Land). They included Vellupillai Prabhakaran, a founder of the Libera-
tion Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), often referred to as the Tamil Tigers.
Tamil had been elevated to the status of ‘national language’ for official
work, but only in Tamil-majority areas. Clashes between Tamils and secu-
rity forces developed into a pattern of killings and counter-reprisals, all
too often with civilians in the crossfire. Passions on both sides rose, and
a pivotal moment came in 1981, when a group of Sinhalese rioters (some
say government forces) burnt down Jaffna’s library, which contained,
among other things, various histories of the Tamil people, some of which
were ancient palm-leaf manuscripts.
Small-scale reprisals followed, but the world only took notice two years
later, in 1983, when, in response to the Tigers’ ambushing and killing of
13 soldiers in the Jaffna region, full-scale anti-Tamil massacres erupted
in Colombo. In a riot now known as Black July, up to 3000 Tamils were
clubbed, beaten, burned or shot to death, and Tamil property was looted
and burned. Several Tamil-majority areas, including Colombo’s Pettah
district, were levelled, and violence spread to other parts of the country.
The government, the police and the army were either unable or
unwilling to stop the violence; some of them assisted. Hundreds of
thousands of Tamils left the country or fled to Tamil-majority areas in
the North or East – and many joined the resistance. (Many Sinhalese,
meanwhile, moved south from the North and East.) The horror of Black
July prompted a groundswell of international sympathy for Tamil armed
resistance groups, and brought funding from fellow Tamils in southern
India, as well as from the government of Indira Gandhi.
Revenge and counter-revenge attacks continued, and grew into atroc-
ities and massacres – on both sides. The government was widely con-
demned for acts of torture and disappearances, but it pointed to the
intimidation and violence against civilians, including Tamils and Mus-
lims, by the Tamil fighters. Implementation of a 1987 accord, offering
limited Tamil autonomy and officialising Tamil as a national language,
never happened, and the conflict escalated into a 25-year civil war that
eventually claimed upwards of 100,000 lives.
War & Attempts at Peace
Indian Peacekeeping
In 1987 government forces pushed the LTTE back into Jaffna as part of a
major offensive. India pressed the Sri Lankan government to withdraw,
and the two heads of state, JR Jayawardene and Rajiv Gandhi, negotiated
an accord: the Sri Lankan government would call off the offensive, Tamil
rebels would disarm, and an Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) would
protect the truce. Tamil regions would also have substantial autonomy,
as Colombo devolved power to the provinces.
William
McGowan’s Only
Man is Vile is an
incisive, unrelent-
ing account of
ethnic violence
in Sri Lanka,
penetrating
deeply into its
complexities.1958
The country sees its
first island-wide
anti-Tamil riot. It lasts
for days, leaves more
than 200 people dead
in violent attacks (and
some revenge attacks)
and displaces thou-
sands of Tamils.1959
Despite coming to
power in 1956 with a
Sinhalese-
nationalist manifesto,
SWRD Bandaranaike
begins negotiating
with Tamil leaders for
a federation, leading to
his assassination by a
Buddhist monk.1959
Widow Sirimavo
Bandaranaike assumes
her late husband’s
SLFp post, becoming
the world’s first female
prime minister. She
is appointed prime
minister several more
times before her death
in 2000.1972
A new constitution is
created. It changes
Ceylon’s name to Sri
Lanka, declares, once
again, Sinhalese to be
the official language
and gives Buddhism
‘foremost place’ among
the island’s religions.HistoryW
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(^) pEACE