{"id":97709,"date":"2020-01-13T17:00:08","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97709"},"modified":"2020-01-13T17:00:08","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T00:00:08","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-11-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/13\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-11-b\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 11 B"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The\ngovernment of Sri Lanka retained the military bases in north and east after the\nEelam war ended. This   did not please those who resented the Eelam\nvictory. Sri Lanka does not need such a big army, such a big military now that\nthe war is over, pro-Eelamists said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNHRC\nin Geneva demanded a ‘less intrusive and intimidating military presence’ in\nNorth and East. United\nNations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid bin Ra\u2019ad al Hussein\nvisited in 2017, and he also said that the size of the military forces in the\nNorth and the East could be reduced to a level that is less intrusive and intimidating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wikipedia said that there were 14 (sic) divisions in the North and East coming under\nsix operational headquarters and 2 independent Divisions and several\nindependent Brigades<\/a>. Jaffna\nSecurity Forces Headquarters had  3\ndivision, Wanni had 5 divisions, Kilinochchi had  3 \ndivision, Mullaitivu had 4 divisions.There are also two large naval commands9<\/sup> and at least two\nsignificant units\/bases of the air force, added Ceylon Telegraph. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A population\nroughly half the size of Colombo district or equivalent to a medium sized\nIndian city is effectively under the control of the staggering number of 15\narmy divisions in addition to other military units and forces. There is 1 security personnel for nearly\nevery 10 civilians, concluded Ceylon Telegraph. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\ncontinued military occupation in the north \u2013 some 120,000 soldiers across the\ncountry, a force bigger than the entire British army, in a country with a\npopulation of some 20 million people, said Channel 4 News. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\naccording to Major General Haturusinge, there had been around 26,000     army personnel in Jaffna peninsula in\nNovember 2009. By   July 2013, the    strength  \nhad been reduced to 13,200   and\nthe soldiers were largely confined to High Security Zones. The High Security\nZones had also shrunk in size. Earlier, they had around 13,680 acres, in 2013\nit was 6183 acres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who objected to the presence of the\nmilitary spoke of it as \u2018militarization\u2019. Friday Forum  spoke of the \u2018extraordinary militarization of\nour state over so many decades\u2019.    Friday\nForum  said many senior administrators\nand officials such as governors were selected from the military. There is also\nthe large allocation to defense in the budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heavy militarization of the province,\ndesigned to protect against the renewal of militancy is deepening the\nalienation and anger of the northern Tamils, said Gamini Keerawella. The\ncontinued presence of the military in places that they did not occupy before\nthe war concerns me,\u201d said another. They are on lands that belong to the people.\u201d The army occupies as much as 60,000 acres of\ncivilian land just in the Mullaitivu district, with massive camps that encroach\non the daily lives of civilians, said Gary Anandasangaree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 We want\ndemilitarization said Vigneswaran, The army is in full control of the area. Tamil People\u2019s Council demands that the\noccupying forces immediately leave the north and east and civilian\nadministration  be provided for the  north and east.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested\nparties are using the continued existence of a large military to manufacture\nclaims about the \u2018militarization \u2018of the country, Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in\n2012. Foreign governments\nvisit and ask for demilitarization of the north and east. That is  a matter for Sri Lanka alone. The foreign\nagencies always wanted to reduce the military in North and East. It  was   in\nthe Ceasefire Agreement too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s up to\nthe military and the leaders to decide what should be the strength of the army,\naccording to the threat perception that we have , continued  President Gotabaya in 2019. The numbers in the army would have gone down\nby now, since the government did not recruit soldiers at the same pace, in the\nlast 10 years. Normal attrition would \nalso have taken place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\nLanka  needs to sustain a robust military\npower. The present need, in 2019, is for intelligence and the intelligence\ncadres need to be increased. We may put more investment on training of\nintelligence gathering, and mechanisms of intelligence gathering. We have to\nchange according to the threat, concluded President Gotabaya . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil\nSeparatist Movement thought otherwise. The Tamil Separatist Movement  said it wants the army completely out of the\nnorth, replaced by an enhanced police presence. The army should withdraw from checkpoints\nand be replaced by the police.  Police\nmust take up the challenge of ensuring the people\u2019s security as a civilian\nforce, said Jehan Perera. If the government wishes to obtain the gratitude of\nthe Tamils for ending the war and restoring peace, they should restore normal civilian traffic through\nOmanthai. The Omanthai checkpoint\nshould have gone long ago. So should the military form the north,  said  pro-Eelamists. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\noutside of the larger towns the police are in fact conspicuous by their\nabsence, at least in the Vanni. I did not spot any significant police presence,\nnot a single police station but just one police outpost, in two days of\njourneying through parts of the rural heartland of the Vanni earlier this year\nbut instead saw large army camps, ranging from divisional and brigade\nheadquarters, to medium and small camps and numerous army outposts and\ncheckpoints, said a journalist in 2012. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the\nvictory, the army  engaged in community\nservice. They did so with great enthusiasm. The security forces in the Vanni\nwere very busy, reported observers, making roads, building schools and\ncommunity centres, organising medical camps, community events and gatherings. Security forces repaired furniture in\nschools and   donated blood. They  renovated Bakmeewewa and Werabanda wewa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These activities\nwere welcomed. But other activities were not. Here are two examples. Civil\nDefence Force  had taken most of the\npre-schools in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu\ndistricts” under its preview.