Ethnic Conflict, Civil War & Politics

 

Sri Lanka : keeping the peace in a sharply divided society The current ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is a much more complex business than a simple straightforward confrontation between a once well-entrenched minority the Tamils and a now powerful but still insecure majority -the Sinhalese. The Sinhalese majority and the Sri Lanka Tamil minority are not the only players in this intricate political drama even though they play the principal roles. There are two conflicting perceptions of these conflicts. Most Sinhalese believe that the Tamil minority has enjoyed a privileged position under British rule and that the balance has of necessity to shift in favour of the Sinhalese majority. The Tamils for their part claim that they are now a harassed minority, the victims of frequent acts of communal violence and calculated acts and policies of discrimination directed at them. Most of the Tamils' fears and their sense of insecurity stem from the belief that they have lost the advantageous position they enjoyed under British rule in many sectors of public life in the country; in brief, a classic case of a sense of relative deprivation. Tamil Tigers (LTTE) - ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), arguably the most lethal and well organised terrorist group in the world, began its armed campaign in Sri Lanka for a separate Tamil homeland in 1983. The group threatens not only the domestic stability of Sri Lanka and India but also the security of the international system as a whole. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and related Tamil insurgents are engaged in organized criminal activities. These began in Sri Lanka and have spread to Western Europe, North America and Australia - wherever Tamil refugees have landed. The LTTE is now banned in Sri Lanka, India, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada and Malaysia.  Military debacle at Elephant Pass In a dramatic turn of events, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) captured the strategic Elephant Pass military base at the entrance to the Jaffna peninsula on 22 April, in Operation Oyatha Alaigal III (Unceasing Waves), thrusting President Chandrika Kumaratunge’s People’s Alliance (PA) government into a new crisis. Elephant Pass has been a defence base for Jaffna since 1760, during Portuguese rule. A military camp was built in 1952. The Sri Lankan Army held the base even when the LTTE controlled the peninsula from 1986 to 1995. The camp was a vital spring board for Army offensives such as Operation Yal Devi (name of Colombo-Jaffna train) in September 1993 and Operation Sath Jaya (Truth’s Victory) in July 1996. Over 1,000 Tigers died in an attempt to take the camp in July 1991. According to the LTTE, its forces killed more than 1,000 Sri Lankan troops in 48 hours of heavy fighting forcing the military to abandon the Iyakkachchi-Elephant Pass complex and to retreat north towards Jaffna town.