by Lakruwan de Silva
I read with concern reports of the arrest of General Sarath Fonseka. As a Sinhala Buddhist, I had voted for Mahinda Rajapakse at the last presidential polls. Mahinda had after all done a commendable job at synchronizing the foreign policy, the military policy, the India policy and the domestic policy to ensure a complete route of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, something no president before him had accomplished.
I was also taken aback by Fonseka's war crime allegations against Gothabaya Rajapakse, the brother to the President and respected Secretary, Ministry of Defence. I viewed that as high treason, a betrayal of the Sinhala Buddhist cause where the Sinhalese had until the Rajapakse administration been isolated, marginalized and without friends in the international arena. We were the Serbs of Asia, misunderstood abroad and sidelined. Our victimhood at the hands of terrorism was never acknowledged overseas just as the Serb victimhood at the hands of a western conspiracy to fragement Yugoslavia was never conceded. Fonseka had done us a great disservice.
I was happy therefore that Mahinda had won the polls with a resounding victory. This said, the subsequent turn of events that included the harassment of the Fonseka family, the purge of military officials, including senior generals, and now the arrest of the erstwhile general himself on the eve of the dissolution of parliament saddens me. The grand war time alliance of Sinhala Buddhist interests appears to have unravelled. I attribute the bad blood between the Rajapakse and Fonseka camps to vendetta and revenge. This is largely a personal feud born of a sense of betrayal. However, I wonder whether the legacy of caste has had a tangential role in the matter after all. Rajapakse is the scion of an old southern Govigama family while Fonseka was a Karave general also from the south.
Let us explore the issue in some detail. Professor K.M. de Silva in his "History of Sri Lanka", refers to the migration of the Karawe, Salagama and Durawe castes from southern India to Sri Lanka between the 14th and 17th centuries AD. The Karawe, a maritime caste, appear to have had a disproportionate influence in the Sinhala military in medieval times. M.D. Raghavan's publication, "The Karave of Ceylon: Society and Culture" illustrates the cultural history in some depth. Michael Roberts also documents Karawe elite formation in his seminal publication "Caste Conflict and Elite Formation, the Rise of the Karave elite in Sri Lanka: 1500-1931".
Traditional Karawe surnames in the Sinhala language illustrate this military history. Patabendige means the local headman. Hewage translates as soldier.Hennedige means militiaman. Tantrige translates as the strategy expert. Vidanage means civil administrator.
Karave folklore describes the community as Kuru-kula i.e. the descendents of the famed Kuru or Kaurava dynasty in the classical Indian epic, the Mahabharata. The Buddha preached the Satipattana sutta, one of his two foremost sermons, the other being the Dhamma chakka pavatana sutta, to the people of Kuru when he visited that old Indian kingdom in the 5th century BC.
The Mukkara Hatana, an old palm manuscript currently in the British musuem, derives the name Kuru-kula from Kuru-mandala which was later anglicized to the Coromandel on the South Indian coast. Once again, the etymological links with the Kuru tradition of the Mahabharata are evident. The 17th century Sinhala chronicle, the Rajavaliya refers to the settlement of the Karava people in Kuru-rata which is today identified with the land between Kurunegala, Chilaw and Negombo. There is a persistent tradition that links the Karave with the Kuru of the Mahabharata. The Ceylon Tamil maritime castes share this Kuru-kulataar tradition.
Caste divisions are not unknown in Sinhala Buddhist history. The Govigama-Karave competition intermittently resurfaces in our history. The Govigama are the farmer caste akin to the Tamil Vellalar. The Govigama are perhaps 50% of the Sinhala population while the Karave are likely 10%. The Govigama unfairly dismiss the Karave as a fishing caste.
King Vijayabahu in the 11th century denied access to the so-called lower castes to venerate the Buddha's footprint at the summit of Sri Pada or Adam's Peak. These castes were confined to a lower terrace further down. This led to an immediate counter when a 12th century rock inscription of King Nissanka Malla warned that the Govigama caste could never aspire to high office. The 13th century Sinhala literary work, the Pujavaliya went on to assert that a Buddha would never be born in the Govigama caste.
