History of Tamil's fight for their self-determination in Eezham

What pushed Tamils to fight for their self-determination in Eezham?! This a question many have yet many lack proper history behind the cause. Hoping this article will shed some light.

Civil war took place in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009 - LTTE was formed to defend Tamils on the island against discrimination and violent persecution by the Sri Lankan government. Most of us only know and believe riots against Tamils started in 1983 but anti-Tamil riots took place in Sri Lanka starting in 1956.

1956 - Gal Oya riots

50% of clerical jobs were held by Tamils - not because we were power abusive but due to Western-style education that was accessible to Tamils in Jaffna via American missionaries.

This stat was misused by the pro-Sinhalese nationalist party which led to this riot that took over 150 lives. During this time, 'Sinhala only act' was passed. This led to Tamil Federal Party organizing a nonviolent resistance campaign

1958 - 58 riots

Over 1500 lives were lost in this riot. Prabhakaran was very young at this time and in interviews, he has indicated that this shaped his views on the liberation struggle

1975: Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) formed in Manchester & London. Tamil diaspora did not start as refugees, we were migrants in skilled labor jobs. one of the founding member of EROS is Arul Pragasam, MIA's (@MIAuniverse) father. They were then the backbone of the Eelamist movement in the diaspora, and later EROS joined with LTTE.

1977 - anti-Tamil program

after continuous oppression of Tamils by the Sri Lanka government who forcefully pushed Sinhala only act, under S.J.V. Chelvanayakam [thanthai Selva], all major Tamil parties united as Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). TULF adopted a resolution: calling for a separate state (Tamil Eezham) in Vaddukoddai convention. When the election took place, TULF won almost entirely in all Tamil districts.

New elected PM orchestrated this riot by giving police a week of leave so mobs can do their worse. This took the lives of over 300 people. This incident also lead to racial and ethnic violence against more than 75,000 plantation Tamils who were forced to relocate.

After the 1977 attacks, TULF realized they were unable to protect their people. This is when two major Tamil liberation groups, TELO and LTTE, began to campaign for a separate state for Tamils, Tamil Eezham.

An activist from TULF, Uma Maheswaran, joined LTTE in 1977.

1981 - anti-Tamil program

Once again organized by the ruling party, United National Party. The mob burned down Jaffna Public library, 1 of the biggest library in Asia - home to over 97,000 books & manuscripts, Tamil newspaper offices, and Tamil homes were destroyed.

The official record indicates over 25 people died, women were raped, 1000s were made homeless, and their belongings were burned/looted/destroyed. most violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the 20th century

1983 - Black July

Over 7 days, Sinhalese mobs attacked, burned, looted, & killed Tamils. The estimated death toll is 3,000 & 150,000 people became homeless. Around 8,000 homes & 5,000 shops were destroyed.

This event was so horrifying to many Tamils and this led them to flee the country in the coming years while many others joined the liberation groups. LTTE, supported by TULF, became a militant group that carried out violence against the state.

1985 - government & LTTE tried a peace talk in Thimphu but failed. This led to the massacre of many civilians in 1986 & war in 1987 in Jaffna. This is the time when LTTE carried out their first suicide attack, by Captain Miller.

During this time, we saw a huge involvement from India: state (Tamil Nadu) & central government. RAW provided arms, training, and monetary support to 6 Tamil militant groups, including LTTE. It was a known fact that RAW was supporting many Tamil movements as they wanted Tamils divided so the Tamil independence movement will never gain its momentum.

In 1987, the Sri Lankan government claimed they almost defeated LTTE and did not want India to interfere. But Indian Air Force airdropped 25 tons of food and medicine by parachute into Tamil areas as a direct move to support LTTE. Rajiv Gandhi also signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord which lead to Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in the Tamil area. IPKF was notorious for the violation of their human rights - raping/looting/killing/burning down villages.

1987 - Thileepan anna began a hunger strike and died - when Gandhian land failed to acknowledge Gandhian ways.

2004 Tsunami hits and Sri Lankan government aid did not reach the Tamil area - it was then a known fact that LTTE had helped even the Sinhalese in the Northeast region - they did more than what the government actually did to them. 2005 saw a political assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar - though fingers were pointed at LTTE, they did not claim responsibility. Talk then was the government did it to create more tension & to shut down the supports they were receiving from foreign countries. In 2005, the Sri Lankan government killed Tharaki Sivaram, a journalist, and Joseph Pararajasingham, an MP. While both sides were continuing to fight, foreign countries again asked for peace talks. During this time, there were many violent incidents directed towards Tamil civilians, one to note is when 5 Tamil students who were playing at the peach were shot to death by Sri Lankan forces. Norway tried peace talks again in 2006 but once again it was not successful. In this period, Sri Lanka Army, Lt. Gen. S. Fonseka attempted to be associated with but survived. General Parami Kulatunga, the highest-ranking military official, was assassinated by the LTTE. The last state of the Eezham War started when Operation Watershed took the lives of over 150 Tamil civilians and displaced 50,000 of them from their homes to the Sri Lankan government. During this time, Sri Lankan forces also massacred 17 members of the International French charity Action Against Hunger (ACF). As LTTE attacked the Sri Lankan army base in Jaffna, they retaliated by bombing civilian places - including schools, hospitals, and religious institutions. A notable one is the Chencholai bombing - an orphanage/rehabilitation organization run by LTTE to support the young ones without someone to care for them. 61 young girls died and NO, THEY WERE NOT CHILD SOLDIERS.

Chencholai is not just one place - it was children's homes run by LTTE to support those with no home. Under LTTE, no one was homeless or begging. Everyone had a home to go to. Till 2008, there were many clashes between both forces, and many Tamil civilians' lives were lost, also claimed Sinhala civilian's lives too. By early 2009, Kilinochchi, the capital of the LTTE base, fell into the hands of the SL army. Human Rights Watch issued a report accusing the Sri Lankan army of "slaughtering" the civilians during indiscriminate artillery attacks (including repeated shelling of hospitals) and calling on the Sri Lankan government to end its policy of "detaining displaced persons" in military-controlled internment camps. The UN was also concerned over the condition of internally displaced persons and estimated that some 200,000 people were being squeezed into a narrow 14 square km patch of land on the coast in Vanni which the government had declared the 'no-fire zone, which later was bombed by chemical bombs and witnessed many airstrikes and took the lives of 100000s Tamil lives. All lives lost didn't just come from massacres. Most Tamil areas were continuously bombed: Sri Lanka Air Force carried out aerial assaults and shelling continuously for decades - this included hospitals, schools, temples, churches, etc.

This is our struggle - we continue to fight and ask for justice - for massacres, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and for continuous violation of human rights against Tamils in Sri Lanka. This is what we lived through, and continue to live through. We want rehabilitation, we want autonomy. We deserve to live in a democratic Tamil nation with peace and respect while preserving our identity.