Serial No: 0225 (Jaffna)
Tell us about our home town?
My home town is Jaffna. I was born in Sonakar Street, Jaffna. I was born in 1958.
My village was doing very well in areas such as agriculture, and education. There
were Tamils, who lived in harmony with us. To be very honest with you, those
Tamil people are good human beings. This is a basic overview of our village.
Tell us about your family background?
I come from a poor family. I could not educate myself due to the financial position
of my family. That was the real state of our family. We had difficulty in finding
food as well. So we did small jobs to run our family. I had a small business, which
made buckets and gates from iron. After some time I had several of these
businesses. I had one at Sunnaaham. I had a few employees there; they looked
after the shop on behalf of me. In the same way there was another shop, which I
and another person handled. I got married in the year 1987.
Even though we were poor we did not have the habit of begging from people. Our
business helped us to fulfill the daily needs at our home.
Here I must mention about the resources in our village. There were a lot of natural
resources in our village. There were plenty of opportunities for fishing in the sea.
All the facilities were present for the fishing trade. If we take a look at
Agriculture, there were coconut plantations, banana plantations, chili plantations
and most of all rice crops. In general we did not have to do a business on our own,
because agriculture was developed to that level. So even though we were not
millionaires, we did not have a situation where we had to go and beg for a loan
from somebody else. We had sufficient money to live our lives. Even though we
live here, I cannot still forget the life that we lived in our village.
I will tell you about my family. My mother’s name is Ummu Habeeba, and my
father is Merra Saahib. My parents were loving and caring. Even though they
faced the worst financial situations they would come and talk to us and what ever
happened they look after us. They gave us advice to study and pray to god.
Although they did not educate us, the advice and knowledge they gave us was
more than enough. They are very gifted in that way. My father was working with
work related to fixing iron.
There were 7 children in our family, 5 boys and 2 girls. I am the 3rd child in the
family. The eldest is my sister. She lives in Vavuniya. I have a brother who is
younger to me, he lives in London. The other brother has an Abaya shop. The
youngest is a boy as well. All of us loved each other so much. We respected the
elders and loved them. As brothers and sisters we always remained united, helped
each other and cared for each other.
Tell us about your childhood activities?
We used to play hide and seek when we were small. There were banana trees on
the road, we took them and cut them to pieces. Then we sold them as meat. We
used sea shells as coins, and paid them for meat. There were children from
different age groups; most of them were between the age of 8 and 9. We can never
forget those days.
I was not able to continue my studies after grade 5. I did not go on many school
trips. My father has taken me to a few places within the village itself. I have been
to places such as Chavakacheri and Mankumban. There is a place known to many,
and it is called Chavakacheri. It is about 10 miles from Jaffna. There agriculture is
very popular. Many Tamils live there. There are 25 Muslim families. Mangoes and
Jack fruit are found in that area and there is an opportunity for all to eat these
fruits. There is no shortage for water in that area. They gave us potatoes. There is a
huge market called Chavakacheri market. The market had all the goods, including
vegetables that we needed.
The other place is Mankumban. It is situated in the Kayts road. That area is also
concentrated with Tamil people. It is normally known as the island. It is close to
the beach. There is Mosque, and it has rest rooms. The Tamil people have been
responsible for its maintenance. There is a well in that place, and the sea is very
close to it. The difference is just 60 feet. The water in the well is pure. We bathe in
the lake and bathe from that well. It was different. There were many palmyrah
trees, and we used to buy these eatables made from palmyrah seeds. Since it was
the beach we used to buy fish and eat them. The life we lived was happy one. I
have been to a factory which produces roofing sheets, and I have also been to a
cement manufacturing factory. There is another place called Nainatheevu. I have
been there in a boat. That place also holds Mosque. From my experience I can say
that our village is the best, from all the places I have visited.
It is been 20 years since we came here. We will only be satisfied if we get to go
there again. Then we will get back our life that we used to love.
Tell us about your childhood friends?
