After independence, governments of the Sinhalese majority began to enact "Sinhala only" legislation: making Sinhala the official language, restricting Tamil access to university education and employment, enforcing Buddhism as the dominant religion, and reducing economic development of many Tamil lands while settling Sinhalese in others.
A contemporary report said: "The violence was vicious and bloody. %u2026 In Colombo, groups of rioters hit only at shops and factories, as well as homes owned by Tamils. Their careful selectivity is apparent now. In each street, individual business premises were burnt down, while others alongside stood unscathed. Troops and police (almost all Sinhalese) either joined the rioters or stood idly by." (Financial Times, August 12, 1983).
Perhaps 3,000 Tamils died in that onslaught which continued for almost a week. Tens of thousands sought refuge overseas or in the north of the island. Many concluded the terror was genocidal and the government complicit. Many youths saw no alternative to joining the armed struggle for some kind of Tamil liberation in the north-east.
One such young person was Velupillai Prabakharan, from north of Jaffna, whose group in 1976 was renamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Under his single-minded leadership, the LTTE gained such strength in the succeeding 15 years that it not only dominated the Tamil resistance and prevailed against the Sinhalese military.
what happen to ltte supporters who has catched in mumubai a week before. what kind of action is expected by tamilnadu govt for killing tamil fisherman by SLG yesterday
RE:about LTTE supporters
by The Lion on May 04, 2007 04:30 PM Permalink
Dear jessy kid, who said you that he is ltte supporter. You people are fit to be fools.
Ms. Rani, These questions are not matters of fact but belief. Good, bad or ugly, Rajiv was our prime minister and a citizen of india. If you are a citixen of india, it is your duty to bring his killers to justice. Conversely, if you sympathize with his killers and feel justified in his death, what are you doing in india, calling yourself an indian citizen? Ideology is never right or wrong, but hypocrisy is always wrong. I think its time you decided whether you value your indian citizenship more or your bleeding heart. You only get one.
RE:on nationhood
by rani on Feb 25, 2007 07:32 AM Permalink
lastly, i suppose the Sinhala sodier who hit Rajeev with the butt of the gun before any was is a hero of yours. That man was even promoted in the army and lives a free and great life. You should read about what the Sinhalease are doing to us....Indians. They treat indian tamils bad too, not just Sri Lankan Tamils. They took away ctizenship from Indian Tamils. They allow ISI to do its dirty work in SL and use it as a base against south india. If you are nationalistic, go read about all that.
RE:on nationhood
by rani on Feb 25, 2007 07:25 AM Permalink
dont get me wrong, i dont believe that Rajeev should be killed and neither am i comparing Rajeev to Hitler. But i do think your logic is not perfect
RE:on nationhood
by rani on Feb 25, 2007 07:24 AM Permalink
no, thats like saying Germans who tried to killer Hitler is wrong. That is the stupidest argument i have ever heard. I would never kill rajeev but i can understand why they did. You have no right to question my citizenship. Its my right to freedom of speech and belief.
Believing that the Tamils in SL should get a fair deal is not sympathizing with Rajeev's killer. that logic is just plain stupid.
By the way, if i was german and anyone tried to Kill Hitler, i would hail that person as a HERO.
All your questions shows lack of Knowledge about Sri Lankan Tamils struggle for freedom from Sinhala oppression. You need some reading. I don't think you are a tamilian to know the pain of our people. You better sit in your aircondition room and watch some rubbish Indian movies and do the intelligent service work for India by getting money from super power.
RE:To Mr. Shibu
by rani on Feb 25, 2007 06:03 AM Permalink
Mr/Ms Eelam Tamilian
My parents were one of those Kandy Tamils who were kicked out of SL to India because of our ethnicity. I am a total supporter of freedom for my brethren and sisters in Eelam.
RE:RE:RE:To Mr. Shibu
by rani on Feb 25, 2007 07:14 AM Permalink
Uthaya,
I care for three reason. 1. my parents tell me the story of Sinhala government attrocity. 2. I dont want my people to suffer any longer. 3. this is not a fight just for Tamil people but for humanity.
Tamilnet is so famous in Sri Lanka that even the Sinhala opposition during Chandrika's tenure as president used to use it to get the correct news. Its a pity that Taraki was killed by those who didn't want the truth to come out. I hope his killers meet a much worse fate.
All your questions shows lack of Knowledge about Sri Lankan Tamils struggle for freedom from Sinhala Opperssion. You need some reading. I don;t think you are a tamilian to know the pain of our people. You beet sit in your aircondition room and watch some rubbish Indian movies.
