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By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The thirty - first of May and the first of June brought relief to the anxious public of tension - ridden
Thirukkonamalaippattinam as the Buddha statue issue showed signs of being resolved through
reasonable and peaceful means.
On May 31st the Attorney - Generals department filed plaint at the Trincomalee district court seeking
courts to declare the construction of the controversial statue as unlawful.
On June 1st the Trincomalee district Tamil Peoples Forum announced that it would suspend its
intention of calling for a massive hartal till June 15th following assurances made by a top Government
delegation that the Urban Development Authority will take action against the unlawful structure and that
steps would be taken to withdraw all additional security personnel deployed in the town.
Yet June 2nd saw doubts and worries emerge again as Sixteen Parliamentarians of the Tamil National
alliance converged in Trincomalee with local Tamil groups and announced the staging of a full -
fledged hartal on June 3rd the following day.
Compounding the problem further were the actions of extremist sections on either side of the ethnic
divide. While Sinhala Buddhist hawkish elements made racist attacks on the Attorney - General and
threatened to go on death fasts if the statue was touched a Tamil group warned of suicide attacks
unless the recently deployed security personnel were withdrawn immediately.
As stated in these columns last week the tense situation in Trincomalee thawed to some extend due to
the sensible approach displayed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the positive response
shown by the Tamil side led by veteran Tamil leader Rajavarothayam Sambandan.
A top Government delegation comprising cabinet minister Maithripala Sirisena , Deputy Minister Dilan
Perera and Presidential adviser Harim Peiris met with representatives of the Sinhala and Tamil
communities in two separate meetings chaired by North - Eastern Provincial Governor Tyronne
Fernando on May 25th .
The delegation enjoying the full confidence and backing of Kumaratunga assured the Tamil side that
all posible action will be taken to resolve the situation fairly. It was decided then to seek the Attorney -
Generals advice on resolving the matter. Positive action was pledged by June 2nd.Following this the
Tamil side due mainly to the conciliatory eforts of Sambandan agreed to postpone its proposed Hartal
to June 3rd.
Thereafter a team of officials from the Trincomalee urban council led by special Commissioner
Sundaram Arumainayagam went to Colombo. The UC team met Attorney - general Kamalasabeysan
and other AG Dept officials at meeting held in the Presidential secretariat. The disputed statue is
constructed near the Trincomalee bus stand on Urban Council property where thre - wheelers are
parked..The AG dept appraised itself of the exact situation at this meeting. Due consideration was also
given to the two directives issued by Trincomalee magistrate and additional district judge
Manickavasagar Ganesharajah on the question on May 18th and 25th respectively.
On May 31st senior state counsel Ms. Dilrukshi Wickremasinghe filed a plaint at the Trincomalee
district courts over the issue. associated with Ms. Wickremasinghe in this exercise were state Counsels
Dilip Nawaz and Wickrema Abrew along with noted Trincomalee lawyer Ms. Subhashini Chitravelu.
The plaint filed on behalf of Attorney - General sought the Trincomalee District Court Judge
Mr.S.Thiagendran to declare the construction of the Buddha statue on State land as unlawful and to
issue enjoining order preventing the accused party from making further improvement, alteration and
building any new additions in the disputed land till the matter is resolved by the court. The secretary of
the Trincomalee three - wheeler drivers association Ambalangoda Keerthi Premlal Jayalath was cited
as respondent by the AG. It is reported that Ambalangoda Keerthi was the prime mover behind the
illegal erection of a Buddha statue.
The A- G sought the court to declare the construction of the Buddha statue on that land as unlawful
as the land where the controversial Buddha statue stands is State property and the Trincomalee Urban
Council (UC) is currently in possession of the aforesaid property. AG also prayed that till the matter is
inquired and a decision finalized the Court should issue an enjoining order preventing the respondent
or his agents from effecting improvement, alteration or constructing new structures, legal sources said.
Trincomalee District Judge Mr. .S.Thiagendran, after hearing the submission of the State Council,
issued the enjoining order restraining the respondent the Secretary of the Trincomalee Three
Wheelers Association or his agents from making alterations to the controversial Buddhist statue until
the inquiry into the case filed by the Attorney General is complete and orders made by the Trincomalee
Magistrate on May 18 and May 25 in this regard are carried out.
The Magistrate had directed Police to negotiate with those responsible for the unlawful statue and get it
temporarily removed. Thereafter the UC was instructed to takesteps to remove all illegal structures on
state land..The District Judge further instructed to serve the enjoining order on the respondent and to
issue notice on the respondent to appear in court on June 13 when the case is to be taken up further
inquiry.
The first day of June saw the top Government delegation comprising Sirisena, Perera and Peiris
coming to Trincomalee again. Another meeting was held at the official residence of the N- E governor
Tyronne Fernando.A four hour discussion was held with Trincomalee district parliamentarians Messrs
R.Sampanthan and K.Thurairatnasingham, Mr.V.Vigneswaran, President of the TDTPF,
Mr.S.Gowrimuhunthan, Mr.R.Jerome, Brammasiri Vikneswarakurukkal and Rev Fr.Annadas.
