Truth is the first casualty of war

| by Maneckshaw

( February 26, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Indian High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha, participated in a special ceremony at Palaly on Saturday, where he placed a floral tribute in memory of 33 men of the 10th Para Commandos of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) killed in action. These men were the first to be killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), when the IPKF launched the offensive code named 'Operation Pawan' (Pawan means wind in Hindi) against the rebel outfit on the night of 12 October 1987.

The Operation was designed precisely to break into the 'Tiger den'. The Indian Commandos had landed in helicopters on the football field of the Jaffna Medical Faculty, juxtaposed between the Hindu cemetery of the Kokkuvil village and the railway station of the area.

The Indian commandos had chosen the huge transmission antenna of the LTTE's Nitharsanam (Truth) television, located on the compound of the Kokkuvil railway station as a land mark for the midnight landing.

However, lack of proper planning by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and insufficient intelligence on the LTTE's whereabouts meant the heli-born assault ended as a tragic failure, resulting in the death of many soldiers.

Floral tribute

The commandoes had upon landing at the football field, advanced towards the hideout of the LTTE Chief, Veluppillai Prabhakaran and his family, in a place called Pirambadi in Kokkuvil. The house where Prabhakaran and his family were hiding was only two kilometres away from the spot where the commandos were air dropped, but they were reportedly taken on a wild goose chase by a youth who offered his service to help them track Prabhakaran, compelling them to take refuge under a house and engage the enemy for a full 24 hours, until reinforcements arrived the next morning.

Had the mission been successful and had the Indian commandos succeeded in their operation to get around the LTTE Chief and his family in Pirambadi in 1987, the LTTE would have been annihilated long ago and the Indo-Lankan Accord implemented successfully. But it was not meant to be.

But, it is interesting that the Indian envoy who was in Jaffna last week, placed the floral tribute at the IPKF memorial in the backdrop of a fresh concerns over the death of Prabhakaran's youngest son, 12-year-old Balachandran, following the release of new pictures showing him in the custody of the security forces barely two hours before his bullet riddled body was found.

Protecting the leader

Balachandran was not even born at the time the IPKF was all out to capture Prabhakaran, who at that time had only two children, eldest son Charles Anthony and daughter Thuwaraka.

The residents of Pirambadi had seen Prabhakaran travelling in a maroon Hi-ace van escorted by a set of cadres, following in an identical Hi-ace back up vehicle with tinted windscreens.

The house where Prabhakaran was hiding was owned by an engineer, who along with his family were forced to vacate the house by the LTTE. The house, because of its location, while providing security, also provided numerous escape routes through the numerous gravel footpaths around it. This apparently appealed to the Tiger supremo.

From the time Prabhakaran chose to live in Pirambadi, the entire area came under the watch of heavily armed LTTE cadres, who stood sentinel day and night. However, the LTTE carders, though armed, were very particular not to antagonize the people of the area, in order to get their support in protecting the leader and his family.

It comes as no surprise that LTTE theoretician, Dr. Anton Balasingham and his Australian born wife, Adele Balasingham, also lived in Kokkuvil, at a house in College Lane, just one kilometre away from where Prabhakaran lived.

The pictures of Prabhakaran's youngest son sitting inside a well fortified bunker and his bullet ridden body that surfaced recently have created a stir in India, Europe and in countries where the Lankan Tamil expatriates live. The pictures have even appeared on the walls of the London subway.

Brutal attacks

Though the LTTE Chief had directed his cadres to carry out brutal attacks on Sinhala border villages in the North and East, which saw the mindless killings of innocent women, children and elderly, Prabhakaran himself remained a strong family man providing all the material comforts to his children even as the people around him suffered internal displacement and lived in apathetic conditions, struggling to have access to their basic needs.

The pictures showing the innocent looking Balachandran and his bullet ridden body, which have literally gone viral, appear at a time when the United Nation's Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is about to begin its sessions in Geneva. The pictures remind one of the, gory pictures of scores of bodies that appeared several years ago showcasing horrific scenes murder and mayhem of Sinhala villagers massacred by the LTTE. Many of the dead were innocent kids, most of who were in the age group of Balachandran.

Allegedly, the killing of Balachandran is said to have taken place after he had been handed over to the Security Forces by those who were accompanying him to the cleared area. It is this allegation that gains credence through the photographs, leading to fresh accusations that the 12-year-old had been shot dead by the security forces.

Fresh demands to probe into the killing of Balachandran and alleged war crimes during the last phase of the war; will no doubt haunt the Sri Lankan Government for years to come, irrespective of the outcome in Geneva next month. 'Truth is the first casualty of war' is an oft repeated adage. There have been instances where not only the LTTE, but also the Security Forces being trigger happy with no respect for human lives in the battle zones of the North and East. There are also reports of the IPKF, who had arrived in the island as peace makers, following the LTTE and the Sri Lankan forces, and killing a large number of innocent civilians when they launched the all out war against the LTTE following their failure in to nab the LTTE Chief in October 1987.

The deaths of more than 20 medical staff members of the Jaffna General Hospital in 1987 remain testimony to the brutality of the Indian soldiers, who were trusted as professional soldiers and were expected to give priority to the safety of the innocent civilians.

Over the past 30 years there have been countless numbers of innocent civilians killed by all parties involved in the war, even the supposed peace makers. In such a scenario, the killing of young Balachandran, only serve to highlight the untold agony of thousands who perished during of senseless war and thousand more who watched their loved ones dying.