மணமக்கள்!

British Tamils Forum: Issued for Immediate Release!
The International Community urged to act against the wanton racist Sri Lankan military assault on the Holy Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu!
Sri Lanka's holiest Catholic shrine, Our Lady of Madhu in the Tamil diocese of Mannar is now under military assault from Sri Lankan government forces. The British Tamils Forum that represents hundreds of thousands of Tamils resident in Britain is appalled at the sheer acts of wanton racist vandalism and deplorable religious xenophobia involved in this attack against a most holy shrine of the Catholic Church nestling in a remote Tamil area in north-west Sri Lanka. Its spiritual attraction was the peaceful and tranquil environment and a sacred presence which excluded all warring factions.

The shrine of Our Lady of Madhu is very special with a 400 year history of serving, since Portuguese times in Ceylon, the spiritual needs of a nation without exception either on grounds of race or creed. Although situated in a Tamil area, it fostered both Sinhalese and Tamil pilgrims who thronged this church especially at feast times. Attendance during the August festival would touch close to a million people. Many miracles are attributed to our Lady of Madhu, and her devotees entreat her with much love and hope. In 25 years of war, the Sri Lankan government has laid waste to many Hindu temples and some Christian churches. But throughout this conflict, at the heart of which is a dogma of Buddhist Sinhala racial superiority, the Madhu Shrine has been an oasis and a haven for refugees and displaced people in their thousands driven out of their homes by the war. It has been previously recognised locally and internationally as a 'place of refuge' and a 'safe haven' for people fleeing in the face of war and destruction. Previous Sri Lankan governments treated Madhu Church and its environs as a holy place and a war-free sanctuary. But the Sri Lankan army's indefensible attack now on the Church itself has caused the Bishop of Mannar to order the evacuation of the church with the miraculous statue of Our Lady and the Catholic priests normally resident there. The sacred statue has had to be removed from its home for four centuries and the priests have fled with it deeper into LTTE controlled territory where they believe it to be safer and better respected than in moving it into the adjoining government controlled area.

This is the grim situation facing the Tamil Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Senior churchmen in Sri Lanka and elsewhere have appealed to governments and church authorities all over the world for their intervention and support to protect and safeguard the very special character of this religious and humanitarian place of worship before it is destroyed forever in a cruel war. It is reported that the army still continues to shell and destroy the church.

There is much anguish among Christians and others all over the world and some of their outpourings have reached us.A senior spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has stated that it takes very seriously the plight of the Sri Lankan Church. They have already contacted the local Church in Sri Lanka with their concerns. He has assured us that they do understand the urgency of the Shrine and will do everything they can to help. An English Catholic parish priest writing to the Catholic Bishops Conference declares that this is a Marian shrine and that as the Bishop of Mannar makes his request to stop the fighting, he hopes that the Bishops’ Conference will offer at least a message of support to the Bishop of Mannar, and also bring this to a wider audience through a press release and pressure where it can to stop the fighting. He also states that this too would bring some succor to the Sri Lankan members of our parishes as they realise that others are concerned by their plight.

The National Association of Catholic Families, which is an acclaimed international association for the promotion of Catholic values in families and for the dissemination of information relating to the universal Catholic community, has in its web site expressed indignation and has called for international action to save the shrine from what it reports as “On Thursday it was reported that Sinhalese armed forces were indiscriminately shelling the shrine, turning it into a battlefield”. As the shelling began, the Bishop of Mannar, Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph (photo) instructed the shrine's remaining four priests, four sisters and five civilian assistants to flee the premises, together with the statue of Our Lady. 'This is the first time Our Lady of Madhu becomes refugee in her own land’, said the Bishop. “By Friday, the fleeing group, with the statue of Our Lady of Madhu, had reached St. Sebastian Church at Theavanpiddi, located around 70 km northwest of Madhu in the Liberation Tigers controlled Manthai division of Tamil Eelam. Only the day before the shelling, more than 5,000 people of Mannar city gathered at their Cathedral for a special prayer service and staged a peace march, urging the warring parties -- the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- to respect the area of the Shrine as a Zone of Peace”.

Dr. John Dayal, National President of the All India Catholic Union (AICU) in a statement to media on Sunday said "There is no defence for attacking a church which has saved hundreds of refugees from death." He also called for action upon the "International Community, which has a stake in this cauldron of ethnic strife which poses its own threat to stability in the region, and thereby to global peace." He added that the working committee of the AICU, which was in session in Goa, was "very deeply concerned," when it learnt the news of the Sri Lankan Army's shelling of the Madhu Church and how for the first time in the history of the 400 year-old church, the Virgin Mary became a refugee in her own land. John Dayal hoped that "wiser counsel will prevail and the Government of Sri Lanka will order its forces to cease and desist" from attacking a sacred place.

Appeals have been made to the President of Sri Lanka to declare the Madhu Shrine as a 'Zone of Peace' through special gazette notification, in order to ensure that the shrine continues to serve as a religious and humanitarian space. What is happening in Zimbabwe now with all the furore in the UK is but a tea party compared to the evil abominations in Sri Lanka. This is an appeal to you, governments, religious bodies and all people of goodwill, to send a strong signal immediately to the Sri Lankan government to ring fence the Madhu Church environs from any military action whatsoever and to withdraw its forces from the holy precincts. The international community should also intervene to stop this bloodshed and bring about a negotiated political settlement respecting the integrity and independence of both sides to this 25 year old protracted war, which has claimed thousands of lives and impoverished the whole nation.

Media Contact:
Suren Surendiran Tel: +44 (0) 7958 590 196
Email: surensurendiran@yahoo.co.uk

Notes to Editors:
British Tamils Forum exists to harness the skills and the knowledge of the members of the forum, well-wishers and significant others including mainstream decision makers in the UK with the aim of alleviating the sufferings of the Tamils community in the Island of Sri Lanka and to further their right to self determination within a democratic frame work under pinned by international law, its covenants and conventions. The forum was set-up in 2006 when, with the support 88 British Tamil community organisations, it also published an open letter in the Times newspaper. For more information admin@tamilsforum.com and/or visit: www.tamilsforum.com

surensurendiran@yahoo.co.uk