Expulsion of an estimated 70,000 – 100,000 Muslims from the Northern province by the LTTE. It is reported that Muslims were ordered to leave, giving them between 2 and 48 hours notice.
Sources
The Politics Of Destruction & The Human Tragedy, Report No. 6, 4 February 1991: The Expulsion And Expropriation Of Muslims In The North, UTHR (J); Muslim Refugees: The Forgotten People in Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict, S. H. Hasbullah (2001); Sri Lanka’s Muslims: Out in the Cold, The Hindu, 31 July 2007; A Timely and Prudent Step by the LTTE, Frontline, Volume 19 – Issue 12, June 8-21, 200.
Extracts from UTHR (J) report
“But in every way Muslims and Tamils in the North had been traditionally totally integrated into local life as interdependent communities. There were Muslim traders, tailors, iron mongers, labourers and scholars. More recently, several of them took to farming in the Killinochchi area. As part of the arena of culture and scholarship, Muslims formed an important component of the University of Jaffna. There was no conflict at all.
“By the end of September, the Muslims in Chavakacheri were warned that they should be prepared for an expulsion order. Following the end of the first week in October, a very senior LTTE leader visited Vakarai in the Batticaloa district in the East where anti-Muslim feeling was rife following recent incidents. This strongly suggests that the LTTE regarded some major action against Muslims as a means of regaining its tattered credibility in the East. On 15th October, Muslims in Chavakacheri were asked to leave the peninsula. They were forced out without being able to carry hard earned valuable items such as fridges and fans. The following report was given by sources from that area:
“The Muslims’ houses were looted and ransacked and they were treated in the most brutal manner. In effect, the liberators behaved like an invading army on the binge. The LTTE cadre pocketed whatever article, such as scent bottles, that they could pocket. In one house, the koorai (bridal attire) of a young lady, married on 30th June, was removed. The owners had been asked to vacate their houses, leaving the woman of the house in charge when the LTTE came to take the inventory. One man had taken his wife leaving a 60 year old lady behind. When asked, he replied, ‘Since they are behaving like an invading army, like the IPKF and the Sri Lankan army, there is no guarantee that my wife would be safe’. …
“On the 24th at 4.00 p.m, the LTTE made a public announcement by loud-speaker: “All Muslims living in Mannar island should leave by 28th October. Before leaving, they must seek permission and clearance at the LTTE Office. The LTTE will decide their exit route.”
“Most Tamils were utterly disturbed by this. A meeting of local citizens was arranged for the 25th morning. The Bishop who was at Madhu could not come. Those who met included Roman Catholic clergy, officials from Save the Children Fund, Christian laymen and other leading citizens. Following the meeting, a delegation went to see the local LTTE leader Suresh (former student, University of Jaffna) and asked for the order to be rescinded. …
“Each Muslim family was allowed to take one sovereign of gold, Rs.2,000/- cash and five travel bags per family. Printed forms were given for clearance.
“The Muslims from Puthukudiruppu, Tharapuram, Uppukulam and Erukkalampiddy were taken to the beach at a place near Erukkalampiddy known as `Five Coconut Trees’, and were left there until they could find boats. They had to spend nights in the open in rainy weather with no conveniences and no boutique to obtain food and water. On the 28th the MARR (Mannar Association for Refugee Rehabilitation) purchased all the bread baked in Mannar and obtained the LTTE’s permission to take bread and water to the Muslims. Over three days, the Muslims made their exit to Kalpitiya, 60 miles South, by sea. Boats owned by Muslim fishermen in Mannar and Kalpitiya were used. The journey was often hazardous in crowded boats. There was at least one case of a parent numbed by cold, dropping a child into the sea and not knowing it for some time. To the old and the sickly, who had not known any place in the world, but Mannar island, the emotional and physical strain of the removal may prove fatal.”
Quotations
“I made an apology to the Muslim people that what has happened in the past has to be forgotten, that we are willing to talk to them and resolve their problems. [The Tamil territory in the North and East] belongs to the Muslim people also,” LTTE’s political adviser Anton Balasingham, Press Conference, 10 April 2002.
“The rapprochement between the LTTE and the SLMC has certain significant elements which are very progressive. They have realised the inevitable need to engage the SLMC in order to resolve their problems. That is somewhat comforting, although we have not made an emotional response to the statement they have made of late. We have told them unequivocally that we are prepared to forgive and not forget the past in the hope that they will be sincere in their attitude towards Muslims. We have bitter memories of the past. But it is time we contended with the ground realities. That would mean that the LTTE also has to look at Muslims and their separate political identity as something that has become quite pronounced over a period of time,” Rauff Hakeem, Leader of SLMM, 23 May 2003.
Related events
LTTE mosque attack in Batticoloa leaves 116 people dead
LTTE attacks Muttur, displacing thousands of Muslims
Other features
Feature: Historical roots of conflict in Sri Lanka
Feature: Assassination of an activist
Feature: “Black July”, 1983
PAC programme said,
“We were expelled by the LTTE from Jaffna in 1990. It’s not easy to forget that time. The move was made against all Muslims living in the North. Within two hours they ordered us to leave. A lot of our boys were in the Tigers at that time, but the LTTE ignored this. They brought us by bus to Vavuniya and left us there. So first we went to Colombo and stayed in some camps in places like Malicawatte, Negombo and Maddakuli. Some of us also stayed in Anuradhapura. In 1997 we came to Puttalam under Ashraff’s resettlement scheme.”
