Despite these significant changes for the better there was reluctance amongst the people I met to give credit to the government for contributing to these improvements. When I asked a group of young women receiving vocational training by a religious institution whether they considered the government to be their friend they replied in the negative.
Those amongst the intelligentsia I met were quick to attribute improvements, such as the non-intrusive sentry points and the closure of military shops, to the Geneva resolution. They preferred to believe that it was external pressure that was inducing the government to improve its conduct rather than goodwill that was internal to the government
A Buddhist monk at one of the meetings I attended made the same point in a different manner. He said that he had tried to organize a signature campaign against the Geneva resolution in Jaffna. The petition he wished the people to sign stated that they were opposed to international interference in the affairs of the country. However, most of the people he had approached refused to sign the petition.
They had chided him for wearing a robe and trying to get them to sign such a petition. They had told him it was the Western countries that were protecting the Tamil people and interested in their welfare.
The monk bemoaned this attitude as he believed that the government meant well by the Tamil people.
Search All News and Discussions
15 May 2012 22:13:49 GMT 