1987 Eastern Province massacres

Massacres of Sinhalese in the Eastern Province by Tamil militant groups 1987 Eastern Province massacres Sri Lanka Eastern Province locator map.svg 8 35 N 81 13 E inline,title Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Primarily Sinhalese civilians Pogrom, mass murder 1987 09 29 y–1987 10 8 yes 200+ Tamil mobs, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, other Tamil nationalist militant groups, Indian Peacekeeping Force (to a degree) The 1987 Eastern Province massacres were a series of massacres of the Sinhalese population in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka by Tamil mobs and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Though they began spontaneously, they became more organized, with the LTTE leading the violence. Over 200 Sinhalese were killed by mob and militant violence, and over 20,000 fled the Eastern Province. The violence has been described as having had the appearance of a pogrom,Rubin Barnett Cycles of Violence: Human Rights in Sri Lanka Since the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement Human Rights Watch https://books.google.com/books?id=b7F-dUh5_j8C&pg=PA52 8 December 2018 9780938579434 1987 with the objective of removing Sinhalese from the Eastern Province.de Silva K. M. Regional Powers and Small State Security: India and Sri Lanka, 1977-1990 Woodrow Wilson Center Press 259It's War Again The Economist October 10, 1987 29, 32Bandarage Asoka The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, ethnicity, political economy Routledge 194 Background The Eastern province was a highly contested zone between the Sinhalese and Tamils. Since the 1930s, the Sinhalese-dominated government settled Sinhalese in the Eastern province, claiming to restore what they saw as lost ancient Sinhala settlements, as well as to reduce the Tamils' claim to local autonomy.Report No.7, The clash of ideologies and the continuing tragedy in the Batticaloa & Amparai Districts, Chapter 8, Colonisation - Issues and Non-Issues http://www.uthr.org/Reports/Report7/chapter8.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20020709043358/http://www.uthr.org/Reports/Report7/chapter8.htm usurped July 9, 2002 uthr.org University Teacher of Human Rights - Jaffna 3 January 2020 Tamil nationalists viewed this as an attempt to alter the demographics of their 'traditional Tamil homeland', thus weakening the Tamils' stake in it.Peebles Patrick Colonization and Ethnic Conflict in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka The Journal of Asian Studies February 1990 49 1 30–55 10.2307/2058432 2058432 153505636 free In 1983, Trincomalee was the site of anti-Tamil violence at the hands of Sinhalese mobs and security forces. During the 1985 anti-Tamil massacres in the district, hundreds of Tamils were killed and there was widespread, systematic destruction of Tamil villages of Tamil civilians in Trincomalee District by the Sri Lankan Army with the help of Sinhalese settlers, nearly destroying the Trincomalee Town and displacing its population.PhD Gaasbeek Timmo 2010 Bridging troubled waters? Everyday inter-ethnic interaction in a context of violent conflict in Kottiyar Pattu, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka Wageningen University https://edepot.wur.nl/138278 144-157 Following this, there had been a series of massacres of Sinhalese by Tamil militants and of Tamils by the Army and home guards in the Trincomalee District that continued into 1986. A large number of farmers from the outlying colonies had fled in 1985 and 1986. On April 17, 1987, an LTTE unit had waylaid a bus carrying southbound Sinhalese from Trincomalee at Aluth Oya and massacred them. The attackers were led by Pulendran, the district commander for Trincomalee.When Tiger terrorists massacred 127 civilians in Habarana, Sunday Observer, K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga Prelude In July 1987, India sent the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka as part of an attempt to negotiate a political solution between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil militant groups. The Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed on 29 July 1987, and one of its terms was that the Sri Lankan security forces would be confined to their barracks in the north and east.Indo-Lanka Accord https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/IN%20LK_870729_Indo-Lanka%20Accord.pdf peacemaker.un.org United Nations 13 April 2021 Sinhalese settlers were also disarmed. Tamil leaders and militants claimed that the government subsequently settled large numbers of Sinhalese in areas of Trincomalee previously occupied by now displaced Tamils. The militants viewed their subsequent