While we were leaving the political wing of the LTTE, I thought rather than leaving for south straightaway to visit a relative of mine somewhere near the Iranaimadu Tank and introduce Steffani and others so that they could regain their cordiality.
The way towards the Iranaimadu tank was full of a scenic beauty, and once again I was lost in contemplation. The rural area always has its own rich serene beauty. The canal which takes the overflowing water from the Iranaimadu tank to the Jaffna Lagoon, has its own splendour. Some of the jungle birds used to fish in the canal hiding in the bushes along the slope of the canal and it was thrilling to watch them in the act of fishing.
When we reached the house, the infant child of my relative was lying on the front verandah which had more ventilation and the dust raised by our vehicle was blowing toward the little infant. Steffani, a German Praktikum (Internship) student and others were shocked for a while.
I introduced them to my relatives and when they told of our plight the previous night they were shocked and asked me why I did not bring them to their residence to spend the night. Steffani spent more time in tending the little infant and hugging her. The mother of the infant was fascinated by this and started to video the event with a small cam hoarder. I was very happy that at least Steffani had cooled down after all.
After a brief a stay which reflected a combination of Asian and European ways of hospitality and affection, our journey started once again towards the south.
We were moving towards the Iranaimadu Tank area. Our jungle-bound journey was to prove memorable. Moving along the gravel passage made the vehicle bob up and down all the way.
Though it was almost noon, wild birds were crossing the passage from both sides of the bushes.
While we were turning into the Iranaimadu Tank area, we could see that the area was well guarded by the LTTE. There was speculation as to whether the LTTE Air Force Wing's runway was near the Tank.
They were trying to stop the vehicle, but never did on seeing the European faces inside it. But there was a surprise in their faces. They were wondering as to what made these Europeans come all the way into the interior of a highly restricted rebel-held area.
We turned into the corner which was almost V-shaped and our journey was again towards the Alpha-Nine highway. Steffani and Romy were gazing at the wondrous jungle there.
While we were going through the Alpha-Nine highway the driver who was unaccustomed to that area as it was his first visit to the LTTE-controlled area drove all the way at high speed. Somewhere before we reached the LTTE barrier, we were stopped by the LTTE traffic police who were hiding behind a tree. They might have used a speedometer and spoke of us having broken the speed limit.
They questioned whether we didn't observe the sign board which was few meters away. Though we said it was the driver's first visit into the LTTE-controlled area, they refused to excuse us. Finally we had to pay a fine for breaking the speed limit. Steffani was little upset, why we didn't observe the sign board. She did not hesitate to express what she felt at any time on our mission.
We didn't have as many problems crossing the LTTE and Sri Lankan Army barriers. Our journey was continuing without any stop-over and still Steffani was moody over our failure to undertake the survey in the LTTE-controlled areas.
It was too hard for me to explain to her the complexity of the LTTE administrative issues and the way they were taking decisions at times.
Showing posts with label LTTE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LTTE. Show all posts
Friday, December 21, 2007
German Memory in Asia - A Night in the Rebel-Held Jungle
We were moving towards the political office in Kilinochchi passing the Finance Division and stopped near the "Pandyan" restaurant for dinner.
As I had come with on our previous trip with the German Praktikum (Internship) students, when I was moving towards the restaurant front entrance, the earlier incidents came to my memory. There were sweet memories to be recalled over and over again.
When we were seated, I watched there were a few European ladies and a lady with an infant having dinner at the next table. The staff of the restaurant amused the infant with many pleasantries. Steffani was trying to smell out who these European ladies were.
She might have guessed already that they were probably from Germany or around and tried to confirm her guess by observing their lip movements to identify in which language they were speaking.
She said at one point they were speaking German and approached them and had a good chat.
When we walked into the garden after having our dinner I found a number of Europeans who were working in the various NGOs, entering the restaurant.
Once again our journey in the jungle highway started with our witnessing the nearly stone-age life-style and the strange silence everywhere. The twinkling lights from chimney lamps in the houses were a reminder of the people who were undergoing various hardships in the war-ravaged areas which could be hardly expressed in words.
It was only when we met the LTTE media coordinator and its spokesman that I realized the difficulty we were to face in undertaking such a survey in the LTTE - controlled areas. The prominent columnist and a Pro- Tamil nationalist Sivaram's murder had put everyone in a sad mood in Kilinochchi. They had forgotten to arrange accommodation for us and the alternative accommodation after many failed attempts was congested and far from comfortable.
The rooms had been by occupied by many foreigners, leaving us only one room with a broken bed. We were truly in a mess and as it was late in the night we had no option other than staying there.
Steffani was running here and there as the leader of our team and decided who and who should sleep where and told the driver should take the room for the night. It was such interesting to see Steffani who was in her early twenties acting as commander in the isolated deep rural jungle surrounded by LTTE-controlled areas as though she did things at her home. She was at times shouting at me saying it was my fault for ending up here for the night. Steffani decided to stay in the van and I went to sleep in the hall and Romy and Yong in the front veranda which they preferred as there was more ventilation.
The Jaffna Lagoon's mild wind wafting from the jungle soothed my mind and drifted me into sleep.
The place where we were spending the night was just close to where the Irish-American Area Director of CARE International was staying.
I could recall an incident vividly. At times we used to have meetings with dinner at her residence when there were officials visiting from CARE head office in Colombo or from overseas. Once a visiting evaluation team had come and I had an unforgettable experience with a Scottish young lady while at dinner. She was such interesting person and in her late twenties but a little aggressive when our discussion touched on Scottish issues in medieval times.
She burst out at once, placing her palm on my chest, told how the Scottish people had been deprived by the then English rulers some centuries ago and asked me whether I would accept that. I was shocked by her emotional outburst and was able to imagine to what extent the Scottish people had been affected by the practices of various atrocities by the English Lords.
I couldn't reconcile myself to the practice of newly married Scottish brides spending their first night with English Lords instead of their newly-married husbands.
As I had come with on our previous trip with the German Praktikum (Internship) students, when I was moving towards the restaurant front entrance, the earlier incidents came to my memory. There were sweet memories to be recalled over and over again.
When we were seated, I watched there were a few European ladies and a lady with an infant having dinner at the next table. The staff of the restaurant amused the infant with many pleasantries. Steffani was trying to smell out who these European ladies were.
She might have guessed already that they were probably from Germany or around and tried to confirm her guess by observing their lip movements to identify in which language they were speaking.
She said at one point they were speaking German and approached them and had a good chat.
When we walked into the garden after having our dinner I found a number of Europeans who were working in the various NGOs, entering the restaurant.
Once again our journey in the jungle highway started with our witnessing the nearly stone-age life-style and the strange silence everywhere. The twinkling lights from chimney lamps in the houses were a reminder of the people who were undergoing various hardships in the war-ravaged areas which could be hardly expressed in words.
It was only when we met the LTTE media coordinator and its spokesman that I realized the difficulty we were to face in undertaking such a survey in the LTTE - controlled areas. The prominent columnist and a Pro- Tamil nationalist Sivaram's murder had put everyone in a sad mood in Kilinochchi. They had forgotten to arrange accommodation for us and the alternative accommodation after many failed attempts was congested and far from comfortable.
The rooms had been by occupied by many foreigners, leaving us only one room with a broken bed. We were truly in a mess and as it was late in the night we had no option other than staying there.
Steffani was running here and there as the leader of our team and decided who and who should sleep where and told the driver should take the room for the night. It was such interesting to see Steffani who was in her early twenties acting as commander in the isolated deep rural jungle surrounded by LTTE-controlled areas as though she did things at her home. She was at times shouting at me saying it was my fault for ending up here for the night. Steffani decided to stay in the van and I went to sleep in the hall and Romy and Yong in the front veranda which they preferred as there was more ventilation.
The Jaffna Lagoon's mild wind wafting from the jungle soothed my mind and drifted me into sleep.
