and social events in the Southern parts.

They should be persuaded to get more involved in sponsoring similar events particularly that which would interest youth of the North so that they would not feel excluded from the general scheme of things. Such private firms should be provided with incentives for any undertaking they may sponsor in the North.

The Government which is now embarked on a massive development drive in the North may not be able to pay attention to all aspects of its peoples’ interest. What is therefore needed is a joint effort to cater to all aspects of the lives of these people to make them happy and contended after long years of anguish and misery.