Shell fire hits Madhu Shrine

Shell fire hits Madhu Shrine
By Amantha Perera
The history of the famous statue of Our Lady of Madhu dates back almost 500 years. It has been recorded that the statue, the most venerated among Sri Lankan
Catholics, was housed at a church in the Mantai north area in 1583.
It was moved to the Madhu Church somewhere in the 1670s. According to churchlore, it was first moved to Periyamadhu and then to the famous Madhu Church that
was built in the last century.
For centuries Catholics would throng to the statue from all over the island. The pilgrimage undertaken by worshippers annually, suddenly began to slowdown and it
came to an eventual stop in 1983 with the onset of the ethnic riots. Since then the shrine has lived through war more than peace, but until last week the statue has
never been relocated due to the conflict.
In 1982, the then J.R. Jayewardene Government declared the Madhu Church area a sanctuary by Gazette notification. It spreads around a two square kilometre
extent surrounding the shrine located at the northern end of Madhu Road that links to the main Mannar-Vavuniya-Medawachchiya highway in the south.
The Catholic Church has requested both the Tigers and government forces to keep away from the sanctuary, large parts of which are thick jungle. The pleas have
intensified in the last six months with fighting increasing in the area. The Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph has called upon President Mahinda Rajapakse
to declare the sanctuary a peace zone.
Blame game
Both sides have nevertheless accused each other of violating the sacred shrine and using it for military purposes, as was the case last week.
The government military said that shells fired by the Tigers had fallen on the church premises on April 1 and 2. According to Military Spokesperson, Brig. Udaya
Nanayakkara, mortar shells had fallen on the church premises in the afternoon hours, around 5.30 twice on April 2.
By early last week, only a handful of persons were left at the church. There were four priests, three nuns and seven civilian helpers who had remained at the church,
which only a year back was a shelter to 10,000 civilians seeking refuge.
On April 3, they said that bombardment had gotten even closer to the shrine in the past week and it was becoming too dangerous to remain there. If they moved out,
so would the sacred statue which had remained at the shrine right through the last two and half decades of war. The clergy and the civilians remained at the church to
protect the statue.
Priests remaining at the church said that on April 3, shells had fallen as close as 200 metres from the church and the blast residue had hit the outer area of the church.
The Tigers according TamilNet had also said that priests at the shrine had complained that shells fired by the Sri Lankan military were falling on the church premises.
They had refuted the military charge that mortar positions were located within the church compound.
Long range mortars
Tiger Military Spokesperson, Rasiah Ilanthirayan was quoted as saying that they possessed long range mortar launchers and there was no need to take cover in
public areas.
The military said that troops are within half a kilometre of the church compound in an area that the Defence Ministry referred to as Sinnapandivirichchan. The Tigers'
version was that government troops have been clashing with their cadres at locations around one and half kilometres south and southeast of the compound.
Clashes had been reported on the Madhu Road last week. On April 2 and 3 both sides reported clashes in the Pandivirichchan area, south on the Madhu Road.
Sinnapandivirichchan is part of this village located just south of Madhu.
Troops from the 57th Division under the command of newly promoted Maj. Gen. Jagath Dias have been operating in the Pandivirichchan area south of the church
compound for almost a fortnight now, according to military sources.
Troops have also closed in on the Madhu church area from the Periyankulam area, where the main road forks north (to Vavuniya) and south (to Medawachchiya).
The last two kilometres from the shrine have been the most difficult.
Clashes have been reported in the area since last July, almost with the fall of Toppigala. There was a brief yet effective cessation during the third week of August
2007 in view of the Madhu feast, but thereafter fighting has been raging.
From within
Government military has constantly accused the Tigers of placing mortar launchers within the church compound. Brig. Nanayakkara has accused them of firing 81 mm
mortars from within the church compound. The military says that its mortar location radar had indicated that the fire was emanating from the sanctuary.
Earlier, the curator of the shrine, Rev. Emmilian Pillai told The Sunday Leader that they hardly ventured beyond the main church compound for fear of their safety.
Even then they said that shell fire and gun fire could be heard all around the sanctuary.
Last year this time the compound was full of IDPs - there were over 10,000 by March 19 last year. But according to the ISAC report titled Conflict Related Internal
Displacement In Sri Lanka released in July 2007, the Tigers used coercion and threats to get the civilians out of the compound by March 23, 2007. The report said
the IDPs had sought shelter in the compound that was initially barred to Tiger cadres to get away from the fighting and to avoid forced recruitment.
Government troops have maintained that most of the front line bunkers in the Mannar sector have been manned by civilians with rudimentary military training.
Families flee
Priests in the Madhu Church said that the few families seeking shelter in the church compound also left last week. UN reports said that there were little over 700
persons in the church compound by end-February. Priests speaking to The Sunday Leader last week from the compound said that there were around 30 families and
all had left by April 3.
On April 3 afternoon, the six clergy and the seven lay persons remaining in the church were debating whether to stay or to move out - with the sacred 500 year-old
statue. Bishop Joseph - the head of the Mannar Diocese under which the Madhu Church falls said that afternoon that he had instructed the priests to move out of the
shrine taking the holy statue with them. He said that the clergy and the helpers were also seeking shelter in bunkers due to the intense shell fire.
Initial reports from Mannar on April 3 afternoon said that the statue would be moved to the Mallavi area. One of the issues had been that movement was considered
very dangerous due to the constant shell fire flying in the area and limited road access. All the roads leading into Madhu south, east and west were running through
areas where heavy fighting was raging, and the north bound Palampiddi Road was not much better either.
