It all started....
Back in the days of the British Empire. The divide and rule policies
of the British rulers created lots of animosity between the Sinhala majority
and the minority Tamils. It was the British who brought thousands of Indian Tamils
to work in the then newly established tea estates.
In the '50s during the rule of SWRD Bandaranayake (father of the current president),
a series of laws were passed that drastically reduced the opportunities
for education and employment available to Tamils.
Though many of these laws were repealed by later governments. It didn't
stop the powder keg exploding in 1983 when terrorists killed 13 Sri Lankan
soldiers in The northern province.
Sections of the Sinhala community enraged by this incidence took to the streets
burning and looting Tamil shops and homes. The authorities took some
time to bring the situation under control. (Dragged their feet, in the opinions
of many tamils).
This was the point of no return. Many tamils left the country, the economy and the
tourism industry in particular suffered heavy blows from which it has not
fully recovered 15 years later. And the support for the Tamil militants grew.
The terrorist problem escalated till the late 80s when President Jayawardana
sought Indian assistance. After the signing of the Indo Lanka peace accord
many of the Terrorist organizations surrendered their weapons and entered
parlimentary politics. The responsibility to maintain the peace
in the north and the east was handed over to the Indian Army.
But War broke out once more, as the LTTE took to arms again.
Teir enemy this time was the mighty Indian Peace Keeping Force.
The LTTE had the worse of it, and were on the brink of defeat when
President premadasa came to power on the votes of the Sinhala extremists (1989).
At the time Sri Lanka was faced with a another terrorist problem in the south,
with the Maoist JVP (Janatha Vimukhi Peramuna) taking to arms.
A common gripe of the JVP and the Sinhala Extremists was the presence of a
foreign army on Sri Lankan soil.
Premadasa bowed to the extemist's demands and asked the IPKF to withdraw, which
was a godsend for the embattled LTTE.
With the IPKF gone the LTTE wasted no time in wiping out the other militant
organizations. President Premadasa turned a blind eye. But for his pains was
killed of by a suspected LTTE suicide bomber on May Day 1992.
Some allege that premadasa even supplied arms to the LTTE during this period.
With the other militants out of the way, the LTTE turned on the Sri Lankan Army.
And the war dragged on with neither side gaining an advantage till the
present government came to power in 1994.
The first thing they did was to hold peace talks with the LTTE, who
used the cease-fire as an opportunity to regroup. The government
was taken by complete surprise when the LTTE unilaterally broke the cease-fire.
And then ...
The fighting resumed, the Army achieved a series of victories regaining
territory in the Northern province that had been under LTTE control for
a long time. But lately the army has got bogged down.
When ever the pressure in the north increased the LTTE struck back
by carrying out bombings in Colombo. The latest attack took place
just in august, when a suspected LTTE suicide bomber killed Neelan
Tiruchelvam; a leader of the Tamil Community.
The LTTE however has never been known to attack
tourist targets. They depend on overseas Tamils for the funds and does not
wish to have world opinion against them.