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The continuing military campaign in Vanni is particularly taking a heavy toll on those lives depended on daily chores and venturing to learn. Farmers are fearful of working in the fields and parents want their children stay at home for fear of air attacks. And displaced children enrolled in other schools face crowded conditions.

[Sri Lankan airforce planes fly over the northern Tamil district of Kilinochchi-BBC in Pictures]

Tamil Daily Thinakural reported on Thursday July 31st of 55 schools being closed and 3,500 acres of farmland abandoned in the midst of off season paddy cultivation as the Sri Lanka military campaign has accelerated in recent weeks in Vanni.

The Thinakkural report says, due to the military campaign entire cultivation in Mullaithivu, Manthai East and Thunukkai are now halted.

In Vavanikulam 3,500 acres of paddy cultivation was halted and all crops are now destroyed, after a military campaign in the area.

[Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked Kugnchup-paranthan and the adjacent paddy fields along Paranthan - Poonakari (Pooneryn) road on Jul 8]

Farmers in hamlets such as Uyilangkulam, Alangkulam and Iyankulam face mounting losses as their paddy, grains and vegetable farms were unattended to and destroyed.

On the schools front, internally displaced persons are attending classes in crowded conditions in other schools.

One school in Mullaithivu, Thirumurikandy Hindu Vithiyalayam is accommodating children from several closed schools.

Among the schools functioning under crowded conditions in Thirumurikandy Hindu Vithiyalayam include Palinagar Maha Vithiyalayam, Paandiyan Kulam Maha Vithiyalayam, Yogapuram Maha Vithiyalayam, Aningjayan Kulam Government Tamil Mixed School, Kalvillan Government Tamil Mixed School, Vavanikulam Government Mixed School, Panangkaamam Government Mixed School, Moondro Murippu Government Mixed School and Koothi Moolai Government Mixed School.

Thirumurikandy Hindu Vithiyalayam’s enrollment numbered 429 prior to adding the additional 620 students due to displacement.

Thinakkural reports the school is struggling with insufficient drinking water, lack of sanitary facilities and a shortage of classrooms since taking in the additional 620 students.

Employees of Danish Organization engaged in demining on July 29th found human skeletons in Chemmani, within Jaffna Municipality limits, Tamil daily Virakesari reports.

Danish Demining Head Office informed the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and the police in Jaffna about their men finding the human skeletons.

Few weeks ago, a mass grave was found after the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were engaged in digging wells near their camp. Reports said the site, located 1.5 km from a Sri Lankan military post, was manned by police and later by the Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).

Patients seeking care at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital are facing immense hardship, due in from lack of proper facilities to staff shortage and gross neglect, according to a news report yesterday July 29th, in Jaffna Tamil Daily Uthayan.

The newspaper says, the residents are looking forward to a much more caring and peaceful environment at the only Teaching Hospital in the peninsula and urge proper corrective measures.

Excerpts from the Uthayan Report:

For patients suffering from ailments, the primary necessity for the healing process to begin is a peaceful atmosphere at the hospitals. The patient care, guidance and aftercare take precedence than the medicines.

The principal duty of the hospital is ensuring everyone, be it a patient needing routine check up or the terminally ill needing long term care is able to receive adequate care without any hardship.

We may not anticipate all these services in many hospitals. The situations in them are unavoidable.

Likewise the conditions prevailing at the only Teaching Hospital in Jaffna, The Jaffna General Hospital is sorrowful. High quality services rendered by medical professionals there is being eclipsed due to lack of dedicated performance at other levels it is feared.

The hardships faced by those seeking care at the outpatient clinic seem a continuing saga. It is extremely sad to see the immense difficulties they endure, from obtaining the appointment to finally receiving treatment.

The situation of the seniors needing care is particularly deplorable. A special division for senior care that opened a few years ago now remains closed. The seniors have to be in the midst of all the other patients to receive care. This makes it unable for them to obtain timely appointments and care. It is a painful scene seeing seniors stand in long queues to obtain medical services in their golden years.

At the medical dispensaries too the seniors are not being given preference over other patients.

Even when dispensaries are adequately staffed, the seniors have to wait for long hours to obtain their medicines. The seniors lament the long waits are exacerbating health problems.

The community outreach division seems to be not operating for the past few months and the glass walled office well designed for this purpose remains shut too.

In these days of sudden problems arising in the free the movement for people in Jaffna, patients miss their appointments due to matters beyond their control, such as restricted transportation. At times the patients will show up but the medical professionals may be unavailable due to prevailing tensed situations. Shortages of medical doctors also contribute to this dismal state. Adding to patient difficulties are careless support staff giving out appointments on days the outpatient clinic is closed. And the patients complain of struggling again to obtain a timely appointment.

Inpatient care patients too suffer immensely due to lack of proper facilities. The beds lack secure locker facilities. Increased menace of stray dogs and cats at the hospital premises are adding to the hardships. Food kept overnight is dragged away by cats. Patients are forced to carry on hungry overnight without a meal. Incidents of patients, staff and visitors being bitten by dogs are on the rise. 15 support staff was treated for dog bites within the last month only.

Amidst all the hardships, a few support staff is reportedly forcing to pay for unauthorized charges for services such as wheel chair services during patient discharging.

The residents of Jaffna peninsula look forward to a much more caring and peaceful environment at their only Teaching Hospital. They eagerly anticipate for relevant authorities and others to make steps to improve the conditions at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in the near future.

