London Times – Henry Stanhope , Diplomatic Correspondent.
The violence engulfing Sri lanka is being described as the worst for a quarter of a century and could lead to fundamental changes in the country’s constitution.
The Tamils with their own religion and language represent a smal minority of 12.5 persent out of the population of some 15 milion ruled by the overwhelming Sinhalese majority.
Despite their minority status the tamils for years held top jobs in business and administration under the British, jobs they have mostly since lost under Singalese rule. The cause of the present violence must therefore be seen in part economic terms.
Tamils come from south India here there are about 30 million of them: but they also live throughout the far east and Africa.
Most are Hindus, although there are also christian and muslim tamils. In Srilanka, Tamil men and women dress differently from the Buddhist Singalese, the women in the long bright saris of southern india instead of the blouse and short sari worn by the Singalese.
More than half of those in Srilanka are known as Ceylon Tamils who have been there as long as the Singalese themselves and who inhabit largely the north and east of the island with jaffna. centre of much of the present trouble, as their unofficial
capital.
The others are Indian Tamils, poor workers imported from the sub-continent by the British in the days of Empirre, to work on the tea estates up country. large numbers of these have fled to their Indian homelands in recent years according to London sources.
These mostly involved in the present trubles are the Ceylon tamils, a highly educated, superior minority, who feel victimized by the Singalese.
Not only are there fewer industrial opportunities for them in the north but tamil boys have been discrimin- ated against in wining places at university, according to their elders – who are bittre in their condemnation of President Jayawardene. His part in an anti-tamil march as a young politician has not been forgotten.
These elders have found political expression through the Tamil Liberation Front(TULF), Largest of the opposition parties whose objectives is a fair deal for their people and more respect for human rights by the authorities. Only about 3 per cent of those in the police are said to be Tamils.
The growing call for a seperate Tamil state in the north has risen with the Tamil Tigers, a well armed, educated band of militants who were behind last Saturday’s attack on an army lorry in which 13 soldiers died.
Sporadic attacks on police and servicemen since the late 1970s lay behind emergency legislation under the Anti-Terrorism Act and to accusations by the Tamils of repressive measurs taken against suspects.
These would seem to have been largely upheld by an Amnesty International report earlier this month,which referred to long periods of solidary confinement and torture.
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