Major General Udaya Perera took over duties as the Security Forces Commander of the North on January 10 this year. Having commenced many programs in the Killinochchi area, he is known for his commitment in paving the way for reconciliation in this country and for his commitment in helping the most vulnerable, especially children. While the army has been under fire by the TNA for maintaining large troop numbers in the North, the SF commander explains that only 1/3rd of the troops stationed in the province are those deployed in security operations. He says that there are around 20 camps located within the Northern Province and majority of these personnel are deployed for logistical duties. In an interview with The Sunday Leader, Major General Perera explains the current security situation and the challenges they face by those opposed to bringing about reconciliation.
Following are excerpts of the interview:
Q: Having taken over as the SF Commander of the Northern Province, what are the challenges you face?
A: The major challenge that we have is to successfully proceed with the reconciliation program of the government. In reconciliation it’s like clapping, you need two hands. We are trying our best from our side but if the other side, those who are against the reconciliation process is challenging, it becomes a big challenge. Yet amidst all the challenges, we are proceeding very successfully and we are achieving results on a daily basis. The government is pumping large sums of money to the North, perhaps money that could have been utilized in the south.
The people are realizing this now and they are also realizing that the provincial government headed by the TNA is very weak. They are unable to proceed with any new projects. They have many ideas but they are unable to practically implement these ideas. They don’t have a focus on development but instead their focus has been on criticizing the government especially the Army. The government and even the Army is a huge resource base and instead of criticizing them they should find a way to utilize their resources and if they can do that reconciliation and reconstruction and overall development will certainly be a great success. Unfortunately it is not happening.
Q: What is your priority?
A: The Army has many projects but education is our main focus. If we can create an educated society, especially the younger generation, most of these security issues will not take place, and challenges will be few, because they could resolve any issue through discussion and dialog than resorting to violence. This is the post conflict era and there are around 680,000 people in Jaffna and most of them are resettled. In 1995 when we launched operation Riviresa, the LTTE gave these people just three hours to get out and later they all came back. Now after coming that they found that their houses were destroyed and their properties vandalized. Hence their mentality too was affected and they need to be assisted. During this vesak festivities too over 200 scholarships will be handed to school children and the money has come mainly through the contributions of the army personnel, where they donate a certain amount every month from their salaries and of course other well-wishers who have contributed generously as well. These children will definitely be benefited through this program, which is our primary focus.
Q: What about the war widows and women in the North, does the military have any program to assist them?
A: We have a team of female officers who are not confined to clerical work behind a desk and they go deep into remote areas and identify the issues faced by the women in these areas and assist them where necessary.
Most of these women are widows and they are very vulnerable.
We also give them certain vocational training programs that they could utilize to commence a cottage industry which would provide much needed financial support to them in maintaining their families. We also try to facilitate loans through banks for those who do not have the capital to start up their businesses.
We also have a program where we bring in mothers who have lost their children from the south to meet these mothers from the North so that they could meet each other and share their experiences and grievances. Sometimes I feel the Northern mothers feel only they have lost their children and the Southern mothers think the same. So by both parties meeting each other, they will be able to better understand each other, and realize that both parties have lost their loved ones.
Q: There have been several incidents in the North in the recent past, to suggest the reemergence of LTTE activities. However, there are others who accuse the Army of creating these incidents in order to maintain the military presence in this area. How would you respond to this allegation?
A: The threat to this country is not localized and comes from overseas. I don’t think any Jaffna citizen, whether they are supporting the LTTE or not, wants the conflict to come back. They have suffered enough as they were the ones who were mostly affected. They lost everything and they are still recovering. However those who want this conflict to continue are some of the politicians. I won’t say all of them, because all do not want the war to ever happen again. But some who were receiving great help from the Diaspora are the ones who have now been affected due to the end of the war and they are the ones who want the war to recommence.
Their support and financial assistance will cease the day they drop the LTTE flag. That is what worries them. Some of the hardliners in some of the parties want the LTTE to reemerge due to the funding coming from the Diaspora. But it is not the poor who benefit from this money that comes from the Diaspora. They spend these monies for their political programs. The International hardliners who are trying to revive the organizations are the ones who are sending the funds.
These people target the most vulnerable by throwing a bit of money and try to brainwash them. These innocent people do not understand the implications, so for the sake of a few thousand rupees they do what they are being told, but they do not back the ideology.
Even if a conflict takes place again the children of those in the Diaspora will not be the ones who suffer, but the children of the poor innocent people here. Therefore we are very concerned about the security in this area but we are also not over cautious. We do our day-to-day work and will maintain the troop levels and security operations in order to protect these vulnerable people.
