Lest We Forget

Lest we forget – Massacres of Tamils 1956 ­2002
On the 06.08.1990, the peace and hard work of the villagers was destroyed.
Hundreds of Muslims stormed into the village and set ablaze the homes of the
Tamils and attacked the Tamil villagers and threw their mutilated bodies into the
near by Hindu Temple. Statements recorded from victims and witnesses to this
outrageous crime reveal that there was no provocation from the Tamils for such an
attack.
A woman witness revealed the background of the events, the intention and purposes
leading to the attack and how it was executed:
“I was married in 1976 and had three children - two sons, and
a daughter. Around 6 0' clock in the morning, on the 6 th August
1990; I heard the cries of women from the direction of my
Muslim neighbour's house. Since we had maintained a friendly
relationship with our Muslim neighbours, I rushed to the house
from which the Muslim women raised cries.
I found several women in that house and every one was in tears, weeping over the
death of some member of the family. The women said that their men who went to the
paddy field at Alimadakadu had been cut to pieces and slain. No one knew who the
killers were.
I spent about half an hour with the grieving family, I shared their sorrow but
returned home to attend to the household chores before the children left for school.
A few minutes after I returned home, and was busy with my work, I heard people
shouting. Together with my husband I rushed to the gate to see what was wrong.
We found men, women and children moving away from their homes in a state of
excitement. They were in a state of great confusion, agitated with fear and worry.
They told us that they were running away from an angry mob composed of Muslims
who had vowed to destroy Thiraikerny. They were going to the Pillaiyar Temple as
it is dangerous to remain in homes. The Tamils who were running away, warned us
saying “do not stay here; the mob is heavily armed according to information
received from friendly Muslims”.
My husband was shaken by the news. When the entire population in the village was
moving out, we saw no wisdom in staying at home. Leaving all our possessions in
our house and keeping the doors open, we left home with the children and took
refuge in the Pillaiyar Temple. Soon the Muslims appeared on the road at a
distance.
Riotous gangsters numbering more than 150 men, armed with knives, swords,
sickles and clubs and seemingly possessed by wild and violent anger, shouted
slogans against the Tamils, and called out the Muslims to unite to fight the Tamils.
We were in bewilderment and spent every minute in fear. People prayed for Divine
intervention to save the people from the apparent danger. As we looked up we saw
clouds of smoke rising up the sky. The smoke came from the burning houses of the
Tamils. As the goons were approaching the Temple, the people ran towards the
Periyathambiran Temple and the mob followed. The people having resigned their
fate watched with fear every movement of the menacing crowd of attackers. In a
split of a second - no sooner the mob reached the Temple premise, an armored car,
drove into the temple premise. There were six soldiers in uniform in the vehicle.
Report by NESOHR,
Information Collected by SNE
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