The Sri Lankan Civil War
For almost thirty years between 1983 and 2009, Sri Lanka was torn apart by Civil War. Suicide bombings were a part of daily life in the cities, and in the north, an escalating cycle of killings and terror. This video tells the story of the Sri Lankan Civil War and looks at the effects on civilians, both Tamils and Sinhalese.
Sangee's song and channel: • Kadhal Saabam Official...
Much video taken from Journeyman Pictures, who make incredible documentaries. @journeyman
Sources:
-A History of Sri Lanka, K. M. de Silva
-Elephant Complex; Travels in Sri Lanka, John Gimlette
-The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers, Gordon Weiss
-The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History, Sanjeev Sanyal
-This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War, Samanth Subramanian
+ Various news sources, especially The Economist
00:00 Intro
01:55 Eelam Wars I-III
06:49 Jaffna and Delft Island
14:45 Eelam War IV
17:29 Government Repression
23:26 Kilinochchi
30:50 The Cage
36:28 Road to Mullaitivu
Sri lankans, both tamil and sinhalese are some of the most traumatised people in the world, each and every person above 25 years has had some experience related to the war. Thier was a tsunami and a Jvp insurrection. Yet Sri lankans still manage to be one of the most welcoming and friendly people, they will go out of their way to help a stranger in need. They have this rare ability to smile and forget even after facing unbelievable horrors.
Eelam war is not only war the islanders went through...the island had been invaded 21 times...but the islanders rise above each time..
@@tamarind1459not islanders it was sinhalese
@@chamarama9349No islanders, Tamil and Sinhalese
@@chamarama9349 We indians only created sinhalese😂
@@vanisridhar5509North Indian indo aryans
As a Sri Lankan I truly applaud you for putting the effort to make and share this country and it’s history as a Tamil my parents lived through the war and migrated to England, I am often called Indian as this country isn’t that recognised so I thank you!
well ur not sinhalese... so ur an indian
@@firstconsul001 Sinhalese look Indian too. You can’t tell whether someone is from Sri Lanka just by their appearance
wasnt my point. Original Sri Lankans are sinhalese, a majority of tamillians in Sri Lanka were slaves brought in by the british@@KtmrM
@@firstconsul001 Incorrect, Sinhalese first came to Sri Lanka as migrants from Orissa. Balangoda people are the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka, who are direct ancestors of the Veddas.
Your correct. The sinhalese came from west bengal and odisha. Hapolotypical analysis shows their clear preserved ancestry to northern indian. This is not to disregard their genetic components shared with the west inidians. Espically the Kalingas. When the sinhalese came, its known they exterminted the original inhabitants, the yakkahs. @@alchemyst6893
Been waiting a long time for this and you did not disappoint. I would love for you to conclude this series by discussing whether reconciliation could ever be achieved and if so what that would look like. Given the brutality of the war that took place and the sheer scale of the loss of life which occurred it would be good to discuss where the country could go from here. As always thank you for this series! Glad I discovered this gem of a channel.
As a Sinhalese, I can agree that this is one of the most balanced documentaries about the Civil War I've seen
Your series on recent Sri Lankan history is phenomenal. My mum is Sri Lankan and a lot of her work involves documenting the voices of civil war survivors from all sides. Watching your content has given me a new depth of insight and appreciation into what she does. Thank you!
Bro, please ask her to document the voices of people who still suffer under the rule of fanatical politicians, even after all these years.
what is your dad?
@@judejeevanmahendran She does a bit of that too. There is some degree of overlap after all!
@@WastedBananas He's British & Irish
horrible. your mum should be ashamed of herself. @@AllAboutClimate
absolute top tier content, loving the series so far
Thank you so much for this video! As a young Tamil Sri Lankan I am sad to hear what everyone and my parents had to go through.
not only yours everyone
Our fathers and uncles too went to the war😢..
@@mahima2md88 that's what they said, everyone
What I like about your videos is that it is an excellent mix of history, political backdrop, journalism and tourism. Don’t find a good mix of these in tourism videos. Great job. Keep it up.
I can't thank you enough for producing quality content like this ❤ Hats off man❤️
Thank you very much, the last video is right around the corner!
