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Unrest in Sri Lanka
Ethnic violence is once again surfacing in Sri Lanka, and the 2002 ceasefire agreement between the government and the rebels is in danger of collapsing. The rebels are the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also called the Tamil Tigers. The LTTE was founded in 1976 but began its armed struggle against the government seven years later in response to anti-Tamil riots in which hundreds of Tamils died.
As tensions increased, some attempts -- including intervention by Indian peacekeeping forces -- were made to secure peace but these were unsuccessful until the arrival on the scene of the Norwegians in 2000. They offered to help the two parties end their conflict. (The Norwegians also had an important role to play in talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. These resulted in the Oslo Accords of 1993). The outcome of the Norwegian intervention in Sri Lanka was the 2002 ceasefire. By then, the civil war had killed 65,000 people and displaced another million.
Who are the Tamils and what do they want? The Tamils make up about 11 per cent of the Sri Lankan population. They are mostly Hindus while the majority of Sri Lankans, who form the Sinhalese community, are Buddhists. The Tamils originally came from South India as invaders (centuries ago) and as labourers brought by the British to work in the tea plantations. Until recently, the LTTE had demanded a Tamil state in the north and northeast of the island where the Tamil population is concentrated. Now it is prepared to give up that demand in return for the right of Tamils to control their own affairs in the areas where they have a majority.
The LTTE is a dangerous force and is responsible for the deaths of several high-ranking politicians, among them former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India and President Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka. It also tried to kill the last president of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumaratunga. It is notorious for undertaking suicide missions to kill people and destroy government property, and recruits both men and women for this purpose. Those who are chosen to carry out suicide attacks are called Black Tigers. The LTTE has even recruited children as soldiers. The organisation is banned by several countries. Not all the Tamils like the LTTE and are opposed to the way they control administrative affairs in areas which the organisation has wrested from the government.
However, one cannot deny that the Tamils have faced discrimination since the time Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) gained independence from the British in 1948. The language act that made Sinhala the official language in 1956 was widely resented by the Tamils and led to discriminatory practices. For instance, many Tamils found that they could not get jobs in government service because they could not communicate in the official language. In 1972, they were further angered when the government promoted Buddhism in its constitution.
Many feel that a solution could be found if politicians in the country were more united. However, most of the time parliament has been bitterly divided on the Tamil issue and this has made compromise difficult. Among many others, Buddhist monks are deeply resentful of the Tigers who bombed one of their holiest sites in 1998.
Sometimes described as the “pearl of the Orient”, Sri Lanka has always attracted visitors from all over the world to its beautiful shores and wonderful tea estates. It is also famed for its spices and exotic wildlife. But the civil war reduced Sri Lanka’s earnings from tourism. Sri Lanka also suffered a lot in the tsunami that struck the island in 2004. Peace is essential if it is to get back on its feet. But with the situation once more getting dangerous as the LTTE and Sri Lanka’s defence forces engage in combat, it is difficult to predict when the difficult times will be over.
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