LTTE atrocities committed in May
by K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga
The Tristar aircraft blown in half |
Sri Lanka’s national airline was called Air Ceylon in the good old
days. Later, the national carrier, which has won the hearts of many
foreign tourists, was renamed Air Lanka before coming to be known as
SriLankan Airlines.
At a time the nation is preparing to celebrate the fourth anniversary
of the successful completion of the humanitarian operation and wiping
out LTTE terrorism, we wish to focus on one of the most devastating acts
of the Tiger terrorists who blasted an Air Lanka aircraft at the
Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake exactly 27 years ago.
The Air Lanka flight UL 512 had taken off from London’s Gatwick
Airport with a 20-member crew and over 100 passengers on board. The
Lockheed L-1011-385 Tristar was heading for Male with three stopovers in
Zurich, Dubai and Colombo. When the aircraft took off from the Dubai
International Airport, it had 128 passengers onboard, apart from crew
members.
However, the ill-fated Air Lanka flight could not reach its final
destination, the Maldivian capital of Male, as the LTTE terrorists had
planned to cut short its journey in Colombo, planting a powerful bomb
inside the aircraft. It was after the Air Lanka flight had touched down
at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) that the Tigers achieved
their target, blasting the aircraft with a powerful bomb, in an act
which shocked the world.
The wreckage of the Tristar aircraft |
Over 21 people were killed and 41 others injured in the merciless
attack. There had been 128 passengers on board at the time of the
attack, including 25 British, five of whom were injured.
The UL 512 flight had been carrying mainly French, British and
Japanese tourists and was about to take off after its third stopover at
the BIA to Male when the bomb exploded, even shattering the windows of
the BIA’s main passenger terminal. It was stated that the bomb may have
been concealed in crates of meat and vegetables being freighted to the
Maldives.
Massive bang
“All of a sudden, there was a massive, flash bang with flames,” one
of the British survivors, Simon Ellis was quoted as saying. “The ceiling
came down and my chair was blown backwards. When I managed to climb over
the chairs, I looked out and there it was - there was nothing.
The plane had been blown in half just right behind our chairs.” He
had recalled the horrifying experience.
This was one of the earliest evidence that the LTTE was not
interested in peace talks. The LTTE had carried out the Air Lanka
Tristar attack to hamper the then peace talks between the terror outfit
and the Government, which was brokered by India.
The attack in Anuradhapura, at the Sri Maha Bodhi(above) |
This was not the only attack at the BIA during the LTTE’s three
decades of terror. At the latter stages, they even went to the extent of
using assembled light aircraft to drop bombs near the BIA and the
adjoining Sri Lanka Air Force Base at Katunayake. It was in such a
background that the Government had to embark on the battle against
terrorism.
Certain countries in the West which still show extraordinary concern
over the human rights of the terrorists killed in action, must take a
closer look at these numerous LTTE atrocities which brought nothing but
misery to 20 million people.
This week marks the 27th anniversary of another attack carried out by
the LTTE. On May 6, 1986, a massive bomb detonated by Tiger cadre inside
the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) in the Colombo Fort killed 14
civilians who were at the office. In addition to those who had perished,
not less than 114 people were injured in the attack that shook the
capital.
Colombo’s CTO was at work during the morning rush hour as usual and
the staff members were at their desks with the ‘hello girls’ having a
busy time connecting calls or answering queries and the customers who
had come to pay their phone bills.
Luckier few
After the blast, there were shrieks and yells calling desperately for
assistance, as some of those who were under the debris struggled to free
themselves from the weight on them, but they were the luckier ones as 14
among them including some ‘hello girls’ would never breathe again.
The terrorists had planted a time bomb in the building, but no one
knew how they managed to get in to perform their deadly mission.
The two-storey building, put up during the British colonial era, was
a strong and handsome one and sat in the hub of activity of Colombo’s
Fort area facing the main Lower Chatham Street that joined the Olcott
Mawatha. It had a staff of about 150 and a number of people who had come
there for various matters were also present.
The time on the clocks read 9.23 in the morning. A deafening
explosion rocked the building. The glass on the windows splintered and
flew about and shreds of wood and cement plaster, bricks and iron
railings came down on the ground and first floor with the explosion.
