Terrorism in Sri Lanka

Terrorism in Sri Lanka has been a highly destructive phenomenon during the 20th and 21st centuries, especially so during the periods of the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009) and the first (1971) and second JVP insurrections (1987–1989). A common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government for political, religious, or ideological goals.^[1][2] Sri Lanka is a country that has experienced some of the worst known acts of modern terrorism, such as suicide bombings, massacres of civilians and assassination of political and social leaders. Terrorism has posed a significant threat to the society, economy and development of the country. The Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1978 is the legislation that provides the powers to law enforcement officers to deal with issues related to terrorism in Sri Lanka.^[3] It was first enacted as a temporary law in 1979 under the presidency of J. R. Jayewardene, and later made permanent in 1982.

Terrorism found in Sri Lanka can be mainly categorized into three forms:

JVP insurrections

The leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna drew worldwide attention to Sri Lanka, when it launched an insurrection against the Bandaranaike government in April 1971. Although the insurgents were young, poorly armed, and inadequately trained, they succeeded in seizing and holding major areas in Southern and Central provinces before they were defeated by the security forces.^[11] Their attempt to seize power created a major crisis for the government and forced a fundamental reassessment of the nation's security needs.^[11] The conflict saw a limited usage of weapons and tactics from both parties. The JVP had prepared for the insurrection in the years leading up to it gathering weapons and ammunition, though modern weapons were of limited access to them.

The government reacted to the JVP's insurrection by launching a brutal crackdown which resulted in the killing, in a period of just five weeks, of up to 20,000 young people suspected of being JVP members.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} According to another source, the official death toll was about 1,200 but unofficial figures reliably estimated it to be around four to five thousand.^[17] JVP became the first organization to be proscribed in Sri Lanka in 1971, after their revolt.^[18] The government forces were ill-equipped to deal with a full-scale insurrection with world war two vintage British weapons. Although the major danger disappeared after three weeks, it took nearly three more months to completely eradicate the rebellion outposts in the jungles and remote villages.

The JVP was proscribed once again, after July 1983 disturbances amidst government allegations that they have been involved in plots to destabilize the country and overthrow the government.^[18] This led to the second insurrection of JVP.^[19] The second insurrection was not an open revolt, like the 1971 insurrection but appeared to be a low intensity conflict that lasted from 1987 to 1989 with the JVP resorting to assassinations, subversion, raids and attacks on military and civilian targets.^[20] The JVP's military wing Deshapremi Janatha Vyaparaya (Patriotic People's Movement aka DJV) was more active in terrorist activities in the second insurrection.^[21] During the second insurrection DJV gave priority to the killing of civilians, be it political rivals or simple citizens who disobeyed the innumerable orders of JVP.^[22]

The UNP government cracked down on the JVP's insurrection using brutal force, killing tens of thousands of students and other civilians suspected of being JVP sympathisers.^{[23][24][25][26][27][28]} According to some sources over 60,000 persons were killed during this insurrection, others sources suggests that the number of killed and made to disappear by killer squads is altogether not more than 35,000.^[29] The total number of victims included those of the DJV, the military wing of JVP and as well as those killed in retaliation by the government's official armed groups and other killer squads. Throughout this insurrection many state and private property were also destroyed.^[29] The second insurrection of JVP came to and end, when JVP's key leaders such as Rohana Wijeweera, Upatissa Gamanayake and Saman Piyasiri Fernando were assassinated by the end of 1989.^[30][31]

Sri Lankan Civil War

The government forces of Sri Lanka were involved in an armed conflict with the

For over 25 years, the war caused significant hardships to the population, environment and the

The

The group was also involved in the brutal murder of two police officers Ganesh Dinesh and Niroshan Indika in 2018, which at the time was wrongfully blamed on a former LTTE cadre.[63]

Terrorist attacks

A number of terrorists attacks have occurred in Sri Lanka, specially during the periods of civil war (1983–2009) and the JVP insurrections (1971 and 1987–1989). According to independent sources Sri Lanka was subjected to some of the worst terrorist attacks that have occurred worldwide with 100 or more fatalities over the last 100 years.

