1985 anti-Tamil violence in Karaitivu
{{Short description|Attacks on Tamil civilians by state-backed Muslim mobs}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = 1985 anti-Tamil violence in Karaitivu
| image =
| map = {{Location map|Sri Lanka
|width = 300
|float = right
|label = Karaitivu
|marksize = 8
|lat_deg = 7 | lat_min = 22
|lon_deg = 81 | lon_min = 50
}}
| caption =
| location = Karaitivu, Ampara District, Sri Lanka
| coordinates = {{coord|7|22|0|N|81|50|0|E|region:LK|display=inline}}
| date = {{start date|df=y|1985|4|12}} – {{end date|df=y|1985|4|14}}
| time =
| timezone =
| type = Massacre, arson, rape
| fatalities = 11 Tamil civilians
| injuries = 40 hospitalised, several raped, 2000 homes burned, 15,000 rendered homeless
| perps = Sri Lankan Muslim mobs, Sri Lankan security forces
| susperps =
| susperp =
| weapons = guns, knives, stones, fire
| numparts =
| numpart =
| dfens =
| dfen =
}}
The 1985 anti-Tamil violence in Karaitivu was a series of organised violent attacks against the Tamil population of Karaitivu, Ampara in Sri Lanka by Sri Lankan Muslim mobs aided by Sri Lankan security forces in April 1985. About 2000 Tamil houses were burned down and several thousand Tamils became displaced.{{Cite journal |last=Ismail |first=Qadri |date=1985 |title=Sri Lanka's Ethnic Conflict and Muslims |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4374389 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=20 |issue=19 |pages=830–833 |jstor=4374389 |issn=0012-9976}}{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Phil |title=Keenie Meenie: the British mercenaries who got away with war crimes |date=2020 |publisher=Pluto Press |isbn=978-1-78680-584-3 |location=London |pages=158–164}}
Background
The Sri Lankan Muslims are a Tamil-speaking group but they do not identify as ethnic Tamils. The Muslims were caught in the middle of the ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. Both sides attempted to win over the Muslims. Although all Tamil militant groups pledged their support for the Muslims, only the LTTE was able to gain some Muslim support in the Eastern Province.
Journalist Qadri Ismail visited Karaitivu a month earlier and noted there was no evidence that the Muslims had felt sufficiently threatened to resort to violence. Others accused the Tamil militant groups of extorting and abducting Muslims in the Eastern Province since 1984. Though Tamil militants also extracted money from Tamils in the north, eastern Muslims showed stronger opposition by staging a hartal in the region in early April 1985, which provided the government with an opportunity to incite Muslims against Tamils.{{Cite book |last=Nuhman |first=M. A. |url=https://noolaham.net/project/61/6056/6056.pdf#page=84 |title=Sri Lankan Muslims: Ethnic Identity Within Cultural Diversity |publisher=International Centre for Ethnic Studies |year=2007 |isbn=9789555801096 |pages=152–153}} Ismail suggested some of the extortions were done by agents provocateurs.
Incident
On April 12-14, President J. R. Jayewardene sent M. H. Mohamed, along with his supporters to attack Tamils in the village of Karaitivu (Ampara).{{Cite journal |last1=Imtiyaz |first1=A. R.M. |last2=Hoole |first2=S. R.H. |date=2011 |title=Some Critical Notes on the Non-Tamil Identity of the Muslims of Sri Lanka, and on Tamil–Muslim Relations |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00856401.2011.587504 |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=208–231 |doi=10.1080/00856401.2011.587504|s2cid=39675436 }}{{Cite web |last=Hoole |first=Rajan |date=2014-11-14 |title=The East Erupts: Mossad Again? |url=https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-east-erupts-mossad-again/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Colombo Telegraph |language=en-US}} A mob of 3000 Sri Lankan Muslim youth from surrounding villages{{cite book |author1=Frank Jayasinghe |chapter=An Investigative Report of Tamil-Muslim Riots |editor1-last=Engineer |editor1-first=Ashgar Ali |title=Ethnic Conflict in South Asia |publisher=Ajanta Publications |location=Delhi |pages=208-233}} with the support of the Special Task Force (STF) killed several Tamils, raped several women and burned over 2000 Tamil homes, rendering 15,000 Tamils homeless.{{Cite magazine |date=April 1985 |title=POLICE COMMANDOS JOIN IN VIOLENCE |url=https://noolaham.net/project/32/3137/3137.pdf |magazine=Tamil Times |pages=1,19 |volume=IV |issue=6}}{{Cite magazine |date=May 1985 |title=VIOLENCE IN EAST SRI LANKA PLANNED AND INSTIGATED |url=https://noolaham.net/project/32/3138/3138.pdf#page=4 |magazine=Tamil Times |pages=4-5 |volume=IV |issue=7}}{{Cite news |date=15 May 1985 |title=Tamil-Muslim clashes or State-directed violence against Tamils? |volume=1 |pages=3 |work=Tamil Information |issue=8 |url=https://padippakam.com/document/tamilinfomation/tamilinfomation_05_85.pdf}} Shops were also looted and several Hindu temples destroyed including a temple of Pattini, where the idols were broken.{{Cite news |last=Tharmalingam |first=K.N. |date=November 2003 |title=New Year's Bloody Dawn: Karativu 1985 |work=Northeastern Herald |url=https://tamilnation.org/tamileelam/muslims/0310karativu.htm}} According to Ismail, 11 people were killed and 40 hospitalised during the ensuing violence on these three days.
Several politicians including K. W. Devanayagam, the Minister of Home Affairs, accused outside forces of instigating the violence. Minister S. Thondaman told the Cabinet that "7 lorries and 2 jeeps filled with thugs had gone from Colombo to the Eastern Province to provoke trouble." Muslim politician A. L. Abdul Majeed stated that certain politicians were trying to provoke ethnic conflict between the two communities who had coexisted peacefully for centuries and urged Muslims to be vigilant.
Aftermath
Following the Karaitivu violence, Muslims from villages near Karaitivu gave assistance to the displaced Tamil victims there and both communities desired to restore ethnic harmony. Frank Jayasinghe, a consultant to the International Center for Ethnic Studies, conducted an independent investigation into the April 12-14 violence and reported involvement of some STF personnel. On 17 April 1985, a further 27 Tamil civilians in the area were murdered by the STF. Tamil militants also reportedly launched a series of retaliatory attacks on Muslims in the east with Batticaloa District being the worst affected, although all militant groups denied any involvement.{{Cite journal |last=Hellmann-Rajanayagam |first=Dagmar |year=1986 |title=The Tamil "Tigers" in Northern Sri Lanka: Origins, Factions, Programmes |url=https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/iaf/article/view/2016 |journal=Internationales Asienforum |volume=17 |issue=1-2 |pages=77-79 |doi=10.11588/IAF.1986.17.2016}}
See also
References
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{{Sri Lankan Civil War}}
Category:Attacks on civilians attributed to the Sri Lanka Army
Category:1980s massacres of the Sri Lankan civil war
Category:Mass murder of Sri Lankan Tamils
Category:Sri Lankan government forces attacks in Eelam War I
Category:Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1985