The IPKF Misadventure

Sri Lanka was faced with an ethnic conflict between the Sinhala majority and the Tamil minority who were inhabitants mostly of the northern part of the island. After Sri Lanka got independence from the British, Sinhalese was imposed as the sole official language in the island country. The Tamils wanted parity on all fronts with their language given the same status as Sinhalese. There were protests when discrimination continued. Opposition to the official repressive measures took a violent turn. Soon a number of militant groups were operating in the Jaffna Peninsula against the Sri Lankan armed forces. Over time, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) became the most prominent under Velupillai Prabakaran and took over the struggle using violence against the Lankan forces as well as civilians; their demand had progressed from autonomy to liberation from the Sri Lankan government to form an independent Tamil state. Though it was an internal affair of Sri Lanka, the events in Jaffna raised tensions in Tamil Nadu, where many felt close to the Sri

Lankan Tamils. The LTTE used Tamil Nadu as a refuge, and the state government was sympathetic to their cause, even as the central government kept quiet. It is believed that the governments under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi surreptitiously supported the Tamil militants.

When the Sri Lankan forces responded with brutal force and blockaded the Tamil majority district of Jaffna, Rajiv Gandhi first tried to resolve the problem diplomatically. But the siege continued. India hoped the Sri Lankan government would be amenable to India sending relief supplies to the beleaguered Tamils by sea. A flotilla of Indian ships with relief supplies was locked by the Sri Lankan Navy as they approached the territorial waters of Sri Lanka. On June 4, 1987, the Indian government ordered relief supplies to be air-dropped into the area on humanitarian grounds—in what was called Operation Poomalai (also Eagle-Mission-4)— after warning Sri Lanka not to try and stop the planes.

India was criticised by some nations for the action even as Sri Lanka accused India of “blatant violation of sovereignty”. The US expressed regret over the incident but added no further comment. India wanted the airdrop to send a message; the siege of Jaffna was lifted, and there was a declaration of cease-fire.

Indo-Sri Lanka Accord 1987 In July 1987, the Sri Lankan president, J.R. Jayawardene, asked Rajiv Gandhi to mediate in the island country’s ethnic conflict. As a result, the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed by the two leaders in Colombo on July 29, 1987.

Incidentally, it was on the occasion of this visit to Colombo that Rajiv Gandhi was assaulted by a Sri Lankan in the Guard of Honour held for the Indian prime minister in what seemed an attempted assassination. Rajiv Gandhi escaped serious injury.

The peace accord was perhaps too ambitious in its scope, seeking to address three contentious issues: strategic interests, people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka and rights of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Under the terms of the agreement, the Sri Lankan government would devolve power to the Tamil- majority areas, the Sri Lankan troops would withdraw to their barracks in the north and the Tamil militants would surrender

their arms. Besides the LTTE being dissolved, Tamil was to be designated an official language of Sri Lanka. Significantly the Tamil groups were not party to the talks that led to the agreement.

It was under the accord that the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was sent to Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern provinces where the Tamils were in majority, to “guarantee and enforce the cessation of hostilities” between the Tamil separatist groups and the government. The LTTE, however, refused to surrender arms and began threatening Tamils who opposed the militant group. The IPKF and the LTTE became involved in a military confrontation.

The IPKF was working under severe strategic constraints. The scene of action was an island-nation; the war was an unconventional one being waged against a group that had strong emotional connections with Tamil Nadu; and the Indian intervention evoked hostile reaction from the Sinhalese as well as they felt their sovereignty to be undermined.

Finally the IPKF captured the LTTE headquarters in Jaffna but the militants retreated into the jungles from where they used guerrilla tactics to keep the forces at bay. A large number of Indian soldiers died and the cost of the operation was huge. Back in India the pressure was on the government to recall the force.

In the end the IPKF misadventure was to be the cause for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991 during his election campaign in Tamil Nadu. At Sriperumbudur, a woman bent to touch his feet and exploded an explosive device attached to her. The suicide bomber belonged to the LTTE and her action was in retaliation of India’s role in Sri Lanka.