Oct . 11, 2025, Colombo (by D.B.S. Jayaraj, DM): October 1990 is a cruel and unforgettable month in the history of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province Muslims. It was in October 1990 that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forcibly expelled the Tamil-speaking Muslim people from the Northern Province in an atrocious act amounting to ethnic cleansing. Within a few weeks, the Muslims were chased out of their homeland, where they had lived for many centuries, by their gun-toting linguistic brethren.
The mass expulsion of Muslims from the North in October 1990 was a humanitarian tragedy. Uprooting people from their historical habitat at gunpoint and driving them away after depriving them of their cash and jewellery was despicable and unpardonable. I have often written about this tragedy in the past
Black October in 1990 took place in the Jaffna peninsula with the expulsion of Muslims from Chavakachcheri on October 15th, and ended with the Muslims of Jaffna town being expelled on October 30th
The total Muslim population of the Northern Province, according to the 1981 census, was 50,991 or 4.601%. Muslim community leaders say the number is higher, with the Northern Province Muslim population at the time of expulsion in 1990 at about 81,000.
As a result of the displacement, Many Jaffna Muslims left Sri Lanka after their expulsion and sought refuge in Western countries, with some calling Canada home.
The mass expulsion of Muslims from the North in October 1990 was a humanitarian tragedy. Uprooting a people from their historical habitat at gunpoint and driving them away after depriving them of their cash and jewellery was despicable and unpardonable. I have often written about this tragedy in the past. I wrote in detail about the Muslim expulsion and condemned it strongly when the LTTE was active and powerful.
I now intend to revisit this mass expulsion of Northern Muslims on the occasion of its thirty-fifth anniversary. I shall be drawing on some of my earlier writings in a bid to revive memories of this mass expulsion by relating in brief the tale of this terrible tragedy and tracing the related sequence of events.
“Black October” 1990 began in the Jaffna peninsula with the expulsion of Muslims of Chavakachcheri on October 15th and ended with the Muslims of Jaffna town being expelled on October 30th. The mass eviction of Muslims on the Northern mainland began some days before it commenced in Jaffna town and concluded a few days after the peninsula was “cleansed” of Muslims.
The bulk of Northern Muslims were then living in the Mannar district. They were sent out. Apart from Jaffna and Mannar, the Muslims of Mullaitheevu and Kilinochchi districts were also sent out. The Muslims in Vavuniya were luckier as most of their villages were in the government-controlled areas. More than 50,000 Muslims were expelled from the northern mainland by the LTTE. Together with those of the peninsula, the Muslims driven out from the Northern Province numbered around 75,000 in 1990.
After the mass expulsion, there were only two areas where Muslims remained in the Northern Province. One was in Vavuniya town and some Villages in Vavuniya under Government control. The tigers could not harm the Muslims in the Govt controlled Vavuniya areas due to the large-scale presence of security forces. The other area where Muslims remained in the north after the expulsion was the northern Island of Nainatheevu or Nagadeepa.
Nainatheevu has a small Muslim population numbering a few hundred. The LTTE, after evicting Muslims from the peninsula, wanted to drive the Nainatheevu Muslims away too. The Nainatheevu Muslims sought asylum with the then Viharadhipathi of the Nagadeepa Raja Maha Vihara Ven Brahmanawatte Dhammakiththi Tissa Mahanayaka Thera. The Buddhist prelate ensured that adequate protection was given to the Muslims by the Navy. He also told the LTTE bluntly that no Muslim would be sent away.
The total Muslim population of the Northern Province, according to the 1981 census, was 50,991 or 4.601%. Muslim community leaders say the Northern province Muslim population at the time of expulsion in 1990 numbered about 81,000. This consisted of approximately 20,000 in Jaffna, 45,000 in Mannar, 7,000 in Mullaitheevu, 8,000 in Vavuniya, and around 1,000 in Kilinochchi. Of these, about 75,000, barring those in Vavuniya and Nainatheevu, were forcibly expelled. 67,000 Muslim people were registered at IDP camps immediately after the mass expulsion. The remainder stayed outside camps with relatives and friends.
Chavakachcheri
Prior to the mass expulsion, there was an incident concerning Muslims in Chavakachcheri in the Jaffna peninsula. On September 4, 1990, a group of Tamils aligned to the LTTE as “helpers” had an altercation with some Muslims near the Chavakachcheri mosque. Some tried to attack the Mosque also. Youths of the Muslim community apprehended some of the Tamils involved and handed them over to the LTTE. The tigers released them and warned the Muslim “minority” not to “offend” the Tamil “majority”.
On September 25, a Muslim youth protesting the denial of a Pass by the LTTE to leave the Peninsula was assaulted by tiger cadres who “arrested” him. He went “missing” thereafter.
Most of the Chavakachcheri Muslims lived on the Dutch road in the town. The LTTE, while investigating an incident of intra-Muslim violence, discovered some swords in the house of a butcher. According to Tiger “explanations”, this had triggered an alarm bell. The LTTE conducted a search of Muslim houses and businesses and found about 75 swords concealed in a shop owned by a prominent Muslim trader. This was seen as part of a deadly conspiracy. Even if this explanation were true, one cannot see 75 swords being of any use against the Kalashnikovs of the LTTE.
The shop where the swords were found belonged to a Muslim businessman whose lorries travelled to and from Colombo for trade. The LTTE intelligence wing, known for its excessive paranoia, suspected a greater conspiracy. It was suspected that the security-intelligence apparatus could be using Muslim businessmen travelling frequently to Colombo as agents to engage in sabotage or act as spies. Pre-emptive action was required, it was felt.