Most of our childhood friends were our relatives. They were our uncle’s children
and our aunt’s children. We enjoyed our childhood life so much. We ran here and
there, and we were happy each moment. Today they are married and settled in far
away places. So we don’t get to meet them. If we got to meet them they would
take care of all our needs. In the same way if they came to our homes we looked
after them.
We had a lot of school friends. We still meet up and have a chat. Nizar is one of
my friends. Aneez, Jaleel, Isadeen, Ajith Khan were some of my close friends.
Actually Nizar is my cousin. He is close to me. There is another friend of mine
who lives in Negambo. He comes to meet us quite often. There is another friend
called Nijaam. Since I went to the temple I got to know all these people. We used
to go to the Mosque together. All of them lived close to our house. Even if we did
not go to school, since we lived close we used to play together.
We go to some other person’s house, and pluck mangoes without them knowing.
We eat the stolen mangoes together. We did this in the houses in our street.
There were Tamil people in the area, just close to our place. There were no
Sinhalese in Jaffna. Tamils were the majority. We were like a small tube well in
the big sea. Mannar was a big area, and many Muslim lived there. Jaffna is
different, because Muslim people lived in a radius of two and a half meters from
the Jaffna town. They lived mainly in Sonaker Street. The Tamil people lived
surrounding the Muslims. Tamil people came in to our area. There were many
needs to be met. They came to do business, to work and to do work relating to
building houses. We did not know all those work. When they come to work we got
the chance to get to know them. Even we had to go into their villages. I had a shop
in Point Pedro. This is a Tamil area. We worked peacefully with them, even were
reliable to us. We lived in harmony.
We had Tamil friends. I knew people like Sree, Rajan and Thurairatnam. I had
many Tamil friends. They have been to my place. I got to know them very well
because I had my business in their village. I went to meet them in 2002 and to see
the state of my shop. I went to my friends place. When I went to meet
Thurairanam, he was getting ready to go to the hindu temple with his wife. He
could not recognize me. Since it was a long time, he could not recognize me. I had
also grown my bread. I asked him whether he has forgotten me. Then he asked me
to come in to their house. He called me Jowfer. We sat together to have a chat. He
made fish for lunch, because he knew that I do not eat meat. They made many
curries for me to eat. I had a wash and said good bye to my friend. I was really
happy. I met another boy. I could not meet anybody else. Some are living, and I
think some are dead.
Tell us about your school life?
I studied at Masrudin School. I studied till grade 4. I could no t study beyond that.
I went to work after grade 4, the reason was my parents could not afford. My
school is a mixed school. Boys and girls studied together. There was a primary
section and a college. The college was called Usmaniya. There they taught up to
A/L’s. I only studied in Masrudin School.
Even though I studied till grade 4, I really enjoyed the time that I spent in school. I
am an average student. I could not concentrate on studies, so I stopped it.
Thambikkaakka teacher was one of those teachers who taught us. I cannot
remember the others. All who taught at Masrudin School was from our village.
The principal was Peeco master. He is no longer with us. Since Usmania was a big
school, Tamil teachers taught the students as well.
From the teachers that taught me, I liked Majeed teacher very much. He was a
short man, and he was a good person as well. Lately I met him at Negambo. He
behaved in a good manner with the students. I liked him more than the other
teachers. We had to go and meet the principal for the slightest problem. I was very
scared of him. We learnt Islam from school. After leaving school I went to
Jammath. I cannot remember what I learnt when I was schooling. I learnt more
about spirituality from Theen, than from school.
We had a Quran lecture in the evening. There is a stone called Malak. It was a
white stone. That is normally found in the beach. They people in the Mosque ask
us to bring those stones. We bring it and pile them up.
I did not have a goal of becoming a doctor or a teacher when I was schooling.
Something that I liked when I was small was Information Technology. I liked
technology very much. I could not continue without further studying it. My father
was happy with my knowledge on the area, and made me to follow the tinkering
job. There I learnt more about it. I learnt how to use iron. I make a statue of a man
from iron, but the only thing that I cannot give to the statue is life. I had a major
interest in the field from the small days. In that way I can say I have achieved my
goal.