According to the FBI, LTTE was a militant group that has perfected the use of suicide bombings, invented the suicide belt and pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks.[7] The FBI also claim they were the first group to assassinate two world leaders.^[7] Since the late 1980s, the group has conducted approximately two hundred suicide attacks.^[75] Targets have included transit hubs, shrines, and office buildings.^[75] Beyond suicide bombings, the LTTE has used conventional bombs and Claymore mines to attack political and civilian targets, and has gunned down both Sri Lankan officials and civilians.^[75]

The attacks of JVP and its military wing DJV during the second JVP insurrection were not as deadly as some of the attacks of LTTE, but occurred in a higher frequency in many parts of the country.^{[citation needed]} Some of the notable attacks of JVP/DJV includes 1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament, 1989 Temple of the Tooth attack and Bomb attack to the Kataragama Esala procession in July 1989.^[76] In addition to the assassinations of political rivals and other who opposed Marxists principles, the JVP/DJV were also involved in many attacks to the public and private property such as burning of public transport vehicles, blasting transformers and destroying utilities etc.^[77]

The 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings were the first acts of terrorism that occurred after the end of the civil war in 2009. Eight explosions took place on Easter Sunday 21 April 2019 at three catholic churches located in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa (St. Anthony's Shrine, St. Sebastian's Church, and Zion Church) and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital Colombo (Shangrila Hotel, Cinnamon Grand Hotel and Kingsbury Hotel).^[57] 259 people were killed, including at least 45 foreigners, and over 500 more were injured.^[59][60] A local Islamist terrorist group known as National Thowheeth Jama'ath was identified as responsible for these string of attacks.^[58]

Counter-terrorism

The

The Sri Lankan government has been accused of

• Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) – (27 May 1958 – 27 October 1958)^{[88][89][90][91]}
• Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) / National Liberation Front (NLF) – (27 May 1958 – 27 October 1958)^{[88][89][90][91][92]}
• Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) / People's Liberation Front (PLF) – (April 1971 – 1977, 30 July 1983 – 10 May 1988)^[93]
• Ceylon Communist Party (Moscow Wing) (CCP(M)) – (July 1983 – ~1983)^[93]
• Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP) – (July 1983 – ~1985)^[93]
• Socialist Students Union (Sri Lanka) (SSS) – (May 1987 – ?)^[93]
• Patriotic Students Union (DSS) – (January 1988 – ?)[93]
• Tamil National Council (TNC) – (25 February 2014 – 20 November 2015)^{[94][95][96][97][98]}

Current

• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – (from 19 January 1998 – 4 September 2002, since 7 January 2009)^{[93][99][100]}
• Headquarters Group – (since 25 February 2014)^[94][95]
• Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC) – (since 25 February 2014)^[94][95]
• Tamil Eelam Peoples Assembly (TEPA) – (since 25 February 2014)^[94][95]
• Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) – (since 25 February 2014)^[94][95]
• Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) – (since 25 February 2014)^[94][95]
• World Tamil Movement (WTM) – (since 25 February 2014)^[94][95]
• World Tamil Relief Fund (WTRF) – (since 25 February 2014)^[94][95]
• National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) – (since 27 April 2019)^[101][102]
• Jamaathe Millaathe Ibrahim (JMI) – (since 13 May 2019)^[101][102]
• Willayath As Seylani (WAS) – (since 13 May 2019)^[101][102]
• Global Tamil Forum (GTF) – (since 25 February 2021)^[103][104]
• British Tamils Forum (BTF) – (since 25 February 2021)^[103][104]
• Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) – (since 25 February 2021)^[103][104]
• Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) – (since 25 February 2021)^[103][104]
• Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) – (since 25 February 2021)^[103][104]
• National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT) – (since 25 February 2021)^[103][104]
• World Tamil Coordinating Committee (WTCC) – (since 25 February 2021)^[103][104]

See also

• Organized crime
• Casualty recording

References