\n CDF started\ntraining pre-school teachers  and paid\nthe salaries of the staff in those schools”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2018, there\nwere 261 pre-schools funder the CDF and over\n58,146 children.\nThe pre-school teachers, who got less than Rs. 3,000 monthly before, are now\ngetting a salary of Rs. 32,000.  School principals now say that the education\nstandard of grade one students has improved as they are given a good pre-school\neducation in the CDF run pre-schools The CDF is conducting tuition and extra\nclasses for children in grade one to 10, reported the CDF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil Separatist Movement did not  agree. Wigneswaran complained to the EU HR\ninspection team that the Sri Lanka army was running hundreds of schools in north\nincluding 344 primary schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TNA charged\nthat “The army logo has been printed on the school uniforms of\nkindergarten children in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts attending\npre-schools maintained by the Civil Defence Force. Even kindergarten children\nare paraded as army children while other children wear normal dress. A fee is\ncharged from the parents for the uniforms of the students studying in those\nschools and the army logo is printed on those uniforms. Why cannot the\nEducation Ministry maintain preschools in those areas like the way it does in\nother districts. When asked\nwhether they could  produce evidence that\nthe army logo was printed on the school uniforms, TNA said \u2018yes\u2019?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP said that in Kilinochchi there is no\nelectricity in its 52 schools and there is a semi -military administration.\nCannot hold even a drama competition in school without getting permission from\nthe military administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The  second complaint was that Army maintains hair\ndressing saloons in Mullaitivu. While other saloons charge 100 rupees per a\nhaircut the army saloons charge only Rs. 35. Their saloons are open on Sundays\nand on public holidays. How can the saloon owners and barbers in the area\ncompete with them? They lose business. Why are the war hit areas still\ncompelled to live under such conditions, asked the Tamil Separatist Movement .”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday Forum\nobserved that in addition to the extensive land held by the military, its\ninroad into the local economy and widespread surveillance apparatuses  troubled the local population. The military\nhad gone into branches of government which should be under civil\nadministration, observed Gamini Keerawella. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military\nis  used to maintain civil law and order.\nIt is  also carrying out  policing functions, he said.  Security forces intervened in the day to day\ncivilian administration, the Tamil Separatist Movement  complained.  \nVery little, happens without the \npermission of the army, reported Colombo Telegraph.  The public object to the militarization and\nthe surveillance, Tamil People\u2019s Council said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the\nveneer of benevolence, not to mention the cultivated grace and charm exuded by\nthe senior officers, is the constant exercise of their absolute power, said  <\/em>BBC reporter Charles Haviland.At checkpoints and outposts, vehicles \nslow down, even without a hint of a signal  he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security\nforces are entitled to keep an eye on meetings but the psychological climate is\nsuch that even this information gathering can create unease in a population\nthat continues to live in the memory of the war that has     so cruelly shattered their lives, said\nJehan Perera. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former LTTE\ncadres  complained in 2019  to US human rights activist Cristina James\nthat they are under constant surveillance by the military though they have\nundergone rehabilitation. People were still suspicious of them due to the military\nconstantly watching their movements. They said they had also complained to the\nUnited Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) about  this.  They also claimed that military\ninterference has hampered their political activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military\npresence in the north becomes militarization, \nnot only because of its overwhelming presence and its imprint on the\neveryday life of people but also because the military is  engaged in other activities, said critics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military\nhas infiltrated into non-military spheres.It has infiltrated trade, city planning and local administration. It is\nengaged in agricultural and commercial activities. However, discussions with\nsenior army officials as well as the other ranks in Vanni show that they really\ndo take their development mission\u201d seriously, reported a researcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military is doing everything\u201d agreed the Army\nCommander in an interview in 2013. They are running cafes, building roads,\nbridges, houses and stadium, the engineering services do tanks and canal\nrenovation.  Certain battalions have\ntaken over and are cultivating government agricultural land. We have\nestablished our own farms.   Is this\nmilitarization? It is not, said the Army Commander. We are saving the\ngovernment money in terms of labour costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of the army\u2019s commercial activities.\nArmy runs a tile factory and brick factory. Tile factory was a joint venture\nwith Ceylon Ceramic Corporation. Army had been asked to fill in due to shortage\nof labour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army took\nover the Kankasanturai rest house, and in 2010 turned it into Thal Sevana, a\nresort-type hotel owned and managed by the Army.  In 2019, TNA was trying to stop the army from\nacquiring lands adjacent to \u2018Thal Sevana\u2019 for further expansion.  (Continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The government of Sri Lanka retained the military bases in north and east after the Eelam war ended. This   did not please those who resented the Eelam victory. Sri Lanka does not need such a big army, such a big military now that the war is over, pro-Eelamists said. UNHRC in Geneva demanded […]<\/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-97709","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\/97709","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=97709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}