Ethnic Conflict in Sri LankaThe Sinhalese and Tamils

Shen Zhen Yao

Lee Zheng Lin

Guo Bing Kun

Contents

• Brief Introduction

• History of the conflict

• Long term political solutions

• Ensuring long term social stability

• Bibliography

Introduction ~Statistics of many ethnic groups in Sri Lanka~

-The peopling of Sri Lanka has been a continuous process of migrants from India with indigenous and other earlier migrant groups

-The Sinhala or Sinhalese (74%)

-the Sri Lankan Tamils, who inhabit the north and east form 12.6%

-Indian Tamils (19th century migrants for work on plantations) 5.6% of the population

~THE ORIGINAL SETTLERS~-The original settler and the most powerful and

dominating of settlers were the Sinhalese.-Sinhalese occupied most of Sri Lanka, and

Sinhalese kingships and royal families governed various regions of the island.

-The Sinhalese people, though they were the majority, lived peacefully with the non-Aryan populations of the island.

~ARRIVAL OF THE TAMILS~-Originated from the southern part of India.-Various tribes from southern India invaded and

settled in northern parts of the island, spreading down the northeast and northwest coasts.

-Due to the differences in religion and language and tensions over land rights, the Tamil Kingdom of Jaffna was often at war with Sinhalese kings

~The conflict~-The conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sinhalese has grown during the

past couple of decades on the island of Sri Lanka.

-The history of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is the history of emergence of consciousness among the majority community, the Sinhala, which defined the Sri Lanka society as Sinhala-Buddhist, thus denying its multi-ethnic character.

The growth of this consciousness impinged on the minorities in Sri Lanka to the extent that internal resolution of the problems become impossible.

-An essentially domestic problem, arising from a minority ethnic group's attempts to overcome acts of discrimination and oppression, acquired over time a regional and an international dimension

History ~External colononisation and its effects~1505-1948-In 1505, the Portuguese landed on Sri Lanka and successfully

negotiated a trade agreement with the Sinhalese Kingdom of Kotte.-Dutch forced them out in 1658.-The colony remained firmly in Dutch hands until the middle of the

18th century, when British imperial ambitions in India brought Britain to Sri Lanka in attempt to drive the Dutch from the Indian subcontinent.

-When british assumed control of the country, they built the island’s society around

plantation agriculture, and initially began with the main crop being cinnamon.

-However due to the lack of labor and the various agricultural disasters throughout the 19th century,ethnically similar Indian Tamils were brought in to work on plantations.

-effectively created a new ethnic rivalry on the island, Severing 900 years of Sinhalese and Tamil coexistence

-Through WW1, Ceylon was colonised-major Sinhalese and Tamil political organizations banded

together to form the Ceylon National Congress.-The British colony of Ceylon gained independence from

Britain in 1948 after passage of the Ceylon Independence Act.

1948-1978-The first prime minister,Don Stephen Senanayake,was elected.-He claimed to preserve the Sinhalese hegemony as a descendant

of the original Buddhist monarchs.Thus, he passed legislation to disenfranchise and even deny citizenship to many estate Tamils who were brought to Ceylon from India by the British

-This angered the tamils who then formed the Tamil Federal Party and wished to create a Tamil state on Ceylon.

-New prime minister,Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, was elected.

-Discrimination against the Tamil people continued as Sirimavo continued to promote Sinhalese hegemony.

1978 - 2002-Rise of the LTTE (Liberation tigers of Tamil ealam-strongest of the militant Tamil separatist groups materializing

from the former Tamil Students’ Movement-Responsible for many bombings and criminal activities-Coincidentally, TULF (tamil united liberation front) have long

pursued the creation of a separate tamil nation.-TULF lost representation in the government due to a defeat in the

voting tables.-The indian government took numerous attempts as mediating the

Sinhalese and the Tamils but to no avail.-Thus, armed intervention was utilized

-However this failed due to the inability to differenciate guerillas from citizens, resulting in the killings of about 200 innocent civilians.

-President Premadasa, the elected president in 1993 , was assassinated.-Peace talks with the LTTE took place when Chandrika Kumaratunga

was elected as president.-LTTE accpeted the peace treaty only under 4 conditions : 1. The embargo of food, gas, and other supplies to the North was to be

lifted. 2. Tamil fishermen should be allowed to fish in the North. 3. A military camp should be removed from the North. 4. LTTE members should be able to carry guns in the government-controlled

East.

