Tamils - a Trans State Nation..

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

On Saturday Sep. 7, 1996, Krishanthi Kumarasamy, an 18 year old student at Chundikuli Girls' High School went missing, soon after she had taken her first paper at the GCE A/L examination. She was seen by a number of witnesses being taken into custody by Sinhala army personnel at the Kaithady checkpoint, and she disappeared soon after. According to a report published later in the Sri Lanka Sunday Times (Nov 3, 1996),

"She was stopped at the checkpoint and three soldiers allegedly raped her until she fell unconscious. When she revived, according to the confessions, police officers and six soldiers further raped her."

On learning of Krishanthi's detention at the army check-point, her mother, Rasamma (59), who was the vice principal of Kaithady Maha Vithyalayam, accompanied by her son, Pranaban (16), and a neighbor, Kirupakaran Sithamparam (35), went to the army camp, and then they too disappeared.

The same Sri Lanka Sunday Times report said, "Her journey was not only futile but she, her son and neighbor were strangled, cut into pieces and buried in a little hut within the gates of the army camp." Krishanthi's relatives in Colombo, including her older sister, Prashanthi (21), who was staying in Colombo at that time, took up the matter with authorities in Colombo, including President Kumaratunga, but nothing was done as the army headquarters denied the arrests. On Sep 20th, Amnesty International published an Urgent Action Appeal (UA 222/96), and even at this stage the government remained silent. On Oct 23, more than 6 weeks after their disappearances, the Colombo-based Tamil daily Virakesari published the story. Although none of the other newspapers published it, things began to heat up. The matter was raised in Parliament, and all of a sudden the four bodies buried in a shallow grave within the army camp were found.

Tip of an iceberg? Tamil Voice has information that this kind of atrocities are quite rampant in the Jaffna peninsula, and in other Tamil areas occupied by the Sri Lankan army. This is not an isolated incident... The reason for lack of publicity is the unofficial ban on independent reporters and human rights organizations from visiting these areas...

A recent Asia Watch report said, "the army only permits access to the state run media." Foreign humanitarian organizations that are allowed to function in these areas are ones who (by charter) do not publish such crimes. They consider such silence necessary for them to be able to carry out their primary humanitarian work. News pertaining to large scale violations, such as those in the peninsula, however, is difficult to conceal.

A Tamil Voice editor had an opportunity to meet with a number of new refugees who had escaped recently to Tamil Nadu by boat. He reports that, their accounts are "horror stories from hell."

A large number of Tamil men and women are reportedly being held in the Kankesanthurai police premises in the army-held Jaffna peninsula. They are reported to have been arrested between 30 Mar 96 and 29 Aug 96. The Government Agent of the army occupied Jaffna peninsula published a list of names and details of only 135 Tamils, out of the 740 who the armed forces admitted to holding at the Kankesanthurai police station. He has also reported that nearly a hundred Tamil girls are missing.

Several incidents of rapes and molestations were also reported.

"On Sep 30 at about 3.20 PM Velauthapillai Rajani, 22, from Urumpirai North was arrested in Kondavil-Urumpirai Road by the Sri Lankan army. This arrest was seen by several people. Rajani, who was planning to leave to Canada, went to see her relatives in Kondavil to say good-bye. On her way she was stopped by the Sri Lankan soldiers manning the Kondavil checkpoint and was dragged into a house where two elderly people were living. The soldiers chased the two occupants out of the house and Rajani was raped. Her naked body was found later in the compound."

Another report stated, "Vasuki, a young Tamil girl living in Kilner Lane was harassed by Sri Lankan soldiers from the army camp next to her house. On Sep 8, Vasuki was watching TV at her home between 11 PM and 12 PM at night when 4 Sri Lankan soldiers in civil dress and 2 soldiers in army uniform came into her house and tried to take her away by force. She and her neighbors raised cries and the soldiers fled with Vasuki's National Identity card."

"On Saturday morning August 7, a Sri Lankan military truck rammed into a group of school girls who were cycling to the Examination hall for their GCE (A/L) examinations. Nineteen year old, Thayananthi Kananathan from Ariyalai, a student of Chundukuli Girls college was killed on the spot."

"On Sep 10, a 55 year old woman employed in the Thirunelvely Co-operative Milk Society was gang-raped by Sri Lankan Army personnel."

"In Kachchai a husband who tried to prevent the rape of his wife was cut to death. His wife was also murdered later."

These are just a few of the hundreds of incidents reported to Tamil Voice.The rape and murder of Krishanthi is just one of them. (Tamil Voice, published by the US Based Ilankai Thamil Sangam, Fall 1996, edited by Dr.Rajan Sriskandarajah M.D.)

17 Years later Sangam.org commented in 2003:

"Krishanti Kumarasamy was raped and murdered on Sept. 7, 1996 by Sri Lankan soldiers manning a checkpoint near Jaffna City. She was killed along with over 600 other civilians after the occupation of the Jaffna Peninsula in 1995/6 by the Sri Lankan military. Her death received some attention because her mother, brother and a neighbor were killed when they went looking for her, their bodies were eventually discovered and her sister had the courage to prosecute the case. Through the confession of one of the soldiers convicted in Krishanti's court case, attention was finally focused on the hundreds of others who had disappeared during the same period. A team of forensic and human rights experts dug in the vicinity of where Krishanti's body was found and discovered other bodies, some of whom have been identified.

Little has occurred following up on the discovery of the bodies, although the Jaffna Association of the Missing and Disappeared has been active in keeping the issue alive. Recently the government appointed a one person committee, Devanasan Nesiah, to inquire into the disappearances in Jaffna in 1996. Nesiah was the head of reconstruction efforts under President Kumaratunge after the occupation of Jaffna. His report is due out next week.

The importance of this case lies not only in the horrendous suffering of the individuals involved and the families they left behind, but also in the implications of war crimes and crimes against humanity which still remain to be prosecuted. Guilt for these crimes may reach to some of the highest levels of past and current Sri Lankan governments." [see also Krishanthi Rape & Murder - Who is Guilty of War Crimes? in PDF]