Witness to History

Witness to History

As a country, Sri Lanka never managed to get the world’s attention until 35 years after it achieved independence. Even when it did – in the wake of the State-aided pogrom against the minority Tamils in 1983 – it was an unflattering image it presented to the world. The 20-year Tamil war of independence that followed and the internal strife that had rocked the country since then show no signs of receding despite a cease-fire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam held tenuously through the tireless efforts of Norway’s peace negotiators.

In this book, veteran Sri Lankan journalist and editor S.Sivanayagam traces the roots of the ethnic problem, and records in chronological detail the troubled island’s post-independence history up to contemporary times. As a witness and a victim himself of the historical process, his account takes on the form of a first person narrative as well, while foreign correspondents and Sri Lankan journalists are themselves quoted extensively in recording the events of the war years.

Apart from being the first-ever comprehensive documentation on Sri Lanka covering a period of 47 years, Sivanayagam’s own insights and his memoirs lend additional unique charm to the book.





Table of Contents


Chapter 1
1956: A Jaffna-Colombo train journey & A taste of “Sinhala Only”.


Chapter 2
1930: Jaffna, Bernard Shaw and the days of the Empire


Chapter 3
Jaffna College: Getting educated outside the classroom!


Chapter 4
Lake House, Sir John and his inauspicious Jaffna visit


Chapter 5
1956: Bandaranaike sows the seeds of Tamil separatism


Chapter 6
1957-1959: Broken Pledge, Riots and Assassination.


Chapter 7
1960-1961: A woman Prime Minister and Tamil Satyagraha


Chapter 8
1962-1963: Ill-fated Coup. India helps Mrs.B at Tamil expense


Chapter 9
1964-1968: The Left capitulates: Sinhala racism triumphs again!


Chapter 10
1968-1969: Tamil disillusionment. “Sinhala Only Act” challenged.


Chapter 11
1970: Mrs. B again. Austerity and a gallop in the historical process


Chapter 12
1971: Sinhala Insurgency, Terrorism and State Authoritarianism.


Chapter 13
1972-1976: Stormy years of nascent Tamil Nationalism


Chapter 14
1977-1979: Jayewardene at 71 grabs power and breeds more violence.


Chapter 15
1981: Jayawardene inaugurates a dark phase in the island’s history.


Chapter 16
1982-83: Adventure in Journalism. The Saturday Review, Jaffna


Chapter 17
1983: The pogrom as the outside world saw it : “Quotes”


Chapter 18
September 1983 : Escape from Jaffna and a midnight passage to India


Chapter 19
1983-1984: Eelam activity in Madras, state of war in Sri Lanka


Chapter 20
1985: Rajiv Gandhi, Indian embroilment and failure at Thimpu.


Chapter 21
1986: Sri Lanka sinks deeper into the mire of war


Chapter 22
1987: Indian Army walks into Northeast Sri Lanka: Near-fatal attack on Rajiv Gandhi


Chapter 23
1988: Peacemakers at war; Sinhala South rebels; Jayawardene’s exit.


Chapter 24
1989: LTTE-Premadasa talks and Assassinations


Chapter 25
1990: Indian troops depart but the Sri Lankan war resumes, Fall of Mankulam


Chapter 26
1991-1997: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination & a “Judicial Assassination”.


Chapter 27
1990-1993: Adventure in Journalism II : The Tamil Nation and Jail life!


Chapter 28
1991–1993 : More Assassinations and fall of Army Camps. Death of Kittu.


Chapter 29
1994–1995 : Chandrika in power; Peace Talks end in War


Chapter 30
1996: Central Bank bombed: In the north, Tigers overrun army camp.


Chapter 31
1977: Operation land route to Jaffna fails as planes drop from the sky


Chapter 32
1998 : Kilinochchi falls to the Tigers. Operation Jaya Sikurui called off.


Chapter 33
1999 : Vanni heartland in LTTE hands: Chandrika voted back to power


Chapter 34
2000: Elephant Pass falls. Fall of Jaffna averted with foreign help


Chapter 35
2001 – 2002: A Summary of Major Events


Chapter 36
A Memoir 1993 – 2004: That unseen hand that dictates one’s life!


Index 675