Tell us about your responsibilities at home?
My father passed away. My elder brother led it from the front. Next were my sister
and then me. Even my brother did not study. He also got in to a job. They left me
in a shop as well. Due to this reason our family was doing well. The others took
care of the work at home.
We in Jaffna normally used rice as our main food. We ate certain rice called
Puluggu rice, which was our favourite. All Muslims basically loved to eat this.
After we came here we started to eat samba rice. Even the Tamils used to eat that
rice. It was very healthy. We used to call it Sivappu Naattu Arisi(red village rice).
Even the doctors say that this rice is healthy.
We used to drink the water that the rice was cooked. We got all the vegetables in
the village without any shortage. We have a variety of vegetables at home. We
could even buy them from shops. There are different types of green vegetables.
We did not have any shortage with fish. Fish there was cheap; it was only 2.50
rupees a kilo.
If there were left over in the night, we would keep it and eat in the next morning.
We add pickle, onions, green chilies and coconut milk. It will be a treat to our
taste buds. This is the dish that Tamil people have when they go to the fields. It
will be really refreshing. You will want to eat it more, each time you eat it. I feel
like having some at this moment. If we had rice, we will normally eat that in the
night. If not we have pittu or rotti.
Tell us about the special events in the village?
The special events in the village are weddings, and sunnath. Weddings are
arranged by the two families. The tradition of that time is that both families decide
the wedding. I do not know whether it is in Islam or not, but it is the tradition of
that village. If there was a discussion between two parties, the bride’s party would
take things such as sweets, and fruits to the groom’s house. This is the norm there.
They decide the wedding date. The bride’s party brings all these after a week from
deciding the date. The groom’s side will take the same things to the bride’s house.
In between the groom’s mother gave a jewelry item to the bride. Those families
who cannot afford will not present the jewelry item.
If the festive season arrives before the wedding day the groom’s family will send
cloths to the bride. Even the bride’s family sends cloths to the groom. There is a
custom in our village, that is one member from the groom’s side and one from the
bride’s side would get together and go to the relatives of the bride and say that
their son is getting married. They formally invite them to the wedding. The bride’s
party invites the relatives of the groom to participate in the wedding.
They put up speaker for the wedding. There was a pack that they gave away; it
contained the names of the groom and the bride. This is a coloured bag. Giving
this was similar to giving a wedding invitation. This bag contained 7 or 8 beetle
leaves, areca nut, and other types of areca nuts. They gave lime rapped in coconut
leaves to the people who came for the wedding. They gave lunch and dinner for all
the people who came. They eat from either the groom’s house or the bride’s house.
Two events took place, one in the morning and one in the night. They gave one of
those bags in the night. We used to bring them home. This is how the weddings
were organized in our village.
Sunnath ceremonies are not done like the ones in the Eastern province. They had a
small ceremony. Normally they invited the relatives. They also provided food to
the ones who were present.
Puberty ceremonies were never done in a grand way. This is a tradition carried
from those days. Even Islam doesn’t state that it has to be a grand event.
There are 3 festivals, they are Nommbu festival (fasting), Hajj festival, and the
other is the celebration of Prophet Nabi’s birthday. They fast before the first
festival. My grand father (father’s father) used to buy all of new cloths during this
season. He used to do this every Nommbu festival. He used to buy things like
cups, plates and aluminum goods. The things were cheap at that time. When they
end the fasting, they buy Masala Thosai from the vegetarian restaurant. We were
small boys at that time. We fast, but we eat something soon. They celebrated the
festival in very special way.
Many Muslims went to Hajj during the Hajj festival. Not everybody had the
luxury of going there. They gave Kurbaan to people remembering Ibrahim Nabi.
They did not give it through the Mosques. Individuals bought it and gave it to their
relatives.