The place where we were spending the night was just close to where the Irish-American Area Director of CARE International was staying.
I could recall an incident vividly. At times we used to have meetings with dinner at her residence when there were officials visiting from CARE head office in Colombo or from overseas. Once a visiting evaluation team had come and I had an unforgettable experience with a Scottish young lady while at dinner. She was such interesting person and in her late twenties but a little aggressive when our discussion touched on Scottish issues in medieval times.
She burst out at once, placing her palm on my chest, told how the Scottish people had been deprived by the then English rulers some centuries ago and asked me whether I would accept that. I was shocked by her emotional outburst and was able to imagine to what extent the Scottish people had been affected by the practices of various atrocities by the English Lords.
I couldn't reconcile myself to the practice of newly married Scottish brides spending their first night with English Lords instead of their newly-married husbands.
German Memory in Asia - My Jungle Memories in a Tsunami Mission
When we were at the tail end of our journey back to Kilinochchi, I observed there were some people crying under a mango tree in the front of the hospital premises.
Their story was too pathetic. One person had lost her sister and the other one her entire family. I realized the tragedies beyond consolation and words so trivial. The German Praktikum (Internship) students too were listening to them patiently. I didn't know how they would adjust themselves to the future. We reluctantly left them to join our team who were about to leave.
Our six-vehicle convoy sped along the path, which we came by an hour ago. We passed through the devastated Mullaitivu area again, without stopping, as we had to reach the Jaffna Peninsula at our earliest possible. But the silently waving Indian Ocean in the distance brought so many memories back to my mind once again.
After a few miles of traveling I joined the German T.V. in their vehicle, as they wanted to go early to Dambulla Hotel, which is in the midst of dense jungle. With a better-fixed satellite antenna it would enable them to quickly transmit the documentary rather than with their mobile-antenna devices which they were carrying all the way with them.
They had had a bitter experience when they used mobile-antenna devices the previous day night at the Pandyan Restaurant in Kilinochchi. The transmission was disturbed a number of times and they had lost the prime time News hours in Germany to telecast the documentary which they had taken in on the way to Kilinochchi about the war-torn jungle terrain of the Island.
I became very friendly with the German T.V. personnel on our way back to Kilinochchi. We met the LTTE media coordinator and had a brief conversation with him. After few minutes the TV crew left towards their southern destination. I arranged a vehicle and traveled to the Iranaimadu Tank, one of the largest reservoirs in the Island, a place in the world, where I was enchanted by the serene beauty of its surrounding greeneries and circling of birds over it since my CARE days.
When I was traveling, I passed the area where once the LTTE's Economic Development Wing was based. During my CARE days, I visited it a number of times on project issues on how to resettle the displaced refugees in the jungles. I could still remember the number of field visits, which I paid in dense jungles.
It was a habit of mine on my visits, to take some magazines either TIME or Newsweek and read them on the bunds of the reservoirs. I experienced a different perception of life when I read about the space-age society of the outside world from the environment of the nearly stone-age society in the jungles and their surroundings. I had visited several times the Iranaimadu tank and experienced the difference.
When I reached the tank the circling around of birds over it once again enticed me.
I found myself lost in a different world, which was free of all worries and troubles!
Their story was too pathetic. One person had lost her sister and the other one her entire family. I realized the tragedies beyond consolation and words so trivial. The German Praktikum (Internship) students too were listening to them patiently. I didn't know how they would adjust themselves to the future. We reluctantly left them to join our team who were about to leave.
Our six-vehicle convoy sped along the path, which we came by an hour ago. We passed through the devastated Mullaitivu area again, without stopping, as we had to reach the Jaffna Peninsula at our earliest possible. But the silently waving Indian Ocean in the distance brought so many memories back to my mind once again.
After a few miles of traveling I joined the German T.V. in their vehicle, as they wanted to go early to Dambulla Hotel, which is in the midst of dense jungle. With a better-fixed satellite antenna it would enable them to quickly transmit the documentary rather than with their mobile-antenna devices which they were carrying all the way with them.
They had had a bitter experience when they used mobile-antenna devices the previous day night at the Pandyan Restaurant in Kilinochchi. The transmission was disturbed a number of times and they had lost the prime time News hours in Germany to telecast the documentary which they had taken in on the way to Kilinochchi about the war-torn jungle terrain of the Island.
I became very friendly with the German T.V. personnel on our way back to Kilinochchi. We met the LTTE media coordinator and had a brief conversation with him. After few minutes the TV crew left towards their southern destination. I arranged a vehicle and traveled to the Iranaimadu Tank, one of the largest reservoirs in the Island, a place in the world, where I was enchanted by the serene beauty of its surrounding greeneries and circling of birds over it since my CARE days.
When I was traveling, I passed the area where once the LTTE's Economic Development Wing was based. During my CARE days, I visited it a number of times on project issues on how to resettle the displaced refugees in the jungles. I could still remember the number of field visits, which I paid in dense jungles.
It was a habit of mine on my visits, to take some magazines either TIME or Newsweek and read them on the bunds of the reservoirs. I experienced a different perception of life when I read about the space-age society of the outside world from the environment of the nearly stone-age society in the jungles and their surroundings. I had visited several times the Iranaimadu tank and experienced the difference.
When I reached the tank the circling around of birds over it once again enticed me.
I found myself lost in a different world, which was free of all worries and troubles!
German Memories in Asia - Crossing the Jungle Highway
Our motorbike was going at a controlled speed because the Paranthan - Mullaitivu highway was heavily damaged by the on-going war and also heavily mined. There were a few miles of repaired roads, after which you would be getting on to a graveled passage. Along the highway good stretches of road alternate with bad ones. We had to reduce speed often and then step up. I wondered how our German friends managed to travel through this road.
While we were passing the "Bamboo-River" settlement my CARE day experiences came back to me.
The displaced people from Trincomalee, a North Eastern coastal town of the Island, were settled down there several years ago and it is now a flourishing tiny hamlet. Once I attended a function there nearly a decade ago and delivered a speech, which was unforgettable to me.
While our motor - bike was quickly passing the "Bamboo-River" area; we reached close to the "New settlement scheme," a relatively new town of some forty years, nestling in the dense jungle area.
While going, we were stopped by LTTE policemen, but as we had permits to enter the high security zone of the LTTE, we managed to pass the checkpoint without any hassle.
Our bike sped fast and we reached within half and hour the "New settlement scheme" town. When we reached the junction, which connects the road to Mullaitivu Island and the other into dense jungle area in the mainland, our six-vehicle convoy was slowly negotiating the bend towards Mullaitivu. I signaled with my hand and stopped the vehicle, which was foremost in the convoy. I spoke to the German Praktikum (Internship) students and continued my journey on the motorbike, thus spearheading the convoy.
When I was traveling on the path, which was going towards the dense jungle area made me recall my scouting days. When I was a boy scout we camped in these jungles. That was nearly 25 years ago and still memories of those good old days were rekindled. How we had improvised what we termed as 'get-a-pull", which comprised two strips of rubber attached to a forked piece of wood, known as a catapult. This was a protective weapon with which we could pelt stones even at wild animals to scare them away.
I had taken the catapult solely for fun as well as for self-defense because I had a terrible experience some time back when I encountered a number of monkeys in the jungles of Mannar, a western coastal area of the Island on a trip there, when I was returning after a brief exploration in the jungle, which had lot of edible fruits, all over its shrubs and small tropical trees.
I heard that monkeys sometimes gather in a group and attack humans who are even known to suffer severe injury. In a jungle - based school ground, I had pelted one or two shots towards a group of monkeys who were perched on a tree. One of the monkeys when hit by one of my shots jumped angrily towards me. We fled screaming and the incident reached the ears of the master-in-charge.
