Liberation Thoppigala: freedom for child soldiers
Tear drops glitter in her pale eyes when she was asked
to reveal her past spent in LTTE camps. With short hair and clad in
typical Tamil shalwar kameez with faded floral designs she is yet
another innocent Tamil girl to one who sees her. The black pottu makes
the dark skinned teenager beautiful.
Elendri is now a 14-year- old is not an ordinary Tamil
girl but a lass who can handle operate the deadly T-56 well and destroy
the targets given by 'Shamala Akka', who, she says is the head who
trained her and her friends.
Childhood innocence reflects in her though Elandri was
brain _ washed to be tough to fight with well trained soldiers. Tight
lipped, most of the time, when asked about the days before she
surrendered to the Commando Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army in Thoppigala.
Elendri is a child solider who fought a losing battle
in Thoppigala and escaped from the camp when the LTTE cadres were busy
shooting at the Army commandos.
Proving that Sri Lankan Army is on a humanitarian
mission to liberate Tamil people in the North and East from the LTTE
clutches, Elandri who surrendered was safely handed over to the
Siththandi Army Camp.
The story of Elendri reflects that the terrorists do
not have to honour their own rituals and not even to humanity. They only
wanted to fight to achieve their dreams by using innocent Tamils and
kids as human shields. No one will believe that she was abducted by the
LTTE terrorists, the very day the girl attained puberty. Two motorists
forcibly entered their tiny hut and assaulted her drunken father. Her
mother was not around and they snatched the girl while she was crying
and shouting for help. She screamed and told of her plight. And no one
came forward to save her as majority of villagers feared the LTTE.
She said , she is happy to be at home with her family
living in Murakottanchena. Never having stepped into a school due to
poverty, she innocently says her dream was to study and be with her
family.
W. Ranjani (13), R. Wasana (14) and M. Darshani (12)
are the other girls who surrendered to army commandos during their
mission to capture Thoppigala.
Listening to their stories they all have similar tales
to tell. Despite their rough appearance and the military training given
by the LTTE, they are still children with innocent dreams - to play with
their sisters and brothers... to dance ...to read story books and
especially to live with the love and care of their parents.
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An underground bunker with damaged electronic
equipment strewn all over |
"I was forcibly snatched away by two LTTE cadres who
came on a motorbike", Rajani says. She says that she was helpless and
did not have time even to shout or protest.
"When I cried at the camp in the jungle they beat me
and other two girls who were crying asking to be released. They were
also new to the camp and were abducted on the very day they brought me
to the camp", Wasanthi says.
Darshani was snatched by two cadres when she was going
to school, the Eelagakulam Primary School.
Most of the time silent when asked about the LTTE and
the duties assigned to them by the terrorists, they say that they were
used as helpers to build bunkers, help in the kitchen and water the
plants around the camp.
The two women leaders 'Shamala Akka' and Sudarshani
Akka' gave them physical training every day during their six months stay
in the Thoppigala jungle.
When ask whether they have received any weapon
training they nod their heads to say no but when asked about the duties,
especially the night shifts they did, they say they were asked to guard
bunkers. The little girls seem trained on the things that they should
say 'yes' and 'no' when in captivity.
A toddler gets the feel of a T-56 gun
They get up at 4.30 am every day and given physical
training every day until they were given their breakfast - dhal curry
and pittu. Then they were used as helpers to build bunkers and roads and
in preparing lunch.
The television is a luxury item but not for the
leaders. Reading books was prohibited and reading material written only
about the LTTE organisation were distributed among them.
They say there were 25 under-aged girls with them who
were assigned to guard bunkers till midnight while the elderly
terrorists were having rest. "We were asked to inform the senior cadres
when we heard an artillery attack. At one point six under-aged girls
were put on duty", they say.
The girls say they were not informed about an attack
by the Sri Lankan military.
The girls say that they were unfortunate to be
abducted by the LTTE as they lost their parental love and care for the
last six months.
Now reunited with their parents, thanks to the Brigade
Commander 232 Brigade Col. Priyantha Napagoda they were treated well
under his command. They were given lunch and soft drinks.
When asked whether they like the LTTE and would like
to rejoin the LTTE they say that they want to have a free world without
a war.
"When troops were advancing the LTTE released the
underaged children from time to time. Some have escaped from the LTTE
camps. The little girls who are under the age of 14-years had a tough
time walking alone in the jungle", Col. Napagoda says.
According to Col. Napagoda, the girls were in very
poor condition like suffering from ill-health with no food for days, no
clothing and they were not in a right state of mind. "We gave them
necessary treatment, food and clothing and handed over to the Police.
Now they have been reunited with their parents and we have a tough
surveillance to find whether these children are living with their
parents", he says.
Col. Napagoda says that the children were forcibly
abducted by the terrorists when their cadres got killed by the Sri
Lankan military.
Courtesy : Government Information Department
Related Article :
LTTE Continues to Recruit Children
for War in Wanni - IRIN
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