The Sri Lankan Civil War, Explained

00:42:09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBTW54rU3C8

Sintesi

TLDRThe video provides an in-depth analysis of the Sri Lankan Civil War, which spanned from 1983 to 2009, highlighting the ethnic conflict between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities. It traces the historical roots of the conflict, including the impact of British colonialism, post-independence policies that favored the Sinhalese, and the rise of militant groups like the LTTE. The video also discusses the involvement of India and other international actors, the brutal nature of the conflict, and the significant human cost, with estimates of casualties ranging from 180,000 to 255,000. The war's legacy continues to affect Sri Lankan society, with ongoing ethnic tensions and challenges in reconciliation.

Punti di forza

  • 🌍 South Asia's conflicts often overlooked.
  • ⚔️ Sri Lankan Civil War lasted from 1983 to 2009.
  • 🕊️ Ethnic tensions between Tamils and Sinhalese.
  • 📜 Colonial history shaped modern conflicts.
  • 💔 LTTE aimed for an independent Tamil state.
  • 🇮🇳 India played a complex role in the war.
  • 📉 Significant civilian casualties estimated at 180,000-255,000.
  • 🛑 Ongoing ethnic tensions post-war.
  • 🤝 Challenges in reconciliation efforts.
  • 📚 Historical roots of the conflict are deep.

Linea temporale

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    South Asia faces significant international conflicts, particularly between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the civil war in Myanmar. This video focuses on Sri Lanka, a 25,000 square mile island that experienced a civil war from 1983 to 2009, primarily between the Hindu Tamils in the North and the Buddhist Sinhalese in the South. The roots of this ethnic conflict are complex, with various explanations including class struggles and colonial tactics, but the rivalry predates European colonization.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The Tamil migration to Sri Lanka from Southeastern India introduced Hinduism, while the native Sinhalese adopted Buddhism. The British colonial period saw the unification of the island and the introduction of administrative divisions that ignored ethnic boundaries. British policies favored Tamils in education and administration, leading to resentment among Sinhalese, which fueled ethnic tensions and political activism.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Post-independence in 1948, the Sinhalese government revoked Tamil citizenship and implemented policies that marginalized Tamils, including the Official Language Act of 1956, which made Sinhalese the sole official language. This led to widespread protests and riots against Tamils, further escalating ethnic tensions and violence across the island.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The 1972 constitution established a socialist and Buddhist state, exacerbating Tamil grievances. The government implemented policies that favored Sinhalese, leading to increased Tamil militancy and the formation of the Tamil United Liberation Front, which sought to protect Tamil interests and advocate for a separate Tamil state.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The civil war intensified with the emergence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which adopted violent tactics, including suicide bombings. The Sri Lankan government responded with military force, leading to significant civilian casualties and international condemnation. The conflict drew in regional powers, particularly India, which initially supported Tamil militants before intervening militarily in 1987.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The Indian Peacekeeping Force faced hostility from both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government, leading to a complex and violent situation. The LTTE's tactics included ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese and Muslims, while the Sri Lankan military conducted brutal operations against Tamil civilians, further complicating the conflict.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Attempts at peace negotiations in the 1990s were undermined by ongoing violence and political instability. The LTTE continued its campaign of terror, assassinating political leaders and targeting civilians, while the Sri Lankan government faced pressure to address minority grievances. The conflict saw a shift in international attitudes towards terrorism, complicating the LTTE's position.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:42:09

    The war culminated in 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE, resulting in a significant loss of life and the end of the civil war. Estimates suggest that between 180,000 and 255,000 people died during the conflict, highlighting the devastating impact of ethnic strife in Sri Lanka.

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Video Domande e Risposte

  • What were the main ethnic groups involved in the Sri Lankan Civil War?

    The main ethnic groups involved were the Tamils, primarily Hindu, and the Sinhalese, primarily Buddhist.

  • When did the Sri Lankan Civil War take place?

    The Sri Lankan Civil War lasted from 1983 to 2009.

  • What were the roots of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka?

    The roots of the conflict include historical rivalries, colonial influences, and post-independence policies that favored one ethnic group over another.

  • What role did British colonialism play in the conflict?

    British colonialism exacerbated ethnic divisions by favoring Tamils in education and administration, leading to resentment among Sinhalese.

  • What was the LTTE?

    The LTTE, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka.

  • How did India become involved in the Sri Lankan Civil War?

    India initially supported Tamil militants and later intervened militarily in the conflict, aiming to mediate and stabilize the situation.

  • What was the outcome of the Sri Lankan Civil War?

    The war ended in 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE, resulting in significant civilian casualties and ongoing ethnic tensions.

  • What were the estimated casualties of the war?

    Estimates suggest that between 180,000 and 255,000 civilians and combatants died during the conflict.

  • What impact did the war have on Sri Lanka's society?

    The war left deep scars on Sri Lankan society, with ongoing ethnic divisions and challenges in reconciliation.

  • What is the current status of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka?

    The Tamil community continues to face challenges regarding rights, representation, and reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka.

