A hartal opposing the Sri Lanka’s new anti-terror legislation and the ongoing Sinhalisation of the Tamil homeland has caused a complete halt to all economic activities and movement of the public across the North-East.

Tamil political parties called for a hartal today as Sri Lanka is set to debate the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act which has been ciritcised for failing to adhere to international human rights standards. Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been condemned by the international community for years but the state have not repealed the notorious legislation.

The proposed legislation which was published last month retains PTA provisions that enable prolonged detention for up to one year which can be extended on the request of the Attorney General.

In the Mannar district, all economic activities have been closed for the day, and the general public, civil organisations, and unions that engage in economic activities have unanimously supported the initiative. The movement of the public in the streets is practically non-existent, with attendance in schools extremely low.

Unanimous support for the hartal in Vavuniya has led to the complete halt of all economic activities, and the movement of the public has been limited. Private bus unions have stopped services completely, and private buses that are entering the northern provinces have stopped providing their services at Vavuniya. Even though schools are open, attendance is extremely low. Services have also halted in suburban areas such as Nedunkerny, Cheddikulam, and Kanakarayankulam.

All private services have also come to a halt in Mullaitivu district with business owners from Visuvamadu, Udayar Kattu, Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mulliyavalai, Mankulam, Oddusuddan, and Mallavi have completely shut down operations, and cooperatives have also completely shut down operations, including grocery shops and fish markets.

In Mullaitivu, a government bus service which departed from Mullaitivu around 5:30 am on its way to Jaffna was attacked with stones by two people on a motorbike. The windshield of the bus was damaged, and the driver was injured. Following this incident, a complaint was made at the Mullaitivu police station, and the Police have provided security for all government bus services in Mullaitivu.

In Jaffna, while government bus services are operating, private bus owners have ceased operations for the day. Three-wheelers are sparsely operating, and with the exception of a few restaurants, pharmacies, and other essential services, all business operations have been halted. Schools and universities have also stopped for the day.

In Trincomalee, all Muslim and Tamil-owned services have stopped for the day, and the daily lives of the general public are expected to be disrupted by this hartal.

It is important to note that government bus services from outside the northern district are not going beyond Vavuniya, causing significant inconvenience to passengers traveling to and from the northern districts. The hartal has brought to light the ongoing oppression faced by the Tamil and Muslim communities in Sri Lanka and the urgent need for the government to take action to address these issues.

Jaffna University’s student union have expressed their concerns over the proposed Anti Terrorism Act which they state will curtail freedom of expression and association.

Speaking at a press conference, the leader of the student union, Azhagarasan Vijayakumar, said that the proposed act will will impede not only organisations but also individuals from engaging in their freedom of expression and freedom of association. The new act has been proposed to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which has been used for decades against Tamils and Muslims to arbitrarily arrest and detain people, violate fair trial rights, and put detainees at risk of torture.

“The Tamil people’s voices have been systematically oppressed by the PTA, and student movements that have been democratically engaging in protests and dissent have been greatly affected by the existing PTA. Students have been arrested and intimidated, and the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act is likely to worsen the situation,” Vijayakumar added.

The international community needs to intervene to stop this act from being passed, and MPs should oppose it, Vijayakumar said. The Jaffna University students union is vehemently opposed to the new Anti-Terrorism Act and will mobilise its members to protest against it. The proposed act has raised concerns among student unions across the country, with many fearing that it will curb their right to dissent and protest.

The Jaffna student union is urging the government to reconsider its decision to introduce the Anti-Terrorism Act. The union added that the proposed act will have far-reaching implications, and it is essential that all concerned parties engage in constructive dialogue to find a way forward that protects the rights and freedoms of all citizens.

We, the leading Tamil diaspora organisations, extend our full support for the forthcoming general strike (hartal) that has been scheduled in the traditional homeland of Tamils in the North & East of Sri Lanka on Tuesday – 25th April 2023 and cordially invite all other diaspora organisations to provide support leaving behind their differences aside at this crucial time.

The purposes of the hartal are:

• To reject the Anti-terrorism Bill that is to be submitted in the Sri Lankan parliament for ratification, because it is worse than the current Prevention of Terrorism Act.
• To oppose the racist state’s premediated actions of committing structural genocide and denying the Tamil people of their inalienable right to self-determination by carrying out:
o Land grab.
o Colonisation of the traditional homeland of the Tamil people with Sinhala people from the south
o Destruction of evidence on Tamil heritage.
o Demolition of historical Hindu temples and replacing them with Buddhist viharas, all aimed at distorting and denying the long history of the Tamil people in their traditional homeland in the North-East of the island.

We extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation of all political parties, religious groups, trade unions, university students and other civil society groups who have initiated and are conducting this hartal, and we encourage them to continue with organising similar integrated and coordinated actions in future.

We call upon all Tamil people living in Sri Lanka and the Tamil political parties to unite and participate in this hartal to demonstrate our unified strength to the Sinhala-Buddhist state, Sinhala majority and to the international community.

Thank you.

The undersigned Tamil organisations working with the key political parties in the United Kingdom, wish to express our solidarity with the organisers of the general shutdown planned for Tuesday, 25 April 2023 demanding an end to militarisation in the North-Eastern regions and removal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Despite repeated calls from the international community and against numerous commitments it has
made to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Sri Lanka continues its heavy military presence in the Tamil homeland with constant interference by security forces in civil matters and continues to use the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act to intimidate and subjugate the Tamil People in the island.

We fully support this action by the organisers and call on all political parties, civil society organisations and people in North-East to join the general shutdown and send a strong message to the Sri Lankan government and the international community.

