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Tamil Genocide
தமிழர் இனப்படுகொலை
Part of Sri Lankan Civil War
Tamil Civilians are being displaced from parts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts as a result of the Sri Lanka Army's military offensive in September 2008.
Location Sri Lanka
Target Sri Lankan Tamils
Attack type
 Genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, mass shooting, hate crime shelling, hostage taking, forced disappearance, denial of humanitarian aid, summary execution, rape, land grabbing, colonization
Deaths1956-2009: 154,022 to 253,818 Tamil civilians killed: [1]
  • 1956-2001: 79,155 Tamil civilians killed: 54,044 killed + 25,266 disappeared forever (TCHR, 2004) [2]
  • 2002-2008 Dec: 4,867 Tamil civilians killed: 3,545 killed + 1,322 disappeared forever (Pro-rebel NESOHR) [3]
  • 2009 Jan-May: 169,796 Tamil civilians killed (ITJP, 2021) [4]
  • 2009 Jan-May Tamil civilians killed & unaccounted: 40,000 [5] to 70,000 ( UN) [6] [7]
Injured1956-2004: 61,132 Tamil civilians [2]
Victims1956-2004: Tamil civilians [2]
  • Raped: 12,437 women
  • Arrest/Torture: 112,246
  • Displaced: 2,390,809
Perpetrators Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Armed Forces, Sri Lankan government, Sri Lanka Police, Sinhalese mobs
MotiveAnti-Tamil sentiment, Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism, Sinhalisation
Part of a series on
Genocide
Issues
15th–19th century genocides
Early 20th century genocides
World War II (1939–1945)
Cold War (1940s–1991)
Contemporary genocides
Related topics
Category

The Tamil genocide, also known as the Sri Lankan Tamil genocide, or the Eelam Tamil genocide, refers to the various acts of physical violence and cultural destruction committed against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka during the ethnic conflict, particularly the Sri Lankan civil war. Various commenters have accused the Sri Lankan state of responsibility for and complicity in Tamil genocide and point to state-sponsored settler colonialism, state-backed pogroms, and mass killings, enforced disappearances and sexual violence by the security forces as examples of genocidal acts. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] The conflict and its brutal end have sparked an international debate and they have also led to calls for accountability and justice. [14] [15] [16]

History

Land grabbing and Colonization

Main article: Sri Lankan state-sponsored colonisation schemes

The Sri Lankan military's control and domination of the Tamil population, along with systematic land grabs have been described as part of a "genocidal process that is destroying the land-based political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental foundations" of the Tamil community. [9] Sinhala Buddhist nationalists within the Sri Lankan government, Buddhist clergy and Mahaweli department have deliberately targeted the Tamil majority northeast for state sponsored Sinhala colonisation, with the explicit intention to take the land into "Sinhala hands" away from the Tamils, [17] and to disrupt the Tamil-speaking continuity between the north and east. [18] This resulted in a significant demographic shift, with the resettled farmers contributing to an increase in the Sinhalese population in the northeast dry zone, thus promoting Sinhala-Buddhist hegemony in the area. [19] Sinhalese settlers were provided with preferential access to land by the state in these regions, whilst the local Tamil speaking people were excluded from this privilege, [20] making them minorities in their own lands. [21]

Whilst empowering Sinhalese settlers, the scheme also served as a means to marginalize, exclude, and harm Tamil speaking minorities, treating them as the 'other'. [22] It has been perhaps the most immediate cause of inter-communal violence, [23] [24] [25] [26] with violent displacement of Tamil civilians to make way for Sinhalese settlers occurring several times. [27] [28] The University Teachers for Human Rights has described this as ethnic cleansing of Tamils occurring with the support of the government since the 1956 Gal Oya riots. [29] Following the end of war in 2009, Sinhalese officials and settlers in Weli Oya have expressed their desire to take more land further north in order to “make the Sinhala man the most present in all parts of the country”. [30]

Pogroms

Main articles: 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom, 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom, 1981 anti-Tamil pogrom, and Black July

There has been a series of virulent anti-Tamil pogroms in Sri Lanka, the most infamous of which, is the 1983 Black July pogrom, which killed more than 5000 Tamils in a single week. [2] [31] The NGO International Commission of Jurists described the violence of the pogrom as having "amounted to acts of genocide" in a report published in December 1983. [32] Although initially orchestrated by members of the ruling UNP, the pogrom soon escalated into mass violence with significant public participation. [33] [34] [35] [note 1] Til date no one has been held accountable for any of the crimes committed during the pogrom. [37]

Resistance Movement

The independence of Sri Lanka in 1948 marked the beginning of heightened ethnic tensions, as policies implemented by the Sinhalese-dominated government marginalized the Tamil population, leading to social, economic, and political disenfranchisement. [14] [9] This systemic discrimination sowed the seeds of unrest leading to resistance movements. [14] [9]

Civil Disobedience

Main articles: 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom and 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom

In 1956 and 1958, peaceful protests by Tamils against discrimination such as the Sinhala Only Act were met with anti-Tamil pogroms which killed hundreds. [38] [39] [40] In 1961, the Sinhalese army was brought to the Tamil areas to quell the peaceful protests by Tamils against the imposition of Sinhala language in the administration there. [41] The Tamil peaceful protesters were brutally beaten and arrested by the Sri Lankan Government. [41] [42] [43] [44] [45]

Armed struggle

The failure of peaceful protests led to the formation of several armed Tamil resistance movements, the most prominent of which was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). [14] They fought to create an independent Tamil state in the north-east of the island called Tamil Eelam in response to violent persecution and discriminatory policies against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan Government. [46] The subsequent 1983 Black July pogrom is generally seen as the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War between these armed movements and the government of Sri Lanka. [47] [48]

Mullivaikkal massacre

Main articles: Mullivaikkal massacre and White Flag incident

Mullivaikkal massacre was the mass killing of tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils in 2009 during the closing stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War ending in May 2009 in a tiny strip of land in Mullivaikkal, Mullaitivu. UN staff had been quoted as saying that by May 2009, up to a 1,000 Tamil civilians were being killed every day by the military. The number of civilians killed has been described as being "akin to genocide". [49] The Sri Lankan government designated a no fire zone in Mullivaikkal towards the end of the war. According to the UN, between 40,000–70,000 [50] entrapped Tamil civilians were killed by the actions of Sinhala Government Forces and LTTE, with the large majority of these civilian deaths being the result of indiscriminate shelling on the rebel held areas, including hospitals, UN hub and near a Red Cross ship by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] During the final days of the war, the Sinhala army also engaged in indiscriminate executions of Tamils, civilians as well as fighters who surrendered waving a white flag. [66] Indiscriminate massacres of civilians were carried out on May 18, 2009. [67] [68] A military whistleblower accused government forces of a subsequent cover up with bodies being buried in mass graves and chemicals being used to dissolve skeletons. [69] [70]