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Scorrimento automatico:
  • 00:00:00
    South Asia is a part of the world that
  • 00:00:01
    doesn't receive the attention it
  • 00:00:03
    probably deserves especially if you're
  • 00:00:05
    concerned with International conflicts
  • 00:00:07
    tensions grow between the Taliban
  • 00:00:09
    controlled Afghanistan and Pakistan
  • 00:00:11
    there's the ongoing Civil War in Myanmar
  • 00:00:13
    overlaid with the ongoing ethnic
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    cleansing of the rohinga all of these
  • 00:00:16
    countries have internal ethnic divisions
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    that all threaten to explode into larger
  • 00:00:20
    Wars not to mention the nuclear Damocles
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    that hangs over all of them but this
  • 00:00:24
    video is going to focus on this over
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    25,000 square mile island off the coast
  • 00:00:28
    of Southern India between 1983 and 2009
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    Sri Lanka was engulfed in a civil war
  • 00:00:34
    between the primarily Hindu tamils who
  • 00:00:36
    live on the North side of the island and
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    the primarily Buddhists andise who
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    predominantly live on the south side of
  • 00:00:41
    the island depending on who you ask
  • 00:00:43
    you'll get a different answer as to what
  • 00:00:44
    the roots of this ethnic conflict are or
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    even whether it should be called an
  • 00:00:49
    ethnic conflict Marxist and CES writers
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    tried to downplay the ethnic dimension
  • 00:00:53
    of the conflict focusing more on the
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    internal class struggles that existed
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    within each Community some of these
  • 00:00:58
    authors claim that the ethnic tensions
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    were solely a product of Elites within
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    each Community blaming the other for
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    their mishandling of the economy and
  • 00:01:06
    others will blame it on dividing conquer
  • 00:01:08
    tactics of British colonialism now
  • 00:01:10
    there's a bit of Truth in all of these
  • 00:01:12
    explanations but they're all too reliant
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    on a single explanation for a big
  • 00:01:16
    conflict I mean if this conflict really
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    was just class anger or divide and
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    conquer tactics then why was everybody
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    so willing to go along with blaming the
  • 00:01:26
    the other ethnic group for all their
  • 00:01:27
    problems fact of the matter is rivalry
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    between the two largest ethnic groups on
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    the island with their different
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    languages cultures and religions predate
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    European colonization by centuries and
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    to place all the blame on foreign
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    conquest or capitalism is to take away
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    the agency of all the people involved so
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    with this Preamble out of the way let me
  • 00:01:46
    tell you the story of the Sri Lankan
  • 00:01:49
    Civil War prior to European colonialism
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    Tamil peoples from Southeastern India
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    migrated to the island of Sri Lanka they
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    practiced their own variation of
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    Hinduism while the native population of
  • 00:01:59
    Shri Lanka the CES had adopted Buddhism
  • 00:02:02
    over the centuries various kingdoms Rose
  • 00:02:04
    and fell on the island the Portuguese
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    first arrived in the 26th Century
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    fighting Wars with the various local
  • 00:02:10
    kingdoms and in the 17th century one of
  • 00:02:12
    those kingdoms signed a treaty with the
  • 00:02:14
    Dutch who fought a war with the
  • 00:02:15
    Portuguese eventually kicking them off
  • 00:02:17
    the island Sri Lanka was one of the many
  • 00:02:19
    Dutch colonies occupied by the British
  • 00:02:21
    during the Napoleonic Wars that they
  • 00:02:23
    ended up keeping afterwards the British
  • 00:02:25
    would fully unify the island under their
  • 00:02:27
    control in 1815 placing the different
  • 00:02:29
    eth and religious groups that had formed
  • 00:02:31
    separate polities under a single domain
  • 00:02:33
    the British would subdivide the island
  • 00:02:34
    into new administrative divisions which
  • 00:02:36
    like most European colonies ignored the
  • 00:02:39
    pre-existing demographic or political
  • 00:02:41
    boundaries however the British weren't
  • 00:02:43
    completely ignorant of the differences
  • 00:02:45
    amongst the islands natives which is why
  • 00:02:47
    they developed separate legal codes for
  • 00:02:49
    the two different communities that were
  • 00:02:50
    at least on paper based on their own
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    local Traditions similar to the Millette
  • 00:02:56
    system in the Ottoman Empire however
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    British policy would end up favoring the
  • 00:03:00
    tamils due to their requirement for
  • 00:03:02
    Colonial bureaucrats to speak English
  • 00:03:04
    this policy advantaged the tamils
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    because they had better access to
  • 00:03:07
    English language schools due to British
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    and American missionaries having already
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    set up schools in Southern India to
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    proze to the tamel and based on accounts
  • 00:03:15
    from 19th century missionaries they
  • 00:03:17
    found the tamils more receptive to
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    Christianity than the Cales but the
  • 00:03:21
    British didn't just alter the
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    administration of Sri Lanka they altered
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    the economy the British would introduce
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    taxation to the island which
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    necessitated the introduction of cash
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    cross such as coffee and tea which
  • 00:03:31
    required large swats of land not only
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    did this result in the displacement of
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    many subsistence Farmers but it
  • 00:03:37
    necessitated the import of additional
  • 00:03:39
    labor this led to the immigration of
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    nearly 1 million indentured servants
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    from Southern India to work on these
  • 00:03:45
    plantations many of these plantations
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    were in the north which meant that tamel
  • 00:03:49
    were disproportionately displaced by new
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    European land owners this led many
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    Native tamils into the Artisan trades or
  • 00:03:56
    the colonial bureaucracy which then
  • 00:03:58
    fostered more animous amongst the CES
  • 00:04:01
    for the british's perceived favoritism
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    of the tamel CES activists would
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    campaign for the abolishment of these
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    separate legal codes and for majority
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    rule believing it would Advantage their
