Discovery of mass grave in Sri Lanka opens old wounds

Over 100 skeletons found on the outskirts of Jaffna, the zone of a decades-long civil war

- Rohini Mohan

Bengaluru - The discovery of a mass grave with more than 100 human skeletons, including those of children, in a former war zone in north Sri Lanka has revived demands for accountability from the government for war crimes and human rights violations during its three-decade-long civil war.

Among those wondering if their loved ones may be among the dead is Mrs Parameswari Jayapalan, whose husband Jayapalan Kandayya went missing in August 1996. He was on his way to his tea shop in Chavakacheri, only 15 minutes from Chemmani, where the grave was discovered.

"All I want to know is: What happened to my husband? Maybe this grave has the answer," said the 65-year-old, speaking to The Sunday Times on video call from Jaffna.

Left dangling between widowhood and a half-state of abandonment for decades, Mrs Jayapalan raised their three children with meagre earnings from manual labour and the help of relatives, even as the family was repeatedly displaced by the war.

The civil war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insurgent group ended in 2009, but long-buried truths continue to be unearthed.

The mass grave was discovered by accident in February when workers, who were readying land to expand a Hindu crematorium in Chemmani, a Tamil-dominated region in the outskirts of Jaffna, stumbled upon what appeared to be human bones. They reported it to the police.

After a preliminary dig confirmed that these were human skeletal remains, the Jaffna Magistrate's Court ordered a legally supervised excavation and investigation. A team of archaeologists, forensic scientists, medical professionals and student volunteers from the Jaffna University have been at work since May.

They have found 104 complete skeletons so far. Among them was a girl, possibly aged about five years old, holding a blue school bag. Most of the excavated and cleaned bones have been taken to a forensic lab.