SPOTLIGHT

By Hemamala Wickramage  Not just in battle, where the two warring parties have used totally different methods of warfare - conventional and guerrilla  - but also in honouring their dead, the two sides, the Sri Lankan armed forces and the Liberation Tigers have their own different ways.

This difference is not  only in the monuments and commemorative programmes of the armed forces performed at regimental level in contrast to LTTE's regionally set up mass graveyards named "heroes cemeteries" or 'martyrs graveyards," but it is also apparent in the type of funeral rites performed for the fallen heroes.

Army's Media Spokesman, Colonel Sumedha Perera observed it to be a "cultural issue."

"As for our soldiers, recovered bodies are handed over to the respective families and it is families who organise the funeral rites. Whatever religious backgrounds they may be from, funeral rites have always been an important part. It is embedded in our culture and one that the forces also respect," he said.

The absence of one single mass monument - similar to 'The Wall'  in Washington D. C. for the Vietnam War  victims  - is more or less due to the scattered nature of these war heroes' resting places. All records are maintained at regimental level and thus, the fallen men's names get included in the respective monuments put up and maintained by each regiment.   

However, the differences in honouring the two side's dead, is not just a cultural issue but a social one as well. Heroes from the south who have died in battle are allowed individual burials and cremations as their bodies are brought to their respective homes whereas combatants of the Liberation Tigers who die are mostly youth from displaced families. They have either fled their homes during attacks or have been forced to live in refugee camps. As such the families of the fallen LTTE heroes do not have access to local cemeteries in their villages.

Another reason is the  LTTE's  rules and regulations when it comes to the final rites of their lost cadres.

 "As conventional defence forces  - in all three armed services  -  we don't have restrictions on bringing home the dead," said Perera. According to him the mortal remains are handed over to the fallen heroes' kith and kin, allowing them the full liberty to decide on the dates, rites and resting place for their family member killed in action. However, they are accorded military honours  keeping with tradition.

In contrast, for fallen LTTE cadres the choice of the final resting place does not lie with their families. Instead it is decided by the organisation depending on each cadre's place of birth. The issue in fact comes under rules and regulations for the movement's cadre as these young men and women once recruited are no longer considered part of their families but of the movement. Even in death, they remain severed from civil society and given a "heroes" burial at a LTTE graveyard.

"Fallen cadres' families are not allowed to carry out individual burials. They may be allowed to take home the mortal remains and to keep for maximum, a day or two but they have to be handed back over to us," explained LTTE's Media Spokesman, Daya Master. Instead of family burials or cremations, all dead LTTE cadres are given a place in these regionally set up heroes' cemeteries.

There are 24 cemeteries built and maintained by the LTTE and the largest one is the Visvamadu Martyr Cemetery in Kilinochchi.

One unique feature is that there are no religious rites performed by the organisation for those who have given their life in combat. "Even the families who take home the remains for their private grieving would only have a public ceremony with eulogies but no religious rites are conducted," said the LTTE Media Spokesman. 

The war heroes' cemetery in Kilinochchi that The Sunday Leader visited is one such resting place where 1700 Tiger cadres rest. Visitors to the site -  known as the "martyrs' memorial" - are confronted with rows and rows of coffin shaped, grey coloured tombstones with polished, granite- looking surfaces spread over several hectares. Nearly one third of all tombs here bear the date July 18, 1996, as most of the buried are casualties of a battle at Elephant Pass.

Remains of the dead

"Each and every death is recorded and nothing goes unaccounted," said Daya Master adding that while some graves contained the cadres' remains for those whose remains were not found only the tombstones are there "with the names of martyrs' inscribed," as the LTTE has decided to honour them despite there being no recovered remains.

We only consider cadres' birthplace when deciding the resting place. Both male and female  cadres in combat units including the members of the Special Task Force or the LTTE's police battle units are accommodated in heroes' cemeteries. "We consider all our dead cadres as heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the cause and all are given equal recognition," said Daya Master.

Maintaining the heroes' cemeteries is a costly affair for the organisation. According to Daya Master the LTTE spends around Rs. 9,500 per tombstone. "The movement has lost a total of 17 651 cadres from  November 1982 to October 2002," he said. This number includes 78 Black Tiger cadres as well as 163 Sea Black Tiger cadres according to LTTE statistics.

A workforce comprising of more than 10 cadres  headed by a female LTTE cadre are employed for the maintenance and upkeep of the Kilinochchi cemetery. And the same goes for their other heroes' cemeteries as well said Daya Master. The organisation takes their dead seriously and the spotless clean granite tombstones despite the area's dust filled roads with dry mud bore testimony to this fact during The Sunday Leader's impromptu visit to the site.

