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Burning of the Jaffna Public Library

Coordinates: 9°39′44″N 80°00′42″E / 9.6621°N 80.0118°E / 9.6621; 80.0118
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Burning of the Jaffna Public Library
Part of the 1981 anti-Tamil pogrom
The Jaffna Public Library after burning
Date31 May 1981
Location
Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka

9°39′44″N 80°00′42″E / 9.6621°N 80.0118°E / 9.6621; 80.0118
Caused byEthnic tensions between Tamils and Sinhalese
GoalsDestruction of Tamil cultural symbols
MethodsArson, looting, book burning
StatusConcluded (Library was destroyed)
Parties
Tamil civilians and activists
Lead figures

Senior members of Sri Lankan government and military

Tamil political and cultural leaders

Casualties and losses
Unknown
Unknown
Casualties (unclear if specific to the event)
Buildings destroyed1 (Jaffna Public Library)
The destruction of the library remains a symbol of ethnic tensions and the Sri Lankan Civil War's impact on Tamil cultural heritage.

The burning of the Jaffna Public Library (Tamil: யாழ் பொது நூலகம் எரிப்பு, romanized: Yāḻ potu nūlakam erippu; Sinhala: යාපනය මහජන පුස්තකාලය ගිනිබත් කිරීම, romanized: Yāpanaya mahajana pustakālaya ginibat kirīma) by an organized mob of Sinhalese police took place on the night of 31 May 1981.[1] The Jaffna Public Library's burning was one of the most violent examples of ethnically motivated biblioclasm of the 20th century.[2] At the time of its destruction, the library was one of the biggest in Asia, containing over 97,000 books and manuscripts.[3][4] The Sri Lankan Government rebuilt the burnt library and restarted its collection.

Background

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The library was built in many stages starting from 1933, from a modest beginning as a private collection of philanthropist and linguist scholar 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 the Jaffna peninsula. It thus became a place of historic and symbolic importance to all Sri Lankans.[5][6]

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 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.[5][6]

Following independence from Britain, Sri Lanka began to experience an ethnic struggle between its two largest communities, Sinhala and Tamil. Sinhala nationalists maintain that as they descend from the original "Yaksha" clans of Sri Lanka (later mixed with immigrants from India about 2600 years ago), they have special rights to scarce resources, jobs, and other opportunities. Government policies that have favored this interpretation are opposed by the minority Tamils, who during the colonial period enjoyed a disproportionately large share of available opportunities.[7] Sri Lanka's nation-building program became intimately linked with a Sinhalisation of the state directive. It was expected that the minorities would be assimilated into this new Sinhalese Buddhist nation-state. Moreover, the 1956 election marked the beginning of an era of ethnically based party politics.[8]

As a response, Tamils too began to emphasize their history of earlier immigration from India. The library held the only original copy of Yalpana Vaipava Malai that documented the rise and fall of the Tamil and Hindu dominated Jaffna kingdom in the north of the island nation.[7]

One form of extremism and violence led to another[vague] and by 1981 a minority of radical Tamil youth supported terrorism against the state as a response to alleged state violence.[9]

The riot and the burning

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Damaged dome with holes made by shelling

On Sunday 31 May 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.[10]

That night police and paramilitaries began 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.[11]

Four people were pulled from their homes and killed at random. Many business establishments and a local Hindu temple were also deliberately destroyed.[11]

On the night of 1 June, according to many eyewitnesses, police and government-sponsored paramilitias set fire to the Jaffna public library and destroyed it completely.[2][11] Over 97,000 volumes of books along with numerous culturally important and irreplaceable manuscripts were destroyed.[6] 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 a significant contribution toward the sustenance of the Tamil culture, and those of locally reputed physicians and politicians.[6]

The office of the Eelanaadu, a local newspaper, was also destroyed. Statues of Tamil cultural and religious figures were destroyed or defaced.[11]

The Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality (MIRJE) who sent an investigative team to Jaffna after the riot concluded:

"After careful inquiries there is no doubt that the attacks and the arson were the work of some 100-175 police personnel."[12]

Nancy Murray, an American civil rights activist,[13] wrote in a 1984 journal article 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[14][15][16] mob carried out organized acts of destruction.[17] After 20 years 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".[18]

Reaction

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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 a looting spree all on their own.

The national newspapers did not report the incident.[2] Within the year, President J. R. Jayewardene admitted to the foreign press that the UNP had encouraged the anti-Tamil violence.[19] According to Amnesty International's 1982 fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka, the UNP government did not attempt an independent investigation to establish responsibility for these killings in May and June 1981 and take measures against those responsible.[20][21]

In subsequent parliamentary debates some majority Sinhalese members invoked the perpetual foreigner trope. Supposedly, if Tamils were unhappy in Sri Lanka, then they should leave for their "homeland" in India.[2] One United National Party member said:

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[21]

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 the night before.[22][23][undue weight? – discuss]

As political symbol

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Of all 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.[24][25] Twenty years later, the mayor of Jaffna Nadarajah Raviraj still grieved at the recollection of the flames he saw as a university student.[2]

For Tamils, the devastated library became a symbol of "physical and imaginative violence". The attack 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.[2][6]

The burning of the library featured extensively in subsequent political rhetoric.

