Tamils suspicious of 'unity' offer

20 May 2009, 1:59 pm   -   Source: AFP
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Sri Lanka's president marked victory over Tamil Tiger guerrillas with a vow that Tamils would not be victimised, but the minority community remains deeply suspicious after years of discrimination.

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Sri Lanka's president marked victory over Tamil Tiger guerrillas with a vow that Tamils would not be victimised, but the minority community remains deeply suspicious after years of discrimination.

Accounting for about 13 percent of the island's 20 million population, Tamils have long been wary of governments run by the Sinhalese-majority, which they accuse of treating them like second-class citizens.

President Mahinda Rajapakse told parliament on Tuesday that "all should live with equal rights.

They should live without any fear or doubt." "Let us all be united," he said.

Tamils greeted the speech with little enthusiasm but expressed hope that the end of the decades-long bloody war might at least bring about some practical improvements in their everyday lives.

"Tamil people know that the war is over. We hope now there will be free movement for our people," opposition Tamil National Alliance legislator C. Chandranehru said.

He wants authorities to reduce the endless checkpoints and roadblocks that divide up the country, where Tamils have to carry official papers to prove their identity.

Most believe they are singled out for grilling at the checkpoints, while last year hundreds of Tamils were evicted from Colombo because officials deemed them a threat to national security.

Only later did a court intervene to stop the evictions, saying it amounted to collective punishment.

"Now we have to wait and see what happens next, if we will be treated equally," equity analyst and Tamil Anchana Ratnasingham told AFP.

Social Services Minister Douglas Devananda, a former Tamil fighter, said tackling long-standing Tamil grievances was "a must" if Sri Lanka is to secure a more peaceful future.

"Until now, Prabhakaran stood in the way. Whatever all democratically elected political parties suggested, Prabhakaran rejected. Now the obstacle is no more," said Devananda after the Tiger leader was found dead.

Tamils had a privileged status under British colonial rulers but have suffered discrimination in language, jobs and education since the Sinhalese majority took power after independence in 1948.

Successive governments have promised to address the problems, but progress has been slow or non-existent with Sinhalese and Tamil nationalism both on the rise.

As Sinhalese Sri Lankans lit fire crackers and danced on the streets waving the national flag to celebrate the Tigers' demise, many Tamils felt nervous about the coming years.

"I don't really care if Prabhakaran is dead or alive, military people will not stop checking us," said S. Perimbarajah, a housewife living in Colombo's Tamil-dominated Wellawatte area, also known as "Little Jaffna."

Jaffna itself, in the island's war-torn north, is regarded as the Tamil cultural capital. Troops wrestled the town from the Tigers in 1995, but residents there still face severe travel restrictions.

Wellawatte, where shops sell traditional Jaffna sweets, has narrow lanes crammed with high rise apartments and cheap hotels popular with Tamils fleeing the fighting or seeking shelter before heading abroad.

Businessman Satheeshnathan urged President Rajapakse not to use the rebel rout to "settle scores" with the wider Tamil community. "Otherwise the ethnic pot will continue to boil," he warned.

For lawyer Kanthi Vijayakumar, any victory celebrations were "tasteless" after so much bloodshed and with so many people driven from their homes.

"My two sisters and their families are at one camp, my mother in another camp," she said.

"They have no money, no jobs, no land and no hope for the future. The war has torn our family apart."

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