KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Government of Sri Lanka defeated the LTTE in Eelam war IV on 18th May 2009. There was a spontaneous outpouring of joy at the crushing defeat of the ‘invincible army’. People showed their joy island wide. The entire island erupted in jubilation.  On 22nd May an estimated 150,000 people converged on Colombo for a mass celebration. They came from all parts of the country, including remote villages. Senior citizens, toddlers and   disabled persons took part in the celebrations.

President Rajapakse held a banquet for the officers of the armed forces. Journalists who had reported on the war were felicitated by the Thunhela National Movement. There was all night pirit at Sri Lanka embassy in Moscow, to invoke blessings on President, government, citizens and the war heroes. Monks were conducted to the venue in a colorful perahera.

The victory celebrations had started well before the war ended in May 2009. The public watched the war closely on the website run by the Defence ministry. When Kilinochchi, the headquarters of the LTTE fell on 2nd January, the website received 13 million hits within a few hours, the highest number of hits ever received by a locally hosted website. The public knew the importance of Kilinochchi.There were firecrackers throughout the country. The loudest crackers I heard at my home were for Kilinochchi.

Three days later, citizens across the country hoisted national flags and observed two minutes silence for the fallen heroes of Kilinochchi. A large crowd including Buddhist monks, gathered as the entrance to Parliament to praise the security forces for taking Kilinochchi. In Akuressa town, they celebrated with kiribath made of 500 kilos of rice.

In Nuwara Eliya they gathered in the town, chanted slogans praising the soldiers, let off a 150 meter line of fire crackers and listened to the Maha sangha at the Post Office. In all state schools pupils observed two minutes silence.  In Kandy, teachers and pupils went in procession along Dalada veediya and gathered before the Dalada Maligawa. Academic and non academic staff of University of Peradeniya observed two minutes silence. Unichela garment factory workers at Pannala   sang the national anthem and observed two minutes silence for Kilinochchi.

Durand Appuhamy observed that the victory celebrations in May 2009 were spontaneous. The sense of liberation and gratitude was so overwhelming that it needed spontaneous celebrations, with dansalas and kiribath at street parties, he said. It was an instinctive appreciation of the work of the armed forces. Why should one restrain such joy?  Why people cannot give vent to their emotions in a positive way, he asked.

N.A. de S Amaratunga said Sinhala nationalism has a history of self preservation rather than aggression.  It is this sense of nationalism that is on display in the celebrations, ‘resisting successfully everything that Tami separatism could throw at it locally and internationally’.

Nalin de Silva observed that Eelam War IV was undoubtedly a great victory. The government of a small country had defeated a terrorist outfit supported and

sponsored by the western powers. Col. C.R.Hariharan said LTTE has been outwitted, out-gunned and out-strategized by the Sri Lanka army, this must be accepted.

Dayan Jayatilleke said that by defeating the Tigers so completely and utterly, Sri Lanka and its armed forces made a contribution to regional and global security. ‘We have got

precious little thanks for making the region a little safer’ he added. Gotabhaya Rajapakse suggested that other countries facing terrorism should follow Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had shown that terrorism could be defeated.

As soon as the war ended Ananda College, Royal College, and Thurstan College, Colombo had ceremonies to honor past pupils who fell in the war. Before that Thurstan College had commemorated their war heroes with a monument on 11.1. 2009. The newspaper carried photos of those who had fallen in war.

Ananda College proudly noted that in Eelam War IV, the secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Army commander Sarath Fonseka, Navy commander Wasantha Karannagoda, Civil Defence force director, Sarath Weerasekera and the commanders of the 53, 55, 57, and 59 brigades were from Ananda. The name of all old Ananda war heroes are inscribing the war memorial erected at school premises.

