Recent activities shows that, Sri Lanka is moving to dictatorship. There is a dangerous situation developing. The first is, wherever the people try to live, the military camps there. It is there on each street corner and it is very difficult to their development and people cant do anything with out military intervention. Further than this, in some areas the military captured lands from civilian people claiming that it was LTTE’s property.
People cant prove that they belonged to themselves. Military captured so many of those houses and lands. Take Kilinochi township, they have captured most of the shops. We don’t know really whether the military does not know the fact that it is not LTTE’s property or they are simply acting. We have to assume that they are acting.
Yes, LTTE infact forced people and took houses and mostly they did not pay to the owners of the houses. They paid some of them according to the mood and in some places they give a little bit of money in return. I say for sure that the LTTE did not buy the houses from the people and did not pay what is to be paid. Due to fear the people evacuated the house and left that houses to ltte. Now the military took control of the houses and insisted the people to get out of them and go away. Even they took my house the one which I lived near eranai madu kulam. They evacuated the lady who did gardening there. These kind of actions made the people to go against the military. This situation looks like they escaped from oil pan and thrown into the burning stove.
There is no peace for the people. There was a function in a temple. We raised a nandhi flag. Military came there and ordered to bring down the flag it is because the government personnel visiting the place. They say that the flag symbolises certain religion. Again in killinochi kandaswamy temple murugan statue is still laid outside the fence. There is a protecting god in eranaya madu kulam. It is kanakambikai amman. everybody used to visit this temple and pray amman but now the military took the amman and replaced another idol in ammans place. It is not easy to narrate what they are doing to us. If we speak about this it will be take hours and hours to explain the situation
On June 23rd 2011 people were telling that the Ganapathy statue is missing. People have bitter sufferings but they did not fight. The military is chasing us and beating us. Where can we go? This is the problem here. Today the race is not the problem. We want to lead our simple life by having our own greeneries and needs. We want to live peacefully. Military actions are the problem which we cannot summarise. We cannot have a meeting here to discuss things. Four people cannot sit and talk together. We have to inform everything to the military. Whether it is a marriage ceremony or a death ceremony or a temple function. We need to inform them everything. who are they? The military? Are they gods?
Now the people feel that ltte was much better than the current military bosses. People feel that LTTE was not giving them much trouble like military . We are asking ourselves now, Where are we leading and what is our future? Who are they, the military to give permission? Why they have to give permission for me to live in my own house? Yesterday we had a meeting. We three of us were in conversation. A military man came and he did not speak to me but spoke to other two of them and told them that the minister is visiting this place. What do they expect? Do we need to get up and salute the minister? Presently we are living in this kind of situation. Where are we going to be in the future? How are we going to live our lives? It is like the proverb the bell rings before the elephant comes. Some of them are not realised the seriousness of the situation. Only a few are fighting against them. That is how this militarisation had increased.
Yesterday in the news bulletin they say that I praised the government. How can I praise the government? Is it because the military taken the rights of the people and made them to kneel down? In such a condition, people who are with the government does not do much. We don’t want to hear their advices. We don’t need their advice. What has happened before 30 years will come again, we don’t know where we are going. Even after 300 years there will not be freedom. We will still be slaves. Without our knowledge the bug is eating the books. If you look outside, we cannot find that out. This kind of life that is what the Tamil people living in Srilanka now.
Those who join with the government, either they live inside the country or out side the country, whoever they are, don’t give good conduct certificates to the government. Come and see how we are living and find whether it is possible for us to let any our guest to come to visit our house. Simply don’t believe in the governments tricks. For those who believe that they are scholars and big peoples and giving good conduct certificates to this government, it is totally absurd. The government is getting wild day by day. In the mean time the government says they are going to have elections. What is the use of this elections, when four people were not allowed to get together and speak. emergency law is prevailing? What is the meaning of their actions? The election did not bring any big difference in the situation.
I say that all this had made the government a worse state. If you are scared to talk against the government, then don’t speak. But don’t praise this government. If they are good government then we can speak good about them. See what happened on 24th of June. they chased those who asked for their lost children’s where about. In today’s news paper it is mentioned that the government is going to take statistics about the people stayed house by house. But the military taking the details of people who are against the government. Who are these military people to take our housing details? The military to go and disturb the people and take details of them. Is this Mahinda Sindhana? Everybody can see this. People making fun of Mahinda Sindhana.
When the war was finished the next question for them was what should the military do? They decided that they will see each districts GA, AGA, area development jobs and should be take care of those duties. Those who don’t know Jaffna has come to do work here. Those who don’t know to speak our language come and make us struggle in our everyday life. We don’t want their help. We can do our own work. We can help ourselves. We don’t need the government to teach us how to plough the field, lay the roads. They don’t need to teach us how to eat the cakes. Are we from moon? Don’t we know how to behave nicely? All of us know that tamilians taught the civilisation to everybody. Don’t we know to do, what is to be done ? Please leave the people to live peacefully. Why are you strangling us? Why should the military have our details? They want to see how many left. don’t they know how many died? They say it is all over and cannot trace anybody whether they died or not .why they cannot find? There are people who lost their mothers, who lost their kids, who lost their husbands. those who lost their wife’s all are there. If the government go and ask the people who lost their relations, they can find out how many died and who died. Now they say that the lost ones information’s will only be given to their close families. Is this is not the time the computer has got all the information’s and cant we easily find out who is alive and who is dead? The government is not taking it seriously. They are only cheating the outsiders.
So called scholars and big people please don’t come from foreign countries and give your good certificates to the government for the things which destroy us now a days. Government has invited fifteen intellectuals once. Government says there are only fifteen intellectuals in this world. They will show the places to those fifteen, which they want to show and the fifteen will give the certificates. These fifteen so called intellectuals will give certificates to the government. Has there only these fifteen intellectuals in Sri Lanka? So called scholars and big heads please give us your ideas. Do your good in your specific fields. Please don’t come from foreign countries and give your good certificates to the government for the things which destroy us now a days.
from the Interview given by Ananada Sankari, President of TULF, to Nadarajah kuruparan of Global Tamil Neas Networks London on 25th June 2011
GTN