Celebration as it was called by people, marked the birthday of Nabi. They
celebrated that special day. It was a grand event. I cannot forget the childhood
memories of that festival. They built small tents in front of each Mosque. They
decorated the tents with colourful bulbs, and every single day they prayed
Moulath. Every day after worship they gave rice in boxes. They got them down
from Mankumban. It cost around 1 or 2 cents. They cook it in a huge container;
about 30 to 40 people get involved in the cooking.
Is your hometown a city or a village?
My hometown cannot be a called as a village, because there is a city close to our
hometown. There is a municipal council as well. Our hometown is situated very
close to it. I think it should e called a city. It is a beautiful place. There are jewelry
shops; they are situated in one location. There were shops relating to iron works in
Stanley road. New market is an area famous for its saree shops. Every road had
different shops. The fort is located close to all these shops. This was built by the
Dutch. Sonekar Street is located 1 kilometer from the fort. So it is not appropriate
to call it a village.
There are 13 mosques in our hometown. Usmania, Sinna Katheeja, Periya
Katheeja, and Masrudin are some of the schools in our hometown. Our city had
many public places. The Jaffna general hospital, in particular has all the facilities.
The hospital has special doctors. It is situated in a huge area. There is a library in
front of the fort. The library holds a statue of the Hindu goddess Saraswathi. Many
educated personalities used the resources of this great library.
There were no issues regarding the transport system. We can even travel by
bicycle, and even by bus. There were short service bus facilities as well. There
was a 24 hour transport service.
How do you spend your leisure time?
We used to go to the park when we were young. This is situated in front of the
Jaffna library. We went to the Mankumbam beach with our friends. We went to
the Mattikadhal to collect the so called Matti. There is a beach called Siru kadhal.
It is similar to the Puttlam beach. Matti is sort of flesh that exist within the shells.
We used to eat that. We did all these activities to spend our leisure time.
We go to watch movies. There are 6 or 7 theatres in Jaffna. Some of these theatres
are Rajathi, Vingston, Wellington, Rani, Shreedar and Manohara. We get together
as a group to watch these movies. The ticket was priced at 35 cents. We watched it
from the gallery area. The seats in front cost 35 cents, and the seats in between the
last few rows and the front costs 60 cents. The last few rows cost 75 cents per seat.
We normally watched actor M.G.R’s movies. Oli vilakku, Vivasaayi, and Kappal
Oottiya Thamilan were some of the ones we watched. There was healthy
competition between Sivaji and M.G.R. We preferred to watch M.G.R’s movies.
There were a few Tamil actresses such as Padmini, Saroja Devi and Devika. A
film called ‘Siththi’ was released at that time. It was a family movie. The movie
was an eye opener; it gave us a lot of knowledge and experience. It was a very
good family movie.
Tell us about your business / job?
I was doing tinkering work, when I was living in my hometown. When I was
small, I worked at my uncle’s workshop. He had a workshop relating to iron
works. He gave me minor jobs, such as fixing the lamps and buckets. We had a
different bucket those days. As I was doing all these minor jobs, I stated to show
more interest in this field. I make pumps that are used in spraying pesticides to the
paddy fields. Those days’ large buckets and water tanks were made out of iron, but
today they are all made of plastic. Later I started to develop my self in the field
very well. My uncle gave his shop to me. I would get a job from a customer; I
somehow had to finish it. I did not have any external training. I had to somehow
figure it out with my knowledge and get the job done. This is the job that is being
carried down for generations.
Nobody helped me with my work. They killed Kuttimani and Thangathurai in the
Welikada prison in 1983. I must also mention about the Black July riots. We were
affected by it. My workshop was burnt. The LTTE threw bombs on the army,
because of the assassination that took place in the Welikada prison. Then the army
fired back by burning the shops. My workshop was slightly burnt. I had to fix a
new door. Later after a certain time period the army put up a camp close to my
workshop. Because of this camp we were losing business. The people were scared
to come this way, because of the army camp. At that period we did not have any
business. So I closed this shop and opened the one at Sunnakam. It was at that
time then LTTE asked us to evacuate.
Tell us about your marriage life?
