New Delhi owes a public apology on Jaffna Hospital massacre

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 October 2018, 19:04 GMT]
Thirty-one years have elapsed, but the Indian state is yet to tender a public apology to Eezham Tamils for its brutal massacre of more than 60 civilians, including 21 doctors, nurses and other medical staff as well as the warded patients at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in one of the brutal massacres witnessed in the history of Jaffna. The killings took place during the invading Indian military was at war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1987. The war crimes committed by the IPKF on the soil of Eezham Tamils have not been adequately investigated, said the medical staff who marked the 26th year of the massacre committed by the so-called Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).



The North-East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), which was established Ki'linochchi as part of the 2002 Norway-facilitated peace process, has put the figure of victims at 135. “Altogether 21 staff on duty and 46 patients and visitors died in this massacre. However, families of victims in their affidavits claimed that 135 people were killed in total,” the NESoHR publication titled “In the Name of Peace,” notes.



The soldiers of the IPKF, advancing from the Jaffna Fort to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, shot dead the 21 staff inside the hospital even after they identified themselves as members of the medical team.

The victims of the massacre included three leading medical specialists at that time, Dr.A. Sivapathasuntharam, Dr.K. Parimelalahar and Dr.K. Ganesharatnam, three nurses and fifteen other employees.

The annual remembrance has gained more significance since 2013, especially after the Indian government, which donated medical equipment to the Teaching Hospital wanted the hospital administration to do away with the memorial site situated within the hospital premises.



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