The Continuing Massacres In The East

By Rajan Hoole -November 29, 2014

Dr. Rajan Hoole

Border Aggression and Civilian Massacres – Part 11

The Paul Nallanayagam affair suggests to us that massacres were then part of Government policy and the state was prepared to resort to extremes to cover it up. We now look at what lies behind the item in the government booklet Massacres of civilians which lists 5 Sinhalese civilians shot dead by armed terrorists at Mahindapura and Dehiwatte in the Allai colonisation scheme in Trincomalee District on 30.5.85.

The Colombo media reported on 2 Jun.85 that terrorists attacked 2 Sinhalese villages in the East killing 5 people. The following day (Island, 3.6.85) the Government denied news reports from foreign news agencies in Colombo that 50 Tamil civilians had been killed in attacks on two villages on Friday 31 May 85. On 8.6.85, the National Security Minister’s press release was published. He (Athulathmudali) denied the UNI report that Sinhalese mobs assisted by security forces killed 80 Tamils in the Trincomalee area and also a similar report by D.B.S. Jeyaraj in the Island. The Government, he said, made inquiries and found news reports ‘highly exaggerated’. The only incident, he added, where the Security Forces killed Tamils was when a group of Tamil terrorists fired at a helicopter carrying commandos at Irakkamam on 4th June and five terrorists were killed. It must be recalled, he said, that on 31.5.85 terrorists attacked Mahindapura and Dehiwatte killing 5 civilians. This is one day later than that given in Massacres of Civilians.

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