The provincial council is weak. Real power lies in a shadow military administration, including an army commander who is now governor. It will carry on deciding day-to-day matters. Meanwhile, the army forbids crowds from gathering in the north. Its spies spread fear—a policeman on polling day admitted that even he was scared of them. Many Tamils say just talking to a foreigner provokes interrogation. Plain-clothes figures sporting military haircuts frequently skulked near this correspondent, interrupting meetings. None of this suggests that reconciliation between Tamils and the Sinhalese majority is going anywhere. A politician in Mullaitivu, a northern town, blames Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the defence secretary and the president’s brother, who oversaw the bloody end of the war. With his secret police, “he uses the military as a threatening programme, to create fear among people”, says the politician. He adds that military thugs often barge into his house. No wonder Navi Pillay, the United Nations human-rights commissioner, who toured Sri Lanka in August, warned of a drift towards authoritarianism. Via economist/news/asia/21586877-continuing-repression-tamils-and-their-defiance-suggest-reconciliation-far-harder-lines?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/harder_lines
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 19:32:36 +0000
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