Ananthapuram (Sri Lanka)

Ananthapuram ஆனந்தபுரம்
Village
Ananthapuram Location in the Northern Province
Coordinates: 9°19′33″N 80°43′50″E / 9.32583°N 80.73056°ECoordinates: 9°19′33″N 80°43′50″E / 9.32583°N 80.73056°E
Country	Sri Lanka
Province	Northern
District	Mullaitivu
DS Division	Puthukkudiyiruppu
Government
• Type	Divisional Council
• Body	Puthukudiyiruppu
• Chairman	None
• Village Officer	S. Thayaseelan
Time zone	Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+5:30)
Post Codes	4409040
Vehicle registration	NP

Ananthapuram (Tamil: ஆனந்தபுரம்) is a village in north-eastern Sri Lanka. It is located approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north east of the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu and is by the A35 Paranthan-Mullaitivu highway. The village is one of nine in the Ananthapuram GN Division (Village Officer Division).^[1]

Eastern Mullaitivu District including Ananthapuram witnessed particularly brutal fighting between the Sri Lankan military and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the final months of the Sri Lankan Civil War in early 2009. The Battle of Aanandapuram, one of the last major battles in civil war was fought at Ananthapuram.^[2][3] A United Nations report found that as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final months of the civil war, mostly as a result of indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan military.^[4][5][6] There are widespread allegations that both sides committed atrocities and human rights violations including war crimes.^[7][8][9]

After the end of the war in May 2009 the residents of the village, along with most of Mullaitivu District, were held by the Sri Lankan military internment camps in Vavuniya District. Much of eastern Mullaitivu District including Ananthapuram were declared as High Security Zone and were out of bounds to the public.^[10][11] This meant that when the census took place in March 2012 there were only three residents in Ananthapuram GN Division.^[12] Resettlement in the GN Division began in September 2012 and by February 2013 the population was 735.^[13] However, many of Ananthapuram's residents weren't resettled in their own homes but in newly cleared areas of jungles.^[14][15]

References

1. "Grama Niladhari Divisions". Mullaitivu District Secretariat. 30 January 2011.
2. Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (12 April 2009). "LTTE debacle at Aanandapuram: Top Tiger leaders killed". The Sunday Leader.
3. Ferdinando, Shamindra (5 April 2009). "How the war was won". The Island (Sri Lanka).
4. Aneez, Shihar; Sirilal, Ranga (7 April 2014). "Sri Lanka won't cooperate U.N. war crime probe: foreign minister". Reuters.
5. Lynch, Colum (22 April 2011). "U.N.: Sri Lanka's crushing of Tamil Tigers may have killed 40,000 civilians". Washington Post.
6. "UN: Sri Lanka mass deaths may be 'war crimes'". Al Jazeera. 25 April 2011.
7. Davidson, Helen (5 February 2014). "Sri Lankan security forces destroyed evidence of war crimes, report claims". The Guardian.
8. "Q&A: Post-war Sri Lanka". BBC News. 20 September 2013.
9. Welch, Dylan (26 October 2011). "Fraser supports call for Sri Lanka war crimes inquiry". The Age.
10. "6 Village divisions in Mullaiththeevu district declared as HSZ". TamilNet. 27 October 2010.
11. Balachandran, P. K. Balachandran (26 November 2011). "No resettlement yet in last battlefield". The New Indian Express.
12. "A8 : Population by sex, age (Less than 15 years, 15‐59 years and 60 years and over) and district according to Divisional Secretary's Divisions and Grama Niladhari Divisions 2012 (Provisional)". Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
13. "Statistical Information". Puthukkudiyiruppu Divisional Secretariat. 11 March 2013.
14. "Jungles cleared for "forced" resettlement". BBC Sinhala. 9 August 2011.
15. "SL military threatens IDP camp inmates to accept ‘alternative resettlement’". TamilNet. 22 September 2012.