Madhu statue returns

Weakening LTTE ...and blessings for the country:

Little would one believe that a religious statue could signify a major turning point in a protracted battle between the State and a terrorist organisation.

Yet the return of the much venerated statue of Our Lady of Madhu to the rapidly expanding Government held territory in the North earlier this week, signified the growing weakness of the LTTE, especially in enforcing its writ in the areas already liberated by the Security Forces or would be very soon.

It was in early April this year that the LTTE ordered the clergy in charge of the Madhu Shrine to remove the statue to the Thavanpidi area, 70 km northwest of Madhu, to what was a strong LTTE held area at the time.

There was a controversy as to why the religious custodians of the statue did not bring it to the Government held area for safety, even after the assurance of all security being provided to the focus of much respect and veneration by the Roman Catholic community and others too.

In the grey zone that prevailed with regard to authority at the time, as the troops were increasing their operations against the LTTE in the Madhu area, and with the LTTE positioning its heavy guns around the church, there were fears the church may be hit in the fighting, and the statue damaged or destroyed.

In the event, it was the writ of the Tigers that prevailed, and the priests hastily complied with the orders to shift. It was shortly after the statue was taken away to the questionable safety of a Tiger held area, that the troops finally entered the Madhu church premises, bringing it well within the area under control of the Government.

It was proof of how cautious they were in trying to prevent any damage to the church and the statue in the military operations that were under way.

One must not forget the moves made at the time to have a “no war” zone declared in and around the precincts of the Madhu church, which would have fallen very well with the LTTE strategy of keeping the military away from an area it intended to keep under its control; for we are well aware of what a “no war” zone means to the LTTE, having experienced an internationally supported ceasefire for five years.

President Rajapaksa’s correct response to that ploy was to say that what the Government wanted was a “no war” zone in the entire country.

Changing tide

Last Tuesday, with the arrival of an ambulance to the Omanthai entry/exit point carrying two priests and a nun who accompanied the statue of Our Lady of Madhu back to government area, the message was clear that the tide has definitely turned against the LTTE. Much as the LTTE would have liked to play politics or war games with the statue as a pawn, it lacked the strength to do so.

The fall of strategic Vidattaltivu to the security forces, followed very soon by the troops moving into Iluppikkadavai and beyond, which included the area to which the Madhu statue was taken to, in the Tiger ploy for protection for themselves, and not the statue, they could not hold on to the sacred pawn anymore.

The return of the statue gave the strongest credence to reports by the Security Forces, as well as, many observers and military analysts both here and abroad that the LTTE was in fact taking a heavy beating, and could not last long as the current military operations progressed.

There were many Catholics who saw in the return of the statue a blessing on the country. The worst fears they had of never being able to see or worship the statue were allayed, and new hope born that Madhu would once again be a place for pilgrimage and worship in freedom.

The defence authorities are now taking action to bring the statue back to its former repository at the Madhu shrine once the renovations of the LTTE-damaged buildings are completed.

The Sri Lanka Army has undertaken repairs and renovations at a cost of nearly Rs 1.5 million following a directive by the Army Commander. The Bishop of Mannar has said the statue will be taken back to the church after the traditional penitential practices of the Catholic Church, which are required in such situations.

Ceasefire

The Government is also taking every action to enable the annual feast of Madhu, due on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15, to be celebrated by the faithful, even modestly due to time constraints, but with the assurance of peace and freedom.

It was clearly no coincidence that the return of the Madhu Statue took place soon after the LTTE announced its “ceasefire” in honour of the SAARC Summit due to take place in Colombo next week, and to show its credentials of peace to the leaders of South Asia and the world too.

It was a careful strategy to set off its weakness in battle with the image of an organisation so eagerly suing for peace, and topping the offer with the release of the statue of the Mother of Peace.

It did not take long for the Government to give its response that it only hoped the ceasefire offer would be the beginning of a much larger deployment; and that it was well aware of how the LTTE had used earlier ceasefires and cessations of hostilities only to regroup and rearm, and create even more problems and crises than before.

This Government was not ready to be fooled by this latest peace ploy of the LTTE, after all the patience and resilience it showed before responding with force to the LTTE’s violence and terror in the first six months since the election of President Rajapaksa in November 2005.

What the Government underscored in rejecting the LTTE’s bone fides in this offer of a ceasefire, was that there was no war going on to have any ceasefire, but a battle to rid the country of terror.

As for the “ceasefire” being a mark of respect for SAARC, there is little reason to explain that most of the leaders arriving here for the SAARC Summit are well aware of terrorism and what it means; with some countries such as Afghanistan, India and Pakistan facing a good deal of it today, the SAARC leaders would well understand that one does not stop operations against terrorists because of an international gathering, but it could be better to carry on the operations with no interruption, even during the confab in Colombo.

There are some who are irrepressible in their folly and one such is the UNP’s loose and slippery tongued spokesman Lakshman Kiriella.

He was expressing the UNP’s desire for the Government to have grabbed the LTTE’s ceasefire offer with both hands, in keeping with the UNP’s known policy of appeasing the LTTE, that he shot of a comment that although the Government had rejected the latest ceasefire offer, the military had suspended both ground and air operations in the north.

It was incorrect, and had he been bothered to make any inquiries or even visited defence.lk the Defence Ministry web site, he would never have said it. But such inquiry is not identified with Kiriella and his brash style.

It did not take long for him to be proved wrong, and possibly mischievously seeking to mislead the public about the progress of military operations in the north, because a few hours after his statement was published on a news site last Thursday (24), the defence authorities announced that troops of the 57 Division, operating at the combined Mannar - Vavuniya front, advanced from its newly established positions at Pandiyankulama and forced further into non-liberated area, 3 km Southeast of Mallavi and have reportedly captured the Vavunikulam Tank bund, in Mullaitivu District.

No doubt there will be many more attempts by the UNP to mislead the people, in tandem with the vast misinformation campaign it is carrying out in the polls campaigns in the NCP and Sabaragamuwa.

Archbishop

There was considerable realism in the observation by the Archbishop of Colombo Dr. Oswald Gomis that fighting will likely prove to be the only way to end the conflict in Sri Lanka. He was speaking from Colombo to Vatican Radio.

He has observed that the battle between the Government and the separatist LTTE has now reached a point where opportunities for dialogue are basically non-existent.

In the report by Zenit Org. the Archbishop says, “There are certain people who feel that this may be the only way to a solution; though there are those who still advocate peace talks.

“I mean the ideal would be if they could come to terms, and the government has certainly said they are prepared to have talks provided the rebels give up their arms; however the Tamil Tigers have said they will not give up their arms — so it’s a stalemate there.”

The report of the Archbishop’s statement to Vatican Radio came shortly after the LTTE announced its ceasefire during the forthcoming SAARC Summit in Colombo, as fighting along the frontlines in the north of the country has intensified and Government troops have been making important gains, moving into LTTE held territory in its operation to defeat the LTTE terror by year end.

The Zenit Org report states the stepped up military operations have “had a significant and visible impact on the Tamil Tigers — the group lost six boats and a major base to the Sri Lankan military on Sunday, and nearly 100 of its fighters were killed in just the last three days. (Before July 23)”. It added that: “In the last few days the government has claimed a series of military victories, and Archbishop Gomis confirmed the rebels are indeed falling back.”

The Archbishop has noted that an important distinction must be made between the insurgents who are fighting and the Tamil population as a whole, who are two separate peoples. “They say that the fighters are one particular terrorist group and not all the Tamils, so even the Tamils are held ransom by these people.

“So first of all you must crush them if you want to have a peaceful solution, that’s what most of the people are thinking and that has become a common opinion, not that we share it.”

The report concluded that Archbishop Gomis expressed his resignation that a truly peaceful solution may no longer be possible, and that all anyone can basically do at this point is sit, watch and wait.”

This is as candid a statement as possible to come from a person whom is essentially a man of peace. With the LTTE firm in its refusal to lay down arms and enter the process for peace and democracy, there is little purpose in chasing behind them with offers of talks, whether they are talks in fact or talks about talks, that has taken place so far at various venues such as Thailand, Oslo and Geneva.

The military is confounding all “pundits” who have been extolling the invincibility of the LTTE’s fighting capability, and is doing so with strong support by the public who are determined to see an end to terrorism. In such a situation, the statement by the Archbishop is as realistic as any serious observer of the current situation could be.

Such realism could well be why the church took the decision to bring the statue of Our Lady of Madhu back to where it really belongs, in government territory, and give an opportunity to all Sri Lankans to worship and seek blessings from the Mother of Christ in the shrine at Madhu.

So, watch and pray, are the key words today.