Marco Polo called this the most beautiful island in the world.... but for many here it has become hell on earth.
Tourists still travel to Sri Lanka and in the south there is little evidence of the war that has claimed over 30,000 lives in the last 12 years.
The animosity is an ancient one - Hindu Tamil versus Buddhist Senhalese. More recently the Tamils have complained of discrimination and persecution.
Here in Colombo in 1983 the conflict boiled over. Sinhalese mobs rampaged through Tamil areas flattening homes. Across the country thousands of Tamils were killed.
It was a point of no return. 12 years of ethnic war followed.
We’re heading to Jaffna in the Tamil controlled North.
On the way we pass through the ancient Sri Lankan capital, Anaranapuram. One of the most important Buddhist cities in the world... ten years ago this month, the sacred temple here was the site of a massacre of 150 Buddhist monks, nuns and pilgrims by the Tamil Tigers. 66 year old Sudharma remembers the day all too clearly.
Int. Sudarma Buddhist Nun: Sudharmai saw them coming and I heard gunfire... and people fell, some people ran...
Although the embargo has been lifted during the cease fire travellers are routinely searched.
Most Tamil civilians are forced to carry everything across the 3 kilometres of no-man’s land.
We head further into Tamil Tiger territory, and as night descends approach the Tigers’ clandestine harbour, on the edge of the Jaffna Lagoon.
Civilians and goods alike must travel this way... all other routes to Jaffna are blocked by army camps. Even this lagoon crossing is within range of snipers from a military base.
Tonight the mood is relaxed, but it is a false calm for on the east coast of Sri Lanka in Trincomalee Harbour another boat is setting out with four Tamil Tigers intent on a suicide mission that will end the peace.
Jaffna town, the centre of the Tamil rebellion, has suffered extensively during the fighting. Down in the bombed out quarter of the town, stands the shell of the Jaffna library.... Once a storehouse for irreplacable old Tamil texts, it now houses the homeless. Destroyed by government forces it is today a further touchstone for the Tamil’s resentment of the Sinhalese.
Int. Squatter: Economically it’s difficult and finding places to live is difficult in Jaffna.
Reporter: But it’s a ruin, isn’t there anywhere better to live.
Squatter: It might be a ruin but the other places are even worse.
The war has destroyed the economy here... export industries have no markets, and raw materials are unavailable.
Like with so many things, the Tamils have been forced to be resourceful... cars and motorbikes run on kerosene, sold by the bottle, while the engine is primed with paint thinner, or eau de cologne.
The Tiger’s rule here is authoritarian and harsh. A network of informers ensures everyone tows the party line.
But, today is a holiday in the rebel held areas, as the Tigers commemorate the death of one of their martyrs...
For the people of Jaffna it’s a chance to relax, as they try and carry on life as normal...
In a vote of confidence in the future, a couple get married...
Here at St James’ church they’re rebuilding after it was bombed by the Sri Lankan airforce....
The church’s priest, Father Nees-a-nie-a-kum narrowly escaped injury.... 13 others were killed in the attack...
Q. What is the grievance of the Tamils in this conflict, why are they fighting?Int. Priest: If I have to say to be honest to your question, we are treated as second grade citizens here. Therefore, we have to tell them that we don’t have all these necessary basic needs for me to live in this country, so give us or we will take it.
By nightfall news of the attack against the navy the night before, has started to filter through... the Tamil Tiger’s radio station, Voice of the Tigers, broadcasts the news.
A Tamil Tiger suicide squad has blown up 2 large Navy boats in Trincomalee Harbour killing twelve and seriously injuring over 20.Slowly people realize that the war has restarted...
Next morning there is a change... more Tamil fighters are on the move. We arrive at the headquarters of the Tamil Tigers to find preparations are being made for the renewed war...
Leaders and spokesmen for the Tigers have gone to ground - promised interviews are suddenly declined. There is a feeling that a political shift has occurred - with the hawks in the ascendancy. But there is no doubting the end of peace.
Yesterday kerosene was 30 rupees a litre.. with news of renewed fighting the price has already jumped 30 percent.
Reports are coming in that the Sri Lankan army is retaliating - We head north.
There are several Sri Lankan army camps still on the Jaffna peninsula. Behind this barricade is one of them. It was, from here that last night’s shooting occurred.