Eyewitness accounts

On 18 May 2010, Channel 4 News broadcast interviews with two Sri Lankan soldiers who claimed that they had been given orders from "the top" to summarily execute all ethnic Tamils, civilians as well as fighters. A senior commander claimed "the order would have been to kill everybody and finish them off..It is clear that such orders were...from the top". Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, President Rajapaksa's brother, was said to have given direct orders to army commanders at the battle front. It was also reported that Velupillai Prabhakaran's 13-year-old son Balachandran was interrogated by the Sri Lankan military before being shot. A front line soldier said "our commander ordered us to kill everyone. We killed everyone". The soldier claimed that the Tamils were tortured before being executed. Numerous photos taken by Sri Lankan soldiers showing dead bodies and Tamil prisoners were also shown in the broadcast. [71]

Protestors hold pictures of Tamil children who disappeared in the final days of the war after surrendering to the army. [72] [73]

One of the soldiers who served in the 58 Division of the Sri Lankan Army tearfully recounted the heinous crimes committed by fellow soldiers in 2009:

“They shoot people at random, stab people, rape them, cut their tongues out, cut women’s breasts off. I have witnessed all this with my own eyes.

I saw a lot of small children, who were so innocent, getting killed in large numbers. A large number of elders were also killed.

If they wanted to rape a Tamil girl, they could just beat her and do it. If her parents tried to stop them, they could beat them or kill them. It was their empire.

I saw the naked dead bodies of women without heads and other parts of their bodies. I saw a mother and child dead and the child’s body was without its head.” [74]

An army insider also witnessed indiscriminate massacres on May 18, 2009, and stated the following:

“I saw this shooting of surrenderees take place a number of times. A number of groups, some 50, some 75, some more than 25 would come forward and they would all be killed. That included children, small children, women and old people... This was widespread killing. If journalists were around then the civilians were allowed to surrender, but when the journalists were not around the orders were to kill everyone.” [75]

Aftermath

Forced Displacement

After the end of armed conflict, the persistent Sinhala militarization of conflict-affected areas has hindered efforts to find lasting solutions. In the fields of trade, tourism, agriculture, and fishing, the military has grown to be a significant economic force and a fierce rival to the native population, especially those who have returned. [76] Additionally, it has intervened in regions that are typically managed by civilians. It still occupies private land, making it difficult for Tamil residents who have been displaced to return. [76]

According to Tamil Center for Human Rights, from 1956 to 2004, 2.3 million Tamils have been displaced due to the war. [2] More than 115,000 internally displaced Tamils (IDPs) were still living in camps, host communities, or transit sites as of the end of September 2012, which is 3 years after the end of armed resistance movement. Many had also been forcibly moved against their will to locations other than their original homes. [76]

Massacres and killings

Main article: List of attacks on civilians attributed to Sri Lankan government forces

There were over 100 massacres of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan security forces throughout the civil war, resulting in the deaths and injuries of tens of thousands. It was estimated that by 1986 the security forces "had been killing an average of 233 Tamil civilians every month or about 7 a day". [77] [49] During a 1990 reprisal against the Tamil population of the eastern province, 3,000 Tamil civilians were massacred and hundreds of Tamil males were picked up and burned alive over a span of only few weeks in just two districts. [78] In December 1984 over 1200 Tamil civilians were massacred in just one month by the military. [79] In 1994 the genocide scholar Israel Charny used the concept of " genocidal massacre" to describe the Sri Lankan government rounding up some 5,000 Tamil civilians and executing them. [80]

Enforced disappearances

Main article: Enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka

Between 1995-1996, over 600 Tamils disappeared in Jaffna, hundreds of whom were said to have been buried by the Sri Lankan Army in mass graves in Chemmani. [81] [82] [83] In 2008, Human Rights Watch accused the Sri Lankan government of being responsible for "widespread abductions and disappearances" of hundreds of Tamils since the war resumed in 2006, with most feared dead. [84]

Sexual violence

Main article: Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka

Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka has occurred repeatedly during the island's long ethnic conflict. The first instances of rape of Tamil women by Sinhalese mobs were documented during the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom. [85] This continued in the 1960s with the deployment of the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna, who were reported to have molested and occasionally raped Tamil women. [86] Further rapes of Tamils were carried out by Sinhalese mobs during the 1977, 1981 and 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms. [87] [88] [89]

Following the outbreak of war, rape was used by the almost entirely Sinhalese Sri Lankan armed forces, [90] in an attempt to collectively punish the Tamil population, who were often seen as being supportive of the LTTE. [91] [92] [93] [note 2] Both Tamil females and males were targeted for rape, including children. [95] [96] [97]

Cultural destruction

Death toll

Several sources that track Tamil civilian killings between 1956 to 2009 estimate that between 154,022 and 253,818 Tamil civilians were killed by Sinhala dominated Sri Lanka Armed Forces over that time. [98]

According to the Tamil Center for Human Rights report in 2004, for the period of 1956 to 2001, 79,155 Tamil civilians were killed. This figure includes 54,044 dead and 25,266 disappeared forever. [2] The Sri Lankan military is known to have been killing an average of 233 Tamil civilians every month, or seven a day, in 1986. [99] [9] According to Pro-rebel NESOHR, from 2002-2008 Dec, 4,867 Tamil civilians were killed. This figure includes 3,545 dead and 1,322 disappeared forever. [3]

According to the UN's report in November 2012, a total of 70,000 Tamil civilians were unaccounted for the period of 2009 Jan to May. [6] [7]

In the year 2011, Bishop Joseph's team from Mannar said it believed there were as many as 146,000 Tamil people still unaccounted for during the last phase of fighting. [100] [5] According to International Truth and Justice Project's report in the year 2021, the final phase of the civil war in 2009 has resulted in the death of 169,796 Tamil civilians. [4]

UN response

In a 2012 internal review of its conduct during the last stages of the Sri Lankan civil war, the UN found that various UN agencies had failed to protect Tamil civilians at every level, particularly by withdrawing its staff from the war zone and by withholding evidence of widespread government shelling. [101] [102] Vijay Nambiar, then chief of staff under UN Secretary-General, implored Navi Pillay (High Commissioner for Human Rights) to dilute her statement on potential war crimes by the government, complaining that it put the LTTE and the government "on the same footing". [103] Commenting on Nambiar's statement that UN's role should be "compatible with the government," Francis Boyle, professor of international law, denounced the UN and its top officials as aiding and abetting Tamil genocide. [104] Vijay Nambiar's own brother Satish Nambiar was a consultant to the Sri Lankan government and had praised the Sri Lanka Army and its conduct of the war, in spite of all the civilians killed. [105] Louise Arbour, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, described the UN's conduct as having "verged on complicity". The UN's response was constrained by some of its powerful veto-wielding members such as China and Russia who shielded the Sri Lankan government. [106] In 2016 then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged UN's failures in Sri Lanka which he named along with Rwanda and Srebrenica as examples of its "never again" repeating itself. [107]

