By Ram

Jaffna with its almost mythical landscape of sparkling lagoons and palmyrah fringed flats punctuated by towering kovils lies at the extreme northern edge of the island, but for three decades the city and the peninsula as a whole have been at the centre of this nation’s turmoil.

While much of the last decade saw war waged in the Wanni the cause has always been Jaffna and the peninsula’s rich red earth, gaudy goppurams and impossibly beautiful islands, was the prize over which so much blood was shed.

To be in Jaffna — to stand by the burned out hulk of the old central railway station, or by the mogul edifice of the resurrected Jaffna library is to stand at the epicenter of the country’s recent history. From the killing of Alfred Duraiappa and the burning of the Jaffna Library, to the arrival of the IPKF, and the election boycotts of 2004, so much of this country’s recent history is inextricably linked to this faded and fascinating town.

 But for all the events set in motion by the peninsula, in Jaffna Town itself time seems to have stood still. Ancient Morris Minors rumble though the narrow streets, handsome houses still stand on acres of land, not so much a separate state as a separate time; the south 30 years ago.

Traffic free streets

Traditional costumes abound on the traffic free streets, and in the morning church bells, pooja drums and the dawn chorus replace the cacophony of horns, and speakers heard in every other major town in the country.

The historic developments of the last few months however have shattered the town’s decade long stasis and the outside world is now rapidly intruding on Jaffna’s picturesque but painful isolation.

Convoys along the half opened A9 now bring not only essential supplies but sales reps and researchers from Colombo’s conglomerates.

Property prices are soaring as land owners speculate that supermarket chains and Colombo retailers long absent from the city’s streets will soon be looking for space in town.

 The 6 p.m to 6 a.m curfew that stifled life in the town for years has been relaxed into virtual non existence, and security procedures seem almost impossibly relaxed — there are virtually no checkpoints within the town. Most significantly the umbilical cord that links the virtual island of the peninsula to the rest of the nation — the A-9 appears be on the verge of being permanently and fully reconnected, and everywhere the town exudes a sense of startling normalcy.

Jaffna a new Singapore

And with so much change in such a short space of time the town is now gripped by a heightened sense of anticipation, anxiety, hope and also fear.

Following decades of isolation expectations are often exaggerated — the government is going to spend billions and turn Jaffna into a new Singapore, say the most passionate optimists while persistent pessimists claim the current bout of relaxation is an illusion and that the coming months will see more restrictions imposed and thousands of Sinhalese settled in the north.

A new era of stability brings the promise of development but the brutality of the last days of the war, the reality of absolute government domination and the south’s barely suppressed triumphalism has left the peninsula’s half a million or so inhabitants feeling profoundly uncertain about the future.

And all the feelings, fears and emotions evoked by what is clearly the dawn of a new era in the peninsula have crystallised around what the government is hailing as Jaffna’s first free Municipal Council election in decades.

Attempt to win votes

The propaganda for the polls adorns every wall and the posters of almost a dozen political parties and factions decorate the city — an attempt to win the votes and confidence of a people whose experience of democracy has been extremely irregular.

 The intensity of the campaigning and the competition with processions, poster boys, visible at all hours — barring the brief nightly curfew — is an indication of the fragmentation of Tamil polity. Where once there was a sole representative now there are a dozen factions clamoring to be the voice of the Tamil people.

Three principle factions have emerged among the competing parties; the TNA — suspicious of the government and intent on greater autonomy for Tamils, a pro government faction dominated by the EPDP contesting under SLFP’s betel symbol and the TULF which has positioned itself in the middle ground between the pro-government EPDP and opposition TNA.

The three divergent camps each claim to offer the best future for the Tamil people. The EPDP offers closer links to a benevolent central government and the ‘13th Amendment plus.’ The TULF appears to have thrown its weight behind Indian federalism and pragmatism in its dealings with the government, while the TNA argues that it will campaign for the most extensive possible autonomy for the Tamil people even at the risk of completely alienating the central government.

A municipal election

The fundamental irony of Jaffna’s poll however is that for all the money spent and talk of solutions to the national question this is ultimately nothing more than a minor municipal council election.

“All this excitement for an election about sweeping streets — you know the Municipal Council doesn’t even have it own building — it was burned in the ’80s and never reconstructed,” laughs former Municipal Councillor Sivagnanam.

 For the most part mundane municipal issues — drainage, road works, libraries etc., have been swallowed by arguments regarding the future of the people and the peninsula and instead the talk is of political solutions and the destiny of the county’s Tamil population.

 “It was a difficult decision, but the government is now genuinely offering the 13th Amendment Plus. Ultimately its about confidence/ trust in the President, that he can deliver the best future for the people of Jaffna,” was the line taken by Douglas Devananda the EPDP’s charismatic leader, when asked why he was contesting the election not under the EPDP’s traditional veena symbol but under the SLFP’s betel leaf.