The Govigama reaction was swift. Kandyan Buddhist civil law as later documented in the Niti Nighanduwa, placed the Govigama at the top of an elaborately ordered caste hierarchy. The Kandyan Buddhist clergy - the Siam Nikaya - denied entry into the Buddhist monkhood to the non-Govigama. They excluded the Karave. This led wealthy Karave merchants in the maritime districts to finance the journey of Ambagahapitiya Gnanawimala Thera to Amarapura in Burma for the ordination into the Buddhist monkhood in 1800 AD. While the newly founded Amarapura nikaya had 21 sub-sects defined on caste lines (i.e. Karave, Salagama and Durave), it nonetheless offered a rare opportunity for the Karave to join the Buddhist religious order. Other Karave abandoned Buddhism altogether and converted to Roman Catholicism to seek caste emancipation. 50% of the Karave caste might well be Christian today. At present, Karave Christian youth have the best education outcomes in Sinhala society.
Many of us were thankful that these caste divisions in Sinhala Buddhist society had ebbed. However, recent events indicate that this may not entirely be so. In the late 1800s, Charles Henry de Soysa, the foremost Karave philantrophist, had hosted a banquet to the Duke of Edinburgh in Colombo, an event boycotted by the Govigama political elite led by Solomon Bandaranaike. Dr. Marcus Fernando, a Karave leader of no mean accomplishment, ran for the Educated Ceylonese seat at the 1911 elections. The Govigama elite, led by the Senanayakes, successfully defeated him and ensured the victory of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, a Tamil candidate, instead. The Govigama preferred Tamil leadership to that of the Karave Sinhalese. That was treachery on the part of the Govigama.
We now witness a situation where Rajapakse has literally crushed Fonseka. Let us not forget that all Sri Lankan heads of state, with just one exception, have been Govigama. Non-Govigama representation in Sri Lanka's legislature has declined since independence. And all three revolts against the post-independence Sri Lankan state were led by the Sinhala Karave or Tamil Karaiyar.
The feud between the President and the erstwhile General, while personal in nature, has now developed caste over tones. The President's camp was uncertain of victory in the run-up to the polls. Reports suggest that it deftly and subtly played the caste card within the military to deny Fonseka the military vote. The President succeeded. In the ensuing post-poll purge of the military, the Karave have disproportionately been targeted. Other Karave generals have been sacked from the armed forces. Karave Buddhist monks had been arrested. Much to my chagrin, caste may still be alive in Sinhala Buddhist society, albeit as an undercurrent.
The best the President can do to help heal the wounds, is to allow General Fonseka a quiet uncelebrated exile overseas. General Sarath Fonseka, despite what some consider to be his betrayal, is Sri Lanka's first four star general. He had won one of Sri Lanka's highest awards of military heroism - the 'Rana Wickrama Padakkama'. India's national security advisor had described Fonseka as the best army commander in the world. Its time he is set free. Let us close this unfortunate chapter in the run-up to the upcoming legislative polls in the interests of the hard won Sinhala unity.
- Transcurrents.com
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Defence Secretary orders Major Siriwardena to “take care of” Mangala and Anura
Sources from the Army said Defence Secretary GOtabhaya Rajapaksa has ordered one Major Siriwardena to “take care of” JVP parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and SLFP (M) Wing Leader Mangala Samaraweera within one week. The Defence Secretary it is learnt has promised the Major a position in a Sri Lankan mission overseas if he successfully completes the task.
Sources also said the Defence Secretary has issued such a deadly directive in order to block efforts taken by Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Mangala Samaraweera to bring General Sarath Fonseka in to politics. Major Siriwardena meanwhile is reportedly responsible for several mysterious assassinations that had taken place around
Colombo in recent times.
Major Siriwardena heads one of the paramilitary groups under Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and has currently sold his luxury residence on a seven acre land in Malabe at Rs. 2,000 lakhs and is preparing to leave the country to take over the position of Defence Advisor at a Sri Lankan mission in Europe.
Sources also said the Defence Secretary has issued such a deadly directive in order to block efforts taken by Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Mangala Samaraweera to bring General Sarath Fonseka in to politics. Major Siriwardena meanwhile is reportedly responsible for several mysterious assassinations that had taken place around
Colombo in recent times.
Major Siriwardena heads one of the paramilitary groups under Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and has currently sold his luxury residence on a seven acre land in Malabe at Rs. 2,000 lakhs and is preparing to leave the country to take over the position of Defence Advisor at a Sri Lankan mission in Europe.
