Fablewings › Sri Lankan history › Part 14

Republic, Rupture and War (1972–1990)

In 1972 Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka. Within eighteen years the island had a new constitution, an executive president, an open economy, a Tamil separatist insurgency, an Indian army on its soil and a second JVP uprising in the south. This era is among the most disputed in the book, so figures are given as ranges with their sources.

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A new republic and a new grievance (1972–1976)

The United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, elected in May 1970, rewrote the constitution and reshaped education and land. Tamil parties, shut out of the drafting, moved from asking for federalism towards demanding a separate state.

1972: the First Republican Constitution

On 22 May 1972 a new constitution, drafted by Parliament sitting as a Constituent Assembly, came into force. Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka and stayed in the Commonwealth. The Senate was abolished and a single National State Assembly held sovereignty. A largely ceremonial president replaced the governor-general, while real power stayed with the prime minister and cabinet.

1972: Buddhism, language and minority protections

The constitution gave Buddhism “the foremost place” while promising protection to other religions, and confirmed Sinhala as the official language.

The politicsBritannica and the US Library of Congress country study both note Tamil opposition to these clauses. Tamil parties also objected that the Soulbury Constitution's minority safeguard (section 29) was not carried over. Supporters saw a long-delayed break with colonial law.

Standardisation: the numbers

The policy is one of the most cited causes of Tamil youth radicalisation.

What the sources sayFrom 1971 Tamil-medium pupils needed higher marks than Sinhala-medium ones; from 1972 district quotas were added. Figures quoted by scholars show the Northern Province's share of science entrants fell from 27.5% in 1969 to about 7% in 1974. Historian C.R. de Silva (Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences, 1978) found the main burden fell on Ceylon Tamils. K.M. de Silva judged it deeply damaging to ethnic relations.

Standardisation: who lost, who gained

Standardisation is often remembered only as an anti-Tamil measure. The record is more complicated.

Myth and correctionThe Western Province's share of science admissions also fell, from 67.5% in 1969 to 27% in 1974, hurting urban Sinhalese, Christian and Muslim pupils. Rural Sinhalese districts gained. Defenders called it fairness for poor districts; Tamil critics saw it as closing the one route to advancement left to Jaffna's youth.

1973: courts, oil and a turn towards separation

The Language of the Courts Act was passed on 23 March 1973. Later that year the world oil crisis hit an import-dependent economy: devaluation, inflation and food shortages followed. In September 1973 a Federal Party convention at Mallakam adopted a resolution moving the party from federalism towards a separate Tamil state.

1974: the Tamil Research Conference deaths

On 10 January 1974, the last day of the Fourth International Tamil Research Conference in Jaffna, police action at a crowded public meeting was followed by panic and electrocution from a fallen power line.

What the sources sayAccounts differ on the toll: Tamil chronologies give nine dead, other summaries eleven. Jaffna's mayor, Alfred Duraiappah of the governing SLFP, was blamed by Tamil nationalists for how it was handled.

1975: the killing of Alfred Duraiappah

On 27 July 1975 Alfred Duraiappah, Mayor of Jaffna from 1970 and the SLFP's chief organiser in the district, was shot dead as he arrived at the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Ponnalai. He had steered government funds into Jaffna, and militants saw him as a collaborator. In 1978 the LTTE claimed the killing. It is usually treated as the first major killing by the new militants.

1976: the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

In 1976 the Tamil New Tigers renamed themselves the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), with Prabhakaran, then 22, as leader.

What the sources sayDates differ: a Tamil chronology gives 5 April 1976 for the founding, while a 1978 notice in the Virakesari newspaper gave 5 May 1976 for the change of name. Its forerunner, the Tamil New Tigers, is traced to 1972 or 1974. The group was tiny and almost unknown outside Jaffna.

1976: the Vaddukoddai Resolution

On 14 May 1976, at Pannakam in the Vaddukoddai constituency, a convention chaired by S.J.V. Chelvanayakam turned the TUF into the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). It unanimously called for a “free, sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil Eelam”, citing language policy, Buddhism's status, education and detentions without trial.

Vaddukoddai: mandate or ultimatum?

A week later, on 21 May, A. Amirthalingam and other TULF leaders were arrested in Jaffna.