“We were happy in Jaffna. Our relatives were there. We lived with the Tamil people and had a good relationship with them. But the LTTE forcibly expelled us. It was Karikalan who was responsible for the Jaffna district at that time. The Tigers destroyed the Northern Muslims’ history. Even after 17 years we cannot return to our birthplace.”
“We were in Jaffna before we came here. Within one day the Tigers asked us to leave from the north and told us to join Muslim communities elsewhere. The LTTE brought us by bus and then dropped us in Vavuniya. We would still like to return. Our lands and houses are there.”
Perspectives of Muslim IDPs now living in Puttalam on their experiences of their expulsion from Jaffna. Source: Making Peace, Keeping Peace, Poverty and Conflict programme, 2007.
manudan said,
I was six years old when this happened. I was living in Kokkuvil, a village in Jaffna. The Muslims mostly lived in suburban areas in the southwestern part of Jaffna. The locals called this area ‘Saudi’, much like Wellawatte in Colombo is known as ‘Little Jaffna’.
What I remember about this event is from my own recollections and from what my family has told me since.
During the months before the expulsion, the Tigers were carrying out their propaganda work, saying that the Muslims had links with government forces and were assisting the military in carrying out attacks on both them and Tamil civilians. The LTTE even publicly displayed daggers and iron rods it claimed to have seized from the mosques. They also claimed that the Muslims in the East had attacked Tamils there.
The expulsion happened in the aftermath of the capture by the LTTE of the Jaffna Fort from the military on 26th September 1990, following a long siege. That military victory created a positive feeling amongst the Tamils in Jaffna about the LTTE’s military agenda for its ‘liberation struggle’. The Tamils in Jaffna began to trust the Tigers and its propaganda after this victory. So many people in Jaffna believed that what was being communicated by the LTTE about the Muslims was true and that the Tigers were looking out for their best interests. Tamils began to believe the Tiger claims and considered the Muslims a potential threat to them. Muslims were called thoppi piratti – an ugly reference to the prayer cap worn by Muslims – to mean that they couldn’t be trusted and were opportunistic. So when the LTTE ordered the Muslims to leave Jaffna, most Tamils believed that it was unavoidable and necessary for their own security.
After the expulsion, a new shop called Elilaham or ‘fancy shop’ opened on Powerhouse Road, used to sell the stuff that was seized by the Tigers from the Muslim houses and shops. Many people shopped there, keen to get some good bargains! I still recall the days when I played with my toy horse – made of green plastic – bought by my father from that very shop.
shiva said,
I don’t believe that what Manudan says about the sentiment of the Jaffna Tamils towards the Muslim community was the feeling of the majority. I studied at the Vaideswara College in Jaffna, close to the area where many Muslims lived, and where both Muslims and Tamils studied together. At the school, everyone treated Muslims as no different and their religion was respected.
It was understandable that the Muslims lived together in this area. It was close to their mosque and where they made a living in the bazaars of Jaffna town. Perhaps it was after my time, but throughout my 12 years at Vaideswara, I never heard the term little ‘Saudi’; I knew it affectionately as Sonahar theru pakkam or ‘Moors’ Street area’. I also don’t believe that the ‘ugly reference’ was in the minds of most Jaffna Tamils.
I knew many Tamils who were worried about the eviction of the Muslims. When the massive displacement of Tamils from Jaffna town and the Valikamam area took place in 1995, with the residents given short notice to leave and who faced similar hardships, some of them believed it was a curse upon the Tamils, repercussions for the sorrow and loss that was allowed to happen to the Muslims in 1990.
I’ve heard that things belonging to the Muslims were sold after the expulsion, but I also know people who refused to buy these things knowing that they were left behind by the Muslims.
R. S. Ganeshan said,
Both Manudan and Shiva’s comments have elements of truth. But harking back to the past and scratching old wounds is not going to help. It is better to explore solutions for a cure by learning from the mistakes of the past and seeking to prevent things getting worse in the future. With the emergency laws and the Prevention of Terrorism Act at its disposal, a situation may arise when nobody – whether Sinhalese, Tamil or Muslim – can speak against the government. The army already has immense powers to terrorise 20% of the population and the time will soon come when its shadow looms over the rest of the country’s population. It will be too late then.
prashan said,
I’m not sure what the last commentator means by “exploring solutions for a cure”. I think its quite easy to make bland statements and not suggest anything constructive.
I don’t think this event brings out anything about “speaking against the government” and while the “shadow of the army and the government” does “loom over the rest of the country”, I think it is necessary to also discuss other things.