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    own community in 1911 the British would
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    open the colonial Council to democratic
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    elections but with a very narrow
  • 00:04:17
    franchise allowing only English-speaking
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    men to vote which resulted in the tamils
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    being over represented riots broke out
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    in 1915 which the British would brutally
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    suppress but it would be followed up by
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    political reforms that created a more
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    ethnically proportional democracy the
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    1921 election saw the CES win 13 seats
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    on the legislative council with the
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    tamel winning the remaining three the
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    tamel began to politically organize
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    against these reforms seeing them as a
  • 00:04:43
    threat to their position in the colonial
  • 00:04:45
    Administration this era saw numerous
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    populist organizations founded for both
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    the CES and the tamls with the CES
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    advocating Buddhist nationalism while
  • 00:04:54
    some tamls began advocating for a pan
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    taml State incorporating Northern Sri
  • 00:04:58
    Lanka Southern India and parts of Burma
  • 00:05:01
    and Malaysia universal suffrage was
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    granted in 1931 with the CES winning 38
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    of the 46 seats in the legislative
  • 00:05:08
    council with only five won by the tamls
  • 00:05:11
    the CES began advocating for a
  • 00:05:13
    suppression of the tamls from India
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    claiming they threaten the cultural
  • 00:05:17
    makeup of the island with politics
  • 00:05:19
    becoming more and more communal during
  • 00:05:21
    World War II the British began preparing
  • 00:05:23
    Sri Lanka for Independence setting up a
  • 00:05:25
    commission to draft a constitution with
  • 00:05:27
    the aim of establishing majority rule
  • 00:05:29
    taml lobbied both the conservative and
  • 00:05:31
    labor parties arguing that majority rule
  • 00:05:33
    would result in the abrogation of
  • 00:05:35
    minority rights with Tamil parties
  • 00:05:37
    describing the new constitution as a
  • 00:05:38
    charter of slavery despite these
  • 00:05:40
    critiques Sri Lanka still under its
  • 00:05:42
    Colonial name Salon would be granted
  • 00:05:45
    Independence in 1948 with Don Steven son
  • 00:05:47
    anaka of the conservative United
  • 00:05:49
    National Party elected as the first
  • 00:05:52
    Prime Minister one of the first acts of
  • 00:05:54
    the independent C controlled government
  • 00:05:56
    was to revoke the citizenship of the
  • 00:05:58
    tamils who had immigrated to Salon the
  • 00:06:00
    Tamil parties began campaigning for
  • 00:06:02
    Devolution and federalism inspired by
  • 00:06:04
    the Constitution in India and taking
  • 00:06:06
    cues from the DVA munra kagam or DMK
  • 00:06:10
    party in the state of Tamal Nadu but the
  • 00:06:12
    ruling UNP party proved too conciliatory
  • 00:06:15
    for many Cales leading to the creation
  • 00:06:17
    of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party which
  • 00:06:19
    campaigned on undoing the social and
  • 00:06:21
    economic advances of the tamls with its
  • 00:06:24
    leader Solomon West Ridgeway bandara
  • 00:06:26
    Nike exploiting Buddhist religious
  • 00:06:28
    fervor in 19 1956 to win a landslide in
  • 00:06:31
    Parliament and becoming prime minister
  • 00:06:33
    he promised to nationalize plantations
  • 00:06:35
    and numerous other Industries along with
  • 00:06:37
    fully kicking the British military out
  • 00:06:39
    of salon and making caliz the official
  • 00:06:41
    language the tamils feared this would
  • 00:06:43
    relegate them to second class
  • 00:06:45
    citizenship protesting the passage of
  • 00:06:47
    the official language Act of 1956 the
  • 00:06:49
    language act triggered a protest by a
  • 00:06:51
    Tamil political party outside Parliament
  • 00:06:53
    which would be attacked by S mob with
  • 00:06:55
    riots spreading across the country the
  • 00:06:57
    language law not only forced Tam public
  • 00:07:00
    employees to learn CES but it required
  • 00:07:02
    them to conduct all business in CES even
  • 00:07:04
    when dealing with tamel in Northern Sri
  • 00:07:07
    Lanka additionally foreign Tamil
  • 00:07:09
    language Publications were banned from
  • 00:07:11
    Sri Lanka as well as loans and foreign
  • 00:07:13
    currency were denied to Tamil students
  • 00:07:15
    who wanted to go study at universities
  • 00:07:17
    in India prime minister bandara Nike
  • 00:07:19
    attempted to reconcile with the tamls in
  • 00:07:22
    1958 with a new language law that would
  • 00:07:24
    protect the use of the taml language but
  • 00:07:26
    this sparked more anti- taml riots which
  • 00:07:29
    again spread across the island seeing
  • 00:07:31
    thousands of Tamil homes businesses and
  • 00:07:33
    temples burned and in 1959 the Prime
  • 00:07:35
    Minister was assassinated by a Buddhist
  • 00:07:37
    monk after which his wife siravo became
  • 00:07:40
    not only the first female prime minister
  • 00:07:42
    of Sri Lanka but the first female prime
  • 00:07:44
    minister in the world and she would
  • 00:07:46
    revert back to the C supremacist
  • 00:07:48
    policies of the slfp prior to
  • 00:07:51
    Independence a good chunk of the Sanka
  • 00:07:53
    economy was dependent on exporting cash
  • 00:07:55
    crops but after Independence the
  • 00:07:56
    Government tried to embrace autarchy
  • 00:07:59
    especially after the slfp came to power
  • 00:08:01
    they initiated policies to create new
  • 00:08:03
    settlements in underpopulated areas of
  • 00:08:05
    the island with the Dual goal of
  • 00:08:07
    increasing agricultural production as
  • 00:08:09
    well as to dilute the Tamil demographics
  • 00:08:11
    of the northern and Eastern provinces
  • 00:08:13
    with ethnic Cal they also nationalized
  • 00:08:15
    numerous companies which had a tendency
  • 00:08:17
    to [ __ ] economic growth with the
  • 00:08:19
    population growing faster than the GDP
  • 00:08:22
    most importantly though the slfp wanted
  • 00:08:24
    to decrease the wealth gap between CES
  • 00:08:26
    and tamls and although the language law
  • 00:08:28
    did a good deal to shrink that the
  • 00:08:30
    tamils remain disproportionately
  • 00:08:32
    represented in government bureaucracy
  • 00:08:34
    and the business world so the government
  • 00:08:35
    introduced Universal education but this
  • 00:08:38
    failed to reduce the Gap due to S
  • 00:08:40
    students choosing to study the
  • 00:08:41
    humanities while Tamil students went
  • 00:08:43
    into the Sciences which were Fields more
  • 00:08:45
    dependent on English proficiency to
  • 00:08:47
    increase C's enrollment into science and
  • 00:08:49
    math programs an affirmative action
  • 00:08:51
    program was implemented mandating a
  • 00:08:53
    certain percentage of seats for C
  • 00:08:55
    students and professors as well as
  • 00:08:57
    lowering the testing standards for C
  • 00:08:59
    students students to get into those
  • 00:09:00
    programs The Hope was that raising the
  • 00:09:02
    education level of the C population
  • 00:09:04
    would allow more to obtain higher jobs
  • 00:09:07
    and thus close the income gap but it
  • 00:09:08
    wouldn't be enough since gaining
  • 00:09:10
    independence Salon had tried to remain
  • 00:09:12
    neutral in Regional conflicts but this
  • 00:09:15
    didn't stop the People's Republic of
  • 00:09:16
    China and North Korea from arming a
  • 00:09:19
    communist Insurgency in the South
  • 00:09:21
    unemployed ciz University graduates
  • 00:09:23
    would form janatha the Miki peramuna or
  • 00:09:27
    jvp which began in ARB Insurgency in
  • 00:09:30
    1971 the primary target of the jvp
  • 00:09:33
    attacks were C Elites rather than the
