A peaceful North for future generations

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

The breeze swirling through the lagoon was not harsh, though the hot sun was enough to bake one’s skin. The road network, which had not been tarred for decades, snailed around the crystal clear water of the lagoon that is a ‘hot spot’ for shrimp farmers. White and pink lotus added colour to the calm lagoon, which became famous as the spot where the world’s most ruthless terrorist leader breathed his last.

The Nandikadal lagoon, which witnessed the deadly terror of the LTTE has embraced development after many years. Three years after LTTE terrorists, were destroyed, normality has returned to Mullaitivu - the stronghold of the LTTE for over 30 years and where the final battle was fought.

Staff Sergeant of the Sinha Regiment Priyantha is one of the soldiers who contributed to the rescue of the people of Mullaitivu from terror. Today, he is happy to assist them to stand on their own.

The mission of the Sri Lanka Army was to sweep LTTE terrorists from Lankan shores. They achieved it. Today the same Army is saddled with the mission to help thousands of people who have started from scratch rebuild their lives.”

We are proud to have saved thousands of lives and are now helping them in their day-to-day life”, Priyantha, who was in the humanitarian mission till the last day- May 19, 2009 said, explaining how the soldiers took a great risk to save the people from the terrorists who were shooting at hostages crossing the lagoon.

Staff Sergeant Priyantha, who had fought with the terrorists since 2007, served at the Army point in the causeway of the Nandikadal lagoon on May 17 to receive the hostages - walking skeletons. “We were given instructions by our high ranking officers to rescue the people without harming them. When they reached us they were suspicious of us thinking that we would kill them as they had been mislead and brainwashed by the LTTE. But then we started attending to the wounded and taking care of the sick and those already on the verge of death”, he said.

In safe hands

He recalled how the people thanked the soldiers for saving their lives and were speechless when the soldiers offered them their own food and water. “During those few days, the soldiers didn’t have much food, but we were much concerned about the people who sought our refuge. Through our actions, we made them realise that they were in safe hands”, Priyantha said.Similarly, Major Dharmasena who was attached to the 58th Division during the humanitarian operation and stationed at the Army unit at the Vadduvakkal bridge, said they saved the lives of hostages who crossed the Nandikadal lagoon while the LTTE terrorists were shooting at them.

“We didn’t care about their ethnicity, but had a mission to save all who came to us for protection. From the top most officer of the Army to the soldier in the Forward Defence Lines, we treated them as Sri Lankans. Even the LTTE cadre who came to attack us, if they were unarmed, we welcomed them and protected them”, Maj. Dharmasena said.

These were the sentiments of some of the soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) even after three years have passed since they defeated the deadly LTTE which played with human blood for over three decades.

When talking about the SLA each and every soldier has reason to be proud, for it is this Army that had entered the world’s military annals as the only force that completely annihilated the terrorism, the LTTE had ravaged our Motherland for 30 years. The Army rescued over 300,000 lives that had suffered under LTTE.

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA), which had been set up to look after internal security and also performed ceremonial duties, has grown professionally during the last 30 years to face any threat that could destroy the country’s unity.

At this juncture, when the country celebrates its third anniversary as a peaceful and united nation, it’s worth recalling former Prime Minister the late D.S. Senanayake’s address to the first batch of recruits of the 1st Battalion of the Ceylon Light Infantry at Diyatalawa.

The Prime Minister said:” You have joined the Army to serve your country in peace and war; therefore you must train yourselves to a high standard of efficiency and with personal zest, be prepared to meet all contingencies, even to lay down your life for the love and honour of our country. I am confident that in the Army the government in power will own a body of strong disciplined men, who will not hesitate to come to Lanka’s aid in her hour of need”.

In keeping with this noble vision, the brave soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army did and will always do their utmost to defend Mother Lanka. Its foot soldiers undertook serious matters by controlling the hartal in 1954, and the communal violence in 1958. Their first deployment in Northern soil was to prevent illegal immigrants from South India.

Combat operations

The SLA showed its real fighting capabilities in combat operations during the JVP insurrection in 1971. Its soldiers also played a vital role in controlling communal riots in 1977. The SLA soldiers had to polish their old guns to undertake a mission to fight against a group of youth who unleashed violence in the Northern peninsula from mid-1981 with the killing of a soldier at Stanley Road, Jaffna.

The situation became more challenging for the SLA with the killing of 13 soldiers at Thirunelveli, in Jaffna in 1983 by the same group.

It proved its fighting capabilities during ‘Eelam War I’ and gradually strengthened its fighting power to face the increasing threat from the LTTE.

‘Operation Liberation’, which was the first military exercise to gain control of the Vadamarachchi area, entered the SLA’s history as its first two offensive brigades were launched in 1987.

It helped capture Vadamarachchi within five days of launching the operation. It also proved the SLA’s humane touch as the soldiers liberated hundreds of civilians from the LTTE grip.

SLA’s path to victory was not easy. It was achieved through blood, sweat, bravery and dedication of the soldiers who had fought with the LTTE in the Eelam War II in 1990, Eelam war III from 1995, and several other military operations such as ‘Jayasikuru’, Ranagosa’, ‘Rivibala’, ‘Rivikirana I’, ‘Kinihira I’, ‘Kinihira II’, ‘Kinihira IV Stage I’, ‘Kinihira V’, ‘Kinihira VIII’ and ‘Kinihira IX’.

The LTTE attacked the military and also killed innocent Sinhala and Muslim civilians on a daily basis.The closing of the Mavil Aru sluice gates by the LTTE denying water to over 30,000 villagers-Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim - of Kallar, Seru Nuvara, Seruvila, Dehiwatta and Neelapola villages was the turning point for the newly elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Commander-in-Chief of the Security Forces to renew the Government’s military strategy to liberate the country from the decades old terrorism. The soldiers captured the Mavil Aru anicut and released water to the people.Unlike in the past, the LTTE, which faced a continuous assault from the SLA and lost its domination and manpower, started taking cover among the civilians.

