Mary Bastian
Encyclopedia
Father Mary Bastian 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 6, 1985 as part of the Sri Lankan civil war
allegedly by the Sri Lankan Army
.
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.
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.
personnel, point blank range in front of the local St. Anne’s church.
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
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
, the London
human rights watchdog, in its report stated, - Appendix IV - AI Index: ASA 37/04/85
The people of Vankalai later erected a statue of Rev Fr Mary Bastian in the compound of St Anne’s Church in his memory.
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
Tamil Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist and local Roman Catholic parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
priest from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. He was shot and killed along with 10 other civilians on January 6, 1985 as part of the Sri Lankan civil war
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
allegedly by the Sri Lankan Army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
.
Biography
Rev.Fr.Mary Bastian born in Ilavalai in JaffnaJaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
district was ordained as a priest in the year 1975. He served as parish priest first at Manipay
Manipay
Manipay or Maanippaai is an affluent town in the northern Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. The original name of Manipay is Periya pulam. It was a mission location when the American Ceylon Mission came to Sri Lanka in the 19th century. Dr. Samuel Fisk Green founded the Green Memorial Hospital in 1864...
and later in Murunkan and Madhu
Madhu
Madhu may refer to:* Madhu, a term in Hindi-Urdu, Sanskrit, and other languages for honey and alcohol * Madhu, in Hindu mythology, one of the asura brothers Madhu-Kaitabh, killed by Lord Vishnu...
in Mannar
Mannar
Mannar may refer to:* Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Alappuzha district, Kerala, India* Mannar, Kaduthuruthy,a town in Kottayam district, Kerala, India* Mannar, Sri Lanka, a town in northern Sri Lanka* Mannar District, a district in Sri Lanka...
district.
Background
During military offensives by the Sri Lankan ArmySri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
in 1984 as part of the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
in Mannar
Mannar
Mannar may refer to:* Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Alappuzha district, Kerala, India* Mannar, Kaduthuruthy,a town in Kottayam district, Kerala, India* Mannar, Sri Lanka, a town in northern Sri Lanka* Mannar District, a district in Sri Lanka...
region, Fr. Mary Bastian and Rev Jeyarajasingham became the focal point of Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
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.
Incident
On 6 January 1985, Father Mary Bastian along with 10 others were shot allegedly by the Sri Lankan ArmySri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
personnel, point blank range in front of the local St. Anne’s church.
Sri Lankan Government
The National Security Minister denied that his forces had killed Fr. Bastian. The spokesperson was quoted as sayingOn January 9, the government owned Daily News reported that, according to the Minister of National Security, Lalith Athulathmudali
Lalith Athulathmudali
Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali , PC was a Sri Lankan politician of the United National Party and former Cabinet Minister of Trade, National Security, Agriculture, Education and deputy minister of defence.-Early life and teaching career:Born to a family of Lawyers, his...
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
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Later in a report to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, 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 ArmySri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
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 InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
human rights watchdog, in its report stated, - Appendix IV - AI Index: ASA 37/04/85
Memorial
See also
- George JeyarajasinghamGeorge JeyarajasinghamGeorge Jeyarajasingham was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil Human Rights activist and a Methodist missionary from the Mannar district of Sri Lanka. He and three others were shot dead on December 13, 1984 when they were traveling in his vehicle. Later their bodies were burnt along with his...
- Chandra FernandoChandra FernandoReverend Chandra Fernando was a priest from the town of Baticaloa in minority Tamil-dominated eastern province of Sri Lanka. He was known for his human rights activism. He was assassinated by unknown men on June 6, 1988.-Biography:...
- Nihal Jim Brown
- Mariampillai Sarathjeevan
- Eugene John HebertEugene John HebertFather Eugene John Hebert was an American born Jesuit missionary in Sri Lanka. He along with his Tamil driver Betram Francis disappeared on August 15, 1990 as part of the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war. He went missing on his way to the eastern city of Batticaloa from a nearby town of Valaichchenai....