Namal Rajapaksa’s monopoly in transport service places contractors of Uthuru Vasanthaya in difficulty
The transportation of goods on the A9 route to the north is monopolized by the President’s son Namal Rajapaksa and several close friends of the Rajapaksa family even after the government claimed the route was open for transporting goods.
The Defence Ministry it is learnt has issued licenses to 300 Lorries to transport goods through the A9 to the north and a lorry charges a sum of Rs. 124,000 for each trip to the north.
Contractors involved in the Uthuru Vasanthaya programme have been placed in great difficulty due to this move. Several attempts by these
contractors to meet with Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa have failed.
Basil had reportedly promised to enable these contractors easy road access to the north for them to transport goods for their respective projects when they were handed over the projects in the north.
lankanewsweb
The Defence Ministry it is learnt has issued licenses to 300 Lorries to transport goods through the A9 to the north and a lorry charges a sum of Rs. 124,000 for each trip to the north.
Contractors involved in the Uthuru Vasanthaya programme have been placed in great difficulty due to this move. Several attempts by these
contractors to meet with Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa have failed.
Basil had reportedly promised to enable these contractors easy road access to the north for them to transport goods for their respective projects when they were handed over the projects in the north.
lankanewsweb
Monday, September 14, 2009
චුල්ල රාජපක්ස ජාතක කතා වස්තුව
යටගිය දවස බරණැස් නුවර මායාවති නම් රැජනක රාජ්ය කර වදාරන සමයෙහි ඊට නුදුරින් රාජපක්සදීපය නමින් සසිරිබර පුණ්යවන්ත රාජ්යයක් වූයේය. පද බිඳෙන අයුරින් මේ ද්වීපයේ නම දෙ අරුතක් ගති. ඒ කෙසේද යත්: රාජ-පක්ස-දීපය (The Land of Royal-Loyals) හා රාජ-පක්-සදීපය (The Good Land of Royal Dicks) ලෙසිනි. හුදී ජනයෝ, තම තම නැණ පමණින්, තම තම උදර පෝෂණයේ හා කුටුම්භ රක්ෂණයේ අභිමතාර්ථයන්ට පටහැණි නොවන ආකාරයෙන් මේ දෙ අරුතින් එකක් භාවිතා කළෝය.
එකල්හි මේ රාජ්යයේ රජකළ මහ රජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේ උත්තර දේශයෙහි වැසි අසූ කෙළක් පර සතුරු බල බිඳ විජයග්රහණයෙන් ඔද වැඩී අමන්දානන්දයට පත්ව සත් මසක් තිස්සේ ප්රීතෝත්සව පවත්වන්නාහුය. දන්සැල් පවත්වන්නාහුය. මඟ යන්නෝ සිහ ධජය ඔසවා වළක්වා ඔවුනට බලයෙන්ම ගිතෙල් මිශ්ර ඇඹුල් කිරිබත් කවන්නාහුය. පසල් දනව් වැසි මානවකයෝ දේශප්රේමයෙන් මඬනා ලද්දෝ සිහ ධජයෙන් අමුඩ ගසා, එම්බල දෙමළ කොල්ලනි, තොපිට මේ අප නිය පිටින් ගැසුවා පමණකැයි කේසර සිංහ නාද කොට මහත් වූ කෝලාහල කරන්නෝය. මහ රජාණෝද මා හා සම කළැකි අන් කවර නිරිඳකු සිංහබාහු පුත් විජයන්ගේ පටන් පහළ වී දැයි සිතන්නෝ, සිතාගත නොහී මම්ම මේ දෙරණට උතුම් වන්නෙම්ය සැක හැර දැන හැඳින, මහ සඟරුවනට ඇත් පැටවුන් පුදා බාර හාර ඔප්පුකොට, උන්ට විපක්ෂවූ රන්න පොනිල් නම් අමාත්යවරයාගේ අධෝමාර්ගයෙහි මහත් වූ ගැටැති මුගුරක් යවන්නාක් සේ වධ කොට, දැහැමෙන් සෙමෙන් රාජ්යය විචාරන්නහුය.