So the Chavakachcheri Muslims, concentrated mainly on the Dutch road, were expelled on October 15, 1990. Close to 1000 people were forced to leave at gunpoint. They were told to go beyond Vavuniya, the southernmost town of the Northern Province. The Chava Muslims reached Vavuniya on October 18. Once the Chavakachcheri Muslims were ordered to leave, the chain reaction started.
The tragedy of this expulsion was that the Muslims began fleeing the areas they had lived in for generations on the orders of an armed movement. There was no protest, no opposition. Such was the terror and power of the LTTE. Besides, the Muslims were few in number.
Mannar
The Muslims in Mannar district comprised 26% of the district population according to the 1981 census. They were 46% of the population on Mannar Island, linked to the mainland by the Thalladdy causeway. The premier and relatively prosperous Muslim village on Mannar Island was Erukkalampitty. Around 300 tiger cadres encircled Erukkalampitty on October 21, 1990 and robbed the Muslims of cash, jewellery and valuable electronic goods. Around 800 – 850 houses were targeted.
On October 22, some Muslims from Marichukkatty village near the Mannar – Puttalam district border were arrested by the LTTE for allegedly having clandestine dealings with the armed forces. On October 23, the villagers of Marichukkatty were ordered to leave the place. This was followed by an eviction order on October 24 to all muslims in the Musali AGA division, where Marichukkatty is situated. Musali, incidentally, is a Muslim majority AGA division.
The expulsion process continued in Mannar. On October 24, the LTTE announced by loudspeaker that all Muslims living in Mannar Island should leave by October 28 and that they should report to the local LTTE office to finalise the procedures of expulsion. The helpless Muslims prepared to do so and began packing. On October 26, the LTTE “invaded” Erukkalampitty again and seized all the packed belongings of Muslims.
Many Tamils of Mannar, including members of the Catholic clergy, remonstrated with the LTTE over the expulsion order, but to no avail. The LTTE then extended the expulsion deadline to November 2nd.
On October 28th evening the LTTE sealed off Erukkalampitty and other Muslim areas on Mannar Island. The Muslims of Mannar Island from the town and areas like Erukkalampitty, Tharapuram, Puthukkudiyiruppu, Uppukulam, Konthaipitty, etc, were forced to assemble en masse on selected spots on the beach. They were left there without food or water, or proper facilities for personal care. Concerned Tamil citizens from Mannar argued with the LTTE and managed to take bread and water to the thousands of people on the beach.
And then the Muslims of Mannar Island were forcibly sent 60 miles south by sea to Kalpitiya in the North Western province. Boats owned by Muslims in Mannar and Puttalam were used for this purpose. The entire exercise took more than three days. At least one child fell into the water and died. Some infants and elderly people passed away soon after reaching Kalpitiya.
If that was the pathetic plight of Muslims on Mannar Island, the situation of Muslims in the Mannar district mainland was equally wretched. The Muslims from the Muslim majority Musali AGA division, as well as other Mravel bags, 2000 rupees in cash and one gold sovereign. The Muslims were checked in three places –Madhu, Pandivirichaan and a location near Vavuniya town.
At Madhu and Pandivirichaan, people carrying more items than they were “allowed” found those being confiscated and “receipts” issued by cadres. But near Vavuniya many of the items including thermos flasks, were arbitrarily looted. This segment of Muslims arrived on foot in Vavuniya.
Mullaitheevu
The expulsion continued in other parts of the Northern Wanni mainland. On October 22nd morning a few Muslims in Neeravippitty in Mullaitheevu district were arrested on “suspicion” that they were supplying information to the armed forces. The same evening, all Muslims in the Mullaitheevu district were ordered to leave within a week’s time.
Kilinochchi
The following day, on October 23rd, all Muslims living in the Kilinochchi district were ordered to leave within five days. According to the 1981 census, Muslims comprised 4.6% of Mullaitheevu and 1.6% of Kilinochchi districts, respectively.
Vavuniya
Muslims in the Vavuniya district comprised 6.9% of the district according to the 1981 census. The bulk of these people were living in government-controlled areas. However, the few Muslims living in LTTE-controlled areas were also ordered to leave by November 1st.
Jaffna
Even as the expulsions were taking place in Wanni, the Jaffna Muslims were unperturbed. According to the 1981 census, Muslims in the Jaffna district were 1.66% of the total population. A portion of these in Chavakachcheri had already been chased out. But the Jaffna town area Muslims could not see any danger befalling them. These were things happening to others for different reasons. Jaffna Muslims saw themselves as integral to Jaffna. Nothing could happen to them from their Tamil brethren. They were in for a terrible shock.
It appears in retrospect that the LTTE was harsher on Jaffna Muslims than on the others. They were given an incredibly short deadline to leave Jaffna. This may have been due to the LTTE deciding that Jaffna be “cleansed” of Muslims by November. Comparatively, the tigers came “last” to the Jaffna Muslims. The LTTE D-Day for them was October 30th.
Horrible Experience
Many Jaffna Muslims left Sri Lanka after their expulsion and sought refuge in Western countries. Some came to Canada also. I have met and interacted with several of these persons in Toronto, and quite a few are now close friends. I have listened to them relating harrowing tales of their horrible experiences during the expulsion and after. Their accounts saddened and depressed me greatly. The bitter and painful experience of the expelled Jaffna town Muslims will be related in a forthcoming article.
[D.B.S.Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com]