  • 00:09:35
    tamls and would require foreign
  • 00:09:37
    assistant from the UK India Pakistan
  • 00:09:41
    Egypt Australia Yugoslavia China the US
  • 00:09:44
    and USSR for the Sri Lankan military to
  • 00:09:47
    put down India also supplied 100 giras
  • 00:09:50
    to protect the katuna yaka airport the
  • 00:09:53
    military Wing was brutal in suppressing
  • 00:09:55
    The jvp Killing somewhere between 1,200
  • 00:09:58
    at the low end and ,000 at the high end
  • 00:10:01
    a state of emergency was declared during
  • 00:10:03
    the Revolt implementing curfews along
  • 00:10:05
    with the passage of the criminal justice
  • 00:10:07
    act which allowed for confessions
  • 00:10:09
    obtained Through Torture it only took a
  • 00:10:11
    year to put down the jvp but the slfp
  • 00:10:14
    response to the Revolt was to double
  • 00:10:15
    down on their policies of C's favoritism
  • 00:10:18
    C's politicians had a long history of
  • 00:10:21
    using resentment against tamil's over
  • 00:10:23
    representation in government business
  • 00:10:25
    and universities to incite voter anger
  • 00:10:27
    and they would use this anger to justify
  • 00:10:30
    the drafting of a new constitution in
  • 00:10:32
    1972 that would make the government
  • 00:10:34
    explicitly socialist and Buddhist the
  • 00:10:37
    Republic of Sri Lanka will give to
  • 00:10:39
    Buddhism the foremost place and
  • 00:10:41
    accordingly it shall be the duty of the
  • 00:10:43
    state to protect and Foster Buddhism
  • 00:10:46
    they would also rename the country
  • 00:10:47
    ditching its Colonial name of salon for
  • 00:10:50
    Sri Lanka they implemented more
  • 00:10:52
    socialist policies nationalizing all
  • 00:10:54
    land Holdings over a certain amount and
  • 00:10:56
    encourage Collective farming on this new
  • 00:10:58
    state own land but this resulted in
  • 00:11:00
    decreased production increased food
  • 00:11:02
    prices and a 25% unemployment rate they
  • 00:11:06
    also tinkered with the affirmative
  • 00:11:07
    action program to prioritize s from
  • 00:11:10
    poorer and Rural districts these
  • 00:11:12
    policies succeeded in decreasing the
  • 00:11:14
    representation of tamils in government
  • 00:11:15
    and universities but utterly failed to
  • 00:11:18
    alleviate the economic wos of lower
  • 00:11:20
    class seles all the while further
  • 00:11:22
    alienating the tamel who paid the price
  • 00:11:25
    to resist the further encroachment upon
  • 00:11:26
    taml rights and identity we'd see
  • 00:11:29
    further political organization the
  • 00:11:31
    military presence in Northern Sri Lanka
  • 00:11:33
    began to increase in the early 60s as
  • 00:11:35
    tamell protests against C supremacist
  • 00:11:37
    policies were implemented while C's
  • 00:11:39
    police and soldiers abused their
  • 00:11:41
    authority to confiscate property and
  • 00:11:43
    after the jvp Revolt the slfp continued
  • 00:11:46
    to govern under a state of emergency
  • 00:11:48
    without placing limitations on the
  • 00:11:49
    police or military some members of The
  • 00:11:51
    Establishment taml parties would reject
  • 00:11:54
    electoral politics for radicalism
  • 00:11:56
    forming the first militant groups in the
  • 00:11:57
    early and mid-60s but most of these
  • 00:11:59
    groups were disbanded by the end of the
  • 00:12:01
    decade but the problem was exacerbated
  • 00:12:03
    when the 16th Amendment to the
  • 00:12:04
    Constitution of India was added in 1963
  • 00:12:07
    which outlawed secession thus leading
  • 00:12:10
    the Tamil nationalists in the state of
  • 00:12:11
    Tamil Nadu to redirect their energies
  • 00:12:14
    toward the Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka
  • 00:12:16
    in the early '70s a new Coalition of
  • 00:12:18
    Tamil parties the Tamil United
  • 00:12:20
    Liberation Front was formed with the
  • 00:12:22
    explicit purpose of protecting and
  • 00:12:24
    pursuing Tamil interests such as
  • 00:12:26
    Devolution language equality and
  • 00:12:28
    citizenship ship for all tamils and
  • 00:12:31
    unlike previous Tamil parties the TF was
  • 00:12:34
    more willing to look the other way when
  • 00:12:35
    it came to militancy many of these
  • 00:12:37
    militants got their start in criminal
  • 00:12:39
    organizations operating in the north
  • 00:12:41
    smuggling goods from tamilnadu across
  • 00:12:43
    the pul strait and their contacts in
  • 00:12:45
    Tamil Nadu were able to connect Tamil
  • 00:12:47
    militants in Sri Lanka with the growing
  • 00:12:49
    terrorist Network in the Arab world the
  • 00:12:51
    TF refused to condemn the acts of
  • 00:12:53
    violence committed by Tamil militants at
  • 00:12:55
    first due to sympathies with their cause
  • 00:12:58
    But as time progressed it became out of
  • 00:12:59
    fear due to the militants treating tamls
  • 00:13:02
    who chose to work with the government as
  • 00:13:04
    traitors such as Alfred diapo the taml
  • 00:13:07
    mayor of jafna who was assassinated by
  • 00:13:09
    vup palai prakaran in 1975 and although
  • 00:13:13
    the taml moderates kept their movement
  • 00:13:15
    publicly distinct from the militant
  • 00:13:16
    separatists their youth Wing became a
  • 00:13:18
    fertile recruiting ground for them a TF
  • 00:13:21
    would hold a convention in 1976 where it
  • 00:13:24
    officially adopted secession as part of
  • 00:13:26
    its long-term political goal claiming
  • 00:13:28
    the territory stories of the northern
  • 00:13:29
    and Eastern provinces as the Tamil
  • 00:13:32
    Nation or ilam and they would utilize
  • 00:13:35
    the non-aligned conference in August
  • 00:13:36
    1976 held in Columbo to promote their
  • 00:13:39
    cause to the world and bring attention
  • 00:13:41
    to the repressive nature of the Sri
  • 00:13:43
    Lankan government in 1976 two
  • 00:13:46
    organizations were formed the taml new
  • 00:13:48
    Tigers under the leadership of chedy
  • 00:13:49
    tanal Singham was an organization that
  • 00:13:52
    sought to politically organized Tamil
  • 00:13:53
    youths but they were ultimately a front
  • 00:13:55
    group for The Liberation Tigers of Tamil
  • 00:13:57
    ilam or tte which was led by vop
  • 00:14:02
    prakaran they were inspired by the
  • 00:14:04
    various Independence and revolutionary
  • 00:14:06
    movements of the 60s and70s taking
  • 00:14:08
    examples such as the 1971 war of
  • 00:14:10
    independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan
  • 00:14:13
    the ultimate goal of the ltte was the
  • 00:14:15
    creation of a panel State until their
  • 00:14:18
    Bitter End they would refuse any offer
  • 00:14:20
    of peace short of that sria has a kind
  • 00:14:24
    of a weird history of continuing to hold
  • 00:14:26
    elections even when the country is in a
  • 00:14:28
    state of war or emergency and with all
  • 00:14:31
    those measures from the jvp Revolt still
  • 00:14:33
    in place they held another election in
  • 00:14:35
    1977 which many International observers
  • 00:14:38
    describe as the last legitimate election
  • 00:14:40
    and in this election the opposition
  • 00:14:42
    United National Party defeated the Sri
  • 00:14:44
    Lanka Freedom Party making Junius
  • 00:14:46
    Richard Gardine the next prime minister
  • 00:14:49
    but this election like most would be
  • 00:14:51
    followed by riots which saw Tamal homes
  • 00:14:53
    and businesses in the South and capital
  • 00:14:55
    burned and looted by Ces with police
  • 00:14:58
    unable or unwilling to protect them but
  • 00:15:00
    this time the tamel began to ethnically
  • 00:15:03
    cleanse as well driving caliz out of the
  • 00:15:05
    jafna peninsula the UNP would call for
  • 00:15:08
    constitutional reforms in order to both
  • 00:15:10
    address minority rights as well as undo
  • 00:15:12
    the Socialist policies of the slfp
  • 00:15:14
    government who had lost all but eight
  • 00:15:16
    seats in the 168 seat Parliament ja
  • 00:15:19
    wardine following a trend around the
  • 00:15:20
    world at the time began implementing
  • 00:15:22
    neoliberal economic reforms in order to
  • 00:15:25
    attract foreign investment by
  • 00:15:26
    dismantling the welfare state
  • 00:15:28
    privatizing industry and encouraging the
  • 00:15:30
    production of export oriented Goods
  • 00:15:32
    exports were also propped up by a
  • 00:15:34
    devaluation of the Sri Lankan rupee
  • 00:15:36
    making their goods relatively cheaper on
  • 00:15:38
    the international market which also
  • 00:15:40
    caused inflation domestically
  • 00:15:42
    additionally protectionist policies were
  • 00:15:44
