1989 Valvettiturai massacre
Encyclopedia
1989 Valvettiturai massacre occurred on August 2 and 3, 1989 in the small coastal town of Valvettiturai, on the Jaffna Peninsula
in Sri Lanka
. Approximately 64 minority Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were killed by soldiers belonging to the Indian Peace Keeping Force
. The massacre
followed an attack on the soldiers by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
cadres. The rebel attack had left 6 Indian soldiers, including an officer, dead and another 10 injured. Indian authorities claimed that the civilians were caught in a cross fire. Journalists such as Rita Sebastian of the Indian Express, David Husego of the Financial Times
and local Human Rights groups such as the University Teachers for Human Rights
have reported quoting eyewitness accounts that it was a massacre of civilians. George Fernandes
, who later served as defense minister of India
(1998–2004), called the massacre India’s My Lai
.
, when Sri Lanka
was known as Ceylon, most civil service jobs were (roughly 60%) held by minority Sri Lankan Tamils who were approximately 15%
of the population. This was due to the availability of western style education provided by American missionaries
and others in the Tamil dominant Jaffna Peninsula
. The preponderance of Tamils over their natural share of the population was used by populist majority Sinhalese politicians to come to political power by promising to elevate the Sinhalese people
. These measures
as well as riots and pogroms that targeted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils led to the formation of a number of rebel groups
advocating independence for Tamils
. Following the 1983 Black July
pogrom
full scale civil war
began between the government and the rebel groups.
In 1987 the government of Sri Lanka and India
entered into an agreement and invited the Indian Army
to be used as peacekeepers. Eventually the Indian Peace Keeping Force
(IPKF) came into conflict with one of the rebel groups namely the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE). During October 1987 the Indian forces trying to wrest control of the Jaffna
town stormed the Jaffna hospital resulting
in the deaths of a number of staff and patients. By November 1987 the Indian Army
was in nominal control of all major towns within the Jaffna Peninsula. But the LTTE after removing most of its fighting cadres south of the peninsula maintained a steady barrage of typical guerilla style attacks
throughout 1988 and 1989. This period also saw huge loss of civilian life, claimed rapes and number of instances of mass massacres.
Following the initial confrontation many troops started moving into town and the LTTE ambush party left the area. A number of people were killed and burnt inside shops. Many people of all ages and both sexes were made to sit in the town square and three rounds were fired into them killing four persons. Many hundreds of civilians took refuge in the spacious houses of one Mr. Subramaniam and Mr. Sivaganesh. Approximately 300 people were in these houses.
At 1.30 p.m. Indian soldiers entered the house of Mr. Subramaniam and killed him along with eight others in the house.
At 4 p.m. Indian soldiers entered the house of Sivaganesh, took 8 men to a cowshed and shot them but 4 survived.
By the end of the day the VVT Citizens’ Committee reported that 52 dead persons had been identified.
On August 3 the IPKF imposed a curfew and rounded up large number of young men. About 75 youths were made to roll on the hot road and were assaulted and 6 killed. Some who did not know about the curfew in nearby villages were also shot and killed.
Many of the injured civilians were given first aid
by local medical practitioners and were taken to the nearby Oorani government hospital. Some injured had walked to Point Pedro
hospital, 5 miles away by late evening on 2 August. The arrival of injured civilians at the Point Pedro hospital prompted Mme. Jacqueline, the nursing sister from the Médecins Sans Frontières
, to attempt to send an ambulance to the scene of the mass killings. She was refused permission to reach the scene of the killings. It was reported that no attempt was made to help the injured by the Indian military officials. After the relaxing of the curfew on August 4, those who survived the massacre reached the major hospitals for treatment.
report, the Indians believe that the incident resulted from a deliberate provocation by the LTTE intended to trigger an overwhelming Indian response; thus tarnishing the IPKF’s image, during sensitive negotiations to leave the island nation. The Indian embassy claimed that 24 civilians were killed in crossfire. A later report on All India Radio
claimed that 18 LTTE personnel and 12 civilians were killed. The statement by the Chief Minister of the North East Mr. Varadarajaperumal dismissed the local media reports as exaggerations.
