On the trail of VICTORY | Sundayobserver.lk

Final moments of the last battle

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

The murky waters of the Nanthikadal lagoon with a stretch of small islands have now turned crystal clear. Pink and white water lillies have added colour to the lagoon. Birds have started building nests. The fresh green flora provides a soothing sight to the eye. The pristine beauty of the Nanthikadal lagoon is re-emerging.

A spent bullet I picked up near a thorny bush a few metres away from the ‘famous’ Nanthikadal lagoon took me back to that special day a year ago.

Being the only female journalist to witness the end of the world’s most notorious terrorists, I humbly recalled the day with a grateful salute to Sri Lanka’s brave sons and daughters, the so-called ‘impossible’ task - destroying the LTTE - possible.

It was 10.30 in the morning on May 19, 2009. I was rushing to the bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon with my colleagues Ranil and Rukmal as we had been told by some top military commanders on the ground that they have found some bodies.

While we were rushing to the location, the electronic media men who televised the ‘news’ were rushing their vehicles to their mobile communication units to ‘be the first’ to release the ‘prized news’ that the entire country waited to hear for over three decades.

The soldiers of the 4th Vijayaba Infantry Regiment (VIR) were jubilantly singing the ‘National Anthem’, patriotic songs and slogans like ‘Mawubimata Jayawewa’ (Victory for the Motherland).

The blood stained bodies of the senior LTTE cadre were piled up on the bank of the lagoon. The men who were in black uniforms, had fought the soldiers until their last breath. The majority had committed suicide by swallowing the deadly cyanide vials hung around their necks.

The jubilant 4VIR team of soldiers, with their Brigade Commander Lt. Col Lalantha Gamage and Officer Commanding Lt. Col. Rohitha Aluvihare, who were knee deep in the water, emerged from the lagoon carrying the most prized catch of not only the Eelam IV war, but in the entire 30-year-old war against LTTE terrorism.

The General Officers of Commanding (GOC) of all Divisions - Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne -53 Div, Brig. Chagie Gallage - 55 Div, Maj. Gen. Jagath Dias - 57 Div, Brig. Shavendra Silva - 58 Div and Brig. Prasanna Silva and Task Forces (TF) Commanders - Brig. Rohana Bandara - TF II, Col. Nishantha Wanniarachchi - TF IV and Col. G.V. Ravipriya TF VIII and thousands of soldiers were anxiously waiting at the muddy banks of the lagoon to ‘welcome’ their ‘catch’.

Announcing their achievement, the 4VIR Brigade Commander handed over the body to the GOC of the 53 Division Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne.

At 10.42 am the body was brought on a stretcher and placed on the ground amidst applause from the soldiers.

The man who had set fire to the nation had died in the same flames. The fugitive who made the country a killing field and played havoc for over three decades was lying lifelessly on the ground.

The skin of his entire body, except the face, was shrunk and pale as he was soaked neck deep in the lagoon waters. Water strained from his Tiger uniform; he was barefoot.

Sigh of relief

Soldiers kept on flocking to the historic site to catch a glimpse of the man who caged their young lives into thick jungles. Everyone breathed huge sighs of relief after seeing the body.

Prabhakaran, who was wanted by Sri Lanka, India and the Interpol for the atrocities he had committed against humanity had no intention of surrendering, but had a mission to live longer. He had a well-planned psychological operation that tried to mislead the military through civilians and cadre who had surrendered during the last days. They, especially the members of the Maha Weera families lied to the troops that Prabhakaran had escaped in a submarine prior to the 53 and 58 Divisions shutting out the beach front of the No Fire Zone.

Despite the rumours, the military kept on assaulting the No Fire Zone, after confirming that all civilian hostages had vacated the land, using the maximum artillery and armour support. They attacked all the spots that were suspected to be Prabhakaran’s hideouts.

This made him flee to the lagoon to hide in an island with his most loyal bodyguards. He desperately attempted to disappear into the Mullaitivu jungles.

But all his attempts to survive ended as the 4VIR soldiers, who were deployed in a clearing mission, smelled the terrorist movement. Fire was exchanged. The battle of the last minute got fierce. The soldiers who were fighting the terrorists didn’t know that they were engaged in the last battle.

The time was around 10.05 am that the guns finally went silent. Sergeant T.M. Muthubanda had discovered the body. The monster who created thousands and thousands of graveyards for both Tamils and Sinhalese, had finally kissed the earth. It was the end of the man, the architect of Asia’s longest terrorist war. His dream to divide the peaceful country into two faded away on the horizon.