Your video series about Sri Lanka is seriously underrated. The production quality and the amount of effort you must have put into these videos are crazy. These videos are timeless and I love the way how it's sequenced.
Thanks a ton!
This video, even not saying, went to went the problem was started. Sinhala Only Act 1956. Tamil Tiger started 1976 Tamil University student not accept. He started to fight at age 16. And sri lanka 99% of people don’t know why the war begin.
Great series. A lot of hard work went into this. Thank you for taking the time and interest. I liked and subscribed.
This is an excellent bit of documentation , Been following the Sri Lankan series from the beginning and loving it. You deserve more views
Still many innocent Sinhala people think that they won again Tamil people but honestly they have done a sin to them. I have no idea how much they are going to suffer inreturns. Thank you so much for speaking up the truth Alex 🙏🏽💖. #peace live and let live
So what about bomb blast huh? Literally slaughtering child monks,preg mothers,muslims bros is it justifiable
Yes, now the country is worst, since Sinhala Buddhist took over the country fully since 2009.
Ha ha same goes with tamils .
We won against terrorists. Not with our own people
@@thamudaj1896 yeah bro! btw why they became terrorists?
I can imagine the research and effort you have put into this documentary to be impartially portray the history of events. Unbelievable and stunning. Great narrative and first class cinematography. Great observations in very subtle things.
These "country portaits" are really great, keep them up. I especially enjoy your historic narrating Interrupted by acute "travel scenes". It makes all so much more tangible, especially as you portray countries often forgotten in the Western mind.
Came and liked immediately I will finish watching later though. love your stuff.
Was there for 2 weeks around 2018. I only visited mostly the south and the center. I really enjoyed Sri Lanka, people were nice and helpful. I would love to go back again and this time I would definitely want to visit the north and east side of the country
I absolutely love your videos, very good videography makes me want to travel again
Man, great documentary! Sangi's song playing on the backdrop of the market was the chef's kiss ! You deserve more viewers and subscribers my man! Keep it up
Always great to see when you upload a video, they are always so informative
Wow.. What an amazing and informative series this has been even for us Sri Lankans. Thank you!
Cant wait for the next episode bro❤️
Thanks again for this. Your content deserves way more views, especially among the younger generation in Sri Lanka. I haven't seen any other documentary that gives a balanced view of both sides like you have done here, usually it's one side or the other that's portrayed for whatever agenda.
This is a factually inaccura bunch of lies with semi truths. 😂Tamils who joined the LTTe is considered as scum by most Tamils in Jaffna they are almost segregated .😂😂😂
"The leading resistance group of Sri Lanka's Tamils were called the Tamil Tigers, or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. They were nimble, fanatical, and absolutely ruthless in slaughtering civilians, both Tamils and Sinhalese!" this statement proves that everything he says is not a balanced view of both sides.
@@judejeevanmahendran It's an accurate statement.
@@ranilabeyasinghe I don't think so!
@@judejeevanmahendran Because your opinion is one sided.
There is a no winner in war, we do not have anything to celebrate here. poor civilians. Rest in peace brothers and sisters
There is always a winner in this war. whoever gains the most in the longer run.
Great videos! Waiting for your next video
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. But you didn’t mention how many bombs were blasted in urban area as well in rural area during this period. There were so many casualties. Even they have killed farmers and their families. This is the two sides of the same coin. We can’t justify only one party was lesser brutal than the other. So it’s better to do your travel around the Sri Lanka without giving your thoughts and feelings regarding this cvil war. This will escalate the tension between the Tamil and Sinhalese again. We are now living in peace
Ltte dragged children from their homes and forced them to serve in yheir military
But there isn't actual proof of LTTE bombing those areas. There is proof regarding the SL army bombing though.
Looks like you were in coma in that war period ...😂😂😂😂
@@grimoirehe4rt irony in asking for proof for comitting war crimes
@@gonzalesbuttmuncher8491 I didn't say that, I said the guy's statement doesn't mean anything. He should be criticizing the Lanka government.
Hi ALEX you did a fabulous job. You touched nook and corners and covered balanced content. You are brilliant, knowledgeable guy. Keep doing more.good luck
Man I watched the entire Sri Lankan series of videos , you are a great documenter. Excellent work and very engaging.
