Families fear continuing Sri Lanka violence
-14/07/06
In the midst of continuing violen
Families fear continuing Sri Lanka violence
-14/07/06
In the midst of continuing violence, fear is writ large on the face of the 350 families on the islet of Allaipiddy near Jaffna, the heartland of ethnic Tamils on the northern fringe of Sri Lanka ñ writes Anto Akkara for Ecumenical News International.
The fishing village surrounded by Sri Lankan Navy camps is yet to recover from the 13 May 2006 massacre when four unidentified gunmen shot dead eight people in the house of the richest man on the island village.
Nobody in the village will speculate about who was responsible, but human rights activists assert that the Sri Lankan security forces were behind the shootings at the Christian household in an ongoing conflict that has pitted Tamil rebels against the Sri Lanka government.
“I will never forget the scene at the house,” said Chelladurai, an elderly villager who like most residents did not want to give his full name and who rushed into the shop-cum-residence after hearing the shots and saw bodies lying in pools of blood.
Asked whether the villagers had any clue regarding the identity of the gunmen, Chelladurai replied: “We do not know why they were killed and who did that.”
Septuagenarian Selvaraj, a Christian, survived the shooting spree in his two-storey house. The gunmen, however, unleashed bullets into his son, son-in-law, daughter and her two children and one of his workers along with a Christian neighbour who had come to his shop-cum-residence in the fateful evening. A family relative and a local Christian were also killed.
Except for his daughter’s family who were Roman Catholics, Selvaraj and the other family members belonged to the Ceylon Pentecostal church.
Human rights activists attribute the massacre on the island to the Sri Lankan forces that have camps all around. It is a strategic location for the security forces to ward off attacks from Tamil rebels. Nearly one million people in the north and east of Sri Lanka have been displaced following the two-decade civil war waged by the Tamil Tiger rebels seeking autonomy for ethnic Tamil majority areas. The war was supposed to have been halted by a 2002 cease-fire.
The Sri Lanka forces have rejected any involvement, but the activists claim that the massacre was linked to the refusal of Tamil shopkeepers to obey an order by the navy to keep their shops open. Tamil rebels had called for the shops to be shut as part of their campaign for autonomy. Ten minutes after the shooting in the Christian-owned store and residence, a Hindu shopkeeper nearby was also shot dead in his shop and his shop burnt by gunmen.
But the villagers never shared this story to this reporter nor the report that the gunmen asked neighbours of the Christian family to switch off lights and lock the doors before they entered Selvaraj’s house.
Within hours of the killing, almost all the families in the village took shelter in the Philip Neiri Catholic church in the island and camped there for two weeks before they were moved by international agencies to Catholic churches such as Our Lady of Refuge in Jaffna, 10 kilometres from Allaipiddy.
The majority of the villagers are Christians, most of them are Catholic with a smattering of Pentecostals, and the rest are Hindus, but in the whole country Christians are a small minority.
Though the islanders returned to their houses after assurances at the end of June from Douglas Devananda, a Tamil minister in the Sri Lankan government, fears remains.
“We do not know what will happen,” said Amala Das, a carpenter.
Asked whether the sight of the massacred bodies was the most dreadful experience in his life, he paused for a while and said: “No. This is only the second.” The first was the mysterious disappearance of his two younger brothers who were rounded up by Sri Lankan forces in 1990 along with 83 other young people from the same village.
Of their whereabouts now, Das said, “we have no clue.”
With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.
{Also on Ekklesia: Christian peace forum urges Sri Lanka ceasefire 04/07/06; Only good can overcome Sri Lanka evil, say churches; Sri Lanka religious leaders urge government and rebels to talk; Christians urged to stir up a storm in a tea cup; Millions mourn tsunami victims one year on; Christians recycle tsunami rubble; Asian churches to challenge violence against children; Christians and Buddhists should love humanity, says Cardinal; Asian Christian Theologies : Volume 1. South Asia]
Families fear continuing Sri Lanka violence
-14/07/06
In the midst of continuing violence, fear is writ large on the face of the 350 families on the islet of Allaipiddy near Jaffna, the heartland of ethnic Tamils on the northern fringe of Sri Lanka ñ writes Anto Akkara for Ecumenical News International.
The fishing village surrounded by Sri Lankan Navy camps is yet to recover from the 13 May 2006 massacre when four unidentified gunmen shot dead eight people in the house of the richest man on the island village.
Nobody in the village will speculate about who was responsible, but human rights activists assert that the Sri Lankan security forces were behind the shootings at the Christian household in an ongoing conflict that has pitted Tamil rebels against the Sri Lanka government.
“I will never forget the scene at the house,” said Chelladurai, an elderly villager who like most residents did not want to give his full name and who rushed into the shop-cum-residence after hearing the shots and saw bodies lying in pools of blood.
Asked whether the villagers had any clue regarding the identity of the gunmen, Chelladurai replied: “We do not know why they were killed and who did that.”
Septuagenarian Selvaraj, a Christian, survived the shooting spree in his two-storey house. The gunmen, however, unleashed bullets into his son, son-in-law, daughter and her two children and one of his workers along with a Christian neighbour who had come to his shop-cum-residence in the fateful evening. A family relative and a local Christian were also killed.
Except for his daughter’s family who were Roman Catholics, Selvaraj and the other family members belonged to the Ceylon Pentecostal church.
Human rights activists attribute the massacre on the island to the Sri Lankan forces that have camps all around. It is a strategic location for the security forces to ward off attacks from Tamil rebels. Nearly one million people in the north and east of Sri Lanka have been displaced following the two-decade civil war waged by the Tamil Tiger rebels seeking autonomy for ethnic Tamil majority areas. The war was supposed to have been halted by a 2002 cease-fire.
The Sri Lanka forces have rejected any involvement, but the activists claim that the massacre was linked to the refusal of Tamil shopkeepers to obey an order by the navy to keep their shops open. Tamil rebels had called for the shops to be shut as part of their campaign for autonomy. Ten minutes after the shooting in the Christian-owned store and residence, a Hindu shopkeeper nearby was also shot dead in his shop and his shop burnt by gunmen.
But the villagers never shared this story to this reporter nor the report that the gunmen asked neighbours of the Christian family to switch off lights and lock the doors before they entered Selvaraj’s house.
Within hours of the killing, almost all the families in the village took shelter in the Philip Neiri Catholic church in the island and camped there for two weeks before they were moved by international agencies to Catholic churches such as Our Lady of Refuge in Jaffna, 10 kilometres from Allaipiddy.
The majority of the villagers are Christians, most of them are Catholic with a smattering of Pentecostals, and the rest are Hindus, but in the whole country Christians are a small minority.
Though the islanders returned to their houses after assurances at the end of June from Douglas Devananda, a Tamil minister in the Sri Lankan government, fears remains.
“We do not know what will happen,” said Amala Das, a carpenter.
Asked whether the sight of the massacred bodies was the most dreadful experience in his life, he paused for a while and said: “No. This is only the second.” The first was the mysterious disappearance of his two younger brothers who were rounded up by Sri Lankan forces in 1990 along with 83 other young people from the same village.
Of their whereabouts now, Das said, “we have no clue.”
With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.
{Also on Ekklesia: Christian peace forum urges Sri Lanka ceasefire 04/07/06; Only good can overcome Sri Lanka evil, say churches; Sri Lanka religious leaders urge government and rebels to talk; Christians urged to stir up a storm in a tea cup; Millions mourn tsunami victims one year on; Christians recycle tsunami rubble; Asian churches to challenge violence against children; Christians and Buddhists should love humanity, says Cardinal; Asian Christian Theologies : Volume 1. South Asia]