01/19/2006
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Trincomalee. Trincomalee -the “city of three hills” is the meaning in Tamil- is situated on
the arms of a long natural bay; it is the headquarters of the Sinhalese Navy and
a political/military objective of the so-called “Tamil Tigers” fighting for an
independent Tamil homeland (Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam, LTTE). In fact,
the group exerts some control over the population and their personal lives, influencing
their behavior and their choices. According to some local interviewees, the Tamil
Tigers use some of the beaches for night landings, and it is widely known that
some of the neighboring villages support them. Military incursions and preventive
detentions are frequent here.
Statue of Discord. The city has areas that are majority Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese, but they are
not strictly defined, and households of different allegiance are scattered, “leopard-spot”
fashion, throughout the city, rather than being clustered in distinctive sectors. Tensions re-emerged after a huge statue of the Buddha was installed in the fish
market district of downtown. The statue was erected after dark on the night of
May 16, 2005, generating much surprise and anger the next morning.
A sequence of violence. After months of tension and further incidents, at the beginning of December several
homicides were verified in Trincomalee, committed by unknown persons targeting
members of the Tamil party. In mid December other fights were reported at Jaffna,
this time between the armed forces and a group of about 300 students, probably
supported by the LTTE. On December 25 another terrible murder in Batticaloa:
someone killed Joseph Pararajasingham, member of the Tamil National Alliance. Rumor attributed the assassination directly to the LTTE, which more than once
in the past has used execution to disencumber itself of inconvenient Tamils. The Tigers, nevertheless, denied any responsibility and proclaimed another general
strike throughout all of the northeastern provinces, beginning December 27. They
received strong support in Trincomalee, initiating another total lockdown with
complete participation of the populace: until nightfall no one moved, no one on
foot or on a bicycle, and fortunately no incidents were reported.
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The tension in Trincomalee, in northeast Sri Lanka
Written for PeaceReporter by
Simone Costa
Simone Costa
It has been more than a year since the tsunami struck the coast of Sri Lanka,
leaving 30 thousand dead and thousands displaced. Many people still live in temporary
shelters, waiting for their chance to claim one of the houses that various international
NGOs are building. The situation is difficult and uncomfortable, and the solidarity
among Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims is by now a far-off echo. The conflict, suspended
by a cease-fire accord—never completely observed—has slowly regained strength,
developing into a crescendo of low-intensity tensions and disagreements. The
areas involved are once again the northeastern provinces, with zones controlled
by the rebel Tamil Tigers.
Trincomalee. Trincomalee -the “city of three hills” is the meaning in Tamil- is situated on
the arms of a long natural bay; it is the headquarters of the Sinhalese Navy and
a political/military objective of the so-called “Tamil Tigers” fighting for an
independent Tamil homeland (Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam, LTTE). In fact,
the group exerts some control over the population and their personal lives, influencing
their behavior and their choices. According to some local interviewees, the Tamil
Tigers use some of the beaches for night landings, and it is widely known that
some of the neighboring villages support them. Military incursions and preventive
detentions are frequent here.Statue of Discord. The city has areas that are majority Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese, but they are
not strictly defined, and households of different allegiance are scattered, “leopard-spot”
fashion, throughout the city, rather than being clustered in distinctive sectors. Tensions re-emerged after a huge statue of the Buddha was installed in the fish
market district of downtown. The statue was erected after dark on the night of
May 16, 2005, generating much surprise and anger the next morning.The sculpture was part of a set of Buddha statues sent as a gift from Japan to
Sri Lanka after the tidal wave. The next day, in response to what was interpreted
as a clear provocation on the part of the Sinhalese Buddhists against the Tamil
Hindus, a general strike was announced. Schools, offices and shops remained closed. During the night a grenade was launched in the vicinity of the plaza with the
installation. The day after that, there were several skirmishes, with bombs thrown
among the different factions. A bomb killed one Sinhalese in his store near the
railroad station. In the afternoon, a Tamil was attacked by a group of Sinhalese
wielding machetes: according to some sources he was killed, but others maintain
he was wounded but survived. Other people were wounded in a gun battle downtown. Throughout, the armed forces made no intervention.
The police declared a curfew throughout the city from 6:00 p.m. to 7:a.m., while
more explosions--but no more victims—have been reported in other parts of the
city. Succeeding days saw a continuation of attacks and tense moments. The hartal (general strike) continued sporadically until the third of June. During this
time, the demonstrations for and against the statue persisted. The decision to
remove it could not be carried out because only Tamils were present in court,
while the Sinhalese residents exercised their right not to appear. On May 21
there was an extraordinary meeting between representatives the government and
the naval garrison of Trincomalee, which attempted to resolve the situation, but
in vain. For days the city remained under martial law, with soldiers deployed
in small groups every 150 meters or so. The sudden increase in military checkpoints
caused constant blockage and inconvenience for people trying to move around the
city and its environs. The situation was aggravated by the fact that most of
the Sinhalese soldiers do not speak either Tamil or English and therefore cannot
communicate with the greater part of the population.
A sequence of violence. After months of tension and further incidents, at the beginning of December several
homicides were verified in Trincomalee, committed by unknown persons targeting
members of the Tamil party. In mid December other fights were reported at Jaffna,
this time between the armed forces and a group of about 300 students, probably
supported by the LTTE. On December 25 another terrible murder in Batticaloa:
someone killed Joseph Pararajasingham, member of the Tamil National Alliance. Rumor attributed the assassination directly to the LTTE, which more than once
in the past has used execution to disencumber itself of inconvenient Tamils. The Tigers, nevertheless, denied any responsibility and proclaimed another general
strike throughout all of the northeastern provinces, beginning December 27. They
received strong support in Trincomalee, initiating another total lockdown with
complete participation of the populace: until nightfall no one moved, no one on
foot or on a bicycle, and fortunately no incidents were reported.The situation returned to normal by January 2, 2006, when one of the bloodiest
events of the year took place. Following the launch of a grenade against a check
point, army special forces arrested seven youths on a beach, five of whom they
killed right there. This brutal execution raised the hackles of the population,
who carried out night time attacks against military checkpoints and brief shoot-outs
for the next few days. Two days later a navy vessel exploded in the bay of Trincomalee;
thirteen persons lost their lives and two remain missing. Official sources reported
it as a suicide attack and the work of the rebels. The episode was similar to
a later one, on January 12, when nine sailors were killed and another seven wounded
in an attack launched by presumed guerrillas in the north of the country. Trincomalee
today lives in uncertainty: It is not only that individuals’ lives are at risk,
but the prolonged strike has had a deep impact on the local economy of day laborers
and fishermen who cannot go out to sea or are restricted to small areas of navigation.
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