As much as I respect this man for shedding light onto this matter, you have to speak to those really effected by the war to understand the effects upon the Tamil community. As a second generation Srilankan Tamil, I can only say the I’ve witnessed the effects on my community e.g. depression, suicide, alcoholism, prostitution, gang crimes. All trickled down as an effect of the war.
suicide da bro??
As a second generation Tamil Sri Lankan also, i hate how the majority of information is spreading hate towards us, we are civilians, my family were raped and murdered but we still get hate
@@joshuagunaselvam3168 So only Sinhalese begging to india for food. Don't care about beggers bro.
They need medical attention sounds like it's a mental health issue
@@vanisridhar5509😂😂 init bruh u survived the war but now u wanna kill it self wtf people on
Thank you so much for your much researched documentary of my country and presenting the facts. I wish the younger generation would watch this. Thank you once again.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for the amazing video. History lessons in Sri Lankan schools skip these parts of our history.
No single report about the Srilankan conflict would be a complete report but full marks for your efforts. Well done.
I don't understand why so many Sinhalese in the comment section denies the attrocities commitied by the SL army and government.
Watch all tamil tiger videos and read all yhe comments especially the sinhalese comments and you will see who are the real terrorists
Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and Burgher are all same. As Sri lankens we need to change this corrupted system.
Thank you so much for shining light on the history of Sri Lanka, and our issues. Even Sri Lankans don’t care this much to learn or talk about this. Keep up the good work bro!
Puka deepan gihin boru pathurawana diaspora kaarayanta.. Sakkiliya
Ukraine army also use hospital as military based ?? Same did by LTTE
@@sachds3333 Who told you? Any proof rather than propaganda fake news? Ukrainian army doesn't kill civilians like LTTE did. How you compare a terror organization with a professional army? Are you a terrorist sympathizer?
@user-dr2sh2pe8mIf the past is forgotten, it is doomed to repeat again. Best thing is to understand the whole thing and to makesure nothing like that to happen again.
@@sachds3333Ukraine government army.not a group
Moral of the story is that you can’t be nice during war. Sad for the misery face by both the civilians of Tamil and Sinhalese too. There was incident where whole sinahalese on the bus were killed and attack on Anuradhapura , kandy and many more but, here western media shows only tamils as victims. Many western countries, Tamil diaspora,India and state government of Tamil Nadu are also responsible because they train, funded and encouraged tiger to fight. Sri Lanka’s fault is that they should respect their language and give equal rights to them at first. Deal strongly at initial phase of war. Anyway it’s very brutal game when life is at stake. Don’t even blame army. It’s nature of war. I’m not Sri Lanka but used to follow everyday about this war in news paper and I was very surprised how it ended.
Thank you so much!
There are no war anymore. Be happy about that 🇱🇰🙏🏾💪🏾
Now in debt to China and living in poverty forever
Great video!
Super high quality video. I have been interested in this civil war for a few years. One of the rare examples of a true military victory. Also just curious what is your accent?
Thank you for putting out this valuable content even if you don't get promoted by the algorithm as much as you should.
Thanks a lot!
As a sri lankan i felt that the sri lankan government was cunning and congrats the victory while the jaffna tamil and northern province was suffering and dying
Thank you ❤
Thanks alot brother....love from 🇲🇾❤️
You forgot to mention the assasination of Rajeev Gandhi ( prime minister of India) and the effects of 2004 Indian ocean Tsunami.
Very good video, sharing true events.