Recognition of Genocide

Permanent Peoples' Tribunal

Between 7-10 December 2013, the Rome-based Permanent Peoples' Tribunal held a Tribunal on Sri Lanka in Bremen, Germany to investigate accusations that the Sri Lankan government committed genocide against the Tamil people. The panel of 11 judges, which included experts in genocide studies such as Daniel Feierstein [ es], a professor in the faculty of Genocide at University of Buenos Aires, past UN officials, human rights activists and experts in international law, unanimously found Sri Lanka guilty of the crime of genocide. [11]

The Tribunal found that the evidence conclusively demonstrated, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Government of Sri Lanka committed the following genocidal acts: [11]

(a) Killing members of the group, which includes massacres, indiscriminate shelling, the strategy of herding civilians into so-called "No Fire Zones" for the purpose of mass killings, and targeted assassinations of prominent Tamil civil leaders who could expose the Sri Lankan genocide to the world.

(b) Inflicting serious bodily or mental harm on members of the group, including acts of torture, inhumane or degrading treatment, sexual violence such as rape, interrogations combined with beatings, threats of death, and harm that damages health or causes disfigurement or injury.

(c) Deliberately imposing conditions of life intended to bring about the group's physical destruction in whole or in part, including the expulsion of victims from their homes, seizure of private lands, and the declaration of vast areas as military High Security Zones (HSZ) to facilitate the military acquisition of Tamil land. [11]

Official recognition

In 2022, the Parliament of Canada unanimously adopted a motion to make May 18 as the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. [108] [109] To mark the first Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day on 18 May 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued the following statement:

"The stories of Tamil-Canadians affected by the conflict – including many I have met over the years in communities across the country – serve as an enduring reminder that human rights, peace, and democracy cannot be taken for granted. That’s why Parliament last year unanimously adopted the motion to make May 18 Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. Canada will not stop advocating for the rights of the victims and survivors of this conflict, as well as for all in Sri Lanka who continue to face hardship." [110]

A rally commemorating the Tamil Genocide in Melbourne, Australia

However, in an April 2023 interview with Bob Rae, the Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations Garnett Genuis clarified that a recognition of genocide by the House of Commons does not necessarily reflect an official position of the government of Canada. Rae said that he was not aware of Canada taking such a position. [111] In June 2023, the Daily Mirror claimed that the Canadian foreign ministry had privately told the Sri Lankan government that Canada "had not made any finding that genocide had taken place in Sri Lanka." [112]

In 21 June 2023, The Island reported that the Canadian High Commission in Sri Lanka confirmed that Prime Minister Trudeau's statement marking the first Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day reflected Canada's stance. [113]

Several U.S. legislators such as Wiley Nickel and Deborah Ross also recognize the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. [114]

On 12 April 2015, the Northern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka passed a resolution calling the UN to investigate the Tamil genocide and refer its findings to the International Criminal Court (ICC), stating that the Tamils had no faith in the domestic commission. [115] [116] [117]

Recognition of Black July

Main article: Black July

The late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi declared the Black July massacre to be a genocide against the Tamil people on August 14, 1983. [118] [119]

In December 1983, The Review, a publication of the International Commission of Jurists said: [119]

"The evidence points clearly to the conclusion that the violence of the Sinhala rioters on the Tamils amounted to acts of genocide."

Sri Lanka's reaction

Sri Lanka has responded to the statements which have been made by several world leaders including primarily Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In certain Sri Lankan government websites such as the one for the high commission of Sri Lanka in Singapore the government has stated Sri Lanka rejects the reference to Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day by the Canadian Prime Minister and that it is a distorted narrative of the past conflict in Sri Lanka is aimed solely at achieving local vote-bank electoral gains, and is not conducive to broader goals of communal harmony. [120]

Commemoration

Mullivaikkal memorial Jaffna prior to destruction.

Sri Lanka

In Jaffna, the northern province of Sri Lanka, a statue was erected to honor the memory of the victims of the conflict, particularly the events that unfolded in Mullivaikkal in May 2009. This statue served not only as a memorial but also as a symbol of the Tamil community's resilience and mourning. However, the memorial faced significant opposition and was destroyed, reflecting ongoing tensions and the contentious nature of memorializing the conflict within Sri Lanka.

The destruction of the statue sparked protests and outcry both locally and internationally, highlighting the deep scars left by the conflict and the importance of memorialization in the healing process. Efforts were made to rebuild the statue, namely public sit in protests and hunger protests. This act of reconstruction not only restored the physical monument but also served as a reaffirmation of the community's commitment to remembering the past and seeking justice. The rebuilding of the statue in Jaffna stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of the Tamil people and their continued struggle for recognition and reconciliation.

Tamil Genocide Memorial

The Tamil Genocide Memorial in Jaffna commemorates the lives lost during the Sri Lankan Civil War, particularly in its final stages in the area of Mullivaikkal.

India

Illuminated sculpture of Tamil Paavai (Tamil Goddess/Tamil Mother), at the entrance of Mullivaikal Muttram

The Mullivaikkal Memorial or Mullivaikkal Muttram is a memorial dedicated to the Mullivaikkal massacre, the killings of Tamil civilians during the final phase of the war between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lankan armed forces at Mullivaikkal in 2009. The Mullivaikal Memorial is in the Thanjavur District of the Tamil Nadu state in neighboring India. On 6 November 2013, the inauguration of the Mullivaikal Memorial took place. [121] One of the Tamil political party's leader Pazha Nedumaran and the World Tamil Confederation Trust he heads are the founders. [122]

Mauritius

Memorial Pillar at Mauritius

In honor of the Tamil citizens and LTTE soldiers, the mayor of Beau Bassin Rose Hill, Louis Andre Toussaint, in Mauritius, has constructed a pillar. It was constructed in response to the Mauritius Tamil Temple Federation's (MTTF) requests. The memorial's epitaph says:

"THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO THOSE 146,679 TAMILS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES INNOCENTLY AND 40,000 REPORTED LOST IN DEFENCE OF THEIR BELOVED MOTHERLAND IN SRI LANKA"

On top, the memorial has the Eelam Tamil ethnic National Flag on which it is written "Tamil Eelam" in Tamil letters. This memorial is located cated within the Beau Bassin Rose Hill Municipal Council's grounds, a short distance from the mayor's office. [123]

Canada

A Tamil Genocide Memorial to be built in Chinguacousy Park, in Brampton, Canada by 2025, the design was finalised in February 2024, after 3 years of delay. [124] [125]

Canadian Mayor Patrick Brown promised to build a monument after the Mullivaikkal memorial in Sri Lanka was torn down in January 2021. In recognition of the importance of memorialization for the Tamil diaspora, a proposal was made to build a Tamil Genocide Memorial in Brampton, Canada. The proposal aimed to provide a space for reflection, remembrance, and education, acknowledging the community's loss and resilience.

