Presently located in areas under the control of the LTTE, but in the frontlines of the recent battle fronts, the Madhu Shrine has now become a prized target to claim in the ongoing battles between the Government and LTTE.
For centuries, Madhu Shrine has been a sacred place of worship for Catholics from all over the country as well as non Catholics. In the last three decades, as battles raged around it, the Madhu Shrine had withstood countless challenges and offered refuge to thousands of displaced people. It was recognized locally and internationally as a “safe haven” for the displaced.
From place of refuge and worship to a military – political prize
Madhu Shrine may not be a strategic military target for either the government or the LTTE.
But the government is clearly determined to capture control of the Madhu Shrine, situated in the “Madhu Church Reservation”, an area gazetted under the Pilgrimage Ordinance. The capture of Madhu Shrine would serve as useful political propaganda, to claim that that it had “liberated” the Madhu Shrine. Many Sinhalese Catholics, including religious and clergy, ignorant of realities in the North, may very well fall hook line and sinker to this “liberation” propaganda. I can almost picture government sponsored celebrations in Madhu shrine, and some Sinhalese church leaders and Catholics in the South “thanking” the government forces for “liberating” Madhu, though I hope that I would be proven wrong.
Judging by its past record of utter disregard for places of worship, religious leaders and devotees (I remember the massacre at the Sri Maha Bodi, Arantalwa massacre, the Dalada Maligawa bombing, and the massacre of Muslims at Kattankudy Mosque and countless others) I’m under no illusion that the LTTE will fight to safeguard the Shrine and its religious and humanitarian nature. But the LTTE is likely to fight tooth and nail to prevent government forces from taking control of the Madhu Shrine. It’s capture by the government forces would be a huge political defeat for the LTTE. They would want to prevent the government from claiming “liberation” which they know ordinary Sinhalese and Catholics are likely to swallow.
I would think both sides would try to avoid damaging the Shrine. But as political imperatives of not letting the other party take control of Madhu Shrine area and efforts to demonize each other takes precedence, it is possible that the Shrine will be damaged unintentionally or even deliberately. Both sides will of course, blame each other, as they have done over a number of years over a number of incidences and more recently even over Madhu.
The stand of the local Church
In the middle of this bitter fight stands the Catholic Church in Mannar. Its leader, Bishop Rayappu Joseph, has been outspoken on human rights violations, often personally rushing to sites of massacres, attacks and offering the country and the international community an alternative perspective on the situation in his diocese that spans the Mannar and Vavuniya districts. Priests under him, has been doing very much similar work, with much less publicity, often intervening to protect and assist victims of human rights violations. Often called “Tiger sympathizers” by even Sinhalese Catholic clergy and devotees, few would know the tensions they have had with the LTTE, particularly the Bishop and the Administrator of the Madhu Shrine, as they strived to be a voice for the voiceless civilians.
The local Church which administers the Madhu Shrine, has been consistent in it’s position.
• Madhu Shrine should be under complete and sole control of the Church
• Neither the LTTE nor government forces should enter the Shrine area
• The Shrine should not be used for military, political and propaganda purposes by either party
Towards this, the Bishop of Mannar, supported by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka, has repeatedly appealed to the President of Sri Lanka, in writing, as well as in face to face meetings to declare the Madhu Shrine area as a “Zone of Peace” through a special gazette notification. The LTTE had indicated to the Bishop that it will accept such a “Zone of Peace”. But todate, there is no concrete response from the President. It seems that President prefers his armed forces to capture Madhu Shrine than declare it a “Zone of Peace”.
The myth of liberation
Being a frequent visitor to Mannar, I know that people in Mannar live in fear of security forces, as disappearances, killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, beatings, harassment including sexual harassment have been rampant for decades and continue to be so. The kind of “liberation” dished out by security forces is not what Mannar people would welcome. A case in point is the fate of the people who were forcible displaced from Arippu, Silavathura areas by security forces, driven by military and political considerations over humanitarian needs. Despite claims of “liberation” and promises to send them back in 3 days, 4 months, these people are still not allowed to go back to their homes and lands, and forced to live in refugee camps and with host families, more than 7 months after “liberation”.
