38 years on, Indian Army massacre at Jaffna Hospital, Sri Lanka remembered
Jaffna, Sri Lanka, : The Indian Army committed a horrific massacre at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in Sri Lanka in October 1987, killing at least 47 innocent Tamil patients and 21 doctors in cold blood.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the massacre took place on October 21 and 22, 1987, during the Sri Lankan Civil War, when troops of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) stormed the hospital premises.
Eyewitness accounts cited by Tamil Guardian revealed that Indian soldiers systematically executed patients and medical staff, turning the hospital into a scene of carnage.
In 2008, the Sri Lankan government officially categorized the Jaffna Hospital massacre as a grave crime against humanity. Prior to this, the Indian military had been involved in similar atrocities, including the killing of 64 civilians in Welikada, 40 in Chavakachcheri (1988), and over 40 in Kokuvil (1989).
The Tamil community, outraged by these atrocities, began referring to the Indian Peace Keeping Force as the “Indian People Killing Force.” The widespread anger and resistance eventually forced India to withdraw its troops from Sri Lanka.
In 1991, Tamil Guardian reported that Kalaivani Rajaratnam, a Tamil woman who had been gang-raped by Indian soldiers, later took part in the assassination attempt on former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The publication noted that India’s military intervention in Sri Lanka was marred by massive human rights violations—including massacres, rapes, looting, and social injustices—that left an enduring stain on the Indian Army’s record.
