The 44th anniversary of the burning of the Jaffna Public Library was held at the institute on Sunday, with staff and members of the public gathering to remember its destruction by a racist Sri Lankan mob.
During the commemoration, tributes were paid to Mr. Chellappha, the visionary behind the founding of the Jaffna Public Library, and to Reverend Father David, who passed away upon hearing the tragic news of the library’s burning.
On the night of May 31,1981, the Jaffna public library was set ablaze by state–sponsered mobs and the Sri Lankan security forces, an act remembered to this day as a cultural genocide.
The burning happened under the watch of the United National Party (UNP) at a time when the two chauvinist cabinet ministers, Gamini Dissanayake and Cyril Mathew, were stationed in Jaffna to oversee the election process and campaign.
Nancy Murray, a western author, wrote at the time ‘’uniformed security men and plainclothes thugs carried out some well organised acts of destruction”.
“They burned to the ground certain chosen targets – including the Jaffna Public Library, with its 97,000 volumes and priceless manuscripts…no mention of this appeared in the national newspapers, not even the burning of the library, the symbol of Tamils’ cultural identity. The government delayed bringing in emergency rule until 2 June, by which time the key targets had been destroyed.”
On the night, Rev. Fr. David witnessed the Jaffna Public Library engulfed in flames from his room at St. Patrick’s College. The shock of seeing this cultural treasure destroyed deeply affected him. He returned to his room, and the following morning, on June 1,1981, he was found dead, presumably from a heart attack induced by the trauma.
In recognition of his contributions and the circumstances of his death, a statue of Rev. Fr. David was erected in the library courtyard, serving as a poignant reminder of the irreplaceable loss suffered.
