SRI LANKA AIRFORCE BOMBS TERRORIST CAMPS THAT FORCIBLY CLOSED DOWN IRRIGATION CANAL VERUGAL ARU DEPRIVING RICE FARMERS WATER FOR 35,000 ACRES OF FARMLAND.
(By Walter Jayawardhana)
Los Angeles:- Immediately after the government promised protesting Eastern farmers that it would intervene in getting water for them that had been closed forcibly by the terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the Sri Lanka Air force bombed limited areas targeting Verugal Aru to clear the area for irrigation engineers to reopen the closed sluice gates.
A tension filled atmosphere was created since July 20 when the terrorists of the LTTE forcibly closed the gates of the anicut that takes water from a tributary of Sri Lanka’s biggest river, Mahaveli to about 35,000 acres of rice fields and other seasonal crops.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the action of the government was "intended to help irrigation engineers gain access to the Maavil Aru canal".
Mavil Aru is the name of the tributary of the Mahaveli that gives water to the farmers at a place called Verugal Aru, where the blocked sluice gates of water are located.
The Chief Sangha Nayaka of the East and Thamankaduwa and the incumbent of the Seruwila Rajamaha Viharaya , Seruwila Saranakitti and hundreds of farmers collected at Naga Pattinini Devalaya close to Kallar junction joined hundreds of others in protest by threatening a fast unto death if the LTTE terrorists did not allow the sluice gates of the irrigation canal open.
But on the last moment, the Venerable Buddhist monk gave up the fast on government advice that it would intervene and get the sluice gates open by irrigation engineers and not to proceed with the threatened fast. But the government did not tell the monk how they would intervene in the closure of the irrigation canal. The bombing came within 24 hours after the government’s promise. The BBC Sinhala service repeatedly ask the monk how the government could intervene in this instant when the irrigation canal was in the demarcated area of the Tamil Tigers in the ceasefire agreement signed by the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The Venerable Monk said it was wrong to demarcate and wrong to say the irrigation canal was in the LTTE area since it was there to supply water to the people of Sri Lanka. The protesters carried placards declaring the 35,000 acres of ruined farmland was no property of the terrorist group.
The LTTE in its website the Tamil Net said the irrigation canal was blocked as a protest against the Sri Lanka government’s failure to give assurances that it would build water towers apparently benefiting the rebel forces and the people who are in the immediate LTTE controlled areas.
As promised after the bombing the government intended to send irrigation engineers to open up the sluice gates to stop the starving of the rice fields for almost a week now since July 20. The last time government irrigation engineers tried to reach the sluice gates of the irrigation canal armed LTTE terrorists surrounded them and severely warned them to leave the area never to come back.
According to the information the limited bombing of the government was on the LTTE military camps surrounding the Mavil Aru canal. There were no independent reports how effective was the bombing. Some critics have already alleged that the last bombing after the assassination attempt on the country’s Commander of the Army by the LTTE was least effective since a mole had tipped the rebel forces about the bombing in time so that the LTTE could hide its troops in the jungle.
Hundreds of affected farmers and their families in MUTTUR, UYLANKULAM, VILANPATTU, KILIWEDDY, KALLAR, DEHIWATTA, SELVANAGAR and NEELAPOLA areas on Thursday (20) staged a massive protest in KALLAR junction demanding the LTTE should immediately reopen the closed sluice gates. The Sri Lanka Army said the “limited air strikes were aimed at dislodging those terrorists in VERUGAL areas where they were gathered blocking sluice gates.”
The largely circulated Divaina newspaper said that a home guard from the area who had taken part in the protests was also killed by the LTTE terrorists in retaliation. The newspaper did not give the name of the home guard killed.
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has confirmed that the bombing has taken place. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) spokesman Paul Bjerke told the BBC that the bombing happened in South of Muttur in the Trincomalee district. That is the area surrounding the blocked irrigation canal is. The LTTE also handed over a letter through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission explaining conditions to re-open the closed sluice gates. The SLMM spokesman refused to divulge the contents of the letter. I don't want to go into details of the demands.(It is) up to the government to discuss the suggessions", spokesman Berjke was quoted having said.
The LTTE news website The Tamil Net said, the canal was closed down as a protest against the government’s failure to build drinking water facilities, like water towers in the LTTE controlled areas , meaning for the people and the large rebel troops of the LTTE stationed in the area. The website said this issue was being discussed apparently to reopen the closed sluice gates. After the bombing the LTTE would reconsider its earlier decision of reopening of the sluice gates, a defiant LTTE area leader S. Elilan said . The LTTE’s Trincomalee District political leader was quoted as saying, “"We have now decided to reconsider our decision of lifting the water blockade,"
Immediately before the bombing took place the island’s top security council met at the Temple Trees , where the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Commander of Chief of the armed forces lives.
