1984 Mannar massacre
Encyclopedia
The 1984 Mannar massacre was the killing of between 107 and 150 minority Sri Lankan Tamils civilians by Sri Lankan Army
soldiers in the town of Mannar
, north-western Sri Lanka
, on December 4, 1984. The attack was triggered when three Army jeep
s hit a land mine, killing one soldier. In retaliation, landmarks such as the Central hospital
, the post office
, a Roman Catholic convent as well as villagers working in rice
paddy fields and bus passengers were attacked. Villages around Mannar town such as Murunkan and Parappankadal were also attacked. Immediately after the incident, the then Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayawardene appointed a Presidential commission of inquiry. A local Roman Catholic priest, Mary Bastian
who was a member Presidential commission was later killed on January 1985. A Methodist minister George Jeyarajasingham
, who was a witness to the incident, was also killed in December 1984.
, when Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, most (roughly 60%) civil service
jobs were held by the minority Sri Lankan Tamils who constituted approximately 15% of the population. This was a result of the Western
education provided by American missionaries
and others in the Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula
. In order to win support amongst the majority Sinhalese people
populist politicians initiated measures aimed at correcting the over representation of Tamils in the civil service. These measures, as well as riots and pogroms that targeted the Sri Lankan Tamils, led to the formation of a number of rebel groups
advocating independence for Sri Lankan Tamils
. Following the 1983 Black July
pogrom
full scale civil war
erupted between the government and the rebel groups.
The soldiers attacked the central hospital; stopped vehicles and shot and killed the occupants; shot 15 employees of the post office by lining them up and shooting them, killing eight; opened fire on peasants in fields; and attacked a convent, stripping the nuns of watches, gold crucifixes and chains. Another group of soldiers stopped a bus and shot all the male passengers. A bus travelling in the opposite direction was also stopped and twenty of its passengers were shot dead. Off the main road, an army jeep drove into the village of Parappankadal. The soldiers fired indiscriminately, killing 12 of people including a mother nursing her infant child. The child survived but three of its toes were blown away by the bullet that killed its mother. Murunkan was another village affected the incident.
By the end, up to 150 people had been killed; another 20 were missing, mostly young male Tamils taken to army camps. It took three days to transport all the bodies.
, a Roman Catholic priest, participated in the investigation.
Rev Jeyarajasingham, a Methodist priest, was another the focal point of Human Rights
activism
on behalf of the local people He was also the local contact for the Sri Lankan government appointed presidential committee to investigate Human Rights violations in the Mannar district. Rev. Jeyarajasingham was shot dead on December 13, 1984 when he was travelling in his vehicle. Later his body was burnt along with his vehicle. Rev Fr Mary Bastian collected the remains of victims including Rev Jeyarajasingham and handed them to the Jeevothayam Methodist Centre. Rev Fr Mary Bastian was himself killed on January 6, 1985 allegedly by the military.
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
soldiers in the town of Mannar
Mannar, Sri Lanka
Mannar , formerly spelled Manar, is the capital of Mannar District, Sri Lanka. It is located on Mannar Island.Mannar is known for its baobab trees and for its fort, built by the Portuguese in 1560 and taken by the Dutch in 1658 and rebuilt; its ramparts and bastions are intact, though the interior...
, north-western Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, on December 4, 1984. The attack was triggered when three Army jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
s hit a land mine, killing one soldier. In retaliation, landmarks such as the Central hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, the post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, a Roman Catholic convent as well as villagers working in rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
paddy fields and bus passengers were attacked. Villages around Mannar town such as Murunkan and Parappankadal were also attacked. Immediately after the incident, the then Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayawardene appointed a Presidential commission of inquiry. A local Roman Catholic priest, Mary Bastian
Mary Bastian
Father Mary Bastian was a minority Tamil Human Rights activist and local Roman Catholic parish priest from Sri Lanka...
who was a member Presidential commission was later killed on January 1985. A Methodist minister George Jeyarajasingham
George Jeyarajasingham
George Jeyarajasingham was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil Human Rights activist and a Methodist missionary from the Mannar district of Sri Lanka. He and three others were shot dead on December 13, 1984 when they were traveling in his vehicle. Later their bodies were burnt along with his...
