M. A. Abeysundera, father of Corporal M. A. Sampath, was proud and relieved. Proud because he feels it was because of soldiers like his son that “we won the war”. Relieved because he feels he no longer has to live with apprehension about the fate of his son.
“Now we have no fear or worries. There was a time when we did not know whether we would see our son alive. When we watched TV, we would look for our son among the soldiers. Now that anxiety is no more,” said Mr. Abeysundera, who lives in a village in the Puttalam district.
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| No more anxiety: M.A. Abeysundera (left) and Anuruddika |
Commenting on the fate that befell the LTTE, Mr. Abeysundera said the beating that the LTTE received was not enough when compared to the atrocities it had committed against not only the Sinhala people but also against the Tamils and the Muslims of this country.
He said his son was a real hero whose heart was always in the battlefield even when he came home on leave.
“My son wanted to be in the battle front. Whenever he came home he was in a hurry to get back to the war front where his friends were fighting the enemy Mr. Abeysundara said adding that he, his wife, the daughter-in-law and the rest of the family members could now heave a sigh of relief.
Mr. Abeysundera was full of praise for President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. He said the troops got the right direction and encouragement from their leaders to end the war in three years.
“They strengthened the morale of the soldiers. The result is that today we are all happy again,” he said.
His daughter-in-law D.J.M. Anuruddika, carrying her baby in her arms echoed a similar view.
“We are happy that the war is no more. My husband is a corporal in the Wijayaba regiment. There were many moments of anxiety but now we are relieved. So many other wives of soldiers too must be happy that the war is over,” Ms. Anuruddika said.
She said she was proud to be a wife of a war hero, who was deployed on the forward defence lines.
She also said she was anxiously looking forward to the return of her husband from the operational areas and was preparing a hero’s welcome for him.
The wife of another solider in the neighbourhood expressed similar sentiments. She said her husband, H. M. Jayaratne, was in the thick of the battles and many were the sleepless nights she spent thinking of him.
Jayaratne served in the 7th Regiment and had last telephoned her on May 3. “He said the war is now ending,” she said adding that she now feels everybody in this country can live in peace. |
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