1981 Genocide – Historical Background of Jaffna Library Burning


May and June 1981 witnessed turbulent political conditions in the Northeast. The reason for this is that preparations were made to hold elections for District Development Councils in the North-East on the fourth day of June 1981. Lobbying meetings, lobbying and policy briefing meetings in connection with this election

Here and there, there were serious incidents. Tamil Liberation Alliance, United Nations Party, Sri Lanka Freedom Party and other independent groups were involved in these election campaign meetings. To boycott this election, the Youth Council Liberation Team, which consists of radical youths like Umaikumaran, Umaikumaran (Alawetti), and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Team, led by the late medical scholar Dr. Dharmalingam, the late journalist Kowai Mahesan, and the member of parliament Eezhaventhan, joined together and actively engaged in lobbying.

In this case, the United Nations party headquarters sent a high-level ministerial team to Jaffna. In this group, which was sent by the JR government with an insidious purpose, Mahavali Development Minister Kamini Dissanayaka, Minister of Science and Industry Cyril Mathew along with some deputy ministers came to Jaffna and stayed at Jaffna Subas Inn. Along with them, specially trained guards were also added from all over Jaffna city. The three forces were widely stationed all over the city of Jaffna. A larger number of Sinhalese thugs and quails than these were brought from South Lanka and lodged in Jaffna Duraiappa Stadium. They were kept in perfect readiness to set fire to the city of Jaffna.

The incident took  place on  31 May  1981 

 

Thus, when the city of Jaffna was at a boiling point, on the thirty-first day of May 1981, in front of the Jaffna Vannarpannai Nachimar Temple, the then Jaffna Municipal Council Major Mr. An election campaign meeting of the Tamil Liberation Alliance was held under the leadership of Raza Viswanathan. In this lobbying meeting, the leaders of the alliance addressed the liberation of Tamils. While he was talking like that, he suddenly heard an explosion. A Sinhalese guard was killed in firing by unidentified assailants. Another Sinhalese guard was injured. Kanakasundaram, a Tamil police officer, was also injured. The injured guard fired a gun in the air. The people scattered in all directions.

Following this, the Sinhalese policemen from the Jaffna police station who came to the place set fire to the Nachimar temple. People standing around the temple were attacked. Devotees standing inside the temple were attacked by the guards. Many were seriously injured. The idols inside the temple and the vehicles of Swami Ka were also attacked. A wing of the vehicle was broken. The neck of Nandi vehicle was cut. Chariots and chariots erected outside the temple were set on fire. Houses, shops and fences around the Nachimar temple were burnt. The peaceful temple surroundings were seen as a single zone of smoke. After this, the Sri Lankan guards entered Jaffna city and set fire to Jaffna city. Shops on the eastern side of the Jaffna bus station were broken into, looted and set on fire. Jaffna's old market building, carpet shops and grocery stores were set on fire. Madhupanaka in Jaffna city; Shops were broken and Sinhalese guards and thugs who had drunk alcohol set fire to the city; They were also rude.

Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of Jaffna Hospital, Somasundarapulavar statue in front of Jaffna Modern Market, Thiruvalluvar statue in front of Hatton National Bank in Jaffna, Olavaiyar statue in Jaffna Chatra Santhi were smashed. The obelisks commemorating the massacres of the Tamil Research Conference in the Jaffna courtyard were defaced. The statue of Martyr Shivakumar in Urumbrai market square was chained by army soldiers from Palali and pulled down by an army unit.

In Jaffna city, the Sinhalese thugs who engaged in mischief and drunken arson and set fire to saree shops and commercial establishments moved from there through Hospital Road and met Vembadi Road and set fire to all the shops there. After this, they went to the then Member of Parliament Vetrivel Yogeswaran's house through Barudhitura Road and inquired about him. Understanding the situation, Yogeswaran took his wife along the back wall of his house and escaped by a hair. Member of Parliament Yogeswaran's house and his office inside the house were set on fire by Sinhalese thugs. Member of Parliament Yogeswaran's house was razed to the ground. Mr. Yogeswaran and Yoon in 1981.

The thugs who razed Yogeswara's house to the ground went from there to the main road and set fire to the head office of the Tamil Liberation Alliance located on the main road. They also set Udayasuriyan, the official newspaper of the Tamil Liberation Alliance, on fire. When the head office of the Tamil Liberation Alliance was set on fire, other nearby buildings also caught fire. In this, some other buildings were also affected, including the building of Dr. Sebastiambillai and the building of Dr. Abram.

Jaffna. Burning of the library, Eelan Nadu newspaper workshop.

Jaffna belongs to the Jaffna Municipal Corporation the day after these incidents took place. The public library was set on fire. Ninety-three thousand books, which were kept as a treasure for all available books, the night-giving area, the children's section, and many more old prints, were burnt in the fire. Jaffna Library burning Jaffna. Father Davidu Adikalar, seen from the top floor of the monastery, died of a heart attack on the spot. The miscreants who set fire to the book station went from there and set fire to Eelan Nadu Workshop on Manipbai Road. Sivanandam and Sachidanandam, the Eelan Nadu employees who were on night duty there, were set on fire. These were held on the first day of June 1981. After this, these thugs brought from Colombo entered the head office of the Tamil Liberation Alliance in Tirunelveli. It happened in the morning of the second day of June. They shot and killed a young man named Balajothi who was staying at the Tirunelvelip workshop of the Tamil Liberation Alliance. A young man named Parameswaran, an agricultural extension officer from Goppa, was shot dead at his home. The Sri Lankan police went to many parts of the peninsula and shot a laundry worker named Shanmugam on the street at Acheju. A young man named Parameswaran, an agricultural extension officer from Goppa, was shot dead at his home. The Sri Lankan police went to many parts of the peninsula and shot a laundry worker named Shanmugam on the street at Acheju. A young man named Parameswaran, an agricultural extension officer from Goppa, was shot dead at his home. The Sri Lankan police went to many parts of the peninsula and shot a laundry worker named Shanmugam on the street at Acheju.

Also, Kamini Dissanayaka and Cyril Mathew of the United Nations Party made great efforts to get at least one seat in the District Development Council elections held in Jaffna district. Six ballot boxes went missing in the district development council election held on the fourth of June, 1981. This is due to UN ministers. They could not even get a single seat. The Tamil Liberation Alliance won all the seats in the Jaffna District Development Council elections.

Sri Lanka was given universal suffrage in 1931 on the recommendation of the Donamoor Committee. In 1981, the United Nations Party government celebrated the golden jubilee of 50 years since universal suffrage was granted to Sri Lanka. All six ballot boxes in Jaffna district were vandalized by ministers belonging to the same UN party, a non-partisan election monitoring group said.

 

By: Tamil Genocide 1956 – 2001 Book.