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Sri Lanka (Lanka) is situated in the Indian Ocean near the Southern tip of India. An armed ethnic war has been raging there since the 1980s between the minority community of Tamils and the majority Sinhalas. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the main militant force facing the government, fighting for the cause of an independent Tamil Homeland ("EELAM"). Lanka's population is I8 million out of which 18% are Tamils (12.7% are Lankan Tamils and 5.5% are Tamils of Indian origin.)
This ethnic rift is mainly focused to the northern and eastern parts of the island nation. At least 20,000 people have died since the inception of this bloody war. Thousands are becoming homeless and are refugees in neighboring countries, mainly in India. The Head of the United Nations Refugee Agency has expressed grave concern over the plight of civilians caught in fighting between the Lankan troops and LTTE rebels.
Tamils were brought into Sri Lanka from southern India by the British during the nineteenth century in order to plant rubber and tea. They were treated at par with Sinhalas during the British period but after Lanka gained independence they gradually lost their rights. In 1948 Sinhalas were made the power in new nation. In 1956 Sinhalese was declared the official language of the nation. In 1958 anti-Tamil riots sparked that fuel the ethnic troubles that exist until today. The next important event to the chain was when, in 1972, Buddhism was declared as the national religion of Sri Lanka. The Tamil were against that. All such events led to the formation of a militant organization on May 5th, 1975, called LTTE. (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), with the target of a separate and independent Tamil state of Eelam. On May 14th, 1976 the Eelam was demanded openly and since 1983 the armed insurgency has been going on. It is believed that LTTE was propped up by India in the early years, by then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramchandran and then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. There is evidence that Prime Minister Gandhi looked the other way as Tamil resistance fighters openly trained in South India.
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LTTE is headed by V.Prabharakan, a man on the move and known to be a tough man with a soft-spoken tongue and a patient listener. He has a single mission of Tamil Eelam.
LTTE is banned in many countries including the regional power, India. The USA has denounced its armed rebellion. Recently India had extended the ban for two more years on LTTE. India is having good relations with Sri Lanka and also helped her many times. This despite the fact that South India has the majority of Indian Tamils and a State of South India is named as Tamilnadu (home of Tamils). Indian Tamils and Lankan Tamils have a long history of relations --- sentimental, cultural, political, trade related, etc. It is rumored the much of the support for the Lankan Tamils comes directly from wealthy supporters in Tamilnadu. Thus events in Lanka always influence the life and polity of India.
ENTWINED HISTORIES
In India the Central Government is a combination of several regional parties including that of Tamil Nadus regional parties, and many of them supports the LTTE cause. Thus any action by the Indian Government concerning Sri Lanka can have an impact on the political career of an Indian leader, as Rajiv Gandhi learned tragically.Most recently, India seems to be swinging between its national politics and international diplomacy, especially in Southeast Asia. India has denied the appeal of Sri Lanka's President C. Kumaratunga to send Indian troops for an armed intervention. No doubt the present government remembers that during 1987 the government of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi send a huge [75,000 troops - Ed.] Indian peace keeping force (IPKF) to assist Sri Lanka against the Tamil insurgency. The Indian peacekeepers suffered a heavy causalities [Over 1,000 dead. - Ed.] in the alien nation. This debacle was called "the greatest Blunder" in the post-independent history of India by Gandhi's political opponents caused the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to lose office . LTTE, too, lost its supportive sentiments toward India because of that operation of IPKF against it. Rajiv Gandhi paid the price and was killed by a suicide bomb from a squad of LTTE during a public speech in Tamil Nadu. A negative sentiment rocked the India nation against the LTTE for their act of brutal killing of the Indian leader resulting a ban on LTTE and declaring it as a militant outfit.
The war today is fixed near the Jaffna peninsula. It is the aim of the LTTE to capture it. Jaffna is an important strategic & cultural location, a psychological barrier to cross and the proposed capital by LTTE. Nearly 40,000 Sri Lankan soldiers are trapped near Jaffna. A national emergency has been declared that included strict censorship of the media. The Elephant Pass, which is the gateway to Jaffna, has already fallen and bleeding Sri Lanka is signaling SOS to the World and particularly to India, Pakistan, Israel, and Norway.
The Indian government has promised humanitarian support but not the armed one, saying "We are watching the situation and will do what is necessary." this seems to be a diplomatic statement that can provide "wiggle room" forsome military assistance in the future. India can not be a mere spectator to the events going in the vicinity that are a threat for Southeast Asian stability. The USA and India are not in the favor to give a support for dividing a nation on ethnic lines and justifying it by the violent means. (Such a move would invalidate India's position on Kashmir.) Both the countries are facing the problem of terrorism and share similar views. But there can be no doubt that LTTE has attracted the world's attention towards their cause.