Jaffna Worried About Latest Security Measures, Says TNA

By Maryam Azwer

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has once again raised concerns regarding the security situation in Jaffna. This time, however, their concerns revolve around how the people have been affected by recent measures taken by authorities in Jaffna, supposedly to help eradicate crime.
“The government, or the army, is calling people to register themselves with photos of families. This is done through the Grama Niladaris,” explained TNA MP Suresh Premachandran.
“When asked, the Army Commander said it was to stop the abductions and killings and so on. According to him, they are doing a service. [But] by doing this, the army is treating all the people of Jaffna as criminals,” said an outraged Premachandran.
Premachandran feels that asking the people of Jaffna to register themselves in this manner is a violation of the people’s rights. He also claimed that this action has frightened a large number of Jaffna’s people.
“To my knowledge and understanding, this is against their fundamental rights. They can’t treat people like criminals. The public is very scared. The TNA is now fighting against this,” he said.

Nothing new

However, when The Sunday Leader contacted Government Agent (GA) of Jaffna, Imelda Sukumar, she claimed that the handing out of such registration forms to obtain details of people was normal, and had in fact been done before.
“This is a security matter, it is normal. It was done earlier too. To my knowledge, they are renewing the registration,” she said.
She also added that “this has no connection with our administration. We look into administrative matters only. I received no official information regarding this.”
She did confirm, however, that the Divisional Secretariats of Nallur and Kopay had said they had been given forms by the army, to be filled in by the people.
Meanwhile, Military Spokesperson Major General Ubaya Medawala, despite confirming that the process was the norm, also said that it was being carried out not by the army, but by the police.
Police Spokesperson SP Preshantha Jayakody confirmed this statement, and also went on to claim that this was happening not only in Jaffna, but in other parts of the country too.
“We’re doing this even in Colombo,” he added. “This is not just about the security situation in Jaffna. It is to benefit all, and to bring down the crime rate.”

Jaffna, Crime, and an Uneasy People

Jaffna’s security situation has been an issue that has been given much prominence over the last few months. Apart from several claims of robberies and abductions, the two incidents that shook the North during the latter part of last year were the assassinations of a Hindu priest in Chankanai, and the Valikaamam Deputy Zonal Director of Education.
In January this year, the Jaffna Security Forces Commander announced that security measures would be tightened, with armed patrols taking to the streets after dark, and spot checks being carried out by the police and army.
While some claimed that this made the people feel uneasy, there were also others who acknowledged this as necessary, and even attributed the reduction in crime in Jaffna this year to these measures.
Despite this, the recent registration of families has left many people feeling unhappy, says the TNA’s Premachandran.
“People are scared. This is going against their rights. This will widen the gap between the two communities,” he said.
The Jaffna GA however denied knowledge of any such issue. “I didn’t get any information that people are unhappy. I didn’t get any objection from people,” she said.
Jaffna Commander, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe was unavailable for comment on the latest developments regarding Jaffna’s security situation, including what may be a confusion as to who exactly this registration process is being carried out by – the police or the army.
Major General Hathurusinghe has, however, previously told The Sunday Leader that the army would be working together with the police to ensure Jaffna’s crime rate is brought under control.
He has also claimed several times in the past, that despite the issue of security in Jaffna receiving much publicity, the crime rate is not as high as in other parts of the country, and that any contradictory claims come from “certain segments who want to show the world that Jaffna is unsafe.”