The politicsTamil nationalists treat the resolution as the founding statement of the Eelam demand. Many Sinhala politicians read it as open separatism. Some scholars see it partly as a bargaining position by older leaders trying to keep control of angrier youth.

Landslide and the open economy (1977–1982)

In 1977 the voters threw out the United Front. J.R. Jayewardene's United National Party used its huge majority to write a new constitution, open the economy and reshape the state, while violence in the north grew.

1977: the July general election

At the election of 21 July 1977 the UNP won 140 of 168 seats with 50.9% of the vote. The SLFP fell from 91 seats to 8, though it took about 30% of votes. The TULF, fighting on the Vaddukoddai platform, won 18 seats. The LSSP and Communist Party were wiped out.

1977: why the result was so lopsided

Unemployment near 15%, shortages and the delayed election all hurt the government.

The politicsFirst-past-the-post turned half the votes into five-sixths of the seats. With 18 seats, the TULF became the official opposition and A. Amirthalingam Leader of the Opposition, the first time a Tamil party held that position. The TULF called its northern win a mandate for Eelam; the government rejected that reading.

1977: the open economy

The new government quickly loosened import and exchange controls, welcomed foreign investment and aid, and pressed ahead with large projects such as the accelerated Mahaweli irrigation and hydropower programme. The changes brought growth, jobs and imported goods. Historians also note rising inequality, renewed inflation and pressure on the urban poor.

1977: violence after the vote

Clashes followed the election in late July. From mid-August a far worse wave of anti-Tamil violence spread across the island, with killings, arson and looting. Many Tamils living in the south fled to the north and east, which began to look to them like the only safe homeland.

1977: how many died?

On 9 November 1977 a presidential commission under former Chief Justice M.C. Sansoni was appointed to inquire into events of 13 August to 15 September 1977. It reported in July 1980.

What the sources saySansoni blamed the violence chiefly on Sinhalese reaction to separatist demands, militant attacks and Tamil campaign rhetoric; Tamil writers and others called the report biased towards the government. A government figure cited by Asoka Bandarage gives 125 dead (97 of them Tamils); scholars such as Robert Kearney estimate about 300 Tamils killed.

1978: the Second Republican Constitution

Adopted in August, the new constitution took effect on 7 September 1978 and renamed the country the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. It created an executive president and a parliament, each with six-year terms, and introduced proportional representation. Tamil was recognised as a national language, with Sinhala the official language.

1978: a strong president

Jayewardene argued that a powerful executive was needed for rapid development.

The politicsCritics, then and since, say the system concentrated too much power in one office, weakened Parliament and made the president hard to hold to account. Defenders point to proportional representation as fairer to minorities and small parties. The debate over abolishing the executive presidency continues today.

1979: emergency and the Prevention of Terrorism Act

In July 1979 a state of emergency was declared in Jaffna district. On 19 July the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Bill was introduced and passed the same day (Act No. 48 of 1979). It gave police wide powers of arrest and long detention without trial.

The PTA: security tool or source of abuse?

The PTA was meant to be temporary but remained in force through the war and after.

What the sources sayAmnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists criticised it for allowing long detention without charge and the use of confessions made in custody. Successive governments said it was needed against armed groups. Its repeal or reform remains a recurring demand of rights groups.

1980: Sirimavo Bandaranaike loses her civic rights

A Special Presidential Commission investigated alleged abuses of power under the United Front. On 16 October 1980 Parliament voted 139 to 18 to strip Sirimavo Bandaranaike of her civic rights for seven years, barring her from elections. Jayewardene restored them by decree in January 1986.

1981: the Jaffna Public Library burns

After gunmen killed two policemen at a TULF rally on 31 May, police and others rampaged through Jaffna. On the night of 31 May–1 June 1981 the Jaffna Public Library was set on fire. About 97,000 books and manuscripts, including palm-leaf texts, were destroyed, according to its retired chief librarian. The TULF headquarters, a newspaper office and shops were also burned. Four civilians were reported killed in the wider violence.

Who burned the library?

For Tamils the fire became a symbol of cultural destruction.

What the sources sayNancy Murray (Race & Class, 1984) wrote that two cabinet ministers were in Jaffna while uniformed and plain-clothes men carried out organised destruction. The government denied direction from above, and Amnesty found no independent inquiry was held. In 2016 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe apologised in Parliament on behalf of his party: “We know it was wrong.” The rebuilt library reopened in 2004.