He punished me by getting me to put the catapult over my neck and asked me to tell the scouting principle. He warned me and confiscated the catapult. That was an unforgettable incident and while I was passing that area I could not resist such evocative memories.
Another incident too came to my mind. We six boy scouts went deep into the jungle and lost our way. I had to climb to the top of a tree to try and regain my bearings. But I realized after I climbed to the top, all I could see was the rich greenery of the jungle. We had blown a few whistling signals but received no return. We had to grope our way and as though by instinct we discovered a path, which ultimately led us, back to the camp.
To be lost in a jungle is a horrifying experience.
While we were passing the "Bamboo-River" settlement my CARE day experiences came back to me.
The displaced people from Trincomalee, a North Eastern coastal town of the Island, were settled down there several years ago and it is now a flourishing tiny hamlet. Once I attended a function there nearly a decade ago and delivered a speech, which was unforgettable to me.
While our motor - bike was quickly passing the "Bamboo-River" area; we reached close to the "New settlement scheme," a relatively new town of some forty years, nestling in the dense jungle area.
While going, we were stopped by LTTE policemen, but as we had permits to enter the high security zone of the LTTE, we managed to pass the checkpoint without any hassle.
Our bike sped fast and we reached within half and hour the "New settlement scheme" town. When we reached the junction, which connects the road to Mullaitivu Island and the other into dense jungle area in the mainland, our six-vehicle convoy was slowly negotiating the bend towards Mullaitivu. I signaled with my hand and stopped the vehicle, which was foremost in the convoy. I spoke to the German Praktikum (Internship) students and continued my journey on the motorbike, thus spearheading the convoy.
When I was traveling on the path, which was going towards the dense jungle area made me recall my scouting days. When I was a boy scout we camped in these jungles. That was nearly 25 years ago and still memories of those good old days were rekindled. How we had improvised what we termed as 'get-a-pull", which comprised two strips of rubber attached to a forked piece of wood, known as a catapult. This was a protective weapon with which we could pelt stones even at wild animals to scare them away.
I had taken the catapult solely for fun as well as for self-defense because I had a terrible experience some time back when I encountered a number of monkeys in the jungles of Mannar, a western coastal area of the Island on a trip there, when I was returning after a brief exploration in the jungle, which had lot of edible fruits, all over its shrubs and small tropical trees.
I heard that monkeys sometimes gather in a group and attack humans who are even known to suffer severe injury. In a jungle - based school ground, I had pelted one or two shots towards a group of monkeys who were perched on a tree. One of the monkeys when hit by one of my shots jumped angrily towards me. We fled screaming and the incident reached the ears of the master-in-charge.
He punished me by getting me to put the catapult over my neck and asked me to tell the scouting principle. He warned me and confiscated the catapult. That was an unforgettable incident and while I was passing that area I could not resist such evocative memories.
Another incident too came to my mind. We six boy scouts went deep into the jungle and lost our way. I had to climb to the top of a tree to try and regain my bearings. But I realized after I climbed to the top, all I could see was the rich greenery of the jungle. We had blown a few whistling signals but received no return. We had to grope our way and as though by instinct we discovered a path, which ultimately led us, back to the camp.
To be lost in a jungle is a horrifying experience.
German Memories in Asia - A Visit to War-Torn Area
Our six-vehicle convoy reached Vavuniya, the Northern-most border town of the Island, which separates the LTTE-controlled areas and the Sri Lankan Government-controlled areas.
The German Praktikum (Internship) students were enjoying the surroundings.
When we stopped near the Vavuniya clock tower along the highway, there were people, who gathered to see what was happening. It is a usual phenomenon in Asian rural areas when Europeans make visits. Whatever the hidden motive or drive which impels them to meet the white-skinned foreigners, especially the Europeans, it is something they would not miss as it is a chance in a lifetime among these village folk.
The obvious reason is that they hardly come across them in their remote places and do not have the wherewithal to travel to Europe and meet them. The combination of human aspiration, which drives one to see its fellow humans and an attraction towards the distant Homo sapiens cousins, is not something strange.
While we were discussing our next step towards entering into the LTTE-controlled territory, the LTTE's political wing head of Vavuniya Gnanavel came there with a Member of Parliament Kishor Sivanathan. After the Ceasefire Agreement between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE there has been a new development, which enabled the LTTE's political wing to operate in the Sri Lankan Government-controlled traditional Tamil areas.
I knew Gnanavel from my CARE days. He was attached at that time to the LTTE's section of Economic Development, a sub unit of their Political Wing. The Economic Development section was overseeing economic developmental issues ranging from minor and major tank renovations, Agriculture, Fisheries, Industries, Environmental protection, and so on in the LTTE-controlled areas and coordinating with local and International NGOs in various ways. Gnanavel is a friendly person and though he was attached to a rebel organization he would freely discuss various issues which are normally difficult to think of for a person who is from a militant movement.
He once asked me at one of the meetings what I would have to say regards setting up a village, which only accommodates women who have lost their husbands at war. I simply said you don't make an unofficial red light area in the eyes of others, for if one woman commits a mistake it would reflect on the rest of the women. He agreed with me.
There are widows not only on the Tamil side but also on the Sinhalese side as well and is problematic as it creates a lot of social and economic problems to the Island. Women are grief-stricken and traumatized when their husbands sacrifice their lives in confrontations.
The German Praktikum (Internship) students were enjoying the surroundings.
When we stopped near the Vavuniya clock tower along the highway, there were people, who gathered to see what was happening. It is a usual phenomenon in Asian rural areas when Europeans make visits. Whatever the hidden motive or drive which impels them to meet the white-skinned foreigners, especially the Europeans, it is something they would not miss as it is a chance in a lifetime among these village folk.
The obvious reason is that they hardly come across them in their remote places and do not have the wherewithal to travel to Europe and meet them. The combination of human aspiration, which drives one to see its fellow humans and an attraction towards the distant Homo sapiens cousins, is not something strange.
While we were discussing our next step towards entering into the LTTE-controlled territory, the LTTE's political wing head of Vavuniya Gnanavel came there with a Member of Parliament Kishor Sivanathan. After the Ceasefire Agreement between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE there has been a new development, which enabled the LTTE's political wing to operate in the Sri Lankan Government-controlled traditional Tamil areas.
I knew Gnanavel from my CARE days. He was attached at that time to the LTTE's section of Economic Development, a sub unit of their Political Wing. The Economic Development section was overseeing economic developmental issues ranging from minor and major tank renovations, Agriculture, Fisheries, Industries, Environmental protection, and so on in the LTTE-controlled areas and coordinating with local and International NGOs in various ways. Gnanavel is a friendly person and though he was attached to a rebel organization he would freely discuss various issues which are normally difficult to think of for a person who is from a militant movement.
He once asked me at one of the meetings what I would have to say regards setting up a village, which only accommodates women who have lost their husbands at war. I simply said you don't make an unofficial red light area in the eyes of others, for if one woman commits a mistake it would reflect on the rest of the women. He agreed with me.
There are widows not only on the Tamil side but also on the Sinhalese side as well and is problematic as it creates a lot of social and economic problems to the Island. Women are grief-stricken and traumatized when their husbands sacrifice their lives in confrontations.
German Memory in Asia - Memories of the War
Our vehicles were moving on the Palaly road, my one time usual path in the school days, which link the Jaffna town and the Palaly Airport.
The German Praktikum (Internship) students were keenly gazing at the surroundings.
We were passing the junction where once thirteen Sri Lankan soldiers died in an LTTE ambush and the event thereafter erupted into terrible violence in the South of the Island where at least thousands of Tamils were massacred by the angry mob in 1983 and turned the ethnic crisis into one of international import. Sri Lanka also became one of the world's severe examples where lack of political system to govern the different ethnic, religious, language groups harmoniously led to chaos.
The colonial forces that united different politico-cultural territories and people together failed to come out with a suitable political system when they left their colonies and left us with mess and chaos.
