Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War
Encyclopedia
The Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War was the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force
in Sri Lanka intended to perform a peacekeeping
role. The deployment followed the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord between India and Sri Lanka of 1987 which was intended to end the Sri Lankan Civil War
between militant
Sri Lankan Tamil nationalists
, principally the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
, and the Sri Lankan military.
The original intention was the Indian Peace Keeping Force would not be involved in large scale military operations. However, after a few months, the Indian Peace Keeping Force engaged the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in a series of battles. During the two years in which it was deployed, the IPKF fought numerous battles against the LTTE. The IPKF began withdrawing in 1989, and completed the withdrawal in 1990.
(led by K. Veeramani
), Kamaraj Congress
(led by Nedumaran
) and Pure Tamil Movement
(led by Perinchintanarayanan) during late 1970s. These Tamil parties firmly backed the militants' cause of creating a separate Tamil Eelam
within Sri Lanka. Thereafter, LTTE developed relations with M. G. Ramachandran
and M. Karunanidhi
, who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
, succeeding one another. They also became sympathetic towards militants' cause and allowed establishment of their training camps within Tamil Nadu state. But it was not until August 1983, the Central Government of India
(GoI) involved in facilitating and training these militants.
Government of India involved in Sri Lankan Civil War
based on several concerns including its desire to project India as the regional power in the area and worries about India's own Tamils seeking independence. The latter was particularly strong in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu
, where ethnic kinship led to strong support for independence for Sri Lankan Tamils. Throughout the conflict, the Indian central and state governments have supported both sides in different ways. Although Sri Lanka was a key member of Non-Aligned Movement
in its initial stages, Government of Sri Lanka's policies became pro-western as J. R. Jayewardene
was elected prime minister with his landslide victory in 1977 parliamentary election
. Subsequently he introduced a new constitution and Open economy
to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the first South-Asian country to adopt Liberal open economy. Together with these developments, India was also concerned about
Moreover, President J. R. Jayawardene did not enjoy with Indian Premier Indira Gandhi
, the same warm relationship he had with her father, Premier Jawaharlal Nehru
. Thus, with the outbreak of Black July ethnic riots
, Indian government decided to support the insurgent groups operating in Northern Sri Lanka.
(RAW), provided arms, training and monetary support to 6 Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups, namely Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
(TELO), People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam
(PLOTE), Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
(EROS) Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
(EPRLF) and Tamil Eelam Liberation Army
(TELA). It was a Top Secret
operation. Even the state governments or Sri Lankan opposition leader Appapillai Amirthalingam
were not aware of such a mission until April 1984. The LTTE's rise is widely attributed to the initial backing it received from RAW. It is believed that by supporting different militant groups, the Indian government hoped to keep the Tamil independence movement divided and be able to exert overt control over it.
During that period, 32 camps were set up all over India to train these militants. However Prime Minister Indira Gandhi maintained the position that "We have never interfered with the internal developments of any country in the past and we will not do so now." Contrary to her statement, 3363 Tamil insurgents, including 10 batches of LTTE (405 men and 90 women) were given military training to fight against Sri Lankan armed forces during the succeeding years. Initially 350 TELO cardres were trained at Dehradun
, in the hills of Uttar Pradesh
. It was followed with training for 200 cadres from EROS, 100 from EPRLF, and 70 from PLOTE. LTTE was the last insurgent group to enter the training. First batch of Tigers were trained in Establishment 22
based in Chakrata
, Uttarakhand
. Second batch was trained in Himachal Pradesh
. 8 other batches of LTTE were trained in Tamil Nadu. Ironically, Thenmozhi Rajaratnam alias Dhanu, who carried out the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and Sivarasan - the key conspirator were among the militants trained by RAW, in Nainital, South India.
airdropped food parcels
to Jaffna
while it was under siege by Sri Lankan forces. At a time when the Sri Lankan government stated they were close to defeating the LTTE, India dropped 25 tons of food and medicine by parachute into areas held by the LTTE in a direct move of support toward the rebels. Negotiations were held, and the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed on July 29, 1987, by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
and Sri Lankan President Jayewardene
. Under this accord, the Sri Lankan Government made a number of concessions to Tamil demands, including a devolution
of power to the provinces
, a merger—subject to later referendum—of the Northern and the Eastern provinces into the single province
, and official status for the Tamil language (this was enacted as the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka
). India agreed to establish order in the North and East through a force dubbed the Indian Peace Keeping Force
(IPKF), and to cease assisting Tamil insurgents. Militant groups including the LTTE, although initially reluctant, agreed to surrender their arms to the IPKF, which initially oversaw a cease-fire and a modest disarmament
of the militant groups.
The signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord, so soon after JR Jayawardene's declaration that he would fight the Indians to the last bullet, led to unrest in south. The arrival of the IPKF to take over control of most areas in the North of the country enabled the Sri Lanka government to shift its forces to the south (in Indian aircraft) to quell the protests. This led to an uprising
by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
in the south, which was put down bloodily over the next two years.
to take control of Jaffna
from the LTTE in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord. In brutal fighting that took about three weeks, the IPKF took control of the Jaffna
Peninsula from the LTTE rule, something that the Sri Lankan army had then tried and failed to achieve for several years. Supported by Indian Army tanks, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery, the IPKF routed the LTTE. But this victory came at a price, as the IPKF lost around 214 soldiers.
aimed at disarming the Tamil Tigers (LTTE)
by force and securing the town of Jaffna
, Sri Lanka
, in the opening stages of Operation Pawan
during the active Indian mediation in the Sri Lankan Civil War
. Mounted on the midnight of 12 October 1988, the operation was planned as a fast heliborne assault involving Mi-8's
of the No.109 HU, the 10th Para Commando
s and a contingent of the 13th Sikh LI
. The aim of the operation was to capture the LTTE leadership at Jaffna University building which served as the Tactical
Headquarters
of the LTTE, which was expected to shorten Operation Pawan, the battle for Jaffna. However, the operation ended disastrously, failing to capture its objectives -owing to intelligence and planning failures. The helidropped force suffered significant casualties, with nearly the entire Sikh LI detachment of twenty nine troops falling to a man, along with six Paracommandos falling in battle.
ordered the withdrawal of the IPKF, and their last ship left Sri Lanka on March 24, 1990. During the IPKF's stay in Sri Lanka, there had been many cases of massacres on innocent Sri Lankan Tamil civilians by the Indian army , such as the 1989 Valvettiturai massacre
and the Jaffna hospital massacre
.
In the long term, the Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War was a tactical victory for the Sri Lankan Government. The Indian intervention angered the Tamil Tigers who retaliated by killing over a thousand IPKF soldiers as well as assassinating Rajiv Gandhi which in the long term effectually ended Indian government co-operation with the LTTE and instead initiated close co-operation between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments to defeat the Tamil Tigers.
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990...
in Sri Lanka intended to perform a peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
role. The deployment followed the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord between India and Sri Lanka of 1987 which was intended to end the Sri Lankan 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...
between militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
Sri Lankan Tamil nationalists
Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism
Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism is the conviction of the Sri Lankan Tamil people, a minority ethnic group in the South Asian island country of Sri Lanka , that they have the right to constitute an independent or autonomous political community. This idea has not always existed...
, principally the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
, and the Sri Lankan military.
The original intention was the Indian Peace Keeping Force would not be involved in large scale military operations. However, after a few months, the Indian Peace Keeping Force engaged the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in a series of battles. During the two years in which it was deployed, the IPKF fought numerous battles against the LTTE. The IPKF began withdrawing in 1989, and completed the withdrawal in 1990.
Background
The LTTE and other Tamil militant groups developed strong relationships with political parties in South India, such as Dravidar KazhagamDravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar of erstwhile Madras Presidency...
(led by K. Veeramani
K. Veeramani
Krishnasamy Veeramani was born on December 2, 1933 in Cuddalore, Cuddalore District, Tamilnadu.He is referred as Aasiriyar K.Veeramani. He is the President of the Dravidar Kazhagam, an Indian organization centered in Tamil Nadu, opposed to the caste system and dedicated to the welfare of...
