The forgotten genocide—fifteen years on from Mullivaikkal

Fifteen years have passed since the massacre at Mullivaikkal, where more than 140,000 Tamils were murdered by the Sri Lankan government.

I was born in 1983 into the heart of a genocidal war against Tamils in Sri Lanka. My earliest memories are of conflict, death and destruction. I lost my brother and three cousins when my school was bombed by the Sri Lanka Air Force on 22 September 1995. As a young child, witnessing such horrors left an indelible mark on me.

Fast forward to May 2024, and the world is witnessing another genocide, this time in Palestine. The bloodbath in Rafah, where 1.5 million people are cornered with no escape, mirrors the Tamil genocide in 2009. Yet again, the world seems to look away.

Sri Lanka gained independence from British rule in 1948, and for Tamils, this marked the beginning of decades of systemic oppression and violence. The 1983 Black July pogroms saw thousands of Tamils hunted and killed by government supporters who used electoral lists provided by the state.

In 1987, the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPF) entered Sri Lanka, ostensibly to mediate, but ended up committing atrocities against Tamils. Under Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s leadership, the IPF murdered thousands of Tamils. Throughout the 1990s, the Sri Lankan state carried out a series of massacres against Tamil civilians, culminating in the mass displacement of Jaffna’s population in 1995. Israeli-supplied planes bombarded civilians, including the fateful attack on my school.

The genocide reached its peak in 2009 in a small strip of land called Mullivaikkal. The government designated a series of “no fire zones”, where people were told to flee to avoid the bombing. Once assembled, they were massacred. More than 300,000 Tamils were trapped, and according to census records, at least 146,000 went unaccounted for when the assault subsided. The Sri Lankan army systematically targeted Tamil civilians, leading to one of the most horrific genocides in recent history.

The Palestinian struggle has roots stretching back to the early 20th century, but it intensified with the establishment of Israel in 1948. Palestinians were displaced en masse, and since then, they have faced relentless oppression, violence and systematic ethnic cleansing.

Tamil Eelam, the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, is the historic homeland of Tamil speakers, just as Palestine is for Palestinians. Both regions have rich cultural heritages deeply intertwined with their respective peoples. The loss of these homelands and the cultural erasure that followed are shared traumas.

Imperial powers have played significant roles in both genocides. In Sri Lanka, the British left a legacy of ethnic division that fuelled decades of conflict. Western powers, including the United States and Israel, have provided military support to Sri Lanka. Similarly, Western support for Israel has been instrumental in the ongoing oppression of Palestinians.

The targeted killings of Tamils in 1983, the displacement in Jaffna and the massacres in 2009 mirror the systematic violence against Palestinians. In both cases, civilians were deliberately targeted, and entire communities were decimated. The use of military force against schools, hospitals and shelters is a common and tragic theme.

The international community’s indifference to these genocides is one of the most striking parallels. In 2009, as Tamils protested worldwide, their cries were largely ignored. Their plight was dismissed as Tamil Tiger propaganda. Today, we see a similar apathy towards the Palestinian genocide. Despite widespread protests, the response from global elites is tepid at best. They continue to arm and fund the genocide, just as they did in 2009, all in the name of destroying Hamas.

The bombing of my school in 1995 is a personal testament to the brutality of the Tamil genocide. Twenty-two children, including my brother and cousins, were killed. This memory is etched in my mind, a constant reminder of the horrors we endured. When I see the images from Rafah, I am reminded of my own childhood, of the innocent lives lost and the global silence that followed.

The media’s role in both genocides has been appalling. The Tamil genocide received scant coverage in Western media, and the same outlets today are whitewashing Israel’s crimes.

The international community’s failure to intervene in genocides like those in Tamil Eelam and Palestine is not merely a matter of oversight or indifference; it reflects a deep rot within capitalist society. Imperialist powers rely on these conflicts to maintain their global dominance and control. Intervention against such atrocities is often against their interests, as these wars and acts of oppression are tools to sustain their order.

For the people of Palestine and Tamil Eelam, and for all societies seeking freedom from oppression, the path to true emancipation does not lie in appealing to those currently in power. The fight must be directed at the root cause of such systemic violence: capitalism. Only by uniting in a revolutionary struggle can the oppressed and exploited hope to end the cycle of violence.

The stories of Tamil Eelam and Palestine must not become barely remembered historical footnotes but urgent calls for justice. We must acknowledge these genocides, stand in solidarity with the oppressed and work towards a future where such atrocities do not occur.