Madras Hindu, PTI & UNI Report dateline 22
September 1985:
"Fifty two
villages have been destroyed in the Trincomalee
district in the last two months by the Sri Lankan armed
forces according to an eyewitness who fled the country.
The middle aged person who claims that he was helped by
the Sri Lankan Government to escape from Trincomalee,
told PTI many shops and houses in the district had been
razed to the ground rendering thousands of Tamils
homeless in the Government's bid to "drive away Tamils
from the strategic port town of Trincomalee".
The person, a non Tamil belonging to a group settled
in Trincomalee for generations who wanted to be
anonymous said he fled from the town following the
ghastly attack by the Sri Lankan Home Guards on
September 4 in Trincomalee town. Virtually, the entire
town was wiped out in the attack driving away the
Tamils to forests and refugee camps, he said. About 12
temples and a mosque were destroyed in the attack and
Pattam Kurchi, a nearby village was completely wiped
out. The person with religious pursuits said he decided
to get away from the town as it had become
"unlivable'.
Although he could not give any statistics about the
casualties, he said, all he knew was there were 6,000
refugees lodged in a school turned camp after the Sept.
4 attack in Trincomalee. The entire area had become
"unsafe" to travel and communication links had been
completely cut off.
He said the modus operandi the troops adopted was to
come in disguise to a targeted place and throw some
bombs. They would then come back to the area a little
later saying the Liberation Tigers had attacked the
place, and so they must search and apprehend them....
The person said it was wrong to say that the Tamils
attack first and the Sinhalese Army undertook
reprisals. "It is the (Sri Lankan) Army and the Home
Guards who throw bombs and then blame the Tigers for
it." ... He said during the Sept. 9 incident, in which
the former TULF MP, Mr. Sampanthan's house was bombed
at midnight in Trincomalee, "people had seen Sinhalese
come and bomb the place with their own eyes."..
"The Sri Lanka Government has accomplished its
objective of a 'prohibited zone' by driving out Tamils
from the 40 mile North Eastern coastal stretch from
Mullaitivu to Trincomalee town in the island, through
savage attacks on them jointly by the Sri Lankan army
men and armed Sinhala hoodlums", Tamil United
Liberation former politburo member and former MP from
Trincomalee, R. Sampanthan said today. ...
He said systematic attacks on Tamils were launched
during the last three months in the coastal village of
Kuchuveli, Nilaveli, Uppuveli, Murugapuri,
Tirucuddalore, Veeranagar and division No.10 in
Trincomalee town. Mr. Sampanthan said the efforts of
affected Tamils to reach these areas were resisted by
the Sinhala armed forces and home guards.Three Tamils
were hacked to death when they attempted to reach their
hometown in Murugapuri two days ago, he added."
