Bomb, raids worsen ethnic conflict

Press, 24 April 1987, Page 10

Bomb, raids worsen ethnic conflict

By

DALTON DE SILVA

NZPA-Reuter Colombo

Sri Lanka's conflict between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils worsened yesterday when the Government retaliated against the Tamil guerrillas it accuses of exploding a bomb that killed up to 15$ people in central Colombo on Wednesday. Air Force warplanes strafed rebel bases in the Tamil-dominated Jaffna peninsula, killing at least M guerrillas and some civilians, the Government said. A spokesman said later the Government had decided to take “strong measures” against the Tamil rebels who have been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland called “Eelam.” The bomb exploded outside Colombo’s main bus station as thousands of workers were heading home. The Government blamed two Tamil separatist groups — the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its ally, the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of

Students — whose bases were hit yesterday.

The conflict has its roots in the clash of two peoples on the same small island separated by language, religion and culture. Tamils first came to Sri Lanka from South India during the third century B.C. and settled in the northern and eastern parts of the island. They now form 13 per cent of the 15 million people on the island. The Tamils are mostly Hindu and speak a south Indian language virtually the same as that of the 51 million Tamils across the narrow Palk Strait in India’s Tamil Nadu state. The majority. Sinhalese are mainly Buddhists, and speak Sinhala, the island’s official language, which is related to north Indian tongues. Tamils occupied high positions in the colonial civil administration under the 150 years of British rule that ended in 1948. They have since accused the Sinhalese-dominated Government of

discriminating against them and have said their claims far equal treatment in language, educatiaa, employment and land settlement have been overlooked. After years of agitation, an alliance of three political parties, the Tamil United Liberation Front (T.UJLF.) decided in 1975 to demand a separate state in the north and east The T.UJLF. contested the last General Election in 1977, on a separatist platfgrm and, surprisingly, emerged as the largest Opposition party in the 118member Parliament The Front won all its 19 seats in the Tamil-dominated northern and eastern provinces. But the Front forfeited its seats when it refused to comply with a law passed in August 1983 requiring that all members of Parliament and public officers take an oath of allegiance to Sri Lanka’s unitary constitution. The law was rushed through Parliament days after widespread ethnic violence erupted following the killing of 13 Sinhalese soldiers by Tamil

guerrillas in the northern district of ’wfriwt »; «>«■ suffered in the violence, sought refuge in Tamil Nadu, which meww Nation,” where the main Tamil guerrillas also are now based. More than 55H troops, rebels and civilians have died in the rebellion to the last four years. . The Government has offered to grant autonomy to Tamil areas by setting up elected provincial councils, but the rebels have rejected the plan, demand- > ing a single Tamil linguistic region comprising the north and east. President Junius Jayewardene said last Sunday that he would be compelled ’ to seek a military solution to the crisis if rebels rejected India’s efforts to persuade them to join peace talks. . officials said the security forces were poised to launch a large-scale offensive after a Cabinet decision yesterday to take tough measures to “eliminate terrorists and terrorism throughout the island.”