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Operation Poomalai ((タミル語:பூமாலை) ''Pūmālai'', lit. "Flower Garland"), also known as Eagle Mission 4, was the codename assigned to a mission undertaken by the Indian Air Force to air-drop supplies over the besieged town of Jaffna in Sri Lanka on 4 June 1987 in support of Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Jaffna was at the time under blockade by Sri Lankan troops as a part of Colombo'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 South India 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,〔Sri Lanka in 1987: Indian Intervention and Resurgence of the JVP. Pfaffenberger B. Asian Survey, Vol. 28, No. 2, A Survey of Asia in 1987: Part II. (Feb., 1988), pp. 139〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=India Enters; The Airdrop and the L.T.T.E.'s Dilemma )〕 calls grew within India to intervene in what was increasingly seen in the Indian (and Tamil) media as a developing humanitarian crisis, especially with reports of aerial bombardment against rebel positions in civilian areas.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Growth of Sri Lankan Tamil Militancy in Tamil Nadu.Chapter I - Phase II (1987-1988). Jain Commission Interim Report )〕 The Indian Government 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 these efforts, a small naval flotilla, was thwarted by the Sri Lankan Navy. Two days later, in a show of force, India mounted the airdrop over Jaffna. == Background == (詳細はSri Lanka can be traced to the independence of the island in 1948 from Britain. 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 killing of 13 Sri Lankan soldiers sparked anti-Tamil riots in which nearly 400 Tamils died. 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. By May 1985 the guerrillas were strong enough to launch an attack on Anuradhapura, attacking the Bodhi Tree shrine – a sacred site for Buddhist Sinhalese – followed by a rampage through the town. At least 150 civilians died in the hour-long attack. The government stepped up its campaign against the insurgency, and the Sri Lankan army in 1987 laid siege to the town of Jaffna, an LTTE stronghold, as part of its campaign against the Tamil bases.〔(India Airlifts Aid to Tamil Rebels" ), ''The New York Times''. 5 June 1987〕 This resulted in large-scale civilian casualties and created a condition of humanitarian crisis.〔() 〕 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 in an attempt to negotiate a political settlement. 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 wound send a convoy of unarmed ships to northern Sri Lanka to provide humanitarian assistance〔"Indians To Send convoy to Sri Lanka", ''The New York Times''. 2 June 1987〕 but this was intercepted by the Sri Lankan Navy and turned back.〔"Indian Flotilla is turned back by Sri Lankan Naval Vessels", ''The New York Times''. 4 June 1987〕 Following the failure of the naval mission, the decision was made—both as a show of force to the Sri Lankan government of symbolic support for the Tamil rebels as well as an act to preserve the credibility of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi among the country's Tamil population—by the Indian Government to carry out an airdrop of the humanitarian supplies, designated Operation Poomalai or Eagle Mission 4.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Poomalai」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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