The Eelam victory continued to be remembered. In 2014 the Sri Lanka Consulate in Sydney, Australia honored the army for liberating Sri Lanka. Colonel Atureliya who delivered the Ranaviru commemoration speech said that their victory would not have been possible if not for the brave soldiers. They must never forget the heroic sons and daughters who laid down their lives. One has to live in the precincts of war, hear the explosions see the carnage, hear the cries of the injured, see human flesh dangling from heights, brains scattered, the damage to property, the sirens of ambulances to understand what it was like. ’

When Ananda celebrated its 125th anniversary, in Nov 2011, mention was again made of the ‘erudite and patriotic citizens produced by Ananda and the thousands of heroes to the armed forces who fought in 2009.  In 2013 Nalanda Vidyalaya OBA had a commemoration ceremony for its war heroes.

Sinharaja Tammita Delgoda said one of the most strking things about Eelam War IV was the chorus of derision and condemnation in which the operation was conducted. No other fighting force had faced this kind of ridicule during a campaign. Bogollagama noted that the war was fought in an unhelpful and hostile background.  The army was winning, but it was publicly ridiculed by a section of the political elite.  But this did not deter the armed forces. They were determined to win.

Certain sections of the media supported Eelam. They said that LTTE could not be militarily defeated, the army could not hold liberated areas, and the ‘international community’ would not allow the government to defeat the LTTE. The Eelam war was categorized as an unwinnable war.  The media protested when INGOs, NGOs, and UN agencies were asked to leave LTTE held territory and alleged that the Sri Lanka Air Force had used cluster ammunition and had targeted civilians including schools. ‘It was a shock to them that the LTTE was defeated on its own territory,’

On May 18, 2009, Sri Lanka ended the decades long civil war. The day after, May 19, was celebrated as Victory Day” and marked with military parades. The celebrations of the first victory day were presided over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose government won the war. There were annual victory day celebrations thereafter, in the month of May.  From 2010-2013 they were held at Galle Face, Colombo. In 2014 and 2015, at Matara . In 2016 and 2017, under Yahapalana at the headquarters of the Armed Forces, Battaramulla. Addressing victory day celebration at Matara, in 2014 President said the celebrating this great victory is a duty of a grateful nation. Freedom was bought through the sacrifice of thousands of lives.

‘Victory Day’ in Sri Lanka  however, was seen as an expression of ‘Sinhala triumphalism’. The victory celebrations in 2009 and after were criticised as ‘triumphalism’. Kumar David titled his weekly essay ‘Sinhala nationalism’s triumphal moment.’’ Sri Lanka was asked not to engage in triumphalism. Eelamists were upset about Sinhala ‘triumphalism’ because the LTTE lost, said anti-Eelamists. ‘In their despair, they are arbitrarily pinning on the Sinhalese a non-existent ‘triumphalism’. Among the Eelamists, there was open resentment of what they called Sinhala triumphalism. Tamils felt conquered, observed Shamindra Ferdinando. They were not prepared to accept the defeat.

Anti-Eelamists pointed out that the Eelamists had also shown ‘triumphalism’ whenever the LTTE won. ‘When they bombed Central Bank the LTTE were jubilant, in ecstatic mood, said naval officer Boyagoda who had been a prisoner in Jaffna at the time. It was one of the most successful and symbolically significant attacks the LTTE had ever made.

Then came the Mullaitivu debacle. As usual our jailer looked happy and told us the story, said Boyagoda. The Tigers had completely destroyed the military camp at Mullaitivu, 1200 government troops were killed. When something good happened they were ready to talk, when there were reversals they moody and monosyllabic, such as the Welioya incident where the Tigers were killed.

The victory monuments erected to mark significant battles, such as Muhamalai, and heroic deeds such as that of the Hasalaka hero, were also interpreted as ‘triumphalism’. Channel Four said ‘nothing so describes the arrogance of power as the vast and brutal war memorials celebrating the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, boasting of the army’s heroism and patriotism in defeating what they call the Terrorists”

This ‘Sinhala triumphalism’ was viewed with great concern by the Tamil seperaist movment. It showed a strengthening of Sinhala resistance to their bogus separatist claims.  Therefore, they got it included in the two UN reports that inquired into war crimes in Sri Lanka. ‘The Government celebrated its military victory in a triumphalist way’ said the OISL Report (2015).

