The Role of Language and Education of Tamil Separatism During the Sri-Lankan Civil War

Abstract

Due to extreme cases of arbitrary and widespread executions, suicide bombings, and human rights violations, Sri Lanka is currently plagued by memories and experiences from the lengthy ethnic strife that lasted for almost three decades. The Liberation of Tamil Tigers (LTTE) and the state administration, which was dominated by Sinhalese, fought each other most of the time. The conflict between the Tamil minority and the Sinhala majority is mostly seen as the result of long-standing interethnic hostility. Although there are ethnic disparities between the communities, the root causes of this conflict are far more complicated and generally relate to the nation's pre-colonial, colonial, and post-independence histories.After 1972, indiscriminate practises, including standardisation policy and quota system for admittance into universities based on language and pro-Sinhala policies in the government sector, set the stage for Tamil demand for a separate traditional homeland. As a result, this paper will examine language politics and policies such as the Sinhala-only act, as well as policies such as standardisation and quotas, in order to better comprehend Tamil separatism during the Sri Lankan civil war. Since language is a key component in the maintenance and preservation of cultural and ethnic identity, in this case the language became the sole marker of the ethnographic boundary between them, the politicisation of the issue of official language during the various phases of the war proved to be its most potent manifestation. Tamils were discriminated against in school as a result of the linguistic issue.

Keywords- Language, Education, Tamil Separatism