Hon. Karuna Amman – The One Even Above The God

By V. Kanthaiya –August 25, 2015

“The fate of Premini was terrible. The dusky woman with attractive features was taken to another camp and raped first by Sinthujan himself. Thereafter it was a horrible gang rape with TMVP cadres taking turns to sexually assault her. Fourteen cadres raped the poor girl. Premini was heard to shout and cry at the start. Later she merely sobbed and whimpered. Premini was taken out before dawn by TMVP cadres to the jungles. She walked without crying or showing signs of emotion said one ex – TMVP cadre. She was apparently hacked to death and thrown into the bushes.” – First Anniversary: The tragic fate of TRO employees abducted by Karuna cadres, by D.B.S. Jeyaraj, 4 February 2007.[i]

I know a mother whose son went missing. She is from Neerveli, Jaffna. The pain is gruesome. It is not something like your loved one getting killed, where you have no choice but to accept the reality and come over the grief and move on. But having someone from your family missing (enforced) is terrible. It just leaves you some questions. First whether your loved one is alive or not? If alive, where is he/she? Is he/she being treated well or being tortured? To whom you should complain to get him/her back? In an enforced disappearance, it is not only the victim who suffer, but also the entire family.

The mother I met was struggling with the uncertain reality. She still believes that her son should be alive somewhere in this country as the dozens of astrologers she had sought advice told her that her son is still alive somewhere in the southward direction from her home. That’s the only hope she has got and that’s the only thing which still drives her in her search for the missing son. Every time the phone rings, she said, she hopes it is from her son or someone who knows about her son’s fate. It is over five years since her son went missing. There are thousands of mothers like her in our country.

An interesting fact in all or most of the enforced disappearances is that the victims’ relatives know who the captors were. They can identify whether it is the police or the military or the Karuna Group or the EPDP or theLTTE. And most of the times, they know which camp the captors came from, sometimes they know the individuals involved in the enforced disappearances. However, so far not a single suspect of enforced disappearance was brought to book, needless to say about how many were punished by the court of law. So many mothers have openly complained to the LLRC and the president’s Commission investigating the enforced disappearances that their sons were abducted by Karuna Group.[ii]

Well! Leave the security forces of this country. They are above the law and can never be punished for their crimes. But why the legal system of this country could not take any action against the paramilitaries for their crimes against Sri Lankan citizens and the humanity as a whole? Is it because these murderers did not leave any trace of their barbaric acts? In fact, most of the abductions by Karuna Group were done in broad daylight, in public places. In an instant, they stopped a bus and pulled out their victim and assaulted his mother who tried to save her son. [iii]

So, is it because these criminals are on the run and have hidden somewhere? No. They live right here, right in front of us, with their families. Not only that, they laugh, they dance and appear on TV shows and speak about how they helped to win the war and eradicate terrorism in this country, and of course, despite the number of abductions, murders, rapes, and extortions they have done they are called ‘Honourable’.

In November 2013 (for the CHOGM), Mr. Rauff Hakeem made a comment to the press about Karuna which is as follows;

‘Karuna’s presence here is symbolic, for it provides some idea about the LTTE fighting cadres’ willingness to embrace peace’[iv]

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