Sinhalese mobs, assisted by Sri Lankan security forces attacked Tamils and Muslims and torched their properties in Trincomalee last week after the death of a soldier in a bomb attack, in a localised carbon copy of the island wide anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983
More than 19 people were killed and over 45 were wounded in communal rioting last Wednesday (April 5)that also saw the closing of over 22 Tamil and Muslim shops in the eastern port town.
This was followed by fresh violence on Friday, in which another 3 civilians were killed, including an Indian astrologer and a 60 year old woman who was knifed to death.
The violence on Wednesday was only stopped after the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who urged the Sri Lankan head of state to ensure the security and safety of Trincomalee Tamil civilians, according to press reports.
On Friday, however, Somasuntharam Maheswary, 60, was attending religious duties at Nadesar Temple when a group of thugs had dragged her from the temple premises and cut her. Her body was later found on the road and handed over to the mortuary of the Trincomalee general hospital.
Indian citizen Venkadasamy Venkatraman (30) of Ramamoorthy Nagar, Bangalore in South India was also killed that day. He was an astrologer by profession. The third person killed on Friday was Thannimalai Namasivayalingam, 28, who had been a junior employee of the Trincomalee district secretariat.
The attackers last Wednesday were Sinhalese thugs armed with incendiary devices and assisted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) troopers, charged Trincomalee district parliamentarian, Mr. K. Thurairatnasingam.
“Like the July 1983 genocidal pogrom against the Tamils, the current violence against the Tamil speaking people has been unleashed in Trincomalee with the connivance of the Sri Lanka Navy,” the parliamentary group of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said in a press release.
“The SL Navy had brought Sinhalese mobs by the truck loads to the heart of the Trincomalee Town, who in turn began murdering, and causing grievous hurt to Tamil speaking people, whilst setting on fire and destroying Tamil commercial centres. That the SL navy orchestrated these incidents is clear,” the press release said.
Meanwhile, transport services to and from Trincomalee had still not returned to normalcy on the weekend, with shops and the public market closed and roads in the town deserted. State and private sector bus services had been stopped since last Wednesday evening and bus stands were deserted.
“Our houses were burnt, properties were destroyed and we were attacked by thugs with knives and clubs while the State armed forces and police looked on. No one came to our rescue. We fled from our houses and sought refuge elsewhere to save our lives,” several Tamil families sheltered in Varothiayanagar Bharathi Vidiyalam following fresh violence erupted Friday afternoon told Mr. Thurairatnasingam when he visited them Saturday morning.
The attacks come in the wake of the assassination of Mr. Vanniasingham Vigneswaran, President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples’ Forum (TDTPF), a leading Tamil civil society activist who was about to be nominated as the national list parliamentarian to fill the position of murdered Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, Joseph Pararajasingham.
Mr. Vigneswaran was shot dead the previous Friday by a gunman from an Army-backed paramilitary group as he was about to enter his workplace at the main branch of the Bank of Ceylon located between the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police and Trincomalee Harbour Police.
Mr. Pararajasingham was also shot dead by Army-backed paramilitaries in a Batticaloa Church last Christmas Eve.
“Sri Lanka Government should urgently take steps to ensure safety of our business in Trincomalee. Thugs target our businesses whenever there is any explosion in the bazaar, and Government troops and Police rarely take any action to contain resulting violence and looting. This has been the case from 1977. Many of our shops have now been destroyed while the Police and troops looked on, this Wednesday,” said several members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Trincomalee District (CCITD) in the presence of a Sri Lanka Minister and Security Forces commanders during a conference held Saturday evening.
Mr. Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Investment and Promotion, Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, North East Provincial Governor, Lt. General Sarath Fonseka, Commander of the SLA, police and army officials participated in the conference.
The Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in Trincomalee district Sunday commenced distributing dry ration relief to about 250 Tamil families who sought refuge in schools and public buildings in the suburbs of the port town, having fled the Friday violence.
Meanwhile hundreds of resettled Tamil families in the villages Kanniya, Managaiootu and Killikunchcumalai were trapped in their houses without transport to buy provisions following the violence. TRO has made necessary arrangement to transport dry ration and other foodstuff to these villages, Mr. C. Kumarakurubaran, Deputy Director of the TRO in Trincomalee said.
“If the genocide attacks by State armed forces with the connivance of Sinhalese hoodlums continue in the Trincomalee district we would be forced to take steps to safeguard the lives and properties of innocent Tamil people in the district and that would lead to undesirable serious consequence on the current peace process,” warned Mr. S. Elilan, LTTE district political head in a statement on the fresh violence against Tamil people in the suburbs of Trincomalee town since Friday afternoon.
“We took up arms at a time when the State armed forces unleashed violence and genocide attacks on Tamil people in the northeast. The government troops with connivance of Sinhalese thugs have again started unleashing violence against Tamils during the peacetime,” said Mr. Elilan.
“Curfew has been imposed in Trincomalee town and its suburbs after houses and properties of Tamil people have been burnt down and destroyed by thugs with the assistance of government troops. During the curfew time we receive reports that thugs with the assistance of the government troops are entering the houses of Tamils and attack them. This cannot be condoned by us any more,” said Mr. Elilan.
