Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna
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The expulsion of the Muslims from Jaffna by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in October 1990 was a particularly controversial issue in the Sri Lankan civil war.
| Sri Lankan civil war |
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| Jaffna - Navaly -Nagerkovil - Unceasing Waves - Rana Gosa - Bandaranaike - Allaipiddy - Trincomalee - Mannar Related Indian operations |
Tensions between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Muslim community had been building for years. Despite the fact that most are Tamil-speaking, the Muslims have for decades regarded themselves as a separate community from the Hindu and Christian Tamils, the ones usually called Sri Lankan Tamils or Ceylon Tamils. Muslims have been much less supportive of the idea of a separate state of Tamil Eelam, which is the LTTE's goal.
In the mid-1980s there had been Muslim cadres in the LTTE, but some had deserted and others had gone to the government's side. The government had also armed Muslim Home Guard units in the Eastern Province that attacked LTTE positions.
The LTTE leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, was finally persuaded that the Muslims had to be taught a lesson. Although nearly all Tamil-Muslim violence had taken place in Eastern Province, it was Northern Province where revenge was taken.
The first explusion was in Chavakacheri, of 150 people. After this, Muslims in Kilinochchi and Mannar were asked to leave. The turn of Jaffna came on October 30, when LTTE trucks drove through the streets ordering Muslim families to assemble at Osmania College. There, they were told to exit the city within two hours. They could take with them only the clothes they were wearing and no more than 150 rupees in cash. Their houses were subsequently looted by the LTTE.
In total more than 28,000 Muslims were expelled.
Most of the Muslims were resettled in Puttalam district, though Jaffna Muslims refugees can be found in other parts of Sri Lanka as well. Stripped of their money and property, most descended into poverty.
The expulsion still carries bitter memories among Sri Lanka's Muslims. In 2002, LTTE's leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran had formally apologized for the expulsion of Muslims from the North [1]. In turn the LTTE had encouraged the Muslim population, housed in IDP camps to return to their homestead. Some Muslims returned to Jaffna after the LTTEs apology, but most have not returned.