The Free Media Movement (FMM) is deeply disturbed over the remarks attributed to the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka in recent interviews he has granted, a statement from the organisation said today.

“One such interview appeared in the state-run Sunday Observer newspaper of July 20, 2008. The contents were later posted on the website of the Ministry of Defence thus giving it official credence. Another interview was published in the Sunday Sinhala weekly Lakbima and was posted thereafter on their website.

The Free Media Movement evolved out of the Standing Committee of Journalists, which was formed in late 1991, as a collective enterprise of journalists and media personnel to critique and respond to moves by then government of the time to introduce a Media Commission to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe , left, holds the hand of media rights activist Sunanda Deshapriya as he expresses his support for media rights during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, July 2, 2008: AP Photo via Yahoo! News, Eranga Jayawardena

The full text of the FMM statement:

We reproduce below relevant excerpts of the interviews where Lt. Gen. Fonseka is quoted as justifying the recent attacks, intimidation and harassment of journalists.

“If Keith Noyahr has not done anything wrong, he does not have to live in fear. If he has done some damage to our organisation or to a person, especially when he has done something which he is not supposed to do, then it is natural he must be living in fear. If they think that they have done something of that nature the best thing for them is to correct themselves and rectify the mistake.”

“We know that journalists are being bribed, given ‘drinks,’ treated in restaurants and they have their own vested interests… We know very well about those media people who take bribes, write and voice their opinion for some personal gains.

These so called media guys are not responsible to the people and they are not entitled to such media freedom.

That Keith Noyahr, who was assaulted, was returning from a restaurant with his friends and they were drunk. We do not know that somebody in the restaurant had got annoyed with them, followed him and assaulted.

So, especially the media people should behave well and set an example to others. To me, those who stage protests with unshaven beards, long hair and wearing costumes like in fancy dress competitions are not scribes who are clamouring for media freedom but a gang of thugs.” (Interview with the Observer, reproduced in www.defense.lk )

In another interview with Sinhala language weekly Lakbima the Commander had said the attacks on Keith Noyahr, Iqbal Atthas and Namal Perera could be the consequences of their “misdeeds.”

If indeed Lt. Gen. Fonseka has made the remarks attributed to him, the FMM is of the view, that it is unbecoming conduct of a highest military officer. At a time when he is spearheading a war against Tiger rebels, it is unfortunate that he has chosen it fit to justify indirectly the recent attacks on journalists. (The FMM waited for a week before making this statement to see if there would be any corrections to the interviews form the Commander).

In reporting any public interest issue, no doubt, independent journalists may express dissenting views. Such views may sometimes be uncomfortable to various persons in the echelons of power. The time honoured tradition under successive governments have been for those concerned to counter those views, correct the facts if they are known or state their own.

If they violated the laws of the land, they would also have recourse to courts. However, if the remarks of Lt. Gen. Fonseka are in fact correct, it clearly leaves an indelible impression that the might of the military is being brought to bear on unarmed and unprotected journalists. This in the form of a hate campaign to threaten, harasses, intimidate and force them into silence. This is an extremely disturbing trend and is unprecedented in Sri Lanka.

Making this even more disconcerting, the FMM strongly believes, is the deafening silence of the government. Not so long ago, they announced the appointment of a Ministerial Committee to alleviate the problems faced by journalists. Several Ministers made pledges to protect them and ensure media freedom.

FMM believes that it would be the responsibility of the government to make its position clear. Otherwise, FMM fears, their silence or indifference would only pave the way for more journalists to be killed, brutally assaulted, intimidated and harassed.

The leader of paramilitary Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) is spending “most of his time” in grasping fluency in Sinhala. Karuna spoke to ‘Lakbima’ daily, and said his primary goal is to enter Sri Lanka parliament as a fluent Sinhala speaker.

Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna, also said he wishes to see an environment where both Tamils and Sinhalese learn each other’s language.

Also, reports say the TMVP has asked the government to enroll 1,000 armed cadres to the Sri Lanka Police and armed forces, quoting a party spokesman.

TMVP leader Karuna was released from a jail in London in June, after serving three months for entering Britain on a forged visa and diplomatic passport.

“The British government had an alleged war criminal in custody for six months and couldn’t manage to file charges,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The misery of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living under trees in Vanni is touching the hearts of people who have seen their plight.

Reflecting this, the Bishop of Jaffna Rev Thomas Soundaranayagam, lamented their plight in a letter to the Government of Sri Lanka.

He has written to the President Mahinda Rajapakse, seeking assurances to protect the safety of civilians.

Women and children living under trees because of artillery fire exploding near their own homes. The international humanitarian agencies in their mission to assist the people in misery are being subjected to embargos on food and fuel. This can only be described as a crime against humanity, he said in the letter.

He has urged the President of Sri Lanka to consider the following to remedy their difficulties:

1. Halt attacks towards civilian areas from by air, sea and artillery and ensure safety of innocent civilians of children, women and men.

2. Send essential food, medicine, and supplies of temporary shelter to the Government Agent in Sri Lanka at the Kilinochchi Secretariat, towards assisting civilians being displaced.

3. Allow access to United Nations and other humanitarian agencies to perform their task in assisting the displaced by lifting fuel and travel restrictions.

The Bishop said the entire population to the West of Kilincochchi is moving towards Kilincochchi area.