Name the principal players in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. How do you assess the prospects of the resolution of this conflict?
Answers
Explanation:
The principal players in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka are the indegenous Sinhala community and Tamils who had migrated from India to Sri Lanka and settled there. The Sinhala nationalists are in majority and they do not want to give any concessions to Tamils who are in minority. This has led to militant Tamil nationalism. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been fighting an armed struggle with the army of Sri Lanka since 1983. Their main demand is Tamil Eelam or a separate country for the Tamils of Sri Lanka.
The prospects of the resolution of this conflict are remote because the government of Sri Lanka is following a policy of majoritarianism. The minority Tamil community is being ignored in different spheres. Even though the LTTE Chief had been killed and the LTTE defeated, the government should now adopt a policy of accomodation towards the minority community. So unless this policy is followed, the ethnic conflicts would continue or it might remain un resolved.
Answer:
The principal players in the ethnic conflict are Sinhala, in majority and Tamils, in minority. The majoritarian community drafted the Constitution and chose Sinhalese as official language and gave no recognition to minority. The Tamil community has thus faced discrimination, which became the cause of ethnic conflict between the two communities.
Prospects for resolution are as follows:
a) Giving more autonomy to regions dominated by Tamil
b) Be more sensitive to rights of the Tamil community
c) Amendment of Constitution to recognise the culture and language of the Tamil community