My wife is from my hometown. Her name is Shaharban. She is a teacher. My
marriage was arranged by both of our parents. Every responsibility or decision
about our family was discussed at home by both of us. When we make decision of
that nature, some decisions seem to be very interesting. We are more concerned
about the future of our children. We always make our decisions considering the
children’s future. I am sure that there will be no mistakes when we discuss
something and come to a decision.
It has been 22 years since we got married. In these 22 years not a single decision
we took has affected our family. The reason for that is, we always take decisions
discussing with each other.
Tell us about the displacement in the year 1990?
We left our hometown on the 30th of October 1990. It was a Tuesday. I was 32
years old. We only had 1 child at that time, and he was a 1 year old baby.
We were not at home when they were forcefully evacuating the people. I was at
the Sunnakam workshop. I used to go in the morning and come back in the
evening. I went to work in the motor bike. Petrol was expensive. I bottle was 300
rupees. After the increase in the price, I left the bike at home and went to my
workplace in the bicycle. My wife was teaching at Usmania College. She was at
school. We leave our children at our sister’s place. I had to buy some things that
day. So I wanted to close the shop a little bit early. Half an hour before I as going
to close the shop, some boys asked me to finish one of their jobs. They had already
paid me to do that work. They took the money and left. They did not say anything
about the tension in the area. I had no clue. I closed my shop and I was traveling
towards Jaffna. I saw a boy coming towards me when I was near the
Marudhamadam Ramanadhan College. He was boy who was known to me. He
asked me why I was late, and asked me whether I knew about the incident. He told
me that the LTTE members are chasing the Muslims out. We never knew about it.
I was shocked and I did not know what to do, I stopped the bicycle, kept my hand
on my head and stood there. He thought I was crying, so he asked me not to cry.
He was comforting me at that time. He asked me to leave soon. When I reached
the junction I saw the LTTE boys standing there. I thought to myself that this is
my area, and I started to go there. If they called me I would go and talk to them.
So I went past them, they did not call me. I did not say anything to the as well.
When I went to my house I saw that it was closed. Nobody was there. I went to my
sister’s place, mother’s place but nobody was there. Then I was coming I was
pushing my bicycle, without riding it. Then as I was approaching Sonekar Street I
got onto the bicycle, as soon as I did that two LTTE cadres fired gunshots towards
the sky. I was frightened and I got of my bicycle. I understood that they were
sending a message.
I came all the way to Usmania College to another relative’s house, it was closed
as well. There were many Tamils in that place; most of them are known to me.
One boy called me and asked me where I was going. He also told me that all our
people were chased away. Further he said that all of the Muslims gave him their
bicycle and left the area. He said that they will not allow me to take the bicycle,
and he asked me to hand it over to him. So I gave it to him and started to walk. My
school principal was standing in the junction; I asked him whether he had seen my
wife. He said that she was not here, and to check in the next junction. There were
ropes tied all over. They were checking everybody, and the male checking was
over. The checking was going on in a house, and I saw my wife there in the queue.
They were checking the females. They took the jewelry and the other valuables
such as cash.
My wife was carrying the child in one hand and the bag in the other. She managed
to spot me. She asked my nephew to give the baby and the bag to me. I somehow
got hold of the bag and my child. My wife was clever; she kept the jewelry
underneath the small tin. It was worth 1 lakh rupees at that time. She put the milk
powder on top of the jewelry and brought it as if it was a milk container. Now the
jewelry was safe. I saw that my son had something in his hands. At first I thought
it was a toffee, but as I opened his hands it was money. I took it and kept it in my
pocket. After all that they left us at Manohara theatre junction. They asked us to
leave the village. They had a meeting at Usmania College in the morning. A
person called Aangineyar visited the people and asked them to leave. He said that
all Muslims should leave in 2 hours. The elders and the famous Muslims asked
them what they would do if they didn’t leave. They replied by saying that they will
shoot them if they stay here. We did not have much choice, so we left.
