Daily Reading 16th of May

Sri Lanka endured decades of violence prior to the Easter Sunday bombings

Some analysts have a theory about what might have triggered the terrorist attack

On Easter Sunday, a series of coordinated bomb attacks claimed nearly 300 lives in Sri Lanka. It served as a grim reminder for many of the nation’s recent history of violence — a history that Sri Lankans had hoped was behind them.

The island nation of 22 million just off India’s southeastern coast has grappled with intense conflict and bloodshed for decades, primarily stemming from a civil war between the Sinhalese Buddhist government and militant fighters, along with separatists (phần tử ly khai) from the minority Tamil community who introduced modern-day suicide attacks.

However, the Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, and other cities did not follow these historical fault lines. Instead, the victims were predominantly Christians attending church services and tourists, including at least four from the US, staying in hotels. It marks a tragic and unsettling conclusion to the island's relatively peaceful recent decade.

Many aspects of the event remain shrouded in mystery. Firstly, no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, despite Sri Lankan authorities attributing it to a small Islamist faction. Moreover, the reasons behind the coordinated assaults on the country's western and eastern coasts remain unclear.

Concerns now revolve around Sri Lanka potentially entering a new phase of violence — a development that lacks a clear explanation at this point.

“It's a perplexing and unsettling turn of events,” remarked Alyssa Ayres, a South Asia specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. “There are numerous unanswered questions surrounding this incident.”

Sri Lanka’s civil war, briefly explained

The impact of Sri Lanka’s civil war, spanning from 1983 to 2009, on the country cannot be overstated. Its aftermath continues to affect millions daily.

The primary tensions emerged during the British colonial period, when the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese majority felt marginalized compared to the mostly Hindu Tamil minority. After independence in 1948, Sinhalese policies further marginalized Tamils, making Sinhala the national language and Buddhism the state religion.

These grievances led the predominantly northern and eastern Tamil population to resist, most notably through Velupillai Prabhakaran, who in 1972 founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, known as the Tamil Tigers. The group sought Tamil independence from Sri Lanka.

The first major attack by the Tamil Tigers occurred on July 23, 1983, when they ambushed an army convoy outside Jaffna, a city on the island’s northern coast. This incident, which killed 13 soldiers, ignited a civil war, despite efforts by Indian peacekeepers to quell the violence.

That era witnessed some of the most prominent terrorist attacks in recent history. In 1991, a suicide bomber associated with the Tamil Tigers assassinated India’s then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Two years later, Sri Lanka’s president was also killed — although no organization claimed responsibility, suspicion primarily points to the involvement of the terrorist group. Despite both sides signing a ceasefire agreement in 2002, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, a key figure in peace talks, was assassinated in 2005. Numerous other breaches of the ceasefire occurred.

These assassinations, coupled with the failure of several peace negotiations, prompted the Sri Lankan army to fully invade the north — the heart of the Tamil Tiger stronghold — and perpetrate severe atrocities such as sexual violence against women.

In May 2009, the military had complete control of the island and had also killed Prabhakaran, formally ending the conflict. It’s unclear how many died during the entire war, but the United Nations estimates that 40,000 civilians perished (bỏ mạng) in the conflict’s final few months alone.

While the conflict has ended, its aftermath continues to impact Sri Lanka because the populace has yet to come to terms with the events.

“A huge swath of the electorate vehemently (một cách kịch liệt) opposes accountability efforts,” Kate Cronin-Furman, a human rights lawyer, wrote for the Washington Post in May 2016. “The Tamils are a marginalized minority … and the majority Sinhala-Buddhist community venerates (sùng kính, tôn kính) the military for defeating the insurgency — and interprets calls for accountability as an attack on their heroes.”

Moreover, the civil war did not follow clear ethnic boundaries. Muslims, Christians, and other minority groups were recruited by both sides, experts inform me, resulting in their ongoing marginalization. In essence, the wounds of the past have not healed but have instead deepened across multiple communities. “Identities somewhat hardened during and after the civil war,” says Sameer Lalwani, a South Asia expert at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC.

And this leads us to the attack that occurred on Sunday.

“A new battleground”

Once again, it remains unclear what exactly motivated terrorists — believed to be the lesser-known Islamist group National Thowheeth Jama’ath — to carry out bombings at churches and hotels across Sri Lanka this week.

However, one hypothesis experts have proposed is that some Muslims, who constitute only 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population, have become increasingly isolated and discontented with the country’s current state of affairs.

There is a significant underlying cause for this: The Sinhalese and Tamils continue to primarily focus on each other — both positively and negatively — while largely neglecting the needs of other parts of the country. This has resulted in many issues faced by minority groups being overlooked, leading many Muslims and Christians to feel increasingly marginalized, according to experts.

Furthermore, recent interactions between Buddhists and Muslims have deteriorated, largely because some Buddhists perceive Muslims as a potential security threat to the nation. Last year, these concerns spilled over into public incidents when Sinhalese mobs attacked numerous Muslim-owned businesses and even a mosque. At least one person was reported killed in these events.

Muslim leaders in Sri Lanka have consistently cautioned about radicalization (sự cực đoan hoá) within their community. “When a community feels cornered, it becomes vulnerable to external influences,” Rauf Hakeem, former Sri Lankan justice minister and leader of the country’s main Muslim party, remarked in July 2014. Deteriorating relations with the dominant ethnic group will undoubtedly exacerbate tensions.

Thus, it’s plausible that a small faction from this marginalized community, disgruntled with their nation, may have received assistance to execute a significant attack. The selection of targets, particularly hotels frequented by Westerners, and the use of suicide bombings have raised suspicions of external support for the perpetrators.

However, targeting churches in working-class neighborhoods complicates this narrative. “It’s not like they exclusively targeted the elite,” Lalwani explained. “If terrorism is about sending messages, this incident sends a confusing one.”

The reasons behind the attack may become clearer in the hours, days, or weeks ahead. For now, analysts will closely monitor Sri Lanka for indications of a return to darker times.

“The attacks on Christian worshippers indicate a new chapter of violence in Sri Lanka’s history,” Ayres wrote for Axios on Sunday.

Terminology

ambush (v): execute a surprise attack from a concealed position.

=> Ex: They were ambushed and taken prisoner by the enemy.

ceasefire (n): an order to stop fighting, typically one during which peace talks take place. The two countries finally reached a ceasefire agreement.

convoy (n): a group of vehicles or ships traveling together, often accompanied by armed troops, warships, or other vehicles for protection.

=> Ex: The President always travel in a convoy.

coordinate (v): align the various components of a complex activity or organization to ensure efficiency and harmony.

=> Ex: You will coordinate with other departments on a variety of projects.

ignite (v): trigger or intensify (an emotion or a situation).

=> Ex: The insulting words ignited new fury in him.

mosque (n): a place of Muslim worship.

=> Ex: At 210 metres, the Hassan II in Morocco is officially recognized as the tallest mosque in the world.

perish (v): experience death, often in a sudden, violent, or untimely manner.

=> Ex: A great part of the army perished of hunger and disease.

radicalize (v): induce someone to adopt extreme or progressive stances on political or social matters.

=> Ex: I’m trying to mobilize and radicalize the liberals.

separatist (n): an individual who advocates for the separation of a specific group from a larger entity based on ethnicity, religion, or gender.

=> Ex: 2014 will be a decisive year for separatist movements in Europe.

subjugate (v): bring under dominion or control, especially through conquest.

=> Ex: The invaders had soon subjugated most of the native population.

vehement (a): demonstrating strong emotions; powerful, impassioned, or intense.

=> Ex: Her voice was low but vehement.

venerate (v): regard with profound respect.