By A Special Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -03.March.2025, 9.15 PM) The massacre of up to 64 Tamils in Valvettithurai by Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) on August 2, 1989, IPKF officers, led by Brigadier Sankar Prasath, entered homes in the region after imposing a curfew and shot and stabbed residents to death.
Some young men were dragged to the local junction where they were shot and killed.
The lesson to be learned from this is that documenting crimes at the time they are committed is an investment in future accountability. While it may take decades for justice to be served without records of violations and damage, without documentation, there is no opportunity for justice at all," she further stated.
Nadarajah Anandarajah, a principal and science teacher at a school in Valvettithurai, managed to survive after being detained and tortured in 1989. Following the cremation of the deceased, within a few days, he began organizing sworn statements from up to 200 survivors of the massacre. Later, he traveled to Delhi to inform the Indian government about the events in Valvettithurai, including publishing a book about the incident, which he referred to as "India’s My Lai Massacre." The war continued for decades, and since the Sri Lankan army set fire to his home, more than half of the sworn statements he had collected were destroyed.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the main party in the current government under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, had insulted the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) during their operations in Sri Lanka in the late 1980s, referring to them as the "monkey army."
It has been proposed that Sri Lanka should conduct excavations at mass graves, particularly at the Uduppiddy Girls' School, which was used as a military camp by the Indians, and at Valvettithurai, where ten young men and boys were allegedly killed.
Coinciding with the release of the report "Evidence of the Valvettithurai Massacre," the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has issued a statement demanding that India take responsibility for the massacre that took place in Valvettithurai (VVT) 35 years ago.
Johannesburg: A new report released by the ITJP compiles testimonies from survivors of a massacre carried out by the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka over 35 years ago. The report calls for the identification and accountability of the Indian military officers involved, as well as an official apology and compensation for the victims.
According to Yasmin Sooka, Executive Director of ITJP, "This report was only possible due to the meticulous documentation work of one individual who recorded sworn statements from survivors while the stench of burning and decomposing bodies still lingered."
Anandarajah's sworn statements preserved detailed testimonies from survivors of the three-day massacre. These accounts describe how residents of Valvettithurai were forced to watch their loved ones being executed before their eyes by Indian soldiers, and how many survivors had to pretend to be dead, lying in pools of blood, in order to escape.
One elderly fisherman recounted how his two young grandsons managed to run home, but their mother collapsed at his feet, bleeding from her chest, and died. She had already been widowed years earlier due to Tamil-targeted violence.
In another instance, Indian soldiers dragged two brothers out of their home, set the house on fire, and shot them while their wives clung to them, begging for mercy. Only the women survived.
When Indian soldiers stormed the home of Sivaganeshan, who was abroad at the time, the women inside pleaded at their feet, begging them not to shoot. However, the soldiers kicked them aside. All men under the age of 60 were lined up near a cattle shed and shot in the head in pairs. Soldiers threatened that anyone who cried would be shot.
A retired government surveyor, Subramaniam, had about 50 people seeking refuge in his house. Soldiers shot him first, then looted money from another person's pocket before shooting the women and children. One Sikh soldier fired so relentlessly that by the time he was about to reload, blood had pooled at his feet, forcing his fellow soldier to stop him.
In one narrow lane alone, 23 houses were burned down. Eyewitnesses described how Indian soldiers laughed while setting homes on fire. Shops, cinemas, libraries, vehicles, food stocks, crops, and fishing nets were also set ablaze as collective punishment for an attack on Indian soldiers.
The destruction caused immediate economic collapse in the town, and a curfew was imposed. Thousands were left stranded, and about 3,000 people were displaced from their homes, with nearly 1,000 fleeing to South India by boat. According to one journalist, half the population fled out of fear or hopelessness. Many of them now live in the UK and Canada but continue to commemorate the massacre annually.
The survivors’ testimonies reveal grave violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, inhumane treatment, forced disappearances, and collective punishment. The Indian soldiers did not attempt to distinguish between civilians and combatants. Considering other atrocities committed by the Indian Peacekeeping Force during its 32-month deployment in Sri Lanka, these actions can be seen as part of a systematic and widespread attack against Tamil civilians, potentially constituting crimes against humanity.
The report concludes with demands that India officially recognize the massacre, issue a formal apology, provide reparations to the victims, and hold accountable the commanding officers and those still serving in senior ranks of the Indian military who were involved in the violations. The apology must be made publicly, and those responsible must be brought to justice.
https://itjpsl.com/reports/vvt-testimonies-of-a-massacre
-By A Special Correspondent
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by (2025-03-03 15:44:07)
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