Uliyankulam, a key checkpoint along the line of control that separates Sri Lankan government-controlled areas from those held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), only gets about 1,600 people passing through per week.
An upsurge in fighting in the area has left civilians hesitant to travel: The checkpoint is now open only three days a week after an LTTE attack on a nearby Sri Lankan army camp on 24 July.
However, for one brief period that changed. Over 12,000 Catholic pilgrims passed through Uliyankulam 10-16 August, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has officials stationed there as observers. The checkpoint was open five days in a row to accommodate the pilgrims, who were visiting the Catholic shrine of Madhu for the annual feast on 15 August.
Sri Lankan Catholics believe a statue of the Virgin kept at the church has miraculous powers and devotees from across Sri Lanka have traditionally converged on Madhu each August. For nearly two decades, starting in 1983, fighting kept them away. Only after the signing of the 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA) did large numbers of pilgrims return annually to the shrine.
“Madhu is a place of peace where all Sri Lankans can gather and be in harmony,” the Catholic bishop for the area, Rayappu Joseph, told IRIN. “It is a place where we can be like one family and it was like that during this year’s feast… Both sides kept the guns silent during the feast, it was a great thing.”
Fighting threatens plans
Holding this year’s festival was no easy feat. Pilgrims coming from government-controlled areas to the south had difficulty finding a safe road to get to Madhu due to the continued closure for security reasons of the main road to the church.
Furthermore, an escalation in violence prevented the planned reopening of the checkpoint. At least 60 combatants were killed in the area just before and during the festival, according to figures released by the Defence Ministry and the Tamil Tigers. In one incident at Chettikulam on the A14 (Mannar to Madavachchiya) road about 40km east of Uliyankulam, 12 government soldiers were killed and 14 other people injured - seven of them civilians - in a claymore mine attack by the Tamil Tigers on 24 July. This incident and others on or near the main A30 and A14 roads led the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, which monitors the five-year old CFA and security conditions in conflict areas, to declare the roads too dangerous for travel.
Sarasi Wijeratne, ICRC information officer in Colombo, told IRIN: “Not enough security guarantees were received from the government and LTTE concerning access to no-man’s-land.” The 12km Madhu Road, which was believed to have been mined, remained closed and the pilgrims were forced to make a 40km diversion.
Even during the festival, many pilgrims remained anxious because of the sound of distant artillery fire, Joseph told IRIN. “We told them that it was not close and not to be worried.”
Fewer attendees
Despite the increased number of pilgrims passing through Uliyankulam, overall attendance at the feast fell dramatically from previous years. Two years ago, over 500,000 people gathered in Madhu, including tens of thousands from the south. This year, according to Madhu priests, the number had fallen to 150,000, with most coming from LTTE-controlled areas.
“It was low compared to last year with only about 7,000 coming from the south [the government-controlled areas],” Joseph said.
However, with tensions remaining high in the area, it was somewhat remarkable that this year’s feast came off at all. “It was like old times, when everyone could come and go,” Francis Duector, district coordinator for the Foundation for Co-existence in Mannar District, told IRIN. “Madhu made it happen and maybe if we all tried hard enough we could make it last.”
Joseph shared some pleasure that Madhu halted the fighting but is concerned about the drop in attendance. “If we don’t see what Madhu can bring to this country, we fail as religious leaders… It’s an example for the country, a beacon of hope and a catalyst for peace.”
Lull in fighting short-lived
Even as the pilgrims headed for home, it was clear the lull was short-lived. At least 14 combatants, including nine Tamil Tigers, were killed in fighting along the volatile line of control only days after the feast, according to the Defence Ministry. The skirmishes and artillery fire have continued ever since.
David Fernando, a 65-year-old Catholic pilgrim from Nainamadama town in Puttalam District who attended the Madhu festival, decried the small number of attendees and the high level of security. He fears escalating fighting could end the annual pilgrimage completely, as it did for such a long period in the past. “If they [the army and the LTTE] keep fighting like this, no one will be able to go to that sacred place and it will be all our loss.”
ap/bj/cb
An upsurge in fighting in the area has left civilians hesitant to travel: The checkpoint is now open only three days a week after an LTTE attack on a nearby Sri Lankan army camp on 24 July.
