1985 anti-Tamil violence in Karaitivu

Attacks on Tamil civilians by state-backed Muslim mobs October 2023 1985 anti-Tamil violence in Karaitivu Sri Lanka 300 right Karaitivu 8 7 22 81 50 Karaitivu, Ampara District, Sri Lanka 7 22 0 N 81 50 0 E region:LK inline 12–14 April 1985 Massacre, arson, rape 11 Tamil civilians 40 hospitalised, several raped, 2000 homes burned, 15,000 rendered homeless Sri Lankan Muslim mobs, Sri Lankan security forces Guns, knives, stones, fire The 1985 anti-Tamil violence in Karaitivu was a series of organised violent attacks against the Tamil population of Karaitivu, Ampara in Sri Lanka by Sri Lankan Muslim mobs aided by Sri Lankan security forces in April 1985. About 2,000 Tamil houses were burned down and several thousand Tamils were displaced.Ismail Qadri 1985 Sri Lanka's Ethnic Conflict and Muslims https://www.jstor.org/stable/4374389 Economic and Political Weekly 20 19 830–833 4374389 0012-9976Miller Phil Keenie Meenie: the British mercenaries who got away with war crimes 2020 Pluto Press 978-1-78680-584-3 London 158–164 Background The Sri Lankan Muslims are a Tamil-speaking group but they do not identify as ethnic Tamils. The Muslims were caught in the middle of the ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. Both sides attempted to win over the Muslims. Although all Tamil militant groups pledged their support for the Muslims, only the LTTE was able to gain some Muslim support in the Eastern Province. Journalist Qadri Ismail visited Karaitivu a month earlier and noted there was no evidence that the Muslims had felt sufficiently threatened to resort to violence. Others accused the Tamil militant groups of extorting and abducting Muslims in the Eastern Province since 1984. Though Tamil militants also extracted money from Tamils in the north, eastern Muslims showed stronger opposition by staging a hartal in the region in early April 1985, which provided the government with an opportunity to incite Muslims against the Tamils.Nuhman M. A. https://noolaham.net/project/61/6056/6056.pdf#page=84 Sri Lankan Muslims: Ethnic Identity Within Cultural Diversity International Centre for Ethnic Studies 2007 9789555801096 152–153 Ismail suggested some of the extortions were done by agents provocateurs. Incident From 12–14 April, president J. R. Jayewardene sent M. H. Mohamed and a team of his supporters to attack Tamils in the village of Karaitivu.Imtiyaz A. R.M. Hoole S. R.H. 2011 Some Critical Notes on the Non-Tamil Identity of the Muslims of Sri Lanka, and on Tamil–Muslim Relations http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00856401.2011.587504 South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies en 34 2 208–231 10.1080/00856401.2011.587504 39675436 subscription Hoole Rajan 2014-11-14 The East Erupts: Mossad Again? https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-east-erupts-mossad-again/ 2023-11-02 Colombo Telegraph en-US A mob of 3,000 Sri Lankan Muslim youths from surrounding villages,Frank Jayasinghe An Investigative Report of Tamil-Muslim Riots Engineer Ashgar Ali Ethnic Conflict in South Asia Ajanta Publications Delhi 208-233 with the support of the Special Task Force (STF), killed several Tamils, raped several women and burned over 2,000 Tamil homes, rendering 15,000 Tamils homeless.April 1985 POLICE COMMANDOS JOIN IN VIOLENCE https://noolaham.net/project/32/3137/3137.pdf Tamil Times 1,19 IV 6May 1985 VIOLENCE IN EAST SRI LANKA PLANNED AND INSTIGATED https://noolaham.net/project/32/3138/3138.pdf#page=4 Tamil Times 4-5 IV 715 May 1985 Tamil-Muslim clashes or State-directed violence against Tamils? 1 3 Tamil Information 8 https://padippakam.com/document/tamilinfomation/tamilinfomation_05_85.pdf Shops were also looted and several Hindu temples were destroyed including a temple of Pattini, where the idols were broken.Tharmalingam K.N. November 2003 New Year's Bloody Dawn: Karativu 1985 Northeastern Herald https://tamilnation.org/tamileelam/muslims/0310karativu.htm According to Ismail, 11 people were killed and 40 hospitalised during the ensuing violence on these three days. Several politicians including K. W. Devanayagam, the Minister of Home Affairs, accused outside forces of instigating the violence. Minister S. Thondaman told the Cabinet that "7 lorries and 2 jeeps filled with thugs had gone from Colombo to the Eastern Province to provoke trouble." Muslim politician A. L. Abdul Majeed stated that certain politicians were trying to provoke ethnic conflict between the two communities who had coexisted peacefully for centuries and urged Muslims to be vigilant. Aftermath Following the Karaitivu violence, Muslims from villages near Karaitivu gave assistance to displaced Tamil victims and both communities desired to restore ethnic harmony. Frank Jayasinghe, a consultant to the International Center for Ethnic Studies, conducted an independent investigation into the 12–14 April violence and reported involvement of some STF personnel. On 17 April 1985, a further 27 Tamil civilians in the area were murdered by the STF. Tamil militants also launched a series of retaliatory attacks on Muslims in the east with the Batticaloa District being the worst affected, although all militant groups denied any involvement.Hellmann-Rajanayagam Dagmar 1986 The Tamil "Tigers" in Northern Sri Lanka: Origins, Factions, Programmes https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/iaf/article/view/2016 Internationales Asienforum 17 1-2 77-79 10.11588/IAF.1986.17.2016 See also List of attacks on civilians attributed to Sri Lankan government forces Kalmunai massacre References Category:Massacres in 1985 Category:Attacks on civilians attributed to the Sri Lanka Army Category:1980s massacres in the Sri Lankan civil war Category:Massacres of Sri Lankan Tamils Category:Sri Lankan government forces attacks in Eelam War I Category:Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1985 Category:Persecution of Hindus by Muslims Category:April 1985 in Sri Lanka