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| Sunday, 5 December 2004 |
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Tears for martyrs by Ranga Jayasuriya They sit besides the graves of their sons and daughters weeping uncontrollably. Women, mother's of martyrs who sacrificed their lives in a struggle that lasted for more than two decades.
Their cry, rising in a high tone, cloud with melancholy, the half lit cemetery located 1 Km from Kilinochchi town. Humble poojas - a waday, thosai and a plate of curry- have been placed before most graves by parents who have walked hours to reach this cemetery. At 6.05, after Tiger supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran's broadcast address is over, the men and women begin lighting the lamps beside the graves. The entire cemetery, where nearly 1800 Tiger cadres are buried is illuminated with coconut oil and copra lamps, as some 50,000 civilians, more than the half the population of Kilinochchi, flock to commemorate those who died fighting the security forces. For the LTTE, the Hero's Day which falls on November 27 is an event to drum up courage and inspiration of the existing cadres and to entice more recruits. For most men and women who have travelled for hours from their remote villages in the Wanni, this is perhaps the only respect they could afford to pay to their dead offspring. Sivakulundu, a farmer from Vattakkutti, had come to honour his daughter who died in an LTTE offensive at the Elephant Pass military garrison, in February 1998. Sivakulundu has six daughters, three of whom have joined the LTTE. The one who rests here is the eldest. While garlanding the grave of his daughter and few others, Sivakulundu laments about how the war has shattered his family. A worn out woman of her mid fifties from Chavakachcheri, Nathan Thangesh's is a story of acute personal trauma. She lost her only son, Nathan Thavarasa- known as Kadirali in Kaithady in January 1998. When Kadirali died, Thangesh, already abandoned by her husband was left alone with her only daughter. Things turned worse when the daughter was abandoned by her husband, who is mentally unstable. Thangesh who has three grand children. ekes a living as a casual labourer she is the sole bread winner of the family. Even though the LTTE claims that it is looking after the parents of fallen cadres, Thangesh complains she had not received any assistance either from the Tigers or the government. According to Mullaitivu Government Agent Emelda Sukumar, there are 3,000 war widows in the Mullaitivu district alone. Pulimadavan, an LTTE cadre assigned to provide transport facilities to parents of fallen LTTE cadres buried in Vishnu Madu cemetery, says the LTTE hierarchy plans to pay a monthly allowance of Rs. 6,000 to parents who have sacrificed two or three members to the movement. The LTTE also provides other assistance- cows ,paultry, sawing machines and vocational training to what it calls 'martyrs' families'. Vishnu Madu, located 30 km from Kilinochchi is one of the largest LTTE cemeteries. Nearly 2,800 fallen cadres, most of who are from the East are buried here due to difficulties in transporting bodies to the East. Twenty two years ago on November 27, 1982, Shankar, a founding member of the LTTE died in a police ambush in the South Indian state of Thamil Nadu. Since then 17,780 cadres had died fighting for a separate state including 263 suicide cadres commonly known as 'Black Tigers', the jewel of the LTTE's military machine. The first Black Tiger, Captain Miller drove a truck full of explosives to a school occupied by the troops advancing in the operation Liberation in 1987. Since then the 'Black Tigers' have killed a number of local political leaders and former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi and carried suicide attacks at many civilian and military targets. The commemorations however were not confined to the cemeteries. The LTTE had been commemorating the dead Tigers for a week, with their garlanded photos displayed at every town, pandals erected and loudspeakers elaborating the history of the LTTE's struggle and sacrifices made during the two decades of conflict. The Wanni was abaze in red and yellow flags. |
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