Our vehicles were moving near Kondavil, a sleepy village in the Peninsula where my family was there for more than a decade.
Once in the very beginning of the war in the early eighties, we some friends were talking under a large shady tree. When a jeep was turning at the junction some hundred meters away and coming towards us, the speed we showed out of panic to escape was a silent witness to the horror of the war and the terror under which we were living then.
In the middle of the war in the late eighties one day, we all were highly puzzled by the fast moving supersonic jets circling around over the Peninsula in the sky. We were wondering which country had entered the sky and was wondering whether it was India, China or the US. While we were in highly anxious speculation, we had seen number of cargo planes in the sky releasing parachute-aided cargo everywhere in the Peninsula. We realized in a while what was happening.
The Indian Government had sent the message to then Sri Lankan government to halt its operation in the Peninsula.
The military offensive had caused hundreds of civilian casualties in the Peninsula. India sent initially by sea the food and medicines but the Sri Lankan Government prevented it. This led to the so-called "Operation Garland" that we had seen over the Peninsula on June 4, 1987; the air-drop of 24 tons of relief supplies by five AN-32 Russian Antanov cargo planes escorted by four French Mirage 2000H Supersonic fighter Jets.
Later on Rajiv Gandhi, then Indian Prime Minister visited Sri Lanka and signed the Indo-Lanka Agreement on July 29, 1987 with then Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene. Immediately after the announcement of the Agreement through media, we had seen India's superiority in the region by the flight of large Jets over the sky towards the Palaly Airport.
The LTTE leader was airlifted from India to the Jaffna Peninsula.
The Sri Lankan Army arrested LTTE senior members in the shallow seas of the Bay of Bengal. When they were forcibly taken to Colombo for investigation, they swallowed cyanide and died instantly.
In the Jaffna peninsula warring clouds started to loom once again. The LTTE blamed the Indian forces for their cadres' death and started to attack the Indian troops. Indian troops also started to attack in a massive way. Diplomacy was at its lowest ebb.
The IPKF commenced its operations, code-named 'Operation Pawan' on the night of October 11, 1987 in the Peninsula against LTTE. The Indian Army started to advance towards LTTE-controlled Jaffna Fort from all directions from the Palay Airport and other areas.
Soviet infantry BMP-1 fighting vehicles and Soviet-designed main T-72 battle tanks were rolling over the Palaly Road which was heavily mined.
The LTTE used snipers from the buildings, treetops and even coconut palms equipped with powerful telescopic infrared sights causing heavy casualties to the IPKF.
The events were moving like a Hollywood action- thriller.
People were fleeing from the heart of the peninsula leaving the Palaly Road and other major roads to interior areas. My mother, brother and sisters fled to the nearest small Islands. I was left alone with my sick grandmother and the poultry, which I was rearing as a hobby and for my pocket expenses.
While I was shifting the poultry after my grandmother the artillery shells were falling everywhere and blasting like thunder.
I had hardly seen people in the streets on my way. Even I couldn't see the dogs in the streets. Broken branches of the trees caused by artillery shelling, littered the streets. The exploding shells were at times deafening my ears while I was riding on the pushbike and I thought I might have ended up in a disaster very soon. But nothing happened fortunately and I escaped from the shelling range. I managed to sell the poultry to a farm and joined with my grandmother.
The old events were just like yesterday rolling into mind when our vehicles were moving on the Palaly Road.
The German Praktikum (Internship) students were keenly gazing at the surroundings.
We were passing the junction where once thirteen Sri Lankan soldiers died in an LTTE ambush and the event thereafter erupted into terrible violence in the South of the Island where at least thousands of Tamils were massacred by the angry mob in 1983 and turned the ethnic crisis into one of international import. Sri Lanka also became one of the world's severe examples where lack of political system to govern the different ethnic, religious, language groups harmoniously led to chaos.
The colonial forces that united different politico-cultural territories and people together failed to come out with a suitable political system when they left their colonies and left us with mess and chaos.
Our vehicles were moving near Kondavil, a sleepy village in the Peninsula where my family was there for more than a decade.
Once in the very beginning of the war in the early eighties, we some friends were talking under a large shady tree. When a jeep was turning at the junction some hundred meters away and coming towards us, the speed we showed out of panic to escape was a silent witness to the horror of the war and the terror under which we were living then.
In the middle of the war in the late eighties one day, we all were highly puzzled by the fast moving supersonic jets circling around over the Peninsula in the sky. We were wondering which country had entered the sky and was wondering whether it was India, China or the US. While we were in highly anxious speculation, we had seen number of cargo planes in the sky releasing parachute-aided cargo everywhere in the Peninsula. We realized in a while what was happening.
The Indian Government had sent the message to then Sri Lankan government to halt its operation in the Peninsula.
The military offensive had caused hundreds of civilian casualties in the Peninsula. India sent initially by sea the food and medicines but the Sri Lankan Government prevented it. This led to the so-called "Operation Garland" that we had seen over the Peninsula on June 4, 1987; the air-drop of 24 tons of relief supplies by five AN-32 Russian Antanov cargo planes escorted by four French Mirage 2000H Supersonic fighter Jets.
Later on Rajiv Gandhi, then Indian Prime Minister visited Sri Lanka and signed the Indo-Lanka Agreement on July 29, 1987 with then Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene. Immediately after the announcement of the Agreement through media, we had seen India's superiority in the region by the flight of large Jets over the sky towards the Palaly Airport.
The LTTE leader was airlifted from India to the Jaffna Peninsula.
The Sri Lankan Army arrested LTTE senior members in the shallow seas of the Bay of Bengal. When they were forcibly taken to Colombo for investigation, they swallowed cyanide and died instantly.
In the Jaffna peninsula warring clouds started to loom once again. The LTTE blamed the Indian forces for their cadres' death and started to attack the Indian troops. Indian troops also started to attack in a massive way. Diplomacy was at its lowest ebb.
The IPKF commenced its operations, code-named 'Operation Pawan' on the night of October 11, 1987 in the Peninsula against LTTE. The Indian Army started to advance towards LTTE-controlled Jaffna Fort from all directions from the Palay Airport and other areas.
Soviet infantry BMP-1 fighting vehicles and Soviet-designed main T-72 battle tanks were rolling over the Palaly Road which was heavily mined.
The LTTE used snipers from the buildings, treetops and even coconut palms equipped with powerful telescopic infrared sights causing heavy casualties to the IPKF.
The events were moving like a Hollywood action- thriller.
People were fleeing from the heart of the peninsula leaving the Palaly Road and other major roads to interior areas. My mother, brother and sisters fled to the nearest small Islands. I was left alone with my sick grandmother and the poultry, which I was rearing as a hobby and for my pocket expenses.
While I was shifting the poultry after my grandmother the artillery shells were falling everywhere and blasting like thunder.
I had hardly seen people in the streets on my way. Even I couldn't see the dogs in the streets. Broken branches of the trees caused by artillery shelling, littered the streets. The exploding shells were at times deafening my ears while I was riding on the pushbike and I thought I might have ended up in a disaster very soon. But nothing happened fortunately and I escaped from the shelling range. I managed to sell the poultry to a farm and joined with my grandmother.
The old events were just like yesterday rolling into mind when our vehicles were moving on the Palaly Road.
German Memories in Asia - A Tsunami Mission to Northern Jaffna
We reached closer to the high security zone of the expanded Palaly Army camp area.
Our vehicles stopped near a military barrier manned by the Sri Lankan Army. There were two pick-up vehicles coming towards us, and the officers started to check our identification. Thereafter one pick-up vehicle drove in front of our vehicles and the other one came behind. We were travelling under military escort towards the Palaly Army camp, the main base in the Jaffna Peninsula.