We left with our whole family from our village. We had a house and a shop. We
did not bring any money with us. We only brought that jewelry. I cannot actually
tell anybody of our feelings at the time they asked us to leave. We did not know
what to do. We can look at it from two angles. They can ask us to leave
permanently or they can ask us to leave for now and ask us to come back. I was
really heart broken when they wanted us to leave soon. They did not even give us
proper time to prepare, as they did in Mannar. They gave them 3 days time. They
had the opportunity to take some their goods. We did not get that chance. I cannot
really explain the hardship that I went through.
We had to face a lot of difficulties while we were coming here. Even though we
had the money in our hands, mentally we were really down. Anyway a man would
need peace of mind when he is in such a situation. We needed a comforting hand.
We got in to a van from Manohara theatre. It took about an hour to get to
Kerathivu. We did not have any space in the van to sit. There was a ladder in the
back. I was hanging on it. It was a small van. I went through a great difficulty.
They left us at the Periyamadhu School. We cannot forget the hardships that we
went through.
Asking us to leave, and taking our belongings was a great harm done to us. LTTE
did a very brutal thing to us. It would have been better if they would have killed
us, if we had to suffer more than what we did. This is how much we suffered.
We got here by the grace of god. We entered the border of a forest. Nobody helped
us. There was a small shop in the forest border. This was after passing
Poonthottam in Vavuniya. The shop owner felt sad when he saw my children and
gave them a mango. When we were closing in on Vavuniya, there were these
children who gave my nephew some grams to eat. I think these were the only help
that we got. We stayed under the shade of a tree in the Vavuniya town. We had
walked from Poonthottam from 6 o clock to 12 o clock. We went to the town and
got lunch packets for ourselves. We ate the food, drank the water and hired a van.
All families went to Puttlam from there. My mother and my mother in law came in
time. They were very old people, so we stayed with them. We wanted the
government to solve this problem, because we were worried that they did such a
thing to us. We expected that the government would solve this problem in two
years. We expected that the government would either negotiate or fight and
somehow get us our land back. We had this expectation only for two years. After
that we did not have any expectation in our heart. Then we decided that we should
get settled here. Because we took that decision, we are able to speak to you today.
We bought lands. We could not trust them anymore. We did not want to live in
rented houses forever. Actually this is something that an elder told us.
He told us a story. He told me that even if we buy a house for 1 million, we are
refugees for the one who is living next door. That really struck me, because we did
not have any relations. So we thought it will be better if we live with our relations.
In the year 1995 we came here and built huts to live, and then later we built this
house.
When we were coming here my cousin’s wife delivered a child in the forest. It was
a difficult experience. For our bad luck the child died. The elders were the ones
who helped in delivering the baby. We did not know how to do a proper burial.
What can we do? We were helpless and we suffered so much. The people who
passed away are buried there itself. They perform our rituals and buried them. I
knew of such an incident.
Then there was this elderly person, he was struck by a bomb right in his chest. We
were resting when this happened. He died on the spot. Since they could not bring
his body, they buried it behind the Mosque. They performed all the rituals.
The other person was a friend of mine. He had no problems, it was his wife. She
was traveling in a lorry. She was pregnant as well. Suddenly a bomb hit the top of
the lorry and pieces of the bomb fell on her tummy. Blood started pouring out. She
fainted and died on the spot. I can never forget this incident.
The reason for you to come to Puttlam?
The language barrier was the reason for us to choose Puttlam. Since we lived in
Jaffna, we did not know how to speak Sinhala. If you were to come passing
Vavuniya, you should know Sinhala. So we went to Elavankulam. There were
plenty of job opportunities there. But we knew a few Tamils, they came and told
us that if you do not know Sinhala, it better to stay in Vavuniya. There it was
mostly Tamil speaking people. There were Muslims as well. We thought that there
can be trouble from the LTTE. Sometimes we might have to move again. Then we
thought about Anuradhapura. It was also a Sihalease area. So it was difficult. Next
was Puttlam. There were many Muslims in Puttlam. There were schools for us to
educate our children. Then we did not have the problem with the language. So
considering all these factors we decided to go to Puttlam. The other factor was the
land in Puttlam. We could somehow buy a land and divide among us. There was a
very good opportunity for that. There were a few places like Puttlam that is why
we came to Puttlam. We could have gone towards the hill country, but the land
structure cannot be compared with Puttlam.