The Sri Lankan army didn't win in the 4th war because of just the bigger size, if that was the case the US army would've been victorious in afghanistan. The army in the 2000s were much more competent and highly trained, especially among the regular troops which really made the difference in the fight against the ltte cadre. What's special about the ltte cadre was they was usually local to the area they were fighting in and had better knowledge of the terrain. To counter this the SLA with lessons learned by the Special Forces changed the training regiment of the regular soldier drastically and invested more in training schools to actually train than just pump out canon fodder. The prelude to that is, the rise of the competent officers, as you said the SLA was marred with nepotism like the govt. however, this didn't discourage the true officers who slowly rose through the ranks and made Sarath Fonseka the commander of the Army. This in turn led to a purge in the army hierarchy and change of structure. The clumsiness and inefficiency was beaten away from every rank and every camp, younger and more aggressive leaders that showed promise were promoted while the old men hogging the seat were forcibly retired. Along with this, the innovations in Special Forces concepts also had a huge impact, teams were operating way behind enemy lines where tiger leaders were now in fear of being ambushed, which hadn't been the case a decade earlier. In conclusion the army won due to the changes within it's own organization rather than size increase or arms from china nor intelligence from the US, if that had been the case the indian army would've wiped out the tigers. To add on to that, Mahinda Rajapakshe's platform wasn't war, even in his campaign booklet he specifically stated that he was going to lead peace talks, it was only after the operation to free Mavil Aru by the army and the gains they made along the East did Mahinda change his tune, who himself was convinced by Sarath Fonseka.
%100
The Sinhalese and the Tamils lived peacefully until the British government used divide and rule tactics which lodged a wedge between the two communities, they did the same in Malaysia between the Malays and the Chinese, and in India between the Hindus and the Muslims, in Africa too.
Buddhists vs muslims in srilanka and Myanmar Jews vs muslims in isreal Christains vs muslims in Europe,Nigeria ,Hindus vs muslims in IndiaYajidis vs muslims in Iraq
Organized violence is as old as dirt. Religion, ethnicity, race, class, caste, clan, tribe and whatever the fuck. Pre colonial Sri Lanka was not very peaceful. There were many invasions from South India. How do you think the tamils got to North Sri Lanka in the first place? It was also never a unified country before British rule, and the states were at war with each other more often than not. Doesn't excuse Britain of taking over half the globe but this narrative that the world was a peaceful place prior to European colonialism is crazy 😂
It’s crazy when you think about how politicians manipulated us for decades Sinhalese and Tamils a lot of share similar culture. and similar ancestry going back during the chola days and the pandya days. but for some reason ever since the British divided and conquered us. they had us separated by religion and caste and division amongst each other it’s sad tbh.
Yep it was started by the dutch by using the vellalars who were imported from the malabar coast.
@@tamarind1459 this EXACTLY !!!
@@tamarind1459 nah its the karawas who came from Tamil Nadu after the 15th century who are the cause of the conflict, they are regarded as lower caste by govigama, so in order to raise their status they act like they are the saviours of sinhala race and start bashing the tamils as much as possible in devious and dishonest ways, like creating 'tobacco slave myths'. Jaffna vellalar mass migrated to sl much before the dutch period and much before the karawa. Prof Gananath Obeysekera, sinhala professor from Princeton university says this: “The Sinhalese identity nowadays is predicated on the view that since they speak an Indo-European language, they are of North Indian origin whereas the Dravidian-speaking Tamils are from the South. The historical reality, however, is totally different. Except perhaps for the oldest stratum of settlers prior to 500 BC, almost all subsequent settlers in Sri Lanka came from South India, mostly from Tamil Nadu, Orissa, and Kerala and quickly became Sinhalised. In fact, some of the most vociferously anti-Tamil castes among the Sinhalese were post-fifteenth century migrants from South India. By contrast, the Tamils of Jaffna and the East Coast have been in Sri Lanka from at least the tenth to the fourteenth centuries AD, if not earlier..” what is your scholarly source? Facebook or WhatsApp university? Jaffna vellalar mass migration is documented to the 13th century in the Jaffna Tamil chronicles, there are even some Tamils living to this day who can trace their ancestry back to named chieftains of that period.
It's weird how high quality your videos are but so few views.
❤️Life for body and soil for Tamil❤️Tamil's thirst for Tamil Eelam motherland❤️
Ask it from where you belong in now..
every tamilians know what happend leally...forign and some tamil politiciant didnt like to end that war..but it happend..now everyone feel the freedom..tamil and sinhalees now strongly got their unity..we all now in one familly..