Tamils in Sri Lanka have witnessed an escalation in the attack on Hindu temples in recent weeks, a trend that they note is part of the State’s “ongoing Sinhalisation project” in the island’s north.

In recent weeks, Tamil media reported multiple incidents of vandalism at temples, where Hindu deities were found missing or damaged. In Jaffna, some Tamils have sought to counter the trend by placing a Hindu deity in a public space, prompting police to petition the court seeking its removal. Several Tamil political parties have called for a protest on April 25 against the recent temple attacks, among other issues.

Simultaneously, Tamils also point to an increase in the number of new Buddhist structures and shrines coming up in the Northern Province, where Hindus form the largest religious group, followed by Christians and Muslims, with Buddhists in the fourth place.

The developments come amid heightening activity of Sri Lanka’s Department of Archaeology in the Tamil-majority north and east. Authorities have restricted public access to some temples, citing ongoing “archaeological research” in the historic sites. In one instance, media reported the arrest of a youth who attempted to worship at a temple in Vedukkunarimalai, Vavuniya. A large protest was held in the area last month protesting the vandalism of idols at this temple.

Jaffna legislator and Tamil National People’s Front Leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam sees the incidents as part of a larger, persistent assault on Tamils’ rights, including to worship. Ever since the end of the war, consecutive governments have “accelerated the Sinhalization” of the north and east, he said, “as if to catch up with the gap of the 30 years during the war that they missed out on.”

The Aiyanar temple at Kurunthurmalai, Mullaitivu, has remained controversial amid a rapid increase in Buddhist structures on its premises in the last few years. Despite a court order preventing any new religious installations at the spot, a state minister in 2021 led a ceremony to place a Buddhist statue at the site, in the presence of military men and archaeological department officials. Similar contestations on land have also been reported in the east.

“The Rajapaksas spearheaded this [Sinhalisation] project, but that doesn’t mean the attitude of [President] Ranil Wickremesinghe or [Leader of Opposition] Sajith Premadasa is any different,” he told The Hindu. Recalling the manifesto of Mr. Wickremesinghe’s United National Party, ahead of the 2018 local government elections, the MP said: “It stated that their government will rebuild 1,000 Buddhist viharas [temples], a vast majority of them claimed to be in the north and east. Mr. Sajith was the Minister in charge of this project.”

Mr. Ponnambalam said Tamils have been struggling against “this genocidal agenda”, of “erasing the Tamil identity” of the north and east. “It is utter desperation that led [Tamils] to take up arms. Well, now that the Tamil armed struggle was crushed, we are back to business as usual.”

M.A. Sumanthiran, Jaffna legislator for the ITAK and a senior lawyer, is appearing for Hindu religious groups in multiple legal battles where temple land, or access, is being contested by authorities. There is “very clearly, a pattern and an agenda” seen in the escalating instances of attacks and vandalism on Hindu temple deities across the north, he noted.

Mr. Sumanthiran, too, accused authorities of pursuing a project of “Sinhalisation”, targeting places of worship of the Tamils, based on claims that these are archeological sites, implying they have a Sinhala heritage. “To start with, even if these sites had archeological evidence of some Buddhist heritage, it may not necessarily be Sinhalese, because we know that Tamil Buddhists have lived in the north,” he told The Hindu.

Observing that the Sri Lankan Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to worship, or to not worship, he said: “This Sinhalisation project cannot be countered by simply acting in competition, by placing more statues or deities. We need sober ways of putting an end to this practice. It needs regulation of the erection of new statues, across religions. Meanwhile, a citizen’s right to worship, which is an absolute right, ought not to be interfered with, irrespective of which religion one follows,” he said.

Some temple administrators have reportedly approached the Indian High Commission on the issue. Further, amid reports of Hindu religious groups also appealing to their Indian counterparts, some Tamils have voiced scepticism. “There have been calls by Sri Lankan Tamil groups to BJP/Indian Hindu groups to intervene and stop the destruction of Hindu temples & construction of Buddhist temples in their place in North & East. This is dangerous and ignores many socio-political realities. BJP is no progressive force,” said human rights activist Ambika Satkunanathan, in a recent Twitter thread. “BJP’s politics is akin to that of the Rajapaksas-they demonise and dehumanise Muslims, Christians and Dalits, portray them as the enemy and as obstacle to building a Hindu state,” she said.

In Mr. Ponnambalam’s view, seeking help from State or Government of India, or any other country, for “a reasonable and just” request is “totally acceptable”. But he cautioned Sri Lankan groups against seeking the help of organisations that have “a very clear political agenda”, which goes beyond religion, and “sees sections of the Tamil Nation in Sri Lanka that belong to different religions as enemies”.

“Help does not come free. It comes with conditions, and the conditions that some of these Hindu organisations lay will ultimately divide the Tamil Nation here,” he said, adding that Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka had been a reaction to the Sinhala Buddhist ethnocratic state’s policies. “We have therefore insisted that our liberation has to be on the basis of secularism and equality. That aspect, as far as our organisation is concerned, can never be compromised.”

The Department of Archaeology is yet to respond to The Hindu’s query. When contacted, the Governor of the Northern Province Jeevan Thiagarajah said historical places that are religious in character are interpreted in different ways and that there have been “issues around their history”.

“The Department of Archaeology looks into archaeological matters, but there are other departments tasked with looking into religious concerns and unfortunately, they are not out there on the field doing their job. I will take it up with the Ministry [of Culture],” noted the most powerful central government representative in the Province. The Northern Province, like the island’s eight other provinces, is currently under Governor’s rule, owing to the indefinite postponement of provincial council elections. “Sectarianism is not the way forward…we hope not to go down that path,” he said.

Source:The Hindu