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ELECTIONS '98
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The Rediff Special/Syed Firdaus Ashraf'The most dangerous of all my trips...'
Now back in Bombay, his ordeal has left him with not unpleasant thoughts about the rebels for a separate homeland in the Lankan northeast. On July 15, I waved goodbye to my wife and son before setting sail on the MV Princess Kash to Colombo. I have been in the merchant navy for 26 years, so this is kind of routine with my family. At that time, of course, I had no idea that this would be the most dangerous of all my trips. After sailing for one month, during the course of which we called on various ports, finally, on August 10, my ship sailed from Colombo to Point Pedro. This location is close to Jaffna town, where the LTTE has its base. The cargo that we unloaded at Point Pedro was essentially food items, motor vehicles, vegetable oil and general cargo. On August 12, we neared Trincomalee port. And as per merchant navy rules, I called up the Sri Lankan navy and informed them about our Expected Time of Arrival at Point Pedro -- either late on August 13 or early morning of August 14. On the 13th evening, I called the Lankan navy again and gave them my position who answered my call on Channel 16. (It is like a main route where a 24-hour watch is kept on every ship by the defence authorities of the respective countries.) Since I was to reach Port Point Pedro the next day, I informed them that I would be reaching Point Pedro either at 2300 hours on August 13 or on 14th morning. Since there was no response, I called the Lankan navy once again and asked them that whether I should drop anchor on the 14th morning or should I do it right now? The navy replied that instead of reaching on 13th night, I should reach on August 14th early morning, and they also advised me to drop anchor. I did accordingly. But I found something fishy since their signal kept blinking on and off continuously. So I asked the other side, are you the Sri Lankan navy or what, because you are blinking your light continuously? They said they were the navy and that they do blink their light sometimes. Only then was I assured that I was indeed interacting with the Sri Lankan navy. At 0230 hours on August 14, the Sri Lankan navy called again, this time to change my route from channel 16 to some other channel. They also told me to reduce our speed. And I did accordingly, in the belief that I was following the Sri Lankan navy's instructions. After that I could see very bleakly two speedboats, carrying around 25 people, approaching our ship. Since I was carrying a letter to be delivered to the northern commander of the Sri Lankan navy, I thought they were coming to collect that letter. But before I realised what was happening, they boarded the ship with ladders and opened fire on us with AK-47s. Only then did I know they were from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. They were speaking to each other in Tamil. And since I belong to Karnataka, I could at least make out what language they were conversing in. They told us to evacuate the cabins and come out. There were 17 Indians and four Sri Lankans on our ship. The Tigers started removing valuables from crew members, tied our hands and told us to lie down on the weather deck. One guy asked for the captain. I stood up and said it was me. They showed me two suicide bombers who had loaded explosives on their chests and told me that if we created trouble they would blow us all up. So I said I surrender. They immediately took over the command of the ship, switched off the Global Positioning System by which you can track and record the ship's route, and started operating with radar! I was shocked to see them. All the 25 people were between the ages of 12 and 18. Some of them were wearing uniforms and some of them were in shorts. What surprised me most was their knowledge about the ship. They operated such a huge ship without any hassles. They told me that they were called 'Sea Tigers'. After that they started unloading potatoes and scooters from the ship. Small boats arrived from the direction in which they had come. Many other LTTE soldiers surrounded the ship and started offloading the goods. By 0630 hours, we reached Mullaittivu. The LTTE told me this place was ruled by them, and dropped anchor a mile from the shore. At their behest, I kept calling the Sri Lankan navy continuously, since they wanted me to inform the authorities that the Tigers were in command of the ship, and if the navy tried to approach us they would blow up the vessel. But there was no response from the navy. Among the most surprising things the Tigers told me was that for the last two days I had been interacting with them, and not with the navy! Anyway, around 0900 hours, we received a message that the vessel would be bombarded within half an hour. I thought it was sent by the Lankan navy. The Tigers told us to pass on a message to the navy not to bomb the ship since there were 17 Indians and four Lankans on board. I kept sending this message, but there was no response. I then realised I would be killed in the fight between the Sri Lankan navy and the LTTE. |
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For B Navindra Karkera, even after spending 26 years in the merchant navy did not prepare him for the events of August 14. As the rest of his countrymen were preparing to usher in the 51st anniversary of the country's independence, he found himself and his crew taken into custody by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam off the Point Pedro coast, witnessed his ship, M V Princess Kash, being bombed by Lankan jets, and lived through a gunfight between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE.