The Jaffna Youth Congress , was the first of Sri Lanka 's Youth Leagues . It was influenced by the Indian Independence Movement , was secular and committed to Poorana Swaraj (Complete Self-Rule), national unity and the eradication of inequalities imposed by caste.
73-621: The Jaffna Students’ Congress was founded in 1924 and renamed the Jaffna Youth Congress (JYC) in 1926. It had its base among educated middle-class Tamil youth, especially young graduates from Indian Universities and from the newly founded University College, Colombo . It drew enthusiasm and morale boosts from visits of leading Indian personalities. In 1927, the JYC invited Indian independence movement leader Mahatma Gandhi to visit Jaffna . In 1931 Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay addressed
146-598: A Wesleyan Missionary started several schools in Jaffna city including Jaffna Central College and Vembadi Girls’ High School . Prior to the civil war, the city had one of the highest literacy rates within Sri Lanka. Jaffna has had a media sector from the mid-1800s. The first known Tamil and English weekly Uthayatharakai (Morning Star) was published jointly in 1840 by the American Ceylon Mission and
219-869: A clan-based settlement of the last phase of the Iron Age in the Jaffna region . Iron Age urn burials including other Tamil-Brahmi inscribed potsherds found in Kandarodai , Poonakari and Anaikoddai in the Jaffna region, reflects the burial practices of older times. Excavated ceramic sequences in Kandarodai , similar to Arikamedu , revealed South Indian black and red ware , potteries and fine grey ware from 2nd to 5th BCE. Excavations of black and red wares (1000 BCE – 100 CE), grey wares (500 BCE – 200 CE), Sasanian–Islamic wares (200 BCE – 800 CE), Yue green wares (800 – 900 CE), Dusun stone wares (700 –1100 CE) and Ming Porcelains (1300 – 1600CE) conducted at
292-419: A pogrom that lasted for three days. The head office of TULF party was destroyed. The Jaffna MP V. Yogeswaran 's residence was also destroyed. Four people were pulled from their homes and killed at random. Many business establishments and a local Hindu temple were also deliberately destroyed. On the night of June 1, according to many eyewitnesses, police and government-sponsored paramilitias set fire to
365-443: A consequence the city's population is significantly lower than it was 30 years ago. Many of the city's residents who left during the civil war have settled down elsewhere and are unlikely to return. There have been reports, particularly after the end of the civil war in 2009, about resettling those residents who wish to return to Jaffna but there hasn't been any substantive effort to do so yet. Most Tamils are Hindus belonging
438-589: A contested city. It was made into a colonial port town during the Portuguese occupation of the Jaffna peninsula in 1619 who lost it to the Dutch , only to lose it to the British in 1796. During the civil war, the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) occupied Jaffna in 1986. The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) briefly occupied the city in 1987. The LTTE again occupied the city from 1989 until 1995, when
511-605: A cumulative effect of all these atrocities, the peaceful voice of the Tamils is now drowned in the echo of the gun; referring to the rebel LTTE 's terrorism . In 2016, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the leader of the United National Party apologized for the burning of the library which happened during a UNP government. He was interrupted by the shouting of Joint Opposition MPs for which he claimed We are giving jobs to people. We are opening industries. By
584-685: A dialect of Telugu or Tamil. Tamils were also divided along the caste system but as an urban area class was more important than caste which was more pronounced in rural areas of Jaffna district. Jaffna was founded as a trading town. Although a historic port used by the native Jaffna kingdom was already in existence when the Portuguese arrived, it was the European mercantile activity that made it prominent. In colonial times, production of clothes, items of gold and silver, processing of tobacco, rice and other related activities formed an important part of
657-965: A flourishing of literature, both in Tamil and Sanskrit. The Portuguese established Jaffna city in 1621 as their colonial administrative center. Prior to the military capitulation to the Portuguese Empire in 1619, the capital of the local Jaffna Kingdom , also known as the Kingdom of the Aryacakravarti was Nallur , which is close to the city limits of Jaffna. The capital city was known in royal inscriptions and chronicles as Cinkainakar and in other sources as Yalpaanam in Tamil and Yapaapatuna in Sinhalese . From 1590, Portuguese merchants and Catholic missionaries were active within
730-705: A looting spree all on their own The national newspapers did not report the incident. In subsequent parliamentary debates some majority Sinhalese members told minority Tamil politicians that if Tamils were unhappy in Sri Lanka, they should leave for their 'homeland' in India . A direct quote from a United National Party member is If there is discrimination in this land which is not their (Tamil) homeland, then why try to stay here. Why not go back home (India) where there would be no discrimination. There are your kovils and Gods . There you have your culture, education, universities, etc. There you are masters of your own fate Of all
803-451: A number of popular newspapers in Tamil such as Eelakesari and Eelanadu . Jaffna was also the seen the publication of journals committed to the growth of modernistic and socially purposive literature such as Bharati and Marumalarchi in 1946. Now defunct English weekly Saturday Review was an influential news magazine that came out of Jaffna. During the civil war many publishers, authors and journalists were assassinated or arrested and
SECTION 10
#1732776171802876-470: A rampage, burning the library . It was one of the most violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the 20th century. At the time of its destruction, the library was one of the biggest in Asia, containing over 97,000 books and manuscripts. The priest and scholar Rev. Fr. (Dr.) H. S. David died of shock the next day after seeing flames engulfing Jaffna Library from his room at St. Patrick's College, Jaffna
949-495: A significant contribution toward the sustenance of the Tamil culture, and those of locally reputed physicians and politicians. The office of the Eelanaadu, a local newspaper, was also destroyed. Statues of Tamil cultural and religious figures were destroyed or defaced. The Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality (MIRJE) who sent an investigative team to Jaffna after the riot concluded: "After careful inquiries there
1022-417: A small number of Shias prevalent amongst mercantile immigrants from North India or Pakistan . There is a small community of Tamil Buddhists who converted to Theravada Buddhism during the 20th century due to the efforts of Maha Bodhi Society . Most Sinhalese were either Buddhists or Catholics. There was a small community of nomadic wanderers known as Kuravar who visited Jaffna seasonally and spoke
1095-408: Is no doubt that the attacks and the arson were the work of some 100-175 police personnel." Nancy Murray wrote in a journal article in 1984 that several high-ranking security officers and two cabinet ministers Gamini Dissanayake and Cyril Mathew were present in the town of Jaffna , when uniformed security men and plainclothes mob carried out organized acts of destruction. After 20 years
1168-551: Is served by government and private sector coaches and buses. Commercial flights are available from Chennai, India and Colombo to Jaffna via the Jaffna International Airport . Since 2017 an express ferry service connects Jaffna with Delft islands. Jaffna city has number of education institutions founded by the missionary efforts and Saivite revivalism during the British colonial period. Peter Percival
1241-523: Is surrounded by Jaffna Lagoon to its west and south, Kokkuvil and Thirunelveli to the north, and Nallur to the east. Jaffna peninsula is made of limestone as it was submerged under sea during the Miocene period . The limestone is grey, yellow and white porous type. The entire land mass is mostly flat with terrain sloping slightly upwards towards the coasts. Except for a few towns, the landmass lies slightly above sea level. Within 1.5 kilometres (1 mile) of
1314-572: Is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka . It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name . With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most populous city . Jaffna is approximately ten kilometres (six miles) from Kandarodai which served as an emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical antiquity . Jaffna's suburb Nallur served as
1387-529: The Black July pogrom-induced civil conflict began in 1983. By 1984, the library was fully renovated; however, the library was damaged by bullets and bombs. The military forces were stationed in the Jaffna Fort and the rebels positioned themselves inside the library creating a no man's land as the fighting intensified. In 1985, after an attack on a nearby police station by Tamil rebels, soldiers entered
1460-723: The Indo- Sri Lankan peace accord led an operation to take the city from the rebels . It led to incidents like the Jaffna University Helidrop and Jaffna hospital massacre in which patients and medical workers were killed by the Indian Army . More than 200 civilians were also killed during attempt to take the city over by the IPKF. After the departure of the Indians, the city came under the control of
