IPKF death toll dataset by HRDAG and ITJP records 10,427 killed or disappeared in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990.
IPKF death toll records released by two human rights bodies have documented 10,427 killings and disappearances during the Indian Peace Keeping Force deployment in Sri Lanka.
The new historical dataset, released yesterday by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) and the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), reconstructs casualties from 1987 to 1990 and exposes the scale of killings and missing persons across ethnic communities.
The dataset has renewed international attention on one of Sri Lanka’s most sensitive and painful chapters of the conflict, covering the period when the Indian Peace Keeping Force operated in the country.
According to the organisations, the research focuses on incidents that took place between October 1987 and March 1990 in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern provinces.
They state that the purpose of the work is to restore identities and ensure that victims are remembered with dignity and historical accuracy.
The figures provide a detailed breakdown of casualties across communities.
According to the dataset, 55 Sinhala victims, 10,086 Tamil victims, 257 Muslim victims, and 201 individuals whose ethnicity was not reported were recorded.
Researchers say the dataset represents years of reconstruction work aimed at recovering fragmented records from a period marked by conflict, displacement, and inconsistent documentation.
The organisations behind the release described the effort as part of a long-term truth recovery process.
They said it is designed to support families searching for missing relatives and to strengthen the historical record of mass violence during the IPKF deployment.
They also emphasised that identifying victims by name is central to acknowledging past suffering.
The organisations said such recognition is also important for wider discussions on remembrance, accountability, and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.
