The soldier fights, the politician plays politics

By Kumbakarana

It is difficult for a citizen to discern the true situation with regards the Wanni debacle. On the one hand, there are the statements from the government, which underestimate the casualties, while the opposition attempts to exaggerate it.

The real situation has to be gauged by the cost in terms of life and wealth that has been expended to capture and defend the Wanni territory during the past four years. The real figures for this four year operation have been around 7000 lives and an expenditure of Rs. 100 billion from the state. All this has been multiplied by the recent loss of territory. The cost of regaining the lost territory and its maintenance would require a similar cost of life and wealth and hence the loss cannot be counted merely by numbers lost in a single battle.

For the LTTE, a prize possession would be Vavuniya. The control of this town would mean a threat to large areas of important regions such as Anuradhapura, Padawiya and Welioya basin. The fall of these important points would create an open doorway to Colombo itself.

The so-called refugee figures, composition and type have all been grossly distorted by sources doing international propaganda for the Tamil cause. Many poor Sinhala villagers have also fled the Welioya basin due to shelling by the LTTE. They have taken refuge in the Padawiya region, which is in real danger of being overrun. The LTTE has also given notice of its intention to occupy Vavuniya and as a result a few Tamil and Muslim small businessmen have decided to move southwards to Sinhala majority areas. A simple act of self-interest. It is difficult to understand how such a situation has been equated to a refugee problem and portrayed as a flight of Tamil people from Sinhala aggression.

Just as much as there is a silver lining to every dark cloud, there are lessons to be learnt from these setbacks. One could question the wisdom of capturing large tracts of jungle area and the maintenance of large military camps within artillery range of the enemy, thereby effectively spreading the armed forces in thin lines of defence. It is apparent that the fall of Pooneryn, Mullaitivu, Killinochchi and the Oddusudan-Mankulam axis occurred in the same military fashion. One could question as to whether a similar fate awaits Vavuniya, Elephant Pass- Paranthan and Welioya? Do our military commanders ever learn, from earlier military defeats?

There appears to be a defeatist attitude from the military command towards the artillery power of the LTTE. It must be recalled that the Sinhalese were able to deal effectively with the artillery of the Portuguese nearly 500 years ago. There are a number of relatively inexpensive technical solutions to the problem of artillery shelling, There are also combat strategies such as the training of soldiers. The Special Forces (SF) demonstrated these possibilities at Kanagarayankulam in the recent past.

The way to build morale is not by a set of military orders given down the line, but by re-establishing lost faith amongst the rank and file in the military command. One must consider the immense loss of morale which has been the cause as well as the result of these military defeats. There is on the one hand a loss of confidence amidst the civilian population towards the armed forces and break down of morale amidst the troops themselves. There are many reasons for these psychological setbacks. In a sense the peace mongers would be happy at the break down of the will to do battle, due to loss of morale.

It must be noted that the affluent in Colombo are planning a number of extravaganzas to usher in a change of dates, ie. The Millennium. I think that given the suffering and deprivation faced by people of all communities, it would be better for everyone's morale if on 31st night, they visited the Wanni and not the Colombo Hilton.

Political leadership of both major parties should realise the danger of vacillating politics and that armed forces in time of war are not there to be used for petty political gain. The war is not to be stop-started at the behest of the politician.The politician may lead, but he/she must understand that they are the servants of the people.

Poorest of the poor are suffering, say Bishops

By Hiranthi Fernando

On Thursday, a group of Catholic Bishops visited Madhu Church, which had recently been attacked by the LTTE. The Archbishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. Nicholas Marcus Fernando, the Papal Nuncio, Bishop Oswald Gomis of Anuradhapura, and Bishop Malcolm Ranjith of Ratnapura were met by Bishop Rayappu Joseph of Mannar, who was already at Madhu. Fr. Devaraja, Director of SEDEC also accompanied the Bishops.

"We wanted to see how we could help the refugees and also see the scene at the church', said Bishop Oswald Gomis', when The Sunday Times spoke to him on his return. Bishop Gomis said the sacred area is now free of both the Army and the LTTE. Refugees are still rushing in to Madhu. At the time of the incident last Saturday, there were approximately 3000 refugees. Now there are over 5,000, because there is still fighting on the west of Madhu.

"Even yesterday, when we were conducting a prayer service in the church at 2.45 p.m., we could hear the shelling clearly. The soldiers are at Madhu Road junction. There is a camp occupied by soldiers on the Madhu Road and they are controlling the area'.

When the attack on Madhu occurred last Saturday, refugees were sleeping in the main church as well as the Sacred Heart Chapel, ten feet away, the Bishop said. The shell had torn the roof off and fallen on the refugees who were huddled together in the chapel. "It was pathetic," Bishop Gomis said. " Forty one died, among them 16 were children. Sixty were injured. One mother lost all her four children. She too was injured and hospitalised. There are two mass graves, where the dead have been buried. The bodies were taken to Mannar for the post mortem and brought back to Madhu for the burial," he said.

Bishop Rayappu Joseph had got the coffins made by carpenters at the Bishop's House in Mannar and attended to the funerals, which took place on Monday. Three shells had also fallen on the Convent in the Madhu Camp but fortunately the nuns were all in the parlour at the time and no one was injured.

According to Bishop Gomis, nobody really knows what happened that night because it was in the night. The LTTE had been at Palampiddi, close to the Madhu Camp. The shelling came from there.

"The approach road between Madhu Road and the Madhu church is now quite lonely. There may be soldiers and LTTE in ambush, but you do not see them. As it is now, the Army has cleared the place of the LTTE. It is more or less an abandoned area now. People are concentrated in the Madhu Camp because there is shelling going on around the villages west of Madhu," he said.

Bishop Gomis said the Bishop of Mannar had done a lot to help the refugees. They are trying to send food there. They are also trying to get help through the Red Cross. SEDEC had been the first to go to the aid of the refugees. UNHCR is also active there. On the government side, the Assistant Government Agent's office in the Madhu Camp is still functioning.

Fortunately, Madhu Church camp has a certain amount of basic facilities such as toilets since it has catered for 100,000 to 200,000 pilgrims during festivals, Bishop Gomis explained. "However, there are 5,000 refugees and they keep on increasing as the war expands. They have no food, clothing or money. They have come only with what they can carry. To make matters worse the rainy season is coming on. The refugees are now utilising the houses and pilgrims' rests in the camp," he said.

The road from Medawachchiya to Madhu Road is now closed to civilians, since it is not considered safe. They have to take the road through Vavuniya. "The refugees are mostly poor and helpless", Bishop Gomis said. "They have no money to get out of the area so they run from one side to the other. They are caught up in the war situation. Many of them have had to abandon their cultivation and flee".

"Even the soldiers feel bad about the situation. People who pontificate in Colombo don't know what is happening at ground level. It is the poorest of the poor who are being killed. Our soldiers too are mostly children of poor parents. It is a multiplication of sorrow for no rhyme or reason," the Bishop lamented.

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