We ran out from home
A collection of experiences related to ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
අපි ගෙදරින් එළියට ආවා
ජනවාර්ගික ප්රශ්නයට අදාළ අත්දැකීම් රාශියක්
நாங்கள் வீட்டிலிருந்து வெளியேறினோம்
இனப்பிரச்சினை தொடர்பான அனுபவங்களின் தொகுப்பு
CMP/AMP/POT/INE/21
Jamunathevi – Inspector Eaththam
I was born here in Eaththam and got married in 1985. He was doing fish trade. So many people got arrested on suspicious, when we were in Komari during the trouble time in 1990. He was also taken away and then got released after 6 months. Later we came here from Komari in the year 1994 and put up huts to live. We were facing hardships. Again in 1995 all the huts got burnt. In 1995, there was a sentry here; one police man from that sentry lost his leg in landmine. So the policemen have burnt the houses here - Around 15-20 houses. There were no people, everyone had run away. Later the military came and mended them. After that, our lives were built up on our hard work.
Again we were in a camp. Later government gave us materials to build our own houses. With that help we built small huts and lived there. After that we live by our own efforts and work. My mother went through so many difficulties. We didn’t have our father. Still we face hardships. We are 6 girls in the family, and we take turns to take care of our mother.
In 1990, when we all were at home, the military came saying that the boys (LTTE) have come. So we all abandoned the place and ran away to Komari, where we lived for 4 years. Later we resettled in our own places. We had a land in Kodukkal, and we lived there by putting up a hut there. It was destroyed in Tsunami. That’s why we again came to Eaththam.
In the year 1990, our two younger brothers were got caught by someone in the sea in Komari. Till now we don’t know who those people were. Unidentified people caught them. Till now they haven’t returned. We searched for them but they couldn’t be found, we haven’t seen who caught them, we looked for them all over but they were not to be seen, till now we are looking for them. We appealed everywhere; mother had launched an entry at the police station. Even recently our mother went for a meeting in Batticaloa, regarding the disappeared people. From 1990, till now, about 20 years we have been searching for them and making appeals. Where ever there is a meeting about this arrested children/disappeared we go and submit letters there. We got involved with all the searching efforts that the government made but no positive result. We are searching for them without knowing who actually had caught them. When they were arresting everyone, the police have caught my husband as well, but he was released after inquiry.
I have 4 children - 3 boys and one girl. 2 have sat for their A/L and the other two are studying in A/L. One is working abroad and one here. The other two are studying. We educated them with his earnings. He was a laborer and was trading fish. He is now sick with Rheumatism so he doesn’t do any work. He is bedridden and the children are taking care of him. My two sons are taking care of the family – one in abroad the other one is a driver here. At last, now we are having a better life.
CMP/AMP/POT/INE/21
යමුනා දේවී ඉන්ස්පෙක්ටර් ඒත්තම්
මම මෙහෙ තමයි. එත්තම්වල ඉපදිලා හැදිලා වැඩිලා 85 දී බැන්දා. මෙයා කළේ මාලු වෙළඳාම. 90 දී ප්‍රශ්න ඇවිල්ලා කෝමාරිවලට ගිහින් ඉන්නකොට සැකපිට හැමෝම ඇල්ලුවා. මෙයාවත් අල්ලගෙන හිරකරගෙන ඉඳලා මාස 06කින් නිදහස් කළා. පස්සේ 94 දී කෝමාරිවල ඉඳලා මෙහෙ ඇවිල්ලා කූඩාරම් ගහගෙන හිටියා. කරදර තමයි. පස්සේ 95 දී කූඩාරම් ඔක්කොම පිච්චුවා. 95 දී මුරපොළක් තිබුනා. ඒකේ හිටිය එක් පොලිස්කාරයෙකුට බිම් බෝම්බයක් වැදිලා කකුල නැතිවුනා. ඒකට ඒකේ හිටපු පොලිස් කාරයෝ ගෙවල් ගිණි තිබ්බා. ගෙවල් පහළොවක් විස්සක් විතර. කවුරුවත් නැහැ ඔක්කොම දිව්වා. පස්සේ හමුදාව ඇවිල්ලා තමයි හදලා දුන්නේ. ඊට පස්සේ අපි තමයි අමාරුවෙන් රස්සාවල් කරගෙන ඉන්නේ.
ආයෙත් අපි කඳවුරේ හිටියා. ඊට පස්සේ වෙන වෙනම ගෙවල් හදාගන්න බඩු ඔක්කොම රජයෙන් දුන්නා. ඒකෙන් පොඩි පොඩි ගෙවල් හදාගෙන අපි හිටියා. පස්සේ තමයි අපේ උත්සාහයෙන් රස්සාවල් කරගෙන ඉන්නේ. අම්මා හරියට දුක් වින්ඳා. තාත්තත් නැහැ. දැනුත් කරදරයි තමයි. අපි ගෑණු ළමයි හය දෙනෙක්. දැන් එක එක්කනා අම්මව බලාගන්නවා.
