Displaced Our Lady of Madhu Statue: Danger of Disappearance

April 11th, 2008

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Orders going out to the 57 division in late march directed that the area in and around our Lady of the Rosary church in Marudhamadhu (Madhu) be taken by the traditional April new year.

There is optimism in military circles that the security forces may accomplish the mission as directed by the fixed deadline of Sinhala and Tamil new year.

The on going fighting to seize Madhu has seen the 57 division under Major - General Jagath Dias being engaged on three fronts. The triumphal entry into Madhu is likely to be made by the 57 - 2 brigade.

At present the 57 - 2 is entrenched in two fighting formations at Sinnapandivirichaan about two miles from Madhu church junction and Periyapandivirichaan about three miles from Madhu church.

The belief that the army would enter Madhu before mid - April is predicated on the basis that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would withdraw completely from the area in a few days.

Already large numbers of tiger cadres are pulling out of their entrenched positions within Madhu church precincts and its environs including the jungles of Madhu sanctuary.

Earlier tiger cadres belonging to the Charles Anthony infantry division, Malathy womens brigade and Radha special operations corps had been active in the Madhu region.

The overall defences of Mannar district under which Madhu falls, has been supervised by “Col” Lakshman or Letchumanan who is the district military commander.

The Madhu defences were under the special military commander “Col” Jeyam who had earlier been deployed in the Kudumbimalai/Thoppigala area of the East.

Col Jeyam is a native of Pavatkulam and among other things has been special commander of Vavuniya district.

While there has been a gradual pull - out of cadres it is not clear whether there would be a total evacuation or whether a down - sized contingent would remain in the area engaging troops in combat.

It is also unclear whether the LTTE has removed the 122 mm artillery piece and the other 81 mm guns it had positioned in the area.

After the Catholic clergy and laity evacuated from the Churh premises the LTTE has moved into church precincts.

Though the tigers have kept away from the main church and compound they are now moving around within outer church precincts setting up new defences.

The only non - combatant inside churh premises is the Sinhala caretaker and his Tamil wife. This man who grew up in Madhu speaks Tamil fluently.

The first week of April saw an escalation of hostilities that resulted in shells falling inside a well, living quarters of priests and camping sites of pilgrims.

Both the LTTE and army denied responsibility and blamed each other for the shelling.

The increased danger to the church saw the remaining skeleton staff of clergy and laity leaving the Church on April 3rd. The Sacred statue of Mother Mary and baby Jesus was taken about 20 km to the north to Thevayanpitty.

The LTTE encouraged and facilitated this evacuation. Apart from the statue many other valuables and documents were also taken out.

The sacred statue was first taken to Palampitty and from there to the St. Xaviers church in Thevayanpitty. The LTTE provided safe escort.

After the statue was transported away safely LTTE media released pictures of damage caused by shelling to the Sacred Heart chapel situated on the left of the main church at Madhu.

This is the same church that sustained damage through shelling in November 1999.

The fact that the tigers aided and assisted the “displacement” of the sacred statue of “Madhumaathaa” to Thevayanpitty has strengthened expectations among security circles that a grand evacuation as in the eastern instances of Sampoor, Vaakarai, Paduvaankarai etc is on the cards.

The removal of statue and documents is seen as a forerunner to LTTE evacuation.

The security forces feel that the encircled LTTE has no choice other than to melt way from the area. The security forces are within close proximity to the Church on the South at Sinna and Periyapandivirichaan.

They have also blocked to a great extent the main access roads from different directions towards Madhu.

It is surmised that creeping strangulation is taking place and that the tigers have no option but to withdraw.

There are however other factors that militate against such an optimistic scenario.

In the first place it is highly unlikely that the LTTE would withdraw before April new year thereby giving the Rajapakse regime something to gloat about and engage in propaganda for “aluth Avuruddhu”.

Such an eventuality obviously would have a corresponding downside to the LTTE as “Sithiraip Puthaandu” (April new year) would be a day of disappointing sadness for the tigers.

It may be recalled that the LTTE fought fiercely to prevent army progress in Jaffna during “Operation Riviresa” in 1995 till the end of November. The idea was not to let the enemy triumph before Great Heroes day on Nov 27th.

Once that day passed the tigers began withdrawing and on Dec 5th 1995 the lion flag was raised at Durayappah Stadium.

Likewise there may be a “prestige” issue here too and thus potential evacuation may be postponed.

The other point is that contrary to defence circle expectations the LTTE has not been boxed in. Movement is restricted but not completely curtailed.

Until and unless Palampitty and Adampan fall the LTTE road transport to Madhu can continue . The route taken by catholic priests to transport the sacred statue can work for the tigers too.

