Rediff Navigator News

Commentary

Capital Buzz

The Rediff Interview

Insight

The Rediff Poll

Miscellanea

Crystal Ball

Click Here

The Rediff Special

Meanwhile...

Arena

The Rediff Special/A Ganesh Nadar

Some women said the Sri Lankan army behave like brutes, but the Indian Peace Keeping Force was no better

Manohiridevi is a teacher from Yalpanam. She fled from her home when the LTTE asked them to vacate the town. She spent a year in Vanni before reaching India. "We had to flee or die in the airforce bombing," she says, recalling how four Sri Lankan soldiers raped a schoolgirl and then buried her. The girl's mother got a high court order to dig up the body. The armymen were subsequently arrested.

"But all mothers are not so gutsy or perseverant," Manohiridevi says, insisting it is impossible to live with the army "particularly if you have young girls." She has brought her two children with her, a 15-year-old girl and a 19-year-old boy. She has left a 22-year-old married daughter back in Vanni. Her son-in-law refused to accompany them because he said he could not live here without doing any business.

Manohiri's hubby Ramalingam has worked as a driver in Saudi Arabia for the last seven years. "We voted for Kumaratunga, she let us down," she says with disgust. When Chandrika Kumaratunga visited India earlier this month, Manohiridevi was worried that the Sri Lankan president had come to convince the Indian government to throw the refugees out.

The eldest member of a family gets Rs 75 every fortnight. Every additional member gets Rs 60. The refugees are supplied rice at 0.55 paise per kilo -- they get half a kilo of sugar per month at Rs 9 per kg and 5 litres of kerosene at Rs 3 per litre. The refugees travel between Ramanathapuram and Rameshwaram (an hour's journey by bus) freely during the day. There are no restrictions on travel during the day but the refugees have to be back in the camps by 10 pm.

They are permitted to leave the area only if they have relatives in other parts of the state. Only for a specific period, of course.

The refugees have no complaint against the Kumaratunga government; it is the army that bothers them. They believe the battle between the army and the LTTE will never end. "Each cannot destroy the other completely," says one refugee.

In Sri Lanka, Tamilians are not allowed to cross Vanniya. New entrants are not allowed into Colombo. So those who want to leave the country have to travel by sea.

The refugees collect money and buy a boat. Fishermen bring them over. The boats are seized by the Indian authorities. Thousands are said to wait on the seashore with no means of transport. Some refugees feel the Indian government to send ships to evacuate the refugees.

Some women said the Sri Lankan army behave like brutes, but the Indian Peace Keeping Force was no better. They divide the Indian army into three types -- the Sikhs, the Gorkhas and the Tamils. Among the three they said only the Tamils behaved themselves. I wasn't sure whether they were saying this because we were in Tamil Nadu.

Rajeshwaran is an old farmer from Kinnochi. He came here in October when his house was bombed. He paid Rs 6,000 for the crossing. He has brought one child with him. He had to leave his married daughter and son-in-law back home because they had no money to pay for the journey. "They will come when they find the money." He finds the rations insufficient, but is resigned to spending the rest of his life here.

The refugees can change money at the bank in Ramanathapuram; money changers come to the camp too. The banks give a better rate of exchange -- they get about 60 Indian rupees for a 100 Lankan rupees.

Continued
E-mail


Home | News | Business | Sport | Movies | Chat
Travel | Planet X | Freedom | Computers
Feedback

Copyright 1996 Rediff On The Net
All rights reserved