1533-471: The Jaffna peninsula . It thus became a place of historic and symbolic importance to all Sri Lankans. Eventually, the first major wing of the library was opened in 1959 by then Jaffna mayor Alfred Duraiappah . The architect of the Indo-Saracenic style building was S. Narasimhan from Madras , India . Prominent Indian librarian S.R. Ranganathan served as an advisor to ensure that the library
SECTION 20
#17327761718021606-647: The Jaffna Fort hints to maritime trade between the Jaffna Peninsula and South Asia , Arabian Peninsula and the Far East . Jaffna and surrounding region was part of the chiefdom of Naga Nadu mentioned in the 5th century CE Tamil epic Manimekalai and the Pali chronicle Mahavamsa as inhabited by tribal Naga people , surmised as one of the earliest tribes of Sri Lanka . They had according to scholars fully assimilated to Tamil language and culture by
1679-587: The Shaivite tradition but might also propitiate the village deities . Most Christians are Roman Catholics with a small but influential number of Protestants belonging to the Church of South India , the successor organisation of American Ceylon Mission and other colonial era Protestant churches. The Catholic Church has a diocese headquartered in the city. All Moors were Muslims with the Sunni sect predominating with
1752-473: The Sri Lankan Army regained control. The majority of the city's population are Sri Lankan Tamils with a significant number of Sri Lankan Moors , Indian Tamils and other ethnic groups present in the city prior to the civil war. Most Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindus followed by Christians, Muslims and a small Buddhist minority. The city is home to number of educational institutions established during
1825-524: The UNP government at that time did not institute an independent investigation to establish responsibility for these killings in May and June 1981 and take measures against those responsible. No one has been indicted for the crimes. In 1982, one year after the initial destruction, the community sponsored Jaffna Public Library Week and collected thousands of books. Repairs on parts of the building were in progress when
1898-509: The Vijayanagara Empire mentions the place as Yalpaanayanpaddinam . The name also occurs on copper plates issued by Sethupathi kings of the same era. The suffix -pattinam indicates the place to have been a seaport town. The origin of the name can be traced to a legend about the town's etymology. A king (supposedly Ukkirasinghan ) was visited by the blind Panan musician, who was an expert in vocal music and one skilled in
1971-599: The Wesleyan church . In 1863, the Ceylon Patriot was published by a local advocate as a weekly. The Jaffna Catholic Guardian and the Hindu Organ were published by Roman Catholic and Hindu organisations to present their religious interests between 1876 and 1889 respectively. The first Tamil monthly was Sanmarkapothini which was published in 1884. Katiresu 2004 , p. 29 These early journals were followed by
2044-533: The 1980s, but suffered damage or destruction during the subsequent civil war. During the Dutch period, Jaffna also became prominent as a trading town in locally grown agricultural products with the native merchants and farmers profiting as much as the VOC merchants. Great Britain took over the Dutch possessions in Sri Lanka from 1796. Britain maintained many of the Dutch mercantile, religious, and taxation policies. During
2117-644: The 9th century CE or earlier. During the medieval times, the Kingdom of Aryacakravarti came into existence in the 13th century as an ally to the Pandyan Empire in South India. When the Pandyan Empire became weak due to Muslim invasions, successive Aryacakravarti rulers made the Jaffna kingdom independent and a regional power to reckon with in Sri Lanka. Nallur a suburb of Jaffna served as
2190-426: The British colonial period, almost all the schools that eventually played role in the high literacy achievement of the Jaffna residents were built by missionaries belonging to American Ceylon Mission , Wesleyan Methodist Mission , Saivite reformer Arumuka Navalar and others. Under British rule, Jaffna enjoyed a period of rapid growth and prosperity, as the British built the major roads and railway line connecting
2263-503: The Dutch occupation, the city grew in population and size. The Dutch were more tolerant towards native mercantile and religious activities than the Portuguese had been. Most of the Hindu temples that the Portuguese had destroyed were rebuilt. A community of mixed Eurasian Dutch Burghers grew up. The Dutch rebuilt the fort and expanded it considerably. They also built Presbyterian churches and government buildings, most of which survived until
Jaffna Youth Congress - Misplaced Pages Continue