    also lifted allowing the cheaper import
  • 00:15:46
    of goods which most local producers
  • 00:15:48
    couldn't compete with the ones who
  • 00:15:49
    benefited most from the neoliberal
  • 00:15:51
    policies were businessmen who had
  • 00:15:52
    contacts with an access to foreign
  • 00:15:54
    Capital which meant tamls with family
  • 00:15:56
    ties to India disproportionately benefit
  • 00:15:59
    FedEd thus stirring further animosity
  • 00:16:01
    amongst the Cales the UNP would also
  • 00:16:03
    replace the 1972 Constitution with a new
  • 00:16:05
    one in 1978 creating a semi-presidential
  • 00:16:08
    system modeled on the French fifth
  • 00:16:10
    Republic with greater power centralized
  • 00:16:12
    in a presidency which would be assumed
  • 00:16:14
    by the Prime Minister Gardine the
  • 00:16:16
    Constitution had more protections for
  • 00:16:18
    minorities but it kept Buddhism as the
  • 00:16:20
    nation's first religion while s was kept
  • 00:16:23
    the official language with tamill made a
  • 00:16:26
    national language the new Parliament
  • 00:16:29
    also gave more representation to ethnic
  • 00:16:31
    minority parties doing so in such a way
  • 00:16:34
    that the major cise parties could not
  • 00:16:37
    form a governing Coalition unless they
  • 00:16:39
    either worked together or allied with
  • 00:16:41
    minority parties but these changes
  • 00:16:43
    didn't dissuade the Tamil Tigers whose
  • 00:16:46
    campaign of assassinations and bank
  • 00:16:47
    robberies led to the passage of the
  • 00:16:49
    prevention of terrorism act in 1979
  • 00:16:52
    modeled after the same named law in the
  • 00:16:53
    United Kingdom in response to the
  • 00:16:55
    increased violence from the Irish
  • 00:16:57
    Republican Army this was also followed
  • 00:16:59
    by a new state of emergency in the
  • 00:17:01
    northern province which would allow
  • 00:17:02
    suspected criminals and terrorists to be
  • 00:17:04
    arrested and held without trial for 18
  • 00:17:07
    months by 1980 there were five major
  • 00:17:09
    militant Tamil separatist groups which
  • 00:17:11
    all engaged in assassinations bank
  • 00:17:13
    robberies and smuggling with the ltte
  • 00:17:16
    becoming the most prominent of them they
  • 00:17:18
    all stepped up their efforts in the
  • 00:17:19
    leadup to Local District elections in
  • 00:17:21
    1981 killing four C's policemen in jafna
  • 00:17:24
    which triggered a police-led retaliation
  • 00:17:26
    against taml civilians which resulted in
  • 00:17:29
    the burning down of the jafna public
  • 00:17:30
    library which TOS numerous historical
  • 00:17:32
    artifacts of the Sri Lankan tamell
  • 00:17:34
    Community violence against tamell
  • 00:17:36
    civilians would lead to electoral
  • 00:17:38
    victories for the TF who would continue
  • 00:17:40
    to covertly funnel money and arms to the
  • 00:17:42
    militants the first presidential
  • 00:17:44
    election under the new constitution was
  • 00:17:46
    scheduled for October of 1982 which G
  • 00:17:48
    wardine managed to win handedly 53 to 39
  • 00:17:52
    this election was notable for the
  • 00:17:53
    reemergence of the jvp which had been
  • 00:17:55
    outlawed by the slfp government in 1971
  • 00:17:58
    but but was Rel legalized by the UNP in
  • 00:18:00
    1977 under the perception that they were
  • 00:18:03
    too weak to be a threat under the
  • 00:18:05
    leadership of Rohana wiaa the jvp
  • 00:18:08
    entered electoral politics in 1982
  • 00:18:10
    coming in third in the presidential
  • 00:18:11
    election that year however fearing the
  • 00:18:14
    UNP might lose its parliamentary
  • 00:18:15
    majority in the 1983 election President
  • 00:18:18
    ja wardin called for a popular
  • 00:18:20
    referendum to extend the current
  • 00:18:21
    parliament's term of office by 6 years
  • 00:18:24
    making it last until 1989 the TF along
  • 00:18:28
    with the JV P protested this vote but
  • 00:18:30
    the UNP were largely supportive and the
  • 00:18:32
    final vote saw over 54% of the public
  • 00:18:35
    vote in favor the legitimacy of this
  • 00:18:37
    vote has been questioned due to numerous
  • 00:18:40
    irregularities and voting patterns the
  • 00:18:42
    government had jailed numerous political
  • 00:18:44
    opponents as well as shutting down
  • 00:18:45
    opposition newspapers and then using
  • 00:18:47
    State controlled media to spread
  • 00:18:49
    propaganda about fear of naite and Tamil
  • 00:18:52
    terrorism and in protest of the term
  • 00:18:55
    extension all of the tamble members of
  • 00:18:57
    parliament resigned in July of 1983 when
  • 00:19:00
    their original term was supposed to
  • 00:19:01
    expire that same month however is when
  • 00:19:03
    terrorism escalated into full-blown war
  • 00:19:07
    in mid July 1983 the Sri Lankan military
  • 00:19:09
    killed the military head of the ltte in
  • 00:19:12
    retaliation for this the ltte
  • 00:19:14
    orchestrated an ambush of an army Patrol
  • 00:19:16
    near jafna which killed 13 soldiers to
  • 00:19:19
    which the Army retaliated by killing 14
  • 00:19:21
    tamils in the northern Province but the
  • 00:19:24
    Army's retaliation was never reported on
  • 00:19:26
    state-run media fostered anti-l
  • 00:19:28
    animosity in the South which exploded
  • 00:19:30
    into riots during the funeral of the 13
  • 00:19:33
    soldiers and spread across the country
  • 00:19:35
    which became known as the black July
  • 00:19:37
    Massacre homes businesses and temples
  • 00:19:39
    were burned down forcing over 100,000
  • 00:19:42
    tamils to flee Columbo in the South with
  • 00:19:44
    anywhere between 200 and 2,000 killed
  • 00:19:47
    over 2 days and when the president
  • 00:19:49
    finally addressed the riots on TV 5 days
  • 00:19:51
    later he justified it calling it a
  • 00:19:53
    righteous indignation and promised to
  • 00:19:55
    make political advocacy for separatism
  • 00:19:57
    illegal Additionally the UMP blamed
  • 00:20:00
    anti- taml riots on naite agitation and
  • 00:20:02
    would label the jvp as terrorist as well
  • 00:20:05
    thus Banning their party again along
  • 00:20:07
    with the TF the taml fled the South as
  • 00:20:10
    refugees with many moving to camps in
  • 00:20:12
    the north and some choosing to seek
  • 00:20:14
    asylum in India who would shortly find
  • 00:20:16
    themselves embroiled in this conflict
  • 00:20:18
    India and Sri Lanka have a complicated
  • 00:20:21
    relationship both are countries with
  • 00:20:23
    ethnic and religious divides the Cales
  • 00:20:25
    fear being annexed and absorbed into
  • 00:20:27
    India losing their distin of Buddhist
  • 00:20:29
    culture and identity while India fears
  • 00:20:31
    Sri Lanka becoming a base for hostile
  • 00:20:33
    foreign powers only 18 mil off its Shore
  • 00:20:35
    when Sri Lanka gained independence in
  • 00:20:37
    1948 India supported the continued
  • 00:20:39
    British military presence on the island
  • 00:20:41
    seeing its and the British interest as
  • 00:20:43
    aligned but their view of Shri Lankan
  • 00:20:45
    foreign policy changed over the
  • 00:20:46
    following decades India felt foreign
  • 00:20:48
    powers encroaching on its sphere of
  • 00:20:50
    interest when the US began increasing
  • 00:20:51
    its influence in Pakistan in the mid-50s
  • 00:20:54
    while Sri Lanka was allowing French
  • 00:20:56
    planes to refuel on their way to conduct
  • 00:20:58
    operations in Vietnam Sri Lanka even
  • 00:21:00
    signed a maritime treaty with China in
  • 00:21:02
    1963 only a year after the first Sino
  • 00:21:05
    Indian border war and in 1971 Sri Lanka
  • 00:21:08
    allowed Pakistani Plains to refuel on
  • 00:21:10
    their way to Bangladesh during the
  • 00:21:11
    latter's war of independence which India
  • 00:21:13
    supported and during the jvp Revolt that
  • 00:21:16
    same year they saw aid from the UK the
  • 00:21:18
    US USSR and Pakistan the US relationship
  • 00:21:22
    with both China and Pakistan grew in the
  • 00:21:24
    1970s along with the influx of Western
  • 00:21:26
    Capital into Sri Lanka after opening
  • 00:21:28
    their economy under G ardin and in the
  • 00:21:30
    early 80s India feared weapons the
  • 00:21:32
    Americans were giving to the mucha hadin
  • 00:21:34
    Via Pakistan might find their way to
  • 00:21:36
    Punjabi separatists even the personal
  • 00:21:38
    friendship of Indira gandi and siravo
  • 00:21:41
    couldn't overcome the real politique
  • 00:21:43
    concerns of postcolonial India the
  • 00:21:45
    relations between siravo's slfp and the
  • 00:21:48
    UNP opposition were tense just as the