), Kamaraj Congress
Indian National Congress (Organisation)
The Indian National Congress or Congress was a political party in India formed when Indira Gandhi broke away from the leadership of the Congress Party...
(led by Nedumaran
Nedumaran
Pazha. Nedumaran is an outspoken Tamil politician from the state of Tamil Nadu, South India. He is an ex-national Congressman, a writer and Tamil nationalist, who has authored many books in Tamil, as well as in English. Pazha Nedumaran was born in Madurai and was a close associate of K. Kamaraj,...
) and Pure Tamil Movement
Tanittamil Iyakkam
The Thanittamil Iyakkam is a movement of linguistic purism in Tamil literature attempting to emulate the "unadulterated Tamil language" of the Sangam period, avoiding Sanskrit, Persian and English loanwords. It was notably initiated by the writings of Maraimalai Adigal and Paventhar ...
(led by Perinchintanarayanan) during late 1970s. These Tamil parties firmly backed the militants' cause of creating a separate Tamil Eelam
Eelam
Eelam also spelled Eezham, Ilam or Izham in English is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Eelam is also a name for the spurge , toddy and gold. The exact etymology and the original meaning of the word are not clearly known, although there are number of...
within Sri Lanka. Thereafter, LTTE developed relations with M. G. Ramachandran
M. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials , was an Indian film actor, director, producer and politician....
and M. Karunanidhi
M. Karunanidhi
Muthuvel Karunanidhi is an Indian politician and a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He has been the leader of the DMK since the death of its founder, C. N...
, who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, succeeding one another. They also became sympathetic towards militants' cause and allowed establishment of their training camps within Tamil Nadu state. But it was not until August 1983, the Central Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
(GoI) involved in facilitating and training these militants.
Government of India involved in Sri Lankan 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...
based on several concerns including its desire to project India as the regional power in the area and worries about India's own Tamils seeking independence. The latter was particularly strong in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, where ethnic kinship led to strong support for independence for Sri Lankan Tamils. Throughout the conflict, the Indian central and state governments have supported both sides in different ways. Although Sri Lanka was a key member of Non-Aligned Movement
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...
in its initial stages, Government of Sri Lanka's policies became pro-western as J. R. Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene , famously abbreviated in Sri Lanka as JR, was the first executive President of Sri Lanka, serving from 1978 till 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence...
was elected prime minister with his landslide victory in 1977 parliamentary election
Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 1977
The 1977 Sri Lankan election heralded the beginning of a new period of Sri Lanka's history - a period of unprecedented violence.-Background:Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike had become extraordinarily unpopular. Her economic policies had led to industrial growth and self-reliance, but was...
. Subsequently he introduced a new constitution and Open economy
Open economy
An open economy is an economy in which there are economic activities between domestic community and outside, e.g. people, including businesses, can trade in goods and services with other people and businesses in the international community, and flow of funds as investment across the border...
to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the first South-Asian country to adopt Liberal open economy. Together with these developments, India was also concerned about
- United States raising the strength of broadcasting facilities belonged to Voice of AmericaVoice of AmericaVoice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
(VOA) in Sri Lanka, which could pose a threat to India's defense communication systems - Frequent high-profile visits of US defense officials to Sri Lanka including US Secretary of DefenseUnited States Secretary of DefenseThe Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
Casper Weinberger and Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant GeneralLieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Vernon A. WaltersVernon A. WaltersVernon A. Walters was a United States Army officer and a diplomat. Most notably, he served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and from 1989 to 1991 as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany... - Sri Lankan government granting the tenders to expand oil storage complex at China Bay, TrincomaleeTrincomaleeTrincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
to Singapore companies - Establishment of Israeli Interests Section in the American Embassy in Colombo
- Sri Lanka government's purchase of European and Chinese military hardware
- Sri Lanka government hiring Keenie Meenie Services (which includes ex-Special Air ServiceSpecial Air ServiceSpecial Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
troops), a Channel Island-based British mercenary company, to train the Sri Lankan Special Task ForceSpecial Task ForceThe Special Task Force is an elite special forces unit of the Sri Lanka Police Service specializing in Counter-Terrorist and Counter-Insurgency operations. It was formed in 1983 not as a military force but rather as a highly specialised police unit...