2336-477: The Jaffna kingdom. Impetus for a permanent fortified settlement happened only after 1619, when the expeditionary forces of the Portuguese Empire led by Filipe de Oliveira captured Cankili II , the last native king. De Oliveira moved the center of political and military control from Nallur to Jaffnapatao (variously spelt as Jaffnapattan or Jaffnapattam), the Portuguese rendition of the native name for
2409-458: The Jaffna public library and destroyed it completely. Over 97,000 volumes of books along with numerous culturally important and irreplaceable manuscripts were destroyed. Among the destroyed items were scrolls of historical value and the works and manuscripts of philosopher, artist and author Ananda Coomaraswamy and prominent intellectual Prof. Dr. Isaac Thambiah . The destroyed articles included memoirs and works of writers and dramatists who made
2482-573: The Kotte kingdom from 1450 to 1467. The kingdom was re-established with the disintegration of Kotte kingdom and the fragmentation of Viyanagara Empire. It maintained very close commercial and political relationships with the Thanjavur Nayakar kingdom in southern India as well as the Kandyan and segments of the Kotte kingdom. This period saw the building of Hindu temples in the peninsula and
2555-823: The LTTE once more, but they were ousted in 1995 after a 50-day siege. The economic embargo of the rebel controlled territories in general also had a negative impact in Jaffna including lack of power, critical medicines and food. During the period of LTTE occupation, all Muslim residents were expelled in 1990 and forced evacuated all residents in 1995. Since the end of civil war in 2009, refugees have begun to return and visible reconstruction has taken place. The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora and business interests from Colombo have invested in commercial enterprises. Countries in Europe, US and India have shown an interest in investing in infrastructure projects and other economic activities. The city
2628-531: The Public library that are notable. Almost all Hindu temples in Jaffna including the socially important Nallur Kandaswamy temple were reconstructed during the Dutch and British period. See Category:People from Jaffna Sister City initiatives give opportunities for the cities' residents to become familiar with each other's cultures. The initiatives will facilitate the cultural, educational, municipal, business, professional and technical exchanges and projects among
2701-567: The capital of the four-century-long medieval Tamil Jaffna Kingdom . Prior to the Sri Lankan Civil War , it was Sri Lanka's second most populous city after Colombo . The 1980s insurgent uprising led to extensive damage, expulsion of part of the population, and military occupation. Since the end of civil war in 2009, refugees and internally displaced people began returning to homes, while government and private sector reconstruction started taking place. Historically, Jaffna has been
2774-582: The capital of the kingdom. Politically, it was an expanding power in the 13th and 14th century with all regional kingdoms paying tribute to it. However, it met with simultaneous confrontations with the Vijayanagar empire that ruled from Vijayanagara , southern India, and a rebounding Kotte Kingdom from the southern Sri Lanka. This led to the kingdom becoming a vassal of the Vijyanagar Empire as well as briefly losing its independence under
2847-419: The city center is the island of Mandativu which is connected by a causway . Palmyrah groves can be seen where land has not been used for construction. Other notable vegetation is a leafless shrub called talai (alae africana) and koddanai ( oleander ). Jaffna features a tropical savanna climate with a dry season between February and August, and a wet season between September and January. Jaffna has
2920-464: The city directly rather than share power with a highly literate electorate. The first elected mayor of Jaffna Municipal council was Sam A. Sabapathy . During the civil conflict, number of mayors were assassinated such as Alfred Duraiappah , Sarojini Yogeswaran and Pon Sivapalan . There were 15 years without elections after 1983. The post civil war elections were held in 2009 after a gap of 11 years. The municipal council consists of 29 members. As
2993-621: The city was overtaken by the growth of settlements near Colombo. But even in 1981 Jaffna was the largest city outside the Greater Colombo area . The population of Jaffna, like the rest of the North and East , has been heavily affected by the civil war. Many of its Tamil residents have emigrated to the West or moved to the relative safety of Colombo . The city's small Moor and Sinhalese population have either been forcibly expelled or fled. As
Jaffna Youth Congress - Misplaced Pages Continue
