Mrs Yogeswaran, elected as the first woman Mayor of Jaffna in January, had refused personal security offered by the Army. Her husband, former Jaffna MP Vetrivelu Yogeswaran was assassinated in Colombo by the LTTE in July 1989 along with moderate Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader A Amirthalingam. In a note sent to the publishing house of the Jaffna Tamil journal Uthayan on 17 May, the underground organisation, Sangiliyan Army, claimed responsibility for the Mayor’s death. But another note to Uthayan’s editor the following day from the same group, denied involvement. The second note, however, said that Ms Sarojini was at the top of Sangiliyan Army’s hit list.
Three days before the Mayor’s killing, a day after the first anniversary of Army’s Operation Jayasikurui (Certain Victory) in the Vanni, Jaffna’s north-eastern Vadamaratchy Commander Larry Wijeratne was assassinated by a Black Tiger suicide bomber. The attack took place as Mr Wijeratne, who had been transferred to Colombo, left Point Pedro, after a farewell party given by the Vadamaratchy Traders Association. Two other officers were wounded.
After the capture of the Jaffna peninsula in early 1996, the security forces in southern Thenmaratchy and western Valikamam areas are alleged to have committed major violations of human rights, including extra-judicial executions, rape and disappearance. The Vadamaratchy area under Brigadier Wijeratne, however, was largely spared. He held regular consultations with local organisations and developed rapport with the people.
The Sangiliyan Army denies any links with the LTTE but says that its objectives are compatible with the aims of the Tigers. Many observers have no doubt that the Sangiliyan Army is a Tiger front and the two killings were intended to serve as a warning to the people of Jaffna against collaboration with the government or the Army. They point out that no other Tamil organisation has the strength or ability to operate in the north-east without being targeted by the Tigers.
With control of the population essential for the LTTE and the government, both parties appear to be using intimidation as one method of achieving this aim. The LTTE’s forcible evacuation of the Jaffna population in 1995 and the government’s attempts to return them to the peninsula by denying basic needs to the people in the Vanni are two examples of this strategy.
In April, government officers were warned by both the LTTE and the military against cooperation with the other side. Analysts say that the Tigers aim to disrupt government plans for reconstruction and deny political control in the north-east. According to the military, LTTE infiltration in Jaffna has increased. Tiger attacks may intensify so that even if the Army succeeds in Operation Jayasikurui, it will have to contend with a destabilised peninsula.
The Army’s Operation Jayasikurui, launched to open the 50-mile landroute to Kilinochchi from Vavuniya, entered its second year on 13 May. The LTTE leader V Prabhakaran has pledged to continue fighting and says the Tigers have thwarted the real aim of the operation which is to ‘divide the north-east Tamil homeland’. So far, 3,000 combatants have been killed and 8,000 injured on both sides. Currently over 35,000 troops are engaged in Operation Jayasikurui, but Army Commander Rohan Daluwatte wants more soldiers to complete the operation.
Sources say less than 5,000 of the 15,000 Army deserters returned following an amnesty in early May. The Army has withdrawn soldiers from the Eastern Province and the islands west of the Jaffna peninsula for the Vanni operation. The military may launch a recruitment campaign in schools to enlist 15,000 soldiers. Plans to introduce conscription are also on the cards. Reports say Rs 550 million ($9 million) has been spent on the operation and the LTTE has captured arms and equipment worth another Rs 500 million.
As the Army and the LTTE prepared for a showdown around Mankulam in the Vanni, Sri Lanka’s aid donors, meeting in Paris on 27 May under the auspices of the World Bank, approved $780 million in aid and pledged more assistance for north-east reconstruction in the event of peace. The representatives of foreign governments who attended the meeting expressed deep concern over the continuing conflict and urged efforts to end the enormous toll in human suffering and foregone economic development.
While commending the government for its efforts to devolve authority to the regions, the donors deplored the tragic impact of war on the entire nation and called on all political leaders to rise above partisan politics and unite in the cause of peace. Requests to aid donors from peace organisations to use aid as a leverage to achieve peace in the island went unheeded.