Jaffna Subhas hotel owner reveals war time secrets

From Ceylon Today

BY Sulochana Ramiah Mohan

Amidst stories of killings, abductions, horror and terror, fleeing for life and bombardments which took place from the day one the rebels (LTTE) took up arms to fight against the Army in the Northern peninsula, some 40 years back, even the owners of the oldest and famous, Subhas Hotel were not spared. The family encountered the worst situations of hate, revenge, abductions and looting during the same period.

Today, Subhas Hotel on Victoria Road in Jaffna, stands tall, after 19 years (from 1995 – 2011) with 'no business'.
Aiyappan Sangaran family had to move out like the rest 'forced' by the LTTE, from Jaffna and it was then the troops occupied the vacant hotel.

Ceylon Today spoke to Subhas Hotel Managing Director / proprietor, a Keralite, S.Hariharan, 56, a simple man in a pair of sandals. He was seated amid a stack of files and ledgers in his little office room of the hotel.
"It was purely a miracle to see the LTTE being defeated, and at the same time never thought the government troops will hold on to our hotel for 19 years," Hariharan said at the beginning of the interview." Everything was unexpected," he said.

History of Subhas Hotel family
One of many stories narrated by his father was that he had come with a half ticket, as he was just 14. He sailed from Kerala to Colombo during the World War II in the 1940s.
In his early teens he started working in a bus company at Kalutara as a cleaner and thereafter he moved to Jaffna.
Having managed to buy a car Sangaran transported goods as there was a scarcity of food due to the war that had affected Sri Lanka.

Sangaran had then purchased a small land in 1947 and ran a small café named Subhas on the Hospital Street.
"My father admired India's freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and named his café 'Subhas'," Hariharan recalled.
After Sangaran's marriage in 1946 in Kerala he settled down in Jaffna with his six sons who studied at Central College and his daughter at the Wembady Girls' School.

After becoming the owner of Subhas Café and Subhas Ice Cream Parlour in 1956, Sangaran bought a120 perch land behind the Jaffna hospital and built Subhas Hotel with eight rooms. It later became an iconic hotel where many renowned South Indian film stars such as
M. G. Ramachandran of Tamil Nadu, his best female partner on the silver screen, Saroja Devi, and many playback singers stayed at the hotel. In 1970 the hotel was upgraded to 24 rooms.
Insurgency
Sangaran and Alfred Duraiappah who were elected to Jaffna Municipal Council and latter, the Mayor, were best friends, Hariharan added.

Recalling the spectre of terror, Hariharan said it was very peaceful till Duraiappah was shot dead in 1975. Some student agitations were going on from the beginning of 1970. The students' movement claimed that they had shot him because he was politically too close to Sirimavo Bandaranaike and was not in favour of the northerners.
The student agitation that began in 1970 had a Thamil Maanavar Peravai (Tamil Students' Federation) and people had been talking about them that they may had shot Duraiappah. It was later that people came to know that Velupillai Prabhakran was the leader of a group called Tigers.

Hariharan who returned in 1970 from England after completing his higher education witnessed all the shootings. The people justified them to be a good move.
"Initially 30 per cent of the northerners were in favour of the group that was rebelling but they cheered them after the 1983 riots that claimed Tamil lives in the South and the upcountry.

Power and respect
"Actually, the LTTE only attacked people who mattered to them. But they were welcomed in homes. LTTE was treated with respect and Prabhakaran gained more power and respect after the 1983 riots.
"LTTE then began to wonder about Indian Peace Keeping Force's (IPKF) intervention in 1987 because the latter was on a peace mission. IPKF wanted to attract the LTTE to a democratic line. However, LTTE had only one agenda. To create an Eelam.
When IPKF was in the North there were several LTTE hit and run cases.The LTTE could not come out as they did before because of the IPKF, Hariharan pointed out.
"Then came PLOTE and EPRLF which were not very efficient groups like the LTTE. But they came to assist the LTTE.
"LTTE never allowed the people to suffer and all the time protected them. Those who fought with them were treated well. Dry rations and food items were provided to their families.