According to a sworn affidavit by an eye witness, very next day, the Commanding Officer of Vadamaradchi (region), Brigadier Shankar Prasad, the Deputy Commander, Col Aujla, and the Udupiddy Commanding Officer, Colonel Sharma met some of the survivors and apologized. George Fernandes
who served as India's defence minister
from 1998 to 2004 termed the massacres as India’s My Lai
.
Jaffna Peninsula
The Jaffna Peninsula is an area in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna and comprises much of the former land mass of the ancient Tamil kingdoms of the Nagas and the medieval Jaffna kingdom. The peninsula is mostly surrounded by water, connected to...
in 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...
. Approximately 64 minority Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were killed by soldiers belonging to the Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990...
. The massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
followed an attack on the soldiers by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
cadres. The rebel attack had left 6 Indian soldiers, including an officer, dead and another 10 injured. Indian authorities claimed that the civilians were caught in a cross fire. Journalists such as Rita Sebastian of the Indian Express, David Husego of the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
and local Human Rights groups such as the University Teachers for Human Rights
University Teachers for Human Rights
For the figure in Norse mythology, see UrðrThe University Teachers for Human Rights or UTHR was formed in 1988 at the University of Jaffna, Jaffna in Sri Lanka as part of the national organization University Teachers for Human Rights. Its public activities as a constituent part of university life...
have reported quoting eyewitness accounts that it was a massacre of civilians. George Fernandes
George Fernandes
George Mathew Fernandes is an Indian trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar. He is a key member of the Janata Dal , and was the founder of the Samata Party...
, who later served as defense minister of India
Minister of Defence (India)
The Minister of Defence is the head of the Ministry of Defence and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India.-List of Cabinet Ministers of Defence :* Baldev Singh * Kailash Nath Katju * V. K...
(1998–2004), called the massacre India’s My Lai
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of 347–504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most of the victims were women, children , and...
.
Background information
During the British colonial periodBritish Ceylon
British Ceylon refers to British rule prior to 1948 of the island territory now known as Sri Lanka.-From the Dutch to the British:Before the beginning of the Dutch governance, the island of Ceylon was divided between the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Kandy, who were in the midst of a war for...
, when 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...
was known as Ceylon, most civil service jobs were (roughly 60%) held by minority Sri Lankan Tamils who were approximately 15%
Demographics of Sri Lanka
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Sri Lanka, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
of the population. This was due to the availability of western style education provided by American missionaries
American Ceylon Mission
The American Ceylon Mission to Jaffna, Sri Lanka started with the arrival in 1813 of missionaries sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions . The British colonial office in India and Ceylon restricted the Americans to the relatively small Jaffna Peninsula for...
and others in the Tamil dominant Jaffna Peninsula
Jaffna Peninsula
The Jaffna Peninsula is an area in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna and comprises much of the former land mass of the ancient Tamil kingdoms of the Nagas and the medieval Jaffna kingdom. The peninsula is mostly surrounded by water, connected to...
. The preponderance of Tamils over their natural share of the population was used by populist majority Sinhalese politicians to come to political power by promising to elevate the Sinhalese people
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
. These measures
Sinhala Only Act
The Sinhala Only Act was a law passed in the Ceylonese parliament in 1956...
as well as riots and pogroms that targeted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils led to the formation of a number of rebel groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception amongst minority Sri Lankan Tamils that the state was preferring the majority Sinhalese...
advocating independence for Tamils
Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam , is the name given by certain Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora to the independent state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Tamil Eelam has no official status or recognition by any other state or authority...
. Following the 1983 Black July
Black July
Black July is the commonly used name for the anti-Tamil pogrom and attacks carried out by mobs in Sri Lanka which began on July 23, 1983. The riots occurred following a deadly ambush by a Tamil militant organization known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which killed 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers...
pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
full scale 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...
began between the government and the rebel groups.
In 1987 the government of Sri Lanka and India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
entered into an agreement and invited the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
to be used as peacekeepers. Eventually the Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990...
