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Basic Stats
Population: Close to 20 million
Demographic breakdown: Around 74 per cent are Sinhalese; around 16 per cent are Tamil; 8.5 per cent are Muslim and 0.5 are others
Languages: Sinhalese, Tamil, English
Religions: Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christians
Breakdown: Tamils are predominately Hindu but significant numbers follow Christianity. The influence of Catholic and Protestant churches is quite high among the Tamils.
Timeline
1948: The Ceylon Citizenship Act is passed, disenfranchising more than 850,000 Tamils of Indian origin. The act, requiring two generations of a person’s family to have been born in Sri Lanka, reduced the per cent of Tamils able to vote from 33 per cent to 20 per cent.
Early 1950s: Sinhala-dominated government legislation makes Sinhala the only official language in the country, shutting Tamils out of government and many private sector jobs. Previously, Sri Lanka had been a multi-language country. Soon, promotions and salary increases became tied to proficiency in Sinhala and those who wished to remain in government service had to learn the language in three years.
Late 1950s: Political pacts with the Sinhalese majority for a more equitable language and political representation solution failed multiple times, due to segments of the Sinhalese population.
1958: Violence erupts against the Tamil community as they hold political meetings about the latest pact’s failure. Homes and cars are burned, businesses are looted and beatings are carried out.
1961: With no power to reject legislation in parliament, Tamil politicians participate in non-violent demonstrations to affect change but police and military violently rebuff them. Authorities detain hundreds with no charges.
1971: Government institutionalizes educational discrimination with the ‘Standardisation of University Entrance Marks.’ Tamils must now get higher marks than Sinhalese students to enter into university. A population, which prides itself on education, suddenly saw drastic drops in enrollment to the Engineering, Medical and Science faculties.
1972- Buddhism, a predominantly Sinhala religion, becomes country’s primary religion.
1976-1977: Tamil United Liberation Front forms and contests elections on the platform of creating an independent Tamil sovereign state. Against the backdrop of anti-Tamil riots which leave many dead and injured, TULF wins a majority of seats in Tamil areas and becomes the country’s official
opposition.
1976: Militant groups also begin, confined to a small area without mass backing.
1981: A key Tamil library, which contained 97,000 rare books and manuscripts, is burned down by the Sri Lankan police.
1983: Organized mobs, armed with knives, weapons and gasoline, go after thousands of Tamils. With voter lists and addresses, Sinhala mobs find Tamils easily. Properties are looted and burned and hundreds of Tamils are killed. Tamil prisoners, detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act,
are killed in multiple incidents. Subsequently, Sri Lanka’s president bans all political parties seeking a separate state, stripping Tamils of all their political seats.
1983: Armed struggle to establish an independent homeland escalates.
Post-1983: Thousands of civilians begin to flee Sri Lanka, afraid for their lives.
1987-1990: An accord is signed between India and Sri Lanka and an agreement is reached to merge Tamil provinces, hold elections and give powers to the proposed provincial councils. India sends a peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka drags its heels in implementing the agreements. As a result, the peacekeeping force starts fighting with the Tamil militants. Finally, the Indian forces are asked to leave. The Sri Lankan government tactically plays their cards to turn the Indian forces against the militants.
Early-1990s to early 2000s: Violence continues. The country becomes immersed in a full-blown conflict between militants and the government. The international community meets and Norway offers to mediate.
2002: Ceasefire agreement is signed, with Norway mediating.
2004: Tsunami strikes, killing 30,000 civilians. A majority of the dead were from the Tamil provinces.
2006-2007: Violence flares up.
2008: At the start of 2008, Sri Lanka government unilaterally walked away from ceasefire agreement and started the war.
2008-2009: Violence escalates and tens of thousands of civilians get killed.
May 2009: Sri Lankan government declares war has ended and leadership of the LTTE has been killed. The entire war was conducted without witnesses. No independent media outlets were allowed in the country. Both sides were accused of committing war crimes.
About 300,000 Tamils are currently in internment camps with very little facilities. They are not allowed to leave. Forty per cent are believed to children. About 60,000 are injured. Families have been separated. The camps are overcrowded and lack adequate medicines, food and water. Aid organizations are not allowed full access. No independent media is allowed to verify government accounts of the events. Only government conducted tours are taking place.
May 2009: Many western countries, including Canada, brought a motion to investigate potential war crimes but Sri Lanka, aligned with China and Cuba, shot down the motion.
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