Introduction

Sri Lanka had experienced an approximately three decades of internal conflict when the
Buddhist majority Sinhalese people were constantly attacked by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) formed by Vellupilai Prabakharan from 1976 until 2009 when the LTTE were
defeated. This conflict was called Sri Lankan Civil War by historians and researchers. This
paper presents the reasons and factors that causes the Civil War to breakout and also the
attempted approaches to resolve the conflict. This paper will begin with a brief history of Sri
Lanka and an introduction of LTTE. Then, the details of Sri Lankan Civil War will be presented.
Finally, the paper will be concluded with a summary of the contents answering the core
question What triggered the conflict and dragged it on for about 30 years?

Brief History of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was first inhabited in the 5th Century BC by Indo-Aryan migrants from northern
India and the Sinhalese emerge as the most powerful among the various clans. In the 3rd
Century BC, Tamil migration from India begins. In 1505, Portuguese arrives in Colombo,
marks the beginning of European interest and Western influence. In 1658, the Portuguese was
forced out by the Dutch and control was established over the whole island except the central
kingdom of Kandy. Britain begins to take over the island in 1796 and the Kingdom of Kandy
was conquered in 1815. As a result, Tamil laborers from southern India were brought in by the
British to work in tea, coffee and coconut plantations. In 1833, the whole island was united
under one British administration. In 1931, the British grant the right to vote and introduce
power sharing with Sinhalese-run cabinet. After Ceylon gained full independence in 1948, the
Indian Tamil plantation workers were alienated by the government run by the Sinhalese. Racial
discrimination worsens in 1956 when Solomon Bandaranaike was elected with the promotion
of Sinhalese nationalism. Sinhala was made the sole official language and other measures were
introduced to bolster Sinhalese and Buddhist emotions while marginalizing the others,
especially the Tamils and Hindus. More than 100 Tamils were killed in widespread violence
after Tamil parliamentarians protest against the new law. Situations worsens in 1958 as AntiTamil riots left more than 200 people died and thousands of Tamils were displaced. In 1959,
Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist monk and the nationalization programme was
continued by his widow, Srimavo Bandaranaike. However, the opposition, United National
Party won the elections in 1965 and attempted to reverse the effects of nationalization
1

programme. Unfortunately, Srimavo Bandarakaine returned to power in 1970 and extends

further the nationalization programme. The tensions escalated in 1972 after Ceylon changed its
name to Sri Lanka and Buddhism was prioritized as the countrys religion, further antagonizing
the Tamil minority (BBC, 2015).

Brief Introduction and History of LTTE

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers or Tigers,
is a militant organization that has been waging a violent secessionist campaign against the Sri
Lankan government since the 1970s in order to set up a separate state called Tamil Eelam,
exclusively for Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka (Ministry of Defence - Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, 2009). This separate state was to comprise 28.7% of Sri
Lankas landmass and 60% of its coastline (Ministry of Defence, Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka, 2011).

Figure 1 Humanitarian Operation Factual Analysis

The LTTE is organized into two main divisions namely, a military wing and a
subordinate political wing. A central governing body oversees both of those divisions, which
is headed by the LTTE founder and supreme leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran. The LTTE is
recognized as a terrorist organization by more than 32 countries (Ministry of Defence Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, 2009). However, unlike other terrorist
2