violence against the Sinhalese in Eastern Province as an attempt to thwart said Sinhalese resettlement.Manogaran C. 1988-04-01 The Indo‐Sri Lanka accord of 29 July 1987: A Tamil linguistic province and lasting peace in Sri Lanka https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00358538808453868 The Round Table 77 306 198 10.1080/00358538808453868 0035-8533 subscription In late September 1987, Thileepan began a hunger strike. On the 21st of September, a scuffle broke out between a group of Tamil 'satyagrahis' who gathered in support of Thileepan and a Sinhalese group at the Anuradhapura Junction in Trincomalee. Ethnic violence had begun where the Sinhalese and Tamils were both perpetrators and victims. On September 24, Sinhalese from Mihindupura had left in bullock carts; the next morning, the carts returned without them and 9 charred bodies were found with a burnt cart. The LTTE was suspected to have perpetrated the killings.Hoole Rajan Sri Lanka: The Arrogance of Power: Myths, Decadence & Murder July 2001 University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) 9559447041 226 1st Thileepan eventually died from his hunger strike, inviting grief from the Tamil community. Around the same time, the IPKF nominated members for the Interim Council of the North and East, a majority of them being LTTE representatives. Incident Trincomalee riots After the Interim Council was announced to be mostly LTTE nominees, anti-Sinhalese violence flared in Trincomalee on September 29. On September 30, 2 Tamils were found hacked to death; in retaliation, a Tamil group killed 3 Sinhalese men in a truck. The violence became more organized on October 1, with LTTE members leading rioters and warning Sinhalese to evacuate their homes lest they be killed. In Trincomalee and throughout the Eastern Province, properties were set on fire, and over 2,000 people, mostly Sinhalese, were rendered homeless. In Trincomalee, Tamil rioters, with the help of militant leaders, brutally killed Sinhalese men and raped Sinhalese women. A truck driver was burnt to death along with his truck and an elderly man was beaten to death. Sinhalese had been burned in their homes, and patients had been thrown out of the hospital, killing some.Barber Ben In Sri Lanka, the Killing Goes On Newsday Newsday LLC 1987-10-13 Long Island, N.Y Around 50 Sinhalese who were well established in the community had been killed in the area of the main Sinhalese school. Corpses were thrown into wells that were covered up.Trincomalee: State Ideology and the Politics of Fear http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport8.htm#_Toc515698017 https://web.archive.org/web/20020822223107/http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport8.htm#_Toc515698017 usurped August 22, 2002 University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) 27 March 2019 Journalist William McGowan observed that a Sinhalese neighborhood in Trincomalee was badly damaged and littered with debris. The IPKF prevented any intervention by the Sri Lankan Army. They fired at a crowd of Sinhalese gathered at the King's Hotel Junction, killing one. At President J. R. Jayawardene's request, the IPKF had 11 platoons come into Trincomalee to restore order. On October 4, the IPKF shot a Sinhalese Buddhist monk who had demonstrated against them. On the same day, the IPKF had attacked Abeypura, a Sinhalese colony near Trincomalee. The Indian soldiers engaged in assault, arson, and murder of the Sinhalese in the colony. Sinhalese also accused the IPKF of having supplied Tamil rioters with flammables and looting abandoned Sinhalese houses. Militant action On October 3, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested 17 LTTE members near Point Pedro. One of these was Pulendran, who was wanted for the Aluth Oya massacre. The government intended to bring him and other arrestees to Colombo for trial. However, on October 5, they attempted a mass suicide by cyanide, and 12, including Pulendran and Kumarappa, were successful.Athas Iqbal Seventeen captured rebels being escorted across a military airfield... https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/05/Seventeen-captured-rebels-being-escorted-across-a-military-airfield/2618560404800/ 13 January 2025 United Press International 5 October 1987 Following the suicides, Tamil militant violence, chiefly by the LTTE, spread throughout the Eastern Province. In Batticaloa, Sinhalese who had long coexisted amicably with Tamils had been attacked, even upsetting some LTTE leaders.Human rights and The Issues of War and Peace http://www.uthr.org/Briefings/Briefing1.htm#_Toc516680630 uthr.org University Teacher for Human Rights Jaffna 10 December 2018 6 May 