We could see both sides of the road-abandoned houses once occupied by the Jaffna residents. By the on-going war, they deserted those houses and after the consecutive governments declaration as the high security zone, the one residential area had become a ghost - area. Only the Army points at every other few meters were seen. The destruction resembled worse than that of the Bosnian and Afghan ghost towns.
Our vehicles were passing the abandoned houses into the military camp area negotiating many bend and curves and reached near the Airport area. The Palaly Airport had turned into a domestic Airport and an Air force base. It doesn't have a long runway. Those days the Airport was a stopover for many school-going students on visits.
I had visited in the school days nearly three decades ago that area. I had hardly seen any military base at that time. Even near the runway, we could have seen farmers busy in cultivation. But those days were beyond recall now.
Our vehicles were finally stopped near the military hospital in the base. The German relief team was waiting for the visit of Major General Sunil Thennakoon, the Sri Lankan Army Commander of Jaffna.
The students started to unload the medicines and handing them over to the Army officers. But Fredrike Wagner suddenly interfered and asked other intern students to stop for a while the unloading. She told, "We should wait until Dietmar Doring comes". He had gone to meet the Maj. Gen. at his office with Dr. Jayalath.
When Maj. Gen. came to the premises and met the German Praktikum (Internship) students and others, I had a good conversation with him for a while. He told us how a Sri Lankan Army soldier helped to rescue a Tamil boy when he was carried away by the tsunami waves, but he died by subsequent heavy waves.
We finished our mission in the Army base and proceeded to the next destination, a collecting center for tsunami victims in a far-flung northern part of the Jaffna Peninsula. We were passing nearly a three-mile long road passing over the Jaffna Lagoon in its both sides.
Sea gulls were in the distant vicinity circling over the Jaffna lagoon with other small seabirds and creating various sounds. The kites in their turn in the distant sky were moving and turning like gliders in slow motion and making the evening lagoon a carnival of birds. We were moving enjoying nature's wonder along the narrow and lengthy passage.
For the German internship students the tropical Asian beauty of different kinds might have created a joy in their mind. They were filming the beautiful scenes with much enthusiasm.
We had finally reached the last destination of our northern mission. The collecting center was looking after various camps, which was harbouring some of the affected families in the Northern coastal areas facing the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
Dietmar Doring and Dr. Jayalath were having a meeting with the relief coordinators there. The students were keenly watching, pondering on what they were discussing. After the meeting the students were once again busy in their relief work by unloading the final stock of medicines and equipment. Once the unloading was over a smile of satisfaction seemed to dwell on every face.
We began our journey back to the south.
Our vehicles stopped near a military barrier manned by the Sri Lankan Army. There were two pick-up vehicles coming towards us, and the officers started to check our identification. Thereafter one pick-up vehicle drove in front of our vehicles and the other one came behind. We were travelling under military escort towards the Palaly Army camp, the main base in the Jaffna Peninsula.
We could see both sides of the road-abandoned houses once occupied by the Jaffna residents. By the on-going war, they deserted those houses and after the consecutive governments declaration as the high security zone, the one residential area had become a ghost - area. Only the Army points at every other few meters were seen. The destruction resembled worse than that of the Bosnian and Afghan ghost towns.
Our vehicles were passing the abandoned houses into the military camp area negotiating many bend and curves and reached near the Airport area. The Palaly Airport had turned into a domestic Airport and an Air force base. It doesn't have a long runway. Those days the Airport was a stopover for many school-going students on visits.
I had visited in the school days nearly three decades ago that area. I had hardly seen any military base at that time. Even near the runway, we could have seen farmers busy in cultivation. But those days were beyond recall now.
Our vehicles were finally stopped near the military hospital in the base. The German relief team was waiting for the visit of Major General Sunil Thennakoon, the Sri Lankan Army Commander of Jaffna.
The students started to unload the medicines and handing them over to the Army officers. But Fredrike Wagner suddenly interfered and asked other intern students to stop for a while the unloading. She told, "We should wait until Dietmar Doring comes". He had gone to meet the Maj. Gen. at his office with Dr. Jayalath.
When Maj. Gen. came to the premises and met the German Praktikum (Internship) students and others, I had a good conversation with him for a while. He told us how a Sri Lankan Army soldier helped to rescue a Tamil boy when he was carried away by the tsunami waves, but he died by subsequent heavy waves.
We finished our mission in the Army base and proceeded to the next destination, a collecting center for tsunami victims in a far-flung northern part of the Jaffna Peninsula. We were passing nearly a three-mile long road passing over the Jaffna Lagoon in its both sides.
Sea gulls were in the distant vicinity circling over the Jaffna lagoon with other small seabirds and creating various sounds. The kites in their turn in the distant sky were moving and turning like gliders in slow motion and making the evening lagoon a carnival of birds. We were moving enjoying nature's wonder along the narrow and lengthy passage.
For the German internship students the tropical Asian beauty of different kinds might have created a joy in their mind. They were filming the beautiful scenes with much enthusiasm.
We had finally reached the last destination of our northern mission. The collecting center was looking after various camps, which was harbouring some of the affected families in the Northern coastal areas facing the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
Dietmar Doring and Dr. Jayalath were having a meeting with the relief coordinators there. The students were keenly watching, pondering on what they were discussing. After the meeting the students were once again busy in their relief work by unloading the final stock of medicines and equipment. Once the unloading was over a smile of satisfaction seemed to dwell on every face.
We began our journey back to the south.
German Memories in Asia - The Memorable Moments of Our Tsunami Mission
We were moving fast and in a few minutes we reached the military barrier. We didn't have any difficulty crossing the military and LTTE barriers.
While on our way the kerosene-lit houses made us wonder whether we were in this century or some centuries behind. By the time we reached the Kilinochchi town the German Praktikum (Internship) students were in a sleepy mood.
We stopped at the "Pandyan" restaurant for dinner. We savoured the hospitality of the restaurant during the last two-day stay in Kilinochchi. I was sitting next to Dr. Jayalath and at our table were Fredrike Wagnar, Dietmar Doring and some other German intern students.
Fredrike Wagnar had had stomach up-set for a few days since her visit into the jungle interior. The spicy foods might have caused it. But one cannot rule out that the micro-organisms in the water too might have contributed to it. Some of the micro-organisms in the small ponds were deadly and caused even deaths in the past. Fredrike was using canned mineral water and there was no chance micro-organisms got into her system.
Dr. Jayalath was telling me "why you can't advise her that what she is eating is not good for her". But I kept silent not wanting to spoil her appetite. Though Dr. Jayalath repeatedly asked me to advise her, I refrained.
One could not help watching Fredrike's care and concern at the restaurant garden when she was tending to an infant who was with the mother inside a van. Fredrike extended one of her fingers into the tiny palm, and the infant immediately seized Fredrike's finger as tightly as possible. I noticed Freidke was enjoying those moments. The basic mother-child instinct was reflected in those moments.
We began our departure from Kilinochchi and our vehicles sped along to reach the barriers of the LTTE and Sri Lanka Army. The students were in a drowsy mood. We reached the LTTE barrier in a couple of hours and passed it without difficulty.
We were moving in the no-man-zone, a one-time heavily mined territory. Though at the LTTE barrier a huge board gave warning of land mines, there were casualties. A herd of cattle and wild animals were maimed or killed. Such deadly mines around the world were laid even in deserts. Ironically while the cost to produce a landmine is as little as three US dollars removing it cost much more than thousand US dollars.
We approached the military barrier and again we had to stop for the clearance. The military officers were coming to us in a jovial mood and trying to talk to some of the German students. We couldn't use the usual main highway and had to deviate from it before we joined the highway again. It was likely that the highway could have been mined.
I was worried when the students stepped into the side-ways as though to satisfy an adventurous instinct or may be out of happiness. The landmines issue is a global problem. These deadly landmines kill and maim hundreds of civilians every year in Iraq.
In the Kurdistan territory of Northern Iraq about one person a day steps on a mine. Afghanistan is boasting ironically having the largest industry not other than the de-mining.