 TNA MP Suresh Premachandran on the other hand expressed far less confidence in the government’s intentions.

Occupation

There are 300,000 people detained in ‘IDP camps’ simply because they are Tamil. There is an ongoing occupation — thousands of troops in every part of the peninsula even though the war is over. The A9 is still not open and thousands have been displaced by the high security zones for decades. The freedom you see is an illusion, and the other Tamil parties have decided to side with the government for their own self interest not for the good of the Tamil people, he says.

V. Anandasangaree, mayoral candidate and the veteran leader of the TULF on the other hand argued — “We cannot let the government alliance win as we do not want to give the world the impression that people in Jaffna are in favour of the status quo. While people are happy that the LTTE is gone they have several legitimate concerns and grievances. The IDP camps, their aspirations regarding autonomy, free movement etc. Therefore an independent party not tarnished by the LTTE or influenced by the government will best represent the interests of the Tamils.”

 Each faction claims to be confident of victory and each levels accusations of intimidation and vote rigging at the other.

“The TNA and TULF claim that they are being intimidated but — you can see that its actually our supporters who are being attacked while campaigning explained Devananda pointing out a news report of an EPDP member assaulted while canvassing.

 Threatening phone calls

“Despite this violence our supporters understand that they must turn the other cheek — reprisals will get us now where,” he says.

“We get threatening phone calls every day — you know from whom. They tell us not to encroach on their territory. They are still armed, but we cannot descend to that level. We are not going to be intimidated. We know the people are with us,” declared Anandasangaree.

 “Our posters are being desecrated, our activists are being assaulted and we know there is vote buying going on. There are Sinhala officials being brought in to monitor the elections. Why can’t they use Tamil civil servants? Are they ever going to take Tamils from the north to monitor elections in the south? There is no chance of this election being free or fair,” bemoaned Suresh Premachandran.

 Despite the various complaints posters representing candidates from all the contesting parties are visible throughout the city and marches, rallies and campaigns staged by every major political group appear to be an almost daily occurrence. Though it is evident that the EPDP’s campaign is the best funded and the best organised with pictures of Douglas Devananda dominating much of the city and the party’s rallies clearly the most heavily guarded and the best attended.

“Only by working with the government can we achieve a peaceful and prosperous future,” argued Devananda “Tamil parties have previously engaged in purely oppositional politics — opposing anything suggested by the government. But that has brought only destruction and ruin to the community. We now believe there is a government in the south that will deliver results to the people — all the people — including the Tamil people in the north.

Influence

Other parties however accuse the SLFP/EPDP of using its influence to intimidate the electorate. “People believe that if the SLFP does not win, the government will make things worse — re-impose the restrictions, the curfews so they feel they have no choice but to vote for the betel leaf,” claimed Premachandran of the TNA.

“They are doing everything to buy votes. Yesterday at the SLFP candidate’s office they were collecting applications from people with relatives in the IDP camps saying that the candidate would be able to free them. This is cheap politics,” maintained Sangaree.

Away from political offices and on the streets people remain reticent, decades of fear cannot be forgotten overnight and few ordinary citizens are willing to comment openly on the election.

 “Things are better now. There are no more abductions. There is some development and the people can move more freely. Development is really what we are interested in — the election is not a priority for us. People are more interested in the conditions their relatives are experiencing in the IDP camps we just want normality,” said members of the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce.

 “This is just a PR exercise for the government they are determined to demonstrate the administration has the people of Jaffna on its side. The government is determined to win and thus the results are a foregone conclusion,” claimed Manikasothy, an independent candidate advocating a federal solution to the national question.

Development and stability

 Others insist only the government will deliver the development and stability that will allow Jaffna to return to its rightful place as the flourishing capital or a resurgent north.

“Asking what we will do if the government fails to honour its promises is like asking if we believe the sky will fall down. We believe it won’t and we believe the President will deliver a bright future for the Tamil people. If we didn’t believe that completely we wouldn’t be campaigning under the betel symbol,” responded Devananda when asked if the EPDP was prepared to go it alone at future election if the government fails to honour its promises

The sincerity of the candidates and party leaders is striking, even for veteran politicians like Anandasangaree and Douglas Devananda. The election appears to stir genuine emotion and passion.

By dawn on Sunday however we will see which of the parties has managed to convince the weary voters of Jaffna . Whatever the results of the election however it is clear that with the end of 30 years of violent conflict Jaffna has entered a new era — one that offers countless opportunities. But old fears and suspicions remain and only a completely free and fair poll will set in motion a process where old scores will gradually fade, replaced by the debate and discussion of the democratic process.