Jordie

A truce agreed to in early 1995 was unilaterally broken by the Tigers. The government responded with a massive military operation that seized the Jaffna peninsula and dislodged both the Tigers and the Tamil population of the city. With government initiatives aimed at appeasing the Tamil population relatively well received and the Tigers apparently quashed, it seemed that Sri Lanka was on the path to lasting peace. But the Tigers regrouped and, by mid-1996, were able to launch damaging attacks on government troops stationed in northern Sri Lanka and terrorist strikes in Colombo. The violence renewed Sinhalese opposition to peace with the Tamils, which in turn disillusioned the Sri Lankan majority that was desperate for an end to violence.

As the new millennium came and went, the Tamil Tigers were still trying to retake the Jaffna Peninsula and their suicide bombers were still blowing themselves and bystanders up all over the island, particularly in Colombo. The massacre in mid-October 2000 of 26 unarmed Tamil prisoners by a crowd of Sinhalese in the hill country town of Bandarawela showed the depth (or lack) of feeling between some of the combatants - the killings resulted in violent demonstrations and retaliatory attacks which dragged Sri Lanka's relatively peaceful central region into the conflict. Some hope was offered by Norway's attempts to broker peace talks between the government and the Tigers in Nov-Dec 2000 - in a diplomatic first, their peace envoy met individually with leaders of both groups - but it currently looks as if the only good stance in Sri Lanka is a hardline stance.

When Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) secessionists massacred an army patrol in 1983, Sinhalese mobs went on a two-day rampage, killing several thousand Tamils and burning and looting property. This marked the point of no return. Many Tamils moved north into Tamil-dominated areas, and Sinhalese began to leave the Jaffna area. Tamil secessionists claimed the northern third of the country and the eastern coast. They were clearly in the majority in the north but proportionately equal to the Sinhalese and Muslims in the east. Violence escalated with both sides guilty of intimidation and massacres, now known as 'ethnic cleansing.'

The country's ethnic and religious conflicts date from this time and they escalated as competition for wealth and work intensified. Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist monk in 1959, when he attempted to reconcile the two communities. He was replaced by his widow, Sirimavo, who became the world's first female prime minister. She continued her husband's socialist policies, but the economy went from bad to worse. A poorly organized revolt by the Sinhalese Maoist JVP in 1971 led to the death of thousands. One year later, the country became a republic and made Sri Lanka its official name.

Then known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka finally achieved full independence as a dominion within the British Commonwealth in 1948. The government adopted socialist policies, strengthening social services and maintaining a strong economy, but also disenfranchising 800,000 Tamil plantation workers. Sinhalese nationalist Solomon Bandaranaike was elected in 1956 and pushed a 'Sinhala Only' law through parliament, making Sinhalese the national language and effectively reserving the best jobs for the Sinhalese. This was partly instituted to address the imbalance of power between the majority Sinhalese and the English-speaking, Christian-educated elite. However, it enraged the Tamil Hindu minority who began pressing for a federal system of government with greater autonomy in the main Tamil areas in the north and east.

Some topics in this essay:
Sri Lanka, North India, Sri Lanka's, Candragupta Chandragupta, Tamil Hindu, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Yaksas Raksas, Sri Lankans, Dr Paranavitana, Dr Parnavitana, sri lanka, prime minister, sri lanka's, sri lankan, century bc, united national party, north india, peace talks, southern india, national party, people's alliance, sanskrit buddhist literature, conducive welfare world, people's alliance coalition, ceylon sri lanka,