| Tribute to Anpan | |||
Many of us heard the tragic incident that occurred in the seas near the northern part of Sri Lanka, where three LTTE cadre blew up the boat they traveled in with the view to prevent the Sri Lankan soldiers entering their boat. Out of the three who died in that incident one was called Anpan. I had the rarest opportunity to attend his funeral in Vanni. It so happened that I was staying only a few yards from where his mother lived. They are seven siblings in his family and Anpan is the youngest - the pet of the family. They were six boys and one girl. I saw four huts in a compound. His sister and two of his elder brothers are married and living in those huts. Two more of his brothers are also in the LTTE and one of them lost his leg in the Elephant Pass battle. They originally come from Ariyalai but had to move in October 1995 when the great exodus took place just prior to the arrival of the Sri Lankan army to Jaffna. One of
the brothers living in Vanni told me that he met Anpan for the last time
just before he joined the LTTE eight years back. This was because this
brother lived for a long time in the area controlled by the S.L. army in
Vavuniya. The other brother, who is in the naval battalion of the LTTE
said, that it was he who recommended Anpan to join the navy along with
him. His naval colleagues, who came to attend his funeral, said that
Anpan was a daring, intelligent and fearless type of a person. He was
noted to brave the worst sea conditions. He seemed to enjoy the rough
seas. It was always a challenge for him to steer his vessel under tough
conditions. For all this Anpan's left arm became stiff and not easily
mobile after the Manal Aru attack. There he got severely injured. He
neither complained about it nor considered it a hindrance. Suddenly
there was a murmur among the crowd and I saw a Pajero pulling up. Four
smartly dressed Tiger cadres in their neatly pressed uniforms got out of
the vehicle. Two of them opened the doors and the other two gave a
military salute first and took the photo of Anpan from the Pajero and
started walking very gently towards the "Pandal" that had
already been erected there. Hardly had they moved into the compound,
when the screaming pierced the roofs deafening the ears of those who
were there. The mother fell unconscious on the ground. Luckily there
were two LTTE girls who were by her side, held her firmly and carried
her into the hut. This sight was piercing our hearts. There was hardly a
single soul who was not emotionally moved at that time. Tears ran down
for everyone including me, who has never seen or heard of Anpan. How
many more Anpans are we going to loose before we attain peace in
Thamileelam. |
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