Madhu Church: Tragic Casualty of Politico-Military Crossfire

April 5th, 2008

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The continuing strife between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has had many unintended consequences.

Chief among them are the numerous victims caught in the politico - military crossfire of a conflict they were never a part of.

The latest casualty in this respect is the Catholic church dedicated to our lady of the Rosary in Marudhamadhu (Madhu) in Mannar district.

Our Lady of Madhu Church is the premier place of Marian worship in Sri Lanka. Until the ethnic conflict escalated it was a magnet drawing all Catholics and even people of other faiths towards it.

Sadly the deepening conflict widened the ethno - linguistic chasm. The Catholic church in Sri Lanka became increasingly divided between Sinhala and Tamil as religious unity crumbled before ethnic identity.

[Road in Madhu-file picture-pic by Mahesh]

Currently a savage war rages around the vicinity of Madhu Church and the sacred statue of Mary and baby Jesus has been taken away to another location for safety.

The LTTE has obstructed plans of taking the sacred statue to St. Sebastians Cathedral in GOSL controlled Mannar.

Instead the statue has been taken to St. Xaviers Church in Thevanpitty in the LTTE controlled area of Mulangaavil.

Arguably there has been a political dimension in Colombo’s military project of acquiring Madhu.

Madhu has political significance far in excess of its military value though sections of the media continue to harp on its “strategic importance” without any concept of the region’s geography.

The hidden factor that increased the importance of Madhu in recent times was the involvement of the first family.

Madhu Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary is called Sebamalai Matha Thevaalayam or Madhu Maatha koyil in Tamil.

[Madhu Rosary Stall-Pic. Courtesy of Mahesh]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a devout Buddhist but the First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa is an equally devout Catholic.

Shortly before his Presidential election campaign in 2005 Rajapaksa wished to go to the Madhu church with his wife.

Since the Madhu church was in LTTE controlled territory, “permission” was sought from the Tigers for the visit. Rajapaksa was Prime Minister then.

The LTTE laid down the condition that once inside LTTE territory, Rajapaksa should dispense with his security detail and rely only on Tiger escort. This was unacceptable and the idea of a Madhu visit was aborted.

The issue however rankled in Mahinda’s mind. During his election campaign he often referred to the fact that though he was Prime Minister he was not allowed to visit some parts of the country.

After assuming the Presidency one of Rajapaksa’s achievements was his visit to the Vatican with the First Lady and his audience with his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

President Rajapakse met with Pope Benedict and the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, as part of a four-day visit to Italy.

The question of Madhu church transpired during the Papal audience. It was discussed in greater detail with Cardinal Tarcio Bertone. It was emphasised then that the church should not come to any harm during the on going war.

President Rajapaksa had to explain that the Madhu church was not under government writ. He gave an assurance that no harm would come either to the church or pilgrims while military operations were in progress.

“In light of the current situation in Sri Lanka, the need to respect human rights and restart the path of dialogue and negotiations was stressed, as the only path to put an end to the violence that has bloodied the island,” a Vatican statement then said.

“The Catholic Church, which offers a significant contribution to the life of the country, will intensify the delicate commitment to form consciences, with the sole aim of favoring the common good, reconciliation and peace,” the statement also added.

Despite the sentiments evinced by Vatican there was no adherence to it in Colombo. The “divided” Catholic church in Sri Lanka did not engage in any significant pro - peace activity in deference to the Vatican

Military activity in Mannar district escalated after the entire eastern province was captured in July last year. A noteworthy aspect of the fighting in Mannar was the ostensible focus on the area surrounding Madhu church.

The military gain in capturing Madhu does not seem to be much but the political and symbolical value is great. Besides members of the First Family, many southern Catholics would love to do a pilgrimage and worship at Madhu.

The Madhu victory was played up during an election campaign in President Kumaratunga’s time. If southern pilgrims are able to visit Madhu safely in large numbers it would no doubt enhance President Rajapaksa’s prestige further.

It is therefore important to understand that the military project to take Madhu is more political than military.

Instead of trying to move into Madhu and endangering the Church the security forces could have by - passed the area and tried to advance further up.

If the security forces had done so successfully the LTTE would have had no option but to abandon the militarily non - important Madhu and withdraw.

Then the security forces could have simply walked in without any damage to Church or civilians.

But this was not done due to a gigantic ego problem where people wanted to “conquer” areas they were not allowed to go in earlier.

Madhu had to be conquered and exhibited as a trophy like Kudumbimalai/Thoppigala.

