{"id":98270,"date":"2020-01-25T17:55:41","date_gmt":"2020-01-26T00:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98270"},"modified":"2020-01-25T17:55:41","modified_gmt":"2020-01-26T00:55:41","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-13-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/25\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-13-e\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 13 E"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The hostage\nrescue of April 2009   deserves special\nmention. It is unique. Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera observed that no country\nin the world has won a separatist war while rescuing 300,000 people. Sri Lanka\narmy\u2019s epic hostage rescue is a feat of heroism and dedication.  Army\nofficers pointed out that the Tamil civilians owed their lives to the bravery\nof our soldiers.  But Tamil civilians have never acknowledged the efforts made by\nthe army.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka armed forces took the lead role in\nthis emergency humanitarian effort\u2019. This must be recognized. The civilians\nwere able to escape because of the assistance offered by Security Forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 58\ndivision had meticulously planned the rescue operation which was carried out\njointly with the elite army commandos and the Special Forces.  At Puthumathalan, the troops had infiltrated\nLTTE held positions along about one km long stretch and then fought their way\nout to clear a path for civilians to escape.  The   civilians had surrendered to the army by\nwalking along the Mullivaikkal road.  The\narmy had made special arrangements to receive them. The 58 Division\nset up about 40 points to welcome civilians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest escape came on 21 and 22 April\n2009   when the LTTE embankments were opened up and\nthe hostages came streaming out. Before the day was over, army had rescued\naround 80,000 civilians. By following morning 174,564 more had come in.\nHundreds of LTTE cadres had also dropped their weapons and joined the large\ncrowd fleeing across the lagoon.  \u2018It was like hitting a \u2018meevadaya\u2019, the\narmy said later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our television screens, we saw them running\neagerly towards the armed forces. We also saw how the soldiers compassionately\ncarried across the hostages who could not walk and helped others who\ncould.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nthose who crossed over to Government controlled areas received immediate care\nand attention. The army looked\nafter them. As they came in they were given a bottle of water, and immediate\nmedical attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The civilians were   then taken to the shelters prepared for\nthem. Reception centres had been established and\ndetailed preparations had been made beforehand. Government schools and institutions in\nVavuniya district with large buildings had been taken over.  One LTTEr had met her mother there.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gamini Keerawella observed that the government\nwas able to absorb the initial shock of satisfactorily providing shelters,\nwater, medical care, food supply as well as identification and registration of\nIDPs. This was a gigantic task, he said. \nAround 300,000 civilians were rescued altogether.  This figure shows the magnitude of the\noperation and the logistic support necessary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 On the whole,   said Gordon Weiss, the vast majority of\npeople who escaped seem to have been received with relative restraint and\ncare by the front-line Sri Lanka Army troops who quickly passed them up the\nline for tea, rice, and first aid. Thin, bedraggled women clutching\nchildren to their breasts and pleading in a foreign tongue, fell at their feet.\nThe front-line soldiers who received the first civilians as they escaped to\ngovernment lines, those who guarded them in the camps and the civilian and\nmilitary doctors who provided vital treatment distinguished themselves through\ntheir mercy and care.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It remains a credit to many of the front-line\nSLA soldiers that, despite odd cruel exceptions, they so often seem to have\nmade the effort to draw civilians out from the morass of fighting ahead of them\nin an attempt to save lives. Soldiers yelled out to civilians, left gaps in\ntheir lines while they waved white flags to attract people forward and bodily\nplucked the wounded from foxholes and bunkers. Troops bravely waded into the\nlagoon under fire to rescue wounded people threading their way out of the\nbattlefield or to help parents with their children, and gave their rations to\ncivilians as they lay in fields, exhausted in their first moments of safety\nafter years of living under the roar and threat of gunfire\u201d said Gordon Weiss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This hostage\nrescue was achieved at tremendous cost to the army.  The army went to the extent of taking\nlosses in a bid to minimize loss of civilian life. Soldiers lost their lives, limbs and eyesight.\nMilitary authorities repeatedly stated that the operation was done at the sacrifice of soldiers who died\nin the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nPuthumathalan t<\/em>roops cleared a path for civilians to escape.  This was done at the sacrifice of armed forces who died in the\nprocess. Troops assigned to clear civilians rushing to the government held\nareas had also done so at the risk of their lives. The earth bund behind which\nthe hostages were held was also breached at great sacrifice by the army. Many\ndied in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The navy found\nthat civilians were fleeing the battle zone in fishing crafts as well, off the\nMullaitivu coast, There was the danger that the LTTE would also come with them\nin suicide craft. But the navy at the risk of their lives helped transfer\nescaping civilians to government held areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We are being asked how we created a humane\nsoldier\u2019 said Army Commander Ratnayake. \u2019 It is not military training. It is\nour culture. In battle, you see the worst and best sides of a person. Our\nsoldiers are well balanced. They can fight battles of high intensity and then\nturn to gently helping the elderly or feeble.\u2019 He concluded \u2018I do not think\nthis is possible for the western soldier. Our soldiers are unique in that\nrespect.\u2019    (Continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The hostage rescue of April 2009   deserves special mention. It is unique. Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera observed that no country in the world has won a separatist war while rescuing 300,000 people. Sri Lanka army\u2019s epic hostage rescue is a feat of heroism and dedication.  Army officers pointed out that the Tamil civilians […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}