Today in the History of the Eelam Tamils: June 13, 1990
Today in the History of the Eelam Tamils: June 13, 1990 – The Beginning of the Second Eelam War
In the history of the Eelam Tamil struggle, the month of June has always been marked by bloodshed. Many years ago, on this very date—June 13—the Second Eelam War began in full force on the soil of Tamil Eelam.
At the time, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had been engaged in negotiations for approximately fourteen months, united by a common objective: the withdrawal of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) from Sri Lanka.
However, after the complete withdrawal of the IPKF, the Sri Lankan military reportedly established Home Guard units in the Eastern Province and carried out a series of attacks against Tamil villages. Hundreds of Tamils were said to have been killed.
The text further alleges that, similar to later instances in which attacks were attributed to former militants, killings of Muslim civilians were blamed on Tamil militants, thereby provoking communal tensions and riots between Tamil and Muslim communities. It identifies the then Minister of Defence, Ranjan Wijeratne, as the principal architect behind these policies. It also claims that he was responsible for ordering the execution and burning of several individuals, including JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera.
As the situation deteriorated and threatened to spiral out of control, the then Minister A.C.S. Hameed contacted the LTTE by telephone on the afternoon of June 13 and urgently arranged a temporary ceasefire agreement.
However, later that same evening, the Sri Lankan military reportedly launched direct military operations in both the Northern and Eastern Provinces, including in areas such as Mullaitivu. On that day, Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne officially declared that the government would employ the full strength of its armed forces to suppress the militants.
Until then, the Eelam conflict had largely been fought as a guerrilla war. With these developments, it transformed for the first time into a conventional war.
It was also during this period that the large-scale displacement of civilians from the Northern and Eastern Provinces intensified, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and become refugees.
The Jaffna Peninsula eventually came almost entirely under LTTE control, and the severe economic and medical embargoes imposed by the Sri Lankan government on the population were direct consequences of this phase of the conflict.
Translation by Hari
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