, who was a witness to the incident, was also killed in December 1984.
Background information
During the British colonial periodBritish Ceylon
British Ceylon refers to British rule prior to 1948 of the island territory now known as Sri Lanka.-From the Dutch to the British:Before the beginning of the Dutch governance, the island of Ceylon was divided between the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Kandy, who were in the midst of a war for...
, when Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, most (roughly 60%) civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
jobs were held by the minority Sri Lankan Tamils who constituted approximately 15% of the population. This was a result of the Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
education provided by American missionaries
American Ceylon Mission
The American Ceylon Mission to Jaffna, Sri Lanka started with the arrival in 1813 of missionaries sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions . The British colonial office in India and Ceylon restricted the Americans to the relatively small Jaffna Peninsula for...
and others in the Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula
Jaffna Peninsula
The Jaffna Peninsula is an area in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna and comprises much of the former land mass of the ancient Tamil kingdoms of the Nagas and the medieval Jaffna kingdom. The peninsula is mostly surrounded by water, connected to...
. In order to win support amongst the majority Sinhalese people
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
populist politicians initiated measures aimed at correcting the over representation of Tamils in the civil service. These measures, as well as riots and pogroms that targeted the Sri Lankan Tamils, led to the formation of a number of rebel groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception amongst minority Sri Lankan Tamils that the state was preferring the majority Sinhalese...
advocating independence for Sri Lankan Tamils
Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam , is the name given by certain Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora to the independent state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Tamil Eelam has no official status or recognition by any other state or authority...
. Following the 1983 Black July
Black July
Black July is the commonly used name for the anti-Tamil pogrom and attacks carried out by mobs in Sri Lanka which began on July 23, 1983. The riots occurred following a deadly ambush by a Tamil militant organization known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which killed 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers...
pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
full scale civil war
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
erupted between the government and the rebel groups.
The incident
On December 4, 1984 three Sri Lankan Army jeeps hit a land mine, killing one soldier and wounding eleven others. In retaliation, about thirty (30) soldiers went on a rampage, attacking public buildings and civilians in and around Mannar.The soldiers attacked the central hospital; stopped vehicles and shot and killed the occupants; shot 15 employees of the post office by lining them up and shooting them, killing eight; opened fire on peasants in fields; and attacked a convent, stripping the nuns of watches, gold crucifixes and chains. Another group of soldiers stopped a bus and shot all the male passengers. A bus travelling in the opposite direction was also stopped and twenty of its passengers were shot dead. Off the main road, an army jeep drove into the village of Parappankadal. The soldiers fired indiscriminately, killing 12 of people including a mother nursing her infant child. The child survived but three of its toes were blown away by the bullet that killed its mother. Murunkan was another village affected the incident.
By the end, up to 150 people had been killed; another 20 were missing, mostly young male Tamils taken to army camps. It took three days to transport all the bodies.
Investigations
The then Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardene instituted a Presidential commission to investigate the incident. Although many locals were reluctant to participate in the investigation, Mary BastianMary Bastian
Father Mary Bastian was a minority Tamil Human Rights activist and local Roman Catholic parish priest from Sri Lanka...
, a Roman Catholic priest, participated in the investigation.
Rev Jeyarajasingham, a Methodist priest, was another the focal point of Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
on behalf of the local people He was also the local contact for the Sri Lankan government appointed presidential committee to investigate Human Rights violations in the Mannar district. Rev. Jeyarajasingham was shot dead on December 13, 1984 when he was travelling in his vehicle. Later his body was burnt along with his vehicle. Rev Fr Mary Bastian collected the remains of victims including Rev Jeyarajasingham and handed them to the Jeevothayam Methodist Centre. Rev Fr Mary Bastian was himself killed on January 6, 1985 allegedly by the military.
See also
- List of massacres in Sri Lanka
- List of attacks attributed to Sri Lankan government forces
- List of attacks attributed to the LTTE