, a unit under the command of Ravi Jayewardene, the son of J. R Jayawardene - Presence of Israeli Shin Bet intelligence operatives to train Sri Lankan troops on intelligence operations, Pakistani Special Services GroupSpecial Services GroupThe Special Service Group , also known as Black Storks, because of their distinctive headgear, the unit is also known as Maroon Beret, are a special operations military unit of the Pakistan Army mandated with fourteen primary and special missions: Asymmetric warfare,Anti piracy,Special...
led by Brigadier Tariq Mohommad to assist Sri Lankan commandos and South African mercenaries to train Sri Lanka Air Force pilots in low contour flying, in Colombo, etc.
Moreover, President J. R. Jayawardene did not enjoy with Indian Premier Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, the same warm relationship he had with her father, Premier Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
. Thus, with the outbreak of Black July ethnic riots
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...
, Indian government decided to support the insurgent groups operating in Northern Sri Lanka.
Training the militants
Beginning in August 1983, till May 1987, India, through its intelligence agency Research and Analysis WingResearch and Analysis Wing
The Research and Analysis Wing is India's external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 after the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and the India-Pakistani war of 1965 convinced the then government of India that a specialized, independent...
(RAW), provided arms, training and monetary support to 6 Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups, namely Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
(LTTE), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization is an Eelam Tamil organisation campaigning for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka. The TELO was originally created as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a...
(TELO), People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam
People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam
The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam is a former Tamil militant group. It is currently a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front.-Origins:...
(PLOTE), Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students , also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, is a former Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Most of the EROS membership was absorbed into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1990. The rump, which continues to use the EROS name, has...
(EROS) Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front is a Sri Lankan political party and a former militant separatist group.-Militant separatists:The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K...
(EPRLF) and Tamil Eelam Liberation Army
Tamil Eelam Liberation Army
The Tamil Eelam Liberation Army was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel group. TELA was originally the military wing of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization, but split away from TELO in 1982.-Early period:...
(TELA). It was a Top Secret
Top Secret
Top Secret generally refers to the highest acknowledged level of classified information.Top Secret may also refer to:- Film and television :* Top Secret , a British comedy directed by Mario Zampi...
operation. Even the state governments or Sri Lankan opposition leader Appapillai Amirthalingam
Appapillai Amirthalingam
Appapillai Amirthalingam was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and Leader of the Opposition. Amirthalingam was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. -Early life:...
were not aware of such a mission until April 1984. The LTTE's rise is widely attributed to the initial backing it received from RAW. It is believed that by supporting different militant groups, the Indian government hoped to keep the Tamil independence movement divided and be able to exert overt control over it.
During that period, 32 camps were set up all over India to train these militants. However Prime Minister Indira Gandhi maintained the position that "We have never interfered with the internal developments of any country in the past and we will not do so now." Contrary to her statement, 3363 Tamil insurgents, including 10 batches of LTTE (405 men and 90 women) were given military training to fight against Sri Lankan armed forces during the succeeding years. Initially 350 TELO cardres were trained at Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
, in the hills of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
. It was followed with training for 200 cadres from EROS, 100 from EPRLF, and 70 from PLOTE. LTTE was the last insurgent group to enter the training. First batch of Tigers were trained in Establishment 22
Special Frontier Force
The Special Frontier Force is a paramilitary unit of India. It was conceived in the post Sino-Indian war period as a guerrilla force composed mainly of Tibetan refugees whose main goal was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in case of another war between the People's Republic of...
based in Chakrata
Chakrata
Chakrata or Chakrauta is a cantonment town in Dehradun district in the state of Uttarakhand, India.It is situated between the Tons and Yamuna rivers, at an elevation of 7000–7250 feet, 92 km from state capital, Dehradun, it was originally a cantonment of British Indian Army...
, Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
. Second batch was trained in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
. 8 other batches of LTTE were trained in Tamil Nadu. Ironically, Thenmozhi Rajaratnam alias Dhanu, who carried out the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and Sivarasan - the key conspirator were among the militants trained by RAW, in Nainital, South India.