The library in flames

Jaffna's library, one of South Asia's finest, burned in 1981. Rebuilt after 2000, it reopened in 2004, though many rare items were lost for ever.

1982: the first presidential election

The Third Amendment (August 1982) let Jayewardene seek re-election early. On 20 October 1982 he won 52.9% of the vote to 39.1% for the SLFP's Hector Kobbekaduwa, with turnout above 80%. Rohana Wijeweera of the JVP came third with about 4%; Kumar Ponnambalam of the Tamil Congress took 2.7%.

1982: the referendum

On 22 December 1982 voters approved, by referendum, extending the life of the 1977 Parliament to 1989 instead of holding a general election. The Fourth Amendment followed on 23 December.

The politicsThe government argued stability. Opponents said it kept a five-sixths majority that a proportional election would have cut. Many historians see it as a weakening of democratic checks.
Timeline: 1977–1982
21 July 1977 — UNP wins 140 of 168 seats; TULF becomes opposition
Aug 1977 — Anti-Tamil riots across the island
4 Feb 1978 — Jayewardene becomes first executive president
7 Sept 1978 — Second Republican Constitution in force
19 July 1979 — Prevention of Terrorism Act passed
31 May–1 June 1981 — Jaffna Public Library burned
22 Dec 1982 — Referendum extends Parliament to 1989

Black July (1983)

In July 1983 an ambush in Jaffna was followed by a week of anti-Tamil violence in Colombo and other towns. Black July turned a low-level insurgency into a war and sent Tamils abroad in large numbers.

23 July 1983: the Thirunelveli ambush

Late on 23 July 1983 LTTE fighters ambushed an army patrol, code-named Four Four Bravo, near Thirunelveli in Jaffna. A roadside bomb hit the lead jeep and soldiers were then shot and grenaded. Thirteen soldiers died at once and the toll is sometimes given as fifteen. LTTE commander Kittu later said he planned it.

Why Thirunelveli?

The ambush followed the killing of a senior LTTE fighter, Charles Anthony, earlier that month.

What the sources sayTamil accounts also link it to the alleged rape of schoolgirls by soldiers. Tamil sources, citing Patricia Hyndman (1988), say soldiers killed dozens of Tamil civilians in Jaffna the next day. These reprisal killings were barely reported in the south.

24–30 July 1983: violence in Colombo

On the night of 24 July, as the soldiers' bodies were brought to Colombo, rioting began. Over the following days mobs attacked Tamils and burned Tamil homes, shops and factories in Colombo and other towns. Britannica calls them organised anti-Tamil riots. Many survivors described mobs carrying electoral lists to find Tamil addresses.

25 and 27 July 1983: Welikada prison

On 25 July Tamil prisoners at Welikada prison in Colombo, most held under the PTA, were attacked and killed by Sinhalese inmates with knives and clubs. A second attack followed on 27 July. Accounts commonly give 53 dead across the two days, though some list higher totals. Amnesty reported that cell doors were deliberately left open. Among the dead was the militant leader Kuttimani.

Black July: how many died?

Death tolls are disputed, and different bodies counted differently.

What the sources sayThe government at first put the toll at about 300, and a presidential commission set up under the later People's Alliance government found nearly 300 dead and about 18,000 premises destroyed. NGOs and international agencies give 400–3,000. The Tamil Centre for Human Rights gives 5,638. Most scholars use a range of several hundred to about 3,000.

Black July: organised or spontaneous?

On 30 July the government blamed a leftist plot and banned the JVP, the Nava Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party.

What the sources sayPaul Sieghart, reporting for the International Commission of Jurists, called the attacks “a series of deliberate acts, executed in accordance with a concerted plan.” The ICJ Review (December 1983) said they amounted to acts of genocide. Historians have found little evidence of a JVP plot; the ban helped push the JVP underground.

1983: refugees at home and abroad

About 150,000 people were made homeless. Government shelters in Colombo held some 20,000 Tamils at first and around 50,000 at the peak. Many were moved north by ship and road. Others fled across the Palk Strait to Tamil Nadu, where India set up refugee camps.

August 1983: the Sixth Amendment

In August 1983 Parliament passed the Sixth Amendment, which banned advocating a separate state and required MPs to swear an oath against it (it was passed on 4 August and certified on 8 August). TULF MPs refused the oath and lost their seats. Several leaders moved to Madras.

