Ethnic Conflict
The Tamil-Sinhalese Conflict in Sri Lanka
Tamils in Sri Lanka
•	6th Amendment, Sri Lanka Constitution 
–	“No person shall directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a  separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka”.
–	Anyone who contravenes that provision becomes liable to the imposition of civic disability for up to 7 years, the forfeiture of his movable and immovable property... the loss of his passport... the right to engage in any trade or profession... In addition if he is a Member of parliament, he loses the seat.
Sri Lanka: Geography
•	Indian Ocean island
•	Size:
–	65,610 sq km 
•	Land Use:
–	Around 30% of the total land is dedicated to crop cultivation
Sri Lanka: Population
•	 Population:
–	19,668,000 (2005)
–	Sinhalese:		78%
–	Tamil:		18%
Sri Lanka: Religion
•	Buddhism is dominant religion
•	Division:
–	Buddhist:	70%
–	Hindu:	15%
–	Christian: 	8% 
–	Muslim:	7%
•	Tamils are primarily Hindu 
•	Why?
Sri Lanka: Language	
•	Official Languages:
–	Sinhala	90%
–	Tamil	20%
•	English Proficiency:
–	English	10%
Sri Lanka: Government
•	Official Title:
–	Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
•	Capital: 
–	Colombo
•	President: 
–	Mahinda Rajapakse
•	Prime Minister: 
–	Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
A Brief History
•	The Sinhalese arrived in late 6th century BCE
•	Tamil presence is noted throughout the country’s written history but its origins are not dated
•	Portuguese arrived in 1505 and took control by 1517
•	Dutch took control in 1638
•	Britain took control by 1796
•	Independence granted in 1948 
Majority and Minority
•	Many myths and legends fabricated by the “Bhikkus” to convince generations of Sinhalese that the Hindu Tamils should be considered a threat
•	They tried to shape Sinhalese national consciousness by deliberately exaggerating historical events
Majority or Minority?
•	Sinhalese community began to view itself as a small minority living under the shadow of grave threat posed to its identity
•	Tamil minority comprises two distinct groups:
•	Jaffna Tamils – Descendents of first tribes 
•	Indian Tamils – Descendents of Indian indentured servants
Sources of Contention
•	Tensions rose due to Tamils having a perceived economic advantage over Sinhalese
–	Adoption of Sinhala as official language following independence angered Tamils
–	Lack of equal political opportunity
•	Soulbury Commission 1944
–	Provided on paper protection against prejudicing of minority interests that could easily be overturned by constitutional amendment
–	Increase in Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalism
New Trouble for Tamils
•	PM Dudley Senanayake laid down strict requirements for citizenship that very few Indian Tamils could meet
–	Vast majority of Indian Tamils became suddenly stateless and the overall Tamil capacity to defend their rights was reduced
–	Successive governments enacted discriminatory legislation and policies and initiated programs of colonization of traditionally Tamil areas by Sinhalese peasants
–	Tamils felt increasingly marginalized

The LTTE
•	Why did they think that militancy was their only remaining option?
–	Sri Lanka is/was a democracy
•	The Tamil New Tigers formed
–	The largest and most powerful militant group was the LTTE, founded in 1972 as the Tamil New Tigers
•	The Tamil New Tigers joined with several other militant organizations to form the LTTE, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
•	As with many militancy groups, it split
–	In 1981, a faction broke away from the LTTE to form the People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE)
–	Rash of similar groups began appearing in the 1980s
•	Why would militancy groups be prone to schisms?
•	Initially, the violence:
–	Assassination of political figures 
•	Changed:
–	Eventually became a civil war
•	What would make it change?
–	The government’s stance during anti-Tamil riots of 1983 made the LTTE widen their target areas
Tamil Demands and Sinhalese Responses
•	Tamils seek political autonomy (or independence) based on their “right” to their territorial homeland (Eelam) in the north and east of the island
–	Belief in this right stems from the relative autonomy enjoyed prior to British rule
–	This claim is rejected by Sinhalese who claim:
•	It is their “religious-ethnic destiny” to control the entire island
•	The Tamils are invaders
Internationalization
•	Who does the international community support and why?