IPKF presence
The LTTE was weakened due to the IPKF presence and in wanting to send them back to India, the LTTE approached the then President R. Premadasa who had the mandate to send the IPKF back to India if he wanted to.
At a time the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurgency was creating problems in the South. President Premadasa ordered the IPKF out. However, the LTTE resumed fighting where both sides suffered heavy losses.

From 1990 to 1995 the war between the LTTE and the government forces was intense. President Premadasa blocked all facilities to the North. There was scarcity of medicines, water and the entire Jaffna and many other regions in the North were in the dark without electricity. Transformers were blasted and the North was completely isolated and the LTTE was in full control," recalled Hariharn.
In 1994 General Ratwatte was determined to recapture Jaffna and deployed the army to enter the peninsula.
Due to the intense fighting, the Jaffna hospital was functioning under the ICRC. A peace zone was declared and the hotel was also in it.

Peace zone
"From 1990 to1995 no one could come close to the peace zone except civilians and patients. Nobody carrying arms and ammunitions could enter the peace zone and we quite felt safe. There were no air raids, shelling, bombing or gunning down people in that area" Hariharan said.
The Tigers having heard the fresh operations, made an announcement in Jaffna that everyone should leave for Chavakachcheri so that they could fight the enemies.

"They even announced that chemical bombs would be thrown in Jaffna and no one could escape death. A massive exodus from Jaffna began in November1995. "LTTE knew if the Jaffna hospital is shut down, the ICRC cannot remain there according to the mandate, and there won't be a peace zone."
"My parents, myself and 90 Jaffna hospital doctors and nurses remained there with the ICRC when the LTTE's Thamilchelvan came personally and said everybody should leave the place if not they would face serious repercussions."
"On 13 November 1995 at about 8.30 a.m. the last batch of the convoy left Jaffna through a safe passage the ICRC had cleared for us.

Search operations
"I looked back at my hotel. I knew even to keep it under lock and key would not be safe because IPKF in their search operation never opened the doors but broke open them and barged in. I left the entire hotel open with nearly 89 teak beds, air conditioners and all the valuable furniture which was nearly worth Rs 20m.
"In Chavakachcheri one of our friends gave us the store room of his house. They gave a bed for my ailing mother and the rest of us slept on the floor.

"We waited for two months to see if we could leave for Colombo. However, we had to wait for LTTE passes to cross the border.
On 15 December the Army occupied Subhas Hotel."I read that in the newspapers. I also heard it on the radio. Within a few weeks of our absence, I also heard that the LTTE had walked into our hotel and removed some furniture."However, the biggest news was when the 52 brigade of the Army had marched into our hotel and made it their base to fight terrorism. Hotel Gnanams and several big houses that were abandoned were also occupied by the Army when they entered Jaffna". A few days later Hariharan and his family left Chavakachcheri.

"We walked on the no man's land in Omanthai. My mother was ailing. We walked several kilometres and took several buses and reached Colombo". Hariharan said. Hariharan sent off his parents to Kerala, and for the rest 19 years he was jobless. He stayed at his residence in the Gampaha District.
"I never thought that the Army would occupy my hotel for 19 years. I even thought the hotel would not be returned to me as I never dreamt that the war would end," he opined.

Father's struggle
"My father struggled hard in building his business in Jaffna and witnessed the war from its inception. He lived his life through a very important period of Sri Lanka. He died in 1998 in Kerala and three years later, my mother also passed away.
"Initially the Army said they captured the hotel from the LTTE and therefore it was theirs. However, over the phone I argued that the IPKF occupied several houses of the Tamils, but they paid a rent. I also argued whether the entire Jaffna was theirs since they occupied many of the civilians' buildings."
"Later they agreed to pay me a rent till they returned it in 2011,"Hariharan said.
The entire hotel has been totally damaged. There were no beds or air conditioners. "The entire hotel had nothing but the walls and the roof."