The shelling turns out to have been light... but 70 year old Thampu Ramalingham is taking no chances. Once before his house was looted and burned by the Sri Lankan army... this time he is moving out. The Tamil attack in Trincomalee has prompted government retaliation. It is no longer safe here.
Mr. Tamachelvan: We have provided ample time. In the east the state forces were behaving in the most attrocious manner during the time that the cessation of hostilities was in force. Civilians as well as the LTT cadres were subjected to very inhuman treatment during this period, and that is the very reason that the eastern province was specifically selected for an attack.
The method of attack - namely suicide squad was not unusual. Nor was it unusual that two women were involved.
In the Northern town of Vitituivi I met Arugamasami.
He lost his daughter Lieutenant Colonel Nallayni, who a 22 slipped through the Sri Lankan defence forces with two others in a small boat loaded with explosives.
She was killed blowing up the second largest ship in the Sri Lankan navy.
Q. Wasn’t your daughter’s suicide a waste?Int. Father: In one way, yes it is a loss. But under the circumstances of this particular war it is better for a few people to die and achieve greater victory, than a lot of people dying.
Over 7,000 Tamil Tigers have died in battle. But even in the peace of recent months more continue to join. In a matter of months in one district alone 1,200 new recruits joined.
Tigress: There was peace all this time but people knew that there would be another war, therefore young people are still joining up.
It’s this willingness to sacrifice themselves, this fanaticism, that has become the Tamils most terrible weapon.
Tigress: We need an independant state, and we lay down our lives for Tamil Eelam.
This war is being waged by boys and girls as young as 14... youngsters raised with a death wish, and obsessed with martyrdom.
Back in Colombo the government seems uncertain as to how to respond to the restarting of the war. President Chandrika Kumaratunga, and her senior ministers go to ground, refusing to talk to the media.
While the government has vowed to resolve the ethnic problem ‘with or without’ the Tamil Tigers, it no longer has a plan that seems feasible, or which deals with the new ground realities....
When I started this journey I had hoped to tell a positive story... of peace, after 12 years of inglorious war.
But in just the last few days that scenario has proved to be too optimistic... Jaffna is once again under seige, and the Tamil Tigers are once again waging war.
Both sides appear intransigent...and little prepared to return to the negotiating table... peace for Sri Lanka seems as far off as ever..
Tourists still travel to Sri Lanka and in the south there is little evidence of the war that has claimed over 30,000 lives in the last 12 years.
The animosity is an ancient one - Hindu Tamil versus Buddhist Senhalese. More recently the Tamils have complained of discrimination and persecution.
Here in Colombo in 1983 the conflict boiled over. Sinhalese mobs rampaged through Tamil areas flattening homes. Across the country thousands of Tamils were killed.
It was a point of no return. 12 years of ethnic war followed.
We’re heading to Jaffna in the Tamil controlled North.
On the way we pass through the ancient Sri Lankan capital, Anaranapuram. One of the most important Buddhist cities in the world... ten years ago this month, the sacred temple here was the site of a massacre of 150 Buddhist monks, nuns and pilgrims by the Tamil Tigers. 66 year old Sudharma remembers the day all too clearly.
Int. Sudarma Buddhist Nun: Sudharmai saw them coming and I heard gunfire... and people fell, some people ran...
Although the embargo has been lifted during the cease fire travellers are routinely searched.
Most Tamil civilians are forced to carry everything across the 3 kilometres of no-man’s land.
We head further into Tamil Tiger territory, and as night descends approach the Tigers’ clandestine harbour, on the edge of the Jaffna Lagoon.
Civilians and goods alike must travel this way... all other routes to Jaffna are blocked by army camps. Even this lagoon crossing is within range of snipers from a military base.
Tonight the mood is relaxed, but it is a false calm for on the east coast of Sri Lanka in Trincomalee Harbour another boat is setting out with four Tamil Tigers intent on a suicide mission that will end the peace.
Jaffna town, the centre of the Tamil rebellion, has suffered extensively during the fighting. Down in the bombed out quarter of the town, stands the shell of the Jaffna library.... Once a storehouse for irreplacable old Tamil texts, it now houses the homeless. Destroyed by government forces it is today a further touchstone for the Tamil’s resentment of the Sinhalese.
Int. Squatter: Economically it’s difficult and finding places to live is difficult in Jaffna.
Reporter: But it’s a ruin, isn’t there anywhere better to live.
Squatter: It might be a ruin but the other places are even worse.