  • 00:21:50
    relationship between Indira Gandhi's
  • 00:21:52
    Indian National Congress was with the
  • 00:21:54
    janata party both the UNP and janata
  • 00:21:56
    party would win their country's
  • 00:21:57
    respective parli AR elections in 1977
  • 00:22:00
    and in mutual animosity towards their
  • 00:22:02
    predecessors the governments of prime
  • 00:22:04
    ministers job bardine and maraji Desai
  • 00:22:07
    agreed to stay out of each other's
  • 00:22:08
    internal affairs with Indian president
  • 00:22:11
    Sanji varedi assuring ja wardin that
  • 00:22:13
    indira's political career was over but
  • 00:22:15
    to everyone's shock she would return to
  • 00:22:17
    power in 1980 with a landslide victory
  • 00:22:20
    over the janata party the conflict
  • 00:22:22
    between the Sines and tamils had become
  • 00:22:23
    a major political issue in the Indian
  • 00:22:25
    states of Tamal Nadu which by the name
  • 00:22:27
    you can probably tell is populated with
  • 00:22:29
    people of the same cultural or
  • 00:22:31
    linguistic group as the tamel of Sri
  • 00:22:33
    Lanka in the early years of Independence
  • 00:22:35
    taminadu had expressed interest in
  • 00:22:37
    secession from India which was legal
  • 00:22:39
    until 1963 when a constitutional
  • 00:22:41
    amendment finally banned it after this
  • 00:22:43
    the Tamil nationalist parties in Tamil
  • 00:22:45
    Nadu competed to see who could be more
  • 00:22:47
    supportive of the Tamil cause in Sri
  • 00:22:48
    Lanka which became more prominent the
  • 00:22:50
    worst relations between tamils and sin's
  • 00:22:53
    got tamilnadu politicians had lobbied
  • 00:22:55
    and's government back in the 70s to
  • 00:22:57
    intervene on the shanka in Tam's behalf
  • 00:22:59
    but she had initially resisted India's
  • 00:23:01
    involvement in Sri Lanka in my
  • 00:23:03
    assessment was unavoidable not only due
  • 00:23:05
    to the possible ramifications of the
  • 00:23:07
    Shri Lankan government's oppressive and
  • 00:23:09
    discriminating policies against its
  • 00:23:10
    Tamil citizens but also in terms of
  • 00:23:12
    India's national concerns due to the Sri
  • 00:23:14
    Lankan government's evolving security
  • 00:23:16
    connections with the us Pakistan and
  • 00:23:18
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    sponsoring this video but for now let's
  • 00:24:50
    get back to the history TL militant
  • 00:24:52
    groups had been receiving training in
  • 00:24:54
    India since the late '70s which Indian
  • 00:24:56
    intelligence was aware of since at least
  • 00:24:57
    19 78 though these early training camps
  • 00:25:00
    were mostly run and organized by Tamil
  • 00:25:02
    criminal syndicates rather than the
  • 00:25:04
    Indian or Tamil Nadu governments this
  • 00:25:06
    intelligence also reported that these
  • 00:25:07
    groups had received training from the
  • 00:25:09
    Palestine Liberation Organization in
  • 00:25:11
    Lebanon andir Gandhi wanting to secure
  • 00:25:13
    Tamil Nadu support for the Indian
  • 00:25:15
    National Congress as well as suppress
  • 00:25:17
    future calls for secession asked the
  • 00:25:19
    chief minister of Tamil Nadu marur
  • 00:25:21
    gopalan R chandran to begin covertly
  • 00:25:24
    supporting the Tamil Insurgency setting
  • 00:25:26
    up more training camps and shipping arms
  • 00:25:28
    across the pul straight and when asked
  • 00:25:30
    about them the Indian government claimed
  • 00:25:32
    that they were refugee camps but in 1983
  • 00:25:35
    after the anti-aml pgms andira would
  • 00:25:38
    order Indian intelligence to begin
  • 00:25:39
    aiding the LTT and other taml
  • 00:25:41
    separatists directly president Gardine
  • 00:25:44
    would reach out to the US UK China
  • 00:25:46
    Pakistan and Malaysia for Aid
  • 00:25:48
    deliberately avoiding India due to
  • 00:25:50
    suspicions that they were aiding the
  • 00:25:52
    Tigers the US and UK refused to give Aid
  • 00:25:54
    directly to the Sher Lankan military but
  • 00:25:56
    the US would ask Israel's mad and Chinet
  • 00:25:59
    to Aid their intelligence operations
  • 00:26:01
    while the UK would direct Sri Lanka to a
  • 00:26:03
    private military contractor kin mini
  • 00:26:05
    Services US Secretary of Defense Casper
  • 00:26:08
    Weinberger would visit Columbo in
  • 00:26:10
    October 1983 with President Reagan
  • 00:26:12
    sending special Emissary General Vernon
  • 00:26:14
    Walters in November seeking concessions
  • 00:26:16
    for ship refueling as well as permission
  • 00:26:18
    for Voice of America to operate in Sri
  • 00:26:20
    Lanka Pakistan initially denied any
  • 00:26:23
    involvement in providing arms though
  • 00:26:24
    it's suspected that they smuggled
  • 00:26:26
    weapons amongst the humanitarian Aid
  • 00:26:27
    they delivered with General Muhammad Z
  • 00:26:30
    promising whatever Aid he could provide
  • 00:26:32
    Malaysia and South Africa would also
  • 00:26:34
    provide arms via private dealers andira
  • 00:26:37
    Gandhi sent a warning to the
  • 00:26:38
    International Community to stay out of
  • 00:26:40
    Sri Lanka's Internal Affairs while
  • 00:26:42
    sending her foreign minister n to meet
  • 00:26:45
    with President Jardin who would allow
  • 00:26:47
    India to deliver humanitarian Aid to
  • 00:26:49
    Tamil refugee camps as well as allowing
  • 00:26:52
    India to transport Tamil refugees from
  • 00:26:54
    Columbo to jafna the S distrusted Indian
  • 00:26:57
    involvement in the conflict while the
  • 00:26:58
    tamel would gradually learn that India
  • 00:27:00
    was not interested in supporting their
  • 00:27:02
    goal of Independence India's actions are
  • 00:27:04
    part of the Indira Doctrine in which
  • 00:27:07
    India would not tolerate external actors
  • 00:27:09
    intervening in South Asian Affairs and
  • 00:27:11
    thus choose to arm the ltte against the
  • 00:27:14
    Sur Lankan government in hopes of
  • 00:27:15
    getting them to back away from the US
  • 00:27:17
    and Pakistan but India's policy toward
  • 00:27:19
    Sri Lanka would change after indira's
  • 00:27:21
    son Rajiv Gandhi took power after his
  • 00:27:23
    mother was assassinated in October of
  • 00:27:25
    1984 by her seek bodyguard whereas
  • 00:27:29
    andira was about to pressure ja wardin
  • 00:27:31
    to change his policies toward the tamls
  • 00:27:33
    Raji would try to act as a neutral
  • 00:27:35
    Arbiter attempting to convince the taml
  • 00:27:37
    separatist to moderate and accept
  • 00:27:39
    political Devolution rather than
  • 00:27:41
    secession reie agreed to have the Indian
  • 00:27:43
    Navy police the PO streets to stop armed
  • 00:27:46
    shipments to the taml militants fighting
  • 00:27:48
    continued on the ground while India made
  • 00:27:50
    numerous peace proposals which one side
  • 00:27:52
    the other would reject with ltte leader
  • 00:27:55
    prakaran refusing to endorse any
  • 00:27:57
    solution that doesn't result in an
  • 00:27:59
    independent Tamil state by the winter of
  • 00:28:01
    1987 Rajiv Gandhi had grown tired of the
  • 00:28:04
    prolonged negotiating process and had
  • 00:28:06
    begun to formulate a plan for direct
  • 00:28:10
    military intervention by 1986 the ltte
  • 00:28:13
    had asserted itself as the main
  • 00:28:15
    separatist group to deal with and had
  • 00:28:17
    increased its operations in the South
  • 00:28:19
    targeting civilians in the South with
  • 00:28:21
    bombs landmines and even suicide bombers
  • 00:28:23
    a tactic picked up from militants in
  • 00:28:25
    Lebanon in May of 1987 the lcan military
  • 00:28:28
    launched operation Madam marachi or
  • 00:28:31
    operation Liberation which sought to
  • 00:28:34
    eradicate the taml Tigers from the jna
  • 00:28:36
    peninsula with some of the most brutal
  • 00:28:38
    fighting of the war thus far the ltte
  • 00:28:41
    took advantage of the devastation for
  • 00:28:43
    propaganda purposes broadcasting the
  • 00:28:45
    horrors around the world due to the Sri
  • 00:28:47
    Lankan military Banning the media from
  • 00:28:48
    covering the campaign the ltte's version
  • 00:28:51
    of events went uncontested with refugees
  • 00:28:53
    arriving in India providing eyewitness
  • 00:28:55
    testimony of deliberate targeting of
  • 00:28:57
    civilians while official reports from
  • 00:28:58
    the Sri Lankan military asserted that
  • 00:29:00
    the ltte had deeply embedded itself
  • 00:29:03
    amongst the civilian population of jafna
  • 00:29:05
    Raji threatened intervention after
  • 00:29:07
    Indian ships delivering Aid was turned
  • 00:29:09