The other route is through the jungles of Madhu sanctuary that extends to the north up to Panankaamam the seat of Wanni chieftain Pandara Vanniyan who fought the British in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

There is every possibility that notwithstanding Colombo’s expectations the LTTE will keep a viable unit of cadre in Madhu to engage the armed forces indefinitely.

Such an engagement would place the armed forces at a disadvantage if assertions by army circles of controlled firing so as to prevent harm befalling the church and environs is indeed true.

If that were true then the LTTE has only to strengthen its defences within church preincts and continue to stay put for a while. The security forces would be in a “heads you win tails I lose” situation.

If the security forces restrain themselves from engaging in artillery and mortar fire against church precincts the task of removing tigers from their entrenched positions would be virtually impossible.

If on the other hand the forces do fire at tiger positions regardless of whether they are within church precincts or not and if church buildings are damaged there would be negative publicity for Colombo.

The Government would face the censure of both the Vatican and the international catholic community.

There is also the danger that the LTTE may damage the Church and other chapels themselves if hard - pressed. The tigers would not want Colombo to capture the Church and precincts including the pilgrim campsites intact.

A motivating compulsion for the LTTE in fighting to retain Madhu is that of preventing a Colombo triumph over that area

There are political and military reasons for this.

In earlier articles about Madhu I had opined that Madhu was not of strategic military importance and that the causes of conflict were more political.

Conversations with knowledgeable sources have compelled a revision of my earlier opinion. I now find that militarily Madhu is of significant importance .

The military significance of Madhu is that the place is ideal for setting up a massive military complex under the pretext of protecting the church and pilgrims.

In post - independence Sri Lanka the army first moved into the North in the early fifties for the ostensible purposes of combatting illicit imigration and smuggling.

Then the Army had wanted to set up a camp at Nallathanniirakkam to protect Madhu but was politely declined by Bishop Emilianuspillai.

The idea of setting up a military camp near Madhu had lingered for long despite a base being set up in Thalladdy to control causeway movement to the Mannar Island.

The Rajapakse regime has begun militarising the Country in an unprecedented manner. The probability of setting up a major military complex at Madhu is very much there now.

Madhu with its tank and tubewells and campsite infra-structure provides an ideal venue for setting up a military camp at short notice.

Such a camp would be useful to retain a hold on Madhu church environs and also to use as a launching pad for further incursions into tiger controlled territory.

Already the armed forces are exploring the options of moving along the coastal Mannar - Pooneryn road and also move forward parallel to the A - 9 highway.

If Madhu is secured then the armed forces can also try out forward movement in the middle.

Securing the inter- linking roads from Iranaiiluppaikulam in the east to Pallamadhu in the west would help extend and consolidate army presence in the region. Madhu would be of pivotal importance in this configuration.

In addition to this military dimension there is the political significance. Giving impetus to political compulsions is the egoistic personality of President Rajapakse.

As stated in these columns earlier President Rajapakse is smarting under his being prevented from visiting Madhu prior to the presidential elections. His inability to visit all parts of the Country despite being premier is a sore point.

In December last year when prospects of securing Madhu loomed large there were media reports of Rajapakse telling cabinet ministers “Now I dont have to take permission from anyone to go to Madhu”.

Obviously Rajapakse has not forgiven the LTTE over Madhu and is very keen to capture the area.He would also like to ensure that Mdhu always remains under Colombo writ.

There is also rising resentment among many Sinhala catholics that they have been unable to undertake pilgrimage to Madhu for many, many years. They too would like to go to Madhu and army conquest of the area will faciliutate it.

So the Government would score heavily among Southern Catholics if Madhu is captured and pilgrimage is possible. This would be particularly so for the feast in July that has traditionally been attended by more Sinhala catholics than Tamil. The August feast has had more Tamils than Sinhalese.

There is also the cold war between Sinhala and Tamil Bishops over Madhu. Currently Madhu is under the purview of the Mannar diocese comprising the Vavuniya and Mannar districts.

The Catholic Bishops Conference has been wanting Madhu to be made a national shrine administered jointly by all the Catholic Dioceses.

However hard it may be to digest there is a strong lobby within the Sinhala hierarchy of the Catholic Church that welcomes military conquest over Madhu.

These latter - day incarnations of Cardinals Richelieu, Mazarin and Wolsey are shakers and movers within corridors of power.

[Reverend Ravappu Joseph (R), bishop of Mannar, and Catholic priests attend a protest in Mannar, Apr 2, 2007, as they called for the Lady Madu shrine not to be used for political or military purposes-Reuters via Yahoo! News]

It is against this backdrop that the fighting over Madhu continues.