We finally cleared from the last barrier of our northern mission and were moving further towards South. Our vehicles in a few minutes drive, stopped near the Vavuniya town once again for having tea break. Vavuniya is the heavily guarded last town in the northern mainland of the Island, which is controlled by the Sri Lankan Government. But the town is under the heavy influence of LTTE.
As it was midnight, and the streets were deserted, We could hardly see people in the streets. Some of the students roamed the streets leisurely. They awed by the eerie atmosphere of the war-ravaged town's calm. We had short eats and tea at one of the few open hotels.
After a while of relax we started our journey once again. We reached a junction in Anuradhapura, an ancient historical city of the Island, where one road led to the hill country and the other towards the western coastal area of the Island.
The time had now come to bid goodbye. I wished them all and when Freidka's turn came I observed that she looked uncomfortable. Her soft nature once again confirmed her emotional reactions.
I got in to Dr. Jayalath's vehicle, which was going to Colombo. Dietmar Doring, students and others were heading towards western direction to Aquarius Sports Resort Hotel in Maravila where the AGSEP in operation.
Our memorable tsunami relief mission had thus come to an end.
While on our way the kerosene-lit houses made us wonder whether we were in this century or some centuries behind. By the time we reached the Kilinochchi town the German Praktikum (Internship) students were in a sleepy mood.
We stopped at the "Pandyan" restaurant for dinner. We savoured the hospitality of the restaurant during the last two-day stay in Kilinochchi. I was sitting next to Dr. Jayalath and at our table were Fredrike Wagnar, Dietmar Doring and some other German intern students.
Fredrike Wagnar had had stomach up-set for a few days since her visit into the jungle interior. The spicy foods might have caused it. But one cannot rule out that the micro-organisms in the water too might have contributed to it. Some of the micro-organisms in the small ponds were deadly and caused even deaths in the past. Fredrike was using canned mineral water and there was no chance micro-organisms got into her system.
Dr. Jayalath was telling me "why you can't advise her that what she is eating is not good for her". But I kept silent not wanting to spoil her appetite. Though Dr. Jayalath repeatedly asked me to advise her, I refrained.
One could not help watching Fredrike's care and concern at the restaurant garden when she was tending to an infant who was with the mother inside a van. Fredrike extended one of her fingers into the tiny palm, and the infant immediately seized Fredrike's finger as tightly as possible. I noticed Freidke was enjoying those moments. The basic mother-child instinct was reflected in those moments.
We began our departure from Kilinochchi and our vehicles sped along to reach the barriers of the LTTE and Sri Lanka Army. The students were in a drowsy mood. We reached the LTTE barrier in a couple of hours and passed it without difficulty.
We were moving in the no-man-zone, a one-time heavily mined territory. Though at the LTTE barrier a huge board gave warning of land mines, there were casualties. A herd of cattle and wild animals were maimed or killed. Such deadly mines around the world were laid even in deserts. Ironically while the cost to produce a landmine is as little as three US dollars removing it cost much more than thousand US dollars.
We approached the military barrier and again we had to stop for the clearance. The military officers were coming to us in a jovial mood and trying to talk to some of the German students. We couldn't use the usual main highway and had to deviate from it before we joined the highway again. It was likely that the highway could have been mined.
I was worried when the students stepped into the side-ways as though to satisfy an adventurous instinct or may be out of happiness. The landmines issue is a global problem. These deadly landmines kill and maim hundreds of civilians every year in Iraq.
In the Kurdistan territory of Northern Iraq about one person a day steps on a mine. Afghanistan is boasting ironically having the largest industry not other than the de-mining.
We finally cleared from the last barrier of our northern mission and were moving further towards South. Our vehicles in a few minutes drive, stopped near the Vavuniya town once again for having tea break. Vavuniya is the heavily guarded last town in the northern mainland of the Island, which is controlled by the Sri Lankan Government. But the town is under the heavy influence of LTTE.
As it was midnight, and the streets were deserted, We could hardly see people in the streets. Some of the students roamed the streets leisurely. They awed by the eerie atmosphere of the war-ravaged town's calm. We had short eats and tea at one of the few open hotels.
After a while of relax we started our journey once again. We reached a junction in Anuradhapura, an ancient historical city of the Island, where one road led to the hill country and the other towards the western coastal area of the Island.
The time had now come to bid goodbye. I wished them all and when Freidka's turn came I observed that she looked uncomfortable. Her soft nature once again confirmed her emotional reactions.
I got in to Dr. Jayalath's vehicle, which was going to Colombo. Dietmar Doring, students and others were heading towards western direction to Aquarius Sports Resort Hotel in Maravila where the AGSEP in operation.
Our memorable tsunami relief mission had thus come to an end.
German Memory in Asia - Crossing the War-Torn Border
German Praktikum(Internship) students were keenly watching the evening phenomenon over the Jaffna Lagoon. Twilight was in its last moments of our Northern Mission for the second day.
We reached the LTTE checking point in another half an hour's time and the night was upon us. We all parked our vehicle for clearance. Though we had a clearance from the LTTE in a few minutes, the LTTE had to determine from the Army checking point which was few meters away, whether they could allow us to enter into the Sri Lankan Army-controlled territory as we were past the deadline of the day to cross the No Mans Zone.
The new development in having a direct rapport between two points of the frontiers of the warring factions was a credit to the Ceasefire Agreement between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government, which was facilitated by Norway with the backing of the international community. There were times they used to infiltrate into opposite areas and inflicted heavy casualties and losses.
We had come near the barrier of the LTTE's exit point, but had to wait as we were still not given clearance to enter into the Army's front. Some of the students got down from the vehicle. I too got down from the vehicle and went near the barrier, which was heavily guarded by LTTE male and female cadres.
Some female LTTE cadres in their unique uniform approached us. The German female students smiled at them and developed cordiality with them. The students gifted some chocolates, which they had brought with them to the LTTE's female cadres. I introduced the Singhalese couple to the LTTE's female cadres.
They were trying to speak to the Singhala couple with the few Singhala words they knew.
The female cadres had shown more interest to acquaint themselves with the German female students.
While we were passing our time so leisurely and joyfully, we could sense a fusion of the different cultures and tastes. It was a fascinating moment on our northern tsunami relief mission.
The LTTE officer in charge of the point informed us that we could move towards the Sri Lankan Army-controlled area. The German female students and female LTTE cadres greeted each other once again.
Our vehicles started to move towards the military checkpoint. Two officers came towards us and Dr. Jayalath spoke to them. We were allowed to get in. Passing the barrier we stopped near a military camp.
A captain who was in-charge of the point came near us and was talking to Dr. Jayalath and Dietmar Doring. The students alighted from the vehicle and were taking in the surroundings with much enthusiasm.
For them it was such a strange experience. They were quite young when the Berlin Wall, a vestige of the Second World War was demolished after the reunion of both Germanys at the end of the cold war and the collapse of the USSR. They didn't experience the hostility of the occupied forces and the trauma, which was caused by the erection of the Berlin Wall, but had only heard about it.
After the European Union emerged as the central body to keep Europe free of wars and economically united, it further removed hostilities between the adjoining European countries and to the German students the past nightmare was mere recall.
But when they were exposed to the military points and the warring hostility in a foreign land, they might have harked back to the events in Germany several decades ago, giving them a feel of the experience of a past coming alive. They were startled whenever they closed in on military camps.
We were talking to few of the junior officers about our mission. The hostile environment was still prevailing. The area was so vulnerable to confrontation though there had been a written Ceasefire Agreement with a new development where after the General Election in 2004, the Government, which signed the agreement with LTTE, lost at the polls.
The change of governmental power impacted on military affairs as well, and created chaos in the warring fronts. The Army gave us clearance and we started journeying towards Jaffna.
We were moving fast as there were no vehicles around which would have made our progress slow.
