With regard to the Valachchenai area
With regard to the Valachchenai area, villages surrounding Miravodai are also very important.
Among them, the villages of Kinnaiyadi, Karuvakkeni, and Sungankeni have been attacked many times and have faced various losses.
Among these, the village of Kinnaiyadi suffered the greatest damage. There are several reasons for this. The area beyond the canal (vaavi) in Kinnaiyadi village was under the control of the LTTE. People living in villages beyond the canal—such as Pirambadithivu, Saaravelly, and Murukkandivu—usually traveled through the Kinnaiyadi canal. Although these villages were under LTTE control, the existence of canal transport in Kinnaiyadi led the military to remain suspicious of this village.
The military suspected that the LTTE used this canal at night to enter areas under army control, and that food and other essential supplies for the LTTE were transported from Kinnaiyadi to LTTE-held areas through this route.
This suspicion had existed since around 1984. At that time, Special Task Force personnel stationed in the area carried out ambush attacks from hiding in these villages. In such frequent attacks, civilians were often the main victims. As a result, people in the area were unable to move about at night or go fishing in the canal. This situation continued until the ceasefire agreement came into effect.
Because of this, an army camp was established in several houses near Kinnaiyadi Saraswathy Vidyalayam. One day, soldiers suddenly arrived and woke up residents living in large stone houses in the area and took over those houses to set up their camp. Frightened, the local people left their homes. Subsequently, the military took over about 35 houses.
Due to the establishment of this camp, the school could not function normally. However, the military issued strict orders that the school must continue operating in the same building, so the school continued under great difficulty. One of the two roads leading to the school was blocked, and students were ordered to use only one road. That same road was also designated as the route for people traveling to and from the villages beyond the canal. As a result, farmers and others using the canal for agricultural and other needs were subjected to strict searches, and arrests and assaults continued.
In addition, residents of Kinnaiyadi village were frequently arrested without any reason and were also assaulted. Furthermore, shells and gunfire launched from the camp frequently caused injuries and sometimes deaths. Fishermen were unable to go fishing in the canal.
Due to these conditions, many people migrated away from the village. Their abandoned houses were damaged and destroyed by the military. In 1996, this military camp came under attack by the LTTE.
Following this attack, artillery shelling carried out from other military camps in Valachchenai to protect the camp caused damage to nearby civilian settlements. Many houses were destroyed by shelling. More than ten civilians were killed and many others injured.
After this attack, people fled their homes overnight and even after dawn, and they never returned. They temporarily settled in places such as Valachchenai and Sungankeni. Two weeks after this incident, the LTTE launched another major attack on the camp.
After this, the LTTE frequently shelled the camp from across the canal, and in response, the military attacked civilian homes. Because of such incidents, out of about 600 families living there, more than 400 families were displaced for many years. Their homes were destroyed and their livelihoods were affected.
In 1984, Special Task Force personnel who went to Kinnaiyadi opened fire on people fishing in the canal, killing six people on the spot. Their bodies were placed in a boat and covered with soil, and were later found floating in the canal by relatives. From then on, such shootings and shelling incidents continued frequently in the village, and so far around fifty people are believed to have been killed.
Even now, although there is peace, the military camp continues to operate there, and houses have not been returned to their owners. Damaged houses have still not been repaired. Although displaced people are now returning to the area, residents living near the camp are still unwilling to return to their original homes.
The losses suffered by Kinnaiyadi village were also experienced by nearby Sungankeni and Karuvakkeni villages. People in these villages were frequently arrested by the military and also went missing. Shells often landed in these villages as well.
However, the greatest loss occurred in these villages in the 1990s. When the second phase of the Eelam war began in 1990, military movements were carried out through several routes toward the city in an attempt to drive out LTTE forces in areas under military control in the Batticaloa District. As part of this, a special military unit moved from Minneriya along the Batticaloa–Colombo road.
The LTTE launched heavy attacks to stop this advance, up to the Odamavadi bridge, but later withdrew considering civilian casualties.
With no LTTE counterattacks, the military unit crossed Odamavadi and reached the petrol station junction. It then continued its operation to rescue soldiers trapped in the LTTE-held Kumburumoolai camp. At that time, soldiers also moved through the villages of Karuvakkeni and Sungankeni. They captured people they saw and those found in houses and took them to the forest near the Sungankeni toddy tavern, where they were killed.
Some bodies were later found there, but many people were missing. During this operation, around 60 people from these villages went missing. In addition, empty houses were damaged and property disappeared.
After this military operation, the people of Karuvakkeni village lived in great fear. Because a large army camp was established in the Divisional Secretariat building at the petrol station junction, many families in Karuvakkeni began to move away. Border-area residents also left due to fear.
Most families in Karuvakkeni had previously lived in Odamavadi. In earlier times, Tamils also lived around Odamavadi junction and owned land there. There were also temples and cemeteries. Tamils and Muslims lived together in harmony. Many Tamil traders ran shops in the Odamavadi bazaar.
However, after the riots in 1985, Tamils began to leave the area. They settled in Karuvakkeni, where many still live today. The site of the former Pillaiyar temple in Odamavadi has now become a public market, and a post office and divisional secretariat have been built on the cemetery land. This is known to many people there. Elders from both communities still recall how Tamils and Muslims once lived together in unity.
— S. Jayanandamurthy
Compilation: Thamilarasan Abdul Kadhar
Translatil by Hari
0 Comments