The 48-hour notice to Jaffna Muslims

Muslims always saw themselves as a unique ethnicity and used their religious disposition as their uniqueness.

• All these atrocities were carried out under the observant eyes of the Government of JRJ
• The Rajiv-JR Indo-Lanka pact of 1987 gave the terrorists a huge opportunity to drive out the Sinhalese and the Muslims from the border villages
• The terrorists demanded that the Muslims part with with their jewellery and money before they left

Around the 1980s Tamil people believed they were given step-motherly treatment by all Governments: there was a simmering discontent in the North-East over policies; they thought the ‘Sinhala Governments’ were attempting to colonise their ‘traditional homelands’ with Sinhalese and do harm to the Tamil identity. So this long standing annoyance and the failure to devolve power created suspicion.  The Black July ’83 gave birth to Tamil ultra-nationalism. The Tamil militants claimed that they were fighting not only for the Tamils, but for the Tamil speaking people of the North-East giving the Muslims the impression they were campaigning for the Muslim cause as well. Beginning from 1985 several armed Tamil militant groups carried out assaults against innocent and unarmed Muslims in a move to ethnically cleanse the region of Muslims. Their tactics included extortion, harassment and killing.  Some Muslim businessmen opted to move out of the Northern region. Muslims always saw themselves as a unique ethnicity and used their religious disposition as their uniqueness. All these atrocities were carried out under the observant eyes of the Government of JRJ which did absolutely nothing to suppress the violence committed against the Muslims by the emerging terrorists. 

The creation of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress by the Late Ashroff in September 1981 gradually separated the Muslim people from the Sinhalese and Tamils. The harmonious relationship [M L M Abusally represented Balangoda, a 90% Sinhala/Buddhist electorate for two decades] that existed for over eight centuries suffered. 

 The Rajiv-JR Indo-Lanka pact of 1987 gave the terrorists a huge opportunity to drive out the Sinhalese and the Muslims from the border villages which resulted in the formation of the Tamil National Army which massacred Muslims using arms. Muslim families were not paid reasonable compensation. In 1990, a group of Muslims in the Kattankudy Mosque was massacred in cold blood while they were worshiping.  In Eravur a most appalling butchery took place. Unarmed Muslim men, women and little children were murdered for the fact they were Muslims. Commencing with 1500 people from Chavakacheri, many Muslims in Mannar and Kilinochchi were forced to leave their homeland. In October 1990, LTTE vehicles drove through the urban areas in Jaffna ordering 14,800 Muslims to assemble at a school, and were given a few hours to leave North.  38,000 people in  Mannar, 20,000 in Kilinochchi, 9,000 in Vavuniya and 5,000 in Mullaitivu were forcibly driven out from LTTE-held areas. The expulsion began in the peninsula with Chavakachcheri on October 15 and lasted till Oct 30 when the Muslims of Jaffna town, where they had lived for many generations, were chased away depriving them of their birth rights.  Money and valuable documents, deeds, and identity cards were taken away. The terrorists demanded that the Muslims part with with their jewellery and money before they left, allowing only 250 rupees each and a few sets of clothes. Some Muslim businessmen were kidnapped and detained; businessmen  were beaten up and their monies were demanded: in this manner they collected millions for terrorists funds.

Resettled in Puttalam 

The North was rid of Muslims. However, some inhabitants of Vavuniya were saved as they occupied areas outside LTTE control. The whole episode was carried out under the supervision of Eastern political leader Sivagnanam Karikalan. Apart from a few insignificant clamouring, there had been no strong protest against atrocities perpetrated against the Muslims.  Most of the Muslims were resettled in Puttalam district, with Kurunegala, Gampaha and Colombo accommodating a fair number of refugees.  Apart from the above, Muslim refugees from Jaffna can be found in many parts of the island in small groups. 

The attacks began again after the signing of the Cease Fire Agreement [CFA]. Prime Minister’s  CFA didn’t avert Prabhakaran from slaughtering Muslims. From Ottamavadi to Valachchenai Muslims were harassed by the LTTE. The security forces men who witnessed the crimes said the CFA prohibited them from interfering. Muslim hostility was rising in the East.  Muslim boys abandoning the LTTE and joining Government forces annoyed Karikalan and Karuna. Many Muslim cadres attached to the terrorist outfit were eliminated by them. The Government of the day antagonised the Tamils by engaging  Muslim gangsters as home guards, they in turn joined forces with the security, an act that encouraged anti-Tamil violence; in fact there had been instances of Muslim home guards massacring  Tamil civilians. Some mobs led by Muslim home guards destroyed Tamil villages under the cover of extremists sections of security forces.

The peace formula did not protect Muslim civilians from the terrorists; once they threw a hand grenade at a Akkaraipattu mosque killing and wounding 36 in congregation. Prabhakaran wanted to ethnically cleanse Muttur of Muslims. 

Ten years ago the writer  had an opportunity to meet a former refugee, one of those expelled from Mannar in 1990, and currently  a leading businessmen. He spoke of the traumatic saga, his nasty experience throughout the disturbing process of eviction and what followed.  Hostility, prejudice, and discrimination against Muslims by non-Muslims reminds me of Hitler’s anti-Semitism.  Author S. W. Wistrich in his bestseller,  ‘Lethal Obsession: Anti-semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad’, examines the ugly history of anti-semitism, from  38 BCE to its appalling resurgence in the present day. It discloses the reasons behind this disgraceful form of hatred and offers an idea how it may reshape the planet in years to come.
It is the duty of Sinhalese people to ensure the security of Muslim brethren, leaving state authorities to handle investigations into misguided sections and the ‘big-talk’ leaders in the East. Any attempt at boycott of ethnically identified trading organisations would have adverse results on economy as a whole.

They must continue search operations in all parts of the island. There is an apparent dilution of the tasks allocated to security forces, perhaps due to the ongoing personality clashes between the two heads of nation. Are we heading for an unprecedented anarchy?

(The writer can be contacted at -  [email protected])