| The German tsunami relief convoy reached the | | | | the island in pre-colonial days and has now |
| Paranthan junction, which is the last northern point | | | | evolved into a military epicenter of the civil |
| in the mainland of Indian Ocean's war-torn island, | | | | war.The shallow waters through which elephants |
| where people lived in the midst of the civil war in | | | | once carried goods into the Jaffna peninsula, giving |
| 1996.I had been there for a brief period of time | | | | it the name Elephant Pass, have been a silent |
| when I was working with CARE International. The | | | | witness to the ebbs and flow of the northern |
| Elephant Pass strategic military camp of Sri Lanka | | | | conflict. Elephant Pass, the terrestrial gateway to |
| Army was stationed there. The camp was a | | | | the Jaffna peninsula, is now under the control of |
| major coveted target for LTTE since their failed | | | | the Tigers. The fall of Elephant Pass has changed |
| attempt in 1991 along with heavy losses of | | | | the military course of the whole conflict. The |
| cadres.When I was staying in that vicinity in 1995, | | | | Dutch colonialists first built a small fortress in 1776, |
| the vulnerability of that area was an every day | | | | which was converted in modern times into a rest |
| presence. The artillery shells were pouring at | | | | house for tourists. After Independence a |
| times like thunderstorm. Some of the shells had | | | | permanent garrison was set up there to check |
| fallen near my house and in one incident I | | | | illicit immigration, smuggling and unlawful transport |
| narrowly escaped. But a known girl nearby died, | | | | of timber.As the intensity of the ethnic conflict |
| of shock caused by the heavy explosion of an | | | | escalated, the strategic importance of Elephant |
| artillery shell. I was able to recall how her two | | | | Pass also increased. The small camp gradually |
| sisters were crying when her body was being | | | | expanded into a sprawling complex. At one time, |
| taken for cremation along the same high way on | | | | the Elephant Pass base and the satellite camps |
| which I was traveling with the German intern | | | | covered an area of about 23 km long and 8-10 |
| students in the relief mission.After that incident | | | | km wide. While we were proceeding along in close |
| and continuous artillery shelling, the Area Director | | | | proximity to Elephant Pass the Jaffna Lagoon on |
| of CARE International in Kilinochchi asked me to | | | | both sides of the high way triggered my thoughts |
| get away from that area a number of times. But | | | | back to many of the personal experiences in the |
| I was reluctant to leave as I was used to the | | | | Jaffna Lagoon. I had traveled a number of times |
| artillery shelling and aerial bombings since my | | | | crossing the lagoon from the mainland to the |
| childhood in the war-torn northern Jaffna Peninsula. | | | | peninsula and vice versa as travel through |
| But for the Area Director, her upbringing in the | | | | Elephant Pass was prohibited in 1995.The presence |
| New York City in a calm and quiet atmosphere | | | | of the Sri Lankan military at the Elephant Pass |
| made it hard for her to accept my | | | | made passage unsafe what with heavy land |
| explanation.Finally I left that area for a while. But | | | | mines laid everywhere around the camp |
| memories still came alive when I was looking at | | | | area.Even traveling on the lagoon was unsafe as |
| the demolished buildings and the surroundings on | | | | the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Navy were warring |
| the way. Our five-vehicle convoy was now | | | | with each other with heavy casualties on both |
| speedily hurrying through a one-time No-Man | | | | sides. The small boats used to start just before |
| Zone.The highway and the surroundings were | | | | midnight, as the journey through the lagoon would |
| once heavily mined areas. When we were passing | | | | be invisible. The three hours journey crossing the |
| the once strategic military camp and the | | | | lagoon was enjoyable to me with lot of thrill and |
| destroyed tanks were telling signs of the war. | | | | suspense until we reached the other end. LTTE |
| The horrors of the war and the heat of the | | | | monitored the lagoon passage as they controlled |
| battle could be seen around the Elephant Pass | | | | both coasts, the Kilali in the peninsula and the |
| Camp which was finally lost to the hands of LTTE | | | | Nallur in the mainland.Crossing the Elephant Pass |
| in 1999.Elephant Pass has come a long way from | | | | was more than a crossing and going back into the |
| being a stretch of shallow waters that separated | | | | past to me! |
| the Northern Jaffna Peninsula from the rest of | | | | |