1990 දී හැමෝම ගෙදර ඉන්නකොට එල් ටී ටී කොල්ලෝ ආව කියලා හමුදාව අවා. ඒ නිසා අපි හැම දෙයක්ම අතහැරලා දිව්වා. අපි දුවලා ගිහිල්ලා කෝමාරිවල අවුරුදු හතරක් හිටියා. පස්සේ තමුන්ගෙම ඉඩම්වල පදිංචි වුනා. අපිට කොට්ටුකාල් වල ඉඩමක් තිබුනා. අපි ඒකේ ගෙයක් හදාගෙන හිටියා. සුනාමියෙන් ඒක එහෙමම කඩාගෙන ගියා. ඒකෙන් තමයි අපි ආයෙත් ඒත්තම් වලට ආවේ.
90 දී කෝමාරිවලට ගිය වෙලාවේ අපේ මල්ලිලා දෙන්නෙක් කෝමාරිවල මුහුදේ දී අල්ලගෙන ගියා. මේ වෙනකම් කවුද කියලා දන්නේ නැහැ. දන්නැති කට්ටියක් තමයි අල්ලන් ගියේ. අද වෙනකම් ආවේ නැහැ. හොයලා බැලුවා. එත් නැහැ. කවුද කියලා අපි හැමෝම උදේ හෙව්වා. කොහේවත් හිටියේ නැහැ. අදවෙනකම් හොයනවා. මල්ලිලව අල්ලන් ගිය එක ගැන හැමතැනටම ලියුම් දීලා අම්මා පොලිසියේ එන්ට්‍රියක් දැම්මා. අතුරුදන් වූවන්ගේ අයට එන්න කියලා ළඟදී අම්මා මඩකලපුවේ මීට් එකටත් ගිහින් ආවා. 90 ඉඳන් මේ දක්වා අවුරුදු 20ක්ම හොය හොයා ලියුම් දිදී තමයි ඉන්නේ. අතුරුදන් වූවන්ගේ රැස්වීමක් කොහේ තිබුනත් එහේ ගිහින් ලියුම් දෙනවා තමයි. රජයේ සෙවීම් උත්සාහ හැම එකක දීම ලියුම් දීලා හොයාගෙන ගිහින් තියෙනවා. කවුරු ගෙනිච්චද කියලා දන්නේ නැතුව තමයි හොයා ඇවිදින්නේ. හැමෝම අල්ලගෙන යනකොට මගේ මහත්තයත් අල්ලගෙන ගිහිල්ලා ප්‍රශ්න කරලා නිදහස් කළා.
මට ළමයි හතර දෙනයි. පුතාලා තුන් දෙනයි එක දුවයි. දෙන්නෙක් ඒ ලෙවල් ඉගෙන ගන්නවා. අනිත් දෙන්නම ඒ ලෙවල් ඉගෙන ගත්තා. එක්කෙනෙක් රට ඉන්නවා. අනිත් එක්කෙනා මෙහෙ වැඩ කරනවා. අනිත් දෙන්නම ඉගෙන ගන්නවා. එයාලට එයාගෙ වියදමෙන් තමයි උගන්වන්නේ. කුළීවැඩ තමයි කළේ. මාළු රස්සාව. දැන් එයාට සනීප නැහැ. එයාට වාත අමාරුවක්. කිසිම රස්සාවකට යන්නේ නැහැ.නිකම්ම නිදාගෙන ඉන්නවා. දැන් ළමයි තමයි බලන්නේ. ගෙදර ඉන්න දෙන්නම ඉගෙන ගන්නවා. එක්කෙනෙක් රට. අනිත් එක්කනා මෙහෙ ඩ්‍රයිවර්. දැන් කොහොමහරි ඔක්කොමලා එකට ඉන්නවා.
CMP/AMP/POT/INE/21
ஜமுனாதேவி – இன்ஸ்பெக்டர் ஏத்தம்.
நான் இங்கதான் ஏத்தத்தில பிறந்து வளர்ந்து 85 இல கல்யாணம் கட்டின. இவர் மீன் வியாபாரம்தான் செய்தவர் 90 இல் பிரச்சினை வந்து கோமாரிக்கு போய் இருக்கக்கொள்ள சந்தேகத்தின் பேரில எல்லாரையும் பிடித்தவங்கள் இவரையும் பிடிச்சு வைத்திருந்து 06 மாசத்தால விட்டுட்டாங்க. பிறகு 94 இல கோமாரியில இருந்து இங்க வந்து குடிசைகள் வச்சிக்கொண்டிருந்த கஸ்டந்தான். திரும்ப 95 இல குடிசைகள் எல்லாம் எரிக்கப்பட்டது. 95 இல ஒரு சென்றி இருந்த அதில இருந்த ஒரு பொலிஸ்காரனுக்கு மிதி வெடியில கால் போயிற்று அதனால அவங்க பொலிஸ் காரர்கள் இங்க வீடுகள எரித்தவங்க ஒரு 15 – 20 வீடுகள், ஆட்கள் யாருமில்ல எல்லாரும் ஓடிட்டாங்க. பிறகு இராணுவம் வந்துதான் செய்து தந்த அதற்கு பிறகு நாங்கதான் கஸ்டப்பட்டு தொழில் செய்து இருக்கிறம்.
