Font size: 
It has apparently put its faith in the ability of the Sri Lankan military to capture the revered Catholic shrine of Madhu and provide it with a much-needed morale booster. The capture of the last eastern stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the jungles of Thoppigala, was celebrated by the government on a grand scale last year. The government could project the capture of Madhu, which is currently in LTTE-controlled territory, as liberation of the religious shrine and as similar proof of the capture of LTTE-controlled territory in the north.
The government may believe that the sight of busloads of Catholic pilgrims making their way to Madhu and performing their religious devotions at the shrine would be a powerful advertisement of its commitment to its multi-ethnic and multi-religious population. The government needs a military success to justify its weak performance in other areas of governance, including the economy and basic law and order. The battlefield successes that took place in the east over a year ago, and which gave the government leadership enormous popularity, have not been visible at all in the north where progress on the ground has been slow.
Defense columnist Iqbal Athas in his regular column in the Sunday Times has opined, "The military offensives in the Wanni assume a new dimension in the light of the Provincial Council elections for the Eastern Province on May 10. Particularly in the Mannar sector, the recapture of the Madhu shrine and its environs by the troops will bolster the ruling party's position at the polls. It could be argued, perhaps with some justification, that after recapturing the East, troops were now making progress in the North. For the same reason, Tiger guerillas would want to avoid losses of any territory dominated by them. They would want to offer stronger resistance at least until the polls are over."
The problem the government is facing in achieving its political objectives is that the LTTE is putting up strong resistance in blocking the advancing Sri Lankan army. In doing so the LTTE has even violated the religious sanctity and neutrality of the Madhu shrine. Showing no regard for the religious sensitivities of the Catholics, the LTTE has come within the shrine area and stationed its armed cadres and their weapons inside it.
With the danger of loss of life and destruction of the sacred statue of Our Lady of Madhu very high, the priests of the Madhu church decided to ask all refugees to leave and to leave the church themselves and take the statue with them to another church for safekeeping.
However, the decision of the Church authorities to take the sacred statue to the interior village of Thevanpiddy rather than to the town of Mannar has come in for heavy criticism by the government. The recapture of the Madhu church without the sacred statue will be a hollow victory. Government spokespersons have even alleged a plot to discredit the government by bringing the issue to the attention of the international community. The Church authorities are also being criticized for taking the sacred statue even deeper into LTTE-controlled territory, which is where Thevanpiddy lies, rather than to the government-controlled town of Mannar.
The crisis over the Madhu shrine has rallied the Catholic Bishops Conference, which comprises both its Sinhalese and Tamil members, to issue a strong public statement in which they "deplore the malicious attribution of motives and unwarranted interpretations given to the simple and inevitable course of action which was due solely to the exigencies of the given situation." This statement, which was signed by Bishop of Kandy Vianney Fernando and Bishop of Anuradhapura Norbert Andradi, needs to be taken to heart by both the government and the LTTE.
In addition, the Bishops have pointed to the grim situation in the larger Mannar area caused by the war, stating, "The statue has been moved out temporarily to the church in Thevanpiddy which alone has a Catholic community around it. All other parishes in the uncleared area of the District of Mannar are presently deserted by the people due to security reasons. It is to be noted that the displaced people of these deserted parishes numbering over 24,000 live in this area (Thevanpiddy). The statue is, therefore, enshrined temporarily in the said church and will be brought back to the hallowed Madhu Shrine at the first opportunity of safety."
The way forward is clear if a solution that meets the needs of the refugees in the area and the Catholic community throughout the country is to be found. The Madhu shrine area needs to be declared a zone of peace into which neither government forces nor the LTTE intrude again with their boots and their guns.
The Pilgrimages Ordinance published by the Government Gazette Notification No. 185 of 1982 declares Madhu to be a religious shrine, which the government is legally bound to respect. The LTTE also needs to vacate the Madhu shrine area as called for by the Catholic authorities and do so with immediate effect. So far these appeals have fallen on hard hearts and deaf ears but they need to continue in the hope of dialogue that will lead to transformation.
--
(Dr. Jehan Perera is executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, an independent advocacy organization. He studied economics at Harvard College and holds a doctorate in law from Harvard Law School. ©Copyright Jehan Perera.)
