Troops poised for decisive phase in Wanni battle

Schedule intact despite inclement weather, Tiger resistance:

The assassination of Highways and Road Development Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle coupled with the New Year celebrations shifted the attention of the nation from the Wanni battlefront which was centerd on Madhu theatre, toward another direction.

Though there were higher expectations among the public that Security Forces would go all out to capture the Madhu shrine area in the backdrop of the shifting of the sacred statue from the Madhu Church under LTTE pressure to Thevampitti in Vellankulam, things did not unfold as expected by the common masses of the country.

That does not mean that the Security Forces have abandoned their task or stopped short of their task. They are very much within the schedule and acting realistically to achieve the task despite the challenges before them.

However, Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka in his New Year address to all rankers and the civil staff at the Army Headquarters very clearly set out their determination to achieve the prime objective of liberating the North as they achieved it in the East last year.

Though prevailing bad weather conditions made some sort of impact on the ongoing operations the troops are now determined to readjust their tasks especially after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

Troops continued with their military thrust on the LTTE amid the New Year celebrations in the South, achieving effective results. This being a decisive phase in the Wanni battles the troops too are facing severe resistance from the Tiger cadres operating on the Mannar and Vavuniya front with an increased number of casualties among the Security Forces.

But it had not made a serious impact on the ongoing operation as many of these casualties were in the P3 category with the majority of them returning to the battlefront after undergoing treatment for brief periods.

According to field commanders the determination of the troops to achieve this task amidst challenging situations, has made their task easier. That is why the troops are making a determined effort in the Madhu battlefront to regain this sacred area with special significance to the Catholics in Sri Lanka.

They are now making inroads to Madhu which is now dominated by the LTTE after the revered statue of Madhu Matha was conveyed to another location in the north of Mannar at a time the LTTE was awaiting defeat in Madhu. But the inundated ground in the Vavuniya battlefront has made the progress of operation a little slow.

However, troops are now holding crucial points in the south of Madhu keeping the Madhu Church within their reach without advancing to the location.

But the troops are very concerned about the situation prevailing there since there are possibilities for the LTTE to make use of this sacred place to tarnish the reputation of the Security Forces since there is a possibility for the LTTE to blast the Church in the face of a troop movement.

Therefore, it is obvious that the sacred statue was conveyed to Thevampitty area with the ulterior motive of using this sacred area as a strategic location to thwart a troop advance in to the Tiger territory.

Security Forces firmly believe that Tiger cadres operating inside the Church area will definitely cause damage to the Church once they feel that it would fall to the hands of the troops. That is why the pro-LTTE media machinery is highlighting about parts of the Church premises damaged due to artillery and mortar fire as a prelude to their false media campaign against the Security Forces.

The pertinent question here is why the Catholic Council is maintaining a stoic silence over the move by the Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph to shift the statue to another location. Do they think the sacred statue should be venerated only by the Tamil Catholics and it should always be in the uncleared areas?

It was obvious that the Madhu Church was going to be liberated by the troops as he took the decision to shift the sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu to Thevampitty area in Vellankulam, north of Mannar. But there is no evidence that he ever had discussions with the Security Forces or the Government authorities to take the sacred statue into cleared areas in Mannar.

The Catholic Church should at least inquire into these matters without maintaining a stoic silence on the situation and raise the matter at the highest level in the Catholic Council not because the statue has been shifted from the Madhu church but due to the pending threat on this historic premises.

For a terror organisation which could unleash their terror operations causing damage to the most sacred Temple of Tooth relic in 1998, there is no guarantee that they would spare this historic religious site in Madhu once their strongholds fall to the Security Forces one after the other.

Apart from these facts the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka should also be concerned about how many Catholic devotees, the majority of them Sinhala, are being deprived of the chance of seeking blessings from Our Lady of Madhu. Not only are they depriving the Catholics living in the South of this chance but also endangering the very existence of this sacred statue.

Therefore, Mannar Bishop Joseph should take the entire responsibility over this situation and also should reinstate the statue no sooner the Security Forces firmly establish the sanctity of the Madhu Church area without turning the ongoing battle into a battle in search of the sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu.

Otherwise, it would be an act in favour of the LTTE though he flatly rejects the charges that he had taken this decision under Tiger pressure.

However, as this controversial decision by Mannar Bishop Joseph is being debated at various levels, troops are inching towards Madhu church area from two fronts - one battalion from the main Madhu road and another front from the Piramanalankulam Madhu road via Thampanai and Periyapandivirichchan.

The only challenge before them is to take this scared land without causing any damage to the Church compelling the Tiger cadres operating there to withdraw without any resistance. So it will be a task that has to be achieved with a great deal of patience.

But the LTTE is determined to delay these movements as they are well aware of the fact that the fall of Madhu will boost the image of the Government especially at a time the Eastern Provincial Council elections are being held (May 10). As the date for the Eastern Provincial Council election comes closer the LTTE may resort to more and more atrocities targeting the Security Forces and also the civilian population.

Therefore, the civilian population should be more vigilant than ever as Tigers would resort to more desperate acts in the South to make the Eastern elections a non-event. However, the Security Forces and the Police will take all possible steps to maintain law and order in the Eastern province creating an environment conducive to conduct peaceful polls on May 10.

Such a move will definitely defeat the ulterior motives of the LTTE and also the political parties representing the views of the Tiger outfit. It has been further revealed though the LTTE-proxy Tamil National Alliance is not contesting the Eastern Provincial Council Elections due to Tiger pressure, they too have fielded candidates under a nomination list presented by other political parties, as disclosed by the Defence Ministry website.

Therefore, it has been confirmed that they too have kept options available for a future course of action if they could not sabotage the forthcoming elections. Under these circumstances the coming weeks will turn out to be one of the most crucial junctures in the annals of Sri Lanka both militarily and politically.

So it is incumbent on the common masses of the country to observe the situation that is being unfolded in the country and take decisions considering its future as the Tiger outfit can turn all these situations in their favour assassinating VVIPs and important personalities by deploying their suicide cadres.

It was under such circumstances, the country lost Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle. The CID teams investigating the assassination of Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle have observed that the suicide cadres had followed the movements of the Minister at several occasions.

After a close scrutiny of the videos they have identified the suicide cadre and also his handler moving around the Minister. According to investigations the same figure has been observed at a function held in Panadura to commence the work of the flyover which was attended by Minister Fernandopulle.

Investigators believe that the suicide cadres would have made use of that opportunity to rehearse for this mission along with his handler. They have collected information deploying Muslim contacts. That was why the suicide cadre had used a national identity card with a Muslim name and a Valachchenai address to hoodwink the Police and the civilians.

The investigators have also recovered a SIM card used by the suicide cadre and also the handler. Investigations are now progressing on the line to identify the contacts of the suicide cadre.

Apart from this separate inquiries are also being conducted to ascertain why the Ministerial security unit failed to provide adequate security for the Minister. A lengthy statement has also been recorded from a senior Police officer in charge of Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle's security.

It was in this backdrop the Sri Lanka Army decided to form a separate battalion exclusively for VVIP security since they have to commit troops from various regiment for providing VVIP security.

According to the initial idea troops will be recruited from various regiments of the Army while giving priority for the Commando regiment for this battalion to be operated under one Commanding Officer. So they will wear a unique uniform and a badge enabling outsiders to identify them easily.

At present a large number of Commando troops and infantry troops are deployed for VVIP security and with the formation of this battalion which has been initially named the Presidential Security Unit, troops will be deployed only from this unit for VVIP security.

So such moves will definitely lead to a better coordination of VVIP security in the country further improving the security of the common masses and important personalities.