Conflict in Sri Lanka |
|
|
|
|
Sri Lanka, a tropical island off the south coast of India, has been renowned for centuries for its beauty and natural resources and for its sacred Buddhist sites. But in recent years it has achieved infamy for its long-running civil war. Although Buddhism is generally associated with a stance of nonviolence, in the course of this war a group of Buddhist monks has urged the government to take on an increasingly militant response to a separatist movement.
The Tamil minority, living primarily in the north and east regions of the island, sought to create a separate Tamil nation known as Tamil Eelam, and a group known as Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE) claimed credit for suicide bombings and assassinations. Riots against the Tamils led to death and dislocation for many of the Tamil minority. The government has waged war in the separatist regions, and various attempts to broker peace have ultimately failed.
Around 70 percent of the Sri Lankan population is Sinhalese, who are primarily Buddhist and speak Sinhala. (The name Sinhalese translates as people of the lion.) Hindus, Muslims known as Moors, and Christians each hold six to seven percent of the population, and many speak Tamil. English was the official language when the country was part of the British Empire and remains a language in common for many purposes.
Sri Lanka is the home of an ancient form of Buddhism, dating back to around 250 BCE, which Sri Lankan monks later spread to other parts of Southeast Asia and Africa. It has six UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Sites, consisting of statuary, frescos, and city ruins that are remnants of Buddhist kingdoms throughout the country's history. These locations are considered sacred pilgrimage destinations by many Buddhists. The country has many Buddhist monasteries, and monks are highly venerated. Many Sinhalese consider Sri Lanka a land that they must preserve for Buddhism. Sinhalese nationalist extremists have argued that the primarily secular government should develop policies favoring the Sinhala language and culture over the minority cultures in the country.
One of the strongest advocates for increasingly militant actions against the Tamils has been an extreme nationalist Sinhalese party led by Buddhist monks. They have expressed their opposition in many ways that fall outside typical Buddhist practice of nonviolence: they opposed government peacemaking attempts with Tamil separatists, interrupted demonstrations by other Buddhist groups calling for a nonviolent paths to peace, objected to the government's cooperation with the LTTE to distribute aid after the devastating 2004 tsunami, and called on the government to increase its military actions to crush the Tamil rebellion.
Additional Resources
Two sources for basic statistics on Sri Lanka are the CIA World Factbook and the BBC Country Profile for Sri Lanka. The BBC timeline of key events in Sri Lanka is here.
UNESCO's World Heritage Sites are listed here.
Click below to download a podcast of the BBC World Service Radio's 23-minute documentary, Sri Lanka, The Endless Civil War, first broadcast September 19, 2008. The program provides an overview of the situation in Sri Lanka and explores the underlying tensions in the country. The BBC website is here.