Lanka revises death-list; nearly 800 classed as missing in action

COLOMBO, OCT 8: Sri Lanka's defence ministry on Thursday released its final death count at Killinochchi but its effort to play down the s...

COLOMBO, OCT 8: Sri Lanka’s defence ministry on Thursday released its final death count at Killinochchi but its effort to play down the severe losses suffered by the Army has left nearly 800 families lurching between the hope and agony of the words “Missing In Action”.

According to government figures released late today, only 136 soldiers including four officers were killed in the fighting at Killinochchi-Paranthan while 426 were wounded. A staggering 789, including 18 officers have been lumped in the category of Missing in Action (MIA).

Last week, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) handed over 684 bodies of soldiers to the Army authorities.

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In an indication of the confusion prevailing in the Army, the defence ministry has backtracked on the military spokesman’s statement last Thursday that from the heaps of decomposed flesh, those of 400 soldiers killed in the fighting had been identified.

The government’s latest figures have given substance to Opposition allegations that the Army hastried to suppress its losses by not handing over even identified bodies to the next of kin. Reports from the northern town of Vavuniya, where the handing over and identification process took place, suggested that most of the 25 to 30 truckloads of bodies were mass-cremated by the authorities.

Only a few seem to have been sent back to the next of kin for proper funeral ceremonies. However, there was a goof-up in at least one recorded instance: a soldier in the eastern district of Amparai turned up home hours after his funeral when many of the mourners had still not dispersed. It was a relief for his family but perhaps there is another family somewhere that has been told that their son is MIA when it may in fact have been his remains that were consigned to the flames.

The Army’s revised death-list is bound to create an uproar on Friday when Parliament meets for the monthly debate on the extension of the nation-wide emergency now in force. More tragically, the categorisation of the majority of the victims ofthe LTTE’s fierce military action as “missing” will leave hundreds of families forever in doubt about the fate of their husbands, sons and brothers.

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The tactic of playing down losses using the cover of Missing in Action is one that the Army used before when the LTTE overran the military base at Mullaithivu in July, 1996. Under attack from the Opposition, the government told Parliament then that only 55 soldiers were killed in the attack while 1,319 were missing.

More than two years later, their families are still waiting. Some are convinced that their loved ones are being held captive by the Tamil Tigers. The categorisation has even spawned interest groups like the Association for Families of Servicemen Missing in Action, which is now accusing the government of not doing enough to trace the men. Their futile demand can only gather greater momentum when the family members of Killinochchi’s MIA lend their voice to it.