The government steps up itself up into a war psychosis — or more precisely, the government was whipping up a war hysteria amongst the Sinhalaspeaking people.
The main bourgeois party in the opposition, the SLFP (1) swallowed this bait hook, line and sinker. They went repression and seeks to silence its critics
After broad protests, especially by labor, dropped their attempt to prosecute the author of the following article, a well-known leader of the Sri Lankan section of the Fourth International, and the rest of the Balangoda 18 (see IV, Nos 60 and 64).
Upali COORAY
On November 29 the UNP-led (United
National Party) government of Mr J. R.
Jayewardene of Sri Lanka clamped down on all democratic rights and reduced the
Sri Lankan authorities have received reliable information' that the terrorist groups were planning to drive the security forces from the North by December 31, and to declare a State of Eelam (Tamil state) by January 14,
As the Indian government very overboard and stated that in this hour of national crisis every one should close ranks and stand with the government. They were only sorry that even in this hour of 'crisis' the government was try. ing to score points and was not seeking to unite all forces to safeguard the nation!
The LSSP [the Lanka Sama Samaja Party] was silent and no one knew what it felt about this fantastic hoax. In any event, they were not prepared to even discuss with other left organisations bourgeois opposition party. SLFP - Sri Lankan Freedom Party, is a
North and Eastern provinces to virtual prison camps. Some of the measures adopted by the UNP government are Sri Lankan people burn an effigy of Jayewardene (DR) reminiscent of the barbaric Nazi decrees.
For instance, every household in the Northern and Eastern provinces must furnish a list of its occupants to the police and no other person is permitted to stay in the house without the written permission of the police. No person may use a vehicle or even a bicycle without the consent (in the form of a permit from the police) of the government.
A wide stretch of land extending right round the coast of the Northern province and a part of the Eastern province (one hundred metres inland and one hundred metres out in the sea has been declared a prohibited zone and no person, including fishermen, may enter or remain in this zone for whatever reason.
No person is permitted to travel except between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Even this is meaningless since the government has imposed a curfew that extends up to 60 hours. For instance on December 10, the government declared a curfew in the Northern province which was to be lifted at 6 a.m. on Thursday, December 13. Prior to that the government declared a 42-hour curfew in the North.
The national security minister announcing these measures in parliament stated that Tamils in Jaffna should take a holiday in other parts of the country and that would assist the government to determine who is innocent. This statement was flashed on the front page of the government-owned press. The message was clear. The government was going to terrorise the people of Jaffna by indis. criminate attacks on the Tamil people.
One of the new measures announced makes every houseowner in the vicinity of a place where a bomb explodes, vicariously liable for the explosion. This is, in fact, an attempt to justify what the army personnel had been doing all this time - shooting people in the vicinity of every bomb that had exploded in the North and the East.
All these measures were justified on the grounds that the government had 26 aptly put it, the government was working
International Viewpoint 14 January 1985
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SRI LANKA
the question of issuing a statement condemning these repressive measures.
The Communist Party became unusually tame; even in their daily paper, Aththa, the CP began to concentrate its fire on marginal issues. To its credit, the SLMP [the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party] -the break-away group of the SLFP -led by Mr Vijaya Kumaranatunga (sonin-law of Mrs Bandaranaike) criticised these measures ment to offer realistic terms to the Tamilspeaking people so that a peaceful solution could be worked out to the national
Even before these measures were actually put into effect the army was shooting people indiscriminately. hand of the army and encouraged their
With the result that the army went on the rampage in Mannar again killing over 85 innocent civilians. This was just one example of countless such acts of brutal repression all over the
At the same time Tamil youths were being arrested all over the country. Some of these people have since gone missing. Others have died whilst 'trying to escape from the custody of the army. Although most of the people arrested have since been released, they suffered all types of indignities from insults to brutal attacks — whilst in police and army custody. Thousands of others are being held in custody and no one knows what will happen to them.
The attacks launched by some Tamil militants on the Sinhala settlers in the Doolar and Ken Farms (between Mullativ and Vavuniya) and the similar assaults on two fishing camps have created an excellent propaganda weapon for the govern-
They have been able to raise a hue and cry about these attacks whilst covering up all the atrocities committed by
It has also galvanised Sinhala opinion behind the government and made it extremely difficult for the critics of the government to expose its claims about an invasion.
The LTTE (the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) had apparently claimed responsibility for these attacks and other Eelam organisations, notably the PLOTE
Liberation Organisation Tamile Eelam) had apparently criticised these attacks. Since the vast majority of Sinhala people do not know the distinetion between the various Eelam groups and depend solely on the chauvinist mainstream media for information, the idea that the Eelamists are bent on destroying the Sinhala nation will now be reinforced, because they see the attempt to set up an Eelam state as the first step in a conspiracy to make the whole of Sri Lanka a colony of Tamil Nadu [in India].
