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Sri Lanka The Home Guard
As the Tamil insurgents accelerated their campaign for a
separate state in the early 1980s, they turned increasingly
against those Sinhalese settlers who, through governmentsponsored resettlement programs, had "infringed" on traditional
Tamil areas in the north and east. In response, the government
authorized the formation and arming of small militias for local
self-defense. These armed groups, known as Home Guards, were
generally composed of poorly educated Sinhalese villagers with
little or no military training. Armed with shotguns that had been
provided by the government, they frequently exceeded their
original mandate of self-defense, avenging terrorist attacks with
indiscriminate killings of Tamil civilians. This violence was an
important factor in the increasing radicalization of the Tamil
population. By April 1987, there were reportedly 12,000 Home
Guards throughout the country, and the National Security Council,
a consultative body that meets on defense matters, had announced
its intention of increasing the number to 20,000. With the
successful negotiation of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord in July,
however, the government moved to dismantle this poorly
disciplined paramilitary force. The Home Guards in Northern and
Eastern provinces were ordered to surrender their weapons to the
authorities, and by August the police claimed to have collected
8,000 of the more than 10,000 shotguns that had been issued 3
years earlier. When the Tamil terrorist attacks resumed in late
1987, however, the government reportedly reversed its decision
and allowed a partial rearming of the force. At the same time
that it was acting to limit the Home Guards in the north, the
government authorized an expansion of local and private militias
in the south. The signing of the accord had unleashed a wave of
violence among militant Sinhalese groups who opposed both the
accommodation with the Tamil separatists and the presence of
Indian troops on Sri Lankan soil. As Jayewardene moved to force
passage of the provisions of the accord in Parliament, the
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launched a campaign against members of
the ruling United National Party who supported the pact. In the
second half of 1987, the party chairman and more than seventy
United National Party legislators were killed by Sinhalese
extremists. The government responded by allocating 150 Home
Guards to each Member of Parliament, leaving the legislators
themselves responsible for the arming and training of these
personal militias. At the same time, the press reported that
progovernment gangs of thugs known as Green Tigers (named for the
colors of the ruling party) had begun to attack opponents of the
accord.
Data as of October 1988
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