LTTE Gold Tax
Payment Receipt early 1990s

Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan (b.1969)

Drawers of War Transactions (2019)
Mixed media on paper, eight wooden chests of nine drawers each,

Collection the Artist, Partially commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation

First exhibited: "Leaving the Echo Chamber";,
Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2014

Interactive installation:
1. You are welcome to open the drawers to view the objects inside
2. Kindly refrain from touching any objects inside the drawers

When did you last use your National Identity Card?

T. Sanathanan's installation features a series of wooden chests of drawers, each containing documents such as temporary identity papers, travel permits, land deeds, and police registration certificates, Each document is stored in neatly Labelled drawers, alongside a description and drawing by the artist.

Issued by the government, militants, and international organisations, these documents governed the movement of people during the war between the Sri Lanka military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from 1978-2009.

By cataloguing the owners' memories alongside these artifacts, the artist emphasises how forms and documents can function as powerful tools that covertly reshape land by dictating people's relationship to it.

Front : On left Logo of Tamil Eelam Bank with the LTTE logo within a vertical decorate with the Pair of Fish (Pisces) below and a Palmyra palm above, sheaf's of Paddy on either-side.
On the Right Header and Receipt text in Thamil. (See Transliteration and Translation below)
Reverse : Blank for endorsements?

Remarks :
In the 1990s, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) called for the public to donate two gold sovereigns. Santhan's father was a government servant and had completed his new house in 1981 with a bank loan and by pawning his wife's jewellery. Santhan's mother left was with only two pairs of bangles. But the LITE had a door-to-door campaign and forced the people to donate. Santhan's family escaped for a while. Later, the LTTE introduced a pass system to move out of Jaffna. To get the pass one had to show the gold-donation receipt. In 1991, Santhan had to go to Colombo for his higher studies. To get a travel pass for him, his family had no option but to donate his mother's last pair of Bangles.

Details :
In 1990 the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) imposed a tax, of at least two gold sovereigns, on every household in Jaffna to finance their civil war. Later, it was extended to other areas that were under their control. The richer were taxed more. A receipt for payment of the gold tax by the family was needed, for example, to travel out of Jaffna. The LTTE also gave assurances they would return the gold, step by step, through a process of lottery.

I thank Dilip Samarasingh, for posting Sri Lanka Numismatic - SLNS WhatsApp group on 2024 December 31st about this exhibit. When I visited the exhibition on 2025 January 16, and walked around I did not identify this group of 8 closed cabinets, as what contained the exhibit of my interest and had to ask the dorcents.

தமிழீழ மீட்பு நிதி
Tamiḻīḻa mīṭpuniti
Tamil Eelam Saving Fund
கடன் பத்திரம்
Kaṭaṉ pattiram
Loan Bond
தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள்
Tamiḻīḻa viṭutasap pulikaḷ
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

தொடர்பு இல.	Toṭarpu ila.	Contact No.	....................
திகதி	Tikati	Date	....................

I thank Dr T. Sanathanan for giving me permission to link his story in my website.

According to Dr T Sanathanan of Fine Arts, Jaffna University the lottery started few years after the initial collection to return some of the gold collected. Most did not get the loan returned. When the Receipt was shown, a pass was issued to permit one to leave Jaffna, but this permit was collected back at the last LTTE check point, and therefore unavailable to document.

I thank Wassim Sattar Bhoja for getting the Tamil text above typed in UNICODE,

Part of coins.lakdiva.org.lk a website for
Coins of Lakdiva, Ceylon and Sri Lanka since 300 BCE.