3066-494: The city with Colombo, Kandy and the rest of the country. The prosperity of the city's citizens enabled them to underwrite the building of temples and schools, and the library and museum. After Sri Lanka became independent in 1948 from Britain, the relationship between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils worsened. Considered the heart of Tamil culture and literature in Sri Lanka, Jaffna was concentrated with growing Tamil nationalism, which called for autonomy for Tamils to protest
3139-448: The colonial and post-colonial period. It also has number of commercial institutions, minor industrial units, banks, hotels and other government institutions. It is home to many historical sites such as the popular Jaffna library that was burnt down and rebuilt and the Jaffna fort which was rebuilt during the Dutch colonial period. Jaffna is known in Tamil as Yalpanam and earlier known as Yalpanapattinam . A 15th-century inscription of
3212-492: The destruction in Jaffna city, it was the destruction of the Jaffna Public Library that was the incident which appeared to cause the most distress to the people of Jaffna. Twenty years later, the mayor of Jaffna Nadarajah Raviraj still grieved at the recollection of the flames he saw as a university student. For Tamils, the devastated library became a symbol of "physical and imaginative violence". The attack
3285-504: The discrimination against them by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government and Sinhalese civilians since Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain in 1948. Residents of Jaffna city along with the rest of Tamil population of Sri Lanka were in the fore front of the political mobilisation behind Tamil nationalist parties. After the Tamil conference incident in 1974, the then mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiappah
3358-403: The economic activities. In modern times, the port was its principal source of revenue but it has declined drastically. Currently it survives as a fishing port. The city had a wide range of industries, including food processing, packaging, making of household items, and salt processing, but most ceased after 1995. Since then, most industrialists, entrepreneurs, and business people have relocated to
3431-598: The first time, a federal constitution for Ceylon. The JYC led a successful boycott of the first State Council elections in Jaffna in 1931, arguing that the Donoughmore reforms did not concede enough self-government. This Sri Lankan politics-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Jaffna Jaffna ( Tamil : யாழ்ப்பாணம் , romanized: Yāḻppāṇam , IPA: [jaːɻpːaːɳɐm] ; Sinhala : යාපනය , romanized: Yāpanaya , IPA: [jaːpənəjə] )
3504-431: The former Royal capital. Jaffnapatao was attacked number of times by A local rebel Migapulle Arachchi and his allied Thanjavur Nayakar expeditionary forces attacked Jaffnapatao a number of times, but the Portuguese defence of the city withstood the attacks. Jaffnapatao was a small town with a fort, a harbour, Catholic chapels, and government buildings. Portuguese merchants took over the lucrative trade of elephants from
3577-479: The government-owned Daily News newspaper, in an editorial in 2001, termed the 1981 event an act by "goon squads let loose by the then government". Two cabinet ministers, who saw the destruction of government and private properties from the verandah of the Jaffna Rest House (a government-owned hotel), claimed that the incident was an unfortunate event, where [a] few policemen got drunk and went on
3650-636: The harbor known as ‘ Aluppanthy ’ situated previously at the Gurunagar area seem as its evidences. The colloquial form of Yalpanam is Yappanam. The Ya and Ja including pp and ff are easily interchangeable. Jaffna is a version of Yalpanam that was adopted by non-Tamil speaking rulers and settlers. As soon as it went into foreign language, it lost the Tamil ending m and consequently stood as Jaffna . Megalithic excavations reveal settlements of an early period in this region. The bronze Anaikoddai seal with Tamil-Brahmi and Indus script indicates
3723-526: The highest average temperature in Sri Lanka of 28 °C (83 °F). The temperature is highest in the months of April-May and August-September. The temperature is coolest in December-January. The annual rainfall is brought in by the North East monsoon and it varies from one place to the other and also from year to year. The average rainfall is approximately 1,300 millimetres or 50 inches in
SECTION 50
#17327761718023796-547: The interior and monopolised the import of goods from Colombo and India , disfranchising the local merchants. The Portuguese era was a time of population movement to the Vannimais in the south, religious change, and as well as the introduction to the city of European education and health care. In 1658, Portuguese lost Jaffapatao to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) after a three-month siege. During