    back by the Sri Lankan Navy and on June
  • 00:29:11
    4th 1987 the Indian Air Force dropped 22
  • 00:29:14
    tons of relief supplies to the peninsula
  • 00:29:16
    after some public condemnations by
  • 00:29:18
    Regional Powers Sri Lanka would agree to
  • 00:29:20
    negotiate India agreed to return all
  • 00:29:23
    Tamil militants in the country back to
  • 00:29:25
    Sri Lanka with ja wardine agreeing to
  • 00:29:27
    merge the Northern and Eastern provinces
  • 00:29:29
    together as the tamils had demanded in
  • 00:29:31
    previous negotiations Raji would meet
  • 00:29:33
    with prakaran on July 24th in New Delhi
  • 00:29:36
    where he pressured him to accept the New
  • 00:29:38
    Deal which would be signed by India and
  • 00:29:40
    Sri Lanka on July 29th with most of the
  • 00:29:42
    Tamil militants agreeing to the plan the
  • 00:29:45
    court called for a referendum on the
  • 00:29:47
    provincial merger to be held in 1988 for
  • 00:29:49
    both tamill and English to be made
  • 00:29:51
    official languages alongside ciz the
  • 00:29:53
    creation of provincial councils with
  • 00:29:55
    devolved Powers a disarming of the
  • 00:29:57
    militants with with the military
  • 00:29:58
    prohibited from leaving their bases the
  • 00:30:00
    lifting of the state of emergency and a
  • 00:30:03
    general amnesty additionally Sri Lanka
  • 00:30:05
    agreed to restrict its cooperation with
  • 00:30:07
    foreign powers while India agreed to
  • 00:30:09
    send a peacekeeping force to stand
  • 00:30:10
    between the Sri Lankan military and the
  • 00:30:12
    tamell civilians the Accords signed
  • 00:30:15
    without approval from Parliament were
  • 00:30:17
    very unpopular with the CES with several
  • 00:30:19
    ministers resigning in protest and riots
  • 00:30:22
    breaking out across the country the jvp
  • 00:30:24
    which had been outlawed after the 1983
  • 00:30:26
    riots became increasing ly nationalistic
  • 00:30:29
    and began to rearm themselves foreign
  • 00:30:31
    observers along with the TF and taml
  • 00:30:34
    civilians were supporters of the Accords
  • 00:30:36
    while Muslims opposed them now
  • 00:30:38
    supporting their own separatism in the
  • 00:30:39
    form of a separate Province the ltte and
  • 00:30:43
    prakaran initially supported the Accords
  • 00:30:46
    and promised to disarm however the ltte
  • 00:30:49
    would turn on the Accords and India when
  • 00:30:51
    they realized regim was only trying to
  • 00:30:53
    assuage ethnic separatism within India
  • 00:30:55
    itself and began to expand its own arms
  • 00:30:57
    procur Network apart from India relying
  • 00:31:00
    heavily on the Tamil diaspora Indian
  • 00:31:02
    troops began to arrive on July 30th 1987
  • 00:31:06
    with 7,000 troops initially but within 2
  • 00:31:08
    years their mission would drastically
  • 00:31:10
    expand with a troop count of 100,000 and
  • 00:31:14
    what became known as India's Vietnam the
  • 00:31:16
    Sri Lankan military were supposed to be
  • 00:31:18
    the ones disarming the Tamil militants
  • 00:31:20
    but shortly after Indian troops began
  • 00:31:22
    arriving in the north the jvp began
  • 00:31:24
    another Revolt in the South leading the
  • 00:31:26
    Sri Lankan military to redeploy its
  • 00:31:28
    forces leaving the Indian peacekeeping
  • 00:31:30
    forces to disarm the militants most of
  • 00:31:33
    the militant groups cooperated but the
  • 00:31:34
    ltte turned on the Indians and in
  • 00:31:37
    October of 1987 began attacking Indian
  • 00:31:39
    troops to which the Indian military
  • 00:31:41
    began its own campaign to eradicate the
  • 00:31:43
    ltte operation pan by this time the
  • 00:31:47
    Indian government had ceased aiding the
  • 00:31:48
    Tamil militants but the state of
  • 00:31:50
    taminadu hadn't which unintentionally
  • 00:31:52
    turned the Sri Lankan Civil War into a
  • 00:31:54
    proxy war between the state of taminadu
  • 00:31:56
    and the IND Indian federal government by
  • 00:31:59
    the end of 1987 the Indian forces had
  • 00:32:02
    managed to remove the ltte from the jna
  • 00:32:06
    peninsula however in the process they
  • 00:32:08
    ended up displacing 75% of the
  • 00:32:10
    population living there as well as there
  • 00:32:12
    being widly uh reported accounts of
  • 00:32:16
    sexual assault torture shooting suspects
  • 00:32:19
    on site as well as reprisal killings
  • 00:32:22
    India's conduct allowed the ltte to
  • 00:32:24
    portray themselves as the sole
  • 00:32:25
    legitimate representative and protector
  • 00:32:27
    of the tamls and escalated their war
  • 00:32:29
    against the tamel separatist factions
  • 00:32:31
    especially those recruited by the
  • 00:32:33
    Indians and Sri Lankan government to
  • 00:32:35
    enact reprisal attacks the escalation of
  • 00:32:37
    fighting in the north was paralleled in
  • 00:32:39
    the South with the Sri Lankan military
  • 00:32:41
    turning its focus on the jvp who
  • 00:32:43
    recruited many former soldiers who had
  • 00:32:45
    either deserted the army or had been
  • 00:32:47
    discharged for excessive violence the
  • 00:32:49
    jvp exploited anti-indian sentiment to
  • 00:32:51
    recruit nationalists and Elise who would
  • 00:32:53
    then Target politicians police and other
  • 00:32:55
    officials the jvp claimed were compl it
  • 00:32:58
    with the foreign occupation of Shri
  • 00:32:59
    Lankan territory in addition to their
  • 00:33:01
    violence they also orchestrated strikes
  • 00:33:03
    and boycotts especially against Indian
  • 00:33:05
    goods and businesses which led to food
  • 00:33:08
    shortages thus exacerbating the
  • 00:33:10
    inflation problem that was already there
  • 00:33:12
    and they would threaten violence against
  • 00:33:13
    any senes who didn't participate in
  • 00:33:16
    their strikes and boycotts president
  • 00:33:18
    Jadin invited the jvp to peace talks in
  • 00:33:20
    1988 but was rejected the Sri Lankan
  • 00:33:23
    military was brutal in their attempts to
  • 00:33:25
    suppress the jvp with civilian susp Ed
  • 00:33:28
    of membership or collaboration being
  • 00:33:30
    subject to random abduction torture and
  • 00:33:32
    execution but these atrocities tended to
  • 00:33:34
    go under reported by Foreign NOS who
  • 00:33:36
    were more focused on the interethnic
  • 00:33:38
    conflict in the north this phase of the
  • 00:33:40
    Civil War would be brought to an end by
  • 00:33:42
    a pair of Elections Sri Lanka had a
  • 00:33:44
    presidential election in December 1988
  • 00:33:47
    in which most of the north and east
  • 00:33:49
    provinces did not participate the um's
  • 00:33:51
    candidate R sing primoda would defeat
  • 00:33:54
    former prime minister siravo 50 to 45 in
  • 00:33:58
    addition to the ltte ordering tamils in
  • 00:34:00
    the north to stay away from the polls
  • 00:34:02
    the jvp also ordered cise to stay away
  • 00:34:05
    from the polls in the South causing many
  • 00:34:07
    to question the legitimacy of the
  • 00:34:08
    results primoda tried to make peace with
  • 00:34:11
    the jvp by releasing prisoners and
  • 00:34:13
    lifting states of emergency but the jvp
  • 00:34:15
    continued their assassination campaign
  • 00:34:17
    escalating their violence up to the
  • 00:34:19
    Parliamentary elections in 1989 the
  • 00:34:21
    final straw came in August of 1989 when
  • 00:34:24
    the jvp began to threaten to start start
  • 00:34:27
    killing members of military members if
  • 00:34:30
    they didn't resign or desert their posts
  • 00:34:33
    and so the military began to orchestrate
  • 00:34:36
    a counter Campaign Of Terror recruiting
  • 00:34:38
    militias to go after the family members
  • 00:34:40
    of the jvp the jvp were finally defeated
  • 00:34:43
    in November that year with the final
  • 00:34:46
    death count being somewhere between 40
  • 00:34:48
    and 60,000 by that time the ltte had
  • 00:34:51
    been driven out of the jafna peninsula
  • 00:34:54
    while its stronghold in Von was
  • 00:34:55
    surrounded by Indian forces but in April
  • 00:34:58
    of 1989 with the war against the jvp
  • 00:35:01
    looking bad the president agrees to a
  • 00:35:03
    ceasefire with the ltte and demands the
  • 00:35:05
    withdrawal of Indian forces in July
  • 00:35:08
    which Rajiv Gandhi refused to do the
  • 00:35:10
    shanan government started covertly
  • 00:35:12
    arming the ltte in their fight against
  • 00:35:15
    the Indian back tamls and releasing ltte
  • 00:35:18
    prisoners who had been responsible for
  • 00:35:20
    suicide attacks the war had become
  • 00:35:22
    unpopular in India which led to Rajiv
  • 00:35:24