The Sixth Amendment's effect

The amendment aimed to defeat separatism by law.

The politicsMost historians, Sinhala and Tamil alike, judge that it removed the main parliamentary voice of Tamil nationalism and handed the initiative to armed groups. Supporters said a state could not let its parliament host a secessionist party. After 1983, Tamil politics was increasingly led from the gun.

1983 onwards: the Tamil diaspora

Emigration rose sharply after Black July. Doctors, engineers and other professionals left first; poorer families followed, often selling land to pay for travel and seeking asylum. Canada, above all Toronto, became the largest destination; Britain, France, Germany and Switzerland also took large numbers.

India arms the militants

After 1983 India, under Indira Gandhi, allowed Tamil militant groups to base themselves in Tamil Nadu.

What the sources sayIndian officials' memoirs, including J.N. Dixit's Assignment Colombo (1998), and the Jain Commission reports describe training and arming of groups such as the LTTE, TELO, EPRLF and PLOTE by India's intelligence agency, RAW. India's motives mixed sympathy in Tamil Nadu with unease at Colombo's Western ties.
Timeline: 1983
23 July — LTTE ambush at Thirunelveli kills 13 soldiers
24 July — Reprisals in Jaffna; rioting begins in Colombo
25 and 27 July — Tamil prisoners killed in Welikada prison
30 July — JVP and two left parties proscribed
Aug — Sixth Amendment; TULF MPs lose their seats
1983 onward — Large-scale Tamil emigration begins

War without a name (1984–1986)

Between 1984 and 1986 the conflict spread across the north and east. Militant groups multiplied, the army grew, civilians on all sides became targets, and India tried to broker talks.

1984: talks and kidnappings

An All Party Conference opened on 10 January 1984 but produced no settlement. On 10 May an American couple, Stanley and Mary Allen, were kidnapped in Jaffna by the EPRLF's armed wing and freed days later. On 30 November LTTE fighters attacked Kent and Dollar Farms, settlements in Mullaitivu district, killing about 60–80 people, mostly Sinhalese settlers including women and children, by most accounts; the LTTE claimed the victims were armed settlers.

14 May 1985: Anuradhapura

On 14 May 1985 gunmen drove into Anuradhapura and opened fire on civilians, including monks, nuns and worshippers at the Sri Maha Bodhi shrine. About 146 Sinhalese were killed, by the most cited count. The same group reportedly killed 24 Wildlife Department staff in Wilpattu National Park. It was one of the deadliest attacks on civilians of the war to that point.

Anuradhapura: who was responsible?

Most accounts attribute the attack to the LTTE.

What the sources sayState intelligence reportedly found that Prabhakaran ordered it; the LTTE's defenders called it revenge for an army massacre of about 70 civilians at Valvettithurai days earlier. EROS first claimed it and then withdrew the claim. No Tamil militant group has formally admitted responsibility. Sources include Rohan Gunaratna's Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka (1993) and contemporary Time and Los Angeles Times reports.

1985: the Thimphu talks

India brought the government and Tamil groups to Thimphu, Bhutan, in two rounds: 8–12 July and 12–17 August 1985.

The politicsThe Tamil delegations set out four principles: recognition of Tamils as a nation, a Tamil homeland, Tamil self-determination and citizenship for all Tamils in the island. Colombo said these threatened a unitary state. Tamil delegates walked out on 17 August.

1986: rights restored, rivals crushed

In January 1986 Sirimavo Bandaranaike's civic rights were restored. The Tenth Amendment (6 August 1986) removed the two-thirds requirement for proclamations under the Public Security Ordinance. In the north, armed groups fought each other; the LTTE moved against rivals such as TELO and emerged as the strongest Tamil force in Jaffna.

When did the war begin?

Popular histories often date the civil war to 23 July 1983.

Myth and correctionThat date is a convenient marker, not a clean start. Militant killings began in the mid-1970s, and serious fighting grew over 1984–86. Many writers call 1983–1987 ‘Eelam War I’, a label first used by Tamil militants and later adopted by journalists and the military. Each choice of start date carries a different story.

India steps in (1987)

In 1987 the army launched its largest offensive yet, India intervened, and the two governments signed an accord that brought Indian troops to the island and a new provincial system. The year ended with India fighting the LTTE.

