Mary Coldvin, the ‘portal reporter’ who took the Tamileelam liberation struggle to the world stage, went down in history.
Journalist Mary Coldvin recorded her presence. She was killed on 22.02.2012.
Sri Lanka took Mary Coldvin’s left eye. Is it right to take her life?
Wherever the cries of the innocent are heard in the attacks of the government forces, Journalist Mary Coldvin recorded her presence. She was killed on 22.02.2012.
“In 200, I entered the territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which had created an independent state for the Tamils, to learn about the plight of 500,000 Tamils in the Vanni.
The Sinhalese government banned me from going there. I thought I would have to leave without being noticed by the Sri Lankan forces. I traveled through the forest path through the light of small lamps, barbed wire fences, and waist-deep water.
However, I caught the eye of the forces. When they saw me, they started shooting. They threw flares. I shouted, ‘I am a journalist.’ They ignored me. Then, they attacked me with grenades.
I walked forward with that bloody wound. I could not stand. Blood was flowing. The soldiers who approached began to attack forcefully.
They tore off my clothes and stripped me naked. I was struggling to breathe, with a head wound, an eye wound, and a bullet wound in my chest. They lifted me up and threw me into a heavy vehicle.
Although I have suffered nothing more than the suffering of those people, my experience is enough to tell the story of the Tamils,” said Mary Coldvin, who attracted the attention of the world.
Hers was the most powerful of the European voices that were barely heard when only Tamils were talking about this issue.
Wherever there was a civil war, Mary Coldvin would go. That is why she bore the title of ‘war correspondent’.
It was in 2000 that her gaze turned towards the Sinhala chauvinist government. She came directly to Tamileelam. At that time, it was during an attack on her that she completely lost sight in her left eye.
From that day on, she walked around with a black cloth tied over her eye. When the LTTE condemned this attack, the Sinhala government accused her of being a ‘LTTE supporter’. She continued to write about the Tamil issue without worrying about it.
The final stage of negotiations during the ‘Mullivaikkal massacre’, known as the fourth phase of the Eelam War. It was Mary Coldvin who was the liaison between the UN and the LTTE.
The two LTTE political leaders, Nadesan and Pulithevan, who came with the white flag, came out believing in Mary Coldvin’s word.
However, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa-Sarath Fonseka alliance broke their promise and took the lives of both.
It was an urgent call. But it was not like the call of someone who was going to die in a few hours. The article written by Mary Colvin, which began with “…..”, continues to resonate today as a witness to the destruction of the Tamil nation.
Even after this, she received threats. She did not care about them.
The life of Coldvin, who was born somewhere, worked for someone, and died somewhere, is an inspiration to all of us!
This journalist, Mary Coldvin, a woman, became one of the witnesses of the final genocide and one of the people who took the Tamileelam liberation struggle to the world stage.
(Translation by Tamilpriya)
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