I am sure now there will be more refugees coming into India. There is no hope for the Tamil population in SL because the army reprisal is terrible. Some of my family is SL phoned us in Delhi yesterday and i think a lot of them are going to come live with us. Most Tamils seem to be scared of disappearances. Yesterday the Tamil brother in law of a Sinhala suprindentant of police disappeared (all in army high security zone). God bless my people.
Everyday, I thank the Shastry-Bandaranaike deal that brought my family back to India. I would hate to live in a country that kills its own citizens.
RE:Expect more refugees
by shibu james on Feb 25, 2007 12:48 AM Permalink
Rani I feel sorry for you & your family. But understand if you cant love your country ..there isnt much that you can stand for. Where does the LTTE get its arms & money from. Why does the LTTE use force. Why has LTTE caused so much pain in SL to the Sinhala community. How are SL Tamils different from Sinhalas since both have caused eachother pain. Have SL Tamils condemned LTTE for its atrocities & sided with Sinhalas against the mindless violence unleashed by LTTE. Why did LTTE kill Rajeev Gandhi. He was just ensuring truce between the 2 sides. Why cant LTTE come into the mainstream of SL politics. I know its difficult to answer .. there are challenges & answers arent simple .. but giving up is not a wise solution. Those who live by the sword .. die by the sword
RE:RE:Expect more refugees
by rani on Feb 25, 2007 06:01 AM Permalink
my country is India. My parents were part of the "Indian Tamil" community and the people who fight for freedom is "Jaffna Tamil". I will try to answer your questions.
LTTE gets its arms and money from its supporters, raising taxes, etc. LTTE uses force because of indiscriminate killing by the Sri Lankan army and governtment when the tamils used to protest by peaceful means. LTTE cause so much pain because the Sinhala community has so much pain. Only the pain of the Sinhala pain is highlighted in Indian media. The Tamils have suffered much more at the hands of Sinhalease than the other way around. SL Tamils differ from Sinhalease community by language, religion, history and culture. Its the same difference as between lets say Malyalees and Manipuris. This doesn't mean Sinhalease and Tamils cannot live with each other but they can only live with each other if there is understanding that the island belongs to the minorities such as Tamils as well. If SL condemns the LTTE, its like approving all the human rights violations of Sri Lanka against the Tamils. The question to ask is whether the Sinhalease has condemened the SLGovt for the mindless violences against their fellow citizens Tamils. LTTE killed Rajeev Gandhi because Indian troops came to the island to provide peace but continued allowing the SLG to settle Sinhalease in Tamil areas after kicking out Tamils. People lost houses and property like this. This made the Tamils angry but the actual war started when Indian army handed over high ranking LTTE personel to SLG (before any fighting with Indian troops) which was against the spirit of peace and these officials killed themselves than face torture. Rajeev Gandhi was not totally interested in peace, he was only looking out for India interest through the Trincomalee harbour. The Tamils were fighting for their lives. Its very different. LTTE cannot come into mainstream politics because after over 50 years of independence, the SL government has continued to discriminate tamils in property ownership, jobs, etc. The question is why can't the SL government treat tamils as equal minorities and sidestep the LTTE. The Sinhalease government has no interest in giving Tamils equal rights. These questions are not difficult to answer. Giving up is definately not a wise solution. You should read http://www.newsweekly.com.au/articles/2007feb03_s.html
It highlights how Buddism is not your usual peaceful "Dalai Lama" type of Buddism. In 1983, when Tamils were killed, it was the Buddist Bikkhus who generally lead the crowd to kill, burn, etc. Remember, LTTE was a reaction to discrimination not a pro-action. In Sri Lanka, recently a government MINISTER said that thos Sinhalease who promote peace will be dealt EXTRA-JUDICIALLY.
Those who live by the sword .. die by the sword I hope this is true, then the Tamils will be free. I have lived in India for most of my life. My parents were moved to India when Sri Lanka took away the citizenship of many many tamils who had lived there for some generation. What you need to think is whether India would EVER treat its citizens like that. So if SL has given the same treatment to its minorities like India, then we can say LTTE is bad. But if SLG is killing Tamils from the 60s, discriminating from the 40s, then we have to think whether the fight is not justified. If the congress government started killing Gujaratis (for example) just because they are Gujaratis, wouldn't you support the Gujaratis to fight the government back. You should read a lot. I thank you for asking me these questions. None of my friends in Delhi know much about it and appreciate my explanation.
RE:RE:Expect more refugees
by The Lion on May 04, 2007 04:35 PM Permalink
Half-knowledged shibu james, take time to diagnose the issue else keep quite.
