SRI LANKA: Tamils fear war escalation

January 31, 2001
Issue 

Tamil groups are fearful that the Sri Lankan government will escalate its war in the country's north, following the January 24 expiration of a unilateral ceasefire by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The LTTE, which is fighting for an independent Tamil homeland, began its ceasefire on December 21 in an attempt to entice the Sri Lankan government into peace talks. Colombo rejected the overtures refused to declare a ceasefire of its own.

The Norwegian government had declared its willingness to mediate and Norway's peace envoy Erik Soleheim met with Tamil leader Velupillai Pirabaharan on November 1, at which Pirabaharan expressed the LTTE's strong desire for a negotiated political solution to the conflict. The LTTE leader was to restate the offer during a November 27 Martyrs' Day speech.

The Sri Lankan government has been under heavy pressure to enter talks and reciprocate the ceasefire. On January 17, a massive demonstration by more than 10,000 Tamil students and staff at the University of Jaffna defied army orders to march for peace. The students' call was backed by the bishops of Jaffna, Mannar and Batticoloa and by moderate Tamil politicians who have previously collaborated with the government.

Colombo has stubbornly resisted all pressure and seems set on further war.

Tamil representatives in Australia have called upon the Australian government and the international community to "persuade the Sri Lankan government to end its intransigent stand and enter into immediate peace talks".

The Australasian Federation Of Tamil Associations' Ana Pararajasingham said that by"rejecting the LTTE ceasefire, the Sri Lankan regime has forced the Tamils to resist its brutal occupation militarily". He said the Sri Lankan regime "must now bear full responsibility for the unwarranted death and destruction that an escalated military confrontation is bound to cause".

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