Indian Peace Keeping Force
IPKF/Indian Peace Keeping Force
The IPKF was an Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the Indo Sri Lankan Accord that was signed in 1987 with the aim of ending the civil war between the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and the Sri Lankan military. The main task of the IPKF was to disarm all the militant groups, and this was to be followed by the establishment of the Interim Administrative Council. The force was initially expected not to be involved in any violence, however their efforts to disarm the LTTE soon sparked off a full blown battle. The LTTE refused to disarm and attacked the IPKF. The IPKF then decided to retaliate, and this sparked off a long conflict between the two. The IPKF began to withdraw in 1989 after the election of two new heads of state, VP Singh in India, and Ranasinghe Premadasa in Sri Lanka. The last IPKF contingent left Sri Lanka in March of 1990.
The Indian government had concerns about the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. Jaffna had a considerable Tamil population, and the Tamilians are of Indian origin. The government, concerned that innocent civilians in the besieged city did not have food, initiated Operation Poomalai, in which relief packages were airdropped. The Sri Lankan government entered in dialogue with India, and in 1987 signed the Indo Sri Lankan Accord. This stated that Sri Lankan troops would withdraw and that the LTTE forces would disarm and enter discussions.
Analysis
The IPKF suffered around 1255 soldiers killed in the line of duty. Though official LTTE figures are not known, estimates show that 7000 cadres died in encounters with the IPKF. The Indian intelligence agencies regularly failed to transmit the correct information to the IPKF. An example is the Jaffna football ground massacre. The IPKF received reports that LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was in a building near a football ground in Jaffna. The IPKF surrounded the building and airdropped men into the stadium. But the LTTE, having spread the misinformation, attacked the men with bullets, anti tank mines and other weaponry. Prabhakaran was not even in the area at the time of the massacre.
Impact
The decision to send the IPKF into Sri Lanka was taken by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The operation in Sri Lanka was one of the factors that led to Gandhi's government collapsing in 1989. Consequently, when on the campaign trail in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber of the LTTE.
The IPKF debacle caused great controversy in the Indian political establishment as to whether intervention is a question, and whether other countries should get involved in peace processes. Results between India and Sri Lanka soured. Though Sri Lanka remains largely dependent on India for trade and economic support, India took a decision to never get involved in any military or defence pacts with Sri Lanka. It expressed support for Norway's assistance in the peace process, but refused to undertake any further involvement.