The LTTE website "Tamilnet" stated the following in a news report -
" Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples' Forum (TDTPF) Wednesday agreed to postpone until June 15 its
general shut down action scheduled to take place after June 2nd demanding the removal of
controversial Buddha statue after a ministerial team assured the Tamil Forum that the Urban
Development Authority (UDA) would take legal action against the unlawful structure and necessary
steps will be taken to withdraw army troops from the east port town, sources in Trincomalee said".
"Tamilnet" further reported that " Minister Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena, parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan
and TDTPF President Mr.Vigneswaran addressed a press briefing at the conclusion of the discussion.
"Tamilnet" continued thus -
" Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena thanked the TDTPF for postponing its general shut down until June 15 to
assist the efforts taken by the government to solve the statue issue. He assured that within two weeks
an amicable solution would be found for the controversial Buddha statue issue.
Mr.V.Vigneswaran said assurances given by the government should be implemented and the Buddha
statue should be removed before June 12. "If the Sri Lanka Government fails to find a solution we will
not participate in any future talks. This is our last ultimatum," said Mr.Vigneswaran.
He said more troops and policemen are deployed in Trincomalee in recent days and Trincomalee is
currently seen as a battleground. TDTPF pressured the government team at the discussion to withdraw
troops from Trincomalee, he said.
Mr.Sampanthan said the government should implement all the assurances given to the Tamil side in
the Buddha statue crisis. The government team has assured that the UDA would initiate legal action
against the unlawful structure with in two days' time. The ministerial team has promised to take up the
troops' withdrawal demand when it meets Sri Lanka's President when the team returns to Colombo
Wednesday evening, he said."
With the situation showing signs of a gradual normalisation things were beginning to look up for the
people of Trincomalee. But this bliss was short - lived. the following day of June 2nd saw 16
Parliamentarians of the pro - tiger Tamil National alliance descending upon the land where Lord Siva
in the form of Koneswarar resides.A special meeting was held at the New Silver Star Hotel. Members of
the TDTPF and other Tamil associations attended the meeting chaired by Jaffna district MP Mavai
Senathirajah.
A notable absentee was the veteran Sambandan who was in Colombo at that time. Other MP's absent
were Joseph Pararajasingham, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, S. Gajendran, S. Kanagaratnam and S.
Vinotharagalingam. These MP's were reportedly attending to some other important work preventing
participation in Trincomalee.
Tamil sources however said that Sambandans absence was significant. According to these sources
Sambandan was not in favour of a hard line stance on the matter and had urged a path of moderation
and compromise. It was only last week that this column praised Sambandan for his reasonable
approach and queried whether this had the approval of the tiger hierarchy. Apparently it was
Sambandans independent yet highly commendable initiative. he had not consulted tiger political
commissar Suppiah Paramu Thamilselvan but only kept Trincomalee area head Elilan informed.
This relegation to the sidelines had made the vainglorious Thamilselvan furious. He had then instructed
the TNA Parliamentarians already scheduled to be in Trincomalee to meet with local Tamils on the
issue. Thamilselvan also reprimanded the TDTPF people for going soft on the issue. They were told
that suspending the Hartal until the 15th was unacceptable. They were asked to find some pretext for
staging a Hartal on June 3rd as a show of strength. Apparently Sambandan was unwilling to obey
Thamilselvan slavishly as the TNA stalwart had already given his word to the Government delegation
that there would be no Hartal till 15th.
Others however were not sticklers for fairplay as the Trincomalee veteran lawyer cum politician. "Mavai"
Senathirajah who has already laid the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi at the feet of the tigers had no
qualms. He willingly chaired the meeting. TDTPF bigwig Vigneswaran was also pliable. This native of
Nainatheevu in the North is a bank employee long resident in Trincomalee. He contested on the TNA
list at the last elections. It is widely known that Vicky is straining at the leash to step into the shoes of
the Septugenarian Sambandan as Trincomalee MP.
So in an about turn that was despicably remarkable the pseudo - representatives of the Tamil people
went back on the earlier decision to suspend the Hartal till 15th. At a meeting that went on till 2 pm a
decision was taken to call for a Hartal on June 3rd. This directly contravened the assurance given the
Government delegation the previous day.
Two excuses were found to justify this reversed position. One was that the June 3rd hartal would serve
as further pressure to compel the Government into removing the unlawful Buddha statue. The second
reason was that the Government had not withdrawn the additional security personnel deployed in
Trincomalee by Thursday 2nd evening as promised. It is interesting to note that though the non -
withdrawal of troops by Thursday evening is given as an excuse the decision to launch a hartal was
taken before 2 pm much earlier than evening.
In what was a blatant attempt to justify the hartal it was further decided to extend the hartal to all parts
of the North - East and not confine it to Trincomalee alone. This would demonstrate concern showed by
Tamils in the North - East over the issue and signify solidarity with Trinco Tamils. This would also
excuse the Trinco Tamils in going back on their word about not staging a hartal till June 15th. Now it
could be said that Trincomalee Tamils had no option but to fall in line with the rest of the N - E when
Tamils were staging a hartal to express support for Trincomalee.