මෙසේ රාජ්ය කරන කල්හි මහ රජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේට මහත් වූ පැණයෙක් වන්නේය. ඒ කුමක්ද යත්: උන් වහන්සේගේ සෙනෙවිරත්හු ජනී ජනයා පෙළන්නෝය. මහ සෙනෙවි පුතුනට සතුරු වූ මානවකයන් පැහැර ගොස් තළා පෙළා දමන්නෝය. උන්ට පරුෂ වචනයෙන් සංග්රහ කරන්නෝය. තමන්ට නැති හිසක් උනට ඇති නියාව දැක ඊර්ෂ්යා පරවශව ඒ හිසට පොළු මුගුරින් පහර දෙන්නෝය. මහ සෙනෙවිරදුන් හා සාද වූ නගර ශෝභිනීන්ගේ බස් අසා අහිංසකයන් මරා මහ වීදියෙහි දමන්නෝය.
එකල්හි හුදී ජනයා මේ කවර නම් විපතෙක්දැයි සිතා තුමූම කිරිබත් කැවූ සෙනෙවිරදුන්ගේ මෑණියන් සිහිකොට නින්දාපරවශ කරන්නෝය. සෙනෙවිරත් පායයන් අභිමුඛයේ ඝෝෂා කරන්නෝය. අන්තර්ජාලයෙහි බොලොග ලියන අමනයෝ සෙනෙවිරදුන්ට කැට මුගුරු වලින් පහර දිය යුතුය බණන්නෝය. මේ සෙනෙවිරදුනට දණ්ඩන නොපණවන්නේ මන්දැයි මහරජතුමන්ගෙන් අසන්නෝය.
එකල්හි අප මහ රජ්ජුරුවෝ කෝපාග්නියෙන් දැවී, එම්බා ජනයිනි, මේ සෙනෙවිරත්හු මගේ ප්රාණ සම මිත්රයෝය. උහු මට මන්ත්රීශ්වරණයේදී නේක උපකාර කළාහුය. මගේ එදිරිවාදීන්ගේ පායන් ගිනිබත් කළෝය. උන්ගේ අතවැස්සන්ට පොළු මුගුරු වලින් පැටි කළ බිව් කිරි මුවින් වෑහෙන්නට තරම් වන සංග්රහ කළෝය. මුන් නොවේ නම් මතු දින මගේ සැඳැ පැස (වර්තමාන ව්යවහාරය අනුව ‘ඡන්ද පෙට්ටි’) පුරවා මගේ විජයග්රහණය සහතික කරන්නාහු තොපේ මෑණියන්දෑද කියා පෙරළා හුදී ජනයා විචාලෝය. මේ පුණ්යභූමියෙහි වසන්නෝ දෙවර්ගයෙකි. දේශප්රේමියෝ හෙවත් රාජප්රේමියෝය. නැතොත් දේශද්රොහියෝ හෙවත් රාජද්රෝහියෝය. තොප අයත් වන්නේ උන්ටද මුන්ටදැයි අඩි පොළොවේ ගසා, මේඝ ගර්ජනා කළෝය. හුදී ජනයෝද වික්රමතුංග මානවකයා ගිය මඟ යනු නොකැමැත්තෝ, නුඹ වහන්සේට යහපත් නම් අපට තව කවර නම් පුක්ඛාබාධයක් වේදැයි මුවින් නොබැණ ඉවසා වදාරන්නෝ, මහරජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේගේ මෑණියන් වහන්සේටද පුණ්යානුමෝදනා කොට, තම මුක පූට්ටුකර ගත්තෝය.
එතෙකින් නොනැවතුණු අප මහ රජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේ චුල්ල ධීවර තෙමේ දැල් පියා තෝරුන් මෝරුන් හැර හාල්මැස්සන් අල්වා ගන්නේ යම්සේද, එසේම මහ සෙනෙවිරදුන් හැර පියා, චුල්ල සෙනෙවියන් අල්ලාගෙන අධිකරණ ශාලාවට ගෙනැවිත් උන්ට මින් මතු මෙවන් අපරාධ නොකරැයි තරයේ අවවාද කොට, එමතු නොව උන්ට දණ්ඩෙන් පහර බැගින් දී නිදහස් කළාහුය. එදුටු තිස් තුන් කෝටියක් සම්යක් දෘෂ්ඨික දේවතා තෙමේ මතු නොව මරණින් මතු භූතාත්ම භාවයට පත්ව සිටින්නා වූ ප්රභාකරන් නම් වූ චණ්ඩ වු සොරදෙටුවාද චිත්ත ප්රීතියට පත්ව සාධුකාර දුන්නේය. එතෙකින් පසු යුක්තිය පසිඳලීම ගැන අප මහ රජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේගේ කීර්තිය දේශ දේශාන්තරයන්හි පතළේය.