organization, LTTE was the strongest and most unique as LTTE was the only terrorist
organization that was able to develop its own Air Wing to assist its ground forces and naval
wing known as Sea Tiger Wing in their operations. Besides that, another crucial component of
the LTTEs offensive capability was the formidable Black Tiger Wing, which was a special
unit dedicated to conduct suicide attacks against the targets (Ministry of Defence, Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, 2011).
Not only launched attacks on civilians, LTTE also damaged and/or destroyed
economics targets and key infrastructure facilities such as the Central Bank, the International
Airport, Kolonnawa Oil Refinery, Colombo Central Bus Station, World Trade Centre, etc.
Besides that, LTTE also planned hundreds of assassination on notable leaders such as the
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ganghi, Sri Lankan President Ranasingha Premadsa, Sri Lankas
Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratna, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, Minister of
Industrial Development C. V. Gooneratne, Minister of Nation Building D. M. Dasanayake,
Minister of Highways & Road Development Jayeraj Fernandopulle, and many others (Ministry
of Defence, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, 2011).
From the 1980s onward, the LTTE developed a global network with cells in over 50
countries engaging in activities such as human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, arms
smuggling, money laundering and extortion. The primary purpose of these activities was to
raise funds to enable the LTTE to procure arms. Even after the collapse of the LTTEs military
organization in Sri Lanka, the LTTEs global network remains strong and continues to pose a
significant threat to law and order around the world (Ministry of Defence, Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka, 2011).
Founded in 1975, the LTTE attracted many supporters amongst disenchanted Tamil
youth, who were dissatisfied with policies followed by successive Sri Lankan governments
towards solving various concerns of the countrys Tamil community (Ministry of Defence Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, 2009). Further resentment was caused in Tamil
community in 1981 when Sinhala policemen were accused of burning the Jaffna Public Library.
The civil war finally broke out in 1983 when LTTE ambushed an army of 13 Sri Lankan
soldiers. The civil war intensifies when the first attempt at peace talks between government
and LTTE failed in 1985. In 1987, Sri Lankan armed forces push LTTE back into northern city
of Jaffna. Then, the government signs accords creating new councils for Tamil areas in north
and east and reaches agreement with India on deployment of Indian peacekeeping force.

However, left-wing and nationalist Sinhalese party begins campaign against Indo-Sri Lankan
agreement. In 1990, Indian troops left after getting overinvolved in fighting in north. Violence
between Sri Lankan army and the separatists LTTE escalates. Besides that, thousands of
Muslims were also expelled from northern areas controlled by the LTTE. In 1991, LTTE
implicated in assassination of Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi in southern India. Sri Lankan
President Premadasa was also killed in 1993 in a LTTE bomb attack. In 1994, President
Kumaratunga comes to power pledging to end war and peace talks were opened with LTTE
(BBC, 2015).
Between 1995 and 2001, the Civil War rages across north and east. LTTE bombed Sri
Lankas holiest Buddhist site, wounded President Kumaratunga in a bomb attack, suicide
attacked the International Airport and destroyed half the Sri Lankan Airlines fleet. In February
2002, Sri Lankan Government and Tamil Tiger signed a Norwegian-mediated ceasefire. It
begun with de-commissioning of weapons, reopening the road linking the Jaffna peninsula with
the rest of Sri Lanka, resuming flights to Jaffna, government lifting bans on Tamil Tigers, and
dropping demand for separate state. Unfortunately, Tigers pulled out of talks and ceasefire
holds in 2003. In July 2004, LTTE planned the first suicide bomb blast in Colombo since 2001.
In August 2005, a state of emergency was once declared after foreign minister is killed by a
suspected Tiger assassin. In November 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa, prime minister at the time,
won presidential elections. After that, violence mounted as attacks begun to escalate again in
April 2006 when a suicide bomber attacks the main military compound in Colombo, killing at
least eight people. Soon after that, in May, Tamil Tiger launched an attack at a naval convoy
near Jaffna. Then in August, the LTTE and government forces resumed fighting in the northeast in worst clashes since 2002 ceasefire. Fortunately, the government was able to steadily
drive Tamil Tigers out of eastern strongholds over following year. The final attempt for peace
talk failed in Geneva in October 2006. In January 2008, Sri Lankan government decided to pull
out of 2002 ceasefire agreement and launched massive offence against LTTE. In July 2008, the
military stated that it has captured the important Tamil Tiger naval base of Vidattaltivu in the
north. In December 2008, both Sri Lankan troops and Tiger claimed to have inflicted heavy
casualties on each other in fierce fighting in the north. Very quickly, in January 2009, the Sri
Lankan Army captured the northern town of Kilinochchi, which was previously held for ten
years under the LTTE as their administrative headquarters. President Mahinda Rajapakse
announced it as an unparalleled victory and urged the rebels to surrender. Four months later, in
May 2009, Sri Lankan government declares LTTE defeated after army forces overrun last patch
4

of rebel-held territory in the northeast. Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in action are LTTE
made the statement that they will lay down its arms. In August 2009, the new LTTE leader
Selvarasa Pathmanathan was captured overseas by Sri Lankan authorities, and that marks the
end of military activities by LTTE (BBC, 2015).

Origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War

Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic nation, but it is dominated by two main ethnic groups. The Sinhalese
constitutes 74% of the population, while the Tamils, the second largest group in the country
make up about 12% of the population. Conflicts between the Sinhalese and Tamils date back
as far as 150 B.C., but the intensity and the duration of the violence have never been as great
as in the latest conflict, which turned into a civil war in 1983 (Grobar & Gnanaselvam, 1993).
It can be identified that the colonization by the British can probably be responsible and
accountable that caused a civil war in 1983. The British Governor at that time, William
Manning actively encouraged the concept of communal representation and created the
Colombo town seat in 1920, which naturally prioritize the majority Sinhalese, and will
probably lead to racial discrimination and racial superiority by the Sinhalese against the other
minorities, especially the Tamils (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2016).
The first obvious action that includes elements of discrimination was the law passed by
the Ceylon Parliament in 1948 after the independence in 1947, which was called the Ceylon
Citizenship Act. As a result, over 700,000 Indian Tamils were made stateless and 300,000
Indian Tamils were sent back to India in the following three decades. It was only until 2003,
55 years after the independence, that all Indian Tamils living in Sri Lanka were granted
citizenship but by this time they only made up 5% of the islands population, 8% decreased
from the time of independence (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2016).
The discrimination escalated in 1956 when Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike
passed the Sinhala Only Act, an Act the promoted Sinhala as the only official language of
Sri Lanka to replace English. The Act directly pushes Sri Lankan Tamils out from Ceylon Civil
Service and other public services sectors (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2015).
Triggered by the Sinhala Only Act, Tamil Federal Party politicians launched a
Satyagraha (Nonviolent resistance) campaign, which led to an increase in communal tensions
and to the death of over 150 Tamils in the Gal Oya riots in the east of the country. As a result,
5

in the year 1958 alone, more than 300 Tamils were killed, thousands more were assaulted and
Tamil properties were also robbed, and over 25,000 Tamil refugees were displaced to the north
(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2015).
Discrimination increased further in 1970 with the ban of Tamil media and literature
importation. Besides that, foreign exchange for the long established practice of Tamil students
going to India for tertiary education was also stopped. Even the change of countrys name from
Ceylon to Sri Lanka, was an act that angered and alienated many Tamils because Sri Lanka
is a name of Sanskrit origin (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2015).
The conflict before the start of civil war reached its peak when the Jaffna Library was
burned by an organized mob of Sinhalese origin. Over 97,000 volumes of books along with
numerous culturally important and irreplaceable manuscripts were destroyed. On the other
hand, in parliament, definite statement of chasing out the Tamils were made by a Member of
Parliament from the United National Party stating (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2016):
If there is discrimination in this land which is not their (Tamil) homeland, then
why try to stay here. Why not go back home (India) where there would be no
discrimination. There are your kovils and Gods. There you have your culture,
education, universities etc. There you are masters of your own fate.
Besides that, there were also arguments suggesting that the real cause of the civil
war lies in the reactionary communal politics on which the Sri Lankan bourgeoisie has
relied to divide the working class and cement its rule since independence in 1948 (Peiris
& Silva, 2013).
The events and actions that occurred above are believed to be contributing towards
the outbreak of civil war which was started in July 1983 when the LTTE launched a
deadly ambush on a Sri Lanka Army check point outside the town of Thirunelveli, killing
an officer and 12 soldiers. The civil war then lasted for about 26 years, killing an estimated
60,000 to 100,000 people overall (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2016).

Approaches to resolve the conflict

The most desired resolution of any conflict is to end it peacefully with no loss of lives
and compromises of human rights. Both Sri Lankan government and the LTTE knew this

