-many Tamils thought it was unfair as they were disadvantaged in the civil service/ political & business opportunities and a personal attack on their culture
-violence broke out during a non-violent Tamil protest outside parliament when it was disrupted by Sinhalese extremists (riots resulted in more than 100 deaths)
-1958, Bandaranaike signed Tamil Language Act to allow Tamils to use Tamil as the administrative lang. and for education and examinations in Northern and Eastern SL where most Tamils lived but was criticized by radical Sinahalese
-tension increased and fighting occurred, resulting in loss of lives and homes
-1959, Bandaranaike assassinated by a radical Sinhalese Buddhist monk
-1978, Sri Lankan Constituiton granted a greater measure of recognition to Tamil, declaring it a national lang. and the lang. of admin. in northern & eastern provinces
-1987, Tamil accepted as an official lang. but is still not widely used
University Admission (UA)
-before 1970, UA was based on merit and exams held in English
-1970, new PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike, widow of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike elected
-Sinhalese unhappy that no. of students in the medical and engineering courses in university was not proportionate to racial composition of population
-complex system of quotas limiting no. of Tamil students entering university introduced—Tamil students needed to score higher marks for UA
Resettlement Programmes
-under UNP, poor Sinhalese peasants were transferred from the densely-populated south-western and central areas into Tamil areas so as to provide land for landless Sinhalese peasants to increase agricultural cultivation in SL (improve economy)
-Tamils not happy—thought the new Sinhala settlements were a deliberate plan to deprive them of their land
-brought Tamil and Sinahalese communities closer and increased threat of violence
Religious Policies
-1972, constitution of Ceylon changed and was re-named SL
-Buddhism recognized as official religion
-resulted in ethnic violence between Tamils and Sinhalese
Results
-1950s: Federal party asked that Tamil areas be recognized as a federation within the country → 1976, Tamil United Liberation Front asked for a separate independent state called Tamil Eelam → Sinhalese govt. rejected the idea → angry and dissatisfied Tamil youths formed militant grp LTTE or Tamil Tigers, resorting to violence, attacking Tamils against the proposed separate state and Sinhalese
-Anti-Tamil riots in 1956, 1958, 1971,1977, 1983, resulted in casualties and loss of property
-encouraged by Sinhalese security forces like Sinhalese-dominated army
-Prevention of Terrorism Act allowed the army to shoot, kill and bury any suspected terrorist without trial (introduced by new PM Junius Richard Jayewardene in 1977)
Northern Ireland
Divided Loyalties
-majority Protestants and Unionists---Christians separated from Roman Catholic Church in 16th Century and pple who want to remain part of Great Britain
-minority Roman Catholics and Nationalists---Christians with the Pope as religious leader and pple who want to be independent from UK and part of Irish Republic
History
-before 12th century, N. Ireland & Republic of Ireland were 1 country called Ireland
-12th century, Ireland conquered and colonized by England
-1690, Catholic, King James II of England, had to flee to the north of Ireland when he failed to force the Catholic religion on the Protestants in England
-tried to defeat local Protestants with his army but was soon defeated by new Protestant, King of England, William of Orange (Battle of Boyne)
-during English rule, English landlords in Ireland brought in Protestant Scottish and English to increase Protestant pop, pushing out many local Irish Catholic farmers
-N. part of Ireland became predominantly Protestant
-Irish fought against Scottish & English settlers without success & lives were lost
-1800, Ireland became part of UK but hostilities did not end—in late 1800s, some local Irish demanded Home Rule (Irish cld make own laws concerning local issues which Britain wld keep control of matters like foreign affairs) & fighting broke out
-1921, Ireland divided into 2, N. part largely Protestant n part of UK, S. part largely Catholic and known as Irish Free State (IFS)—1949, IFS became Republic of Ireland
Education
-public schs for Protestants & private schs for Catholics only -- partly funded by govt.
-Protestant children taught Brit. hist., Brit. sports and are very loyal to Britain
-Catholic children taught Irish hist., Irish sports and Irish lang. & culture (regard Brit. as foreign country) ---mixed schs are not as popular as such religious schs
-Prots. & Cath. children rarely mix – generations grow to be distrustful & more hostile
Employment
-many Protestant-controlled govt. institutions & private companies preferred to hire Protestants than Catholics – Catholics felt subjected to prejudice
-Catholic civil servants no. not proportionate to racial %, C more likely to be jobless
Housing
-Cath. complained that Prots-controlled govt. gave better hseing opportunities to P
-city councils provide public hseing for N. Ireland but more hses were given to P
-C frustrated with the unfair provision of hseing (not proportionate to racial %)
Voting Rights
-Stormant Parliament (SP) tampered with election processes to win elections in districts with more Catholics
-1922 & 1929, proportional rep. in local govt. & parliamentary elections abolished
-SP fixed election boundaries to break up areas with conc. of C & included them as part of another P-dominated constituency (gerrymandering)—ensured P control
-1968, private companies usually owned by P were allowed more votes
-since 1968, everyone entitled to 1 vote if he/she is a Brit. subject & above 18 yrs, born in N. Ireland or lived in UK for 7 yrs--- voting districts were also redrawn for fairness and voting rights are no longer a problem today
Civil Rights Movement
-mid-1960s, Civil Rights marches were organized in Ireland – peaceful demonstrations protesting against unfair treatment of C and demanding equal rights
-met with hostility & violence from some P, like the police force who thought it was an attempt to weaken the govt. ---increasing fear and tension among the people
-1968, P extremists and police disrupted civil rights marches at LondonDerry
-Irish Republican Army (IRA), an illegal organization formed largely of N. Irish Catholics that aimed to use violence to achieve revolutionary change, used situation to launch revolts and attacks on P---P private armies, Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA) responded equally violently in retaliation
-N. Ireland plunged into civil war ---“The Time of Troubles”
-1969, Brit. Army (BA) units sent to N. Ireland to help keep order & C welcomed them at first, thinking they wld be protected, but BA searched C homes and arrested suspects, making the C lose faith in the BA
-30 Jan 1972, demonstrators on peaceful anti-internment civil rights march against the policy of arresting suspected rebels without trial was shot at by BA, resulting in many casualties (Bloody Sunday)—increased hatred between P & C, worsening ties
-after 1972, more violence & revenge killings took place, C homes and businesses were sometimes petrol-bombed by P mobs in the middle of the night, looted , burnt and bombed but were not stopped by police, IRA also killed innocent P and destroyed public places – from 1969 to 1993, > 3000 pple were killed in P-C conflict
Good Friday Agreement
-April 1998, N. Ireland political leaders reached a Good Friday Agreement – agreed that minority C wld be allowed a greater voice but N. Ireland wld remain part of UK
-referendum held in May to see if voters supported the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) 71% of voters in N. Ireland and 94% in Republic of Ireland said ‘yes’ to the GFA
-violence continues however, in 1999, a car bomb was detonated in a town sq at Omagh, killing 28 --‘Real IRA’, a splinter grp of IRA against GFA, claimed responsibility ---there is much to be done before peace can return to N. Ireland
The Real Problem
Irresponsible political power politicisation of racial/religious issues, using race/religion as tools/ weapons-including investing in the interests of certain grps to further political power.
Consequences
Destruction of national unity and sense of belonging
- vunerable to foreign threats
- stronger bonds within communities
Violence/ Riots
→ casualties→ destruction of property→ unstable social situation (e.g. refugees)
- deters investors→ unemployment ↑ → crime rates ↑→ worsen situation
- tourism ↓→ economy adversely affected (inflation, corruption, poor infrastructure)→ unemployment ↑ (vicious cycle)
Foreign intervention (Interference)
- India helped to train Tamils and even provided weaponry (worsened problem)
- C thought BA was biased against them – but BA was attacked by IRA and found it hard to remain neutral, therefore retaliating by searching C homes etc.
Possible Solutions
a) foreign intervention by a neutral party to prevent corrupt officials from manipulating political agendas --blow up issues
b) proportional rep. in govt.(population %) vs proportionate rep. (party votes%)
c) media/ education
-downplay sensitivities
-censorship
d) peace talks (UN)
