Charu Lata Hogg*
History and context of the armed conflict
Sri Lanka's modern history has been dominated by a Tamil secessionist campaign since 1983 when tensions between the Sinhalese majority and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a group seeking an independent homeland for the minority Tamil population in the north and east of the country, erupted in violence.
Approximately 64,000 people have been killed in a war characterized by grave human rights abuses, including thousands of "disappearances", on both sides. Besides the ethnic war, there have also been two uprisings in the past 30 years by the Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP), resulting in crackdowns in which an estimated 80,000 people died. The JVP, which is opposed to devolving power to the Tamils, has since entered mainstream politics and has 39 members of parliament.
The rise of Sinhala nationalism
A small English-speaking local elite, spanning both Sinhala and Tamil communities, which developed during the British colonial period continued to hold power after independence and ruled in much the same vein as their colonial predecessors. The passing of the Official Language Act of July 1956 - often referred to as "Sinhala only" - was a major step towards defining Ceylon1 as a primarily Sinhala state. Under this legislation, Sinhala became the sole official language with clearly damaging implications for the employment prospects of many Tamil speakers. The denial of Tamil language rights was met with an intense non-violent protest campaign and the first of several outbreaks of anti-Tamil violence, particularly in the south and east.(2)
Increasing numbers of Tamils felt the state considered them second class citizens and a new militancy grew up within Tamil politics.3 By the mid 1970s mainstream Tamil politicians were publicly advocating the establishment of a separate state ("Tamil Eelam").4 Amid heightening tension and increasing militarism on all sides, the key turning point in the conflict came in July 1983, when anti-Tamil violence in the south erupted on an unprecedented scale. The violence was provoked by an LTTE ambush which killed 13 soldiers near the northern peninsula of Jaffna.
By the mid-1980s the LTTE had established itself as the most powerful militant group in the north and east, and by 1989 it was effectively governing significant portions of north and east Sri Lanka, running a de facto state which collected tax revenue and administered justice through a system of policing and courts.
* Charu Hogg is a former international journalist and Associate Fellow in the Asia Program at Chatham House. She is the author of most of the Asia entries in the Child Soldiers Coalition's Global Report 2004. This paper draws on research conducted by Charu on field trips to Sri Lanka in April 2005 and February 2006. The present paper is written in the author's individual capacity and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Child Soldiers Coalition. The paper was finalized on 1 June 2006.
Notes:
(1) Ceylon became independent in 1948, retaining its earlier name until a republican constitution was promulgated in 1972, when it was renamed Sri Lanka.
(2) Elizabeth Nissan, "Historical Context", Demanding Sacrifice: War and Negotiation in Sri Lanka, Conciliation Resources, Accord Series, 1998, http://www.c-r.org/accord/series.shtml.