හුදී ජන පහන් සංවේගය තකා රචිත චුල්ල රාජපක්ස ජාතක කතා වස්තුව මින් නිමියේය.
Thanks to Taboo. No one can't stop. Even you also can't.
එකල්හි මේ රාජ්යයේ රජකළ මහ රජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේ උත්තර දේශයෙහි වැසි අසූ කෙළක් පර සතුරු බල බිඳ විජයග්රහණයෙන් ඔද වැඩී අමන්දානන්දයට පත්ව සත් මසක් තිස්සේ ප්රීතෝත්සව පවත්වන්නාහුය. දන්සැල් පවත්වන්නාහුය. මඟ යන්නෝ සිහ ධජය ඔසවා වළක්වා ඔවුනට බලයෙන්ම ගිතෙල් මිශ්ර ඇඹුල් කිරිබත් කවන්නාහුය. පසල් දනව් වැසි මානවකයෝ දේශප්රේමයෙන් මඬනා ලද්දෝ සිහ ධජයෙන් අමුඩ ගසා, එම්බල දෙමළ කොල්ලනි, තොපිට මේ අප නිය පිටින් ගැසුවා පමණකැයි කේසර සිංහ නාද කොට මහත් වූ කෝලාහල කරන්නෝය. මහ රජාණෝද මා හා සම කළැකි අන් කවර නිරිඳකු සිංහබාහු පුත් විජයන්ගේ පටන් පහළ වී දැයි සිතන්නෝ, සිතාගත නොහී මම්ම මේ දෙරණට උතුම් වන්නෙම්ය සැක හැර දැන හැඳින, මහ සඟරුවනට ඇත් පැටවුන් පුදා බාර හාර ඔප්පුකොට, උන්ට විපක්ෂවූ රන්න පොනිල් නම් අමාත්යවරයාගේ අධෝමාර්ගයෙහි මහත් වූ ගැටැති මුගුරක් යවන්නාක් සේ වධ කොට, දැහැමෙන් සෙමෙන් රාජ්යය විචාරන්නහුය.
මෙසේ රාජ්ය කරන කල්හි මහ රජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේට මහත් වූ පැණයෙක් වන්නේය. ඒ කුමක්ද යත්: උන් වහන්සේගේ සෙනෙවිරත්හු ජනී ජනයා පෙළන්නෝය. මහ සෙනෙවි පුතුනට සතුරු වූ මානවකයන් පැහැර ගොස් තළා පෙළා දමන්නෝය. උන්ට පරුෂ වචනයෙන් සංග්රහ කරන්නෝය. තමන්ට නැති හිසක් උනට ඇති නියාව දැක ඊර්ෂ්යා පරවශව ඒ හිසට පොළු මුගුරින් පහර දෙන්නෝය. මහ සෙනෙවිරදුන් හා සාද වූ නගර ශෝභිනීන්ගේ බස් අසා අහිංසකයන් මරා මහ වීදියෙහි දමන්නෝය.
එකල්හි හුදී ජනයා මේ කවර නම් විපතෙක්දැයි සිතා තුමූම කිරිබත් කැවූ සෙනෙවිරදුන්ගේ මෑණියන් සිහිකොට නින්දාපරවශ කරන්නෝය. සෙනෙවිරත් පායයන් අභිමුඛයේ ඝෝෂා කරන්නෝය. අන්තර්ජාලයෙහි බොලොග ලියන අමනයෝ සෙනෙවිරදුන්ට කැට මුගුරු වලින් පහර දිය යුතුය බණන්නෝය. මේ සෙනෙවිරදුනට දණ්ඩන නොපණවන්නේ මන්දැයි මහරජතුමන්ගෙන් අසන්නෝය.