3869-461: The media heavily censored. Since the 2000s Jaffna is served by newspapers such as Uthayan , Yarl Thinakkural and Valampurii . Some historic buildings such as Temples, Saraswathy Mahal library and palaces in the royal city of Nallur and the rest of Jaffna peninsula were destroyed by the Portuguese colonials. Materials from destroyed buildings were used in the construction of the Jaffna fort and other fortifications. Cankilian Thopu or entrance of
3942-596: The murders, rapes and arson that has been committed." In 1991 the then president of Sri Lanka Ranasinghe Premadasa publicly proclaimed that During the District Development Council elections in 1981, some of our party members took many people from other parts of the country to the North, created havoc and disrupted the conduct of elections in the North. It is this same group of people who are causing trouble now also. If you wish to find out who burnt
4015-415: The natives lived in separate sections of the city. Most houses were modest in size and the streets were kept clean. After the 1900s the population increased and Sinhalese from the south also settled in Jaffna. Prior to the civil war there were Moors, Sinhalese, Indian Tamils and other ethnic groups living in Jaffna. During colonial times, Jaffna was Ceylon's (Sri Lanka) second largest city. Post-independence
4088-494: The night before. The library was built in many stages starting from 1933, from a modest beginning as a private collection of K. M. Chellappah . Soon, with the help of primarily local citizens, it became a full-fledged library. The library also became a repository of archival material written in palm leaf manuscripts , original copies of regionally important historic documents in the contested political history of Sri Lanka and newspapers that were published hundreds of years ago in
4161-713: The opening session of the All-Ceylon Youth Congress, and was said to have taken Jaffna by storm. Like the Indian National Congress in India , the causes the JYC advocated were secularism, a non-sectarian Ceylonese nationalism and independence from Britain. For this reason, it enjoyed much respect from Sinhalese intellectuals in the south of the country. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike addressed the Youth Congress sessions, advocating, for
4234-440: The original municipal council building was destroyed during the civil war, a new building is to be constructed for the current municipal council in 2011. See also: List of mayors of Jaffna Historically residents of Jaffna were Tamils, Moors (Muslims), Europeans and Eurasian Burghers. Over time the composition changed with Tamils and Moors predominating and Europeans and Burghers either assimilating or moving away. Europeans and
4307-498: The palace of Cankili I and Mantri Manai or minister's palace are few of the pre-colonial buildings still standing in the royal quarters of Nallur. Within the Jaffna city proper, the Dutch fort is an imposing structure followed by many Dutch era homes, churches and civil buildings most of which were damaged during the civil war. There are number of British colonial era building such as the Indo-Sarasenic style clock tower and
4380-504: The partially restored building and set off bombs that shredded thousands of books yet again. The library was abandoned with its shell and bullet-pocked walls, blackened with the smoke of burnt books. As an effort to win back the confidence of the Tamil people and also to mollify international opinion, in 1998 under president Chandrika Kumaratunga , the government began the process to rebuild it with contributions from all Sri Lankans and foreign governments. Approximately US$ 1 million
4453-467: The priceless collection of books at the Jaffna Library, you have only to look at the faces of those opposing us. He was accusing his political opponents within his UNP party, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake , who had just brought an impeachment motion against him, as directly involved in the burning of the library in 1981. In 2006 the president of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse
SECTION 60
#17327761718024526-585: The rest of Sri Lanka and abroad. After 2009, foreign governments within the EU, US, India, and investors from the south of the island and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora have shown an interest in making investments in Jaffna district in general and Jaffna city in particular. Shopping malls such as the Cargills Square and hotels such as Jetwing Jaffna, Tilko Jaffna City Hotel have been built boosting
