Timeline: History of the Conflict in Sri Lanka

Year of independence

Dec 22, 1948

After 500 years of colonization Sri Lanka became an independent nation

Anti Tamil Legislation

Dec 22, 1949

The Ceylon Citizenship Act denied citizenship to Tamils of Indian Origin

Ethics/ Religious Conflicts

Dec 16, 1950

Ethic and religious conflicts arose as competition for wealth intensified, The Sinhalese, who felt resentful of their place under the British, wanted to reassert their culture, language, schools and Buddhist religion.

Official Language Act

Dec 22, 1956

This act made Sinhalese the national language in Sri Lanka causing most jobs to be reserved for only Sinhala which lead to limitations on education and work opportunities for the Tamil minority. In response they pushed for a more Federal government

BC Pact

Dec 22, 1957

The BC pact was created to protect the interests of Tamil with regional autonomy. The pact was created by the Sinhala Prime minister and The Tamil leader. The pact was broken because of the pressure of Sinhalese ultra nationalist extremist

Anti Tamil

Dec 22, 1958

Anti Tamil riots broke out when Tamil were driven to the south

BC Pact 2

Dec 22, 1959

The "B" (Sinhala Prime Minister) in the BC pact is assassinated by a Buddhist monk

Division

Dec 22, 1971

Worsening economic conditions created deep separation among the Sinhalese and an anti-government insurrection. Tens of thousands of educated, unemployed Sinhalese young adults had joined the JVP (People’s Liberation Army). In 1971, they took up arms against the government. The Sri Lankan army responded by killing over 25,000 youth. Rajani’s future husband, Dayapala, was arrested, tortured and sent to solitary confinement during this period.

Civil Unrest

Dec 22, 1972

Ceylon was officially renamed the Republic of Sri Lanka. The constitution formally made Buddhism the country’s primary religion. Tamil places at university were cut back. Subsequent civil unrest resulted in a state of emergency in Tamil areas, with Sinhalese security forces imposing many discriminatory laws. As a result, a large number of militant Tamil groups emerged.

Introduction of the LTTE

Dec 22, 1975

The LTTE (the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), known as the Tamil Tigers, was formed to fight for an independent Tamil state. At the end of the 1970s, the government instituted the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act. Under its authority thousands of Tamil youth were arrested.

Ambush

Dec 22, 1983

The LTTE ambushed an army convoy killing 13. News of fallen Sinhalese soldiers set off an anti-Tamil rampage in Colombo and elsewhere.The army and elected officials did nothing to stop it. More than 2,500 people were killed. In the ensuing ethnic crisis, half a million Tamils left the country to seek refuge in India and elsewhere.

Ambush

Dec 22, 1983

The LTTE ambushed an army convoy killing 13. News of fallen Sinhalese soldiers set off an anti-Tamil rampage in Colombo and elsewhere.

Retaliation

Dec 22, 1986

The Sri Lankan government retaliated against the Tamil militants, who had been receiving arms and training from India. In April 1987 the government mounted Operation Liberation, the carpet-bombing of the northern and eastern parts of the country. The government responded to criticism of countless cases of torture and disappearances by arguing that they had to defend themselves against the militants.

Attempted peace

Dec 22, 1987

India and Sri Lanka signed an accord to bring an end to the conflict. An Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was sent to the island to end the hostilities and supervise a surrender of arms by the Tamil militants while diplomats attempted to negotiate a ceasefire. Instead, another conflict broke out, this time between the peacekeepers and the LTTE.

Human Rights

Dec 22, 1988

Rajani and a few close colleagues formed the University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) to document human rights violations by all sides in the conflict. They compiled their detailed witnessing of atrocities in their manuscript “The Broken Palmyra.”

Rajani

Sep 21, 1989

Rajani was gunned down, just months after the LTTE had entered into a deal with the Sri Lankan government and declared a ceasefire.

Reign Of Terror

Dec 22, 1989

In the south of the country there was a second JVP insurrection. In what has been described as a three-year reign of terror, many left-wing activists were targeted by government killing squads and the JVP ultranationalist groups, leaving an estimated 60,000 dead or disappeared.

Ceasefire Canceled

Dec 22, 1990

The Indian Peace Keeping Forces left. The ceasefire broke down and all-out war erupted between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. Thousands of women and child soldiers were “recruited” by the LTTE, which fought 235,000 government forces to a stalemate. The LTTE emerged as one of the world’s most feared and effective paramilitary organizations.

Another Cease fire

Dec 22, 2002

A formal, but fragile ceasefire between the government and the LTTE was brokered by Norway.

Peace

Dec 22, 2003

On going peace

Tsunami

Dec 22, 2004

December tsunami slowed the downward spiral of the government and LTTE relations temporarily

Final

Dec 22, 2016

In February 2006 theLTTE and the Sri Lankan government considered a ceasefire but the LTTE pulled in the second round of talks Sri Lankan blamed the LTTE for an attack on its army headquartersThe LTTE has not admitted to it Nearly 64000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka and one million displaced The United States has classified the LTTE as a terrorist group predominantly responsible for the violence, and sees the Sri Lankan government as a cooperative partner in the U.S. war against terrorism