Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan News

Country Profile
Sri Lanka(Known until 1972 as Ceylon) officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in the Northern Indian Ocean in South Asia
Capital                                   Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte(suburb of Colombo)

Currency                               Sri Lankan Rupee
Official Language                   Sinhala,Tamil
Population                             20.27 Million(2012 Census)


History

In 1796 Great Britain occupied the coastal areas of the island which they called Ceylon

In 1815 Kandy was occupied by the British, in the second Kandyan War finally ending Sri Lanka's independence.Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the last native monarch of Sri Lanka was exiled to India

^{In 1833,the whole island of Sri Lanka united under the British Administration}

In 1919, major Sinhalese and Tamil political organisations united to form the Ceylon National Congress, under the leadership of Ponnambalam Arunachalam pressing Britain for more constitutional reforms

In 1931,British grant the right to vote and introduce power sharing with Sinhalese-run cabinet.

In 1937, Tamil leader G G Ponnambalam demanded a 50–50 representation (50% for the Sinhalese and 50% for other ethnic groups) in the State Council

The Soulbury Commission ushered in Dominion status and Independence to Sri Lanka in 1948.Don Stephen Senanayake(Oct 20,1884 -March 22,1952) became the first Prime Minister of Ceylon

 

A countrywide popular demonstration against withdrawal of the rice ration, known as Hartal 1953, resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake(June19,1911 -April 13,1973)

In 1956 S W R D Bandaranaike was elected as Prime Minister on wave of Sinhalese Nationalism. Sinhala made sole official language by the 'Sinhala Only Act' and other measures introduced to bolster Sinhalese and Buddhist feeling.

The Federal Party (FP) launched a movement of non-violent resistance (satyagraha) against the bill, which prompted Bandaranaike to reach an agreement (Bandaranaike -Chelvanayakam Pact) with S J V Chelvanayakam, leader of the FP, to resolve the looming ethnic conflict

PM S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (left) and S.J.V. Chelvanayagam, leader of the Thamil Arasu Katchi, shake hands after signing what came to be known as the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact on July 26, 1957

However the pact proved ineffective in the face of ongoing protests by opposition and the Buddhist clergy.

In 1959 Bandaranaike was assassinated by an extremist Buddhist Monk

In 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka Freedom Party(April 17,1916 -Oct 10,2000)the widow of late S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, took office as prime minister and became world's first female head of govt.

She served 3 terms as PM -1960–65, 1970–77 and 1994–2000



Politics and Govt
Sri Lanka is a Presidential Representative Democratic Republic where the President of Sri Lanka is both the head of State and Head of Govt and of a multi-party system.
Executive Power is vested in the Govt
Legislative Power vests with both the Govt and the Parliament

President of Sri Lanka
The President is directly elected for a 6-year term and the President may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of Parliament with the concurrence of the Supreme Court.The President appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers responsible to Parliament. The President's deputy is the Prime Minister, who leads the ruling party in Parliament
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
The PM is the functional Head of the cabinet of Sri Lanka.The Prime Minister acts as the President's deputy, acting on his/her behalf in his/her absence or incapacitation, and is the first in the line of succession.

Parliament of Sri Lanka
The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a six year term, 196 members elected in multi-seat constituencies and 29 by proportional representation.The president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve Parliament.

Sri Lankan Civil War(1983-2009)

• The civil war arise out of ethnic tensions between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority in the northeast.Beginning on July 23,1983, there was an intermittent insurgency against the Sri lankan Govt by the  LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, a separatists militant organisation which fought to create an Independent Tamil  state called Tamil Eelam in the north and the east of Sri Lanka

• The tactics employed by the LTTE against the actions of Government forces resulted in their listing as a terrorist organisation in 32 countries, including the United States, India, Canada and the member nations of the EU

• Most of the fighting took place in the north. But the conflict also penetrated the heart of Sri Lankan society

• International concern was raised about the fate of civilians caught up in the conflict zone during the final stages of the war 

• After two decades of fighting and four failed tries at peace talks, including the unsuccessful deployment of the Indian Army,the IPKF from 1987 to 1990, a lasting negotiated settlement to the conflict appeared possible when a cease-fire was declared in December 2001, and a ceasefire agreement signed with international mediation in 2002

• Hostilities renewed in late 2005 and the conflict began to escalate until the Sri lankan Govt.launched a number of major military offensives against the LTTE beginning in July 2006, driving the LTTE out of the entire eastern province of Sri lanka 

• In 2007, the Sri Lankan Govt shifted its offensive to the north of the country, and formally announced its withdrawal from the ceasefire agreement on Jan 2, 2008, alleging that the LTTE violated the agreement.Since then, aided by the destruction of a number of large arms smuggling vessels that belonged to the LTTE, and an international crackdown on the funding for the Tamil Tigers, the government took control of the entire area previously controlled by the Tamil Tigers, including their de facto capital Kilinochi,  main military base Mullaitheevu and the entire A 9 Highway leading the LTTE to finally admit defeat on May 17,2009

Following the end of the  civil war -

• Sri Lankan Govt claimed being the first country in the modern world to eradicate terrorism on its own soil
• Pro-LTTE Tamil national Alliance dropped its demand for a Separate State in favour of a Federal solution

•  In May 2010,Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the ''Lessons Learnt &Reconciliation Commission(LLRC) to assess the conflict between the time of the ceasefire agreement in 2002 and the defeat of the LTTE in 2009

• A UN report published in 2011 said both sides(Sri Lankan Army and LTTE) in the conflict committed war crimes against civilians

Sri Lanka 'war crimes': Main allegations

1)Civilian Deaths 

In March 2009, the UN said it feared actions by both sides might amount to war crimes. The UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Navi Pillay described the level of civilian deaths as "truly shocking", and warned it could reach "catastrophic" levels. 

The government was accused of repeatedly shelling safe zones set up to protect civilians. The rebels were accused of holding civilians as human shields and firing on those who tried to flee.
The UN estimated that up to 7,000 people had died by the end of April. The latest report now says it believes tens of thousands of civilians were killed in that final stage, adding that most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by government shelling. 

Both denied the allegations

2)Conduct of War
Sri Lankan Govt was accused of using heavy weaponry and shelling damage in a government-designated
''Safe Zone''for civilians.
The LTTE were primarily criticised for allegedly using civilians as Human Shields

3)Civilian Ordeal
In the midst of the fighting,civilians lived under constant gunfire, intense shelling and an acute shortage of water, food and medicine.