very well. Successive governments of Sri Lanka tried to engage the LTTE in negotiations
to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict since 1985. In addition to three peace
processes consisting of direct talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE,
there were also two peace processes facilitated by third parties, which were India and
Norway.
The first negotiation named Peace Talks 1 was held at Thimpu City, Bhutan
between 13th July 1985 and 12th August 1985. And the final negotiation was a series of
resumption of Peace Talks in February, June, and October 2006. A more detailed events
of negotiations are listed in the table below.
However, both parties did not reach mutual consensus and understanding despites
numerous rounds of negotiations and constantly breached the agreement signed in the
talks. Reports by the UN stated that both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE had
committed war crimes and violation of international humanitarian law and international
human rights law (Rawat, 2012).
Credible allegations that comprise five core categories of potential serious
violations committed by the Government of Sri Lanka was found to be (Rawat, 2012):
1. Killing of civilians through widespread shelling;
2. Shelling of hospitals and humanitarian objects;
3. Denial of humanitarian assistance;
4. Human rights violations suffered by victims and survivors of the conflict,
including both IDPs and suspected LTTE cadre; and
5. Human rights violations outside the conflict zone, including against the media and
other critics of the Government.
Similarly, credible allegations against the LTTE associated with the nal stages
of the war reveal six core categories of potential serious violations (Rawat, 2012):
1. Using civilians as a human buer;
2. Killing civilians attempting to ee LTTE control;
3. Using military equipment in the proximity of civilians;
4. Forced recruitment of children;
5. Forced labour; and
6. Killing of civilians through suicide attacks.
7

Figure 2 Sri Lankan Government's effort for a Negotiated Settlement

Finally, on 2nd January 2009, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced
a major offensive against the rebel LTTEs strongholds in the northeast area of Sri Lanka.
The battle lasted for four months, it marked one of the conflicts bloodiest and most
violent periods, thousand were killed and tens of thousands escaped or were displaced.
The fighting lasted until 18th May 2009, when LTTE supreme leader and founder
Velupillai Prabhakaran and other key figures were killed in a gunfight with the
government forces, and President Rajapaksa finally announced the official end of war
8

while the rebels official websites verified the death of their leader and agreed to end the
war (Neumann & Fahmy, 2012).

Conclusion
In conclusion, the almost three decades Sri Lankan Civil War that resulted in more than
60,000 loss of lives was caused by the administrative practices left by the British during
the colonial era, implementation of the Ceylon Citizenship Act that forced Tamils out of
the nation, Sinhala Only Act that only recognizes Sinhala as the sole official language,
riots in 1958 that killed at least 300 Tamils and relocation of 25,000 Tamil refugees,
banning of Tamil media and literature importation in 1970 and the Universities Act in
1971, and the 1981 destruction of the Jaffna Public Library. The civil war was ended not
with peaceful talks, negotiations and discussions, but with war as both parties constantly
breached the agreement signed on several Peace Talks and could not reach a mutual
understanding on the issues of nation building and unity.

References
BBC. (2015, October 11). Sri Lanka profile - Timeline - BBC News. Retrieved February 18,
2016, from BBC - Homepage: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12004081
Grobar, L. M., & Gnanaselvam, S. (1993). The economic effects of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Economic Development and Cultural Change, 395-405.
Ministry of Defence - Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. (2009). The LTTE in brief.
Retrieved February 18, 2016, from Sri Lanka News _ Ministry of Defence - Sri
Lanka: http://www.defence.lk/pps/LTTEinbrief.pdf
Ministry of Defence, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. (2011, July). Humanitarian
Operation Factual Analysis July 2006-May 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2016, from
Sri Lanka News _ Ministry of Defence - Sri Lanka:
http://www.defence.lk/news/20110801_Conf.pdf
Neumann, R., & Fahmy, S. (2012). Analyzing the Spell of War: A War= Peace Framing
Analysis of the 2009 Visual Coverage of the Sri Lankan Civil War in Western
Newswires. Mass Communication and Society, 169-200.
doi:10.1080/15205436.2011.583192
Peiris, V., & Silva, R. D. (2013, August 7). Thirty years since the start of Sri Lankas civil
war. World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved Feburary 19, 2016, from
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/08/07/sril-a07.html
Rawat, A. (2012). Civil war in Sri Lanka. The Newsletter, 14-15.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2015, November 23). Origins of the Sri Lankan civil war Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved February 19, 2016, from Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_the_Sri_Lankan_civil_war
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2016, February 11). Burning of Jaffna library - Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. Retrieved February 19, 2016, from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Jaffna_library
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2016, February 17). Sri Lankan Civil War - Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. Retrieved Feburary 19, 2016, from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War
10