Colombo:
Six thousand Tamil youths, including 1,000 women, have responded to a recruitment drive for the ethnic community in the former LTTE stronghold Jaffna for the first time in three-decades.
The recruitment drive is being conducted in most districts of the North and East, an official said, adding they are very keen and showing much enthusiasm to join the force.
Following the defeat of the LTTE, the government seeks to involve the local Tamils in tackling the law and order and calm tensions between the predominantly Sinhalese government and the Tamils, who have alleged discrimination in government jobs and education.
Over 6000 Tamil youths, including 1,000 women, were interviewed at the Duriappah Stadium in the Jaffna peninsula last week for 1,000 posts for men and women police constables and drivers, officials said. Youths from Jaffna, Kayts, Chavakachcheri and Point Pedro faced the interviews conducted by senior police officers.
The Tamil Tigers considered those part of the Lankan police force as traitors. According to officials, the last major recruitment in Jaffna was undertaken in 1979 even though subsequent drives in the region did not elicit much response from the public perhaps due to fear and intimidation by the LTTE, which had aimed to establish an independent homeland for the minority community.
IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne, who visited the Northern Range during last weekend, underlined the need for Tamil youth to help maintain law and order in the area, the state-owned Daily News said today.
The recruitment drive is being conducted in most districts of the North and East, an official said, adding they are very keen and showing much enthusiasm to join the force.
Following the defeat of the LTTE, the government seeks to involve the local Tamils in tackling the law and order and calm tensions between the predominantly Sinhalese government and the Tamils, who have alleged discrimination in government jobs and education.
Over 6000 Tamil youths, including 1,000 women, were interviewed at the Duriappah Stadium in the Jaffna peninsula last week for 1,000 posts for men and women police constables and drivers, officials said. Youths from Jaffna, Kayts, Chavakachcheri and Point Pedro faced the interviews conducted by senior police officers.
The Tamil Tigers considered those part of the Lankan police force as traitors. According to officials, the last major recruitment in Jaffna was undertaken in 1979 even though subsequent drives in the region did not elicit much response from the public perhaps due to fear and intimidation by the LTTE, which had aimed to establish an independent homeland for the minority community.
IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne, who visited the Northern Range during last weekend, underlined the need for Tamil youth to help maintain law and order in the area, the state-owned Daily News said today.
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