LTTE women captives find Army a very humane outfit

Shanika SRIYANANDA reporting from Vavuniya

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Until a few days ago, the three girls were fighting with no hope for life. Death was the name of their game, and they knew that victory was a mirage. While the deadly mortars and artilleries were shelling around them and with signs of soldiers surrounding them from four corners, the bitter lessons taught by their seniors about the inhuman acts by soldiers haunted their minds. These myths made them half dead. Few minutes were left for them to decide their fate - death or freedom?

The girls took the right path. Trained to kill and brained washed to die, these girls have now realised that 'living' is more honourable than 'death'.

With their eyes down cast, the girls - Kugatharshani, Subanjini and Malathi resembling the outlook of typical Tamil lasses, looked around shyly like schoolgirls, but not like trained killers. The revenge of war was slowly disappearing from their faces.

Twenty eight-year-old Kugatharshini Arumainathan, a native of Paranthan, just six kilometres away from the LTTE's administrative capital, has seen the rise and fall of the LTTE. Captured in a bunker along with two other teenagers, Kugatharshini, bleeding from fingers had no hopes for life and wanted to die as the soldiers were a few feet away. The two teenagers, leaving the weapons and grenades aside were crying for life. No command to fight further as their platoon leader committed suicide blasting a hand grenade, Kugatharshini too had decided to remain silent until soldiers ordered them to come out.

" You could have easily bitten the cyanide. Why didn't you die", I asked them.

" We wanted to live. We do not want to fight a losing battle. We are afraid of war", flashed back these young girls who are brave enough to reveal the truth - the LTTE is waging a losing battle sacrificing the future of the Tamils for the sake of realising a dream for a separate land. The LTTE's rigid policy - one from each family - had made these girls, who wanted to be just ordinary Tamils, terrorists. Brain washed from birth they had learned a single mantra - Sinhalese were enemies and Sinhala Army was a group of killers who rape girls and torture others when caught alive.

But today, they are witnessing the truth and are happy that they are given life by the so-called killers, who know their heart beat better than their own saviours, who left them to die helplessly in deadly war zones.

Having migrated to Kilinochchi along with the family whose breadwinner, her father was a postman in 1993, Kugatharshini gained entrance to the Vembadi Girls School having passed the Grade five scholarship examination, and studied upto the Advanced Level in the same school. She went on to pass out as a trained English teacher from the College of Education and was recruited by the LTTE in January 2007 despite her mother's strong protests. " I always wanted to help my people by teaching and doing some social service, but the order of the LTTE - one from the family to the outfit- made me a cadre", she disclosed. Kugatharshini was first employed as a teacher at the Chencholai, a hostel run by the LTTE for three months and later transferred to the Ambahakam training camp for females in Mankulam.

Wearing the tag No. O: 12170 and identified with her norm de guerrilla 'Nilaventhy' was given a month's training on handling weapons with 120 other cadres including four government servants and six university students.

She was again sent to Chencholai for teaching and then called back by the LTTE to work in their Thalamaiseyalakam - LTTE's administrative unit at Puthiruppu as a data entry operator and to draft their letters.

As they were losing manpower in the battle fields, the LTTE ordered their cadres in all other units to undergo combat training and Kugatharshini too was sent to a 15-day refreshment military course in Wishwamadu.

" After training, we were taken to guard the coast line along Pooneryn. They told us lies that there was not much fighting involved as the Army could not resist the LTTE", she owned up.

Over 90 cadres from the LTTE's administrative unit were guarding the Pooneryn coastal belt though they did not have the know-how to fight back against troops." Lots of Sea Tigers escape to India abandoning the battle. When they were escaping the LTTE, we knew we would die soon, but had no option", explained Kugatharshini. She said she was determined to survive death during that two-month period of duty. Later, 30 were selected to fight in the forward defence lines in Pooneryn and Kugatharshini was among the lot lined up for her first encounter with well trained professional soldiers. The cadres in the battle fronts, according to Kugatharshini are the unfortunate lot as they are deprived of proper meals, water and sanitary facilities. Their meals had been cut to one meal a day and to get food and water they had to walk over four kilometres and washing themselves was a luxury. They had to creep a long distance to get to their destination to obtain meals - a small portion of rice or pittu, kanji and drinking water at night as the Army continued to attack during daytime. During the attack, two teenage cadres, who shared the bunker with her, committed suicide as they were in fear of having to surrender to the Army and according to orders the remaining two were called up to hold another bunker where five female cadres were fighting with the soldiers. They were fighting at Valayakuduyiruppumodai,6km East of the 7th mile post of the A32 Road. " I think over 25 soldiers surrounded us at that time and after firing over 90 rounds I got injured. Two others got injured and two went out and got killed. An 18-year-old girl was crying and could not shoot at all. Our leader, instead of giving us orders killed herself. Soldiers were a few feet ahead and we decided to surrender", she reminisced, the joy of living to enjoy freedom written on her face.

