| Tamil people are treated worse than slaves by the Sri Lanka military–Jaffna MPs |
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“Jaffna people are treated by the Sri Lanka military worse than slaves, in the most humiliating and terrifying style”, said the Jaffna Members of Parliament who are in touch with their electorate people by phone. They said they are unable to even visit their electorate due to death threats against them. These MPs described the conditions facing their people as follows.
Despite no export to outside due to the closure of the A9 highway, fish is very expensive in Jaffna due to the severe restriction on fishing imposed by the Sri Lankan Navy. Fish is the most common daily food of the Jaffna people. The extreme restrictions on fishing have had a double edged effect of increasing the price of fish beyond the means of the majority of the people and severely restricting the livelihood of the fishing families. The phenomenon of “Convoy time” has become one that pervades the life of the entire people of the peninsula. This is the time when Sri Lanka military vehicles are in transit from one location to another. All passing traffic on a long road will be halted for one to two hours until the convoys have completed their use of the long road. The passage of the military takes precedence over critically ill patients and all other urgent civilian affairs Although in theory the all night curfew starts at 9.00pm, all activities including public and private bus service ends around 3.30pm in Jaffna and the town goes to sleep. This is a self imposed curfew time by the people due to fear of the military and its paramilitary groups that pervades the life of the people. Even at home people have no peace. Theft has become epidemic. Armed men arrive at people’s door during curfew hours and demand that the door be opened. There is no question of refusing to open. These intruders will remove anything they wish from the house. People know that this is going on with the full co-operation of the Sri Lanka military. Perhaps it is these same EPDP men, who will arrive with police escort to businesses and offices during the day, expect to be treated like VIPs. The people of Jaffna also suffer many indirect consequences of this life of fear. They have sacrificed their active and rich cultural life by living only to serve the Sri Lanka military. Sports and cultural life in Jaffna is down to the minimum, indeed one could say that it is almost nil. Jaffna used to be a hive of dance and music performances. This has all come to a halt. Even inter-school cricket matches that would stir up the entire town is now subdued and are played quietly inside schools. Education of their children, the primary goal of most families is also suffering. One aspect of this is the lack of school text books. These have not been provided for this year. Already a third of the school year is over. The crowning of this life of fear is the plight of the people who have been injured in assaults by the Sri Lanka military forces. People with their hands and limbs broken due to beating by the Sri Lanka military attend the hospital but are too scared to record the cause of their injury. Making no complaints it seems is the best system to follow in Jaffna. |
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