A “Paradise Lost”
By: Chareeni Kurukulasuriya
In the past few years, many people would agree that the world has become a more violent and hostile place. Countries and their people have become less tolerant of each other, and wars and conflicts have erupted all over the world. When people think of such problems, the most common that jump into their minds usually encompass the problems in the Middle East and central Asia: the US troops’ presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, the conflict between the Israeli and Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon, the growing tension between the United States and Iran, and the Russian invasion of Georgia, just to name a few. However few people know of one of the world’s most vicious and brutal civil wars taking place in Sri Lanka!
This small country in Asia, surrounded by the Indian Ocean, is an island just beneath the tip of India. At first glance, Sri Lanka seems more likely to be a vacation hotspot for those eager to enjoy the beautiful beaches, experience the unique culture, and learn about its ancient Buddhist cities. Unknown to most is the fact that it is a country torn apart by senseless killing of over 64,000 people as two ethnic groups continue violence that started 20 years ago. At the time, the government was controlled by the Sinhalese. An ethnic minority group, the Tamils, desired more autonomy within the country. When the Sri Lankan government refused the demands of the Tamils, the tensions between the two groups increased. In the 1970s The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers, made their entrance into the ethnic conflict. One of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world, in the past two decades they have, according to PBS Frontline WORLD, “carried out more suicide bombings than Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al Qaeda combined.”
In 1983, the Tamil minority group demanded a separate state of the island country. This idea was strongly supported by the LTTE terrorists whose mission became to force the government into releasing half the country to terrorist rule, allowing the formation of the separate state of Tamil Eelam. Starting from their stronghold in the northernmost tip of the island, Jaffna, the LTTE slowly worked their way down the country, taking control of most of the north. Meanwhile, they continually attacked the capital city of Colombo, targeting political leaders opposed to a separate Tamil state. In fact, the LTTE has tried twice to attack Colombo’s highest skyscraper, the Sri Lankan twin-tower World Trade Center. They have also assassinated one Sri Lankan president, blinded another in a failed suicide bombing, and assassinated India’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May of 1991. The rebels have also targeted traitors to their cause, or other Tamils who do not support the LTTE’s actions. A cease-fire was arranged between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE forces on February of 2002. Later, with the help of Norway, a power-sharing agreement was reached between the government and the LTTE. However, the peace talks arranged by the Norwegians were postponed when violations of the cease-fire were reported by the Tamil Tiger rebels and the government. Violence resurfaced in July of 2004 when a suicide bomber killed herself and four policemen. It was the tsunami of December 2004 that brought relative peace to the country. But in August 2005, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, although Tamil by ethnicity, Lakshman Kadirgamar, was assassinated and the LTTE were greatly suspected to have been behind the act. By July 2006, the violence had increased, reaching its highest levels since the ceasefire of 2002.
The ceasefire was officially terminated in January 2008. According to the United Nations, thousands of people had been forced to leave their homes in the north due to the terrorists. The current Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has asked that civilians in the LTTE controlled areas enter the government controlled areas as the government’s armed forces enter the LTTE bases.
This is the current political situation in the country that I long to visit every summer so that I can see my family, especially my grandparents, at least once a year. To them, as well as most people in Sri Lanka, the violence has become a part of everyday life. Each of the senseless killings leave people on both sides weary as well as desperate, longing for a peaceful solution. I myself am still trying to come to terms as to how a country that had peaceful co-existence between its people for thousands of years and was once even known as The Paradise Isle can accept the irrational cruelty and violence that is now being unleashed upon its own people.
Sources
BBC. “1991: Bomb Kills India’s Former Leader Rajiv Gandhi.” BBC On This Day: May 21. 18 Sept. 2008. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/21/
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BBC. “Timeline: Sri Lanka.” BBC World News. 17 July 2008. 19 Sept. 2008. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1166237.stm>.
BBC News. “Senior Sri Lanka Minister Killed.” BBC World News. 13 August 2005. 19 Sept. 2008. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4147196.stm>.
BBC News. “Sri Lankan President Partially Blinded.” BBC World News. 30 December 1999. 20 Sept. 2008. <news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/583029.stm>.
Bhattacharji, Preeti. “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.” Council on Foreign Relations. 21 July 2008. 17 Sept. 2008. <http://www.cfr.org/publication/9242/>.
Rubin, Joe. “Sri Lanka – Living With Terror: The Story.” PBS Frontline/World. May 2002. PBS. 17 Sept. 2008. <http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/srilanka/
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