It was also decided to emphasise the non - withdrawal of deployed additional troops by Thursday as
the reason for the hartal. It is interesting to note that "TAmilnet" while reporting on the meeting does
not mention anything about a promise to de - induct troops in 24 hours. Logistically it is not possible.
Besides it is not in the interests of the ordinary people to demand troop withdrawal before the situation
had eased. Yet the vested interests who want Tamil areas to be in a state of insecurity decided to go
ahead with the hartal on a false pretext. Tiger propaganda was unleashed that a promise made of
withdrawing troops was not honoured. The shameless sixteen of the TNA under Mavai Senathirajah
provided the fig leaf for this exercise in deception.
After the statue crisis became a sensitive issue President Kumaratunga deployed 1500 additional
troops in Trincomalee anticipating trouble. With the issue moving into legal realm and the Tamil
organizations showing signs of a moderate approach the large influx of additional troops was
redundant. This was accepted and an assurance was given that a gradual de - induction of troops
would commence from June 2nd evening. It is learnt that a contingent of 150 troops were scheduled to
leave Trincomalee on the 2nd evening.
The Trincomalee Tamil representatives who participated at the discussion on June 1st know the exact
situation. The self - imposed "Sole" representatives of the Tamil people who have brought the
community under their heel had other ideas. They wanted a Hartal on June 3rd as opposed to the
pragmatic earlier decision of postponing any siuch move till June 15th. Once the tigers wanted
something done it became the duty of their minions to find some pretext to implement it.The June 3rd
Hartal was to demand immediate withdrawal of additional troops.
According to news reports on June 3rd morning the Hartal had resulted in a massive stoopage of work.
Offices, schools, departments, businesses remaine virtually closed. Black flags were flying in many
places. Transport was at a standstill. Posters calling for Security force withdrawal from Trincomalee
were displayed in many places. LTTE propaganda makes out that the people of the N - E participated
spontaneously in the hartal.
The truth however was different. According to North - Eastern residents the people were annoyed at
the sudden imposition of a hartal. This was no grassroots upsurge but a decision made by the top
meaning the LTTE. The day (ponnurukki) was auspicious for commissioning the making of new
jewellery particularly the wedding "Thali". The sudden hartal upset all these plans and people were in a
fury. This was the case in most other businesses and departments too. With work stopped people were
finding it difficult. Gauging the public mood security personnel were quick to mock the people saying
see what your boys are doing. Many of the youths seen promoting the hartal were in a state of stupor
in many places. It appears that anti - social elements are encouraged by the LTTE to engage in
activities like these.
A troubling feature in this context was the appearance of leaflets in Trincomalee demanding immediate
troop withdrawal. The leaflets were issued under the name of "Kulakkottan Force ". History, legend
and folklore has it that Kulakkottan was the ancient ruler of the Thirukkonamamamalai region. It was
Kulakkottan who rebuilt and renovated the Thirukkoneswaram temple before the advent of the
Portugese who destroyed it in later times.
Apart from demanding withdrawal of troops the leaflets also issued a warning. It threatened to launch a
series of suicide attacks on military personnel and installations in the district. The people of the area
were called upon to take note of this and avoid consorting with troops or frequenting places occupied
by troops. One is not sure of the seriousness of this "Kulakkottan force". If the threats are really carried
out then the consequences can indeed be terrible.
The Sinhala hardliners too were not to be left behind in this frantic craze to destabilise peace and
tranquility.The Chief Incumbent of the China Bay Sri Bodhivihara, Trincomalee, Ven. Dehiowita
Piyatissa Mahathera threatened to lay down his life if the Government tries, by whatever means, to
remove the Buddha statue at the Trincomalee town. He was addressing a press conference at the
Seruwila Buddhist Centre on Bauddhaloka Mawatte in Colombo.
According to a news report " The Thera also said that if some people were to remove the Buddha
statue, a group of monks would conduct a fast undo death, until the Government intervenes and
restores the status quo. He also said that if 'hartals' succeed against Buddha statues, it will open the
doors to 'Eelam'.
The monk claiming to follow the enlightened one also questioned why the present rulers cannot
suppress 'hartals' in Trincomalee in the same manner past rulers suppressed 'hartals' in the south, by
burning alive the youths who led the 'hartal'. However, the removal of the Buddha statue in
Trincomalee means the expulsion of Sinhalese from the East.
At another press conference held by the Jathika Hela Urumaya politicians in saffron robes also
criticised the Government vehemently over the issue. In brazen defiance of the laws of the lands
arguments were made justifying an illegal act. Furthermore the Attorney - General was singled out by
name for a vicious personal attack. He was accused of being a tiger simply because he was by ethnicity
a Tamil.
Thus the Trincomalee situation displayed dangerous signs of deterioration. Two sets of fanatics are
determined to make Trincomalee in particular and the Country in general go up in flames. Rabble -
rousers and violence - mongers on both sides should be dealt with firmly. As a pre-emptive exercise all
persons maligning the Attorney - General publicly should be charged in court for the offences of
obstructing justice and preventing a public servant from discharging his duties.
