Paanama massacre: 'LTTE's ploy to distance peace-loving people'

Ranil Wijayapala reports after visiting Pothuvil

LESSONS TO LEARN: They were driven by emotion when the news hit the streets of Pothuvil and Arugambay on September 18, that 10 Muslims were hacked to death in the jungles of Radella in Paanama.

Their emotions were so powerful it even overwhelmed their judgement to turn against their longstanding guardians. They played havoc in the city of Pothuvil and Arugambay pointing fingers at the STF without knowing the true situation.

They staged protests demanding the withdrawal of Special Task Force from their habitats in Pothuvil and Arugambay coming to a premature conclusion that the Special Task Force was responsible for the killing of 10 fellow Muslims.

But unknown to them their emotionally charged behaviour was being exploited by shortsighted politicians and racketeers who were in a desperate bid to oust the STF from the area to achieve their ulterior motives.

With the situation returning to normal in Arugambay, Pothuvil and Paanama areas which was the centre of their street protests and hartals, it has now dawned on the people that they were in fact been used as pawns in the game plans of shortsighted politicians and timber racketeers in the area.

"We staged hartals here in Pothuvil against the STF and had street protests demanding the withdrawal of the STF from the area. But, today the same politicians who guided us to do so are playing a different tune", Mohamed Siddik in Pothuvil says.

"We see the repercussions of our shortsighted acts since the flow of tourists to the area had decreased due to the disturbing environment in the area.

Those politicians are no longer here to assist us when we are in trouble", Siddik who is also the President of the Three Wheel Operators Association in Pothuvil says.

It seems those civilians have learnt lessons from what had happened in Pothuvil as they have unanimously decided not to follow orders given by local politicians.

"All those politicians want to fish in trouble waters. We, people in Pothuvil will be the ultimate victims of their agendas. So we decided only to follow the decisions taken by the Mosque. From now on nobody can dictate terms to us" Siddik said.

"We want people to visit Pothuvil and Arugambay for us to have a better income. Let the court decide who was responsible for the killing of the 10 Muslims", he said.

Mohammed Faiz, another three wheel operator in Pothuvil says that the life of the Muslim community should not be disturbed for the politicians and racketeers to achieve their goals.

"Those politicians should come and see what had happened here before requesting international investigations.

Without any knowledge of the incident they are making irresponsible statements arousing feelings of the people," he says.

"Only God knows what happened to the 10 Muslims. Careem Meera Mohideen, the only survivor of the massacre is now recovering from his wounds would tell what exactly happened that day," Faiz says.

The Muslim religious leaders making repeated requests from the Special Task Force in Pothuvil and Akkaraipattu to continue their service to the Muslim community without being disturbed by the shortsighted acts of certain elements.

Chaminda, a young Sinhala three wheeler driver in Pothuvil recounted what exactly happened there.

"The Muslims thought that STF was responsible for the killing of 10 people in Radella and staged Hartal against STF personnel. Now they have realised the fact and are ashamed of how they acted against STF at that time", Chaminda explains.

"They need the protection of the STF to cultivate their paddy lands as they always fear the LTTE threats. They now recall how STF personnel gave them security by disguising themselves as farmers when they were harvesting their paddy lands and regret the turn of events", Chaminda says.

He says, the basis provided for the Muslims to think that STF was responsible for the incident was because they (STF)continuously raided the hide-outs of illicit timber fellers in Radella, Paanama and Lahugala areas.

The scene unfolding at the Pothuvil Courts on September 28 was a clear indication of what had occurred when 28 cartloads of illicit timber were to be produced before the Pothuvil Magistrate.

"They thought since STF was continuously raiding the timber hide-outs in Lahugala, Shastravela and Paanama areas, the STF was instrumental in killing 10 irrigation workers. But they have now realised their assumption was wrong and they were misguided by certain politicians", Chaminda says.

STF Commander in Pothuvil Ranjith Jayaweera told visiting media personnel to Pothuvil that unfortunate incident that took place in Radella on September 17 was a ploy by the LTTE to distance the peace loving people in Pothuvil from the Special Task Force.

The LTTE used this tactic to break the longstanding friendship we had with the Muslim community in the area as they are now unable to move out of their jungle hide-outs, he said.

"Some politicians who were playing to the tune of the LTTE also were behind instigating people in Pothuvil and Arugambay against the STF", Jayaweera added.

The sole survivor of the incident Careem Meera Mohideen is now giving a clear picture of the incident and people can hear what he is saying about the incident.

The STF is not disturbed by what happened but we continue with our normal duties undeterred by those incidents. "More than 75 per cent of the people here want the STF to stay in this area".

"We raided the timber hide-outs of not only Muslims but those of Sinhalese too. We need to put an immediate stop to this illegal business since it would cause irreparable damage to the area".

Careem Meera Mohideen, the sole survivor of the Radella incident is now recovering from his wounds and spoke to the media personnel while undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of Ampara Base Hospital.

"We were taken by some Tamil speaking armed men saying that their Chief wanted to meet us when we were travelling in a tractor. I identified them as Tamil speaking people. They are not Sinhalese people", he said.

"They took two of us at a time after blindfolding us", he said.

"It was the LTTE who had done this", Mohideen said.

P.K.T.L. Jayasinghe, the Medical Superintendent of Ampara. Hospital, said, Careem Meera Mohideen was recovering fast from his knife injuries and they allowed the Police, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the CID to record statements from Careem.

"We allowed his family members to visit him at the ICU. Our only concern is about his health and security.

There is no other reason for us to prevent people speaking to him", Jayasinghe said. According to Dr. Jayasinghe there were deep cuts around his neck when he was admitted to hospital and no operations could be carried out to insert respiratory tube since there were deep cuts in his neck.

"He will be discharged from the hospital by next week once his cut injuries are healed", Dr. Jayasinghe added.

"He is in good mental condition and can identify the people visiting him", Dr. Jayasinghe added. The huge trees that were scattered in the forest reserves from Pothuvil to Ethimale close to Lahugala and Radella were no longer there.

This dry zone forest has been the victim of illicit timber fellers for more than a decade.

"They used to cut those massive Palu trees step by step with axes and set them on fire. As the tree falls they transport the logs by hand tractors, tractors and carts to the nearby Pothuvil town and dispose them.

Since the Forest Department, Wild Life Conservation Department and the Police had no sufficient manpower to bust this timber racket, under special directive from Colombo the STF at Shastravela, Lahugala and Pothuvil undertook this task.

The STF was able to arrest hundreds of people, most of them Muslims engaged in this illicit timber racket during the past few months, and have been handed them over to the Police.

Wild Life Department and the Forest Department are to take legal action against them.

Chandana Bandara, a wildlife guide at Lahugala Wild Life Park said the STF was extremely helpful in arresting the culprits who were involved in the forest destruction in the Lahugala area since they didn't have enough manpower to tackle illicit timber felling.

"Those timber fellers wanted the STF to stop these raids as they have arrested a larger number of timber fellers during the past few months, as the Police, the Forest Department and the Wild Life Department for years were not able to do so."

"That is why they were pointing the finger at the STF for the killing of 10 Muslims in the Radella area as they could not engage in the illegal business freely and destroy a national treasure," Bandara added.