The initiative to erect the memorial in Brampton was met with both support and criticism. Proponents argue that it serves as a necessary acknowledgment of the atrocities faced by the Tamil population and as an educational tool for future generations. Critics, however, raise concerns about the potential for such memorials to foster division or impact diplomatic relations. Patirck Brown stated "While there might be some people trying to 'whitewash' history in Sri Lanka and rewrite history — we can't stand for that."

Tamil Genocide Education Week

In June 2020, Toronto District School Board (TDSB) approved a motion calling on the Ministry of Education to incorporate Genocide education as compulsory learning unanimously. [126] In this genocide education, Tamil genocide was included as a complimentary component. [127] Around the same time Vijay Thanigasalam, a Progressive Conservative MPP, tabled Ontario bill 104, also known as the 'Tamil Genocide Education Week Act'. The Bill states: 

"The seven-day period in each year ending on May 18 is proclaimed as Tamil Genocide Education Week. During that period, all Ontarians are encouraged to educate themselves about, and to maintain their awareness of, the Tamil genocide and other genocides that have occurred in world history."

This Bill was opposed by Sinhalese groups who took the Ontario Legislature to court. However, their constitutional challenge was dismissed as the Ontario judge, Justice Jasmine Akbarali, upheld Bill 104 in battle ‘over who gets to write the history of the war'. The court examined evidence and heard arguments from all parties in order to better determine whether or not what occurred amounted to a genocide of Tamils. Justice Jasmine Akbarali stated "The dominant characteristic of the law is to educate the public about what the Ontario Legislature has concluded is a Tamil genocide.” [128]

Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day

Mullivaikkal Remembrance day, 2016: Eelam Tamil women and children can be seen grieving in Mullivaikkal
Main article: Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day

Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day is a remembrance day observed on each 18th May by Sri Lankan Tamil people to remember those who died in the genocide during the Sri Lankan Civil War. It is held each year on 18 May, the date on which the civil war ended in 2009, and is named after Mullivaikkal, a village on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka which was the massacre scene of the final battle of the civil war.

In popular culture

Songs

Documentaries

Main article: List of films about the Tamil genocide

See also

Notes

  1. ^ George Immerwahr, a United Nations civil servant and U.S. citizen, recounted the following regarding the riots: “the most shattering report came from a [Sinhalese] friend who was a civil servant; he told me that he had himself helped plan the riots at the orders of his superiors. When I heard him say this, I was so shocked I told him I simply couldn't believe him, but he insisted he was telling the truth, and in fact he justified the government's decision to stage the riots. When I heard this, I telephoned an official in our own State Department, and while he declined to discuss the matter, I got the impression that he already knew from our Embassy in Colombo what I was telling him.” [36]
  2. ^ Rasika Kobbekaduwa, a former Sri Lankan military police officer told a UK court that he was taught to 'humiliate' opponents of the government regime through 'organised sexual assaults'. [94]

Citations

  1. ^ WP:CALC from below
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Recorded figures of Arrests, Killings, Disappearances". www.tchr.net. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Collection of NESoHR's Human Rights Reports 2005-2009" (PDF). NESHOR. p. 659-861.
  4. ^ a b Death Toll In Sri Lanka's 2009 War https://itjpsl.com/assets/ITJP_death_toll_A4_v6.pdf
  5. ^ a b "Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka". Refworld/ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. United Nations. 31 March 2011. p. 41. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Report of the Secretary-General's Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action in Sri Lanka". United Nations. November 2012. p. 14. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b Macrae, Callum (3 September 2013). "Sri Lanka: Slaughter in the no fire zone". The Guardian. London, U.K. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  8. ^ Kingsbury, Damien (2012). Sri Lanka and the Responsibility to Protect: Politics, Ethnicity and Genocide. Routledge. pp. 82–93. ISBN  978-0-415-58884-3.
  9. ^ a b c d e Short 2016, pp. 93–126.
  10. ^ MacDermot, Niall, ed. (December 1983). "THE REVIEW" (PDF). ICJ Review (32). International Commission of Jurists: 24.
  11. ^ a b c d Veerasingham, Ramanan (11 December 2013). "Sri Lanka guilty of genocide against Eelam Tamils with UK, US complicity: PPT". Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS). Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  12. ^ Harman, William (1 July 2021). "Dying to be Remembered: Tamil Warriors' Desecrated Burial Plots (Tuyilum Illam) in Sri Lanka's Civil War". Nidan: International Journal for Indian Studies. 6 (1): 66–87. doi: 10.36886/nidan.2021.6.1.5.
  13. ^ "Sexual Violence in Conflict: Sri Lanka". Tamil Guardian. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  14. ^ a b c d Waldock, Charlotte (26 June 2022). "The Tamilian Struggle For Justice In Sri Lanka: Acknowledging The Tamil Genocide". Human Rights Pulse. Human Rights Pulse, Make justice a priority. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Still No Justice on Sri Lanka War Anniversary | Human Rights Watch". 16 May 2023.
  16. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (22 June 2022). "'We want justice, not fuel': Sri Lanka's Tamils on north-south divide". the Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  17. ^ Bart Klem & Thiruni Kelegama (2020) Marginal placeholders: peasants, paddy and ethnic space in Sri Lanka’s post-war frontier, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 47:2, 346-365, DOI: 10.1080/03066150.2019.1572604
  18. ^ Thiruni Kelegama, April 10th, 2023, Development Gone Wrong: Sri Lanka at 75 https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2023/04/10/development-gone-wrong-sri-lanka-at-75/
  19. ^ Thiruni Kelegama, April 10th, 2023, Development Gone Wrong: Sri Lanka at 75 https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2023/04/10/development-gone-wrong-sri-lanka-at-75/
  20. ^ International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Shahul H. Hasbullah and Urs Geiser (2019), Negotiating access to land in eastern Sri Lanka, p.9
  21. ^ Thiruni Kelegama, April 10th, 2023, Development Gone Wrong: Sri Lanka at 75 https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2023/04/10/development-gone-wrong-sri-lanka-at-75/
  22. ^ Thiruni Kelegama, April 10th, 2023, Development Gone Wrong: Sri Lanka at 75 https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2023/04/10/development-gone-wrong-sri-lanka-at-75/
  23. ^ "Tamil Alienation". Country Studies Series: Sri Lanka. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. October 1988. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  24. ^ http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSRILANKA/Resources/App1.pdf%7Ctitle=The Root Causes of the Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka
  25. ^ http://mahaweli.gov.lk/en/pdf/Library/Implementtion%20Strategy%20Study%20-%20Volume%205.pdf%7Ctitle=[ permanent dead link] Mahaweli Ganga Development Program Implementation Strategy Study
  26. ^ Patrick Peebles (1990). "Colonization and Ethnic Conflict in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka". The Journal of Asian Studies. 49 (1): 30–55. doi: 10.2307/2058432. JSTOR  2058432. S2CID  153505636.
  27. ^ https://uthr.org/Rajani/Extracts%20from%20Chapter%209.htm
  28. ^ https://uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport5.htm
  29. ^ https://uthr.org/Rajani/Extracts%20from%20Chapter%209.htm
  30. ^ Kelegama, Thiruni and Benedikt Korf. 2023. ‘The lure of land: Peasant politics, frontier colonization and the cunning state in Sri Lanka’. Modern Asian Studies 57(6), pp. 2003–2017. https:// doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X22000506
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References

