Well, at least that's what this should amount to. The government has made it a requirement for 'people of the north' to get special permission from the police to go to any place in the 'south'.

Here's a Sunday Times report,

Civilians in the north will be required to obtain Police passes to travel to Colombo or other areas in the south in terms of new measures introduced by the Government. This requirement will apply to those living in the districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. Those wishing to travel will be required to make a written application to the Police giving reasons for the visit, places where they would stay, the duration and intended date of return. [..]

“The pass system has already come into effect in the four districts,” Vavuniya’s Additional Government Agent S. Charles said yesterday. [..]

A Government official who did not wish to be named, said the new measures were intended to prevent infiltration of Tiger guerrillas into Colombo, its suburbs or other areas in the south. He said the string of recent bomb explosions necessitated the new move. “Now, any person in the north moving around without a valid pass from a Police Station will be liable for questioning or arrest in the south,” he added. [link] (emphasis mine)

In other words all 'people of the north' now requires a visa to come to the south. That should amount for something like a deceleration of a separate state, by the 'southern government'. I mean, even Indians can come here without a visa.

The constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees freedom of movement for all citizens, by denying this freedom of movement to people of the northern districts, the government accepts these districts no longer constitute the democratic socialist republic of Sri Lanka. If I was an Eelamist, I'd be partying.

Sri Lanka now is one sad story. Rule of law is replaced by Rule of brutes, not even men. The constitution is ignored, elections are rigged, any Jack or Sunil on the road can strip search me if they wanted to. There's no privacy, no such thing called civil liberties and really, there's no dignity anymore. I've stopped complaining, because frankly I don't see anything changing.

Maybe sanity will prevail, and the supreme court will be made to intervene like the last time the Rajapakse administration decided to round up a bunch of Tamils in Colombo and give them a free ride to "where they came from". Or maybe, this time we'll just shrug and not say anything fear can do a lot to people. After all, you can technically argue that freedom of movement haven't been curtailed here, it's just made really difficult and an ignoble exercise.