Yarlpanam City Arson
Yarlpanam City Arson
The beginning of the eighties began with the coalition’s treasonous acts and the ethnic cleansing violence of Sinhala chauvinism. The coalition, which had obtained the approval of the Tamil people to form an independent state of Tamileelam and entered the Colombo Parliament, stooped to the point of accepting the District Development Council.
On the night before this District Council election, on May 31, 1981, Sinhala armed forces went on a rampage in Yarlpanam and set fire to Yarlpanam. The Yarlpanam Library and the historical and cultural treasures in it were set on fire and destroyed. Jayewardene’s senior ministers Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake stayed in Yarlpanam and completed this sabotage. Exactly three months after the Yarlpanam arson, anti-Tamil riots broke out across the island of Sri Lanka. Hundreds of Tamils were killed. Tamil property worth crores were destroyed.
Attacks by the LTTE
As government violence intensified, the armed resistance of the LTTE also intensified.
On 15 October 1981, a LTTE special forces unit led by Charles Anthony attacked an army jeep on the Kankesanthuray road in Yarlpanam, killing two soldiers. This was the first guerrilla attack by the LTTE against the Sinhalese army.
On 2 July 1982, the LTTE launched a surprise attack on a police jeep patrolling in Nelliyadi, killing four policemen.
On 27 October 1982, a guerrilla unit of the LTTE carried out a successful attack on the Savakachcheri police station. In this attack, three policemen were killed, and three others were seriously injured. A large quantity of weapons was seized from the police station armory.
The armed resistance of the LTTE, which had been active in the early eighties, intensified further in 1983.
(Translation by Tamilpriya)
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