–	International community was generally sympathetic to Tamil cause
•	Military help for Sri Lanka
–	Received arms from several South Asian states
–	Counterinsurgency training from Mossad
Internationalization
•	India’s position
–	India’s foreign intelligence agency operated training camps in India where Tamil insurgent groups were trained in guerilla warfare and the operation of sophisticated weapons systems
•	Why would India not support the Sri Lankan government?
Indian Intervention
•	Peace Talks (1983)
•	Tamil demands: The Sri Lankan government must recognize:
–	The Sri Lankan Tamils as a distinct nationality 
–	The Tamil traditional homeland in the northern and eastern provinces
–	The Tamil right of self-determination
–	The Sri Lankan citizenship of all Tamils on the island, including Indian Tamils
Indo-Sri Lankan Accord
•	Signed in July 1987
•	Provided for:
–	Cessation of hostilities, 
–	Surrender of arms by the Tamil insurgent groups 
–	Return of the Sri Lankan military to the barracks
–	India guarantor of the accord
–	An 8000-strong Indian peacekeeping force (IPKF)
Indo-Sri Lankan Accord
•	Problems: 
–	No Tamil organization was a party to the accord
–	Insurgent groups were upset that it did not grant the right to self-determination
–	Extremist Sinhalese politicians and parts of the military were against it
–	IPKF was not supposed to engage in military action
•	Later was ordered to crack down on anyone who violated the accord
•	Poorly prepared for this task
Indo-Sri Lankan Accord
•	Result: 
–	Resistance against accord grew
–	Revival of militant Sinhalese nationalism under the People's Revolutionary Front (JVP)
•	The End:
–	In 1990, the Indian government withdrew the IPKF
The Decade of the 1990s
•	The departure of the IPKF led to renewed fighting in the northern and eastern provinces and a very bloody JVP insurrection in the south
•	In 1995, the LTTE breaks a cease-fire agreement after three months
•	The LTTE came to be seen as the main obstacle to peace by the international community
•	They were accused of:
–	Drug trafficking and arms smuggling to finance their fight
–	Condemned for killing civilians
–	Using torture
–	Using children and women as frontline combatants
Enter Norwegian
•	Norway gets results!
–	After months of talks with government officials and LTTE representatives, Norwegian facilitators reached an indefinite cease-fire agreement on February 23, 2002
Enter Norway
•	The face-to-face talks began in Thailand in September 2002
–	The LTTE agreed to accept autonomy and self-governance in northeastern Sri Lanka
•	December 2002: 
–	Agreement on federal political system that would allow for Tamil self-determination in Tamil-dominated areas
Suspension of Peace Talks
•	During the peace talks the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government continued to send contradictory signals:
–	The LTTE continued military build-up and started to recruit heavily and refused to rule out the option of secession
–	The Sri Lankan military also recruited heavily and drew up plans for a modernization of the armed forces
•	The LTTE abruptly suspended the peace talks in April 2003
Today
•	Skirmishes between LTTE rebels and government forces were decreasing until April 2006
–	Riots broke out in the northeast and explosions killed 16 people
–	On 11 May 2006, the LTTE attacked a Naval convoy
–	The attack was seen as the most blatant violation to date of the 2002 peace agreement
–	On 16 October 2006, a LTTE suicide attack on a Sri Lankan naval convoy killed 93 sailors and wounded 150 others
Today
–	Peace talks ceased, and attacks by LTTE rebels and government forces have resumed
Current Prospects for Peace
•	Rajapakse entered two-day talks with the LTTE in Geneva on 28 October 2006
•	The talks, which were the first in eight months, covered the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka
–	The first day of the negotiations was dominated by back-and-forth recriminations
–	The second failed due to disagreement on access to the Jaffna peninsula
–	The talks were deemed a failure
Current Prospects for Peace
•	The LTTE’s top negotiator died in late 2006
•	Around the same time the government enacted legislation to increase its search and arrest powers, aimed at the LTTE
•	So far, more than 60,000 people have died in the Sri Lankan conflict, over 3,000 of those since late 2005
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