Good job brother, great efforts , your points were clean and clear ❤
Mr. Rothman - you are ignoring the very large elephant in the room in your documentary, namely the role of the colonial power (UK). Most Tamils were brought to SL by the British from Tamil Nadu and were favoured by the occupiers at the expense of the indigenous Sinhalese. Most government positions went to the Tamils and this "divide and conquer" policy caused great resentment among the Sinhalese. As the Brits upped and left, they made no attempt to resolve this despite knowing full well that the Sinhalese majority would assert their "rights". This is classic British colonial policy and we can see the effect - from Northern Ireland to Africa to South Asia in the years since independence.
Not quite. There was an indigenous Tamil population up in the north. The ones brought by the British from India were also Tamil, but from a different caste. It was the indigenous Tamil people who benefited relatively from the presence of the British as by coincidence there were American missionary schools in the north where Tamil people had access to a quality English education. Naturally, these people would have gotten the jobs.
It's not a war it's a genocide😢😢
It was a war,
If it’s was a genocide how come Tamil people still live in north
Pretty good content Alex. You definitely deserve more views.
I am proud Tamilian
A really great documentary. It is not biased, it’s the utter truth what we still fail to realize. No one won the war, we lost for 33 years. We killed each other because of politicians, Sinhalese & Tamil politicians. If it was not for the politicians we wouldn’t have killed each other. Rest in peace all Srilankans who died in the war.
The damage happened to the other part of the country is much larger than the damage that happened to the North and East part of the country by this bloody war. We people here experienced that, I was in the area which was middle of the boarder between Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE Territory and that time was terrifying. No one should experience something terrible like that. The LTTE literally destroyed everything, They attacked the Scared City Anuradhapura in 1985 and killed hundreds of buddhist monks, then the temple of tooth bomb. Not only that they attacked Airports, Schools, Government institutes, Central Bank as well leaving thousands of innocent civilians to die in pain, still here in this video you try to sympathize those blood thirsty beasts. In our villages, we never slept at night as the LTTE attacked our villages. They came to our homes slammed our babies of ground, killing pregnants, killing everyone they could. Literally it was a great massacre.
So the Sri Lankan government and the Army was saints. Both are equally responsible.
@@alucardhellsing1037 I never said that government was right but no body can expect the fairness from a war period.
@@kasunmahesh1862but where on earth did you come to the conclusion the effect on the rest of the country was worse than a full on war zone, battlefield in the north and east🤣
It damaged the whole country. How can you conclude it is just South. Knowing Mahinda Rajapaksha's capabilities of suppressing civilians during aragalaya times, can you imagine what he must have done to Tamil civilians? So don't be the victim.
@@heransd I mean not the Government ever oppressed Tamil people during war time but it was LTTE, they recruited all teens to their terrorists organization forcibly and trained them as self-destructive fighters. Not the government did such things to Tamil people but the LTTE did those horrible things. In the last few days of war, those desperate terrorists tried to keep 300,000-400,000 people as hostages to buy some time for their leaders to flee the country but thanks to the military of the government, they could defeat those terrorists and rescue all the people who were kept as hostages. Not the government took Tamil people as hostages but the LTTE did.
I am a mainland Tamil. Your documentary so far is the most well researched documentary I could find in this platform. I am not a supporter of ltte even though many tamils have netral or pro ltte. I could see lots of heat from srilankan people portraying this documentary as biased, failing to realise that they are the ones who are truly biased. Waiting for the end game part. Cheers 🥂
@@thusharasilva5352Tamil Nadu, India.
@@tyrant_hermitThere are no such Mainland Tamils, there are Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils, both different.
@@grimoirehe4rt We are the same people ethnically.
@@tyrant_hermitethnically same, culturally different. Sri Lankan Tamil dialect is more traditional compared to Indian Tamil dialect whivh has been influenced over the years by English , Sanskrit and other Dravidian languages , especially Telugu. The roots of Tamil language haven't changed at all in both since 5000 BCE , but in a way , Learning Sri Lankan Tamil will be more difficult than learning Indian Tamil.
Also I have watched many documentaries related to Sri Lankan civil war. And by far this one is the most neutral one I have ever seen in my life and also love both people are here mature in approach.
An example of getting punished for their sins is now Sri Lanka's economic collapse and the food crisis. "Karma is like a boomerang. Good or bad, what you put out into the universe will be given back to you." 🙏🐯
I see.. Thats why whether you are Tamil or Muslim or Sinhalese all suffering now?