All of them had been schooled by the LTTE to bite the cyanide to avoid harassment by the Army soldiers. " We were afraid of Sri Lankan soldiers and all the LTTE cadres were given this image during their training. So we also thought that the soldiers would rape and kill us. Instead, they treated us not like terrorists, but like their own casualties. No one was harassed but looked after well.

The young soldiers are very decent", she said. The three girls had got new dresses and looked like traditional Tamil girls. Their innocence which was robbed by the war was reappearing.

These former LTTE cadres said that the war by Prabhakaran was useless and the outfit cannot retain their strongholds in Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu as people have no faith in the LTTE. Their parents, according to them, do not want to see their young children breathing their last helplessly on fierce battlefields. When the LTTE brought the dead bodies of their children the parents reacted by stabbing the LTTErs and on some occasions had thrown chilli powder on them warning them not to come to their villages again to take away their children.

" People hate the LTTE now. But sometimes our parents are helpless as the LTTE imposes rigid rules. If the parents are not willing to give one child from the family, they will take the father forcibly to the battle front or the mother to work in their kitchens so that the children are left with no option. They ultimately become LTTE cadres unwillingly" said Kugatharshini who too sacrificed her life to save the lives of her brother and sister.

Her brother could not gain entrance from Kilinochchi to attend a course in the College of Education in Dharga Town, in the Eastern Province until she was enrolled as a cadre. Now 25-year-old Thivakaran is a nursing student in the Nursing School, Vavuniya.

Her sister, Thatpara got the permit but remained in Kilinochchi to take care of her old parents. But she is on the run from one place to another with her parents as the troops are advancing into the Tiger heartland.

All cadres enlisted by the LTTE to join the outfit had no option like Kugatharshini. If they refused, the LTTE would take one family member. And they cannot hide as the LTTE will cordon and search for them in every village nook and corner to arrest them.

No main leader commands them at the frontlines now. Unskilled LTTE cadres, after a crash weapon training program, were just left to fight for their survival. Some area leaders command them from kilometres away and no leader would come to the frontlines, according to them. Severely suffering from shortage of manpower, the LTTE had ordered all the former cadres to join the outfit at this decisive moment to realise their wish for a separate land for Tamils.

" But it would be a dream of Prabhakaran. Last October, he came to Wishwamadu and promised civilians that the LTTE would take them to their original habitats within the next three months. But except a few, majority of civilians know that he cannot fight with the troops. Most of the old people are living in Paranthan and Puthukudiruppu. They are living under trees and huts facing many problems. People are waiting for a chance to cross to government controlled areas. Though the LTTE holds them, they will flee here soon", she said hoping to be re-united with her family soon. Scared for her sister's life, this English teacher regrets that she was compelled to join the LTTE, which destroyed the future of Tamils.

According to the captured cadres, with the LTTE running out male cadres, more female cadres are sent to the frontlines. Of the total manpower of the outfit, the number of female LTTE cadres are high. Apart from forced recruitment of females, the LTTE is also abducting children from the villages to fill the shortage of manpower. Small children will be in camps and follow their studies and later they will be sent to battlefields.

Kugatharshani said that with the transformation of the traditional Tamil girl to a terrorist, the LTTE runs solely on the contribution of the females who were left to fight. She said that this was because lots of males had migrated to southern cities, upcountry and abroad during the ceasefire time in search of employment to escape the LTTE. "

Majority of members left in these families were females. So they were compelled to listen to LTTE's orders", she said.Kugatharshani never enjoyed the joy of spending her hard earned money or saving a cent.

Her monthly salary of Rs. 20,000 earned as a government teacher was taken by the LTTE.

" The fate of all the young teachers are the same and the LTTE collected salaries of most of the government servants monthly. " I had to ask money from my parents to buy necessities for myself", she said.

According to these female LTTE cadres, even the wounded are not exempted by the outfit. They will be given medical treatment and after a very brief rest, which is only allowed for those who were badly wounded, will be sent back to frontlines.

" This war is useless. The Sinhalese and these soldiers are friendly people. Do not be afraid of the security forces.

It is time for you to surrender to save your lives. If you wish to enjoy freedom do it and you will really be treated as human beings", she requested of her colleagues, including Ranjana, her best friend who is still with the LTTE.

Having hopes for a better future and decent life, all of which she lost as a youth, she wants to pursue higher studies and teach English not in the North, but in the South. She also wants to learn the Sinhala Language before her parents make arrangements for her to tie the knot with her future partner.

" But it is a distant dream for many of us. Until this useless war is finished we cannot think of a life of our own", she said while enjoying a piece of cake and a roll and sipping a milk tea offered by the Army.

Tears covered her eyes throughout, She thanked the soldiers for not killing her and giving her a new lease of life to understand the value of humanity.

With scars all over her arms and bandaged hand, the LTTE cadre, who refused to die and gave up to the Army, looked forward to the future as she concluded saying, "I want to live in an united country."