    Gandhi in the Indian National Congress
  • 00:35:26
    losing parliamentary elections in
  • 00:35:27
    November 1989 to vishan Patra Singh and
  • 00:35:31
    the janata Dalal party who promised to
  • 00:35:33
    pull troops out of Sri Lanka by March
  • 00:35:35
    1990 by the date of withdrawal over,
  • 00:35:37
    1500 Indian soldiers had been killed
  • 00:35:40
    with over 2500 Tamil tigers with
  • 00:35:42
    approximately 60,000 civilians dead as
  • 00:35:44
    well but as the Indians withdrew their
  • 00:35:47
    abandoned bases and military equipment
  • 00:35:48
    would be taken by the ltte the Tigers
  • 00:35:51
    had grown to hate India and Rajiv Gandhi
  • 00:35:53
    so much that in 1991 one of their
  • 00:35:56
    suicide bombers would kill Rajiv and
  • 00:35:57
    revenge for the occupation the use of
  • 00:36:00
    suicide bombers would become more and
  • 00:36:01
    more common throughout the late 80s and
  • 00:36:03
    early 90s and rajie Gandhi wouldn't be
  • 00:36:05
    the only head of state they would Target
  • 00:36:07
    with it the ceasefire with the
  • 00:36:09
    government broke down in the summer of
  • 00:36:10
    1990 with the Tigers resuming their
  • 00:36:12
    attacks on Sri Lankan soldiers and
  • 00:36:14
    police they continued killing tamls who
  • 00:36:16
    openly criticized them and ethnically
  • 00:36:18
    cleansed celes and Muslims from villages
  • 00:36:20
    in the north and east and they began to
  • 00:36:22
    lose international support with the
  • 00:36:24
    assassination of Rajiv Gandhi causing
  • 00:36:26
    even the state of Tam to cease
  • 00:36:28
    supporting the ltte who had to acquire
  • 00:36:31
    arms from Burma and Thailand instead
  • 00:36:33
    along with establishing ties with seek
  • 00:36:35
    separatists the assassinated government
  • 00:36:37
    ministers and Generals with suicide car
  • 00:36:39
    bombs all the while relying on the
  • 00:36:41
    diaspora to whitewash their actions
  • 00:36:44
    surprisingly though the risal against
  • 00:36:46
    tamls in the South drastically fell
  • 00:36:48
    after 1990 the ltte would assassinate
  • 00:36:51
    president premadasa in May 1993 with
  • 00:36:53
    another suicide car bombing despite this
  • 00:36:56
    the slfp would be began campaigning on
  • 00:36:58
    ending the Civil War by addressing
  • 00:37:00
    minority grievances leading chandria
  • 00:37:03
    Kumar Tunga the daughter of former prime
  • 00:37:05
    minister siravo to be elected prime
  • 00:37:07
    minister after the 1994 parliamentary
  • 00:37:09
    elections who would then go on to win
  • 00:37:11
    the presidential election that November
  • 00:37:13
    she was able to secure another ceasefire
  • 00:37:15
    in January 1995 after which foreign
  • 00:37:17
    monitors from Norway Canada and the
  • 00:37:19
    Netherlands were brought in and
  • 00:37:21
    developed a plan for Devolution which
  • 00:37:23
    had been drafted by a TF Member of
  • 00:37:26
    Parliament foreign governments and NGO
  • 00:37:28
    supported the plan but the local
  • 00:37:30
    Buddhist and Muslim populations were not
  • 00:37:33
    supportive due to it being drafted by
  • 00:37:36
    Christians whom they distrusted due to
  • 00:37:38
    their tendency to side with the tamls
  • 00:37:41
    despite the efforts the ceasefire had
  • 00:37:43
    broken down by April due to it not
  • 00:37:45
    meeting the ltte's primary demand for an
  • 00:37:47
    independent state the ltte expanded
  • 00:37:50
    their way back into the South with
  • 00:37:52
    Terror attacks in Columbo which began to
  • 00:37:54
    reinit hatred toward the tamils amongst
  • 00:37:57
    the C
  • 00:37:58
    with the reprisal attacks pushing the
  • 00:37:59
    tamils further into the arms of the
  • 00:38:01
    Tigers the Sri Lankan military renewed
  • 00:38:03
    its campaign in the north receiving
  • 00:38:05
    International condemnation for its
  • 00:38:06
    indiscriminate bombing of Civilian
  • 00:38:08
    tamils the Tigers used the chaos of War
  • 00:38:11
    to continue ethnically cleansing their
  • 00:38:12
    territory of Cales and Muslims the
  • 00:38:15
    Tigers attacked an important Buddhist
  • 00:38:17
    site known as the Temple of the tooth in
  • 00:38:19
    January 1998 which incited retaliatory
  • 00:38:21
    attacks against tamell homes and temples
  • 00:38:24
    he also attempted to kill the president
  • 00:38:25
    in December 1999 with another suicide
  • 00:38:28
    bomber but she survived the attacked
  • 00:38:29
    losing an eye the president would reach
  • 00:38:31
    out to Norway hoping they could
  • 00:38:33
    facilitate another peace deal as they
  • 00:38:35
    had between the Israelis and the PLO in
  • 00:38:37
    1993 Norway was able to achieve a new
  • 00:38:39
    ceasefire in 2002 but by this point the
  • 00:38:42
    international situation had changed
  • 00:38:44
    drastically throughout the 9s both the
  • 00:38:46
    US and UK became increasingly intolerant
  • 00:38:48
    of terrorism with the US labeling the
  • 00:38:50
    ltte as a terrorist group in 1997 and
  • 00:38:54
    after the September 11th Terror attacks
  • 00:38:56
    by Al-Qaeda the anti-terrorism dial went
  • 00:38:58
    to 11 with the UK adding the ltte to its
  • 00:39:01
    list of terrorist groups and both
  • 00:39:03
    freezing the assets of 25 front groups
  • 00:39:06
    despite this Norway pressured the Sri
  • 00:39:08
    Lankan government to continue
  • 00:39:09
    negotiating with the increasingly
  • 00:39:11
    isolated militant group The ceasefire
  • 00:39:13
    led to the reopening of roads and
  • 00:39:15
    flights between the northern and
  • 00:39:16
    southern parts of the country but the
  • 00:39:18
    talks would fall apart in March of 2003
  • 00:39:20
    the ltte had been denied admittance to
  • 00:39:23
    an International Conference on aid for
  • 00:39:25
    Sri Lanka held in Washington d C which
  • 00:39:28
    they used as an excuse to break off
  • 00:39:30
    negotiations 2005 would see another
  • 00:39:32
    presidential election bringing slfp
  • 00:39:34
    leader mahinda Raja poxa to power who
  • 00:39:37
    had built an electoral Coalition
  • 00:39:39
    consisting of Hardcore CES nationalists
  • 00:39:41
    who were uninterested in negotiating
  • 00:39:43
    with an active Rebel group under his
  • 00:39:45
    rule the military began a rearmament
  • 00:39:47
    program preparing to renew war with the
  • 00:39:50
    ltte who gave them an excuse in 2006
  • 00:39:53
    when they resumed their assassination
  • 00:39:55
    campaign prior to this renewed campaign
  • 00:39:57
    the Tigers had been substantially
  • 00:39:59
    weakened in the Eastern Province when
  • 00:40:00
    one of prakaran lieutenants defected
  • 00:40:02
    with 4,000 followers additionally
  • 00:40:05
    president Raja pxa had redirected Sri
  • 00:40:07
    Lankan foreign policy away from the west
  • 00:40:09
    and towards China Russia and the Middle
  • 00:40:11
    East who were less bothered by
  • 00:40:13
    humanitarian concerns the Sri Lanka
  • 00:40:15
    military launched an offensive into the
  • 00:40:17
    Eastern province in 2007 driving the
  • 00:40:19
    Tigers out by 2008 Who continued their
  • 00:40:21
    defensive War into 2009 they made a Last
  • 00:40:24
    Stand in the jna peninsula deeply
  • 00:40:26
    embedding themselves among civilians so
  • 00:40:28
    that every attack on them could be
  • 00:40:30
    labeled as an indiscriminate attack on
  • 00:40:32
    civilians International condemnation of
  • 00:40:34
    Sri Lanka's tactics were blunted by the
  • 00:40:36
    efforts of India who used their position
  • 00:40:38
    on the UN Security Council to vote Down
  • 00:40:40
    official condemnations and
  • 00:40:41
    investigations alongside Russia and
  • 00:40:43
    China in fact India's covert re-entry
  • 00:40:46
    into the conflict was mostly in response
  • 00:40:48
    to increased Chinese involvement whose
  • 00:40:50
    Aid to Sri Lanka had grown from the low
  • 00:40:52
    millions in 2005 to $1 billion in 2008
  • 00:40:56
    prakaran was killed by a rocket attack
  • 00:40:58
    on May 18th 2009 the remnants of The
  • 00:41:01
    Liberation Tigers of taml ilam quickly
  • 00:41:04
    fell apart and today are considered
  • 00:41:06
    defunct the exact casualty count is
  • 00:41:08
    unknown but the best estimates lay
  • 00:41:11
    somewhere between 180 and 255,000
  • 00:41:14
    civilians and combatants thanks again to
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    Aura for sponsoring this video click the
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Tag
  • Sri Lanka
  • Civil War
  • Tamil
  • Sinhalese
  • LTTE
  • Ethnic Conflict
  • British Colonialism
  • India
  • Human Rights
  • Reconciliation