The national security minister as well as the newly appointed media committee, headed by Mr Wickrema Weerasooriya (brother-in-law of Mr Gamini Dissanayeke and a member of the family that owns International Viewpoint 14 January 1985
FINCO, the company that gets a large slice of government contracts), have also sought to slander the left in Sri Lanka through propaganda which seeks to link the 'terrorists in the North with the extremists in the South'.
This poster depicts a "Tamil terrorist', a person that looks like Rohan Wijeweera, the leader of the JVP (Peoples Liberation Organisation, which was banned in 1983 for reasons unknown) and a Russian bear. The purpose of the poster is to create that the Tamil "terrorists' working hand in hand with the leftists in the South and all this is a big plot hatched by the Russians. Even if people did not believe that the JVP was not connected with the Eelamists (and, in fact, the JVP had always adopted a chauvinist line in relation to the Eelam demand), the impression created in the minds of many Sinhala people will be of people lurking around in Sinhala areas in the South who are supporting the Tamil
This also makes it difficult for leftist and liberal organisations to voice any criticism of the repressive policies of the gov-
Anyone who dares to do so will not only be branded as a friend of the Eelamists and 'traitors' to the Sinhala and the Sri Lankan nation-state, but also subjected to repression themselves.
Already a large number of Sinhala youth, suspected of being leftists, have been arrested and detained by the police. On December 4 a friend of mine, Redley Silva, an executive committee member of the Bank Employees Union, visited my house with a woman activist friend to have a drink and supper. back home he was arrested at the bus stop; the police were concerned about the copy of the New Statesman (2) he had with him, which they considered as subversive literature.
They took him to the Wellowatte police station, questioned him and then took him to his house. They collected a few more books and newspapers, including a copy of Labour Law Handbook No 1, which I had published. had no subversive literature with him all he had was a copy of Roget's Thesaurus (which the cops thought was a guerrilla handbook) and a copy of a press release Inter-racial Justice and Equality).
Throughout the period he was held in custody different officers made a variety of accusations - all of which were based on the idea that he was a friend of the Tamil Tigers and a man who was aiding and abetting the terrorists'. Redley was lucky because we were able to get a lot of lawyers to intervene and ascertain what crime' he had committed. police had nothing against him and they had to release him the following day. But they were trying to pin something on
But the harassment did not stop there. A day after his release the CID
(plainclothes police) paid a visit to grill him and the following day he found the same CID man trailing him.
That was not all. On December 8 at 3 a.m. I had a visit from the police. I was woken up by a rude noise to find five policemen - four constables and one subinspector - armed to the teeth standing outside my door. They said they wanted to search the house. I knew that there was very little point arguing with people who did not know the difference between Roget's Thesaurus and a guerrilla manual.
the house looking Tamils and explosives; one has become as, or even more, dangerous as the other!
Unfortunately for the cops and fortunately for me there were no Tamils and they were convinced that I had no explosives either. house were "pure' Sinhalese! So they left after obtaining a statement from me.
Obviously these cops did not know why they had been sent to my house. They had been directed by others, on the pretext that there were Tigers lurking under my bed. People like me must be harassed and hounded out for one simple because as members of the MIRJE we have opposed the idea of a military solution to the national question and we have time and again called for a peaceful political solution. We have demanded an end to bloodshed and imnegotiations with all Today a call for a peaceful solution is, in the eyes of the government, tantamount to a call to support Tamil
Simultaneously with house to house searches and identity card checks, as well large-scale arrests of ordinary innocent citizens, the government is setting up vigilante groups in all areas ostensibly to safeguard the nation and the economy. Almost all these vigilante organisations are made up of UNP supporters and often local UNP thugs. These people, in liaison with the police, could effectively suppress all opposition in this locality on the pretext that they were a 'risk to national security or that they "were sabotaging the economy. This is by far the most dangerous of developments.
The plan to set up a fascist infrastructure was probably the rationale for whipping up war hysteria. Through this gigantic hoax the government would be able to establish information gathering and a propaganda apparatus as well as a local gestapo the pretext that the whole country is facing a grave crisis of an invasion by 4,000 Eelamists who may attack any part of the island to achieve government succeeds, the very people in the opposition who supported these new repressive measures will become victims of state repression. Them it would be too late to do much about it. •
The New Statesman is a British weeks journal which generally reflects the views of the right-wing of the Labour Party and the Soci Democratic Party.
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picket lines with us. They have really lifted our spirits up
We had about 300 pickets at Snowdown [the nearest pit to Aylesham] this morning and about 50 of those were women. This is very good and shows that people are still determined.
Q. What do you think is going to