එකල්හි අප මහ රජ්ජුරුවෝ කෝපාග්නියෙන් දැවී, එම්බා ජනයිනි, මේ සෙනෙවිරත්හු මගේ ප්රාණ සම මිත්රයෝය. උහු මට මන්ත්රීශ්වරණයේදී නේක උපකාර කළාහුය. මගේ එදිරිවාදීන්ගේ පායන් ගිනිබත් කළෝය. උන්ගේ අතවැස්සන්ට පොළු මුගුරු වලින් පැටි කළ බිව් කිරි මුවින් වෑහෙන්නට තරම් වන සංග්රහ කළෝය. මුන් නොවේ නම් මතු දින මගේ සැඳැ පැස (වර්තමාන ව්යවහාරය අනුව ‘ඡන්ද පෙට්ටි’) පුරවා මගේ විජයග්රහණය සහතික කරන්නාහු තොපේ මෑණියන්දෑද කියා පෙරළා හුදී ජනයා විචාලෝය. මේ පුණ්යභූමියෙහි වසන්නෝ දෙවර්ගයෙකි. දේශප්රේමියෝ හෙවත් රාජප්රේමියෝය. නැතොත් දේශද්රොහියෝ හෙවත් රාජද්රෝහියෝය. තොප අයත් වන්නේ උන්ටද මුන්ටදැයි අඩි පොළොවේ ගසා, මේඝ ගර්ජනා කළෝය. හුදී ජනයෝද වික්රමතුංග මානවකයා ගිය මඟ යනු නොකැමැත්තෝ, නුඹ වහන්සේට යහපත් නම් අපට තව කවර නම් පුක්ඛාබාධයක් වේදැයි මුවින් නොබැණ ඉවසා වදාරන්නෝ, මහරජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේගේ මෑණියන් වහන්සේටද පුණ්යානුමෝදනා කොට, තම මුක පූට්ටුකර ගත්තෝය.
එතෙකින් නොනැවතුණු අප මහ රජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේ චුල්ල ධීවර තෙමේ දැල් පියා තෝරුන් මෝරුන් හැර හාල්මැස්සන් අල්වා ගන්නේ යම්සේද, එසේම මහ සෙනෙවිරදුන් හැර පියා, චුල්ල සෙනෙවියන් අල්ලාගෙන අධිකරණ ශාලාවට ගෙනැවිත් උන්ට මින් මතු මෙවන් අපරාධ නොකරැයි තරයේ අවවාද කොට, එමතු නොව උන්ට දණ්ඩෙන් පහර බැගින් දී නිදහස් කළාහුය. එදුටු තිස් තුන් කෝටියක් සම්යක් දෘෂ්ඨික දේවතා තෙමේ මතු නොව මරණින් මතු භූතාත්ම භාවයට පත්ව සිටින්නා වූ ප්රභාකරන් නම් වූ චණ්ඩ වු සොරදෙටුවාද චිත්ත ප්රීතියට පත්ව සාධුකාර දුන්නේය. එතෙකින් පසු යුක්තිය පසිඳලීම ගැන අප මහ රජ්ජුරුවන් වහන්සේගේ කීර්තිය දේශ දේශාන්තරයන්හි පතළේය.
හුදී ජන පහන් සංවේගය තකා රචිත චුල්ල රාජපක්ස ජාතක කතා වස්තුව මින් නිමියේය.
Thanks to Taboo. No one can't stop. Even you also can't.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
SLA massacred civilians in bunkers - medical worker
[TamilNet, Monday, 07 September 2009, 08:57 GMT]
The advancing Sri Lanka Army massacred civilians by paving their bunkers with tanks, by throwing explosives inside the bunkers and by shooting the injured, says a medical worker who came out of Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal during the last days of the war, became incarcerated in a camp and now escaped the island. "Around a hundred thousand captured civilians herded to Mullaiththeevu were kept in rows within barbed wires, most of the time without water or food under the hot sun, and were bullied and ill treated with arrogance," he writes in a lengthy note that reached TamilNet this week. The note in Tamil was provided by the Norwegian Tamils Health Organisation (NTHO), urging TamilNet not to reveal the identity of the health worker for reasons of his security.
The medical worker was injured in a fire-bomb attack of the SLA on May 12th.
On alleged earlier firing on civilians, who in desperation tried to get into SLA controlled area, and on violence in recruitment during the last days that especially affected the families of LTTE heroes and fighters, the medical worker attributed responsibility to some elements long infiltrated into the LTTE, to work on behalf of Colombo. LTTE senior ranks were shaken by such treachery, he writes.
Further personal observations culled out from his notes follow:
Colombo particularly targeted hospitals and makeshift hospitals. When people moved away from Ki'linochchi, its hospital started functioning in the school building at Udaiyaar-kaddu. More than two thousand shells were fired on this building by the SLA.
