Final days in Vanni:

LTTE shot and killed 600 Tamils like stray dogs- ex TNA MP

K T Rajasingham

Former TNA member of Parliament S Kanagaratnam who was held as a human shield by the LTTE during the hostility campaign said not a single civilian was killed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

His revelation exposes the revengeful mentality, vindictive nature of the UN Secretary General and the flawed and distorted version of the so-called Experts’ Panel Report with vested Western interests

First part of this article was published yesterday

Kanagaratnam said that they had a five-acre plot of land suitable to grow coconut palms at Suthanthirapuram, located next to Udayarkaddu. He said that they were living in the house in Suthanthirapuram with his wife and three children, two boys and a girl. The eldest son is Aathithan and the other one is Sancheevan and the daughter Niriththana. After retirement, Kanagaratnam joined the Vanni Private Bus Operators’ Association, was the Manager cum timekeeper and was working at Kilinochchi.

He said that the majority of the private buses that operated from Kilinochchi belonged to the LTTE and their entire private bus operation came under one ‘Kutti’ who was assistant to Puhalenthi, the man in charge of the finances of the Tiger outfit.

Kanagaratnam said that while he was working with the Private Bus Operators’ Association in Kilinochchi, he came in contact with all the leading LTTE leaders, mainly with Tamilselvan who was in charge of the political division of the outfit. He said that it was Tamilselvan who was responsible for nominating him as a TNA candidate for the Vanni electoral district in the 2004 Parliamentary General elections.

When his name was announced as a candidate, he said that he was surprised.

Even after he was elected as a Member of Parliament, he remained in Vanni and lived with the people.

In Mullivaikkal

Given below excerpts of the interview Asian Tribune had with the former TNA Member of Parliament:

Asian Tribune: What happened, during your stay in Vanni?

S. Kanagaratnam: I have been living in Vanni since the year 2000. In fact after 2005, the war between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE began in earnest.

Asian Tribune: Where were you during the last days of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)?

S. Kanagaratnam: Those days I was at Mullivaikkal.

Asian Tribune: Where were you at Mullivaikkal?

S. Kanagaratnam: In front of the Mullivaikkal Pillaiyar Temple.

Asian Tribune: How many of you were there?

S. Kanagaratnam: There were three to four families together with me and including children we were more than 14 people living together. We were all in one bunker - underground shelter.

Asian Tribune: Then where were the LTTE leaders including Prabhakaran and his family members?

S. Kanagaratnam: They were near the Vattapalai Nanthikadal side. We were on the seaside.

Asian Tribune: Have you seen them?

S.Kanagaratnam: As an MP, who was with the people in Vanni, I was in touch with the LTTE leader, but at the last days, we could not move.

But I came to know about them, as the boys who were with him later were with me at the 4th Floor in the Police custody.

They told that they were with him during the last days of the battle.

Asian Tribune: Do you know what actually happened to Prabhakaran and his family members?

S. Kanagaratnam: No, there was no way of knowing the occurrences of the last two or three days.

According to the information, those boys who were providing security to Prabhakaran and his family members have also deserted him and there was no way to ascertain as to what has happened to him and his family.

Asian Tribune: Were you not able to come across people who could reveal what happened to Prabhakaran?

S. Kanagaratnam: Not a single, who could in fact reveal the truth. You all should know that Prabhakaran never took anyone into his confidence and he never let anyone to be near him.

Asian Tribune: What were you then doing those days?

S. Kanagaratnam: At the last days of the conflict, in May 2009, we were making arrangements to leave Vanni and cross over into the government controlled area. But we were prevented from moving out into the government-controlled area.

Asian Tribune: Who prevented you?

S. Kanagaratnam: There were LTTE sentries around civilian residential places. Two of those LTTE cadres stopped us leaving from Mullivaikkal area via Vadduvahal to Mullaitivu.

Those days we were unable to leave to anywhere.

There were so much of restrictions by the LTTE. But we were told on the 16th evening that the LTTE cadre who was manning the sentry died when his hand grenade accidentally exploded. The other sentry was missing after that incident.

Then only we started moving out from Mullivaikkal. But we were unable to reach Mullaitivu on that day. We waited whole night in some hiding places and managed to reach only on the following day.

Courtesy: Asian Tribune

To be continued