A study of social consequences of ethnic conflict in the North-East of Sri Lanka

Abstract

This paper discusses social consequences o f the north- east conflict. It is a well-known fa c t that Sri Lanka in recent time, has become synonymous with political violence and terror. Therefore, traditions of civil society and democracy have been seriously eroded. The genesis o f this violence was the decision o f numerous ethnic Tamil youth groups to take up arms against the Sinhala dominated Sri Lankan State, in order to alleviate what they perceived as discriminatory practices directed towards them. In fact, central feature in the recent history o f Sri Lanka is the long and bitter conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils. This ethnic conflict developed into a war in 1983. The proximate "cause was the death o f 13 soldiers in July 1983 in a landmine explosion followed by violence against Tamils in Sinhala areas. It has been reported that more than 600 Tamil civilians were killed and that the property o f many Tamils 'was destroyed or looted. In this situation more than any other problem in recent times, I would suggest that the issue o f ethnic conflict in north and east has impacted most severely on the lives o f north-east people on a routine basis. But, there is very little information dealing with issues o f impact o f violence or how people cope with consequences Of it. In this article, an attempt has been made to fill this gap by conducting a literature survey