One of the most horrific but least well-known incidents of the conflict in Sri Lanka involved the butchering and ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the summer of 1990. The violence started in the east in July, when more than 60 people, most returning from Haj, were reportedly killed by the LTTE at Kurukal Madam.

A further 14 were killed in Akkaraipattu on Aug 1 and 15 more in various locations over the next two days. On Friday, Aug 3, some 300 men were at prayer in the Meena Jumma mosque in Kattankudi when LTTE gunmen entered the mosque, locked the doors to prevent anyone escaping and began firing into the crowd with automatic weapons.

A similar incident took place at the nearby Hussainiya mosque. In total, more than 100 men and boys were killed. Thereafter several weeks of massacres throughout Muslim towns and villages in the east followed in which hundreds of men, women and children were slaughtered and dwellings burned. Thousands of Muslims fled their homes and have still not returned.

What occurred in the north was even more gruesome. Despite there being no similar history of violence between Muslims and Tamils as there was in the east, in October 1990, without any warning, LTTE fighters went from village to village announcing over loudspeakers that Muslims had 48 hours to leave the province or face reprisals.

The orders came from the very top. In Jaffna, Muslims were given only two hours to leave and permitted to take just 150 rupees with them. Elsewhere, they fled with just the clothes on their back.

Within a few days, the entire Muslim population of the north numbering 75,000 had been forced out of their homes leaving behind as much as 5,000 million rupees of property and valuables. There was no pressure on the LTTE, either from the government or the international community, to halt this episode of ethnic cleansing.

The displaced Muslims fled, many by foot, to the adjoining districts of the Northern Province - Puttalam, Anuradhapura and Kurunegala - where they set up homes of mud and canvas and remain there to this day.

Since they arrived, the Sri Lankan government has all but ignored them, delivering only a small amount of rations every six months. The Puttalam camp’s unsanitary conditions - 40 makeshift lavatories and one water tap for 3,500 residents - have contributed to the deaths of about 100 people in 18 years, most of them children or babies, from what were mostly treatable diseases.

Although the government retook the town in 1995 and urged the Muslims to return, and some LTTE leaders apologised for the forced transfer in 2000, there is little incentive to go back - their homes have been long occupied and businesses removed.

Furthermore, LTTE recruiters still operate in the area and have been known to force families to surrender their children to them as soldiers as a sign of their loyalty. At the same time, some camp residents have been accused by the government of being informants for the Tigers, reflecting the Muslims’ vulnerability.

Following the Ceasefire Agreement between the LTTE and the government in 2002, the situation deteriorated again for the Muslims, who despite being directly affected by the conflict, had no independent representation at the peace talks. The LTTE promised the Muslims that their properties would be returned and that they would no longer have to pay protection tax to the LTTE.

In reality, the properties were not returned, taxes increased and Muslims found themselves the targets of increasing violence as the Tigers sought to consolidate their control in the east.

This contributed to the crystallisation of a grassroots-led Muslim national identity which in 2003 demanded an autonomous area for Muslims in the East. This call was largely ignored by the self-serving Muslim leaders in Colombo which led to more inter-Muslim disunity, distracting from the bigger picture.

Recent events

With the eruption of war again in the east, Muslims were caught in the crossfire. On May 29, 2006, notices appeared in the Muslim settlement of Mutur ordering residents to leave within 72 hours, prompting panic and recollections of 1990.

The LTTE captured the town in August and 25,000 Muslims were again forced from their homes until the military recaptured the town, several weeks later. Hundreds of Muslims were killed and abducted during this time.

Another disturbing element in this conflict has been the emergence of the pro-government Tamil group known as the Karuna faction, which left the LTTE in 2004, and who have been involved in abductions, extrajudicial killings and the recruitment of child soldiers. It is effectively in control of the east and have specifically targeted Muslims, shooting men returning from prayers and burning homes and businesses.

Enormous resources are being spent to spread Buddhism in Muslim areas with Buddhist statues being erected, perhaps a pre-cursor for something far more horrific. Atrocities continue to be committed against Muslims with both the LTTE and the army blaming each other for the violence, hoping to politically point-score with Muslim blood.

For the first time in recent history, many disaffected Muslim youth are now prepared to take up arms to defend their communities, despite efforts by senior community leaders to rein them in.

Muslims in Sri Lanka are at a very critical juncture in their history. They are gradually waking up to the reality that relying on the Buddhist government or the Hindu tigers for protection is futile and that only when they govern themselves will they finally feel secure.

Their demands so far have been peaceful but for how long more will they suffer in silence?

Read Part 1 here

FAHAD ANSARI is a London-based solicitor.