{"id":96788,"date":"2019-12-23T17:30:25","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T00:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96788"},"modified":"2019-12-23T17:30:25","modified_gmt":"2019-12-24T00:30:25","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-10b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/23\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-10b\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 10B"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

On May 17, 2009, the LTTE accepted defeat and\nformally surrendered to the army. These\nLTTE cadres had engaged in high treason. They had taken arms against a\nsovereign state. They had conducted a protracted civil war, lasting over 30\nyears. Such treason would lead to severe punishment in any country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sri Lanka too, the LTTE cadres were\nscrutinized and the hard core separated from the rest. The cadres were divided\ninto categories, such as leaders, staunch combatants, fetchers and carriers and\nso on. It was found that about 15-20% were considered hardline LTTE. This group\nwas taken into custody and put into prison. The rest of the LTTE cadres were\nrehabilitated. Stephen J Rapp,  US\nAmbassador at large, had told President Mahinda Rajapaksa  in 2014, \ninstead of rehabilitating terrorists you should have prosecuted them\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the\ngovernment of Sri Lanka preferred rehabilitation. 24 Protective Accommodation\nand Rehabilitation Centers (PARC) were established. 11, 600 LTTE cadres were\nheld in these camps,   there were  594 children and 11,406 adults, 9374 male ,\n2032 female.  <\/strong>There were\nseparate  PARC centers for males, females\nand children.  There were four centers\nfor females. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family could visit the\ninmates . Parents and children were \nre-united. Married ex- combatants re-joined their spouses. A dedicated\nPARC was established at Kaithady  to\ncater to the reunification of married male and female ex-combatants who were\nundergoing rehabilitation separately at different rehabilitation centres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mass marriage\nceremony was held on 13 June 2010 where 53 couples (ex – combatants) were\nformally given in marriage with the consent of their parents\/families. Parents\nand well-wishers attended the Ceremony. Clothes, bridal dressing, wedding\nphotographs were provided by the army. They were also given  Rs 5000 each. In the case of one\norphan with nowhere to go, army found him a partner and married him off. So he\nhad a family.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tigers who were university students were sent back to University of\nJaffna, as soon as possible. Others were permitted to study and sit for either\nthe O-Level or A-Level examinations. \nAccording to the media, 175 sat for the GCE O\/L examination in 2010 and\n38 passed in all the subjects. 361 sat the GCE A\/L examination and 222 passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primary Healthcare Centers were established at\neach PARC with regular  health screening,\nhealth education and hygiene promotion programmes were conducted regularly. A\nhealth education booklet was provided. The inmates were helped  to get documents  such as \nIDs and birth certificates. There was a comprehensive Counseling Programme\nto  correct the distorted thinking\nof  the \nformer LTTE cadres. There were cultural activities  as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government then launched a five-year strategic plan of\nrehabilitation, 2008- \u20132012.  It was\nInitiated, designed and implemented the Sri Lanka army.  It had six components:  Spiritual, Vocational, Educational, Sports,\nSocial\/ cultural and Psychological.  Much\nof the training was in the hands of the National Cadet Corps, many of whom were\nteachers by profession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using these components, the inmates were\nintroduced to meditation, spiritual development,   aesthetics and drama therapy, sports,\nlanguage training in Sinhala, Tamil and English,   leadership and personal development training,\ncounseling and mentorship, including a pre-reintegration mentorship program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drama and Music\nworkshops conducted with the assistance of specialists in the fields of Aesthetics, Drama and\nMusic, were very effective as\ntherapeutic programmes. Michael Roberts observed that \u2018In an imaginative leap \u2018\nthe  Rehabilitation Bureau had provided\ntraining in dance and drama for some of the former Tigers with the result that\na dancing troupe was created which was in great demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who were good in\nsports were given encouragement. 135 inmates were brought to the Ministry of\nSports in Colombo for testing and a few were selected for cricket, swimming and\nkarate. Three were trained in\nshooting. They had the potential to participate in international events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inmates were taken around Sri Lanka, to\nHambantota harbor, to Hakgala gardens in Nuwara Eliya. They were brought to\nColombo where they visited Parliament. They were shown the large number of\nHindu temples in the south. They were  \nshown the desire of the Sinhalese to live with Tamils peacefully and\nharmoniously.\nAt\nDeniyaya and   Narampanawa they were\ngiven lunch prepared by the villagers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vocational training, for males,  consisted of plumbing, aluminum work,  electrical wiring, leather work, tailoring,\ncarpentry, masonry, welding, driving, heavy machinery training (\nbulldozer)  three wheel driving, three\nwheel and two wheel repairs, vehicle tinker course, outboard motor engine\ncourse, coconut cultivation, mushroom cultivation, sugar cane cultivation,  use of chemical  fertilizers, , handicrafts  using Palmyra \nand paper work,  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For females there was bridal dressing, hair\ndressing, make up, nursery management, cookery , bakery , preschool training ,\nJuki machine operator training programme \n( given at Link Apparel, and Tri star apparel,) tailoring, sugar cane\ncultivation,  aquarium fish rearing, typing and  shorthand. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were IT related vocational training\nprogrammes in the fields of Agribusiness, Garment industry and Hotel industry.There was also training for Computer aided design and 3D Design. A fully\nequipped mini computer lab with 30 computers was set up in 2010, with a\ncapacity to train over 100 persons at one time. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some specific programmes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Learning\n Basic Principles of Entrepreneurship development and training at Pampemadu\n by Survivors Association for 40 Rehabilitants <\/li>