You did a great job sir salute you .......
1. This is really a very good coverage and pretty true to truth. 2. The civilians were used as Human Shields and caught between the government and the rebel forces. 3. The rebels were of four groups when they kicked off the freedom struggle movement in the 80s. 4. India trained and supported them; promised the rebels that it'd create Eelam like how Bangladesh was created till Indira Gandhi was alive. 5. The rebels fought and killed among themselves; one team finally emerged as the champion - VPP. 5a. The Rajiv-Gandhi-Jayawardane accord was suicidal for all - India, Sri Lanka, and Eelam. 5b. Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) did something that was more than war crime and homicide or genocide by a government on its own descendants or genes or clans. 6. India and its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu was their heaven till the 90s. 7. Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi changed the course of the Eelam roadmap. 8. Lack of diplomacy and rift between the Northern and the Eastern Tamils brought the end to the Eelam dream. 9. The Eelam intent was correct but the execution was incorrect from the beginning. 10. The rebels fought against those weapons and intelligence from 30+ countries; instead they could have had negotiations....alas!
Im half tamil srilankan, thanks for the video❤
Thereare also differences between Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamil labourer migrants in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Tamils were amongst the earlier settlers in the North East of the Island nation, after the Veddas people . The Sinhalese came much later around the time of Janapadas. Sri Lankan Tamil kingdoms and Chiefdoms have had a great impact of Sri Lankan history like Jaffna Kingdom . On the contrary , Indian Tamils were of lower caste and also from economically poor and marginalised groups who were brought into Sri Lanka by Brits during Colonial era and mostly settled in Central ,South Western and East coast ,where most of the island's Rubber and Tea plantations were established. Also note that During Black July riots, It were the Indian tamil migrant diaspora ,which suffered the most compared to Sri Lankan Jaffna Tamils and also Most of the Indian Tamil labour diaspora actually supported the JVP over Tamil tigers because of Societal class warfare . Also after JVP was supressed , A large number of Indian tamils were recruited by Sri Lankan army to fight against their Northern brethens, sometimes conscripted at gunpoint if necessary. Later some of these Indian Tamils eventually decided to return back to India.
The statement in question presents a series of historical inaccuracies and oversimplifications regarding the history of Sri Lanka and the distinctions between Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamil laborer migrants. Let's break down the inaccuracies and provide a more accurate historical perspective: Origins of the Sinhalese: The statement suggests that the Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka much later, around the time of Janapadas. This is not supported by historical evidence. The Sinhalese people are considered one of the indigenous communities of Sri Lanka, with their origins dating back to ancient times. Their historical presence on the island significantly predates the period mentioned. Indian Tamil Migration: While it is true that there were differences between Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamil laborer migrants, the statement oversimplifies the reasons for Indian Tamil migration to Sri Lanka. Indian Tamil laborers were brought to Sri Lanka by the British colonial authorities during the 19th and early 20th centuries to work on tea and rubber plantations. It's important to note that these laborers came from various backgrounds, including both lower and higher castes, and were not solely from economically poor and marginalized groups. In providing a more accurate historical perspective, it's essential to consult scholarly works and historical accounts that delve into the complexities of Sri Lanka's history, ethnic relations, and political dynamics. References such as "The History of Sri Lanka" by Patrick Peebles and "The Politics of Tamil Nationalism in Sri Lanka" by Ambalavaner Sivanandan provide in-depth analyses of these topics, offering a more nuanced understanding of the historical events mentioned in the statement. Additionally, research articles and academic studies on Sri Lankan history and politics can further illuminate these complex issues.
Karuna's men were extremely brutal. Many times people couldn't work out to which side groups of militants belonged. Lots of serious human rights violations. Also its interesting that many mercenaries, some of which were former Rhodesian military, were recruited to train Sri Lanka's special forces in the lead up to the 3rd and 4th stage of the war.
