Militarisation In Sri Lanka’s North And East: Tamil Concerns

Sixteen years after the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war (2009), the Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern Provinces continue to witness heavy military presence. The recent killing of a Tamil youth, allegedly by army personnel in Mullaitivu district, reignited protests. The issue highlights concerns of human rights, federal governance, and post-war reconciliation.

Recent Trigger

  • The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) called a hartal (shutdown) in August 2024 after the death of Ethirmanasingham Kapilraj, allegedly attacked by military men.
  • ITAK demanded an independent probe and highlighted the “oppressive conduct” of the armed forces in Tamil regions.
  • Three soldiers have been arrested; the government assured a fair investigation.

Extent of Militarisation

  • Military presence is visibly higher in the north and east compared to other provinces.
  • In Mullaitivu, the site of the war’s final battle, checkpoints and inspections by armed personnel are frequent.
  • A 2017 civil society report found 60,000 soldiers for 1.3 lakh civilians in Mullaitivu — an extraordinary ratio.
  • Military also runs businesses (hotels, farms, restaurants), directly competing with war-affected locals trying to rebuild livelihoods.
  • Though the government claims 91% of occupied land has been returned, disputes remain over agricultural and worship sites.

What are Machine-Readable Rolls?

  • Text-based PDFs or data files where entries can be indexed and searched using computers.
  • Enable quick identification of duplicate entries, irregular additions, or fake voters.
  • Earlier, activists like P.G. Bhat analysed such files to highlight irregularities.

Why EC Stopped Sharing Machine-Readable Rolls

  • In 2018, just before the 2019 elections, EC directed States to stop uploading them.
  • Reason: fear that foreign entities could misuse voter data (full names and addresses).
  • Supreme Court in Kamal Nath vs. EC (2018) refused to compel EC to provide such data, though EC’s own manual mentions draft rolls should be in text format.

Technical Challenges

  • Opposition suggests converting current PDFs into text using Optical Character Recognition (OCR).
  • However, difficulties include:
    • Rolls are divided into hundreds of parts per constituency.
    • Processing all (over 6 crore pages nationwide) is extremely costly (~$40,000 per update).

Arguments For & Against

  • For: Easier detection of duplicates and fraud. Improves transparency and trust in elections.
  • Against: Risks of data misuse, privacy breaches. High resource and financial costs for digitisation.

Way Forward

  • Balance between transparency and privacy.
  • Explore controlled access to machine-readable rolls for recognised parties.
  • Develop secure platforms to prevent misuse while enabling fraud detection.

Conclusion:

The issue of machine-readable electoral rolls reflects the need to balance transparency with voter privacy. Ensuring secure and regulated access can strengthen both electoral integrity and public trust.

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