Jaffna Catholic community appeals to stop killing of Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 14:03 GMT]
“We are deeply grieved of the silence of the International Community and the world humanitarian agencies disregarding the great human tragedy that continues in Vanni in Sri Lanka. Will this silence be broken only after the total annihilation of the Tamils in Vanni?”, said the memorandum sent by the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) at the end of the first day of the protest fast launched Wednesday morning in front of St. Mary’s Church, Jaffna led by Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Jaffna Bishop, sources in Jaffna said.

A copy of the memorandum sent to the UN Secretary General, the Foreign Ambassadors in Colombo as well as other International Humanitarian organizations was released Wednesday evening by CJPCD in Jaffna.

The following is the gist of the memorandum released:

‘More than 400 innocent Tamils in Vanni have been killed and more than 1400 injured in the war against the Tamils in Vanni in the past 10 days.

The above figures are the available registered details but the real figures are feared to be more.

There is an acute shortage of medicine in Vanni for the injured while it is impossible to transport or carry the injured to the makeshift medical clinics, due to the unrelenting artillery fire and aerial bombings.

Due to the attacks the dead are not given a decent burial nor is it possible to conduct the final rites to them.

The people in Vanni spend their lives in temporary bunkers in terror of the continuing attacks on them.

We, the participants of the protest fast, place the following urgent requests to your immediate consideration and action.

• Please exert pressure on the parties at war to stop the human tragedy unfolding in Vanni.

• We all are totally against this war.

• We appeal to all concerned parties to stop the war and engage in negotiations towards a justified political solution.’

The organizers of the protest fast said that an appeal of the above nature will be sent out daily by the protestors when the fast ends for the day.

More than 400 persons including Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, former Bishop of Church of South India, Catholic priests and nuns took part Wednesday morning in a protest fast, urging Sri Lanka government to stop the artillery barrage and aerial bombardment on Vanni civilians and to bring an end to their continuing displacements, in front of St. Mary’s Church in Jaffna.

Chronology: