Sri Lanka and its Ethnic Conflicts
What causes Ethnicities to Clash
The Brief Overview
Going to its Roots
In 1956, the government passed a "Sinhalese-only" act; the English language was replaced. Being rightfully upset about this act, the Tamils lead a couple of riots and protests regarding it, but the Sinhalese people ended up stopping them in their tracks, discriminate them even more, and flat out humiliated them, resulting about 100 deaths because of this. More deaths and riots lead on the Anti-Tamils side (burning a library, killing more Tamils, changing the official religon to Buddism (the Tamils were part of the Hindu faith), and creating the TULF ( Tamils United Liberation Front) party), while on the other side, they formed the LTTE (The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to fight for an independent Tamil state in 1976. It wasn't til 1983 where the kick start of the war happened. 13 Sinhalese soldiers died and in retaliation, over thousands of Tamils died. Others evacuated to India or other places but the rest stayed and went into civil war.
The Remains of The Jaffna Public Library
-One of the largest libraries at the time in Asia
Where the Tamils are distributed
The Civil War
Battles in Order
Eelam War I
Kokkilai offense- First attack from the LTTE in Sri Lankan soilVadamarachchi Operation- The Sri Lankan military tries to gain back control of the territory (hence the name of mission) from the LTTE.
Eelam War II
Battle of Kokavil- The battle over who gets to control a town named Kokavil
Battle of Pooneryn- The massive attack from the LTTE that surprised the military forces because of its tactical plan of not only attacking on the land, but by the lagoon.
First Battle of Elephant Pass- It became a bloody battle for both sides
Operation Balavegaya- amphibious assault launched by the Sri Lankan Military
Operation Thrividha Balaya- break the siege of the Sri Lanka Army garrison of the old Dutch Jaffna Fort in Jaffna
Eelam War III
Vavunathivu Offensive- Tigers captured Vavunathivu Army camp
Battle of Kilinochchi
Battle for the A-9 highway
Battle of Jaffna
Battle of Mullaitivu
Oddusuddan offensive- Tamil Tigers captured Oddusuddan
Operation Jayasikurui- a land route to the government-held Jaffna peninsula
Operation Rana Gosa
Operation Riviresa -capture of the city of Jaffna and rest of the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE
Second Battle of Elephant Pass- Battle to control of the Sri Lankan military base in Elephant Pass, Jaffna
Thandikulam–Omanthai offensive-control of the towns of Thandikulam and Omanthai in Sri Lanka in June 1997.
Eelam War IV
Battle of Delft- naval battle Sri Lankan Navy claimed that it received reports of a boat cluster moving off of Delft Island.
Battle off the coast of Jaffna- naval battle, battle begun as the Navy met the rebel ships and exchanged fire.