Sri Lankan Tamils Issue

Sri Lankan Tamils issue

• Communal tensions between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities had been simmering since the early 1940s,

intensifying in the 1950s with the rise of Sinhalese nationalism and violent anti-Tamil riots.

• The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was formed in 1976, describing itself as the “national freedom movement of the people of Tamil Eelam,” and began a guerrilla war against the Sri Lankan government. This conflict officially started after the killing of 13 soldiers in 1983.

• In 1987, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Jayewardene signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord, leading to the deployment of Indian soldiers as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).

• Although some insurgents agreed to a temporary truce under the IPKF, fighting resumed after the Indian forces withdrew in 1990. The LTTE was also accused of assassinating Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, allegedly in retaliation for his support of Sri Lanka.

• The island remained unstable from 1995 to 2001, with intermittent peace and ongoing violence, especially in the northern and eastern regions. In 2002, a ceasefire agreement was brokered by Norwegian mediators, but it collapsed quickly despite initial concessions from both sides. Violence escalated again after a 2004 LTTE suicide bombing in Colombo.

• In 2008, the Sri Lankan government launched a full-scale offensive against the LTTE, aiming for their complete surrender. The UN estimates that 40,000 civilians were killed during the final months of the war, which ended in May 2009 when the LTTE surrendered.

• In May 2009, the Sri Lankan government declared the LTTE defeated, with rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran reportedly killed in the fighting. The UN estimates that 40,000 civilians died during the final phase of the war.

India’s Concerns

• India has long been concerned about the treatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka, given its own sizable Tamil population. In February 2009, India’s foreign minister expressed concern about civilian safety in Sri Lanka and emphasized that a political solution, involving greater power devolution to Sri Lanka’s provinces, was necessary. Under the 1987 accord and the Thirteenth Amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution, the government had agreed to provide more autonomy to provinces and recognize Tamil as an official language. However, these provisions have never been fully implemented.

Hindu Code Bill

• The Hindu Code Bill aimed to replace the existing body of Hindu personal law, which had been only marginally modified by British authorities. B.R. Ambedkar viewed the Bill as a crucial step in reforming Hindu society.

• He argued that to continue addressing economic issues while leaving untouched the deep-seated inequalities between classes and genders would render the Constitution a mockery, “a palace built on a dung heap.”

• The Bill covered several key areas, including the rights of Hindu women to property, succession, marriage, divorce, adoption, minority, and guardianship. The main proposals of the Bill were:

• Abolishing the birthright to property and the practice of inheritance by survivorship.

• Granting daughters a half-share of inheritance.

• Converting a woman’s limited estate into an absolute estate.

• Eliminating caste restrictions in marriage and adoption.

• Upholding the principle of monogamy.

• Introducing the right to divorce.

• Ambedkar stressed that the Bill would ensure equality between men and women in legal matters. However, the Bill faced strong opposition both from within the Congress party and from the opposition. It was referred to the Select Committee on April 9, 1948, and the parliamentary debates continued for over four years, marking the longest discussion on any single Bill in independent India. Disillusioned by the lack of support from the Congress government, Ambedkar resigned in protest on September 27, 1951.

• Rise of the ‘Mandal issue’ in national politics.

• Initiation of structural adjustment programme or new economic reforms.

• The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991

• Insaniyat (Humanism), Jamhooriyat (Democracy) and Kashmiriyat (Kashmir’s age-old legacy of Hindu-Muslim unity) policy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

• The Era of Coalition and Alliance Politics:

The National Front formed a coalition government, but BJP and Left Front did not join this government

The emergence of powerful parties and movements representing the Dalit and backward castes (Other Backward Classes or OBCs

Mandal politics:

The Government of India set the Mandal Commission up in 1978

In August 1990, the National Front Government decided to implement recommendation of the Mandal Commission which sparked agitations.

Supreme Court in 1992 upheld the decision of the government.

New Economic Policy 1991:

• The balance of payment crisis in the early 1990s made it imperative for India to respond.

• Soaring inflation, high imports, declining forex, were the major concerns.

• India received $7 billion, as loans from World Bank and IMF to manage the crisis.

• India in return, announced the New Economic Policy or LPG reforms.

The era of ICT (Information and Communication Technology):

ICT was given a vent in 1984 by the Rajiv Gandhi government.

In 1999, the Ministry of Information Technology was established

IT Industry in India comprises the software industry and information technology-enabled services [ITES].

Information Technology Act passed in 2000.

In 2006, the government approved the National E-governance Plan [NeGP] to enhance e-government initiatives in India.

Growing Consensus:

• Consensus consists of 4 elements:

• Agreement on new economic policies

• Acceptance of the political and social claims of the backward castes

• Acceptance of the role of State level parties in the governance

• Pragmatic considerations rather than ideological positions and political alliances without ideological agreement.