LTTE war heroes' cemeteries are considered sacred sites and visitors are requested to remove all foot and head covering before entry. Vehicles on the roads are not allowed to toot their horns within close proximity to the "heroes' resting places."

Revered status

However, amongst many other practices of the organisation the revered status given to its dead combatants in elaborate heroes' day ceremonies too comes under heavy criticism from the southern side of the ethnic divide. An army official who requested anonymity said, "the monuments and the ceremonies are played up with wide publicity as it is one of their recruitment tactics. It is only to attract more youth for their cadre and also to motivate the ones who are already in. We, the army have never used our dead for recruitment purposes. We have never showed videos and displayed dead bodies to attract recruits or to boost morale," he charged. Quoting Herbert Spencer the army officer said "hero worship is strongest where there is least regard for human freedom," and said the sole reason for the Tigers to be giving so much importance to their dead is to lure the youth into their ranks.

The three armed forces whose number of losses during the two decade war amounts to 18, 468 have several monuments erected and dedicated at regimental level in their memory.

As for the navy and air force with their killed in action numbering 785 and 402 respectively, the monuments honouring the dead heroes are found in the Trincomalee naval base and at the Ratmalana air base.

Media Spokesman, Sri Lanka Navy, Commodore Jayantha Perera told The Sunday Leader the monument at the entrance to the Trincomalee naval base bears the names of all 785 killed todate. "We don't have plans to set up a separate memorial as such but all our fallen heroes are recognised in the one we already have at Trincomalee naval base," he said.

"When it comes to commemorating our heroes our policy includes the idea that while those lost will not be forgotten, those who remain will not be alone," asserted Commodore Perera.

Commemorative celebrations for Navy Day on December 9th each year also includes visits to families of the dead by navy officials. "We also organise get-togethers at provincial level for the families, especially the children of our dead heroes," he said.

Media Spokesman, Sri Lanka Air Force, Group Captain Ajantha de Silva too shared similar views on the issue of honouring their dead. "There aren't new plans for a separate monument and all our Air Force Day celebrations on July 2nd every year are held at the monument at the Ratmalana air base. We also have another monument put up at the Borella cemetery but we don't hold any functions of remembrance there," said De Silva.

Police personnel killed in action numbering 2, 387 are all honoured at the monument at Police Field Force Headquarters in Bambalapitiya said a police spokesman adding that police heroes' are remembered every year on July 23 at Police Day celebrations.

Sri Lanka army has suffered the highest number of losses out of the three services and the number currently stands at 17, 281.

Regiment day ceremonies

According to army sources, currently except for two regiments - Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI) and Vijayabahu - all the other regiments have their own monuments dedicated to the heroes and commemorative ceremonies conducted on respective regiment days at these memorial sites. The biggest monument is to be found at the National Remembrance Park in Mailapitiya in Kandy. This solemn tribute to the armed forces' lost comrades is set in a scenic site overlooking the Randenigala reservoir.

All heroes' data at Mailapitiya Remembrance Park are computerised said Colnel Perera. "Visitors if they wish to locate the name of a loved one can do so with the help of the computer system. And the staff on duty will direct them to the respective area where the name is  engraved," he said.

Funds for the building of all regimental level monuments have come through the respective regiments' funds and never have any state funds been used,  revealed an army source that claimed anonymity.

 For those  categorised as MIAs or personnel Missing In Action there are no separate monuments built bringing little consolation to the anguished families. All three services include the names of their MIA personnel along with those killed in action in the already existing memorials.

"The names of those missing in action too are added to our monument in Trincomalee as they are considered dead after one year from the date of missing," said Navy Media Spokesman. Similar to the navy's procedure the names of air force personnel missing in action are added to the monument after one year from the date of considered missing. The army too follows a similar procedure and MIA names are engraved in each regiment's monument.

The cemeteries and monuments while paying tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives in the protracted war act as  reminders of the deadly violence that a war invariably brings. Despite the gallantry recognised and honour bestowed on the dead fighters from each side, these monuments with their eloquent verses of tribute piece together  a part of the country's history marred by bloody conflict of a people - a people of one country. And it is  history, the future generations are unlikely to be proud of.

The words of one soldier The Sunday Leader interviewed - who has fought in the frontline with death staring in his face several times in the northern battle fields is quite fitting. "People think of war as a glorious thing. And take pride in monuments and tributes and call the fallen, national heroes. But whether won or not all wars include acts of violence and cannot be fought without casualties nor avoid the spilling of human blood that leaves behind widows, orphans and irreparably shattered lives. Thus, isn't it true when they say that the victories of peace are ever more glorious than the victories of war?"

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