Lacey BoutwellEDGE: Prof Lusignan3/11/05Sri Lanka:Rebuilding a Nation from Civil War and Natural DisasterSri Lanka is a nation plagued by civil war and natural disaster. A small island south of India, it has recently been under a ceasefire between the Tamil Tigers and the SriLankan national government after over twenty years of civil war. The Tamil population, a group highly discriminated against in Sri Lanka, was pushing for the separation from the nation. They wanted total control over their lands on the northern and eastern coasts of the country. Since the tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004 hit Sri Lanka hard. It wiped out many coastal communities, and hit the eastern coast the hardest. Much of the economy was in tourism and fishing, which were also all on the coasts. Now the nation is dealing with two disasters that it must recover from. Keeping the peace between the Tamil and Sinhalese population in Sri Lanka and rebuilding communities and the economy from the tsunami will be a difficult balancing act for the leaders of the nation. Both groups need to continue with peace negotiations and resolve their issues to overcome these disasters.Sri Lanka has survived many conflicts and changes throughout it’s history. Disputes between the Sinhalese and Tamil population within Sri Lanka have been ongoing for centuries. “Indo-Aryan emigration from India in the 5th century B.C. came to form the largest ethnic group on Sri Lanka today, the Sinhalese. Tamils, the second-1largest ethnic group on the island, were originally from the Tamil region of India, and emigrated between the 3rd century B.C. and A.D. 1200.”1 The proximity of Sri Lanka to Southern India resulted in many Tamil invasions centuries ago. Due to this, the Tamil region of current Sri Lanka is the northern and north eastern sections of the island. “In the early 11th century, the Chola of Southern India conquered Anuradhapura and made Pollonarrua their capital. The Sinhalese soon regained power, but in the 12th cent. a Tamil kingdom arose in the north, and the Sinhalese were driven to the southwest.”2 Thisregional division of the island, in their current situation, creates differences in the effects of the December 26, 2004 Tsunami that devastated many areas of Southeast Asia.Sri Lanka’s original name was Ceylon. On May 22, 1972, the name was changed to Sri Lanka, which means “resplendent island.”3 The Portuguese had control of Ceylon from 1505 until the Dutch India Company took over in 1658. In 1796 the British took control and Ceylon became an official English Crown colony by 1802. In 1815, for the first time, the island was finally brought under one rule when the central area was conquered. While Ceylon was under control of the British, colonials developed tea, coffee, and rubber plantations, as well as schools and a university.4 1 www.infoplease.com2 www.factmonster.com3 www.infoplease.com4 www.factmonster.com2During World War I a movement for an independent Ceylon developed. “The constitution of 1931 granted universal adult suffrage to the inhabitants; but demands for independence continued, and in 1946 a more liberal constitution was enacted.”5 After pressure from Ceylonese nationalist leaders, which in itself briefly united the Tamil and Sinhalese, on February 4, 1948, Ceylon became a self-governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations.6 From here, the United National Party remained in power forten years. The UNP was comprised of Ceylon National Congress, the Sinhala Maha Sabha, and the Muslim League, among other nationalist groups.7 Once established, three pieces of legislation all but disenfranchised the Tamil minority group: the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948, the Indian and Pakistani Residents Act No. 3 of 1948, and the Ceylon Parliamentary Elections Amendment Act No. 48 of 1949.8 At this time in Sri Lankan-Tamil history, the minority was still in contact with their ancestral Indian Tamils. The Ceylon Indian Congress vigorously but unsuccessfully opposed the legislation. The acrimonious debate over the laws of 1948 and 1949 revealed 5 www.factmonster.com6 www.infoplease.com7 www.country-studies.com8 www.country-studies.com3serious fissures in the body politic. There was a cleavage along ethnic lines between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, and also a widening rift between Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils. 9“In 1949 a faction of the Ceylon Tamil Congress broke away to form the Tamil Federal Party. The creation of the Federal Party was a momentous post-independence development because it set the agenda for Tamil exclusivity in Sri Lankan politics.”10Once an independent Ceylon government was established, conflict between the Tamils and the Sinhalese for power began. In 1956, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike became prime minister. A strong proponent of Sinhalese nationalism, he made Sinhala the national language and Buddhism the officially supported religion. This further narrowed the Tamil minority’s position in the nation.11 “Riots in 1958 between Sinhalese and the Tamil minority over demands by the Tamils for official recognition of their language and the establishment of a separate Tamil state under a federal system resulted in severe loss of life.”12 Further turmoil arose with the assassination of Prime Minister Bandaranaike inSeptember of 1959. The following year, his widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became the first female prime minister ever in the entire world. Following more disturbances and violence from Tamil rebel conflict, the Federal Party of Tamils was outlawed in 1961.13 For the majority of the next two decades, Sri Lanka reverted back and forth between party control. Displeased with how Prime Minister Mrs. Bandaranaike was handling international economic affairs for large corporations, the United National Party took control in the 1965 election. Over the next five years, the country’s population and economic inflation soared. “In 1970, Mrs. Bandaranaike and her three-party anti-9 www.country-studies.com10 www.country-studies.com11 www.infoplease.com12 www.factmonster.com13 www.factmonster.com4capitalist coalition won a landslide victory, following considerable pre-election violence. She launched social welfare programs, including rice subsidies and free hospitalization.”14 In 1971, The Marxist People's Liberation Front attempted to overthrow the government in an armed rebellion. After heavy fighting and help from the Soviet Union,