On a day in the middle of 2000th year at a time while the full moon painting beautifully was the vast sky in white, the battlefield in Nagarkovil Village was being protected by the Border Guard Force known as “Ellaippadai” in Tamil language. This Border Guard Force constituted by the people. That was a critical time without any knowledge of when the Army would advance and carry out an attack on them. Nevertheless, the moonlight was calmly swallowing the darkness. The moonlight was casting a unique beauty to white sand beach.
Under this moonlight were our soldiers in their duty of protecting our nation. Even though battlefield was new to these soldiers who had left behind alone/or under the care of someone else, their close relatives like their parents, children, and/or the life partner, now they got used to the place. However, they didn’t know that battlefield was a bed decorated with explosive materials. They didn’t have the experience to know when this bed would stay in sleep or explode. As such they preferred to be in a group rather than staying individually.
By this way, they began to feel battlefield as their home. Enjoying meals jointly together with others who had come for duty, staying together even at the check stations had become usual. They would stay together in group in violation of the warning of the Soldier in-charge. On that day also, they were sitting together under a tree.
A tractor carrying their dinner came and went. The food collecting freedom fighter took the food and comes under the tree. Realizing the necessity of consuming the food everyone washes their hands and gets ready to eat. The soldier in charge who stood there warn and orders them to separate and go. But they pretended as if they were going to safer fronts and when the soldier-in-charge went to supervise other groups, come back and gather at the same place. They were overwhelmed with the idea that the Army wouldn’t advance at night, not fire long distance artilleries or shoot by sniper gun.
But the enemy Recce team (Spy team) had noted the dinner time of the Border Guard Force and was observing their safer fronts and these guys were enjoying their dinner in groups. Ignorant of what was going on the Border Guard Force Soldiers sat in groups and were enjoying their dinner unaware of feeling of any warning and without any safety fronts. Forgetting even the warnings given by the Soldier-in-charge from time to time, they were jointly having their dinner.
At that time identifying the target correctly the first shell being fired by the enemy. That shell without any defence fall at the correct target and explodes with loud noise. The first shell itself of the enemy without missing its target had fallen at the centre of a group that was having dinner seated in a circle. Ten relatives such as elder brother, younger brother: uncle, nephew: uncle senior, junior: all sat down happily to enjoy the dinner – all were blown up to pieces. No one known to have wounded. All had been blown up.
Next day at dawn Major Maran – who was on duty for medical services at that area – had gone to the location. He saw the point at which the bodies of those who had spoken to him and gone the previous day, with tears in his eyes, he holds tightly the medical equipment he had in his hands and the pistol at his waist. “We must do something! We must do something and show the army who we are! We shouldn’t spare the enemy identified and destroyed our relatives!” With urge in his mind he goes to the Commander Lt. colonel Tharshan and requests permission. ‘Anna, we must do something Anna! We must kill them also like this Tharshan Anna! I spy on them. Mani brothers (artillery regiment) and you make the arrangement….’ Not only his eyes but the Commander’s eyes were also turn red in anger. The Commander said with patiently,
“No Maran, because he did this for us, we shouldn’t do to him like this. What is the difference between enemy and us? Liberation Tigers are not those who killed the love for humanity. We are not cowards! We will fight face to face. We will give them reply attack. But, not like this! We will attack the Army that holding weapons and is expecting us. I will give them a reply attack. You better look after only the medical services”
His brain chiselled repeated by books of justice rejected this request immediately. Maran began to roam around with his medical bag with the hope that his firm statement would become a reality.