More than 19 people were killed and over 45 were wounded in communal rioting last Wednesday (April 5)that also saw the closing of over 22 Tamil and Muslim shops in the eastern port town.
This was followed by fresh violence on Friday, in which another 3 civilians were killed, including an Indian astrologer and a 60 year old woman who was knifed to death.
The violence on Wednesday was only stopped after the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who urged the Sri Lankan head of state to ensure the security and safety of Trincomalee Tamil civilians, according to press reports.
On Friday, however, Somasuntharam Maheswary, 60, was attending religious duties at Nadesar Temple when a group of thugs had dragged her from the temple premises and cut her. Her body was later found on the road and handed over to the mortuary of the Trincomalee general hospital.
Indian citizen Venkadasamy Venkatraman (30) of Ramamoorthy Nagar, Bangalore in South India was also killed that day. He was an astrologer by profession. The third person killed on Friday was Thannimalai Namasivayalingam, 28, who had been a junior employee of the Trincomalee district secretariat.
The attackers last Wednesday were Sinhalese thugs armed with incendiary devices and assisted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) troopers, charged Trincomalee district parliamentarian, Mr. K. Thurairatnasingam.
“Like the July 1983 genocidal pogrom against the Tamils, the current violence against the Tamil speaking people has been unleashed in Trincomalee with the connivance of the Sri Lanka Navy,” the parliamentary group of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said in a press release.
“The SL Navy had brought Sinhalese mobs by the truck loads to the heart of the Trincomalee Town, who in turn began murdering, and causing grievous hurt to Tamil speaking people, whilst setting on fire and destroying Tamil commercial centres. That the SL navy orchestrated these incidents is clear,” the press release said.
Meanwhile, transport services to and from Trincomalee had still not returned to normalcy on the weekend, with shops and the public market closed and roads in the town deserted. State and private sector bus services had been stopped since last Wednesday evening and bus stands were deserted.
“Our houses were burnt, properties were destroyed and we were attacked by thugs with knives and clubs while the State armed forces and police looked on. No one came to our rescue. We fled from our houses and sought refuge elsewhere to save our lives,” several Tamil families sheltered in Varothiayanagar Bharathi Vidiyalam following fresh violence erupted Friday afternoon told Mr. Thurairatnasingam when he visited them Saturday morning.
The attacks come in the wake of the assassination of Mr. Vanniasingham Vigneswaran, President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples’ Forum (TDTPF), a leading Tamil civil society activist who was about to be nominated as the national list parliamentarian to fill the position of murdered Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, Joseph Pararajasingham.
Mr. Vigneswaran was shot dead the previous Friday by a gunman from an Army-backed paramilitary group as he was about to enter his workplace at the main branch of the Bank of Ceylon located between the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police and Trincomalee Harbour Police.
Mr. Pararajasingham was also shot dead by Army-backed paramilitaries in a Batticaloa Church last Christmas Eve.
“Sri Lanka Government should urgently take steps to ensure safety of our business in Trincomalee. Thugs target our businesses whenever there is any explosion in the bazaar, and Government troops and Police rarely take any action to contain resulting violence and looting. This has been the case from 1977. Many of our shops have now been destroyed while the Police and troops looked on, this Wednesday,” said several members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Trincomalee District (CCITD) in the presence of a Sri Lanka Minister and Security Forces commanders during a conference held Saturday evening.
Mr. Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Investment and Promotion, Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, North East Provincial Governor, Lt. General Sarath Fonseka, Commander of the SLA, police and army officials participated in the conference.
The Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in Trincomalee district Sunday commenced distributing dry ration relief to about 250 Tamil families who sought refuge in schools and public buildings in the suburbs of the port town, having fled the Friday violence.
Meanwhile hundreds of resettled Tamil families in the villages Kanniya, Managaiootu and Killikunchcumalai were trapped in their houses without transport to buy provisions following the violence. TRO has made necessary arrangement to transport dry ration and other foodstuff to these villages, Mr. C. Kumarakurubaran, Deputy Director of the TRO in Trincomalee said.
“If the genocide attacks by State armed forces with the connivance of Sinhalese hoodlums continue in the Trincomalee district we would be forced to take steps to safeguard the lives and properties of innocent Tamil people in the district and that would lead to undesirable serious consequence on the current peace process,” warned Mr. S. Elilan, LTTE district political head in a statement on the fresh violence against Tamil people in the suburbs of Trincomalee town since Friday afternoon.
“We took up arms at a time when the State armed forces unleashed violence and genocide attacks on Tamil people in the northeast. The government troops with connivance of Sinhalese thugs have again started unleashing violence against Tamils during the peacetime,” said Mr. Elilan.
“Curfew has been imposed in Trincomalee town and its suburbs after houses and properties of Tamil people have been burnt down and destroyed by thugs with the assistance of government troops. During the curfew time we receive reports that thugs with the assistance of the government troops are entering the houses of Tamils and attack them. This cannot be condoned by us any more,” said Mr. Elilan.