With Sampur and Vakarai falling into the hands of the SLA, over 40,000 civilians who sought refuge in Government-controlled areas were used as a human shield by the LTTE.

The SLA’s military strategy helped isolate the LTTE from the civilians and push them gradually to the jungles of Thoppigala, where the final battle to liberate the East was fought in 2007.

Major setback

The military mission to liberate the North commenced from Silawatura, the LTTE’s main Sea Tiger base in Mannar. The Army’s capture of the ‘Mannar Rice Bowl’ became a major setback for the LTTE.

The SLA soldiers destroyed the LTTE’s highly fortified bunker defence lines and earth bunds.

They captured all prominent LTTE military bases such as Vietnam Base, Lima Base 3 and 18-Base, and liberated the holy Madhu shrine, which had been used by the LTTE as a military base with bunkers in proximity of the historic holy shrine.

The brave soldiers of the SLA, under the correct guidance of their commanders, marched forward in their military operation, destroying the strongholds of terrorists and capturing the major townships in Mannar - Adampan, Palampiddy, Periyamadu, Parappakkadantan, Namdankandal, Vidattaltivu, Illuppaikaddavali, Mallavi Town and Vellankulam, the last LTTE bastion in Mannar.It was on August 13, 2008 that SLA troops captured Mulankavil, the LTTE’s second most powerful administrative base in Kilinochchi.

The steady military assault by the soldiers resulted in the capture of Thunukkai, 12 km southwest of Kilinochchi on August 22.

This sent warning signals to the LTTE terrorists that they were in a dire situation and for the first time in the history of the battle against the LTTE, the SLA, with the support of the Air Force and the Navy, started dominating the LTTE’s strongholds, which were considered impossible targets to capture or destroy. The troops captured the LTTE’s 500-metre long airstrip of Vannivilankulam.

In a strategic military advance, the SLA captured Pooneryn while the LTTE’s fire power and manpower were declining and the terrorists were fleeing deeper to the North west of the country, hearding the civilians with them and using them as a human shield to avoid the military push.

The Fall of the LTTE’s strategic township Paranthan to the SLA was a strong signal to the LTTE leadership to abandon Kilinochchi, its dream capital of ‘Eelam’.

With the regaining of Paranthan, the troops encircled Kilinochchi from the North, West and South.No force on earth could stop the SLA, which had the political blessings, from successfully advancing into LTTE territories and the LTTE’s daydream of establishing an Eelam state’ started fading away with each step taken by the soldiers.

Last refuge

The LTTE’s last refuge, Mullaitivu started falling with the capture of the coastal town Alampil, 12 km south. Alampil, a Sea Tiger base, was one of the LTTE’s main logistic bases for Sea Tiger suicide missions.On January 2, 2009, the LTTE leader lost his capital Kilinochchi, the LTTE’s logistic and administrative base, where the LTTE had its kangaroo courts, Police Headquarters, Eelam banks and the luxurious LTTE Peace secretariat complex. The LTTE lost its domination in Ampakamam and Nedunkerni and the Army captured the LTTE’s 350-metre long airstrip in the North of Ampakamam.

The soldiers who captured all LTTE airstrips took control of Dharmapuram, Ramanathanpuram and Visuamadu, populated townships under LTTE control. They entered the Mullaitivu town, which was the main Sea Tiger base and maintained sea routes for the LTTE’s international network involved in smuggling and other illegal international transactions, on January 25, 2009.

The biggest blow to the LTTE came with the fall of its biggest Sea Tiger base in Chalai and the LTTE lost its control in the entire north eastern coastal region.With the capture of the Puthukkudiyiruppu junction, the LTTE was further pushed towards the north east of the Mullaitivu lagoon, which was closer to the Government-declared Safe Zone along the sea coast.

While all hopes for survival were shattering, the LTTE terrorists were engaged in a difficult attempt to protect the last huge earth bund of 500 metres built across the A-35 Mullaitivu Road.

The brave SLA soldiers breached the bund and rescued thousands of civilians, kept as hostages, by the LTTE. On May 3, 2009, troops took over the control of the stretch of land between the A-35 road and Nanthikadal lagoon.

Crucial period

It was the most crucial time for the SLA, which was waiting to bring its biggest catch. All energies were directed towards the remaining tiny land along the beach area called Puthumathalan where the terrorists were still forcibly holding thousands of civilians.

Unlike other armies in the world, the Lankan soldiers faced the most difficult task, not to harm a single civilian. The SLA had to use the expertise of snipers in this final battle, as it was difficult to tell the terrorists and civilians apart as all were in civilian clothes.

When the foot soldiers breached the LTTE earth bund, the human river started to flow through Puthumathalan, the hellhole created by the LTTE. It was on May 19, 2009 that soldiers, who hoisted the Lion flag in the entire North after 30 years, jubilantly brought the body of the world’s most ruthless and megalomaniac LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran from the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon after a hour’s long deadly fight, bringing an end to terror.

With the triumphant victory, the soldiers, which engaged in the military exercise and humanitarian operation to give life back to the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in the East and the North have become strong pillars in rebuilding the country.

“Over the last three years we helped them re-build their lives. In the initial stages we assisted them to clean wells, houses and toilets.

Our soldiers have expedited the demining operations to resettle them. Now most of them are back in their villages. We have still not stopped helping them. The Army find donors to re-build their schools and houses and our soldiers construct their houses free”, Priyantha said adding that the soldiers of the SLA are now committed to make a safer North free of bombs and bloodshed.

“The soldiers are committed to build a peaceful North for the future generations”, he said.