Prabhakaran, the most dangerous terrorist, who had the control of over 15,000 square kilometres of land, breathed his last in a tiny patch of land in a small island off the Nanthikadal lagoon at Vellamullivaikkal in Puthumathalan, where he selfishly held over 280,000 people hostage.

The most significant truth was that Prabhakaran, who motivated thousands of boys and girls to blow themselves up or bite vials of cyanide, didn’t bite the deadly vial himself. It proved that he loved his life more than anything else. He had a mission to flee, to save his life even at the last minute.

With no cyanide hanging around him, his dog tag TT 3 bearing the number 001 and dated 16.09.95 hung around the monster killer’s neck. His ‘Eelam’ identity card with his picture bore the number 01543301002 and was issued on 01.01.2007 with his personal details like date of birth - 26.11.1954, place of birth - Velvatiturai and occupation - Leader of the LTTE.

The soldiers had recovered his belongings wrapped in a polythene bag. It contained a gas mask, diabetic drugs, dressings, insulin, handcuffs, two T56 rifles used by Prabhakaran, glucose, creams for wounds, and most interestingly, a bottle of berry scent moisturising and vitamin E cream made in Singapore.

I went near the body still lying on the ground and looked at his eyes that were wide open. Oh... I took my eyes off. His eyes still seemed to be burning. The eyes that saw the world with anger and terror were still hooked to his dream.

The jubilant soldiers, singing ‘Mawbimata Jaya wewa’ (Victory for the Motherland) and waving national flags walked on guns still directed towards the thick jungles and carrying out search operations to hunt down Pottu Amman who was believed to be dead. But they had yet to discover the body.

It was midday and under the scorching sun soldiers were still enjoying their victory. Camera phones clicked every minute, recording their most important memory in history.

Identification parade

Orders were given to set the ground and tighten security for the identification parade. It was a different meeting that told the world that one’s fate decides one’s future.

Fate made them meet again. A lifeless Prabhakaran met his most trustworthy bodyguard and the LTTE’s former Eastern military leader Karuna Amman and his former media spokesman Daya Master at the lagoon in front of Vellamullivaikkal.

The two, who were flown from Colombo and brought to the scene under tight security, scanned their former leader’s body at the identification parade before the Government announced that the LTTE Leader was dead.

Both identified the body as the leader of the LTTE. While the man who masterminded the three-decades-long battle and motivated them to take to arms to achieve his daydream, lay dead, the luckiest man among all LTTE cadre was welcomed by the soldiers who fought fierce battles in the Eastern region. Karuna Amman or Minister Muralitharan was escorted to the lagoon under tight security. He had identified the man laid at his feet as the LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

“I have identified him and according to history this is the fate of terrorist leaders. Many of them had died in this manner. During the Second World War Mussolini too had a similar fate. What happened to Saddam Hussein and the Cambodian leader? No wonder Prabhakaran too died in a similar way. He encouraged lots of innocent youth to bite cyanide capsules and motivated them to blow themselves up to serve his ends. But he did not do what he had ordered others to do, and he deserves this death”, Minister Muralitharan said.

Prabhakaran’s media spokesman, Daya Master, who had been sidelined by Prabhakaran for sometime, after identifying the body, said he had dropped the Eelam dream soon after the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government came into power as he smelled that the LTTE would be militarily defeated soon. “I knew Prabhakaran would face death soon”, he said.

Both flew back to Colombo in an Air Force plane. It was 5 pm. The brave young soldiers who fought fearlessly, knowing that Prabhakaran’s death was certain, victoriously returned to their military bases.

The dead bodies of LTTE cadre were piled up, to be tucked in to a common grave. The evening sun was going down in the far end of the horizon of Vellamullivaikkal while the ‘Sun God’ who made this fertile land a bloodbath, had gone on his final journey, leaving his megalomaniac dream - Eelam.

After 30 years, on May 19, 2009 the entire nation slept without fear. Not a single gunshot was heard from the North that night and throughout the next 365 days.

A year has passed since Prabhakaran’s dealth. A war heroes memorial has been built near the Nanthikadal lagoon to honour the sacrifices made by the brave sons and daughters of Mother Lanka to bring peace to the nation.

People who had worshipped Prabhakaran, who had been made to suffer for over half of their lifespan, are now brimming with hope. They have realised the noble truth that this tiny island is ‘one country’.

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