It had to be thrown open to Southern pilgrims before the northern war was over to derive political mileage.

The security forces to their credit were extremely cautious earlier and took great care to avoid damage to the Church.

Recent events suggest that an element of impatience has entered. Recent firing has not been that cautious.

It is not correct to charge the security forces of an “evil” intention to wilfully damage the church.

If destruction was the motive the forces have the firepower and airpower required to demolish it.

That is not the objective and any damage inflicted can only be accidental and not intentional.

But there seems to be a sudden” hurry” militarily.

This may be due to fresh directives that Madhu should be taken before April new year.

Again political motives are dictating over military considerations.

The security situation however is not likely to imporove after the re- location of the sacred statue from Madhu.

It was perhaps anticipation of further deterioration that compelled church authorities to transport the statue elsewhere.

The tigers have so far remained outside the church and church compound but they are now openly visible in the outer precincts> They are setting up defensive positions in the vicinity.

Increased artillery and mortar fire by both sides is an indicator of the future.

As troops advance the LTTE may entrench themselves on church premises and precincts.

The security forces will be caught in a dilemma as damage and destruction to the Church will be politically damaging.

LTTE political Commissar Balasingham Nadesan has come out strongly against the GOSL on the question of Madhu.

“The Sinhalese armed forces that cause danger to the people has imposed yet another atrocity on them. Once again, the GoSL is striving to transform the sacred area of the Madu Shrine into a war zone.” Nadesan said in a statement.

Expressing concern over escalating military conflict in Madhu and the plight of civilians is a legitimate exercise. But when the LTTE does so it becomes a rank exercise of hypocrisy.

The LTTE is the proverbial “uruthiraatchap poonai ” or sanctimonious cat (or tiger) in this instance.

There was earlier an unofficial agreement that an area of one mile radius around the church be kept free of fighting as a “no war zone”. Both sides adhered to it for many months.

But it was the LTTE which violated this agreement first. Mortars were taken to the Madhu church vicinity (though not into precincts) and fired. Subsequently LTTE positions were established in close proximity to the Church.

The military made many requests to Bishop Joseph Rayappu to prevail upon the LTTE to abide by the assurances. But despite the best efforts of the Bishop the LTTE did not oblige.

It was finally in frustrated agony that church authorites decided to pull out with our Lady of Madhu’s statue. Church leaders realised that the LTTE was going to turn the area into a battle zone.

Against this backdrop Nadesan’s accusation about “transforming sacred Madhu into a war zone” rings hollow and smacks of duplicitous hypocrisy.

That is not all.

The tiger political commissar also laments over the plight of civilians being displaced from Madhu.These are people who were displaced from their homes and sought refuge in Madhu.

The Tiger Political Head termed as “barbaric” the Sinhalese government’s act of making a war zone out of the Madu Shrine that provided refuge to thousands of internally displaced people says the LTTE mouthpiece “Tamilnet”.

Expressing concern over IDP plight is legitimate but such tears are “crocodilean” when the LTTE starts shedding them over IDP’s in Madhu.

Due to escalating military activity more than 10,000 IDP’s of all religions had found shelter at the Madhu church precincts last year.Youths fleeing LTTE conscription also sought refuge in Madhu

The LTTE was not happy. They had set their sights on 1000 - 1500 youths sheltering in Madhu. The predator wanted its prey.

When church authorities prevented it the LTTE turned nasty against the church dignitaries. Several priests were abused and threatened. One priest had to seek protection elsewhere.Even an eminent church leader was reprimanded harshly by low - level tiger cadres.

This is what happened next according to a report ” Conflict-related Internal Displacements In Sri Lanka”, released by the Inter Agency Standing Committee last year.By March 19, 2007 there were 10,197 IDPs seeking shelteri n Madhu

The report details how the IDPs had to leave the compound in the nine days after March 19.

“The LTTE had a tacit agreement with the church authorities that they would not recruit from within the church grounds. However, with over 1000 men and women of ‘fighting age’ amongst the IDPs sheltering at the church the LTTE started to put increasing pressure on the church authorities to allow unarmed, plain clothes LTTE cadres access to the church to speak to the families about recruitment.

[Madhu Church sign announcing festivals]

By the beginning of March, LTTE cadres were entering the church premises on a regular basis for this purpose.

“At the same time, the LTTE announced that it would prevent any more displaced families from entering Madhu Church to seek temporary shelter and that it would ask IDP families currently inside Madhu Church to relocate to alternative displacement sites.

