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Fr. Miller passes away
View(s):The American Jesuit priest, Father Benjamin Henry Miller, who documented thousands of cases of human rights violations during the conflict, has died at the age of 93. He came to Sri Lanka in September 1948, just after the country gained independence. He taught physics, history and English and coached the soccer team of St. Michael’s College, Batticaloa. He was also the rector of the college from 1959 to 1970.
Fr. Miller: Service to the people was his motto
As a Batticaloa area parish priest, Fr. Miller learned Tamil and went beyond his duties to build bridges between communities as educator, priest, protector and witness. When civil war erupted in Sri Lanka, Fr. Miller became a defender of human rights and protector of civilians. He spoke out against the Government, security forces and militant groups, including the LTTE.
Fr. Miller rode around on his motorcycle in increasingly dangerous conditions to collect reports on abductions, disappearances, killings, arrests, child recruitment, forced displacements, communal tensions, violence and rape in Batticaloa. He also founded the Batticaloa Peace Committee (BPC), which provided a safe space for relatives of those disappeared. The Committee advised the people on legal procedures to protect the detainees. Amara Hapuarachchi, who worked closely with Fr. Miller, said that he often forced the authorities to issue receipts to families as evidence of arrest.
Fr. Miller established the Council of Religions for community leaders and religious figures for a dialogue with each other. He set up a branch of the Federation of the Red Cross and, as a Rotarian, served as its president as well as on the National Rotary Council for Peace and Harmony. The National Peace Council (NPC) presented him the Citizens Peace Award in 2014.
During the ceasefire in 2002, the Sri Lankan Government appointed him to be its nominee to monitor the agreement between the Government and the LTTE.