There were several issues, which if left un-addressed will hamper future peace, said the Darusman Report (2011). Most notably, these include triumphalism on the part of the Government  expressed through its discourse on the means and will to defeat “terrorism”, and thus end Tamil aspirations for political, autonomy and recognition, and its denial regarding the human cost of its military strategy, by which they mean ‘war crimes’.”

‘Victory Day’ celebrations were opposed by those who supported Eelam. They questioned the annual Victory Parade. President Rajapaksa observed in 2011 ‘some of our opponents critique us for celebrating Sri Lanka’s victory over terrorism. They don’t want us to hold military parades, they allege we are exploiting the war victory for political gain and they demand that we stop recalling war victory’.

What is wrong with a Victory Day,   asked the anti-Eelamists. Victory days are celebrated all over the world to ensure that memories of a just struggle are not forgotten. Russia  annually celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany.  World War II Victory Day was still celebrated in Europe said analysts. No one speaks of triumphalism regarding these events. The Eelamists replied that WWII is commemorated because it was a war between sovereign states, but the Eelam is a ‘home and home quarrel’ and should be forgotten as soon as it is over.

In 2010 Tamil National Alliance wanted the Tamils to mourn Victory day, as a day of catastrophe”, a day of mass murder, genocide. Dayan Jayatilleke said that victory day was just that, it was ‘victory day’. It cannot be also a day of mourning. It commemorates a historically significant triumph over a cruel foe. The heroism the armed forces and our citizens who did not capitulate to terrorism and separatism. It celebrates the spirit of resistance of our nation. It salutes the memory of the service of the soldier sailors and airmen and their families. It was a glorious day of liberation and reunification of a divide state. It must stand alone.

Those who couldn’t stomach Sri Lanka’s victory over the LTTE resorted to various tactics to undermine the victory. Priyan Dias queried whether there is a need for rewards and punishments after a war. ‘One has to weep genuinely for the fallen enemies’.  Don’t the defeated have the right to mourn their dead? The north has a right to mourn their war heroes and even commemorate them as the government does in the south. It was implied that Eelam was legitimate and the Sri Lanka army should not be in the north. Also that the May 2009 victory was not a genuine victory. It was a spurious victory.  It was a victory full of war crimes.

Canada in 2014 demanded the cancellation of the victory parade, on behalf of all those, who had been pursuing war crimes allegations, against the Sri Lankan military. Sri Lanka quite rightly rejected this as blatant Canadian interference in purely a domestic matter, said Shamindra.

Canada then declared that it would not attend the victory parade. Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo, sent a strongly worded statement, saying that five years after the end of the conflict, the time has arrived for Sri Lanka to move past wartime discourse and to start working seriously towards reconciliation. Canada has encouraged the Government of Sri Lanka to retire its annual Victory Day Parade, which perpetuates roles of victors and vanquished within the country, for a day of remembrance for all those who suffered as a result of the conflict.

The Yahapalana government, being a puppet government, agreed with this line of thought and promptly cancelled the Victory Day parade. The parade was converted to a remembrance day for both sides, GOSL and LTTE. The 18 of May 2015 will be commemorated by all as a turning point, Yahapalana said.

Yahapalana celebrated Remembrance Day at Battaramulla. The move from Colombo and Matara to Battaramulla, a suburb of Colombo indicated a desire to downplay the event, and perhaps eliminate it altogether, thus erasing the victory completely. However, the ‘Pohottu’ victory of February 2018 put an end to this plan. The Victory celebrations   were resumed.