Operation Poomalai
India became more actively involved in the late 1980s, and on June 5, 1987, the Indian Air ForceIndian Air Force
The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
airdropped food parcels
Operation Poomalai
Operation Poomalai or Eagle Mission 4 was the codename assigned to a mission undertaken by the Indian Air Force to airdrop supplies over the besieged town of Jaffna in Sri Lanka on 4 June 1987 in support of Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan Civil War....
to Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
while it was under siege by Sri Lankan forces. At a time when the Sri Lankan government stated they were close to defeating the LTTE, India dropped 25 tons of food and medicine by parachute into areas held by the LTTE in a direct move of support toward the rebels. Negotiations were held, and the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed on July 29, 1987, by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
and Sri Lankan President Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene , famously abbreviated in Sri Lanka as JR, was the first executive President of Sri Lanka, serving from 1978 till 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence...
. Under this accord, the Sri Lankan Government made a number of concessions to Tamil demands, including a devolution
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
of power to the provinces
Provinces of Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, provinces are the first level administrative division. They were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century most of the administrative functions were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division. By the middle of the...
, a merger—subject to later referendum—of the Northern and the Eastern provinces into the single province
North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
The North Eastern Province was one of the provinces of Sri Lanka. The province was created in September 1988 by merging the Northern and Eastern provinces. This merger was declared illegal by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 2006. The province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern...
, and official status for the Tamil language (this was enacted as the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka
Constitution of Sri Lanka
The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has been the constitution of the island nation of Sri Lanka since its original promulgation by the National State Assembly on 7 September 1978. It is Sri Lanka's second republican constitution, and its third constitution since the...
). India agreed to establish order in the North and East through a force dubbed the Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990...
(IPKF), and to cease assisting Tamil insurgents. Militant groups including the LTTE, although initially reluctant, agreed to surrender their arms to the IPKF, which initially oversaw a cease-fire and a modest disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms...
of the militant groups.
The signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord, so soon after JR Jayawardene's declaration that he would fight the Indians to the last bullet, led to unrest in south. The arrival of the IPKF to take over control of most areas in the North of the country enabled the Sri Lanka government to shift its forces to the south (in Indian aircraft) to quell the protests. This led to an uprising
Insurrection 1987-89
The 1987-89 insurrection in Sri Lanka, in which around 50,000 lives were lost, was carried out by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a Marxist Sinhalese political party in Sri Lanka.-Leadup to conflict in the 1980s:...
by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
The Janathā Vimukthi Peramuṇa is a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was involved in two armed uprisings against the ruling governments in 1971 and 1987-89...
in the south, which was put down bloodily over the next two years.
Conflict with the LTTE
While most Tamil militant groups laid down their weapons and agreed to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict, the LTTE refused to disarm its fighters. Keen to ensure the success of the accord, the IPKF then tried to demobilize the LTTE by force and ended up in full-scale conflict with them. The three year long conflict was also marked by the IPKF being accused of committing various abuses of human rights by many human rights groups as well as some within the Indian media. The IPKF also soon met stiff opposition from the Tamils.Operation Pawan
Operation Pawan was the codename assigned to the operations by the Indian Peace Keeping ForceIndian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990...
to take control of Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
from the LTTE in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord. In brutal fighting that took about three weeks, the IPKF took control of the Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
Peninsula from the LTTE rule, something that the Sri Lankan army had then tried and failed to achieve for several years. Supported by Indian Army tanks, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery, the IPKF routed the LTTE. But this victory came at a price, as the IPKF lost around 214 soldiers.
The Jaffna University Helidrop
The Jaffna University Helidrop was the first of the operations launched by the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF)Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990...
aimed at disarming the Tamil Tigers (LTTE)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
by force and securing the town of Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
, 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...
, in the opening stages of Operation Pawan
Operation Pawan
Operation Pawan was the codename assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force to take control of Jaffna from the LTTE , in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord...
during the active Indian mediation in the Sri Lankan 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...
