Operation Poomalai

Jaffna was then under blockade by Sri Lankan troops as a part of Sri Lanka's offensive against the Tamil separatist movement. Concerned over alleged violations of interests of the Tamils, who had broader support among the Tamil population of Tamil Nadu as well as the government, India attempted to negotiate a political settlement but the Indian offers had been rebuffed by Colombo. As civilian casualties grew, calls grew within India to intervene in what was increasingly seen in the Indian (and the Tamil) media as a developing humanitarian crisis, especially with reports of aerial bombardment against rebel positions in civilian areas.

The Government of India, under Rajiv Gandhi, decided to attempt to deliver aid to the northern area of Sri Lanka as a symbolic act of support to the rebels. The first of those efforts, a naval flotilla, was intercepted by the Sri Lanka Navy and was ordered to withdraw. Two days later, India mounted the airdrop over Jaffna.

Background

The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka can be traced to the independence of the island in 1948 from the British Empire. At the time a Sinhala majority government was instituted that passed legislation deemed discriminatory by the substantial Tamil minority population. In the 1970s two major Tamil parties united to form the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) that started agitating for a separate state of Tamil Eelam within the system in a federal structure in northern and eastern Sri Lanka that would grant the Tamils greater autonomy. Outside the TULF, however, factions advocating more radical and militant courses of action soon emerged, and the divisions started flaring into a violent civil war.

The first round of violence flared in 1983 when the Four Four Bravo incident occurred, which sparked anti-Tamil riots in which nearly 3000 Tamil civilians were killed by state-sponsored mobs. The riots only aided in the deterioration of the already worsening ethnic strife. The militant factions, notably the LTTE, at this time recruited in large numbers and continued building on popular Tamil dissent and stepped up the guerrilla activities. In May 1985, the guerrillas launched an attack in Sri Maha Bodhi shrine, a sacred site for Buddhists & it houses the world's oldest living human-planted tree, planted in 288 BC. This was followed by a massacre through the town. At least 150 civilians and monks died in the attack. This event is known as the Anuradhapura massacre. This was also seen as retaliation for the 1985 Valvettiturai massacre which occurred 2 days prior. In this incident, 70 Tamil youths were forced by the Sri Lankan Army to gather within the town's library before it was blown up using high explosives.

The government stepped up its campaign against the insurgency, and the Sri Lankan Army in 1987 laid siege to the city of Jaffna, an LTTE stronghold, as part of its campaign against the Tamil bases known as the Vadamarachchi Operation. India, which had a substantial Tamil population in the southern part of the country, had been aiding the Tamil factions and particularly the LTTE and called on the Sri Lankan government to halt the offensive, which was viewed to be against the sovereign rights of a nation. However, the Indian efforts were futile. Failing to negotiate an end to the crisis with Sri Lanka, India announced on 2 June 1987 that it would send a convoy of ships to northern Sri Lanka to provide humanitarian assistance. A convoy of 19 fishing boats carrying 38 tons of food, fuel, and medicine and an Indian Coast Guard vessel escorting them was sent. On 4 June 1987, the Sri Lanka Navy intercepted and turned back the convoy. Several Sri Lankan patrol boats confronted the convoy as it entered Sri Lankan waters in the Palk Strait and after a four-hour standoff, the Indian convoy turned back.

Following the failure of the naval mission, the decision was made of symbolic support for the Tamil rebels as well as an act to preserve the credibility of Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi among the country's Tamil population—by the Indian Government to carry out an airdrop of the humanitarian supplies to the LTTE, designated Operation Poomalai or Eagle Mission 4.