The war has destroyed the economy here... export industries have no markets, and raw materials are unavailable.
Like with so many things, the Tamils have been forced to be resourceful... cars and motorbikes run on kerosene, sold by the bottle, while the engine is primed with paint thinner, or eau de cologne.
The Tiger’s rule here is authoritarian and harsh. A network of informers ensures everyone tows the party line.
But, today is a holiday in the rebel held areas, as the Tigers commemorate the death of one of their martyrs...
For the people of Jaffna it’s a chance to relax, as they try and carry on life as normal...
In a vote of confidence in the future, a couple get married...
Here at St James’ church they’re rebuilding after it was bombed by the Sri Lankan airforce....
The church’s priest, Father Nees-a-nie-a-kum narrowly escaped injury.... 13 others were killed in the attack...
Q. What is the grievance of the Tamils in this conflict, why are they fighting?Int. Priest: If I have to say to be honest to your question, we are treated as second grade citizens here. Therefore, we have to tell them that we don’t have all these necessary basic needs for me to live in this country, so give us or we will take it.
By nightfall news of the attack against the navy the night before, has started to filter through... the Tamil Tiger’s radio station, Voice of the Tigers, broadcasts the news.
A Tamil Tiger suicide squad has blown up 2 large Navy boats in Trincomalee Harbour killing twelve and seriously injuring over 20.Slowly people realize that the war has restarted...
Next morning there is a change... more Tamil fighters are on the move. We arrive at the headquarters of the Tamil Tigers to find preparations are being made for the renewed war...
Leaders and spokesmen for the Tigers have gone to ground - promised interviews are suddenly declined. There is a feeling that a political shift has occurred - with the hawks in the ascendancy. But there is no doubting the end of peace.
Yesterday kerosene was 30 rupees a litre.. with news of renewed fighting the price has already jumped 30 percent.
Reports are coming in that the Sri Lankan army is retaliating - We head north.
There are several Sri Lankan army camps still on the Jaffna peninsula. Behind this barricade is one of them. It was, from here that last night’s shooting occurred.
The shelling turns out to have been light... but 70 year old Thampu Ramalingham is taking no chances. Once before his house was looted and burned by the Sri Lankan army... this time he is moving out. The Tamil attack in Trincomalee has prompted government retaliation. It is no longer safe here.
Mr. Tamachelvan: We have provided ample time. In the east the state forces were behaving in the most attrocious manner during the time that the cessation of hostilities was in force. Civilians as well as the LTT cadres were subjected to very inhuman treatment during this period, and that is the very reason that the eastern province was specifically selected for an attack.
The method of attack - namely suicide squad was not unusual. Nor was it unusual that two women were involved.
In the Northern town of Vitituivi I met Arugamasami.
He lost his daughter Lieutenant Colonel Nallayni, who a 22 slipped through the Sri Lankan defence forces with two others in a small boat loaded with explosives.
She was killed blowing up the second largest ship in the Sri Lankan navy.
Q. Wasn’t your daughter’s suicide a waste?Int. Father: In one way, yes it is a loss. But under the circumstances of this particular war it is better for a few people to die and achieve greater victory, than a lot of people dying.
Over 7,000 Tamil Tigers have died in battle. But even in the peace of recent months more continue to join. In a matter of months in one district alone 1,200 new recruits joined.
Tigress: There was peace all this time but people knew that there would be another war, therefore young people are still joining up.
It’s this willingness to sacrifice themselves, this fanaticism, that has become the Tamils most terrible weapon.
Tigress: We need an independant state, and we lay down our lives for Tamil Eelam.
This war is being waged by boys and girls as young as 14... youngsters raised with a death wish, and obsessed with martyrdom.
Back in Colombo the government seems uncertain as to how to respond to the restarting of the war. President Chandrika Kumaratunga, and her senior ministers go to ground, refusing to talk to the media.
While the government has vowed to resolve the ethnic problem ‘with or without’ the Tamil Tigers, it no longer has a plan that seems feasible, or which deals with the new ground realities....
When I started this journey I had hoped to tell a positive story... of peace, after 12 years of inglorious war.
But in just the last few days that scenario has proved to be too optimistic... Jaffna is once again under seige, and the Tamil Tigers are once again waging war.
Both sides appear intransigent...and little prepared to return to the negotiating table... peace for Sri Lanka seems as far off as ever..