Remove the Military that Threatens the People – Suresh

14-Aug-2025

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Suresh K. Premachandran, leader of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front, has stressed that soldiers who have become a threat to the people should be removed from their midst. 

He stated that in a situation where there is no war, the army has been summoning innocent civilians to military camps, killing them, and mercilessly dumping their bodies near ponds. He emphasized that the continued presence of such soldiers threatens the normal life of the people and that a civil administration is essential to safeguard the country's civil rights.

In his statement, he detailed that on August 7 five youths from Muthaiyankattu in the Mullaitivu District were summoned by soldiers belonging to the 66th Battalion stationed in the area and were brutally assaulted. One of them, badly injured, was rescued by the public and handed over to the hospital, while three others managed to escape from army custody. 

The whereabouts of one youth remained unknown until the morning of the 8th, when his body was recovered from the Muthaiyankattu pond. Locals believe that he may have been killed by soldiers and then dumped into the pond.

Since the end of the war, the Northern and Eastern provinces have remained under heavy military control, with more than two-thirds of the country’s troops stationed there. In Mullaitivu, in particular, there is a ratio of one soldier for every six civilians. 

Fifteen years have passed since the end of the war, yet the question remains as to why such a massive military presence and so many camps are still necessary in the North and East. Tens of thousands of acres of land belonging to civilians remain under army occupation.

Since the war ended, there have been no reports of armed incidents in the North and East, whereas the South continues to experience daily shootings and killings. In this situation, when the police are sufficient to maintain civil law and order in the North and East, the continued excessive deployment of troops creates in them a belief that “whatever we do, the law will not act against us,” which leads to overstepping boundaries and committing murders.

There is widespread distrust among Tamils regarding the military and their illegal activities. It is alleged that soldiers are indirectly involved in drug smuggling and trade in the North, working in collaboration with traffickers. Despite such accusations existing since the end of the war, there have been no serious investigations or effective mechanisms implemented to control these activities.

When this government came to power, it promised to release all lands belonging to Tamils and to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act. However, no lands have been released, and the harassment by soldiers occupying these lands has not diminished.

Edirmannasingam Kapilraj, a father of one, has now left behind a widow and a child whose futures have been thrown into uncertainty. On this basis, the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front urges the government to:
Provide adequate compensation to Kapilraj’s wife and child for their future.
Release all lands belonging to Tamil civilians currently occupied by the military, as promised.
Remove military forces that pose a threat to civilians from the North and East.
Impose the maximum penalty for murder on the soldiers involved in this case, to deter others from believing they can commit crimes with impunity.
Unlike past governments, act in a way that fosters trust among Tamils by taking steps toward an equal society free from racial and religious discrimination, as the JVP–NPP government claims to envision.