You really have outdone yourself with this video. Great analysis with unbiased insight into both sides. One thing I want to note, however, is that, like you said, the reason the bombing and shelling of NFZ could very well be the actual reason that is to compeltely destroy the Tamils will to fight similar to what happened with Nagasaki/Hiroshima bombing. US in WW2 knew that an invasion of Japanese main land would be hugely costly to them manpower wise. In fact, they believed in this to such an extent that they had probably millions of Purple heart medals prepared to be awarded to US soldiers in anticiaption of this costly invasion. But that never happened as terror of nuclear bombs resulted in unconditional surrender of Japanese forces. Similarly, in this case, the SL gov needed to put an end to the fighting immediately and declare victory over the LTTE, and they probably wanted this gial to be achieved with low casualties. Regardless, they did actually help civilians escaping the cage, unlike the diaspora claiming all those who escaped were shot down by the army. Also, I want to highlight another thing that I think is important and is not unique to the Eelam wars. While it is true that in most third world countries, indiscriminate shelling of contested areas with civilain populations are common, there is a more logical reason as to why this is the case rather than the popular view upheld by most westerners who think armies shell simply because they want to terrorize civilians. That is the fact that most armies only have access to indirect fire with limited recon abilities. In other words, they lack sophisticated tools to properly identify combatants from civilans or insirgent camps from civilian settlements. So when you get intel that there are enemies in particular areas, then it will be shelled as you can't take a chance on missing shelling some terroties or enemies. So they lack tools to either properly identify enemy combatants or tsrget them with precision to avoid colalteral damage or both. Precision munitions are still only widely available for developed countries or nations with significant military industrial complexes, and these were not certainly available to SL gov at the turn of the millennium. Anyway, this is not a justification to what happened ultimately, but rather something to think about.
What actually happened was bit different. Sri Lankan military did have UAV drones and monitored the movement of terrorist movement in this area. Soon after they declared No fire zone almost all the high ranking tiger leaders and their families went there along with their high value equipment. Military didn't hesitate to target these but unfortunately tigers always kept their most sensitive items and personal as much as close to civilians. There's so much more to that war than this video tells.
Thanks for your unbased documentary ❤
People in my country are mostly friendly with each other. its always the people that appear as our leaders that inject racism to our people. You mentioned several brutal killing events in this video. I hope you could also include information about the 'Anuradhapura massacre' as well in your next videos.
Tq for take this issue.
Vetrivel, veeravel!
Thie words of the old man bought tears to me
Nice one.
I was born in Sudan, Africa but my ethnicity is from Eritrea, Africa. I have been in America (west coast), since I was 18. I am in university studying to be a high school geography/social studies teacher. I always try to think of area of the world that are not of Africa where my ancestors are, or America the culture I have grown up. When it comes to where Sri Lanka. It seems as if it’s never mentioned because where it is on the map. This area of the world is where humans turned into two different kinds of people. The people who like Indians and Sri Lanka and then east oriental. Where Myanmar is. I have never met anybody from Sri Lanka, seen anything about it on the news or anything related to it. This video taught me a lot and has given me a reason to always remember Sri Lanka. I hope to see it in real life one day.
You have to research more into the root cause of the civil war. In Sri Lanka both Sinhalese and Tamils have two different versions of history. Because of this, both Sinhalese and Tamils cannot reconcile with the nature of the state. The reason is the spill over of Dravidian Ideology from TN.
Exactly
I don't understand the need of people to divulge in history so much. US has a very short history and is the beat country in the world. That is why education is more important than religions.
The balanced documentary I've ever heard as a sinhalese in Srilankan. Thank you so much for explaining the truth❤
Thank you for doing a documentary on the Civil War. If you like, let's do a program to protect tourist attractions in Sri Lanka. I can help you❤🙏👍
27:49 As a fellow musician who was raised from self struggle in a rural area. This is so much mean to me. Someday I would help all homegrown musicians to make their dreams true.❤️🎶
On the 170th page of 7 moons of Maali Almeida. Heart is so heavy. Very informative.
Thanks to went my home town kilinochchi.
32:54 This statement is misleading the viewers . The government started shelling the No-fire-zone after taking control of the remaining terrorist held areas. After the borders were drawn for the No-fire-zone remaining terrorists were also entered the area and violated the rules so government had no choice but to attack . Even the terrorist leader was also found escaping into the No-fire-zone
Even today Tamil's lands are occupying, temples, huts are destroying by government sectors. People are even today live under displacement because their house has been occupied by military.
