Friday, October 1, 2004
Tamil-Muslim conflict in Lanka poses threat to peace
PK Balachanddran Colombo, October 1
The re-emergence of a Tamil-Muslim conflict in North-East Sri Lanka in the past few days is threatening to delay the war-torn country's search for permanent peace.
Muslims have been demonstrating against the LTTE and its Tamil supporters in Amparai district in the East, and in Mannar district in the North. The Tamils have held counter demonstrations in Mannar, resulting in the imposition of a district-wide curfew on Friday.
Earlier this week, all shops and business establishments, schools and offices, were closed in Tirukkovil in Amparai district, when Muslims came out on the streets, demanding an end to harassment by the LTTE. The Muslims also demanded that the LTTE allow them to cultivate their lands in Wattamadu.
On Thursday, in Pesalai, a fishing village west of Mannar town, a Muslim man, Faisal Saleem, was shot dead, allegedly by the LTTE. Following this, the political and administrative offices of the LTTE were destroyed by a Muslim mob.
On Friday, about 600 Tamils and Muslims gathered at the Mannar bus stand, and were on the verge of rioting, when local leaders and the police managed to separate and disperse them.
As the police declared a district-wide curfew, local religious and political leaders, including representatives of the LTTE, held meetings to defuse the situation.
The Tamils and the LTTE feel that elements wanting to foment communal tension are wrongly accusing the LTTE of murdering Saleem. They are allegedly using the incident to create Tamil-Muslim tension and delay the peace process.
The Tamils and the LTTE see the hidden hand of the Sri Lankan government in this. The local Tamil MP, Vino Noharathnalingam, has accused the police of partiality towards the Muslims.
The Tamils say that that Saleem might have been shot dead by smugglers or other criminals, because Mannar district has become a nest of criminals and smugglers after the declaration of a ceasefire in February 2002.
Because of lax surveillance by the Sri Lankan Navy and the law enforcement agencies since the ceasefire, smuggling is in full swing across the Palk Strait, which separates Mannar from Tamil Nadu.
According to the Sri Lanka Police Narcotics Bureau Director, Pujith Jayasundra, 97 per cent of the dangerous drugs, including heroin, now being smuggled into the island, come from India, and that Mannar is the favoured landing point.
Traditionally, Mannar district has not been plagued by Tamil-Muslim animosity or clashes. This had been so even at the height of Tamil militancy when the militants were suspicious of the Muslims.
It is suspected that some forces wanting to weaken the peace process are fomenting tension between the two communities, said a Tamil journalist who knows the area.
However, the case is different with Eastern districts of Batticalao and Amparai. They had become notorious for Tamil-Muslim tension. The LTTE had been against the Muslims, killing and persecuting them, while the Muslims had acted against the Tamils and the LTTE.
Against this background, the demonstration and the 'poorna hartal' by the Muslims in Thirukkovil are understandable. But in this case too, the Tamils believe that a hidden, third hand, may have instigated the Muslims.
The Tamils say that the new Special Commander of the LTTE for Batticalao and Amparai districts, Colonel Banu , has been trying to bridge the gap between the LTTE and the Tamils on the one hand, and the Muslims on the other.
Banu has been asked by the leadership of LTTE to clean up the stables in this area, tear down corrupt and exploitative networks, and make it a people-friendly organization. He has been specially asked to build bridges with the Muslims, said an informed Tamil source in Batticaloa.
The Tamils suspect that elements that had failed to use the rebellion of Colonel Karuna to break the ranks of the Tamils and weaken the LTTE, are now trying to foment communal trouble to achieve their objective.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.