COLOMBO, April 5: At least 5,000 Tamils were arrested last week in massive round-ups by security forces in the Sri Lankan capital amidst uproar that the government was punishing the entire minority community to cover up for its inability to prevent terrorist attacks by the separatist Tamil Tigers.As the arrests continued, the government stepped in late last week to stem the growing tide of criticism against the perceived injustice to the Tamil community. It is learnt that the Attorney General issued strict instructions on Thursday to security forces to end the mass arrests with immediate effect.
However, by the time that order was given, much of the damage had already been done as more than 4,500 Tamils were picked up at random from residential areas, hotels and lodges. A Tamil columnist of an English-language newspaper wrote that the Chandrika Kumaratunga-led "People's Alliance government was the worst thing that could have ever happened to the Tamils of Sri Lanka".
The arrests, meanwhile, the Armyand the police justify, are necessitated as a drastic measure to stem the increased incendiary activities in the city in recent times.
The latter resulted in frequent explosions in which led to forces to suspect infiltration of LTTE cadres in Tamil-dominated suburbs and districts of the capital, thus.
"It's safer to live in army-controlled Jaffna than democratic Colombo, because here, it seems as if it is a crime just to have a Tamil name," said a senior Tamil journalist.
Around 2,000 Tamils living in the suburb of Wattale were shoved into police vehicles in the first of the searches last week. Next, government forces targetted the suburbs of Dehiwela and Mount Lavinia, taking back with them nearly 1,500 people.
In yet another round-up, at least 1,500 Tamils living in transit lodges in Pettah, in the heart of the capital, were herded to the nearest police station for interrogation. As most of those who stay in these lodges are Tamil youth who have recently arrived from north-east Lanka, they arelooked upon with greater suspicion than older residents.
In most instances of these crackdowns the arrested had to suffer long waits in inclement conditions. Senior officials said the round-ups had become necessary for security reasons due to frequent bomb attacks by the LTTE in the capital, but Tamil politicians and media accused the government for blaming the entire community for the acts of a few.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
