Related Research Articles
Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan Civil War between Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan military.
Black July was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated, and was finally triggered by a deadly ambush on a Sri Lankan Army patrol by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 23 July 1983, which killed 13 soldiers. Although initially orchestrated by members of the ruling UNP, the pogrom soon escalated into mass violence with significant public participation.
The Kalutara Prison Riots occurred on 12 December 1997, at the high-security prison in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. Three minority Tamil political prisoners were killed by majority Sinhalese prisoners. No one has yet been convicted for these crimes.
The origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War lie in the continuous political rancor between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Sri Lankan Tamils. The war has been described by social anthropologist Jonathan Spencer as an outcome of how modern ethnic identities have been made and re-made since the colonial period, with the political struggle between minority Tamils and the Sinhalese-dominant government accompanied by rhetorical wars over archeological sites and place name etymologies, and the political use of the national past.
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda, is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he became a pro-government paramilitary leader and politician. Due to his strong opposition to and vocal criticism of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, they unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him over 10 times. Devananda is a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping. He was sworn in as Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on 22 November 2019.
The Kent and Dollar Farm massacres were the first massacres of Sinhalese civilians carried out by the LTTE during the Sri Lankan Civil War. The massacres took place on 30 November 1984, in two tiny farming villages in the Mullaitivu district in north-eastern Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government labeled this as an attack on civilians by the LTTE.
Eelam War I is the name given to the initial phase of the armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.
Sepala Ekanayake gained international notoriety after hijacking an Alitalia Boeing 747 with 340 passengers on June 30, 1982.
The Welikada Prison is a maximum-security prison and the largest prison in Sri Lanka. It was built in 1841 by the British colonial government under Governor Campbell. The prison covers an area of 48 acres (190,000 m2). It is overcrowded with about 1700 detainees exceeding the actual number that could be accommodated. The prison also has a gallows and its own hospital. The prison is administered by the Department of Prisons.
Balasingham Nadesan was the Political Chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from late 2007 until his death in 2009. He was formerly the organization's Chief of Police.
Selvarajah Yogachandran, also known as Kuttimani was one of the leaders of the former Tamil militant organization TELO from Sri Lanka. He was arrested and sentenced to death, and was killed in the 1983 Welikada prison massacre along with the other TELO leader Nadarajah Thangathurai.
Nadarajah Thangavelu was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and one of the founders of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
1983 Batticaloa Jailbreak happened in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka on 23 September 1983. After the Welikada prison massacre, Tamil political inmates were transferred to Batticaloa. Since they were not co-operating with the police they were told by the prison guards that they were to be transferred back to a Sinhalese area. Fearing death, 41 Tamil political inmates decided to escape. Using smuggled weapons and outside help they overwhelmed the guards and escaped in groups. Using this opportunity 150 criminal inmates also escaped. Prominent political escapees include Ramalingam Paramadeva, Panagoda Maheswaran, Douglas Devananda and few Tamil Tiger sympathisers. This jailbreak was bloodless. The escapees left behind some female political inmates, who were rescued by Ramalingam Paramadeva of the Tamil Tigers in 1984 Batticaloa Jailbreak.
1984 Batticaloa Jailbreak, was carried out by Ramalingam Paramadeva of Tamil Tigers to release a female political inmate, Nirmala Nithiyananthan, who was left behind in the 1983 Batticaloa Jailbreak, this incident happened on 10 June 1984. Paramadeva and his men dressed in prison guard uniform, fooled & overpowered the guards and released the inmate.
The Welikada prison riot was a prison riot that occurred on 9 November 2012 at Welikada Prison in Sri Lanka. The riot broke out during a search for illegal arms. The riot left 27 people dead and 40 injured. The government has appointed a committee to investigate the riot. Welikada Prison, which has around 4,000 prisoners, has witnessed a number of violent riots in its history. This prison riot was the worst in Sri Lanka's history since the 1983 riot, also at Welikada Prison, which left 53 prisoners dead.
Dr. S Rajasundaram was a Sri Lankan Tamil activist known for his struggle for the rights of Tamil people in Sri Lanka, through peaceful and democratic means. Along with his friend S.A. David, He founded Gandhiyam, a social service organization, named after the Indian revolutionary Mahatma Gandhi, that was aimed at economic, social, cultural revival of the Tamils and also fight the Sri Lankan state's repeated and continued policies of oppressing the Tamils and denying them of their rights. The Sri Lankan government unlawfully arrested along with him, several thousands Tamil activists and he was sentenced to the Welikada Prison where he was subsequently killed during the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983.
Solomon Arulanandam David was a Sri Lankan Tamil architect, activist and founder of the Gandhiyam Movement.
Sanmugam Appacuddy Tharmalingam was a Sri Lankan Tamil physician, politician and Mayor of Jaffna.
References
- ↑ Welikada Massacre Colombo Telegraph – 9 August 2019
- ↑ Govt. yet to pay compensation to July '83 victims Archived 10 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine Daily News Lanka – 30 March 2004
- ↑ "Sri Lanka Monitor". Archived from the original on 13 August 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
- ↑ Amnesty International, Rapport annuel pour l'annee civile 1983, 1984
 | This Sri Lankan history-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This prison-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |