|
Eyewitness accounts in DVD :
More LTTE atrocities come to light
By Shanika SRIYANANDA
The bus blown up by the LTTE with the injured cadre,Kandhayya
Ravi as seen in the DVD |
 |
| St. Mary’s Church |
Although one is severely wounded or completely paralysed, one has the
right to live until one breathes one’s last.
Unaware of the fate which would befall them within the next few
minutes, several dozens of wounded Tigers, including forcibly
conscripted children, brought from a makeshift medical facility in a
Rosa bus, were helplessly gasping for life. Another group of Tigers, who
were guarding another bus load of wounded youth a few metres away, was
impatiently waiting for the final nod from their superior, to finish off
their task.Their intention was to get rid of the ‘burden’ and also not
to leave any room for the wounded to be interrogated in the event of
their capture. While those who fought unwillingly to make the dream of
their megalomaniac leader a reality were struggling to breathe, the
Tigers hurriedly strapped explosives around the buses. In the next
minute, everything disappeared under heavy black smoke, triggered by the
thundering explosion.
The two badly damaged buses lay between Vellamullivaikkal and
Wadduvakkal, a grim reminder of the gravity of the final battle fought
against the LTTE in May 2009.
The new-found peace and fear-free environment that restored freedom
of speech in the North of the country enabled people who had been
suppressed and oppressed to come out with their views; and those who had
been trampled under a terror-filled era to reveal atrocities committed
by the ruthless LTTE against humanity.
| True statements by
ordinary Tamils in ‘Ruthless’ –Hulugalle
Director General of the
Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) Lakshman Hulugalle
said the DVD titled ‘Ruthless’ contains true statements
submitted by ordinary Tamils who suffered under the LTTE
control. He said this at the launch of the documentary last
week.
He said though the
documentary was not released targeting any forum that
accuses Sri Lanka of alleged war crimes, the main intention
of the video was to give a true picture of the LTTE’s
atrocities during the final days of the battle. “It contains
eye-witness accounts of LTTE’s child recruitment and its
violence against Tamil civilians.” he said.
Hulugalle said unlike
‘documentaries’ such as the Channel 4 video which aired
without proper identities of the ‘victims’, the video titled
‘Ruthless’ has authentic evidence coming from Tamil
civilians who had been at the receiving end.He said
first-hand accounts of the incident at Mullaivaikkal, where
the injured and disabled LTTE cadre were blown up in a bus,
were also included in the documentary. “The Government aimed
to counter false allegations coming from unknown individuals
about the final battle in May 2009”, he said.
The Director General said if
the media wanted to interview the people quoted in the
video, the MCNS could provide their information. “Now the
media is allowed to visit any place in the North and the
East. This is not like the propaganda work of Pro-LTTE
groups where they hide the true identities of the people who
they interviewed”, he said. |
Thiruchelvam Vardarasa from Wattappalai was an eyewitness to a mass
murder that had been intended to remain hidden forever.“The LTTE brought
a bus full of a wounded boys, girls and elders who had been forcibly
thrown into battlefronts. Then the bus was exploded with the people
inside under the instructions of leader Nedumaran. I witnessed this with
my own eyes”, Vardarasa, who was temporally accommodated 200 metres away
from the location, said.This was a first-hand account of a civilian who
narrated his agony two and a half years ago in the latest video titled
‘Ruthless’ released by the Defence Ministry to show the world just how
ruthless the world’s most ruthless terrorists - the LTTE - were.It is an
account that provides concrete evidence about the LTTE’s ruthlessness
over their own people. It was on May 17, 2009, in the wee hours, that
the above described mass murder took place while the soldiers were
squeezing the terrorists into their last tiny patch of land in the edge
of Mullaitivu. Two days before the LTTE’s annihilation in the waters of
the Nandikadal lagoon, the LTTE leader instructed his subordinates to
destroy their battle casualties, who had been ill-trained and
conscripted to fight the advancing military might. The ruthless LTTE
cadre loaded the disabled and wounded cadre into a bus from the
makeshift hospital and exploded the buses; not leaving a trace of them.
