Yarlpanam displacement – 30.10.1995
Yarlpanam displacement – 30.10.1995 – A painful historical record of the Tamil people
It has been many years since more than 600,000 people left Valikamam in the Yarlpanam peninsula. No one can easily forget the event when those people left overnight on October 30, 1995. On a similar day.
When Chandrika Kumaratunga was the then president, the people of Valikamam left all their properties and possessions and left overnight to save themselves due to the ‘Riviresa’ military operation launched from Palaly and Achuveli to bring the Yarlpanam peninsula under the control of the Sri Lankan army.
On October 30, 1995, at around 6 pm, as heavy shelling was shaking the peninsula. The LTTE issued a loudspeaker announcement to the people to leave their homes and go to Thenmaradchi, Vadamaradchi and the Vanni areas.
The very next second after the announcement was made, the people did not know what to do. They left behind their properties, belongings, and livestock, and moved inch by inch along the Semmani road to save their lives. Among the people who were trapped amid heavy rain and floods, the elderly and some of the sick embraced death on the Semmani road itself.
The survivors migrated to Thenmaradchi, Vadamaradchi and the Vanni areas. This incident was recorded as the greatest tragedy and displacement in the history of the Tamil people of Eelam.
(Translation by Tamilpriya)
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