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EspañolMARY BASTIAN
Father 'Mary Bastian' (1948 – 6 January, 1985) was a minority Tamil Human Rights activist and local Roman Catholic parish priest from Sri Lanka. He was shot and killed along with 10 other civilians on January 6th 1985 as part of the Sri Lankan civil war. [1]
| Contents |
| Biography |
| Background |
| Incident |
| Reactions |
| Sri Lankan Government |
| Amnesty International |
| Memorial |
| See also |
| Notes |
| References |
| External links |
Biography
Rev.Fr.Mary Bastian born in Ilavalai in Jaffna district was ordained as a priest in the year 1975. He served as parish priest first at Manipay and later in Murunkan and Madhu in Mannar district. [2]
Background
During military offensives by the Sri Lankan Army in 1984 as part of the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war in Mannar region, Fr. Mary Bastian and Rev Jeyarajasingham became the focal point of Human Rights activism on behalf of the local people He was also the local contact for the Sri Lankan government appointed presidential committee to investigate Human Rights violations in the Mannar district.
Rev. Jeyarajasingham of Methodist Church was shot dead on December 13, 1984 when he was traveling in his vehicle. Later his body was burnt along with his vehicle. Rev Fr Mary Bastian had collected the remains of victims including Rev Jeyarajasingham and handed them to the Jeevothayam Methodist Centre. [3][4]
Incident
On 6 January, 1985 Father Mary Bastian along with 10 others were shot allegedly by the Sri Lankan Army personnel, point blank range in-front of the local St. Anne’s church[3][6]
Reactions
Sri Lankan Government
The National Security Minister denied that his forces had killed Fr. Bastian. The spokesperson was quoted as saying
On January 9, the government owned Daily News reported that, according to the Minister of National Security, Lalith Athulathmudali Father Bastian's body had not been found and arms and ammunition were found in the church, which the government alleged was used as a terrorist base. The minister was quoted as saying that the Police had spied on Fr. Mary Bastian getting into a boat and going across to India.
Later in a report to the United Nations, the Sri Lankan government claimed that the body of Fr. Mary Bastian was found but the state was not involved in his murder
===Roman Catholic Church===
In a statement, reported in the Sun on January 8, the then Bishop Marcus Fernando, Bishop of Chillaw and the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Sri Lanka, said that reports reaching the Catholic Bishops' Conference indicated that the shooting was an unprovoked Sri Lankan Army attack on the church and the incumbent.
On January 8, Thomas Savundranayagam, the then Bishop of Mannar, in a statement to the strongly protested the insinuation by the government that arms were found in the church and he also accused the military of complicity in the murder of Father Mary Bastian.
He was quoted as saying
Amnesty International
Amnesty International, the London human rights watchdog, in its report stated, - Appendix IV - AI Index: ASA 37/04/85 [7]
Memorial
The people of Vankalai later erected a statue of Rev Fr Mary Bastian in the compound of St Anne’s Church in his memory. (See Pic here)
See also
★ George Jeyarajasingham
★ Chandra Fernando
★ Nihal Jim Brown
Notes
★ The author of Speaking truth to power: the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, Fr. Pancras Jordan an Australian Roman Catholic priest and is a member of Pax Christi[1] A non-profit, non-governmental Catholic peace movement working on a global scale on a wide variety of issues in the fields of human rights, security and peace. [8]
★ The author of Sri Lanka: Untold Story, K.T.Rajasingham is a senior journalist from Sri Lanka [9]
References
1. Speaking truth to power:the human rights situation in Sri Lanka
2. Mannar human rights activist Fr Mary Bastian remembered
3. Chapter 32: Limbo between war and peace
4. Note to the incident at St. Patrick’s:
5. Chapter 32: Limbo between war and peace
6. UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS F o r t y - s e c o n d session Agenda i t e m 1 2
7. ASA 37/04/85
8. http://storage.paxchristi.net/NL42E97.pdf
9. http://www.sangam.org/ANALYSIS/AsiaTimes.htm
External links
★ UN BACKGROUND PAPER ON REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM Sri Lanka
★ Asian Human Rights Commission - Sri Lanka News
★ The State of Civil and Political Rights in Sri Lanka
★ Another family wiped out in Vankalai
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