Doublespeak and doublethink with regard to alleged attacks on hospitals - Darusman, Weiss and Tamilnet at play

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP

Continued from yesterday

On the same day however we have the first straightforward assertion that the army 'shelled Puthukkudiyirippu (PTK) hospital Sunday night killing nine civilians. There is no further mention of harm to that hospital although on Thursday the 5th of February it was reported that 'The only remaining hospital in Udaiyaarkaddu within the so-called safe zone has again come under heavy shelling by the Sri Lankan army on Thursday. At least 7 civilians were killed and 27 wounded in the close vicinity of the makeshift hospital functioning at a school'.

Absurd allegations

Once again, there is no claim of casualties in the hospital, which makes it crystal clear that the allegations of deliberate attacks on hospitals are absurd. It is only on the 8th that, as mentioned, we are told the Air Force bombed the Ponnampalam hospital which - leaving aside its shady origins - was not supposed to be functioning at the time. Though Weiss talks of the 'sheer scale of the shelling of PTK hospital', there is no evidence of this in Tamilnet claims at the time, and we know that at the end of January 'hundreds of seriously wounded' were evacuated to government territory. Weiss also notes that, on January 5th, 'the ICRC evacuated.

All the drugs and equipment that remained were loaded into jeeps and trucks, along with 300 of the most seriously wounded patients'. No information was conveyed that the hospital meant for LTTE cadres was still functioning, perhaps for the simple reason that that had been kept a secret throughout, given the abuse of funding that had occurred.

One realizes then that the multiple confusion in all the narratives conceals basic facts, viz -

a) There was a civilian hospital in PTK which was recognized as such by the government.

b) The LTTE had its own not openly acknowledged hospital for its cadres.

c) Both hospitals were used for both civilians and cadres. d) The LTTE kept heavy weapons near the PTK hospital (and probably near the other as well).

e) There were no allegations at the time of attacks on the PTK hospital, except for the claim that 9 civilians including patients were killed in the ward on February 2nd

f) Rather, there were several allegations of attacks at a hospital at Udaiyaarkaddu, asserting in turn that

i Shells exploded inside the hospital premises on January 24th

ii 10 patients were killed in the hospital on January 26th iii A nurse was killed in the hospital on 2nd February

iv At least 7 civilians were killed in the close vicinity of the hospital on February 5th

In short, the showpiece of Weiss as well as Darusman seems to be a construct, full of blood and thunder and emotion, signifying nothing.