The Begining
Tensions between the Sinhalese and Tamils started during colonial times. When Sri Lanka was under British rule, the Tamils received preferential over the Sinhalese. They received better education because better equipped schools were built in their area. The Sinhalese resented Tamils for this. Sri Lanka became an independent nation in 1948, and it was originally called Ceylon. When Sri Lanka became independent, there were significantly more Tamils that worked as doctors, lawyers, and other educated professionals. When the government tried to rectify the situation, the Tamils became outraged because the Sinhalese were being treated better. At this time the Sinhalese made up 82% percent of the population and Tamils were the minority at 9.4%.
Disenfranchising
Then the Sinhalese began to disenfranchise Tamils. They passed laws making it difficult for them to vote and withheld them from voting boxes. They attempted to alter the demographics of primarily Tamil areas. The Sinhalese went as far as trying to remove Tamils from office and other government positions (Jazeera). They also made Sinhala the official language, making it harder for Tamils to be part of government and society, outside of Tamil dominant areas. In 1972, the name of country changed to Sri Lanka and Buddhism was made the nation’s primary religion, offending the Tamils further. They did all they could to make Tamils to feel less than a regular citizen and have less rights (Bajoria).
Economic Cause/Conflict
The Sri Lankan Civil War didn’t have a big economical cause. There were reports of Sinhalas wreaking Tamil businesses and of Tamils who were employed by Sinhalese not being paid. There were also Tamils who, during an “ethnic cleansing” of Sri Lanka, had money taken from them. However these events were few and far between (Jazeera).
Discrimination
Prime Minister Bandaranaike was assassinated in 1959 by a Buddhist Monk. However the government and Sinhalese pointed fingers at Tamils wanting the public to believe that Tamils were murderers (The New) . This scared and angered many Tamils. This created more tension between the groups and portrayed the Tamils as something they weren’t. And the Sinhalese continued to ethnically discriminate against Tamils. They restricted them from getting a higher education and sent Tamil students to segregated, lower-quality schools. Sinhalese even tried to “ethnically cleanse” Sri Lanka by threatening Tamils to get them to leave and even removing Tamils forcibly, aka. deportation (Jazeera). Ethnic tension continued to grow until 1976 when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or the LTTE, was formed. The LTTE began to campaign in the North and East of Sri Lanka for an independent homeland, where most Tamils live (Buerk).
Demands
Originally the Tamils didn’t want independence. After Sri Lanka’s independence, Tamils were disenfranchised and discriminated against. Tamils demanded equal treatment. When Tamils were once again overlooked by the government and didn’t receive equality, they wanted their own provenance for the Tamil minority so that their voices and opinions could be addressed and represented. Several bills that would have made a Tamil provenance possible were actually signed, but were never carried out because of protests from the Sinhalese population. Then they demanded a government based on federalism. Many Tamils began to believe the government would never answer their demands. They then turned to the idea of independence and war, thinking a separate homeland was the only way to make their voices heard (Jazeera).
The War (in short)
In 1983, the civil war began when the LTTE attacked an army convoy, killing 13 and causing riots in which 2,500 Tamils died (Bajoria). After the initial bloodshed the LTTE dominated the war with the brutality and efficiency of their leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran. Soon they had control of the North and East, the original Tamil strongholds and started to run a “de facto government” (The New). India, which also has a Tamil population, sent a peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka, but the force returned to India 3 years later as the fighting increased. Then the LTTE became known as a terrorist group because of it’s suicide bombings, use of child soldiers, and brutality and was placed on the US terror list in 1997. LTTE was also named a terrorist organization by India, Australia, Canada and the European Union making it more difficult for LTTE to get financing and allies abroad. However Norway helped broker a peace agreement between the two sides in 2002. In 2003 peace talks broke down. Most experts agree that the cease-fire was only possible because of a devastating tsunami that caused 30,000 deaths. In 2005, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister was assassinated, reigniting the conflict. For two more years both sides consistently violate the cease-fire agreement. In 2008, Sri Lanka formally ended the truce (Bajoria). After the truce officially ended Sri Lanka was determined to root out the LTTE. Their military were extremely successful during formal battles and quickly regained the East. After Sri Lanka regained the East, they wanted to exert control over it, so they appointed a former Tamil Tiger as chief minister over the Eastern Province. This man switched sides in 2004 and is now part of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal or TMVP, a pro-government splitter group from the LTTE. Now that the war is over in the East he abducted people who had corresponded with the LTTE. Most of these people were never seen again. These crimes went unpunished by the government (Buerk). In the very last battle of the Sri Lankan civil war, the rebel forces were crushed and the LTTE’s leader left dead. This fatally crippled the LTTE because he never appointed a successor. 250 fighters were killed in the last battle and 65,000 people were displaced in the last battle alone. There were an astounding number of civilian casualties during the war and both sides were accused of abduction, extortion and use of child soldiers (Bajoria) However, Asia‘s longest Civil war was finally over.
Consequences
Other than the obvious, huge, and horrifying consequence of death, the civil war didn’t accomplish much. Three and a half years after the war ended and the Tamils are left where they started, if not in a worse position because they just caused a 26 year long war with 265,000 displaced and between 80,000 and 100,000 dead (Bajoria). The displaced are being housed in 42 government run camps that are “buckling under pressure” (The New). Right after the war ended a few Guerilla style attacks were launched against Sri Lanka, but injuries were minimal (Bajoria). Even though the war is over soldiers are stationed in the areas heavily populated with Tamils. Sri Lanka is still anxious the LTTE will attack. However the soldiers do nothing to easy the ever growing tension. Martyrs Day, a day Tamils mourn their dead by quietly lighting lamps in their homes, the rest of the population is extremely anxious, seeing the lanterns “…as them showing solidarity with the LTTE militant group”(Ramachandran). And with Sri Lanka’s government so eager to quell any show of support for the LTTE nothing is getting better in Sri Lanka. Each side loathes each other and tension is boiling near the surface again. The government views the military defeat of the LTTE as the resolution to the problem and is neglecting to address the issues that caused this huge rift between ethnic groups. Instead of trying to positively reunite the nation, Sri Lanka is stationing nearly all its troops in the Northern provenience, where Tamils dwell. Reform would help reconstruct buildings and homes destroyed during the war so that displaced people could go back. Reform would also help Tamils be forgiven and become regular citizens with jobs after the 26 year long war. Soldiers being in the area could even help with reform by building, repairing and encouraging positive treatment of Tamils (1). However the soldiers in the North aren’t helping with rebuilding or reconstruction. They are creating an atmosphere of fear because Tamils are being beaten, kidnapped and arrested by soldiers. Tamil voices are still being ignored too. Their new governor was a military leader and is biased toward Tamils. It is also said, “The heavy militarization of the [Northern] province, ostensibly designed to protect against the renewal of violent militancy, is in fact deepening the alienation and anger of northern Tamils and threatening sustainable peace”(Ramachandran). If Sri Lanka is to sustain its peace and reunify its people, it needs to put meaningful, lasting reform and reconstruction measures into action and recognize the rift between it’s people so that Sri Lanka can begin to heal.