However, for one brief period that changed. Over 12,000 Catholic pilgrims passed through Uliyankulam 10-16 August, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has officials stationed there as observers. The checkpoint was open five days in a row to accommodate the pilgrims, who were visiting the Catholic shrine of Madhu for the annual feast on 15 August.
Sri Lankan Catholics believe a statue of the Virgin kept at the church has miraculous powers and devotees from across Sri Lanka have traditionally converged on Madhu each August. For nearly two decades, starting in 1983, fighting kept them away. Only after the signing of the 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA) did large numbers of pilgrims return annually to the shrine.
“Madhu is a place of peace where all Sri Lankans can gather and be in harmony,” the Catholic bishop for the area, Rayappu Joseph, told IRIN. “It is a place where we can be like one family and it was like that during this year’s feast… Both sides kept the guns silent during the feast, it was a great thing.”
Fighting threatens plans
Holding this year’s festival was no easy feat. Pilgrims coming from government-controlled areas to the south had difficulty finding a safe road to get to Madhu due to the continued closure for security reasons of the main road to the church.
Furthermore, an escalation in violence prevented the planned reopening of the checkpoint. At least 60 combatants were killed in the area just before and during the festival, according to figures released by the Defence Ministry and the Tamil Tigers. In one incident at Chettikulam on the A14 (Mannar to Madavachchiya) road about 40km east of Uliyankulam, 12 government soldiers were killed and 14 other people injured - seven of them civilians - in a claymore mine attack by the Tamil Tigers on 24 July. This incident and others on or near the main A30 and A14 roads led the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, which monitors the five-year old CFA and security conditions in conflict areas, to declare the roads too dangerous for travel.
Sarasi Wijeratne, ICRC information officer in Colombo, told IRIN: “Not enough security guarantees were received from the government and LTTE concerning access to no-man’s-land.” The 12km Madhu Road, which was believed to have been mined, remained closed and the pilgrims were forced to make a 40km diversion.
Even during the festival, many pilgrims remained anxious because of the sound of distant artillery fire, Joseph told IRIN. “We told them that it was not close and not to be worried.”
Fewer attendees
Despite the increased number of pilgrims passing through Uliyankulam, overall attendance at the feast fell dramatically from previous years. Two years ago, over 500,000 people gathered in Madhu, including tens of thousands from the south. This year, according to Madhu priests, the number had fallen to 150,000, with most coming from LTTE-controlled areas.
“It was low compared to last year with only about 7,000 coming from the south [the government-controlled areas],” Joseph said.
However, with tensions remaining high in the area, it was somewhat remarkable that this year’s feast came off at all. “It was like old times, when everyone could come and go,” Francis Duector, district coordinator for the Foundation for Co-existence in Mannar District, told IRIN. “Madhu made it happen and maybe if we all tried hard enough we could make it last.”
Joseph shared some pleasure that Madhu halted the fighting but is concerned about the drop in attendance. “If we don’t see what Madhu can bring to this country, we fail as religious leaders… It’s an example for the country, a beacon of hope and a catalyst for peace.”
Lull in fighting short-lived
Even as the pilgrims headed for home, it was clear the lull was short-lived. At least 14 combatants, including nine Tamil Tigers, were killed in fighting along the volatile line of control only days after the feast, according to the Defence Ministry. The skirmishes and artillery fire have continued ever since.
David Fernando, a 65-year-old Catholic pilgrim from Nainamadama town in Puttalam District who attended the Madhu festival, decried the small number of attendees and the high level of security. He fears escalating fighting could end the annual pilgrimage completely, as it did for such a long period in the past. “If they [the army and the LTTE] keep fighting like this, no one will be able to go to that sacred place and it will be all our loss.”
ap/bj/cb
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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