Ki’linochchi to Tharmapuram, Vaddakkachchi, Visuvamadu, Udaiyaar-kaddu, Puthukkudiyiruppu – until reaching Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal, at an average 50 civilians were killed every day in Sri Lankan attacks. 8000 were already killed before herded into Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal.
Medical work decimated and workers were shaken at the death of patients, nurses and workers.
When there were more than 300,000 people, Colombo sent food for only 30,000.
Important medicines such as anaesthetic drugs were not sent. Life-saving surgery without anaesthesia was a cursing ordeal for the patients as well as doctors.
Mothers and children standing in queue to receive infant milk food were targeted in the SL shell attacks. Without seeing no one could visualize the sorrow of the child that lost the mother and the mother who lost the child.
SLA shell attacks, guided by spy craft were targeted on queues for gruel also. Despite casualties the queue would form again.
While even gruel was scarce to people, lands they cultivated were harvested by the SLA.
At one stage, the LTTE leadership ordered food meant for combatants to be shared with civilians. The fighters fought only with gruel food and to the last LTTE served gruel to people.
Around 1000 waterholes were dug and several hundreds of toilets were made for civilians at the initiative of the LTTE. Water often mixed with sand was collected in shell-halves and was filtered by cloth.
There were no epidemics.
Pregnant mothers and infants bearing shell fragments came to makeshift hospitals.
These hospitals functioned 24 hours and wailing was always heard around them.
Many dead bodies couldn’t be buried in certain situations of SL attacks and hungry dogs dragged them.
Every time moving patents to ICRC vessel there will be targeted shelling from the SLA. A few hundreds taken for ICRC treatment died. How that happened was not known and whom to ask.
Even in emaciated conditions people donated blood for treatment and some of them later died of their own injuries.
More than a thousand people were killed on the day when the SLA entered into Maaththa’lan and Pokka’nai (20th April).
On May 15th and 16th the SLA entered and rampaged the pocket of land crowded with nearly a hundred thousand people.
I had to pass through at least around 300 bodies when I came out. Some were alive but couldn’t walk. I helped a few who could walk. Some held my feet when I tried to go away. What could I do?
There is a long list of people who were eliminated and disappeared after capture by the SLA. The army-controlled area was a place where murders took place in front of one’s eyes.
In Mullaiththeevu, a hundred thousand people made to stand in rows would all of a sudden be ordered to squat by the SL army. The soldiers would make sadistic laugh at seeing the melee of people falling on each other in the exercise.
Long poles were used to beat the people and to threaten them.
Old and young stood under hot sun for a long time, immensely suffering from thirst.
Mullaiththeevu to Vavuniyaa was scenery of disaster.
There were 20 to 25 people in a tent in the internment camp at Cheddiku’lam. Food was sometimes thrown from a vehicle.
Everyday in the internment camp around 30 people died.
It was a place of epidemics.
Thousands suffered of Chicken Pox, hundreds had brain fever, many elders died and some committed suicide.
The bribe to SL army for a person to come out was several hundred thousands of rupees.
In the last days of the war over 18,000 killed, more than 5,000 lost limbs, more than 7,000 seriously injured and several thousands suffered minor injuries. Several thousands suffer mental illnesses. More than a hundred medical workers- doctors, nurses and volunteers perished.
Knowledge and exercise of precaution reduced casualty. No one died of any epidemic under LTTE control.
Several thousands of Sinhala youth of the SLA, from poor families, regrettably laid down their life in the war.
The sadistic lust of Mahinda Rajapaksa is very astonishing - inflicting pain on ordinary civilians in every possible way, and then projecting that as forms of his soothing operation to the outside world.
The world may forget, but Tamils will never forget the true face of the civilisation of 21st century, the world has shown to them, writes the medical worker in his notes.
The advancing Sri Lanka Army massacred civilians by paving their bunkers with tanks, by throwing explosives inside the bunkers and by shooting the injured, says a medical worker who came out of Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal during the last days of the war, became incarcerated in a camp and now escaped the island. "Around a hundred thousand captured civilians herded to Mullaiththeevu were kept in rows within barbed wires, most of the time without water or food under the hot sun, and were bullied and ill treated with arrogance," he writes in a lengthy note that reached TamilNet this week. The note in Tamil was provided by the Norwegian Tamils Health Organisation (NTHO), urging TamilNet not to reveal the identity of the health worker for reasons of his security.
The medical worker was injured in a fire-bomb attack of the SLA on May 12th.