  • Short, Damien, ed. (2016). Redefining Genocide: Settler Colonialism, Social Death and Ecocide. London, UK: Zed Books. ISBN  978-1-84277-930-9.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default ( link)
Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Tamil_genocide&oldid=1224528178"
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tamil Genocide
தமிழர் இனப்படுகொலை
Part of Sri Lankan Civil War
Tamil Civilians are being displaced from parts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts as a result of the Sri Lanka Army's military offensive in September 2008.
Location Sri Lanka
Target Sri Lankan Tamils
Attack type
 Genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, mass shooting, hate crime shelling, hostage taking, forced disappearance, denial of humanitarian aid, summary execution, rape, land grabbing, colonization
Deaths1956-2009: 154,022 to 253,818 Tamil civilians killed: [1]
  • 1956-2001: 79,155 Tamil civilians killed: 54,044 killed + 25,266 disappeared forever (TCHR, 2004) [2]
  • 2002-2008 Dec: 4,867 Tamil civilians killed: 3,545 killed + 1,322 disappeared forever (Pro-rebel NESOHR) [3]
  • 2009 Jan-May: 169,796 Tamil civilians killed (ITJP, 2021) [4]
  • 2009 Jan-May Tamil civilians killed & unaccounted: 40,000 [5] to 70,000 ( UN) [6] [7]
Injured1956-2004: 61,132 Tamil civilians [2]
Victims1956-2004: Tamil civilians [2]
  • Raped: 12,437 women
  • Arrest/Torture: 112,246
  • Displaced: 2,390,809
Perpetrators Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Armed Forces, Sri Lankan government, Sri Lanka Police, Sinhalese mobs
MotiveAnti-Tamil sentiment, Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism, Sinhalisation
Part of a series on
Genocide
Issues
15th–19th century genocides
Early 20th century genocides
World War II (1939–1945)
Cold War (1940s–1991)
Contemporary genocides
Related topics
Category

The Tamil genocide, also known as the Sri Lankan Tamil genocide, or the Eelam Tamil genocide, refers to the various acts of physical violence and cultural destruction committed against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka during the ethnic conflict, particularly the Sri Lankan civil war. Various commenters have accused the Sri Lankan state of responsibility for and complicity in Tamil genocide and point to state-sponsored settler colonialism, state-backed pogroms, and mass killings, enforced disappearances and sexual violence by the security forces as examples of genocidal acts. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] The conflict and its brutal end have sparked an international debate and they have also led to calls for accountability and justice. [14] [15] [16]

History

Land grabbing and Colonization

Main article: Sri Lankan state-sponsored colonisation schemes

The Sri Lankan military's control and domination of the Tamil population, along with systematic land grabs have been described as part of a "genocidal process that is destroying the land-based political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental foundations" of the Tamil community. [9] Sinhala Buddhist nationalists within the Sri Lankan government, Buddhist clergy and Mahaweli department have deliberately targeted the Tamil majority northeast for state sponsored Sinhala colonisation, with the explicit intention to take the land into "Sinhala hands" away from the Tamils, [17] and to disrupt the Tamil-speaking continuity between the north and east. [18] This resulted in a significant demographic shift, with the resettled farmers contributing to an increase in the Sinhalese population in the northeast dry zone, thus promoting Sinhala-Buddhist hegemony in the area. [19] Sinhalese settlers were provided with preferential access to land by the state in these regions, whilst the local Tamil speaking people were excluded from this privilege, [20] making them minorities in their own lands. [21]

Whilst empowering Sinhalese settlers, the scheme also served as a means to marginalize, exclude, and harm Tamil speaking minorities, treating them as the 'other'. [22] It has been perhaps the most immediate cause of inter-communal violence, [23] [24] [25] [26] with violent displacement of Tamil civilians to make way for Sinhalese settlers occurring several times. [27] [28] The University Teachers for Human Rights has described this as ethnic cleansing of Tamils occurring with the support of the government since the 1956 Gal Oya riots. [29] Following the end of war in 2009, Sinhalese officials and settlers in Weli Oya have expressed their desire to take more land further north in order to “make the Sinhala man the most present in all parts of the country”. [30]

Pogroms

Main articles: 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom, 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom, 1981 anti-Tamil pogrom, and Black July

There has been a series of virulent anti-Tamil pogroms in Sri Lanka, the most infamous of which, is the 1983 Black July pogrom, which killed more than 5000 Tamils in a single week. [2] [31] The NGO International Commission of Jurists described the violence of the pogrom as having "amounted to acts of genocide" in a report published in December 1983. [32] Although initially orchestrated by members of the ruling UNP, the pogrom soon escalated into mass violence with significant public participation. [33] [34] [35] [note 1] Til date no one has been held accountable for any of the crimes committed during the pogrom. [37]

Resistance Movement

The independence of Sri Lanka in 1948 marked the beginning of heightened ethnic tensions, as policies implemented by the Sinhalese-dominated government marginalized the Tamil population, leading to social, economic, and political disenfranchisement. [14] [9] This systemic discrimination sowed the seeds of unrest leading to resistance movements. [14] [9]

Civil Disobedience

Main articles: 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom and 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom

In 1956 and 1958, peaceful protests by Tamils against discrimination such as the Sinhala Only Act were met with anti-Tamil pogroms which killed hundreds. [38] [39] [40] In 1961, the Sinhalese army was brought to the Tamil areas to quell the peaceful protests by Tamils against the imposition of Sinhala language in the administration there. [41] The Tamil peaceful protesters were brutally beaten and arrested by the Sri Lankan Government. [41] [42] [43] [44] [45]