26 May 1987: Operation Liberation

On 26 May 1987 the army began Operation Liberation to retake Vadamarachchi, the LTTE's heartland on the Jaffna peninsula. Brigades led by Denzil Kobbekaduwa and Vijaya Wimalaratne took the area by early June. The army lost 33 killed and 182 wounded, its heaviest losses in one operation to that point.

4 June 1987: Operation Poomalai

India tried to send relief to Jaffna by boat on 3 June, but the Sri Lankan navy turned the flotilla back. On 4 June five Indian Air Force An-32 transports, escorted by Mirage 2000 fighters, dropped about 22–25 tonnes of food and medicine over the peninsula. Jayewardene halted the push on Jaffna town.

Poomalai: aid or warning?

India's External Affairs Ministry called the drop humanitarian help for the people of Jaffna.

What the sources sayColombo condemned it as a violation of sovereignty. Indian military historians (Bharat Rakshak) and most scholars read it as a signal that India would not let Jaffna fall. It drew support across India's political spectrum and helped push Colombo towards negotiation.

5 July 1987: Nelliady

On the night of 5 July 1987 an LTTE fighter known as Captain Miller drove a truck packed with explosives into the army camp at Nelliady school in Vadamarachchi. It was the first suicide attack by the LTTE's ‘Black Tigers’. The LTTE claimed over 100 soldiers killed; official figures were far lower. True numbers remain unknown.

29 July 1987: the Indo–Sri Lanka Accord

In Colombo on 29 July 1987 Jayewardene and India's Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed the Indo–Sri Lanka Accord. It offered devolution through provincial councils, a temporary merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces subject to a later referendum in the east, recognition of Tamil as an official language, and Indian troops to guarantee a ceasefire.

The accord's enemies

The accord satisfied almost no one fully.

The politicsMany Sinhalese saw it as an Indian imposition; protests turned to rioting and a curfew was imposed in the south. On 30 July a naval rating, Vijitha Rohana, struck at Rajiv Gandhi with his rifle during the guard of honour. The JVP made opposition to the accord the centre of its revolt. The LTTE, not a signatory, agreed only reluctantly to hand over weapons.

September–October 1987: the accord breaks

On 26 September the LTTE's Thileepan died after a hunger strike demanding changes to the accord's implementation. On 5 October twelve LTTE cadres in military custody swallowed cyanide when the government sought to take them to Colombo. The LTTE then turned on the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), and India began a full offensive.

October 1987: the battle for Jaffna

India's offensive, Operation Pawan, aimed to take Jaffna and disarm the LTTE. It met fierce resistance; an early helicopter assault near Jaffna University suffered heavy losses. On 22 October more than 70 people, including patients and staff, were killed when IPKF troops entered Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

The IPKF: what the sources say

The IPKF's record is judged very differently in India, Colombo and Jaffna.

What the sources sayIndian commanders' accounts (Depinder Singh, 1992; S.C. Sardeshpande, 1992) stress an unclear mission. The Broken Palmyra (Hoole and others, 1990) records abuses by the IPKF, the LTTE and other groups. India's defence minister George Fernandes said in 1999 that 1,165 Indian personnel were killed and 3,009 wounded. Peak strength is given as about 80,000–100,000.

14 November 1987: the Thirteenth Amendment

On 14 November 1987 Parliament passed the Thirteenth Amendment and the Provincial Councils Act. Provincial councils were created across the island, Tamil became an official language and English a link language. The amendment remains the legal basis of devolution in Sri Lanka, though many of its powers were never fully exercised.

Terror in the south (1987–1989)

While India fought the LTTE in the north, the JVP waged an insurrection in the Sinhala south. The state's response, by security forces and paramilitary death squads, produced one of the worst records of enforced disappearance in the world. Southerners remember it as the Bheeshanaya, the ‘time of terror’.

The JVP's second insurrection

The revolt began with a raid on Pallekele army camp in April 1987; a grenade attack in Parliament followed on 18 August. The JVP presented itself as defender of the nation against India and the accord. Its armed wing, the Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (Patriotic People's Movement), killed police, soldiers, officials, UNP and left-wing activists and people defying its strikes and curfews. Estimates of its killings run into the thousands but vary widely.

