Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: What was the war in Sri Lanka? (WQ)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

What was the war in Sri Lanka? (WQ)

WQ editorial summary; Time.com story below

A 25-year civil war in Buddhist island of Sri Lanka has been brought to a decisive conclusion. It was launched by ethnic Tamil separatists tormented under majority Sinhalese rule. After decades, the guerrilla war ended as "Buddhist X-mas" (Vesak) celebrations continued around the world.

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Once aided, abetted, and to a greater or lesser extent instigated by India, the Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) behaved like an unpredictable tiger: It and its legendary leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, assassinated the Indian prime minister.

More horrifying was the fact that a Sri Lankan head of state was found secretly supporting the LTTE in an effort to play both side and maintain power. The LTTE assassinated him in return. International attempts to intervene led to an uneasy peace over the years with sporadic fighting and ongoing guerrilla tactics. These included massacres of Buddhist pilgrims, surprise Tamil offensives, and the imposition of martial law in terrorizing "counter-terrorism" efforts. It was the excessive use of state power that originally encouraged Tamils to rebel.

Recent Sinhalese offensives have collaterally killed many Tamil civilians. The Tamils fear the state more than their fellow freedom fighters. It is also alleged that Tamils used civilians as shields. In either case, Sri Lankan soldiers seemed content to disregard imperiled civilians. In modern warfare as taught by the USA, noncombatants are treated like combatants.

The Sri Lankan army pressed forward in a deadly offensive that finally broke Tamil rebel resistance. LTTE controlled territory was wrested from Tamil control. Little, however, has been done to appease Tamil pleas for fair and equal treatment in Sri Lankan society. Many expat Tamils have been visible and vocal protesters keeping world attention on the calamity, notably in Europe and Canada.

Sri Lanka is a small teardrop shaped island off the southern tip of India with a large Sinhalese majority and a prominent, long standing Tamil minority. The Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with a large Tamil majority, lies just across a narrow strait. The island has a long history of British and European colonization; these powers set ethnic factions one against the other throughout Asia and the new world. (This conflict, too, is part of the appalling legacy of the UK's divisive strategy that infamously kept it in power for centuries).

It is notable that this conflict did not come to an end through American aid or support. It was funded by the Chinese government, who provided the support Sinhalese forces needed to wage a large offensive that ended with the execution of Tamil leaders. It is not clear what India or the US gained by this longstanding civil war, but it is clear they did little to actually end it.

WQ sympathizes with the Sri Lankan government. However, this nominally "Buddhist" power has frequently not behaved as such. In no way can WQ believe that Hindus in general or Tamils in particular are enemies. Although this has never been a religious conflict, it has correlated to religious sentiments along ethnic lines.

Calls for civic equality -- whether as a separate state or some equivalent accommodation -- must be heeded. So conscience forces WQ to criticize both sides after a visit to the conflict in support of all its citizens. As a Buddhist-majority island, Sri Lanka has long welcomed all faiths.

The Life and Death of a Tiger (Time.com)

Jyoti Thottam (New Delhi)

Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE) was declared killed by the Sri Lankan government on May 18. He had decades to think about how his end would come. It could have come from the cyanide capsule that he -- like many Tiger fighters -- wore around his neck, a pledge to commit suicide in case of capture by the Sri Lankan Army.

He had been fighting a war for an independent homeland, or eelam, for the island's Tamil minority since 1983. The army pursued him throughout the jungles of the north and east for decades. In 2002, during a press conference near the beginning of a four-year ceasefire, Prabhakaran revealed that he had asked his aides to kill him if capture was near and he was unable to kill himself. More>>