Sinhala and Muslim resettlements in the north

by Rajasingham Jayadevan

(November 20, London, Sri Lanka Guardian)  The post 1983 state backed anti-Tamil violence experienced complete displacement of Sinhala civilians from the north of Sri Lanka. Whilst the 1983 violence pushed the Tamils to the north and east from the South en masse, the small number of Sinhalese resident in the north moved out of Jaffna in fear of retribution from the Tamil militants. The Muslim community was not facing any difficulties during the 1983 violence.

With the rampage that went on in Jaffna by the army immediately following the roadside blast of the Tamil Tigers that killed 21 soldiers in July 1983, the Sinhalese felt insecure to live in the north. Almost all of them sought sanctuary in the government run only Sinhala school- the Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya situated at Hospital Road. They were guarded by the army and even military tanks were visibly placed in the school compound to protect them.

The brutality of the army on the day 21 soldiers were killed was very horrific. The army went house to house from Thirunelveli, the spot where the soldiers were killed by the LTTE through to Maruthana-madam and further down to the holy Nallur Hindu temple vicinity and they indiscriminately shot and killed anyone at sight. It was clearly a massacre of innocent civilians in retribution for the death of the soldiers.


People ran hither and thither to escape from the marauding army. I recall a young newly married grocery shop (Murugan Stores) owner was asked to produce his identity card by a blood thirsty soldier. When he produced it, he was asked to hold it at his eye level and he was shot through the ID card at the entrance of the shop. The shop was right in front of the entrance of the infamous Nallur Kanthasamy Temple.

The President too had walked on the blood stained precincts of the temple when he visited Jaffna few months ago without realising that army massacre took place in the very same place.

An area of ten square miles radius was a land of corpses. To this date, there were no inquiries on these heinous crimes on the innocent people. The panic that the army created made the Sinhalese residents of Jaffna to pre-empt and seek sanctuary in a school fearing retribution.

Having witnessed the harrowing account of the army, it was the wise decision of the Sinhalese civilians to seek sanctuary, as passions were running very high at that time in Jaffna. When Tamils were brutalised and chased away from the South in the state backed anti-Tamil pogrom the anger, frustration, sadness and the hurt were very dominant in Jaffna at that time.

The government in 1983 was the present opposition United National Party. Senior Ministers of the President J R Jayawardene’s government were directly involved in the 1983 mayhem. The ultra-right wing senior Ministers like Gamini Dissanayake and Cyril Mathew were personally involved in the anti-Tamil violence.

Hatred of Minister Gamini Dissanayake was such that at the peak of the attack on the Tamil civilian population all over the island, he rushed to the President’s residence in Colombo and demanded that the entire Tamil population must be wiped out. The President’s immediate response was: ‘Gamini! Is it possible to wipe out the entire Tamil population?’

Since the 1977 anti-Tamil violence, lots of blood has been spilt and now we are in a situation where the government has vanquished the military might of the LTTE outright in a brutish manner. Normalcy must be restored at any cost.

The Sinhalese who ran away should return to Jaffna if they wish.

Recently some 183 Sinhalese families were brought in and left at the derelict Jaffna Railway station to agitate for their settlement in Jaffna. Their agitation is backed by the extremist parties in the coalition government.

Sinhalese families claiming resettlement at the old Jaffna Railway Station

(Comment: The photograph clearly tells the age group of the Sinhala agitators. Almost all of them except a few are born after the 1983 violence. Most of them are kids. This is a politically motivated baby brigade of the pro-government manipulators.)

Thousands of Tamils uprooted from the South to the north in the 1983 or the forcefully evicted Muslims from Jaffna did not behave in this manner to demand domicile in the South or in Jaffna. Having lived in the temporary shelters for some weeks these politically motivated Sinhalese families have moved to the government housing scheme in Navatkuli, some seven miles away from the Jaffna Railway station.

Those who know this housing complex in Navatkuli, it was the focal point two years ago when the government minister and paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda engineered a campaign to change its name to Mahindapuram - a name to credit the President Mahinda Rajapakse for helping him and his paramilitary group. His effort soon fizzled out due to pressures. There is fear that conditions are being created to justify infusion of the Sinhalese into the housing village for the complex to be renamed as Mahindapuram.

The Minister cum paramilitary leader is making all the hues and cries against this forceful settlement to reflect the feelings of the Tamils. It must be considered as his cynical effort in view of his failed attempt to rename the housing complex to Mahindapuram. Beyond criticising, he has not taken a strong political stance and even used his ministerial influence to end the occupation or not yet filed a petition in a court to remove them from the site.

These Sinhalese who claim they too are victims should have passively found accommodation through legal means and settled in Jaffna without being a threat to the Jaffna residents. They have taken advantage of the situation with political backing and the heavy presence of the army is helping their cause.

Almost all the Sinhalese who vacated Jaffna were living in rented accommodations prior to leaving Jaffna and their claims to ownership to properties are spurious assertions. The Thesavalamai Law that imposes stricter rules for the ownership and transfer of properties does not give credence to their unjust demand.

Just imagine if hundreds of Tamil victims of the 1983 violence had gone and occupied a government building in Colombo demanding houses for them, what would have been the consequence. They would have been branded as Tigers or Tiger supporters by the government and its media outlets and brute force would have been used on them to the extent of putting them behind bars on spurious charges.

Knowing very well the actions of the Sinhala settlers are unreasonable and unacceptable the Colombo media has not gone into scrutinise the issues involved in a fair manner except for reporting on the issue.

Since the Sinhalese moved out of Jaffna in 1983, there were no reports about their whereabouts in the South. After nearly thirty years, the government backed media is claiming that they were living as refugees in camps in the holy city of Anuradhapura.

In contrast to the attitude of the Sinhalese families, the real victims of the exodus from Jaffna are the Tamil speaking Muslims. They were part and parcel of the Jaffna society until they were forcefully evicted overnight by the LTTE in 1990.

What the LTTE did to the Muslim community was unacceptable, condemned adequately even by the Tamils and these innocent people who were positively contributing to the Jaffna economy and who are its age long citizens must be allowed to resettle peacefully without the hyphened drumbeats of the extremism of the government. They owned properties and businesses and they lost everything overnight due to the horrible actions of the LTTE.

Sri Lankan Muslim IDPs | Photo 02 by lalith

Tamil speaking Muslims evicted by the LTTE in 1990

Whilst they went and settled in other parts of Sri Lanka, many of them sought sanctuary in baron lands of Puttalam and are living even now in abject conditions. Some of them with sheer hard work have progressed up the ladder and many are living in pathetic conditions doing menial jobs or living on the doles of the sympathetic people.

These Muslim people must be encouraged to settle back in their properties in Jaffna. This is absolute priority. It is not only the responsibility of the government; it is the utmost duty of the Tamils in Jaffna and the Diaspora too to help them in whatever way. These Muslims should be encouraged and helped to restart their lives again in Jaffna. According to what we hear, they too are facing difficulties as they have lost everything including their property deeds. A fast tract process must be established to help these innocent people to resettle in Jaffna.

(This article is not in any way aimed to espouse anti-Sinhala sentiments against the alleged government backed Sinhalese settlements in Jaffna. It only reflects the manipulations practiced by the vested political and trouble making interests who wish to fish in the trouble waters to extend their anti-Tamil hatred and benefit from it further.)