The Hindu : Fear stalks Batticaloa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 05, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Fear stalks Batticaloa

By Nirupama Subramanian

BATTICALOA, Feb. 26. Sri Lanka is euphoric about the ceasefire between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but to this eastern town, it has brought no peace of mind.

The LTTE controls large swathes of territory in the region and walks in and out of the Government-controlled areas with ease because there is no well-defined "line of control''.

Last December, when both sides began an informal ceasefire, the LTTE began recruiting teenagers from the district, taking away underage children forcibly, and also intensified its "tax'' collection. Now, with a formal ceasefire in place, there is fear and uncertainty at the prospect of the LTTE being allowed to roam freely in all areas within a few weeks, as specified under the agreement. ``We have mixed feelings about the ceasefire,'' one man, whose business partner fled town after the LTTE asked him to pay up Rs. 15 lakhs, said diplomatically.

Before the truce, people complained about military checkpoints. Now, for the first time in several years, people are able to move around freely even at night, but ironically, they are asking where the security forces have disappeared. ``If the army would only check people's bags, at least we can give the LTTE the excuse that we cannot carry the money to them as we would be detected by soldiers,'' one man, who has been issued several demand notes, said somewhat desperately.

The LTTE tax collectors seem to have every detail about the income of their targets: salaries, bank balances, assets, liabilities. Those singled out have to visit the LTTE office in nearby Kokaddicholai. They can bring down the amount they have to pay by bargaining. Refusal to pay usually brings imprisonment till the person is worn down into accepting his fate.

A government official took voluntary retirement from her job last December, four years ahead of time, in order to move out of the area where she was posted to escape harassment from the "tax squad'' of the LTTE. Now she fears they will be able to get to her only too easily and punish her. A clause in the ceasefire agreement for the protection of civilians from extortion, abduction, intimidation and other harassment has brought no comfort to her. The Tigers have abducted several "tax offenders'' until they pay up.

Fears are rising that when they are allowed into the town, the LTTE will step up recruitment, which people said had eased off in the first few days of the ceasefire. Over the last three months, the LTTE is believed to have recruited as many as 200 teenagers, including underage children, mainly from areas under its control, demanding one child from each family. Several families that fled to Government-controlled areas to escape the conscription now dread being found by the LTTE and punished. Children who were daring enough to escape from LTTE camps and are still getting over the trauma, are panicking that their captors might return.

The Hindu spoke to several such children. One of them, an 18-year-old boy, said he was leaving for a Sinhalese village outside the north-east where the LTTE could not find him. The LTTE had taken his mother captive after his escape. The boy hoped they would release her once they realised he had gone for good.

A 15-year-old boy, who was taken away by two LTTE cadres as he came out of classes escaped on a bicycle from a camp where he was kept for three days. After two hours of frantic pedalling, he managed to reach a main road where he flagged down the first vehicle he saw. The occupants took him to the nearest police station and he was re-united with his family a few hours later. Now the boy is scared at the thought of stepping out again.

It is an open secret here that a recently-elected Member of Parliament attempted suicide by consuming poison when his son was taken away by the LTTE, and had to be hospitalised for three days. But that did not bring his child back.

Even those who are otherwise ardent supporters of the LTTE say they are ashamed at its conduct over the last few months. ``The LTTE has undoubtedly created a lot of resentment with its activities,'' said one eminent townsman who has close contact with the area leader of the Tigers, Sivagnyanam Karikalan.

But there are also those who justify the recruitment and "collection'' of money as necessary to strengthen the LTTE.

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