Causes of conflict in Sri Lanka British colonial rule During the British colonial rule, the Sri Lankans

passed many laws that favoured the Indian Tamils but did not favour the Sinhalese As a result, after the British left, Sinhalese came to power and passed many laws that only favoured the Sinhalese For example, before 1970, university admission exams were in English and merit based. After 1970, the university exams were no longer merit based This caused the conflict as Sinhalese wanted to make use of the chance to get back at the Tamils and let them have a taste of their own medicine. Hence they treated the Tamils like how the Tamils treated Sinhalese during British colonial rule Tamils were treated unfairly and were unhappy tension

Sinhala only policy During the British rule, the language of administration was English. Many English-educated Tamils held powerful jobs in the government service However, in 1956, the official language act was passed and Sinhala became the official language of SL Tamils in the government service had 3 years to learn Sinhala or be dismissed This made it hard for Tamils to find jobs or get promoted The Tamils held a peaceful demonstration against the language act but it was disrupted by supporters of the Sinhala language. Violence broke out This caused conflict because Tamils livelihood were affected when they could not get jobs Also, the tamils were unfairly treated by the government and resented the government Hence they joined the tamil tigers in fighting against the government In addition, Tamils realized that violence was the only way to gain their rights since a peaceful demonstration did not work out previously University admission criteria Before 1970, the university admissions test was in English and the admission was merit-based. Hence many English-educated Tamils did well and got into good courses The proportion of Tamils entering university was higher than their proportion in the country The proportion of Tamils entering good courses such as medicine and engineering courses was almost the same as the Sinhalese although the percentage of tamils in the country was only 18% However, after 1970, the university admissions test was no longer in English, but Sinhala and the admissions were not merit-based. Tamils had to score higher marks than Sinhalese to get into a course A fixed number of places were reserved for the Sinhalese too. This led to conflict as Tamils were unhappy about this new university admission criteria This meant that Tamils were deprived of good education and deprived of good future job opportunities and this would affect the livelihood of the Tamils Hence, the Tamils were unhappy about it and tensions rose between the Tamils and government as Tamils resented the government and therefore this led to conflict Resettlement policy The government resettled poor Sinhalese peasants into Tamil areas The government moved poor Sinhalese peasants from densely populated southwestern and central areas to Tamil areas. The government gave the peasants land to live and grow padi on However, the Buddhist monks and Sri Lankan army also moved into the Tamil area

This greatly angered the Tamils as they felt that the government was bent on forcing them out of the country The peasants competed with the Tamils for businesses. This led to conflict as the Tamils were unhappy and felt that the government did that deliberately against them Hence it led to tension and conflict Citizenship rights In 1956?? The government passed the Ceylon citizenship act Only citizenship was granted to those born in Sri Lanka or those whose forefathers were born in Sri Lanka As a result, many Indians found themselves stateless These Indians contributed so much to the Sri Lankan economy but yet they did not have basic rights such as housing In 1964, India decided to help these stateless Tamils Sri Lanka made an agreement with India for a certain number of Indians to return to India while the rest are to be granted Sri Lankan citizenship However, this was not carried out fully due to riots?? In the end, not all the Indians were granted citizenship and 100000 indians were stateless. This made the Indians very angry as they had contributed so much to the country yet they were not recognized as citizens Hence this led to unhappiness and tension and conflict

Impact of conflict in Sri Lanka Causes of conflict in Northern Ireland Divided loyalties Protestants saw themselves as British and did not want a union with the Republic of Ireland as they feared that a Catholic government may not be tolerant of their beliefs. They wished to see the country remain part of the United Kingdom Catholics saw themselves as Irish and wanted a union with the Republic of Ireland Catholics deeply resented the history of the English conquest where catholics were either killed or treated harshly This resulted in conflict as the Protestants and catholics did not see themselves as one country Different beliefs and loyalties formed the basis for tension They were intolerant of each other and were unwilling to compromise for one another Different beliefs resulted in distrust and misunderstandings and tension rose and led to conflict Unequal housing allocation The council that allocated houses was mainly made up of protestants Catholics felt that the housing allocation was unfair towards them Large catholic families had to wait a long time for a house For example, a single protestant woman got her house faster than a family of catholics Also, in certain places, more houses were allocated to protestants than catholics This resulted in conflict as Catholics were deprived of a very basic need which is housing Protestants were given preferential treatment They were extremely unhappy at how unfairly treated they were and they resented the government Unequal job opportunities It was more difficult for catholics than protestants to find jobs, esp government jobs More protestant than catholic in senior positions in public and private sector More protestant than catholic civil servants For example, if a catholic and a protestant that have equal academic qualifications, the protestant would most likely be given the job, instead of the catholic

This made catholics unhappy as catholics lost out to the protestant in jobs that have better prospects and pay Some do not have a job and income and this greatly threatened their livelihood They felt discriminated and that the government was biased against them They felt that government should not allow religion as a valid reason for rejection of employment Hence they were very unhappy and resented the government Lack of voting rights Before 1969, only those who owned houses and businesses were entitled to vote in the local government elections Each household is only entitled to 2 vote while companies are entitled votes according to their company size Protestants owned many larger companies and ended up with more votes Catholic companies are usually poorer and they were entitled less votes Voting districts were drawn up to include more protestants than catholics As a result, protestants were usually elected in the government more than catholics This made catholics unhappy as the lack of voting rights allowed more protestants than catholcis to be in the government and catholics will not be represented in the government The voices of catholics will not be heard and their needs will not be met Hence they were very unhappy with the government and this led to tension and conflict Lack of social interaction Protestant and catholic children study in different schools Protestant children usually study in public schools that only consist of protestant children Catholic children have to study at private schools Only a minority attend integrated schools where both catholic and protestant children attend lessons together In protestant schools, they were taught british history and british sports such as cricket, rugby In catholic schools, they were taught irish history and irish sports, irish language and culture Protestant children and catholic children hardly have interaction opportunities Also, since 17th century, protestants and catholics do not live in the same residential area A particular residential area may only consist of either Protestants or catholics In a 1991 census in Belfast, results show that 63% of the people in Belfast live in areas that only consist of either protestants or conflict In 2004, the percentage increased to 66% This resulted in conflict as protestants and catholics do not interact and get to understand each other It will only lead to more hostile relationships and distrust Lack of interaction, no chance to resolve their differences Learning different things at school and not interacting makes generations of protestant and catholic children grow up being hostile to each other, not trusting each other

Impact of conflict in Northern Ireland