Armed struggle

The failure of peaceful protests led to the formation of several armed Tamil resistance movements, the most prominent of which was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). [14] They fought to create an independent Tamil state in the north-east of the island called Tamil Eelam in response to violent persecution and discriminatory policies against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan Government. [46] The subsequent 1983 Black July pogrom is generally seen as the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War between these armed movements and the government of Sri Lanka. [47] [48]

Mullivaikkal massacre

Main articles: Mullivaikkal massacre and White Flag incident

Mullivaikkal massacre was the mass killing of tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils in 2009 during the closing stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War ending in May 2009 in a tiny strip of land in Mullivaikkal, Mullaitivu. UN staff had been quoted as saying that by May 2009, up to a 1,000 Tamil civilians were being killed every day by the military. The number of civilians killed has been described as being "akin to genocide". [49] The Sri Lankan government designated a no fire zone in Mullivaikkal towards the end of the war. According to the UN, between 40,000–70,000 [50] entrapped Tamil civilians were killed by the actions of Sinhala Government Forces and LTTE, with the large majority of these civilian deaths being the result of indiscriminate shelling on the rebel held areas, including hospitals, UN hub and near a Red Cross ship by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] During the final days of the war, the Sinhala army also engaged in indiscriminate executions of Tamils, civilians as well as fighters who surrendered waving a white flag. [66] Indiscriminate massacres of civilians were carried out on May 18, 2009. [67] [68] A military whistleblower accused government forces of a subsequent cover up with bodies being buried in mass graves and chemicals being used to dissolve skeletons. [69] [70]

Eyewitness accounts

On 18 May 2010, Channel 4 News broadcast interviews with two Sri Lankan soldiers who claimed that they had been given orders from "the top" to summarily execute all ethnic Tamils, civilians as well as fighters. A senior commander claimed "the order would have been to kill everybody and finish them off..It is clear that such orders were...from the top". Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, President Rajapaksa's brother, was said to have given direct orders to army commanders at the battle front. It was also reported that Velupillai Prabhakaran's 13-year-old son Balachandran was interrogated by the Sri Lankan military before being shot. A front line soldier said "our commander ordered us to kill everyone. We killed everyone". The soldier claimed that the Tamils were tortured before being executed. Numerous photos taken by Sri Lankan soldiers showing dead bodies and Tamil prisoners were also shown in the broadcast. [71]

Protestors hold pictures of Tamil children who disappeared in the final days of the war after surrendering to the army. [72] [73]

One of the soldiers who served in the 58 Division of the Sri Lankan Army tearfully recounted the heinous crimes committed by fellow soldiers in 2009:

“They shoot people at random, stab people, rape them, cut their tongues out, cut women’s breasts off. I have witnessed all this with my own eyes.

I saw a lot of small children, who were so innocent, getting killed in large numbers. A large number of elders were also killed.

If they wanted to rape a Tamil girl, they could just beat her and do it. If her parents tried to stop them, they could beat them or kill them. It was their empire.

I saw the naked dead bodies of women without heads and other parts of their bodies. I saw a mother and child dead and the child’s body was without its head.” [74]

An army insider also witnessed indiscriminate massacres on May 18, 2009, and stated the following:

“I saw this shooting of surrenderees take place a number of times. A number of groups, some 50, some 75, some more than 25 would come forward and they would all be killed. That included children, small children, women and old people... This was widespread killing. If journalists were around then the civilians were allowed to surrender, but when the journalists were not around the orders were to kill everyone.” [75]

Aftermath

Forced Displacement

After the end of armed conflict, the persistent Sinhala militarization of conflict-affected areas has hindered efforts to find lasting solutions. In the fields of trade, tourism, agriculture, and fishing, the military has grown to be a significant economic force and a fierce rival to the native population, especially those who have returned. [76] Additionally, it has intervened in regions that are typically managed by civilians. It still occupies private land, making it difficult for Tamil residents who have been displaced to return. [76]

According to Tamil Center for Human Rights, from 1956 to 2004, 2.3 million Tamils have been displaced due to the war. [2] More than 115,000 internally displaced Tamils (IDPs) were still living in camps, host communities, or transit sites as of the end of September 2012, which is 3 years after the end of armed resistance movement. Many had also been forcibly moved against their will to locations other than their original homes. [76]

Massacres and killings

Main article: List of attacks on civilians attributed to Sri Lankan government forces

There were over 100 massacres of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan security forces throughout the civil war, resulting in the deaths and injuries of tens of thousands. It was estimated that by 1986 the security forces "had been killing an average of 233 Tamil civilians every month or about 7 a day". [77] [49] During a 1990 reprisal against the Tamil population of the eastern province, 3,000 Tamil civilians were massacred and hundreds of Tamil males were picked up and burned alive over a span of only few weeks in just two districts. [78] In December 1984 over 1200 Tamil civilians were massacred in just one month by the military. [79] In 1994 the genocide scholar Israel Charny used the concept of " genocidal massacre" to describe the Sri Lankan government rounding up some 5,000 Tamil civilians and executing them. [80]

Enforced disappearances

Main article: Enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka

Between 1995-1996, over 600 Tamils disappeared in Jaffna, hundreds of whom were said to have been buried by the Sri Lankan Army in mass graves in Chemmani. [81] [82] [83] In 2008, Human Rights Watch accused the Sri Lankan government of being responsible for "widespread abductions and disappearances" of hundreds of Tamils since the war resumed in 2006, with most feared dead. [84]

Sexual violence

Main article: Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka

Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka has occurred repeatedly during the island's long ethnic conflict. The first instances of rape of Tamil women by Sinhalese mobs were documented during the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom. [85] This continued in the 1960s with the deployment of the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna, who were reported to have molested and occasionally raped Tamil women. [86] Further rapes of Tamils were carried out by Sinhalese mobs during the 1977, 1981 and 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms. [87] [88] [89]

Following the outbreak of war, rape was used by the almost entirely Sinhalese Sri Lankan armed forces, [90] in an attempt to collectively punish the Tamil population, who were often seen as being supportive of the LTTE. [91] [92] [93] [note 2] Both Tamil females and males were targeted for rape, including children. [95] [96] [97]

Cultural destruction

Death toll

Several sources that track Tamil civilian killings between 1956 to 2009 estimate that between 154,022 and 253,818 Tamil civilians were killed by Sinhala dominated Sri Lanka Armed Forces over that time. [98]

