ECE 510

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• ECE 510
• KAVITHA KRISHNAPPA
• PORTLAND STATE UNIVERISTY

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AGENDA

• INTRODUCTION
• ETHNIC CONFLICT WITH THE LTTE
• ROLE OF INDIAN PEACE KEEPING FORCE IN SRI LANKA
• ROLE OF SAARC IN MANTAINING PEACE IN THIS ISLAND
  NATION
  
• BUDDHISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE COUNTRY
• SRI LANKAN ECONOMY

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INTRODUCTION

• Sri lanka is an island nation situated in the
  Indian ocean and has many nicknames like
  Serendib, Teardrop of India, Resplendent Isle
  
• Even though the official language is Sinhalese
  Tamil presence is felt everywhere
  
• It was known to the Greeks, Romans and Persians
  .
  
• It is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country
• Main religion being Buddhism.
• Many lowland Sinhalese people converted to
  Christianity during the Portuguese rule during
  the 16th century.
  
• A mixed Dutch-Sinhalese people are a legacy of
  the Dutch rule
  
• Gained independence from the British rule on 4th
  February 1948
  

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INTRODUCTION
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NATIONAL FLAG

• The present day Sri Lankan flag is an
  improvisation of the civil standard of its last
  king
  
• The lion represents the Sinhala race
• The four bo - leaves Buddhism and the four
  virtues
  
• The vertical stripes of orange and green
  represents Hinduism and Muslim

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INTRODUCTION FACT FILE

• Total Population 19 million
• Literacy rate 92
• Per capita GDP US 900
• Srilankas business environment ranks 11th in the
  region and 42nd in the world.
  
• Population density 289 per sq Km
• Annual growth rate 1.37
• Life expectancy 67.5 years
• Ethnic groups
• Sinhalese 74
• Tamil 18
• Muslims 7
• Others( Burghers, Eurasians, Malay )
  1
  
• Rice is the staple food of this island nation and
  is cultivated as a wetland crop

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POLITICAL TURMOIL

• In 1960 under the rule of Sirimavo Bandaranaike,
  the worlds first elected female head of
  government, Srilanka became a republic, Free
  Sovereign and Independent Republic of Srilanka.
• Her socialist policies of nationalization led to
  a cut-off of United States aid which led to
  economic crisis
  
• The oil cartels boycotted the country when
  Bandaranaike nationalized the countrys oil
  companies
  
• Another cause for its economic crisis for the
  declining market for its traditional commodity
  exports like coffee, tea and rubber
  
• A five year plan was implemented to achieve
  industrial development
  
• Progress was made in the fields of heavy
  industry, automotive spares and electronics
  

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POLITICAL TURMOIL

• The five year plan suffered a setback due a
  shortage in foreign exchange which was
  exacerbated by the oil crisis in 1974 combined
  with drought which affected its staple crop,
  rice
• In 1971 a group called the Peoples Liberation
  Front (JVP) launched a rebellion motivated by
  anti-Tamil nationalism
  
• Tamil nationalists responded to this rebellion as
  they felt their independence and human rights
  threatened
  
• This led to the formation of many Tamil
  separatist groups demanding an independent Tamil
  state called Eelam and the country began sliding
  towards a civil war
• In 1978, Jayewardene introduced a new
  constitution making Srilanka a presidential
  Democratic socialist republic with himself as
  the executive president and leaving the Tamil
  United Liberation Front as the main opposition.
  This led to dangerous ethnic divide in the
  Srilankan politics

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LIBERATION OF TAMIL TIGERS EELAM

• LTTE was founded on May 5th 1976 by Vellupillai
  Prabhakaran
  
• Its members mostly included students who felt
  their human rights being violated and treated
  unfairly with the grading and in admissions to
  degree programs
• Their first military operation was the
  assassination of the mayor of Jaffna and looting
  of several banks to fund their operation
  
• Their actions resulted in martial law in Jaffna
  and the LTTE targeted the military by killing 13
  Sri Lankan soldiers
  
• Under the leadership of Prabhakaran it is a
  highly disciplined group with a strong
  ideological base
  
• All the recruits wear a cyanide capsule around
  their neck to be swallowed in case they are
  captured
  
• It is also notorious for recruiting children
  under the age of 15 to fight in combats
  

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LIBERATION OF TAMIL TIGERS EELAM
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LIBERATION OF TAMIL TIGERS EELAM

• There are some 2,000 children in various ranks in
  the LTTE known as the baby brigade
  
• LTTE have launched several attacks to
  continuously make their presence felt
  
• LTTE terrorist attack on Colombo airport
• LTTE bomb attack on central bank, Colombo, in
  which 55 civilians were killed and 1,500 more
  were severely wounded
  
• LTTE also carries out a number of civilian duties
  in the regions where it has significant control

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ROLE OF INDIAN PEACE KEEPING FORCE

• India became involved in the ethnic conflict in
  Srilanka during the mid 1980s
  
• The Indo Srilankan Peace accord signed on July
  29th, 1987 led to the formation of the Indian
  Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to oversee a ceasefire
  and moderate disarmament of the military groups
• The IPKF increasingly became a partisan force
  fighting against the Tamils
  
• During the three year involvement from 1987 to
  1990 India lost 1,500 troops and around 4,500
  more were wounded
  
• Even though India supported both sides in
  different ways the assassination of Indian Prime
  Minister Rajiv Gandhi swung the pendulum to the
  other extreme and support for LTTE dropped to
  near zero

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CONTINUING TENSIONS

• Even to this day no concrete ceasefire has been
  reached between the Srilankan army and the Tamil
  Tigers
  
• No further progress has been made in achieving a
  political or a military solution
  
• Twenty years of civil conflict had done immense
  damage to Srilankan society and economy
  
• The island nation has gone from being called
  Paradise on Earth to Island of Death
  
• The LTTE has a strong hold on north and east
  Srilanka
  
• Srilankan troops continue to fight by sinking 11
  tiger boats in North Eastern sea including 5
  suicide boats and killing at least 75 Tigers
  

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PRESENT DAY SRI LANKA
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SRILANKAN ECONOMY

• Sri Lankan economic prospects depend on the
  political stability and the internal security of
  the nation
  
• Around 20 percent of the population are employed
  in agriculture and the principal crops include
  rice, tea, rubber and coconut
  
• Tea is the prominent crop in the plantation
  sector and is Sri lankas largest export crop
  
• It is also home to variety of tropical fruits and
  vegetables
  

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DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
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SAARC SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL
COOPEARTION
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SAARC SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL
COOPEARTION

• Its the largest regional organization in the
  world with 1.47 billion people
  
• Founded in 1985 its an economic and political
  organization of eight countries in Southern Asia
  
  
• Its members include India, Nepal, Srilanka,
  Maldives, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and
  Afghanistan
  
• The countries agreed on five areas of
  co-operation
  
• - Agriculture and Rural
  development
  
• - Telecommunications, Science,
  Technology and
  
• Meteorology
• - Health and Population
  Activities
  
• - Transport
• - Human Resource Development

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INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM

• Religion and ethnicity plays a very important
  role not only in the Srilankan way of life but
  also in its politics
  
• Buddhism is a way of achieving enlightenment and
  peace in this divided society
  
• Srilanka is also home to some of the most
  spectacular world heritage sites in the world
  

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REFERENCES

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sri_Lanka
  
• http//www.lankalibrary.com/
• http//countrystudies.us/sri-lanka/http//countrys
  tudies.us/sri-lanka
  
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAARC
• www.infolanka.com
• www.pbs.org
• www.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Sri_Lanka
• http//www.forut.no/index.php/20404-1