This certainly doesn’t mean that people have confidence in the “liberation” espoused by the LTTE. People fleeing Vanni in recent times, overcoming severe restrictions imposed by the LTTE, and stories of struggles by church leaders and others to intervene with the LTTE on behalf of the people harassed by the LTTE, bear testimony to this. The LTTE has a record of abuses, such as forcible recruitment including children, as well as targeting of civilians, dissenting Tamil voices and leading politicians and intellectuals.
So, the question facing the people face might be whether they would like to jump from the frying pan to the fire.
Or whether there is an alternative. In the case of Madhu Shrine, the position taken by the local Church does seem to offer hopes of an alternative.
The fate of the Shrine and Statue in the context of history
On 31st March, shells again fell in the Madhu Shrine area. In addition to the damage, it intensified the fear of few priests, religious sisters and lay people who had remained there, forcing them to hide in bunkers, as I heard personally in a telephone call from the Madhu Shrine to the Mannar Bishops House. Most people in the area had fled previously. But in the face of the dangerous situation, later in the week, the priests and others remaining were compelled to flee, taking the sacred “Our Lady of Madhu” statue.
It is a regrettable that the Army Commander has publicly accused the priests of acting in the LTTE’s interests and goes on to claim that Madhu will be soon under the Security Forces control. This is inspite of the unflinching commitment of the Bishop, the Administrator of Madhu Shrine and many priests to preserve Madhu Shrine as a religious and humanitarian sanctuary distanced from both the security forces and the LTTE.
The history of blatant attacks on Churches and priests in the North is something that serves as a chilling reminder in any discussion around Madhu Shrine, which itself had been attacked several times in the past.
On 1st of April, I visited the Pesalai Catholic Church, and saw again the marks left by the grenade that was thrown inside the church and bullet holes. There is no doubt in the minds of the local people who were eyewitnesses that it was the security forces that were responsible for this, in which one elderly woman was killed and several others injured, as they took refuge in the Church, in what they considered to be a safe place. In a recent visit to India, I met several people from Mannar who had fled to India in fear as refugees, after this incident, as they realized the place they considered their last place of refuge, the Church, is not immune to attacks by security forces. The attack on Allaipiddy church, where several people laid down their life is also still fresh. I have seen many battle scarred churches in Jaffna, which still bear testimony to the attacks on them with gaping bullet holes. Security forces are also clearly implicated in the disappearance and killing of Tamil Catholic priests, Fr. Jim Brown (2006) and Fr. Mary Bastian (1985), as well as Methodist priest Rev. Jeyarajasingham, as far back as 1984. The killing of Fr. Pakiaranjith, another Tamil Catholic Priest last September, where the LTTE and the security forces exchanged blame is the most recent killing of a priest in the North. The fact that those responsible for any of these attacks have not been brought to justice is an indication of the inability or the unwillingness of the government to genuinely address critical concerns of the Church in North.
The attempts by the security forces to implicate Catholic priests in the recent incident at Thalladi Church, adjoining the military camp, where six soldiers were killed by LTTE shelling, would have given further impetus to the local church not to trust the security forces. The military made false accusations that the priests has asked soldiers to clean the church, while in reality, the priests, rightful custodians of the church, had only asked for the church be made available for religious services. In the months preceding the incident, the church had been a church only in name, as security forces had taken control of it and not allowed priests and devotees to conduct or join religious services and infact had used it as a military facility, thereby exposing it as a target. In two visits to Mannar after this incident, I and several colleagues were able to witness for ourselves that the Church was indeed occupied by the military. Even from the main road, military vehicles and personnel were clearly visible inside the church premises.
Given this history, distant and recent, it would be too much to expect the Catholics faithful and Church leaders in Mannar to take seriously the statement given by the Army Commander that security forces will not damage the Madhu Shrine and that the army would provide security for the sacred statue to be moved into areas under army control. Even if circumstances had permitted otherwise, which in reality it was not, Church leaders would have been inclined to take the sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu away from the battle fronts and deep into the Vanni. This is in addition to the fact that in the recent months, even the Administrator of Madhu Shrine and the Bishop of Mannar had been compelled by the security forces to undertake journeys of more than 200km to travel from Madhu Shrine to Mannar, instead of the usual distance of around 50km, due to the closure of Madhu Road and Uilankulam roads by security forces. This long road is believed to be fraught with danger.
