Burning of Jaffna Public Library

The burning of the Jaffna Public Library () was an attack at the central library in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It was one of the events that led up to the Sri Lankan Civil War. The first attack on the library building was on 1 June 1981. A group of Sinhalese rioters burned the library that was one of the important libraries in Sri Lanka and one of the biggest in Asia. 

This was one of the most violent examples of ethnic-based book burnings of the 20th century. At the time of its destruction, the library was one of the biggest in Asia, containing over 97,000 books and manuscripts.Wilson, A.J. Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, p.125 

In 1984 the library was repaired. However, the civil war had begun the previous year. The building was burned several times during the years of fighting, until 1998 when the president tried to make peace between the Sinhalese and Tamil sides. In 2003 the rebuilt library reopened again.

References

 Other websites 
About Jaffna Library in Tamil
Official website of the Jaffna library 
Jaffna library vandalized 2010
Documentary on the burning of the library by Someetharan 
History of the Jaffna public library 
Burning Books  - Reported by Kevin Sites

Category:1981 crimes
Category:1981 in Asia
Category:1980s fires
Category:1980s riots
Category:Arson
Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Asia
Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in the 1980s
Category:Building and structure fires in Asia
Category:Jaffna District
Category:1981 events
Category:Libraries in Asia
Category:Mass murder in Asia
Category:Mass murder in the 1980s

Category:Sri Lankan Civil War
Category:June events