Font size: 
One consequence of the LTTE's attacks in Colombo was the precipitous announcement by the police that the owners of lodges and small hotels in Colombo's downtown Fort and Pettah areas were to immediately shut their doors to Tamil visitors from the north and east and from the hill country. The government-controlled media indicated that the police were driven to this desperate move by an order from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had warned Police Chief Victor Perera that there should be no more LTTE attacks in Colombo.
However, protests by opposition political parties, Tamil parties associated with the government and adverse reporting by the international media made the government have second thoughts about the rigorous implementation of this police directive. The latest statements by the police indicate that Tamil people from the suspect areas who can demonstrate a legitimate need to be in Colombo can continue to stay. The definition of what is legitimate will be a matter of judgment for individual police officers, and the potential for abuse remains high.
The relative safety of Colombo, as compared to the conflict zones of the north and east, has induced large numbers of people from those parts to migrate to Colombo. With the LTTE and its breakaway Karuna group on the rampage forcibly recruiting children and adults alike, these hapless people have nowhere to flee other than Colombo. The major battles currently being reported in both the north and east, and the heavy artillery and air bombardments in those battles, would give people further reason to flee those areas for the relative safety of the capital city.
In addition, Colombo is an island of prosperity, especially to those living in the poorer parts of the country. Central Bank statistics have revealed that Western Province, in which Colombo is located, is by far the richest province, with more than half the national income concentrated there. By way of contrast, the north and east and hill country are the poorest parts of the country. It is hardly a cause for surprise, therefore, that young people from those poverty-stricken areas would feel impelled to migrate to Colombo for their survival, if not their economic wellbeing.
Warding off terrorist attacks by the LTTE is not an easy prospect for the security forces, as the LTTE has developed a ruthless expertise and network in this regard over the years. The difficulties of the security forces are compounded by the demographic composition of Colombo, which has a majority of Tamil-speaking people from the Sri Lanka Tamil, hill country Tamil and Muslim communities. This makes it relatively easy for the LTTE to infiltrate Colombo to perform their dastardly deeds.
The growing polarization in Sri Lankan society due to the worsening conflict can be seen in the police reaction to President Rajapaksa's justifiable concern that Colombo should be free from terrorist outrages. It appears that the police consider the pool from which the LTTE draws its recruits to encompass at least potentially the hill country Tamil people also. In the past the LTTE has almost exclusively drawn its military strength from the Tamil population living in the north and east. This is an ominous indicator of a deepening and widening conflict.
A fundamental tenet in any counter-insurgency strategy is to complement the military actions of the government forces with psychological strategies to win the hearts and minds of those who are victimized by the ensuing violence. Demonstrating a measure of empathy for the innocent victims, and taking even symbolic remedial actions, could go a long way toward reducing ethnic polarization. Unfortunately, it appears that the government's present strategy is quite the reverse. The entire Tamil community is being targeted for security-related purposes, and previously unconnected groups, such as the hill country Tamils, are being added to the ranks of the perceived pool of LTTE suspects.
At the same time there appears to be a strategy of encouraging the forces of Sinhalese nationalism by deliberately reviving memories of past LTTE atrocities. An example would be the photographic exhibition commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Aranthalawa massacre, where the LTTE brutally killed over thirty Buddhist monks, including young novice monks. Government media gave a high degree of publicity to this event, which included bloodcurdling photographs of other LTTE massacres.
Fortunately, wisdom has still not fled the people of the country. While writing this, I listened to a live radio interview of Ven. Prof. Kumburugamuwe Vajira, a senior Buddhist monk and longtime peace activist. He pointed out the impossibility of stopping terrorism by a strategy limited to military repression. He spoke of the older days, not long gone, when masses of people gathered for seminars on peace and justice, and government leaders spoke of political solutions and not of military ones. In doing so, the Venerable Vajira pointed the way to our peaceful future through dialogue and political reform.
--
(Jehan Perera is executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, an independent advocacy organization. He studied economics at Harvard College and holds a doctorate in law from Harvard Law School.)