16 February 1988: Vijaya Kumaratunga

On 16 February 1988 Vijaya Kumaratunga, the popular film star and SLMP leader who backed the accord and a peaceful settlement, was shot dead outside his home near Colombo. The accused gunman reportedly said in a statement that the JVP had hired him. Days later his allies formed the United Socialist Alliance.

Who ordered the killing?

The Kumaratunga killing remains politically charged.

What the sources sayA presidential commission set up after his widow Chandrika Kumaratunga came to power reported in 1996. It rejected the confession and found a prima facie case of indirect involvement against Ranasinghe Premadasa (then prime minister) and minister Ranjan Wijeratne, both dead by then. Critics, including the journal Pravada, said it lacked direct evidence and ignored JVP threats. Many historians still attribute the killing to the JVP.

1988: provincial councils and the merger

Provincial council elections began on 28 April 1988. The Fourteenth Amendment (May) enlarged Parliament to 225 seats. In September the Northern and Eastern Provinces were merged temporarily by proclamation. The EPRLF, a group allied with India, won the North-Eastern Provincial Council election in November under IPKF protection, while the LTTE stayed outside.

1988: immunity for the security forces

The Indemnity (Amendment) Act of 1988 gave immunity to security forces and officials for acts done “in good faith” between 1 August 1977 and 16 December 1988. Amnesty International later pointed out that it could be used as a defence in disappearance cases. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Amendments of 17 December 1988 changed election rules and made Sinhala and Tamil languages of administration.

19 December 1988: Premadasa elected

At the presidential election of 19 December 1988 Ranasinghe Premadasa (UNP) won 50.4% of the vote against Sirimavo Bandaranaike's 45.0% and the SLMP's Ossie Abeygunasekera with 4.6%. Turnout was only about 55%. The JVP tried to wreck the poll with bombings, killings and threats, and in parts of the south polling stations stood empty.

1989: talking to the Tigers

Premadasa wanted the Indians gone. On 12 April he offered a ceasefire; on 5 May talks with the LTTE began in Colombo, and on 28 June both sides announced a cessation of hostilities. On 18 September India and Sri Lanka agreed that the IPKF would withdraw. Critics later alleged that the government supplied arms to the LTTE to fight the IPKF.

1989: the counter-insurgency

From mid-1989, with a nationwide state of emergency, the security forces and paramilitary groups such as the ‘Black Cats’ answered JVP terror with mass arrests, torture and killings. Bodies, some burned on tyres, appeared on roadsides, beaches and rivers. Detention centres such as Batalanda near Colombo later became the subject of a commission of inquiry.

13 November 1989: the death of Wijeweera

Rohana Wijeweera was arrested at Ulapane in the hill country, where he had lived on a tea estate under another name. On 13 November 1989 the government announced that he had been shot dead. Most of the JVP leadership was killed within weeks, and the insurrection collapsed by early 1990.

Wijeweera's death: three versions

Official accounts did not agree with each other.

What the sources sayThe army said he was shot in a clash while helping locate a safe house. The defence minister said a fellow detainee shot him. The foreign minister said the army then fired, killing both. It is widely believed he was killed in custody; rumours that he was burned alive have never been proved.

How many disappeared? (1)

Exact numbers will probably never be known.

What the sources sayCases reported to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances rose from 145 in 1987 and 182 in 1988 to 5,027 in 1989 and 4,777 in 1990, mostly from the south. By 1999 the Working Group had received 12,258 Sri Lankan cases, and Sri Lanka had the second-largest number of unclarified cases on its list.

How many disappeared? (2)

Three regional presidential commissions were appointed in 1994 to cover removals after 1 January 1988.

What the sources sayThey investigated 27,526 complaints and found evidence of disappearance in 16,742 cases (reports September 1997). A fourth commission found 4,052 more cases proven. Amnesty International estimated at least 60,000 disappeared in the counter-insurgency, and a European Community group gave a similar figure of 60,000.

Who were the victims?

The victims were overwhelmingly young Sinhalese men.

The politicsCommission evidence, reported by IPS, showed many were not JVP members but relatives, friends or political opponents of the ruling party. The commissions named almost 4,000 suspected perpetrators, among them soldiers, police and politicians, according to the UN Working Group, but prosecutions were rare. The Embilipitiya case, where 32 schoolboys and others disappeared from an army camp in 1989–90, was a notable exception.

