Madhu abandoned

By Amantha Perera

The flurry of controversy over the sacred Madhu shrine continued last week as well. Soon after the venerated statue was moved from the church on April 3 early evening to Tevampitti, some 70 km northwest from its original location, the government military raised suspicions as to why it was not brought into government held areas.

The army said that the last time a major military offensive was launched in the area, Operation Rana Gosa in 1999, the shrine was brought under government rule amidst heavy Tiger fire, but the statue was not removed nor was the removal even suggested.

The day following the removal of the statue the military said that it could have facilitated the safe passage of the statue into government held areas.

Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Jospeh told The Sunday Leader that shell fire was so intense on April 3 that the clergy and the civilian helpers remaining at the church moved out when there was lull around 6.00 p.m.

"The cross-over point closes at 6 p.m. and we were concerned with the safety of the statue," he said. Moving into government held areas would have entailed a trip east to the A9 and then south.

However the army says that church authorities did not take action when the Tigers began moving into the church compound as fighting increased in the Mannar front from late last year, and finally even took up position in some of the quarters at the church premises. It said that it was because the access paths to the church had been heavily mined and booby trapped by the Tigers that the statue could not be moved south on the Madhu road.

"Tiger terrorists, on the other hand capitalised on this inertia on the part of the shrine authorities and conveniently went on actively laying booby traps, anti-personnel mines and all other forms of improvised explosive devices to prevent any advance of the army troops into areas, more closer to the ‘Zone of Peace.’ Had that been the case, the shrine authorities, instead of taking the statue to the northern most church in uncleared Tevampitti area, some 70 kms northwest of Madhu under the Mannar Diocese for ‘safety,’ could have brought it down to controlled areas under arrangements made by the security forces," the army said last week.

According to the army the Tigers began moving into the shrine (Madhu)sanctuary when military advances slowly gained ground on them in Adampan, west of Madhu, and in other areas in Mannar. "As the fighting elsewhere in Mannar and the north of Madhu areas escalated, depleting terrorist elements, in a shrewd move entered the holy compound and began placing their armaments, irrespective of the presence of pastors residing there. The fall of LTTE mortar bombs twice on the residential quarters on April 1, 2008 was a classic example in point. Technical sources confirmed the whole scenario in this regard to the troops."

According to the army troops had been strictly advised not to direct any fire at the shrine and the Tigers taking advantage had moved mortar positions first into the sanctuary and then nearer to the church.

Military authorities had constantly kept the Catholic Church Diocese of Mannar informed of the development and sought its intervention to stop the Tigers from using the shrine. "Terrorists taking maximum advantage of the circumstances sans any resistance of the shrine authorities finally gained entry into the holy premises and went on using the premises at their own will with the intention of inviting (coercing) army troops into conflict with them at any given time. This pre-planned machination, hatched in secrecy, was meant to blame the troops in return, in the event of any offensives against the terrorists or resultant damages to the complex."

That is what the army said.

The Tigers also were not about to let up on the media drive on the statue. Last week it wrote to the Norwegians seeking international intervention to stop the military onslaught on Madhu.

Tamilnet reproduced pictures of what it said was the Scared Heart chapel near the Madhu church on April 7. The pictures showed craters created by mortar fire that had flown in through the roof.

Tiger Political Head, P. Nadesan wrote to Erik Solheim, the former special peace envoy on April 8, saying, "you are, of course, aware of the Sri Lankan state’s year long, large scale, military onslaught against us with the view to occupy the Wanni. The world is also aware that the Sri Lankan state’s military onslaughts are targeting the historical Madhu church in the Mannar district, in the western region of the Wanni."

Nadesan said that in the last fortnight, there had been incessant fire, and multi-barrels, mortar and shell fire had been directed at the shrine. Nadesan also told Solheim that the military was moving in to occupy the Wanni.

"Part of the shrine is already damaged by the Sri Lankan military attacks. There is continued danger that the church will sustain further damage because the Sri Lankan military is persisting with its onslaught," the letter said.

"The international community together with the international institutions that are concerned about protecting the historical treasures of the world must be brought together and we hope the Royal Norwegian government, together with them, will take the necessary actions to end the attacks on the church."

Despite the very unceremonious sidelining of the Norwegians and the death of the ceasefire on January 16 this year, the Tigers still officially place the facilitators of the 2002 deal as their preferred go-betweens. Their Peace Secretariat has not discontinued counting how long the truce has held, despite the government’s withdrawal. "CFA enters into 2239 days today," it said on April 10.

"We would like to place a request through you, who is looked upon by the Tamil people as a peace envoy, to the Royal Norwegian government to take steps to immediately end the military assault of the holy Madhu shrine," Nadesan told Solheim.

The appeal to the Norwegians however did not produce any tangible results. The Norwegian Mission in Colombo said that it would keep the Sri Lankan government, Oslo and the co-chairs informed of the contents of the letter, but there was no elaboration of any further action.

The statue remained at the Tevampitti church under the custody of the priests who relocated there with it. Rev. Anthony Victor Soosai from the Mannar Diocese told The Sunday Leader that the statue would remain at Tevampitti for the time being. There have however been requests by devotees to bring the statue to government controlled areas but according to the priest no decision had been taken on relocating it again.

The statue is not alone in the Tevampitti area since several thousands who had fled Madhu and other areas in the Mannar battle field had relocated there earlier.

Fighting was not as intense as two weeks back during the run-up to the avurudhu week.

Nevertheless government military said that troops were closing in on the shrine and had in fact reached the Madhu Thorana area, an arch like structure on the Madhu road that is in place to welcome pilgrims.

Two weeks back the Defence Ministry said that three Tigers who had surrendered had revealed that battled hardened Tiger units, Radha and Charles Anthony, and the all female unit Malathi, were using the compound.

They had also revealed that Jeyam, a senior cadre who has a history of over two and half decades with the Tigers too had been located in the sanctuary.

He was among other top ranked Tigers like Suwarnam, Bhanu and Vidusha (the head of the Malathi unit) who had moved closer to the Mannar FDL in order to keep the government onslaught at bay.

These senior cadres have leading battle hardened units mainly for counter attacks. The experienced units have been kept in reserve and the front lines have been under the care of members from the civilian protection units and newly recruited female cadres from the Malathi unit.

Jeyam has now fallen back further north from Madhu and according to latest reports from the Madhu front the other Tigers appeared to have followed suit and abandoned Madhu.

However, government forces have not accelerated their advance and say that the Tigers have very likely taken GPS coordinates of the church, and would in all likelihood direct artillery fire at advancing troops.

The fear of long range artillery fire falling on troops has been of concern in the northern FDL’s. The Tigers are suspected to have extensively mapped areas along the FDL in an effort to direct artillery fire.