Christians report shelling of churches, deaths and disappearance of priests.
DUBLIN – Following a renewed outbreak of civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), churches in the northeast are fast becoming another war casualty.
The LTTE has fought for an independent Tamil homeland in the northeast since the 1980s. While both parties to the conflict say they are committed to a 2002 ceasefire agreement, analysts say the current situation is more like an “undeclared war.”
Since hostilities resumed in earnest last year, churches on the Jaffna Peninsula have provided shelter to hundreds of internally displaced people (IDPs), prompting retaliatory raids by the Sri Lankan army.
“One wonders if the attacks on churches are just a coincidence, or an attempt by the government to warn the clergy not to give protection to these defenseless people,” one source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Compass.
The same source said those speaking out for IDPs were often silenced by intimidation or “elimination,” often in the form of unexplained disappearances.
“The church, unable to remain a silent witness, has raised its concerns with the outside world,” the source added. “The government of Sri Lanka has taken note and appears to have sought, directly and indirectly, to silence these voices by abducting and sometimes eliminating church officials.”
Deaths and Disappearances
Just over a month ago, on January 13, members of the Sri Lankan security forces gunned down the Rev. Nallathamby Gnanaseelan.
Gnanaseelan, 38 years old and father to four young children, led the Tamil Mission Church in Jaffna.
On the morning he was killed, Gnanaseelan had dropped his wife and daughter at a local hospital and headed towards his church, where members had gathered for prayer. Before he could reach the church, however, he was shot in the stomach and head. His Bible, bag, identity card and motorbike were taken, and he was left lying in the street.
Security forces initially said Gnanaseelan was shot for carrying explosives but later said he was shot for not stopping when ordered to do so. Local Christians say the initial accusation was a deliberate attempt to frame the minister, who was a respected member of the National Christian Evangelical Alliance Clergy Fellowship in Jaffna and was not involved in any political activity.
The Rev. Father Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown (commonly known as Fr. Jim Brown) and his assistant, Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas, may have met a similar fate. Both men disappeared on August 20, 2006, according to local media reports.
Witnesses said they saw the two men in the village of Allaipiddy, on Kayts Island off the Jaffna Peninsula, at about 2:15 p.m. on August 20, being followed from the Allaipiddy navy checkpoint by six armed men on motorbikes. Neither man has been seen since.
Navy commanders denied arresting the two men.
Brown and Vimalathas had gone to visit Brown’s church in the parish of St. Philip Neri. The church and predominantly Catholic neighborhood were abandoned a week earlier, after the church was shelled on August 13.
A firefight had broken out on August 13 between navy officers and the LTTE in Allaipiddy, leaving 15 civilians dead and at least 54 injured in the crossfire. Many villagers sought shelter at the church of St. Philip Neri. When the fighting died down, Brown helped about 800 people move to St. Mary’s church in the nearby town of Kayts. Some witnesses said he got down on his knees at the checkpoint to request a safe transfer.
Shortly afterwards, according to an Amnesty International report, the commanding officer of the navy in Allaipiddy scolded Brown and accused him of helping the Tigers to build bunkers. Brown, however, said the church members had dug bunkers to protect themselves from the shelling and bombing of church premises.
