Burning of Jaffna Public Library
| Burning of Jaffna Public Library | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of 1981 anti-Tamil pogrom | |||
The Jaffna Public Library after burning | |||
| Date | 31 May 1981 | ||
| Location | 9°39′44″N 80°00′42″E / 9.6621°N 80.0118°E | ||
| Caused by | Ethnic tensions between Tamils and Sinhalese, ongoing civil war | ||
| Goals | Destruction of Tamil cultural symbols | ||
| Methods | Arson, Looting | ||
| Status | Concluded (Library was destroyed) | ||
| Parties | |||
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| Lead figures | |||
Senior members of Sri Lankan government and military Tamil political and cultural leaders | |||
| Casualties and losses | |||
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| Casualties (unclear if specific to the event) | |||
| Buildings destroyed | 1 (Jaffna Public Library) | ||
| The destruction of the library remains a symbol of ethnic tensions and the Sri Lankan Civil War's impact on Tamil cultural heritage. | |||
| Part of a series on |
| Sri Lankan Tamils |
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The burning of the Jaffna Public Library (Tamil: யாழ் பொது நூலகம் எரிப்பு, Yāḻ potu nūlakam erippu; Sinhala: යාපනය මහජන පුස්තකාලය ගිනිබත් කිරීම, Yāpanaya mahajana pustakālaya ginibat kirīma) by an organized mob of Sinhalese individuals took place on the night of 31 May 1981. The library's burning was one of the most violent examples of ethnically motivated biblioclasm of the 20th century.[Term] At the time of its destruction, the library was one of the biggest in Asia, containing over 97,000 books and manuscripts. Sri Lankan Government rebuilt the burnt library and restarted its collection.