The biggest hostage rescue mission in the world

Shanika Sriyananda

One by one they braved the terror. The secret stories of horror came to light. From January this year, the military push to free the people trampled under the feet of the world’s most ruthless terrorists, was progressing every passing day. Innocent civilians began to flee the LTTE dominated areas.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the architect of this massive humanitarian operation.

The LTTE’s cruelty and brutality was coming to an end. Civilians, who were herded from one place to another and kept caged as a human shield and also to gain international sympathy, had bravely crossed the lagoon amidst firing by the terrorists. The gates of the tiny strip of hell were opened by the valiant soldiers.

It was last April, just after the Sinhala and Hindu New year. The military was able to conclude the mass hostage rescue operation where over 180,000 civilians fled from LTTE dominated areas. The soldiers, who were at very close range, urged civilians to cross the lagoon.

They crossed the Nandi Kadal lagoon to safety.Starving for days and with empty hands they carried only the tales about the brutality of Prabhakaran. Following are excerpts of the stories (based on the spot interviews of fleeing civilians) that appeared in the ‘Sunday Observer’.

Little Surya did not cry though she had a wound - a gunshot had pierced her tiny hand. Luckily the three-year-old escaped death but the second bullet fired by the LTTE killed her brother.

The young mother did not stop a second to see what had happened to her son. She walked and walked carrying only the little girl until she met the soldiers.

“Aiyo ennandaya Mahan Seththupochchuthu” (Oh... my son was killed) she could murmur only those few words. Dehydrated and suffering from fever and some wounds she fell unconscious. The little girl was given first aid by the Army medical team .

Living in a world of terror, frequently exposed to explosions and seeing blood and flesh, the little girl did not cry. She ‘tolerated’ her pain but the tears gushing down the reddish eyes showed how she had suppressed her pain.

Vellaiyan, another hostage had crossed the lagoon with his son’s family. As a grandfather, he said he had witnessed the world’s worst cruelty. Vellaiyan cursing the terrorists moaned the deaths of his daughter-in-law and two little grandchildren.

The old father did not have any reason to live but he said he wanted to see a day that his son’s family experience happiness. “First they kidnapped my son when his wife was pregnant. I had to live because of his family. I had to protect them,” he cried.Twice he tried to flee with them - once in a boat and then to cross the lagoon. Each time the terrorists threatened them.

He saw how the terrorists killed those who tried to cross the lagoon. Vellaiyan was determined and prayed that the army would come and rescue them.

With the announcement by soldiers that they were very close to them, hundreds of civilians flocked to flee. “There were LTTE cadres among us. Many youth were taken by the LTTE against their consent to fight. While we were crossing the lagoon, the terrorists started firing at us. Many died and those who were lucky escaped,” he said.

They came in numbers. Most of them were wounded and sick. Some were bleeding. There was nowhere to run other than crossing the lagoon.

Over the years, they witnessed and suffered at the hands of the terrorists. The LTTE leader, who used suicide bombs to kill his own people, soldiers and civilians, proved that he had no sympathy for anyone who obstructed his dream of dividing Sri Lanka.

On May 17, the last batch of hostages crossed the lagoon. Over 280,000 people sought Government refuge. The entire drama came to an end with the discovery of the body of the world’s most ruthless terrorist Prabhakaran.

Nearly six months have passed. The same soldiers who fought to liberate the trapped, are now busy clearing the LTTE mine laden lands to send the civilians home. Normality is returning slowly while the Government is progressing with its resettlement programs.

Out of 280,000 people, over 100,000 IDPs have returned home. Over 10,000 former LTTE cadres are getting rehabilitated and hundreds of child soldiers are studying in a prestigious school in Colombo.

After a dark period that spanned for nearly 30-years- the sun is again shining in the North and the East.People who yearned for peace are able to breathe freely again, thanks to the vision and mission of President Rajapaksa to crush terrorism in this land.

It is to his credit that he accomplished this mission well before the fourth anniversary of his ascension to the Presidency.