A Political Solution to the Ethnic Conf1ict in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka began in the mid-1950s, yet little progress has been made at the negotiating table to settle their differences on the issues of regional autonomy for Tamil areas, colonization and economic development of Tamil-dominated districts. The military confrontation between the Tamil militants and government forces, which accelerated with the anti-Tamil riots of 1983, has resulted in a de facto separation of the island into a Sinhalese majority region and a Tamil majority region. Whatever impact the Tamil militant movement has on the geopolitics of Sri Lanka and South Asia, its activities are largely confined to a well defined region in the North-East Province where the Tamil-speaking people are in the absolute majority. When the Indian PeaceKeeping Force (IPKF) was deployed in the North-East Province, only Tamil majority areas were under the direct supervision of the IPKF, while the Sinhalese majority areas in that province remained largely under the control of Sri Lankan security forces. Large portions of rural sections of the Tamil majority region continued to remain under LTTE control when the war between the government security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resumed in June 1990. By late 1990, govemment forces attempted to bring the Northern Province under their control by launching attacks on key towns along the main routes leading to the Jaffna Peninsula, the militant stronghold. At the outset, the security forces attempted a three-pronged attack on the