-Agreement was made over the first two terms but the thirld and fourth were still under serious colnsideration

-LTTE extended the dateline for the terms to be met but backed out of the agreement in April 1995

-LTTE continued to commit terrorist activities throughtout the 1990s

-Finally in 2002, a formal ceasefire was declared between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government, moderated by the Norwegian government.

2002 – 2008~Beginning of the war~-A new crisis leading to the first large-scale fighting since signing of

the ceasefire occurred when the Sri Lankan government closed down the A9 Highway which is the only affordable access for the Jaffna peninsula people to southern Sri Lanka. The Government closed the road to deprive the Jaffna peninsula people which counts more than 600,000 of their basic human needs such as food, medicine etc., which led to the rise in price for commodities which is already higher than most people can afford to buy,

-in retaliation LTTE closed the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru reservoir and cut the water supply to 15,000 villages in government controlled areas.

• Government bombed the reservoir and LTTE opened the gates.

• Government military forces continued their attack on LTTE posts around the reservoirs.

• The war between LTTE and Sri Lankan government started on July 21, 2006

• LTTE wasn’t so successful, losing to the government forces at almost all the battles.

• Many leaders of LTTE were killed.

• LTTE murdered then Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, a Tamil well-respected by foreign diplomats.

• Other countries lost their faith in LTTE being the “victim” in the conflict

• In January 2, 2008, the Sri Lankan government officially pulled out of the Ceasefire Agreement. Donor countries USA, Norway and Canada show deep regrets.

• LTTE mentioned its disappointment as it respected the CFA and was ready to follow it 100%.

(CFA was considered as defunct since the beginning of war in 2006)

Long term political solutions

• Recognizing the fragility of the Sri Lankan government, significant changes must be made in order to ensure a peaceful and successful state in the future. Recent developments have proven that the leaders of the Sri Lankan government are willing to cooperate with the Tamil rebels

• President Kumaratunga’s resolve to form an agreement with the Tamil rebels will be a main factor in determining the future of the Sri Lankan government.

• If Kumaratunga follows her current plan, peace between the Sinhalese and the Tamils will be a possibility.

• Under a new governmental plan, the Sri Lankan government will have the ability to bridge the gap between the Tamil rebels and the government which has been preventing peace for twenty years.

~Incentives~ (Tsunami Aid)• Sri Lanka has been promised about $3 billion in

tsunami relief, on top of $4.5 billion promised in reconstruction help to follow a peace settlement.

• This monetary offer will accelerate reconstruction plans and help develop the Sri Lankan government.

• This aids the peace process by giving the government incentive to form an agreement.

~Local government integration~ (After agreement)• Integration of the Tamil people into government at

the municipal level. • Norway to oversee the process• Following peaceful Tamil integration and

assimilation into government on the municipal level, integration should commence at the provincial level. (future years)

• National political integration should begin with ongoing Norwegian oversight (future years) .

• The integration should include equal representational rights for Tamils and Sinhalese.

• The Tamil and Sinhalese people should have the right to join any political organization of their choosing.

Ensuring Long-Term Social Stability (Examples)

• By planning the reconciliation, education, and economic development of Sri Lanka, we can attempt to mitigate repercussions of the conflict.

~Reconciliation~According to a Médecins SansFrontières study, 10 percent of Sri Lankans have witnessed the death of their child, 48 percent have been separated from their family, and 24 percent have had a member of their family attempt suicidePeople must reconcile and form a new national identityGovernment must provide equal treatments

~Education~

• Create a new generation of responsible, informed, successful Sri Lankans

• Sri Lankan government needs to modify and expand its current education system use language, a former boundary between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, as a uniting factor for the Sri Lankan people

• Increase number of libraries and standards of instituition

~ Economic Development~

• Ensure that ethnic violence does not again erupt

• Establishment of a national apparel or clothing brand because Sri Lanka’s top exports are apparel and textiles.

• Gain strength in the global market

• Create new jobs for the Sri Lankan people

• Since this will tie the economic futures of the two people together it will decrease the likelihood of future conflict

Conclusion

The conflicts that happened in Sri Lanka is very serious. Coupled with the damages done by the tsunami, Sri Lanka had suffered greatly. To be able to reach the peace agreement, the Tamils and the natives should work together to form the Sri Lankans and do their best for Sri Lanka

• http://www.lankalibrary.com/pol2.html• http://www.lankalibrary.com/pol.html• http://www.infolanka.com/org/srilanka/issues/

kumari.html• http://www.tip.duke.edu/summer_programs/

international_affairs/position_paper_2005.pdf • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_lanka_civil_war

(and other relevant links)

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