Some concrete slabs were broken and some of the debris fell on the
inmates of the building.
Additional Government Analyst A.R.L. Wijesekere, who visited the
scene on the same day, had said that a heavy explosives charge had been
used and there was a possibility that more than one device had been
employed. “The possibility that more than one device had been used has
to be investigated,” he was quoted as saying. The explosives had been
placed close to the public counters.
Rescue operations were necessarily slow as the floors above the
basement were also investigated. The body of Assistant Postmaster S.B.
Ranasinghe was taken out nearly two hours later.
After the CTO bomb explosion |
CTO workers who were settling down for the day’s work in the basement
office and in the payments section on the street-level, suffered the
worst of the blast which was so severe that it sent shockwaves
throughout the city.
After explosion
Several government offices in the vicinity closed for the day, as
workers panicked. The Ministry of State which was then situated across
the street, ordered its employees to return home soon after the
explosion.
On Tuesday, we mark the 28th anniversary of one of the deadliest
terror attacks in world history. The entire nation and the Buddhist
world were shocked at the news of the barbarism displayed by the
notorious terrorist outfit at unarmed innocent civilians including the
clergy, women and children. The attack was masterminded by the
megalomaniac terror chieftain, Velupillai Prabhakaran himself, intended
at flaming communal hatred and a spree of island-wide mob attacks
targeting innocent Tamil civilians. The masses, however, though
emotional and in tears, did not fall prey to the LTTE tactics.
The LTTE cadre hijacked a bus on May 14, 1985 and entered the sacred
city of Anuradhapura, armed for another human massacre.
As the Tiger cadre entered the main bus station in Anuradhapura, they
opened fire indiscriminately with automatic weapons, killing and
wounding many civilians who were waiting for buses. As unarmed civilians
in the town ran hysterically in all directions, many lay dead or
bleeding with no knowledge of what was going on.
The armed terrorists then drove the bus to the Sri Maha Bodhi and
indiscriminately opened fire, gunning down bhikkhus and civilian
devotees who had been worshipping inside the shrine. The terrorists had
opened indiscriminate gunfire at both the Uda Maluwa and Pahala Maluwa,
killing scores of pilgrims and bhikkhus.
The armed terrorists then sprayed bullets, resulting in the sacred
place being splattered with blood, as scores of meditating and
worshipping bhikkhunis, white-clad observers of the Eight Precepts and
other devotees lay dead or unconscious, having being struck by bullets.
All in all, a total of 146 hapless people were gunned down by the LTTE
terrorists while 85 people sustained serious injuries in the
Anuradhapura attack. This was the first major operation carried out by
the LTTE outside the North and the East.
On their way back, the LTTE strike force entered the national park of
Wilpattu and killed 18 Sinhalese in the forest reserve.
LTTE leader Parithy, killed in France in November last year was a
member of the terrorist group that carried out the Sri Maha Bodhi
attack, according to the Head of International Centre for Political
Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore Prof. Rohan Gunaratna.According to intelligence sources,
Parithy, a supporter of the LTTE’s Nediyawan faction, had been killed by
the Vinayagam faction which is now aligned with the US-based lawyer
Rudrakumaran of the TETG. Parithy, whose real name was Nadarajh
Matheenthiran and was known by the name Reagan in Sri Lanka, was
appointed Head of LTTE in France in 2003 by Nediyawan who lives in
Norway.
Prof. Gunaratna had said that Parithy had received terrorist training
in Himachal Pradesh, India in 1984. He had participated in several
terrorist attacks within Sri Lanka before fleeing to South India in 1990
after being injured by the IPKF.
These are a few of the many ruthless terror attacks carried out by
the LTTE for over 25 years which ruined the country. All those who now
vociferously talk on the so-called human rights of the LTTE terrorists
being violated, have conveniently forgotten the same rights of the
thousands of civilians butchered by the Tigers in broad daylight.
Thanks to the supreme sacrifices made by the Security Forces and the
political sagacity of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, all communities are
now living in peace and are reaping the rich dividends of peace. Hence,
it is a shame for those in the West, who turned a blind eye when Sri
Lanka was hit by terrorism, to point an accusing finger at us when we
have achieved peace and all communities in the country are living in
perfect harmony. |