Batticaloa district is bi- sected to a great extent by the 30 mile long Batticaloa lagoon where the fishes “sang” on moon - lit nights of a by- gone, beautiful era. There is a littoral strip of land between the lagoon and the sea known as “Eluvaankarai” or shore of the rising sun.

A humanitarian tragedy of massive proportions is unfolding in the Batticaloa district of the Eastern Province. Intensive artillery shelling and aerial attacks have resulted in a massive displacement of more than 100,000 Tamil civilians living in areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The current conflict is of a military nature but its consequences are cruelly victimising the ordinary , helpless civilians.

Not a day goes by here in Colombo without talk of dozens if not hundreds of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres killed in air raids over Mulaiteevu, Kilinochchi and every other village in Batticaloa and Vanni.

It was just past 8.30 a.m. last Tuesday when controllers at the air base in Batticaloa cleared the gleaming white Cessna Baron aircraft to touch down there.