4599-480: The sister cities. Its sister cities are: Burning of Jaffna library Senior members of Sri Lankan government and military Tamil political and cultural leaders The burning of the Jaffna Public Library ( Tamil : யாழ் பொது நூலகம் எரிப்பு , Yāḻ potu nūlakam erippu ; Sinhala : යාපනය මහජන පුස්තකාලය ගිනිබත් කිරීම, Yāpanaya mahajana pustakālaya ginibat kirīma ) took place on the night of June 1, 1981, when an organized mob of Sinhalese individuals went on
4672-550: The time President Maithripala Sirisena celebrates his second anniversary of assuming office, we will have completed a massive amount of development work in the North. The Jaffna Library was burnt during the time of our government. We regret it. We apologize for it. Do you also apologize for the wrongs you committed? According to Orville H. Schell , Chairman of the Americas Watch Committee, and Head of Amnesty International 's 1982 fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka,
4745-547: The tourism industry in the city. Jaffna is 396 kilometres (246 miles) from Colombo. It is directly connected by railways and the roads system . The city was served by the Yal Devi train and other 5 trains daily from Colombo . The primary railway station in the city is the Jaffna Railway Station . The A-9 highway connecting the city with the rest of the country was opened after the 2002 ceasefire. It
4818-579: The use of instrument called Yal . The king who was delighted to the music played with the Yal by the Panan, presented him a sandy plain. The Panan returned to India and introduced some members of his tribe as impecunious as himself to accompany to this land of promise, and it is surmised that their place of settlement was that part of the city which is known at present as Passaiyoor and Gurunagar . The Columbuthurai Commercial Harbor situated at Colombuthurai and
4891-550: The western part of Jaffna peninsula. The Jaffna Municipal Council governs the City of Jaffna. It was established under the Municipalities Ordinance Act of 1865 . Although other cities such as Kandy , Galle and Colombo had elected municipal councils soon after the 1865 ordinance, Jaffna did not have an elected municipal council for many years. This reflected the desire of the British bureaucrats to govern
4964-442: Was assassinated by the leader of rebel LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran in 1975. Following further deterioration of political discourse, the Jaffna library was burnt down in 1981 by Police and other miscreants. Failure of the political class to find an adequate compromise led to full-scale civil war starting in 1983 soon after the Black July pogrom. Sri Lankan military and police were using the Dutch era fort as their encampment which
5037-552: Was built to international standards. The library became the pride of the local people as even researchers from India and other countries began to use it for their research purposes. On Sunday, May 31, 1981, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), a regionally popular democratic party, held a rally in which two policemen Sergeant Punchi Banda and constable Kanagasuntharam were shot and killed by PLOTE gunmen. That night police and paramilitaries began
5110-597: Was quoted as saying, The UNP is responsible for mass-scale riots and massacres against the Tamils in 1983 , vote-rigging in the Northern Development Council elections and [the] burning of the Jaffna library He was also further quoted as saying in reference to a prominent local Tamil poet, reminding the audience that Burning the Library sacred to the people of Jaffna was similar to shooting down Lord Buddha He concluded in that speech that as
5183-506: Was seen as an assault on their aspirations, the value of learning and traditions of academic achievement. The attack also became the rallying point for Tamil rebels to promote the idea to the Tamil populace that their race was targeted for annihilation. The then President J. R. Jayewardene admitted that members of his party had encouraged the violence against Tamils in this period: "I regret that some members of my party have spoken in Parliament and outside, words that encourage violence and
5256-425: Was spent and over 25,000 books were collected. By 2001 the replacement building was complete but the 2003 reopening of the rebuilt library was opposed by the rebel LTTE (who wanted the burnt remnants of the original building to stand and a replacement library constructed in a different location). This led all 21 members of the Jaffna municipal council , led by Mayor Sellan Kandian , to tender their resignation as
5329-511: Was surrounded by various Tamil militant groups. Bombardment from air and land of the city led to damage to civic and civilian properties, death and injury to civilians and destruction the economic potential of the city. In 1986, the Sri Lankan military withdrew from the city and it came under the full control of the LTTE. In 1987, the Indian forces brought to Sri Lanka under the auspices of
#801198