Hariharan is the only son who is taking care of Subhas Hotel which is refurbished and upgraded, welcoming all communities to enjoy their hospitality.
Sporadic clashes
During the IPKF presence in Jaffna, there were sporadic clashes with the LTTE. At that point, the LTTE was also in the habit of extorting money from the people. It was done to create hatred among the people. LTTE would have been in need of money, but the people could not do so as the war had taken a heavy toll on them.
Today, Hariharan considers himself as one of the few people who lived in Jaffna witnessing the LTTE's rise and fall.
"The LTTE in their initial stage earned the respect of the people. I thought that they would realize their dream, but it was sad that they killed their own prominent people and extorted money from their people. The kidnappings and extortions also angered the people," he stressed.

"On the other hand," he said, "if the government had done some mistakes, they too should admit them and move forward to win the trust of the people. After all, we are Sri Lankans," said Hariharan.
The kidnap saga
"It was in the 90s, when three schoolboys came to our hotel on their bicycles and said that someone wanted to meet me. Since IPKF was around, the LTTE was in the habit of sending schoolboys to convey such messages.
"I saw a boy on the motorcycle. He told me to follow him. I got into my car with my driver and we followed him.
"He told us to stop at a place under a tree behind Jaffna University.
"Later he told me to get on to his motorcycle. Then we rode for another half a kilometre. My driver had parked the car under the tree and was waiting for my return.
"When the motorcycle reached the spot, there was smoke and some tents had been burnt down. Some boys came and told him that the IPKF had come there and routed the Tigers.

"The boy on the motorcycle did not know it. He said, 'No one is here. They have shifted elsewhere, so you can go today'.
When he dropped me back near the university, I found my driver had left the place.
I returned home getting into a truck whose driver was known to me. I did not tell the incident to anyone at home.
"The schoolboys reappeared to my surprise saying that someone wanted to meet me but I chased them away.
However, after the IPKF left Jaffna, the LTTE approached Hariharan.
When Hariharan was at Subhas Café he saw a boy seated for a long time.
"I collected the day's revenue and told the caretaker to close the shop once the work was over. But the boy who followed me asked me to get into the car and follow his motorcycle.

"We reached Ariyalai and it was their tax collecting office. I was asked to occupy a room in the upstairs and the boys were busy doing their work and were seated with a few others who were abducted to extract money. I saw a jewellery shop owner and talked to him. I was asked to pay Rs 10m as a ransom. "We were not tortured, but offered good food. Sometimes when they attended a wedding function, they returned with food and offered it us too.
"They shared what they ate and I remained there for a month.
One day, a lorry driver who came to pay tax saw me in that house and had later conveyed it to my father.
My father rushed to the house pleading for my release. They asked him to pay Rs 10m and take me home.
"Another boy who was brought into the house managed to escape. He was the son of a famous jewellery shop owner in Colombo. When he escaped, the LTTE thought I was behind his jail break.
On the following day, they moved me to another place and kept me in isolation. I stayed there for another month until they told me that I could go home.

"My father had been meeting a few LTTE members asking them how to get me released. He was introduced to a 'master' in his 50s, an LTTE sympathizer who had close connections with them.
He promised that he would 'talk to Prabhakaran' and took Rs 50, 000 from my father.
However, there was no news from the 'master' and Hariharan's father had been telling the people about the extortion by him. Apparently, on hearing the extortion story some LTTE senior members got angry.
"They summoned my father for an inquiry and they felt ashamed that their man had betrayed their movement's ideologies.
Finally the 'master' was brandaed a traitor. He was brought close to the Nallur Temple and after the senior cadres announced the 'master's treason, he was shot at point-blank range killing him instantly.
Sangran finally paid the LTTE Rs 1 m for the release of his son.
"I thought I will not return home, but my father was very bold to save me."