There are no accidents....

Vandalisation of Mahatma Gandhi s Statue in Sri Lanka


An incident of vandalism of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka was reported on 6 April 2012. The statues of Robert Baden-Powell, Swami Vipulananda and Pulavarmani Periyathampi Pillai were also reportedly vandalized on the same day at Batticaloa.

As soon as the report came to notice, the matter was taken up with the Government of Sri Lanka as well as the provincial authorities of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka through diplomatic channels. They were also requested to have the matter investigated and to take steps to repair and restore the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

The Sri Lanka authorities had informed that the police in Batticaloa were investigating the case and that they had arrested some persons in this context. As per information available, the statues had since been repaired and restored to their original state.

There have been no reports of vandalism of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Sri Lanka prior to the incident of 6 April 2012. On 9 January 2012, it was reported that the statue of Swami Vivekananda was damaged in Arayampathy-Kattankudy area in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The local authorities had since repaired the statue.

This information was given by the Minister of State for External Affairs Shri E. Ahamed in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

In June 1990, the Sri Lankan army planned to murder a group of Muslims in the eastern town of Nintavur and blame the LTTE for it, but in their enthusiasm told the media about it before it was carried out. The 'news bulletin' released had very detailed description of the attack.

The attack was aborted for some unknown reason, but it was too late to stop the press.

The international media published the 'army bulletin' as 'news' (as is still the practice.) 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....'

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.



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.

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.

There are no accidents....

There are no accidents....