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| Kent and Dollar Farm massacres | |
|---|---|
| File:Dollar Farm Massacare.jpgPhotograph distributed by the Sri Lankan military, allegedly of the Kent and Dollar Farm massacres. | |
| Location | Kent and Dollar Farms, Vavunia, Sri Lanka |
| Date | November 30 1984 |
| Target | Civilians at Kent and Dollar Farms |
| Attack type | Massacre |
| Deaths | 62 killed |
| Perpetrators | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) |
The Kent and Dollar Farm massacres took place on November 30 1984, at two Sinhalese farming settlements in the district of Mullaitivu. The attack is widely attributed, by both Sinhalese and Tamil groups, to the LTTE and was conducted as part of a cycle of revenge killings that had been inflicted on Tamil and Sinhalese civilian communities by both the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil militants respectfully. The LTTE however have not yet acknowledged involvement in the attack.
Background to the Massacre
During the late 70s and early 80s calls for a separate state intensified from the Tamil minority of Sri Lanka. The Government accelerated it's sponsored rehabilitation of Sinhalese people into Tamil areas, a move viewed by the separatist factions as an attempt to shift the demographics of the areas and to weaken their bid for those lands. They further went on to claim that these settlements were being used as launching pads for attacks into neighboring Tamil communities. The Government in turn argued that the members of the settlement were armed for the purpose of 'self-defense'.
Tamil political groups and international organizations such as Amnesty International considered the Kent and Dollar Farms to part of such colonization schemes. The location of the settlement had originally been a refugee site holding Indian Tamils who had fled anti-Tamil riots in the Hill Countries in 1977. According to Tamil groups it was the Government sponsored settlement of 450 Sinhalese ex-convicts and their families, along with military violence against Tamil communities in the area that resulted in revenge killings being conducted by the Tamil militants.
Sinhalese factions argue that the massacre was an act of ethnic cleansing, conducted to remove the Sinhalese population from Tamil 'homelands'.
Number of casualties
33 Sinhalese were killed and several others injured in the shooting carried out by the attackers on Dollar Farm. On the same day at Kent farm, another 29 Sinhalese civilians were massacred, thus increasing the total death toll to 62. Civilian casualties included men, women and children. The attackers had allegedly used submachine guns , automatic rifles and hand grenades.
See also
Citations
- Sivanayagam, S. Sri Lanka: Witness to History, Sivayogam, UK, 2005
- Amnesty International report on Sri Lanka: "Disappearances" (AI Index: ASA 37/08/86)
- University Teachers for Human Rights, Special Report No.5
References and further reading
- Suicide terrorism: a global threat, Security, Jane's, October 20, 2000
- Gunaratna, Rohan. (1998). Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security, Colombo: South Asian Network on Conflict Research. ISBN 955-8093-00-9
- Gunaratna, Rohan. (October 1, 1987). War and Peace in Sri Lanka: With a Post-Accord Report From Jaffna, Sri Lanka: Institute of Fundamental Studies. ISBN 955-8093-00-9
- Gunasekara, S.L. (November 04, 2003). The Wages of Sin, ISBN 955-8552-01-1