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200506220249/http://uthr.org/Briefings/Briefing1.htm#_Toc516680630 usurped About 17 people were killed, especially by being burnt to death. According to Batticaloa residents, the family of a Sinhalese taxi driver who had supported Tamil militants was killed by an LTTE member called Niranjan Kingsley, and a Sinhalese goldsmith and his wife were murdered by two brothers named Dayalan and Puruchotan.Hamlyn Michael Gunmen lose grip of fear on Batticaloa The Times 13 October 1987 A train carrying Sinhalese near Batticaloa was stopped and burnt, killing the passengers inside. A bus was also stopped and its passengers were shot dead. Then the LTTE attacked fishing villages in the district, killing 55 villagers.Cruez Patrick Rebels Kill 140 Sinhalese in Six Attacks https://apnews.com/df6ef5ec445f9bd6d9548681fbc1ddb2 https://web.archive.org/web/20190511041615/https://apnews.com/df6ef5ec445f9bd6d9548681fbc1ddb2 11 May 2019 AP News October 7, 1987Weintraub Richard Tamils Kill Dozens in Revenge https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/10/07/tamils-kill-dozens-in-revenge/d04a4022-1511-4664-833d-7e1e90573330/ 11 May 2019 Washington Post October 7, 1987Weisman Steven 160 Die in Sri Lanka; India Vows to Curb Attacks The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/08/world/160-die-in-sri-lanka-india-vows-to-curb-attacks.html 11 May 2019 The New York Times October 8, 1987 One massacre in Kiran was masterminded by an LTTE leader named Devi. As in Trincomalee, the IPKF did little to prevent the violence and in some cases appeared to be supporting the militants. Sinhalese refugees specifically accused the Madrasi regiment of the IPKF, composed of Tamils, of complicity in violence against them. The Sri Lankan military was still prevented from protecting the Sinhalese. When one Sinhalese man from Mihindupura attempted to inform the Sri Lankan military of an assault on the village, the Indian soldiers would not allow them through, and the man was even assaulted by an Indian soldier.Crossette Barbara Sri Lanka Rebels and Indian Troops Fight for 3D Day: Heavy Guerrilla Attacks https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/12/world/sri-lanka-rebels-and-indian-troops-fight-for-3d-day.html 27 February 2021 The New York Times 12 October 1987 By the end of the violence, over 200 Sinhalese civilians were estimated to be dead, and 20,000 were made refugees. The actual number of dead may be higher as some people disappeared and their fates were unknown. Reaction The LTTE denied involvement in the massacre. Its chief strategist, Anton Balasingham, described the events as "a spontaneous outburst of communal violence following the tragic deaths of Pulendran and Kumarappa" and claimed that Tamil civilians in the Eastern Province were the perpetrators.Balasingham Anton War and Peace: Armed Struggle and Peace Efforts of Liberation Tigers 2004 Fairmax Publishing 126 https://telibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/War-and-Peace.pdf#page=141 Opposition leader Anura Bandaranaike sent a telegram to president J. R. Jayawardene alerting him to the massacre of Sinhalese at Trincomalee and the lack of government or IPKF action, and urged him to take action. Jayawardene later met with Lieut. Gen. Depinder Singh and suggested that, if the IPKF did not restore order, he would ask them to leave Trincomalee.de Silva Manik Restore Peace, Or Else Far Eastern Economic Review 15 October 1987 50 Sinhalese public opinion turned against the government due to the recrudescence of LTTE massacres. Sinhalese radical groups like the Deshapremi Janatha Vyaparaya received more support consequent to the violence.Desmond Edward A Comeback for the Tigers: New Violence threatens to Undermine a Peace Accord Time 12 October 1987 12 Tamil residents of Trincomalee were unsympathetic to the plight of Sinhalese in the town, accusing the Sri Lankan government and Sinhalese in general of having brutalized Tamils in prior years.McGowan William Only Man is Vile: The Tragedy of Sri Lanka Farrar Straus Giroux 48 However, Batticaloa Tamils were upset at the LTTE for the killings and expulsions. References Category:1987 in Sri Lanka Category:1987 riots Category:1980s massacres in the Sri Lankan civil war Category:Attacks on civilians attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Category:Attacks on civilians attributed to the Indian Peace Keeping Force Category:Ethnic riots Category:Human rights abuses in Sri Lanka Category:Massacres of Sinhalese people Category:Massacres in 1987 Category:Racially motivated violence in Asia Category:Racism in Sri Lanka Category:Riots and civil disorder in Sri Lanka Category:September 1987 in Asia Category:October 1987 in Asia