International   

Multiple displacements, total loss of identity

MANIK FARM COMPLEX (Vavuniya district): Some time on May 10, a week before the Sri Lankan military decimated the military capabilities of the LTTE and wiped out its entire top brass, the Tigers had informed 80,000 civilians under their custody that they have lost the battle and were no longer in a position to defend them, conversation with a group of last batch of civilians to escape from the control of Tigers reveals.

Currently housed in one of the camps at Zone IV of the 1,400-acre Manik Farm Complex, with 25 big and small camps dotted with blue and white tents, hosting nearly 2.2 lakh of the 2.71 lakh Eelam War IV displaced, most look visibly shrunk and still to come to grips with the horrors of last weeks and days spent amid a rain of bullets, shells, explosions and terrible shortage of essential items.

Each person who crossed over to the government-controlled territory from May 11 to 14 has at least one tragic tale of a dear one killed, maimed, lost and mentally numbed. They had to leave behind everything they had lugged with them as they traversed from one destination to another deeper into the Wanni along with the Tigers. It is not just a case of multiple displacements but also of total loss of identity.

The remarkable aspect is that they are not afraid to speak though grief and sadness is writ large on their faces. In all 21, huddled together in a 10 by 6 ft rain proof tent courtesy the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner for Refugees, they gathered around a contingent of international media group to narrate their last days and hours under the custody of the Tigers. The media group was on a military conducted trip.

“Please note all the details. I am 67. I do not know the whereabouts of my wife, son, daughter and my wife’s sister who was with me. I have lost every thing in my life. I do not know the purpose of my life. I wonder why and for what the LTTE and military fought the battle and what was achieved in the end. We believe the Tigers, Sri Lanka government and Indian people with whom we share a special bond are all responsible for our fate today,” S. Aryanathan, told The Hindu in English as the rest of his hut mates nodded in agreement. He translated his statement in Tamil for the benefit of those around him.

Mr. Aryanathan was one of the two in the tent who could converse in English and became the narrator of the gory tales of the rest. “Life inside the Tiger territory had become a living hell. Rice was being sold for Sri Lankan Rs. 450 a kilo, sugar Rs. 4,500 per kilo and the going rate for red chillies was Rs. 16,000. In the last six weeks of the war, we never stayed at the same place for more than two nights.”

Accounts pieced together from Mr. Aryanathan and others from the last batch of refugees reveal that the Tigers did indeed spread an informal message among the civilians under their custody on May 10 that it was all over for them and the civilians should move to the government-controlled areas. “On May 11, we saw the Tigers dismantling their sentry points and abandoning their defence posts. Perhaps, they wanted to demonstrate practically to us that they meant what they told us. Having lost all their men and weaponry, the Tigers were perhaps left with no choice,” said another refugee.

The revelations broadly tally with the information that has so far trickled on the last days and hours of Eelam War IV with some differences. For example, it was not until the night of May 16 that the Tigers made a public announcement on their decision to “silence” their guns.

As per the account by the pro-LTTE TamilNet in the early hours of May 17, a section of the top brass like B. Nadesan and Pulidevan had in fact initiated contact with the outside world with offer of surrender to a third party. The evening the Sri Lankan Navy arrested the family members of the Sea Tigers chief, Soosai while trying to flee via sea, it was clear that the command structure at the highest level in the LTTE had collapsed. However, neither the narratives of the last batch of escapees nor the pro-LTTE parties throw any light on LTTE chief Velupillai Prabakaran.

Located some 50 km from Vavuniya town, the Manik Farm complex is a huge township still in the making. There are thousands and thousands of blue and white tents set up in disciplined rows, manned by the military and the police with protective barbed wires thrown around them.

Inside, rice and sambar for thousands are made in makeshift, open kitchens, and hungry queues form to pick up daily rations. “We were spending most days and nights inside the bunkers. It was dangerous to even step out to fetch food for my children. The toilet was a plastic bag. My cousin Padmanatha died in the shelling. My husband Shashi Kumar was shot in the leg,” said Anandi.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the capital, Leader of the House and Minister Nimal Siripala Silva told Parliament that Emergency would not be relaxed immediately despite the end of the LTTE.

“Prevention of Terrorism Act and State of Emergency will be continued. Though terrorism has been completely wiped out, terrorist activists are still at large prowling every corner of the country. There are terrorist suspects who are already on arrest under State of Emergency. And, with the termination of the civil war, another group of terrorist suspects surrendered to the SL armed forces. Police need time for further investigations,” said the Minister.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

U.N. Council condemns N. Korea’s nuclear test
Court excuses Sharifs’ non-appearance
Multiple displacements, total loss of identity
A judge with a bipartisan pedigree in America
The Afghan question and a unique opportunity
Qureshi, Yang greet S.M. Krishna
Oxford poet who beat Indian academic quits

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu