Waging their own little battles

Relieved to be back home, the internally displaced villagers of Vakarai now face the dilemma of rebuilding their lives

By N.Dilshath Banu from Vakarai

After driving through stretches of open areas and thick forest we reached the resettlement area in Vakarai. There are the all too familiar signs of the recent battles fought between the Armed forces and the LTTE. There are the craters formed by shell attacks, burnt and withered trees, damaged homes and burnt and abandoned LTTE bunkers made of palmyrah logs. The one time LTTE cemetery “Maveerar Thuyilum illam” has now been turned into a coconut cultivation. Karuna cadres, mostly clad in civvies are ever present.

Those resettled in temporary tents are now waging a battle to bring back normality to their lives. After being displaced for more than a month, 30 year-old Irasalingam Sarveswaran, from Vammivattavan, in Vakarai is starting life all over again.

“We have virtually come back to nothing. Shells have pierced the roof of my house and it is on the verge of collapsing. Most of the things including my fishing net, solar power antennas and utensils have been looted. Only the sewing machine that was partly damaged has been spared.

Like Sarveswaran, many others who had locked up valuables in their homes before fleeing were shocked to find that their homes had been looted. However, those who had buried their valuables were able to recover them.

“We brought the tent that we used when we were displaced and we are using it as a kitchen while we sleep in a small hut that we have put up close to our damaged home. Though our lives won’t be the same we are happy to be back so that we can start rebuilding our lives. We have no security fears now,” Sarveswaran said.

Twenty year old V. Sathiseela, also from the same village said her house had been damaged by shells. “Our livelihoods have been badly affected. We lost everything we once had. Now we have put up a small boutique that brings us a little money just to survive. At this point the thought of living a normal life is almost unimaginable,” Sathiseela lamented.

V. Santhira Gopal, a fish vendor who lives close to the Panichankerny Bridge said he feels safe now and that his main concern was to rebuild his livelihood. “I have no security fears, but after the displacement of people not many come to buy fish,” he said.

A few kilometres away some fishermen are heading towards the sea with their canoes. One of them who did not want to be identified said, “As we cannot go to sea at night, we have to finish everything during the day. We have to sell some of the fish we catch to Karuna cadres at half the price. We could sell more if we could sell outside our village. But there are various regulations regarding this.

Vakarai’s civil coordinator Major Berty Perera said so far he had not got any complaints from the fishermen. He agreed that Vakarai fishermen could earn more if they sold in areas outside Vakarai including areas such as Mankerny and Valachenai.

Elayathambi Selvarasa, 34-year-old fisherman from Palchanai is trying to pick up his life for the second time, the first time being after the tsunami.

“Our village was affected by the tsunami and when the waves hit the shore, I picked up my boat and ran for dear life. Though our house was destroyed, I had my boat with me and was able to get back on my feet again. But when the shells began to rain on our village I fled leaving my boat on the shore. When I returned it was still there but slightly damaged. I was able to repair it and I am back again at sea. The problem is getting a good price for the fish,” he said.

Most of the houses in Vakarai had been damaged in the tsunami. With the assistance of NGOs some houses had been completely rebuilt, others were in the process of being built when the war struck, damaging those houses once again.

The residents of Kathiraveli, the border village of Batticaloa District will always remember the horrific incident in November when shells rained on a school that was housing internally displaced people. Though six months have passed, the debris from the destruction had not yet been cleared and some parts of the school still bore marks of that fateful day.

Grade six student C. Kokulatheepan, was in the vicinity with his sister and some friends, “I like to go to school. A few of us have been given uniforms and books and we have been able to study. It’s good to come back home, but I feel sad when I think that some of my friends are no more.”

Yamuna Rani a mother of two and a resident of Kathiraveli has been displaced many times within Kathiraveli itself and she is fearful of the future.

“Though the army is providing security, sometimes I fear we will be displaced once again. I have sold all my jewellery to be able to survive with my two children,” she said.

She says she can still recall the sound of falling shells, the cries of those who fell victim to them and the agony of displacement. “If there’s another displacement I’d rather die here on this soil with my children than go through any more displacement.