Hostages
Kandhayya Ravi, a resident of Puthukuduirippu was herded with his
family and thousands of other families to Vellamullivaikkal by the LTTE,
which kept them as hostages.
“When we were rushing towards Mullivakkal, I saw my injured
stepbrother in the Rosa bus. I requested the person in-charge to release
him as I could take care of him. The LTTE cadre told us to be patient
for two days as the injured would be released to their relations. Not
only me, others who had relations in the bus requested their release,
but the LTTE threatened us. Again, on May 16, I pleaded with them to
release my stepbrother, but they refused. The next morning around 3.30
a.m. I heard a thundering blast. When I arrived at the site people were
running in all directions and some were screaming with wounds. The LTTE
had burnt the vehicles parked along the roads”, he said, recalling how
he saw the bus in which his brother lay semi-conscious, was in flames
after the terrorists had blasted it. “As the LTTE was chasing us, we had
to leave in tears”, Ravi said.
Rev. Fr. James Paththinadan |
Jesikumar, an ex-LTTE cadre who was snatched away while returning
from school in 2007, was also an eyewitness to the bomb blast in the
bus, to destroy LTTE casualties. “On May 17, we were fleeing as the
soldiers were taking control of the land. It was 4.00 a.m. and while we
were running towards the bridge, an LTTE cadre tried to prevent us going
further as they were preparing to explode a bus, containing injured LTTE
cadres. A few minutes later, the bus went in flames”, Jesikumar, who had
sustained injuries while fighting in Pooneryn and Mannar, said.Apart
from eyewitness accounts on LTTE atrocities during the last days of the
battle against terrorism, victims - parents, a member of the clergy and
ex-LTTE cadre testified about their nightmare experiences on the LTTE’s
forced conscription of under-aged children. The video contains an
account by a Catholic priest of St. Mary’s Church at Valayamadam in the
northern Mullaitivu district about forced recruitment of under-aged
children to fight. He revealed how the LTTE stormed the church premises
where displaced civilians and orphans had been accommodated.
St. Mary’s Church in Valayamadam is in the north of Mullaitivu and in
the No Fire Zone. It was the last refuge for children brought in by
their parents who were terrified that the children would be forcibly
taken by the LTTE to fight the last battle.
Rev. Fr. James Paththinadan is the resident priest of the church who
witnessed the heinous crimes carried out by the LTTE. “I have been
working mostly in the Jaffna diocese, especially in the Wanni region. In
December 2008, we were dislocated from the Mullaitivu town and ended up
in Valayamadam. It was an intense situation where the Army was advancing
and the Tigers were resisting. The church was not meant to be a refuge
for people to come and hide because it was very small; 60 feet by 30
feet. However, not only children, but adults and also Tiger deserters
sought shelter in the church. We got information that Tigers were going
to raid the place to take the children. We requested the LTTE to avoid
stepping into the church as there would be violence. As I was in charge
of the church I made this request to the Tigers several times while
making announcements for the people to find safe places”.
Heavy weapons
|
Nimalan, Vignesh and Bala
Niruba in the DVD |
“Despite our protests, the Tigers took over the church on March 21,
2009. They installed heavy weapons within the premises and thousands of
cadres moved in. They took the people out and there were over 600
civilians at the time”, he said, adding that there was nothing he could
do to prevent the terrorists from abducting the children and their
parents.
Following are the testimonies of some of those who experienced LTTE
terror during their stay in the church. Velayudan, a labourer lived in
Rektavaikkal. - “I sent my child to the church in fear of the LTTE
abducting her. One day the LTTE came, indiscreminatly firing, and took
away all the children in the church. My daughter managed to hide in a
neighbouring house. Later, I went to the church and saw that they had
taken all the children”.
His daughter Niruba (15) was sent to the church as they believed that
the LTTE would not conscript the children in the church but the
terrorists who had no regard for the clergy started abducting innocent
children hiding in the church. “One day, the LTTE surrounded the church
and we ran to hide ourselves. They closed the entrance and opened firing
at the roof. We were threatened not to run and told that we would be
killed if we defied their orders. However, I was able to run and hide
myself in a neighbouring house. Except for myself, the terrorists took
away all the children in the church and they had beaten the parents who
had refused to allow them to take their children”, said Niruba, who
doesn’t want to experience the same agony in future.Niruba and thousands
of other children in the North want a violence-free secure future. “We
hate violence. No child willingly joined the LTTE; they always forcibly
took us. Angal Uyir Kadawulal Kappatrappattom (God has saved our lives)”
the teenager said.
