Lest We Forget

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Lest we forget – Massacres of Tamils 1956 2002 The soldiers acted differently. They did not themselves take part in the attack. The behavior of the soldiers gave some courage to the Tamil youths to approach the armored car. With hands raised above their heads, they walked up to the soldiers and sought to plead with the soldiers to prevail on the Muslims to prevent any attack on the poor innocent Tamils who had sought refuge in the temple. The soldiers, I was told, had to stop the Muslims. The soldiers were alleged to have told the young men that the Tamils had killed Muslims and therefore the army cannot intervene. The soldiers waved their hands, telling the Tamil youths to go away from them, and that waving of their hands was taken as a signal for the attackers to begin their assault. First they began desecrating the Temple. Some went to damage the wall while some others broke the door. Yet the Tamils did not say a word to the attackers. Some of the Muslims entered into the sanctum and came out with the Sacred Trident and the spear that were firmly fixed to the ground. Some took away the tools like knife, axe and crowbar, used in the Temple by the priests. The Tamils were later attacked with the Trident, the spear, and the tools taken away from the Temple. The attackers first assaulted the men seated on the ground with knifes. Those who were in the rear escaped. In the melee that followed the attack, even some of the injured ran away, but did not return alive. My husband was attacked with knife and he died there. The people wondered whether it was a joint attack of the Army and the Muslims - such attacks had occurred in the Tamils areas previously. The arrival of the soldiers at the Hindu temple premises had an impact. The goons appeared very happy and they shouted in jubilation. As the attackers were busy mauling the innocents, sharp reports of fire-arms were heard from the main trunk road. The soldiers who had come over to Thiraikerny to witness the annihilation of the Tamils fled in their armored car. When the armored vehicle left, the attackers too fled, crying out. 'Tigers are coming to attack us'. When they had all fled, I looked around, and found several of my people dead and among those killed was not only men but also women and children. A very young mother known as Vijeyaluxmy and her infant too were killed. A contingent of the police - the Special Task Force (STF) came in a number of vehicles. They had come there firing all the way. We realized that it is their firing that drove away the soldiers and the attackers. They saw the large number that had been murdered and injured. The women, who had been frozen from shock and fear, were unable to speak. There was blood and flesh strewn all around. In the midst of piercing shrill cries and screams of the injured, the chief of the STF promised protection and help to all victims.” **According to a sworn statement, a little girl was seized and raped, and thereafter, thrown into the fire. Rescuers recovered the half-burnt body and buried it. Report by NESOHR, Information Collected by SNE 51
Lest we forget – Massacres of Tamils 1956 2002 62. Kalmunai massacre 11.08.1990 Kalmunai is situated 40 Kms from the Batticaloa town. Pandiruppu, Natpiddimunai, Chenaikudiyiruppu, and Nilavanai are villages surrounding Kalmunai. On 11.08.1990, villagers from Pandiruppu, Kalmunai and Chenaikudiyiruppu were gathered in homes in fear as the Sri Lankan military rounded up these villages and began shooting. The military was shooting into the homes forcing people to come out. Young men carried their national identity card in their hands. Mothers held tight onto their babies. 25 young men were taken by the military from the Kalmunai village to the Karaithivu military camp. Mothers who followed the young men being taken by the military were attacked with gun butts and many mothers fainted and fell down. Next day relatives of the young men walked to the Karaithivu camp through the Kalmunai town. The military in the town stopped them and made them stand by the road side. Large number of military arrived at the scene and selected the young women among the relatives. They were taken to a building near by where they were gang raped and killed. Men were tortured on the road and killed. All together 37 people were killed in two hours in this manner. None of the 25 young men taken to the Karaithivu military camp have been seen since. In total 62 people were killed in these two days by the Sri Lankan military. 63. Thuranilavani massacre 12.08.1990 Thurainilavanai village is situated in the Batticaloa district. On 12.08.1990, morning, Sri Lankan military from the Nilavanai- Kallaru camp rounded up the Nilavanai village and opened fire on the people. More than 60 people were killed. Report by NESOHR, Information Collected by SNE 52
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Lest We Forget

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