Sri Lanka in 1984: The Politics of Communal Violence

Abstract

Communal confrontation and escalating violence dominated the political life of Sri Lanka throughout 1984. Tensions between the Sinhalese ethnic majority and the Sri Lanka Tamil minority arose from a decade-old movement for a separate Tamil state on the island, to be called Eelam. Although savage communal riots such as those that jarred the nation in July 1983 did not recur, the conflict was marked by a sharp increase in the level of violence. A Tamil underground guerrilla-or terrorist, depending on one's perspective-movement stepped up its attacks on government personnel and facilities, and government security forces responded with actions of widening scope and severity. The heightened violence was marked by accusations of atrocities by both sides. Relations between the governments of Sri Lanka and India were strained by year's end as a result of Sri Lankan accusations regarding separatist guerrilla training camps in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and efforts of the Sri Lankan armed services to interdict movement between Tamil Nadu and northern Sri Lanka.