The Indians leave, the war returns (1990)

In 1990 the IPKF left, the ceasefire with the LTTE collapsed, and the east saw massacres of Tamils and Muslims. In October the LTTE expelled the entire Muslim population of the north.

February 1990: Richard de Zoysa

In February 1990 the journalist and actor Richard de Zoysa was abducted from his Colombo home and killed; his body was found on a beach. His mother, Dr Manorani Saravanamuttu, campaigned for justice and for the families of the disappeared. Amnesty also recorded villagers abducted and killed at Wavulkele in Gampaha that month.

24 March 1990: the last Indian troops leave

The last IPKF troops left Sri Lanka on 24 March 1990, ending a deployment that began in July 1987. The North-Eastern Provincial Council, run by the EPRLF, collapsed, and many of its members left with the Indians. The LTTE moved in to take over much of the north and east.

June 1990: Eelam War II begins

The 13-month ceasefire collapsed on 10–11 June 1990. The LTTE surrounded police stations in the east, and on government orders many officers surrendered after being promised safe conduct. Estimates of the police then killed range from about 600 to 774. UTHR(J) attributes the decision to a local LTTE commander rather than the top leadership.

3 August 1990: Kattankudy

On 3 August 1990, during evening prayers, about 30 gunmen entered mosques in Kattankudy, a Muslim town near Batticaloa, and opened fire. At least 147 men and boys were killed, according to UTHR(J). On 11–12 August between about 116 and 173 Muslims were killed at Eravur nearby. The government, survivors and observers blamed the LTTE for both.

Kattankudy: the LTTE's denial

The LTTE denied involvement in both massacres and never withdrew the denial.

What the sources sayIt accused the government of staging the attacks to divide Tamils and Muslims. In 2015 former eastern commander Karuna said the leadership had not sanctioned Kattankudy. Killings of Muslims and of Tamils had been rising in the east since June. Tamil leader R. Sampanthan later called the failure to apologise a mistake and apologised to Muslims himself.

August 1990: reprisals against Tamils

In the weeks after Kattankudy, Tamil villages in the east were attacked in turn.

What the sources sayCompilations based on press and UTHR(J) reports list massacres of Tamil civilians by Muslim mobs and home guards, sometimes with security forces, at places including Thiraikkerny, Oluvil and Kudurippu, with about 322 Tamils killed in two weeks. Figures come mostly from Tamil and human-rights sources and cannot be fully checked.

September 1990: Sathurukondan and Eastern University

On 9 September 1990 184 Tamil civilians from Sathurukondan and neighbouring villages near Batticaloa, including children, were killed after being taken to an army camp, according to a later presidential commission under K. Palakidnar. Days earlier, on 5 September, about 158 people were taken from the Eastern University refugee camp and disappeared. Rights groups recorded many more disappearances in the east that year.

October 1990: the expulsion of the northern Muslims

From 15 October 1990, starting in Chavakachcheri, the LTTE ordered all Muslims to leave the Northern Province. Many were given 48 hours, in Jaffna reportedly only two, and allowed about 500 rupees and some clothing. By 30 October Muslims had been driven from Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and parts of Vavuniya.

The expulsion: numbers and memory

Estimates of those expelled range from about 70,000 to over 90,000; 75,000 is the most cited figure.

What the sources sayMost went to camps in Puttalam district, where tens of thousands remained displaced for decades. A Citizens' Commission report, The Quest for Redemption (2011), documented the eviction. Muslims call it ‘Black October’.

Black October

Muslim families left Jaffna and Mannar in 1990 with almost nothing. Many spent decades in Puttalam's camps; return began only after the war.

Timeline: 1990
24 March — Last IPKF troops leave Sri Lanka
10–11 June — Ceasefire collapses; police killed in the east
3 Aug — Kattankudy mosque massacre; Eravur follows on 11–12 Aug
9 Sept — Sathurukondan massacre near Batticaloa
Sept — Army withdraws from Jaffna Fort
15–30 Oct — LTTE expels Muslims from the Northern Province

Looking back: Republic, Rupture and War

Historians now see 1972–1990 as the years when Sri Lanka's postcolonial settlement broke down. Constitutions, language and education policy, and the 1983 violence alienated many Tamils; militant groups answered with terror. India's intervention failed, and the southern insurrection and its suppression killed tens of thousands. Each community remembers its own wounds; a shared account is still being written.

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