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Former LTTE cadre discusses her time in the organisation

warzonewomen
Aug 31, 2015
2 min read

Former female cadre of the LTTE surrendered to the Sri Lankan army in May 2009 and escaped to India and then the UK by paying bribes. She reflects on her time in the organisation...

TRANSLATION OF AUDIO:

The situation for women was that they couldn’t go out after 6 o’clock but for us, men and women were the same, we had the same training, everything was the same.

When people receive training, they instantly become brave, they me be people who scare easily at home but training helps instil self-belief, especially when they are given special duties.

We were fighting for our land, we were fighting for the happiness of our people- that one responsibility remained in the hearts of all our fighters.

When you are handling arms and you are wearing that uniform you automatically become brave.

I have a lot of memories from when I was with the other fighters.

Talking about her injury- This happened on May 16th 2009, I was hit by a shell, I couldn’t get the right treatment for my injury, nobody received proper healthcare.

What more can I say- the army captured me after that.

I got no treatment for my arm, it was bleeding for two days, I wrapped saree material around it, and the shell went through one side of my arm and came out of the other.

There was no such thing as proper health care, we had to make the best of what we had, and everyone was in the same situation.

According to me, the motives of the LTTE were not dangerous or terrifying in any way.

We fought to save our land, we fought to protect our land and our people and that is that.

If we wanted to leave we would have received punishment first because that was the nature of our roles, we were in a position of responsibility.

Even if you work in an office you cannot just get up and leave, you need to fulfil your duties and if you commit to working there for a certain number of years you have to do it.

In my opinion when the LTTE had a lot of control over the North and East, a woman could go out at 10 o’clock at night without fears of being harassed, now women in Sri Lanka cannot even do that during the day.

I feel that women in Sri Lanka need a lot more rights and they need their freedom but for now, it will not happen.