The authorities heedlessly turned a blind eye to the violence when the victims were all ethnic Tamils or Muslims. The State too contributed to the emergence of the violent culture. It responded violently to the non-violent protests of ethic Tamils against racial discrimination and instigated violent attacks against Tamil civilians – as in the case of the July 1983anti-Tamil pogrom.

Varsha’s mutilated body was found dumped in a roadside drain on March 13. The mastermind behind the kidnapping was Osprin Mervyn Rinousan, an owner of a computer centre in Trincomalee. He is reported to be a member of the Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan’s security squad. He is also a computer instructor, known to the victim’s family. On arrival at the school gates on March 11 in an auto-rickshaw, he had told Varsha that her mother was sick and persuaded her to get into the vehicle with him. Before leaving, Varsha told her classmates that she was going home with a “Computer Uncle”. This information helped the police to arrest the suspects.

According to media reports, Varsha’s death was caused by strangulation. Her throat was slit, she was blindfolded, her hands and legs had been tied, and her mouth had been taped over. There were burn marks on her body. The unfortunate girl lived with her mother in a suburb two km from Trincomalee town. Her father is employed in Qatar in the Middle East and Varsha was abducted for ransom. As there was no sign of immediate payment, the conspirators decided to kill the young Grade 1 girl. The way she had been executed as seen from the reports in the Sunday Times March 15 and Sri Lanka Guardian March 23 is very nauseating. The main suspect was shot and killed while trying to escape from police custody. Another suspect Janarthan known as Jana committed suicide by consuming cyanide, when the police took him to a place to recover a weapon used in a previous crime. According to SL Guardian report Jana, a TMVP cadre .was a wanted person in connection with three killings.

The Chief Minister Pillaiyan, an LTTE defector is currently the leader of the TMVP, the newly formed political party led initially by the ex-LTTE ‘colonel’ Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman. Pillaiyan was formerly Karuna’s deputy. .He dissociated his party from the alleged ransom demand. He told the media that “the suspect Jana was neither a local party leader nor a member. He only supported the party during the last election”. (Daily Mirror 21 March 2009).

Lanka-e-News, reported on March 26, 2009 that United National Party (UNP) MP Lakshman Kiriella said at a press conference, the Tamil People's Liberation Tigers (TMVP) has not only cyanide-swallowing cadres but also suicide cadres. Taking the full responsibility of the statement, he said that a councilor of the TMVP told him that the government sought his support to form a suicide group. MP Kiriella has also said that the six year old Varsha abducted for ransom was killed in a TMVP office.

Foreign media reports have exposed the involvement of Tamil paramilitary groups in the abduction saga. For details, SBS Dateline Program on 15th March 2009 on Sri Lankan issue. Besides the LTTE, other Tamil groups are responsible for the abhorrent violent culture in the society. Anti-Tiger cadres operate even in Jaffna . The government has not at all been concerned about their unlawful activities as these were not against the military. The office of the local paper Uthayan has been targeted many times. The government’s prime objective has been to crush the Tamil revolt at any cost.

Many children are among the casualties in the current phase of the gory war now confined to a small area in the Mullaitivu district. This is agonizing to all civilized humans and both the warring sides are responsible for the dastardly acts. The democratically elected government committed to observe the established laws and uphold law and order should not act like a guerrilla outfit. The emergency laws and the Prevention of Terrorism Act do not permit the State to violate human rights and suppress media freedom ruthlessly. The full extent of the losses and sufferings of the survivors of the fierce battle cannot be concealed for ever. The government’s decision to stop reporters and foreign aid workers entering the conflict zone has helped both the warring parties to ignore civilian lives.

PTI reported on March 26, according to UN officials in Sri Lanka there are at least 49,000 widows in the war ravaged Eastern Province . About 35,000 of them are below 30 years. Many are in need of regular income. There is some apprehension that left in the lurch, some could become suicide bombers. According to Nawaz Rajabdeen, National director UNIDO Sri Lanka, "many of these women are widows of LTTE fighters ". There are also 8,000 TMVP cadres who are now unemployed and this is a serious issue which has to be addressed sooner than later. Many women in the region also lost their spouses during the Tsuanami in December 2004. Resettlement in their home towns and villages and rehabilitation of war-affected civilians and ex-militants has not proceeded swiftly.

Regaining the lost civilized culture is not easy. Determined and concerted efforts are needed by civil society and religious leaders. Educational facilities and general standard were high in Jaffna for decades. This is not the case now. Another tragic loss to the society is the decline in the quality of education. There are many challenges in the social, cultural and economic fields for the present and future Tamil leaders. This is also one major reason for some self-governing powers to the regions.

[The writer is Former Additional Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, Sri Lanka and UN Advisor, Development Economics/Planning]