On the other side of the equation is the LTTE.

In 1999 there was fighting in the region.Tamil church leaders were concerned about the safety of Madhy. They were reassured that the army would not move into Madhu. This in turn was conveyed to the tigers who apparently set up their defences away fro church vicinity.

But the army swooped down on Madhu causing much friction between the LTTE and Church dignitaries. Later the capture of Madhu was utilised for political propaganda in the South during elections.

Thereafter the sacred statue of our Lady of Madhu was taken on a penitential tour of the South to promote peace.

The tigers apparently feared a re - play of 1999 this time too. The LTTE also realised that Rajapakse with his bruised ego would really go to town with the capture of Madhu.

The military victory would have been proclaimed as a triumph and the sacred statue possibly exhibited as a prize. This is what the LTTE feared and there were reasons for this.

Thus the LTTE has firmly resisted attempts to seize Madhu and will continue to do so.Damage or destruction to the church is of no conseqquence to a military mindset.

The tigers scored “politically” when they exerted pressure on Church leaders to move the sacred statue out of Madhu.

By this action the Government has been denied the easy opportunity of gaining political capital out of Madhu. Like the saying about “Ayodhya being where Rama is” Madhu is where the Maadhaa is.

Without our Lady of Madhu statue the shrine loses its significance as a place of veneration and worship. Madhu church without Our Lady of Madhu is yet another Church.

Still the battle for Madhu would continue.

This is due to two reasons.

One is that the idea of setting up a military base in Mdhu is very much alive.The other is that once Madhu is taken pressure could be mounted to force the statue’s return.

In this situation there is the important question of whether the LTTE would allow the sacred statue to be returned to a military - controlled Madhu.

Given the efforts made by the LTTE in preventing a politico - military seizure of Madhu the tame return of the statue to military overlordship seems unlikely.

The only chance for the statue to be returned is for the armed forces to pull out from the Madhu region and an internationally imposed peace zone set up around the Church.

It is only then that the LTTE will allow the return of the statue is the opinion shared by many troubled Tamil Catholics.

If on the other hand pressure is exerted on many levels to get the statue back and also if the armed forces try to take it back militarily , I would not rule out an extreme possibility

Our Lady of Madhu is now among the fellowhip of the displaced. There is the danger of her joining the ranks of the diasappeared.

I hope I am wrong but I cannot see the LTTE allowing the return of the statue to an army - controlled Madhu. The easy way out for the tigers is to make the statue “disappear”.

Of course there would be an outcry but the LTTE will simply not care.

The tigers and even many Tamil Christians will not be too concerned about a Sri Lankan church and Global community that could not prevent the militarization of Madhu.

There is also the fact of so many Churches other than Madhu being damaged through military activity.

Prior to the Madhu offensive at least 299 big and small churches (Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical) have suffered in the North - East. 93 sustained major and 186 minor destruction. 20 churches underwent minor repairs due to war.

More than a dozen churches have been damaged in the Mannar area after the Adampan and Madhu offensives. Recently the Police returned seven statues to Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph.

This then is the situation. The danger of the displaced statue disappearing in the future cannot be ruled out.

If the statue is to return to Madhu then a sincere effort must be made to de - militarise the area and declare a zone of peace.

Let me conclude with a correction.

Last week I wrote that Thevaayanpitty adjoined Mulangaavil. That was a mistake.

Thevaayanpitty is close to Vellankulam and not Mulangaavil.

I also understand that the statue was not taken to Mulangaavil because it is in Kilinochchi district. That district along with Mullaitheevu and Jaffna form the Jaffna diocese.

Since Madhu is in Mannar diocese the statue could not be taken outside diocesan limits.

Even though there were plans to take it to the Cathedral in Mannar it was not possible because the entry - exit point in Uyilankulam was closed by the army and fighting was going on.

So the option was to take the statue further north point out church sources.

Incidently Thevaayanpitty is populated by a down-trodden Dalit community known as “paraiyar”.

Jesus Christ has been perceived as being on the side of the oppressed and persecuted.

Today the Sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu is housed in a church whose members are pre- dominantly from an oppressed community.

The statue originally known as Our Lady of health at Manthai fled persecution at the hands of the Dutch and found refuge in the forests of Marudhamadhu where she transformed into Our Lady of the Rosary.

Now Our Lady seeks refuge at St. Xaviers Church whose parishioners are among the poor and oppressed..

The Mystique of “Madhumaadhaa” continues to flourish.

Entry Filed under: transCurrents