Blood soaked Mannar 04.12.1984
Mannar is one of the eight districts of the Northeast province. The main occupation of the Mannar people is fishing. The historical Hindu temple, Thiruketheeswaram, and the famous Catholic Madhu church are located in this district.
On 4 December 1984 the Sri Lankan military conducted an attack on the people of Nanaddan and Manthai areas in the district.
On 04.12.1984, the military arrested a young man from Isaimalaithivu and were taking him to their camp when the military vehicle came under a landmine attack. There were no serious damages. The military went to its Thalladi military camp and started to shell civilian areas from there.
The military burnt 15 men alive who were previously arrested by them. The military also arrested 30 more people who were traveling on the road in front of their camp and burnt them alive as well. People in the Mannar town were able to observe the smoke arising from the 45 burning bodies.
On the same day, the military from the Thalladi and Silawaththai military camps rounded up several residential areas. The military that left from Mannar traveled on the Mathawachchi road through the villages of, Sirunavatkulam, Nochchikulam, Kallikkaddaikadu, Uyilankulam, Parapankandal, Uyirththarasankulam, Aththikkuli, Chemmanthivu, Murunkan and went up to the Madhu road. All along they attacked and burnt homes and offices and shot and killed people. Employees of the Chemmanthivu Cooperative Society and the employees of the Murunkan post office were killed in these atrocities. The military that left Silawaththai also carried out atrocities along the way.
The military from the Thalladi camp after arriving at Madhu road stopped a bus full of passengers. They ordered everyone to get off the bus and all the passengers and the driver were shot dead. Two days after this the Bishop of Mannar and the Mannar Government Agent collected 90 bodies and took them to the Mannar hospital. More than 200 people were killed in this episode of violence by the military.
0 Comments