Fighting the LTTE and Bishop Joseph

“Without doing that, he demands the Madhu church be called a "Peace Zone" and wants the army sent packing. Peace for whom? Peace for the devotees that come to the shrine, or peace for the LTTE to move about the church environs in freedom, undermining the army’s forward march? And if the LTTE reenters the site, who is going to provide protection to the infrastructure and life, Bishop Joseph?”
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by Sisira Pereira

(April 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Sri Lankan State and its army have been entrusted with the unenviable task of defeating the LTTE militarily and defeating Bishop Rayappu Joseph’s "Peace Zone" strategy at the same time. The first task, which is defeating the LTTE militarily, has been complicated in the Mannar sector due to the interdependence and joint operation strategies of the LTTE and Bishop Joseph. The real problem faced by the army is not the inability of accepting Bishop Joseph’s demand of declaring the holy shrine and its environs as a "Peace Zone", but, the inability of coming to terms with Bishop Joseph’s turncoat definitions of the "Peace Zone" to fit the situation.

When the LTTE terrorists occupied the Madu church environs for military purposes, placed their heavy guns and dug bunker trenches inside the church premises, Bishop Joeseph reminded the Army that he cannot control the LTTE operating in the jungles as it is beyond his jurisdiction, when requested by the army to act against the violation of the agreement by the LTTE. And that is the definition of the ‘Peace Zone’ by Bishop Joseph when the LTTE has the military upper hand in and around the Madu area. "A zone, where the army is prohibited and the LTTE is overlooked due to the lack of jurisdiction!"

When the army delivered what the Bishop Joseph confessed that he was unable to do, i.e. chasing away the LTTE terrorists from the church premises, and took the upper hand in and around the Madu environs, Bishop Joseph demands that it be called a ‘Peace Zone’ again and demands that the army must withdraw wholesale from the place that they secured, sacrificing life and limb through a military strategy of utmost restraint and commitment not to harm the holy building.

When you have got a strategist like Bishop Joseph to help you out when you are militarily cornered, why should the LTTE risk losing any more of their remaining carder to the army? Thus, upon the superior military thrust of the Army, the LTTE had vacated the Madu shrine they were occupying for many years for their terrorist activities, thereby paving the way for Bishop Joseph to step into the void and play his ‘Peace Zone’ card again to chase away the army without even having to waste a single bullet of the LTTE.

The question is, why can’t Bishop Joseph repeat saying what he has been saying to the army when the church premises was being used by the LTTE terrorists, i.e. "that he cannot control the army operating in the jungles as it is beyond his jurisdiction"? Why is he adamant on asking the army to vacate the area to bring back the holy statue into the shrine? Why is it that he keeps stressing that the church environs be free from the army's presence?

If he is genuinely concerned about the security of the devotees, who may flock to worship the shrine in future, he should feel glad about the holy premises being relieved of the terrorist clutches of the LTTE. In fact, he should be beaming broad with relief that the pilgrims can now visit on pilgrimages to Madhu without hesitation and fear of the LTTE terrorists and, ideally, Bishop Joseph should ask the army to further provide full security to all the devotees who may make the visit to the shrine unhindered by terrorist activity, who are still lurking in the backyard in the Wanni jungles.

Without doing that, he demands the Madhu church be called a "Peace Zone" and wants the army sent packing. Peace for whom? Peace for the devotees that come to the shrine, or peace for the LTTE to move about the church environs in freedom, undermining the army’s forward march? And if the LTTE reenters the site, who is going to provide protection to the infrastructure and life, Bishop Joseph?

If one is to imagine a scenario of the army vacating the liberated Madhu wholesale yet again, would the LTTE heed the declaration of a "Peace Zone"? Has the LTTE heeded any accord so far during these 30 old years for that matter? And when the LTTE comes back and restarts its terror campaign again in the holy premises and its environs, would Bishop Joseph, who demanded a "Peace Zone" come down hard on the LTTE and use his ties with the Vatican to pressure the LTTE to leave the Madhu area alone?

No, he would not. In fact, he has never ever done that. All that Bishop Joseph would say in such a scenario is that the LTTE is not in the church and that he can’t control their movement in the vast jungles around.

Then why does Bishop Joseph demand that the army vacate the area again? Is he prepared to run again further into the Wanni with the holy statue? What does he value most? The security of the Madhu shrine and its worshippers or the security and the survival of the LTTE terrorists?
- Sri Lanka Guardian