Home Guards - protecting the masses with renewed vigour

Protecting Sinhalese and Muslim villagers living adjacent to the uncleared areas in the North and East from terror activities and massacres was the main aim when the J.R. Jayewardene administration established the Home Guard Service in 1985.

The service which commenced as a volunteer service in 1985 with the recruitment of villagers living in so-called 'border' villages in the districts adjacent to the North and Eastern provinces has now been transformed into a full force to protect threatened villages from terror activities. Initially they were seen as an obsolete force with no proper training, uniforms or a properly organised structure.

The worst period for the Home Guard Service was after the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement as they have been deployed on various other duties apart from the duty of securing their villages.

With the drastic changes made to the Home Guard service which was in a disorganised form following the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement, it has now undergone a tremendous transformation boosting the morale of the Home Guards by making it fully organised under Civil Security Department.

The reorganisation of the Home Guard service was initiated in 2006 especially after the escalation of violence in the middle of last year following the Kebithigollewa claymore mine explosion.

With over 500 villages in the districts of Mannar, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa and Ampara facing LTTE threats specially after the Kebithigollewa incident people started to leave their villages creating a large scale displacement.

The Government under a concept of President Mahinda Rajapaksa took immediate steps to arrest this situation by forming the Civil Security Department, appointing Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara as the Director General.

With the formation of the Civil Security Department, the number of Home Guards has now been increased from 19,200 to 34,900 under a well organised structure. Home Guards who had been deployed on various other duties under the Police Department have been organised to fulfil the task of protecting the threatened villages.

It was not a mere improvement of the number of Home Guards but also a qualitative improvement in their service with the provision of proper uniforms, training and a fixed salary.