Displacement of the protector of the displaced
Our Lady of Madhu has provided refuge and protection to thousands of people fleeing from the dangers of war and destruction. Now, she herself is displaced.
Thousands, including me, have prayed at her feet for peace in our country. To protect us, our loved ones and our homes from harm. Now we are praying to Our Lady of Madhu for the safety of her own home, that it may be preserved and spared from the antics of those that hunger and thirst for political and military power.
As a Catholic, who had been to Madhu few times, I do not feel that Our Lady of Madhu would welcome liberation or protection from those who bear arms, and who have political interests, such as the LTTE and Sri Lankan security forces. What Our Lady of Madhu would want in my opinion, is to be left totally alone by the LTTE and security forces, to allow her to bring to her fold and care the thousands who seek her protection from war and destruction. And to welcome to her home the thousands who come to her in prayer in devotion, from all over the country, Sinhalese and Tamil.
This is what the Bishop of Mannar asked again in a desperate and an urgent appeal to both the government and the LTTE on 1st April. This is what around 4000 people, braving heavy military presence, rallied around and prayed for publicly in the streets of Mannar on 2nd April. State media went as far as accuse this also was done under pressure from LTTE, whereas the truth is that these were the results of a discussion the Bishop and priests of the diocese had, as news broke of the desperate situation in the Shrine area after shells had fallen again on 31st March.
I was also present at this discussion the Bishop and priests had to discuss the options of remaining and risk damaging the sacred statue and losing more lives of priests versus fleeing for safety with the statue for the first time, after surviving three decades of war. It was an agonizing discussion. On my return to Colombo, on 3rd April from Mannar, I tried in vain to contact Madhu Shrine throughout the afternoon. Later in the evening, a priest confirmed that the priests in the Shrine and others had been compelled to flee with the statue. I was sad, felt helpless, didn’t know what to say. Despite the valiant efforts of the Bishop, the priests and people of Mannar, Our Lady of Madhu who had sheltered so many displaced people, had herself become displaced. Knowing the concern the Bishop had for the safety of the Shrine, the sacred statue and his priests and flock, and having been with him just a few days ago, I could imagine his personal agony and could only offer my solidarity and prayers for this admirable and brave Church leader. I also remembered the Administrator of the Shrine, another valiant fighter for the oppressed Tamil community, who I had met only a few weeks ago.
The challenge to protect Madhu Shrine from military and political activities
Is it too late to protect the Madhu Shrine being taken over for military and political reasons? It seems so. But the Shrine itself still stands, as far as I know. So maybe it is not too late. But soon, it might be too late.
The core calls of the local church with regard to Madhu Shrine could be summed up as below:
• Both government forces and the LTTE should keep away from the Shrine area
• Both parties should refrain from using it for military and political purposes
• The Shrine should be solely and completely under the control and administration of the Church
• Madhu Shrine area should be accepted as a Zone of Peace
• The President should formally declare it as such, through a special gazette notification.
When and if this call is heeded, Our Lady of Madhu could cease to be a refugee in her own land, and will be again able to offer refuge to those seeking her protection. And people from all parts of the country, can continue to visit her abode, in prayer and devotion, devoid of political and military propaganda.
Hundreds of thousands of devotees have flocked to the Madhu Shrine in the past. Amongst them, the Church leaders and people in Mannar have come forward fearlessly to protect it from being used for military and political purposes by the LTTE and the government.
It remains to be seen, whether the people and church leaders in the south, particularly Sinhalese, who have flocked in their thousands to Madhu in the past, will rise to the challenge of preserving the Madhu Shrine and support the struggle waged by the people and church leaders in Mannar to see Our Lady of Madhu in her own adobe, devoid of political propaganda of the LTTE and the government.
Ruki Fernando
6th April 2008