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Tsunami Disaster Not Easing Political Tensions in Sri Lanka
Jan 13, 2005 Colombo
In the immediate aftermath of last month's devastating tsunami, it was hoped that the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels would put aside decades of hostility to work for peace and to rebuild their devastated country. But it appears the disaster has done little to wash away suspicions between the two sides. Aid is being subjected to politics.
After waves pummeled the coasts of 12 countries rimming the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka emerged as one of the most devastated - losing more than 30,000 people and displacing more than one illion.
It is a tragedy the island nation can hardly afford. At the time of the catastrophe, a nearly three-year old cease-fire between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels was showing signs of unraveling.
For more than two decades, Sri Lanka had been the site of a civil war. The rebels want greater autonomy or independence for areas where the Tamil ethnic minority is predominant. More than 60,000 people have died in the conflict.
Many in the international community and Sri Lanka hoped the tragedy would bring the government and the rebels together for the good of the nation, at first for crisis relief, then many hoped that cooperation would foster a return by both sides to the negotiating table.
Now, that seems unlikely.
P. Thaya Mohan is a civilian administrator with the Tamil rebels in the eastern city of Batticaloa. He says the only reason the government has wanted peace was to receive billions of dollars in international development assistance made contingent on the progress in the peace plan.
Since the tsunami, he says, the Sri Lankan government has received a lot of money from the United Nations. Earlier, when the government said it wanted peace, it was just to get funding from the international community. He says now that it has it, the government wants to provoke a fight with the rebels.
Just days after the tragedy, the Tamil rebels charged the government was preventing aid from reaching parts of Sri Lanka under its control. Then, the government refused to give U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan permission to visit Tamil-held areas in the north and east during a visit to assess the humanitarian crisis.
The government denies it is treating Tamil areas unfairly and accuses the rebels of using the tragedy for political gain.
Sundnanda Deshpriya is an analyst with the Colombo-based think-tank, the Center for Policy Alternatives. He says aid and rebuilding could prove to be more divisive than unifying, judging by the government's tsunami action plan.
"If you look at the government's plans for reconstruction in post-tsunami period, it does not include war victims and war affected areas. If it is going to be like that, then that will create more real divisions in some areas in the north and east and the south," he says.
The Sri Lankan government says there are now nearly 800 refugee camps housing hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the tsunami across the country. Members of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization are monitoring many of these camps. It is the only non-governmental organization allowed by the rebels to operate in areas they control.
At one camp in the eastern city of Batticaloa, food distribution has largely proceeded well to about 600 ethnic Tamils. But Tamil Rehabilitation Organization representative J.N. Jeyantara says there is prejudice, as favoritism is shown to people who speak Sinhalese, the language of Sri Lanka's majority.
He says, sometimes, the forces go into the rooms at night where the refugees are staying - and give the Sinhalese people more food items.
Despite accusations, many believe the prospect for renewed fighting is remote as the rebels have been devastated. In addition, analysts say, rather than risking a military confrontation with the rebels - also know as the L.T.T.E. - the government realizes it could gain more politically. Jehan Perera is an advocate from the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka.
"The L.T.T.E.'s ability to re-launch a war seems to be very remote, which means its options are now reduced. On the government side, the tsunami has generated so much international support and good will for it, that moving to talks, recommencement of the peace process with the L.T.T.E. could bring a great deal of international support and assistance for it. … And also it is not so threatening to the government anymore to deal with the L.T.T.E., because they weakened the L.T.T.E," he says.
Mr. Perera and other activists are calling for the government and the Tamil Tigers to form a joint body to monitor the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout the country - so that leaders of both sides can see that it is being done fairly, thereby limiting the chances for renewed fighting. A move like that is seen as critical, because it will be months, if not years, before the tsunami crisis and the politics surrounding it will end.
This article uses material from VOA.
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