According to the Tamil Center for Human Rights report in 2004, for the period of 1956 to 2001, 79,155 Tamil civilians were killed. This figure includes 54,044 dead and 25,266 disappeared forever. [2] The Sri Lankan military is known to have been killing an average of 233 Tamil civilians every month, or seven a day, in 1986. [99] [9] According to Pro-rebel NESOHR, from 2002-2008 Dec, 4,867 Tamil civilians were killed. This figure includes 3,545 dead and 1,322 disappeared forever. [3]

According to the UN's report in November 2012, a total of 70,000 Tamil civilians were unaccounted for the period of 2009 Jan to May. [6] [7]

In the year 2011, Bishop Joseph's team from Mannar said it believed there were as many as 146,000 Tamil people still unaccounted for during the last phase of fighting. [100] [5] According to International Truth and Justice Project's report in the year 2021, the final phase of the civil war in 2009 has resulted in the death of 169,796 Tamil civilians. [4]

UN response

In a 2012 internal review of its conduct during the last stages of the Sri Lankan civil war, the UN found that various UN agencies had failed to protect Tamil civilians at every level, particularly by withdrawing its staff from the war zone and by withholding evidence of widespread government shelling. [101] [102] Vijay Nambiar, then chief of staff under UN Secretary-General, implored Navi Pillay (High Commissioner for Human Rights) to dilute her statement on potential war crimes by the government, complaining that it put the LTTE and the government "on the same footing". [103] Commenting on Nambiar's statement that UN's role should be "compatible with the government," Francis Boyle, professor of international law, denounced the UN and its top officials as aiding and abetting Tamil genocide. [104] Vijay Nambiar's own brother Satish Nambiar was a consultant to the Sri Lankan government and had praised the Sri Lanka Army and its conduct of the war, in spite of all the civilians killed. [105] Louise Arbour, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, described the UN's conduct as having "verged on complicity". The UN's response was constrained by some of its powerful veto-wielding members such as China and Russia who shielded the Sri Lankan government. [106] In 2016 then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged UN's failures in Sri Lanka which he named along with Rwanda and Srebrenica as examples of its "never again" repeating itself. [107]

Recognition of Genocide

Permanent Peoples' Tribunal

Between 7-10 December 2013, the Rome-based Permanent Peoples' Tribunal held a Tribunal on Sri Lanka in Bremen, Germany to investigate accusations that the Sri Lankan government committed genocide against the Tamil people. The panel of 11 judges, which included experts in genocide studies such as Daniel Feierstein [ es], a professor in the faculty of Genocide at University of Buenos Aires, past UN officials, human rights activists and experts in international law, unanimously found Sri Lanka guilty of the crime of genocide. [11]

The Tribunal found that the evidence conclusively demonstrated, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Government of Sri Lanka committed the following genocidal acts: [11]

(a) Killing members of the group, which includes massacres, indiscriminate shelling, the strategy of herding civilians into so-called "No Fire Zones" for the purpose of mass killings, and targeted assassinations of prominent Tamil civil leaders who could expose the Sri Lankan genocide to the world.

(b) Inflicting serious bodily or mental harm on members of the group, including acts of torture, inhumane or degrading treatment, sexual violence such as rape, interrogations combined with beatings, threats of death, and harm that damages health or causes disfigurement or injury.

(c) Deliberately imposing conditions of life intended to bring about the group's physical destruction in whole or in part, including the expulsion of victims from their homes, seizure of private lands, and the declaration of vast areas as military High Security Zones (HSZ) to facilitate the military acquisition of Tamil land. [11]

Official recognition

In 2022, the Parliament of Canada unanimously adopted a motion to make May 18 as the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. [108] [109] To mark the first Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day on 18 May 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued the following statement:

"The stories of Tamil-Canadians affected by the conflict – including many I have met over the years in communities across the country – serve as an enduring reminder that human rights, peace, and democracy cannot be taken for granted. That’s why Parliament last year unanimously adopted the motion to make May 18 Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. Canada will not stop advocating for the rights of the victims and survivors of this conflict, as well as for all in Sri Lanka who continue to face hardship." [110]

A rally commemorating the Tamil Genocide in Melbourne, Australia

However, in an April 2023 interview with Bob Rae, the Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations Garnett Genuis clarified that a recognition of genocide by the House of Commons does not necessarily reflect an official position of the government of Canada. Rae said that he was not aware of Canada taking such a position. [111] In June 2023, the Daily Mirror claimed that the Canadian foreign ministry had privately told the Sri Lankan government that Canada "had not made any finding that genocide had taken place in Sri Lanka." [112]

In 21 June 2023, The Island reported that the Canadian High Commission in Sri Lanka confirmed that Prime Minister Trudeau's statement marking the first Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day reflected Canada's stance. [113]

Several U.S. legislators such as Wiley Nickel and Deborah Ross also recognize the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. [114]

On 12 April 2015, the Northern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka passed a resolution calling the UN to investigate the Tamil genocide and refer its findings to the International Criminal Court (ICC), stating that the Tamils had no faith in the domestic commission. [115] [116] [117]

Recognition of Black July

Main article: Black July

The late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi declared the Black July massacre to be a genocide against the Tamil people on August 14, 1983. [118] [119]

In December 1983, The Review, a publication of the International Commission of Jurists said: [119]

"The evidence points clearly to the conclusion that the violence of the Sinhala rioters on the Tamils amounted to acts of genocide."

Sri Lanka's reaction

Sri Lanka has responded to the statements which have been made by several world leaders including primarily Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In certain Sri Lankan government websites such as the one for the high commission of Sri Lanka in Singapore the government has stated Sri Lanka rejects the reference to Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day by the Canadian Prime Minister and that it is a distorted narrative of the past conflict in Sri Lanka is aimed solely at achieving local vote-bank electoral gains, and is not conducive to broader goals of communal harmony. [120]

Commemoration

Mullivaikkal memorial Jaffna prior to destruction.

Sri Lanka

In Jaffna, the northern province of Sri Lanka, a statue was erected to honor the memory of the victims of the conflict, particularly the events that unfolded in Mullivaikkal in May 2009. This statue served not only as a memorial but also as a symbol of the Tamil community's resilience and mourning. However, the memorial faced significant opposition and was destroyed, reflecting ongoing tensions and the contentious nature of memorializing the conflict within Sri Lanka.

The destruction of the statue sparked protests and outcry both locally and internationally, highlighting the deep scars left by the conflict and the importance of memorialization in the healing process. Efforts were made to rebuild the statue, namely public sit in protests and hunger protests. This act of reconstruction not only restored the physical monument but also served as a reaffirmation of the community's commitment to remembering the past and seeking justice. The rebuilding of the statue in Jaffna stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of the Tamil people and their continued struggle for recognition and reconciliation.

