Back home again!

Lakshmi de Silva

They used to hide when they hear the drone of a helicopter or an aircraft just a few months back. But today they come out in the open and keep waving at an aircraft or even vehicles on the road. These children born in an era of an armed conflict, had witnessed the cruelty of the terrorist regime that robbed the people of the North and East of their most valuable wealth – children - to carry guns instead of pens, pencils and books.

The day was important to children and adults alike, last week 41,685 people living in welfare villages in Vavuniya were going back to their own villages, to their homes fortified with the assurance that no one would snatch their children. One among these lucky ones who wished to remain anonymous said she used to hide her children in a small thicket when she spied the terrorist cadres going round ordering people to do various ‘jobs’ for them.

Still sometimes, she said, she hears the old command of the LTTE barked over a public address system telling people they should give their children to be trained as soldiers.

On last Thursday when Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa saw the thousands of IDPs off to their own villages there was a new hope among these people and some of them said they did not expect to go back so soon.

One of the officials working with the IDPs said “These people and even the children would like someone to talk to them. They want our understanding as they had no one to turn to when the terrorists ruled them during the past 30 years.

Most families had lost at least one member during the armed conflict and even today they say they hear gunshots ring in their ears though the guns had gone silent and were not firing around them anymore.”

This was the first time that IDPs were resettled in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts. Altogether the IDPs on this day were going to four districts including Mannar and Vavuniya, resettled in 10 Divisional Secretariat divisions divided into 108 Grama Niladhari divisions.

Each man or woman said they want to go back to their homes as soon as possible and restart their lives. Most of the men were farmers and wanted to cultivate their lands this Maha Season.

Thiruppathy Pillai, 41, said he had five acres, two sons, a daughter and his wife and they would start cultivating their lands soon as they get back. He was happy to go back but was also sad.

When I take my first mouthful of rice at my home I would remember my parents who died in the war. My father was shot dead by the LTTE and my mother also died later.

The number of soldiers who sacrificed their lives to free the country from the terrorists and bring back peace to the country is in thousands. And the ground on which we stood was drenched in the blood of our comrades, one soldier on duty said.

When asked several IDPs whether they would want to go back or support another war of terrorism by taking up arms they emphatically said they did not want to see another armed conflict and would not support the terrorists in the future.

There was visible enthusiasm at the top in the resettlement and rehabilitation task force. Basil Rajapaksa MP who personally looked into every detail made queries from the officials and the IDPs but it seemed that a few officials did not share that enthusiasm. Rajapaksa was keen to see that every facility was provided to the IDPs and they were happy and did not question the sincerity of the Government and President Mahinda Rajapaksa who had assigned high priority to resettlement.

In Mannar, there were huge heaps of landmines cleared from the areas formerly controlled by the LTTE.

In several places these heaps were seen and still in other places of the district, specialized persons were clearing the ground of land mines.

One of the major hopes of the farmer families being resettled in villages down the Yodha Wewa (Giant’s Reservoir) was the reservoir that was left neglected for decades due to terrorists activities which was now renovated. It is now ready to irrigate about 30,000 acres of paddy land in the coming Maha season.