India raises Sri Lankan Tamil issue in UN
For Mains
Who are Sri Lankan Tamils?
- Sri Lankan Tamils also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils speaking people living in the north and eastern parts of Sri Lanka and form the most significant minority group in the country.
- They have been subjected to oppression by the majority Sinhalese population which led to a civil war from 1983 to 2009 between the pro Tamil group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan Army.
- In the initial days of the conflict, LTTE received clandestine support from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), while the Tamil population received humanitarian aid from the Indian Government.
- This collaboration became strained after conflicts with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in the 1980s and ultimately collapsed which led to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, by LTTE agents in 1991.
- The civil war ended in 2009 with the victory of the Sri Lankan government and death of LTTE founder cum leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
- There were numerous allegations of human rights violations by Sri Lankan army during the final days of the conflict.
- The Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka in 2011 stated, “A number of credible sources have estimated that there could have been as many as 40,000 civilian deaths.”
Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission:
- Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was a commission of inquiry appointed by Sri Lankan Government in May 2010 to “investigate the facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the ceasefire agreement made operational on 27 February 2002, the lessons that should be learnt from those events and the institutional, administrative and legislative measures which need to be taken in order to prevent any recurrence of such concerns in the future, and to promote further national unity and reconciliation among all communities.”
What was promised by Sri Lankan government:
- The Sri Lankan government promised to find a political solution for the concerns of the ethnic Tamils in the country.
- However even after 13 years since the Civil War, there has been no visible progress in finding a political solution to the issue.
Source : THE HINDU