Tamil Genocide Memorial

The Tamil Genocide Memorial in Jaffna commemorates the lives lost during the Sri Lankan Civil War, particularly in its final stages in the area of Mullivaikkal.

India

Illuminated sculpture of Tamil Paavai (Tamil Goddess/Tamil Mother), at the entrance of Mullivaikal Muttram

The Mullivaikkal Memorial or Mullivaikkal Muttram is a memorial dedicated to the Mullivaikkal massacre, the killings of Tamil civilians during the final phase of the war between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lankan armed forces at Mullivaikkal in 2009. The Mullivaikal Memorial is in the Thanjavur District of the Tamil Nadu state in neighboring India. On 6 November 2013, the inauguration of the Mullivaikal Memorial took place. [121] One of the Tamil political party's leader Pazha Nedumaran and the World Tamil Confederation Trust he heads are the founders. [122]

Mauritius

Memorial Pillar at Mauritius

In honor of the Tamil citizens and LTTE soldiers, the mayor of Beau Bassin Rose Hill, Louis Andre Toussaint, in Mauritius, has constructed a pillar. It was constructed in response to the Mauritius Tamil Temple Federation's (MTTF) requests. The memorial's epitaph says:

"THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO THOSE 146,679 TAMILS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES INNOCENTLY AND 40,000 REPORTED LOST IN DEFENCE OF THEIR BELOVED MOTHERLAND IN SRI LANKA"

On top, the memorial has the Eelam Tamil ethnic National Flag on which it is written "Tamil Eelam" in Tamil letters. This memorial is located cated within the Beau Bassin Rose Hill Municipal Council's grounds, a short distance from the mayor's office. [123]

Canada

A Tamil Genocide Memorial to be built in Chinguacousy Park, in Brampton, Canada by 2025, the design was finalised in February 2024, after 3 years of delay. [124] [125]

Canadian Mayor Patrick Brown promised to build a monument after the Mullivaikkal memorial in Sri Lanka was torn down in January 2021. In recognition of the importance of memorialization for the Tamil diaspora, a proposal was made to build a Tamil Genocide Memorial in Brampton, Canada. The proposal aimed to provide a space for reflection, remembrance, and education, acknowledging the community's loss and resilience.

The initiative to erect the memorial in Brampton was met with both support and criticism. Proponents argue that it serves as a necessary acknowledgment of the atrocities faced by the Tamil population and as an educational tool for future generations. Critics, however, raise concerns about the potential for such memorials to foster division or impact diplomatic relations. Patirck Brown stated "While there might be some people trying to 'whitewash' history in Sri Lanka and rewrite history — we can't stand for that."

Tamil Genocide Education Week

In June 2020, Toronto District School Board (TDSB) approved a motion calling on the Ministry of Education to incorporate Genocide education as compulsory learning unanimously. [126] In this genocide education, Tamil genocide was included as a complimentary component. [127] Around the same time Vijay Thanigasalam, a Progressive Conservative MPP, tabled Ontario bill 104, also known as the 'Tamil Genocide Education Week Act'. The Bill states: 

"The seven-day period in each year ending on May 18 is proclaimed as Tamil Genocide Education Week. During that period, all Ontarians are encouraged to educate themselves about, and to maintain their awareness of, the Tamil genocide and other genocides that have occurred in world history."

This Bill was opposed by Sinhalese groups who took the Ontario Legislature to court. However, their constitutional challenge was dismissed as the Ontario judge, Justice Jasmine Akbarali, upheld Bill 104 in battle ‘over who gets to write the history of the war'. The court examined evidence and heard arguments from all parties in order to better determine whether or not what occurred amounted to a genocide of Tamils. Justice Jasmine Akbarali stated "The dominant characteristic of the law is to educate the public about what the Ontario Legislature has concluded is a Tamil genocide.” [128]

Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day

Mullivaikkal Remembrance day, 2016: Eelam Tamil women and children can be seen grieving in Mullivaikkal
Main article: Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day

Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day is a remembrance day observed on each 18th May by Sri Lankan Tamil people to remember those who died in the genocide during the Sri Lankan Civil War. It is held each year on 18 May, the date on which the civil war ended in 2009, and is named after Mullivaikkal, a village on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka which was the massacre scene of the final battle of the civil war.

In popular culture

Songs

Documentaries

Main article: List of films about the Tamil genocide

See also

Notes

  1. ^ George Immerwahr, a United Nations civil servant and U.S. citizen, recounted the following regarding the riots: “the most shattering report came from a [Sinhalese] friend who was a civil servant; he told me that he had himself helped plan the riots at the orders of his superiors. When I heard him say this, I was so shocked I told him I simply couldn't believe him, but he insisted he was telling the truth, and in fact he justified the government's decision to stage the riots. When I heard this, I telephoned an official in our own State Department, and while he declined to discuss the matter, I got the impression that he already knew from our Embassy in Colombo what I was telling him.” [36]
  2. ^ Rasika Kobbekaduwa, a former Sri Lankan military police officer told a UK court that he was taught to 'humiliate' opponents of the government regime through 'organised sexual assaults'. [94]

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  120. ^ The High commission of Sri Lanka in Singapore. "Sri Lanka rejects the reference to Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day by the Canadian Prime Minister". Lanka. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  121. ^ "A monument to remember the Eelam war". The Times of India. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  122. ^ "Pro-Tamil leaders inaugurate Mullivaikal memorial even as police wait to challenge court order". The Times of India. Times of India. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  123. ^ "Mauritius honors martyrs of Eelam war".
  124. ^ Bhugra, Saloni (Feb 28, 2024). "After 3-year delay, Brampton finalizes design for Tamil monument to honour lives lost in Sri Lankan civil war Tamil Genocide Memorial to be built in Chinguacousy Park by 2025". CBC.
  125. ^ Jabakhanji, Sara (Jan 24, 2021). "Brampton mayor vows to build Tamil monument". CBC.
  126. ^ Shari Schwartz-Maltz. "TDSB Trustees Call on Province to Incorporate Genocide Education as Compulsory Learning". TDSB. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  127. ^ Pilkey, Robin. "Committee of the Whole Report No. 19" (PDF). tdsb.ca. Toronto district school board. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  128. ^ Keung, Nicholas (28 June 2022). "Ontario judge upholds Tamil Genocide Education Week in battle 'over who gets to write the history of the war'". Toronto Star. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  129. ^ "'We did not come from fire, we were born in it' - in Conversation with Shan Vincent de Paul | Tamil Guardian".

References

  • Short, Damien, ed. (2016). Redefining Genocide: Settler Colonialism, Social Death and Ecocide. London, UK: Zed Books. ISBN  978-1-84277-930-9.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default ( link)
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