By Chris Slee
April 25, 2009 -- The Sri Lankan government claims to be on the verge of totally defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE — also known as the Tamil Tigers). The LTTE has fought for more than 30 years for an independent state for the Tamil people on the northern and eastern parts of the island.
The roots of the conflict lie in a long history of state-sponsored
oppression of the Tamils, which eventually led some Tamil youth to take
up arms. When the British granted independence to Sri Lanka in 1948, power
was handed to politicians drawn mainly from the upper classes of the
majority Sinhala ethnic group. These politicians used racism as a tool to divide the working class.
Second-class citizens
Tamil plantation workers were deprived of citizenship rights. Sinhalese
was declared the sole official language of Sri Lanka, making Tamil
language speakers second-class citizens. Knowledge of Sinhalese became
necessary for public service jobs, excluding most Tamils. Discrimination was also applied in education.
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