What are you doing here for a living?
I did not know the conditions here. It was a new area for me. The only job that I
knew was tinkering. I can only do that. I did not know any other areas. My wife is
a teacher. She joined Zahira College. At this point of time I didn’t know Sinhala or
the city of Colombo. Then a person told me to join him, he was also in the same
field. I told him I would join him. I started the work in front of the Zahira School.
I stayed there for one year. We did not get much of business. Somehow I managed
to do it for a year. Then a person came here from Colombo. His name is Hussein,
and he was a Muslim. He was inquiring about this job. He asked me as well. He
asked me whether there were people to do tinkering. He has come here knowing
that there are people here, who have come here from Jaffna and are good in doing
tinkering work. He asked me to join him. I told him I have no objection in joining
him, and I also said that I have been doing this for some time. Then I said that I
have a problem with the language, and I explained that until I am at his place
everything will be fine. Then I told him I have to go to the Mosque, get in to the
bus etc. he told me that he has a house and a Mosque nearby and if wanted he
asked me to work for a week, before making a decision. He told me that he will do
all the help he can. I went with him. He was happy. He gave me all the facilities. I
worked there for 5 years.
Now my wife goes to school. My daughter is studying at Peradeniya University.
There are two children and they are in grade 5 and 4. So I told him I have an issue
with getting here and going back. I told him that I would do it from home, and I
asked him to get the things there for me to fix them. So he brought them, and I
would fix them from home.
How is the life in Puttlam?
I can’t say that there is an improvement after we came here. I am sure I would
have done better I f was in Jaffna, than here. Here I am working under some other
person, but if I was there I could have done my own thing and progressed.
What are the improvements that you have see in your family after being
displaced?
My daughter is going to the university. That is a very good improvement. If I were
to say about employment, my wife is teaching. I am doing my business as well.
We have bought our own house and a land. Our lives have improved because of
our hard work. Other than that I wouldn’t say that there is a significant
improvement.
What progress have you seen in the displaced Muslims?
The displaced Muslims have bought their lands and houses. They have provided
good opportunity to educate their children.
They are doing jobs which they are familiar with, other than that I don’t see a
significant improvement. I am sure we would have improved more if we lived in
Jaffna.
We have progressed very well in our religious knowledge and commitment. They
Muslims were not in a healthy state when they were in Jaffna. They have changed
after they came here. The ladies are wearing Fardha. They have definitely
improved in their religious knowledge and commitment.
Did you go back to your village?
I went there in 2002. Our house was destroyed, I couldn’t even recognize it. I was
troubled when I saw this. It seemed like a big loss.
What is your opinion about the rehabilitation program?
I was born in Jaffna, I am a part of that land. So I have a desire to go and live
there. I want to go there and taste the rice, vegetables and the fish. I want to
breathe the air in that place. This is the place that I grew up. I don’t want a stone
house. I have a land on my own. I want to build a small hut, eat whatever I want
and live a peaceful life. This is my will. I really want to go there, I want to
worship in that Mosque, and sleep there. The environment has not yet been
created. When we came here I was 31 years old, now I am 51. For 20 years I
started everything here, and now I am having a few gray hairs. We have worked so
hard to come up to this level.
We still have the desire to go to Jaffna. Even if I have to take my family I will
have to stay back, because I can’t start from scratch. I am not as young as those
days. Due to this reason my heart is reluctant.
We don’t need any government or any other organisation for us to go there. If they
build us a house and provide us with the basic needs, we will go there. We cannot
go if they were not provided. Our desires would become just dreams. The
government should give us what we desire in our hearts. We are tired after coming
here. We want to go there and live peacefully. If they give us the facilities we are
willing to go there.