In the Media: Resettlement in North – Muslims claim step motherly treatment

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Ceylon Today, 15 January 2017 https://www.ceylontoday.lk/print20170101CT20170331.php?id=13118

Muslims of Sri Lanka claim step-motherly treatment while resettling them in various parts of the country as well as in the northern peninsula adding that little has been done to rectify the issue due to the lack of infrastructure and adequate funds while the matter is also allowed to prolong further. The Tamil speaking Northern Muslims as they are called, left their homes, lands and belongings and fled the area in October 1990 when LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran ordered them out in 24 hours saying the region is purely a Tamil homeland.

The expulsion came after a festering dispute the LTTE had with this community. The northern Muslims were seen as hindrance to the LTTE fight for a separate Tamil homeland. Several Muslims branded as military informants were murdered and their limp bodies later hanged on electrical posts. However there were also several instances when this community is alleged to have worked closely with the LTTE providing information on military movements in exchange for cash payments.

Colonel R. Hariharan, a retired Indian military intelligence and a specialist on South Asia and former Head of Intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, has a lot to say about the Muslims as he mingled with at close quarter.
He says that the LTTE expelled about 75,000 Muslims from Northern Province giving them just a few hours notice. The simplest explanation is 'ethnic cleansing' which is not wholly correct as Muslims had a long and cordial relationship with the Tamils on both sides of the Palk Strait. This relationship is the same in Tamil Nadu even today.

He tells Ceylon Today that the reasons for the expulsion of the Northern Muslims were both political and due to Tamil militancy.

History of the Muslims

Looking at the history of the Muslims, Col. Hariharan says their identity was encouraged by the British since 1932. But this community was led by the elite Malay-Arabic origin class who were regarded above the poorer Northern and Eastern Muslims who spoke Tamil. Tamil-speaking Muslims were mostly supportive of the TULF and the majority of them ignored the Eelam call.

"I think when the TULF lost relevance and militancy became the order of the day, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) was formed in September 1981 and slowly it carved out a strong influence among Tamil –speaking Muslims".

He adds: "Until the SLMC was formed the Muslims had a good relation with the TULF and even participated in their programmes. But in 1983, events gave rise to militancy and the TULF's credibility among the Muslims eroded. It was a matter of survival for the Muslims who had to choose between the Tamil militants and the government. Despite this, some Muslim youth were inspired by the Tamil militant struggle.

"I remember a Jaffna Muslim was among the 13 LTTE leaders, some carrying personal arms, who were apprehended by the SL Navy while returning from India. The group later committed a mass suicide when attempts were being made to dispatch them to Colombo. The Muslim youth however did not die and was taken under SL Army protection," notes Hariharan.

"Tamil speaking Muslims were recruited to form various militias to defend themselves against the marauding LTTE in the East. They were also recruited by the Army since they proved to be valuable to Military Intelligence because they spoke and read Tamil and were conversant with Tamil culture. This led to suspicion about Muslims in the minds of the LTTE. "That's why even during the 2002 peace process, Prabhakaran promised a lot of things to Rauf Hakeem when he met him but never delivered on it.
"Muslims have mastered the art of tight rope walking between the different communities because they are a minority for whom their identity is bound inseparably with religion," the Indian military intelligence expert adds.

Muslims have been living for centuries in the Northern Province and speak only fluent Tamil. The Tamils were closely watching over this community to see what side they would favour when the war broke out. The subtle animosity between the two communities, with each fearing each other's presence continued. The Tamils turning to the LTTE and the Muslims running to the government forces for help when their life came under threat was a common occurrence.

Muslims were collectively accused of ganging up against the Tamils, first with the Sri Lankan State, then with 'Indian imperialism' as represented by the IPKF and since June 1990 again with the Sri Lankan state. In their media propaganda the LTTE repeatedly stressed that the majority of Muslims regarded the Tamils as their enemies and had indulged in atrocities against them. It is implied that whole Muslim villages acted as informers to the government forces. However the LTTE never claimed that the Muslims were murdered for their alleged connection to the State security agencies.
Muttur was one area that constantly had disputes between the Tamil and Muslim communities where youth from both sides were abducted or went missing creating communal tension.

