From the memoir: How a doctor worked frantically with medical teams during the Sri Lankan civil war

Just two days before my arrival on October 22, 1987, there had been some serious encounters between the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force). The LTTE allegedly was firing at the advancing IPKF from within the hospital premises. Since the firing did not cease even after the bombardment of the hospital by the IPKF, they rushed into the operation block from where the firing emanated. Seventy persons were killed, including patients, two junior doctors, three nurses, a senior doctor, some LTTE activists and sympathisers. The bodies of the dead were still lying in the OP block which was sealed after sanitisation.

I met the civilian doctors who thanked me for the prompt despatch of supplies which I celebrated by distributing biscuits from my supply. After an easing of tension, I enquired about the incident in the operations theatre. There was a numb silence after which the lady house surgeon Dr Shashi Sabha Ratnam opened up. She said they had been conducting an outpatient clinic when she heard gunfire, screaming and wailing. She locked herself into the toilet, terrified, and stayed there till the next day when the army sanitising team brought her out. The other...

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