Talk:Kalmunai massacre

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[edit] Merge

I recommend merging this article with June 1990 massacre of police officers in Eastern Sri Lanka, though I'm not familiar enough with the subject material to be able to tell which title is best. It's clear though that both articles are about the same subject. --Elonka 20:43, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

I am not too sure both seems unrelated but happened in the same area though, but let's wait for others too Taprobanus 21:08, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
A possible problem with merging is that it may imply that the events are somehow related (i.e. that this massacre was carried out in retalation for the other). While this is a distinct (and likely) possibility, the connection would need to be substantiated by sources, lest it constitute original research. – Black Falcon (Talk) 21:58, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

The present position seems untenable. These are two articles about closely interlinked events, which occurred in the same place over the same period. Both refer to the other but it seems that they're describing very different POVs: One has been spun into describing an LTTE massacre (of the police officers) and the other a massacre by the Sri Lankan Army (of civilians). This appears to be a violation of WP:POVFORK. We should definitely combine them. WjBscribe 23:18, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Suggestions for the article

I would like to offer the following detailed list of suggestions for improving the article:

Lead
  • The claim that the SLA "is believed to have perpetrated the massacre" should be explicitly attributed. I can guess that the claim was made by the UTHR, but this may not be apparent to someone unfamiliar with the Sri Lankan conflict.
Background
  • According to this source, the resumption of violence was triggered by an attack on June 11, 1990. It does not, however, seem to state that the attack was part of a planned LTTE "operation". Did I perhaps miss the relevant section?
  • The text states that "the police eventually surrendered to the LTTE". I think it needs to be clarified how many policemen (e.g. "hundreds" or a specific number) or what portion of the police force surrendered. Also, the sources mention a bit about officers being kidnapped ... is this relevant to the incident and/or worth mentioning?
  • The figures of 667 police officers and 352 soldiers are given as a count of total casualties as of October 11, 1990 (over the course of a three- or four-month period; the source contradicts itself on this point). As currently written, one may get the impression that these 1019 members of the security forces were killed during the June 1990 massacre of police officers in Eastern Sri Lanka.
Incident
  • The text seems to contradict itself. On the one hand, it states that "the people decided to move back to the town" in July ("after nearly a month"); on the other, the massacre began or took place on June 20, 1990.
  • If available, the GOSL account or the 'official' death toll should be presented.
  • The sentence about the Kalmunai hospital seems out-of-place in the "Incident" section. Perhaps it should be moved to the next section, which could then be renamed 'Aftermath' or something to that effect.
Later attacks
  • This source seems to suggest that the 75 people burned in Nainakadu were killed on June 27, not June 11. Also, the source doesn't say that they were burned while alive.
  • According to the same source, the UTHR reports that "official sources" estimated that 7000 Muslims were killed in June 1990. The figure is certain to be significantly higher if non-Muslims are counted.

With a topic as controversial as this, other issues are likely to arise as information is added, removed, and rewritten. However, I hope that my comment above will prove useful. – Black Falcon (Talk) 22:17, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Commenting on the Later attacks part. I had written that 7000 people were killed. I did not, however, write that 7000 Muslim were killed. I am not entirely sure if this massacre was counted in the 7000 death or if that was different. Furthermore, I made an honest mistake when I wrote 75 people burned on 11. I was going to cut/past and then change it but I totally forgot about it. I have took off some materials. I will be editing this article when time opens up (if that ever happens :( ). Watchdogb 23:00, 29 October 2007 (UTC)