Causes of conflict in Sri Lanka

1. Citizenship Rights2. Sinhala only policy3. Change in University admission4. Resettlement of Sinhalese to Tamil populated areas

Citizenship rights

-In 1948 when Sri Lanka gained independence, citizenship was given to those born in Sri Lanka and those whose forefathers were born there.

-Indian Tamils became stateless as many were brought there by the British to work as tea planation workers

-W/o citizenship they were not able to VOTE, GETJOBS, HOUSING, and education

-1964, India agreed to allow a certain number of Indian Tamils to return to India and the rest were granted citizenship by Sri Lankan Government

-1980, due to ethnic violence 100000 indian Tamils remained stateless.

-2003 Sri Lanka Granted citizenship to those of Indian Origin.

-This allowed Tamils of Indian origin to be granted citizenship of Sri Lanka if they have been permanently living in Sri Lanka since 1964 or decendents from someone living there since 1964.

Sinhala only policy

-When Sri Lanka gained independence, English was the official language of Sri Lanka.

-Sri Lankan Tamils were English educated and hence were able to get government jobs and be promoted while the Sinhalese who were not as educated were not able to find high positioned jobs as the Tamils

-In 1956 the Sri Lankan government made Sinhala the official language of Sri Lanka, this became the language of administration.

-Tamils in the government service were given 3 years to learn Sinhala or be dismissed.

-Tamils held a peaceful demonstration but were opposed by supporters of Sinhala.

-Rioting occurred and many innocent people were killed.

-1957,Sri Lankan government and Tamil leader signed a pact to make Tamil the language of the Tamil Minority.

-Tamil made the Language of administration in the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka.

Change in University admission

-Before 1970, university admission were based in Merit and the exams were in English.

-Tamils scored higher as they were better educated than the Sinhalese

-More Tamils got into university although they were the minority

-1970, the Sri lankan government changed the university admission which made the Tamils scored higher to get in compared to the Sinhalese.

-Allotted number of places in University meant for Sinhalese students only.

Resettlement of Sinhalese peasants

-Indian Tamils were highly populated in the highland districtsand majority were tea plantation workers.

-1950,Sinhalese peasants were transferred to the highly populated Tamil areas in the Northern and Eastern part of Sri Lanka.

-This was to provide land for them and to cultivate padi.

-Buddhist monks and the Sri Lankan army came and lived there too,

This created A lot of resettlement among the Tamils.

Consequences of Sri Lankan Conflict

3 types: 1. Political 2. Economic 3.Social

Political (1.Armed conflict, 2.foreign intervention)

Armed conflict:

- When the federal party(political party) requested for Sri Lanka to be a federation and for Tamil areas to be self-governed

- The Sri Lankan government’s denial caused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to be formed and through violence towards Sinhalese and Tamil members of the police force and political party

- Sinhalese retaliated through the Sri Lankan Army through violence.

- Rioting started from the 1981 to 1984 this caused a long armed conflict lasting for more than 20 years and the lives of 60000 people.

Foreign intervention

- India acted as the mediator between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil tigers. However the foreign minister and the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil tigers were unable to come to a agreement.

- July 1987 was when India gave supplies to Sri Lankan Tamils, but were denied entry so it was given through air space. This violated the Sri Lankan airspace rules

- In Oct 1987 Sri Lanka signed a peace accord with India to ceasefire between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil tigers to for the Tamil tigers to disarm themselves.

- Tamil tigers failed to do so in Oct 1987 and hence a there was dispute between the Indian peacekeeping force and Tamil tigers until December 1988.

- In 1990 the Indian peacekeeping force withdrew.

Economic: (Loss in tourism, decreasing of foreign investment, massive unemployment)

Massive unemployment:

- After the July 1983 riots many factory workers,self-employed people and tea plantation workers lost their jobs and began destroying their places of work causing a major conflict for all parties.

Decreasing of foreign investment

- Due to poor infrastructure, unstable conditions and risky economy, people stopped investing in Sri lanka.

- Hence this caused the sri lankan economy to fall.

Loss in Tourism

- Tourism was for Sri Lanka one of its main source of income

- Due to racial violence and disorder in the country. The number of tourist that came fell increasingly.

- After the July 1983 riots the number of tourist that caem dropped vastly, this affected the economy adversely.

- As there became limited funds to develop amenities and facilities such as transport and housing.

Social: (Sri Lankan Tamils became refugees)

- Due to risk of living in Tamil areas the sri lankan tamils fled to tamil nadu in south india

- After the July 1983 riots many sri lankan tamils fled to the high security zone(hsz) set up by the sri lankan army to keep the LTTE away.

- As many as 65000 sri lankan tamils are still living in tamil nadu as refugees till today

- Sri lankan army dominated much of the tamil area in sri lanka, thus making the tamils lose their homes and flee.