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Its one year since the Tamil Tiger separatists in Sri Lanka were defeated after a bloody civil war that lasted over three decades. The government’s main priority since their victory has been reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation with the Tamils in an effort to consolidate their win. The government claims it’s all progressing very fast. But some Tamils aren’t impressed. The BBC’s Tinku Ray reports from Sri Lanka.
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MARCO WERMAN: It was a year ago today that another war in South Asia was officially declared over. The government of Sri Lanka claimed victory in a decades old civil war with Tamil Tiger guerillas. The Tigers had been fighting for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority. The government is dominated by the country’s Sinhalese majority. Its top priorities over the past year have been reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation with the Tamils. The BBC’s Tinku Ray traveled recently to eastern Sri Lanka to see how the government is progressing.
TINKU RAY: Construction is on at a furious pace on the rough and bumpy road to Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka. Here a crew of Tamil workers is quickly and efficiently laying down tar. Batticaloa is about 230 miles from the capital Colombo. This area is almost all ethnic Tamils with small numbers of Sinhalese. The mainly Sinhalese government drove out the Tamil Tigers, or LTTE, in 2007, but the town still bears scars of war. The main road is littered with burned out and dilapidated houses. But now, many Tamils that had moved north are returning. Parmananda Jairani fled during the fierce fighting towards the end of the war. Parmananda was separated from her husband during the fighting. When she couldn’t find him, she decided to come back to Batticaloa with her three children, but it’s been difficult. They’re dependent upon charity living in one small room with no windows or proper ventilation. There are many other Tamil families displaced by the war living around her. Parmananda says she wants the government to give them more aid so they can rebuild their lives.
INTERPRETER: The government gives us rice, dal and oil. But to buy firewood to cook on, I have to sell the rice. The government must help us more with jobs and homes, otherwise how will we be able to live?
RAY: Despite Parmananda’s grievance, life is returning to normal for many in the region. At a local Hindu temple, a festival is being celebrated with full joy, something that would have been next to impossible during the war. And even though there’s a large police presence, the atmosphere seems relaxed. New shops are popping up. This man had just opened a new shoe store.
INTERPRETER: During the war, we lived in fear, but now all the different communities are living together in peace. We can now move around freely any time of the day. I can keep my shop open all day.
RAY: At her home just outside Batticaloa, a group of former Tamil Tiger child soldiers are getting ready for a day at the beach. They come to this home to be rehabilitated. For these young girls and boys, it’s been difficult to forget the past. Nila was just 15 when she joined the movement in 2005. She told me that she’d never met a Sinhalese person or even spoken to one before she joined the Tigers. She doesn’t believe the new peace will change anything for Tamils.
INTERPRETER: There are still the same problems that existed before, so I don’t think Tamils will get equal rights.
RAY: So do you not trust the Sinhalese here?
INTERPRETER: I can’t trust the Sinhalese and I’ll never be able to trust the Sinhalese.
RAY: The beach at Pasikoda, just half an hour from Batticaloa, is full of Sri Lankans enjoying the day. There are stores run by Tamils and there are Tamil and Sinhalese families who have come for a day out. This scene would have been impossible during the civil war. This Sinhalese man has come to the beach for the first time with his family. He feels the situation is now stable and relations between the two communities will improve.
MALE VOICE 1: I see a lot of bright things regarding the peace and now after the war, other people from the south can visit Tamil areas and the relationship will build and government is also helping.
RAY: Most of the people I met in Batticaloa are happy to put the violence of the past 30 years behind them and try and rebuild their lives. A lot will depend on how quickly and well the Sri Lankan government is able to resettle and reintegrate the Tamil population back into society. The fear is that Tamils might again feel dispossessed enough so that the Tamil Tigers will be able to return to fight once again with the support of their people. For The World, I’m Tinku Ray in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka.
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