Day 12 - Mullaitivu-Point Pedro-Jaffna

20.10.2024

Day 12

Today we are travelling to Jaffna, about 230 kms to the north. We are in the strongholds of erstwhile LTTE - who controlled the East from Batticaloa to Jaffna in the North. We decided to take the coastal route, which takes more time but is more scenic and will take us through the battle ground of the civil war. 

First stop is Mullaitivu, a small fishing village and as we travel, we hardly see any agricultural activity. Clearly we are passing through the impoverished part of the country. Some roads are patchy and at times we had to navigate through mud roads. 

Mullaitivu, is close to the last battle field where LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed. The details of his death and burial is not available in the public domain.

Velupillai Prabhakaran along with the last remnants of the LTTE were cornered by government forces in a small pocket of land where by government forces. After some enquiry we found a person who offered to guide us to the location. It was a ten minute drive and we reached the place known as “Mullivaikkal” where a small memorial is built by locals. He also showed us the remains of a Jordanian ship captured by the rebels and a truck used by them. All in vain, and the sad end of a bunch of people who fought for their dream Eelam. 

After Mullaitivu, we took a detour to Killinochi, another nerve centre of the war. After a brief stop for lunch at Pizza Hut, we are on our way to our next stop Point Pedro, the northernmost point of Sri Lanka.

Nearing Jaffna we are stopped by police. In their interceptor our speed was recorded as 74 kms, which is above the limits. We met the two officers and explained our tour of the island, and our ignorance of the speed limit zone and apologised for our transgression. We offered to pay the fine, but the inspector let us go without any fine. They even took a selfie with us showing their camaraderie with fulltankers.

Point Pedro - also known as Sakkotai Cape, is the northernmost point of Sri Lanka. It was a trading post during pre-colonial and colonial times, and is an unpretentious spot marked by a simple signpost.

Jaffna resembles any tamil city would look like. Almost 98% of the population are Tamil. Signboards are all in Tamil and English - Sinhalese is consciously absent and the Tamil culture is very evident.

We are booked at Fox Resorts Jaffna and we found the place good, with nice rooms and well maintained lawns. The building is a mixture of old and new - the rooms are modern, bar and restaurant has the old look - interestingly the hotel has a bunker used by LTTE during the war. The property was later converted to a hotel.

Post war - At the end of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war in 2009, an estimated 1.6 million landmines were left in the ground, unmarked and mostly unrecorded, contributing to mass internal displacement in the Northern Province and beyond. During our drive we found at many places signboards of HALO Trust.

The HALO Trust (Hazardous Area Life-support Organization) is working with the SL government to clear landmines and other explosive devices left behind after the war. Sri Lanka has committed to clearing all known mine contamination by 2028.

True peace doesn’t come until the land is safe.

End of day twelve.