The 2018 National War Heroes Day celebration was at the War Heroes Memorial opposite the parliamentary complex. President Maitripala Sirisena tweeted, expresses his deepest gratitude to all Sri Lankan war heroes on this National War Heroes Commemoration Day”.Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa tweeted saying nine years ago, Sri Lanka became free from the terrorism of the LTTE and says we must remember and honour the brave members of our military and their families who sacrificed so much for us to be able to live in peace”.

Events were organized in many other places to mark this event. A special event took place at Gajaba Regimental Centre Army Camp in Saliyapura, Anuradhapura to remember the war heroes. The event took place under the auspices of Major General Shavendra Silva.Another event to remember those killed in the fighting took place in Wellamullivaikkal, Mullaitivu. The event saw the participation of students from University of Jaffna, Northern Province Chief Minister and several other politicians.The 58th Division of the Sri Lanka Army provided refreshments through a Dansala to the people who attended this event. MP Wimal Weerawansa presided over a remembrance event at Panaduwa Malamulla War Heroes Memorial. . Victory Day was back.

‘Sinhala triumphalism’ did not pop up overnight. There was a long history behind it. The progress of the war was watched carefully and the achievements of the   armed forces were celebrated well before the final victory. In 2007 residents of Siriwardene Road, Dehiwela, Colombo felicitated the armed forces at a ceremony. They had made arrangements to donate crutches to disabled solders.

There was long standing opposition to the LTTE. In 2010 a group of Sirasa employees had contacted Island after Sirasa management declined to report the LTTE seizure of a stock of relief items collected by the media to be distributed among people affected by the Tsunami.

A large cross section of Sri Lankans from all walks of life demonstrated before Houses of Parliament, London in 2007 against the British MPs who had formed a group all the All Parliamentary Group of Tamils (APPGT). The protest was organized by the ‘Action group on Sri Lanka –UK’. In the same year, Sri Lankans in Italy with support of Italian Buddhists staged an anti-LTTE demonstration in Sicily. In 2008 a group of Buddhist monks handed over a petition to the Indian High Commission, Colombo, asking the Government of India not to interfere with the ongoing military campaign.

There was support for the war from persons outside the military. Several  medical specialists from Colombo , including Drs. Roshnara Gunaratne, Michael and Kamalika Abeyratne, Narendra and Hiranthi Wijemanne  and Mohan de Silva   had offered to come and treat the wounded in Vadamarachchi operation. 1987. Consultant anesthetist Dr. B.S. Perera    returned to Sri Lanka from Australia in 1994 and worked at the Military hospital from 1997 to 2000 and donated his full remuneration to the National Defence Fund and the Kobbekaduwa Trust Fund.

In 2008 Tamara Nilkanthi Katuwawela donated one lakh to Ministry of Defense to help with the war. The money was initially for her parent’s trip to India, but they decided to donate the money to this cause. In the same year, the father and family members of Gajaba regiment Lance corporal Indika Pathmaruwan Gamage who died in action, at Mavil Aru, donated 3 lakhs to the ‘Api wenuwen Api’ fund.

In 2009 a prison inmate named Sita Kumarihamy had won first prise of Rs. 20,000 for her poem in an all island poetry competition and she had donated it to the Ranaviru seva authority for the welfare of war heroes.  In 2013 the parents of Lt Commander Prabath Jayawardene who died in action, donated one acre land in Ja-ela to the navy who built 23 houses in it for married naval officers.

The desire to fight was not confined to the army. In 2007 two bhikkshus, Ven Halloluwe Vijitha and Ven Bambarande Gnananda gave up robes and joined the army.  In 2008 young men and women in Buttala and Tanamalvila volunteered to join the Civil Defence Force in Monaragala district to provide security to the civilians of villages and assist in tracking down the LTTE cadres who blew up a bus and attacked villages in the district.   Two minor employees of Sri Lanka Ports Authority detected two frogmen carrying explosives near the Jaya container Terminal. They alerted authorities and prevented an attack on Colombo Port in 1996. .

