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The expulsion of the
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
from the Northern province was an act of
ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
carried out by the
Tamil militant 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 among minority Sri Lankan Tamils th ...
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
(LTTE) organization in October 1990. Yogi, the LTTE's political spokesman claimed that this expulsion was carried out in retaliation for atrocities committed against
Tamils The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...
in the Eastern Province by Muslims, who were seen by the
LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
as collaborators with the Sri Lankan Army. As a consequence, in October 1990, the LTTE forcibly expelled 72,000 strong
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
population from the Northern Province.


Background

In the early years of Tamil political struggle for linguistic parity, a few Sri Lankan Muslims as a Tamil-speaking people identified with the Tamil cause and participated in it. Even during the early years of Tamil militant struggle for separatism, a few Muslim youth joined Tamil militant groups, though there has been forced recruitment of Muslim youths by Tamil militants. However, despite being a Tamil-speaking group, the Muslims see themselves as a different ethnicity or use their religious identity as their primary identity. With the creation of the
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ( ta, சிறீலங்கா முஸ்லீம் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Srīlaṅkā Muslīm Kāṅkiras; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රස� ...
on 21 September 1981, the idea of the Muslim people of Sri Lanka being separate from the Tamils, was being reinforced. Due to this, they felt that if the goal of Tamil Eelam was reached, they would be a "minority, in a minority state", and the SLMC were strongly opposed to the idea of
Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam ( ta, தமிழீழம், ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora ...
. The situation was further aggravated with the creation of the Muslim Home Guard, by the Sri Lankan Government, leading to violent clashes and incidents taking place between the two communities. Tensions between the Tamils and Muslims were at an all-time high.


Expulsion

The first expulsion was in
Chavakacheri Chavakachcheri ( ta, சாவகச்சேரி Cāvakaccēri, si, ජාවකච්චේරි Jāvakachchēri) is a large town in the Jaffna peninsula of Jaffna District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It may have Javanese origins, as ...
, of 1,500 people. After this, many Muslims in
Kilinochchi Kilinochchi ( ta, கிளிநொச்சி, translit=Kiḷinocci; si, කිලිනොච්චි, translit=Girānika) is the main town of Kilinochchi District, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Kilinochchi is situated at the A9 road so ...
and Mannar were forced to leave their homeland. The turn of Jaffna came on 30 October 1990; when LTTE trucks drove through the streets ordering Muslim families to assemble at
Osmania College Osmania College is a provincial school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It was once a prominent educational institution for the city's Muslim community. History Osmania College, located in Jaffna's Moor Town suburb, conducted classes ranging from kindergart ...
. On October 30, early morning, the LTTE ordered the north Muslims to leave in two hours, leaving behind every material possession that belonged to the community or otherwise to face death. Each person was allowed only 150 rupees each and only one set of clothes. Feeble protests were raised by Muslims. However, the brandishing of sophisticated weapons and threats in aggressive tones quickly silenced them. Women and girls were stripped of jewels. Some LTTE women cadres were brutal even pulling out ear studs with blood spurting in the ear lobes. At least 35 wealthy Muslim businessmen were abducted. They were detained by the LTTE. Some Muslim jewellers were tortured for details of hidden gold. One jeweller was killed by the beatings in front of the others. Later huge sums of money were demanded for their release. Some paid up to 3 million. The abducted persons were released in stages over the years. 13 people however never returned and were presumed dead. Moreover, the LTTE had expropriated Muslim homes, lands, and businesses and threatened Muslim families with death if they attempt to return. The entire Muslim population was expelled from Jaffna. According to a 1981 census (the last official count), the total Muslim population in Jaffna was 14,844. In total, over 14,400 Muslim families, roughly 72,000 people, were forcibly evicted from LTTE-controlled areas of the Northern Province. This includes 38,000 people from Mannar, 20,000 from Jaffna and
Kilinochchi Kilinochchi ( ta, கிளிநொச்சி, translit=Kiḷinocci; si, කිලිනොච්චි, translit=Girānika) is the main town of Kilinochchi District, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Kilinochchi is situated at the A9 road so ...
, 9,000 from
Vavuniya Vavuniya (, romanized: ''Vavuṉiyā'', , romanized: ''Vavuniyāva''). Vavuniya City is the capital of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka and the largest city in the Northern Province. The municipality is administered by Vav ...
and 5,000 from
Mullaitivu Mullaitivu ( ta, முல்லைத்தீவு, translit=Mullaittīvu; si, මූලදූව, translit=Mūladūva) is the main town of Mullaitivu District, situated on the north-eastern coast of Northern Province, Sri Lanka. A largely ...
. The flight to government-controlled areas was dangerous. Muslims found themselves in the crossfire between the LTTE and the army, and some were killed and injured. Most of the Muslims were resettled in
Puttalam Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam Di ...
district, though the Jaffna Muslim refugees can be found in other parts of Sri Lanka as well. Tareek, a former resident of Jaffna, recounted the expulsion as follows:


Aftermath


Apologies and resettlement by LTTE

The expulsion still carries bitter memories amongst Sri Lanka's Muslims. In a press conference in Kilinochchi in 2002, the
LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
negotiator and political strategist
Anton Balasingham Anton Balasingham Stanislaus ( ta, ஆண்டன் பாலசிங்கம் சிடானிசுலாசு, translit=Āṇṭaṉ Pālaciṅkam Ciṭāṉisulās; 4 March 1938 – 14 December 2006) was a Sri Lankan Tamil journal ...
appeared alongside the LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran and explained that they had already apologized to the Muslims and that the Tamil homeland also belonged to the Muslim people. Balasingham also expressed that the expulsion of the Muslims from Jaffna was a political blunder which could not be justified and said that the LTTE leadership would be willing to re-settle them in the northern district. There has been a stream of Muslims travelling to and from Jaffna since the ceasefire. Some families have returned and the re-opened Osmaniya College now has 450 students enrolled. 11 Mosques are functioning again. According to a Jaffna Muslim source, there is a floating population of about 2000 Muslims in Jaffna. Around 1500 are Jaffna Muslims, while the rest are Muslim traders from other areas. About 10 Muslim shops are functioning and the numbers are thought to have grown. Harassment of Muslims in LTTE-held areas continued in the East such as putting up signs in Muslim villages demanding Muslims to leave "Tamil territory" and Muslim refugees fleeing the conflict in 2006 were channeled through LTTE checkpoints where they were abducted or executed. Sri Lanka's largest Tamil party the
Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lank ...
also condemned it during the ceremony held in Colombo 2015 to mark the completion of 25 years since Muslims were evicted from the North. TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran criticized the silence of Tamil people when it happened.


See also

*
List of attacks attributed to the LTTE The following is a list of chronological attacks attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers. The attacks include massacres, bombings, robberies, ethnic cleansing, military battles and assassin ...
*
Expulsion of non-resident Tamils from Colombo The expulsion of non-resident Tamils from Colombo was an incident which took place on June 7, 2007 when 376 ethnic Tamil refugees living in Colombo were deported from the city by the Sri Lankan Police. The evicted were sent back to Jaffna, Vavuni ...
* Kattankudy mosque massacre *
Persecution of Muslims The persecution of Muslims has been recorded throughout the history of Islam, beginning with its founding by Muhammad in the 7th century. In the early days of Islam in Mecca, pre-Islamic Arabia, the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse ...


References


External links


Essay - "Muslims have a right to know from the LTTE leadership"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Expulsion Of Muslims From The Northern Province By Ltte Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Human rights abuses in Sri Lanka Ethnic cleansing in Asia Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attacks in Eelam War II Anti-Islam sentiment in Sri Lanka