Among the eyewitnesses to LTTE’s forced conscription is Madavaraja,
President, Vallipunam Regional Development Society who recalled an
unforgettable incident where the LTTE dragged underaged children who
were crying and pleading with helpless parents to save them from the
terrorists.
“It was the morning of March 20. I heard the LTTE shooting inside the
church and dragging away the children. They were intimidating the
priests and parents who were desperately trying to stop them. All were
beaten badly as we tried to save the children from being abducted.
During the final stages of battle, we experienced immense hardships.
Children were not spared and were abducted continuously. There was a
terrible struggle day and night to keep ourselves awake as the LTTE made
every attempt to snatch away our children. We didn’t have anything to
eat”, he said.
Much suffering
Sinnayya Sivaneshan said, “My mother brought me to the Church like
many other children. We were provided with meals from our households and
stayed inside the church throughout the day. There were hundreds of
people and we suffered a lot. We had only one well to get water to drink
and bathe and one toilet closer to the beach. The girls had a difficult
time, going to the toilet far away, as they were in fear of LTTE
conscription during the daytime. One day, the LTTE cadre stormed the
church to abduct the children. There were a few ex-LTTE cadre with us
and they told us not be scared as they would protect us. They had their
weapons. When the LTTE stormed into the church, the ex-cadres started
shooting the LTTE, but they could not stop the LTTE from taking away the
children and assaulting the parents”.
“My little sister (14) was also shot at and dragged away by them. The
Rev. Father was beaten when he tried to stop the LTTE. The children also
experienced a similar fate. The LTTE opened indiscriminate fire at the
roof. Subsequently, the children were forcibly loaded into a vehicle. My
elder brother sustained serious head injuries. In sheer desperation, we
broke some furniture to be used as clubs to fight with the LTTE.
Deserters who had weapons retaliated with gunfire. Shovels were also
used to fight with them. We fought desperately and were able to drive
them away, but the LTTE came again in the same evening and tried to take
the children away. Some of the children managed to escape, I also
escaped. Half of the abducted children abandoned the LTTE and returned
to their families, but we don’t know what happened to the rest. My
sister, who was found with injuries was admitted to the medical centre
later.”
Shanthan from Valayamadam who ran a tea kiosk 50 metres away from St.
Mary’s Church, too witnessed the LTTE’s last attempts to snatch children
who were sheltering in the church. “One day the LTTE surrounded the
church and opened fire. They had cut off all escape routes and no one
was allowed to go out. As I came out of the bunker, another group of
LTTEers came out and shot at me. My right arm got injured, but the
bullet is not yet removed”, he said.
Child conscription
Three victims of child conscription narrated the incident at the
church where the LTTE forcefully took them away. Nimalan: “ My parents
used to hide me in a bunker which was well concealed inside the house.
Fearing my abduction, my father sent me to the church and he said the
LTTE would not abduct children from the church. But I was there only a
day, the LTTE stormed the place and abducted the children. Girls and
boys ran hither and thither inside the church while the LTTE started
shooting us. Pieces of roof fell on the ground. The LTTE left only one
door open and they pulled out the children - one by one. A woman was
shot at as she was obstructing the LTTE from taking her child away. I
too was thrown into the vehicle”.
Vignesh: “We went to the church that day but I could go only 50
metres and I started running home as I heard the LTTE firing inside the
church. I hid myself and later heard that the LTTE had taken all the
children away. When I went to the church later, I only saw women crying
and cursing the LTTE for abducting their children”.
Bala was another child who was snatched away by the LTTE while he was
at the church along with many other children. “We were confident that
the LTTE would not enter the church and that they would listen to the
priest. But it didn’t quite happen that way. They abducted many children
and I was among them. The LTTE took me to Mullivaikkal to fight”. |
