"...What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If the Sinhalas
do not object to the ethnic ratio in Colombo changing in favour of
the ethnic minorities, have the so-called champions of minority
rights any valid reason to object to the Government changing the
ethnic ratio in trouble spots (where racist elements have
surreptitiously succeeded in building up ethnic enclaves) to
encourage integration and thereby prevent separatism from raising
its ugly head in the future? .."
Dubious peacemakers and sections of the Tamil National Alliance who
vehemently objected to anti-LTTE military operations have now begun
to express their concerns over alleged Sinhala-colonization of the
predominantly Tamil areas in North and East with establishment of
military bases and cantonments following the Tigers� crushing
defeat. They have also raised objections to the continuation of high
security zones in the North.
Maintaining security in North and East is vital.
Echoes of these allegations are heard across the Palk Straits and
absurd demands are being made in Tamil Nadu for India to reclaim
Kachchativu islet.
The Sri Lanka Government is duty-bound to establish military bases
and maintain security zones in the re-captured strategic areas, to
strengthen the island�s defences. If this has to be done by settling
soldiers and their families in such areas like in Panagoda, so be
it. In fact it was the late Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Mahanayake
Thera who first proposed the establishment of military towns in the
North and East when the rumblings of separatist terrorism were first
heard. But his call went unheeded.
We cannot recall the TNA�s political mentors - the Federal Party or
the Tamil Congress - objecting to the continuation of British
military bases (Katunayake and Trincomalee) in the island after
1948. We won�t be surprised if TNA types maintain a deafening
silence even if India is permitted to establish such bases in the
North. It is only when Sri Lankan Government decides to establish
such bases that these questionable characters raise their
objections.
India currently has 63 cantonments in 17 different states not
including smaller �sub-cantonments� in the same regional area. The
vast majority of Indian cantonments are spread across Northern,
Northwestern and Northeastern India.
So why should not Sri Lanka exercise the same right in her own
territory?
In the case of the Eastern Province would the government be so
foolish to resettle there only Tamil people and ignore the
possibility of them being intimidated by separatist elements and
cause fresh security problems especially in the Trincomalee Naval
Base area?
Before the liberation of East the East commenced LTTE units
constantly infiltrated this area at night and blasted electricity
pylons disrupting the electricity supplies to Trincomalee. They made
the high-tension electrical line unserviceable.
Some years ago a move was under way to settle not Sinhala but Tamil
families along the Trincomalee-Kandy Road. Land was allocated and
temporary huts were constructed. But military authorities strongly
objected to this move and the decision was reserved. The land is now
the property of the Ports Authority and trespassing is strictly
prohibited. As for the Trincomalee-Anuradhapura Road it was the
scene of many a landmine explosion including the one that killed
Major General Lucky Wijeratne. The �peacemakers� complained against
the Government�s decision to construct 5,000 houses for ex-service
personnel. If that was the case it was definitely the best method of
making this road safe for traffic at all times.
Kinniya was another trouble spot where the ethnic balance has to be
altered to provide greater security to the area. If the government
is settling Sinhalese families from Sooriyapura, Jayanthipura,
Pansalgoda and Wan Ela as the peaceniks allege, it may perhaps be
the most logical move to stabilize the area. It will expedite ethnic
integration, instead of allowing the build up of ethnic enclaves. We
sincerely hope the Government will implement such a scheme since we
cannot see the rationality of objecting to such a project.
Linganagar was a small Tamil settlement established in the East on
encroached State land property. Since this posed a serious problem
to a Security Forces shooting range the squatters had to be evicted.
Next is the gateway to Prabhakaran�s � never-realized Tamil Eelam.
It is the strategic point that links the Northern and Eastern
Provinces. This was area where the so-called Gandhian movement
attempted to settle on the sly Tamils of Indian origin to be
repatriated to India under the Sirima-Shastri Pact.
The idea of settling these people was to show the world that only
Tamils inhabited the North and East. The Norwegian organization Redd
Barna funded this surreptitious move but the plot failed, because
the then National Security Minister Lalith Athulathmudali discovered
the ruse and cancelled the special leases given to Tamil
entrepreneurs to establish agricultural farms in this area. It was
on these lands that the �repatriated� Tamils of Indian origin were
being settled.
Afterwards the Minister handed over the farms to the Prisons
Department for establishing open prison camps. His action of foiling
LTTE plans to link the East with the North infuriated the Tigers so
much that they attacked the open prison camps at Dollar and Kent
Farms in 1984. They massacred over one hundred unarmed Sinhala
prisoners. The LTTE then video filmed the mutilated bodies, used the
film for their international separatist propaganda, which claimed
that those massacred were innocent Tamil victims of the �Sinhala
Army�!
This horrifying Tiger atrocity prompted the then government to
establish military presence Weli Oya and prevent moves to make the
Northern and the Eastern Provinces, exclusively Tamil areas. The
Government�s strategy thus prevented any possible future division of
the country dashing the hopes of Tamil separatists.
In this context the establishment of a separate district in the Weli
Oya areas essential to protect and preserve the country�s unity and
territorial integrity.
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If the Sinhalas
do not object to the ethnic ratio in Colombo changing in favour of
the ethnic minorities, have the so-called champions of minority
rights any valid reason to object to the Government changing the
ethnic ratio in trouble spots (where racist elements have
surreptitiously succeeded in building up ethnic enclaves) to
encourage integration and thereby prevent separatism from raising
its ugly head in the future?
Today over 50 percent of the Tamil people live in the seven
provinces where the Sinhalas are in the majority. According to the
1981 census, Sri Lanka�s entire Tamil population was 220,360. By the
year 2001, the Tamil population in the Western Province increased to
325,706, which means an increase of 105,346 from 1081 to 2001.
Percentage wise it is a 47 percent increase.
This is evident even if we take the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara
Districts separately. The increase has been 49 percent in Colombo,
47 percentage in Kalutara and 43 prevent in Gampaha.
In 1981, the Tamil population in the Southern Province was 11,564.
By 2001, the Tamil population in the South had increased to 18,109,
which means an increase by 6,545. Percentage wise it is a 57 percent
increase.
This is evident even if the Galle, Matara and Hambantota Districts
are taken separately. In Galle, the increase has been 82 percent, 32
percent in Matara and 20 percent in Hambantota. All this proves that
the Sinhalas have not chased the Tamils away from the Sinhala areas.
It also shows the Tamils preferred to live in the majority Sinhala
areas rather than under LTTE domination.
In contrast Sinhalas who numbered about 90,000 in the North in the
1950s were never able to return to Jaffna and reside - never in
LTTE-dominated areas.
As for the Eastern Province the entire Eastern coastal belt was
part of the Kandyan Kingdom. When the Dutchman Admiral Van
Spilbergen arrived in Batticaloa in 1602, he was greeted by a
Dissawe of the King of Kandy (Wimaladharmasuriya I) whose kingdom
extended to the East coast to include both Batticaloa and
Trincomalee. A painting that was presented to the Dutch Burger Union
by the Netherlands Armed Forces clearly proves this fact. It was the
Kandyan King�s (Rajasinghe II) troops that captured Robert Knox and
not an �army� of some mythical Tamil King who ruled so-called
traditional Tamil homeland.
