Asia-Pacific, Development & Aid, Headlines, Human Rights

DEVELOPMENT-SRI LANKA: Three Scouts Trek 600 Km for Peace

Amantha Perera

COLOMBO, Sep 3 2009 (IPS) - It is a walk that no one has taken in the last quarter of a century. The nation having been beset by a bloody sectarian war, who would have thought of travelling the length of Sri Lanka south to north, let alone walk the distance, in the name of peace?

On Aug. 25, three men from the deep south of the country, all from the majority Sinhala community, began their 600-kilometre walk from the southern end of the island. The walk would later stretch through the vast swath of land called Vanni in the north central parts of Sri Lanka and formerly held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), otherwise known as the Tigers, and across other parts of Sri Lanka.

"Our aim is to take the message of peace to these areas that were devastated by war," said Kasun Chanaka, one of three scouts belonging to the Boy Scout Core, who are taking the gruelling journey.

The Core was started in the country by Lord Robert Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements, in 1912. Extremely popular in Sri Lanka, these movements are a great unifying force in this multi-racial nation.

The Vanni region, which has been reclaimed by government forces since May, has remained largely inaccessible since the military victory over the Tamil Tigers. Its over 280,000 civilian population, almost all of them from the minority Tamil community, initially ran deep into the Tiger heartland and then out of it, in fear for their lives, at the height of the conflict between the government troops and the LTTE fighters.

The sprawling welfare centres set up for the internally displaced people (IDPs), located in districts adjoining the Vanni, have since become their home. The government has pledged to commence the resettlement of at least 60 percent of the displaced families before the end of year. Until then, it needs to address the reported horrible living condition inside the camps.

Founded in 1976, LTTE, also known as Tamil Tigers, waged a violent secessionist war in 1983 to create an independent Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, which is inhabited by two ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The decades-long ethnic conflict finally ended four months ago after the LTTE was defeated by the military.

The Tamil people comprise a majority in north Sri Lanka and a significant number on the eastern side. Elsewhere on this island state in South Asia, they are considered a minority. Their history, traditions, culture and language are distinct from the majority Sinhalese people, who make up about 71 percent of the country’s population.

Since the militant group’s defeat, government has signalled the total destruction of their military and political structures following the annihilation of their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, shot dead on May 19 in the last phase of the fighting.

Due to difficulties of access into the IDP camps, reports on the living conditions there have been hard to come by. The United Nations said that the situation has improved over the last four months but a lot more needs to be done. The state of the camps worsened after flash floods struck in mid-August.

Government also announced the need to screen the IDPs based on reports that former Tiger operatives could be hiding there. Considered the biggest impediment to resettlement has been the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance in the former conflict areas.

All this shows normalcy has proved elusive for the displaced civilians. Chanaka and his two other companions know this full well. Hence, they said, they want to do their bit to help hasten its return to the war-ravaged Vanni. By making a peace march, that is.

"We want everyone to know that all are equal in this country, that there is no difference," said Chanaka, only in his early 20s and the youngest of the three scouts. He was inspired to undertake the journey by his senior scout, Padamkantha Gunewardena. Another fellow scout, Prasad Manjula, decided to join him on his mission.

Gunewardena, who did a similar feat 32 years back in 1977, said he made the walk because he wanted to see the country. Today, history is repeating itself, albeit for a different purpose.

"For 30 years, there was this great divide that separated the north and the south. We did not know much about those living in the areas affected by the war; they had no idea about us, said Gunewardena. "It was as if it was two worlds within one small island. We want to change that; we want to break the barriers, maybe make it as it was in 1977." Along the way, the three men are joined by well-wishers carrying banners and flags over short distances. No one has so far joined the full march.

Between Omanthia, just north of Vavuniya town and Muhamlai, south of the town of Jaffna, the traditional political and cultural nerve centre of the Tamils, the three scouts will traverse 100 km along the A9 highway, which connects the central city of Kandy with Jaffna, also the capital city of the northern province of Sri Lanka. Then they will walk through towns and villages that saw some of the fiercest fights between the military and the Tigers not so long ago.

They will also travel through Kilinochchi, once the political showcase town of the Tigers, and witness whatever remains of the administrative structure built by the Tigers – like its police offices, courts and political offices used by the LTTE. Their peace march will also take them through Paranthan and Elephantpass, strategic towns on the A9 that were key landmarks during the offensive launched by government forces that ultimately decimated the rebels.

Documenting the war or its path is not part of their goal, said Chanaka, who hails from the Matara district in the southern province. "As scouts, we all take an oath. Part of that oath is to take the message of peace," he added. "We are taking that to Jaffna as a letter from the south," he said.

The three have written a letter conveying their message and will deliver it to the mayor of Jaffna at the conclusion of their journey. They decided to keep the contents of the letter until they open it in Jaffna.

"We have to learn to love this land. It has been devastated by war. That is why we are walking the distance — we want the people to hear the message of peace and come together," Chanaka said. He knows the scars are deep and the suffering immense after nearly 30 years of bloodshed that killed at least 70,000 persons.

Some of the minority Tamils appear unimpressed by their cause.

"If they walk and thereafter nothing happens, what is the big deal?" asked Mahen Suwaranlingam, a young Tamil from Colombo. "If they can galvanise the nation to the plight of the displaced, then, yes, by all means, we need more such walks," he hastened to add.

Chanaka said he felt the need do something in order to show the country the potential of peace and the needs of those affected by the war, rather than wait at home. "We hope people will realise the sincerity of our effort and the message (we are carrying)," he said.

It is this sincerity that he hopes will help heal the deep scars of their wounded nation.