‘Sinhala triumphalism’ had something else to be triumphant about, the Sri Lanka army’s epic hostage rescue. This is considered a feat of heroism and dedication. At the final stage of Eelam War IV the Sri Lanka army rescued a huge number of hostages held by the LTTE .The Defence Ministry called it the world’s largest hostage rescue mission. This rescue started in April, 2009 and ended in May 2009. Around 300,000 civilians were rescued.

This magnificent rescue has not been given the recognition it deserves. Sarath Amunugama commented that more publicity should have been given to this heroic rescue operation, particularly the operation at Puthumathalan at the final stage.  our forces were able to cross the Nanthikadal lagoon, take the opposite bank, go past the man groves, reach the bund and allow those forcibly held by the LTTE to cross over. The hostages came streaming out. ‘It was like hitting a ‘meevadaya’.

Can any other country boast of a comparable rescue, concerned observers asked. ‘Why is Sri Lanka army’s epic hostage rescue ignored.  Foreign military officers who attended the international seminar ‘Defeating terrorism, Sri Lanka experience’ in 2012, said that Sri Lanka armed forces were among the best in the world specially considering the way they handled this hostage operation.

LTTE delayed its defeat for four months, by hiding behind 200,000 Tamils as hostages. They took these hostages first to Mulangavil, then Kilinochchi, Dharmapuram, Vishvamadu and finally Puthumathalan from where they were rescued by the army. At Puthumathalan, the troops had infiltrated LTTE held positions along about one km long stretch and then fought their way out to clear a path for civilians to escape.

The army prepared carefully for the rescue operation. One unit was to cross the lagoon, while other units captured a three kilometer long earth bund on the banks of the lagoon. They were to launch their operations from three directions, then link up. The divisions rehearsed about 30 times, including at night, with emphasis on crossing the lagoon.

Commando and Special Forces carried out several deception drills and targeted the weakest section of the earth bund. The Infantry   dug trenches in the No fire Zone, crawled in and waited for orders. The army crossed the lagoon at midnight of April 20, 2009 using rafts built of local material. They suffered casualties but still crossed the lagoon. Thereafter, the Commandos attacked from one side, Special Forces from another side and the rest of the army infiltrated in between. The intention was to confuse the LTTE, so that a safe route could be opened for civilians to cross the lagoon.

An officer recalled that opening the safe route was like hitting a ‘meevadaya’. Before the day was over, army had rescued around 80,000 civilians including the parents of Prabhakaran and Daya Master. By following morning 174,564 more had come in. The 58 division set up about 40 points to welcome civilians. Hundreds of LTTE cadres had dropped their weapons and joined the large crowd fleeing across the lagoon. The LTTE had fired heavy machine guns at the fleeing civilians. When the civilians stepped into the lagoon to avoid the gunfire, three LTTE cadres ran to them and exploded themselves”.

When the heavily mined LTTE embankments were opened up, the hostages came streaming into the army lines for safety. We saw this on television. We also saw how the soldiers compassionately carried across the hostages who could not walk and helped others who could.  The civilians were then counted, registered and taken to the shelters prepared for them. They were not abandoned. The army looked after them.

Influx was 80,000 people on first day and 100,000 in the week that followed.  Government took all government schools and institutions in Vavuniya district with large buildings and      accommodated IDPs in 28 centers. And then transferred them to Menik Farm. Menik Farm was selected   as the main center. it was only 22 km away from Vavuniya town. 85-100 acres of Menik farm was cleared for the purpose. IDPs were processed and accommodated.  families were kept together as far as possible.

The refugees had to be provided with food, and shelter, and medical attention. the Sri Lanka armed forces took the lead role in this emergency humanitarian effort.    They were transported to safe areas, with 5-7 days.

