Colombo’s UPFA allies further accelerate divide in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2013, 23:37 GMT]
While Muslim politicians of Batticaloa, aligned with Rajapaksa regime in Colombo seek to annex Tamil villages with Muslim-dominated divisions of Batticaloa, Tamil paramilitary elements operated by Colombo attempt to woo Tamil voters by staging shutdown protests against Muslims, capitalizing from the lack of a broader political mobilization from the part of the TNA. The line of collaboration politics with Colombo, adopted by the SLMC, has made it easier for Colombo to deploy the divide and rule tactic, setting Tamils and Muslims against each other, providing necessary time and space to the occupying Sinhala military to scheme Sinhalicisation of resourceful interior villages of Batticaloa.

On Friday, Tamil paramilitary elements were partly successful in shutting down Tamil businesses at Chengkaladi, Aaraiyampathi and at Vellaave’li, news sources in Batticaloa said. The public market in Batticaloa was also shut down on Monday. However, government offices were functioning on Friday ignoring the instructions by the paramilitary operatives.

Meanwhile, Muslim politicians aligned with the UPFA in Colombo have been waging propaganda among the Tamil residents of Aa’rumukaththaan-kudiyiruppu, Mayilampave’li and Ea’raavoor that there would be no ‘development’ in their villages if they continued to be part of Tamil divisions. The Muslim politicians were promising housing schemes and electricity access to the villagers.

Talking to journalists in Batticaloa, TNA politician P. Selvarasa said that the TNA had condemned the proposed demographic changes to the administrative divisions in Batticaloa. He added that the Tamil alliance was preparing to debate the issue in the SL parliament in early February.

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