01-15-2006, 07:43 PM
Thousands flee Jaffna expecting war
PK Balachandran
Colombo, January 15, 2006|21:45 IST
About 3,500 families have fled from Jaffna peninsula to the LTTE-controlled part of the Wanni towards the south, expecting an outbreak of hostilities between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE, sources in Jaffna said on Sunday.
The LTTE has been saying for sometime that the time has come for a "final push" to secure an independent Tamil Eelam by force because the Mahinda Rajapaksa government at Colombo and the international community, have turned a deaf ear to the Tamils' long-standing demands and taken a hostile posture.
The LTTE had earlier asked its supporters to leave the peninsula and come over to the Wanni. Many of these did leave Jaffna. In the second phase, people belonging to the Wanni left. In the current phase, even those belonging to Jaffna are leaving.
One of the subsidiaries of the LTTE's humanitarian arm, Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), has already built 1,500 shelters for the refugees from Jaffna. The TRO is said to be preparing for another tsunami, this time a politico-military one.
Anticipating war, Tamils from the coastal areas of the North Western district of Mannar are also leaving. But they are heading towards Tamil Nadu by boat. Some landed in Danushkodi last week.
Move to close Jaffna University
The LTTE has indicated that it would like Jaffna University to be closed indefinitely in protest against the actions of the Sri Lankan state, the Tamil-paramilitaries and the Sri Lankan armed forces. A final decision on this is to be announced in Jaffna by the University Students' Union on Monday.
Sources in Jaffna say that most students support the LTTE on this issue, but their parents are against an indefinite closure. However, there are parents who think that closure is better as it will safeguard the lives of their sons and daughters.
The Students Union of the University met the political leadership of the LTTE in Palai in North Wanni last week. The media were kept out of the meeting.
Solheim-Prabhakaran meeting critical
In this tense situation, much significance is attached to the visit of the Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim to Sri Lanka in the third week of this month. He hopes to meet LTTE chief Prabhakaran on November 25 in Kilinochchi.
But it is not certain if Prabhakaran will meet him. He might choose not to meet him for political and strategic reasons. Also, the Tiger chieftain does not meet foreign dignitaries without his political advisor and interpreter Anton Balasingham being with him. It is still not known if the ailing Balasimgham, resident in London, will come to Kilinochchi.
On November 27, 2005, Prabhakaran, had warned that if President Rajapaksa did not come out with a reasonable political proposal "soon" the Tamils would have to resume their freedom struggle in 2006.
His intelligence chief, Pottu Amman, had said that the international community had abandoned the Tamils, thus indicating that the Tamils would have to carry on fighting regardless of the attitude of the international community.
LTTE challenges international community
The LTTE has been showing utter disdain for the international community in the recent past. Despite warnings from the European Union's External Commissioner, the American Ambassador in Sri Lanka and censures from the chief of the Scandinavian truce monitors, the LTTE has been killing scores of Sri Lankan soldiers and naval sailors with claymore mines and grenades with impunity in the past month and a half.
The government side has also been disregarding the international community's call to disarm or relocate its Tamil paramilitaries in the northeast, as per the ceasefire agreement. The government's plea is that there are no Tamil paramilitaries in the Tamil northeast and that the "Karuna" group is nothing but a dissident group of the LTTE over which government has no control.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_15...00500020002.htm
PK Balachandran
Colombo, January 15, 2006|21:45 IST
About 3,500 families have fled from Jaffna peninsula to the LTTE-controlled part of the Wanni towards the south, expecting an outbreak of hostilities between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE, sources in Jaffna said on Sunday.
The LTTE has been saying for sometime that the time has come for a "final push" to secure an independent Tamil Eelam by force because the Mahinda Rajapaksa government at Colombo and the international community, have turned a deaf ear to the Tamils' long-standing demands and taken a hostile posture.
The LTTE had earlier asked its supporters to leave the peninsula and come over to the Wanni. Many of these did leave Jaffna. In the second phase, people belonging to the Wanni left. In the current phase, even those belonging to Jaffna are leaving.
One of the subsidiaries of the LTTE's humanitarian arm, Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), has already built 1,500 shelters for the refugees from Jaffna. The TRO is said to be preparing for another tsunami, this time a politico-military one.
Anticipating war, Tamils from the coastal areas of the North Western district of Mannar are also leaving. But they are heading towards Tamil Nadu by boat. Some landed in Danushkodi last week.
Move to close Jaffna University
The LTTE has indicated that it would like Jaffna University to be closed indefinitely in protest against the actions of the Sri Lankan state, the Tamil-paramilitaries and the Sri Lankan armed forces. A final decision on this is to be announced in Jaffna by the University Students' Union on Monday.
Sources in Jaffna say that most students support the LTTE on this issue, but their parents are against an indefinite closure. However, there are parents who think that closure is better as it will safeguard the lives of their sons and daughters.
The Students Union of the University met the political leadership of the LTTE in Palai in North Wanni last week. The media were kept out of the meeting.
Solheim-Prabhakaran meeting critical
In this tense situation, much significance is attached to the visit of the Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim to Sri Lanka in the third week of this month. He hopes to meet LTTE chief Prabhakaran on November 25 in Kilinochchi.
But it is not certain if Prabhakaran will meet him. He might choose not to meet him for political and strategic reasons. Also, the Tiger chieftain does not meet foreign dignitaries without his political advisor and interpreter Anton Balasingham being with him. It is still not known if the ailing Balasimgham, resident in London, will come to Kilinochchi.
On November 27, 2005, Prabhakaran, had warned that if President Rajapaksa did not come out with a reasonable political proposal "soon" the Tamils would have to resume their freedom struggle in 2006.
His intelligence chief, Pottu Amman, had said that the international community had abandoned the Tamils, thus indicating that the Tamils would have to carry on fighting regardless of the attitude of the international community.
LTTE challenges international community
The LTTE has been showing utter disdain for the international community in the recent past. Despite warnings from the European Union's External Commissioner, the American Ambassador in Sri Lanka and censures from the chief of the Scandinavian truce monitors, the LTTE has been killing scores of Sri Lankan soldiers and naval sailors with claymore mines and grenades with impunity in the past month and a half.
The government side has also been disregarding the international community's call to disarm or relocate its Tamil paramilitaries in the northeast, as per the ceasefire agreement. The government's plea is that there are no Tamil paramilitaries in the Tamil northeast and that the "Karuna" group is nothing but a dissident group of the LTTE over which government has no control.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_15...00500020002.htm
<img src='http://img35.echo.cx/img35/2821/3dtext82282uu.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>