The Sacred Heart Church of the Madu Shrine complex has been destroyed
in SLA shelling after the priests had taken away the image of Our Lady
of Madu last Thursday, reveal the photos taken by K. Baskaran, a
photographer who visited the Madu church on Sunday. "Any desecration
of Madu is likely to be understood as an effort of the Sinhala
Buddhist chauvinism to erase out the symbols of other religions and
thus serving a spiritual blow which is the most dreaded stage in the
process of ethnic cleansing," Vanni District Parliamentarian Selvam
Adaikkalanathan told TamilNet Tuesday.
Selvam Adaikkalanathan [Library Photo]
Prayer Hall inside the Sacred Heart Church [Photo: Eezhanatham daily]
"The social and cultural formation of Tamil Christianity, especially
the Tamil Catholicism, is about 500-years old. Madu Church is the
foremost symbol of this phenomenon. It is also looked upon with the
same feeling by the Sinhala Catholicism of the western coast which was
once part of the Tamil Catholic identity," the MP, who is a catholic
hailing from Vidaththaltheevu in Mannaar told TamilNet.
This is the second time the Sacred Heart Chapel comes under SLA
attack, the MP said.
9 years ago, on 20th November, 1999, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops,
numbering around 300, who had taken up positions in the environs of
Madu church allegedly fired shells from their tanks, killing 33 Tami
refugees on the spot inside the Sacred Heart Chapel. 4 victims died
later at the hospital, more than 60 wounded. 12 of the killed were
children below 18. More than 3000 IDPs had taken refuge in the
precincts of Madu shrine at that time.
Two months ago, on 29 January 2008, 20 civilians including 11 school
children were killed when Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit
triggered off a Claymore mine target a civilian bus close to the Madu
shrine.
The statue of Sacred Heart damaged in SLA shelling [Photo: Eezhanatham
daily]
Sacred Heart Church attached to the Madu Shrine [Photo: Eezhanatham
daily]
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