The LTTE also claimed that it could not guarantee the safety of humanitarian agency staff travelling by road to the Madhu Church which meant that humanitarian organisations were unable to access the area.

“On March 23, it was reported that the LTTE had ordered the IDPs to leave Madhu Church and head north towards Vellankulam, allegedly for security reasons. It was also agreed that the LTTE was using the movement of IDPs from the church as a recruitment opportunity.

On the evening of March 23, the LTTE brought trucks to the church and started to force the remaining IDPs to leave.

The LTTE cadres were allegedly armed and they used wooden sticks to force the most reluctant IDPs to get into the trucks. By March 25, more than 5000 IDPs (75% of the IDP population) were forced to leave the church. T

he LTTE cadres told the IDPs that they would be able to return after three days to collect their belongings, but the IDPs were not allowed to do so and their belongings were taken by “thieves”.

The IDPs moved to Andakulam, Adampan and Vaddakandal in LTTE controlled areas of the Mannar District.”

The report said that by March 28 the Tigers stopped all supplies to the church compound and shops in the vicinity were closed. On April 2, they informed the UNHCR that all IDPs had left Madhu Church.

When the UNHCR raised concerns over forced relocation on April 4, the Tigers said “that the Madhu Church area had been under heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army and as a result the IDPs had spontaneously and voluntarily fled the area.”

As of end December 2007 only 1, 223 remained in the Madhu division as IDPs, and an additional 208 remained with host families.

However the whole Madhu region has been demarcated as an area where there was ‘no access’ to UN and other agencies and it is very unlikely that detailed reporting of the kind seen last year would take place this year.

This then was how the LTTE treated the IDP population in Madhu and virtually shut down the refugee haven.

Thereafter the LTTE applied further pressure and made the remaining IDP’s also relocate.

The tigers also banned further IDP’s coming ito Madhu.

Nearly 20, 000 people displaced from the Musali , Nanaattaan and Manthai West AGA divisions were forced to move further north into the Mulangaavil - Vellankulam areas at different times instead of seeking refuge in the Madhu church premises

After such inhumane treatment meted out to the pathetic IDP’s in Madhu the very same LTTE is now evincing concern over Madhu refugees.

The “Tamilnet” also says Nadesan ” recalled that in 1999, “invading Sinhalese troops had fired from armoured tanks laying siege to the Madu Shrine and killed more than 30 people, including children, women and the aged, who had sought refuge there.”

The question of who fired the shells at Madhu is something that is yet to be answered conclusively. Both sides accuse each other.

It may be relevant however to quote from Bulletin no 23 of the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) about the incident.

This is the same UTHR (J) that is being hailed in the Tamil media for its courageous exposure of those responsible for the AFC employees massacre in Muthur.

This is what the UTHR had to say about the Madhu incident referred to by Nadesan now.-

“We said in our last bulletin that the Church believed that the shells which killed 38 refugees in Madhu in November 1999 had been fired by the LTTE. We now have confirmation that this is widely shared by church officials in Madhu and technically the Army could hardly have fired those shells. We also learn that shortly after the incident, Bishop Joseph Rayappu gave Karikalan, a senior LTTE figure, a dressing down”.

Nadesan also called upon the International Community and Human Rights organizations to come forward to condemn the Sri Lankan government, which according to the LTTE “concerns itself about the mental peace of the Buddhist people and the sancticity of the Buddhist places of worship, but tosses away the peace and holiness related to other people and instead prioritizes only its military interests.”

It is certainly correct that Buddhism has been given foremost place in Sri Lanka but it is disgusting to see the tigers accusing the Govt saying it ” tosses away the peace and holiness related to other people and instead prioritizes only its military interests.”

This is the LTTE talking!

Yes the very same LTTE that attacked the sacred Bo tree in Anuradhapura and drove an explosive laden truck into the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy; the same LTTE which massacred young Buddhist samaneras in Aranthalawa;

This is the same LTTE that killed in cold blood Muslim worshippers in the Mosques of Kattankudi, Eravoor, Sammanthurai and Akkaraippatru;

It is the same LTTE that killed Tamils dubbed as “traitors” in Hindu temple premises and used Hindu and Christian places of worship to conceal weapons or hide themselves.

It was the LTTE that killed a Hindu priest in Santhiweli for doing Pooja during President Rajapakse’s visit to Vaakarai

But now the tigers are accusing the GOSL of “tossing away holiness ” related to other people and ” prioritizing only its military interests”.