Government took responsibility for the management of the welfare villages and took full control over all activities. The contribution of the Sri Lanka army in overall management supervision and maintenance of security has been a major contributory factor.   The villages had healthcare centers, schools primary schools community kitchens, tube wells, water tanks, welfare shops banks etc. and place of religious worship. Many organization and individuals from elsewhere in the country spontaneously and overwhelmingly responded by making donations of water, food and non food items.  The IDPs were to be sent back to their original homes and Sri Lanka army to be a partner in the resettlement process.

The hostage rescue and the’ triumphalism’ was followed by another Sinhala gesture, which could be called ‘Sinhala Generosity’. This’ Sinhala Generosity ’has not received the publicity it deserves.The Sinhalese in the south helped the Tamils in refugee camps by rushing essential items. Rajapaksa in interview with N. Ram, of the Hindu, in July 2009  said , ‘the mothers of our soldiers – some of them though their sons had been killed by the LTTE – when we told them that Tamil civilians fleeing the LTTE were coming and we must send them food and meet their other basic needs, these mothers contributed. The mothers of ex-soldiers contributed. Bhikkus contributed,  but not the Tamil business men. I had to remind them, shout at them, plead with them to get their support,

The Sinhalese did not fail to observe that the Tamils in the island were very slow to help, said an analyst. (Island Mid Week Rev 26.8.2009 p 1.) As late as 2011, President Rajapaksa complained publicly that not a single member of the so called Tamil Diaspora shouting in foreign countries to protect the rights of Tamils, has donated a single dollar for the welfare of Tamils in Sri Lanka. He was speaking at the commissioning of the ‘Kokavil Multi-purpose transmission tower at Kokavil in Kilinochchi

From mid 2008 civilians were entering government controlled territory. Ven. Udugama Sri Buddharakkhita, Mahanayake of Asgiriya chapter, along with Anunanayake Ven. Galagama Aththadssi and Ven. Dematuluwe Sumanagala had visited refugee camps in Vavuniya in February 2009 and provided the inmates with food, clothes, and other essential items. Ven. Sumangala who knew Tamil delivered a sermon in Tamil. The inmates said they had never seen a Buddhist monk in the flesh before.

Amidst the ‘triumphalism’ there was also much deep, lasting sorrow. The mothers who lost their sons in the army are still crying. The newspapers carry photos of them weeping at commemoration ceremonies and when they see their sons’ names on the plaques of those who died. Newspaper show photos of mother and grandmothers looking sadly at these plaques. In 2013 Nalanda Vidyalaya OBA had a commemoration ceremony for its war heroes, the photo showed a grieving mother touching the plaque erected in memory of the fallen heroes.

At the annual Ranaviru celebration in 2018 Island ran a photograph of a grandmother showing her granddaughter the photograph of her father at the commemoration of persons killed in action, held at Air force training ground at Ekala in July 2018. Derana news, June or July 2018, ran a quick shot of a mother weeping and calling out ‘ane mage puthe’ at the commemoration.

In 2008 families of fallen Sinha regiment soldiers gathered at Ambepussa headquarters to commemorate the soldiers, giving pride of place to next of kin. Each flag depicted a fallen soldier. The event, organized for the 24th consecutive year, transferred merit to 143 officers and 3719 other rankers ‘who made the supreme sacrifice while defending the country’s territorial integrity’.

Sinhala triumphalism was followed by instances of heartwarming Sinhala loyalty. There are many stories of faithfulness towards crippled soldiers, One soldier, Ravindra Rupasinghe was blinded and had both arms and one leg blown off in a min explosion during an army operant in Parayanakulama, Mannar in 1998 His girl friend stayed with him, married him and have three children, They live in Horowopotana facing great economic difficulties They have been gifted a trishaw to get about, the wife is driving it (2013)/

A soldier disabled and paralyzed form waist down married his love of 11 years, who had heard that he was at Ranaviru Sevana after the injury and went to see him. The marriage got publicity in the papers. (2014) Daily News and Island ran photos of the wedding of another soldier disabled in the hostage operation. He is blind and has lost an arm (2012).

(Concluded)