On alleged earlier firing on civilians, who in desperation tried to get into SLA controlled area, and on violence in recruitment during the last days that especially affected the families of LTTE heroes and fighters, the medical worker attributed responsibility to some elements long infiltrated into the LTTE, to work on behalf of Colombo. LTTE senior ranks were shaken by such treachery, he writes.
Further personal observations culled out from his notes follow:
Colombo particularly targeted hospitals and makeshift hospitals. When people moved away from Ki'linochchi, its hospital started functioning in the school building at Udaiyaar-kaddu. More than two thousand shells were fired on this building by the SLA.
Ki’linochchi to Tharmapuram, Vaddakkachchi, Visuvamadu, Udaiyaar-kaddu, Puthukkudiyiruppu – until reaching Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal, at an average 50 civilians were killed every day in Sri Lankan attacks. 8000 were already killed before herded into Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal.
Medical work decimated and workers were shaken at the death of patients, nurses and workers.
When there were more than 300,000 people, Colombo sent food for only 30,000.
Important medicines such as anaesthetic drugs were not sent. Life-saving surgery without anaesthesia was a cursing ordeal for the patients as well as doctors.
Mothers and children standing in queue to receive infant milk food were targeted in the SL shell attacks. Without seeing no one could visualize the sorrow of the child that lost the mother and the mother who lost the child.
SLA shell attacks, guided by spy craft were targeted on queues for gruel also. Despite casualties the queue would form again.
While even gruel was scarce to people, lands they cultivated were harvested by the SLA.
At one stage, the LTTE leadership ordered food meant for combatants to be shared with civilians. The fighters fought only with gruel food and to the last LTTE served gruel to people.
Around 1000 waterholes were dug and several hundreds of toilets were made for civilians at the initiative of the LTTE. Water often mixed with sand was collected in shell-halves and was filtered by cloth.
There were no epidemics.
Pregnant mothers and infants bearing shell fragments came to makeshift hospitals.
These hospitals functioned 24 hours and wailing was always heard around them.
Many dead bodies couldn’t be buried in certain situations of SL attacks and hungry dogs dragged them.
Every time moving patents to ICRC vessel there will be targeted shelling from the SLA. A few hundreds taken for ICRC treatment died. How that happened was not known and whom to ask.
Even in emaciated conditions people donated blood for treatment and some of them later died of their own injuries.
More than a thousand people were killed on the day when the SLA entered into Maaththa’lan and Pokka’nai (20th April).
On May 15th and 16th the SLA entered and rampaged the pocket of land crowded with nearly a hundred thousand people.
I had to pass through at least around 300 bodies when I came out. Some were alive but couldn’t walk. I helped a few who could walk. Some held my feet when I tried to go away. What could I do?
There is a long list of people who were eliminated and disappeared after capture by the SLA. The army-controlled area was a place where murders took place in front of one’s eyes.
In Mullaiththeevu, a hundred thousand people made to stand in rows would all of a sudden be ordered to squat by the SL army. The soldiers would make sadistic laugh at seeing the melee of people falling on each other in the exercise.
Long poles were used to beat the people and to threaten them.
Old and young stood under hot sun for a long time, immensely suffering from thirst.
Mullaiththeevu to Vavuniyaa was scenery of disaster.
There were 20 to 25 people in a tent in the internment camp at Cheddiku’lam. Food was sometimes thrown from a vehicle.
Everyday in the internment camp around 30 people died.
It was a place of epidemics.
Thousands suffered of Chicken Pox, hundreds had brain fever, many elders died and some committed suicide.
The bribe to SL army for a person to come out was several hundred thousands of rupees.
In the last days of the war over 18,000 killed, more than 5,000 lost limbs, more than 7,000 seriously injured and several thousands suffered minor injuries. Several thousands suffer mental illnesses. More than a hundred medical workers- doctors, nurses and volunteers perished.
Knowledge and exercise of precaution reduced casualty. No one died of any epidemic under LTTE control.
Several thousands of Sinhala youth of the SLA, from poor families, regrettably laid down their life in the war.
The sadistic lust of Mahinda Rajapaksa is very astonishing - inflicting pain on ordinary civilians in every possible way, and then projecting that as forms of his soothing operation to the outside world.
The world may forget, but Tamils will never forget the true face of the civilisation of 21st century, the world has shown to them, writes the medical worker in his notes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