In 1991 the then-president of Sri Lanka Ranasinghe Premadasa blamed Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake for the destruction of the library, declaring that

If you wish to find out who burnt the priceless collection of books at the Jaffna Library, you have only to look at the faces of those opposing us.

shortly after both brought an impeachment motion against him.[21]

In 2006, then-president of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse told his audience that

Burning the Library sacred to the people of Jaffna was similar to shooting down Lord Buddha

and concluded that the event and other contemporary atrocities led directly to the militant LTTE.[26]

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:[27]

We are giving jobs to people. We are opening industries. By 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?

Reopening

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Jaffna Public Library being rebuilt, with partly burned right-wing. At the front is a statue of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning.

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 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 the partially restored building and set off bombs that shredded thousands of books yet again.[28] The library was abandoned with its shell and bullet-pocked walls, blackened with the smoke of burnt books.[2][29]

As an effort to win back the confidence of the Tamil people[6] 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[30] and foreign governments.[31] Approximately US$1 million 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 a protest against the pressure exerted on them to postpone the reopening.[32] Eventually the library was opened to the public.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Burning Of The Jaffna Public Library: Whodunit?". Colombo Telegraph. 1 June 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Destroying a symbol" (PDF). IFLA. Retrieved 14 February 2007.
  3. ^ "Fire at Kandy public library". BBC News. Retrieved 14 March 2006.
  4. ^ Wilson, A.J. Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, p.125
  5. ^ a b "History of the Public Library". Dailynews. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "The reconstruction of the Jaffna library by Dr. Jayantha Seneviratne". PRIU. Archived from the original on December 24, 2005. Retrieved April 17, 2006.
  7. ^ a b "History from the LTTE". Frontline. Archived from the original on October 23, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2007.
  8. ^ Bastian, Sunil (1999). The Failure of State Formation, Identity Conflict and Civil Society Responses – The Case of Sri Lanka (PDF) (Thesis). University of Bradford. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  9. ^ "How it Came to This – Learning from Sri Lanka's Civil Wars By Professor John Richardson" (PDF). paradisepoisoned.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2006.
  10. ^ T. Sabaratnam, December 11, 2003, Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap.22 The Burning of the Jaffna Library https://sangam.org/pirapaharan-vol-1-chap-22-the-burning-of-the-jaffna-library/
  11. ^ a b c d நீலவண்ணன். மீண்டும் யாழ்ப்பாணம் எரிகிறது. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  12. ^ T. Sabaratnam, December 17, 2003 , Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap.23 Who Gave the Order? https://sangam.org/pirapaharan-vol-1-chap-23-who-gave-the-order/
  13. ^ "Nancy Murray: Hyper-Nationalism and Our Civil Liberties". Democracy Now. Archived from the original on 17 March 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2006.
  14. ^ "Chronology of events in Sri lanka". BBC. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2006.
  15. ^ T. Sabaratnam, December 11, 2003, Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap.22 The Burning of the Jaffna Library https://sangam.org/pirapaharan-vol-1-chap-22-the-burning-of-the-jaffna-library/
  16. ^ T. Sabaratnam, December 17, 2003 , Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap.23 Who Gave the Order? https://sangam.org/pirapaharan-vol-1-chap-23-who-gave-the-order/
  17. ^ Nancy Murray (1984), Sri Lanka: Racism and the Authoritarian State, Issue no. 1, Race & Class, vol. 26 (Summer 1984)
  18. ^ "EDITORIAL, DAILY NEWS". Daily News. Archived from the original on September 21, 2004. Retrieved March 14, 2006.
  19. ^ Kaufman, Michael T (5 September 1981). "Harassed Sri Lanka Minority Hears Calls to Arms". New York Times.
  20. ^ "Burning of the Jaffna Library". Amnesty International's 1982 fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka. Tamilnation.org.
  21. ^ a b c "Over two decades after the burning down of the Jaffna library in Sri Lanka". The Independent. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2006.
  22. ^ "Appreciations:He died seeing the Jaffna library burn". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 1 June 1997. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  23. ^ "37 years on - remembering the burning of the Jaffna Public Library". Tamil Guardian. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  24. ^ Peebles, Patrick (2006) [2006]. "chapter 10". The History of Sri Lanka. The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 133 & 134. ISBN 0-313-33205-3.
  25. ^ Ponnambalam, Satchi (1983) [1983]. Sri Lanka: The National Question and the Tamil Liberation Struggle. London: Zed Books Ltd. pp. 207 & 261. ISBN 0-86232-198-0.
  26. ^ "Mahinda promises compensation for high-security zone". BBC. Retrieved 14 March 2006.
  27. ^ "Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Apologises in Parliament for Destruction of the Jaffna Public Library in 1981 when the UNP was in Power". dbsjeyaraj.com. 7 December 2016. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  28. ^ "Destruction of Jaffna Public Library - May/June 1981". Tamil Nation. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  29. ^ "Up From The Ashes, A Public Library in Sri Lanka Welcomes New Readers". NPR.org. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  30. ^ "Building a bridge of peace with bricks and books". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 15 March 2006.
  31. ^ "French government donates books to the Jaffna library". Museum Security. Archived from the original on July 12, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  32. ^ "Jaffna library opening put off as Mayor, councilors resign". Tamilnet. Retrieved 14 March 2006.
  33. ^ "Story of Jaffna Library". The Hindu. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2006.

Further reading

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  • Rebecca Knuth (2003), Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth Century. New York: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-98088-X
  • Rebecca Knuth (2006), Burning Books and Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence and Cultural Destruction. New York: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-99007-9
  • Nicholas A. Basbanes (2003), A Splendor of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-008287-9
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