Militarization of policing announced in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 January 2011, 13:33 GMT]
Mounted on bicycles, the SL military in Jaffna will be ‘patrolling’ the streets. They may not enter houses but will be engaged in street checks. They will act in the same way they were functioning during war times. The military cannot be confined to barracks, announced the colonial commander of the occupying SL military, Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe in a meeting held in the district secretariat Saturday. The military has to be in alert as crimes may escalate in the wake of elections expected soon, he envisaged. Political observers in Jaffna said that the premeditated step aims to bring civil administration and civilians in Jaffna completely under the control of the occupying military. Colombo’s plan was mouthed through the Sri Lanka Government Agent (SLGA) Mrs Imelda Sugumar a few weeks ago, when she urged the Army to police Jaffna.

Blaming TamilNet and local media for 'exaggerating' the terror situation in the peninsula, the SL commander said that Jaffna is no worse than the other parts of the island. He was echoing what the SL prime minister said in the parliament Thursday that crime in Jaffna is a single hair in the tail of an elephant.

The meeting in the secretariat was chaired by the SLGA and was attended by the Catholic Bishop of Jaffna, Buddhist monks, other religious representatives, divisional secretaries, heads of SL government departments, representatives of traders associations and the local media.

Confirming the Army’s role of policing along with police personnel, and setting a new model for the militarization of policing in the colonial territory, the Senior Superintendent of SL Police in Jaffna who participated the meeting said that 15 intelligence squads have been formed to counter the situation in Jaffna. Arms circulate freely among the robbers, he alleged.

Responding to the accusation on media, the journalists present at the conference said they were filing reports only after verifying the facts with the information supplied to them by the police.

The SL president Mahinda Rajapaksa was pinning his hopes firmly on SL military when he met a section of Tamil politicians sometimes back.

The military establishments are extended with permanency in many parts of the Tamil country. A special focus is noticed in recent times in the densely populated Jaffna peninsula itself.

The SL military has come to stay, unless Eezham Tamils find international means to get their liberation. But the military rule of Eezham Tamils is highly favoured as a conducive model by some powers that have many plans ranging from oil to airport in the Tamil country, political observers in Jaffna said.

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