Ok lol
Wake up child this is not 1982.
Such acts were far, far more common in the era where the eelam movement was on such a high rate of gain. Not only forceful removal of native Sinhalese from their lands by hyper-trasitionalist tamils fueled by elements of fascism and cultural hatred, this was a problem for over 2 millenia, all the way before, even during the reign of the cholas and the ethnic genocide of Sinhalese by such barbaric people. But such atrocities were not talked as much as retaliation by the Sinhalese. Comparing the black july to 10% of what happened to the Sinhalese is enough to make anyone understand that black july was not enough to do anything.
@@ThigamabobTamil Nadu 🤝 Ilangai. We can grow together.
@@ThigamabobHe's right, if you read the news, a lot of Buddhist monks are building illegally Buddhist shrines on Tamil lands.
Wow, that sounds incredibly familiar to current events…
Having put the shoes as a cilvian in the north that time ,how numb would I feel how helpless would this be 😭
This series must definitely be a syllabus material for the Sri Lankan education system!
Donno what to learn though, we won nothing, we only lost, yeah it's a good suggestion to include this to students' books, but the expected outcome of that should be really evaluated.
You’ll be surprised how many locals know about the true story and the sinister war crimes gov/army committed. Mainstream media is so centralized all we saw was how bravely our army has ended a war, hiding all the dark secrets behind.
If you live with us for a long, you must say, Tamils are the best people in the world. Now Singhalese government make our youngers drug, alcohol, and smoke addict. 😡😡
Wow really ? Its your own people bring drugs from Tamil Nadu.. Raping underage kids incidents are high who are raping them? Its tamils there not sinhalese
Bruh 😢
If any of you think Sri Lankan government or the Tamil Eelam were bad, y’all should also see NATO and American actions in the Middle East
You have touched on many aspects of the conflict, but have some misinformation regarding the origin of the conflict and initial wars. But, you had a very balanced view overall. The blood spill of innocent civilians is what haunting this Island. Sadly, still ultranationalists are trying for ethnic vilances. Last month itself, a prominent politician stated "This is Singhalese country, I will severe head of Tamils and bring them back to Kelaniya". Unless whole Srilankans turn against race hate, this curse will continue.
Regarding The quoted comment in your comment ..i think you definitely no people dont give a fk about that outcast anymore ...
27:40 omg that song is fantastic ❤❤❤
learning more about the war, especially now, makes me draw a LOT of similarities between this and the israel/palestine conflict...
That’ll be a war to remember, and today with so many under ground, I’m going to say fate will keep us safe from another war.
Why we don't have a own country for Tamils, why Singhalese control us? Now no ltte, still lots of army police camp's in our side,
@@BinuraChathuranga this is why you are begging from other countries, your schools teach you how to sell the country, how to cheat the people, you will study very soon from China and India. Then tell me who want to go to school. 😁😁😡
Dictators on BOTH sides make EVIL wars 😢😮17/10/23
The Tamils,who were the minority ,fought genuinely for their rights and got branded as "terrorists". Smh
Your first videos are regular youtuber no so much wow your moldovan one is crap low quality and no so much info but the rest are wowww and this about sri lanka are masterpicesss thank you and keep up the good work 👍
Great research & documentary 👏
Great
My nationality Tamil
It's wise to refrain from discussing topics that aren't well understood. Imagine someone with limited driving experience attempting to speed through a bustling city in a large vehicle - the outcome is easily predictable. Therefore, it's crucial to grasp the truth before expressing opinions about specific matters. It is truly disheartening to observe your inability to unearth the genuine truth obscured beneath the veneer of media narratives and self-proclaimed institutions.
Sir, are you saying no civilian are killed by sla, no rapes were made by sla??? Eagerly waiting for your responce.
@@kumaragurusubramanian581 didnt the ltte do the same? and arent they identified as terrorits?
Ok criminal shut up
@@Wassupbro999it is natural to do that to make your own indipendent country. Sinhalese were invading foreign territory. It is Sinhalese fault
@@boycottnok1466theres no foreign lands in Sri lanka 😂..it was always being a one country its still and in the future too..
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Yes it good video, but it is one side. trying to see both sides