One can only cry out “vetkam! vetkakedu! (shame!shameful)

Attempts are also on in pro - tiger media to justify the transporting of the sacred statue to Thevanpitty instead of Mannar.

Only time will tell whether the statue of our Lady of Madhu will be protected or be subjected to greater harm in the future.

What is being overlooked or deliberately distorted is the fact that our Lady of Madhu belongs to all of her devotees regardless of race or region.

The church may have been located in a pre - dominantly Tamil area but the “Maadhaa” is universal and not a parochial deity.

It must also be remembered that but for a quirk of history the sacred statue may have been ensconced in the Kandyan kingdom 400 years ago.

Let me quote from the historical account of Madhu as stated in the official website of the church. Here are the relevant extracts -

“Those who brought Christianity to our shores planted also in our midst the devotion to the Mother of God. The kingdom of Jaffna in the 16th century consisted of the northern peninsula (called Yalpanam in Tamil and in Sinhalese Yalpane) along with the neighbouring is lets, a portion of the adjacent mainland and the sea coast up to the island of Mannar.

The first news the people of this kingdom had of Christianity was from the new converts of the Fishery Coast of India. About the year 1544 the fame of the preaching and the mairacles of St. Francis Xavier induced the Mannarites to sent deputation to the saint to come to them. As he was busy in Travancore at the time, he sent them a priest who bore his name, to instruct and baptize them.

Over 600 men, women and children embraced the faith and most of them sealed with their blood their belief in Jesus Christ The massacre of the new converts was carried out on the orders of Sankily the king of Jaffna.

The new religion that was planted in Mannar and its neighbourhood did not die. In 1583 the number of Christians is said to have been about 43,000 with 26 churches.

One of these churches was situated in Mantai, a village on the mainland and about six miles from Mannar. This church was the original home of the statue of Our Lady of Madhu, which at that time was called Our Lady of Good Health.

The conquest of the Island by the Dutch opened an era of cruel persecution against the Catholics and the faithful of Mantai were forced to consider seriously the desirability of removing the statue of Our Lady of Mantai to a haven of safety.

There were no priests to give them any spiritual support or strength.

With the consent of the people twenty devoted families, in the year 1670, migrated with the statue of Our Lady of Mantai into the Kandyan territory, where they hoped to save the statue from profanation and them selves from persecution.

Under the protection of the Heavenly Mother the little company wandered hither and thither in the thick forest of the Wanni in constant fear of the enemy.

Guided by divine Providence, they reached a hamlet by the side of an ancient tank on the royal Rameswaram-Kandy route, wherethere was a customs house belonging to the Kandyan king.

The hamlet was called Maruthamadhu; and there the Manthai Catholics planted the seed of Catholicism.

In the calm and serene atmosphere of Maruthamadhu the seed grew under Our Lady’s protection, while persecution raged throughout Jaffna Pattanam.

About the same time there was another movement to wards Madhu from the Jaffna Peninsula. To avoid the Dutch persecution about 700 Catholics crossed over to Poonaryn and sought refuge in the Wanni. Having wandered for days in anxiety and fear, they too, as if by a miracle, were led to Maruthamadhu.

What a happy meeting amongst sylvan surroundings! Among the newly arrived Catholics named Helena whose fervent piety and edifying life won for her the title of “Santa Lena” i.e. St. Helena. In the course of time she married the officer who was in charge of the customs house at Madhu and the first little church dedicated to Our Lady of Madhu was built by this pious lady.

For this good act the Christians have immortalized her memory by calling the place “Silena-Marutha-Madhu” which to the present day continues to be one of the names of the holy sanctuary. From her sylvan shrine Our Lady of Madhu dispensed liberally her favours spiritual and temporal to her children.”

[Madhu Church-pic by Mahesh]

Let us remember then the history of how Our Lady of Madhu found her abode though the original intention was to take the sacred statue into the Kandyan kingdom.

Of course some of the Waani chieftains of the time were paying tribute to the Kandyan King.

So the reference to Kandyan territory could be those of Wanni fiefdoms under the Kandyan kingdom.

People of faith however would not see this event as a historical twist but simply as manifestation of a divinely defined destiny.

For people of such simple yet strong faith all what is happening now to the sacred statue is part of an ordained fate.

As the bard of Avon said “there is a divinity that shapes our ends , rough-hew them how we will”.

Related: Our Lady of Madhu Joins Fellowship of Internally Displaced-by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

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