திரும்பவும் முகாமில இருந்த நாங்க அதற்கு பிறகு தனித்தனிய வீடு கட்டுறமாதிரி பொருட்கள் எல்லாம் அரசாங்கத்தால தந்தவங்க அதகொண்டு சின்ன சின்ன குடிசைகள் வச்சிக்கொண்டு இருந்த நாங்க பிறகுதான் எங்கட முயற்சியால தொழில் செய்து இருக்கிறம். அம்மா மிகவும் கஸ்டப்பட்டா. அப்பாவும் இல்ல, இப்பவும் கஸ்டம்தான் 06 பொம்பிளப் பிள்ளைகள் நாங்க, ஒரு ஆள்,ஒரு ஆளா அம்மாவ பார்த்துக்கொள்கிற
90ம் ஆண்டு எல்லாரும் வீட்டில இருக்கக்கொள்ள பெடியன்கள்(LTTE) வந்திருக்காங்க என்று சொல்லி இராணுவம் வந்தது இதனால நாங்க எல்லாம் வீட்டவிட்டு ஓடின நாங்க ஓடிப்போய் கோமாரில 04 வருசம் இருந்த நாங்க பிறகு சொந்த இடங்கள்ல குடியேறின. எங்களுக்கு கொட்டுக்கல்லில ஒரு வளவு இருந்தது அதில ஒரு குடிச வைச்சிட்டு இருந்த நாங்க சுனாமி வந்ததில அது அப்படியே அழிந்து போயிற்று அதனாலதான் திரும்ப ஏத்தத்திற்கு வந்த நாங்க.
90ம் ஆண்டு எங்கட தம்பிமார் இரண்டு பேர் கோமாரிக்கு ஓடின இடத்தில கோமாரியில வச்சு கடலில பிடிச்சிட்டு போனவங்க இதுவரை யாரென்றே தெரியாது. இனந்தெரியாத ஆட்கள்தான் பிடிச்சுக் கொண்டு போனது. இதுவரைக்கும் வரல. தேடினா இல்ல. யாரென்று நாங்க காணல. எல்லா இடமும் தேடினா ஒரு இடமும் கிடைக்கேல. இன்டைக்கு வரைக்கும் தேடிறம். எல்லா இடமும் கடிதமும் குடுத்ததுதான் தம்பியாக்கள பிடிச்சிட்டு போனதற்காக பொலிஸில என்ரி போட்ட அம்மா காணாமல் போன பிள்ளைகளைப் பற்றி வரச் சொல்லி கிட்டத்தில கூட மட்டக்களப்புக்கு மீட்டிங்கு கூட போயிற்று வந்தவ 90 இல இருந்து இன்று வரைக்கும் 20 வருசமா தேடிக்கொண்டு கடிதங்கள் கொடுத்துக் கொண்டு தான் இருக்கிறம். எங்க பிடிபட்ட பிள்ளைகளிட கூட்டம் என்றாலும் அங்க போய் கடிதம் கொடுக்கிறதான். அரசாங்கத்திட தேடுதல் முயற்சிகளிலெல்லாம் நிறைய கடிதங்கள் கொடுத்து தேடிப் போயிருக்கம் ஒரு இடமும் இல்ல. யார் கொண்டு போன என்று தெரியாமத்தான் தேடித் திரியுறம். எல்லோரையும் பிடிச்சுக்கொண்டு போகேக்க என்ட கணவர பொலீஸால பிடிச்சுக் கொண்டு போய் விசாரிச்சிட்டு விட்டுட்டாங்க.
எனக்கு 04 பிள்ளைகள் 03 பொடியன்களும், 01 பொம்புளப்பிள்ளையும் 02 பேர் A/L படிச்சிட்டு இருக்காங்க மற்ற 02 பேரும் A/L படிக்காங்க, ஒரு ஆள் வெளியில இருக்கிறார் ஒரு ஆள் இங்க வேலை செய்யுறார். மற்ற 02 பேரும் படிக்காங்க அவங்கள அவருட உழைப்பிலதான் படிப்பிச்ச. கூலி தொழில்தான் செய்த மீன் வியாபாரம் இப்ப அவருக்கு வருத்தம். அவருக்கு இந்த வாதம் ஒரு தொழிலுக்கும் போற இல்ல. சும்மாதான் படுக்கையில இருக்காறு இப்ப பிள்ளைகள்தான் பாக்கிற. குடும்பத்த 02 பேரும்தான் பார்க்கிற ஒருவர் வெளியில இருக்கிற, மற்றவர் இங்க ரைவர். இப்ப ஒருபடியாக ஏதோ நல்லா இருக்கிறம்.
