SRI LANKA CRISIS
BY-ISHMEET KAUR MAC
Sri Lanka was ruled by the british dominance between 1815 and 1948.In 1948, it finally became an independent democratic country.
Sri Lanka followed a government based on majority of the population. After 1955, various influences of political and economic dissatisfaction congregated. Also a new Sinhalese nationalism gained popularity (Sinhala speakers consisted about 74% of the total population).
In the 1956 elections the UNP was defeated, and Bandaranaike’s Sri Lanka freedom party (SLFP) came to power. In 1956 Sinhala Only Bill was passed which made Sinhalese the official language, and it took measures to encourage Buddhism and for Sinhalese culture. The governments followed special policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for university positions and government jobs.
By 1977 unemployment rise to about 15 percent. In July the SLFP was defeated by a reorganized UNP under the leadership of JR Jayawardene , who became prime minister.
In 1980s political discontent soared , as groups representing the Tamil minority moved toward systematized insurrection. Also, Tamil bases were built up in jungle areas of the northern and eastern parts of the island and increasingly in the southern districts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu , where Tamil groups established official and informal support. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)was the strongest of these, but here were other competing groups, which were unreceptive to each other.
The Sri Lankan government responded to the discontent by deploying forces to the north and the east, but the outbreak of rebellion irritated communal passions.
In July 1983 there were widespread prepared anti-Tamil riots in Columbia and elsewhere. Sinhalese mobs systematically attacked Tamils and devastated Tamil property, and the riots forced refugees to move inside the island and from Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu.
The Jayawardene government faced immediate resurrection of Sinhalese militancy by the JVP and became interested towards initiatives by the Indian government.
After some negotiations, an unity signed between India and Sri Lanka on July 29, 1987, accessible the Tamils an independent combined province in the northwest within a united Sri Lanka. In late 1987, Tamil was also recognized as an official language by constitutional amendment .The unity provided for the introduction of an Indian Peace Keeping force (IPKF) to enforce the terms of the agreement.Meanwhile the Sri Lankan government, the LTTE, and the IPKF affected over implementation of the accord, and the LTTE resumed its aggressive, this time against the IPKF, which was trying to deactivate it.
In 2005 Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president UPFA.
The conflict between the Tamil rebels and the government raged and also in 2006 the LTTE was declared a radical organization by the Eurpeon Union. In January 2008 the government the 2002 was unrestricted cease-fire agreement, and the fighting increased .
Since 1980s, The number of civil-war-related deaths in Sri Lanka was estimated at between 70,000 and 80,000. The civil war ended in 2009.
The economy showed growth and though some were concerned about expanding debt and over dependent on foreign investment. The government continued to enjoy the strong support of the country’s large Sinhalese majority, which was strengthened by a thread of UPFA victories in provincial council elections in 2012.
A key development project was an expensive port built in the district of Hambantota and that was funded by loans from China(low returns on investment).
In April 2015 Parliament amended the constitution to re-establish the presidential (two term limit that had been removed in 2010).
In 2016, the country’s enormous debt led to a balance-of-payments crisis. The government arranged a $1.5 billion bailout(financial assistance) with the IMF and set out to increase its tax revenue. They had difficulties in repaying the debt and and found the situation was falling more indebted to China.
In 2017 Sri Lanka let its newly built Hambantota port to China for 99 years.In 2018 it accepted a $1 billion loan from China to help repay maturation loans.
As the economy was struggling to improve the growth amongst the debt crisis and as political tensions prepared Sirisena fired his prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa was appointed in his place in October 2018. Ranil Wickremesinghe refused to step down. Sirisena, he attempted to dissolve Parliament and call for early elections as he got that idea that Ranil didn’t have much support.Election were held and the votes were rejected by Rajapaksa.In December after the Supreme Court stated that Sirisena cannot dissolve then Rajapaksa stepped down to avoid further deadlock and ultimately Sirisena reappointed Ranil Wickremesinghe.
After several months were worst violence that was experienced since the civil war. On April 21, 2019 on the Easter morning there were eight explosions in the vicinity of churches and hotels, that left hundreds dead and hundreds more wounded.
On 22 April , there was another blast that took place near a church ,while other explosive devices were discovered and neutralized before being detonated. Establishments, who already warned about the attack two weeks earlier they were identified and known Islamist militant group as the arranger of the attacks. The attacks planning also let to a suspicion that international institutions were also involved. In the days that followed, the Islamic state in Iraq and the levant (ISIL) claimed accountability, though the waning group offered no evidence of the direct involvement.
In 2019, Sri Lankans were cognizant due to outgoing government’s futility in addressing the debt crisis, its political instability, and its inability to prevent the Easter attacks.
Also, for many Sinhalese, Manhinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya a promised of progress, stability,economic growth and security. In November Gotabaya was elected to the presidency. After some days Gotabaya appointed Mahinda to be prime minister.
Soon within few days the government announced of cutting down taxes and also fulfilling a campaign promise that was intended to shoot investment and provide relief.But the timing the desicion the on the arrival of a pandemic that disrupted investment worldwide and it affected the growth.
During 2020 when covid spread in Sri Lanka reported much lower rates of infection and death than other South Asian countries because of early lockdown and a high rate of testing. Till August there were ristrictions. When the situations seem better voters were demanded to bring their own pen with which to mark their ballots, and SLPP party won and the results allowed the SLPP and its allies to modify the constitution to expand the powers of the presidency. In 2021 with the outbreak of the Delta variant it led to a enormous surge in cases in May and in August.
In May 2021 the government banned the importation of chemical fertilizers and pesticides but gave little warning to farmers and led a measure to organic farming and this transform led to a decline in crop production and it placed further rinsing on a debt-laden economy already intensified by the pandemic. The ban was subsequently elevated in November.
The country was in a debt crisis. There were food shortages(it increased from 24.7 per to to 29.5 per cent in March) ,hyper inflation(average inflation for March 2022 stood at 10.6 per cent from the 9.3 per cent in februrary), the deficit had distended, owing to cut taxes in 2019.Also, in 2022 february fuel prices raised after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the government executed daily power outages. In March Protests broke out and it continued to worsen in the following weeks.
In April the Rajapaksa shuffled the cabinet: family members resigned their ministerial positions, and the opposition was invited to join. But the opposition, calling for the Rajapaksa to be replaced. In Sri Lanka the exams are also postponed because the essentials(pen paper etc) are really expensive.
The World Bank has agreed to provide Sri Lanka with $600m in financial aid to help meet payment necessities for vital imports, the Sri Lankan president’s media division has said.
The country declared a postponement of some foreign debt repayments and said it would divert the situation insufficient reserves to fund important imports such as fuel, cooking gas and medicine.
