The Chief Minister of the Northern Province CV Wigneswaran has criticised the ongoing militarisation of North-East by the Sri Lankan government, stating the area is “under an occupying force.”

Delivering the inaugural Kannabiran Memorial Lecture at Chennai this weekend, Wigneswaran said,

“As I have repeated on numerous occasions the militarisation of the North of Sri Lanka, where I am the Chief Minister, takes place not due to any real security threat, but to maintain a stranglehold over the populace; to subjugate them and make them compliant; to stifle any form of democratic or political dissent.” 

“We have long advocated a phased withdrawal of the military and the handing over of administrative matters to the civil forces according to a transparent timeline. How can Human Security exist when the people are under an occupying force?  And indeed the North and East of Sri Lanka are under an occupying force!”

The Chief Minister went on to comment on Sri Lanka's arrest of those attempting to gather evidence for a United Nations inquiry into mass atrocities, saying,

“In the last few weeks Sri Lanka is openly arresting and intimidating those who are trying to collect evidence for the investigation... The State does not want to allow the evidence to leave the shores of the country – just as in the incarceration of the 350,000  Tamils, the primary aim was to let no evidence leave the shores.”

Detailing the increased militarisation that has taken place, Wigneswaran said that the Northern Provincial Council elections are “a testament to the courage of my people in the Northern Province that they voted overwhelmingly for the Tamil National Alliance despite the terror and misinformation unleashed by the Sri Lankan military and associated militant groups.”

“An entire newspaper was fabricated on the morning of the election, an entire village was prevented from voting, candidates were attacked, voters were bribed, beaten and intimidated and yet they voted,” he added, saying there was “usurpation by the military of virtually every civilian activity in the Northern Province.”

In his speech Wigneswaran explored the role of the judiciary, saying that in Sri Lanka, “the Judiciary also played a major role in foisting a second-class citizenship on the Tamil Speaking Peoples.” He went on to add, “the regressive and oppressive measures against the Tamils did not just occur in the judicial arena. It also extended to the legislative sphere.”

The concept of “human security” was also discussed by the Chief Minister, stating that Sri Lanka was instead giving “regime security” primacy.

“If Human Security was at the forefront the people would be allowed the freedom of association without needing to worry about the military – they need not grit their teeth and invite military officials even for school functions,” said Wigneswaran.  “There would not be a need for foreign passport holders to obtain special permission to visit the North.   This requirement was brought about barely a month ago – not because of any security threat but because of the UN inquiry and the fear that more evidence would be collected.”

“If Human Security were the guiding principle the military would not be taking over people’s lands, cultivating them with the owners having to buy the produce from their own land and building hotels and golf courses when the dwelling homes of the people devastated by the war remain like pock marks in the Northern landscape. Today cases involving more than 2100 petitioners are pending before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court regarding the acquisition of 6381 acres of land in Valikamam North where an illegal High Security Zone for the Sri Lankan armed forces has been set up. Despite such legal actions pending before the highest court in the country, the Army continues to destroy whatever is left of the buildings, homes, holy places or hallowed school premises inside the High Security Zone.”

“If Human Security were at heart there would be no systematic and continual rape and torture of Tamil men and women by the Armed Forces as recent reports show.  The BBC reported a man stating, "They would put my testicles in the drawer and slam the drawer shut. Sometimes I became unconscious. Then they would bring someone and force me to have oral sex with him. Sometimes if we lost consciousness during the torture they would urinate on us”.  Another woman describes being photographed and fingerprinted and then kicked, beaten with batons and pipes, burned with hot wires and cigarettes, submerged in a barrel of water until she thought she would drown suffocated by having a petrol-soaked plastic bag put over her head, before being repeatedly raped by men in army uniform.  Her relatives managed to bribe and secure her release after 20 days of this torture.  Just a few days ago a man was arrested for trying to gather evidence for the investigations being carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.  Is this evidence of Regime Security or Human Security? Or is this the new norm under which security imperatives rule the day?”

Wigneswaran went on to call upon the international community, and Indian in particular, to continue to place pressure on the Sri Lankan government. He concluded by saying,

"In the absence of external pressure there can be no hope of the Sri Lankan Government changing its recalcitrant position.  We, in the Northern Province, remain open to co-operation, but have only faced broken promises and interference.

See the full text of his speech here.