We reached the LTTE checking point in another half an hour's time and the night was upon us. We all parked our vehicle for clearance. Though we had a clearance from the LTTE in a few minutes, the LTTE had to determine from the Army checking point which was few meters away, whether they could allow us to enter into the Sri Lankan Army-controlled territory as we were past the deadline of the day to cross the No Mans Zone.
The new development in having a direct rapport between two points of the frontiers of the warring factions was a credit to the Ceasefire Agreement between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government, which was facilitated by Norway with the backing of the international community. There were times they used to infiltrate into opposite areas and inflicted heavy casualties and losses.
We had come near the barrier of the LTTE's exit point, but had to wait as we were still not given clearance to enter into the Army's front. Some of the students got down from the vehicle. I too got down from the vehicle and went near the barrier, which was heavily guarded by LTTE male and female cadres.
Some female LTTE cadres in their unique uniform approached us. The German female students smiled at them and developed cordiality with them. The students gifted some chocolates, which they had brought with them to the LTTE's female cadres. I introduced the Singhalese couple to the LTTE's female cadres.
They were trying to speak to the Singhala couple with the few Singhala words they knew.
The female cadres had shown more interest to acquaint themselves with the German female students.
While we were passing our time so leisurely and joyfully, we could sense a fusion of the different cultures and tastes. It was a fascinating moment on our northern tsunami relief mission.
The LTTE officer in charge of the point informed us that we could move towards the Sri Lankan Army-controlled area. The German female students and female LTTE cadres greeted each other once again.
Our vehicles started to move towards the military checkpoint. Two officers came towards us and Dr. Jayalath spoke to them. We were allowed to get in. Passing the barrier we stopped near a military camp.
A captain who was in-charge of the point came near us and was talking to Dr. Jayalath and Dietmar Doring. The students alighted from the vehicle and were taking in the surroundings with much enthusiasm.
For them it was such a strange experience. They were quite young when the Berlin Wall, a vestige of the Second World War was demolished after the reunion of both Germanys at the end of the cold war and the collapse of the USSR. They didn't experience the hostility of the occupied forces and the trauma, which was caused by the erection of the Berlin Wall, but had only heard about it.
After the European Union emerged as the central body to keep Europe free of wars and economically united, it further removed hostilities between the adjoining European countries and to the German students the past nightmare was mere recall.
But when they were exposed to the military points and the warring hostility in a foreign land, they might have harked back to the events in Germany several decades ago, giving them a feel of the experience of a past coming alive. They were startled whenever they closed in on military camps.
We were talking to few of the junior officers about our mission. The hostile environment was still prevailing. The area was so vulnerable to confrontation though there had been a written Ceasefire Agreement with a new development where after the General Election in 2004, the Government, which signed the agreement with LTTE, lost at the polls.
The change of governmental power impacted on military affairs as well, and created chaos in the warring fronts. The Army gave us clearance and we started journeying towards Jaffna.
We were moving fast as there were no vehicles around which would have made our progress slow.
German Memories in Asia - Crossing the Elephant Pass
The highway and the surroundings were once heavily mined areas. When we were passing the once strategic military camp and the destroyed tanks were telling signs of the war. The horrors of the war and the heat of the battle could be seen around the Elephant Pass Camp which was finally lost to the hands of LTTE in 1999.
The German Praktikum (Internship) students were looking at everywhere the area of the once fortified Camp area and recalling the terror in their motherland some decades ago.
Elephant Pass has come a long way from being a stretch of shallow waters that separated the Northern Jaffna Peninsula from the rest of the island in pre-colonial days and has now evolved into a military epicenter of the civil war.
The shallow waters through which elephants once carried goods into the Jaffna peninsula, giving it the name Elephant Pass, have been a silent witness to the ebbs and flow of the northern conflict. Elephant Pass, the terrestrial gateway to the Jaffna peninsula, is now under the control of the Tigers. The fall of Elephant Pass has changed the military course of the whole conflict. The Dutch colonialists first built a small fortress in 1776, which was converted in modern times into a rest house for tourists. After Independence a permanent garrison was set up there to check illicit immigration, smuggling and unlawful transport of timber.
As the intensity of the ethnic conflict escalated, the strategic importance of Elephant Pass also increased. The small camp gradually expanded into a sprawling complex. At one time, the Elephant Pass base and the satellite camps covered an area of about 23 km long and 8-10 km wide. While we were proceeding along in close proximity to Elephant Pass the Jaffna Lagoon on both sides of the high way triggered my thoughts back to many of the personal experiences in the Jaffna Lagoon. I had traveled a number of times crossing the lagoon from the mainland to the peninsula and vice versa as travel through Elephant Pass was prohibited in 1995.
The presence of the Sri Lankan military at the Elephant Pass made passage unsafe what with heavy land mines laid everywhere around the camp area.
Even traveling on the lagoon was unsafe as the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Navy were warring with each other with heavy casualties on both sides. The small boats used to start just before midnight, as the journey through the lagoon would be invisible. The three hours journey crossing the lagoon was enjoyable to me with lot of thrill and suspense until we reached the other end. LTTE monitored the lagoon passage as they controlled both coasts, the Kilali in the peninsula and the Nallur in the mainland.
Crossing the Elephant Pass was more than a crossing and going back into the past to me!
The German Praktikum (Internship) students were looking at everywhere the area of the once fortified Camp area and recalling the terror in their motherland some decades ago.
Elephant Pass has come a long way from being a stretch of shallow waters that separated the Northern Jaffna Peninsula from the rest of the island in pre-colonial days and has now evolved into a military epicenter of the civil war.
The shallow waters through which elephants once carried goods into the Jaffna peninsula, giving it the name Elephant Pass, have been a silent witness to the ebbs and flow of the northern conflict. Elephant Pass, the terrestrial gateway to the Jaffna peninsula, is now under the control of the Tigers. The fall of Elephant Pass has changed the military course of the whole conflict. The Dutch colonialists first built a small fortress in 1776, which was converted in modern times into a rest house for tourists. After Independence a permanent garrison was set up there to check illicit immigration, smuggling and unlawful transport of timber.
As the intensity of the ethnic conflict escalated, the strategic importance of Elephant Pass also increased. The small camp gradually expanded into a sprawling complex. At one time, the Elephant Pass base and the satellite camps covered an area of about 23 km long and 8-10 km wide. While we were proceeding along in close proximity to Elephant Pass the Jaffna Lagoon on both sides of the high way triggered my thoughts back to many of the personal experiences in the Jaffna Lagoon. I had traveled a number of times crossing the lagoon from the mainland to the peninsula and vice versa as travel through Elephant Pass was prohibited in 1995.
The presence of the Sri Lankan military at the Elephant Pass made passage unsafe what with heavy land mines laid everywhere around the camp area.
Even traveling on the lagoon was unsafe as the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Navy were warring with each other with heavy casualties on both sides. The small boats used to start just before midnight, as the journey through the lagoon would be invisible. The three hours journey crossing the lagoon was enjoyable to me with lot of thrill and suspense until we reached the other end. LTTE monitored the lagoon passage as they controlled both coasts, the Kilali in the peninsula and the Nallur in the mainland.
Crossing the Elephant Pass was more than a crossing and going back into the past to me!
German Tsunami Mission in Asia - My Experience and Memories
I couldn't imagine how a tremour underneath in the form of an earthquake by tectonic plate movements caused a massive disaster in the coastal areas of most of the Indian Ocean Rim countries.
Memories of the early morning travel from George Town, the capital of Penang Island of Malaysia to the Teluk Bahang, the northern coastal front of the island still come to mind with the different panoramas of the Strait of Malacca and the silently waving southern seas of Andaman-Nicobar Islands in the far distance.
Likewise the memories of my recent visit in association with a mission on disaster relief to the northern regions of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna come to mind.