. Mounted on the midnight of 12 October 1988, the operation was planned as a fast heliborne assault involving Mi-8's
Mil Mi-8
The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter that can also act as a gunship. The Mi-8 is the world's most-produced helicopter, and is used by over 50 countries. Russia is the largest operator of the Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopter....
of the No.109 HU, the 10th Para Commando
Para Commandos
The Para Commandos are a special forces unit of the Indian Army. Formed in 1966, the Para Commandos are the largest and most important part of the Special Forces of India...
s and a contingent of the 13th Sikh LI
Sikh Light Infantry
The Sikh Light Infantry previously known as The Mazabhi and Ramdasia Sikh Regiment is an elite Regiment of the Indian Army. Its name was changed to the Sikh Light Infantry in 1944. The Sikh Light Infantry is the successor unit to the Mazhabi Sikh Pioneers 23rd, 32nd and 34th Sikh Pioneers...
. The aim of the operation was to capture the LTTE leadership at Jaffna University building which served as the Tactical
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...
Headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of the LTTE, which was expected to shorten Operation Pawan, the battle for Jaffna. However, the operation ended disastrously, failing to capture its objectives -owing to intelligence and planning failures. The helidropped force suffered significant casualties, with nearly the entire Sikh LI detachment of twenty nine troops falling to a man, along with six Paracommandos falling in battle.
Withdrawal from Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan nationalist sentiment led many Sinhalese to oppose the continued Indian presence in Sri Lanka. These led to the Sri Lankan government's call for India to quit the island, and they allegedly entered into a secret deal with the LTTE that culminated in a ceasefire. The LTTE and IPKF continued to have frequent hostilities, and according to some reports, the Sri Lankan government even armed the rebels in order to see the back of the Indian forces. Although casualties among the IPKF mounted, and calls for the withdrawal of the IPKF from both sides of the Sri Lankan conflict grew, Gandhi refused to remove the IPKF from Sri Lanka. However, following his defeat in Indian parliamentary elections in December 1989, the new prime Minister V. P. SinghV. P. Singh
Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the seventh Prime Minister of India and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda.-Early life:...
ordered the withdrawal of the IPKF, and their last ship left Sri Lanka on March 24, 1990. During the IPKF's stay in Sri Lanka, there had been many cases of massacres on innocent Sri Lankan Tamil civilians by the Indian army , such as the 1989 Valvettiturai massacre
1989 Valvettiturai massacre
1989 Valvettiturai massacre occurred on August 2 and 3, 1989 in the small coastal town of Valvettiturai, on the Jaffna Peninsula in Sri Lanka. Approximately 64 minority Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were killed by soldiers belonging to the Indian Peace Keeping Force. The massacre followed an attack...
and the Jaffna hospital massacre
Jaffna hospital massacre
The Jaffna hospital massacre happened on October 21 and 22, 1987 during the Sri Lankan Civil War, when soldiers of the Indian Army entered the premises of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, an island nation in South Asia, and killed about 68–70 patients, nurses, doctors and other...
.
In the long term, the Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War was a tactical victory for the Sri Lankan Government. The Indian intervention angered the Tamil Tigers who retaliated by killing over a thousand IPKF soldiers as well as assassinating Rajiv Gandhi which in the long term effectually ended Indian government co-operation with the LTTE and instead initiated close co-operation between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments to defeat the Tamil Tigers.
Further reading
- Gunaratna, RohanRohan GunaratnaRohan Gunaratna is an international terrorism expert. He is the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research ] at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore...
. (1997). International & Regional Security Implications of the Sri Lankan Tamil Insurgency, AABC for International Studies. ISBN 955-9506-00-5 - Gunaratna, RohanRohan GunaratnaRohan Gunaratna is an international terrorism expert. He is the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research ] at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore...
. (1998). Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security, ColomboColomboColombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
: South Asian Network on Conflict Research. ISBN 955-8093-00-9 - Gunaratna, RohanRohan GunaratnaRohan Gunaratna is an international terrorism expert. He is the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research ] at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore...
. (October 1, 1987). War and Peace in Sri Lanka: With a Post-Accord Report From Jaffna, Sri LankaSri LankaSri 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...
: Institute of Fundamental Studies. ISBN 955-8093-00-9