what factor led to a civil war in sri lanka
Sri Lankan Civil War The origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War lie in the continuous political rancor between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils.[30] The roots of the modern conflict lie in the British colonial rule when the country was known as Ceylon. There was initially little tension among Sri Lanka's two largest ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamils, when Ponnambalam Arunachalam, a Tamil, was appointed representative of the Sinhalese as well the Tamils in the national legislative council. In 1919 major Sinhalese and Tamil political organizations united to form the Ceylon National Congress, under the leadership of Arunachalam, to press the colonial government for more constitutional reforms. However, British Gov. William Manning actively encouraged the concept of "communal representation" and created the Colombo town seat in 1920, which dangled between the Tamils and the Sinhalese.[31]
Jallianwala Bagh massacre The costs of the protracted war in money and manpower were great. High casualty rates in the war, increasing inflation after the end, compounded by heavy taxation, the deadly 1918 flu pandemic, and the disruption of trade during the war escalated human suffering in India. The pre-war Indian nationalist sentiment was revived as moderate and extremist groups of the Indian National Congress ended their differences to unify. In 1916, the Congress succeeded in establishing the Lucknow Pact, a temporary alliance with the All-India Muslim League. British political concessions and Whitehall's India Policy after World War I began to change, with the passage of Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms, which initiated the first round of political reform in the Indian subcontinent in 1917.[19][20][21] However, this was deemed insufficient in reforms by the Indian political movement. Mahatma Gandhi, recently returned to India, began emerging as an increasingly charismatic leader under whose leadership civil disobedience movements grew rapidly as an expression of political unrest. The recently crushed Ghadar conspiracy, the presence of Mahendra Pratap's Kabul mission in Afghanistan (with possible links to then nascent Bolshevik Russia), and a still-active revolutionary movement especially in Punjab and Bengal (as well as worsening civil unrest throughout India) led to the appointment of a Sedition committee in 1918 chaired by Sidney Rowlatt, an English judge. It was tasked to evaluate German and Bolshevik links to the militant movement in India, especially in Punjab and Bengal. On the recommendations of the committee, the Rowlatt Act, an extension of the Defence of India Act 1915, was enforced in India to limit civil liberties.[18][22][23][24][25]
India–Sri Lanka relations There have been several alleged incidents of Sri Lankan Navy personnel firing on Indian fishermen fishing in the Palk Strait, where India and Sri Lanka are only separated by 12 nautical miles.The issue is because of Indian fishermen using mechanised trawlers which deprives the Sri Lankan fishermen including Tamils of their catch and also damaging their fishing boats. The Sri Lankan government wants India to ban use of mechanized trawlers in the palk strait region and the negotiations on the same are going on. So far no concrete agreement has been reached since India favors regulating these trawlers instead of banning them altogether. Anger amongst the Sri Lankan side is also because the use of mechanized trawlers is ecologically damaging.[23] Indian Government has always taken up the issue of safety of Indian fishermen on a priority basis with the Government of Sri Lanka. Presently there is no bona fide Indian fisherman in the Sri Lankan custody. A Joint Working Group (JWG) has been constituted to deal with the issues related to Indian fishermen straying in Sri Lankan territorial waters, work out modalities for prevention of use of force against them and the early release of confiscated boats and explore possibilities of working towards bilateral arrangements for licensed fishing. The JWG last met in Jan 2006. India officially protested against Sri Lanka Navy for its alleged involvement in attacks on Indian fishermen on January 12, 2011.[24] Even after the official protest, another fisherman was killed in a brutal manner on Jan 22, 2011.[25] Over 730 fishermen have been killed in the last 30 years. The apathetic attitude of the Indian government and the national media towards the alleged killing of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy is being strongly condemned.[26] Several Tamil Nadu politicians like Vaiko and Jayalalitha have condemned the federal government for not doing enough to stop the killing of Indian Tamil fishermen, and for offering training, equipment, and strategic cooperation for the Sri Lankan Navy.[27] In November 2014, Sri Lanka ordered capital punishment to Indian fishermen who were allegedly involved in drug supply or other kind of smuggling. Activists from India approached to Sri Lankan government through an appeal, where they stated the need to strengthen south Asian regional cooperation for all such issues. It was appealed that though crime of any kind must get punishment, but capital punishment must be revoked in this case and in general from all over south Asia.[28] Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Winckramsinghe during an interview to a television channel in March 2015 told 'if Indian fishermen will cross the sea boundary, Sri Lankan navy can shoot them.' This remark sparked controversy over Sri Lanka â€“ India relation. External affairs minister of India raised the issue with meeting her counterpart in Sri Lanka, but the statement of PM of Sri Lanka was condemned by civil rights activists, even open letters were written to PMs of Sri Lanka and India to resolve the dispute and to apologize for statements as fishermen are not criminals.[29]
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