Liberation Thoppigala: freedom for child soldiers

by Shanika Sriyananda in Thoppigala

Tear drops glitter in her pale eyes when she was asked to reveal her past spent in LTTE camps. With short hair and clad in typical Tamil shalwar kameez with faded floral designs she is yet another innocent Tamil girl to one who sees her. The black pottu makes the dark skinned teenager beautiful.

Elendri is now a 14-year- old is not an ordinary Tamil girl but a lass who can handle operate the deadly T-56 well and destroy the targets given by 'Shamala Akka', who, she says is the head who trained her and her friends.

Childhood innocence reflects in her though Elandri was brain _ washed to be tough to fight with well trained soldiers. Tight lipped, most of the time, when asked about the days before she surrendered to the Commando Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army in Thoppigala.

Elendri is a child solider who fought a losing battle in Thoppigala and escaped from the camp when the LTTE cadres were busy shooting at the Army commandos.

Proving that Sri Lankan Army is on a humanitarian mission to liberate Tamil people in the North and East from the LTTE clutches, Elandri who surrendered was safely handed over to the Siththandi Army Camp.

The story of Elendri reflects that the terrorists do not have to honour their own rituals and not even to humanity. They only wanted to fight to achieve their dreams by using innocent Tamils and kids as human shields. No one will believe that she was abducted by the LTTE terrorists, the very day the girl attained puberty. Two motorists forcibly entered their tiny hut and assaulted her drunken father. Her mother was not around and they snatched the girl while she was crying and shouting for help. She screamed and told of her plight. And no one came forward to save her as majority of villagers feared the LTTE.

She told the 'Sunday Observer' that she is happy to be at home with her family living in Murakottanchena. Never having stepped into a school due to poverty, she innocently says her dream was to study and be with her family.

W. Ranjani (13), R. Wasana (14) and M. Darshani (12) are the other girls who surrendered to army commandos during their mission to capture Thoppigala.

Listening to their stories they all have similar tales to tell. Despite their rough appearance and the military training given by the LTTE, they are still children with innocent dreams - to play with their sisters and brothers... to dance ...to read story books and especially to live with the love and care of their parents.

"I was forcibly snatched away by two LTTE cadres who came on a motorbike", Rajani says. She says that she was helpless and did not have time even to shout or protest.

"When I cried at the camp in the jungle they beat me and other two girls who were crying asking to be released. They were also new to the camp and were abducted on the very day they brought me to the camp", Wasanthi says.

Darshani was snatched by two cadres when she was going to school, the Eelagakulam Primary School.

Most of the time silent when asked about the LTTE and the duties assigned to them by the terrorists, they say that they were used as helpers to build bunkers, help in the kitchen and water the plants around the camp.

The two women leaders 'Shamala Akka' and Sudarshani Akka' gave them physical training every day during their six months stay in the Thoppigala jungle.

When ask whether they have received any weapon training they nod their heads to say no but when asked about the duties, especially the night shifts they did, they say they were asked to guard bunkers. The little girls seem trained on the things that they should say 'yes' and 'no' when in captivity.

They get up at 4.30 am every day and given physical training every day until they were given their breakfast - dhal curry and pittu. Then they were used as helpers to build bunkers and roads and in preparing lunch.

The television is a luxury item but not for the leaders. Reading books was prohibited and reading material written only about the LTTE organisation were distributed among them.

They say there were 25 under-aged girls with them who were assigned to guard bunkers till midnight while the elderly terrorists were having rest. "We were asked to inform the senior cadres when we heard an artillery attack. At one point six under-aged girls were put on duty", they say.

The girls say they were not informed about an attack by the Sri Lankan military.

The girls say that they were unfortunate to be abducted by the LTTE as they lost their parental love and care for the last six months.

Now reunited with their parents, thanks to the Brigade Commander 232 Brigade Col. Priyantha Napagoda they were treated well under his command. They were given lunch and soft drinks.

When asked whether they like the LTTE and would like to rejoin the LTTE they say that they want to have a free world without a war.

"When troops were advancing the LTTE released the underaged children from time to time. Some have escaped from the LTTE camps. The little girls who are under the age of 14-years had a tough time walking alone in the jungle", Col. Napagoda says.

According to Col. Napagoda, the girls were in very poor condition like suffering from ill-health with no food for days, no clothing and they were not in a right state of mind. "We gave them necessary treatment, food and clothing and handed over to the Police. Now they have been reunited with their parents and we have a tough surveillance to find whether these children are living with their parents", he says.

Col. Napagoda says that the children were forcibly abducted by the terrorists when their cadres got killed by the Sri Lankan military.

(Their real names have been changed)

Pix by Kavindra Perera