Eelam War I
Encyclopedia
Eelam War I is the name given to the initial phase of the armed conflict
between the government of Sri Lanka
and the LTTE. Although tensions between the government and Tamil militant groups had been brewing since the 1970s, full scale war did not break out until an attack by the LTTE on a Sri Lanka Army patrol in Jaffna
, in the north of the country, on July 23, 1983, which killed 13 soldiers. The attack, and the subsequent riots in the south (dubbed Black July
), are generally considered as the start of the conflict.
This fighting continued until 1985, when peace talks were held between the two sides in Thimphu
, Bhutan
, in hopes of seeking a negotiated settlement. They proved fruitless and fighting soon resumed.
By 1987, the Sri Lankan military had cornered the LTTE in Jaffna, on the tip of the island and were confident of bringing an end to the conflict. However, due to internal pressure, specifically concern about the 50 million Tamils living in India
, the Indian government called for a halt to the offensive. After the request was snubbed by Sri Lanka, the Indian Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi
ordered a flotilla of ships be sent to relieve the LTTE. After the convoy was blocked by the Sri Lanka Navy, India instead chose to airdrop supplies to the besieged city in a mission codenamed Operation Poomalai
.
Following the successful completion of the mission, and faced with the possibility of further involvement of the Indian military, including reports that Indian ground forces were being prepared for possible involvement in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka President J. R. Jayewardene held talks with the Indian government to resolve the dispute. As a result of the negotiations, the siege of Jaffna was lifted and the Indo-Sri-Lankan accord was signed on July 29, 1987. Sri Lankan troops then withdraw from the north of the country and handed over control over the entire area to Indian peacekeeping
troops named the Indian Peace Keeping Force
. This brought about an end to the first stage of the ethnic conflict.
civilians who had gathered at the cemetery, angered by news of the ambush, which was magnified by wild rumor, formed mobs
and started killing, raping, and assaulting Tamils, while looting and burning their properties in retribution for what happened. Sinhalese civilians were equipped with voter registration lists, burning and attacking only Tamil residences and business, while army and government officials stood by. It is estimated that at least 1,000[1] Tamil people were killed, tens of thousands of houses were destroyed, and a wave of Sri Lankan Tamils left for other countries
Before they withdraw, the LTTE strike force entered the national park of Wilpattu and killed 18 Sinhalese in the forest reserve.
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...
between the government of 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...
and the LTTE. Although tensions between the government and Tamil militant groups had been brewing since the 1970s, full scale war did not break out until an attack by the LTTE on a Sri Lanka Army patrol in 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...
, in the north of the country, on July 23, 1983, which killed 13 soldiers. The attack, and the subsequent riots in the south (dubbed 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...
), are generally considered as the start of the conflict.
This fighting continued until 1985, when peace talks were held between the two sides in Thimphu
Thimphu
Thimphu also spelt Thimpu, is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The city became the capital of Bhutan in 1961...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, in hopes of seeking a negotiated settlement. They proved fruitless and fighting soon resumed.
By 1987, the Sri Lankan military had cornered the LTTE in Jaffna, on the tip of the island and were confident of bringing an end to the conflict. However, due to internal pressure, specifically concern about the 50 million Tamils living in 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...
, the Indian government called for a halt to the offensive. After the request was snubbed by Sri Lanka, the Indian Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
ordered a flotilla of ships be sent to relieve the LTTE. After the convoy was blocked by the Sri Lanka Navy, India instead chose to airdrop supplies to the besieged city in a mission codenamed Operation Poomalai
Operation Poomalai
Operation Poomalai or Eagle Mission 4 was the codename assigned to a mission undertaken by the Indian Air Force to airdrop supplies over the besieged town of Jaffna in Sri Lanka on 4 June 1987 in support of Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan Civil War....
.
Following the successful completion of the mission, and faced with the possibility of further involvement of the Indian military, including reports that Indian ground forces were being prepared for possible involvement in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka President J. R. Jayewardene held talks with the Indian government to resolve the dispute. As a result of the negotiations, the siege of Jaffna was lifted and the Indo-Sri-Lankan accord was signed on July 29, 1987. Sri Lankan troops then withdraw from the north of the country and handed over control over the entire area to Indian peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
troops named 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...
. This brought about an end to the first stage of the ethnic conflict.
Black July
On July 24, the day the 15 servicemen killed in an LTTE ambush were to be buried, some SinhaleseSinhalese 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...
civilians who had gathered at the cemetery, angered by news of the ambush, which was magnified by wild rumor, formed mobs
Crowd
A crowd is a large and definable group of people, while "the crowd" is referred to as the so-called lower orders of people in general...
and started killing, raping, and assaulting Tamils, while looting and burning their properties in retribution for what happened. Sinhalese civilians were equipped with voter registration lists, burning and attacking only Tamil residences and business, while army and government officials stood by. It is estimated that at least 1,000[1] Tamil people were killed, tens of thousands of houses were destroyed, and a wave of Sri Lankan Tamils left for other countries
Kent and Dollar Farm massacres
The Kent and Dollar Farm massacres was one of the earliest massacres of Sinhalese civilian carried out by the LTTE during the Sri Lankan Civil War. The massacres took place on November 30, 1984, in two tiny farming villages in the district of Mullaitivu in north-eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE had claimed that the North East of Sri Lanka was the exclusive homeland of Tamils, and began their campaign of ethnic cleansing in the 1980s. The Sinhalese of the Northern Province and Eastern Province of Sri Lanka suffered severe loss of lives and property as a result of numerous civilian massacres carried out by the LTTE for the purpose of ethnically cleansing the North East of Sri Lanka.Anuradhapura massacre
The Anuradhapura massacre is an incident on May 14, 1985, in which LTTE cadres massacred 146 Sinhalese men, women and children in Anuradhapura. The LTTE hijacked a bus and entered Anuradhapura. As the LTTE cadres entered the main bus station , they opened fire indiscriminately with automatic weapons killing and wounding many civilians who were waiting for buses. LTTE cadres then drove to the Buddhist Sri Maha Bobhi shrine and gunned down nuns, monks and civilians as they prayed inside the Buddhist shrine. This incident was designed to provoke massive retaliation by the Sinhalese majority against the Tamils in order to strengthen the LTTE's position among the Tamil people.Before they withdraw, the LTTE strike force entered the national park of Wilpattu and killed 18 Sinhalese in the forest reserve.
See also
- Sri Lankan Civil WarSri Lankan civil warThe 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...
- Origins of the Sri Lankan Civil WarOrigins of the Sri Lankan civil warThe origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War lie in the continuous political rancor between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. According to Jonathan Spencer, a social anthropologist from the School of Social and Political Studies of the University of Edinburgh, the war is an outcome of how...
- List of Sri Lankan Civil War battles
- List of attacks attributed to the LTTE