We do need to learn from the past. Perhaps our first lesson could be that what happened in the past has changed and continues to change. The anniversary of the expulsion highlights an incident, a point in time, where ethnic relations broke down and people were faced with the threat of violence to leave their homes and possessions (which were then callously sold off later!). I think this type of expulsion is very close to ‘ethnic cleansing’. It saddens me that a group claiming to represent a minority, would target another minority in this way.
I think it’s also misleading to assume that ethnic relations and their historical associations are not being challenged by those who are experiencing them first hand. The Making Peace, Keeping Peace study from Puttalam shows how displaced Muslims have been forced to negotiate economic and cultural space for themselves and how that negotiation – and the tensions that it creates – still play out in the district.
poorani said,
I agree with what Shiva says about the reaction of most of the Tamils in Jaffna to the Muslim eviction. I was a little older than Manudan at the time and lived in Jaffna. My father had a lot of Muslim friends and he’s still close to them. He used to tell me how they would go out together at festival times. He really appreciated their hospitality and their delicious foods!
Although not every Tamil in Jaffna mingled so freely with Muslims, there was no objection to Muslims living there. I still remember the shock that Tamils felt when the eviction was ordered by the LTTE leadership. Most Tamils didn’t understand what was happening. They were also unable to express their dissent against the ‘Tamil leadership’ and its decisions.
It is wrong I think to bring the Tamils into what was essentially a decision taken by the LTTE. They were powerless, allowed to open their mouths only to eat. I don’t think that discussing this event is digging up the past in a negative way. It could actually help us to overcome the misunderstandings between communities. If we really want to revive the relationship between Muslims and Tamils it is necessary – however painful – to talk about these events.
kannan said,
When the Muslims were ordered to quit the North, they were given up to 48 hours notice to leave. Many have commented on this as an added cruelty, on top of the actual act of expulsion. But someone I spoke to today had an interesting take on this. The Tigers’ rationale for giving such a deadline may have been to limit how long the Tamils had to react to and protest against the eviction order.
rahman said,
Much of the discussion here is about Jaffna. But I would like to make it clear that the expulsion – on a scale amounting to ethnic cleansing – affected Muslims not only from the Jaffna peninsula, but the entire Northern Province. My family is originally from Thanneruttu, a village in Mullaitivu, where Muslims lived on one side of the main road and Tamils on the other. A road that held many stories.
The events are still vivid in my memory.
Nothing prepared us for the shock of that day. Only twenty students turned up at my school. People from three villages began to congregate at the mosque on Friday, on the day of the Jummah. Most people wanted to leave the next day. Others wanted to leave only when things got worse; some just wanted to hide. I couldn’t sleep that night; the prospect of leaving my home and village was unbearable. I agonised at the thought of leaving behind our school, our playground, my books and belongings. The mosque that taught me, the madarasa that inspired me.
Saturday dawned and we started our journey, our children in our arms and whatever else we could carry. As we walked, tears welled up in our eyes. We were refugees overnight. From days-old babies to the old and infirm, our people spread along the road. Tamil villagers collected by the roadside to send us off. Some of them seemed to enjoy the spectacle; I was shocked to see – here and there – smiles on the faces of the young men.
My people had no idea where we would end up. We were only looking for somewhere safe. We first ended up in Kakayankulam, a village in Vavuniya, having walked some 70 miles. But it was the height of the war and we had no alternative but to keep moving. After a few days, we left the Northern Province altogether. Some moved on to Anuradhapura, while most ended up in Puttalam, Negombo or Kurunegala. My family and I ended up in Nurochcholai, in Puttalam, where I have lived ever since.
Farzana Haniffa said,
When I started working on this issue in 2005 or 2006, you couldn’t get a hearing. So the fact that there are people now looking at the issue, that it is getting some kind of attention, is a really great thing.
I don’t really want to comment upon the kinds of things that are happening with regard to the regime now because I’m not sure how to analyse that; it seems really that there is not one principle around which things seem to the happening so I don’t really know what would happen with regard to the northern Muslims, but it seems like something might. My only concern is that it does not get overly politicised to the extent that the people who’ve been left alone for the past 18 years are not re-victimised. But if something happens in a way that their concerns are addressed and the fact that they have build up communities in Puttulam during the past 18 years is taken into account, then that would be a really positive thing. Since the war is supposedly nearing an end, there is all this talk about possible resettlement. Large numbers of Muslims were expelled from Mannar, some from Killinochchi, some from Mullaitivu and there is a sense that these people anticipate the possibility of going back. So it’s a really big question as to what could happen, as to what kind of resettlement and whether there could be some kind of compulsion. Those kinds of things need to be taken into account. If there is some kind of organisation that can address some of these concerns and at least get make some kind of contribution at the policy level, that would be really great.
PACT team said,
The citizen journalism site Groundviews has this commentary on the recent establishment of a Citizen’s Commission, set up by The Law & Society Trust (LST) together with the Community Trust Fund (CTF), the People’s Secretariat (PS) and the Rural Development Foundation (RDF), “to investigate they expulsion of Muslims from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990”. Read the report here:
http://www.groundviews.org/2010/03/02/citizens-commission-expulsion-of-the-northern-muslims-by-the-ltte-in-october-1990/