Robert N. Kearney

Sri Lanka in 1984: The Politics of Communal Violence

Communal confrontation and escalating violence dominated the political life of Sri Lanka throughout 1984. Tensions between the Sinhalese ethnic majority and the Sri Lanka Tamil minority arose from a decade-old movement for a separate Tamil state on the island, to be called Eelam. Although savage communal riots such as those that jarred the nation in July 1983 did not recur, the conflict was marked by a sharp increase in the level of violence. A Tamil underground guerrilla-or terrorist, depending on ones perspective-movement stepped up its attacks on government personnel and facilities, and government security forces responded with actions of widening scope and severity. The heightened violence was marked by accusations of atrocities by both sides. Relations between the governments of Sri Lanka and India were strained by years end as a result of Sri Lankan accusations regarding separatist guerrilla training camps in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and efforts of the Sri Lankan armed services to interdict movement between Tamil Nadu and northern Sri Lanka.

The New Political Crises of Ceylon

When the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Government was installed in Ceylon in July 1960, there appeared to be excellent prospects for an abatement of the crises and instability that had plagued Ceylonese politics during the preceding years. Mrs. Bandaranaikes S.L.F.P. (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) had recovered from near disintegration and secured a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. The Government also enjoyed the promise of support from the two largest parties of Ceylons fragmented Left. Leaders of the islands large Tamil minority, optimistic of a settlement of outstanding communal disputes, offered expressions of good will and encouragement. The horror of the communal riots of 1958 and the shock of the assassination of Mrs. Bandaranaikes husband, the then Prime Minister, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, in 1959, had sobered the Sinhalese-speaking, rural lower-middle and lower classes, thereby offering hope for communal tranquillity. It had been these Sinhalese who in 1956 had suddenly discovered their political strength and shattered the monopoly of political power previously held by a small, affluent, westernized elite. After the March 1960 election produced a deadlock and a second election was called, even the S.L.F.P.s opponents grew weary of crisis and instability. Following the July election victory of the S.L.F.P., Mrs. Bandaranaike, who had campaigned for her party but had not herself sought a parliamentary seat, was appointed to the Senate, Ceylons feeble upper house, and named Prime Minister. The prospects for reasonable stability seemed good. Within less than two years, however, crises as serious as those faced by the S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Government had rocked the country, culminating in an attempt by a group of military and police officers to overthrow the Government. The countrys economic problems remained unsolved, and almost unnoticed amid the communal and social conflicts. With falling prices for Ceylons three major exports, tea, rubber, and coconuts, the countrys external assets plummeted to the lowest level in many years. Growing costs of social services and consumer subsidies and regular budget deficits contributed to a steady rise in the cost of living. Unemployment and under-employment mounted under the impact of economic stagnation combined with one of the highest rates of population growth in the world.

NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE POLITICS OF CEYLON

New political trends and a significant shift in governmental policy emanating from the March 1965 election continued to unfold in Ceylon through 1966. The election resulted in defeat for a governing coalition composed of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which in opposition has also included the Ceylon Communist Party. A Government was formed by United National Party (UNP) leader Dudley Senanayake, the fourth orderly transfer of power between political opponents in Ceylon since independence.