It was on the Palampiddi Road that a claymore attack on January 28 this year left 20 dead. By April 3 evening, the last remaining humans at the church were ready to
abandon it and flee with the statue.
Statue removed
By 5.30 that evening the clergy and their civilian helpers finally decided to take the road that links Madhu with Pallamadhu further north. The statue was relocated to
St. Xavier's Church, Tevanpitti in Pallamadhu. Several government offices are also located in the same area.
It was the first time since it was brought to the Periyamadhu area in 1670, by Catholics fleeing Dutch persecution from the Mantai area, that the statue had to be
relocated for its safety.
The army said that it was perplexed by the sudden removal of the statue. Brig. Nanayakkara told The Sunday Leader that there was no request from the Catholic
clergy in the Mannar area to provide security and safe passage for the statue. He said if there was any such request it could have been provided adding that the safest
passage south for the statue was first west to the A9 and then south through Omanthai.
However now the statue has been moved further into the Wanni where there are no indications that fighting will ease any time soon. Bishop Joseph said that there was
no decision taken whether to move the statue further into the Wanni or bring it to government held areas.
He also said that any chance of the statue being moved to government controlled areas was eliminated by the intensity of the shell fire on April 3.
He said that it was only after 5.30pm that the firing eased allowing those stranded at the shrine to leave.
The army said that the statue had been moved at the instigation of the Tigers.
Army opines
"Reliable sources and confirmed information reaching the security forces in the Madhu camp area view this strange and sudden displacement of the statue from this
ancestral holy place would serve as a catalyst to the Tiger terrorists who have already dominated areas surrounding and adjacent to the sacred building.This absence
of the holy statue from the shrine has already created space for the terrorists to come further close and infiltrate areas meant for pilgrims. This removal of the statue,
for reasons obvious only to the religious hierarchy would also enable the terrorists to take precise troop targets using global positioning systems at their will since no
pilgrims would remain without the holy object in place," the army said.
The army also said that now that the venerated statue was out of the church, the Tigers could manipulate military manoeuvres to gain maximum PR mileage.
"The removal, said to have been done for safety reasons is mysterious because the security forces, in view of its closeness to their own hearts, gave the maximum care
and security to the area without firing a single bullet in the recent past in the face of so many LTTE provocations. It is also suspected that Tiger terrorists, after forcing
the removal of the statue would be trying hard to create a scenario in order to muster their lost world sympathy by creating unrest and violence in the Madhu shrine
premises, so that they would be able to internationalise the issue regarding the Madhu shrine and the area."
Same story
The Defence Ministry said very much the same thing - "According to the sources, LTTE terrorists have issued their orders today (April 3) with the full backing of an
influential terrorist supporter in Mannar, so as to spare the church premises for terrorist activities. Earlier, the LTTE had positioned its heavy mortar and artillery guns
at close range to the church in order to take cover from the civilian refugees at the church, said the sources. However, as the priests and the refugees started to
protest against the cowardly tactics of the LTTE, the terrorists have ordered the priests to leave the church premises, the sources added."
But the Ministry said that the Tigers had objected to the removal - "Meanwhile, the sources citing reports said that the priests have managed to take the sacred statue
of Our Lady of Madhu with them despite the strong protests of the LTTE terrorists."
Less than 24 hours after the statue was relocated, the Ministry said surrendered Tigers had revealed that the Tigers were operating in the church compound. Three
Tigers who had surrendered to the troops at Kattiadampan, Mannar on April 3 had said that members from three main Tiger military units, Radha, Malathi and
Charles Anthony were occupying the premises.
"They had deployed their heavy and medium calibre weapons within 100-75 mm range around the church premises," according to the three youth who fled the
Tigers.
The units mentioned are the hardcore fighting units and have been kept in the reserve most of the time during the fighting. They have engaged the security forces
mainly in counter attacks commandeered by top Tiger commanders. The three had also revealed that one such top commander - Jeyam, had in fact held a command
post from the church sanctuary but had moved further north.
Tigers accuse forces
The Tigers said that the blame of bringing the war into the church compound lay solely with the government. "Sinhala armed forces by their indiscriminate attacks are
converting the Madhu Church, the holy shrine of the Catholic people, into a war zone. The LTTE strongly condemns the action of the Sri Lankan state that has let
loose its armed forces into this sacred area to carry out indiscriminate military attacks," they said on April 3, the day the statue was relocated.
"Converting the sacred area, which has given refuge to many thousands of people into a war zone is a barbaric act."
Both the military and the Tigers said that they respected the no war policy within the compound and blamed the other for all the shells that the priests said kept falling
ever so close, last week. The only time there has been a mutually agreed cessation of any sort in Mannar was for last year's August feast.
The heaviest fighting was reported from areas south of the Madhu shrine last week. Clashes were reported in the northern areas of Giant Tank on April 2 and the
Tigers had also tried to dislodge troops from the Sinnapandivirichchan area. Both sides also gave heavy casualty figures inflicted on the other. According to Defence
Ministry figures at least 72 Tigers were killed in the first three days of this month.
The Tigers said that 25 government soldiers had been killed between April 1 and 2. Both sides agreed on one thing - that the fighting had gone up notches the last
week.
According to lore, the sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu was first kept at a church in the Mantai north area. Four hundred years later it has once again been
moved to the same area. It fled from the area in the 1670s into the interior fleeing persecution. Last week it made a return journey fleeing bodily harm.