Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

Massacre of Tamil Muslims in Kathankudi Mosque - This one of the murder for propaganda by the Sri Lanakn government to pit the Tamil speaking people against each other. The Sinhala army massacred the Muslims in Kathankudi mosque and blamed it on LTTE.

MASSACRE OF MUSLIMS

On 3 August 1990, about 200 Muslims engaged in their Friday prayers at the Meera Jumma and the Hussaina Mosques in the village of Kathankudy were attacked by a group of gunmen, who arrived in several vehicles. More than 140 people were killed and another 87 were injured in the automatic gunfire and grenade attacks.

The mosques are situated on a narrow strip of land about 1.5 Km. wide, with the Indian ocean on one side and the lagoon on the other. The entire area is FULLY UNDER THE CONTROL of the Sri Lankan army. Both roads leading to the village had army check points, and a 'group of armed men' in 'many vehicles' could not have entered the village unseen by the army. Not only did they enter the village unseen, but also every one of the gunmen ESCAPED, unharmed and unidentified.

THE SRI LANKA ARMY AND THE GOVERNMENT IMMEDIATELY BLAMED THE LTTE.

The LTTE denied responsibility, stating that this was part of the government strategy to drive a wedge between the Tamils and the Muslims. In a subsequent report they cited several examples of such machinations.

This attack occurred when the Sri Lanka Defense Minister, Ranjan Wijeratne, was on a TOUR OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES IN THE MID- EAST, to solicit financial and military assistance to fight the war against Tamils.

NO OFFICIAL INQUIRY WAS HELD, but the government paid generous compensation to the families of the deceased and injured, with uncharacteristic haste (the next day). Thereafter, for several weeks there were news-reports both in the Sri Lanka media and abroad, quoting Muslim area residents stating that the killing was carried out by the LTTE.

The only impartial scrutiny of this incident to date was by GERRIT BUSCH, a journalist with der uberblick, a German publication. He, accompanied by Fr. Miller (an American Jesuit Priest who resides in Batticaloa), visited Kathankudy and interviewed several residents. Both concluded that the LTTE was not responsible for these attacks.



In the following weeks at least 450 Muslim and Tamil civilians were killed, some in attacks similar to above and others by enraged civilians. The Sri Lanka government was successful in creating dissension between Tamils and Muslims in the eastern province, where the two communities had lived in harmony for several centuries.

THE PROPAGANDA DEBACLE OF NINTAVUR

In June 1990, the SL army planned a massacre of Muslims in Nintavur, but in their 'enthusiasm' told the media about it before it was supposed to happen. The attack was aborted, but the international media carried the news. The Associated Press (23 June 1990) reported the following -

'Tamil guerillas hacked to death 62 Muslim villagers in eastern Sri Lanka yesterday, accusing them of being government informants, the Defence Ministry and an opposition Muslim leader said. The massacre at Nintavur came on the eleventh day of war between Tamil separatists and Sri Lankan forces for control of the northeast...The Defence Ministry said troops found the bodies of Muslim men, women and children in Nintavur. Military officials said rebels used knives to kill the villagers. Survivors said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam raided the village early yesterday because they feared the residents would reveal their jungle hideaway, according to Mahroof Gani of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress an opposition party. He said that the rebels set fire to a mosque, looted and burnt down houses and left placards warning Muslims not to work for the government....'



WHAT IS INTERESTING HERE IS HOW THE DEFENSE MINISTRY HAD DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A MASSACRE THAT NEVER TOOK PLACE. The planning must have been so meticulous as to know in advance what the end result would look like!

The mosques are situated on a narrow strip of land about 1.5 Km. wide, with the Indian ocean on one side and the lagoon on the other. The entire area is FULLY UNDER THE CONTROL of the Sri Lankan army. Both roads leading to the village had army check points, and a 'group of armed men' in 'many vehicles' could not have entered the village unseen by the army. Not only did they enter the village unseen, but also every one of the gunmen ESCAPED, unharmed and unidentified.

NO OFFICIAL INQUIRY WAS HELD, but the government paid generous compensation to the families of the deceased and injured, with uncharacteristic haste (the next day). Thereafter, for several weeks there were news-reports both in the Sri Lanka media and abroad, quoting Muslim area residents stating that the killing was carried out by the LTTE.

The only impartial scrutiny of this incident to date was by GERRIT BUSCH, a journalist with der uberblick, a German publication. He, accompanied by Fr. Miller (an American Jesuit Priest who resides in Batticaloa), visited Kathankudy and interviewed several residents. Both concluded that the LTTE was not responsible for these attacks.

Fr. Eugene Herbert, another American Jesuit Priest and an associate of Fr. Miller, was arrested by the army a week after these massacres and has DISAPPEARED

VEERAMUNAI MASSACRE