Aftermath of the Galle incidents

After the LTTE attack on the Galle naval base, life for civilians in the area is very slow in returning to normal, with restrictions on fishing, tourist hoteliers maintaining cautious optimism and Tamil shopkeepers having to deal with unruly mobs.

A day after the incident, hundreds of fishermen were seen crowding outside the harbour and the navy preventing them from entering the area due to security reasons and announcing that the harbour was closed for an indefinite period and until further notice all entry to the area was prohibited.

Galle District Fishermen’s Association (GDFA) President P.B. Gamini told the Sunday Times that tight security measures were always in operation in the area and the Galle district fishermen had at all times complied with the security measures.

“We have to register our boats and crew with the navy and the harbour authorities before going out to sea and there were routine random checks on our boats and gear,” he said.

Mr. Gamini said more than 5,000 people were either directly or indirectly dependent on the fishing trade for their livelihood and there were some 500 boats, including 100 single-day fishing craft and 400 multi-day fishing craft moored within the harbour.

Pandemonium broke out the other day as fishermen crowded outside the harbour entrance demanding to be let in but were prevented from doing so for security reasons while the Navy tried to resolve the matter at discussions with the GDFA President.

Fishermen complained that the navy was only allowing batches of five at a time to enter the harbour after checking each person’s registration papers thus delaying the process.

A day after the attack, though the situation in and around the Galle town appeared to be superficially calm with residents seen moving about as usual, the people were really tensed and worried.

Security was strengthened and buses plying the Galle-Colombo route were subject to security checks at many of the check points.

Schools functioned as usual but attendance was rather low though gradually it picked up as some of the many students who kept away from school soon after the incident, began to attend school with attendance reaching the 50 per cent mark by Friday.

Tourism in the area was not badly affected as tourists occupying hotels in Galle hotels remained calm throughout the incident though hoteliers fear that adverse publicity surrounding such incidents could have a negative impact on the industry in the long run.
Lighthouse Hotel General Manager S. Wickramasinghe said guests did not cancel their reservations at the Galle hotel or vacate the hotel after the incident, as the guests understood that the attack was on a military target.

“Guests were of course cautious about leaving the hotel for sight-seeing tours but did not complain of any inconvenience to them,” he said.

Mr. Wickramasinghe said the hotel management explained the situation very carefully to the guests so that they would have a clear understanding of the security situation in the area.

In spite of the damaged and destroyed shops and splinters of broken glass strewn all over, the market seemed to function as usual.

Security was strengthened in the area and special guards were seen stationed outside some of the prominent Tamil business houses which had suffered at the hands of looting mobs that targeted Tamil shops in the area to vent their anger.

Many of the shops lay in ruins, as the shopkeepers stood helpless on the pavement outside their shops assessing the wanton damage.

Rasayya Subramani Mahendran one such shopkeeper, who owns a jewellery shop named ‘Gayathri Jewellers’ on Colombo Road, stood outside his shop waiting for the Police to arrive to assess the damage. His shop was completely destroyed by a group of more than 100 men who entered his shop at around 7.45 a.m. on Wednesday.

The gang had apparently used the chairs in the shop to destroy the interior of the shop causing a loss of some Rs. 750 thousand. The gang had also robbed 7,000 rupees in cash and about 160 grams of gold and a weighing scale.

R. M. Kumara who was in the shop at the time said he escaped through the back as the mob entered the shop and began destroying the glass counters.

“The ones responsible for this attack are local gangs taking the opportunity to loot and make a quick buck. Even though the Sinhalese in the area seemed to be angry about what happened they are generally peaceful,” Mr. Kumara said.

Most of the shops that were attacked were either empty or closed for business and it might be a few weeks before they opened for business.

More than eight shops in the town had been attacked but no one was hurt, as the mobs had started and ended their dastardly deed before business hours.

Police have detained 13 people suspected of being involved in looting and vandalising.

Meanwhile on Thursday ten Tamils were badly assaulted by a group of more than 20 at Valahanduwa. They injured were admitted to Karapitiya hospital.

At least 10 persons injured in Wednesday’s attack on the naval camp were still receiving treatment in hospital.

A.G. Ratnasiri of Dodanduwa lying on his hospital bed with a bullet injury said he and his crew were returning to shore in his boat at about 9.45 a.m. Realising something was amiss the crew had entered the cabin for safety, but Mr. Ratnasiri, being the skipper had remained outside and when he turned to follow his men inside he was shot through his back with the bullet passing through his stomach.

“We managed to take our boat to Hikkaduwa,” he said.

Mr. Ratnasiri, aged 40 said no sooner they landed he was taken to the hospital by trishaw.

He said the navy personnel might have mistaken his boat to be a Tiger vessel and fired at them.

H.H. Chandrasena, a 43-year-old father of three, who was working in the area, said there were three blasts in the harbour area and he and his colleagues saw what happened.

After the second blast, a piece of shrapnel hit Chandrasena in the stomach and he was rushed to hospital soon afterwards.

He said he saw five vessels coming towards the harbour and three of them exploded away from the harbour while two exploded at close range.

“The multi-day shipping vessels were the ones most affected by the attacks,” he said. “They were helpless as there were large balls of fire due to the heavy firing and the explosions”.

Ajith Priyantha, who worked as a food and ice supplier for shipping vessels said he heard explosions and gun fire in the area and started to run away from the harbour area when a piece of shrapnel hit his spine.

“When we saw the three boats coming, we started to run but we couldn’t avoid being hit by the debris. The navy thought we were LTTE cadres at first and shot at us but luckily we were not hurt by their fire,” he said.