Dietmar Doring, Director of "Peace Village International", a German national with his country's young university students as volunteers, Jean Claude Ramige, a veteran German documentary filmmaker who visited and documented various issues ranging from the tribal' cultures to the worst war atrocities around the world and a few relief work volunteers from some local television channels made up the rest of the group.
When we arrived in Kilinochchi, twilight was turning into complete darkness everywhere. A member of the Sea Tiger unit of the LTTE was all the way along with us by guiding us in the tsunami ravaged areas.
The LTTE member was telling us that they were discovering everyday the dead bodies of the tidal wave victims from a pond which was once a rain water catchment - source, but now a sea water overflowing area.
He said that the bodies were being burnt immediately after recovery and asked us to wait to witness that day's excavation. The heavy devastation had not only shattered the coastal areas but also the planet earth itself by changing its orbital direction by the explosion it caused.
We had a chance to meet a Catholic priest who narrowly escaped from the tragedy near his totally perished church in coastal Mullaitivu. His visit to a nearby church that fateful day saved him and left a spiritual leader alive, who could lead the remaining few who have lost their kith and kin and almost everything.
The flood ravaged ruins of the houses were scattered everywhere and I managed to get onto a piece of debris to have a wider view of the area.
Now I could see the far corner of the village "Kallapadu", a southern coastal hamlet of Mullaitivu which was totally devastated by the giant tidal waves.
My inner-eyes started to visualize in a distance spectrum gradually and now I could experience the tragedies of the coastal hamlets "Semmalai" and "Alampil", which were almost sunk underneath, where a few years ago, during my tenure as an officer in CARE International in the war - torn periods of the northern region, I visited extensively and was amazed by the hospitality of those village folk, but now everything has perished.
Still I could hear those melodies of a cinema song which was aired over a radio while I was resting under the shade of a flock of densely grown coconut trees.
Oh! What an illusive world, now everything has changed and everything has disappeared. When I turned my attention from the solid ruined wreckage where I was standing towards the distant northern horizon, the devastation of the coastal villages Manarkadu, Nagarkovil and Chempianpattu were coming to mind.
All were destroyed leaving a few to witness to the horrific tidal waves to the forthcoming generations.
Our next destination, the Mulliavallai hospital which is located nearly fifteen kilometers away from Mullaitivu towards the jungle interior, is telling many stories of the events immediately after the tidal wave disaster.
The hospital, which was originally for maternity purposes has now turned to caring for the injured people from the tidal waves. It is struggling with a General Practitioner who is assisted by a retired medical practitioner and a junior medical officer from a different hospital, while their medical service requirement is to be provided by at least twenty medical officers when compared with a standard developed country which has a healthy medical history.
The German volunteers were busily unloading the medical equipment from one of the medium - sized lorries out of the six-vehicle convoy which was moving always together.
These volunteers who came to Sri Lanka as part of their student exchange program to complete their internship are from various universities in different fields in the streams of Economics, Business Administration, Sociology and so on. They were very active in their humanitarian task which they chose voluntarily.
The German TV personnel were busy documenting the experiences of those young European adventurers who were volunteering in Asia by risking their lives to the epidemics which are always associated with tragic devastation and other jungle borne diseases, dengue and the malaria. Friederike Wagner, a second year student of a leading German university was relating her experiences a couple of hours ago.
The satellite transmission of that documentary would reach millions of Germans in a few hours and certainly make them heroes and heroines in their motherland. While we were passing the bridge which links Mullaitivu to the mainland, speedily hurrying black - cranes from the sea to the land frightened me, making me wonder whether there were new tidal waves on their way.
A couple of hours earlier we were told when we were passing that bridge towards Mullaitivu, how the tidal waves washed away the vehicles and the passengers who passed-by.
Memories of the early morning travel from George Town, the capital of Penang Island of Malaysia to the Teluk Bahang, the northern coastal front of the island still come to mind with the different panoramas of the Strait of Malacca and the silently waving southern seas of Andaman-Nicobar Islands in the far distance.
Likewise the memories of my recent visit in association with a mission on disaster relief to the northern regions of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna come to mind.
Dietmar Doring, Director of "Peace Village International", a German national with his country's young university students as volunteers, Jean Claude Ramige, a veteran German documentary filmmaker who visited and documented various issues ranging from the tribal' cultures to the worst war atrocities around the world and a few relief work volunteers from some local television channels made up the rest of the group.
When we arrived in Kilinochchi, twilight was turning into complete darkness everywhere. A member of the Sea Tiger unit of the LTTE was all the way along with us by guiding us in the tsunami ravaged areas.
The LTTE member was telling us that they were discovering everyday the dead bodies of the tidal wave victims from a pond which was once a rain water catchment - source, but now a sea water overflowing area.
He said that the bodies were being burnt immediately after recovery and asked us to wait to witness that day's excavation. The heavy devastation had not only shattered the coastal areas but also the planet earth itself by changing its orbital direction by the explosion it caused.
We had a chance to meet a Catholic priest who narrowly escaped from the tragedy near his totally perished church in coastal Mullaitivu. His visit to a nearby church that fateful day saved him and left a spiritual leader alive, who could lead the remaining few who have lost their kith and kin and almost everything.
The flood ravaged ruins of the houses were scattered everywhere and I managed to get onto a piece of debris to have a wider view of the area.
Now I could see the far corner of the village "Kallapadu", a southern coastal hamlet of Mullaitivu which was totally devastated by the giant tidal waves.
My inner-eyes started to visualize in a distance spectrum gradually and now I could experience the tragedies of the coastal hamlets "Semmalai" and "Alampil", which were almost sunk underneath, where a few years ago, during my tenure as an officer in CARE International in the war - torn periods of the northern region, I visited extensively and was amazed by the hospitality of those village folk, but now everything has perished.
Still I could hear those melodies of a cinema song which was aired over a radio while I was resting under the shade of a flock of densely grown coconut trees.
Oh! What an illusive world, now everything has changed and everything has disappeared. When I turned my attention from the solid ruined wreckage where I was standing towards the distant northern horizon, the devastation of the coastal villages Manarkadu, Nagarkovil and Chempianpattu were coming to mind.
All were destroyed leaving a few to witness to the horrific tidal waves to the forthcoming generations.
Our next destination, the Mulliavallai hospital which is located nearly fifteen kilometers away from Mullaitivu towards the jungle interior, is telling many stories of the events immediately after the tidal wave disaster.
The hospital, which was originally for maternity purposes has now turned to caring for the injured people from the tidal waves. It is struggling with a General Practitioner who is assisted by a retired medical practitioner and a junior medical officer from a different hospital, while their medical service requirement is to be provided by at least twenty medical officers when compared with a standard developed country which has a healthy medical history.
The German volunteers were busily unloading the medical equipment from one of the medium - sized lorries out of the six-vehicle convoy which was moving always together.
These volunteers who came to Sri Lanka as part of their student exchange program to complete their internship are from various universities in different fields in the streams of Economics, Business Administration, Sociology and so on. They were very active in their humanitarian task which they chose voluntarily.
The German TV personnel were busy documenting the experiences of those young European adventurers who were volunteering in Asia by risking their lives to the epidemics which are always associated with tragic devastation and other jungle borne diseases, dengue and the malaria. Friederike Wagner, a second year student of a leading German university was relating her experiences a couple of hours ago.
The satellite transmission of that documentary would reach millions of Germans in a few hours and certainly make them heroes and heroines in their motherland. While we were passing the bridge which links Mullaitivu to the mainland, speedily hurrying black - cranes from the sea to the land frightened me, making me wonder whether there were new tidal waves on their way.
A couple of hours earlier we were told when we were passing that bridge towards Mullaitivu, how the tidal waves washed away the vehicles and the passengers who passed-by.
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German university students donate a boat and engine to an affected fisherman.
Germans university students with Dietmar Doering (centre) at Marawila beach.
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