I thought I would share my SS notes on Sri-Lanka with all of you so... Here it is :)

1. Self-revision notes for SS (Case Study of Sri Lanka)
Content:
(1) Background Information
(2) Causes of the Sinhalese-Tamil Conflict
(3) Consequences of the Sinhalese-Tamil Conflict
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
(a) Who Lives In Sri Lanka
Sinhalese Moor Indian Tamil Sri Lankan Tamil
% of Population 82% 8% 4.3% 5.1%
Main Language Sinhala Sinhala & Tamil Tamil Tamil & English
Religion Buddhism Islam Hinduism Hinduism
Origins Indigenous to Sri Descendants of Descendants of Descendants of
Lanka Arab traders who Tamils who Tamils who
migrated to Sri migrated to Sri migrated to Sri
Lanka between Lanka around Lanka around
the 8th and 15th 800BC 300BC
century.
(b) Brief History
1798 – 1948:
British Government
Established a series of cinnamon,
sugar & coffee cultivation followed by
tea & rubber plantations and Graphite
Mining
1948:
Gained Independence on 4th February 1948
Sinhalese Government
New government made up of mainly
Sinhalese. The new government
introduced policies that favoured the
Sinhalese instead.
1972:
Renamed Sri Lanka which means beautiful island in Sinhala

2. CAUSES OF THE SINHALESE-TAMIL CONFLICT:
Factor What is it about?
Citizenship Rights - 1948: Indian Tamils became stateless due to amendment in citizenship clauses
- 1964: Indian Tamils who were stateless received help from India to become
citizens of India again
- This did not legalize till late 1980s and thus, not improving on the situation of the
stateless Indian Tamils
- Citizenship Right Many Tamils Stateless  No basic rights such as
education, jobs housing & voting  Still continued to work on tea plantations 
Significant contribution to Sri Lankan Economy
“Sinhala Only” - Under the British rule, the minority English-educated Tamils were able to occupy
Policy some of the most powerful jobs in the government service.
- Eight years after independence, in 1956, Sinhala was declared as the country‟s
official language.
- Sinhala, not English, was to be used as administrative language
- “Sinhala Only” Policy  Tamils lose jobs or transferred to low-end jobs
Tamils felt discriminated & threatenedRiot/ Join or supported LTTE.
Impact:
- Peaceful demonstration against the Official language Act took place.
- Supporters of the Sinhala language disrupted the demonstration.
- Rioting occurred and hundreds died.
What did the government do?
- July 1958
Pact signed which made Tamil made language of national minority and used for administrative
purposes in areas where there were Tamils
Consequence:
Protests from Sinhalese which resulted in withdrawal of pact in 1958 Violence escalated
- Year 1978
Tamil declared national language in Sri Lankan Constitution and used mainly for administration
Inthe northern and eastern parts of the country as well as an official language.
English used as medium of communication amongst the different groups.

3. Factor What is it about?
University - Before 1970
Admission Criteria Based on merit
Medium of instruction in exams: English
Sinhalese dissatisfied that there were almost as many Tamils as Sinhalese in
the university medical and engineering courses
Did not reflect population proportion in the country
- After 1970
- The government introduced new university admission criteria.
Measures taken to lessen Tamil students in university
- Compulsory for Tamil students to score higher marks than the
Sinhalese students to be able to enter the same university course.
- Fixed number of places in University reserved for Sinhalese students
- Admission no longer based purely on results
- This made it difficult for Tamil youths to enter university.
- Consequence:
- Significant fall in percentage of Tamil students as opposed to rise of Sinhalese
students.
- 1948: 48% Tamil Students
- 1975: 14.2% Tamil Students
- Tamils were very unhappy as they felt that they were treated unfairly.
Resettlement - Indian Tamils lived in highland districts
- Sri Lankan Tamils located mainly in Jaffna &Batticaloa
- Policy in 1950 to resettle poor Sinhalese peasants from densely populated
central and southwestern parts to the Tamil-majority areas
- Consequence:
- Tamils who felt that the Sinhalese were „intruders in their territories‟-
- Sinhalese peasants
- Buddhist monks
- Soldiers who were mainly Sinhalese
- Whole villages were driven out by the Sri Lankan army to be occupied by
Sinhalese settlers
- The new settlers were also provided protection by the army
- Unhappiness amongst Tamils felt marginalized and rejected by the large-scale
government resettlement schemes into these traditional areas of Tamils

4. CONSEQUENCES OF SINHALESE- TAMIL CONFLICT
Type of Example What is it about?
consequence
- Peaceful demands made initially
Armed Conflict 1950: Federal party requested for recognition of federation of
Tamil areas in the country.
Political - 1976: Tamil United Liberation Front formed to fight for independent
state for the Tamils
- Separate state to be known as Tamil Eelam
Rejection by government to the demands
- In 1976, the militant group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
or Tamil Tigers was formed to pressure the government to give in
to their demands
- Sinhalese also showed hostility towards Tamils through violence.
Between 1981-1983 anti-Tamil riots broke out
- During the 1983 riots, 13 Sinhalese soldiers were killed by
the Tamil Tigers
- The riots sparked a long armed conflict between government
forces and Tamil Tigers in the struggle for self-rule in the
north and east of the country.
- The internal war has been on-going for 20 years, and cost
more than 60,000 lives.
- India initially played the role of mediator in response to 1983 riots
Foreign Mediator: neutral party who acts as peacemaker to resolve
Intervention conflicts
- However, peace talks between Sinhalese and Tamils (initiated by
India) FAILED
- June 1987: Indian government decided to send food supplies and
petroleum to help the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.
- BUT Sri Lankan navy turned them away
- Indian Air Force decided to send their supplies through air,
resulting in violation of Sri Lankan airspace
- July 1987: To resolve conflict with India over the abovementioned
incident, peace accord was signed.
It included:
Ceasefire between Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan forces
Tamil Tigers to surrender all their arms to Indian
peacekeeping troops
Merging of northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka where
Tamils are dominant group
Peace Keeping was not Successful:
- Tamil Tigers failed to abide to the agreement to surrender their
weapons
- Indian troops took over Tamil-dominated Jaffna
- Confrontations are between Indian troops and Tamil Tigers from
then onwards

5. Factor Example What is it about?
- Riots of July 1983 left many factory workers, plantation and self-
employed jobless
Unemployment E.g. destroying their workplaces by vandalism or burning them down
- Crime rate in the country rose as a large number of Sinhalese took
part in vandalism, looting and burning of their workplaces
Economic
Loss of - Investments play a vital role in the economic growth of Sri Lanka
investment - However, riots in the country led to fall in investments due to the
from other instability
countries
- Tourism is another major component of the economy in Sri Lanka
Fall in tourist - Riotsloss of jobs fall of economy
Numbers After the riots, there was a large fall in tourism in the country which
resulted in loss of jobs and fall in the economy.
- Sri Lankan Tamils driven out of their homeland
Social Loss of - Large-scale displacement of Tamils (in July 1983, many Tamils fled
homeland to Tamil Nadu)
- In 1990s, High Security Zones (HSZ) were set up by Sri Lankan
army to contain LTTE
- In 1995, many Tamils fled their homes when the Sri Lankan army
moved into Jaffna to take on the LTTE.
- Today, many Tamils still live in overcrowded conditions in refugee
camps or with relatives and friends