Writer Rajan Hoole explains the fate of the Muslims in his piece 'Massacres of Muslims and what it means for the Tamils'. He says, when it came to be believed that the IPKF was there to stay, leaders from both communities co-operated with the IPKF. But because of the attitudes of the pro-Indian Tamil militant groups towards the Muslims, many Muslims helped the LTTE. The LTTE gained Muslim recruits and Muslims were then the mainstay of the LTTE's survival in the East. When the IPKF withdrew from most parts of the East in late 1989, the main victims of LTTE killings were Tamils. But friction with Muslims increased as the LTTE pushed its brand of authority. Greater discomfort developed as Muslim leaders politely reminded the LTTE of its pledges made to visiting Muslim representatives in India during 1987, promising autonomy for Muslim religious and cultural life.

After the war ended

Now the life of all communities witnessed the light at the end of the tunnel with the war coming to an end in 2009. The fact remains that since then the Muslims have progressed well in a short period of time.
Their business establishments are flourishing in every nook and corner of the big cities in the country except in the North which is still 'untouched'.

The Ranil-Maithri government was also their best choice after facing turbulence with the past regime. The sense of fear has by and large diminished and the govern-ment has taken strong steps to apprehend persons who cause religious tension.
Northern Provincial Council Chairman C. V. K. Sivagnanam told Ceylon Today that there are no stumbling blocks over resettling the Muslims in the region. He added there is no administrative hindrance to welcome them to the North.

He believes if they were rightfully living in the Northern Peninsula and can prove their properties no one is stopping them.

However he says that many have already returned to the North and have claimed their lands and are gradually settling there.

 The Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran who is very particular about resettling persons said that out of the 4307 families which had obtained lands between 2013 and 2016, 73.02 per cent were Muslim, 25.66 per cent Tamil, and 1.32 per cent Sinhalese.

The President of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka N. M. Ameen pointed out that by 2013, there were very few Tamils left to be resettled, as the government and the international community had prioritized the resettlement of Tamils after the war ended in 2009. Hence, in the settlement programme which took place after 2013, the percentage of Muslim families appeared to be high.

A senior retired lecturer in Geography, University of Peradeniya Dr. A. S. M. Nawfal talking to Ceylon Today explains the resettlement programme for the Muslims and the latest statistics about them which his research team had conducted.

Current status

Explaining the current status of resettling the Muslims of the North Dr. Nawfal says that in the Jaffna District already 10, 113 Muslim families have been resettled namely in Mullaitivu (there were 3,758 and 890 have been resettled), Kilinochchi (out of 826 families, 243 have been resettled), Jaffna (out of 7,528 families, 584 have been resettled) Mannar (out of 6,871 families 3, 426 have been resettled), Maanthai (out of 3,859 families, 463 have been resettled), Nanaattam (out of 1,753, 412 have been resettled ) and in Musali (out of 6,765 families, 4,095 have been resettled). The remaining numbers to be resettled is 21, 244. He adds that some 50 Muslim families had also sold their lands to Tamil buyers in the North and returned to their IDP camps.
In Silavathurai and Marichchikaddy thousands of private lands are occupied by the military. In Musali too, thousands of acres of paddy lands are still occupied by others, he notes.

Dr. Nawful says many Muslim families that fled the area due to the war are now in three fold. In 1990 a total of 837 families of Musali South have now increased to 2,137. Similarly 80 families in Pookulmis have increased to 230 families. In Mullikulam where there were 210 families the present count is 520.
When Kuwait based NGOs along with UN agencies such as UNICEF, UNCHR, OXFAM etc. constructed houses for the Muslims many suspected it to be an illegal settlement.

On the Willapattu issue he adds that dispute came when areas where people had lived were declared as the Wilpattu Forest System. Musali GS Division was linked to the forest unlike in the other areas.

Again in 2012 the government declared Marichchikaddy as another forest reservation area adjoining Veppal that extended towards the west and covered most of the area used by the Muslims and this is where the controversy remains, the senior lecturer explains.

According to him, more damage to the forest is done in the east of Wilpattu where more human encroachment is taking place. Notably, the catchment area of Wilpattu (inside the park) Kala Oya and the Moderagam catchment areas are encroached by humans thereby destroying the forest cover.

Similarly, in Jaffna, Dr. Nawfal urges the construction of roads and other infrastructure for Muslim areas. Muslims who earlier fled Jaffna have increased in big numbers. However they have not asked for more land but instead are seeking housing facilities and other apartments for their extended families, he noted.