(IPKF) came into conflict with one of the rebel groups namely the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
(LTTE). During October 1987 the Indian forces trying to wrest control of the Jaffna
Jaffna
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...
town stormed the Jaffna hospital resulting
Jaffna hospital massacre
The Jaffna hospital massacre happened on October 21 and 22, 1987 during the Sri Lankan Civil War, when soldiers of the Indian Army entered the premises of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, an island nation in South Asia, and killed about 68–70 patients, nurses, doctors and other...
in the deaths of a number of staff and patients. By November 1987 the Indian Army
Operation Pawan
Operation Pawan was the codename assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force to take control of Jaffna from the LTTE , in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord...
was in nominal control of all major towns within the Jaffna Peninsula. But the LTTE after removing most of its fighting cadres south of the peninsula maintained a steady barrage of typical guerilla style attacks
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
throughout 1988 and 1989. This period also saw huge loss of civilian life, claimed rapes and number of instances of mass massacres.
The attack
On August 2, 1989 around 11.15 a.m. two Indian patrols numbering 30 men approached the Valvettiturai market square on foot when gunfire was heard. This was a crowded market area and was full of people. The ambush by LTTE of the IPKF foot patrol in a crowded market area caught everyone including the civilians by surprise. Six IPKF soldiers were killed and another 10 injured.See map hereFollowing the initial confrontation many troops started moving into town and the LTTE ambush party left the area. A number of people were killed and burnt inside shops. Many people of all ages and both sexes were made to sit in the town square and three rounds were fired into them killing four persons. Many hundreds of civilians took refuge in the spacious houses of one Mr. Subramaniam and Mr. Sivaganesh. Approximately 300 people were in these houses.
At 1.30 p.m. Indian soldiers entered the house of Mr. Subramaniam and killed him along with eight others in the house.
At 4 p.m. Indian soldiers entered the house of Sivaganesh, took 8 men to a cowshed and shot them but 4 survived.
By the end of the day the VVT Citizens’ Committee reported that 52 dead persons had been identified.
On August 3 the IPKF imposed a curfew and rounded up large number of young men. About 75 youths were made to roll on the hot road and were assaulted and 6 killed. Some who did not know about the curfew in nearby villages were also shot and killed.
Many of the injured civilians were given first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
by local medical practitioners and were taken to the nearby Oorani government hospital. Some injured had walked to Point Pedro
Point Pedro
Point Pedro is the northernmost town of the island of Sri Lanka. The agriculturally active area around Point Pedro with fertile calcic red latosols is known for its cotton production. The eastern coast of Point Pedro is a 3-mile-broad beach with huge sand dunes up to 100 feet height, extending...
hospital, 5 miles away by late evening on 2 August. The arrival of injured civilians at the Point Pedro hospital prompted Mme. Jacqueline, the nursing sister from the Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
, to attempt to send an ambulance to the scene of the mass killings. She was refused permission to reach the scene of the killings. It was reported that no attempt was made to help the injured by the Indian military officials. After the relaxing of the curfew on August 4, those who survived the massacre reached the major hospitals for treatment.
Reactions
According to the Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
report, the Indians believe that the incident resulted from a deliberate provocation by the LTTE intended to trigger an overwhelming Indian response; thus tarnishing the IPKF’s image, during sensitive negotiations to leave the island nation. The Indian embassy claimed that 24 civilians were killed in crossfire. A later report on All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
claimed that 18 LTTE personnel and 12 civilians were killed. The statement by the Chief Minister of the North East Mr. Varadarajaperumal dismissed the local media reports as exaggerations.
According to a sworn affidavit by an eye witness, very next day, the Commanding Officer of Vadamaradchi (region), Brigadier Shankar Prasad, the Deputy Commander, Col Aujla, and the Udupiddy Commanding Officer, Colonel Sharma met some of the survivors and apologized. George Fernandes
George Fernandes
George Mathew Fernandes is an Indian trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar. He is a key member of the Janata Dal , and was the founder of the Samata Party...
who served as India's defence minister
Minister of Defence (India)
The Minister of Defence is the head of the Ministry of Defence and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India.-List of Cabinet Ministers of Defence :* Baldev Singh * Kailash Nath Katju * V. K...
from 1998 to 2004 termed the massacres as India’s My Lai
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of 347–504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most of the victims were women, children , and...
.
See also
- List of attacks attributed to Sri Lankan government forces
- List of attacks attributed to the LTTE
- List of massacres in Sri Lanka