Days before Lankan presidential polls, Tamils in North couldn't care less

JAFFNA: With a crucial presidential election just days away, Jaffna, Sri Lanka’s northern capital does not reflect South’s political frenzy.

- DILRUKSHI HANDUNNETTI

A record number of candidates have joined the fray, 39 in all, including a common candidate from the North, Pakkiyaselvam Ariyanethiran, representing Sri Lanka’s largest Tamil political entity, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK).

The euphoric campaigning in the South is conspicuous by its absence in the North as people go about, doing their daily job while campaigning continues with less fanfare.

Fifteen years after the protracted war ended in May 2009, the North of Sri Lanka continues to reel under its multiple impacts, with normalcy, as known in the rest of the country, still an illusion. The North has long-unresolved issues, ranging from wartime disappearances, homes under military occupation, livelihoods, unemployment, infrastructure development and safety.

At the tail end of the presidential campaign, frontrunners like incumbent and common candidate president Ranil Wickremesinghe, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Dissanayake of the Marxist National Peoples’ Power (NPP) continuing to woo the Tamil votes.

But for the people of Jaffna, there are other issues to grapple with. Chadrasekaran Haran (51) sells vegetables for a living. He treats the September 21 presidential race with both disinterest and disdain.