  • Palmyra\n leaves related Handicrafts creations training course at Poonthottam PARC\n facilitated by Survivors Association for 35 Rehabilitants <\/li>
  • Leather\n work training course from 28th February to 10th June 2011 at Thelippalai\n PARC\u2019<\/li>
  • IDM\n Computer Training Program at Maradamadu Tamil Primary, Technical College.<\/li>
  • 5th\n batch of David Peris motor mechanic training course <\/li>
  • Masonry\n related vocational training program at Dharmapuram PARC for 200\n beneficiaries for 15 days. Facilitated by National Apprentice and\n Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) and Sponsored by Holcim Cement<\/li>
  • Vocational training course held at Handwork\nVocational Training Centre, Payagala, facilitated by FCCISL for 60 attendees.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Michael Roberts said, what is praiseworthy in this policy has been the\nemphasis on vocational and technical education rather than the standard\nclerical streams.  Also the  involvement of mercantile companies in the\ntraining programme  such as Abans,\nHolcim, David Pieris Motor Company, Ventura, Virtusa, and the Federation of\nChambers of Commerce & Industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The LTTE cadres included 594 children aged\nbetween 12 and 18. These child soldiers were not put through the rehabilitation\nprogramme and instead were given catch-up education. We felt that it was\nbetter to put them through a learning programme instead of sending them for\nrehabilitation. Hence, we gave them a chance to learn languages, while those\nwho could not sit for their O\/L and A\/L exams were given the opportunity to\ncomplete their studies, said the Rehabilitation Bureau. They were given formal education for GCE O\/L and GCE\nA\/L examinations.  132 were selected f or\nUniversity in 2012. \u2018There\nwere scholarships\nfor higher studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With the help of \nthe Ministry of Sports and Public Recreation, Sri Lanka Cricket Board,\nInternational Cricket Council and the Cricket for Change (U.K based charity\norganization)  the Rehabilitation Bureau\npromoted Cricket for the child inmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Commissioner General of Rehabilitation told\nthe media in 2019 that around 12,191 ex-LTTE combatants had been rehabilitated\nand reintegrated into society. There\nis just one more ex-LTTE member left to be released. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He said initially we got around 10,000 male,\nfemale and child soldiers who had surrendered to the Security Forces and\nimmediately we started the rehabilitation programme\u2019.Others who were subsequently\narrested were sent for rehabilitation later. Of those who joined us initially\nin 2009, by around 2010, we had completed their rehabilitation and reintegrated\nthem into society. Thereafter, the others who were placed for rehabilitation by\nthe courts underwent the rehabilitation programme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The highest number of those rehabilitated and\nreintegrated into society were those from the Kilinochchi district. The\ngovernment had rehabilitated 3,242 ex-combatants from the Kilinochchi district,\n(2,624 males 618 females), 3,097 ex-combatants from the Jaffna district, (2452,\n647) 2,707 ex-combatants from Mullaitivu (2227, 477), 801 ex-combatants from\nMannar (637, 164) 1,145 ex-combatants from Vavuniya (944,201) have been\nrehabilitated and reintegrated so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In addition, 529 ex-combatants including 447\nmales and 83 females from the Trincomalee district, 83 from Ampara including 73\nmales and 10 females, 476 from Batticaloa district, including 415 males and 61\nfemales, 11 males from Polonnaruwa, five males from Badulla, nine males from\nColombo, two males from Galle, nine from Gampaha including eight males and one\nfemale, five from Kandy including four males and one female, two each from\nKurunegala and Matale, 14 from Nuwara Eliya, four from Puttalam and 44 others\nwho have no specific hometown were among those rehabilitated and reintegrated\namong the total 12,191. In total those rehabilitated were 9,878 males and 2,269\nfemales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The government had allocated Rs.100 million for\nthe Rehabilitation Bureau for rehabilitation in 2017, while Rs. 50 million was\nallocated for 2018. In accordance with international norms, statements and\nletters of consent were obtained from the inmates for follow-up of the\nrehabilitation programme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Commissioner General of Rehabilitation said\nthat the rehabilitation programme carried out was very successful and that none\nof the rehabilitated ex-LTTE members have got involved in any major anti-social\nor terrorist activity after being reintegrated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, some of the inmates did not agree. They said they cannot see\nhow they can earn a living by making Palmyra products or ornamental fish.\nRehabilitation was worse than prison said another. I was supposed o be trained\nin carpentry for 6 months but  I was\ngiven training only for 60 days and I was asked to sign to say it was  six months. \n(Continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    KAMALIKA PIERIS On May 17, 2009, the LTTE accepted defeat and formally surrendered to the army. These LTTE cadres had engaged in high treason. They had taken arms against a sovereign state. They had conducted a protracted civil war, lasting over 30 years. Such treason would lead to severe punishment in any country. In Sri […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96788\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}